Episode 78 - Stop Glorifying The Hustle With Ella Lucas-Averett (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 78

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Ella Lucas Averett: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Amy: 0:27

Welcome back to the show Nirvana's sisters family. It is Amy and I'm solo today Katie cannot join us and we miss her. But I am here with a fabulous Ella Lucas Everett.

Ella Lucas Averett: 0:40

Did I pronounce Yeah, rhymes with favorite.

Amy: 0:43

Oh, Averitt favorite. I love that. Okay, so she is a businesswoman. She is a part time triathlete, which is amazing, a keynote speaker and host of the On Air with Ella podcast, which we'll probably do a pod swap with in the future. And that is a show for anyone looking to live better, feel better and have some fun along the way. Ella claims her greatest superpower is trial by error, we can totally relate to that. And she loves to bring her audience along with her in the pursuit of living our very best life one step at a time starting now. And this really resonated with Katie and I went when we got connected Ella because like your mission is very similar to ours, which is why we were so excited to talk to you or we are so excited to talk to you. And it's just so great meeting other women, other like minded women that are in this, you know, sort of self care well being balanced worlds in that realistic down to earth way, which is just like kind of what we're about to so for the audience, Ella and I connected through chief which is a network for senior executive women. I had Denise Guerra on the show a few weeks ago who was also from Chief so I'm loving all of these fantastic women that I'm meeting through this network. Without further ado, welcome to the show.

Ella Lucas Averett: 2:01

Amy, thank you so much. And thank you to your listeners for letting me sit in today. I appreciate it.

Amy: 2:06

Yes, of course, everyone will be so excited to hear from you. So give us a little bit of your story and kind of your podcast has been around for a long time and your business and all of these things. So kind of tell us about your point of view on well being and what you're working on?

Ella Lucas Averett: 2:20

Yeah, well, it has to be said that I started my podcast got in 2015 before everybody in their actual uncle had one. We love it. But it was a different world back then. And I started it because I listened to a podcast or two and I was super inspired to bring health and wellness to not not to bring it to the masses, so to speak. But to make it more accessible because I had this belief that wellness could be should be in would be more accessible than profitable. And if we kept it simple, and if I could bring experts who actually knew what they were talking about to others, you know, that's really what motivated me, Amy, I am not a health guru. I'm not a trainer, I'm not any of those things. I'm a businesswoman. As you said, I make my living in corporate consulting. Yeah, not the same world. But for me, I was at that time just turning 40. And it was more important to me than ever to kind of stay on my game. And I had really like, I had been a triathlete for about 10 years at that point. And so I was super, honestly, probably the fittest I've ever been in my life and feeling really good and frankly, feeling like it was easy, even. And it motivated me to want to bring sort of the secrets and the biohacking and wellness tips to my community and create a community about that funny twist about that. It's not always easy. Sometimes you go through ups and downs, sometimes it's about more than what you look like sometimes it needs to be way more about your mental health, or how you're feeling or what your energy is like and, and I learned all these lessons along the way, Amy over the past seven or eight years now. And my community has come along with me. So that is a long way of saying that it started out as kind of health and wellness as a lifestyle, but it was sort of code for fat loss, if you will, a little bit a little bit and now much more into a much more robust definition of what wellness means for women. Many, many, many more issues that we care about to live our richest, fullest lives. And that's about way more than our gene size.

Amy: 4:43

Yes, I 100% agree and it's so much it's so much how Katie and I think as well because this whole point of being accessible and realistic. But before we do this, I realized I forgot to do on nirvana of the week because It is it is Friday, and I think both of us are running 1000 miles per hour. So we need to take a step back and talk about something that brought us joy this week, Sunday that kinda put a smile on our face bigger smile, whatever that may be. Let's just ground us before we continue in the conversation because I feel like we need to do that. So I can start. So my Nirvana was actually this morning. I've been running a million miles an hour, it's just that season, right? Where it's like, kind of headed towards the end of the year, and everything's crazy. And I have like, 1000 things going on, just like everybody else. And I was talking to my husband, and he's like, You know what, we actually recently bought an infrared sauna, which is amazing. But I haven't even used it. And I'm the one who wanted it. And he's used it every day. And he's feeling really good. And he's like, what, why don't use infrared sauna. Like, chill out, like, go in there and relax. And I was like, No, I need to, like, get into a routine. I need to do it at night. And he's like, just go out and just warm it up and go and I'm like, okay, so I worked out I wanted to the sauna. And I was like, Okay, I'll go in for quick 20 minutes. Like, I don't have time. I went in, I ended up staying in at 40 minutes. And I felt so good. afterwards. My body was like, thank you. It was like, it was such a shift in my mindset in my body. And I was like, this feels amazing. And I need to do it more. And I walked downstairs, my husband, I'm like, Thank you for encouraging me, encouraging me to do that this morning, because I feel 1000 times better. So that brought me joy this morning. What about you, Ella?

