After more than a decade of building, refining and recommitting to her vision, what continues to inspire Jesrina most are the stories from the people who have found solutions in her products. — Photos: YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
For Raja Jesrina Arshad, well-being was first and foremost, a necessity.
More than a decade ago, the founder of wellness and lifestyle brand PurelyB was navigating chronic health issues that left her exhausted and feeling disconnected from her own body.
“I came to a deep realisation that this was triggered because of overtime at work, poor diet and lifestyle choices, which led to my body reacting in this way and developing allergies and intolerances to gluten, dairy, egg, wheat and shellfish,” says Jesrina.
What followed was not an overnight transformation, but a gradual return – to nature, to intuition and ultimately, to her cultural roots.
The effects were immediate and, for her, life-changing.
“Within one week of going completely natural, all of my symptoms cleared up. No more headaches, my rashes cleared up, my energy was at an all-time high.”
But beyond the physical transformation was a deeper realisation that knowledge like this – practical, preventative, and rooted in culture – was largely absent from mainstream conversations.
If there is one mindset shift Jesrina advocates for those facing burnout, it is this: letting go of extremes.
Today, as she marks over 10 years of work in the wellness space, Jesrina’s story stands out not because of scale or speed, but because of consistency.
In an industry obsessed with reinvention, she has remained quietly anchored to the same belief: that true wellness is built through small, intentional choices, sustained over time and deeply rooted in respect for the body, tradition and for the land from which healing originates.
A personal reckoning
“It was very much a journey of self discovery and being able to figure out how to overcome this through lifestyle change, diet change, and no one is really talking about this,” she says.
This was followed by a desire to share her discoveries. She began building an educational platform with other women consisting of natural health doctors, nutritionists and fitness coaches which focused on natural living, lifestyle change and food as medicine, learning from Western wellness frameworks while adapting them to a South-East Asian context.
Over time, this path led her to collaborate with nutritionists, natural health practitioners and medical scientists and eventually, to reconnect more formally with Malaysia’s own traditional healing wisdom.
A pivotal moment came when she encountered experts who had dedicated decades to researching tropical herbs and their medicinal properties, as well as traditional healers whose knowledge had been passed down through generations.
“At that time, we were still just an educational platform. We were not selling any products, and it was after I met Dr Gerard Bodeker (who has researched and taught in medical sciences at Oxford for two decades), who introduced me to the pegaga herb,” says Jesrina.
“He talked about Malaysia being the home of some of the world’s most powerful healing herbs, saying that it’s a shame that not enough people know about it, even though there’s an abundance of science behind this,” she says.
Not long after, she met Hameedah Hamid, or Kak Ida, a village midwife (bidan) with vast knowledge of wellness passed down from generation to generation, who continues to work with her to this day, along with Dr Bodeker. To work with Jesrina, however, was not a decision Kak Ida made on a whim, because coming from a sacred lineage of healers, the remedies are meant to be passed along among family.
“So this was a big deal, but after praying on it, she felt peace of mind and got the sign that she has approval to pass it to me from God,” says Jesrina.
Working with remedies and wisdom passed down through generations, Jesrina is mindful to preserve their cultural integrity while making them fit seamlessly with modern lifestyles.
“Respect always comes first, basically honouring the heritage, the origins, the people and the stories behind these remedies and these traditional Malaysian rituals and practices in everything we do,” she says.
“We never extract ideas without context, which is why to us, it is so important to work with the right experts, the professors, the scientists who had conducted research into these for decades.”
Throughout this journey, Jesrina faced moments of uncertainty that tested her resolve – periods of financial strain, major restructurings and the difficult decision to strip her work back to its core.
At one point, she found herself rebuilding with a skeletal team, just months before the pandemic reshaped the world.
Yet she describes these moments not as failures, but as refinements – experiences that forced her to trust her intuition and to listen more closely to her body and her values.
“There was a lot going on that really tested me in every way. It was humbling and it was scary, and that period taught me resilience in a very real way. I learned to trust my intuition more. I got to sort of balance out that growth doesn’t always look linear, and the setbacks refined me more than success ever could.”
For her, the future of South-East Asian wellness on the global stage is about becoming a bridge: one that honours ancestral knowledge while making it accessible, credible and relevant to contemporary lives.
Hitting seven figures in one year from just one product, and doubling that in subsequent years renewed her faith in herself and what she was capable of.
