Episode 83: Product Junkies December - Holiday Edition - Things We Are Loving Right Now (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 83.

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.

Unknown: 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. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation back to the show Nirvana sisters family, it's December and you know what that means holiday time. And we are back with a product junkies episode for December. We're going to talk through some of our favorite latest products that we're trying and loving. These could be gifts, they could be gifts for yourself, they could maybe help with holiday travel. So with that being said, we will jump right into product junkies December. I'm going to start with you, Katie, what do you have on her? Right? Well, let's see. I'm going to start with things that you're going to need for your next holiday party. Oh, you're gonna go out you're gonna want to do your makeup a little bit, right? Like the fun of these holiday parties is kind of getting dressed and you know, going the extra mile and having like a fun fabulous night out. So for that I have a really excellent lipstick like very glamorous, neutral but sexy lips situation whooping and it is the beloved Charlotte Tilbury it's her lip Lester and pillow talk. And it's just like a very sexy neutral that has just enough pink just enough of a pop. And it's a really nice texture as well. It comes in like a lip gloss tube. It's not super shiny. So I kind of like when there's a little bit of a matte to it. Like it's not Yeah, super super glossy. Yeah, so it's they they're marketing it as a dreamy nude pink lip gloss for a luminous luscious Pillow Talk pout and it's $22 and it lasts it stays on which which I really liked. So this is just a really great like go to color for a night out. Yeah, you know, I didn't know that Charlotte had that in a gloss form or whatever they're calling it. I just knew that pillowtop lipstick and and like liner but I didn't realize they had Oh, that's so pretty. Yeah, that's a good news. Like I could put it on heavier and it would be a little stronger. Right Are you lying on top of something. Okay, and what's the product and the Charlotte Tilbury lip is that a gloss it's the lip Lester lip luster. Okay, love. Okay, so I have this new thing I did a little research at Sephora the other day because I've been looking for a bronzer that is a liquid because I feel like I have a lot of blushes that are liquid or cream but it's hard to find a bronzer because usually it's like more of a contour stick but the contour stick color isn't like exactly your bronzer. So I found this iconic London shear bronze formula and I know how to describe it and it's in this little tube like this. And it's a really pretty bronze and it's an it's somewhat shear very natural. But you literally just take a tiny tiny amount I mean this bottle is going to last forever. Take a tiny amount and just kind of put it here and it's just like a nice little bronzy glow. Tonight if you don't want to do a lot of bronze because I feel like on an everyday basis you know me I'm always looking for like every day. This is really good. So if you just throw this on and maybe throw on a liquid blush, it just it's nice. I've just been liking these liquid and cream blushes and bronze is more so than the powders because I just feel like they look nicer on the skin. They're not so dry. You could you could do a little right up here on your forehead to Yeah, just a little touch and it'll make your whole face look like he had been on the side yeah so and this is very buildable so you could just put on a little bit for just like that little funky skull but you could put on more just to like you know make it heavier or mix it with another with another bronzer. So this is again it's iconic London and it's $27 and this will probably last me like forever so really good purchase. I hadn't heard of it before I just found it as I was doing a major search around Sephora for liquid or cream. Bronzer. So good one good one for the holidays. Good one for holiday parties to to match with the pillowtop nude. What's next on your list ad All right, well, this goes straight into the same situation for your holiday party. I have a really great glamorous smoky eye that I found at the drugstore. It is Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 hour long wear cream eyeshadow say then it's only $7.99 I love and they have have some great colors. This one is high roller Oh print and I wear this when we were in Israel. It's very much like like when we went out to dinner it's a really nice creamy Chateau which I love because they're just so easy to put on. You can literally put them on with your with your finger. And it just has a nice like sexy smoking is so good and I love this hydrating. I feel like when it's a cream, it's more hydrating. It doesn't get Creasy Yeah, no, I totally agree. I mean, wow, that like what a big difference. It makes your eyes. Yeah, I like barely even putting any on. But I used it during the day as like an eyeliner with a really thin brush and then I put it on at night like a shadow and it's just a night it's a very nice creamy consistency. It's, it's I would compare it to like, NARS is Fimi eyeshadow really? doesn't last long. How's the stain? Yeah, no, it totally holds up. I mean, look like this half of my face is ready for a party and obviously looks so good. I love that. That's a good one. We love a good start fine. And it's one of alors best of beauty for 2020 You know, couple years ago, but still, it's holding up. Yeah, I love that. Now I have to even out my eyes. So I'm gonna do my other side. While you talk, what do you we can show our listeners what you're doing. Okay, so I have like, it's the same category. So I'm gonna do two reviews and one and one of them we've kind of talked about a long time ago, but I ran out of eye cream. So I was looking for a new one always looking to test new ones. And I remember that when we had a loan on the show, he talked about the inky list caffeine eye cream. So I bought this and it says it's best for tired eyes. And the inky list is so great because I think the ingredients are really good and it's also very affordable. So this is keyless caffeine eye cream, it's $10 really good ingredients. And I just started using it the other day. So this one says it's best for tire dyes that helps to reduce the appearance of tire dyes essentially so it has a really really nice feel to it. I also have decided that I can't stand when eye creams are in a pot and so many of them are in pots. So I always tend to default to the ones that are in tubes. I just think it's so much easier to apply so much easier to travel with. It doesn't get like in your nails. But anyway, this texture is really nice, really hydrating and I have noticed it does make my eyes look less tired. So depending on the day, I will use this or I will use this other incredulous product which I just got, which is the brighten eye cream. And this one says it's best for dull under eyes and it helps to brighten instantly over time. And this one I'll use like if I just feel more dull. So it just depends on the day. Because lately in the winter, I'm just feeling some days I'm tired. Some days my face just looks air. So this one again is in a tube. This one is $11.49. What I really liked about this is the applicator. See how there's like this? Oh yeah. So when you put it on, it's like even without the cream, it just feels good because it's cold because it's metal. So it's this metal applicator tap, you put a little bit in like literally just a tiny little drop. And then you'd like spread it around here. Hold on, I'll show you. There we go. Do you keep it in your in your little fridge in your bathroom, I don't I actually haven't used that for a little while I have to get a new one it kind of broke. See how you just kind of like put it on. And first of all, it just feels good. It's kind of like a nice little self care moment. And secondly, it really does help to brighten so I've just been using both interchangeably to see what I like better, but I have decided that I don't think that there's one eye cream for every day. I think it just depends on your vibe. So that's why I bought Chu and I liked doing it with brands like the inky list because they're cheap. The ingredients are good, good, good packaging like easy to transport. So I've been testing these to brighten eye cream and caffeine eye cream and I'm a fan. So that's what I've got an ice cream. It's a really good price point for an eye cream that exactly does what it does. If you want to try a few and you want to like have a little bit of a variety. Yeah, for sure. I'm gonna get that one it looks I have like sinus pressure today. So I feel like that would feel so good right now under my nails really good. Nice. Okay, yeah. All right, well, my next one, my next one would be a good gift for your sister, your best friend your mom. It would be a great item to purchase if you're going on a long trip for the holidays and you need to wear something comfy on the plane. And Amy, you saw me in this recently. I wore it coming home from Israel. And this is it's like it's such a good steal. It's a great find. I got it off of Amazon. It's called pretty garden women's 2020 To fall fashion outfits that the brand is pretty good. We will post the link to peace sweat suit. They have like a bunch of different colors, but it's really really cozy like medium weight fabric, not your traditional like sweat suit fabric that you think it is just very soft and kind of like silky. And the fit is really good. You know when you're good and the whole outfit looks so chic like it was cute pensive it doesn't look like an Amazon purchase. Totally. It was 38 Oh my god, half of them insane pants on top. And, like of course it's a Dolman sleeve which is like the big kind of like bat wings situation and then the sweats have nice little pocket and they're jogger with like the cup on the bottom. And they come in a million colors. I mean, like really cute stuff. And I went with black just because I feel like it's classic and no one could tell that I weren't on the plane there and on the plane. But yeah, yeah, I think I'm gonna get it for my mom for Christmas. I think she'll really Yeah, I was just but yeah, that's such a great gift for girlfriends or moms 100% Yeah, highly recommend. I love that. I'm gonna have to check that out how many colors like a million maybe you'll get one as a girl. Oh my getting a little prelude to the gifting. They have I'll tell you how many they have like a beige they have multiple green shades. They have multiple Gray's multiple blues they have pink they have like lavender, they have maroon I mean there's a whole array of really cute they have white which would be you know great for the summer. So yeah, okay, it was so good. I had a good head like a comfortable sports bra on under it and I felt like I was in my pajamas the whole time which was you know, yeah, so long for such a good fight. Yeah, well speaking of gifts, still in the eye subject there's one thing that I did want to mention as a holy grail for 2022 I've decided I did review this in a product junkies episode maybe in the beginning I can't remember but it's the Milani supercharged brightening under eye 10 This is Oh yeah. The best concealer I will say that I've used this year. So it's almost like a color correcting tint. But for anyone with dull dark circles under their eyes. I've just been using this like Katie as an example. I just use this in Israel every day when we were on our trip. I never put on concealer. I just use this real Yeah, your skin looks Yeah, so this is I just find that when it's more of a color corrector it takes that darkness out and it brightens your eyes so I found that I really don't need anything other than this. And the formula is so much it's almost like it's very hydrating so it's not you know some concealers are so dry. This is very very hydrating. So it's almost like a serum you're putting on it's almost like skincare in a way and it really covers up those dark circles and then you know if you're going out at night maybe put on a little bit more concealer but you might not even need it like some days like you know depending on the night before. I can just wear this would be fine. I would say 90% of the time I can wear this and be fine but I just had to mention it again because it's such a good good product. It's the Milani supercharged brightening under it when it's 1099 you get to Ulta they have a few different colors but it's again more of like a tint less of a concealer but I use it as a concealer and it's such a good every day and so like this is like such a fun gift for girlfriends because it works for everyone. And it's just a fun little gift to give away to give to friends family whatever. So anyway, just wanted to highlight this is like a 22 favorite. Yeah, I have that also and I have used it a lot and actually I forgot about it. It's in my drawer somewhere I need to get it back out now. It's like I forget about it too. And then I started using recently and it's it's so good for travel too. Nice. All right, well back onto the travel deal. This was another one of my hacks on our long flight so if you're going somewhere for the holidays, you're gonna want to order this stat oh it is the T RTL travel pillow. Of course it was like Instagram. You know marketing. I was like they're listening. They know that I was about getting this. Yeah, every five seconds and so I ordered it but it's like it's the coolest neck pillow because you wrap it around your head like a scarf. I'm gonna do it wrong because I'm on camera of course. It's like a scarf that you wrap around it has velcro on on each end. And on one end of the scarf inside is this shaped thing that cradles your neck and your like the sight of your way in your in your cheek and then you snap it on. Like a scarf that is so in your head. It's like looks like a half neck brace. That's exactly what is that's Yeah, it's like a half neck brace. That's probably where they got the brilliant idea. And your head just completely like stays in place the whole time when you're sitting on a plane. Oh my god, you know, you have to sit up, right? It's like because of this side is wrapped in like a scarf. Your head doesn't wobble. That way. We don't get those pains in your neck. Yeah, and you don't get woken up because you're going like this every five seconds. Right? You know what I mean? Just keep it like. Yeah, the ones that go around your neck, they're just like squishy. I just don't think they're that great. So and also what else? The other thing that was really cool. Like when I turned to lay on my side, it kind of conformed to the seat. So it was really, it was really comfortable. Yeah. And then you got some old time picking like me. I searched like a solid seven hours. Unreal. Like, how much does that cost? 4249. Okay, not bad. Right gift? Yeah, it's a really, it's a it's an essential like, anytime I'm on a flight that's longer than like, I don't know, four hours from now on. I'm taking cozy like it looks like it's warm around your neck. It is. It's the fabric is fleece. Ah, nice. So it is super cozy. Yeah, that is needed. That is such a good invention. I love that. You know, it's genius. Best Travel Pillow ever. That's a great gift. Okay, so I am completely switching topics. I'm gonna give you two things again, because they kind of go together. And it's very random. But it's a good find. So I think I told you about this. And I'm actually eating this right now. So I found Okay, so I love bagels. And I don't eat them that much, obviously, because they're so bad for you. But once in a while, you know, you get that good craving for a bagel. And sometimes they do just have that bagel. But if you want to bagel more often, I found this product at Whole Foods called the better bagel. I think it's new. I hadn't seen it before. I mean, here's what it looks like. I'm showing you my sandwich here because they made a little sandwich with eggs on top. But I've never had a bagel that tastes good. That's like, you know, low carb. So the idea is they call it this is what they say transforming the most carb heavy foods into the least meat the better bagel and so essentially, it has five grams net carbs, one gram sugar that you know high in protein. It's 40 carbs, but it's 35 grams of fiber. So really, it's five net carbs. And it's 26 grams of protein. So it's great. I know. So I've been obsessed with these. They have all different flavors like the one that I'm having now is an everything bagel. They have plain I think they have cinnamon raisin and chocolate. So she could find totally, I mean, it's not exactly like a real bagel, but it's the closest I've found and it's yummy. And so I've read a lot of what's in it. Okay, so the ingredient list I didn't think was very bad. So I'm going to read the classic. It does have wheat, okay. But here here's the ingredient list water, wheat protein isolate. Modified wheat starch, modified food starch, agave fiber, extra virgin olive oil, yeast, sea salt and enzymes. That's not bad. At least it's like stuff we can pronounce. Yeah, you know, it's not too many ingredients. It's not a list of 50 things. It was at Whole Foods. So I figure I can't be awful. So again, not eating these every day. But when I want to bagel this is what I'm eating now. So I'm obsessed. And by the way 35 grams of fiber is like nearly your daily nutrition need for fiber which so that's great. Yeah, I know. I guess the fibers coming from the the agave fiber which I've never actually heard of, but I know sounds clean. I don't know. And then yeah, they have classic which is plain everything cinnamon vegan chocolate chip. So I showed them so like a good fun product especially as we're like getting into winter and holidays and you want more of that cozy food a little heavier food. I thought that was good. And then with that, and we may have talked about this on the show before I can't remember but I've been topping it with the Kite Hill chive cream cheese. Yeah, favorite. So good. We've talked about this brand before we love all their products. The chive cream cheese is really yummy. So I'm currently having the better bagel with the Kite Hill chive cream cheese and a little egg on top. So kind of loving this situation so and does the bagel doesn't like because that's a lot of fiber for one meal. It doesn't bother your stomach or make you feel like crazy full or anything afterwards like probably no more than no I don't feel crazy full. I feel full. Like I feel like it's good because sometimes you just crave a car. It definitely feels like you're eating a good car, but it's you know, five net carbs instead of 40 like a normal bagel would be. Yeah, that's me. Yeah. So I am obsessed. It's my new favorite product at Whole Foods. Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, my last one. Interesting, because it's not our traditional recommendation. It's not really a product. But it is self care tool. And it is like totally in line with wanting to like, feel good and look good, especially like maybe at the end of the holiday season when you've done your party circuit. And maybe you ate all the holiday cookies and drank all the holiday drinks and everything. This is a good way to maybe just slowly get back into your routine and to feel really good. And to get your face snatched after shoving all of the junk food in your mouth for the month while you've been partying. And it's an app. This is my new favorite app. Oh, it's called. Hold on a second. Wait to go. Alright, one second. I had it here. And I accidentally extended it. Actually, I'm just gonna do it from my phone because I haven't on my phone. So it's the lovely app, l UVLY. And what it is, is it's a face yoga, and face massage. Oh my gosh, and genius. I'm obsessed. It's so genius. I started doing face yoga. Like last week when you know, we got back in town last week. And you and I were both just like, totally wiped out just like crazy. I couldn't do anything I couldn't work out. But I just sat there. I was like, I gotta do something i. So I thought, Oh, let me do some face yoga, because I'm about to turn 41. And I just, you know, let's like see if I can do something with these wrinkles. So I found this app 10 minutes a day of a different face yoga routine every single day. And then it also comes with a 10 minute lifting face massage, which is the same one all the time. But it feels amazing. And I use Shelly Marshalls fabulous face oil. And I follow and it's great because the app is it's a picture of it's a video of a woman sitting down and she's showing you everything to do while there's a voiceover telling you everything to do so it's very easy to follow. That's good. It's great. And they also have like one minute breathwork skincare insights like all of these great little tips for your skin. It's free. How to relax your face. I think I paid like, I want to say it was like I think 299 for the month or something. Okay, so I think it's totally reasonable. Yeah. And and it's worth it. I have legitimately noticed the differences. Well, yeah, I mean, I know we talked about this in our episode with Shelly Marshall. I don't know if it was last year or the beginning of this year. And it was all about face yoga. And she was saying like, what a big difference it makes. And I don't even think she was doing Botox and stuff anymore, because she's been doing face yoga so much and I follow her stuff on Instagram, but sometimes it's like, yes, that consolidated an app. So it's hard to find and know exactly what to do. Right. I because I think she has a web I think I think she has some exercises on her website too. But I love that idea of having an app that you can just show them and it's a day and actually but to plug Shelley because she I went she was the first resource that I went to because you know we love her and her website she does have a new subscription model where you can get all of her videos teaching you how to do everything and just because I've have my phone around me more often I just like an app was a little bit more streamlined. But like all day long we highly recommend beauty shaman Shelly Marshall, but yeah, so she I mean she she has kind of the reason why I wanted to give it a try and I noticed a difference in my fine lines around my eyes pretty instantly and my neck and feel like I have like this double chin several times and I've well no but it's like the it's this muscle I was doing all this research on it. This muscle right here the older we get it like loosen right and so it just doesn't look as defined. So I've been doing that and yeah and I'm obsessed so now it's like in the morning when I'm having my coffee when the house is quiet I might do my little 10 minute face you're like the lymphatic drainage in your face. Exactly. That's my age such like I am on the lymph train like I feel so strongly in it being very powerful especially for my autoimmune because your immunity lives in your lymphatic system and I have I just feel so much better after I do like my dry brushing and my shower and all of that so it would only make sense that it would help with the face and you know I get my face gets really puffy and everything is probably from lymph. So I'm inflammation. Highly recommend. Yeah. I was it's funny, I was watching, I'll try to post it if I can find it when we aired this episode, I was watching this tic tac the other day of this girl who's had been doing face yoga for the last year. And she showed her face a year ago now and it was looked so much different, like her face a year ago was like puffy or just looked a little bit more inflamed. Like she was holding fluid in it. And now it's a lot more to find. And so it was like a really good before and after, to really show that if you stick with it, it does work. Yeah, I think I think consistency is definitely key. Like, I don't think you can do it one day a week and expect to get results. I think consistency is like in every day. It's like folding it into your practice of whatever else you're doing. Just add it on to the list of all the other things we women have to do I know right. But then we've got to do it a couple of days a week, at least it's like, yeah, I mean, thank you. But I would say I would imagine that like the least like three days a week would give you results. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one. And that's a really good takeaway for the holidays too. Because you're right, it's it's the season and all of a sudden, like the next few weeks are going to be drinking and eating and all the things which is so fun, but it will be good to come back and have tools to access like face yoga and like our from a reset that we love and all of those things to come back in the new year and start fresh. So good one. Absolutely. Well, Nirvana's sisters family hopefully this was helpful to get some gifts and some fun little things for your friends and family and hope you have a great holiday season. Thank you for everything over the last year. We have more episodes coming in December. But if we don't get a chance to say happy holidays, and thank you for all of your support and feedback. We love it. And we will talk to you soon. Oh, I'm gonna say this. Oh, we promised that we would give a little recap on our trip or Israel trip. So I think expect to catch up episode from us in January and we'll chat about the holidays and our trip and everything good and sure it's good wine with you because it was yes, epic. It was epic dress. We're still recouping but it was epic. Yeah. All right. Happy holidays. 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've 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.

Episode 82: Fascia Health And Kinesthetic Intelligence- Revolutionizing Your Wellness Routine With Lauren Roxburgh (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 82.

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: 0:00

We are so excited for you to dive into this episode with Lauren Roxborough learning all about fascia. Make sure you listen until the end where we are going to be talking about a giveaway we're doing with Lauren. Enjoy the episode and stay tuned till the end 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.

Katie Chandler: 0:33

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

Amy: 0:43

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we are here with Lauren rocks Bora, who's dubbed the body whisperer. She is a world renowned board certified Structural Integration bodywork practitioner, you've probably seen her on Instagram, doing all of her amazing fascia workouts which we're here to you're all about. She is a Pilates Pro and author and educator specializing in fascia health and mind body alignment. Lowe is the co founder of aligned life studio, which is a virtual platform that offers a new paradigm in health and fitness, which we're super excited to hear about. And she has a unique focus on fascial wellness designed to help people align and strengthen their bodies shed physical and emotional weight while enhancing resilience and confidence. So welcome to the show. Lauren, we're so excited to talk to you.

Unknown: 1:33

Oh my gosh, you guys, Amy. And Katie, thank you so much for having me. It's so fun to do this kind of thing. So I'm excited to dive in.

Amy: 1:41

As to before we start off, we just want to do a Nirvana moment around the week and talk about something that brought us joy this week. So I'll kick it to Katy to talk about your Nirvana this week. All right.

Katie Chandler: 1:53

Thanks, Amy. What Yes, Lauren, we're so excited to talk to you. I have so many great questions for you. But before we do, I think mine Irvine, I was kind of going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to share this because it's personal. And it's probably a little too early to share it. But I thought it was a really special moment. So I'm going back to work as a model, which I once was many years ago. And I signed with my agency the other day. So that was exciting. That was a fun moment. So yeah, that's it.

Amy: 2:22

That's super exciting. You scared me for a second when you said I haven't taught and when I say you're pregnant.

Unknown: 2:28

That's so exciting, though. Wow.

Katie Chandler: 2:32

Thank you. And the reason why I'm like, kind of keeping it close to the chest is because like, who knows how it's gonna pan out. We'll see if the work starts rolling in. But you know, I'm gonna go back and give it a go. It's a science experiment. And it'll be fun. Beautiful. That's

Amy: 2:47

amazing. So proudly, so

Katie Chandler: 2:48

what about you?

Amy: 2:49

So well, my younger so I have two boys, Lauren, and my younger son just turned 13. And he had his bar mitzvah this weekend, this past weekend. So it was an incredible weekend with family and friends. He did so good. I was so proud of him. It's so hard, I think to get up there and like, read through, you know, read the Torah and talk about what your Bar Mitzvah means to you. It's just, you know, it's it's a big challenge. And I think it's really given him a lot of confidence to get through it. And just He did such a great job. And we had such a fun party for him. And just, it was just really, really special. And then we're taking him to Israel as a part to which cage is joining us for doing a big family trip and a couple of weeks. So future nirvana. But um, yeah, so it was just a really fun time and wonderful, amazing. We can sell oh my god go on this week. Yeah. And that's a transition in life. That's beautiful. Big one. Yeah. What about you, Lauren?

Unknown: 3:49

would be it's actually that we're you know, living in the South Island of New Zealand and Spring has sprung and it is just absolutely stunning. Here. The sun is shining. The grass is green. The flowers are blooming we planted our veggie garden and so it's starting to really blossom like we can already eat from the garden. And to me that's Nirvana at its greatest, lifeforce energy, connecting with mother nature and being present and watching the growth happen every day and putting love into it and doing my sound bowls over it. And you know, watching the sun, just open it up. So it's really beautiful to see nature in action for me. I love that. Yeah,

Katie Chandler: 4:30

that's amazing. And we should say, Lauren is coming into coming to us all the way from New Zealand and she is in the coolest space right now. What did you call it? What did you say this space was before? Give a name for it.

Unknown: 4:41

This is a geodesic dome. It's my healing dome where I do all of my programming, record all my videos and webinars and podcasts. So it's a great little sanctuary for me away from the noise of like home and kids and all of that so it's my little escape hatch.

Katie Chandler: 4:59

Yeah.

Amy: 5:00

Looks like oh, is it like, is it? Is it like near your house? Or is it somewhere you go.

Unknown: 5:05

So it's uh, we're on about an acre of land. And so it's like a I don't know, maybe about a 20 step from our deck to, like, gosh, garden and I can see the lake in the mountains and everything. So it's,

Amy: 5:18

it's very nice.

Unknown: 5:19

It's pretty awesome. didn't ever think we'd be living here, but we're making the most of it. So

Amy: 5:25

yeah, it's beautiful for our listeners will, will, will, will show some pictures of Lauren's amazing, beautiful space your your aligned life. mini studio over there.

Katie Chandler: 5:35

Exactly. All right. So that's okay. Do we have any questions to ask? And Lauren, you I know. You cover so many amazing things in regards to health and wellness and alignment and balance and but we are super interested in your very interesting perspective. And like, it's nothing I've ever really heard of before. It's like a very specialized thing. And that's fascia. And I would love for you to just help us better understand help our listeners, some of our listeners have probably never even heard the word. What is fascia? Why is it important? Why are we why should we be taking care of it? Why do you specialize on it?

Unknown: 6:24

Great questions. So it's really an interesting one, I never really thought I would just, you know, stumble upon this system of the body. But when I was it was about in 2008, I was going through a really tough time in my life. And I discovered the work of Ida Rolf, which is called Structural Integration. And it's the thing that I'm board certified in and essentially what it is is Ida Rolf discovered fascia in the 1960s. I mean, the ancient wisdoms like iron beta and Chinese medicine have known about it for ages. But it was the first time kind of Western medicine was acknowledging the system in the body. And she was actually in the 1960s. Either off was a rocket scientists studying the human body and gravity. And she was really curious. And she studied osteopathy. She looked into all the ancient wisdoms and yoga and all kinds of different like Reiki and healing modalities. And she decided to create a system, a systematic approach to bring the body into better structural alignment. So her whole idea was that when your body is functioning well, and relating to gravity, well, then the healing energy within you will just basically pulse through you and kind of fix and cure everything. So I found it in 2009. And I started getting really curious about it, I had a session myself with my teacher. And I just got off the table. And I felt like I had had 10 years of talk therapy and 10 years of physical therapy in 190 minute session. So how to learn this, like I and I was going through so much I was going through divorce from my ex husband, my mother was very sick with cancer, I was going through a traumatic thing in my work life, I was being embezzled, all of these things were happening, I call it my perfect storm. But I found this work. And I did the work. And I signed up and I did the two year program. And it just like I found my purpose. So I realized that when I was younger, in high school, I was never really that great at school, like writing and all of those things and math, but what I figured out is that I had something else called kinesthetic intelligence. And so that means basically, that you're really good at feeling, feeling through your hands or feeling through your heart or feeling on all of those levels. And so what's exciting to me about fascia is that it is now being called the sixth sense. So if you think about like the nose is to smelling, the ears are to hearing the skin is to touch the tongue is to taste the eyes are to sight the fascia is to feeling and so I stumbled upon this amazing system in the body. And I realized that it was my way of really learning about the body through like learning about the anatomy, learning about energy learning about structural imbalances, when people have, you know, issues within the body like compensations, postural problems, trauma, tension, all these things that layer up into the body, they create this buildup within the fascial system. So it's really an interesting question, because it's quite a large answer. And it's sort of very comprehensive. So I had to kind of do the work myself, go through my own, you know, turning my own pain into purpose, and then realizing that this was actually my gift and I found my gift through are going through the mud, you know, like the lotus flower rising through the mud. And so now I feel super lucky and blessed to be able to share this with more and more people on the planet because now especially we've had so much more trauma, collective trauma in our world and every human on the planet have had some sort of extreme trauma in the last few years, with all of the grief of everything we've felt from the world, and also all the transitions and transformations we've all had to go through. So right now, there's never been a better time to get to know your fascia, which is considered the sensory organ. So as we know, we think of when we can feel feeling is healing. So feeling is the beginning to creating the shift within which helps create the shift on the planet. So it's a really powerful part of the body that science in the last few years has just recently create had been had the chance to use new technology, new cameras, to see fascia in a living body. So for years, we always thought, oh, yeah, fascia, it's a scaffold teen it's holding you up and gravity, some people would call it the organ of shape and form. It's this webbing, you know, structure are holding you up. It's Think of it like, you know, the white part on chicken. So that's like the fascia. But what we didn't realize until the last few years is that it's not just holding us up. It's actually enabling cell communication. It's touching every single cell of your entire body. It's like a living tapestry intertwining every system of the body, all 12 systems. So the lymphatic system, the nervous system, the endocrine system, the organs, all of it, it's, it's just absolutely incredible. So it's so exciting to me, and even when you're looking at it in the spiritual world, it's also the way consciousness is transmitted through us. So it's how we move energy. So it's how the brain talks to the gut, the heart talks to the brain is through the fascia, the connective tissue, and what it's made out of is collagen and elastin. And it also has a water shell around it. And the water is what creates the electricity in the body. So how cool is that? A bash shell, like cytoskeleton, like a soft skeleton, but it also transmits energy and information. It's the biological fabric that keeps us elastic, but also helps the energy and the information and the nutrients pulls through us. So cool.

Katie Chandler: 12:40

I never know that it was that complex. I always, of course, I had no idea but I always just thought it was it was something that was related to your muscles. And it was that sound. So I thought so it Yeah. Is it? Does it live? course through your

Unknown: 12:55

muscles? No, no, no, that's great. Actually, this is what I always thought too. And this is how I wrote about it for years, because I didn't know the next, you know, kind of evolution of what we're able to see now under the microscope and through science and case studies. So I always thought like, oh, yeah, it's just it's superficial fascia. So it lives right underneath your skin, and it wraps around your muscles individually and also wraps around the joints. But there's what we're realizing now and what we've found is that it does that but it also weaves deeper into this into the deeper they call it deep fascia. So their superficial fascia that lives underneath the skin, that's the one we want to have plump, and hydrated. That gives us that radiance and flow and juiciness on the skin. Because when we have good healthy collagen, full fascia that's, you know, that's moving and juicing itself and staying hydrated, then our skin gets plumped up. But then we have it weaving through, it's inside the lining of our guts. It's also around each individual organ, the heart, the lungs, the bladder, the kidneys, the adrenals, it's everywhere. And it's it's even in the scalp and the face. So it's wrapped around our whole body as like a kind of an Saran wrapping. Under The Skin. Some people call it the second skin but also goes deeper into that kind of weaving that tapestry and through the entire body, touching every cell and every system. It's fascinating.

Amy: 14:24

So it is fascinating. And I'm sure there could be like a whole discussion about this. But to break it down for the listeners in terms of like what they can do at home, like do you go to get a treatment done? Or can you do it yourself with tools? Like how does one start like I want to start work? I don't know what the word is working out my fashion tomorrow, like what do I do? Where do

Unknown: 14:46

we start? I know I would say, well, fashion is my love language and it's called me communicating with you. You know this, it's the origin of sense and feeling. So it's always talking to you. It's speaking to You through sensations it speaking to you through your phone, the pulse of your heart, the speed of your breath, butterflies in your belly, the weight of the world on the shoulders, pain, gut feelings, intuition, all of the sensations, maybe even like arousal, contraction, expansion. All of those things are messages from your fascia from your sensory organ. And so how do we start working with it, we have to, we have to listen to it. So we need to not numb we need to realize that pain is a message. Reframing the relationship to pain as a way to understand our body, learn the language and master the language of our body. That's I mean the language of our body the secret language of our body is coming from our fascia. So when we do that, we have the opportunity to really heal and to transform on so many levels. So the things that I recommend it's funny being here in New Zealand, I had these total epiphanies because I used to go and have the bodywork done that I was also learned and coming here There isn't anyone that does it because there's only 3000 people in the world that are actually trained in this type of bodywork. So if you're in big cities usually can find someone we're in a very small town village and I so I thought well, okay, I guess I'm gonna have to be my own body worker. So I'm I have designed these self bodywork tools for people to like, open their diaphragm open their lower back there QL their feet, their jaw, the cranium, all the different areas. So I'm actually creating a whole program around this to do the self bodywork. But for people to get started, it's very easy. You lay on a foam roller, you're addressing your fascia right away. What I love that is it's helping you drop into the parasympathetic state of the nervous system, which is about rest, digest and heal. Everyone's talking about this right now. But when we get on the roller, we're addressing the fascial system, which is helping our body go into healing mode. So rolling, rebounding breathwork going in an infrared sauna is phenomenal for your fascia, going and doing earthing getting natural sunlight in the morning is one of my big rituals. It's like it's my one minute morning ritual, get my coffee, walk out on the grass stand on the grass barefoot or some kind of dirt barefoot, let the natural light come into my eyes and just fill me up with you know, my my, my body with light and actually thinking of the fascia, the you know, the the webbing the collagen network, and then the water that's wrapped around it. So the sun is coming in to kind of turn on the electricity in the fascia. So recharging your body battery, and then the earth energy is doing the same. So those are phenomenal. And then just getting up and doing some really, they're called like, whole body stretches. So moving your body in different directions of like multi plane work. So twisting, inverting, walking, any kind of deep. I don't necessarily think of yoga as fascia opening, of course it is addressing it. But we have a different way to do it, where it's more like you're thinking of stretching all the way from your foot to the back of your head. Because there's 12 planes of fascia. It turns out that those planes of fascia, so I'll give you an example of one, the backplane goes from the bottom of your feet up through the back of your legs up through your back and that to the top of your head. So that's the back line. It turns out that these fascial planes relate and correlate to the 12 acupuncture meridians. So we're addressing our meridians and our chi, when we're doing stuff with the fascia. So thinking of the body, not as spot treating it, but thinking of it more holistically and systematically. So if I do anything to my feet, I know I'm addressing my head and neck and jaw, and vice versa. So those kinds of things are very powerful ways. It's like looking at it with x ray vision. And, you know, working your body in the different planes of movement, getting yourself upside down doing inversions, any kind of twisting, even if it's just going for a walk and channeling your inner Giselle with more transverse motion breathwork, self bodywork rolling, all of those things are phenomenal ways. Everything is in the Align life studio where I put all of everything that I've learned, I just experiment things that have actually worked for me and my friends in my community and my clients. I put in the in the line life studio, like for instance using that squishy ball. And like I haven't, it's back there in the frame. But it's a squishy ball and you use it to roll your belly out and you roll your organs out and that is addressing the vagus nerve, it's flushing the lymph in the belly in the gut, then you have more access to your core when you're doing like stuff to actually strengthen. So my whole perspective of like fitness has evolved because what I now know is that it's not about doing a million reps or Are you spending an entire hour in the gym or in the studio? It's actually about how do you use your body throughout your day. It's like how we use our body throughout our day is how our body will be shaped. So if we're hunched over the whole time, and we never kind of undo that, then we're going to be shaped like that. You see people walking down the street looking like that. That's the fascia gluing itself, becoming thick, dehydrated and brittle. So it's fine. If we need to hunch and be on our computers and tax and all of that. That's cool. It's like that's not going away. But we need to undo it on the daily and bring that juice back in and that hydration and that suppleness. So just like even turning on some music and doing some somatic dance or jumping around on the grass, or the sand or the beach, getting fresh air, all of these things are addressing the fascia, and

Amy: 20:49

how I see them many rebounder behind you. So that's a good way to loosen things up. So absolutely.

Unknown: 20:58

Movement medicine.

Amy: 21:00

Yes. You know, it's funny that you're saying this, I just My older son, who's 15 has been having back pain for like, like, all year, he wrestles, and we went to like an orthopedic guy. And he was like, Yeah, you need some physical therapy to stretch out and stretch out those areas. And he did it. But then he wasn't doing it at home. Of course, like he's, you know, teenagers not like doing his stretches. But we just went back last week, because his back still hurts. Did an x ray, everything's fine, thank God, but he's like, your hamstrings are so tight. You need to do these stretches. And I'm sure the stretches address the fascia and everything else. But he's like, you have to do these stretches like twice a day to loosen up your hamstrings, which is why your back is sore up. So it was like my husband and for him to hear that from some I've been telling him that but it was good for him to hear that from somebody else. Yeah. But you know, it's all it's all connected. Do you

Unknown: 21:57

really is

Katie Chandler: 22:00

why I was just gonna ask why is it so painful when I get on the foam roller? And I do my legs? Like, is it something that if the more I do it, the easier it gets?

Unknown: 22:11

Yes. So it usually has to do with the firmness of the roller as well. I prefer a more softer like it's a medium density roller because you can use it just to work out and do the Pilates moves and use it for rolling. But what we're now finding is a lot more of the research in Germany and through the really through the anatomy world is that we shouldn't be doing aggressive hard rolling because it's especially because what we're doing when we're rolling is addressing the superficial fascia. So we want to make sure that we're not digging into the bone but we're actually trying to get into that matrix that lays underneath the skin and above the muscle. So great question. The more you do it the less it hurts 100% So start and just go really slow. Use your breath you can also warm up sometimes I recommend warming up with like dry brushing to get the limp going before you do your rolling and then finishing with a five or 10 minute bounce on the rebounder to really flush so your dry rushing gets the limbs going the rolling gets the fascial matrix clearing kind of like flushing the congestion or the the scar tissue or the what it was like calling it the other day that Grizzle the gristle in the tissue and then you're bouncing which will help your body again flush everything out like really get that lymph going and then your body will flush whatever has been broken down from the toxins in the tissues as well because a lot of times we don't realize it but within that scar tissue is is a pool of congestion or toxic buildup. So when we when we flush that through then your body has to eliminate it so you want to support it through that and I recommend also doing the sauna too as part of that sequence of people are going to it sounds like a lot and if you can't if you don't have a sauna although the higher dose sauna blankets are pretty amazing now and making it more accessible for people and more affordable. My like protocol with our community is dry brush Foam Roll Bounce and then finish with a sweat and it sounds like a lot you only need to do each of them for like five or 10 minutes and then you've got this amazing holistic healing protocol.

Amy: 24:18

I love to do that.

Katie Chandler: 24:20

You do it every day.

Unknown: 24:22

I do I really do. And I'm a big fan of 8020 rule like be and I'm all about like detox to retox like I'm really about balance I don't I don't like to over drink or anything but I do like have a glass of wine in the evening and have my coffee in the morning and then I do that and I feel so clear. And so vibrant. And so kind of like it takes this film away like it fully is the the clutter of the mind and it flushes the clutter of the body. It's like an inner exfoliation if you want to think about it like that. Like we always exfoliate our face and we floss our teeth. Doing that to ourselves. In our tissues from the inside out, that's what our bodies need more than ever speaking of the immune system, that's another system that's addressed. Whenever we work with our fascia, we're boosting our immunity, because we're getting the white blood cells pumping through our body better so phenomenal for preventing getting sick. I need

Katie Chandler: 25:18

to get some of your tools because I have like the foam roller from hell and I, I've just started dry brushing daily, I'm, yeah, it's too firm, I need to get some of as Lauren for the listener, she she has an entire array of her of her own tools that she sells. And I also saw that you're you are rolling out your fascia with a small ball as well, not just the large foam rollers. So there's a variety of tools that people can use, right.

Unknown: 25:47

Yeah, and the reason I did that I originally came out with my first book taller, slimmer, younger, which was about the big 36 inch roller because it was the one I was using with all my pro athletes and my celebrities. And then I you know, I was doing the bodywork with them and the workouts and I realized like there's this the deeper layers of the fascia as well. So the the bigger roller is good for the superficial fascia. The deeper I mean, the smaller tools are better for the deeper fascia. Like I was saying earlier, you can get into the belly and really flush the gut out lymphatic Lee but also from a tissue perspective. And then the Infinity roller, which is like two little nodules, kind of like two tennis balls and a sock, which is what you know, if you've ever been to physical therapy, you know that they use that for like your shoulder blades or your feet. So I just thought you know what I was over the whole thing slipping away. So I created a tool, it's a little bit softer than tennis balls. And then you use that for your feet. For a lot of places where the muscles attach to the joints that you can't get to with the bigger the bigger roller. So that's why I have multiple tools based on the two books that I wrote. And one was about superficial and the other one was about going a little bit deeper.

Amy: 26:54

Yeah, I was gonna say I am I have those balls that I would like if my back gets tight on like put it in a sock and like rub it against the wall. But yeah, it goes all over the place. You can't like exactly get it but it's very hard. Yeah, speaking to your point about like, is something like that those athletic ones too hard.

Unknown: 27:12

You know, this isn't what you're seeing question and I'm happy you brought it up. Because I with all the new research, it's quite important to be saying out loud right now that the aggression with the fascia is not where we're going. We do not like shoving and you know, I won't use the word but like we we want to give the fascia love, we want to think of it like sending your body like these love notes, through working with the fascia and tuning in and listening aggression with fascia will just build up more scar tissue in the long run and will also make your nervous system go into fight or flight, which is the exact opposite of what we're trying to do. Which is why I think my method or philosophy is so much more of a feminine energy thing. That doesn't mean it's just for women, it means it's just more nurturing, more loving, more supportive. Those harder balls in the new science is saying no, we do not want to be doing that we want to go slow, we want to breathe, we want to feel like almost like a memory foam is kind of cradling the tissue and then wringing it out, you know, you see a lot of them attic stuff, it's quite light. So you know we're working with the limp, but then we're going to deeper layer as well with the fascia so softer and more present, really feeling into it and listening and figuring out where the blockages are. So it's not about getting on a roller or doing body rolling. fascial work is not about like rushing through anything. It's about really tuning in words and feeling again, it's really

Amy: 28:45

and then on your website do you have sort of like you're saying this like sessions on if I wanted to do a 10 minute whatever in the morning to like, loosen out just the whole body like you have things like that

Unknown: 28:58

got like the rise and shine on the roller. We've got all kinds of like seven minute fascia flows now because we're finding those that New York Times article based on a lot of great research that people were getting insane benefits from working out for like seven minutes a day. I know I remember something about Mary when they were like seven minute ABS or seconds. I'm like that reminded right. I love that movie. I love her. But anyway, so it's just one of those things where we realize like, also people only have so much time. So my thing is now not overwhelm people with like an hour of content at one time. Put it in the morning, if you can do one seven minute thing in the morning, and then do like a five minute thing before bed you will sleep better and deeper or you'll go into rest and digest and heal more efficiently. You know, you can tap into that vagus nerve and those kinds of things. So, spending and also thinking of your body throughout the day listening to the sensations and remember you take 26,000 breaths a day, you know, I mean, it's like every breath you take is an opportunity Unity to create shift or release or metabolize stress better as well. And every step we take, we take 10,000 steps a day without even going for like a long walk, every step we take is an opportunity to kind of move and strengthen your body I think people forget also that just sitting burns calories, you know, moving throughout your day, your your body is working really hard, you don't have to go and like burn 600 calories on the treadmill. That's an old belief system that actually doesn't make sense. So how can we make our bodies more efficient? How can we support all of our systems, metabolism, digestion, you know, endocrine system, the hormones, why not this fascia is touching all of those systems. So use it for enhancing every part of you.

Katie Chandler: 30:50

It's really revolutionising a way of self care. I feel like because you're saying that, for so many years, it's been all about like, work harder, you know, push through, you have to sweat, you have to do these massive workouts to get the type of body that you want. And what you're saying is, if you slow everything down, and you do it in a nurturing way, and you're taking care of your body, and you're releasing the stress that we all put on ourselves, that things will start to, hopefully, potentially work in which they should, right and heal themselves, which will give us results.

Unknown: 31:26

That's it. Yeah, you're rebooting, you're resetting. Everyone has the same muscle musculature underneath all of the layers of stress and armor and fear and unworthiness. We all have it under there. So a lot of times we put excess weight on as padding to protect us from the outside world, whether that's from trauma, toxins, tension, fears, whatever it is. So if we can realize that all of those messages are there to help us learn and grow and evolve the weight, whether it's physical or emotional weight, will, it will actually melt away and I know it sounds like magic. But when you work with the fascial, you people realize it's not the fat, it's the fascia. I mean, it's the weakened connective tissue, and it's the congestion that happens that builds up the kind of areas that we end up holding extra weight, or even thickness or density in that armor. It's really powerful. It is a whole different. It's a new paradigm, new paradigm shift.

Katie Chandler: 32:27

It sounds like it. It's very exciting. Now I would be remissed. And I think some of my, some of our listeners wouldn't be too pleased if we didn't ask about cellulite. Because I know we have all you know, we've anytime I've heard of fascia, I've thought that it had to do with rolling that out. So I don't know if that is true or not or what's up with that?

Unknown: 32:48

You know what, I love this question too. And there's quite a bit of information out in the world now about fascia and fascia blasting for cellulite. And thing is every woman is going to have some sort of cellulite and maybe there's like 2% of the world of women that don't naturally and that's probably has to do with hormones or genetics. So we all are going to have a version of it. But what it is, is it's essentially weakened connective tissue so that means that the collagen has broken down the elastin has broken down. So the best things we can do to regenerate our connective tissue and you know, reduce cellulite are getting the lymphatic system going so flushing the toxins through but also strengthening the actual webbing of the tissue. So creating more of that collagen and that's why I created a whole thing called fascia foods. We have recipes on this. There's specific things like color, I mean, like a bone broth and vitamin C, all kinds of you know, you need zinc and copper, vitamin C like certain minerals, magnesium that will help regenerate and strengthen the collagen. So also supplementing with collagen. If you have the right collagen can help as well. But drybrushing the same sequence that I recommended as well you know, the sweating and getting that moving, but also you can do something called body wash WA, which is a little bit different than the way I see fascia blasting, which I know I mean the Kardashians got fascia blasting on the map, which is good because that puts fascia in the mainstream media which I'm happy about. But I feel like again, it's more about using a tool to be more soothing and smoothing and loving rather than blasting. So I recommend using a body guasha tool, there's one that I'm actually coming out with it's like a mushroom I call it combing out the tangles of your tissues. So after the shower with the body oil I created this called the body elixir and so you put the oil on after you're hot and then you scrub yourself or you you know you basically comb out the tangles of your tissues. That is phenomenal for even crepey skin it can really help reduce crepey skin like that we start to see in the arms as we get older, around the hips. In inner thighs in the stomach, especially after having babies and your your tissue has, you know, expanded so much, or C sections where you have scar tissue. All of those things are really helpful in helping regenerate the collagen. So whenever we're working with the fascia, I think it's just really important to think of like, don't go against it, but go with it. And it's similar to dry brushing, you want to go in the direction of your heart, you may have certain areas where you take that body wash while and you scrub a little bit, but then you're always flushing it toward the heart to flush you know the toxins out and regenerate the tissue. But the other really important piece for cellulite is obviously hydration, and building musculature and tone. And that's where my method is a little different than other foam rolling methods out there. Because we do a lot of this opening and creating the space and the hydration. But we're also building strength from my Pilates background. So we're building that sustainable, elongated balance strength. That's what gives you that beautiful, graceful physique that everybody loves.

Katie Chandler: 36:05

I love Pilates. Oh

Amy: 36:06

is the guasha and the dry brush. Do they serve similar purposes or is the dry brush more like external and the guasha gets a little bit deeper.

Unknown: 36:13

You got it. You nailed it. Yeah, so the and the dry brush you want to do when you're dry before you shower. And then you write a warm and you can do some stretches in the shower and open things up. And then you slather yourself with this amazing oil that's super clean and has an olive oil base has Arnica in it and hemp seed oil, all of these in beautiful scent. And then you kind of can do affirmations while you do the body wash wha so you're really making it a ritual, it only takes like maybe two or three minutes. I mean, like all we're all so busy, like but if I can find like two or three minutes throughout the day, these little pockets or Windows, then at the end of the day, I've done an hour because I've done like two minutes here and five minutes there and a little bit of breath work and maybe a little sweat, you know, then I've actually done accumulation of an hour, but it didn't feel like it. And I've enjoyed every moment of it too.

Amy: 37:02

Yeah. And do you think? Is it better to do the foam roll part in the morning or at night? Or does it not matter?

