“I quit one job and took up 100 more jobs and my garage was the warehouse”
What if you are to pursue your passion? Make an effort to get out of your comfort zone? This story will help you realize your aspiration. EverHealthy is a Sri Lankan brand specialising in Himalayan Pink Salt products. I had a conversation with Chathura Kalansooriya, the Founder and CEO of EverHealthy (Pvt) Ltd.
Himalayan Pink Salt is a mineral-rich type of natural salt extracted from salt mines in Pakistan. It gives you incredible health benefits and EverHealthy is all about Himalayan Pink Salt and products such as edible Himalayan Salt powder, crystals, Himalayan Salt Lamps, Himalayan Salt cooking slabs, salt inhalers, and so on.
I asked Chathura about his story and the story begins with him after starting studies in Electronics Engineering at the National Institute of Technology – Warangal, India receiving a full scholarship. While he was studying engineering, he realised that he is more passionate and quite good at working with people, and this resulted in him developing a liking for working with people than working with computers and all other technical know-how. During his time at the university, he was more involved with events and activities that enabled him to have more engagement with people.
Chathura, a musician, was also the President of the Music Club of the University during his final year at the University. After graduation, he had one of two options to select from where the first was an Engineering job and the other a job role where he is able to pursue his passion for working with people. The two options were: one with a reputed telecommunications company as an Operations Engineer and the other as a Human Resources Executive at a renowned Apparel Manufacturer.
Here comes one of the most insightful parts of Chathura’s story. Even though he got selected for both jobs, he decided against the engineering job and started pursuing his passion by accepting the HR Executive role for half the remuneration in comparison to the engineering role. “The most common question thrown at me is Why are you in HR being an Engineer?”, Chathura said.
During his tenure at the apparel manufacturing facility as the HR Executive, he performed many job roles in HR and was able to get involved in almost all the company events in organizing, managing, hosting, etc. After leaving the corporate job, Chathura’s entrepreneurial journey kicked off.
Engineering Entrepreneurship
Since childhood, Chathura aspired to have his own business and in 2014-when he was in university he decided to start a business as a side hustle even without a proper brand name. His father helped him manage while he was studying abroad. There are two reasons why Chathura thought of quitting the job.
- He was unable to invest more time in his business being employed full-time. And if he doesn’t spend time on the business, he would not be able to scale up the business.
- He realized that he is being paid for his time, not for his results.
These two reasons paved the way for Chathura to go all in on his business. Chathura’s speciality is his ability to over-deliver when a task is given to him. He recalled a few instances where he went the extra mile during his corporate career. Therefore, reflecting on the same experience in his business venture has become second nature to him. He was thinking to himself “What if I can put in the same effort to something I can develop where I can be paid for my efforts than my time”.
The guidance from his parents, exposure and experiences gathered from both the D.S. Senanayake College Colombo 07 and Ananda Sastralaya National School Matugama schools he attended, by living in a foreign country for four years, associating plenty of foreign students have been the foundation for Chathura’s skill set to develop a business of this magnitude in the current context. His hobbies such as photography, graphic designing and video editing have given him the skills to start running a business on his own.
The marketing materials starting from photographs, social media posts, videos and others were created by Chathura himself. His IT knowledge enabled him to fast-track the learning curve. Through these activities, he was able to save plenty of money when starting the venture. Chathura developed a great deal of confidence in him to take his business forward through the knowledge he gained and the experience he went through during the initial stages of his career.
Why Himalayan Pink Salt?
This is the interesting part of the story. The story dates back to 2012. Chathura’s father while visiting Malaysia had seen a Diabetes Treatment Centre where they were using Himalayan Pink Salt to treat diabetic patients. That was the first time his father had seen Himalayan Pink Salt and thereafter, he brought a sample home. When Chathura travels to India in 2013 he sees that Himalayan Pink Salt is available there as well. When he returned home on vacation, he brought around 2-3 kilograms of Himalayan Pink Salt for home consumption and since 2013 Chathura has been using Himalayan Pink Salt in his house.