Ella Lucas Averett: 6:23

Oh, if only the listener could see my face because Amy, mine was okay. Sit down, sit down to them. Last night, I could duplicate the beginning of what you just said been running around like a maniac and not in a way that I think I deserve a prize. Like I actually have learned that that is not how I want to live, but it's a season that I'm in. So here we are. Yeah, and I got home from a business trip late last night. And Amy, I got into my infrared sauna and that was gonna be it's gonna be

Amy: 7:00

this is insane. By the way, I've never had the same Nirvana someone and that's okay, this is synchronicity. So many things happening. This is like, I haven't felt like

Ella Lucas Averett: 7:08

results in three weeks. And by the way, anyone who's gagging right now, because they're like, must be nice. I have a story about my infrared sauna. But first of all, I am dying, because that is absurd and hilarious.

Amy: 7:20

That's really, really crazy. kind of freaking out.

Ella Lucas Averett: 7:24

I haven't been able to exercise, I like to move my body every single day. And I just came out of three days of complete sedentary living, like bad road food. I mean, just everything I don't want in my life for the past three days. And I walked in and I walked into a home where my husband happened to be and I kind of dig him. So that made me super happy. And then I went downstairs and I baked in my infrared sauna. And I felt like a completely restored person. And I felt so grateful I was just drowning in sweat and gratitude. And funny story about that though. I just want anyone right now who's just rolling their eyes at the fact that we both are lucky enough to have infrared saunas in our homes. When I moved, I actually live quite close to Amy in the DC area. And when I moved here, we bought our infrared sauna flatpacked brand new from somebody off of Facebook marketplace who bought it and never used it. So I just want you know, that I man Oh, you want and we'll have a manifestation for you as well and check Facebook marketplace because that's where I

Amy: 8:28

got my and there's, that's actually a really good idea. And there's also so many places now that are starting to pop up that offer so many of those services. So I had tried it at a lot of those, like there's a place near me called um, I think it's restore hyper wellness or one of those and they have sessions. And they also have a new seen it online, they have the ones where you can like they're like portable ones, you can just like, sit in bed and put it on your body. And, you know, obviously much less, much more reasonable option. But yeah, anyway, that is hilarious. I don't even know what to say about that. Yeah, I mean, that's crazy. We're totally linked. I love the whole thing. And that's why I see St see mindset here. This is why I'm so glad we have you on the show. So we were kind of talking prior to the show start starting about what wellness means in this world. And you're sort of alluding to before and it just reminded me like, or you were saying you were on a trip for three days and sedentary and I know that feeling of going on a business trip and it's like the food and you're just sitting down and whatever. And I've also like incorporated wellness. I mean, I've been doing this for years without even like actually realizing it of when I have a business trip or when I have something I'll go a day early. And make sure that like I'm hydrated and I've worked out or I've gotten a treatment or something. So when I start those three day of meetings, I'm like grounded because I've noticed that when I don't do that I'm a hot mess and I don't feel good, you know, or like I'll leave early. If everyone's going out that night and I could take a flight home I'll go home because I'm like you know what I just Do I need that downtime, and I never realized it till I got older that like, I actually need quiet time and downtime, whether it's work, whether it's going to see friends, whatever that may be. And it's so important. And I think when you're younger, you're running, running, running, and then all of a sudden, like, for me, I migraines or Katie, you know, it's so important to take that time, but anyway, went off on it. Yeah, well,