Unknown: 37:08

I mean, I prefer if you have to choose doing it in the morning, because when you get on the roller, you're turning on something called proprioception. And that's awakening your body's relationship to the environment to gravity to balance all of those things. So if you have that on for the rest of your day, you're gonna also be able to be strengthening your muscles just throughout your day in a better way. So people not a lot, when should I roll before I work out? Or should I do it after you always want to roll it out before you work it out? Because you're you're bringing in the hydration, the blood circulation, the awareness, the proprioception, so all of those things are very helpful, not just in your workout, but in your life. So when you're waking up things and rolling out, you can do it before you go for a hike or a run, you will have more flexibility, more range of motion where you'll prevent injuries. So beautiful way to start the day. Yeah,

Amy: 38:05

yeah, I used to, I had a trainer for a few years. And we always foam roll in the beginning for like 510 minutes. And it made a huge difference. And she introduced me to those ball things. And she had this other thing it was sort of like, I don't know, it was like the same material as the small balls would have like a stick with two kind of wheels at the end. And I would do my feet on that I'd never done anything like that before it was crazy. Because my body would like shift, she'd be like, Oh, you're right, shoulders higher. And then I would she would like to help me do it on my feet. And then I all of a sudden would be like my heart felt flat or to the ground. It was amazing. So that's

Unknown: 38:41

what you're what you're feeling is that that's the sensory organs. So whenever people do one side of the body, and then you get them to walk up, walk around and feel the difference, like whoa, I feel lighter, you're actually you are feeling lighter, because you're you've actually like literally like scrubbed away whatever was in the way so you you do your legs feel lighter. Like let's say you're gonna go do pilates and you're like, Oh, my hamstrings are really tight. I'm gonna try to do my, you know, inverted core work or whatever stomach series and Pilates. If your tissues really tight like you were saying your son, his tissue is really tight, his legs will actually feel heavier. So by freeing up density and releasing the tension in the tissue, but also in the joints, and really lubricating yourself and feeling that sense of lightness, you'll be able to hold your legs up more efficiently. You won't have to use your lower back or your hip flexors, you'll actually be using your core. So it makes your body way more functionally, like biomechanically more efficient as well. That's why the athletes love it.

Amy: 39:41

Yeah, it makes sense. I was in a really good cadence with it and I got I got away from it and every time I feel more, I always feel better. So I gotta you remind me I gotta get back into it every time I workout because it really does make a huge difference. I know I need

Unknown: 39:52

to add it into my routine, more benefits from whatever you're going to do next, but used for you know,

Katie Chandler: 39:59

that It's motivational. Yeah, that's very motivating. Well, before we get into our rap session with you, I would love to hear, let's hear about your community and the aligned life studios and everything that you have created where our listeners can find you most importantly,

Unknown: 40:14

yeah, so for the last few years, I guess it was in 2021, it really took off when everyone had to stay home, you know, for COVID, we had already ramped up and started the membership program. And so my commitment to the community is to basically go and it's like, I'm possessed by learning about fascia and, and body alignment and building graceful strength. And so I it's my mission, I and it's so fun, I get to serve with joy and love, it's so great. So I go out, and I learn and I study and I research and I bring it into the studio, and we film, you know, multiple times a year, depending on how inspired I'm feeling. And then I put everything that I love. And that really works into the aligned life studio membership community. And every month we give the community a new drop, we call it with new flows and sequences. And so we have, we actually have bar in there, now we have yoga, these are all, you know, with the through line of fascia, all the people that we brought in, have the education background and have the fashion world in there as well. And then we also have fashion foods, the meal plans and meal guides. It's a whole web app, which we'll be ramping up a lot more, because people always like, Well, okay, I'll do the fashion flows workouts, but how do I eat to support that. So we have all the different tools that you see behind me here, the rollers, and the rebounder, and the fascial flows just on the mat, too. And so I continue to keep putting stuff in there. And then we also have our free community called the aligned life collective. And that's where I go in and I do webinars, so that I like to say that that's where I go and educate and inspire. It's kind of like our Facebook, but off of actual, it's not on Facebook, it's like you know, people at Facebook groups, we've actually decided to get away from Facebook, because of all the drama, we wanted to do something where it's more focused, you're not getting ads sent to you. So it's very specific, anyone can join there, it's just called the Lyne life collective.com. And then the Align life studio is sort of my Netflix of wellness, it's where we put all of these great flows and sequences, and we're continuing to evolve and expand it, and I'm coming out with my certification next year as well, which is very exciting, it's I think

Amy: 42:27

we're gonna is exciting grit.

Unknown: 42:29

And it's going to be a very basic certification so that people don't necessarily need to teach it. But if they want to learn and go deeper and really embody this work, at a deeper level, they'll learn about the emotional components and the physical components. And it's really, it's going to be very exciting. So I'm excited for that.

Amy: 42:49

That's great. And we can't forget about your Instagram, because I'm always looking at your Instagram, it's so inspiring and relaxing. And I like see some of the exercises you do. So that's also a good resource for people to check out.

Unknown: 43:03

I love I've actually using going that one. I know in the beginning, I was like, oh, Instagram, it feels so intimidating. And now I'm actually loving it. So it's fun. It's a fun process.

Katie Chandler: 43:12

That's nice, congratulations, or it's all very

Amy: 43:15

bite size pieces of fascia work we can all get during the day. Well, that's awesome. Um, we're definitely going to be checking that out. And I love that there's a whole like, it sounds like library of content. So you can do the fascial work, but then you can do flows that are aligned to that. So you feel like it's all kind of Yeah, connected, which is nice.

Unknown: 43:34

And you can pick things like if you need lower back love, or you know, you're having issues with your feet, or you want to connect to your deeper core or your bloating or you're feeling like your gut is off or whatever. There's so many different ways to target different areas of the body, but then you can do total body ones as well. So I want to share with your community also that we're going to give you guys a code so that you guys can join a go and get 30% off so we'll be sharing that

Katie Chandler: 44:00

soon. That's amazing. It's so generous. Thank you.

Amy: 44:02

Oh god, that's so exciting. Yes, yeah, I think our listeners will love that and report back on all the things they're learning Yeah, about fashion as well if they feel Yes, all of us will be. Okay, so let's get into our rap session. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack besides fascia work?

Unknown: 44:22

Oh, I have been loving the using red light therapy for the face. So those led masks and there's a little one that I've been using as well called the solar wave and I love it in the morning after you know you sleep on your face and you're all squished and you have those sleep lines. And you take that red light and you can kind of do fascial work with it but also the red light the red light stimulates the collagen and it just it feels so good and it kind of wakes you up for the day. And I also think it really helps with the beauty aspect to

Amy: 44:53

it for the Naskh Do you have a good recommendation? I've been looking at those and there's so many of them.

Unknown: 44:58

I did a ton of free Search and I found the Dr. Grossman one. Yeah, three minutes. So you and it has there. Wow. And then the red and the blue light that you can combine together. So the red lights College and the blue lights for like antibacterial or breakouts, it's great for the teenagers that they're getting breakouts. But it's three minutes. So anyone can do this what was saying

Amy: 45:19

like and it's a mask, so you could walk and you could actually walk around you could film or all while you're wearing your mask.

Unknown: 45:25

Laundry, do your tax scrape.

Katie Chandler: 45:28

Alright, that next one, we call it our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dry it off. And Uber has pinged you they're five minutes away. What are you gonna do to pull together and get in that Uber on time your holy grails your go? twos?

Unknown: 45:41

Whoo. Okay. Definitely, I probably wouldn't have time to do my body wash while in five minutes. So probably be mostly focused on the face. So I would put my vitamin C serum on because I'm obsessed with the vitamin C first than I do high colonic acid next. And then I do face oil, which I use my body lyxor as my face oil and so concealer that has you know, Hyrule onic acid and some cheeks and lips and mascara and brow and then I'm out.

Amy: 46:13

Good routine. Yeah. streamlined. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Unknown: 46:19

Hmm, I think all the things I've shared with you guys just Well, I think the big one is also perspective. So really shifting perspective on everything that's happening instead of to us, for us. So it's there to go through it, to learn from it to realize that even if it's collectively or you know, personally, or in our family, there's always a reason and sort of embracing that. And, and then I think getting better at metabolizing. The stress that comes, you know, comes from that experience too. So working with their fascia is the way personally for me and because I'm a kinesthetic learner and a feeler. That's how I move through things and let them go. So with compound with love,

Katie Chandler: 47:07

that's really beautifully said, I, we always wrap with a like a mantra or an affirmation. And there's one that I saw all over your Instagram page and on your site that and I'm gonna butcher it. So I'm hoping you, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Unknown: 47:23

It's not just about feeling better. It's about getting better at feeling. Feeling better. It's about getting better at feeling. Yes. So that one is on a couple of times. You're right. So it's really about not only Yeah, not only trying to just feel your best all the time, but just feel all of it, feel the pain, feel the discomfort because those are messages to create a shift or a change and listening and tuning in. And the other affirmation though is every little cell in my body is well, I use that one with my kids a lot to want anything like that.

Katie Chandler: 48:01

That's fantastic. All right. Well, thank you so much. For your work. Yeah, I'm

Unknown: 48:07

always doing like the era polls with them or like, the cranial stuff or the feet stuff. They love it. It's cute. That's great.

Katie Chandler: 48:15

That's $1 how to do it.

Amy: 48:16

Well, thank you so much for joining us today. This is such an invigorating conversation. I'm getting very motivated to get back into into the routine. So saying, This was awesome. Thank you so much.

Unknown: 48:27

Oh, it's my absolute pleasure. Thank you guys for having me. And I look forward to doing more in the future.

Amy: 48:35

Happy Holidays Nirvana sister's family. So I hope you enjoyed that episode with Lauren all about the fascia and you can incorporate some new routines as we mentioned, we have an exciting giveaway with Lauren we are going to be giving away three annual memberships to the Align life studio, as well as the travel roller all you need to do is follow Lauren Roxboro on Instagram, follow Nirvana sisters at Instagram and comment on our last post. You can tell us what you liked about the episode you could put an emoji anything really but that will enter you into our giveaway. We are so excited for you to enjoy the lion life happy holidays. 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. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

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.

Episode 77 - Product Junkies October Edition - What We’re Into (And Not) Right Now (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 77.

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 and I'm

Katie: 0:19

Katie Chandler so let's get into some real conversation

Amy: 0:27

go back to Nirvana sisters Nirvana sisters family it's Amy and Katie and it is October and we are here with our October product junkies episode we're excited to jump right in. We are reviewing our latest things that we're loving right now and I'm gonna kick it to Katie to start us out.

Katie: 0:45

Start us off I'm trying to think if I which way I want to I want to go I'm gonna go with my three and one and you'll see why I say three and one as we go along. New makeup brand that I'm obsessed with maybe you're seeing it on social media because they're definitely they like their marketing and social media is on point that's what reeled me in and when I say it's a three in one I will slowly over time. introduce to you this like three product stage three product step process for your cheeks, okay for like, contouring the whole thing. Oh, so Marin, have you heard of merit? M er T M E R it?

Amy: 1:29

Yeah. Did I just Oh no. Yeah, I love merit. They have beautiful packaging. And I've been wanting to try it. I have been doing Westman atelier. Yeah, which I am not reviewing, but I will review but it has like a similar look and feel. So

Katie: 1:41

the whole thing with merit is that it's that like, no makeup makeup look that's really easy to throw on and just like blend in and boom, you're ready to go like talk about a five minute flow. This is like a two minute flow. Yeah, so this first product is their bronze bomb. It's a shear bronzer, and it goes on. It's kind of like an a lipstick tube almost. And it's really like shear and blendable. It has like a lightweight satiny finish and you contour your face with it, you know, like this line, the line on your forehead, etc. And then use a good blending brush and it just melts into your skin, it melts so easily and seamlessly. And it looks very, very natural. And it does a very good job of contouring. This one. I think that branded as it happens to be healing vegan and cruelty free. And the bronze bomb shear bronzer is $30. It comes in like I want to say six colors maybe. And the other really great thing about merit, their color matching, like tool guide on their website is very, it's very well done. It's very, very clever. They give you a lot of images to help you understand what color you should get, which I really liked that.

Amy: 2:58

So I have a question because I because I have the Westman Atelier a bronzer stick, which is very similar, which I love. And my question is, do you just use it for contour? Or do you use it as a bronzer too? Because I get confused. Can you use the contour for I use it

Katie: 3:13

for both? What do you do and I have seen these girls like on social media show you the way to do like the differences. And if you want to use it yet, we're just contouring, then you just kind of do like thinner lines like I would do here. Right like that. And then along your jawline, and then kind of just like a little bit up here. And if you want to do thicker and you want like the bronzy I just got off the beach look, you just do you just apply more like it's a really it's literally that simple. Like you just kind of make your your your lines thicker and fuller, and blend in a little bit more.

Amy: 3:53

But that's not bronze or though because you put bronzer in a different location on your face.

Katie: 3:57

Oh, well, I guess you know, it's super versatile because I think because it is so sheer that you could put it on any location and play with it, which is really nice. I mean, I always tend to look better with a little bit of a bronzed glow. So I use it kind of more for that. But I am using it in contouring. Yes as well. That's because it melts into the sky now.

Amy: 4:19

I've been trying to use as a contour to Yeah, and it looks supernatural. I love it. Okay, that's great. I've been wanting to try that. So yeah. All right. What do you have? Since that's the first step second seconds. Wow. Wait,

Katie: 4:31

oh, are you doing I'll do I'll do I'll reveal as we go along.

Amy: 4:35

Got it. Okay, so I will do if we're talking about skin I'm going to talk about a product that I recently got which I'm really enjoying which is the OSA Hyaluronic C serum. It's a serum it's by OSA Malibu which we've talked about on the show great brands clean and this is the hyaluronic C serum. It's $88 But a little goes a long way. It's really fast absorbing and it's a really, really nice Hydrating Serum because I have a lot of serums but I don't think I had one that was hyaluronic acid. And this one is just it feels just when you put it on your skin, it just feels very very moisturizing in the fall like I'm starting to get a lot drier. So I've been putting this on Morning night I went to get a facial and they had this there and I asked her I was like, What's the best like Hyaluronic to put on morning and night and she recommended this and I've been using it for a few weeks. And I actually really, really enjoy it. Yeah,

Katie: 5:35

nice. I recommend love a good hyaluronic acid. All right, my next one is part of my three and one. So Plaxton is merit. And it is their flesh balm cheek color. So this is the reason why I say it's a three and one because this is just another step to like getting that nice like contoured bronze blush like highlighted situation. That's a Bing Bang Boom deal. It's super fast. So it's so cute because they come in these. I don't know, it almost looks like a lip balm. Oh, it looks like yeah, maybe when you just kind of like put it I put it higher up on my cheeks above where I've got the bronzer situation going and blended in. And it's the exact same consistency as the bronzer. This is $20. And you know, it's like, you swipe one, you swipe this one, you blend, boom. It's very, very just easy and streamlined. And actually, they are this product is an Ulta Beauty 2022 award winner. So it's a good one. And they have five shades to choose from. And again, vegan, clean, cruelty free. This has vitamin E in it. So remember, we've heard about this unification of these products like putting these great things for your skin inside of the makeup products, which is really exciting. So I love that one.

Amy: 7:04

That's great. And I love having these little as we call it our five minute flow products because for example, if you're going on a trip, you could just bring like that, that and one thing. Good. Okay, so I'll stick with the skin theme. And the next thing I have is called the Obagi physicals events 50 mineral sunscreen. It's like a tinted. Yeah, sorry, mineral sunscreen, lotion, SPF 50. So it's lightly tinted, lightweight and share. So again, this was from like another treatment or facial or something I had a while back a while back, but I don't think I reviewed it. And it's a really nice tinted moisturizer. It's very, very light, and very like kind of creamy, but it like thin and creamy. So it doesn't because I was looking for a new sunscreen because I love as you know the unseen sunscreen from Supergoop. But I was just kind of getting sick of it. I don't know it just like sometimes I would find at the end of the day it would like kind of I don't know, I just wanted to try something new. Yeah. which never happened to me before. I don't know why. And I love also, the other favorite one I have from Supergoop, which I've talked about a million times is the low screen which is also a tinted sunscreen moisturizer. So I use that a lot. But sometimes it's a little too glowy in a way, this one's kind of like glowy, but not too much. So I've just been putting it on sometimes in the morning, or if I'm going out to dinner at night, I just want something to smooth out my skin. And it's really great. And it has an SPF 50 Because I was getting sick of like putting on makeup and then putting on my sunscreen. So this is a really really good one. And it's a really great brand Obagi I feel like I see it in a lot of the kind of like places where you get facials and stuff like that. And it is $59 And again, SPF 50. And it's also mineral based, which is great, and I've been really happy with it. So adding that to my list.

Katie: 9:05

Alright, so this is the last of the three and one the last of the merit that I'm going to review today, but there might be some more coming at you in next episodes. This is again a part of the like cheek situation and it is the dayglo highlighting balm and they only have three shades but I mean it's for highlighter it's not doesn't really have to have like a lot of pigment into it. But so this then goes like on the highest point of the cheekbone. And you know, the light catches it really nicely. And this one Yeah, that's a really pretty color. I don't know it's like kind of like champagne color. It's 30.

Amy: 9:44

So you just put those three on and now Yeah,

Katie: 9:47

I did buy their blending brush. It's a really good one. And it's just like it blends and melts into your skin so easily and so quickly. And it looks just really Natural I've like, you know, I've been doing the whole selfie thing and all different lighting to, to test it because I feel like that's the only way you really know. So yeah, yeah, I love it. I'm in. I'm in on merit.

Amy: 10:11

And how much does that swan

Katie: 10:13

is 30. So they're all about the same price point.

Amy: 10:17

They're all very reasonably and Dr. sighs

Unknown: 10:18

Yeah,

Amy: 10:19

yeah. Because I've been testing out the Westman until a which I love and Lauren Miller recommended the highlighter and one of our product junkies episode months ago, but I just tried, I've been trying the console, and the blusher on the end, like another product I can't remember. And it's beautiful. And I love it. But it is expensive. And Merritt seems like very similar at a much better price point. So I'm really, you know,

Katie: 10:41

the other good thing that I was concerned about when I first got it, because it is so blendable and kind of melts into your skin, I thought, This isn't going to hold up, like by the end of the day, it's going to be off, you know, like it's going to literally melt off of me. But it does it legitimately stay these days holds up for the whole day. I mean, I might reapply here and there for a little bit of I'm gonna just like go out to dinner or something. I need to be done a little bit more. But it's good. It's good quality.

Amy: 11:09

Okay, what do you have? Okay, so I'm getting into the hair category. Now a couple of new hair products. I've tried that I want to talk about the first one, I have a sample of it, and I'm going to get the bigger one. It's the way Oh,

Katie: 11:22

you say I've always wondered how you say that one. Yeah,

Amy: 11:25

and it's, they're leaving conditioner. And I bought this for a trip because I A wanted to try the B I liked how it was small and I like the bottle. But this has been great. First of all, it smells really good. Second of all, it's I'd like for someone who doesn't wash their hair every day. I'm sure you don't either, because you have thick hair and it doesn't really get greasy. This is a great way to just judge up the hair. So I'll just put on a couple of sprays in the morning. And it just kind of like puts the moisture back in my hair. And I love that it's a spray instead of a leaving conditioner that you have to like rubbing your hands on whatever speaking of getting ready quickly, you just literally spray this on and it's good to go. So I love this. And I'll do another one because it's in the category of hair. So that I love the other thing when you are washing your hair and you're doing a blowout I've been dying to try this on again, I'm really into like the little sample bottles. This is the WoW Dreamcoat. super natural spray. I don't know if you've seen this. It's, it's like always gets these high reviews. I've heard a lot of people talking about it. And essentially, it's like a spray that you put on after the shower when your hair is wet before you blow dry your hair. And it only works if you're blow drying your hair like the guy activates it, but it makes your hair really shiny bouncy gives it a lot of volume. I've only tried it like once or twice and so far, so good. But I really really really like it has like my hair looked so good after I did it. And I didn't really spend a lot of time drying it, I just use my Dyson and just kind of went through it quickly. But it definitely gave it like an extra shine and an extra volume. So I'm really liking this right now. And then the last one I have speaking of like leaving conditioner and then something just squaring your hair, when you're going to dry it. This is a everyday hydrating hair balm by igk. And it's vegan and cruelty free. And it's essentially has it's it's leaving conditioner similar to the one by the way, it's a little bit thicker, but it really doesn't weigh down your hair. So for me with like dry, coarse, frizzy hair, this is like a little bit of a heavier kind of feel. And so it just kind of depends on how my hair is feeling and say for every day that leaving conditioner use but this I'll use when my hair is feeling a little drier, I'll put it on the ends. So I'm really liking this too. And the price is for all of these which I forgot to mention. So for the igk it's called mistress hydrating leaving conditioner, hair balm $29. The Wow, the color well dream coat, super natural spray $44. And the way leaving conditioner is $28. But my advice would be to get all the samples because at Sephora, they have so many samples now all the stuff that I've just buying so many samples now because they actually last a pretty decent amount of time I actually had a hair oil from the way that I bought from Ulta months ago. And I think I just finished it and it was this big, which is like what one and a half ounces.

Katie: 14:22

So you're talking about Yeah, in the checkout line at Sephora, where they have all of Nike checkout

Amy: 14:27

line. They have all the samples, they have all the really good brands and the brands you hear about. Also at Ulta they have it because I got a little sampler of the hair oil. So that's my latest thing. I've just been trying these little samplers and then I'll travel with them. I'll use them and if I liked them then I'll buy the big one. Unless I know I really want it but so that's been like a good hack, if you will all these samplers I just love that all these brands are now doing these sample sites. I love

Katie: 14:52

so smart. You brought that up because you know we were recently talking about that we don't wear perfume anymore. Like it's Tuesday. On Campus headaches etc I've been smelling this the scent on women like passing the pie around town and I was I just like fell in love with it I was obsessed with it but I didn't want to buy a big bottle because I was afraid that I won't be able to tolerate it like what we were talking about. Sephora now has sample sizes like not the little teeny tiny sample size that you're thinking of. It's like it's like this big so it's maybe six inches long and it's just a tube that's maybe as thick as this is of perfumes of all of these different super high end expensive perfumes so I found the scent I was just went through and smelled them all found the one that that I've been smelling on people and I bought it and I love it and I can tolerate it like can't tolerate it every day. What is it what's the sad I call it is and I've never heard of this brand until actually someone gifted me a candle it's the Mason Louis Murray brand which I'm assuming it sounds very French This is the number four it's it's in French so I'm probably gonna butcher it was de Balan court is the scent means

Amy: 16:13

whatever it's not small Ira

Katie: 16:14

it says the highlights are. It's a earthy and it's an earthy and woody family. Fragrance family and as like warm Woods scent type. Sandalwood vetiver whatever that is Amberwood I don't know it's just a berry. It's just kind of like, mysterious and sexy. And I like how it smells. And it's not super

Amy: 16:41

it's I love it. And I love that you can wear it and you know it doesn't bother

Katie: 16:44

me and I got it in this perfect little sampler size.

Amy: 16:48

That's so cute. I love that. And that's so good for travel too. Is it like a rollerball, right? Yeah, so spray Oh, yeah, better. So you can just like walk through it. And it's just very, it's funny. I even said it's also Yeah, yeah, I can't wait. I can't wait to smell it next time I see you. I actually have a I have a perfume that I'm actually testing out now which I'll update everybody on if I like it to see if I can tolerate it. So far. I'm tolerating it, but I'll stay for

Katie: 17:15

another time. All right. One, it's really silly. But I'm obsessed with these things. I have bought three of them and I just have to share it with my Nirvana sisters family. For 480 and 85. on Amazon, you can get the coziest slippers that I do. Obsessed with these. Here we go. I love them. They're there. Okay, so they're by par lovable. They're the women's cross band slippers soft, plush, very cozy open toe shoe and faux rabbit fur. And I have bought two gray pairs. Like wore them kind of you know that I can still wear them but they're not as fluffy and soft. They lasted a long time now. And now I've got a nice beige. Yeah, I'm wearing two beiges and grays this year, which is very new for me. So this is a beige pair but at this price, you could buy all 12 colors and just rotate them. Yeah, I'm

Amy: 18:16

that that's

Katie: 18:18

the thing that I like them is that you slide your foot into them like a flip flop and they stay on your foot like a flip flop whereas like I've always had a hard time with slippers. I don't know like the round toe ones off and then the ones I have to actually put on and they're not that comfortable. These are great. Yeah.

Amy: 18:35

That's really funny. I have those I don't know if it's the same brand but I got them at some point. And I have a camo color and that just reminds me I'm like maybe I should get another pair and like keep them in in the yard of the house. So I don't have to always look for my slippers because I feel like I'm always losing them or the dogs have them so I love that and those are so cozy. Okay, the last thing is something that I was testing that I do not like so I wanted to share it with our interesting family. So this is a brand I'm sure you've seen it on Instagram. Be tayo I

Unknown: 19:10

haven't

Amy: 19:11

it's this brand Malema. You haven't seen this. And a Ely s and they have I really wanted to like it. They have all of these different products for like lifting and firming and this one specifically is called be tight lift and firm booty mask and it's supposedly supposed to give you a firmer looking booty. It's a best seller. It's clinically proven to reduce the appearance of cellulite and help visibly from the look of skin around the booty in the thighs. Now I don't know if it works or not and I'll tell you why I stopped using it. So first of all, I've seen it all over the place and like of course got influenced to buy it and then I had a friend who I spoke to who also has that she has a for her stomach. There's like a stomach one. And she said it had tightened her stomach and she can tell when she's not using it that It makes the difference and I'm like, awesome. So I tried it obviously for like the cellulite on my thighs. And it's essentially kind of like a mask. It's like a thick cream and you just put a lot on and rub it in and all of that. The thing with it is it burns, which I don't like. And it's supposed to be I mean, let me see if I can just pull up the ingredients really quickly. Okay, so in the ingredient list, it says it's free of parabens, SLS, phthalates. It has pink. I can't say this pink pepper slim, which helps smooth the look of fatty skin. It has hyaluronic acid, which we just talked about. It has Guarana seed extract, which wakes up tired skin. Those are like the main ingredients. And then if you click there's like a bunch of other ingredients. So when I was first reading this, I was like, Oh, it seems like it has a nice ingredients like whatever. But it does have this sensation on the skin and they tell you that that it has like a warming sensation. But I just think it's weird, did it so like did

Katie: 21:08

my comrades burned uncomfortably or just kind of like a tingle?

Amy: 21:13

Yeah. No, it burned uncomfortably for me. So I don't know. It could just be my skin is sensitive to it. But then I asked my friend, and she had used it on her stomach. And she said, yeah, it does burn a little bit. You just like power through and you get used to it. I'm like, okay, so I used it a couple more times. And I was just like, I don't know, I had it on. And then like, my legs were kind of like burning, and I was like, Okay, well, it's working. So that's good. And then I put on jeans. And I'm like this is kind of uncomfortable. I'm like, I don't want to do this. So I still have it. Maybe I'll try it again. But I'm kind of just not into it because it burns and it just feels it almost feels like an I know it's not this. But it feels a bit of a chemical burn when you put on something like that happened to me once I put on like Ben gay and I went in the shower, I didn't realize you're not supposed to get it wet and like burned. Like it had that feeling of burning. That's what this felt like to me. So I'm like, How can this be good for you? Just a little bit.

Katie: 22:04

It's interesting, but also like the timing in once you did it like you did it before you were gonna have to put jeans on and go somewhere. Maybe if you did it at night when you could like how long do you have to have it on?

Amy: 22:16

It's just it's almost like you use it as your moisture. So you don't take it off. Yet. You just use it. Why wouldn't you? So it's not like you put it on and take it off. Right? So I and I have done it with like Just Sweats before because same exact thing. And it burns for like, it's not like five minutes. It's like half an hour or so. And then it goes away, then it goes away. So maybe it gets better over time. I have to like research more and anyone in the audience if you've tried it, please DM us and let us know. I'm just curious, I'd love to survey because, you know, for a lot of people it's gotten really good results. But so you feel now the reviews are really good

Katie: 22:53

even get the chance to see if it's effective.

Amy: 22:56

I didn't really give it the full chance. I only I've only used it maybe five times because I was just like this is so uncomfortable. Like I don't want to deal but maybe for other people would be different. But anyway, so that was my non recommendation of a product. Don't fall for it. It burns and if you don't want to sit around feeling a body part burn, then I wouldn't probably recommend that.

Katie: 23:16

I like this don't that we're going to that you just added I think that I might be able to bring one with me next time too.

Amy: 23:24

Yeah, because I think in the past it's like well, we'll we just don't talk about the things that we don't like but I think it's good to throw in here are there things that we like strongly do not agree hands, right. So anyway,

Katie: 23:36

all right. We will leave our listener Yeah, that was a good fun October junkies episode and we will be back in November with the next one. Hope everybody has a good Halloween.

Amy: 23:49

Hi. 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.

Episode 76 - From Professional Burnout To Balance With Chelsea Mooney (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 76 .

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.

Unknown: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family, we are here with Chelsea Mooney, the founder of Touray collective. And we are very excited to speak with her today, she was inspired to start a lifestyle brands built with a few values which we hold near and dear to our heart as well. So the first one being planted and people of our profit always. Number two design intentionally with Mother Earth in mind. And number three, well being above all else. So that is super important to us, too. So we're excited to meet you excited to have you on the show and to hear about your background in fashion and how it kind of led you to where you are now. So welcome to the show, Chelsea.

Chelsea: 1:11

Thank you, Amy. And Katie, I'm so excited to be here. Okay, Chelsea,

Amy: 1:15

so we'd like to start out with our nirvana of the week, which is really just a highlight of our week, a way to step back and be like, This is what brought me joy this week. As we're moving through things so quickly these days. It's good to do that. So I'm gonna send it to Katie to let us tell us about her nirvana of the week.

Unknown: 1:33

I was thinking about this. We Okay, so this is really nice. My dear, dear, very dear friend, that was my old neighbor. When we lived in Kentucky, her and her daughter, who is my oldest daughter's best friend, they came for a visit. So they were just here this past week. And we had a really nice time we took them to the beach, and we, you know, swim in our pool. And we showed them around our town and just to see the two together. The girls, the young girls was so nice. And also this friendship with this person is so lovely. It's so easy. There's no pretense with just flows like, you know, we threw dinners together. She laughed at me because I chopped up a mozzarella stick Varsha cooter reward. It was just keep it simple with each other. And I really love that. So it was it was lovely to have them here. So that was my nirvana of the week. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 2:27

I love that. So mine was my kids were away all summer Chelsea, they were at summer camp. And they got home a couple of days ago. So it was obviously amazing to see them. And we didn't have a visiting day this year, because they didn't want you know, all these parents coming in and potentially bringing in anything. So we were able to talk to them on FaceTime a few times, but it's not like, you know, seeing them. So it was really fun to just see them and give them a big hug and like know, their home safe and sound. So it was amazing. What about you, Chelsea?

Chelsea: 2:58

So I have been developing a new candle vessel for next year. And I just got the sample in. I'll give you a little sneak peek but no RAS jar. It's gorgeous. Pretty. Yeah. So this, this will be something I've been working on for a couple of months. So I was really excited. What is the top half and look like? My logo?

Amy: 3:19

Oh, that's beautiful origin here. Oh, that's so fun.

Chelsea: 3:23

Yeah. So that was my, my highlight. I'm excited to I Love You know, when you sketch something, you have this idea. And then it is brought to life. It's just the most exciting thing.

Amy: 3:32

That's so cool. We'll have to talk to you about that Katie and I have been talking about for years doing some sort of candle collection. So I might not Yeah, brain in the future for sure. Okay, so let's get into it, Chelsea, because I know that you had mentioned the pandemic really served as a wake up call for you. And I'd love to hear a little bit about that story.

Chelsea: 3:51

Sure, yeah. So I've been in the fashion industry for over a decade. And, you know, there's this culture within the industry of this, this urgency and this, you know, it is I'm not gonna lie, it's a very exciting industry, but, you know, it's not as glamorous as a lot of people think it is and especially once a pandemic hit, you know, we're all working from home and there was just this this environment of nonstop work because you know, I was living outside of the city and commuting into it. So you have these breaks you know, in New York City, right? Yes, New York City. You know, so you have these breaks you have you know, your home time and then your work time when you're in the office but then once a pandemic everybody transition to work from home and just with the ones everybody realized that okay, this is not a two week closure like this is we don't know when this is going to end. Things just got really crazy. They, the company I was working for wanted to create all this new product and we had less time to do it because of all the supply chain issues. So There was all these factors coming into, that created this environment of, okay, I work from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed. I mean, there was for, I would say, a couple of straight months, like, I would not get up from my desk, like my husband would bring me lunch. I'm like, it was, it was crazy. But yeah, and then just, my, my body was just screaming at me. It's like, this is not, it just wasn't this healthy environment. And the pandemic really just kind of opened my eyes to that, because it just got to a point where it's like, okay, like this, just this is not a sustainable way of living or working. And, you know, it just, I think, seeing, seeing how, how leadership and my manager and the teams were handling issues like work life balance, and the lack thereof, kind of just opened my eyes where it's like, okay, that's not a priority for them. So like, how, how are we supposed to then make it a priority for ourselves when the people above you aren't? So it's just this whole big mess of things.

Unknown: 6:11

I think a lot of people definitely went through very similar experiences when the pandemic hit, and then working remotely. And then over time that becoming the norm. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people can relate to that. And I, to your point, that the fashion industry, I worked in IT for a decade, and it is not as glamorous as people think. And it's like, it can be downright, like crazy and sketchy. And people can be really intense in that industry. So I could see how you'd be working from like, 7am to 9pm, non stop with a lot of pressure. So yeah, so when did you decide to make the shift? And you You left the industry altogether to start your own company?

Chelsea: 6:55

No, so it's been a slow progression, but and it was all these little steps. So, you know, there got to a point where I was having panic attacks, you know, numerous times a week, and I, yeah, I have an anxiety disorder. I've been managing it since I was 19. But it got to the point where it's like, okay, like, I can't manage this anymore. Like, my, so I oversaw the whole knits department, the technical design side of the knits department for this company I was working with, so once the pandemic hit, everybody's wearing sweats and tees, and, you know, they, they launched this whole athleisure line. So, I've just, I remember this one conversation where I was telling her, I was like, we cannot keep working like this. And, and she said to me, she goes, Yeah, well, everybody feels that way. And that's what I was like, Okay. Like, like, like, that is not the correct answer. But suddenly, it was a slow progression that was kind of, you know, the, they were like, okay, like enough's enough. If you're not gonna, like, I'm giving my all to this company to this brand, I love what I do. I'm so passionate about it, I really do love it. And, but I started to realize like, okay, but like, you're not caring as much as I care. So I'm like, that's something I want to change. So that's kind of why I was like, Alright, I'm gonna take starting this business seriously. And it's no longer just for sustainability reasons. And for putting clean product out there, it's now about creating an environment where people can come to work and be proud of where they work for and, and be able to have work life balance, and, you know, just be happy and not have to deal with the shit that people in industry deal with.

Amy: 8:46

Many people, whether it's fashion industry, or other industries, working, especially well, probably in startups, obviously, and also in corporate America, because they think culture is everything. And you can have a profitable business and be successful, but your culture can be terrible, or it can be really good. And I think especially nowadays, definitely the younger generation is more. I think they're looking at companies that have values of work life balance, and remote working or hybrid working, because like, why would they settle completely when they see like other generations being burned out? And like, at one point, I feel like there was this and it still is this like hustle culture and like burnout, like you have to burn out in order to like, be successful and like, No, thanks.

Chelsea: 9:35

Yeah. 100% I mean, that I looked back on it so many times, because I'm like, why is it this way? And I think there's a lot of pressure in fashion because you have so many people trying to get into this very small industry and it's really hard to get into it. So when you get a job, they it's almost like you're afraid to not work. work as hard as you can, and as long as you can, because you're afraid you're gonna get replaced. Right. And then especially in the pandemic, there was also this guilt that was created within the company because we didn't get furloughed. And lots of other design companies and brands were their workers. Were being furloughed, left and right. And it was like, We were almost made to feel like, Oh, we're lucky because that's it happened to us. And I do feel very fortunate about that. But it was taken one step further to where it was like, like, you felt like you had to work non stop, like you had a job, right? Yeah, exactly. Right. And I'm like that that culture should have never been been fostered. Yeah.

Amy: 10:41

Yeah. It's crazy at our company. I was furloughed. And now back, but I actually, Katie, and I started this podcast when I was furloughed, because I had time to think and realize a lot of things that you're realizing like, you need to start paying attention more to yourself and like your own health and your own well being versus like working and not, you know, getting back another word. And

Unknown: 11:06

then there's so much that so yeah, but the burnout culture, too. There's like we see so much on social media, people saying like, if you haven't done XYZ, then you haven't hustled enough today. And I think that there has been a little bit of a shift in regards to social media, people trying to focus more on to this respect, which is good. You know, I hate that. Like, we're even referencing the fact but it's 2022. It's like, we are looking at Instagram, we are looking at Tik Tok, and it's there, it's around us constantly. So I like that this, this shift is kind of happening all around us. When was it that you started? Like, did when did this happen? Like 2021? Like we're at When did your journey kind of change?

Chelsea: 11:53

Yeah, to 2021. So last year, is when I was like, Okay, I'm like, I'm no longer putting my job above everything else. I was like, I'm gonna do the best that I can. And I'm still I'm going to do what I can, I'm going to manage my team, I'm gonna, you know, take care of that I'm not going to, I'm not going to do a bad job, because that's just not me. But what I did was, I started, you know, getting up from my desk and making myself lunch. And I started going to yoga at a small studio in my, in my town, and I just started doing things for me. And I, you know, set rules where I was like, I'm not going

to work before 8: 12:35

30am I'm not going to work past six. And I was like, if I didn't get something done before, then it did it. That's it. Like, I just wasn't going

Amy: 12:44

to do it. That's very hard to do. How did you

Chelsea: 12:47

get i Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's almost impossible. And it's, I think I was just so done. And I'm like, I'm like, I'm not making it. This is gonna sound really bad. But I'm making these rich white men all these money. It's like, I why, why am I like, why am I having panic attacks for them? Right? Like, people. People aren't walking around the streets naked, like they have clothes. Getting this tech pack out, right? It's not doing

Unknown: 13:17

exactly, yeah, it's like, it's this.

Chelsea: 13:19

It's this this culture that, like, everything's urgent. Like I'm making T shirts for $20. Yeah, like, I'm not making vaccines. So I just did us, okay, no more,

Unknown: 13:31

and you set these boundaries, and you put up parameters that you're gonna put yourself first and take care of yourself. And so what did that do for you?

Chelsea: 13:42

So much, I will in the pandemic, I'd gained like 25 pounds. Just because I wasn't eating right. I wasn't exercising, I wasn't doing anything. And, you know, my husband and I were drinking beer every night. And we just it was like, Oh, wait, it was like, you know, like the first two weeks? It's like, oh, it's a vacation and that lasted a month another month.

Amy: 14:02

So every night you're like, why?

Chelsea: 14:06

I know like we're supporting the local business by like filling up our growlers. But, um, yeah, so I just, I was like, okay, I can no longer I'm like, this is just not good for me and, and that also just goes to the anxiety. It's like, alcohol does not help anxiety, it's actually a depressant. So like, that's making it worse. The food I'm eating is crap. So like, that's also not helping. I'm just not fueling my body. So when I made the decision to be a little more conscious about that, and then actually move, like when I found yoga that just, that is really where my mindset journey started. Because I just felt so grounded and you know, yoga, what I was doing, it was beginner yoga, so it wasn't like anything intense and I would just, it was like an hour for myself. And then the shavasana at the end of it is like That's kind of like, oh my god, I love this, like just laying here, not thinking about anything. Like I make these meditation I'm so I bring my eye mask, and I'm just like, oh my god, I'm like, This is what I need to do for myself. And it was just, I noticed after a couple months, I'm like, just personally, I feel more relaxed and more calm. And I think yeah, I don't know, I just I honestly feel like there has just been like a whole mindset shift, where I just feel better.

Unknown: 15:29

That's amazing.

Amy: 15:30

And when you made a question when you made those boundaries for yourself, like not going to work before, after this time? Did anything change at work? Or was it still the same? No, it was the same, right? Isn't that funny? Like, oh my god, the world's gonna like, fall apart. If I'm not working at seven in the morning. And PS you made boundaries for yourself. And you're like, oh, actually, yeah, fine. Yeah, I've done similar things. And it's like, yeah, everything still happens. So point, it was probably

Chelsea: 15:55

actually better, because then I was so focused on what I had to get done that day, in that timeframe so that I could relax after six. And it's right. It's my it's like that.

Amy: 16:07

You know, work. Work smarter.

Unknown: 16:09

Not harder. Yeah.

Chelsea: 16:10

Something? Uh huh. Yeah, my assistant used to say that as so funny. But, yeah.

Unknown: 16:17

So do you have a meditation practice as well? Or is it do you at the is it the Shavasana? At the end that you kind of take that moment?

Chelsea: 16:26

Yeah, mostly, mostly Shavasana. I've tried a few guided meditations. But I'm very particular. And I think what I've realized is that I really just like laying in silence, or like, I'll put on sound bath music or something like that, and just lay for 30 minutes or whatever, just collect myself and have a minute to myself. I don't have kids yet, but I have a very chatty husband. So the silence is great. I normally do before he wakes up, but I'm like, Okay, I'm ready for the day. That's great.

Amy: 17:03

That's funny. So you had also mentioned like, just general mindset work that you do through yoga, but was there any books or podcasts that you read or listened to? That really helps with that? Yeah,

Chelsea: 17:15

yeah. So I am a huge, huge fan of Rachael Rogers. I don't know if you've heard of her, but she haven't. Oh, my God, you have to look her up. She's amazing. But she so I started I found her podcast on Spotify. Probably a year or so though. It's called the Hello seven podcast. And it's it's a business podcast. But the way she talks about mindset in business, and specifically like money, mindset, and boundaries, and all this stuff, I started listening to her podcast, and then she released a book. So I read it, I pre ordered her book, I read it, and I think I've listened to the audiobook, like three times. Oh, wow. Yeah, she's amazing. I also really love cinerea. Madani, she teaches the CEO school. And she she does a lot of like mindset. She teaches just overall in business, but she teaches a lot of like, mindset work as well.

Unknown: 18:10

I'm excited to check these out. Yeah, they're

Amy: 18:13

able to you actually, you don't hear a lot of mindset in business conversations. It's really about just mindset in general, which is helpful. And yeah, you know, useful, but then you're like, Well, how does that apply to my daily business? Like, how do you fix others? How do you lead that way? So I'm very interested in hearing that. That's cool.

Chelsea: 18:32

Yeah, yeah. Let me know what you think when you check it out. But they are. They're amazing.

Unknown: 18:36

Speaking of business, awesome. So you have started this gorgeous, gorgeous candle collection. And I need to like, I need to buy some because I want to smell them. You say it's tear. How do you say it? Because I'm afraid I'm going to say the entire array array array.

Chelsea: 18:56

Array. Yeah. So

Unknown: 18:57

tell us all about to array collective because your product really is beautiful.

Chelsea: 19:01

Oh, thanks. Yeah. So to array you know, just kind of continuing on from my meditation journey and just finding that, that well being and self care practice. Like I said, I started getting into yoga, and then I was like, I want to make these meditation imass. So like, enhance, you know, enhance my practice. And so I started, I love silk. I've always loved silk. And I'm a natural dye artist. So I work with tie dyes, and I only use botanical dyes, so no synthetic dyes or anything like that. So I started making these eye masks and then you know, I'm also a little woowoo so I was like, Oh, how can I incorporate like crystals and all this stuff. So I started making I started filling them with different crystal blends and herbs like I have one that has lavender in it. I have one that has sage in it. So I started making those for my practice and then if you go to a yoga studio. It smells like Palo Santo and sage and you have that, that environment there in the studio. But then when I was working from home, I was like, you know, I'm kind of missing that aromatherapy aspect of it. And I've always loved candles. But once you start learning about what's in them, I'm like, Okay, I don't really want to burn that in my home. So I started, I just bought a wax melter and just started creating these scents that corresponded with the IMS scents, and just making this whole set and just creating this whole environment. And then, you know, during the pandemic, we're all in our home. So I just literally just started making tons of candles that I just became obsessed, and, you know, they're all they're all made in either metal or brass soon to be, or stone jars. They're all soy wax. All the fragrance oils are fairly free. So there's no plasticizers in them or anything. And then all the wicks are FSC certified wooden wicks, that's, I love

Unknown: 21:01

your wick. I have found a candle that I have found locally. That is the same thing and it makes it crackle does yours crackle when it burns a little bit a little bit of a mouthful. I

Chelsea: 21:13

love that. Yeah, a little bit. Yeah, yeah. No, I just love the the look of it. And then yeah, the crackle is like a little bit of a bonus. But

Amy: 21:23

it was that kind of wick better than a like, what's the difference? I don't know this between. I've seen those wicks. I don't know the difference between that wick and just like the regular. Yeah,

Chelsea: 21:32

it's a slower burn. So your candle lasts longer. And also there are some I mean, I'm sure I could source them that a lot of cotton wicks will have like either plastic in the hour, you know, you never know. So like, these are just straight wood. Oh, interesting. It's just easier

Unknown: 21:49

for me. It sounds like like a wood burning fireplace aiming. Like if you can kind of hear it. Yeah, it's really it's I love that. Yeah.

Chelsea: 21:56

Yeah. What are some thoughts about the vibe? Totally? Yeah.

Unknown: 22:00

What are some of the setups that you have?

Chelsea: 22:02

So my favorite is a palo santo sage and patchouli. It's very earthy, very, like grounding. And then we also have a coconut some tall and food, which is really great. We also have our haze Lux candle is burning oak and cedar and rosemary. So that's more of like your masculine scent. But yeah, we have. I mean, I think we have 16 different scents right now. Oh,

Amy: 22:33

my God, they sound incredible.

Unknown: 22:34

Now, thank you. And you have Chris Yes. And the the wax as well what happens to the crystals as it as it starts to burn down.

Chelsea: 22:43

So when you light it there, typically when you burn a candle, you'll get like maybe half inch of melted wax at the top. So when it melts, the crystals and the herbs will sink down. But as the candles lit, you can see them in the wax because the wax is translucent when it's heated. And then at the end, once your candle is finished, because it's soy wax, it's really easy to clean out. So you just pour some hot water in there, it'll turn the remaining wax into an oil. And then you can either save the chips if you want to. You can reuse the vessel. But yeah, for me, it's all about that. Just sort of that feeling like you know, a lot of us there's people that say that crystals have healing powers. For me, it's more about the intention and the the vibe behind it because I don't know if there's actually here healing properties. Maybe there is maybe there's that but for me, I think they're beautiful. And they make me feel relaxed and calm. And so yeah, that's that's kind of the intention behind them.

Unknown: 23:47

I love it. I can't tell you how many people that we've talked to about crystals and they all use the word woowoo. Like every

Chelsea: 23:54

I think it's an LA every person

Unknown: 23:58

we talked to that says crystal like I'm a little woowoo every single day I

Amy: 24:03

don't want to get woowoo or like so how do people so on your websites are a collective.com is where you have these candles and you sell the eyemask still and what else do you sell?

Chelsea: 24:19

Yeah, so right now it's the candles and the eye masks. We will be going into some other home accessories next year and then by 2024 I want to launch a lounge line. So it'll be this whole experience you get in your silk kaftan. You go light your candle you lay down you meditate. So I want to create this whole this whole experiential brand

Unknown: 24:46

and love it and love Yeah, I can't wait to

Amy: 24:49

So when did you did you? Did you start the business like a year ago you said yeah, I'm just so what's the end? Are you still at this company or you left that No, I

Chelsea: 25:00

left the company. Yeah, I

Amy: 25:01

left that night I moved to Cal. And how was that? I kind of want to hear about that for a second.

Chelsea: 25:06

Um, it was, it was, it was great for me. I think it was, you know, I

Amy: 25:14

felt so free. It was.

Chelsea: 25:15

Yeah, I mean, it was that time I had been there for four years. And I like to equate it to a bad breakup. Because when I first got there, when I first started, I was like, This is my place. This is where I'm going to work till I retire. The people that I worked with, I mean, I'm still very close to them to this day, like we're still friends. But once once everything kind of flipped, and turned sour, and, and I'm not, you know, I'm not gonna say it was all the company, it was all the culture like, like, that was part of it. But it was also me just waking up and be like, I'm not okay with this anymore. Right? I'm like, this is not, this is not what I want anymore. So it was almost like that mutual like, Okay, it's time to split ways. So it was tough. And I don't get to see the people that I spent four years with anymore, all the time. But you know, they're doing just fine without me.

