Balancing the demands of motherhood, marriage, and entrepreneurship is no small feat. Yet, Dr Chibuzor Mariam Tochukwu has managed to weave all three into her daily life while building Heritage Nutritional Consult, a healthtech startup that uses food as medicine.
With a vision to integrate AI into natural health solutions, she and her husband are charting a path that redefines what it means to pursue purpose while raising four children.
In this edition of After Hours, Dr Tochukwu shares her journey as a wife, mother, and startup founder.
Building a natural health-tech solution
My husband and I run the startup together, though I’m the more active one. He supports from the backend while we’re still in this founding stage. We’re moving, step by step.
Our startup is Heritage Nutritional Consult. It’s a nutritional platform that provides diet-based help for people with diseases. There are many nutritionists out there, but we’re coming from a unique angle — naturopathy — using nutrients to guide people on what to eat to heal specific conditions.
Nature has organ-specific foods that many of us are unaware of. The core idea of this startup is simple: food speaks to our cells. If we eat the right foods in the right combinations, drugs only act as a catalyst to speed up healing, not the entire solution.
We plan to integrate AI into this process for both consultation and the nutrition process. We’re launching an app soon, which will streamline and make our work more accessible.
I don’t want to say it’s hectic, but it truly is. We’re building a global solution, and recently got a scholarship from INSEAD, sponsored by Nvidia and Google. It’s an incredible opportunity to develop our model.
Running a business with a partner
Working with a partner is a blessing, but one person must always take the lead. For us, I’m at the forefront, while my husband supports me morally, financially, and most importantly, with guidance.
He has a BSc in Business Information Technology and a Master’s in the same field. Although he’s not deeply into AI, he’s the tech person.
My husband supports me, but he also has his job and family responsibilities. And truthfully, sometimes working with your spouse isn’t so formal — it’s husband and wife trying to build something together.
I have a medical background and public health experience, so naturally, I take the lead, even though we are both co-founders.
I’m excited about the scholarship. Building an AI-powered platform is expensive. We’ve tried working with AI engineers, but the costs are high, and sometimes you’re not even sure of the returns.
Some engineers tell you they understand your vision, but many are just in it for the money. We’ve been using OpenAI tools, but with this cohort, we’ll actually get to build.
The cohort brings together founders from across the world, which is why I’m glad I applied. The owner of Advantage Health connected me to it after seeing our vision and business plan.
She believed in the future of what we’re building, even though I lacked the resources at the time.
The motivation for starting
Initially, I didn’t even have naturopathy in mind. But as I explored natural health, I discovered that everything we need for healing is already in nature — we just don’t know it.
What really inspired us was both accessibility and affordability. Healthcare is expensive. Rich or poor, diseases can plague everyone, but not everyone can afford treatment.
Once we’re done building, people will be able to take charge of their health from the comfort of their own homes. Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
I’m not talking about some exotic diet. Naturopathy has shown me that what you might be looking for far away is often right around you. That’s why we’re integrating AI.
It won’t be free, but it won’t require breaking the bank either. You’ll pay for the knowledge you’ll get through the app and essentially become your own doctor. I’m not saying orthodox medicine has failed, but there’s real hope in nature.
Currently, I’m undergoing training for natural drug-making. With my background in medicine and public health, we’ll also create products showing people it’s not just about herbs, but about food itself.
We’ll be educating people on the importance of nutrition because health really starts with what goes into your mouth.
A mum/founder formula?
Being a mom is already a full-time job. Adding founder, wife, student, and entrepreneur to it isn’t easy, especially when finances aren’t flowing and you still need to build the vision.
My husband is my best friend. I admire the wisdom he carries. He’s not health-inclined, but has this quiet wisdom I rely on. He encourages me, especially because this is my passion.
For example, when I enrolled for my master’s degree with a two-month-old baby, he was my biggest support system.
While we disagree, we try not to clash too much. Instead, we look for superior advice or guidance. I’ve learned not to fight with him, and he does the same. We seek solutions for whatever we don’t know together.
We have four children — our eldest is almost eight, the second is six, the third is nearly four, and the last is two. I don’t have domestic help, so planning is key.
During holidays, I make the most of my nights. By 10 or 11 p.m., we’re all in bed. By 1 a.m., I’m up working.
When I was designing our mini-website, I barely slept four hours a night. Some days are like that. My husband wasn’t around at the time, so I relied on AI tools to create a super site where people can learn about us and book consultations.
The truth is, there’s no fixed formula for being a mum, a wife, and a founder.
Something else that I rely on is music. When my husband is away for work, sometimes for months, I listen to music to keep my energy up while managing everything alone.
Struggles and challenges
I enjoy making people happy, but it sometimes takes a toll on me. At times, I even ask myself, “Do I have a personal life?” That is my reality. Some days, I just try to power through. On other days, I just chill with a bottle of Coke and say, “Tomorrow we continue.”
At first, I struggled with clarity. I also struggled with being a mum without a 9-5 job.
Motherhood is beautiful, but it can be overwhelming. Many women are breaking down under motherhood. They lose their sense of identity and don’t even know who they are anymore, aside from being a mother.
I’ve seen it happen; women who were brilliant in school lose themselves after marriage and childbirth.
I’m blessed with a supportive husband, but not all women have that. Many doubt their own abilities because the weight is too heavy.
This is why women need support systems. We’re not trying to drag titles with the men; we just need inclusion. For many women, childbirth changes everything, and dreams are put on hold.
Even for me, at one time, all I did was gather certificates. In fact, Coursera has banned me from financial aid because I applied too much. But that’s why I’m putting in my all for Heritage Nutritional Consult now, because I want my passion to succeed.
I want my product to be able to revive lives weighed down by illness.