“Don’t always listen to other people without reflecting, ‘does this feel right for me?’ It’s important to listen, but it’s also important to ensure that it sits right with you, with everything that you know about your customers, your brand, your product and the company,” says Jesrina.
As global interest in Eastern medicine grows, she believes the opportunity lies not in chasing trends, but in offering authenticity.
“What excites me the most is that people are no longer just chasing trends. They’re asking deeper questions about origin, integrity, sustainability and authenticity has become more important than ever. That’s actually one of the key things people look out for,” she says.
“The market that definitely excites me the most right now has to be the US. It is where we started seeing organically, more customers coming out of other countries, outside of Malaysia and Singapore. The US was the next highest country of customers and visitors. They were paying double the price to get it shipped from Malaysia to them, plus customs and duties, and they were buying in bulk, and they were buying repeatedly,” says Jesrina.
To her, they are clearly fulfilling a gap in some way, and she has been more active in exploring the US market for about a year now.
“The way people have been responding, it completely validates that Malaysian brands, Malaysian herbs and Malaysian culture have such a huge opportunity in Western markets, and the demand is there.
For her, the future of South-East Asian wellness on the global stage is about becoming a bridge: one that honours ancestral knowledge while making it accessible, credible and relevant to contemporary lives.
Rituals, rest and the beauty of imperfection
Despite her deep immersion in wellness, Jesrina is the first to admit that her own life is far from rigid or prescriptive.
“Well-being has to be practical. That’s the only way it’s sustainable,” she says.
Her days are anchored by mindful eating, shaped by years of understanding how different foods affect her energy and inflammation levels.
“I’m very mindful, because I feel, as a founder, I can’t afford to be slow, not productive, taking big breaks unnecessarily, or being out of commission like being unwell, so ensuring I maintain a healthy diet helps me feel good and sharp all the time.”
She knows firsthand how quickly clarity disappears when the body is neglected, and she approaches nourishment as a form of quiet discipline rather than denial.
“I also rely on a lot of grounding practices and just mindful practices, balancing my energy so I feel like I can just flow,” says Jesrina, who does this by spending time in her garden.
“That’s where I go, bare feet, on the soil and do grounding. So I feel just more connected to the earth, to Mother Nature during times when I’m just like on my devices and completely in the tech world 24/7.
“Meditation, deep breath work exercises, especially when I’m feeling heavy, it helps a lot to lighten my head, my shoulders and just overall how I feel. And energy healing, sound baths. All of this helps me feel more centred and balanced, especially amidst the daily chaos of my life and running a business and juggling everything,” she says.
Yet Jesrina is refreshingly honest about occasional indulgences.
Among her simple pleasures is the humble cheeseburger – fries included.
“I’m always on the hunt for the best gluten-free, plant-based cheeseburger and I get super excited when I’m able to find one that is delicious and textured. But I do also enjoy non plant-based, non gluten-free dishes from time to time, and allow myself to indulge, especially when I’m with friends and family,” she says.
While feeling connected to nature is a reset she practices whenever she can, brief, intentional breaks – moments of disconnection that allow her to return with clarity – have proven restorative as well.
A spontaneous trip to Sarawak, taken at the brink of burnout, stands out as a turning point.
Immersed in nature – the caves, the beach, staring out at the mountains – away from meetings and notifications, she found the mental space to reconnect with her purpose.
“I spent 24 hours disconnected from work,” she says. “During those 24 hours, I did not think about work. I focused on myself. I focused on going back to my roots, my whys, reconnecting with my goals, my life, and then when I went back to work the next day, I was fully recharged to a level that I have not remembered the last time I was able to operate in that way where I felt like, almost like a rebirth, so rejuvenated.”
If there is one mindset shift Jesrina advocates for those facing burnout, it is this: letting go of extremes.
“You don’t need to take big steps, take a total reset or dramatic overhaul. Just choose one small thing you can do consistently every day. That’s when you’ll see a true difference. It could be changes in your diet. It could be being more mindful, being more present. Take the time, just put your device down and be present,” she says.
After more than a decade of building, refining and recommitting to her vision, what continues to inspire her most are the stories from the people who have found solutions in her products – those quiet messages from individuals whose lives have changed in ways both big and small.
They remind her that wellness, at its core, is deeply human. And that sometimes, the most meaningful progress is not about moving faster, but about staying true to where you began.