Amy: 26:13

I'm telling you might feel so like rejuvenated, running your own business, in your own calls and doing it the way you want to do it. And that's

Chelsea: 26:21

the thing. You know, I this year has been like the year of reflection for me, and I look back and I realized that I've always wanted to start a company, I've always had this entrepreneurial spirit. When I was in school, I went to MIT. And I got my Associates in design. And then I had signed up to do my bachelor's in entrepreneurship. But I ended up getting a job offer so I took the job offer instead. So I didn't you know, I only finished with my associates. I didn't go on for the bachelors. But it's always been in me, I've always wanted this and I think that I just, I don't know, like, I also love nature. So when I started learning how, how gross and dirty the fashion industry is, in terms of just like just the, the materials, that's you everything, there's so much shit going on there. I was like literally sick to my stomach, I'm like, okay, like, I can't be a part of this anymore. And then so this way I get to create product because you know, consumerism is never going to stop, people are always gonna be buying things. So I'm like, at least this way, I know that what I'm making is being done in a responsible, healthy and respectful way. And you know, as a company grows, I aim to create a culture that is beneficial to the people that work for it. And you know, just just create this place where people can can grow and develop and we'll have some we'll have four day work weeks and, and maybe have a European model where we get like a month off in the summer. You know, there's just like, I just want people to be happy. I think that's like why why do something that doesn't make you happy that I mean

Unknown: 28:03

good on you for creating that and like the bigger picture you first you're doing this small piece getting it started as a start up. It's it's filling your soul. But now as you expand you, you want to provide a safe, happy, healthy culture work environment. For others. It's just very cool. It's very cool for full circle thing that we can't wait to watch and see Jay. So congratulations. Thank you. So I think we should get into our rap session because I am curious about these questions with yo so Amy want to kick it off? Yes,

Amy: 28:40

sure. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Chelsea: 28:45

Sleep and water?

Unknown: 28:47

Those are two

Chelsea: 28:49

I'm all for naps. I love a good 45 minute nap.

Unknown: 28:53

You know it's funny I just saw this is so random. But Bethenny Frankel who by the way is like a major entrepreneur. Right? incredibly successful. Yeah, people somebody was asking her like, What's her number one thing and she said she prioritizes sleep above everything else. Like that's it like you get a good night's sleep and you get all the sleep you need. Everything else falls into place. I think that's very true. Yeah. All right. So now

Amy: 29:16

if you guys ever see her on tick tock, she's amazing. Yes, she does. Product Reviews websites. She's so good. She like does reviews of all the drugstore brands and she tells you like you know on the expensive one what's worth it? What's not drugstore, she's great. Anyway.

Chelsea: 29:31

Check her out. Yeah, she's funny. I liked her.

Unknown: 29:34

This next one we call it our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower. Uber's pinged you there five minutes away. What are you going to do to quickly get it together and get in that Uber on time? What are your holy grails you

Chelsea: 29:45

go to use sunscreen because I'm very pale living in Southern California. Deodorant again because it's very hot. And then jeans and a T and flip

Unknown: 29:56

flops. Nice and you're ready to rock? Yeah, love it.

Chelsea: 30:00

because then I'm good to go.

Amy: 30:02

And lastly, how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Chelsea: 30:05

My 30 minutes before my husband gets up, most of my dogs are still sleeping. And I take that that 2025 minute quiet meditation time to just ground myself for the day.

Unknown: 30:18

Yeah, but the time is so important. Well, Chelsea, thank you so much. It was such a pleasure to meet you. And we're so excited for you and excited to follow your journey and we love your product and everything you're putting out in the world. So thanks for being on the show. Before we go, Amy, you want to wrap with a mantra or a quote for us today?

Amy: 30:38

Yes, so I think this one matches our conversation perfectly and it is this chapter of my life is called knowing my worth and acting accordingly.

Unknown: 30:49

Oh, I like that. Yeah.

Amy: 30:51

So nice to meet you Chelsea. And thank you so much for sharing your story so important you

Chelsea: 30:55

thank you so much. This was awesome. This was so much fun

Amy: 30:58

everyone check out Terry collective and follow on Instagram. They have beautiful, beautiful stuff. Thank you. 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.

Episode 74 - Eating For Mental Health - How To Fuel Your Brain With Natasha Coughlin, Part 1 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 74.

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.

Katie Chandler: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation Welcome to the show Nirvana sisters family. This week we are very excited to introduce Natasha Coghlan. Natasha is an integrative and functional dietician, nutritionist and holistic health coach. She received her Master's of Science and Human Nutrition degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She's completed her master's thesis work at Weill Cornell comprehensive metabolic weight control center. And she worked with many clients ranging from endocrine issues, diabetes, prediabetes, PCOS, thyroid disease, and so on. Although Natasha is classically trained dietician, her personal and professional interests have always been in the field of functional and integrative medicine. She's received a certification of holistic health coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and a certification through the creative and functional nutrition Academy. Her interest is in health promoting cooking. And it's brought her to the natural gourmet Institute in New York City, which is all very interesting, I want to hear about that. And, again, we're she's trained in allergen free diets. And today, we're gonna be discussing a lot of topics, one of which is eating for mental health. So these are all really interesting topics. So welcome to the show, Natasha. Thank you. Thank you, Katie. It's good to see you. It's nice to meet you, Amy. And Bill, nice to meet you. Yeah, have you on your background is really

Amy: 1:59

vast and exciting. And we haven't had anyone like you on the show. So we're so excited to get into it and hear all about your wisdom. Yeah.

Natasha Coughlin: 2:08

Thank you. Thank you. It's really good to be here. Yeah, I've, you know, I spent several years in school. And this is as a mom of three. So this is kind of my, I guess, second third career really after being a stay at home mom. So I've started my practice in 2019. So this kind of kind of recent doing this, but really studying health and nutrition has been a lifelong journey. And I think as so many functional medicine practitioners are kind of come to it from a personal place where I was struggling with my own issues, digestive mostly, kind of that feeling of never feeling well, and not finding any answers and answers from conventional doctors. So that brought me to, you know, looking for answers. And then my son's diagnosis with autism was definitely the impetus for just doing a lot of research. And you know, then finally getting my formal education and starting my own practice, and now, helping people with variety of different conditions, which I enjoy and love, and certainly getting that, you know, oh my God, no one has ever told me this before. Like, I feel so much better. So that's super, super

Katie Chandler: 3:16

rewarding. It's amazing. Alright, well, before we get into all of our questions, we have a lot for you. Let's kick it off with our nirvana of the week. So Amy, do you want to start us off with what your Nirvana was this week?

Amy: 3:27

Yeah. So I would say and this is probably a lot of people's nirvana. Over the last few weeks, my kids started school this week, which has been really nice to just get back into the routine routine. I feel like summer flew by and I wasn't quite ready for back to school, but I'm starting to ease into it. I'm just not used to the new schedule, even though we just had it a couple of months ago. It just feels like summer was long, but summer was short. So I'm excited for them to get back to school and get on a routine and just stick it back into their back into the swing of things. So that was definitely nirvana for me this week. What about UK?

Katie Chandler: 4:03

I think I had a couple of buddies. We had a party on Saturday, it was kind of like the Labor Day weekend party, if you will. And we just had some friends over and it was probably one. As Amy knows, I've mentioned this a few times that we did a lot of hosting this summer. It was probably one of the times that I hosted that I just like really let loose and didn't care and had a good time. I wasn't so good. You actually yeah, it wasn't so crazy about all the hosting duties and just kind of let loose and have fun. So that was really nice. And the kids had a great time. It was gorgeous. Yeah, what about unit Tasha?

Natasha Coughlin: 4:36

Well, I'm thinking of just yesterday morning, I came downstairs to pack my sixth grader for school. And she was already downstairs unloading the dishwasher. Like oh, I was like, are you okay? Do you want just make yourself breakfast and stuff I might come down and you know, pack your lunch but you look like you're all set. You know, it's still early. So I think I literally went back upstairs and you know, read a book for a little bit and then Add or some, you know, that was, you know, that was kind of fun. I was like, Okay, this is something new and new and different and and then last week I went to Vermont with my son, which was I just can't not mention that because we went swimming in this beautiful, what you're sort of waterhole with a waterfall and then we had the most delicious maple roast chicken at like a local diner minimally so. So seeing huge smile on his face, just kind of, and he's, you know, he's my guy with autism. So, as a mom, you're only as happy as your most miserable child. So he was smiling. I was happy. So definitely, definitely in Nirvana right there.

Katie Chandler: 5:37

So nice. It wasn't just the two of you that went to Vermont together.

Natasha Coughlin: 5:41

It was just the two of us. Me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,

Amy: 5:43

that's, that's special of that

Katie Chandler: 5:45

time together. All right, well, let's dive into it. Because we have a lot to cover, I think the best place to start is to help us better understand this overarching kind of theme, I guess, that you have of eating for mental health, because this feels like a new approach that not a lot of people have maybe thought about. And I understand the respect of, you know, you're a well balanced meal, and it's filled with nutrients and vitamins and things. But it can seem like a big mountain to climb to really achieve that. So how how do you address that with your clients? And what does all of that mean to you?

Natasha Coughlin: 6:22

Well, I think when I was, you know, kind of preparing for this conversation, I thought of, you know, what are the messages that I want to put out. And the big thing that I just sort of kept coming back to is, you know, we need to demystify what mental health is, because I think the whole concept of the human mind that is so complex, and so dependent on what the outside world is putting out, right, or the chaos, the you know, con me political situation, you know, what the boss is doing, thinking, et cetera, we kind of have to, I think, get away from that a little bit and look inward. And I feel like a lot of times, mental health issues are more of a result of like, not what's happening around us, but what's kind of happening on the inside. And I think the whole concept of you know, the human mind sort of lives in the physical body, right, the human mind resides in the human brain. So we have to remember that, that the brain is, you know, it is part of our physical health. So we need to sort of think of it in the same way we think of supporting heart health, immune health, etc. So really making sure that we are providing the brain with what it needs, and you know, with the right conditions, and not sabotaging it, by doing certain things that are interfering it from being well, because ultimately, the body really does want to be well. And I really believe that, right, that whole concept of homeostasis, where everything has to work together just right. And, you know, when when something is, has gone awry in the body, the body really wants to get back to the place of health and healing, we just have to provide the right condition. So I think where I'm going with that is, you know, fuel just making sure as you were saying, Katie, the brain needs the fuel right? The brain needs that protein to make the neurotransmitters which are the chemical messengers that kind of sent the messages between the nerve cells back and forth and also between the nerve cells and the rest of the body, right? I mean, that's how we move our arm or, you know, whatever we do, it comes from that signal. So neurotransmitters, neurotransmitters do that. And they're proteins they're made from proteins or from amino acids, which are the components of protein that we eat so we have to make sure we eat enough of course you know I'm sure there's a lot of talk about protein just from other you know, for maintaining lean muscle mass and for you know, for healthy aging etc. But just on the most basic sort of brain level is we need adequate protein to make sure we can make those neurotransmitters and then things like healthy fats right omega threes everyone is talking about you know, your salmon and sardines and things like that brain is mostly fat, it's you know, 60 65% fat so we have to make sure what that we're getting those omega threes whether from eating those healthy foods or from supplements and a lot of times I mean honestly with my clients it is very difficult with especially with pollution by we're all hearing that fish is kind of contaminated so it's hard to get all the Omega threes that we need from fish. So I do supplement across the board from you know, children to certainly into you know, the older years and you know, with slightly different composition of the DHA and the EPA, which is a to name fatty acids, you know, in the the mega threes. So, that's really you know, that's, that's really kind of a big one, you know, and then of course, everyone Have other vitamins and minerals, which mostly come from all our plant foods. So you kind of need those, you know, you need the protein and fat for those main sort of macronutrients. And then you have to fill in everything else with fruits and vegetables, and, you know, all those all those things that come from, you know, mostly from plant foods. So I think that's really, yes, you know, brain is complicated, you know, feelings, thoughts, etc. But we really need to support the physical health aspect of

Amy: 10:29

it. I was going to ask about, so from a protein standpoint, you mentioned, that's my thing that correctly omega three fats? Yeah, I guess three fats, and what is the best kind of protein? So I just generally speaking, like,

Natasha Coughlin: 10:46

Well, I'm a big proponent of just, you know, variety, I feel like we really need to be a variety of different foods. And, you know, my clients hear me say about, you know, rotation and kind of making sure that you, and I think I know, you guys, you know, this will probably come up in the conversation somewhere, you know, when meal planning are usually planned for a different protein, you know, for dinner every night. So it will be you know, chicken, fish, Turkey, you know, red meat, maybe once a week, something like that. So, Amy, as you were saying, you know, something like chicken breast, yes, it has plenty of protein, it has some other vitamins and minerals, but it may not have the same as, you know, chicken thighs, which is dark meat, you know, we might have something different in that, you know, more collagen, which again, is kind of needed for, you know, immune health, skin health, certainly brain health as well. So I think the best way to go is to vary your sources, and, you know, eat kind of the whole animal. I love roast chicken, like organic roast chicken from Whole Foods, definitely, you know, at least once a week, it's easy. It's somehow it seems inexpensive. Now, actually, when you think about that whole chicken for $12. And like, I can't even buy a pack of organic chicken breasts for $12. Now, so. So yeah, so something like that. And then I would actually use the bones to make stock in my Insta pot. So that's that, then you get the minerals from the bones, and you get the college and all of that, especially as we're going into the winter months, and I do like animal protein, I'm not a, you know, I am sort of an advocate for the plant forward plant heavy kind of style of eating, but I'm, you know, not vegetarian, and I did not, you know, advocate for being, you know, purely plant based, because I think, you know, animal protein is important, it's very biologically kind of active and available to us. So that's, you know, that's kind of what I do. And that's, that's what I would recommend. So really big, you know, varying your sources. And as far as fish, you know, something more fatty like salmon, and especially if it's wild, right, wild caught is better than farmed. And much better, I should say, I wouldn't even do farmed salmon, really. So. But you know, fish can be hard. You know, with the kids, it's hard to kind of get it in all that much. But a couple of times a week is great. And then all the other times it can be you know, other sources? And I certainly do I completely Meatless meals, like a crispy tofu, or something like that as a sort of a once a week option. So I would say that's, that's kind of what I recommend and do with my family. And

Amy: 13:22

yeah, I was gonna say to it's hard to get a lot of protein. If you're more plant forward, I find to get enough protein in if you're not eating fish, or chicken or something else.

Natasha Coughlin: 13:34

Yeah. Right. And that's where that's where I see even kind of circling back to mental health. There's research that suggests that there is more anxiety and depression in vegetarians, because they don't get enough protein. Because a lot of times unless you're working with someone who's really creating a meal plan for you, or even cooking for you, it is difficult to really get everything you need. As a vegetarian and certainly vegan. I mean, being vegan would be really hard to get all the nutrients

Katie Chandler: 14:04

we I've I've tried a vegan diet for a very brief period of time, and I had to work with a nutritionist to try to make sure I was getting everything out. And it was it was not easy. So you you had mentioned your son has autism. And do you imagine apply the same aspects for his diet? As Do you feel that food can help with things like autism, ADHD? Like you said, Yes, you agree to anxiety and depression, everything. So across the

Natasha Coughlin: 14:36

board, I'm shaking my head as you can see, yeah, yes.

Katie Chandler: 14:40

What do you suggest or recommend for parents with children? You know, my daughter has ADHD and we've thought about trying to tweak her diet and everything to improve that. And actually her pediatrician, I was shocked, advised me against it. And let me I'll tell you exactly why he said really so because you The result that it would yield is nominal in comparison to the stress that I would put my child under by like restricting her and things like that, and maybe it would cause food issues. And, and, you know, I mean, I am British is I can understand that but I was a little I was a little surprised by by his stance on that. So what is your opinion?

Natasha Coughlin: 15:24

Well, I think a lot of times, you know, when people don't understand something or don't, you know, don't practice something, they they're much more likely to dismiss it and say this is too. I mean, just a quick example, I went to a talk by a surgeon of gastrointestinal surgeon who was talking about reflux, right, treating reflux. And to me, like, this is something I do every day we do it with diet and certain, you know, lifestyle modifications. Well, this person was saying, okay, medications, then diet, oh, no, no one wants to do that, okay, surgery, we have this really great, you know, and that was sitting there just, you know, in my jaw completely dropped. I was like, really, like, we go to surgery that quickly and completely dismissing what diet can do for something like reflux. So, you know, I'm kind of not surprised. I mean, it's unfortunate, you know, a lot of times people who have gone through medical school, you know, 2025 years ago, they did not get any hours of nutrition instruction, I mean, they kind of do now a little bit like 20 accurate about 20 hours of nutrition and four years in medical school. So that's certainly not something that doctors now but I, again, from my perspective, thinking of, you know, the brain and the body and how they're connected, you know, changing the fuel definitely changes the way the brain works. So, you know, giving it the right fuel and taking away those things that are, you know, we know that there are things that are excitatory for the brain and there are things that are inhibitory for the brain. And all those things come from the food that we eat. So I absolutely believe that you can you know, you can influence the the you can influence behavior through changing the fuel that we take in and how we you know, how we fuel our bodies. So, yeah, just to answer your I guess, the first part of your question, I mean, with my son you know, he eats a very plant heavy diet with you know, organic, grass fed animal protein, lots of fats, you know, coconut oil out like I'm a huge fan of olive oil and mega threes, both fish and supplements. Yeah, so very limited grains very limited processed foods, and that's sort of how he grew up and you were saying, you know, creating issues I have two other kids they you know, they're great eaters, I mean, they they don't have any issues with you know, we don't have soda in the house. So like we don't really have you know, cookies and this and that and that I mean, I do have cookies that you know, I tell my girls like okay, it's every couple of days or you know, don't make it a habit it's not really something that the body needs, you know, the body needs that all the stuff that's in the you know, the vegetable drawer in the fridge, or like in the fruit bowl and the calendar the body needs those and the body doesn't need the you know, the cookies and all the processed stuff but you know, all being said I have a little bit of those of course because sometimes you need convenience. And I don't find that you know, that can create any kind of issues unless you know, you become very restrictive and I think the best way to get kids interested in food is definitely by you know, giving them a chance to cook you know, to cook with you when kind of chop things and I always ask kids what they want you know, even though I really have a plan I mean I meal plan so it's not it's a bit of it, but an illusion, but I still ask them what they chicken or shrimp you know, I have both because I you know, I shopped for, you know, three or four days so, do you think you know eating kind of is close to all you know, the real foods that don't come out of the box is what can ultimately you know, make our behavior better and sort of prevent the you know, prevent the highs and lows and all those things.

Katie Chandler: 19:10

You say this is what the body needs, the body needs this the body doesn't need this it's a great way to say it to your child to better help them understand we need this to grow and to be big and strong. This is not going to do that for us. So I'm gonna have to start using that trick because all my kids went or like salty processed snacks when they ran home from school and I'm trying to like here have the have the fruit and have cheese and or the smoothie and you know, so it's definitely a transition that has to go on in this house.

Amy: 19:42

Yeah, I also think the the food as fuel is a good way to frame it too because they can envision like the fuel in your car or your cell phone fuel battery, like you got to charge up that battery versus like but yeah, I mean, I have teenage boys I mean, I'm not was 13 and almost 16. And it's very difficult to balance like last night for example, I made meatballs out of bison meat, which is good organic, but then I put it on pasta because I'm like, What am I? You know, it's either rice or pasta or like what else do I put it with to make it like a meal. So I always also find it hard to cook especially for boys where like they need like food do like you have to be really really creative. Like I'm like I'm not even sure what else I would give them besides rice or pasta with that even though that's not great, because it's grains.

Natasha Coughlin: 20:32

Right? Well I'm just because you mentioned the balls, what I do in my house for and you said you need volume, great veggies into your meatballs. So especially for something that's a little like dry you're like bison, greats and zucchini, carrots, like finely chopped mushrooms and just mix that with your you know, with your ground beef that actually makes you know makes volume but it just makes that meat so much juicy and make the meatballs or like sometimes it just like shaved them into like burger, you know, burger shapes, you get you get some of the vegetables right in with that. And you know what I do, I usually kind of, you know, I plan for a protein and then two vegetables. So I've been even with something like rice, we've been making a lot of fried rice like a veggie fried rice and I'm not you know, I'm not doing the whole like song and dance with the egg and all the steps. I mean just sotae all the finely chopped veggies. And then you know cooked rice that's a little you know, cooled a little and you just kind of mix it with that. And so you have your veggie rice to serve with the veggie, you know, turkey meatballs, or the veggie bison, bison meatball meatball. So you have, you know, you kind of have the best of both worlds there. And, you know, potatoes, sweet potatoes, like what kinds of roast you know, roasted veggies. I'm a big fan of, and always always something great. Like I tell my kids you know, green beans, broccoli, asparagus, you know, some kind of a green veggie, I have a lot of green beans in my garden right now. So I've been actually it's been super exciting.

Amy: 22:09

That's good. Yeah, my kids do eat green beans. So that's just me serving more.

Katie Chandler: 22:14

Well, this next bit is a little bit personal for me, because it's regarding paleo and you were just the you know, talking about veggie forward and in protein and not a lot of grains and everything. And that's very much a paleo as and I don't know, how you feel about the defined labeled diets as such. But I have just found it's easy for me with my autoimmune conditions to kind of keep inflammation down by following a, you know, like, a paleo heavy diet. And it really does make a massive difference. And it's funny because I go through these phases, when they go, I can eat all the carbs and whatever I want. And it doesn't bother me. And then I sit back and I realize, Oh, of course this is this is why I felt horrible that day, you know, so when I'm better about it, when I'm really diligent, it makes a huge difference. So is is do you do the Paleo diet with your clients? Or how do you feel about it?

Natasha Coughlin: 23:08

I do. I mean, yeah, for autoimmune disease. I mean, there's there's several different things, you know, it's kind of an AIP protocol, right, the autoimmune protocol, which is sort of your paleo but excludes eggs. So there's a little bit of trial and error and all the diets again, like I don't like to sort of subscribe to one thing. Because we again, we understand that grains can be inflammatory, they activate part of the immune system. And anytime there's immune system activation, that's inflammation, right? That's what that's, you know, what can create inflammation. So, with that, certainly with someone who has a diagnosis, definitely, that's for me, that's kind of a low hanging fruit, like, that's what we go with, you know, no grains, no legumes. And, you know, a lot of times we get good results for sure. I mean, sometimes you have to do the no eggs. I usually tried to do some kind of a elimination diet even further, just based on testing of, you know, food sensitivities. But but it definitely, you know, that's that's sort of what's documented. I mean, there isn't that much formal research, but anything that we're kind of seeing out there in literature is pointing out that, you know, Paleo style diet is helpful for autoimmune conditions and can not only treat them but also, you know, reverse them because as you know, conventional medicine doesn't believe in cure for autoimmunity. It's sort of one of those, you know, we're not sure why it happens, you know, your immune system attacks self. I remember I put something I posted something on Instagram about the, you know, the development of autoimmune disease and a lot of people were surprised that, you know, one of the conditions that are necessary for the development of autoimmunity is the leaky gut or the hyper permeability of the digestive tract, which again, to me, no matter what kind of condition a client comes to me with, we always look at Got, except, you know, I think I had one client where she was like, my digestion is great. And, you know, I go, you know, I'm super ideal and I was like, Okay, you're kind of a unicorn. So I am just gonna, you know, do other things. But in most cases, we'll look at gut health. And I really do believe that you know, all disease begins in the gut. So I think paleo diet works for auto immunity, because it is helping to kind of tamper down that inflammation and heal the leaky gut, which is normally the underlying sort of condition of why the autoimmune disease develops.

Amy: 25:34

I have a question about AI, get migraines, but vestibular migraines, and I'm wondering if any foods would be helpful for that? Because I don't know if that's related to the gut at all, or if it's more, I mean, it's more nerve related, I guess, but I'm just curious on your thoughts around something like that, like headaches, migraines, vestibular dizziness, vertigo type things?

Natasha Coughlin: 26:03

Yeah. Yes, headaches and migraines are kind of, you know, they're tricky because they seem so kind of removed from they certainly seem removed from the gut, right? That's kind of like what we call extra intestinal symptoms of something that might be going on in the gut. So I would I definitely look at gut health with anybody with headaches and migraines. And just just a couple of days ago, actually, I have a client with migraines, like three times a week, you know, debilitating. We've been working together for several months. And it was mostly on kind of taking things out of her diet, you know, really I mean, she's, she's sort of playing the detective and, and making sense of things for her, you know, scientifically. So we've been taking things out and you know, we started with any sources of glutamate, which is an excess, sort of, it's an amino acid that's excitatory. So a lot of times people with migraines and you know, migraine headaches are sensitive to glutamate in the diet. So MSG, certainly like you know, and Chinese food, processed foods, those would be an issue. A lot of some mushrooms a heightened glutamate walnuts behind glutamate, there's some you know, there's some foods that are high and glutamate that we kind of started to, you know, take out one by one that helped that sort of went down to, you know, one migraine every seven days. And then we started working on histamine, which again, is is you know, as an immune system reaction, right. And it's something that is also related to leaky gut. Interestingly enough, histamine sensitivity usually results when someone has that hyper permeability of their, you know, in the digestive tract lining. So we started working on, you know, reduction of histamine. And, you know, last I spoke with her, she said, 19 days without a migraine, so that was like, yeah, so food, I mean, food is, food is magic. A friend of mine was saying that the other day, you know, food is magic. We really, you know, when we change, how we fuel our body, we can really see the difference. One of the things like, you know, for instance, like ketogenic diet is a treatment for epilepsy, because again, brain is so receptive to changes in the fuel, right? You go from glucose to fats, all the sudden the whole kind of neurotransmission changes. So that's, you know, headaches and migraines. Definitely. I mean, they're, you know, they vary again, you were saying might be something more structural. I don't know if you've had, you know, scans to kind of see exactly what's Yeah, what's going on. But

Amy: 28:39

interesting, though, no one actually, this is years ago, when I went through the journey of like, figuring out all this stuff. No one talks about the guy ever, but uh, you know, I got scans, I did this test that test, blah, blah, blah. But I never did anything with the guy, which is interesting. No one ever talks about my diet now that I'm thinking about it. I changed my diet myself. Yeah, but no one really talks about it, which is actually interesting. And I was going to ask you about the histamine thing that you mentioned, what does that mean? Like what kind of foods have histamines in them?

Natasha Coughlin: 29:06

I mean, is something that we produce and need and we get from the foods, but some people just don't kind of lack the enzyme and sometimes, you know, sometimes it's genetically the genetic predisposition, predisposition or that leaky you know, there's the whole leaky gut condition but histamine is like an leftovers for instance, when you keep your especially animal protein leftovers histamine content builds up you know, seafood like you know, shrimp assign histamine bone broth, interestingly enough, you know, lead to healthy food, but a tiny histamine. So, yeah, there's, there's kind of a whole, you know, group of foods that are that are high and those, you know, they may be a problem for people who do not have enough of the histamine breaking enzyme that for example, if you've ever had your 23andme or ancestry done, it actually has your entire genome. So this is something that can be run through like a platform, and they can decode everything that has to do with your health that like 23andme doesn't give you and they actually look at the at the enzyme to which one is the it's a D. So it's the enzyme is called da l. But how do you get that tested? So 20? You say I can do it through 2323? And me? Yeah. And then they give you just defy like, the cola raw data file. Yeah. And then you can send it to me, and I would run it through this professional plateau. Interesting, and kind of

Katie Chandler: 30:34

that's very cool. Does it show you also if you heard is that the mother gene? How do you say it? I'm saying it wrong? It's Oh, they empty? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, yeah. See, they're not?

Natasha Coughlin: 30:45

Yeah, well, they'd have I mean, we have, you know, 24,000 genes. This particular one, of course, you already have the raw data from 23. And me, and then the, you know, AI just scans it for any genes that are pertinent to nutrition exercise, you know, anything that's actionable, right? Because 23andme gives you silly stuff like is your ear lobe attached to detached? And I'm like, Well, mine is detached and I can see it and it kind of doesn't really give me anything. But if I see that, you know, I have a mutation and my vitamin D receptor, and my vitamin D just never budges you know, now I know now I know I need to be taking you know, twice as much or three times as much of my vitamin D supplement as I normally do to kind of move the needle on that. That's interesting.

Katie Chandler: 31:35

We hope you liked this episode with Natasha Coghlan. Stay tuned for part two, where we talk about gut health and much much more.

Amy: 31:44

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.

Episode 72 - How To Get That Hollywood A Lister Smile With Celebrity Dentist, Dr. Jon Marashi (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 72.

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.

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we are here today with Dr. John Marashi who is a cosmetic dentist to the stars. He is also known as the Tom Ford of cosmetic dentistry. And He's based in Los Angeles and we're so excited to talk to him today about all things teeth, dentistry, cosmetic etc. We haven't had any dentists on the show. And so this is a topic that certainly lends itself to your well being because like your mouth and your teeth, if they are not in shape, I just feel like the rest of your body is not so we're super excited to have you on the phone, Dr. Marashi he is. You know, as I said before, celebrity dentists, it seems like you see every celebrity in Hollywood every a Lister, I will go down the list, but super excited to hear all that you have to say. And I also saw that you in your personal life love skateboarding, so I want to hear about that, because that probably lends itself to a lot of teeth damage. But anyway, we'll get into all the things and hear about all your innovations and all your leadership and in the space that you're in. But welcome to the show, Dr. Marashi so glad that you are with us today.

Dr. Marashi: 1:39

Thank you for having me this morning. I appreciate it. Absolutely. So

Amy: 1:43

before we get into some topics, we always like to take a step back and do our nirvana of the week. And so this is just a time we like to talk about something that gave us a spark of joy, something little something big, just something that brought us some joy this week, as we all are getting into, you know, the crazy times of September so I'll hand it to you Katie to give your Nirvana Yeah,

Katie: 2:04

Thanks, Amy. I think mine was just a couple days ago my kids went back to school so they are now both in the same elementary school. I have a nine year old and a four year old doctor, Marathi two girls. And they you know, as a stay at home mom for the last 10 years. You kind of anticipate that day when they're both in all day elementary school together in the same place safe, happy, healthy, and it happened on Tuesday. And it was bittersweet, but it was it was it was definitely a nirvana. I think the real Nirvana moment was picking them up from school that day and seeing how excited and happy they were. So it was it was great. Oh

Amy: 2:38

my god, what am I Yeah,

Katie: 2:39

it definitely was a big one. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 2:41

huge congrats on that. I remember those days and it's such a milestone. My doctor Marashi I have a 15, almost 16 year old and a 12, almost 13 year old two boys and they start high school. Well, not they don't start high school. They start back at high school and middle school next week. So that'll be good. But I would say my Nirvana this week. It does relate to my kids. We had a really nice kind of impromptu dinner the other night together at home, which we haven't had. They were away this summer at sleepaway camp and we've been traveling and doing different things. We haven't really had a family like just us for casual dinner. So we just had a pop up dinner and shared some fun stories. And it was just one of those like, just cool dinners where the kids were actually expressive and talking and telling us funny things. And we were telling them funny things. It was just like a good bonding moment. So I really cherish those, especially as the boys are getting older and they're, you know, into their friends and not really asked so that was that that gave me some joy this week. What about you Dr. Marashi?

Dr. Marashi: 3:39

Well, I'm gonna have to stay on point with what you guys have been saying. And Katie, like you, I have two girls as well. I have a nine year old and 14 year old. And, and thank thank the stars that they're back in school now. My wife and I were like, get out the door, get back to school, get on a schedule, and give us some peace and and a structured schedule. So it's, it's, you know, that last week of summer is tough because there's no more camps and there's just you know, kind of like, lethargy and mom on board and all that. So we're, we're just happy as could be to, to get the wild animals back into the zoo. Yeah,

Amy: 4:16

yeah. I'm Tuesday can't come soon enough.

Katie: 4:21

Nice. All right. Well, let's get right into it. Because we have a lot of questions for you. I think if we start with the basics, it would be a good way to kind of get in there. So what are some simple, easy things that we can all do at home to keep our smiles our mouths our teeth healthy? What do you tell your patients?

Dr. Marashi: 4:39

You know, it starts with the time tested basics. There's two things it's not a sexy recipe, right here it is. Your brush them and you've lost them. I know everyone's like, wow, that's it. That's all I gotta do. But that's all it is, is you gotta keep them clean.

Katie: 4:58

Yeah. And do you recommend I I find myself brushing my teeth, like multiple after every meal and sometimes after snacks, but it wasn't always like that, do you recommend to your patients to do, obviously, at least twice a day? But do you ever say more?

Dr. Marashi: 5:11

No. And generally I don't. And I'll tell you why I do take a pragmatic approach to dentistry. And, you know, you'll hear things all over the map, like, you know, like brush and floss every time you eat, and so forth. And, you know, the reality is, is that the time that's the most important for brushing and flossing, is that the end of the day, and the reason is, is because you're done eating. And now you're gonna go to bed and your mouth is dormant, and you're laying on your back. And so what happens is, you're producing less saliva in your mouth, and the whole function of saliva is two things, it's to aid with digestion, so you can swallow your food, and it's to bathe and rinse your teeth. And saliva has protective enzymes in it that actually kill certain bacterias that are harmful for your teeth and for your gums. So if you have a bunch of food and junk and crud stuck in between your teeth, and on the surface is there's other bacterias in the mouth that are like feeding frenzy time, and they go to work on that food. And the byproduct that they secrete are all different types of you know, acids and biofilms and so forth, that create problems in your mouth. So when your mouth is the least effective at protecting itself, that's the time when you need it to be its cleanest. And so, Western diets you know, we eat a lot of you know, carbs and junks and sugars and so forth. So obviously, the cleaner you keep it, the better it is. And so, you know, people have kind of fallen into a rhythm of do it in the morning after you eat breakfast. Not before you eat breakfast, otherwise, you're just polluting the system again, and then doing it again at the end of the day.

Katie: 6:43

Yeah, that makes sense. What is so tell us what's the deal with mouthwash? I know it's a silly question. But I've just been asked to mention it is it is it fresh breath is it is it for the teeth, the gums.

Dr. Marashi: 6:54

So mouthwash now has become a little bit of a jack of all trades. But let me tell you where the confusion lies. Many people think that it is a replacement for brushing and poor flossing. And it's not. It's an adjunct to it. So it's a bonus. But it's not meant to replace either. So you know, it's better than doing nothing, but it's never going to be as effective. And, you know, when you're rinsing with it, and swishing in between the teeth, you know, it can help massage the gums and get in some of the crevices. Sometimes we're you know, just simply by that, it's almost like pressure washing your driveway with the garden hose, right. So you get a little bit of force in there. And you can get sometimes some of the residues that that that brushing and flossing might have missed, but it's not designed to replace it. And it's not something that's necessary for most people because brushing and flossing is actually that effective that if done properly. You don't need to have a mouth rinse. But there's certainly you know, as long as you're using a good quality mouthwash, and what that means is you want one that doesn't have preservatives and you don't want one that's like, you know, written with alcohol in it, then, you know, it's it's it can help but it's certainly not going to hurt in any capacity.

Katie: 8:07

Okay.

Amy: 8:08

And what do you what do you think about tongue scrapers? Because I do like you know, brush, floss, tongue, tongue scrape and then do the mouthwash. But like, what do you think about that?

Dr. Marashi: 8:18

Yeah, so tongue scrapers are great for people that have a tendency to get built up on their tongue. And that's not everybody. And you know, how would you know, stick your tongue out and look at it. So, you know, jokingly, when I see patients, I you know, and I'm doing their checkup, and I look at their tongue and if it's brown on the top, I'll say get your Panama mirror and say stick your tongue out. I'll say you have a condition called Starbucks. And you know, coffee and tea, you know, puts residue on the back. So tongue scrapers do a wonderful job of just you know, it's like a rake, right? You know, you're just scraping off that residue that because you're not even brushing your tongue is not near as effective as a tongue scraper.

Katie: 8:55

Okay? I use hydrogen peroxide to rinse. I don't know if that's good or bad. That's my mouthwash. Is that like, I'm afraid you're gonna say stop, stop,

Dr. Marashi: 9:04

stop use it straight or do I use it straight?

Katie: 9:07

Is that wrong?

Dr. Marashi: 9:10

Like how much just like a capsule

Katie: 9:11

just a little bit?

Dr. Marashi: 9:13

Yeah, I mean, most people you know, I'll tell them if they want to use peroxide. Just dilute it. You know, like if you have like a one ounce glass of water, you know, like a shot glass size, just you know, just a splash of peroxide in there. So it foams and fuzz and fizzes a little

Katie: 9:25

bit. Alright, that's my new trick.

Amy: 9:29

It does that help whiten your teeth.

Dr. Marashi: 9:31

It can so you know peroxides and gels and so forth. You know how they work is twofold. You know, there's what's called external staining on teeth and internal staining. External staining is coffee, tea, red wine, you know, the surface level discolorations on the teeth, and there's only so much that brushing can do to actually lift that off and that's why if you're a nose like when you go and you get your teeth cleaned in the dental office by the dental hygienist why they look so much whiter When it's all done, because there's been a much deeper like scrubbing actually almost kind of like cleaning your shower tiles, right, you know, and it lifts out a little bit of the external staining. And so you know, peroxide with the fuzzy with the foamy and the fizzing action can actually help break up some of those stains on there. So that's why you'll see like, you know, certain whitening toothpaste that have a peroxide in it. And basically, that's what it's doing. However, the real discoloration on teeth is from what's called internal staining. And as we all get older, the core of the tooth which it's called dentin, this is the layer that's below your tooth enamel. So enamel just for listeners, that's the hard white stuff. That's the protective surface, that's the stuff that you see. So if you think of enamel as like wearing a white button down shirt, and think of your dentin as your undershirt, so if you are wearing a white t shirt underneath your your white button down, everything looks white, but if you have like a dark brown t shirt under that white button down, now it the color shows through, you know what's going on underneath and that and your white button down doesn't look so white anymore, it looks you know, it's got a brown tinge to it. That's how teeth work. And the color of your T shirt underneath gets darker over time. So the so when you get your teeth whitened professionally or you wear these trays that have peroxide gel, what happens is the peroxide now soaks through your buttoned down shirt, your tooth enamel into the core of the tooth, the dentin, which is your brown t shirt, and essentially bleaches out the color. So it's going to try to turn that brown t shirt white. So the overall result is a wider look into

Katie: 11:39

Okay, so but now rinsing with hydrogen peroxide, not necessarily going to give us the same effect.

Dr. Marashi: 11:46

No, that's not going to get that that that'll help mildly with the external staining, but it'll never help with the internal staining on it just because it hasn't sat on the tooth long enough and it doesn't have the penance.

Katie: 11:57

Okay, that's good to know. So

Amy: 11:59

before we get into some of the more cosmetic questions, just a quick question on the teeth whitening. Is there any at home teeth whitening methods that you think are just as effective as doing it in the office? Like to get to that dentin? I love that example you gave? It's really helpful.

Dr. Marashi: 12:17

So the answer to that is yes and no. Because most people want it done immediately. So comparing an at home system to when you go to a dentist office that can be done in about 90 minutes, there's nothing over the counter that's going to do that do that amount of whitening in that short amount of time. And and the reason why the at home systems are not able to is just simply by regulation, you know, they're not safe for someone to toy around with on their own. So they have to give you a solution of the peroxide gel that severely diluted. So in order to make up for the lack of concentration on it, like the strength of it, you have to do it every day for you know, sometimes two weeks or more consistently, in order to get the compounding effect, you know that you're able to get in one fell swoop in the dentist's office. So for some people that actually works out better, because it can be more cost effective. Or maybe they have really sensitive teeth. So they actually need to have a more dilute solution to keep them from being sensitive. Okay.

Amy: 13:17

And are there any brands that you would recommend for our listeners that they could try at home that you really like?

Dr. Marashi: 13:24

Yeah, so for at home systems, you know, the playing field has increased greatly. I mean, there's a lot of good brands that have come to market. You know, probably the standard bearer of the industry has been Crest White Strips, you know, those work pretty good. And the thing is, is that these things are so inexpensive that even if you don't get a great result, you're not going to feel like if you had to sell your kidney and then you flush a bunch of toilet. There's also a system called Snow and and they do a really great job and there they have a tray and like a little light that activates the gel. That's a pretty popular one, another one by by a company called bite the YTE. And just disclaimer, I used to be affiliated with them. I'm no longer but but just for disclosure purposes. And they have a protocol right bite which is pretty good as well. It's a foamy gel that goes on the teeth.

Katie: 14:16

Okay, okay, that's great. All right. So what are the top treatments that you're doing? I mean, I would imagine veneers. I am like very passionate about someday getting veneers. I would think in LA you probably do it quite a bit.

Amy: 14:31

I've had many conversations with Katie about this. I want to hear about it.

Dr. Marashi: 14:35

So there's no question I mean across the entire profession of cosmetic dentistry that porcelain veneers, porcelain laminate veneers are the number one requested procedure and what is so fantastic about them is it is a very conservative approach to having a topical application. A little thin sliver of porcelain bonded to the front of your your to where now you can have complete control over the shape, the size, the color, and the layout of your smile. So you can take someone who has discolored teeth, slightly crooked teeth, teeth that are chipped that are cracked or just, you know, sometimes we have people that have already had braces and their teeth are straight, but they're not beautiful teeth. And so you can not only give them a beautiful smile, but you can actually improve the structure and the durability of the tooth all at the same time.

Katie: 15:34

Do you find that also, some people just have the wrong size teeth for their mouth? Or maybe their teeth doesn't fill out their smile all the way. I mean, I've seen these transformations on celebrities and before and afters and it like it takes 20 years off when you have a brand new smile with veneers, right?

Dr. Marashi: 15:50

Yes. So there's a relationship between the size of your teeth and the size of your face. And you know, when any elective cosmetic procedure is done, you know, be it teeth, it dermatology, be it plastic surgery doesn't matter. If it is done proportionately and tastefully, what happens is the person just looks like a better version of themselves. That should not be a standalone feature where you know, there's a big difference between you walking up to someone who actually knows you quite well. And they're like, Wow, you look fantastic. Versus Wow, you got big, white, and two totally different responses. And so I have always felt that your smile, you know, whether it's what Mother Nature gave you or something you have assistance from me with, it still looks like something that you were born.

Katie: 16:39

How do you? How do you know that a dentist is as good at shaping the teeth for those exact reasons that you just said? Because I mean, we've all seen where it looks like someone just has a mouth of white Chiclets. And it's very

Dr. Marashi: 16:55

obvious the thing is, you're that's one of the most important questions that your listeners should be asking if they're considering cosmetic dentistry procedure. So here's how you figure it out. First and foremost, you need to ask your dentist to show you before and after pictures of their work can't be stock photos, you have to show me examples of your work of cases that you've done. So they can get kind of an idea of the level of quality and the level of artistry that that dentist delivers. Because a little bit different for everyone, you know, you know, some people like this, some people like that, so the patient has to see what this dentist is capable, then they should be specifically asking, show me examples of cases that you have done, that have my pre existing condition that are yielding the outcome that I'm going for. And so if the dentist cannot show that to the person, they probably haven't done enough of those types of cases. Because, you know, we all document with the before and afters and you know, I've gotten a library myself of, you know, like 1000s of smiles from over the years. And, you know, I can guarantee I can show you a little bit of everything along the way. But if I were a patient, no matter how much I liked the dentist, if they said don't worry about it, it'll your it'll be okay, fine. That's a big red flag right there. Because now you're rolling the dice. And when you do these procedures, once you start, it's a one way street. So you know, there's no going back and how I know this is half of the dentistry that I do in my practice is revision cosmetic dentistry. So what that means is, someone went somewhere else, whether it was years ago, or literally a week ago, and they got How do you say this humbly, or Respectfully, an unintended result. And they've so I'm the FIX IT guy. And so now, you know, as twice as much work to you know, to do a revision case than an original. So I see this thing all the time. And it's really unfortunate that someone put their their faith and their trust, and the process didn't go the way that they were hoping it to go, right.

Katie: 19:09

And there's also all of these different. I've seen online and who knows if dentists actually use this, but like the different types of shape they have these names like the Hollywood and all that, do you know what I'm referring to? Yeah,

Dr. Marashi: 19:21

that's all arbitrary stuff. And marketing.

Katie: 19:23

Don't pay any attention

Dr. Marashi: 19:26

to it. Yeah. And I don't, I don't work, you know, they simply serve as guides for patients to kind of get an idea of what things could be or what's out there. So, you know, they they serve a little bit of purpose. But the problem is this is that if you equated this to fashion, it's like buying off the rack instead of getting something that's fully bespoke.

Amy: 19:50

That's a great analogy. Yeah. Which is so important. I mean, it is an art what you do because to make it look natural, and to make it feel like you just look like a better version of yourself. versus to Katie's point of like some crazy smile. It's, you know, you do have to be very, very careful who you're going to Yeah, I didn't really know about veneers until I saw like Kyle Richards get that big transformation a few years ago, from Housewives of Beverly Hills, because I never even noticed her teeth before. And then she had this whole, I don't know, revision down on her teeth. And I was like, wow, that it makes such a big difference, and probably, to Katie's point took like 20 years off of her age. So it's just such a cool procedure. I did have a question about the teeth underneath, like, do your teeth have to be straight to get veneers or like, even if they're crooked? Can you get them in? Is that bad? Like, what happens to the teeth underneath?

Dr. Marashi: 20:41

Yeah, that's a great question. So in a perfect world, the teeth are already straight to begin with. And the advantage of starting with them when they're already straight, is that the application process of the veneer to the tooth is just incredibly conservative, which means that it can just be directly adhered to the tooth, or the modification to the tooth surface is next to nothing. So that that is the best and the ideal way of doing it. You can you can do veneer cases with mild to moderately crooked teeth, depending on on, you know how and where they are in the mouth. And you're going to require a little more tooth modification. Now, let me let me be really in depth on what tooth modification means. In order to get the veneer on the tooth of the tooth in the wrong spot, you've essentially got to shave part of the tooth to make room for the porcelain to adhere. So think of it like this. If you got a tooth that sticking out, that's buck, and you put something on top of it now it's even more buck, do you follow on? Right? So how do you compensate for that, if the tooth has to come back in a little bit, you got to shave a little bit off the front of the tooth. So when you put the put the new front on the tooth, it's it's sticking its its position is in the correct position, it's not sticking out too far. So so the farther something sticks out, the more you got to grind away to get the so when you add to it, it's not out too far. I don't know if that's making sense what I'm describing. So, you know, I'll always advise patients say, hey, look, you know, if, if, if your teeth are sticking out a little too far, you know, maybe we do a very, you know, short course of orthodontics, or Invisalign, or something for like two months or three months. I mean, like, like anybody can put up with anything for two or three months, it's not a big deal to set it up, and then you're far more conservative with the teeth. But most of the time, you know, like if the teeth are just mildly crooked on the bottom or a little bit on the top, you can veneer the teeth with without really having any significant consequence to it and do it safely and predictably. Nice. Yeah,

Katie: 22:46

I'm sure it's much easier. Okay. Well, I want to know, are there any other like top of the line innovative treatments that you're doing? Or what are these fabulous celebrities that are coming to you for what are they doing?