Ella Lucas Averett: 10:23

I think there's a larger issue at play here. For a lot of people there, at least I'll speak for myself anyway. And that is that for many, many years now, I've owned a consultant companies since 2003. That's a really long time. Okay, so I've had lots of my own iterations in that experience. And let me tell you, for the first, I don't know, 10 years, it was all hustle. And one of the deeper issues here is that I think that many of us and certainly I'm sure some of those listening AMI tie, this, I'm just jumping right in, but tie our worth and our perception of our worth to our productivity. So I, I absolutely have a hypothesis that, you know, if we do nothing more than untie our worth, our perceived worth, untie it from productivity and our appearance, we live a lot happier, a lot faster. And frankly, that's behind a great deal of the work that I do. So I the reason I said, you know, super busy week, but I'm no hero is because frankly, some part of me felt, you know, quite noble in the hustle for years and years and years. And it wasn't until my body about gave up on me somewhere midway and I started losing my health and my vibrancy and my energy. And my body was all of a sudden the body of a stranger and I didn't recognize it anymore. And I started, I revisited a disordered relationship with food. And like everything was just completely out of whack for me. And I had to do that work, Amy to start really pulling apart how I saw myself, you know, what value add what what youth Am I to the world? If I'm not producing 18 hours a day, if I, again, I've gone on, but I think there's so much to be done here. When we are accustomed to be rewarded for our achievement, or our appearance. Some people both yeah, there's a lot to undo there. And the sooner and faster we can untie those elements of that equation, the happier we are. So yeah, there's no bizarre and it took me a little while to understand that.

Amy: 12:40

And I totally agree. And we've actually touched on this a couple times in our show with with different guests. Because this hustle culture, I can't stand similar to you. And I like to say hustle on doses where like, you know, you do stuff for a little bit, but then you come back and you put your foot on the gas, and then you break. I mean, you need that. And I think the more it's talked about specially in the corporate environment, the better because we all know people I know many, many people that are still in that mindset of like, oh, I have to work 18 hours a day to be seen to be promoted to have my boss. And there's a lot of like old school, you know, traditional thinkers that think that's the way to success, when in fact, it's quite the opposite. So it's a really good conversation. And it's something that we should continue to like, spread around, because I think those who can balance this and who can do this in doses and are not like killing himself are the ones that are ultimately going to be the most successful, the most happy, the most healthy, the most vibrant, the most in their Nirvana, right? That

Ella Lucas Averett: 13:40

is so important. And one thing that women can do for one another is have these conversations out loud, because I think a lot of the times we go in sort of three phases. One is hustle, hustle, hustle, you know, sacrifices seven days a week, you're on your you're on, you're on call. If you get an email on a Saturday, you're replying to that email on a Saturday, for example. And then the next phase might be that you tone it down a little bit that you check in with yourself a little bit, but Yang talking about it. So you're not you know, making a show of it, you're just trying to achieve some kind of balance. I'm in the third phase, I want to talk about it. I want to encourage other women, you know, one of the women I was working with this week is in her 30s. And I said to her I actually I don't want to be super specific. But let me let me change the names and the context. But I basically said, you know, you just said yes to something that you didn't need to say yes to and forgive me for overstepping. But consider this, this and this, and you don't have to show up at every dancer invited to and, and I could see her shock and all that I said those words out loud. But you know what, you don't have to go to every party you're invited to. And what I think we should do as women further into our careers is start having these conversations, because it's one thing To stop glorifying the hustle behind your closed doors, and it's quite another to kind of muster up the courage or the transparency and say, You know what? Let's have these conversations out loud. And let's have them more often. And let's have them with the women who are

Amy: 15:17

and let's have boundaries, and it's okay and support each other doing that, like, I mean, I stopped answering email, you know, on the weekends, years ago, because of like, I'm not doing that anymore. I stopped while I still email at night, but I try not to, you know, but you start to set these boundaries with yourself, and then others realize, Oh, I'm not going to bother her, because I know that she doesn't answer emails on the weekend. Or you could do the opposite, which is just like, consistently go and never and never say no, and someone trying to think there was this quote, I heard or listened to, or maybe it was even on my show. I can't remember, someone had said, about saying no to things. And it was like, if you don't want to do that right now, say no to it, because you're not gonna want to do it in two weeks leave commit to a dinner, you're like, Oh, great. And then intuition. I don't want to go with these, like 10 girls that have small talk or whatever. If you know, right now, you're not gonna want to do it do not commit. And it's been such a guiding principle for me, because there's so many things I used to say yes to that. I'm like, No, thank you. I'm busy.

