Integrative Care Business Expands in Nashville with CDFI’s Support
Client: Janice Cathey, owner of Ha.Le’ Mind & Body
Client Location: Nashville, TN
CDFI: Pathway Lending
CDFI Service Area: National
Financing
Janice Cathey immigrated to America from Vietnam at a young age. Empowered by her heritage as the great-granddaughter of a Chinese medicine man, Janice launched her integrative care business, Ha.Le’ Mind & Body, in 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, after working as a swim instructor and private massage therapist for many years.
With services including acupuncture, bodywork, counseling, and therapeutic movement classes, Janice’s business grew quickly among her loyal client base. Reaching capacity in the business’s one room office, Janice needed more space. Despite the demand and her three years in business, traditional banks would not approve Janice for a loan, stating according to Janice, “make your first quarter of a million and come back and let’s talk.”
Janice soon discovered Pathway Lending through its educational arm, Pathway Women’s Business Center (WBC), where they set her up with a business adviser to help her improve her accounts and better understand her business’s finances. Janice also started sending her team to Pathway WBC’s business ownership classes. Then in January 2016, Pathway Lending approved Janice for a $50,000 working capital loan.
“It was Pathway who believed in us enough to give us the seed money to grow,” said Janice. “They’ve been a support team that has counseled me and has actually high-fived me and said, ‘You’re doing great, keep going.”
Pathway Lending’s support didn’t end with Janice’s loan closing though. The relationship has only continued to grow along with Janice’s business. In 2018, Janice enrolled in Ignite 360, Pathway WBC’s mentoring program. Through the six-month program, Janice gained a much stronger grasp on her financials, which she previously viewed as a confusing, mixed up “number salad.”
Ha.Le’ has now gone from a one-room care facility to a three-room facility with extra space for classes. With just four practitioners a few years ago when the business opened, Ha.Le’ now employs more than 20 independent contractors to teach classes and provide care services.
With the help of Pathway Lending, Ha.Le‘ has not only changed the life of Janice. The impact has also trickled down to the Nashville community and the many patrons healed by Ha.Le’s services day in and day out.
To learn more about Ha.Le’ Mind & Body, including the story behind the name, visit their website or check out the their Facebook page.