Dr. Marashi: 22:56

So you know, it's a combination, you know, veneers. First and foremost, you know, we've already talked about that. And, you know, and how that relates to celebrities is, you know, these are people where their appearance, you know, and their livelihood or directly, you know, it's it's tied to the work. There's no question about that the number one request that I'm getting from celebrities, regardless of what procedure that we're doing, is to make it look incredibly natural. Cosmetic Dentistry ran enthusiastically in the wrong direction for years with these silly big, oversized white choppers. And everybody's seen it. And you know, we all know the jokes about coarse teeth and so forth. And that's never sat well with me. And I think one of the reasons why I've been so blessed to have such a tremendous loyal following from people in Hollywood, is my dentistry looks incredibly natural, people don't know. And that's really how people want to look, you know, it's just people look great. So moving outside the realm of veneers, teeth whitening obviously comes into play because people want to have a nice color. So this would be for people who don't have veneers. And then the third treatment, which has really skyrocketed in demand and use is what are called clear aligners. Now, you guys have probably heard of something called Invisalign before they're like clear braces, and for years in dentistry, you know, like, like, that was a great alternative to getting metal braces. And you know, you'd go to your dentist or orthodontist and get these things. But what has totally transformed that particular treatment modality is that it can be done remotely now and it can be done direct to consumer while still being dentist supervised. Now, I got a full disclaimer because I was part of a company that that built and developed one of these so I'll give a shameless plug even though I don't work for him anymore. But my company byte B yt e, has become one of the juggernauts in the industry and during the pandemic Neck, it was absolutely insane what happened, because think about it, we're all sitting at home. And now when you're having a conversation with someone, instead of just looking at your friend, you're stuck looking at yourself on the zoom camera, right? We're like, holy cow, look at my teeth. What am I going to do about this, but they couldn't go see their dentist. So having a direct to consumer solution that was dentists supervise, where people now could actually get access, you know, remotely, and have these trays sent to them, where they could move their teeth, and do it from the comfort of their own home has totally changed the game. And, you know, our company was acquired by DENTSPLY Sirona, which is like the juggernaut of the of the dental space, like they make everything from like bonding materials, to the dental chairs, and all that stuff. They have like a $12 billion market cap, and they bought our company for a billion dollar congrats. And so would that be Wow. So if that tells you about the Marketplace demand for this treatment, and it's made it now, because it's done remotely. You know, like, if you're a celebrity, you don't have to be stuck in Los Angeles to go back to your dentist to do this, you can be on location or on the other side of the world, and still have access to, you know, to your trays and the aligners and just and so it's created mobility for people to go out and do this. And this is a one way street. And you know, technology is the large part that's responsible for it. And there's some other players in this space as well, I won't shamelessly plug them. But you know, coming back full circle hairs that the demand for clear aligners has really skyrocketed, and it's just, it's cost effective. It's it does a great job with the teeth, and they've even structured these things that you can whiten your teeth while you're wearing up. So you kind of get a bit of a twofer.

Katie: 26:51

That's nice.

Amy: 26:52

And are those what are the aligners? Are they trays their tray? And do you wear them? Like how long do you wear them for a day? Or does it depend on the case or

Dr. Marashi: 27:00

Well, yeah, it depends on the case. But you know, like, I'll go back to bite again. But so for regular clear aligner therapy, you wear them around the clock. And because if they're not in your mouth, they're not moving the teeth plain and simple. But they also have an at night only solution. So you need to wear it, you know, about eight to 10 hours a day. And how that works compared to the conventional approach is that the material is up the train material itself is a lot thicker. So if if either you had braces as a high school kid, or in middle school, you remember when you got your braces tightened, and you're just like, oh, there it is. And you know, you felt like you know all that pressure, you know, torquing on the teeth, because that's what's causing the tooth movement. So imagine, you know, a thicker and tighter fitting tray that says, Alright, it's time to get to work fellas, and you know, it's really putting pressure on the teeth to move them. So so it does more in less time. Now, that the secret weapon that the clear aligner treatments have or at least with bite is, there is a sonic mouthpiece that you use five minutes a day, and you actually bite your teeth on top of it. It's called a hyper bite. And what it does is it vibrates the teeth at an ultrasonic speed. So you know, it doesn't hurt or anything like that. But the vibration movements actually stimulates bone remodeling in the jaw, so it can move the tooth roots through the bone faster and more comfortably. And so that's a little game changer as well. And as a result, you have less of the squeezing or torquing sensation that sometimes you'll say, Oh yeah, my teeth hurt because I got my braces tightened, and it moves it you know, upwards at twice the speed. That's amazing.

Amy: 28:41

You know that that whole technology is pretty incredible. Because I've known a lot of like women and men as they get older, it seems like even though they had braces when they were younger, they're getting braces as adults, or Invisalign. But I always see people with Invisalign seemed like such a pain because if there's things on their teeth, and they're always taking on and off the trays, but I never knew this technology was so big or really knew that it existed. So that is such a good opportunity for people who don't have time who like can't go back and forth to the dentist, but can get that taken care of. And either were used to like at night or during the day and like kind of at their own. It just seems like so much more streamlined. And that's that's a great solution.

Dr. Marashi: 29:18

It is and you know what the best part about it is is and this is why you know, I I decided to get involved with this company. I was part of the founding team. The problem that I was looking to solve in dentistry was this. It's like look, you know, I've been blessed in my career right because I get to be Doctor fancy pants, but no matter how you slice it and dice it dentistry is expensive. And on top of it, you know, it does take work to come and see me or see or like like how do you go and see a dentist at noon on a Wednesday. I mean, you know, we're all working right? So you got to miss work and then you got to commute there and you got to commute back and it's time and time is very valuable to everyone. So I had thought to myself like gosh could there'll be a quality dental product or service that could be cost effective, and eliminate the accessibility issue and create, you know, more time convenience for people that could be done at scale. And that was, you know, that's where my head was on this, like, how could we do something like this? And so, you know, it was really just about trying to try to solve a problem. And then, you know, it ended up becoming, you know, this massive success. And I, you know, I'm really proud of what was done because you think about it like orthodontics and clear aligners should not be, you know, only available for, you know, for, for rich people, you know, why, why couldn't it be done at at a, at a price point where more people can have access to care. And I think that that's a really big important thing. And, and, you know, the clear aligner market with DTC and especially with what bite did, they shattered that, that you know, that that glass ceiling and lowered the barrier for entry for, you know, for literally millions of people, that's fantastic. So let's

Amy: 31:05

move into your life and how you incorporate well being because as I was saying earlier, it sounds like you really integrate play into your life. And one of the things I read was that you feed your inner child and soul through skateboarding, which is your true passion. So I'd love to hear about that, because that just seems so counter to what I would think so

Dr. Marashi: 31:27

it is, it's like my Clark Kent, Superman alter ego. And, you know, I would start by saying this, you know, my whole life, there's only two things I ever wanted to do. And it was going to be a dentist, or professional skateboarder. That's it, and the way that the cards fell, you know, it probably worked out for the better that I ended up becoming, you know, professional dentist and amateur skateboarder, the other way around. But, you know, I started skateboarding when I was 12 years old. And, you know, once I set set foot on that board, you know, here it is, you know, I'm 48, now, almost 49. So it's, you know, 3637 years later, and I'm still skateboarding, you know, I, I stepped on it, and I never stepped off. And it's been, you know, for me, it represents so many things, you know, it's fun, it's freedom, it's creativity, and there's no rules to it, you know, and it doesn't matter. If you're young, if you're old, if you're male, if you're female, if you're rich or poor, you just step on this thing, and you just do what you want. And it's a great count, it ended up being an incredible counterbalance for dentistry, because dentistry, there's a lot of rules that you follow, and it's very disciplined. And, you know, what I would say is like, the one freedom you have in dentistry is in the artistic expression, which I that's my favorite part of it. But if you're not following the rules, and you're not disciplined with the technique and the science behind it, you know, you're not going to be a very good dentist. So I feel like they, they really counterbalance one another. And that's why it's always confused me why a dentist would want to play golf, because golf is good, more dentistry? Like, you know, when I walk away from the office, I mean, something that's, you know, that's the opposite of it. And yeah, no, I didn't, you know, if you would have told me when I was like, say, 14, hey, you know, you're gonna be like, almost middle age, and still skateboarding. And I don't know, if I would have thought that that was even possible. But, you know, you know, now we're all getting older. And actually, last Friday, I was with Tony Hawk at this event in Salt Lake City. And, and I'm on his board of advocates for the skate park project, and we help get skate parks built, you know, globally, we've done over 400 and, and a lot of them are based in communities that are underserved. Some of them have higher concentrations of at risk youth. So, you know, it puts something in the community for for kids to go to and have a positive outlet. And, and it's really just, you know, a very positive open source community, you know, for, for people that have to go and skate. And so it's been, you know, a real dream, like, you know, here it is, all these years later. And, and, you know, and how all this stuff came to fruition for me was through dentistry, which I never would have imagined in a million.

Katie: 34:08

That's amazing. That's really cool. My husband, which is Amy's brother, is he was a skater when he was in high school, but he did at some point stop and he can't go back because he's for sure lost his skateboarding skill. He's your age. And I'm afraid if he got on there, he would definitely be going to the dentist with broken teeth, but He idolizes Tony Hawk as well. So that's, that's very, very cool that you work with them?

Dr. Marashi: 34:30

Well, there is a saying there's a famous skateboarder from the 70s as part of the Dogtown crew, and he goes, and he says, You didn't get old and quit skateboarding, you quit skateboarding and got old and I think it's, you know, part of that they use it or lose it and outright.

Amy: 34:47

It's so true. It's so true. So how are you balancing all of your incredible work and family and pastimes like the smile on your face? How do you do it all? Which akitas key success?

Dr. Marashi: 35:02

It's a great question. And if I had to use one word, it's or maybe two words, it's really about, it's about understanding your priorities and being disciplined. And, you know, there's not that it's not easy. And, you know, as I've gotten older, what I've learned is that you have to really understand, you know, what's important to you. And you have to have the ability to say no to a lot of things. Because if you say yes to too many things, now, what you've done is you've diluted yourself, and you're not going to get done the things that are most important to you, you know, as, over time, it is really sort of pared down, you know, like, I have my work, obviously. And, you know, like, you know, Monday through Friday, I'm sitting at home at my dinner table with my

family at 6: 35:46

30pm. And before we start eating, we go around the table, and everyone takes a turn says what the best part of their day was, and that's how it's time to reconnect and understand, you know, like, what was going on and so forth. And, and that's really meaningful for me. And, you know, my health is really important to me as well, you know, like, I sleep track, and, you know, I make sure that I get at least my seven and a half hours, and, you know, I, you know, I rarely drink and I eat a clean diet. And, you know, like skateboarding, I try to put it in at the times where, you know, either maybe the kids are an act or an activity or, you know, like, I can't go to the skate park all the time, I convinced my wife to let me put a halfpipe in the backyard. And that's, that's a whole nother conversation. But I can go out in the backyard and skate. So you know, it's really just about trying to design your life around the things that are the most important to you, and focus on those things, focus on fewer things better. And I think you know, you, you certainly get a lot more enjoyment and fulfillment out of

Katie: 36:47

it. Yeah, that's very well said.

Amy: 36:48

Yeah. That's a very good reminder. Absolutely.

Katie: 36:52

Well, lastly, how can our listeners find you so we know you're, you're in the LA area?

Dr. Marashi: 36:58

Well, the best is probably through Instagram, for sure. And you know, my handle is at Dr. John Marashi. Dr. J, O N. Ma ra Shi Great.

Amy: 37:10

before we, before we close out, we want to go through our quick wrap session with you to get your quick responses to the following questions. You ready? Let's do it. Okay, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Sleep? Make sense? Okay. Five minute flow, which is what we like to call and this is probably more straightforward for you. But you can man, this the women we have on our show, but we'll ask you anyway. So you just got out of the shower. Or let's say you're going out on a Saturday night, you just got out of the shower dried off. Uber just alerted you, they're five minutes away. How do you get ready? What do you put on your face? What do you like? How do you get ready to get out the door. In that car on time, you know, I

Dr. Marashi: 37:55

put a little facial moisturizer on. Yeah, I've had a little too much sun damage over the years. So I do like, you know, my skin, my skincare routine is very minimal. But you know, I do like putting a little moisturizer on. And honestly, like, I even wear my hair shorter this days, you know, and just put, you know, a little bit of kind of, you know, like pomade in it, and you know, it can air dry quickly. And the other thing I've learned too, and it's funny because I'm a guy who really likes fashion. But even my wardrobe is a little more muted. And what I've learned is like, like, you know, a pair of dark denim jeans and a black T shirt, you know, with with you know, with like a cool jacket, you can like you can get you can almost fit in in any social setting with that. So totally, it's quick and easy and out the door.

Amy: 38:38

Nice. And how do you maintain your daily nirvana.

Dr. Marashi: 38:41

You know what it is, when I drive to work in the morning, I do what's called priming and you know, priming is sort of my, my, you know, my, my meditation or, you know, sort of my positive affirmations. And I'll share with what it is it goes, you know, the purpose of my life is to be the smile maker, enjoy the gift of my family, and give love and gratitude to myself and others. And I repeat that over and over. And you know, I've been doing it for years and it really sets my tone you know, it helps me understand my purpose is you know, is to give people smiles and in turn, it gives them confidence. And, you know, my family is so dang important to me. And it's also reminding me like, Hey, don't be hard on yourself and beak and and just be mindful, you know of what's going on in other people's lives. That's

Katie: 39:30

really beautiful. I love that. I

Amy: 39:32

love that. That's great. And you I need to create that for

Katie: 39:35

myself framing. It's your it's your priming moment. Yeah, it's

Dr. Marashi: 39:39

something that I learned from I've done a lot of courses but Tony Robbins and that's, you know,

Katie: 39:43

been a big inspiration. That's amazing. Yeah. All right. Well, thank

Amy: 39:47

you very much. It's been so nice. Yeah, this has been so enlightening. And I just love that you're so grounded and so into like prioritizing what's important and your well being And that's all we're about as well. And it's just really nice to see that you are, you know, this big celebrity dentists and doing all these things, but you're also really grounded and down to earth and have the right priorities in place. So we appreciate that and we will definitely be visiting you next time we're in LA.

Dr. Marashi: 40:19

It's an honor and a privilege to share time with you this we

Katie: 40:21

really appreciate you making time for us. We know how busy you are, and our listeners are gonna love everything, all of your tips, and we're very grateful. Thank you for your time.

Amy: 40:29

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.

Episode 69 - Product Junkies September, Back To School Edition - Things We Are Loving Now And Putting In Our Cart (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 69 - Product Junkies September, Back To School Edition - Things We Are Loving Now And Putting In Our Cart.

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:29

Hello, September. Welcome back to Nirvana sisters podcast. It's Amy and Katie. And we've missed you all. We've been doing a best of series in August, which has been so successful. We've gotten so many downloads on all of our favorite episodes. So thanks, everyone, for continuing to listen and support us. We are here to talk about product junkies for September. And the theme is really back to school and in my opinion, streamlining at least the products that I have to review with you today, Katie, so

Katie: 1:00

it's funny that you say because of streamlining that's genius for like back to school and fallen everything I mind was leaning a little bit more towards, I don't know, just doing the little things for the kids to help. kind of nudge them along and get them into their groove. It's like not really streamlining so I've got some beauty. I've got some some like self care, so it's a little mix up. But my first one this morning Reese woke up and she came to me in the very first thing she said to me is Mommy, my lips are chapped. Which is crazy, because she's only been in school for two days, but she doesn't have any ever chapstick or anything with her and so I'm gonna get her. My new I'm obsessed with this product. I'm gonna get her and Maddie. This. It's the elf right or die lip gloss. Have you tried it? Oh, no, it's, it's really, really. I'm obsessed with locks. It's a lip balm. It's called Lip Balm. Actually, I'm wearing it now. Lip Balm. Okay, it has really nicely. Yeah, it has a glossy, glassy finish, but it's not tacky, like lip glosses. So it's just kind of like a nice consistency. It's very smooth. They have a bunch of different colors. This is the clear one, and has like a little mint to it. Oh, and I love it. This is a really, really good product. It's only $6 I got it at CVS. It's It's solid. It's really good.

Amy: 2:19

They have the best Yeah, the best product. So I have a question Does that like, Can you taste it at all? Like, you know, sometimes with a bomb you it kind of like gets in your mouth and you can taste it?

Katie: 2:28

Not really, I don't taste it that much it and I think it has a bit to do with the consistency of it. It's just a really good, thin consistency. That's not tacky. So

Amy: 2:38

good. Yeah, that's a good one. That's probably a good one to to like keeping your car because I feel like I'm always looking for chapstick or something in my car. I don't know. You're sitting there and you're like my lips are dry and then you don't have anything. Okay, that's a great one. I love that. Yeah.

Katie: 2:53

I'm obsessed with it. It's really good. What do you have for us him?

Amy: 2:56

Okay, so I'm starting out with a gift that Katie gave me. Thank you very much. So sweet just sent me a surprise gift one day this summer. And I wanted to share with everyone what a good gift this was. So there's a brand called Urban stems that sends out really beautiful flowers, really modern flowers, really chic flowers, and they have all these different fun ways you can do it. So Katie had sent me dry flowers. And the specific ones that she sent me are called the Kayden. And they're so pretty, because they're kind of like white with pops of hot pink. And she knows I love my hot pink. So it was just so beautiful. And I put it in my office right away with a really pretty vase. And then the coolest part is you can do an add on and so they have a collab with glow recipes. So she also sent me this Glow Recipe, watermelon glow pink juice moisturizer. And I think I had reviewed their other products and one of our product junkies like the nice and my serum, which I love. And this sort of has the same consistency but it's more of a moist, it feels so good on the skin. And so it was such a good combo and such a nice treat to get it I was so surprised and it was so sweet. And if you have a gift to give a teacher or a friend or something like that I would highly recommend this specific setup from urban stems or the site in general. The Kaden right now is on dollars plus the Glow Recipe ad is like 20 bucks, but they have so many good combinations. So urban stands highly recommend great for gifts.

Katie: 4:29

Yeah, and you turned me on to urban stems. We've sent urban stems to some of our listeners and our I mean some of our guests rather right. Yeah, we love urban setting, right? Yeah. All right, and it's so many yet sticking in the theme of beauty. This doesn't entirely have too much to do with our like back to school theme but it's such a good one. You know, how Bethenny Frankel on tick tock does all of this comparisons of like the high end low end product, I'm obsessed so she got me into it that I might have I've always used Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, which we all know is like a holy grail. Right? It's great. I think Lauren we've been using it for years. So I picked up the elf hydrating camo concealer and the satin finish the other day the same time I got this lip gloss. It's almost identical.

Amy: 5:20

Yeah, it's very hydrating. Like was it easy to match your shade?

Katie: 5:24

It was they do they have, they don't have, you know, a million colors, but they do have a decent selection. And it's very hydrating. And the nice thing about it is that like very little bit goes a very long way. You don't need a whole lot like for under my eye. I do one, maybe two dabs and I get full coverage. So it's it's a really good product. And this was you know, also I mean, alphas like such a great price point. Yeah, this was and it's thin, because it's really hydrating. And it doesn't get in your creases and it holds up. Yeah, it like lasts throughout the day, and I paid $7 for it. So I mean, that's it, you know, it's so bad. I'm always gonna get my Nars concealer because it's just like, I can't live without it. But this is a good substitute, you know? So yeah, that's good one.

Amy: 6:14

Yeah, it's funny you say that because my Nars I have but it's old. So like, I need to replace it. And I was in the store the other day because I had wanted to try the closest concealer I tried it I didn't like it even though a lot of people love it. And I exchange it because I love that brands but then when I came home for some reason it was like the wrong color. So now I gotta exchange that. I've been trying tons of concealers we could almost do like a whole show on concealer. I feel like we are both obsessed. Yeah, well speaking of Bethany Frankel. Brechtian I found on her channel as well and I ran out to buy it or I went online to buy it, it was sold out, and then it finally gotten stuck. Its solvency Oh glassy. So the brand is called Express. It's a highlighting blush, the texture reacts with the pH of your skin. So it makes it provides a dewy blushing tint, and color, but it varies depending on your skin tone and your pH. So it also contains a dose of caffeine which gives that extra boost in hydration for your skin. So I'm going to show you, I'm going to show you it and I have been using this since I got it is so cool. Again, you don't need a lot. You just need a little bit, but I'm going to show you. We're just gonna put a dab here and adapt here and see how it goes on clear. Yeah. Can you see how it's turning into like a rosy?

Katie: 7:37

Yeah, I've seen this on Instagram. So it really does do what it says it's gonna do.

Amy: 7:42

It's amazing. And it's like really hydrating, and it feels good. So you could literally speaking of streamlining just leave the house wearing this. So I can see that nice. See that glow. And it's clear. It's like, Look at this. Like, wow, oh, I don't know how it works. And what's interesting is I know that it works because some days the color is different. So it's different for everyone. So I think it just depends how your skin feels that day or something. Like sometimes it's even more of a 10 sometimes it's less of a 10 It's very interesting, but I love it because every time you put it on it looks good because you're not trying to like match your blush. So anyway, highly recommend

Katie: 8:20

it. It's amazing. It looks just like the sun stock.

Amy: 8:24

Yeah, it's I'm telling you, it is the best like Bethany's video of it is hilarious. She, you know, she's so dramatic. She was like, saw it. Flash like, yeah, it's great. So it's $26 I got it directly on their website, great product. Okay, what do we do next?

Katie: 8:40

So I have one that you know, this is kind of for the kiddos and I use it myself and it's to help them get back into the you know, the back to school routine of going to bed earlier. The sun is still up, you know, it's not these, like long, I can stay up as late as I want summer hours anymore. So we're trying to get them to wind down and get into the bedtime nighttime routine. So every night I'm spraying this on their pillow. It's called calm sleep mist. And it's the same brand that makes the magnesium supplements. Oh yeah. Called a magnesium alga.

Amy: 9:12

Yeah.

Katie: 9:14

It smells it's it's an elixir of lavender chamomile, Clary Sage and frankincense. And it's a very, like it's a very dreamy, relaxing scent. I've been using it nice for your girls. Yeah, that thing.

Amy: 9:29

Do they like it?

Katie: 9:31

They love it. Yeah, they love it. And it's $20 I got it again at CVS. Can you tell that I'm obsessed with our CVs? We were really good. CVS. CVS,

Amy: 9:40

CVS CVS beauty is like killing it. They're the best

Katie: 9:43

solid. Yeah, it's good. So but yeah, I love it. It's very like relaxing scent. And

Amy: 9:49

by them and by boys. I wonder if they'll even notice, but I can try to get their routine of them not staying up so late. So speaking of nighttime, my next product is the care estas ate our magic night serum. I don't know if you've seen this first of all, How gorgeous is that glass just makes me happy. It's just so pretty. What it is, it's like the serum that you put on your hair. At night it smells really good. First of all, it's almost like a it's a it's not really a mask because it's not heavy but it's a serum and it's a hydrating treatment. So essentially you just put it on at night like all over your hair, I really focus on the ends because that's the driest for me. And my hair I've been using it I haven't been using it as consistently as I'd like to but I have been using it in the days that I use that I do wake up with softer, kind of more silky hair so I think if you do it every night your hair will really start to improve so I just started trying this but I really really like it so far and it smells really good too. It really did long time you only need like a little pump and especially if you're just kind of doing it on your hands it's great so I John and I go to bed sell fairly good. Yeah and Karis das a lot.

Katie: 10:58

There Karis. Das is steep price wise, but they deliver. I really feel like that brand that are solid. Yeah. What do you wake up with less tangles in your hair? Because you know, Maddie has the care like you do doesn't help with that.

Amy: 11:12

It probably does. I mean, I don't wake up with tangled hair. Because I've always slept with my hair like this on the pillow up. Sleep with my hair down on my face. So for I don't know, it's just more company. So my hair is kind of, I never get tangled. But yeah, I would imagine it doing wonderful.

Katie: 11:28

You just gave me some insight into how you sleep. And now I'm really interested to sleep flat on your back the whole night with your hair up over the pillow.

Amy: 11:37

No, around constantly. But even if I'm on the side, I automatically kind of move my hair like it. I started my back and it's sorry. If I start on my back and my hair is up like that. And they move to the side. It just kind of moves. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. And then at night, I just done that. It's just comfortable because I don't like anything on my face.

Katie: 11:58

Yeah, I know my hair has like literally wrapped around my neck before.

Amy: 12:02

Yeah, like drives me nuts.

Katie: 12:04

Okay. All right, I have another one here. And this one I have just recently this is kind of for like health and everything. I've just recently started to try to get the girls into it. I put it in their smoothies. It's something that we've you know, people have been using and hearing about for a very long time. It's collagen peptides. But what is special about this brand for me, it's the brand is called Suzu I think that's how you say it. There's no added anything in this collagen. This is just straight bovine collagen, which means it comes from a cow. So there's no like sweeteners, there's no flavorings, there's no artificial anything. And when I've tried that before, you can usually like It tastes bad. This just has no taste, it completely dissolves into my coffee and dissolves into the smoothies. So I'm starting to get the kids into it because it's really good for your gut. And as we know, your gut affects your brain and all of that and it's good for your hair and your nails and your skin and the whole thing like it's, there's like there's really no reason not to use it. So this is a good one. It's $30 I got this on Amazon.

Amy: 13:13

It's between like collagen and collagen protein or is that the same thing?

Katie: 13:17

It's the same thing. Some of the collagen protein powders might have added protein like like a whey protein or an aqueous college

Amy: 13:25

or that have protein in it.

Katie: 13:27

So this yes, this does have 10 grams of protein. So it shows the percentage of all the amino acids and it looks like there's a little bit of everything in there. So this might be a complete protein and it's for bone health, joint mobility, skin and cell health essential amino acid source there you go hair and nail strength and healthy gut support. Okay, so

Amy: 13:44

I have two things that I'm going to review together because they can go together when you're thinking about your morning routine. So as I was mentioning earlier on the episode all about streamline so that door to you know, I'm going back to the office now a few days a week so it's like you know, get ready get the kids out the door do a streamline routine. So this is something I haven't reviewed it necessarily on product junkies but I probably post about it a million times which is the necessar which is a natural deodorant and I have found it very hard to find a good natural deodorant I don't know about you, but I've been using necessar for the last few years and I there the reason why I'm reviewing it this time is because this is a new way that they formulated it which is so much better. The first one was like a thicker bottle and like white so when you put it on it wasn't like cakey and get in your clothes but it wasn't didn't like slide on nicely and it worked but I didn't like love the texture. This texture is it just a deodorant gel, and it just slides on so easily. It's cooling and it really in my opinion for all the natural God instead of this is the best one I've tried and it's necessary and the free you can get an answer but this one is eucalyptus, which I like because it's an but it's not. And yeah, it's great on to get it on sofa or website, I think it's first. So yeah, really good product. I've been very happy with the reformulation and the way they've done it and I highly recommend the job if you're into natural deodorant. And then the next thing I'll recommend, which is my last thing is actually very funny because it's something my husband bought that I have now started using. So you know, I love a body oil to put on your body after the shower. And I still love the OSA and I have one other one by skin and senses and those are my two like go to his however, he bought this one. It's this brand Jr Watkins. And this one I love because number one, it's a body oil mist. So if you're talking about doing things quickly, like the other ones are pumps, which is fine, but the mist obviously is quicker. So you just missed it on, takes two seconds, rub it in for one second. And you're done. This one is coconut honey. Smells so good. It's free from silicones and mineral oil. It's 98% natural says, and it's great. So he was using it and I started using it. And now I've like taken over and started using this bottle, so I'm gonna have to buy more, but it's 899 on Amazon. So highly recommend great product like get out of the shower, just spray it on smells good. Rub it in one second and you're done. So love it. That would be my last reco streamlining your routine.

Katie: 16:27

Well, my last one is definitely going to school motivated. It's, it's a company that I love. And it's I bought the girls backpacks from them. And they also have like regular handbags and travel things and everything the brand is called state, they use recycled products. 45% of their backpacks are made from recyclable goods, which is incredible to me like the inside of the lining, it says like this was once a water bottle, which is just really cool. And the other great thing is that a pretty large portion of the proceeds goes to charities that they're involved with. They're involved in Seeds of Peace time's up Bottomless Closet, they provide backpacks for children that that can't, you know, get backpacks themselves, so on and so on. So I just really love they're also like super durable, great quality, they hold up mountains from last year, it's still in really great shape. We do a new backpack just because it got nasty a camp. It's held up but it kind of stinks from the wet towels and everything. So we go you know when again this year and you know, they're the price points a little steep. It's $95. But it's it's a it's a really good bag. It's really cute. And again, I love that piece of it goes to charity. But having said that, I just want to say this is something that I saw a friend of mine posted I thought it was really smart. You know, just because you get the new backpack doesn't mean like the old pack backpack doesn't carry all the same amount of dreams and hopes and everything so kids can show up to school in new backpacks, old ones new shoes, old shoes, it's all great stuff. They all carry hopes and dreams and ambitions. So yes,

Amy: 18:05

and you know what you can you can use I have like old backpacks from the kids that we'll use for like sports or you know other things. So it's not like they're not being used. I love that. Yeah, and I feel like I've seen that brand online and they really cute designs, right?

Katie: 18:19

Yes, yeah, I'm obsessed with the kids of backpacks. I can I'll share pictures on social when we move

Amy: 18:25

okay, so that was our that was our back to school slash streamline September product junkies episode. I'm so excited to try all the products you recommended Katie and yeah, hopefully this was helpful for you all. Let us know what else you want us to review. We're continuing to look out for for all these fun new products that we're loving lately and see you next time. Thanks, everyone. Bye. 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.

Episode 62 - Do You Know What Chi Means? We Didn’t Either. Breaking Down Traditional Chinese Medicine With Dr. Jenelle Kim (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 62 - Do You Know What Chi Means? We Didn’t Either. Breaking Down Traditional Chinese Medicine With Dr. Jenelle Kim.

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.

Katie: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation Welcome to the show Nirvana sisters family. Today we are sitting down with Dr. Janelle Kim. She's a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, a ninth generation doctor and herb ologists, which is very cool. We're excited to hear what that means. And the founder and chief formulator at J. B. K wellness labs, Janelle helps her patients incorporate Eastern philosophies into western lifestyle for optimal health. So I can't wait to dive in and hear what all of that means. So thank you for for coming to

Dr. Janelle Kim: 1:05

having me. I honored to be here. And so excited for our conversation.

Katie: 1:09

Well, we'd like to start off with our nirvana of the week, just a little something that brought you joy today or this week. Just a little highlight. And I'm gonna go ahead and ask Amy, what was your Nirvana that start with you him?

Amy: 1:22

Well, let's see. Um, well, I would say so my kids go to summer camp. And it's been like a while June just with the end of school and getting them ready to go to camp and all the stress and anxiety and just craziness but they left for camp over the weekend. And it was definitely bittersweet. And it's definitely quiet in the house. But I would say my Nirvana was just getting those first pictures of them enjoying and having fun. And I could like exhale and be like, okay, they're doing, they're doing good. They're in their nirvana. They're running around. They're outside and super happy. So that was definitely my highlight and nirvana of the week. What about you, Katie?

Katie: 2:05

That's really sweet. Because I feel the pressure and the stress of like saying goodbye to them on the plane, I'm sure for you. And this isn't the first year so it's probably getting a little bit easier. But to see them happy is I'm sure such a nice relief. So mine is camp related as well. The girls that for the first year are going to day camp and we dropped them off on Monday. They're there all day nine to four, which maybe isn't like the longest day for my eight year old but it is probably for research is for But picking them up. That was my Nirvana the first day and then hopping in the car like smiling ear to ear so happy. had the best time felt great about it couldn't wait to go back tomorrow. It's just like a sigh of relief. We're doing the right thing. They're good. So that's, that's nice. What about you to know, we're

Dr. Janelle Kim: 2:48

certainly all on the same page. Because right when you said that the first thing came to my mind was also my two young boys. And there is something about picking them up. I every single day, I get butterflies in my stomach. It sounds interesting or funny to some, but I have a feeling you both totally understand what I'm saying. And just see their little faces, especially the little one, you know, because he still hugs me and gives me you know, a huge embrace and tells me how much he loves me. And it's funny, because now my nine year old is kind of similar, but in totally different way. And it's so interesting to watch them, you know, at different stages, and it's definitely something I'm so grateful. It's very grounding in pretty much brings me into the very present moment, no matter what's happening in the day. So I would completely agree that that's my

Amy: 3:30

sweet.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 3:31

You have a night always nine and five. So yes.

Amy: 3:35

Nice. Yes. Awesome. I know. I love that. I have two boys as well. Yeah, they are 12 and 14, so are no more than 15. Sorry.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 3:44

No, tell me about it. I just turned nine and five. April and May so fast. It flies.

Amy: 3:52

It really does.

Katie: 3:54

Alright, so let's get into it. I'm excited to hear about this because I don't know about you AMI D I don't know a lot about Chinese medicine. And I definitely don't know a lot about our biology. Am I saying I'm saying that correctly? Right or biology or about to be in our biologist. So Dr. Ken, would you prefer us to call you Dr. Kim or Janelle or Dr. Janelle. But Janelle? Absolutely. So Janelle, help us understand, like, what are the cornerstones of Chinese medicine? And what does it mean to be an apologist? So

Dr. Janelle Kim: 4:28

those are definitely big questions, and I love them. So the cornerstone of Chinese medicine and understanding the body, the way I would describe it is understanding how everything functions and flows as one whole body right? So mentally, physically, Eastern medicine actually even gets into spiritually not so much like the outer realms of spirit necessarily, but that we connect in many different ways with our body. And it's how we, the way I like to explain it and when I speak around the world, is how we can make our body function at its optimal and flow. And that's how I would break down Eastern So it might not be exactly how everyone else does, but especially to the outside world who doesn't know so much about Eastern medicine. I love that explanation. And so then it utilizes herbal medicine, and acupuncture other modalities as well. We hear about cupping, and guasha, and all these different techniques that are now coming into the Western understanding. But it's using all of these modalities, these ancient practices that have existed for 1000s of years, again, how to make our function, how to make them our body functions, optimum and flow properly, because I always say, if everything functions and flows, even your skin cells, to your organs, to your muscles, and joints, then you have longevity, and that to myself, in my humble opinion, should be all of our goals. So I love that.

Amy: 5:44

I love that. So is it sort of like, and we're I think we're seeing we've actually interviewed a lot of people on many of those subjects. And so is this sort of like this Mind, Body Spirit, holistic Well, being when you hear the word, Chinese medicine or Eastern medicine, I think that's

Dr. Janelle Kim: 5:58

very inaccurate. I do every single aspect of it, because everything comes from, you know, Chief, everything comes from the universe. And we're a macro, we are microcosm of the universe, and the universe is a macrocosm of us. And so yes, when you kind of look at it that way, you start to break everything down. And it is very holistic in that manner. So that's where I said, you should go ahead, I think you're taking the risk.

Katie: 6:22

What is, yeah, help us understand what she is, I've heard the word. But what was amazing,

Dr. Janelle Kim: 6:28

because 20 years ago, when I started in the beauty and wellness industry here in the United States, if I said she people would look at me and wonder what in the world is she talking about? Right? So she, again, exists everywhere around us and within us, from the Dow or the universe, for those that resonate with this understanding, right from the universe came Qi first. And that's how everything breaks down, then we're speaking of the universe, and our bodies. One other principle, you're here that you'll you will hear about is yin and yang, right. And so I don't want to go too far into detail. But a greater kind of a bigger perspective way of understanding is that from chi, then came that symbol of yin and yang. And that is the dichotomy, that duality of everything in our entire world. And it's really important to understand that duality, that dichotomy of the two when understanding our human body as well. So what I mean by that is, we have our universe, for example, a very simple principle to understand, Yin and Yang is like day and night, right? Yin and Yang is loud and soft, even youngest, feminine and masculine. And within each is the other is they're constantly changing. And that's why if you are familiar, most people are nowadays, with that symbol, it almost looks like two fish, and on one side is black, and one side is white. And then they have two little eyes almost. And that literally symbolizes what I just said that there is constant duality all the time. And so now looking at the human body, we have that in our bodies as well, we have those components of yin and yang. And what I mean by that is, Yin is more substance, right? It's like our body fluids is our blood. Yong is activity. That's our chi. And so when you kind of think of it this way, you could almost imagine that, of course, the Western way of understanding, we have circulation, and we have our arteries and our veins and our pumps. And that's everything keeps moving. There's so much more of course to it. But we have that understanding, then Eastern medicine, one way to understand it is that chi is exactly what makes blood flow. That's why I'm talking to you right now. Right? So and when it comes to movement, which is one of the three kinds of EMS are the three pillars I talked about medicine, meditation, and movement, through movement, especially through chi gong, people can actually feel cheap. So it's not really something so, you know, it actually can be tangible. It's not something you necessarily see. But every single thing on this desk at tree, you know, you and I, we all have CI, and so I hope that's a easy way to understand she is. Yeah,

Katie: 8:48

I kind of took it as it's the balance of the energy and the physicality that we have within ourselves. And that's all around us. Is that absolutely kind of

Dr. Janelle Kim: 8:59

defined as vital energy, you'll see that a lot. So, so Exactly, right. Okay.

Amy: 9:05

So interesting. I never that that symbol, the black and white symbol, I think you just said it means chi, the US that yeah, the Yeah, I never realized that. I guess I've just seen that symbol in the context of yoga or meditation and sort of knew what it meant. But the way that you just described it totally makes sense with like, the, the black and the white. And it was very

Dr. Janelle Kim: 9:27

interesting. My favorite thing is to, you know, have things make sense. That's my favorite thing as well. And that's actually one of the reasons I love Eastern medicine and Eastern philosophy. It can be a little different sometimes from the ways in the western world about what we understand. But it always goes down to principle. You know, we're all human. We all are born into this world, no matter what our beliefs, what our ethnicity, what are age, all of that we all it all comes down to principles. And so I find that when I share those principles just as much as I enjoy, and it just resonates make sense. I see that No matter where I go in the world, so I'm so glad that you see that as well as well.

Katie: 10:04

Yeah. And what are the three M's that's part of your philosophy and your practice, right.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 10:10

So the three M's are basically like the pillars that hold up the whole house, right? And they are medicine, meditation and movement. And so medicine to me, is ultimately the formulation, my lab, everything that I've devoted my life to on the herb ology end, right. Meditation is actually the book I just put out, for example, it's the philosophy, it's the way of life, I call it living meditation. Right? So I'm sure we can go into that I won't go too far. But just as we sit down and practice different meditative techniques, or want to be in that certain mindset, living meditation, there principles that have been passed down my lineage for centuries upon centuries, of course, not just my lineage, but they exist, right for 1000s of years. And it's ways to look at every single moment with a certain kind of mindset, knowing that you will always have a choice, right. And so that's kind of the philosophy of life. And finally, it's movement, right ways to truly move our body, it can be any kind of exercise, but particularly movement, again, that's kind of been passed down by our ancient sages for centuries, as ways to really not just exercise externally look good, have strong muscles have a sleek body, but also to really exercise your internal organs and strengthen that chi. And so what I say are those three atoms, medicine, meditation and movement, if we incorporate those into our daily life, constantly, because that's the way it really is, then we can achieve longevity, happiness, health, balance, no matter what is happening in our life, doesn't mean we don't have down days or hard moments. But we realize that through that we can get ourselves out of it. Right? So

Amy: 11:45

I love those three pillars, because they're easy to remember. And it's something you can always think about, if you're just kind of like your Yeah, she is off or you're feeling, you know, just different, you could kind of go back to that which which I like. One of the things I was reading about when I was reading about you was that your father was a Korean monk, and raised this remote mountain raised in a remote mountain tempo, which is incredible. So I want to hear about that. But then there was something else that I thought was so interesting, where you said he taught you about, I don't know if I'm saying Right, right, but don't cheat or drunk on your thoughts. And I'd love to hear one

Dr. Janelle Kim: 12:22

of my favorite principles. So in the book, I break down kind of the practice or the way of life, the living meditation, it's my young son, just to be clear, the Korean art of living meditation, and young son translates as meditation. But to me at that living meditation, that's why I keep discussing that, right. And so the way I break down the book is into chapters, of course, but I call them keys. And there are eight keys. And those are the keys that we can practice in our daily life to achieve that constant state of loving meditation. Right. And so key number three, is absolutely one of my favorites, which is what you just said, Amy, it is stop being drunk on your own thoughts. And the Korean phrase is Don't cheat. And especially in this day and age, in my humble opinion, I think that if we all were aware of this, how much different our lives our world, our relationships, everything would be. And ultimately what it means is just like we can be intoxicated by alcohol, for example, we can become drunk, we can, we have to be aware that we can become drunk on our own thoughts, that it's, that's why I love that we started with that yin and yang. It's always a state of balance, and we hear it all the time. But again, if we stop for a moment, and really think about what that means balance, even looking at that symbol, it means every moment we have to be aware of ourselves or not, it's our choice. But if we choose to be aware of ourselves, we have to be careful that even if we feel so strong about something that we don't become, don't worry about it, we don't become so extreme in our thinking, How often do we see that, of course, we might not agree with something, and we feel know what you're doing is incorrect. But there's a fine line where all of a sudden, you're in that same boat, and you don't even know you're standing there. It's always important to expand our perspective, put ourselves in someone else's shoes, how do I know how that person feels? And I may not know completely, but if I stopped for one moment, whether it is our children, whether it's our spouse, whether it's a good friend in business, and I stop and think for one moment, I want to see where you're coming from, it does something to our minds. It's a self discipline that creates different habits. And again, at the end of the day, it's our choice if we want to take it to be dolci and become totally drunk and stuck on our thoughts. Not bendable. You know, it doesn't mean we can't be steadfast, right, of course, but just see the other side. And that's what that key number three, stop being drunk on your own thoughts.

Amy: 14:38

I love that that's so powerful. And I love the phrase that you just said, Don't become dodgy about it. Because I'm totally going to use that with people and they're not going to know what they're talking about the startup company.

Katie: 14:49

Does that also, does it also apply to like becoming drunk on your own thoughts of things that your self obsessing over like if there's something that you get Just incessantly or like picking on yourself about or thinking about something you're going through or constantly being in a negative state, is it? Does it apply to that as well, not just in regards to going back and forth.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 15:12

I really love that you say that, you know, you may be one of the first people who have brought it up in that way. So direct in that manner. And that's exactly right. We absolutely can can also have it pointing back to us that that, that negative effect, right, almost like the symptoms of getting too caught becoming too extreme. Absolutely. And so once again, we see how these tools, because that's what they are, you know, that's why I feel very compelled to share them. These are, yes, I am part of this lineage, I'm the first woman in this lineage, I'm the first to ever share it, you know, east and west, I probably should have shared Well, my father did grow up for a period of his life in the remote mountains of East Asia and Korea. It's like a movie, it's my own father. And it seems like that sometimes, you know, my mother, on the other hand, is American. So I believe, you know, I came into this world. Again, it was my choice, but but I've taken it on almost as a duty to realize that I am able to have that east west that I come from this lineage of 1000s of years, then a little bit more easy to grasp centuries of these tools that help us to see a little bit more clearly, and hopefully make them relatable to as many people as possible, you know, so I love and like you said, see. So

Katie: 16:24

it's really beautiful. And you are I love, I love the relatability that you're bringing with your books and everything as well and the one of the M's medicine, so that is where the the apology comes in. Yes. And so what kind of herbs is this? Are you using adaptogens, and things of that

Dr. Janelle Kim: 16:43

sort. So adaptions is something that I have spoken about for quite some time now. I will backtrack a little bit, that makes a little bit more sense for everyone. So of course, I was born into this, but it wasn't until Fast Forward seriously. I was a young adult that I realized, and it just hit me like that, that this is the direction I wanted to go in my life. And it was just like that you hear people say that I certainly had that experience. You know, it was that moment in time. And I had to make a choice. And that's how it felt to me. And I chose I was actually on the direction to study Western medicine. And I decided, You know what, my whole life, I've seen things and it didn't hit any kind of until that moment. I've seen so many things treated, or how can I say I want to say it properly. But I've seen so many conditions balanced, let's put it that way that people were not aware of or in my surroundings. And it kind of hit me as a young adult, I have to share this people have to know about this in this part of the world. And so that's where I kind of went into Eastern medicine and got my on my road to becoming a doctor. That didn't happen until a couple of years ago when I was about to have my second son actually holding that doctorate. But But yes, in our country, we understand Chinese medicine, I often refer to Eastern or traditional oriental medicine because I come from a lineage of Korea, right. And so of course, I've devoted myself to understanding Chinese medicine existed there before it moved into Korea, but Korea is known for certain acupuncture techniques and definitely known for advancement in herbal medicine. So just kind of putting that out there. Now in this country, we think of them kind of one in the same acupuncture herbal medicine. In East Asia, they're a little bit more while they completely come from the same route. As I've kind of already explained, you choose. And then this country you see that a bit to usually go like to the Department of acupuncture or to the Department of herbal medicine and my lineage are we definitely have acupuncture techniques, secret ones as well that have gone through my lineage, but really my family my lineage focused on that herbal medicine aspect. And so to kind of break that down a little bit, answer your question in a moment about adaptogens Katie, you know, I speak around the world about different herbal ingredients. So important. We have so many I mean, every medicine to some extent, could be traced back to plants, right plant medicine, but also super important is the understanding of formulation. And that's what I really devoted my life to. That's what my lab does. We contract manufacture products from skincare, body care, internal medicine, meaning supplements, tinctures, you know, topicals, for muscles and joints. And all of that is really based on certain formulas. So of course, the understanding those individual herbal ingredients, but like the recipes, the perfect and secret recipes that have been passed on for centuries. And so that's something I think is really important and I've certainly, I hope I've made some headway. I believe I have definitely been at kind of the forefront in the beauty and wellness industry. Having people understand that in any product. Again, internal external topical skincare haircare you can have the best ingredients, but if they're not formulated properly, if the ingredients don't synergistically work together, it might not be as good as people may think. And there's so many products out there that are just kind of put together. I don't want to say thrown together, but that's what I probably should send. Right. And so so that's kind of the understanding of herbal Medicine. And then finally, you speak of adaptogens. That's something I definitely talked about for 20 years. 20 years ago when I brought this up again, that, you know, talking about herbal medicine was over everyone's head. I mean, I started in the spa industry. You know, we were creating products that were in four seasons, Ritz Carlton's, you know, all of the your beautiful hotels and resorts. And I remember being at the forefront of natural products, which first of all, it's hard to believe there was a time that natural products like people didn't even really get it. What are you talking about? It wasn't that easy to make them. There weren't a lot of options of ingredients, herbal ingredients, are you kidding me? People would come over literally and tell me, you know, Janelle, at the time, I wasn't a doctor, this all sounds great, but I don't think people are gonna get it, I'd get rid of the Asian thing. And I would kind of just look and smile. And I went back to you know, we're all human. And I know that what I have to share, if I do my job properly, it's going to make sense. And it's going to make a big difference. And here we are 20 years later. And you know, Korean beauty is the biggest, you know, beauty industry, basically, in the world and eastern and western, it's all integrating. So it's such a funny thing. And adaptogens were part of that. It's a way another way to understand. So adaptogen adaptogenic herbs can be traced like that word to like the 1940s 1945, if I remember correctly, but definitely in 1945 1947, around that time. And it was by Dr. Lazarus, and this understanding that there's these plants that help us to adapt, because when they grow in the earth, would they have to go through their adaptability, how they survived how they lived, when we put them into our body, it helps us to do the same. Create that balance, right. And that's, again, I can go into many details, but I think this is the best way to understand it. That's what an adaptogen is it helps our bodies adapt under stress. And there's a certain category of herbal ingredients that go into this category of adaptogens. Now, why I said 20 years ago, I I wish to utilize that understanding as a way to help people understand herbal medicine. That principle exists, you know, since the beginning of herbal medicine, that is herbology. And so if we want to understand it as adaptogens awesome. And I think we're still at the very beginning of that, you know, so I use a lot of adaptogenic herbs in our formulations, again, from skincare, to capsules to tinctures you name it because of those particular herbal ingredients in that category. Their ability to help us balance they're very powerful. A lot of certain adaptogenic mushrooms I speak on a lot. I've been reading a lot of articles about that, you know, mushrooms are a hot topic. And certainly there's different ways of understanding the different types out there. But I still think we have, particularly in our country, not even scratched the surface of adaptogenic mushrooms, you know, your ratios and Chaga and lion's mane and, you know, and then you have your beautiful your stragglers, ginseng, Angelica. I mean, I could keep going, but those are some of the important ones. So

Katie: 22:57

yeah, that's why I brought it up. Because there it seems like in the last few years, it's become just more prevalent. And, I mean, you see it all over social media, it's it's gotten to be pretty trendy, and it's found in a lot of really beautiful, natural clean products and people seem to be loving it. And that's, it's really the only verb out of the herb ology that I was familiar with. So that's why I started there. But I'm sure there's a massive abundance and you actually reminded me while you're while you're speaking about her biology, I was doing acupuncture years ago when I was living in the city and it was in the summer and I was kind of like intolerant to heat and my acupuncturist I believe. I believe she was Chinese, she gave me a tea that she said if I drink this tea will help my body to like, expel the heat that I'm not able to process and it it did. It worked. I loved it. I drink it all summer, really hot summer in the city, but I completely forgot about them.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 23:58

And that goes it's fascinating like our very first minute of conversation that there's there's hot and cold to you and then Yan Yan is more cold Young is more hot, you know, and you constantly have to balance that. Sorry.