Ella Lucas Averett: 16:18

I think the best thing we can do is lead by example, and keep having conversations like this

Amy: 16:24

100%. Okay, so you have you have over, I don't know, 500 episodes, a bazillion episodes. And you've talked to a lot of self care, wellness, productivity type people, what is like your favorite, I guess? I guess the few things like, it's probably hard to answer this. But what are a few takeaways that you've learned throughout the years? Because like you, you know, I'm not an expert, Katie and I are experts. But we talk to a lot of people that give us information. And then we use that for, you know, our own lives. So we're, you know, practitioners, if you will, so what have you learned that has really helped you over the years since you've had your

Ella Lucas Averett: 16:57

show? Great question, I'm going to answer it from two different ways. One on a very base level, like, it is super fun to try people's products, to read people's books to talk to me. So you know, you get sent stacks and stacks of books sometimes and to be able to consume that type of content, and then have conversations with the researchers and the authors. And the the people who did the work. Like that part's fascinating, but also just learning about different types of products. So like, I have, I do red light therapy, because I have a red light hanging in my house. I didn't know about red light therapy until I started my podcast. I didn't know about Infrared Saunas until I started my podcast. So that type of thing is super fun for wellness geeks. But love it the thing that really, on a more meta level, the thing that has been my largest takeaway really is a bit of a twist. It is I wish I knew when I was in my early 20s, that nobody had any idea what the hell they were doing a lot of the time. Right. Amy, I have interviewed a Olympic gold medalists. And they talk about their failures. And they talk about how they didn't know what they were doing. And I talked to people who have started, I talked to a woman who founded health aide kombucha, and some people don't know what that is, and other people might be addicted to it like I am. And she died. Her name is Dinah and she started this in her kitchen. And I think it's valued at $500 million, just like 10 years later. So a moderate success story. And she had no idea what she was doing, literally, she'll be the first person to tell you that. So I'll be honest with you my largest takeaway, and the thing I love to get to with my guests, who have had raging success and very obvious success to the world, is to really break down that there is no magic formula. And when I speak this is this is oftentimes what I speak about. And that is that, truly, it's not sexy, and it might not sell books. But taking the smallest step toward the life you're trying to create is the secret to success. Because if you did that every day, instead of being overwhelmed by the large steps, or the big leaps are waiting for motivation to land on you like lightning. If you took the smallest step every day, by degrees, your life is completely different six months, 12 months, three years from now, that's been the greatest life lesson for me.

Amy: 19:31

I love that. I love that. And it's so true. We've seen that too. And a lot of the entrepreneurs and founders we've met with, yeah, no one knows what they're doing until they do it. And then they give guidance because they've been through it, but no one knows what they're doing. And like everyone's figuring it out and that makes you feel better and also less intimidated when you meet certain people because no one really has it together. They're all figuring it out too. That's a great lesson. I

Ella Lucas Averett: 19:55

used to think when you were younger, or maybe it's just me, just that like the super successful People are the people you admired. Like they kind of they probably were born with something that you weren't or they had something, some natural gift, yet some natural gift that you felt like you had to kind of find. And it obviously came naturally to them or they were just smarter or savvy or something earlier than you. And it turns out, no, they just did the thing.

Amy: 20:20

So that they've gotten coaching. They've done this, they've done that you

Ella Lucas Averett: 20:24

could talk to 20 year old yep, I could talk to 20 year old me, I would say go do the thing, like do the thing. You want to do risk failure, and do the thing that you want to do, because nobody knows what they're doing.

Amy: 20:36

Yeah, yeah, this is like a random story. But it's one that I remember. And it's so minor. But speaking to the point of like, when you're younger, and you're seeing all these people, and you're like, oh, they all have it together and they know everything not realizing that they've gotten coaching and this and that to get to where they've gotten to. I was in someone's office when I was younger, a leader of mine, who was so put together so chic, like, you never see this person fell, right. She's just like, amazing. But I was having meeting with her. We're, you know, chit chatting. And I noticed like one of her nails was like chipped in wasn't done perfectly. And I was like, it was like, for some reason, it always stuck out to me. I'm like, You know what? She doesn't have it all together, either. Because her nail was humanized her. There you go. Yes. 100%. So I always think about that. I don't know why she's

Ella Lucas Averett: 21:22

like, it's a metaphor. It's

Amy: 21:23

a metaphor. You're right. Also, let's talk about how you balance because you know, I'm in a similar boat and Katie, too, with with stuff she does outside of the podcasts, like, how do you balance the podcast? And I know how much work it is, it's insane. You know, building that building your business, being a good wife, like all of these things, what is your I mean, no one has a secret, as you said, but like, how do you figure it all out?

