When life takes you down a different path: from oncology research to digestive health entrepreneurship

Miriam Guillén Navarro arrived in the Netherlands 9 years ago. After spending time in academia and industry, she reinvented herself professionally and started her own business. Do you want to know what led her to make this decision? Stay with us and read on.

What made you decide to start your own business?

As a child, it was clear that my chosen profession had to contribute something. And because of my family and personal history, the question that haunted me the most was: Why do we get sick? To answer this question, in 2011, I earned a degree in biotechnology and specialized in biomedicine. I also started researching in the lab to find solutions. I wanted to contribute to finding the magic pill that worked. That’s how I understood disease, as something that you have and that only a medication can cure. My first internship was studying oral microbiota in the laboratory, where I discovered the bacteria that cause caries! But I didn’t continue that way because, at that time, cancer seemed to me to be the most devastating and unfair disease there was. So, I packed my bags and moved to Amsterdam to study for the best master’s degree in oncology research I could find in Europe. Little did I know that this trip would begin my personal and professional transformation.

I started with incredible enthusiasm and excitement. My adventure here was wonderful: traveling, learning new things, meeting people, studying at a top university, doing research to cure a disease, and finding love in the lab (the one I didn’t know would be my future husband). What more could I ask for? But that intense and very demanding lifestyle made me get sick again often, like when I was little, although, at that time, I didn’t relate to it. Then began my medical journey with digestive problems that reduced my quality of life and to which no one could find a solution. Until one day, with my body and mind totally at the limit while I was doing my doctorate in a very toxic and hyper-demanding work environment, my body said enough was enough. And one day, I woke up with half of my face paralyzed. That day, when I looked at myself in the mirror, something clicked, and I understood that I needed to stop. I left my PhD and started working in a monoclonal antibodies company against cancer.

I was fortunate with my boss and colleagues, and I regained my enthusiasm for research. That environment also allowed me to slow down, and I started to review my lifestyle, which I never wanted to see that could contribute to my health problems. I reviewed not only my diet but also my rest, how I related to stress and emotions, relationships, and physical activity… and I discovered that an imbalance in my intestinal microbiota could be behind everything. A field until then was very unknown, but I knew how powerful it was thanks to those first practices of the race. And so it was while researching in this field that I discovered clinical psychoneuroimmunology, which changed my life and transformed my vision of health. I enrolled in the master’s program and learned the relationship between my nervous, immune, endocrine, and digestive systems at a molecular and integrative level. And how the imbalances I found in my gut microbiota could be reversed and what impact they would have on my health. And little by little, with patience, applying what I learned about myself and a lot of self-care, I managed to heal. I continued working in the company, but I realized that this knowledge that had transformed my life could help others in the same situation. And this idea of dedicating myself to it professionally infected my mind; every day, it gained more strength.

What were the main challenges you faced in starting your business? What are the main differences between doing it here and in Spain?

The problem is that I didn’t know anything about entrepreneurship or business and didn’t see it for myself. My father has a small business in Spain, and all my life, I have seen how hard it is to be self-employed there, especially in the beginning. But I got informed, and I noticed that in the Netherlands, the situation was very different and that the type of business I wanted to set up where I only needed my knowledge and a computer to make online consultations was going to be very easy to carry out. There was very little to lose and a lot to gain.

I started looking for information, and it was not difficult at all to find what I needed. There is a lot of information from the government and the KvK Chamber of Commerce about the step-by-step process of transforming your idea into a business in the Netherlands—a list of requirements (not many) and tools to get it done. In addition, no initial investment is required to register as a freelancer, only 50 euros the day you register your business, and it is not necessary to pay any self-employment fees. It is unlike Spain, where you usually spend more than you earn at the beginning. So I jumped into the pool, quit my job at the company, and founded HYM Salud Digestiva. My only expenses at the beginning were registration and professional liability insurance. Then, I paid the VAT on what I billed and hired my tax advisor, which was not mandatory but essential.

What are you looking for in the future?

This is my second year as a freelancer/entrepreneur, and my excitement is growing. This path has taught me invaluable lessons and has allowed me to create the kind of life and day-to-day life that will enable me to feel fulfilled professionally and maintain my health.

Something that I value most personally is the freedom to organize my time. On a professional level, I can offer direct and personalized help based on the most up-to-date scientific evidence. All my personal experience and those years of tireless study and research are serving to transform the lives of people suffering from digestive health problems related to an imbalance in the intestinal microbiota, such as food intolerances and certain types of autoimmunity. My vision for the future is to reach more people and spread the word about this field so that more health professionals know about it and apply it in their specialty.

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