Amy: 24:12

Yeah, what I was gonna say which was also interesting just for like breaking it down for for people who don't know the space as much. I think when I hear adaptogens or herbal medicine, I think of it as like something you ingest. It's more like like supplements and things like that. And it really just opened my eyes to like wait, that's actually in beauty products and so many other products not just like things you're ingesting for your health. So that was Yeah, I guess naturally those things are in other products. I just just really think about it that way about like

Dr. Janelle Kim: 24:48

a medical doctor correlation. You can have these incredible ingredients and you hear on many different platforms or ways of understanding for lack of a better way of putting it that it does it depends on how much it can penetrate right how wash your body absorbs it. And that's where I talked about that importance of proper formulation. Because when you ingest an adaptogenic herb it goes in it literally simulates through your digestion, right? And you, you take out the nutrients, again, if it's formulated properly, and it agrees with you, so on and so forth. And so the one thing with topical, is there is a little bit more attention that has to be put on that understanding of making sure it penetrates and absorbs into the body, if that makes sense. You know, so it's even more

Amy: 25:31

of a question. And this might be hard to answer, but I think our listeners might want to know, so if you were talking to someone about, you know, using herbal medicine for different things, like could you name something that most people would benefit from? Like, it's something they're ingesting for their health, something for their skin, and like, okay,

Dr. Janelle Kim: 25:51

absolutely learn hair. And so, please remember, like I just said, it's one thing to have just one ingredient, it's another to have proper combination, right? Because, and I will answer your question, Amy. But I really, this is really important, because often, or almost always, almost always, because there are situations where taking just ginseng, for example, you know, all by itself can be so powerful, right for energy, depending on what kind of gyms and especially for women's for balancing hormones, right. So there's one that I just named, but you have to be careful, especially when it's just one herbal ingredient different than some of our drugs, if you will, because those side effects can be a lot more extreme in comparison to most plant medicine, but plant medicines are still very powerful and important. And what I mean by that is you can have Korean Red Ginseng, which is one of the most powerful ingredients, I think now around the world we notice and in Korea that is so prized. I mean, one small root of Korean Red Ginseng could be easily half a million dollars, I'm talking about how powerful it is in the body. Right, especially for for example, as being woman on the phone today, balancing different hormones, printing, energy, libido, whatever that might be so many different aspects. But here's what's interesting, if someone who has high blood pressure takes a whole bunch of Korean Red Ginseng, it could be really not so good for them because it increases your chi and raises chi. And with with a high blood pressure is a really kind of easy one to understand. That's why I'm giving this example, you can see where raising your chi strong is not really the best thing to do. And so that's where I just want to note that. So Korean Red Ginseng is a huge urgency in general is one of the most it's Ren Shen in Chinese medicine and Ren is human. And so literally, if you look at a ginseng root, they say it looks like a human being, which is really interesting. If you look at it, you can see it like the arms, the head, the leg is really interesting. And that's how herbal medicine 1000s of years ago, that's how they came up with these names and this understanding. So that's a really important one. For hair one in general, would be hibiscus I put that in a lot of our hair formulas for skin as well. I mean, skin and hair are kind of an extension. It's kind of one in the same. But hibiscus is so good for blood circulation. Right. So I mean, there's so many more, but I'm just kind of calling those that come to mind Angelica.

Amy: 28:09

I haven't heard about that already. And so that's a new one. I mean, I've heard of it, but not in the sense that you're describing.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 28:14

And then remember all your examples. Example For immune. Oh, yeah. Skin. Yes. So struggle is Angelica, you know, those are ones that you'll definitely find in the formulas that that I create at the lab.

Katie: 28:28

And I love that you're mentioning that you still have to be mindful and careful. Like even though these are natural, and they're herbs, they can be very powerful. I know not to completely go back to the adaptogens. But part of the reason why I'm so familiar with them is because I have to be careful because they affect your cortisol and I have a condition where I don't produce cortisol. So I actually can't really use adaptogens much like my other person could, which is kind of a bummer, because there's so many great products of the minute that I you know, read but but yeah, it's a good thing for the listener to pay attention to and to maybe check with your doctor first before starting something,

Dr. Janelle Kim: 29:04

you know, after Yeah, another great thing when you're out there looking for supplements like one thing because people asked me that often. And you know, we contract men, we work behind a lot of brands. And so we that means a lot to us, we keep that confidentiality, but you know, you kind of can see our stamp when you will see these formulas out in the world. But another great thing for people to do is to really look into who these companies are, who they're formulators are, you know because then you can start to trust a company. You know what I mean? A brand otherwise it is overwhelming. You know, there's so much out there. And if something becomes especially nowadays trendy, everyone jumps to doing it, you know, and

Amy: 29:40

so were the formulators is that noted on the packaging, because that's interesting. I always think of like brands that I like that I think have good ingredients from what I know but I've never actually looked further than like what lab is actually formulating. It's

Dr. Janelle Kim: 29:55

not always listed. To be honest. Usually you'll find if it really matters, I'm thinking of a few of our Our clients right now, usually you'll find that we really care about their formulas, their ingredients, they really have a purpose for that product. And now more and more you see it, because it resonates with people's everyone's kind of catching on, you look into their story, you know, who is the person behind it? Why are the happiness? What's their unique thing? You know? Is it high quality ingredients? That's a great one. Is it? I know some of our clients will speak on. It is the synergy between the ingredients, you know what I mean? And that is super key. So, yes, it is definitely something a good practice. Because again, I totally acknowledge it can be very overwhelming, stepping into a beauty store, a supplement department, whatever it might be, because there's just so much.

Amy: 30:42

Yeah, I was gonna ask that. If someone wants to go in their town or city to start utilizing some of these herbal medicine, what would you suggest? Like if they are already going to acupuncture would most likely that acupuncturist maybe have I know, my old acupuncturist that I used to do? I need to go back to this is reminding me had like, all these herbs raised on kind of what you needed. But like, if someone's not seeing an acupuncturist that has that as their like, where would you go to find good quality or charm,

Dr. Janelle Kim: 31:12

I mean, I'll just kind of make it as simple as possible. It is true acupuncturist will, or biologist, for example, they will look at your individual condition and really start to balance. Of course, every just like there's doctors who are so great and skilled at what they do. And there's some we're not as skilled. And so I want to acknowledge that the same thing happens with acupuncturist or biologists, you name it any kind of practitioner, right. And so that's a good way it's a little different. Like the formulas that we I create at my lab behind the brands are ones that can be handed out in general, right. So there's certain herbal ingredients like you kind of mentioned, Katie, I don't want to get too far into this. But it's important for people to understand that you know, if you have a certain cold, like, say you have a cold and what your cold is presenting as as a sore throat, well, technically, the way you treat that cold with a sore throat is different than treating a cold that doesn't have a sore throat, and you seem to have a really runny nose, I hope I'm not getting too detailed. But it's important for people to understand there's a difference in symptoms, because one cold has hot symptoms, that's the sore throat. And so you're not going to use a much a hot herbs, you know, too. And so that's how in depth herbal medicine can be. So for those types of more specific imbalances, cold is a little different, because we can put out supplements that can kind of boost immune system in general, right. That's a great place to start that kind of your acupuncturist or biologist, certain practitioners, you can then go to other places that offer it and really look into the supplements that exist and have people on the floors and what I mean is like Whole Foods, I think we have all over the country for the most part, especially east coast, west coast, right? Your your natural markets, I don't know if you have, for example, Farmer cup, but that's a great place and in the West here, that we have the I will definitely send people there when they're looking because the people I know that that are biologists, the herbalist on the floor are very, very good at what they do. It's very important to them. So that's kind of I hope this is answering the question, but you find good natural products store or if you're searching, if you don't have that option, and you are kind of looking online, do a bit of research and find I mean pharmerica is on for example, you know, I should you think I work for pharma guy keep saying your name. Because this was coming to mind right now. But that's where going back to what we just said, look into the story of that company, look into where their ingredients, you know, what matters to them. And that's how you can kind of narrow in on what works for you. And at the end of the day. Yes, so in Whole Foods. And I would have liked a bit, this is really important. At the end of the day, pay attention to how you feel is the most important thing. It goes back to that living meditation and those three pillars, you know, so often we look to our experts, which you should, in our practitioners or doctors, our yoga teachers, for example, and do that because they studied and they have, they have things to share. But at the end of the day, you need to be aware of yourself. So that means if you take what you think is the best ingredient and everyone says it's the best, and you take it pay attention week with something new into your body. And if after a couple of days or even that day, you start to have a headache. And you cannot figure out why all of a sudden, you know, I never get headaches and now I have a headache. I do not care how great that ingredient is. It's not balanced with your condition at that moment. And we really have to watch that the anatomy and then you start to become in charge of your own health. So I just wanted to say that super important.

Katie: 34:31

Yeah,

Amy: 34:31

yeah, we talked about that a lot on the show like really listening to your body and if someone is saying like oh, it's just this or it's just that don't worry about it. You're like no, I you need to. It's that mindfulness and that intense intentionality you have within yourself where I think a lot of people seem to be kind of chewed into that now, more so than before and I think people it seems like are asking their traditional doctor I was like, Well, what about this? Or what about this? You know? Because, yes, there's a lot more education out there. And there's a lot more people talking about, like attitude with the West, and

Dr. Janelle Kim: 35:11

even, you know, Western doctors, you know, yeah, you know, I don't know, I'm often on panels with, you know, Western Eastern. And I believe that any good doctor is just going to want the best for that patient, you know, and some of us, it's easier to get that advice than others. And that's, that is the way it is, you know, but in general, for sure. You see the world I, like I said, much different than 20 years ago, or maybe a little more when I first began and, you know, which harder path?

Amy: 35:38

Yeah, I hope that some of these more Western traditional doctors start getting into more, I mean, the good ones already do ask those questions that aren't outside of like, right, they're willing, because it really does make a difference. And they're looking at Mind Body Spirit, not just like

Dr. Janelle Kim: 35:58

the integrative cynics are a serious thing. I mean, it's happening, you know, and definitely, when you walk into certain Western medical doctors offices, you're definitely seeing doctors who are doing exactly that, you know, opening expanding their mind and recognizing, you know, these medicines have existed for 1000s of years. You know, it's so interesting when, because it yes, 1000s of years ago, they were not doing clinical studies. This is true. They did not put it down in that manner. But there's something to say, right? I mean, I think more and more people are seeing that now more than ever, especially after last couple of years, we've all walked through that there's something to say about these medicines that have worked on humans for literally 1000s of years. You know, so yes, there might not be this, what the Western Way, which is a very good way, don't get me wrong, having clinical studies, finding every single fact. But sometimes there's a little bit more to it. But that's holistic, also the way we look at everything. So there's three, absolutely. It's funny.

Amy: 36:54

Katie and I both had COVID Around the same time, and one of the things we both saw, I think was floating around Tiktok was, and I don't know if this is, well, I guess it's horrible, but it's different, like the oils. So it said, if you had no taste or snide, neither of us did to us. I think it was peppermint oil, and rose oil, rosemary, Rosemary oil every day in your nose and like she did it and it both worked.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 37:19

Stimulating to your tea. It makes everything function again. So it's an interesting thing.

Amy: 37:23

Right, exactly. Yeah. That was like, amazingly, yeah. And I

Dr. Janelle Kim: 37:27

think a lot of writers world is seeing more and more options is, you know, there's certainly some negative aspects which we're not trying to go down this path of social media and how small our world is with technology. But it does certainly at the same time, there's that duality, that dichotomy, again, of the yin and yang, are certain ways now that through being closer through technology and the internet and social media that we're learning these you just have to fact check that a bit, you know, in fact, that's one of the things that my team certainly has to say, you know, Janelle, Dr. Kim, if you can speak on this, do you agree or not? That happens a lot, actually. For different things, trends that we see whether it's a trend, or it's real, yeah. So

Katie: 38:10

that's, yeah, and nothing. And parents do that. And, you know, I feel like, we could talk about some much of this for hours. And I would really, really love to have you back to talk in detail about acupuncture. Because I think that is such a vast topic, right. And I've, I've done it, and it's worked for me, and I know so many people that have helped. So we'll have to do that another time. But before we let you go, tell us just a little bit more about what Jay JBK wellness labs does. And also, do you have Is it a branded CBD luxury skincare

Dr. Janelle Kim: 38:43

JBK wellness Labs is not named after myself, which many people think is named after my great grandfather, those are his who was an incredible practitioner of herbal medicine, and acupuncture for that matter. And we are contracted manufacturers, which means we make the products behind the brands. And again, I kind of touched on that already. But you know, they're our clients are carried in your high end resorts and spas, to your whole foods to now actually they're having like prestige and luxury departments and target and Walgreens. And so it's an interesting way for exactly what we're talking about to be, you know, to be available for more people, which is kind of neat. So brands kind of spanning all industries. And so that's what we do in everything that we do is rooted in that understanding of herbal formulation, of formulation of products in general clean beauty, of course, you know, natural health products, of course. And so that's basically what JBK what we do, so we're not a brand, so we're behind brands. And so when you talk about the first ever Yes, I created the first ever CBD luxury skincare. I mean, basically I started the CBD industry myself in my lab with the people who started CBD back in. My first son was almost ready to be born so over 10 years ago now, which is a long time in the cannabinoid industry. And that's a whole other conversation to network. that I jumped into right away. But then another thing where I thought, you know, this is going to be something and I'd rather be educating about it properly. But I didn't really want to be like the queen of cannabis, you know, so, but an alternative. And so so not to go too far down that road. But that's so JBK we do a lot in the cannabinoid industry because we kind of helped to start it. So we were the first to make the sav muscle and joint role on so on and so forth. And all these, it's a beautiful thing, because every time someone comes to us to make formulas, it's always unique, it is truly the most amazing thing. So we, they come to us, oftentimes with an idea, they'll come to us with formulas that they kind of want us to improve upon, for example, or they'll come to us with a really important ingredient. I mean that and that's just to name a couple of examples. And then we formulate and then we produce the products. And that's the headquarters are in San Diego, right where I reside. Right now, we have a lab in Orange County. And actually, we have one in Portugal, in Europe for our European clients. So yes, and we just started actually, we're really excited about this, and I'm happy I'm remembering to share, because for over 20 years, I've been in this industry. And when you when I say contract manufacturing usually have to have higher minimums. So we don't have to get into all the details of it all. But in order to work with us, or to make custom products, you have to order a couple 1000 of one product at a time. And that's not easy for everyone. And this has been on my mind for a long time. And so over the last couple of years, and one of the things that, you know, during the pandemic, I don't always think of it this way. But it's the truth that we were able to create a JBK was a private label a white label division. And that means a lot to me, because what that means is more and more people are able to put their brand on some of our most favorite formulas that I've created over 20 years of my lab. And so, you know, that's kind of a big thing. And so I'm really excited about that. That's kind of a new thing that we've done in my lab. So

Katie: 41:54

congratulations

Amy: 41:55

for future when we come up and your bonuses, maybe the product.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 42:03

I want to create a formula to help women balance their, you know, emotions, balance their hormones, to have more energy, whatever that is. That's exactly how it starts. And people trust you and then that's how it goes. So

Amy: 42:15

I love that and what is your book called again? And where can people

Dr. Janelle Kim: 42:18

you my book is called the young son, the Korean art of living meditation. It's kind of a long one. That's why I just remember Dr. Janelle Kim, living meditation, bright blue simpler. It's basically through Penguin, Random House and Watkins. And so you can find it on the Penguin Random house.com website on my website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, basically, anywhere books are sold. So I'm very grateful that has come out, you know, just in January, so

Amy: 42:45

very excited. Thank you, Amy. Hi, congratulations. Okay, so getting into our wrap session before we close out. Janelle, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? I can. That's that's a hard one at my I do have so many.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 43:03

If I had to pick one right now, one of my favorites is remembering and understanding that true beauty does come from the inside out, you have to use very clean important products topically because it is our largest organ, our skin. But also we really have to pay attention to improving our condition internally, increasing our circulation, increasing our chi. And of course, to me, that means supplementing with herbal formulations. You know, being aware of my body knowing when to take certain ones. So I don't want to go too far. But yes, it's inside out which we're seeing much, much more in our beauty and wellness industry right now. So I'm so happy for that.

Amy: 43:41

Yeah. 100% Yeah, that's great. Okay, the next one, we call our five minute flow, which I guess could contribute to your CI. But here's the scenario. You just got out of the shower and dried off and Uber pings you and says they're five minutes away. So what is your quick beauty routine?

Dr. Janelle Kim: 44:00

That's funny, right? My locks up. I have one

Amy: 44:03

you just got out of the shower and dried off. And Uber just alerted you there five minutes away. So how do you you know, what's your quick beauty routine? What do you put on what are your kind of go to? And I'm shaking my head or that's every day forget?

Dr. Janelle Kim: 44:17

Yeah, that's called children. And podcasts Even my kids had to camp at 9am which is exactly when we were supposed to be on so that was literally my morning. So I do I get ready in five minutes. And that's just the truth today. We're lucky I put a little eyeshadow for you ladies to look, you know, all dressed up. But the i Everyday I use my herbal toner. It is one of the most important products I think I mean, again, that's so hard. I have the whole I'm Korean beauty right so I have the whole every step. But I always use a toner in the morning if I don't work out rather than just washing my face. There's no alcohol, it's all herbs. So it's just basically, you know, cleansing with a cotton pad, but at the same time all those good herbs onto my skin. So that's what I start with. And then honestly, I like a little concealer because it just makes me look a little brighter and a little natural blush. And I go on with my day. Like literally that's that

Amy: 45:11

and are these all brands that you make in the lab so it's not like a brand skincare for sure. Probably

Dr. Janelle Kim: 45:17

another one I love it's my later again, that's the I keep making a joke. It's the Korean beauty that is a Korean beauty hack and I very much stand by exfoliation is key. And so those are all products that I create my bathroom looks like a lab literally I have a little bottles everywhere. But as far as makeup, we we keep wanting to go down a direction are a little bit too busy. So I do I go for brands out there and the ones that I like, right now. I like RMS beauty. So very clean. I find that you know I don't like to reapply like don't look at myself in the mirror throughout the day because I figured what what in the world can I do anyways? This is how I

Amy: 45:55

layer your skin's unbelievable so

Dr. Janelle Kim: 45:59

yeah, like a little blush just because I'm all skin tone. And that's about it. So and then maybe a little lip gloss. Some

Amy: 46:05

love that. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily your bond I

Dr. Janelle Kim: 46:09

love by the way, that that is what you call your entire platform on everything that you do. And so how to maintain that is through living meditation. I mean, we're totally on the same page living meditation is the ultimate goal of reaching that state of Nirvana that state of honestly balanced, we started this way and I suppose well, and this way that you know, everything comes from the doubt and for those who are not familiar with the Dow, I suggest that you become familiar in some way because it is a really powerful and was people love it. And it really is just the universe, right? And the universe is everything and nothing. It is literally that Enzo circle which is on my logo. It's that like kind of brushstroke and that's to me, also is nirvana. Right. So to that state of from nothing comes everything and from everything comes nothing. And so I am able to constantly keep purifying myself creating good habits, having a self discipline through living meditation, which is why I put it in the book.

Katie: 47:05

That's beautiful. I just want to say before we hand the mantra over to Amy that you can just you really exude Janelle such kind of peace and joy and you're glowing from the inside out. So you are living proof of everything that you can say. So we're really grateful for having you on. Thank you so much for for being here with us today. And I think our listeners are gonna love everything you taught us and, and really, I would love to have you back and we can dive into it. I'm

Dr. Janelle Kim: 47:32

really grateful to be here. It was a wonderful conversation. I would absolutely love to come back. So I hope that was helpful. That's for sure.

Katie: 47:39

Was Thank you. All right, Amy. What's our mantra we'd like to close with a little something to end on.

Amy: 47:46

Yeah, so I don't know if this is a mantra or saying something I found on Jay Shetty, Instagram, but it's very appropriate to what we were talking about specially we were talking about being drunk on your thoughts, which kind of stuck with me. So here it is. If you want to be happy, don't take stuff personal. Let stuff go. Let people be focused on you. Your mental health, your spiritual health, your well being physically and financially.

Katie: 48:11

I agree. Yeah, yeah. All of the above agreed, right.

Amy: 48:15

So thank you so much. Thank

Katie: 48:19

you.

Amy: 48:20

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.

Episode 61 - Product Junkies July Edition - Things We Are Loving Right Now (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 61 - Product Junkies July Edition - Things We Are Loving Right Now

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

welcome back to another episode of Nirvana sisters, product junkies, it is July and we have some fun reviews for the month. So I'm going to kick it off to Katie, we're just gonna get right into Oh,

Katie: 0:41

I didn't expect that. I thought you were going to start us out. Okay. I'm going to start I'm going to start with food because Okay, I have had this product. It's been around for a while. But I just really want to give them a shout out because I'm a dairy free girl. And being a dairy free girl, you still love cheese. You still love yogurt, you love all the things but you can't do it if you're lactose intolerant like I am. And all of these brands have been trying for years to make a good like copycat. And there's finally our legitimate brands that do and it's Kite Hill. Kite Hill is my like number one go to and I just know that. It's like the word needs to get out there. If you can't do dairy. They have dips. I'm a dip person. I love a good oh, I've had their damp the Kite Hill. Yeah, you love a good caramelize or French onion dip. They have it Suzuki, they have a ranch and now they have a queso. That tastes so much like real queso. It's insane.

Amy: 1:46

You Oh my God, I didn't have a sofa. You can eat

Katie: 1:49

it cold. You can eat it hot. It's like I feel like a dairy eater again. So Oh, and also, I have to try to make butter. They now have a plant based butter that I bought last week. That's really good. And my cholesterol is kind of high lately because of my genetics. So it's good for me to switch to the plant based butters. So anyway, it's not the most exciting product review, but I just felt like I really needed to shout it out. Yes. No, I think that's really refreshing and just nice to be able to like enjoy dairy again. Even though it's not dairy that sort of feels like to

Amy: 2:21

me Yeah, I need to I I've had some other chips. I've had the French onion and there's like another one. That's good. I can't remember what flavor it is. And I forgot I haven't gotten those in a while. Oh ranch. I think they've branched up that's good. And then I used to have their yogurt. What's the nutrition like? Like, because usually they're pretty low in sugar

Katie: 2:39

too, right? They're actually Oh, they also have a spinach and artichoke dip. That's the one that I tried recently that like blew my mind. It's it's really clean. It's awesome. And they're all made from almonds. Like some of the products that you know like the mica knows brand is made from cashews kettles made from almonds. They do better with almonds and cashews. So for example, Spinach artichoke dip, it tastes so spot on it's almond milk, spinach, coconut oil, artichokes, modified corn starch, salt, garlic powder, yeast extract, onion pattern, natural flavor, locust bean gum, lemon juice concentrate, guar, gum and cultures. So it's it's like it's the common stuff that you're seeing in a lot of these products. I think without a lot of the garbage. It's dairy free, soy free, gluten free, vegan, kosher, non GMO, no artificial colors or preservatives, and made from live and active cultures, which means it's going to have some probiotics in it as well. So I think it's good. Okay. And, and, like, calorie wise, it's like, also really nice and guilt free. I mean, you know, not that it matters. But for two tablespoons. It's only 30 calories. It's like two grams of fat. It's no saturated fat to carbs. It's easy. No sugar, one gram of protein. You know, it's like, it's, yeah, that's going on. Around.

Amy: 3:53

Okay, good. Love code Hill. Good. Good. Good product mention. Okay, the next one I'm going to mention. We talked about it, I said it I was hinting this to earlier today. And I've been using this for months, but I was saving it to tell you about it. And it is athletic. Oh, I know. I've converted myself. I mean, athletic greens is all over the place. I feel like I've seen it everywhere. And I never tried it. And I was listening to Andrew Huberman who I love. And he talks about athletic greens all the time. And he's been using it since 2012. Those of you has so I always hear Andrew Huberman talking about it on his podcast, which is the Hubert Huber Minh Lab, which I've spoken about before. He's a PhD, neuroscientist professor in the Department of neurobiology at Stanford. So I trust everything he says, and he's his podcast, just as an aside is so good because he breaks down really kind of complex things into like, ways that you can understand and he always provides context to an issue he's talking about and then gives you really good insight, recommendations, etc. But anyway, he always talks about ethics. greens. And so finally I was like, Alright, I gotta try it. Since I've tried it, I've had it everyday sense and how do you feel on it, it has really helps me I feel so much better. Because what I've been doing is well, just for everybody to know athletic greens, if you go to athletic greens.com, you can read all about it. But you can do it on a subscription. Or you can just buy a one, you know, one time package, I bought a subscription thinking I would just cancel it if I didn't like it. And the subscription, which is $79 comes with the starter kit. So this jar, which I like, because you have to you have to keep it in the fridge. So this jar with the scooper. And then it also comes with this, like shaker. So I just use this every day, I have a system, which you know, I love a system and travel packs, which is great. So I'll bring it with me on my trip next week. So I've been feeling really good on it. Because what I've been doing now instead of drinking my coffee, first thing is I get up in the morning, and I have athletic greens. And the reason why I like it is because you only need like eight to 12 ounces. So it's not like a whole thing of water, it's like maybe like a half a jar of water, you know, 12 ounces, whatever. So I do that. And then I just feel like very hydrated and like good. And then I have my coffee maybe then or an hour later. So it's like a good start to my morning. So I really like it then. But it has every mineral nutrient you could need from greens. And so especially like if you're traveling, it's like the one thing that he talks about. And I've heard other people talk about it too. It's like the one thing they bring with them because they know they'll get all their minerals. And so you know, you're getting everything from it in one place. So even if you have a salad and stuff like that, whatever, but at least you know, you're getting it all in one place. And it's also I believe it prebiotic and probiotic. So my digestion has been much better on it, which has been a big one for me, because I never find anything that like really helps with my digestion. And this has helped with my digestion. So I've been taking it like every day for three months. I haven't missed a day. Well, I was I enjoy it. I think it tastes good. Yeah, I was looking back and I've gotten it. This is like my third month. And I'm almost done with this. And my fourth one is gonna is being mailed today. So I really like it. It's easy, it tastes good. I mean, it's like not sweet, not, it's just kind of like, it just feels good. It's very hydrating. And I've just gotten into the routine. And what I do is I just keep the jar in the fridge like in this one spot that I have. And then I use this shaker like the thing that comes with it every day. It's like a plastic bottle. You just put the greens in, put the water and shake it and drink it. And then I just clean it right there and put it right back in with like a little water. So it keeps it cool. And I just do the same thing every morning. It's like no big deal. And I love it. It's actually been making me feel a lot better.

Katie: 7:42

I have to tell you, I've used it. I was ordering athletic greens, like at the very start of the pandemic when I got into podcast and DAX Shepard's podcast. So they advertised, so I ordered a time. And I liked it. But I had some other stomach stuff going on. So I didn't we weren't simpatico at the time, but maybe I need to try it again. Give it another go.

Amy: 8:04

Yeah, and like I think these things are interesting because I think certain things work for some people and certain things don't like I remember we were talking about in another one of our shows the secara metabolism powder, which you love. I used it and I didn't like it. I mean, it was like fine, but I didn't it didn't make a huge impact on me where you love it. So I think it's just like you have to find the things that are right for you. And I was like, super excited to find something that actually like, I can feel a difference. And I feel better on it when I drink it. And my digestion is much better than it used to be. So that's huge. And then I feel like I'm getting all of the superfoods and vitamins and minerals that I need. So huge support. Athletic Greens, right? Oh, so the subscription is $79 a month. But if you do a one time I think it's 99. So I just do this subscription because it's cheaper and then you don't have to think about ordering like a jar that they send you and it's great. I like the jar Yeah, it's nice and I like the scooper. It has like a good weight to it. And I like the shaker like it's all good. So I'm really excited about athletic greens. So that's, that's that one.

Katie: 9:08

What do you got? Mine is a supplement kind of ish. It's electrolytes. The brand you know the brand I've given it to you before, but we haven't talked about on the show yet element T or element. It's I love this brand of electrolytes. It's actually was created for the ketogenic community. I can't remember exactly the name of the people that started it, but they did that because if you were doing keto, you had to have like more sodium. It's just like keto it's really important to watch your electrolytes. So this group started this brand of electrolytes and it's 1000 milligrams of sodium which is high for electrolytes. Most electrolytes don't have that much 200 milligrams potassium 60 grams of magnesium and they come in all of these great flavors but what I love the most about it is that it comes in raw and flavored one because of favorite ones typically have.

Amy: 10:01

That's the one that yeah, the flavored ones. The one that you started like

Katie: 10:05

super delicious, but they always have like stevia, which a lot of people do find with stevia, I don't like me and sugar alcohols or whatever, it's just, it doesn't match. So they have an unflavored one that has no stevia, and it's just the straight up electrolytes which I love it and I subscribe to it so I get it every other month for $39 And then if you just do it one time, it's $45 but it's a huge box of 30 packs so you have you eaten up one a day and they have grapefruit salt. I feel like you would love that flavor. Yeah, oh great. Salt citrus salt, watermelon, salt, orange salt, raspberry salt, chocolate salt seems kind of weird but whatever. Lemon habanero mango chili. So yeah,

Amy: 10:54

yeah, interesting. I didn't know they had all those flavors. I actually just got the unflavored one that you got me on, which I love and whenever I'm feeling dehydrated, I drink and it makes a huge difference. That's yeah,

Katie: 11:04

great. Good. lm n TLM. N

Amy: 11:07

T. Great. Okay, so getting into beauty a little bit I have a few things. So my first one is this Tom Ford lipstick and gloss which are so beautiful. They are like the perfect nude. You know we're always looking for the perfect nude. I found this I think I saw it on Tik Tok when Mikayla recommended it a few months ago. I think it was her. And this lipstick is called blush nude. It's a soft pink beige. It is like the best color it's so luxurious too. It feels so good on your lips. It's so moisturizing. It's $58 so a little pricey for lipstick but honestly this lipstick lasts forever so it's such good quality. And I love the color and then you match it with the glass Luxe lip gloss and this color is called in the buff which is like a nude with a gold pearl if you can see this and that combo it is like the most gorgeous nude and this is $58 as well. I wear it I get so many compliments all the time people are like what are you wearing? What is on your lips it's just such a good year rounds great nude and also the packaging is already a full on like heavy and luxurious you know highly recommend Do

Katie: 12:32

you know if they have like different various nude shades of that same one Do you know because you know some like some nudes are it depends on your skin tone to find the right nude like I wonder if Yeah, I could wear the same nude that you could wear?

Amy: 12:46

I don't know I mean they definitely have like a lot of lipstick colors and I'm sure they have other nudes I just this is the one blush nude. That seems to work for a lot of people because I've seen a lot about it online but there's probably other nudes as well. And then the the the glosses they have tons of colors too. But this one in the buff pairs really nicely.

Katie: 13:08

Check it out. So yes, I love it. Yeah. All right. Well, that was a high I have a low high low little drugstore find. Oh my god, I love it. That's great. So this is L'Oreal True Match Lumi lotion, natural glow enhancer. And it's 1599 I think I actually got it CVS for like 1399 this is on alters website that I'm looking at right now. It's a great little bottle of like very highlighting luminous lotion, and I actually use it as highlighter on my cheekbone. But then like if I'm going out and I've got a you know, like a tank top or something I'm like I put it on my shoulders and I put it on my chest like lotion. You can use it either way. It works really really well though, as a highlighter, and it's a nice consistency. It's really pretty. It's like I don't know it's kind of hard to see here. But this is light glow. Number nine Oh,

Amy: 14:16

okay. I think I have that one. It's so funny that you have that because I literally just bought that one and the darker one because I wasn't I bought it online so it was like hard to tell. But that's interesting that you use that as a highlight and on your body. I never thought to do that. I've just used it on my face just Oh really? Like always. I wasn't Yeah, I just like one day mixed it with my sunscreen and used it just as a moisturizer idea, but I guess you could use it really

Katie: 14:43

funny. It's I mean, I don't even know like I didn't even realize that it was considered a lotion until I looked at it today for this exact purpose. I thought I bought it for a highlighter but it says instantly hydrates eliminated this for an all over fresh, healthy naked skin glow. So There you go.

Amy: 15:01

Yeah, I'm gonna use it as a highlighter though so now that I got the two colors that's actually good because maybe I'll use like the one of them as a highlighter and one is like, you know exactly like the darker one for my body and 100% I never thought to put it on like your chest and shoulders. Yeah, it's a good idea like, and it feels really good feel not at all.

Katie: 15:19

It's it's very light.

Amy: 15:21

Yeah, that's a great drugstore. I love that. Okay, next, I put this on our Instagram a couple of weeks ago when I was stocking up on all my favorite products. And I always you know, as we love beauty shamans, one of our favorite brands, so I tried her soul veil SPF 25 Because I needed a new moisturizer. And it is delicious. I love it so much. It's $75 and it's the it has such a good feel to it for moisturizer specially for the summer. It's not heavy, but it's not light. It's like that perfect texture. And the smell is so good. Again, it's not strong, but it's just like this light smell I honestly every time I put it on my face I like put it in my hands and smell it it's like a little and then I put it on my face. It's just so good. And I was worried about the 25 because you know I'm super into some protection and I thought 25 wasn't enough, but I actually recently went to the gym and I was like Is 25 okay to wear and she's like yeah, it's fine to wear on a daily basis she's like, but if you're going to the beach or like you're outside all day like playing golf or at the pool she's like wear something more but she's like for an everyday moisturizer 25 is totally fine. So I was like Okay, great. So anyway, I highly recommend that if you need a moisturizer with an SPF. I also love which we've talked about a million times Supergoop but Supergoop is just the sunscreen so sometimes when you just want to like have one stop and moisturizer and sunscreen together it's like hard to find a good one I know Elta MD we've talked about a lot too but this one I'm obsessed with

Katie: 16:52

I have to get it I love this because I feel like so I have drugstore fi and so I feel like you are definitely on the high end today and I'm on the low end Yeah bringing you both spectrums listeners. My next one is another drugstore find in fact I have found it at the grocery store. And recently I my hair has felt so good. It's been really really silky. And I don't I mean I didn't necessarily do anything differently other than I've just been using this religiously for some time now. So it's the brand is Haske and this particular product is a keratin protein smoothing hair oil and it says it softens and renews its for damaged over processed hair which obviously you know, I get my hair highlighted. It's alcohol free and instantly absorbing and it's just like a really nice finishing smoothing oil in the littlest amount I mean I really use like barely even what's the bride HASK h a s k so I use this I use scene haircare we love our seen haircare right shampoo and conditioner. I'm like, religiously. That's all I use. And then I use this and I can just

Amy: 18:11

and you use that when you're hurting wet or dry or like

Katie: 18:14

it's like a finishing oil. And I don't have to do any just put it on your end. Yeah, I don't even I don't blow dry it. I don't curl it anymore. It just like falls with like a nice, smooth wave. And sometimes it's that and you reapply it every day just to like to be hydrated or you don't need to. But if I need to I don't like like right after I get my hair highlighted. Yeah, I

Amy: 18:36

probably use it more. Okay, and you got it.

Katie: 18:39

I've heard this one in particular, I think literally at the grocery store, but I have bought it at CVS before I've seen it in a ton of places. It's $2 $2 $2 I swear up $2 No kidding me and it works. It's legitimate. That is like you know, Moroccan oil brand like more expensive. It's it's really good. It works.

Amy: 19:01

Okay, I gotta try that. Love it. Okay, well I do have a good drugstore finds it as my last beauty category product. So another brands that I love, which is sun balm, love is the sun bum face mist. That's funny, refreshing face mist mist sunscreen, broad spectrum, SPF 45. Do

Katie: 19:22

you have stairs and I almost brought it for review.

Amy: 19:26

So funny. Don't you love it? It's great. It's so good. So for our listeners, it's like this 3.4 ounce bottle. First of all, it has that some bomb smell which is like that coconutty whatever. Smell and I just love that it's a mist because it almost feels like you're putting like a rose water on your face and it's just like such a good refresher. So I always have it in my beach bag or like if I'm out you know at the pool or something and it's just like cool and refreshing and gives you that coverage and you don't have to like reapply sunscreen. I love it so much. So anyway, it's some bum 59 denying and it's just yeah, refreshing, faceless and you know what? SPF 45

Katie: 20:04

And using that on the kids all week this week for camp because it's, I'm getting them out the door in the morning. The last thing I have time for is like smoothing out the face lotion sunscreen. It takes forever. So I've been splitting this on them and they're totally fine. It's not bothering their eyes. I mean, it's made for the face of course, but it's kid friendly to Ray just

Amy: 20:24

spray it on there and go. Yeah, you don't have to rub it in. So nice. Love. Alright, my

Katie: 20:29

last one is another drugstore find. It is by NYX you know that brand NY X? Yeah, and it's their jumbo eye pencil. And I have it in two shades. This is like a pearlescent white that I put on, you know, like the inside and what do they call them area? The water? Yeah, like inside. Right, exactly. And then also like right in here right where your eye corners. And then I have the most beautiful deep purple that I use as eyeliner and kind of like smudge it around as like an eyeshadow. But the font they have, like really fun colors and pinks and purples and greens and blues. And you could get really funky with it. But super cheap $5.50 and at last I worked out one night and it lasted the whole night. And it just felt like gave my eyes a good pop and a sparkle. So it's a fun one.

Amy: 21:25

Yeah, I love that brand that they have great stuff. What's that color called?

Katie: 21:29

That was white color is called. Not the best name cottage cheese. They could have gone with anything and they went with cottage cheese. Yeah. But it hasn't got a nice.

Amy: 21:48

Alright, well, that's easy to remember. Oh yeah, that's really

Katie: 21:55

my purple one in the other room. But the purple is really beautiful. It's like a deep eggplant purple. Whoo. Okay,

Amy: 21:59

so well, we'll put that in the show notes. Because a good purple is hard to find now Good to know. Okay, well, my last product is like super random. But it's a really good hack. So when I went skiing over spring break, I bought this. You're gonna laugh. I bought this boot bag. from Amazon. It's a boot bag. And it's really Yeah, like it's literally for ski boots. So you put your ski boots on the side and you put your ski clothes in the middle. And it's a backpack, and I bought on Amazon, it's 5999 Okay, $60. And the materials like on I mean, it's like cannot rip, it's so tough the material and the brand is called outdoor master. So random. I know, because I just bought it and I was it's not like cute. I mean, they have like Navy, black and whatever. It's not a cute bag. However, it is the best replacement for toiletries and shoes. So what I've been doing so I used it in when we went skiing, like what it for what it's for. But then we had another trip for like, I don't remember like a weekend or something. And I just threw all of my because for me shoes and toiletries are like the worst thing to pack. They never fit. It's so annoying. I can never fit in. I'm always carrying on. I never have the right bag. So what I do now is I put all my shoes on the sides here. And they fit because this is tall. And so you can get like a couple pairs of shoes and each side depending on what you're packing. And then in the middle, I put my toiletries and I just stack them up. And it's like the perfect bag shoes and toiletries and I just bring it on the plane and you're like on a weekend trip. Can

Katie: 23:33

you close up the sides or you can't close up the sides? Like like when you're when you put your shoes in? It's inside. They're not like sticking out. Oh, yeah. Very cool.

Amy: 23:44

It's it's a huge deep pocket like massively deep. So you put it in here and then yeah, just zipper it up. And then there's also on there's a lot of like pockets. There's also a pocket here, like on the side. So what I do with here is I'll just like throw in like what we were just saying before like an athletic greens packets or like just different things I need. And then the middle pack getting in there. There's a pocket up top here for whatever, cell phone passport, stuff like that. And then this sorry, this is loud mic, but has this whole deep section. But the reason why it's so good is because it's all so you can really get a lot in there. And so I actually used it to go on a weekend trip and that was all I brought. So I brought like a few because it was like a beach trip. So I just brought like a few things that I put in the middle through my toiletries on top threw some shoes in and I was good to go. So anyway, it's such a good hack to use it as a traveler like

Katie: 24:35

also. And it's a backward it's Oh, it's a backpack, but also I feel like it would sit nicely on top of your suitcase as you're like rolling it through the airport. It looks like it has like a nice black bottom when it could sit there nicely. Yeah, but I like that it's a backpack

Amy: 24:50

and it's got these pads for the back. So it's um it's comfortable because I've I've patched it before and it's been pretty heavy but it's been comfortable. So it's like a funny shape because it's like like a kind of like a triangle you know like a half triangle so it looks a little odd but who cares it's one of those like really convenient good things so anyway random one but I thought as people are traveling and they need like a weekend bag it's a great one or carry on that okay all right well that was fun good product junkies Jul episode talk to you guys in the next one have a good day we 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.

Episode 60 - The Dirty Skincare Secret We Bet You Didn’t Know About With Liz Whitman, CEO And Founder Of Exponent Beauty (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 60 - The Dirty Skincare Secret We Bet You Didn’t Know About With Liz Whitman, CEO And Founder Of Exponent Beauty

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters, Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. And we are back and very excited to meet Liz Whitman, who is the CEO and founder of exponent beauty. This is the first of its kind, self activated and sustainable skincare solution. And we're super excited to hear all about this innovative brands product, and it's hot off the press, because it just launched in April. So we are so excited to meet you. Welcome to the show, Liz.

Liz Whitman: 0:58

Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. Liz is an entrepreneur, she's

Amy: 1:02

launched many brands, and she's really carved a space in the industry. So we're super excited to hear more about all of your extensive background in beauty and wellness and self care right up our alley. But before we do that, we want to just take a step back and do our nirvana of the week, which is really just a moment that brought you joy this week. We just like take a step back. Before we get there. I will lead to Katie to see to hear about your nirvana. Great. Thank

Katie: 1:28

you, Amy. I think my Nirvana this week was, was it yesterday or the day before I took my four year old to the beach. She's been out of school all week, and my eight year old is still in school. And you know, like she's doing camps and everything that summer. But this week, she's home and we've just had some really nice time together. And we went to the beach, the two of us we build sand castles and collected shells and had a little picnic. And it was really fun. It was so sweet. So that was that was mine for sure. What about you, Amy? Super fun.

Amy: 1:58

Well, mine I would say was this morning, because I think I've mentioned this on the podcast before when we had our dermatologist on, but I have gotten like many basal cells over the years, I have really sensitive and I guess prone skin to basal cells. So I do a skin scan every six months. And I was just posting on our Instagram channel this morning that everyone should go every year to get a skin scan. But I go every six months. And I had a good report this morning. So that's just always exciting to like, you know, go through the skin scan, I have to make sure everything looks good and like not have to worry. So that was my good news of the day. So I was very happy to have good skin, which I'm sure you know all about Liz, what about you?

Liz Whitman: 2:36

That's huge. And I just want to double click and say that I do agree that people should go get checked often. And most people don't think about it. So that's awesome. And I had an awesome week and unusually awesome. Because we had our team off site in San Francisco, for exponent, all of us work remotely and with the pandemic and being a small team. And we're sort of spread out and so to be in person and have that kind of energy in person. It's just It's so fulfilling. And then I had the best time. I love that.

Katie: 3:10

Yeah, that's fun. I'm sure it's great to have everybody together in the same room. Bouncing views. Yes. Yeah, that's a lot of fun.

Liz Whitman: 3:18

In the early days, particularly when you're small, there's like a tribalism that like kind of happens as you all kind of come together. You know, you don't have that many people. And so you have to be rowing the boat all in unison. And it's tough to do and build those types of relationships remotely, I'm

Katie: 3:32

sure. I'm sure. All right, well, and

Amy: 3:35

you just get so much so much. So much done being together and bonding and communicating so many good ideas that came out of that, right?

Liz Whitman: 3:43

Totally. Yeah, it's too many. So now we have to prioritize which ones we're gonna do.

Amy: 3:50

That's nice. So tell us about exponent beauty and like what gap you are seeing in the market to come up with this really cool idea?

Liz Whitman: 3:58

Yeah, absolutely. And I don't even know if I would characterize it as a gap and more so as kind of a dirty skincare secret. And in the industry. I had been in the industry for about 15 years I and it's well known that antioxidants, which are the active ingredients that you often find in clinical skincare ingredients like vitamin C and retinol, the good for you stuff that we all seek out, are super fragile, when exposed to air, light and water. And the industry has worked really hard to stabilize those ingredients. And but I had this kind of hunch after using a lot of products that were kind of over promising but not delivering that there was sort of something not quite meshing in terms of the way these things were formulated. And so I ended up actually testing the top 25 Selling clinical skincare products on the market products that you have absolutely heard of probably us might be using right now I don't know, and sent them to an independent lab to test the concentration of the actives On day one through day 60. So from the moment the consumer takes the product home, what's actually happening on the day to day as you're using it. And the headline is that those products lost about 40% of their active ingredient concentration in a mere eight weeks. So stability is not an unknown thing. I think what was shocking for me, and perhaps more importantly, for my chemist, and my product developer, was the order of magnitude, right? That it lost so much so quickly. And so exponent really exists to fix this issue, right, which is to deliver active ingredients, the way that they're really meant to be delivered, right? Which is fresh, and potency every time.

Katie: 5:44

That's so brilliant, because so is it when you are you saying like when you bring the product home, and you take the lid off of it? Is that is that like, is it kind of similar to food, right? When we bring the food home food? It's the same idea, the expiration date kind of starts ticking from that point.

Liz Whitman: 6:01

Absolutely. I mean, in fact, the expiration date starts ticking from the moment it's manufactured, bottled up, goes through the supply chain, let's call it 18 months until you buy it, bring it home, then you open it and you kick off and even more rapid path of degradation.

Amy: 6:18

Did you see when you first like when you first opened it? I know you said over eight weeks, it was like 40% Last or whatever? What was it roughly when you first opened it? Since I have to go through that whole process? Like totally. So

Liz Whitman: 6:30

as you know, some products will state the concentration that they put in some don't. Right. And so of the ones who stated we were able to measure what that initial concentration was. And that was about 15% lower than what they stated.

Amy: 6:43

Now, why they say on like a vitamin C to keep it in a cool dark place.

Liz Whitman: 6:50

Probably yeah, exactly. I mean, the reality is, you could put your skincare in the fridge, and that will actually like slow down that degradation pack. It won't eradicate it though, right? Other ways that people have tried to slow it down, putting it in an airless pump, putting it in an amber jar, to protect from UV light. And, you know, combining certain molecules, so compounding vitamin C with Vitamin E or freundlich, in order to try to stabilize it. We tested all products that use those methods. And those methods again, help, but they don't eradicate the issue.

Katie: 7:28

And I would also imagine that there's a lot of products that use stabilizers, which maybe isn't necessarily part of clean beauty, right? Like I mean, you see that in so many things, it's that there's preservatives and foods or stabilizers and medication. Do you find those in beauty products as well?

Liz Whitman: 7:44

You do you do? And again, those will have it beyond the actual clean beauty issue with that right in terms of the stability, they will help but again, will not eradicate basically, as soon as it's premiere with water. Boom, that's where it all kicks off.

Amy: 8:00

Wow, wow. And what are the main I know you mentioned vitamin C, and how many ingredients are there that are this, for lack of a better word like perishable that we need to know about?

Liz Whitman: 8:10

Yeah, so anything that's an antioxidant, will be in that category, which is a lot of things. Um, so long list, long list, the hero ingredients that you would normally find in skincare that would suffer from this and is vitamin C. Retinol, which obviously hugely popular anti aging ingredient, and resveratrol, green tea, enzymes, probiotics, Vitamin K, Vitamin E to a degree, and then a bunch of acids as well. And which is a totally separate kind of world from from the exponent world. But acids as well would be fragile. What your your glomming on to, I think the best way to think about it, which is like, you know, we've all sort of come to the conclusion that fresh food is better for you, it tastes better, it's got more nutrients, etc. And so beauty I sort of tend to think lags the food industry by about 10 years, you saw that with natural and organic as well as a trend, right? And we're sort of living in that world right now in beauty, where people are really concerned about what ingredients are in their products, are they particularly unsafe? And I think what we're trying to do is, you know, transition that conversation, not just from, you know, what is in there that is potentially harmful. But what is in there that's truly truly beneficial. Sort of like the super food SAE kind of like status state of the food industry. We want that to be the focus within beauty.