Chathura’s father was engaged in the research about the product mostly. Then, they started collecting informational material such as books required for research. Even though Chathura’s father was into administration work, he was really passionate about the product and delved into it to find fascinating information. Thereafter, they decided that this was something that they need to promote in Sri Lanka. They focus on the health and wellness aspect of this product and this is quite popular in Europe and other developed regions in the world. Chathura recalled the way they presented this product to the relevant authorities and the hardships they went through to educate them in order to obtain approvals to import this product.
This is a long journey and it’s not an abrupt beginning. When the product was launched several press articles were published by his father in a number of the leading Sri Lankan newspapers to educate the public on the health and wellness aspect of the product.
Why Brand Name “EverHealthy”?
”During the time where the research was being carried out, we found out that Himalayan Pink Salt was used in Ayurveda and it was a more health and wellness oriented product”, Chathura said.
Initially, a brand name wasn’t there, we named it Himalayan Pink Salt, he further added. Then, they found out that people are buying the brand more than the product. Keeping in line with the bigger picture of the brand, they realized that the brand cannot be confined only to Pink Salt. Thereafter, it was named EverHealthy since the brand has a larger scope in the market and it can be gradually developed into sectors and segments beyond Himalayan Pink Salt. Simply, the brand EverHealthy talks about making people healthy. That’s the story of the brand.
Chathura also gave us some tips about selecting a powerful brand name. The first factor he mentioned was looking at the big picture; for example, what do you want the brand to become in the next 20 years (long term) which is a really important point to think about. He quoted a great example; “If I select a brand name with Himalayan Pink Salt and want to expand it to other wellness products, then I will have to do a rebranding campaign and other marketing activities which will cost a fortune”, Chathura said.
A brainstorming session to write everything related to your brand, product or services can bring out great ideas and land on a catchy brand name. The next tip Chathura gave us was to avoid using buzzwords which is another essential factor to think about when coming up with a brand name.
Finally, he mentioned not copying existing brands, by making similar logos, and similar names. This might give a quick hype to your business, but it will not last in the long run. These 3 tips are absolutely useful when selecting a proper brand name. Chathura commended his father, mother, sister, friends and relatives immensely for the support he has received. He said, in the beginning, his garage was his warehouse initially and during weekends, the entire family engaged in the packing of products.
What’s next for EverHealthy?
“It started from my home and now we have built a packaging facility for Himalayan Pink Salt and have expanded our team by recruiting people”, Chathura said. “EverHealthy has a bigger scope in the Wellness industry. Himalayan Pink Salt was the entry product and now it’s being expanded to a range of value-added products. Currently, we are catering to Sri Lankan customers. Along with the new products and services, EverHealthy will soon start expanding to overseas markets as well”, he said.
A series of wellness products and services are to be launched in the coming future. They have partnered with one of the most senior and experienced Ayurvedic Doctors for a wellness consultation programme and also planning to establish a wellness treatment centre. A platform was created where people can get themselves consulted on their health and wellness. For example, they can get consulted on their health patterns, eating habits, stress-related matters and physical illnesses to name a few. Also, these products and services pave the way for promoting wellness tourism as well. Sri Lanka has many health practices connected with nature that can keep you ever healthy.
“You invest money in your vehicle for regular services or check-ups to avoid serious repairs. However, do you invest money to do the same for your body or yourself?”
There are plenty of lessons that entrepreneurs can learn from Chathura’s story. EverHealthy is a brand with an interesting tale behind it. The risk, courage, dedication and relentless commitment and more importantly an invaluable mission and purpose are the drivers of EverHealthy. Chathura Kalansooriya will take Sri Lanka to the globe quite soon with this unique, valuable brand and its products and services.
The story of EverHealthy will inspire you to follow your passion and think of your health more. I wish Chathura Kalansooriya all success in his future endeavours.
