A former property developer who once found himself burned out and directionless has built a wellness empire that not only transformed his business life but also radically improved his own health, leaving him feeling decades younger.
Nolan Lee, now 46 and based in Chicago, had been working in real estate development when the 2008 financial crash turned his world upside down.
Disenchanted with his career and sensing the industry had little future, he made the bold decision at 35 to walk away from the property sector altogether in search of something more meaningful. That leap led him to yoga.
“It was the financial crisis, and I was just over it,” Nolan recalled. “Real estate wasn’t going anywhere, I didn’t enjoy it, and I was completely burned out. I wanted to do something that felt worthwhile.”
What began as a personal pivot soon turned into a professional rebirth. Nolan enrolled in a yoga teacher training course and discovered a passion he hadn’t expected.
Once qualified, he started teaching classes and quickly saw the impact his work had on others, sparking a desire to take his involvement in health and wellness even further.
That passion became the foundation for Balanced Flow, a wellness business he co-founded with a longtime contact from the fitness world.
Nolan describes the company as “a high-performance tuning shop for the human body,” where clients come to recover from injuries and chronic pain before progressing into tailored fitness programs that elevate their overall health.
Relying entirely on word-of-mouth referrals and their existing fitness network, Nolan and his business partner built the company from the ground up.
Balanced Flow has now grown by a staggering 40 times since it first launched 11 years ago, but success didn’t come without obstacles. Nolan said one of the biggest challenges was learning how to lead and manage a growing team.
“There’s a lot to figure out when you start hiring people,” he said. “That whole side of the business really pushed me to grow in ways I never expected.”
The company was on a roll just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which forced a sudden shift.
But rather than let the momentum die, Nolan and his team adapted and came out stronger.
“We were gaining traction and then Covid happened,” he said. “But we turned it around, and now we’re doing better than ever.”
Despite Balanced Flow’s impressive expansion, Nolan says the biggest payoff hasn’t been financial. His own health has flourished thanks to the methods the company provides its clients.
“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been,” he said. “I’m 46, but I physically feel like I’m in my late twenties. That’s the true reward. Watching people regain hope and joy in their lives is everything.”
He often jokes that the business is simply a result of creating the kind of health transformation space he and his partner wished existed for themselves – and then sharing it with others.
Looking ahead, Nolan has big ambitions for Balanced Flow’s future.
He wants to reshape how people think about fitness and healthcare, with a vision of becoming the go-to name in a new category he calls “the medical gym.”
“Our goal is to be the place where medicine and technology come together to redefine fitness,” he said.
“I want Balanced Flow to be nationally known as the brand that pioneered that concept.”
Ultimately, Nolan is aiming to take the company from a word-of-mouth success story to a household name, all while continuing to help others unlock the same kind of transformation he experienced himself.
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