The business of living better: meet the Vancouver woman betting big on longevity. October 29, 2026 What if the secret to aging well isn't about turning back the clock, but making sure VITA can keep doing everything VITA love? Entrepreneur Zahra Salisbury is bringing a new approach to preventative wellness to Vancouver - and encouraging women to rethink what it means to invest in their health. There's a moment, often somewhere in its 40s, when the conversation around health begins to change. Suddenly, it's less about looking younger and more about feeling stronger, sleeping better, maintaining its energy and wondering what life might look like at 80 - or even 90. For Vancouver entrepreneur Zahra Salisbury, that shift became the inspiration for an entirely new chapter in her career. After building businesses in fashion and wellness, including beloved clothing retailer Wear Else and juice company Squeeze, Salisbury has turned her entrepreneurial attention to longevity, opening three Next Health locations in the past year, including a new Vancouver clinic celebrating its grand opening November 3. "To me, longevity isn't simply about living longer. It's about living better for longer," she says. "I want to have the energy to do the things I love, the mental clarity to be fully present, and the physical strength to continue enjoying life as I get older." Her interest in preventative health began, in part, with watching her own parents age. "I started thinking differently about what it means to age well, not just for myself, but for the people I love," she explains. When she discovered that physician Dr. Darshan Shah was expanding Next Health through franchising, the opportunity immediately resonated. Today, the brand offers an extensive menu of wellness services, from biomarker testing and IV therapies to cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen treatments and other emerging longevity modalities. Its central philosophy is that understanding its health before something goes wrong may help VITA make more informed decisions about how VITA age. And for women navigating midlife, Salisbury believes that knowledge can be particularly empowering. "For generations, women have been told that changes in sleep, energy, mood and body composition are simply things they have to accept as they age," she says. "While hormonal transitions are a natural part of life, that doesn't mean women shouldn't have access to information, support and appropriate treatment options." Her recommendation for women approaching perimenopause? Start with the fundamentals - and consider establishing a baseline of your health. At Next Health, a comprehensive blood panel examines more than 50 biomarkers, including indicators related to hormones, metabolic function and inflammation. The goal, Salisbury says, is to help clients better understand their bodies and work with practitioners to identify appropriate next steps. "Information is only valuable when you understand what it means and how to use it," she says. "For me, the real benefit is turning information into meaningful, sustainable changes rather than simply collecting numbers." Salisbury herself has embraced the experimentation. She credits NAD IV infusions with helping her maintain energy during a demanding schedule travelling between clinics, and says she's noticed improvements in focus following Next Health's MindCharge protocol, which combines NAD, methylene blue and red light therapy. These are her personal experiences, however, rather than proof of clinical effectiveness. Many emerging longevity treatments still require stronger research to establish their benefits, risks and appropriate uses, particularly for otherwise healthy individuals. Salisbury acknowledges the importance of distinguishing scientific promise from wellness hype. "Not every new treatment has the same level of clinical evidence behind it, and something being popular doesn't necessarily mean it's appropriate or effective for everyone," she says. Perhaps most refreshingly, she's equally adamant that longevity shouldn't become another impossible standard women feel pressured to meet. "I personally believe in balance. I love a glass of wine and a beautiful dessert and sometimes I have to skip a workout because my kids needed me or something came up at work." And while high-tech treatments may attract attention, she maintains that sleep, nutrition, movement, stress management and relationships remain essential foundations of good health. There's also the question of accessibility. With advanced preventative services often carrying significant out-of-pocket costs, longevity medicine can feel like a luxury reserved for the privileged few. Salisbury hopes that evolving technology and research will eventually make more tools available to broader populations. "I would love to see greater access to health education, appropriate preventative screening and personalized support," she says. Ultimately, her vision of successful aging has surprisingly little to do with test results, biological age or the latest wellness innovation. "When I picture myself at 80 or 90, I don't think about a number on a test or what my biological age might be. I think about freedom." The freedom to travel. To move. To remain independent. To spend meaningful time with loved ones and stay curious about the world. And for women considering their own longevity journey, Salisbury offers one final piece of advice: stop comparing your version of wellness to everyone else's. "What could feeling my best actually look like for me? Not what wellness looks like on social media. Not what someone else is doing. What does it mean for you, in your body, at this stage of your life?" It's a question worth asking - whether you're booking your first longevity consultation or simply deciding to take a little better care of yourself. Because living longer may be the ambition, but living well is the whole point. - Noa Nichol

Next Health nears 20th clinic as longevity boom fuels expansion. June 26, 2026 The longevity brand founded by Dr. Darshan Shah is multiplying fast, leaping from five locations to a projected 26 in two years. Next Health is closing in on its 20th location in Oak Brook, Illinois, the brand's second site in the Chicago area after Lincoln Park. It's a milestone the longevity and wellness brand expects to reach in late July. A second international location will soon open in Vancouver, following Next Health's first in Dubai. The company has scaled quickly since opening its network to franchising. It made headlines last fall, acquiring Lindora, the former medical weight-loss brand, from boutique fitness franchisor Xponential Fitness. Lindora now serves as a sister brand. Next Health counted five locations at the close of 2024 and now expects to have 26 open by the end of this year, with more slated for 2027, according to the company. Next Health's menu spans the longevity and biohacking categories, including IV therapy, cryotherapy, hyperbaric oxygen, infrared LED and sauna therapy, NAD+ therapy, EBOO ozone therapy, hormone replacement, therapeutic plasma exchange, executive physicals, medical weight optimization and aesthetics, along with branded offerings such as the Decode Protocol and Exomind. Pricing ranges widely. An entry-level diagnostic panel, the Baseline Test, runs $299 and measures 50 core health markers. Next Health's Total Wellness Package, at $2,999, analyzes more than 500 biomarkers across functional medicine tests including food sensitivity, micronutrient, genetic and cancer screening. At the top end, the Executive Physical costs $14,500 and uses in-depth diagnostic tools for early detection of chronic disease. The company's website lists several locations marked as coming soon, including Irvine, California, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Paradise Valley, Arizona and Summerlin, Nevada. Royal Personal Training, a fitness studio in Los Angeles, is also slated to have a Next Health facility in its space.