Meet John Ayo of LifeBalance

Today we’d like to introduce you to John Ayo.

John, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a Traditional Naturopath (health expert), Speaker, and Author and have been researching mind/body/spirit topics since 1976. I grew up in Houston and graduated magna cum laude from Texas A&M in Civil Engineering, where I went on to earn my MBA.

I was one of the top sales reps for IBM after leading the team that closed the largest software deal in the history of the company. As an overachiever, I thought I’d be content after this accomplishment but still felt an emptiness inside about my purpose in life. I prayed and prayed for guidance, and the answer was that I got sick.

I felt like I had the flu every day, couldn’t sleep at night and was in constant pain. This shifted my focus from sales to healing me! I went to many traditional doctors for help, and after many tests, scans, scopes, and dollars, they told me it was all in my head. I started going to chiropractors, acupuncturists and other natural health doctors and they became my teachers and friends.

This began my road to healing, and ultimately to my passion in life which is to make a positive and meaningful difference in people’s lives by motivating and teaching them how to take responsibility for their health… and their lives. Once my engineering brain got involved, and I started studying “why” we get sick, and more importantly what we can do to return to wellness.

This quest led me to pursue a Doctorate in Naturopathy (ND), which I completed in 2006. Naturopathy is a field of holistic or natural health that seeks to understand the cause of imbalances in the body that lead to symptoms and educate people on the principles and lifestyle changes they can make to correct these imbalances.

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?
My biggest struggle was changing my belief systems as I learned new ways of thinking. I had always believed that the medical model (MDs) was the ONLY answer to help us when we got sick. I used to get 5 or 6 sinus infections a year and would faithfully go to the doctor and get my antibiotics.

I didn’t know there were any other options. Once I learned about other natural healing systems (that have been around for thousands of years), I had to open my mind to other possibilities. I now understand that we are so blessed to have as many healthcare options as we do.

The medical model is fabulous at acute care (e.g. emergencies) and the holistic model (naturopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic…) tends to be more effective for healing chronic issues, if the client is willing to make the required changes. I am excited to see the fields beginning to come together under the label of Integrative Care.

Another huge struggle was balancing my new-found passion for my job in the technology world. I was still working at IBM throughout this journey and wanted to move more into the natural health world. It’s been a gradual shift from many years at IBM in sales and sales training to a practicing naturopath and speaker.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I attract clients to my practice who are ready to take responsibility for their health and help them using biofeedback, whole food supplements, and herbs to help them heal themselves. I specialize in showing people how to manage stress, anxiety and digestive issues.

What sets me apart from other natural health practitioners is my background as an engineer (problem solver), sales trainer (communication) and long-time corporate employee (been there).

I am also a professional speaker, where I educate and motivate larger groups within companies and Associations to better understand a variety of wellness topics. My specialty is in helping business travelers stay energized, healthy and balanced. I was a meeting planner, host and sales trainer for a 4 1/2 day class in IBM for over 12 years.

We delivered this class in over 26 countries and I was blessed to integrate some of my wellness ideas into that class. I also learned a great deal about how to stay healthy during these trips, mostly the hard way. As a result, I wrote my first book called Travel Balance.

What were you like growing up?
I was the nerdy kid growing up, loved math and was most likely to get in trouble for talking in class, as I liked to have fun whenever possible. I loved playing and watching a variety of sports: basketball, golf, table tennis, tennis, martial arts…

Contact Info:

• Address: 3900 Pebblecreek Ct. Suite 101, Plano, Tx 75023
• Website: www.AyoLifeBalance.com
• Phone: 972-612-4900
• Email: john@travelbalance.net
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ayolifebalance
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ayolifebalance
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ayolifebalance
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnayo

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.