Ella Lucas Averett: 21:50

I don't, I do a couple of things that give me so much more peace than I used to have. Okay, and the first thing I do is I give myself a little bit more grace than I used to. And that is probably because of some of the tools I'm about to share with you now. And one of those is to realize it for some reason, you know, sometimes just super simple concepts stick in your brain and just really hit you at the right time. Well, I learned to look at my life in seasons, everything I'm trying to accomplish, and or wherever I'm falling short. So it's really important for me to move my body every single day. That's important to me. Now, does that mean I do it every single day? No, but it is my default. So you know, maybe it's five days a week. But that's because for me, it's not a decision that I wrestle with every day. It's a given. And so it happens more often than not, right? So so when I go through a period where I have three or four days where that does not happen, I used to just beat myself up. And I think that if shame were an effective strategy, we would all know by now that he did. So self flagellation, we're weirdly did not improve my life in any way. So there, I was still not moving, but now beating myself up over it. So when I learned how to think of my life in seasons, that word I really connected with, and it changed everything for me, and I'll tell you what, I mean, some times I go through a season where I have to really gun it out, like get it out rather, and I'm working my tail off for 10 days, you know, these these Sprint's these spurts, and I'm not taking optimal care of myself. And instead of painting the rest of my life with that brush, I take a deep breath. And I'm like, this is a very short season, like you got this. You know, I you and I have tried to connect before and I just came out of a three week season that was a real Bender for me, and not a lot of fun. And again, years ago, I would have panicked, I would have self flagellating, which would have led to bad behaviors to cope, you know, whether it was numbing out with food, everyone has the thing they numb out with and again, mine used to be food and like a disordered relationship there. And I would go to all these mechanisms rather than like just allowing the discomfort. And so when I connected with the word seasons, I'm like, this is a season of intense sprint work for me, and it will be over. And then sometimes I'm in a season where I can ride my bike three days a week, which is outstanding. And sometimes I'm in a season where my husband and I are so connected and we're able, you know, we have quality time together and quantity time together. And then there are other seasons, which we happen to be in right now where we are just running at 800 miles an hour in two totally different directions. But instead of again, painting our life with that brush, we're saying we use the terminology. We say, Oh, we knew this season was going to be like this. It's over. We know when it's when it's over. It's over two weeks from now. Yeah. Yeah. And we talk about it and we plan accordingly. So there's a lot in there because it requires an A awareness, it requires intention. And it requires a mindset. And what I used to do is just go go go beat myself up, and then go go go some more. Oh and cope.

Amy: 25:12

Right now that's so true. And then it's like once the season is over having the tools to then step back from the season. And I think you and I are very similar in that when we're younger, we didn't have the tools. So you just keep going. And then you burn out versus now you're like, Okay, to my point earlier, you can hustle on doses. But then you take the tools out of your toolbox that work for you. And then and you know, you're going to have that at the end of that two weeks season or whatever it may be, which is the which is, which is like, I feel like you start realizing that when you're older, and then learn more and then these things,

Ella Lucas Averett: 25:46

trial and error or baby, it's my specialty. Yeah, I've just had

Amy: 25:50

Katie calls herself the human science, science. Yeah,

Ella Lucas Averett: 25:53

I just have failed on air for seven years. But you know, and then sharing those and then we iterate again, and we iterate again, Amy, but okay, do you remember the actress Jenna Elfman, I shouldn't say Do you remember, because I think she's gonna show now that I think she's on The Walking Dead or something that I don't want. Yeah, she was dharma. She was dharma. And so I was interviewing her. And she said to me, she had this great analogy, since she said, I look at my life as a mixing board. So just picture like a DJ Studio, you guys have seen it like in behind the scenes when someone's recording a song. And she said, I Picture My Life, like that mixing board that you see in the studios, and she's like, sometimes the bass is turned really high, and the treble is really low. And she said, you can't have all the dials at 10 all the time, you know, Something's gotta give. So sometimes the bass is quite high, and the treble is low. And sometimes you're able to pull the treble up, and the bass comes back a bit. And I thought, what, what a grace to give ourselves to realize, and I have a model now that I work with that is the life wheel. And I just like to take an audit every once awhile, and I look at different areas of my life. So my career, my personal finances, my spiritual life, my relationship with my husband, my social relationships, and I kind of I sort of rate myself I know, this sounds so silly, on my on my wheel, and I use this with my community as well. And sometimes you're really high in some areas, and it's never not at a cost of some other area. You're never attended anywhere. The goal is right. Balance over time, I used to think it was balanced in a moment, there's a huge difference,

