Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Celis.
The idea of S.A.G.E. Holistic Health and Wellness Center, a place focused on building real relationships through providing educational classes and professional services for physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing began with friendship and good conversation between co-founders Emily + Joseph Celis. Little did they know at the time that this would begin their life’s journey with each other and bring them to the culmination of their professional dream – the quaint and charming holistically focused gem where they are cultivating a hub for all things happy.
Joseph focused his graduate level education on kinesiology and all things related to physical health and body movement which was his passion, while Emily focused on her passion of mental health in her graduate studies, helping others attain lasting change through their therapeutic journey. Together, their affinity for secular spiritual seeking brought them even closer and became an important part of the holistic lens through which they have created their organization, whether the spiritual component is a part of someone’s life through fully believing in a religion or coming to terms with being atheist.
S.A.G.E. is an acronym for Stillness, Awareness, Guidance and Education, which is what all classes and services uphold. Personally living their lives in the way that they believe is what creates happiness, Joseph and Emily have taken their time in building their dream of a business while also nurturing their relationship, joining in marriage, and starting a family which now bodes three beautiful boys and continued happiness of their own that keeps on growing. Getting to the place where they have finally opened doors to a facility that has allowed them to grow into the staff of 8 and plans for continued growth are at the ready. “We have always wanted to build this organization around the needs of our community, knowing that we all seek balance in life. Everyone needs assistance and support in this, and in a world where true community is even harder to find, we have chosen to build S.A.G.E. with strong relational roots because it all comes back to social connectedness when happiness is in question”, says Emily.
They set their organization up as a 501c3 organization because they seek to fill a service for those who may not typically be able to afford holistic services at some of the pricier locations. S.A.G.E. Holistic Health & Wellness Center is a down-to-earth organization that provides practical ways to create and maintain healthy habits and build support into your life that will be there to stay and this is done at traditional rates while also offering sliding scale to those who need it. S.A.G.E. is not about fad diets or sales pitches to increase revenue, and they make sure of this with the employees who they hire. Emily says, “We hire people who specifically have a heart for a holistic way of life and who are also devoted to personally progressing because we are all in this together.”
Currently, their center has four offices and a Community Room where classes + services are held. We are always looking to connect with other Holistic Practitioners in the community and refer whenever a client may benefit from something that we don’t offer. The focus is whatever is in the best interest of the client, a cornerstone for the ethical guidelines that therapists operate from. S.A.G.E. is excited to grow as we gain more awareness in our community.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Smooth road? I’m not sure if life has any of these. I mean, there are smooth parts of the road for sure but it has definitely been bumpy, and we have worked really diligently and slowly to build our organization…and the growth continues. We have had our children along the way and this has taken a lot of time away from how we would have “liked” to build the business…and this was our choice, so I guess you could say that has been part of the struggle—working on pulling ourselves back, time and time again, into balance so that we don’t do what we hope to help others steer clear of…living life full speed ahead with no time to really care for ourselves and what we hold most dear – each other and other relationships that truly matter.
Taking the financial leap to get into a larger space was also a part of the struggle that we are living in currently, since we have only had our doors open to the public since June 29th and we continue to work on building our brand awareness to fill classes and create success to keep our doors open for decades to come.
Opening our doors to the public has proven to feel like having another “baby” and we continue to build it the way we feel guided.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
As a company, we feel most proud of our philosophy that we know there is not ONE way for everyone to achieve happiness. We want to support individuals in getting closer to their “happy” however it comes, and find out what their individualized Holistic Lifestyle looks like, whether by attending our classes + services or sending them somewhere we can refer. This is what feels like true community to us and we want nothing less than this for our S.A.G.E.’s. Our client’s best interest is always at heart and we feel that giving client’s this autonomy over their choices without biased influence is crucial to one’s long term lasting success.
We will continue to add services as we grow but currently focus on:
Physical – nutritional therapy services + classes, physical awareness and empowerment training through self-defense classes, yoga
Mental – mental health therapy services (individual, couples, families, children/adolescents), group therapy + workshops on mental health-related issues.
Spiritual – Reiki Healing sessions and Training, Spiritual Coaching to gain direction on your life’s purpose, and a variety of spiritually focused workshops and classes
…all focused on helping people find their path and get connected with finding and living their “meaning in life”.
We are set apart from others because of this unique combination of physical, mental and spiritually-focused classes + services where we have a quaint boutique-style center that calms our patrons upon arrival and the personalized care and privacy that our client’s receive. Our guests will be surprised by the openness of the employees in helping them find what’s best for them, as that is our end goal.
What were you like growing up?
I was always a very driven, gregarious, fun-loving, take-charge kind of gal. I have always felt like I am just taking life by the horns and living it to the fullest – heartaches and happy times combined. When I was growing up in the 80’s, I used to play “business” with my little sister instead of house and she was my “secretary” whom I would order around endlessly (needless to say we have lots of chuckles about this now).
I have always had a deep side of me that was not satiated until I began my work as a therapist as my second career after working for various companies in sales and marketing positions.
Now, my husband and children take center stage and I am always aiming for balance and working to keep things in a place that feels right as I juggle everyone’s needs – mine included. My other loves are nature, writing music (singer-songwriter on the guitar) and spiritual seeking…and a great conversation amongst any of these things is just icing on the cake.
Growing up, I felt that I went through some difficult times and now as I move later into life, I cherish the fact that it has brought me exactly to the point where I am today.
Pricing:
- Classes: Range between {FREE}, $15-55*, **
- Training + Certification Courses (Awareness [Self Defense], Reiki): Range between $85-$150 to start*, **
- Therapy Services: Range between $100-$150 per session**
- Nutritional Counseling Services: $100-$150 per session*, **
- Reiki Healing Sessions: Range $80-$125 per session*, **
- Spiritual Coaching: $85-$200 per session*, **
- package pricing available
- sliding scale fees available upon request
Contact Info:
- Address: 1914 West Orangewood Avenue, Suite 102, Orange, CA 92868
- Website: www.sagewellnessctr.org
- Phone: 714.391.3853
- Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
- Instagram: @sagewellnessctr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sagewellnessctr
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sagewellnessctr
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/s-a-g-e-holistic-health-and-wellness-center-orange-3
Image Credit:
Sadaf Shalchian, Emily Celis
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