Amy: 9:40

Yeah, that's really interesting, because you're right, the industry is behind and I don't think I've really thought about them that much. And I would imagine our listeners and most consumers are not thinking about it, they see like, whatever on the label 10% 20% They're like, great, you're not really, you know, thinking about it until you finish it and I don't know that's that's actually I'm very, very interesting. So hence x amount of beauty. So tell us what you've created to

Liz Whitman: 10:09

totally. And it's an it's been a labor of love. We've been in r&d for about three years, because this isn't an easy problem to solve, right. And, and so our solution is self activated skincare, whereby we've actually powderized all the active ingredients, all the antioxidants that we just talked about, in powder form, we've kept them in or unstable, right, so they are maintaining their concentration indefinitely until you activate them. And so our system allows you to activate an active ingredient with hyaluronic acid serum, which is very, very hydrating in the moment, and, and so the powderized form factor is kind of what allows us to stabilize everything. Um, but the experience is really the critical part, because no one's going to mortar and pestle a bunch of powder in their bathrooms lying around a whole big mess. So we spent a lot of time creating our packaging solution, which is our activator system, you can think of that as sort of the world's sexiest dispenser. It is a precision dosing system. So essentially, with a simple push twist, you dispense a precise amount of powder, and a precise amount of liquid in the proper ratio for a single dose and to apply clinical benefits to this game.

Katie: 11:31

It's really beautiful. You pour it in.

Liz Whitman: 11:34

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, we also thought, you know, besides functional benefits, we wanted to make it really attractive and counter were they so?

Amy: 11:43

Yeah, for sure. That's always important. So you, you put it in this device, mix it and then use it. So it's just like a fresh dose in a way sort of like when you go to a spa and they mix it right there is that the ACS kind of Yeah,

Liz Whitman: 11:56

yeah, definitely. And just to clarify, it's, you don't have to add anything to it each time. So you, you get 45 doses of powder, 90 doses of liquid, and you load it up once and then each time that you come to it to use it, you're just doing a push twist, you're dispensing from a bulk each time. So there's no like, it's not like Nespresso on it. Like that. Yeah.

Katie: 12:21

Yeah, that's genius.

Amy: 12:22

Cool. So what is really cool, what are

Katie: 12:25

some of the different types of powders? Just I'm sure how many do you have?

Liz Whitman: 12:30

Yes, so we have five. And so these are five serums. And so a serum is sort of the first layer you want to put on clean, damp skin, underneath and SPF for moisturizer. Each one of our serums has, you know, major anti aging benefits. So they have all been clinically tested to reduce fine lines and wrinkles. And then each one has an additional benefit on top of that. So first in the lineup is our newest product, which is our Time Rewind retinol, retinol at 0.25% in every dose since we can do an optimal dose. And so that's going to give great benefit for fine lines and wrinkles and Retexturizing the skin add the next step is our brightening boost vitamin C product and so this delivers 10% l ascorbic acid in every single dose. In addition to fine lines and wrinkles, it's been clinically proven to help with discoloration, brightening and radiants benefits. And third is our firming filter co q 10. Antioxidant. cokie 10 is an ingredient that's super popular in supplements and is used less frequently in skincare, even though it's got fantastic benefits. So we're really excited about this one. And it will help with fine lines and wrinkles but also have a firming effect on top of it. Then we have comme revival, green tea and resveratrol. So both green tea and resveratrol blend, and this is awesome and potentially the one that Amy should get because it's great for sensitive skin. So in addition to fine lines and wrinkles, benefits and it'll also have a redness reduction. So those ingredients are both anti inflammatory as well as an anti aging which is awesome. And then finally we have clear comeback enzymes and probiotics. And so this will actually help the clog pores and reduce blemishes.

Amy: 14:29

Wow. So how would so how would someone use the products like what would they use every day? What would they use? Like what's the Yeah How are people using the different products and for what I mean not for what but like in what in the am the pm etc?

Liz Whitman: 14:43

Yeah, so we have a couple of like natural combinations I would say and for am and pm routines. And I should note that the activator system is completely mix and match. So actually about half of our gamers have more than one powder that they're using. As an interchangeable top with a hyaluronic acid base, so a great pairing for anti aging benefits would be the vitamin C in the morning and retinol at night. A great caring for sensitive skin types would be calm revival green tea in the morning, and firming filter co q 10. That night. And, and then of course, our probiotic and enzymes is just a great treatment for folks who are worried about the clogging pores or blemishes. And we have people who use that twice a day, if that's their main concern. And I also use it sort of on an occasional basis when I'm traveling in drier climates, and and I'm just getting clogged and I'll use it for about a week and swap it into my routine. And but all of our products can be used interchangeably. The only one that I would sort of suggest really needs to be only used at night is retinol. And then we do suggest using vitamin C in the morning only because it gives you the additional benefit protecting against free radicals throughout the day. So if you use it at night, you'd still get great benefit from it, you're just not getting that protective benefit during the day.

Katie: 16:11

Okay, and what is the vitamin C test kit that I saw that you you have is that something that's coming out, or it's currently available?

Liz Whitman: 16:19

That's currently available. So I mentioned that this has been this three year journey. And in terms of grading these products, and I mentioned the primary research that we had done, you know, in the early days to verify the problem. So in the lead up to launching the products we actually published and a research hub called the exponent standard. And we took all of our primary research, we did a lot of lab work and published it there. And consumers were coming and you know, engaging with our content, and then writing in and asking lots of questions like, if these products degrade, what should I be using. And this was an advance of us having a product to recommend. So we then ended up actually creating some tools to help consumers find effective skincare. So this is truly separate from the product line, just very objective research had to help people find the best products out there. And those tools include a product recommendation list of the 82 out of 500 products that we researched and looked at that meet our standards for efficacy. And I'm happy to tell you what that is. And then the second tool we launched is vitamin C test kit. And so these are test strips that you can use at home to test the concentration of vitamin C in your skincare products, whatever you're using. And so that'll help you figure out okay, is it at a starting concentration that's doing anything for me? Is it still good after a couple of months or whatnot else. And it's just a self serve tool at home, it does have a QR code. So folks have been uploading their results to us, which is awesome, because we use that data to actually add or remove products that we recommend from our product recommendations list.

Katie: 18:05

That's so cool. And it's also really generous of you to provide that for, for the consumer to be able to get this information for themselves. But I would imagine that it's going to reveal to them that their products aren't as powerful as they thought. And so the next move is they'll come to you and be ordering more of your powders and everything. So it's really genius. It's, it's a great idea. And it's also probably really surprising for a lot of people to find out what exactly they have in their arsenal. It's not everything they thought it was hacked up today,

Amy: 18:38

I was just gonna ask the question, because you're mentioning the results. So what are people seeing, like the before and afters of the results they're seeing based on like using their old products? And then switching over and kind of tell us about that a little bit.

Liz Whitman: 18:50

Yeah, absolutely. So and what's been great about the kind of UGC that we're getting on before and afters from our products, is that our timeframe for actually seeing results and seems to be like pretty quick for skincare. I mean, typically with skincare, you're looking at like eight weeks to see results. And a lot of our products after two weeks, you have visible results. So people are, I think just really excited to be able to see something, how many times we'll be at, you know, these products, and we're expecting these miraculous results and we're trying to look but it's like imperceptible, etc. And so that's been amazing. And of course, as I said we did clinical studies on these products to begin with to make sure that they actually will deliver results. So I'm seeing that. And then other vitamin C testers folks who've tested other people's products over the last couple of years. And absolutely, we've just been so excited to see how they're reacting to ours. I will say though, Katie Yeah, I mean it does, it does open their eyes. But on our product recommendations list, there are a few other vitamin C products out there that we do recommend as well from other brands and we Don't get any, you know, affiliate fees or anything. So you fully shoppable go check it out. Thanks. That's good. Yeah, that's good.

Amy: 20:09

All right. The transparency. Yeah. Right. Yes.

Katie: 20:11

Genius. So and then the company also focuses there's a focus very much on full of versus free of, and thus, I couldn't really greatly appreciate because so much now you it's all about clean beauties free of the parabens, this and that, and this and that. And that's very heavily advertised, which is great. Thank I mean, thank goodness for that. But exponent beauty is focusing on what you're full of, which I assume is just powerful punch of everything that we're buying the stuff on the first place, right.

Liz Whitman: 20:40

Yeah, exactly. So I mean, I explained the exponent standard, and the research hub, like our entire mission is just to educate consumers on and raise the standard for effective skincare. So free of the clean beauty movement. I am super, super supportive of that, obviously, we should expect that our products don't cause harm. It's just to me, that's only half the equation, right? The other side of that is great, okay, there's nothing harmful in here. But what's actually in here that I can expect benefit from, right? And how do we create some measurement around that? And when I look at the industry, there's just so many certifications of that stand for the absence of things free, that's free of that. And I just keep questioning why is there not a standard for, you know, efficacy, right? This is, what is clinical stinker. It's an ill defined term, right? Like, how are we measuring these benefits. And one of the big things that I get, you know, particularly frustrated on is the use of clinical results. So I mentioned that our products have been clinically tested a number of times, there's actually a really big difference between clinical testing, which uses instrumentation to measure actual benefits and consumer perception testing. And in our category, in both cases, that takes place in a lab setting. So brands can quote consumer perception testing as if it's a clinical results when it's not. Anyway, longer story, but part of the exponent standard is is sorting through those 500 products that I mentioned, calling it down to add to all a few those products have been properly clinically tested and to show benefit.

Katie: 22:21

Amazing. I want to know what your skincare routine is because you have gorgeous skincare skin rather, literally. So what do you do? Yeah,

Liz Whitman: 22:34

I do try to keep it relatively simple. I do not have a 10 step routine by any means. And I think fewer better products for everyone would be would be a nice move. So in the morning, I actually don't wash my face because I've washed my face at night and I use a micellar water and or toner I just like splash it on. So that's step one. Step two, I use one of our exponents serums typically I use calm revival in the morning because I have sensitive skin and a bit of rosacea. And then I put on an SPF on top. And everyone should be wearing SPF every day. I don't care if you're only outside for five minutes, please please please.

Amy: 23:18

And if it's cloudy, that doesn't mean anything. Please.

Liz Whitman: 23:23

And then I put an SPF on top. And then at night I cleanse and I do we're you know some makeup light during the day and so definitely need an oil cleanser to kind of get it all off. At night at I use a different exponent serum. So co q 10. The firming filter one at night. And then I put a light moisturizer on top just because I like the feel and I kind of want to trap everything in. And then once a week I exfoliate. And I use a sort of grainy exfoliation. Yeah.

Amy: 23:57

Yeah, what SPF do you use?

Liz Whitman: 23:59

When I use questions? Yeah, so So my favorite brand is Elta. MD and so I use their SPF which is 46. And it's amazing product. I don't know if you're familiar with it. Every dermatologist friend and

Amy: 24:14

colleague that I have had a dermatologist on the show who recommended it. Yeah, it's amazing. And it's like the gold standard.

Liz Whitman: 24:22

Yeah, they have a clear one and they have a tinted one. And this is the craziest thing about the tinted one. So hard to get a universal tint and but like girlfriends of mine across the Fitzpatrick scale in terms of skin tone, we can all use it and it looks amazing. It's very light. And so particularly when I'm in a rush, I just put that on and it gives us a little bit of sort of not retouching effect. It's not like wearing foundation but just kind of smooths everything out.

Amy: 24:53

Right smooths everything out. Yeah. One of the other things I noticed on your website, which is really impressive is that you're a B Corp. which I know is really hard to get that certification. Can you tell our listeners a little bit about that? Because I think that's very important nowadays.

Liz Whitman: 25:08

Yeah, absolutely. So, um, benefit corporation, otherwise known as B Corp, and is a type of corporate status in the US where you have to actually go through a very rigorous certification process. And basically, they're looking to see if you meet the highest verified standards of environmental and social transparency and accountability in your business practices. That sounds very, very technical, I like to think of it as companies that really want to structure themselves around this concept of a triple bottom line, right. And so obviously, we're a for profit company. So we're thinking about making profits. So that's thing one, but we're also thinking about impact on planet and people. Right. And so that's, that's our triple bottom line focus, it took us about a year and a half. And to get B Corp certified, we were certified even prior to launch, which is somewhat unheard of, it was very important to me personally, I've done a lot of work with B corpse in the past. And so I knew that that was something that we wanted to do. And the way that we got verified is because our packaging has actually eliminated plastic waste. So we didn't talk about it. But the activator is fully refillable, or refills, cutting glass jars with aluminum caps, which are the only infinitely recyclable materials out there. And the activator itself is a system that gets reused again and again. So I am super, super proud of this. And I think what I was kind of surprised about to be honest, is I knew it was important to us and to me to do this the right way. And I didn't know how much it would resonate with consumers, right. And I'm not sure if we're like really voting with our wallets on sustainability in the beauty category at this point. And it's been really wonderful to see how people have glommed on to it, how they're respecting it, how they're commenting on it bodes well for all of us and for the for the future of the planet as well.

Amy: 27:10

Yeah, it's definitely, I think, especially to the younger generation, they're very aware what I've seen very aware of companies that are in this space, truly, and it does make a difference to them, which I love. And there is so much waste and beauty. So congratulations on that. It's really good to see. Thank you.

Katie: 27:31

Now, you're also a mentor and an investor in a lot of like young startups in the beauty space, which that has to be exciting. What are some? Are you seeing a lot of very, like innovative products and cutting edge things that are, you know, on the horizon that we should get excited about?

Liz Whitman: 27:49

Yeah, I love being an investor in the space, I do seed stage investing as part of X Factor ventures, and we're small seed fund focused on female founded businesses. And I do look at a lot of consumer and naturally a lot of beauty. And, and there are there are some very exciting things happening. I think, you know, first and foremost, folks are thinking about creating brands and product lines for specific consumer groups, and particularly underserved consumer groups and making sure that we're having a much more personalized kind of consumer and brand match. And I think that's really, really exciting, particularly in the realm of color cosmetics, making sure that we have, you know, a range of tones to suit every person's needs, and I think is critical. And we're seeing some really interesting things happening in the clinical skincare space in terms of biotech, starting to spin out new technologies, and for again, benefits in skincare, which of course, I'm excited about that part of the skincare world. And then we're seeing some really cool new innovations on the packaging front as well. So similar to my my enthusiasm for my own B Corp status. And there are some really interesting sustainable packaging companies that are coming out to really help the beauty industry start to clean up its act. It's really hard, you can't find stock packaging that's like actually sustainable. And so new materials innovations happening and playing with, you know, sort of soy based bamboo based kind of materials that could actually be used in our category. And I'm obviously personally really excited about that. Because if that comes out, and it's really like accessible and inexpensive. I think more and more brands will obviously choose to do the right thing. Yeah,

Amy: 29:42

that's great. Well, two questions. Firstly, I mean, it sounds like you know, you just launched in the brands doing well tell us about how their response has been and like how the ramp up has been, what you're seeing so far and then also what advice you have for female entrepreneurs listening to this that are just getting started and For example, when I create a product, yeah,

Liz Whitman: 30:02

yeah, absolutely. And the launch has gone super well, I'm so thrilled. And we've kind of exceeded our expectations. And I think some of the things that I started to kind of nod to earlier that surprised me, but in a good way, like I said, the sustainable messaging and seems to be resonating. It never really was something we didn't do it as like a marketing ploy. Right? We did it because we just wanted to do it. Right, it actually means something to you, which is Yeah, and the fact that it means something other people too, is just really, really awesome to see. And I think the other thing I've been surprised but pleasantly surprised about and is folks understanding this idea that it's a system, right and that it's got this mix and match capability. And because like I said, with my skincare routine, I tried to keep it to fewer better things. And so there's real value if people know that they can actually tailor their aim and their PM. And it's kind of like having three products in one, right, you've got the hydrator and then your two actives. And that's been really, really awesome, too. And then finally, we've gotten a lot of interest from dermatologists, Esthetician ones, and retailers and pretty early on, which is very cool. So that kind of opens up new, a new lens for how we want to think about growth and down the road. And advice for female entrepreneurs, I get asked this question, a decent man, this is now my third startup. So that makes me a masochist. But that's something we can talk about over grade one. So I've done this a number of times. And you know, one thing I would say is just like, make sure that you are really committed to wanting to do this for a decade, right. And it is not as glamorous as sometimes the press makes it seem there. It's a lot of hard work. I mean, the two of you know that, right? And, and and it's really got to make sense for you, as a personality, in terms of your lifestyle, and everything else. In terms of vetting an idea. My advice always is like, the best businesses are solutions to extremely acute problems, right? They're not nice to have, I would really think of it that way. Like your solution needs to be a painkiller, not a vitamin, right? And if that is true, then I mean, you know, world's your oyster, it means you're actually solving a real pain point for people. And then the third thing I would say, and this is hard, right? And is really, really make like friends and family and colleagues and network connections, feel very comfortable giving you real feedback on your idea, right? Like, go out of your way, like read up on consumer focus groups, and how to run them and how to ask questions without leading the witness, create an environment where you're like, tell me all the reasons why I shouldn't do this. Like that's a different way to phrase it, right? Because otherwise you end up in kind of an echo chamber, right? Where everyone's like, Oh, that's a great idea. No one wants to hurt your feelings. It's your baby, you know, and but you're just not gonna get better if you're not open to that.

Amy: 33:17

Yeah, so that's, that's great advice.

Katie: 33:19

All of it is yeah, I the product piece of filling a hole if it's a painkiller, not a vitamin is really like such a genius way to think about it. Because fixing a pain for some, that's what's going to really explode. Right is when it's really, really, really needed. So that's all such great advice. Thank you.

Amy: 33:43

So tell us how to find exponent beauty. Is it? I know you mentioned you're looking at retail and all these other areas? Is it? Is it just online? Is it? What's the what's the plan? Yep,

Liz Whitman: 33:54

right now, we are just online at exponent beauty.com. And so you can find the full line of five serums there. And in our research section on site is where you can find our product recommendations list for the exponent standard if you're looking to fill out your routine, so I would encourage you to check that out too. And then as I mentioned, of course, looking at the professional channel, so dermatologists esthetician offices, so we may be there sooner than you expect. So if you have your favorite you can ask them about us and see if we're there and and reach out down the road but for now, exponent beauty.com

Amy: 34:34

Also, I cannot wait to try it.

Katie: 34:36

Yeah, and your website has great how to like you know when to use retinol, what time of day and things like that. It's a really useful tool, the website in addition to have all of your amazing products so we are super excited.

Liz Whitman: 34:51

Yeah, I mean, again, for me my motivation obviously first and foremost is just to help people find effective skincare right at Otherwise, why would we publish all of this useful information, all of these product recommendations list and, you know, I hope a fraction of folks will fall in love with us too, but and our product line. So yeah, please do use it as a resource. And that's what we're there for. You can also always contact our customer delight team. Believe it or not, sometimes I get in there on some of the gnarly ingredients, questions and product recommendations questions. We're always happy to do a consult as well.

Amy: 35:27

That's great to know. Okay, we're gonna get into our rap session, which is a star quick hit questions. Don't think about I'm just answer ready. Here's the first one. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Liz Whitman: 35:39

Drinking water.

Amy: 35:43

Good one.

Katie: 35:45

And accessible to all.

Amy: 35:47

Exactly. Very important. That's great. Okay, the next one we call our five minute flower. So you just got out of the shower and dried off. Uber just alerted you. They're five minutes away. So what is your quick beauty routine? Like what do you put on what are your go to Holy Grails to get in the car and get out the door? And I know you talked about your skincare a little bit. But if you're you know, going out for the night, let's say what's your what's your quick get ready routine?

Liz Whitman: 36:12

Oh, you changed it up. But that nighttime question now I'm like trying to think about

Amy: 36:17

it. Or let's say a daytime brunch.

Liz Whitman: 36:21

Yeah, okay, daytime brunch. Alright, I jumped out of the shower, I put my hair in a microfiber towel, which dries it really really fast. While I put on my serum, and then my Elta tinted SPF, I don't have time to put on anything else. So that's just going to be my coverage. I would try to get some mascara in there if I could. And based on the timing to run out the door, hair dry brush brush, and then in sort of a top bun, which I'm going to hope is going to dry on its way to the brunch, and then I will let it out. Lived in and organic waves.

Katie: 37:00

Love it. Perfect. Alright, and the last one we want to know is how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Liz Whitman: 37:09

You know, I think I need to get better at maintaining my daily nirvana. It's like a conscious practice to make sure that I'm trying to take stock of kind of what went well, what can I improve on? What am I grateful for? And and I don't do it every day, and I should. And I really admire people who do

Amy: 37:30

it. Yeah, it's definitely hard, especially, you know, busy entrepreneur or running, you know, launching a brand, I'm sure. But yes, we always, we always try to just tell people take a step back for five minutes and breathe. You know, it's just something to like, make sure you're not burning out. We actually just did an episode a couple weeks ago, that launched about the vagus nerve and keeping within the window of your vagal tone. So every ever since I heard that I was like, gotta make sure you're in that window or else you burn out. But that's great. Thank you for sharing that. Yeah. So we will end with our mantra which we'd like to do at the end of every show to set the tone and say goodbye to our listeners. Katie, what do you have for us?

Katie: 38:12

So this week, and just to reiterate, I've said this recently, some are mantras, some are reminders, some are just little affirmations. This one is difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. And I think oh, what it sounds like Liz your road to creating excellent beauty has not been an easy one. And you guys have rocked it and the brand is here and we are so excited praise. Thank you for being with us today.

Liz Whitman: 38:40

Thank you for that. That's really wonderful. I'm going to take that one with me and repeat it at the end of the day. That'll be my first attempt at practicing my daily nirvana. So thank you. Thank you.

Amy: 38:55

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.

Episode 59 - The Power Of Being Polished With Glosslab Founder, Rachel Glass (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 59 - The Power Of Being Polished With Glosslab Founder, Rachel Glass

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome to Nirvana sisters Nirvana sisters family, we are back. It's Amy and Katie. And this week's episode is about a self care ritual, which I think is probably one of the most relatable things we've talked about so far. Because most of you probably do this or I hope you do. But this ritual is an easy way to help us feel confident, like I said before, very relatable. And what is it nails we're talking about? One of my favorite subjects is Katy nose. And we are here with Rachel Glass, the founder of Glosslab, and we're so excited to hear her take on nails and self care. And welcome to the show. Rachel are so excited to have you.

Rachel: 1:09

Thank you so much for having me. I'm having a

Amy: 1:11

Katie and I have both been frequenting our Glosslabs in our areas. So we love it so much. But um, before we get into it, let's take a step back from our week and talk about our weekly nirvana. So this is just like something that brought us joy this week, something that brought us happiness Big or small, just to kind of like, take a step back. So Katie, why don't you start?

Katie: 1:30

Yeah, thanks, Amy. I wouldn't mind like hands down was yesterday, my four year old graduated pre K. And it was just the cutest thing. They had the sweetest ceremony. It was like way more produced and done than I was expecting at all. It was very sweet. The kids saying like 10 songs. And they had, they had like a proper ceremony where they called each child up and gave them a special necklace. And everyone clapped for each time. It was just it was it was so cute. It was great. So I'm very excited for Reese.

Amy: 2:02

Were you crying

Katie: 2:03

a couple times? Yeah. I wasn't like as hyper emotionalism as some of the parents were. But I think I probably will be when I send her to kindergarten next year. Yeah, it was great. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 2:15

That's a sweet. Well, my kids just finished school too. I have two boys, Rachel and one just finished ninth grade in high school. And the younger one just finished sixth grade in middle school. So yesterday was their like, official last day. So we went out to dinner last night at a really nice restaurant, and celebrated the end of school and all their successes and you know, just congratulated them for working hard and all of that. It was just like a nice to be together. We've all been running around the last couple of weeks and of schools always crazy. So just nice to sit together like us for and celebrate and spend time together. So that was definitely my Nirvana this week. What about you, Rachel?

Unknown: 2:50

I am I have two girls. They are seven and nine. And they are not done with school yet. But I feel like I've had I've gotten to spend a lot of time with them. This week, parents were allowed back in the classroom to see sort of their end of year stuff for the first two years. So that was just really nice, special time with them and seeing them inside school, which I haven't done in a very long time. Yeah,

Amy: 3:13

that's, that's okay. Are you are you based in New York?

Unknown: 3:15

I'm based in New York. Okay,

Amy: 3:17

awesome. Hey. Awesome. Well, let's get into it. So tell us all about GlossLab and like what gap you're seeing in the market when you create it?

Unknown: 3:26

Yeah, for sure. So I My background is in finance. I worked in finance for 10 years at a business school. And I always felt like a manicure was part of my routine. I really thought of it like an errand like getting your shoes shined. And I felt that there was no brand in the nail salon space. So there were a lot of a lot of mom and pops. There was high end spa, but nothing that was really branded, accessible, unknown entity. So I did a lot of research on the space. I really focused on hygiene, because I found that if that was something that was really easily compromised at nail salons, and waterless I did a lot of research and waters basically, any way you spin it is a breeding ground for germs and bacteria, especially with pedicures. So when I started gloss lab and this was pre COVID. I should also say that I'm a lifelong germaphobe. So the ethos of gloss lab, pre dado was really hygiene focused. And I think that obviously means so much more today in this world that we're living in, but especially around nail care. Our tools look like your tools at the dentist or doctor office. Everything is sterilized in an autoclave machine. Our services are completely waterless. And then we're really focused on efficiency. So I think of a manicure as something that it's it's a great sort of, I don't even I'd like to say treat for yourself, I really think of it like an errand like you go to the gym, you go manicure. But how do we make that as efficient as possible. So a really fun experience while you're at GlossLab. But we love to get you in and out and back to your day. So to make that happen, we have same time manicure pedicure, you can get both at the same time. And then we have a membership model. So since day one, we have a membership model, which is unlimited manicures and pedicures for about $115 a month. And that, again, is really focused on efficiency. So how do we make this that you're not stopping to pay each time you come in, this is really part of your routine, you can get as many manicures and pedicures per month as you want to. And I I would say above all of that above the function is, I believe a manicure is really empowering. Like when I have a manicure, I feel like I'm fully dressed, I can take on my day I can I just feel good about myself. And I think in this small way with feeling polished, you can kind of take on the world. And I think that's really what I believe in for GlossLab.

Katie: 6:12

I love that. Yeah, I

Amy: 6:13

totally agree that for the

Katie: 6:14

the listener that maybe hasn't been to Manhattan, there are nail salons everywhere. But you can walk into any different salon and have an entirely different experience. And you never have any idea of how of the hygiene level and how efficient it's going to be, etc. to brand. A nail salon I think is just ingenious, because you know, you're getting every time you come in. And that's I mean, that's absolutely like one of the things that I love the most about about GlossLab. Another efficient thing that you offer is the times you are it's the earliest opening up and so on that I've ever seen you offer as early as 8am. Is that right?

Unknown: 6:53

Yes. So we open at eight and we close at eight. So we, we those 8am appointments are very booked. I'm sure we're busy, efficiency driven, mostly female. But yes, we read those early appointments are golden.

Amy: 7:09

Yeah, I recently posted on my Instagram on a few saw, but I got an early an early appointment around like 830. And it was so helpful, because I feel like I've been saying that for years being you know, working in corporate America, I never have time to do anything. I'm like, why don't these salons open at eight in the morning. So I can just go on my way to work and just like get it over with instead of like they open at 10am Like when am I supposed to go and so that's it's so helpful and amazing. And then the fact that you're open late, same thing, if you just you know, don't get to it in the morning. So I love that. That's so helpful.

Katie: 7:39

Yeah, and you have locations in Manhattan and Westport, which has to do with festa worlds. Oh,

Unknown: 7:48

amazing. Okay, so we have locations. We have seven in New York in New York City. And then we have Westport, Connecticut, which I think of as still sort of the New York market. The open Bethesda, we're opening three more in the DC area. So first, and then the other three will be opening in the next month to two months. And we have over 30 leases signed. And those are all US Miami, Dallas, Houston. And then a few other markets coming soon and more in New York City, Miami and the same markets. That's so exciting. Yeah, that's

Katie: 8:25

amazing. Amazing. Congratulations.

Amy: 8:27

That's so much fun. Congrats. Yeah. How do you pick your markets?

Unknown: 8:31

So we started in New York, we I'm based in New York City. So this is a you know, a New York City brand at the start. And we really pick markets based on I mean, our customer is primarily female, but not not only female, I would say that we're picking markets, and really focused on convenience. So two things. Where can we cluster locations. So New York City, we have seven soon to be almost double that in New York. I think we could have even more than that. In New York City alone. There's 4200 nail salons. So there's opportunity. So we're picking markets where we can go into the market and really open several locations at once because that really speaks to our membership model. And we're looking at it as a convenience so where is this person woman going? Where's she picking up her coffee? Where's she getting her salad where's she going to work out and making GlassLab really a part of that day.

Katie: 9:30

It's so smart. The other thing that is so fun about GlossLab is you offer such great like nail art and such a really fun array of colors. And then are there also different like grades like what are the different types of manicures that you that you offer?

Unknown: 9:48

Yeah, so we have, we have long lasting polish, which is typical nail polish as you think of nail polish, and then we have our performance polish, which is it's also all Long Lasting nail polish, but it not only lasts long, it also dries in five minutes. So that's sort of our middle polish, which is my favorite. And then we have gel polish. So we use soft gels only gels that can be removed easily, because I think other gels really damage your nails. So we have three tiers of nail polish. And then we do design. But we're really also I don't want to say efficiency focus with design, but a little bit. We're not a design studio, we do design but but we have designs on our board. And it's it's on the more like in a more focused way for design.

Amy: 10:36

Yeah. And I was gonna say I actually like that, because I always love to do like a fun design here and there and most places can't do it or don't do it. Right. And I love that you only have kind of like a few and they're just like fun ones that are trendy or like something that's like, you know, you've seen online or whatever. And I liked that because then you don't have a lot of choice. It's just there's like, I don't know, whatever, like five or 10 designs. I think like last time I went in there I did. I got like foil def design, which I love. And the cool thing was is I picked it and then they're like, Oh, you could do gold foil or silver foil or whatever foil and you could do a different colors. So I liked that, like there was like a set of designs, but then you could still customize it and then like you kind of know what you're getting. So I love that because I think at other places. Yeah, it's just like, totally random. I remember what I was gonna ask you before is it only membership model? Or can you just go in without the membership?

Unknown: 11:30

It's both so membership and then all car walk in bulk an appointment. It's really it's really both.

Amy: 11:37

Okay, and then I was going to ask you the performance polish that you were mentioning that drives and drives in five minutes. Does that stay on? Like gel does?

Unknown: 11:45

No, so it applies like regular polish, it's not cured with a lamp. And then it also removes like a regular polish, but it dries in five minutes. It's amazing. Like your nails are really dry in five minutes.

Amy: 11:59

And does it chip like I mean, I can since gels were invented I can't get anything else because when I get like normal a normal manicure for me it chips in like one second does this one chip as easily as the other or is it like more in the gel?

Unknown: 12:12

It's not like gel, so it's not like I like to get gel when I'm traveling or when I have a very busy week and I just need my nails to be completely Chipless for a period of time and especially when traveling because I feel like traveling by the time I zip my suitcase like to leave my nails you're done. So I love gel for me gel really weakens my nails if I do it too much. So I like to do gel like maximum once a month. And then the rest I do performance polish. Yeah. It after a certain amount of days. It does chip. Yeah, like Northen, you

Amy: 12:49

just you have you have unlimited so you just go back and get it fixed. Right. I'm gonna start doing that because I've noticed that my nails well they were weak to start with, but they're even weaker. And I feel like since I've been using gel like it doesn't last as long because they're just like not so I feel like my nails need a break. So that's a good tip. I like that.

Unknown: 13:06

It's good. And it's also the gel will end up not as lasting as long if you write gel.

Amy: 13:11

That's what's been happening to me. Do

Katie: 13:12

you have some tips for strengthening weak nails? My nails are always weak. I think it's partly because of my thyroid. People that have thyroid issues, say weak nails. I don't know if you know this, but as unhealthy. Yeah, so

Unknown: 13:26

probably shouldn't do that because I have I have hypo thyroid too. So I probably but I didn't know that but it makes sense. Other tips so we were actually launching our products and oh next month and going forward. We exciting. Yes, so exciting. We have an amazing this is my favorite favorite product. It's called our super boost. And I've spent about a year sort of coming up with this product when we looked to make a nail treatment. There was so much on the market there was like a nail strengthener nail hardener rich filler like so many different things. And we created this super boost which is like I like to think of it as like a little shot of vitamins for your nails. So it's like everything in one and it go it applies with this like sheer pinkish color so it doesn't apply completely shear. And I love to use it in between manicures, like if I'm at home and I'm taking off my Polish I know I'm getting a manicure the next day I'll apply the super boost. You can apply it on top of a nail of a manicure if it's a light color. But it's really really great and just as amazing for your nails.

Amy: 14:34

When will that be launching

Unknown: 14:36

that we'll be launching this summer. Nice.

Amy: 14:39

And where where can people buy it?

Unknown: 14:42

People can buy it on our website and stores. So we're yeah we're really excited. That's great. Thank you and then the other tip I mean really just as I was saying is I would definitely recommend breaks from gel because I think that's it just really weakens nails.

Katie: 14:58

Do you is collagen good for now. How do you know that I've heard that rumor like like you know, those college and like Vital Proteins and things like that, do you? Do you know if that's legit?

Unknown: 15:09

I can't speak to if it's legit believe so, for me what works and what I tend to recommend is intake of nutrients and vitamins but also staying super hydrated. I drink tons and tons of water like this one liters on my desk all the time. And I've noticed for me that makes a big difference and then just keeping your nails very hydrated. So we're coming out with lotion, lotion, oils, coconut oils, anything that just keeps them really hydrated is great. Nice.

Amy: 15:43

Yeah, I tried to keep like some sort of oil at my desk just to like put on my cuticles. I've been out of the habit, but I need to refill just to like, keep things moisturized. Yeah, and hydrated. I was going to ask you to so just back to the waterless thing. So I'm just trying to understand. So why does so many salons use water? If it's not hygienic? Like what's the benefit of using water water overnight using water?

Unknown: 16:11

Yeah, we so part of my diligence for loss lab, I went to nail technician training school, I really wanted to get under the hood of the business, I would not recommend getting a manicure from me, I'm not very good at that. I really wanted to understand more about the business. And it's really just historically water has been taught as part of the service, but it really doesn't have a function. I think it's if you want to clean the feed or soak the feed for us, all of those just lead to germs and bacteria. So we've completely eliminated it.

Katie: 16:46

Yeah, I like that. I think. I mean, I've heard like plenty of horror stories of things that happen with pedicures and water and everything. So it's really brilliant. And I've never seen it before. Anywhere that it's it seems like all the salons all. They all do the water. Right. So it's it's ingenious. So do you have any exciting nail trends that you can tell us about what's like new colors, combinations? So what's happening this year?

Amy: 17:13

We did this trends episode earlier this year. Member cating we were talking about some of those nails that were like supposedly going to be hot for 2022. I read some of them down. And I don't know if this holds true. We'll see what Rachel the extra things they were it was like multicolor nails. It was the American manicure which I get a lot neutrals. DIY, of course I know has gotten a big focus because of the pandemic decals, waves, mixed textures. Those are the things that we found when we were doing research earlier this year that would kind of be popping this year.

Unknown: 17:45

What do you know, I think so we see a lot of the waves of all of those that you mentioned. For us foils are which I know you said you tried are amazing. That's been a huge trend for us. And what I love about foils is they're super easy to get under nails. And it looks like design. It is a design. Yeah,

Amy: 18:04

I watched her do it. I was like, Oh, you like press it on. It's so cool.

Unknown: 18:08

And it takes five minutes. So instead of 60 minutes to get a very intricate design. It's much quicker and I think looks very cool. So I would say foils for sure. And then with summer approaching, we're seeing a lot of neons like just neons neon pedicures neon blue, yellow, green, pink, etc.

Katie: 18:33

But number what is the American manicure? What's that mean? Amy, what were you saying you'd get?

Amy: 18:39

It's like, um, you know, I'll do like a it's almost like a French manicure but the top is like a fun color. Oh, like

Katie: 18:46

where the lights are the tip. The tip like you'll

Amy: 18:50

do like a white French manicure, but instead of the French being white the French is like Oh, cute. Now neon yellow love banger you know, it's just it's like a fun little have a Kardashian. So I think that's what I think that's what the American American manicure means. Versus like the French manicure like the traditional so it's just like, judging it up a little bit.

Katie: 19:09

Yeah, Rachel, do you guys do the mat? I can't remember the last time I was there. Do you offer the matte finish?

Unknown: 19:16

We do. I like So that finishes is a topcoat and

Katie: 19:19

we did yeah, I love it.

Amy: 19:22

And also, I will note that the experience in the salon is so fun because I just love all the branding and you have the magazines behind you What was the inspiration for like the black and white magazine inspo design. It's so fun.

Unknown: 19:36

Yeah. So with our stores, I like to think that we've thought of every detail of the experience because because that's sort of the whole premise of GlassLab was how do we make this a branded experience? So each location, it's localized, but But certain things are the same. So the Glossop wall, we have a mirror in the front, just sort of take a picture of your manicure when you're leaving, obviously waterless as I've discussed at the stations, but really the look and feel and then our nail polish wall, which actually doesn't have, as you guys know does not have nail polish bottles, it has nail tiles, so you can really see the polish and what it's going to look like on your nails. And that's the same at each location.

Amy: 20:18

Yeah, that is so smart and such a good it's such a creative and inventive way to do it. Because for our listeners, there's a big what you call like a board. And it's just as like little squares you can take out and you just see all the nail polish instead of all the bottles being there, which like half the time you're like going, you know what this looks like on my nails. And it's like, at the other nail salons will have those wheels where you're like touching all the things and everyone touches them. And you look at all the colors, and there's like 10 billion colors and you stand there forever. Like I feel like, all your colors are beautiful and curated like every single color is beautiful.

Unknown: 20:53

Yeah, yeah, thank you. And we, we also have it. So we have our GlassLab favorite section with the and we have a feature section. So we're able to show our colors, we're launching our own polish. And one takeaway I had from launching the Polish was, you're always looking for that, for example, like what's your I want to get a red what red should I get? There's 25 reds to choose from. And we're launching our polish with our OG collection first. And it's OG red and Og. Deep red. So are two reds, you're looking for red. Here's a red, red. Here's like a deeper red. And it just sort of makes that process so much more efficient and simple. Of having choices. We have like OG gray OG dark gray, some light colors, but really making that simpler, especially for the basic colors.

Katie: 21:45

Yeah, I get Yeah. Neutral selections. Sometimes like Amy gets up gets like fun with all the fun colors. And I'm more of a neutrals girl and I it's like, I could stand there for an hour. It makes my head spin when I'm at another salon. So I love I love the curated. Great. So I just want to know I mean, you are manicures and pedicures, it's always been like you said earlier an errand something that you just check off your list and you make sure you get it done. But certainly I would imagine that, you know, self care and some beauty tips that may be picked up along the way. Like why do you why is this so important? And why do you feel like offering this in such an efficient way? Is is a game changer? I mean, what is it about this little thing on our nails and having it done nicely? That makes you feel so good?

Unknown: 22:35

Yeah, I think it's I mean, to me, having a manicure is just so empowering. It makes me feel good. And I feel like if I have a chip nail, if I don't have a manicure, I don't feel as put together and really feel like it's this little thing that you can do. And it just makes you feel good. And you can you know, have the confidence to like ask for that promotion at work or talk to that person or do whatever is like, you need to feel that empowerment.

Katie: 23:08

Yeah, I agree with that. I

Amy: 23:09

think it's so true. It's also like when you get your head. I mean, we had Ali Webb on the show a couple of months ago and like, you know, the whole philosophy of dry bar is like you get your hair done, but it's really because it makes you feel confident. And it's the same thing with nails. It's like those things are the things that make you stand up straighter and make you feel confident make talk to someone different or do something different because you just have more of that confidence. What other just being now in the in the beauty world. I mean, you're in finance what you know, before you start a Glass Lab, which is I'm sure like a complete 180 What have you kind of picked up along the way from like, a beauty standpoint doesn't have to be about nails, but like, Have you learned anything that was different than than then before just now being in this business? 24/7

Unknown: 23:52

Yeah, I you know, it's funny because I, I don't I think of GlassLab Of course, we're in the beauty space. But I don't actually put it as like always beauty and sort of self care. Like I tend to not like those words. I don't know if I'm

Amy: 24:09

terrified.

Unknown: 24:12

But for me a manicure is an errand and it's really something I see as more of a routine than this. It's like I see it. Like you work out you get a manicure I related to maintenance. It's maintenance like you should just like always have a manicure always have your nails done, because it's like Yeah,

Amy: 24:30

I saw on your website it said always on always polished, which I love. Yeah, love. Yeah. So you said you have how many open now you have about 10 ish open now

Unknown: 24:39

open and then we should have about 30 open by the end of this year.

Amy: 24:43

That's amazing. So obviously the brand is doing well. But tell us about how it was like what when did you launch? Did you launch right before the pandemic?

Unknown: 24:51

We I launched? Yes in 2019. So before the pandemic Okay,

Amy: 24:54

so how was the whole pandemic like the whole COVID era for you being that you just recently launched, what happened during that timeframe and like, how are you doing? Obviously, you're doing well now. But like, take us through that I'm interested.

Unknown: 25:09

I mean, I think COVID, of course, was hard for everyone. I, as an entrepreneur, I sort of see times like that as also times of opportunity. So I think for GlassLab, thankfully, we only had two locations at the time, they were closed for a period but then reopened. And I think, given that our ethos was hygiene from day one, it really resonated even more so after COVID. Because people who maybe didn't value it as much before, really valued it valued it now, and it was really top of mind. I also think, manicures are this, it's sort of this little something that you can do for yourself. And in COVID when people were home, people wanted manicures, and it's a manager is not to like, go see somebody else. It's really just to feel good about yourself. Right. And I think that sort of resonated more so post COVID. So I feel very fortunate that, you know, we've been able to bounce back, and I think it is something that that people really value.

Amy: 26:16

Yeah, absolutely. And so you have 30 opening and then future plans, like how many how many do you plan to have dominate the dominate the nation or what?

Unknown: 26:25

Yes, I would love to have a glass slab on many, many corners throughout the country. I think nails is very much about convenience. Yeah. We've really taken that into consideration planning or locations for golf club.

Amy: 26:40

I have an idea because I've always thought of this. Which I'm sure you've thought about but do you have always wanted like a little cute. This is silly but so we have like a grooming service that comes to our house and gives our dog like a bath and a groom just you know pulls up in our driveway. It's like a little van but I'm like I have this vision of this cute van pulling up and like I can go in and get a manicure and like everybody on my street hand to like a pop up any plans for things like that.

Unknown: 27:09

It's a great idea. My team. No plans get mad, but I love that.

Amy: 27:15

Yeah. And then final question before we get to our speed round. Are your nails always polished as the founder of gloss lab? On always polished I love it. I need that mantra in my head because minor, I would say 85% of the time polished but now that I have a Glass Lab in my hood, I'm much more prepared to be always on and always polished.

Katie: 27:38

And I want to see do you can we? Oh, sorry. Oh,

Amy: 27:42

yeah. What are you wearing today?

Unknown: 27:43

I have this is actually one of our polishes. It's a slate. It's our gray. I love it.

Katie: 27:48

I think that's the one I did for our photoshoot, Amy we we hit gloss lab before our brand shoot. I love it together. It's a great color. It's a good it's a new semester with like with the neutral set. Yeah, yeah,

Amy: 28:03

me too. I love neutral gray is like my go to neutral whenever I'm like going on a trip going on a business trip. Have a meeting. It's like the classic to me. Yeah. Yeah, same. Love it. Okay, um, we're going to start off with our little quickfire rounds. Okay, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Unknown: 28:22

My favorite wellness or beauty hack is I love coconut oil. Like from the kitchen, coconut oil, skin hair everywhere.

Katie: 28:32

nicely on your face as well. Your skin is gorgeous. You've absolutely glowing. Wow.

Unknown: 28:38

On my skin, I love oils. It's kind of a little greasy and gross. But

Amy: 28:43

I let you do you put it on and wash it off or you just put it on. I usually

Unknown: 28:47

put it on either before bed or before workout and just sweat into it and then wash it out.

Katie: 28:55

Nice. Well that's a good one. I haven't heard that before. That's great. All right, this next one we call it our five minute flow. Just got out of the shower and dry it off. And Uber has Pingu. They're five minutes away. What are you going to do? Pull yourself together what are your holy grails your go to is to get in that Uber in five minutes.

Unknown: 29:14

I am a uniform girl. So the dressing part is easy. It's like a white white t shirt like I'm wearing now. white tank top jeans. cute pair of sneakers. I can be out the door for routine I use sanyes brow pencil sanyes brow bar in New York the best. My favorite that's sort of my go to put that on a little bit of face moisture and I'm good to go. Nice.

Katie: 29:44

Great. And the last one we we want to know how do you maintain your daily nirvana.

Unknown: 29:50

So as you guys both know, as moms it's, you know, hard to find sometimes, but I I wake up soon for early and my morning is sort of most of the time if I don't get interrupted, but most of the time, that's sort of my Nirvana time. That's like my time when everybody else is sleeping. I'm awake, sort of have moments of planning my day, come quiet, get a workout in and kind of get to like, start my day and get my head together before the chaos of family and GlassLab and everything else comes in.

Katie: 30:27

Yes, I get that I do the exact same thing and mine was interrupted this morning by my four year old at 630. I was not happy

Unknown: 30:35

that I have that a lot of the time my seven year old is also a little early bird I'm like, Hold on I'm not

Amy: 30:41

ready for you're excited. You're like I need to complete my morning before I can talk to anybody else. It's

Katie: 30:45

so true. So true.

Amy: 30:48

Yeah, thank you so much for spending time with us and giving us all things nails. We're a big fan of the brand and a view and all your success congratulations are just super excited for more to come and seeing all the new products that you're rolling out so fun and well. We always end with a mantra So Kate is gonna give us our mantra today

Katie: 31:09

I like this one because you know the nails like you said it's an errand it's all a part of you know, taking care of yourself I know you don't look at it so much as like self care or treat but we don't actually our ethos is that like self care isn't really a treat either. You know, it's it's for the Nirvana sisters, your wellness and your self care at all. It's all wrapped into just your day to day and and keeping yourself healthy and happy and your wellness. So this is you are the greatest project you'll ever work on. I think that that ties that works. Yeah, I

Amy: 31:44

love that. That's a good one. So thank you so much. Thank you. This is so much fun.

Unknown: 31:49

Thank you so much. Thank

Amy: 31:50

you. 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.

Episode 58 - How To Reset And Detoxify Your Body In 5 Days With Kroma Wellness Founder And CEO, Lisa Odenweller (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 58 - How To Reset And Detoxify Your Body In 5 Days With Kroma Wellness Founder And CEO, Lisa Odenweller.

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:27

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. We are here with Lisa Odenweller, the Kroma Wellness CEO and founder who is a visionary entrepreneur and we cannot wait to talk with her. We are also sipping our afternoon beauty matcha lattes from Kroma and it's fabulous. And I'm loving it in our special Kroma mugs, which are also beautiful. So we wanted to meet with Lisa because we wanted to hear all about Kroma her new brand, and also her background because she has an incredible background and well being and wellness and all holistic wellness type things and you've probably seen Kroma for our listeners, you've probably seen Kroma all of our Instagram, like I definitely have. I've seen a lot of celebrity endorsements and you can't miss the beautiful packaging. So anyway, welcome to the show, Lisa, so happy to have you. And you're joining us from Colorado at a beautiful wellness retreat. So how great is that?

Lisa Odenweller: 1:25

Perfect timing. Thank you, Amy and Katie, thrilled to be here. Excited for the conversation.

Amy: 1:30

Awesome. So before we start, we want to go into our nirvana of the week, which is just something that happened this week, or today or yesterday that brought us joy and made us feel good and make us kind of step back and appreciate those small moments. So I'm going to hand it to Katie to do her nirvana of the week.

Katie: 1:44

Thanks, Amy. Let's see. I was thinking about this. And I think it had to have been last weekend. Usually, I'm always with the kids and my husband on the weekend, which I love. But I had kind of a hectic week and I needed to like really wind down and recharge my batteries. And we moved into a house that has a pool. And it was the first day that my husband was like, why don't you just go relax, lay by the pool. I'll take the kids for the day, he took the kids into the city into New York. And I just hung out and read a great book and listen to my music and went swimming and just had the whole day of quiet self care like downtime. And it was really needed. And it was to be able to do it in my backyard. And my pool was so fun. And so cool. So that was my that was my Nirvana this week. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 2:32

I love that. Well, it's been definitely crazy with the end of school and getting my kids ready for camp and all the craziness. And my other child, which is my puppy dog Skye who everybody on the show knows because I talk about her all the time, who's now nine months, I took a walk with her the other day. And she's finally like walking better, which for those of you that have a puppy understand that they just don't walk straight, and they're all over the place. And you kind of just like an enjoyable walk. But she's learning and she's getting better. And all the training we've been doing with her has really been panning out. So I took a nice long nature walk, walk with her. And it was relaxed, and it wasn't pulling and she wasn't pulling. And I was like, I just feel good right now. And I came back and I was refreshed. So that was my little special moment of the week. What about you, Lisa?