Amy: 27:31

right? So true. I was also reading that you do retreats, and I think you just got off a one. So what is that? What is that? What does that

Ella Lucas Averett: 27:39

Oh, those are super great. This is bringing my podcast community together. And when we had a few chiefs in this retreat, as well, which was lovely, but bringing, bringing my community together, women only no offense, we love a man, but I love. I love to create space for witness the best. And the first one I did change my life because I had never invested in I had never invested so heavily in deep, meaningful relationships with women, because I've been burned a few times. And so when I had my first retreat, it was you know, let's say, let's say 45 people. And we spent three days together that changed my life, it was as impactful for me if not more so than it was for them. And then I was addicted. And it was such a wonderful community. It was fun. I laughed my face off. And we did some fun wellness stuff. And we did some personal development. And it was just like, the best Slumber Party you've ever been to for three days. And you walked out with tools and tips. And I was like, okay, more of this place. And so I've just done one, you know, obviously there was a little a little global pandemic setback. But he was able to hold my most recent one in Miami, and it was smaller and more intimate and absolutely lovely and so much fun. And there's just something so powerful when women very age and background diverse. But when you are like minded in the sense that you all want to be living your best life and I don't care how cheesy that sounds, because I'll own it. But if that's why you're all together, the conversations that you have and the moments that you have in the learning that can happen between one another absolutely fantastic, totally addictive, highly recommend.

Amy: 29:23

Katie and I have been talking about this. We've mentioned it a few times on the show that we want to start doing your rawness sisters retreats in the future. So I'm glad to hear how impactful it has been for you. I will we are going to have you as a special guests. We've already talked to someone else that we've had on the show that we want to also join so stay tuned for that. So before we get into our rap session, Ella, I wanted to pick your brain on what are your favorite podcasts knowing that you have your own I'm sure you listen to a lot what are your favorite ones lately?

Ella Lucas Averett: 29:50

Bored? Oh, I wasn't prepared.

Amy: 29:52

Oh, sorry. I you know, what's impromptu questions that you don't have to answer if you if it's too much on the spot. As she's looking through her Apple podcasts or Spotify,

Ella Lucas Averett: 30:02

this is so funny. I don't want to disappoint anybody. I love to recommend other people's podcasts and I love to amplify. I love to amplify smaller creators like independent podcasts because like I said, now it's just it's obviously a very crowded marketplace. But I'm I also have this weird quirk where I will listen to 1000 different podcasts because I'm listening as a podcaster. So I listened to topics I disagree with, I listen to subjects I'm not interested in because I'm listening for other reasons and or I'm researching a specific guest. So I'm going to use this as an opportunity to amplify a super fun podcast created by two women. I think they're in their early 30s. And they have created this thing together and it's like a little pop culture he gossipy but wickedly smart, and it is called celebrity memoir book club. Okay. Oh, I

Amy: 30:55

haven't heard any lips die laughing if

Ella Lucas Averett: 30:58

they knew that I was recommending them because I am not their target market. I don't think we're gonna attack now. Okay, celebrity memoirs. And they read celebrity memoirs. Okay. And they are, they're both comedians and extremely intelligent women. And so then breaking down the knee. So their English literature is hilarious to me. And they're very witty and very intelligent. And they added depth to these rather silly books a lot of the time with with an insightful point of view, but it's a lot of fun, and it's an easy list. So

Amy: 31:33

check that out. I'm definitely going to check that out. Okay, so let's get into our rap session. You're ready. Okay, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Okay, so,

Ella Lucas Averett: 31:42

we've mentioned the infrared sauna, but I bought you a pot a prop. So everybody I know has like the 13 step facial routine. Yeah, and I just use this stuff called best skin ever. And it's a completely natural oil and I use it at night on my face and it's my I have that and I love it. Yeah, living libations I love to pump them up. I've interviewed the founder a couple times. I have zero affiliation with the company. I've been using it at night exclusively for a decade. Love it can't get enough. Don't

Amy: 32:10

you find that oil cleansing has changed your scan? It's changed mine.

Ella Lucas Averett: 32:15

addicted. It's like liquid gold and I leave it on as a moisturizer after my face is cold. Do you believe in it?

Amy: 32:22

Yeah, okay, I'm gonna try that because I usually put it on and then wipe it off but

Ella Lucas Averett: 32:27

it's liquid gold.

Amy: 32:29

Amazing. I do use it at night or in the morning just mostly

Ella Lucas Averett: 32:33

at night. Every once a while in the morning if I'm going to work out or something and it doesn't matter. Yeah, tiny but at night. It's best. Yeah.

Amy: 32:39

Okay, five minute flow. You just got out of the shower. And dry it off. Your Uber is five minutes away. They just pinged you what is your quick beauty routine? Like what do you put on? What are your go twos or holy grails to get downstairs and get in the car?

Ella Lucas Averett: 32:52

I mean, Amy, it takes me seven minutes to get ready on a normal day. So this is not

Amy: 32:57

God. That's amazing.

Ella Lucas Averett: 33:01

Because I don't know like people do contouring. I don't know what that is. I don't know how to do anything. So honestly, it's my every day, which is moisturizer. Slick ponytail. So I need this is what I need in my life. I need lipbalm then I need a lip gloss. I need a really solid hair tie. And I mean silver hoops on Golden. I'm there.

Amy: 33:25

And are you like a uniform girl? Like if you're going out? Like do you have specific things you wear like jeans and a T shirt or whatever or you were different. In fact,

Ella Lucas Averett: 33:32

I wear I wear different things every day I let my clothes tell me what they want to be just like my hair, my hair is in charge of itself. And honestly, I do this weird thing. I get intuitively dressed. It's so funny. I don't ever spend any time picking out my outfit. I walk in the closet and I like I asked my intuition. What are we wearing today? And then I just do what I know

Amy: 33:52

I do the same thing. I do the same thing, which makes it hard to pack for trips because I'm like, I don't know, I'll be on like, exactly. I don't know, I'm gonna feel so funny. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Ella Lucas Averett: 34:04

Okay, again, I give my self grace for not always maintaining nirvana. And two things I am learning to do more intentionally is breathe. And you think that sounds simple. Okay, then drop your shoulders wherever you are right now. And take a breath all the way into your diaphragm, which is below your ribcage. And tell me how often you are intentionally doing that because it sounds so simple. But are we are we doing it? Yeah, so honestly, that alone, I didn't realize I was taking shallow breaths. You know, for 15 years. I had no idea. So I'm trying to be much more intentional about that. And I'm trying to be more intentional about what I consume, to make to maintain my daily Nirvana and I'm not talking about food. I am talking about what I watched and what I listened to. So there's a lot of things that are no longer in my feed, whether it's fits Oh, or other people's bodies in my feed, and or just like junk, just you know that total garbage that is, you know, kind of all over the TV and all that stuff. So I'm very, very conscious of what I consume because it changes my chi. Big time.

Amy: 35:17

Yes, I feel you on that one. Okay, and before we close with a quote slash mantra, where can everybody find Oh, you're

Ella Lucas Averett: 35:24

so sweet. I'll keep this short on air with Ella. So on Instagram, you see a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on and on air with Ella and then as the On Air with Ella podcast.

Amy: 35:34

Amazing. Okay. So Ella is going to bless us. She has a quote, slash mantra to end the show. And I'm excited to hear I

Ella Lucas Averett: 35:42

live by this. And I didn't say at first, Arthur Ashe, famous tennis player from Virginia said at first. And he said, in order to achieve greatness, start where you are, use what you have, and do what you can. And I would just add, start now.

Amy: 36:01

Yeah, so good. Such a good one. Thank you so much for joining us. This has been great. Like, I feel like there's so much more to talk about. But thank you for being here. We really, really appreciate it. And I'm so excited that we connected because this has been such a great conversation. And I feel like there's so many things that are alike between us. So I love that I can just feel the energy through the through the virtual studio here. So thank you again. My

Ella Lucas Averett: 36:25

pleasure. Amy, thank you so much.

Amy: 36:28

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.