Lisa Odenweller: 3:21

I love the question. And I think it's such an important thing to do, because we often forget to. And so in thinking about the question, I think there's probably if I can share two maybe. Course. So the first one my son, my middle child, who's 18 just graduated last week. I mean, you and I were talking about that earlier. And congratulations. Thank you. And it's it's such a I have three kids and my youngest is 17. So my oldest is 24. So I'm getting close to being an empty nester, which is freaking me out. So going through all sorts of emotions around that. But what was really so special within his graduation was he wrote a letter his freshman year, it's a project at school, and it was a letter to himself. And I had prompt with questions and zipped six page letter and they gave it back to him him the senior year. Oh my gosh, he gives you the letter and he was like, mom read this. And, you know, actually it was laughter It was you know, like emotional everything. But there was a point in it that said Who is the person that you admire the most? And his answer was me. And his answer was, you know, my tenacity and my resilience and how hard I work and how I won't give up and you know, I'm just I believe in you know, the ability you know, possibility right and and then it was so funny because he's like, you know, and and that's what keeps me up at night because he's always tinkering in the kitchen making something superfoods. And but it was just like, you know, as a parent, we, you know, there's so many I'm a single mom, right? And I started my last brand beaming when my kids were little was 1012 years ago. Right? And I was going through divorce at the time and my everything I did was all about the business and I missed a lot of moments, right I was just so frantic to build beaming and we opened 10 locations I think it took off like wildfire and and then I was living in LA and San Diego and my kids are in San Diego with me and I just hearing that made me really just pause because I think as parents we just have, I don't know, for me, I carry like the, the guilt of God. You know, I wish that I had played Legos one more time or right now I wish that when, you know, my daughter asked me to play picnic, you know, I played pickup more likely there's just you can't help I think as a parent to reflect on the woulda, coulda, shoulda us. And so hearing how much he admired me and looked up to me, and really and respected me. You know, despite the fact that maybe I didn't, that I missed a couple days or whatever it was was just really warmed my heart that it wasn't, you know, a total loss. And I've been entrepreneurial now for 12 years.

Amy: 6:01

Yeah, I think that's so special.

Lisa Odenweller: 6:03

So that was that was really, really special. And, and then I guess the other thing to just mention, as I'm you kind of touched on it, I'm at a wellness retreat in Colorado, called reset. And they invited me to come they're brand new, and it's hiking all week and healthy food and everything that I love, and I'm from Colorado in the mountains. So I'm in like, I am in Nirvana. And but what's been so special about it is I've been going so fast for three years building Kroma that, you know, I don't get the time to just Yes, I exercise. And yes, I eat well, but you know, I'm on a conference call, I'm on the spin biker, I'm on a power walk, you know, on a conference call, like I don't really disconnect. And so to be here this week, and have the opportunity to go on for our hikes every morning and not have your phone except just to take pictures. And and has been magical on top of the fact of just connecting with people. And the group that we've been with this week has been in absolutely amazing. And it's been mostly men, these guys, and then my girlfriend came with me. And we have laughed all week. And one of them's a comedian, I think they're all comedians really, but one is actually a professional comedian. And so it's just been, so what I needed to feel recharged going back in. And I think that's also something that we just, life moves so fast. And it was really hard for me to disconnect and come here and allow myself to do that. And then now being here, and it's our last day. So tomorrow we go home and just really being in gratitude for the week, and really how magical it has been. And this is really where your mind opens. And you not only get to recharge and sort of like fill your heart, but you also get to like, kind of come back fresh, and able to create even better. So.

Amy: 7:55

Yeah, and we're really it's incredible, and we're

Katie: 7:57

grateful that you're dialing in during your disconnect with us, we really appreciate it. Because I mean, honestly, it's to, to be able to shut out the rest of the world for a time of self reflection and everything that you're doing and just taking care of yourself. It must be heaven, it must be complete nirvana. So thank you for dialing in with us letting us interrupts that

Amy: 8:21

everything that you just said totally resonates with Katie and I because that is so much of what we think about and we're all moving so quickly. And I think when you do things like that, you're you're there and you're probably thinking to yourself, can I really need to do this more because it is so juvenile eating you just don't think about it if you're not doing it and then you're like, gosh, I need to like really intentionally make sure I do this so Katie, let's make a note we need to go to recess and I'm having Nirvana's sister retreat. But I love the mountains in Colorado and yeah, everything you're saying like totally my vibe

Lisa Odenweller: 8:56

oh my god that hike we went on today and I've been to Telluride so many times I'm from Colorado was so spectacular like I was just like you just there's nothing like nature

Amy: 9:05

to nothing like it I totally am on the same page we both are we love it. Okay, so tell us about this three year project you've been working on Kroma wellness and kind of tell us like what gap you are seeing in the market and kind of how it started and how you kind of came up with the idea

Lisa Odenweller: 9:23

Well I started before then a little bit or ice I've been in the industry for 14 years and really around food as medicine and how to make healthy tastes amazing and approachable and and sexy and you know make it something that really speaks to a rock buff broader audience I last grand beaming was a series of healthy Grab and Go cafes super food cafes in Southern California we grew it to 10 locations mostly in LA. And I've always had this just bigger vision of just how do we really wake people up to the power of food as medicine and and understand how What control we have over our health? Right and, and to, to challenge, you know, do I really need that medication? Maybe I'm allergic to gluten or maybe I'm having to add sugar or alcohol or whatever it might be. And I think we take for granted our health. And so for me, it's really that's the underlying kind of mission and why and everything that I've done over these last 14 years, starting with beaming What was amazing about beaming, it's beaming, changing vibes. And people were obsessed with this brand, or food was amazing, are we I was the first person that really kind of changed the juice cleansing because I would make me crazy. I was like, why are we drinking 222 grams of sugar a day? Like, yes, it's fruit, but it's still sugar. And so I came up with a food cleanse. And it was incredibly culinary inspired and partnered with lots of different chefs and, and really just elevated the experience because I think healthy has to be something that be being healthier, making healthy choices should be something you look forward to. So while beaming, was doing all of this good, and was such an amazing brand. And I sold it years ago to Earth bar. So that's why it's a was

Amy: 11:07

what I always I read that and it's so fun. I didn't realize that and I love our

Lisa Odenweller: 11:10

bar. So yeah, and it's not what I had with binning anymore, but I'm very proud of the brand that we built. It was really, uh, it still gets tough on the street everywhere. Like, aren't you the founder of being made? Because people Oh, that's so cool. That's with it. It was very special. But I had a vision of how do we take all the good, what beaming is doing, I was doing and really reach more people because we're not going to open cafes everywhere. And when you're dealing with perishables, it's very difficult business, you know, it's something that goes bad the next day or whatever that might be. So really wanted to take the good at what beaming was and reach more people. And so the birth of Kroma came from basically recreating beaming in a powder base form, and in many, many ways, I mean, you can't make salads at a powder. And you know, wraps and kelp noodles. But what I could do is take the nutrients, the super foods, all of the the nutrition of binning, and really recreate that in a powdered rice based format that is on the go. That is just requires no thinking. It's all nutrition foods and beverages where it's as easy as it gets. And you feel satiated and nourished and, and it tastes amazing, which is not easy to do when you're dealing with powders. Because I've been working with super foods for 15 years, 1415 years, I am just a geek in the kitchen with them, you know, and I get obsessed on what Tumeric we use or the plant protein from Ecuador that we use called choco or the organic ceremonial grade matcha, or the bone broth from Australia, like every single ingredient, it matters. And myself and my daughter are the ones that created every product of Kroma. So the three years was the two of us in the kitchen. Formulating we have 19 products. So we launched with we want with 14 products, late July last year 2021. So we've been around now for about well, 10 months, and you know, everything that goes into building a business, right, but you know, from the creative products to the brand to the packaging, to raising the money, all of the things we went to go raise money the day before the day before COVID, like hit in my gosh. And you imagine it was you know what, a march 3 or something in 2020. And, you know, you we pivoted, we can come back to that. But, you know, I thought we would launch faster. But you know, things just happen as they're supposed to it gave us time over the three years to not only create all the products, but also we did a beta with our five day reset, which is what we're most known for. So with all of the 19 products that we created, they're all 19 are in the five day reset, which is really about resetting and nourishment and teaching people how to eat and doing it in a way that you're not starved and that you're really like it in fact, people always complain and say our five day reset has too much food. And that's intentional. Right? We you get over 10 things a day, right? Whether it's a matcha with collagen and tumeric and ginger and that's what I'm drinking. That's what you're drinking. My favorite thing I can I literally like it everyone here has been drinking it. It's so delicious. But that is how you start your day or the porridge or the bras for lunch and dinner or the smoothies or the afternoon lattes and the elixirs. It's an abundant amount of food. It's customizable so that you can add what you want and you know add some protein and veggies if you need that everyone is different and so we've really designed it such that it meets your unique needs. So to create something that was very, very different in the market, you know, took a long time and a lot of thought and whole supply chain and just the intricacies of building a business, let alone that launching with this many products and a very complicated packaging system and raising money. So that was really all that has gone into really bringing us to our launch date of July 22 2021. And it's been an incredible crazy wild ride.

Amy: 15:23

Yeah, we Well congratulations, first of all, because that's just such an inspiring story. And I can't believe you're only I knew you're new but I didn't realize you were that new or not even a year yet from launch and it's funny because I had seen Kroma I probably just have like a really targeted Instagram feed but I had been seeing ads and like you know, celebrities influencers showing the packaging and the brand. I was like, Oh, that's so beautiful. What is that. And then Karla from Vogue was on our show, and she talked about she was raving about Kroma. She was saying Karla Martinez Desalas as she was saying she was on it. And then her husband was on it. And she we a lot of times we'll do product reviews on the show. So she was like giving us a whole review of it. I'm like, we got to try it because I had seen it but I hadn't like talked to anybody about it. So she got us really excited about it. And thanks to you and your team, you sent us a one day and I to your point, the one day I didn't finish the packets either like this is still leftover from the Wednesday because I found it the same thing. So satiating that I wasn't hungry, I couldn't eat the whole thing. And I was like, the food is really delicious. And you're right, very, very different than anything we've seen. Yeah, just Congrats to all your success so far. Well,

Lisa Odenweller: 16:34

I just wouldn't listen, I'm gonna close on that with like, I just, I think healthy has to taste amazing. And so, you know, the passion that has gone into creating those products and, and also changing the conversation, I think for women has been a really big one. And it's meant to, but really, for women that we don't have to starve ourselves to look and feel good in our bodies is is really important to me, it's something I've myself has struggled with, you know, my own kind of, you know, just were so self critical and and, you know, dealing with weight things and have I got too much weight on or how do I lose weight and starving myself and doing all of the crazy things that we have we do as women. And I really decided to change sort of the psychology of that and really focus on the nourishment and teaching us that putting really healthy good food our bodies actually is how our bodies thrive. And probably our our bodies look the best. And of course, how we feel are our best. So just a side story on that when I when I was doing the beta, so the 130 people went through it. And I was amazed in the process, how many women asked me, they would always ask how many calories is it? And when I would say and this is just our culture, right? When I would say well, you know, you can choose between the lifestyle, the lean, or the active protocols. And depending on how which format you choose, it's really about intuitive eating. But realistically, you're going to have somewhere between 1300 You know, likely and 1800 Probably in that window. And every woman that asked me that said, Oh, that's too much food. Wow. And it was such a pause for me because I realized that that was me too. Like I was afraid of food. You know, I didn't know how to eat. And I thought they said Well, I've been trying to lose weight, you know, for five years and nothing's working. And I said, Well, we you trust the process. And sure enough, you know, by adding the nut milks to their lattes, or their porridge and maybe adding some protein and veggies to their bras and not restricting themselves, and and listening to their body, every one of them lost at least five pounds, some of up to eight pounds, nourishing themselves. And it was such a beautiful moment for them, you know, and then of course for me because it really is changing people's, you know, relationship with food. And I think that's just an important part of the conversation as far as just why we exist in Kroma. Yeah,

Amy: 19:00

it's super important. And it is it is a good mindset mindset shift and it's good to remember that because I think you're you're so right kidding, we were just talking about that earlier today. Like a can't lose like that pound or two or whatever. And I think to the older you get like I'm noticing the older I get it is just your body changes so much and just reacts so differently to foods that like I don't even know what to eat half the time because it's like I have a car by gained five pounds I don't have a car or I have a car by lose weight. Like I just it's really hard to know if what you're eating for your body is right or not right so like focusing on not that but the nourishment piece and making sure that you're getting what you need. It's like that constant reminder and that's really important.

Lisa Odenweller: 19:43

It is and it's also like I mean because we become we can become erotic and I'm like no one of them right. But then you know we I also have a mindset that it's not like we're going to live on Kroma all the time. I mean, I do have Kroma, you know, 567 times a day. But I don't worry if I go out for fun, you know, festive dinner and you know, have some wine or tequila or something, you know, I really look at it more of a balance. And I think that's just also an important part of that conversation. Right? It's it's not about that restriction. Interestingly, I was in New York a few weeks ago for work, and I was there for like, eight days. And every night you know how New York is when the food's amazing? Yeah, eating dinner, I don't think we ate dinner before. 930. Now I eat dinner at five at home like but no later than six. Right? We ate dinner at 931. Night was at 1230 after a show. And somehow I lost weight. And I was and I didn't wasn't restricted, like I ate anything I wanted, right? I had Kroma in the day. And then I did the dinners at night. And it was such, like, I just laughed, right? Because it was also because I was having fun. We were walking a ton, you know, and it was just like, just allow ourselves to enjoy, like, not be so neurotic about it. And, you know, it, it just is a constant reminder to me, you know, and my Kroma for sure definitely has helped supplement, you know, and works very well. Well, for me, and especially as I've gotten older, and Amy like you said it things change. Children and everything starts to change. Yeah, I think

Katie: 21:15

the the idea also of nourishment, it, it just allows your body to receive what it needs to be balanced, and to do all of the jobs that it's meant to do physiologically, in order to have the ability to stay healthy and to lose the weight and to for the metabolism to function properly and everything. It's really a genius idea. And you know what, I love that you did this with your daughter. And that's that's the coolest thing. I mean, working with her, what's that experience been like?

Lisa Odenweller: 21:44

Well, what's even cooler is she's 24 now, and she's been working with me since she was 13. So she started gaming with me, and you know, labeling bottles and, you know, packing teas and stuff when we started gaming out of the house, and you know, with her friends, and then working at the first Cafe when she was 14. And then at 16 She's She homeschooled herself by choice. And I moved to LA with me to open all the cafes there and manage to the Santa Monica location and at 16. So she's been on this entrepreneurial journey with me, you know, for now 11 years. You know, she did the, the she did College Online, and, you know, started to Kroma with me while she did that. So, I mean, we laugh. I mean, they that's probably almost my favorite part of creating this, this business has been doing it side by side with her, and all the experiences we get to have together, and the laughter and hopefully, you know, she's also learning a lot of things, you know, being side by side, the thing is, I do investor pitches, or I do podcast interviews, or all the different things that you know, she gets exposed to, because she

Amy: 22:51

also Yeah, it's an incredible experience. Oh

Katie: 22:53

my gosh, it's and also you're raising her with such like healthy values for body image and caring for herself and taking care of her body. And, you know, those are, like young girls are very impressionable, and it's very confusing, as they're, you know, my daughter's eight going on nine, and she's already starting to talk about going

Amy: 23:16

on 25

Katie: 23:18

You know, the word like, I'm fat, or I'm too skinny, or I'm gonna, you know, it's like the self image stuff comes out early. It really does. Yeah,

Lisa Odenweller: 23:25

that's Jeff with her body and food and much better than I did, you know, younger and, and so I She's got so much wisdom. And hopefully, you know, I'm part of some of that. But no, that has been a really great part of this whole experience.

Amy: 23:41

Yeah, that's now that she helped you with all the branding and packaging, which is gorgeous, and, and sexy. Like I said earlier, it's sexy. Yeah,

Katie: 23:51

sexy. And it was like that. That's exactly what it is. It's so beautiful. And it's sexy, and it's edgy, it's great. It's very enticing.

Lisa Odenweller: 24:00

I mean, we wanted you to have that sort of Apple experience, right. And we have, you know, we've got simpler packaging. And then we have the WoW with the drawer and the ones with the wheels and what's on Instagram. But I want health to be something that you are excited about that you look forward to. And so often, it's something we dread, because it's like, Oh, I gotta do this program for five days, and I'm going to be miserable, and I'm not going to eat. And I'm going to be a raving bitch, excuse my French. And you know, I'm not going to show up for my kids or my work or all these things. And that's sort of the mindset of what cleansing and detoxing has been over the years. And, and so, you know, all of our investors invested because they had done another program. I won't name it that they hated, but it was the only program on the market and they had an extra box in the pantry and they were so thrilled that there was something else that they actually got the same results actually better. And it changed habits and behavior, which is really what we're doing. It's not about a quick fix. So to get that Bob's going back to your question, Amy really is that Experience of, I get to do this, right? I want you to feel like this is a gift to yourself. And every one of the sachets, the 45 little packets, who has a message of education and inspiration that I wrote, you know that that is really just part of those little kind of little surprises, right, surprise and delights. And Lexi was part of all of that. She didn't design the branding and stuff, but she's been part of all of it, you know, through through every step of the way. So it's pretty cool. Yeah, I

Amy: 25:28

like that idea. You're right. It is like opening up a gift. Because it's so beautiful. It's not like all like, the palette of colors is gorgeous. And the packets, it's like, it's fun to open and you're like, Ooh, what's next? So that's, that's very smart. Question about so there's the one day which Katie and I did there's a five day is the five day that was pepper like, How do you How are people using Kroma? Are they using it as just like a detox or reset? Are they on it more often? Or they like How are people using it, and what's the best way for like someone to get started, if they don't, if they haven't done it,

Lisa Odenweller: 26:00

it was designed for lifestyle. So as I touched on earlier, I mean, I think of it as the five day leads to the every day, or leads to the habits, change of habits and behavior. i And I've always cared more about what happens after than, than the five days, because the five days is really where the awakening happens, you do the program for five days, you we all want that quick fix, you know, to kind of like look better, feel better, fast, right? And so it gives you that, but you're doing it in a way that you're also changing, like kind of having these awakenings through the process of like, God that tastes really good. Like I could eat this porridge every day, or you're a big coffee drinker. And but we didn't take caffeine away from you, because I know that that's going to give you headaches, you're gonna be miserable. And you'd go right back there on day six. So we're gonna give you caffeine, but we're gonna give you a healthier caffeine, we're going to give you matcha with all the college and the tumeric, and the mushrooms and all those things that hopefully, and seems to be the case people love it. And they end up converting to it after because they felt the difference. You've experienced it for five days in a row, you felt what it felt like to drink Matcha instead of coffee, I don't have an issue with coffee. But the point being is, I know that matcha is so much better for you, right and improves the mood and you don't have that crash and you have this kind of sustained energy and your mind is clear. I mean, I think it's the best mood enhancer on the planet. And it tastes delicious. So if that's how you get to start your day, you actually look forward to it and the porridge is delicious. And the cookie butter of course we're very famous for is to die for, to die for. And then the bras and so what happens is, is people are doing it, it was designed so you find the things that you love on the program, you get that quick fix, you know you feel better look better fast, but then you have all the tools to continue. And so you fall in love with the Masha, it's available to buy in bulk after you can use the porridge after you can incorporate the broth and the Greens powder and elixirs or smoothies or whatever it might be that you loved from the program that you could easily incorporate into your life. And so it becomes very lifestyle and easy transition. So that you have these new kind of hacks or tricks to to look forward to adding into your day, right. It's not an obligation, it's something people are excited to do. So the way people come into Kroma is really usually the five day that's, you know, our number one selling product. It's what people sort of have seen on Instagram for one, but it's also just sort of like, it really speaks to people wanting to to reset, you know, or start better habits or maybe lose a few pounds for something or just know that they've been off track and they need to get back on track, whatever the reason is, so that is our number one. And then that leads into those. Those lifestyle products. We call them daily essentials. And, you know, there's there's the favorites of many, which I mentioned that people love, and we just try to make it as easy as possible to transition. Because for someone who has been in the industry for so long, and I've watched these cleanses, the question I've always asked is what is the point? Like? Are we cleansing just to lose weight? Like to me, it's about a lifestyle wellness. It's not what you do five or 10 or 15 days a year because you did A a box cleanse for five days and you lost five pounds? Who cares? Like that's not where you have true? Well, you know, wellbeing and vitality and it's about like how do I transition this into my everyday life? So that is something that just sort of weaves into my life as opposed to this thing that I do, you know, a few days a year right? I've always really approached it beaming cafes with the same way is it started with a cleanse that led to this cafes that led to people incorporating it every day and and that way I think it just makes it much more approachable and realistic. And it's actually where real transformation happens.

Amy: 29:59

Yeah, I was going to say, I mean, I'm a healthy eater. But sometimes, you know, like you said, you get off track, like, especially now it's a summer, I feel like we're going out to dinner more, and I'm drinking more and eating more. And it's just like, sometimes even though I eat healthy, I still want something where I that I can always go back to like a reset like that, where I'm five days, and I kind of like, get it all out. And then I start integrating. I love that idea. And then you kind of take like, the porridge was amazing. And yes, the cookie butter is phenomenal. And the problem is, it's like how do you not eat the whole jar? Because I was just like, oh my god, this is incredible. I can't stop eating it.

Katie: 30:38

The cookie butter is really like an energy boosting, mood stabilizing, like sustained blood sugar balancing, like I would take some of that take a spoonful of it. And like 20 minutes later, half an hour later, I felt really good to go. And so are they they're called goji berries. Is that right? That goji berries

Lisa Odenweller: 30:59

in the porridge and in the cookie butter,

Katie: 31:01

it's so I love I've tried to eat them on their own before because I know they're supposed to be a superfood, I think are loaded with antioxidants or something you would know better than I. But in that cookie butter there, it's there like a game changer. It's so good.

Amy: 31:14

I know. It's like it's like the perfect technique.

Lisa Odenweller: 31:17

So it's almond butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, plant protein from Ecuador that I mentioned earlier. Goji berries, hemp seeds. So those are the main ingredients. And then there's just a little bit of maple sugar, a little bit of coconut sugar, and just enough to kind of give you that little kind of sweet fix. But yeah, being you know, high sugar because everything we do is very low sugar.

Amy: 31:40

And exact, it's a good thing to have after dinner too. Like if you just feel like you want a little sweet, you just have a spoonful and you'd like

Lisa Odenweller: 31:46

like I do the I had the beauty matcha. And then I have a because you can, I don't know if you guys do it when it's gooey, and just have it like a like a cookie butter batter. Or if you put in the fridge, you can have like little little protein mites. I love it gooey. So I have a bite of that, then I'll usually do an exercise, you know, whatever my workout is going to be. And then you know later because I'm pretty sustained at that point, then I'll have the porridge and weave into my day. But it is it's a fun product. And it's again, we're just trying to make healthy something that you really look forward to that it's a little bit of a surprise, like I get to have this really?

Katie: 32:17

Yeah, you're doing an excellent job of it. Because it's that's exactly what it feels like the plant protein. I haven't heard of that one. Can you tell me why that you've chosen that specific one? What did you say the name of it was again,

Lisa Odenweller: 32:30

it's called choco okay. So why I love it, and I'll kind of backstory to how I found it. But it's non isolates. So not, you know, doesn't have the processing that you know, protein and somebody that are proteins have. It's also non lectin. And a lot of people are really sensitive to lectins and don't even know it. And the problem with pea protein, which is the main plant protein that's in everything is most pea protein is highly, highly processed, you can find some that are not properly sprouted, but that's like few and far between. And it's really, really cheap product, which is why everybody uses it. And it's easy to formulate with. I am not a huge fan. So for me, I was on a mission to find other sources of plant protein. And yeah, there's so many now, Sacha inchi, and there's pumpkin. And there's hemp, and chia and rice and all these things, but each one of them have different kind of pros and cons. And so I just decided I sort of like put up to the universe, like, is there another option, and randomly kind of came across this choto. And it's all the things I was looking for, like really easy on the digestion, nine out of nine essential amino acids.

Katie: 33:46

It was my next each and that's amazing.

Lisa Odenweller: 33:48

And it's and it's it, it's so pure, and it's grown at 10,000 feet elevation in Ecuador, like it's not as easy to work with as pea protein, you know, from a from a flavor, it's pretty bland and flavor, which is a good thing. But as a kind of superfood chef, I guess it's harder, you know, to kind of get some of the flavor. So there was a lot of doctoring if you will to try to get some of the smoothies to taste really good because it's pea protein just a lot easier and a lot cheaper than Jojo, but the way I've approached Kroma and beaming has always been the best of the best. And so I will scour the world for the best ingredients and find things that people have never heard of, and then put combinations together that really bring together that flavor and function, you know, with the highest integrity, and that's just been something that's sort of a personal mantra of mine that I will I won't sacrifice.

Katie: 34:46

And that's also I'm sure why you've had so much success with it and why so many people keep coming back to it right the product is the quality is yeah, the utmost importance. It's amazing.

Amy: 34:56

I was going to ask you to what I noticed with the products is that or at least I haven't tried them all. But the ones that I tried, they're all like kind of soft and soothing, because let's like the broth and the elixirs and the matcha. Which I love. Is that intentional?

Lisa Odenweller: 35:13

Yes. I mean, I think it's designed to be a menu that easily fits into your day, right. And whether you have your matcha warm, iced or hot, it's totally up to you. You know, whether you you know, have your porridge warm or cold, it's totally up to you. So we sort of give it the flexibility versatility also seasonally, you know, so that you can sort of make it up. But I would just really want you to feel nourished. We want you to feel like when you drink that bone broth, right? I mean, it's so incredible, or the veggie broth, I think because that's in the one day, you just feel like you're doing something good for your body. Like you drink it. You're like God, I feel like satiated, I feel nourished. And you just sort of feel like it's a gift. And we want you to feel that way. So yeah,

Amy: 35:56

yeah, it's really filling. I was surprised. very filling. And yes, Si Si Si satiated. That's the right word she is.

Katie: 36:06

So I want to know what the future plans are for Kroma wellness. I mean, you guys are about to hit your year mark, which is amazing. Congratulations. So what's on the horizon?

Lisa Odenweller: 36:17

Well, I think when you launch with 19 products, I mean, we've got a new power mine performance coffee coming out in a few weeks, which is coffee with MCT oil and some oat milk and mushrooms and you know, sort of our super enhanced healthy coffee instant, of course. And we have our travel kits coming out which I'm so excited about. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, amazing. With and a lot of people buy our five day, we have a new refill that they buy, and they get the 45 sachets, and then they just take them with them, especially for the summer. It's perfect for travel. But the little the travel kits are something that we'll be able to have at airports, and we'll be able to have it, hotels and you know, different flex, obviously online as well, that are just your, you know, I think it's six sachets, and there's gonna be a little shaker thing that goes with it that just makes it so easy to travel with. So with travel kits coming out. And I think you know, the bigger vision obviously, for the brand, as we're just getting started, you know, when you not many people try to launch with 19 products. I don't recommend it not. Over we have five co packers and a very complex packaging system, as you guys have seen, and we have 45 Different color sachets, and someone has to hand place them in there, every different color. And so we didn't we didn't do this easy. And I think there's just so much more just on the education side. And really helping people understand, you know, what they're putting in their body, why they're putting it and you know, what, why, how to live this lifestyle. We have an app that we launched a few months ago. And we'll continue to build on that. And it's really there to support people in the five day in the one day. But we'll continue to evolve that and the educational side of this, for me is very, something I'm very passionate about. And will continue to innovate. I mean, I'm I'm a creator. So there's a lot of really cool products in in the mind that, you know, will will start to get teased out, you know, over the course of the year. And we'll continue to expand on that. But, you know, it's a lot. I mean, we having only been here for 10 months, and users just with learning the marketing side of DTC and even the way that I approached fundraising was very, very different and right, because you

Amy: 38:34

went from the physical world to the digital world completely. I mean, it's a

Lisa Odenweller: 38:38

very different world. Yeah, and I joke about that. I mean, there's, there's some not dealing with perishables and dealing with non perishables is much easier. But in a cafe, like, I know how to create an experience in a cafe, creating an experience online is very, very different. And people are, you know, short, short, short attention spans, you have two seconds to get their attention. And then they're getting, you know, getting hit from something all sides. So even just, I've been drinking out of a firehose, learning the DVC world and trying to build that team, you know, has been a different challenges than say, you know, running 10 cafes. And then I love the challenge of that, but definitely, you know, we're just, we're just building our team right now. Getting excited for the next chapter, we have the most incredible group of investors. They've been a huge part of our success to date and our go to market strategy, which was also part of my strategy when I was raising money and wanted to raise money from highly influential people. Whether it's a big celebrity like Gwyneth or Amy Schumer, you know, some of our other investors or the mom and the community, you know, people who would get excited about telling the world with us, and and they really all have and so a lot of our success getting it out there, as you mentioned early on, Amy and seeing it on Instagram has been just the support of that investor community. you and them telling their friends, it's very hard to launch a brand. It's getting harder and harder to do that. And so I really took it from a very different approach. And, and that's worked very, very well, to just getting getting the word out there. It's it's not easy to build these days.

Amy: 40:18

It's really smart. Let me speaking of your team, so the advisory team that you have I saw on your website will Kol and some others really notable people in the wellness space? Are they all investors too, or they play a different role in your company? Yeah,

Lisa Odenweller: 40:31

they do, actually, Dr. Will Cole, medical director. So he's also an investor, and just very committed and dedicated to to what we're doing. You know, even the celebrities, everyone was asked me well, like, do we pay that? Like, no, they actually, like they invested in the company, I woke up to an email one day from from Gwyneth saying that she had heard that I had a new wellness company, and that could I, you know, come over and share more, because she loved my last brand, you're like, Okay, well, then I'll say and it was it was a, it was a, it was sort of a dream moment, was not friends with her at the time. So through one of our other investors, they connect with us. And, and so it's just part of even bringing something to life is just being surrounded by such good positive energy, and we're 90% funded by women. And that's something I'm super, super proud of. And, you know, just having that support has been, you know, credible, because we have, you know, as we're, as we, you know, things are going really well, that's always amazing and having their support. But then also, as you have challenges come up, we are we've such incredible experts of all different, you know, facets that we're able to tap into that, to really help us kind of navigate through different challenges.

Amy: 41:46

It's also so nice that everyone it sounds like is in the same, what's the word I'm looking for, like ethos, and, like around wellness, which is nice to be around like minded people that you can have these conversations with and create things and everyone's sort of on the same page, which is unusual, because a lot of times when people invest in a company, it's it's just they're doing it for, you know, the financial return, but they're not doing it necessarily for the passion around wellness, or whatever it may be. So that's really special show,

Lisa Odenweller: 42:13

ya know, it makes a huge difference. And every one of the investors did the beta program, fell in love with the products, the experience of it, and then invested, you know, from from that. And so they are, you know, invested in, in the vision of the company, and what we're doing and the impact, and then of course, the upside potential as well. But it definitely makes a difference I have now having raised money for two companies, I made some big mistakes on my first one. And you know, I was new to raising money, I'd never done it before. And so I got to learn some hard lessons that I made sure not to repeat, you know, this time around. So

Katie: 42:50

it's very inspiring. I want to know, for our listener, because they're all gonna want to hurry up in order Kroma. Where should they start? Should they start? What do you think is? Or do you find most people go right into the five day? Or do you have a lot of people just dip their toe in with the one day what's what do you think?

Lisa Odenweller: 43:08

I think so again, it was designed to meet you where you're at, right? So if you're curious about launch, and you just want to try and launch because you've seen it, people talk about it, or we obsess on it on this podcast, it's a great place to start, you know, or the cookie butter or any others. But I really think that the way that you experience Kroma and then of course, the benefits of Kroma is to the five day. And there's three options. Now in the five day, there's the deluxe with the drawer and the really fancy version, which is an amazing, that's always how I recommend starting because you get the mug and the frother and the little hemp purse with a beautiful poem po on it, and you get a spoon and you get the coconut cream. So you get sort of the full experience and the chai, there's also the the signature, which is also the same program, it just doesn't have the drawer with all the extras. And then we have the new refill, which is a very, very simple packaging design. Mostly for people who have who've already done it before, and they've just really want the program they don't need the big experience. So yeah, I mean, any one of those, I mean, you guys got the one day and the one day is great. I think it's a great way if you're not fully ready or committed. And it was designed for people for that purpose. It was designed that maybe every Monday you do it, use it for travel, however, you know you that best fits for where you're at. But I think the five day it's really special. It is more expensive, you know, than some of the other programs out there. But it's also like we've been talking about very, very abundant, so you're going to have plenty of food leftover and you probably can keep going for multiple days. And it was designed for that versus you know, starving and you know, finishing day six and you can't wait for burgers and fries. So Right.

Amy: 44:52

Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's all about that. nourishments before we get into our rap session, I wanted to ask you so outside of perma wellness Being that you've been in this space superfood space for so long and healthy eating and you know, all good foods, what have you, like? What's a tip you've picked up through the years like, for healthy eating that kind of would be helpful you think, to our listeners? Well, the

Lisa Odenweller: 45:18

basic like a basic one is I think that we don't. This is what came to mind. We, we trust marketing too much. And so when something says it's organic, or it's, I mean, you don't it makes me crazy, like hydration. I think I have him over here that these are not mine that came in the room. And this hydration company is super, super popular. And you look at the first ingredient, and it's cane sugar. And you know, and that makes me crazy. Right. And I so I think one of the great places to start is just read your labels. I mean, look at what's in your food. And, you know, understanding that it most stuff is not actually made very well, sadly. And to really kind of just take health into your own hands, like, ask questions, be informed, right, you don't have to be an expert. But you know, be, you know, be very curious about what's in your food. You know, something else I'll layer on to that is, I'm sure you guys and others have heard of all these glucose monitors, whether it's levels or it's neutral scents. And those are very popular. I cannot recommend enough how to get one and try it for two weeks or do it for a month. Because what you learn I have one on right now and I wear them all the time. Because I love I test my food, right we did it when we tested Kroma to make sure it didn't spike your glucose levels. Because the other program that's out there right now that's very popular spikes your glucose levels to 161 ad, which is really not healthy. Again, you think you're doing something healthy, and it's sending your glucose levels to through the roof, which is anti anything we want, right? Things that you'll learn, you know, you'll learn about everyone's bodies a little bit different, but there's things that you think are healthy, like oats, like oat milk, and oatmeal will send your everyone's glucose levels through the roof, right. And you don't want that. And I love oat milk, it tastes delicious, but I don't drink it because I know what's going to happen. And I may not physically feel it, a lot of times people can feel it. But I know it's working against me in my own health. Whether it's aging, weight loss, or just weight management even and you don't want these huge spikes. So I think the more you are educated, and just understanding how food affects you is is really a lot of what Chrome was about, but my own sort of personal awareness of just, then I can then I have control that I know and can make this you know, as opposed to just assuming that it's healthy, that it's good for me because a lot of times it's not.

Amy: 47:56

I never thought about wearing a glucose monitor. But Katie, this is right up your alley. You've been dealing with this for the last couple of weeks,

Katie: 48:01

I've been checking my blood sugar constantly all day long. And I'm about to order which one are you using on your arm?

Lisa Odenweller: 48:08

I haven't nutritions on right now. But levels is probably the more popular one, either one are great levels or neutral cents. And I there's a couple other ones that I'm thinking I'm blanking on now. But I think it's like even testing the food here. You know, I've been sort of educating the at this at this wellness retreat I've been educating them about as like, I think you should wear other monitors because you want to understand what the who is doing, you know, to your guests.

Katie: 48:36

The stabilizing of the blood sugar, right for the listener that maybe isn't aware like that's that's the point of knowing what food is doing. Like you said earlier, the spikes up and down. Because when your blood sugar goes really high, you then can crash very quick. Right? And then your body craves more sugar. So if you're getting like the wrong signals, right, is that is that how you would describe the reason?

Lisa Odenweller: 48:59

No. And it's and it creates this horrible cycle? You know, I mean, I love rice crackers, right? So cheese board with rice crackers like heaven, right? Those rice crackers will send my glucose I still choose to have them sometimes, right like, but I understand that that was a choice. And so just even having the awareness of it because that up and down cycle is really affects your kind of your metabolic flexibility. It affects you know, insulin levels, the impact is so, so much more significant than than we even understand. So what you want us to stay in that range, really in that 70 to 120 Most people jump I mean, I

Amy: 49:38

you could jump Yeah, I can imagine what minds that I'm sure it's all over the place.

Lisa Odenweller: 49:42

And if you see that on your chart, you're like, I don't think I'll read that again. And you know, and sometimes you will at big you know, right but at least you're educated or educated and yeah, sir, are those things I mean to kill a lowers your glucose levels, so that's exciting. So

Amy: 49:58

that's a good excuse. Have a

Lisa Odenweller: 50:02

modulo or is it? So there's definitely a few tricks tricks in here. But there's a long answer, but hopefully a little bit helpful.

Amy: 50:10

No, that's really interesting. I'm definitely going to try that. Katie, the product that you were talking about a couple shows ago illumine does that monitor your blood sugar, glucose to

Katie: 50:21

that, that just measures your co2, which tells you if you are in a fat burn state or carb burning state, so it's different than a blood sugar monitor. But yeah, I mean, also another amazing tool for data points. I do yeah. Yeah, I do like it. It's great.

Amy: 50:38

Do you like the loom? And Lisa? I haven't used it yet. But I think they commend sitting here. And we used to

Lisa Odenweller: 50:42

do there. Yeah. I mean, it goes back to the point of this conversation. And all that times. I'm like, because I'm working so much, and like, barely come out, like see the world. But I think that the point is, it's just that there's so many tools out for us, there's some of the problem is that there's so much information that we get overwhelmed. We don't do anything, right. So Trump just starting with a few things. Because, you know, being educated as is power, right, and then you're making mindful choices, you know, in all aspects of life. So, you know, I don't think you have to dive in as much as maybe we all do. But I think that there's enough tools out there. And that's part of what we do with promos, like, we're going to do it for you. We're gonna make it so easy. You don't have to think right. You don't have to think about like, Oh, here's the recipes I have to make today. Right? It's like, let's just make this simple. Because what I want you to do is have the experience that that inspires the curiosity for more.

Katie: 51:37

Before we go into our rap session, I'm just really curious, was there something in your life in your health journey that got you into that? What was it that that made you so passionate about this health and wellness and providing it for, for people for a greater cause?

Lisa Odenweller: 51:55

Yeah, no, thanks for asking. I think so. Starting with when I was, I don't know, probably as a teenager, I always wanted to feel like I had control over my health. Like I was always afraid, like, I wanted a doctor, and then they tell me something bad. And so I think I didn't really understand what that meant. But I didn't like not having control. I wanted to feel empowered with my health. Fast forward to about 38. And I went to the gynecologist and she, this is before, I mean, quite a bit older now. And I we weren't as educated as we are now there's still a long way to go. I went to that ecologist and I was gaining weight, my hair was falling out, I was having total brain fog. My work, I've always been very, very fit and very mindful about what I eat. But you know, I had a lot of inflammation and other things going on. And she laughed. I said, you know, what, what do you think's going on? Can we do some blood tests? And she laughed at me and she said, Oh, Lisa, you're just getting older. This is part of and I like I still like that makes me furious when I think about that. Because that was the answer of the of the Western doctor. And I was like, ya know, that answer doesn't work for me. And so I sort of many things kind of happened along the way that kind of led me on my journey to really understand food as medicine. And starting with just kind of making some simple changes, removing gluten and sugar and dairy, and things that are inflammatory. And in triggers that can that will absolutely impact everyone, especially as we get older that when we don't digest as well. And the body is not as optimized as it was maybe when I was younger, right? So just starting to make those simple shifts and seeing the impact, like all of a sudden, like I didn't need an indeed hormone medication, right. Like I actually never have taken hormones ever. Like I use food as medicine. There's a place for Western, but I just you know, I do take thyroid medication, I couldn't fix that one with food. But there is like we're so quickly go to the medication. And so for me, it was an awakening, I was able to heal myself and reduce inflammation, the foggy brain, the weight, gain all the things that she told me I was getting old, right, basically. And then there's another big catalyst one and for anyone who's a mom, and you guys can probably really will resonate. My daughter who I've talked about, she went on to add medication when she was nine. And at the time, I was not educated at all, she was 24. So this was you know, 15 years ago, and it made me crazy as a mom, I just thought this is not right. I don't why does she have to take medication I went to five doctors every one of them said there's no choice she has to take the medication. And in intuitively I knew it was wrong. But I didn't know what to do. So fast forward go she's on the medication for a year and all of a sudden it causes a mood disorder. So now the answer is we're going to put on mood disorder medication and now as a mother I'm like everything about this is wrong. So of course she goes on a mood disorder medication and now my daughter is like I mean I use the word catatonic like literally had no like bliss for life was just like robotic. And that's where you just say, No, this is none of none of this is okay. And that's when I really dove into really dove in. And that was the catalyst for starting beaming, actually was sort of it started with me things, but it really led to understanding that food, the food can either be medicine or it can be poison, right. And in the case of anything where there's add, or anything, you know, in the brain, it's things like gluten and sugar and dairy, and processed foods. I mean, we were feed their kids goldfish wholegrain. Goldfish, we thought it was good for them or weekends, right? We didn't know. So when you remove those things that are inflammatory triggers, or, God forbid, those, those goldfish and all the colors and the dyes, right, or sodas or something, right? You remove all of those, her brain worked fine. Within two weeks of taking all of that out of her diet. She never she she's never gone back on any medications. And he can feel a difference. She knows if she goes out and has pizza or pasta or something, she'd I feel the same to we, if we get in touch with our bodies, we actually can we know how we feel and how food affects us. And so that moment for me and seeing it was it wasn't I was angry, actually, I was angry at and medicine. But at no point in any conversation was there, hey, why don't we see if she's sensitive to food? Why don't we start there first, before we started medicating her. And that's a very, that's very common. I mean, we're making some breakthroughs. But we have so much further to go. And that sort of goes back to the beginning of what you asked me my, my why is I want people to be educated, I want people to take health into their own hands and to challenge and realize that it doesn't always have to come in a pill. And it probably starts with food, and we can do so much more healing with food. So it was through that, that I realized I have to I have to do something with this information. And I have to share it in a way that I can really have impact without being preachy, you know, without being you know, annoying, because then that's going to turn people off too. So I thought, well, I'll just create really delicious, healthy food that is really good for you and help you feel the difference. And then hopefully that builds on itself. But those that's really was some of the backstory of of how I dove into wellness, as is sort of my mission and why in life.

Amy: 57:30

It's actually a really interesting concept because both Katie's daughter has ADHD, and so does my son who's older now. And he did take medication when he was younger. And same thing, I didn't want him to be on it. But I didn't know what else to do. And I had heard about the food stuff, but I wasn't really sure. And as a boy, it's just like really hard to get him to do any of that kind of stuff. So he was on medicine for you for a few years. He didn't like the way it made him feel. And he went off of it. And he's able to use older and I think going through puberty and maturity, he's able to like now have strategies that help him. But I would love to I mean, I don't know how I get him at 15, almost 16 years old to like, listen to me with food, but you know, he eats fairly healthy, but then you know, it's also like the junk and the whatever, that all the teenage boys are eating. And it's like, I know that if he took some things out of his diet, like the sugar and the whatever, he would have so much more focus. But what I was thinking as you were saying this, I'm like, there's so many children with ADHD that are on medication that their parents don't want them to be on. Like, it's almost like you could have a Kroma Jr. for kids that same idea, but like more kid focus, where like they would want to take it because I think kids and parents would want to do that. There's just not a lot out there about it. It's like you can read stuff online, but you're not really sure. And to your point, none of the doctors asked that question. They're just like therapy and drugs. I mean, and it's, it's horrible. It's

Lisa Odenweller: 58:53

horrible. It's horrible. And I yeah, I know, you're, I understand sort of the pain of this and too, and yes, I mean, we don't know where to go. And it's it hasn't made it easy, and they're not. They're not helping us make the better decisions, right. So we have to go figure it out on our own. The way that I did it just sort of as an idea, because I have two teenage boys and one of them nosey as ABD. And it's very, it's been very difficult with him. But what I what I've done with the kids is, let's, let's, let's, you know, let's play a game. Let's let's have Let's experiment, like what would happen if we removed the gluten and the sugar and the dairy for two weeks? Because it's done in a in a in a controlled space, then they're like, alright, and they know, and then they get to feel how different it is. They get to experience Oh, wait, like my brain. It was a lot easier to do that test or it was a lot easier to read that that book. So they feel like they're part of that process. That's one way to do it. That's a great idea. Yeah. So you know, then then it's not like just taking it away. They get to really, you know, experience, you know, right.

Amy: 1:00:01

And then they can decide like, oh, that actually does make me feel better. And yeah, it's an accident

Lisa Odenweller: 1:00:07

on a conversation of add is that there is a clinic called the online clinic. And they have, I think they have in New York and they have long beach, it's a couple different things done, Daniel, Dr. Daniel, amen. But you can actually go and have your brain scanned, and find out that there are six types of ADD. And if you can understand what type you have, it also then influences the type of kind of healing or therapy for it. That's interesting, that's something that you know, you have access to or the means to do, I think that is the most, the, the most amazing way to sort of approach it and really have a knowledge, the food is foundational, right across the board. But then there's different things like omegas, or different supplements that you can use to actually help with the brain function that will kind of further further accelerate the the healing of it, and you can get to the point where you don't need it anymore. So there are a lot of tools out there. It's just unfortunately, not as is spoken about as we'd like. So

Katie: 1:01:15

I feel like we could talk about this for the next three hours. But we're excited to get to it. And I think way more important. Yeah, we need to have you back.

Amy: 1:01:25

Yeah. Let's give you our quick fire. Questions. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Even though you've told us a million? What's your favorite?

Lisa Odenweller: 1:01:33

I've such a broken record, the macho, like, says it like it just completely changes my day. And it's changed my health, and I have a mission to get the world to drink much. So that's it, love

Amy: 1:01:47

it. Love it. Okay, the next one we call our five minute flow. So you just got out of the shower, dried off, Uber alerted. You get the ping on your phone, you have five minutes to get ready and get out the door. What are your go to is like, What products do you throw on to just kind of like, get ready and get out of the door quickly?

Lisa Odenweller: 1:02:03

Oh, that's great. Um, oh, my gosh, what do I do? I'm the worst with brand. If it's brand name brands, I couldn't tell you what brands. So I started like the I did a podcast with Molly Sims. And she was like, I'm not going to tell you the beauty things like, you know them, you told me. So I always will have I mean, I have this new I wish I had it here like I have this new face stuff that I've been using that is like, changed my skin. And this was so mean for me to say this, because I cannot tell you what it was like the biggest tease. I'll try to remember that you can put in the notes. But what does it look like? I probably don't even know. It's like from France, and Georgia Louise. She's a esthetician that works with a lot of my investors. And so I had a thing with her. And she basically put all and I've had bad skin my whole life. So this has been like transformative, the matcha. And this has been transformative. And so whatever these products are, that will add in the notes later. I have to have mascara, I have to have lipstick. And I always put some sort of like tinted, you know, sunscreen moisturizer on like, those are like yeah, and then my eyebrows. Those are like my, if I only have a few minutes to get out. Lots of times I'll have my hair in a ponytail. Just because I don't have time to do it. And I live in VR clothes. Like that was my my go to if I don't have to be like, you know, fully dressed up which these days I think, you know, we don't

Katie: 1:03:33

the expectation none of us do. Right?

Amy: 1:03:35

Oh, I know. Like totally.

Lisa Odenweller: 1:03:39

I don't know if that was helpful, but I will find out the name of some of these products. Yeah,

Amy: 1:03:42

no, no, that's great. Fun. It's always just fun to hear different routines. And then how do you maintain your daily nirvana? You're so busy?

Lisa Odenweller: 1:03:50

Oh, I don't know that I do, honestly. And so I think what I try to do is, is it my days are crazy, you know, and as passionate as I am, you know, doing what I'm doing and being able to have impact as we are. It's hard, you know, and it's, it's stressful. And so, for me, I have to constantly, you know, be in gratitude, you know, for the support we have from my business partner who's Rockstar, and I could never have done this without him for being able to work with my daughter side by side, you know, for all the good and the magic that happens every day. And so, amidst the stress and other frustrations of just building a business and running a company. I do I do try to laugh a lot. Which that's like sort of a huge go to for me for nirvana. Because exercise doesn't matter. You know, like I find the time I find the time for connection with people like that fills my soul. So I guess these are my Nirvana moments. I mean, being here with these people and laughing and making these friendships has been magical and seeing my girlfriends, I will make time for that, you know, going for a walk or hike with a friend. It, the list of to dues will never end. And there's always a million more things that I should be doing. But I do make sure to take that time to to take care of me. Otherwise the stress would be too much and and then I can't be well, I can't be in wellness, I can't take care of me. So that right that's

Amy: 1:05:28

so true. Well, we we end the show with a mantra always. So Kate is gonna get her mantra ready. But I just wanted to thank you so much for all the time you've given us. We feel like I said, we could talk for hours. But we'd love for you to come back one day and keep educating about super foods and healthy eating and all of this stuff. Because it's just so important. We want to keep talking about it. And just really, really appreciate all your time and all the knowledge and value you've given us today. It's been so inspiring and exhilarating.

Lisa Odenweller: 1:05:54

Well, thank you I've loved the conversation. And I just so appreciate getting to know you guys and having the opportunity to share and and hopefully, you know, there's some tidbits of of ideas or information that people can walk away with as well. And I'd be honored to come back.

Katie: 1:06:10

You left us with so much. So this one I think really speaks to your passion Lisa and your ambition and how hard you've worked and everything that you've created. It's I can hold both contentment, and ambition in my heart. I think it's a good reminder, like we don't always have to be just because we're shooting for something doesn't mean we're not happy where we are. And just because we're happy where we are doesn't mean we can't try for more. So there you go. So Lisa, thank you so much. I love that.

Lisa Odenweller: 1:06:40

Thank you so much. That was beautiful. I love that.

Amy: 1:06:44

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.

Episode 57 - Product Junkies June Edition With Celebrity Makeup Artist, Lauren Miller (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 57 - Product Junkies June Edition With Celebrity Makeup Artist, Lauren Miller

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. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and I'm so excited for today's June product junkies episode. We have special guests celebrity makeup artists, Lauren Miller. And for those that don't know her, she did episode 14 with us called inner confidence and outward glow. So definitely check that out when you get a chance. But she is back to give us all of her product records for the summer. Super excited to hear what you have. Lauren, welcome back to the show.

Lauren: 0:52

Thank you, Amy. I'm so happy to be here. As everyone has noticed, the weather is kind of changing. And I feel like it's time to reevaluate, you know, my kit and my makeup and my my client's makeup. So I just obviously always have I have new pics and fun products but I definitely was like focused on skin this time around. I mean, I really feel like lightening up the makeup. You know, just allowing the skin to breathe when it's warm out and humid is the way to go.

Amy: 1:25

So give us your first record Lauren.

Lauren: 1:28

Okay, so my first recommendation is this is what it looks like. It's called hydropeptide solar defense tinted sunscreen. I love the texture of this. It's a it's a completely physical hair job to hold it up. It's a completely physical sunscreen, so there's no chemicals in it. But I absolutely love it. It color adjusts. So it's a neutral like white. It's you know, it comes on the skin, I'll show you it's on the skin. It's like a I have for those who aren't watching, just are listening. It's like a white. It's a white satin screen. But as you blend it into the skin and as it warms up it kind of salt. It adjusts to the color of your skin and it's so interesting. What I love about it is not just that it gives a great glow. But you know, if you look at the ingredients, I mean there's just there's us ie green tea, aloe, hyaluronic acid, so if we're in the sun, it's just a really soothing, and like nourishing sunscreen. It smells amazing. And it just gives it just gives the prettiest glow. I love it but it doesn't feel oily.

Amy: 2:40

So is it really is it a sunscreen? Or is it a moisturizer? Like was it a moisturizer with SPF or justice? Nice

Lauren: 2:47

riser.

Amy: 2:48

Okay, that's what I did a new one.

Lauren: 2:50

Yeah, it's great. I like I like the fact that this you know, can go on every skin tone. And I also like that you can reapply and it doesn't feel heavy and it hasn't broken me out. So that's a huge, that's a huge thing. So I love this, this is my first pick the brand and this I should tell you this came from a facialist a local facialist but I believe it's hydropeptide.com

Amy: 3:16

you can get it there. Okay, so you can buy it online. Awesome. And how much is that?

Lauren: 3:21

I believe it's like 49 Okay,

Amy: 3:24

great. And let me ask you a question just about how you apply that do you just put on all your skincare first and then apply that last and then put your makeup on from there?

Lauren: 3:34

So it depends on what you're doing. If it's an active day, you can do a serum and then just use this as your as your moisturizer a lot of people are going to find they streamline their makeup routine come summer so this would be a perfect it really does it gives a lot of hydration so sometimes I just put a serum on and then I this is like my moisturizer slash primer. I can add makeup on top if I want. You don't you don't have

Amy: 3:57

to. Okay, that's good to know because it Yes, I feel like I've been experimenting lately with like different serums instead of moisturizer in the summer because it's getting warmer. Okay. So as we're talking about the sun, I found a really good I'm always on the hunt for good self tanner. Because I am like the palest person ever. So I randomly found the self tanner. It's called be tan like be dot tan. And there's all these different versions like depending on how dark you want to be, but this one's called which I think is hilarious. pasty to Tasty. Okay. And it says it's juiced up with niacin amide and peptides. So, and this one is like two out of five on the dark scale. It says mega hydrating tanning treatment for more strides smoother skin and darker tan results. So I think I found it on Amazon just like randomly searching. It's really good I normally don't like it's a moose formula. So when you spray it you know you spray it on the tin glove and put it on. It's a moose formula super easy to put on takes like two seconds and it doesn't dry out my skin it's not streaky. It's really good color. I'm wearing it out and if you can see it my arms but it's yeah your

Lauren: 5:10

color your color. I was gonna say you look you have a good glow.

Amy: 5:14

Yeah, and it's an it's from this. It's so easy. I haven't streaked. It doesn't smell because I'm super sensitive to smell, it doesn't smell and it hasn't transferred to any clothes and it dries super quickly. So it's kind of like an amazing product. And it's also vegan and cruelty free. So they have all different ones like I saw online, they have one called Dark AF. So all the names are just super funny. And I love a brand with a good personality. So anyway, this one btn PC to tasty. I found it on Amazon at $17. I'm already like going through this bottle so quickly. But it's a really good one to order whenever I haven't used it on my face because I don't know I'm a little bit weird about that. But I have been using it on my arms and legs and you really have to apply like once or twice a week depending on how tan you want to be. But it's it's great. I really love it.

Lauren: 6:00

I will give you a tip on face. self tanner for the face. As long as you I would skip any kind of vitamin C or any serum any any treatment. You if you want to apply self tanner to the face. You You can either mix it with your regular moisturizer, or just apply a really good coat like exfoliate your skin. Apply a really good coat of moisturizer and then put your tanning product on.

Amy: 6:23

So you would just use like a mousse like this, but just put a little bit on over and

Lauren: 6:28

like if you didn't want to have to buy another product then you could do Yeah, they're my personal favorite for face self tanning is little drops. You can drop it in. Yeah, I have that. Those are great.

Amy: 6:39

What brand do you have?

Lauren: 6:42

Hmm, that's a good question. I have to look in my medicine. Yeah,

Amy: 6:45

I have. There's two that I've tried. There's one called isle of paradise, which I've been using for years that are dropped that I like and then there's another one called I think it's tan locks. They're both really good. Like that's what I Yeah, yeah, it's really good. So I it's funny because I use that a lot during the winter because it's more of like that buildable situation which is good for your face. So it's not so drastic. So I like kind of use that in the winter for my arms and legs and whatever and just like gradually get a tan but this one's like as soon as you put it on your tan, which is good for the summer. Okay, what's next Lauren, what else you got for us?

Lauren: 7:22

Okay, so my next product is such a good multi use product. I I discovered this actually like a month ago. It's called it's by Westman, ads Lea, and Gucci Westman. If anyone you know, has heard of her. She's a famous makeup artist. She's I've actually never met her. But I absolutely have been following her for years and love her technique. And this is a I'll tell you the official name of it. It is called lit up highlight stick. Hmm. And it has a cute little magnetic top it is the most beautiful highlighter. It has a really Dewey quality to it. So I I mean, let's face it, we're all getting a little bit older and a dry you know, I used to use a powder highlighter that was like my go to same particularly, particularly in the summer, when either you're going to be in the heat or you're going to want to touch up a creamy product is always so easy and I think preferable to use. So this is the most gorgeous if you can apply to the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, the cupid's bow on the chin, but it's just it's really sheer, it doesn't have a ton of glimmer to it. It's just enough so it's like that golden sunkissed look, and I absolutely love the texture. So it's a stick man.

Amy: 8:51

It's like a cream,

Lauren: 8:52

it's a stick. Okay,

Amy: 8:54

and when you let me ask you a question, how do you apply that because I have a few highlighters that are sticks, but I probably do it wrong and I find them like tacky because I put them right to my face. So how what's like the best way to apply it?

Lauren: 9:06

Yes. Okay, so you certainly you could apply it to the face but it will give you that very thick feeling what I like to do is I just sweep the stick across like my three fingers or two fingers and then I just kind of tap it into the skin and just keep moving my my fingers around and just keep tapping and sort of melting it into the skin. When you apply product and you take it out of its it stick it helps to break it down and break down some of the oils and get get it a little bit more shear. So I always like to take and that goes for concealers as well. Stick concealers I sometimes cry I see if I'm doing a makeup lesson I see someone say this is how I do my concealer and they take it and it's like right under there. Yeah, yeah. While that can certainly give you a very good color pay off, you need to be really hydrated and really blend it out. So in terms of highlighters, yeah, it's best to use it apply with the fingertips, you can kind of move it around and just remember creamy products are forgiving you know you can blend them into the skin a little bit they're a little bit more forgiving in terms of texture but if you go straight to the face you're gonna get a lot of pay off too much I

Amy: 10:22

want to try that it looks so pretty what and where can you get it? Is it

Lauren: 10:26

this where do they sell this? You can order Well, I got I picked this up when I was in New York, but you can certainly I believe you can get it at Sephora, or multiple. Oh, this color is actually called nectar. There's a few connectors when it's factor. Yeah. I should find out.

Amy: 10:49

Yeah, no worries. I just didn't know if it was like if they sold it at Sephora or if it's just direct through the website.

Lauren: 10:56

I believe you can do direct or I think Bergdorf Goodman like any of the department stores. This is definitely a splurge product but I think it's really worth it and these sticks last a really long

Amy: 11:08

I was just gonna say that looks like it's a good amount like that could last like years. It looks like it's really sick.

Lauren: 11:14

Her products are clean. They don't have a ton of they have don't have parabens, they are cruelty free. It's important that it be clean. I know it's something that I I never thought about before but I started

Amy: 11:27

started. Yeah, that's great. So speaking of highlighter, my next reco is this Fenty beauty highlighter. This is a powder highlighter, it's called the kilowatt freestyle highlighter. I don't know if you know this one, Lauren, this particular color is lightning dust and fire crystal. It's like a combo here. Let me just show you I'm sure you've seen it, but so pretty. So I just started using this and I agree I kind of like a cream highlighter, but I always to the point I was just making like I don't always apply it right. And so I've tried liquid too. And I like that I have all different kinds of highlighter depends on like the mood and the vibe. But this one, I probably use to your point like more at night, not necessarily during the day with the powder. But this one I actually use more for my eyes. So I'll do it like at the top of my eyes, like right underneath my eyebrows and I'll do it in the inner corners. And I find that it just brightens the eye a little bit so I don't I sometimes use it as a traditional highlighter but not as much because I feel like it's not that maybe it's like a little bit noticeable, but I think it's really noticeable when you do it around your eyes. So it's just such a pretty highlighter neutral colors. And again, Fenty beauty, Sephora, and this one is $38 It's such a good one and lasts a really long time.

Lauren: 12:42

Yeah, that's a great product.

Amy: 12:44

What's next?

Lauren: 12:45

Okay, so we'll go on this is something that I have been struggling with. And I don't know if you get dry eyes or you know, have a problem with like makeup residue, I discovered and I know we've spoken about Kodaly as a really great skincare line. I found their toner, their new rose water toner, it's actually safe for face and eyes. And so once I do, I actually double cleanse and then I use that toner, and particularly in the summer because I actually use an SPF eye cream. And I use a lot of SPF just everywhere and I feel like nothing ever fully comes off. And so I use that toner I have been a huge fan of that toner because I can put it on my eyes and lips as well. And do

Amy: 13:31

you put it on like after you clean your face at night or use in the morning to

Lauren: 13:36

know at night. I like it at night I use it with a cotton. It I just it really cleans the skin and pulls off every trace of makeup. So that's something I've been super excited about using because and also I've noticed that like because of allergies, my eyes have been really dry and it's really soothing. And it's hard to get that area right around the eye that's dry it's hard to like moisturize it but that's something that it just gives like a little bit of moisture but but it's safe around the eye area. So that's a really good product.

Amy: 14:08

And do you see you double cleanse and then you just spray that all over and like you can keep your eyes open and

Lauren: 14:13

well it's actually it's like a regular toner liquid so you would put it on a cotton and just close your eyes and use it everywhere.

Amy: 14:20

Oh, okay, I'm thinking it's one of those sprays.

Lauren: 14:23

Yeah, yeah, it's okay but it's it's very rare to find something that's safe for the eye area.

Amy: 14:29

Yeah.

Lauren: 14:30

Okay, that's it that's that's a great one.

Amy: 14:33

And say the name again it's called a rose toner.

Lauren: 14:37

It is a the moisturizing toner. Moisturizing water.

Amy: 14:41

Okay, love that good to know. Yes. My I've been noticing that too that my eyes and like the inner corners of my eyes like everything's so dry from this weather. I mean, I have drives too. But yeah, this time of year. I feel like I'm so dry. Okay, so if we're still talking about eyes, then I will talk about I guess I'll kind of do a two and I'll do I'll do a three in one because they all kind of go together. So I've been for those that follow us on Instagram like testing out many concealers because I'm always on the hunt Lauren knows for like a good concealer. So I've tried a bazillion and then I'm realizing that now because I watched so much of like beauty talk and all this stuff that like a lot of people do different concealers depending on where they're going or what they're doing or like whatever So anyway, this is one that I posted recently about which was like blowing up I think it was on Tik Tok the Milani super supercharged brightening under eye tint and this one's in peach. And it's $10 I think you can get it at Ulta or wherever. And honestly this is great. It's almost like it's a concealer but talking about moisturizing the eyes it's very very moisturizing so it's almost like skincare, that's a concealer but what it does since it's peach, it kind of takes out like the darkness and any red or dark you have under your eyes. So like I used it today. I mean it just sort of like evens everything out and then like if I was going out maybe I'd put like a brighter concealer with it. But it's just a really nice under I 10 I mean it's $10 and like the bottle is nice and big and it lasts a long time. But it just feels really good. So it's almost this like, I feel like I mean they call it an under eye tint they don't really call it a concealer because I feel like it's like a skin slash concealer situation. So I love it. So I've been using this a lot like on an everyday it's kind of like a good everyday throw on concealer. And what I'll say and Lauren knows I love this brand. We've talked about it a lot. I use the ENISA it's just the ENISA concealer brush which is going into my holy grail territory because this is literally the best brush for concealer i finds I mean I use like a beauty blender to do my face and stuff and sometimes they use it under my eyes but I find that this is so much better. It like doesn't stray you just like it gets right into that corner and all the way around and it's just like so soft. It feels so good and it never gives you those like bumps or creases it just like really smooths out your eyes. So this is like literally my favorite concealer brush and

Lauren: 17:20

it's three of these are my kit. I do yeah,

Amy: 17:24

they're so right. It's like the perfect size. It just hits the right area. Yeah that's so funny you have that go ahead that

Lauren: 17:32

nice that makes such a it's such a well made brush it's it's really dense and it doesn't it doesn't fall apart.

Amy: 17:40

It doesn't it's such good qualities such a good such a good products and then rounding out my eye series. I have this which I think I got this in like for free when I ordered something with Sephora like a long time ago. It's the Sephora color colorful crayon contour. It's just like a it's like a waterproof eyeliner. I guess that you put it's just it's white or white ish. I guess I don't know what color this is actually it just says contour eyepencil 12 hour aware. I think this color is I'm just looking to see oh it's called Blonde Ambition. And I just put it in the water lines that was called was yeah, I just put it right there. And it really brightens my eye. So between doing the concealer, this and a little highlighter my whole eyes brightened because I find that like if I do a liner under my eye or like eyeshadow on on my eye can like make your eye look smaller but this just kind of like gives a pop and I love it and I remember Lauren we were talking about this once and you said that you also have like a nude eyeliner like this that works nicely. So I don't know that's a little trick I've been using lately which I just feel like makes my eyes look alive. And that's I don't know how much it is but I got it I literally feel like for free at Sephora but I'm sure they they have them and sell them and they're not expensive.

Lauren: 19:05

I loved I always loved the freebies. There. I know they tend to I oftentimes that's how I discover new products because you know, they definitely give them out like strategically because they are they handpick those products that they give out the white eyeliner to extend the whites of the eyes or a good nude. Usually like on a darker skin tone. I say do like a peach or a nude pencil or just if you want a more subtle look but I love that trick. That's such a great trick. I want to talk about contouring and bronzing for the summer. Yes, as much as I love and I know I've mentioned in the past some great powder bronzers moving to again like a cream form. And I feel like even people who have oily skin can benefit from using a creamy bronzer. I believe this product is oil free but it's the Soft sculpting stick from Mario makeup by Mario. And he has several shades. If, if anybody knows Mario, he is like a long time. He's he's been in the makeup world for a long time with Kim Kardashian and various other celebs. But he has a flawless technique. And he finally came out with these, this makeup brand. And I just love the soft sculpting stick. It's like it's almost like this, it's actually in my kit upstairs. I should, I should bring it down. But it is that he has the most beautiful colors and you can again do soft contouring more you can go in and blend it on if you go onto the high points of the face to give a little bit of color like a bronzer. So it's just an easy you know, I like to use it on the perimeter of the face you can do under the nose, or on the bridge of the nose on the sides to narrow it's just it's it's Think about it like your contour but it just has the most beautiful texture. It's so blendable and again, if you are running out the door or if you're just want a really natural look for summer and for hotter, you know, warmer weather. It's a great product. I love it.

Amy: 21:14

And what do you apply it with? Do you play it with your hands or what kind of brush

Lauren: 21:18

fingertips or, or you can use any kind of synthetic brush I actually have to check because I have the blush sticks from him as well. And those have an abrasion on the end. It's like one end is product and one. But you know, I didn't even open it up to see it may have a brush.

Amy: 21:37

Yeah, because sometimes I find when I'm using those kinds of products, obviously I'm not a makeup artist and I don't really know how to do it well but it's like the brush is so important. Like is it like do you use like a tighter I don't know what it's called

Lauren: 21:51

like a tighter you wanting or like you want it tightly packed tight. Now you right either angled or flat, tightly packed flat brush that you can go in and you can draw, you know, draw your contour, you want to feel your cheekbone go right underneath. You can go on the jaw line, a little bit on the tip of the nose. And essentially, wherever you would want to contour your face, you know the perimeter of the face. Yeah, anywhere where you want to warm up warm up the color.

Amy: 22:25

But I n would you also use that. Sorry, would you also use that as just like, a bronzer to like you just wanted to put it on your cheeks.

Lauren: 22:33

That's what I love about it. It's really the colors are so beautiful that you could kind of skip a bronzer and just use that just use a little more generously.

Amy: 22:41

Okay, and does that come in different? shades? Yes,

Lauren: 22:45

it comes in all different shades. I love that it's for every skin tone. And he has nailed the colors because a lot of these broads or sticks are very orange. The have a little bit more of a bricky like just they're muted, so they don't read orange like they don't they're just beautiful tones. So check those out. You can get those at Sephora.

Amy: 23:07

Yes, I love makeup by Mara a few of his products and they're just gorgeous. I mean the the quality is really, really great. I've been actually testing out speaking of bronzer as the say, I think it's a beauty bronzer. I forgot exactly what it's called, but I ordered the wrong shade. And so it's too like dark. So I need to go in and exchange it for a lighter shade. But yeah, I'm always experimenting. So that's good. I'm going to try that one for sure. So speaking of browsers, and lightning and making the face look dewy and lovely. My last product recommendation is the drunk elephant. It's called de bronzey anti pollution sunshine drops. And if you know of these comes in this little never use

Lauren: 23:56

them but I've heard of them and they look really interesting.

Amy: 24:00

So I had seen this online and I'd been wanting to try it and it's great. So I just put like a little bit I guess you could do it without moisturizer for I just mix it in with my moisturizer and like just a little dot and it just gives the face like a really nice glow Abrons like if you don't want to do self tanner on your face that day or whatever it's just like an instant. Pick me up bronze I love it make sure your face look really healthy and glowy and again just for like the summer running out through our moisturizer on with this and an SPF and like little concealer you're good to go. So this is a great product. It's drunk elephants. Sunshine drops $36 Sephora, and I actually just saw recently that they came out with another version of this and it's like, more like blush color like a like a rose color. So it's almost like a pinkish so maybe it's more of like a blush situation. So I want to try that too. Anyway, really good product and I don't have a lot of drunk elephant products but this one is great and it goes a long way. It's a small bottle but you just need a little a little bit

Lauren: 24:59

more Yeah, they have beautiful products. I feel like we're out of clean beauty kick today.

Amy: 25:05

i We are well there's so many good ones now.

Lauren: 25:08

So I know we haven't talked about lips my absolute favorite I just tried and I love I've now purchased all of them for my kit is Ilia beauty philia balmy gloss tinted lip boil. Oh, it is so beautiful. They're I think they're like six colors. I love the I'll tell you because I wrote down the neutral nude, and Linga which is like a berry mob. They are. And they have a little bit of lip plumping in them. But they're all I love that girl. And I you know, especially I don't know, I just love I love lip oils. I'm like really into lip oils. They are the one

Amy: 25:50

who initially told us about lip oils because I never heard of it until your honor episode and then ever since I've had I've gotten like, I think the Mac one or the Nars one that you suggested and now there's another one to try. Love it.

Lauren: 26:05

Yeah, so I'm glad that yeah, I forgot I mentioned that last time. But this one is Yeah, Ilya Yeah, I mean, I think you can find it at any Yeah, maybe

Amy: 26:15

four Yeah. And they come You said there's six different colors and you have them all.

Lauren: 26:21

Yeah, I have all of them there they have like a coral a pink a bright pink. I mean they're all different colors. I just love the there's just enough color but there are so nourishing and I love the plumping factor and personally with lip products now I'm getting really excited about using natural products because that's something obviously that's right by our mouth like we yeah you know we had sweet we like our lips we have we have it you know it gets inside our bodies so I really love to go clean with blood products so that's a that's a and

Amy: 26:54

is it just like a shear or is the color like

Lauren: 26:58

it's very sheer pigment but there are there are a couple of bright colors I mean there's you'll definitely see color on the lips especially with the bright pink are the coral but I just love it gives a really pretty hydrated and like glossy look without being sticky or yeah it's just super natural it's It goes well with any of these products that like give you that really soft kind of effortless look.

Amy: 27:20

Yeah, for so good summer. So good. And can you feel any of the plumping in hell sometimes with this plumping lip lip glosses, you can feel it like I mean, I liked the feeling but you know that feeling where it's like Monday or whatever

Lauren: 27:34

it does have I think it does have a little bit of like minty this but it's not a burning or singing.

Amy: 27:39

Yes. Okay. I love that. Well, we have done a full face and I feel like these are such good products when we've done biotics we talked about self tanner too but like these are really good products going into the summer. So hopefully this was helpful for everyone in our June product junkies what we're loving what we're loving lately episode. Thank you so much, Lauren, for sharing all of your recommendations. You always have the best ones every time. Every time I talk to you I'm like okay, I need to go get this I need to go get this but you always kind of master that like no makeup makeup like neutral, beautiful glowy look so thank you so much for being on the show and giving us some good summer recommendations to try.

Lauren: 28:19

Thank you so much for having me and I feel like I need to go out to the store. I like your recommendations too.

Amy: 28:24

Thank you. Thank you. 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.

Episode 53 - Nutrition Tips And Healthy Tricks For Summer With Holistic Nutritionist Jen Silverman (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 53 Nutrition Tips And Healthy Tricks For Summer With Holistic Nutritionist Jen Silverman.

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. And we're here today to do a quickie episode with Jen Silverman, who was on our show back in episode 16. And for those of you who did not listen to that episode, you should it's called no label as the best label. But Jen Silverman is a holistic nutritionist. She's an expert in nutrition and intuitive eating and we thought it would be fun to do a quickie episode with her just to talk about some stuff for this summer as we're getting ready. The warm weather's coming out. It's spring, summer soon. What do we need to know? What are the tips? What are the snacks? What are all the things from the fabulous Jen? So welcome back to the show. We're so glad you're back with us. We missed you.

Jen: 1:07

Thank you. I'm happy to be back.

Amy: 1:09

So starting off with our nirvana of the week. I'm going to flip it to Katy to tell us. What was your Nirvana this week, Katie?

Katie: 1:15

Well, thanks, Amy. Hi, Jen. So excited to have you. Let's see my nirvana of the weekend. And yesterday, I had the whole day in the city, like a big girl without the kids and without the, you know, the like running around school pickups, and all of that stuff. So it was kind of fun. It was it was the first time since we've lived in Connecticut that I've done that where I've gone in for the entire day, just myself doing my thing. And then I had dinner with a great friend that I hadn't seen in years. So that was it. It's like, I don't know, it's just fun to kind of step outside of your normal life and do something different like that. That was my old life. You know what I mean? That's yeah, I was. Just to have times, yeah, well, yeah. 100% Like, I wasn't necessarily working. I had some pampering and some shopping. And it was great. It was fun. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 2:09

I have a little Nirvana from this morning. So our puppy Skye who accounts they talked about on the show, she's eight months now. And she's still crazy, but she's getting a little bit more mellow. And she jumped in bed this morning with me. And we were spooning and it was so yummy. So and she's so big now. So like, our whole body was like against me. And we were just like, cuddling. You know, granted, it was for like a minute until she like wanted to do something else. But it was so sweet. Because she never really does that. So I loved it. That's so huge. And

Jen: 2:38

my birthday was last week. And so I would say I just feel like, and I know, it's sad that it only happens on your birthday or not sad, but I just felt really loved in general. lately. I had, you know, dinner with my college friends and I got to be with my parents and my mom made me dinner. I always laugh because I feel like when I was little I always wanted to go out to dinner. And now that I'm older and I can pay for my own dinner, I'm like, can you just cook me dinner with someone to cook me dinner? So I felt like I had a really special week. Just with a lot of celebrations and seeing people I don't get to see as much and I'm glad that even that was the reason but that brought us together.

Amy: 3:18

That's so nice. Yeah, happy belated.

Jen: 3:21

22. Right. Can you believe it? Exactly. Three actually, it really it just outlines.

Amy: 3:29

Solid state of mind. It's all state of mind. Okay, so let's get into it. So summer's coming up. What do we need to know, like, give us some quick things that you're thinking about for kind of while you're already in shape, but like, you know, getting in shape and getting prepped for the summer.

Jen: 3:42

So my favorite part about the summer is that you can eat fresh foods. And I should not imply that you don't eat fresh foods year round. But you've probably heard you know, the term eating seasonally. And generally, this when someone is telling you to eat seasonally, they mean like there are certain fruits and vegetables that are in season, winter, spring, summer fall, right. So if you're getting strawberries in the summer, they are that much more delicious than if you're getting them in the winter because they're you're getting them from somewhere else or writing to when they're picked, you know, in California, you're kind of waiting and that nutrient density and even the taste is kind of all being depleted as it finally gets to you in Maryland or here on the East Coast. So that is all very true and I love eating seasonally. But my what I mean by eating seasonally and I think it's what's overlooked a lot is that in the wintertime especially you're eating more warming foods, right like you're eating like soups and stews and broth and things like that, and naturally we crave those and you actually should like really lean into that. But in the summer everything's fresh and delicious and even salads and juices and fresh fruit and like it actually tastes really good versus like you're going like okay, this is fine. So I would say like from a food standpoint, number one like leaning into summer. It's amazing if everything's now seasonal and delicious, and we can eat salad without being depressed wishing we were eating something warmer, in my personal opinion at least that's so

Katie: 5:09

true. I definitely 100% do that. In the warmer months. I want the cold crispy crunchy salad, the fresh veggies and then when it gets cold, I crave the warmer stuff. And I like occasional material. I feel like I should really be eating a salad because so much better for me. Why am I not eating the salad? Is it I don't, I don't want it because I'm freezing my body's cold it needs to be warmed up and be it's just not as like crispy and crunchy and fresh as it shouldn't be. So that's a really great, great tip. I love that one.

Jen: 5:37

Thank you. I feel like I never think of that. Or not that we don't think about it from that side. Which is Yeah. A Grom for a workout standpoint, I mean, get outside like there is nothing better than like fresh air and like that not be not even just like not staring at a screen not in not. And that's not to say that there aren't wonderful at home workouts or if you are comfortable going into a gym or into a fitness class if those aren't beneficial. But there's just something about being outside. I think the term that I heard somebody uses called Nature bathing, and it's literally forest bathing.

Amy: 6:12

What is it? Nature bathing or forest bathing, I've heard

Jen: 6:15

are both there. I think they're both really like actual things. But yeah, but nature bathing in general, just having that even if it's like walking outside versus on a treadmill, like, yeah, your calorie burn isn't going to be different. But let's be honest, like, I really hope that you and everyone listening to this is not working out for the calorie burn. Like I hope that they're working out for all of the other benefits of exercise. So I mean that alone, just whether it's a walk of bike ride your gardening, I mean, I plan to garden, I'm doing it on, it's my Mother's Day gift every year on missions every year, it's the second year in a row because I used to live in a city and I didn't have a garden. But we're going on here to where we're planting my garden. i Yeah, that is also something that I love about like coming into summer and spring and stuff like that.

Amy: 7:00

That's funny that you plant a garden, I actually my mom and I, on Mother's Day usually do that too. We go to the store and we get all the flowers and we plant all the annuals for the week, the spring vegetables and like herbs. And you know, I haven't gotten into that territory. I would like to actually Katie and I've talked about having someone on the show to like tell people how to do it because we don't know how to do it or to do it where they actually grow and like animals don't eat them. Like the whole thing seems very intimidating shape, but in theory, I would love to

Jen: 7:30

do it. My mom um, the advice I will give you now in year two, but I was when I was younger my Mom did whatever year so I do know a little bit you do things eat like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, they grow like weeds, like in a wonderful way. Like it's simple, you won't feel like you're failing. You literally water them once a day, no big deal. Put them in a sunny spot, not too sunny. The tomatoes need that like a cage because they grow up. The rest of them don't and they're fine as is I had because we moved into a new home I had like the landscaper when we were doing our landscaping like put in boxes for me. So it was proper, but you don't need that. That's just me being fancy. Um, herbs and spices separate container because they not like cross contaminate, but it's hard to contain them like men will I'm still growing mint from last May. And I'm like it's crazy. I wish that I ever planted that I'm really upset about and not that I don't love mint but it's like overtaking my yard. It's not that hard. I think a lot of people definitely. It seems like a daunting task, but it's not that challenging.

Amy: 8:36

So cucumber or just like put it in the ground and like tomato like go

Jen: 8:40

to home. I really, and they have organic and regular like you can choose which one and you buy the pot itself and you buy like the plant or soil and then even you could they'll tell you like I walked in there and I'm like this is my first time doing garden. My mom's like we know what to get, don't worry. And there's different planter soils, there's the organic one, there's regular one, you know, you it's one of those things that I would recommend going up like a higher price point because if it's a lower price point, not only is this soil now it's a bit thicker and chunkier and you want it to be more smooth, but it's also that there'll be other things mixed into it. This is gonna be a gross comparison, but it's almost like meat. Like if you buy good meat, like you know you're eating meat versus if you're buying right like something like crab carrot, better example. It's like real crab versus breading. I don't.

Amy: 9:28

Okay, you've inspired me I need to try it. Well, the animals get into it.

Jen: 9:33

No, but I've spent in my yard around my Yeah, I

Amy: 9:36

do too, but okay. All right. The other

Katie: 9:39

thing also I have read a lot of studies about like actually having your hands in the dirt and how gardening is really good good for you. It's grounding, it's good for the soul and there's like good bacteria in there that it's okay if it makes its way into your system and all of this stuff. So yeah, it's it's what's up

Jen: 9:59

probiotics? specifically, specifically about it. Yeah,

Katie: 10:01

yes thing. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. I love that. That's also

Jen: 10:05

a holistic functional practice going outside barefoot. So my daughter has to refuses to wear shoes, and is constantly people constantly make comments. And I'm like, listen, she's grounding. This is a practice, but it is like it's part of a meditation process for a lot of people.

Amy: 10:22

I've heard that that you should go outside with no shoes on and like grounding. I keep hearing about that. And it's funny because I do like to be outside with my shoes off. And I didn't know it was like a thing. And Jackson, my older son also walks around all the time with new shoes on outside and say, I'm gonna I'm like, that's good. He's getting the Earth. He's feeling Yeah,

Jen: 10:41

you can join the compound because we're total hippies. And we're gonna go, yeah.

Amy: 10:48

I love it. I also was just listening. I put it on Instagram this week. But I don't know if any, if you listen to the podcast, the Huberman lab

Jen: 10:58

I do. Andrew Yang and Dr. Mann. Yeah, he's best with him. Obsessed. He's

Amy: 11:03

unbelievable. But he was on the skinny confidential this week. And I listened to both of those. And he was talking about so many different amazing practices. There's a part one and part two, and I'm just in the middle of part two, it's so good. But he was saying also a good thing to do in the morning is to go outside, no sunglasses, nothing and just like, be outside and let the light hit your eyes for like 10 or 15 minutes. And it's sort of like that grounding thing. It's like wakes up your body and it like sets your circadian rhythm and all this stuff is so interesting. But anyway, so yeah, I love that. Okay, give us some because I'm a snacker, good snacks, easy snacks, healthy snacks that we can, you know, think about packing in our bags or grabbing on the go. So you don't

Jen: 11:43

want me to just say fruits and vegetables.

Amy: 11:49

And mean, you can grab a banana or an apple, but like, anything new any like, I mean, because we grabbed them or like fruits, veggies nuts, but like,

Jen: 12:01

okay, means I'm really into beans. So there's, it's a blue package, I want to say it's called the O Bean on Amazon. And it's at a mommy. It's just dried roasted at a mommy. But it's like 11 grams of protein, I want to say at 90 calories. There's some fiber in it. And it's a blue package. And I used to give it to my kids for their lunches. And now I'm like I'm bringing these to sporting events because you guys make me sit here for six hours. They're absolutely delicious. And Amazon has I mean, like the single servings. I'm also really into Brahmi right now, which neither of these are like new for the record there. Joe, I know that brand, the BR AMI and it's lupini beans also but these are not dry roasted. So the edamame one, they're crunchy like that texture. I'll throw them on a salad if I'm not eating them plain because they're delicious. Whereas the Brahmi you actually could also throw in a salad but they're I mean, they're they're like there's a big

Amy: 12:52

beans, right like the big white beans or fava beans.

Jen: 12:57

They're lupini beans, I think lupini beans, but fava beans is also a good one. But the Brahmi has single serving ones also. And they have different flavors. So I'm really into they don't require refrigeration. And you can eat the content like it's you know, it's probably this big the packet itself.

Amy: 13:15

That's good. That's good.

Jen: 13:17

Um, she I mean, I'm still in the snack islands and snapin has a salt and vinegar ring

Amy: 13:21

I love by now I saw that on your feed and I need to get those because I love snack length. And I haven't had them in

Katie: 13:26

a while. It's absolutely I mean, is that the what is that? Yuka Okay, yeah,

Amy: 13:32

but they're really light and crunchy and so yummy.

Jen: 13:36

One of my clients compared it to a vegan pork rind. I've never had a pork rind because I grew it is like that. But it looks a bit like that. But they're very fluffy. And what are those? Did you see those water? Have you seen the water lily puppy things?

Amy: 13:52

Right if you tried every snack known to man Yeah,

Jen: 13:55

yeah, I peed. I have clients that are into them. I personally, I'm not sure if I've ever tried them. I should though. I mean, they're

Amy: 14:02

good. They're a little like sweeter. I like the I like the snack ones better, but they're good. They're good. It's good to have a variety of things and those beans I've had before but I had like a bigger bag and I ate too many of them. I didn't feel well, so I was like, I'm gonna get the snack bags. I'm not like overdosing on them. Yeah. Jen, what's

Katie: 14:20

your position on like these healthy popcorn brands? Like the 100 Calorie pack skinny pop popcorn? I mean, are you pro corn anti corn? Like what's your thing? Just curious.

Jen: 14:32

Okay with corn. I feel like the issue with corn in this country is just more so like that. It's what what it it's bad to cows and almost kind of going back to the beginning of our conversation. It's not only corn, there's there's like candy in it and like all of this crap. And then when we are if we are I'm a meat eater like I'm not an exclusive carnivore but I eat meat. And then if I am eating that, you know, I believe we are not the You are what you eat, but you eat what you ate ate. Does that make sense? Like if my cow was eating grass, and then I'm eating the meat from the cow.

Katie: 15:10

Oh yeah. You're eating? What? Yes. Yeah, I totally get what you're saying. It's like the chain.

Jen: 15:16

Yes. Chain. Yeah. So the to me the gross pneus of corn is that it is in cow feed, but there's so much other crap mixed into it. But like I eat corn on the cob. I eat what are those? This is actually good snack those like big, like corn things from

Amy: 15:36

Whoa. Oh, those

Katie: 15:38

Oh, the corn kernel. Like the crunchy? Yeah.

Jen: 15:41

Those are delicious. Yeah, like very I love I love adding things like for texture, like into salads and stuff like that. Like that is a great added great pop of. So to go back to your question. I'm not anti corn had the lesser evil popcorn before that was delicious.

Amy: 15:58

That's the one you had at my house. Katie recently? Yeah. Like, yeah,

Jen: 16:01

yeah, I think I don't think smart pop puts anything in there stuff. I mean, I have like a bit of a negative association with anything that's like, like 100 Calorie packs, just because I don't know, there's like a psychological piece to it. But I also think it's really beneficial. Because quite honestly, we eat what's put in front of us, like, at every age. I mean, I see even with my children, I can give them a bag that's this big or a bag that this big. And they think they need to eat most, if not all of it. So there's something really beneficial about the single serving despite the fact that it's not really good for our environment.

Katie: 16:33

Yeah, that's so true. And to your point, the chain of like, you're eating what what you ate, had for breakfast. It's very true, because I haven't, I have an egg intolerance. And I was told find chickens that are not fed soy, because I'm highly intolerant to soy, because a lot of them are given soy feed. And so it's like, it's not the egg that's bothering me. It's the soy that the chicken ate that's in the egg that's bothering me. So yeah, this is

Jen: 17:01

not along exactly like that. But I was actually having a conversation with a friend who she was saying she can't drink wine anymore. And she's like, why can't I drink wine? And I'm like, I bet you there's so things in your wine, and there's still dates and all wine and you can buy organic wine and it's lower and sulfates but you know that they have filters now can buy single filters. You literally throw them in your glass of mine and you can enjoy your vine without getting a headache and feeling

Katie: 17:27

really. That's interesting.

Amy: 17:30

So yeah, I drink usual wine, which is an organic wine single serve and supposedly there's much lower sugar in it and no sulfites or maybe it's just low sulfites. I don't know, but I want to try those discs. I haven't heard of that. That's cool.

Jen: 17:46

They're like, they kind of like a silver package. And they're just like, a filter, and it filters them out. Because it's almost, if you're buying organic wine is definitely better than non organic wine. But it's similar to and I feel like I'm always using comparisons, but coffee. If you have decaf coffee, there's still little caffeine in it. Not much. Right? Right. So a little bit of it. And that's my assumption is it's pretty comparable from a wine perspective. If you're having organic wine, it's still gonna have some salt base just a lot less for the lower sugar. I mean, that mean that's huge. Like if you I don't know if how if you're a wine person or not, or how even gotten this direction, but I think Summer Wine, it makes sense. Yeah. You get really, you sleep poorly. You're sleeping more basically, it's the sugar because the sugar is waking you up because your blood sugar's spiking, dropping and then that's what's wake you up in the middle of night, there's sugar in the wine. So I would actually imagine from that aspect as well, the organic wine would be really helpful.

Amy: 18:46

So on that topic of cocktails and drinking in the summer, because we tend to be out more and drink more and all that. What's your go to for like low sugar, like as clean as you can get? Cocktails?

Jen: 19:01

I got this. Tequila, soda water and three limes. I can't tell you if you're nervous to go really like just I would to ease into it. I would say a splash of grapefruit juice, but ideally like fresh grapefruit juice, because that also cuts it really well with like the sourness

Amy: 19:22

of grapefruit juice and what kind of tequila Do you like?

Jen: 19:25

If I'm being a snob? I'll go like class at school but that should not be mixed with soda water. I actually did it once and was yelled at. Oh, good like casamigos Um, that episode. Oh, probably.

Amy: 19:38

Yeah, yeah, that's a good one.

Katie: 19:40

It sounds good. I'm a wine drinker. And I do I have read that wine and white wine and champagne are lower in sugar than a lot of other, you know, alcohol options. So I feel like if you can't do the hard stuff that tequila, then I think actually Champagne is the Is champion the least amount of sugar? I think I've heard that the dry the really dry champagnes

Jen: 20:05

really dry when I would say not like a Prosecco, right dry one.

Amy: 20:09

But we love percent.

Katie: 20:13

I'm not gonna say no to champagne though, either.

Jen: 20:16

Every day the celebration. I would say if you want to pace yourself, I would put, I would make it into like a spritzer bow. Like I've done that before. If I'm going, like, for example, I told you, I have a winery visit tomorrow. My plan is to get the wine with soda water to cut it, so that it's more of a spritzer and that I can you know, I can last longer and be cool.

Katie: 20:41

Very smart. Yeah,

Amy: 20:42

that's a good idea.

Katie: 20:43

I love and you know what? It's also really refreshing in the summer by the pool outside a white wine spritzer. Yeah, it's yummy.

Amy: 20:51

fruit in there. Yeah.

Jen: 20:53

Right. Kind of ruined it with them. I'm just getting like they are. They're really, I mean, they like they add so many calories. Like, I think we've talked about this. Maybe I have a client, a man who he lost like 11 pounds in a month. And the only change he made because he gave up alcohol. Like he's like, I just want to see and he No and, and I'm like, that's insane. Like he was still eating everything that he loved. And just crazy. Like how how it creeps up and you don't even realize

Amy: 21:25

Yeah, he's also he's also a man that was gonna say the exact same Yeah, like, if I cut out alcohol for a month, I would lose like half a pound. I mean, let's be honest. But I was actually going to give one fun hack, which I did like I remember I read about this years ago, and I haven't done it in a while. But you just reminded me of the champagne in the spritzer if you take blueberries, raspberries and put them in the freezer. They become like ice cubes. And then you can put them in your spritzer or water or whatever, and they're yummy. So

Jen: 21:54

you're now reminding me that's a great tip. Thank you. You're reminding me of last summer. I made my kids love watermelon. I always buy watermelon and we can eat like I mean a half a watermelon in a day in our house. I took the leftover because it was it was like two or three days and I was worried it was gonna turn froze the watermelon. Then I took it and put it in a blender with like fresh limes. And meanwhile, like it wasn't a sorbet texture was more like an icy texture like a Slurpee texture. I mean, I've never had I had mine. passerby I mean nutritious but yeah, it was like a watermelon Slurpee. It was literally just like lime juice and the watermelon but because it was frozen, it was that beautiful. But I should and had every intention of trying to put alcohol in that because I think that would also be delicious.

Amy: 22:42

Ooh, that sounds so good. And how did you freeze the watermelon? Like in just like little balls?

Jen: 22:46

Yeah, like I don't even have a pretty ball thing. It was like I cube the watermelons for my kids anyway, so I had like an a glass Tupperware thing and then I put it in my freezer.

Amy: 22:55

Yeah. Oh, I love that. That sounds so good. Yes. And you could mix them a little vodka tequila sounds

Jen: 23:01

amazing. I have to try it and I will let you know when I do. I will invite you. I love it.

Katie: 23:07

What about I have a question for the next recommendation. Do you have any like detox teas? I mean, you see people that are making these things with the ginger and Tumeric like what's what's your jam on? Do you have something?

Jen: 23:20

I do? So it's funny because again, you're like every word is really triggering for you Jen you're very specific picky. I hate the word detox like our livers job is to detox right like we don't need to go on a detox like we have an entire organ that does that for us that said and this is more of a not I feel puffy, although I think it would benefit because it will it's it will it's anti inflammatory and will lower inflammation in your body which is generally can manifest as just essentially puffiness in your skin. But I actually more take it if I'm not feeling great for an immune boost. So what I do is hot water. Fresh ginger, so fresh grated ginger, a little bit of honey because honey is antimicrobial. Oh half juice from half of a lemon and then Ceylon cinnamon,

Katie: 24:06

Ceylon what's Ceylon cinnamon?

Jen: 24:09

So there's cashes cinnamon, and Salem Ceylon is d Y L O N That's just the one that's I mean, I should say supposedly because the science of nutrition is just so interesting and I feel like there's always new articles like I'm literally always on PubMed and I'm like like finding and you can which is really sad probably find any you could find a study that will prove anything you want at this point if I'm being perfectly honest, I don't know if I'm supposed to say that but Ceylon cinnamon is supposedly the one that is actually anti inflammatory versus the cash is cinnamon, which I think is not as I want to say not as it's not the word not as fresh but not doesn't have the same properties so Ceylon cinnamon is as you can imagine a higher price point it's almost like that manuka honey thing versus like regular honey right?

Amy: 24:54

What do you store Yeah, I was gonna say like, if you just pick up cinnamon How would you know what kind it is?

Jen: 24:59

If you Pick up red ocean and then assume that it's not Ceylon but like Whole Foods like what's the brand if frontier it's like the Black Label the frontier like that they haven't say a lot. It'll say Salem cinnamon.

Amy: 25:11

Okay. All right, so we got some really good tips there. There's probably a million more, but we're gonna go to Katie because she's got some summer products she wants to tell us about. So I'm excited to hear them. Yeah. So

Katie: 25:23

I am super excited to share these because they're like game changers for me. And I just discovered them recently. And I'm obsessed. Well, Amy knows one of them. One is the secara Matt metabolism, super powder. I just started using it recently. And it definitely is all that it's cracked up to be like it. It helps with bloat. It helps with digestion, it helps with puffiness. It also gives me energy and kind of like, helps with mental clarity as well. It's super yummy. And I just think it's great for going into summer because I know Jen doesn't like the word detox, but it kind of feels a little bit like that. And also like it's just it just kind of like speeds up your metabolism, which is what it says it's supposed to do, which helps you know, flatten the tummy and things like that. So I really love it. It's a huge bag, you can get a 30 serving pouch for $90. A little steep, but I use like half of a half of the scoop every time I use that. What do you think about a Gen?

Jen: 26:25

I have a question I want to Yes. Okay. I mean,

Katie: 26:29

I would love to. And just

Amy: 26:30

while she's getting that out, I've used this metabolism that I've used. I use it a while ago. And I used it for a little while and I put it in my coffee and I think it was fine for me. I didn't really notice that much of a difference. And it was funny when Katie was getting it she asked me and I was like yeah, for me. It was okay. Like it wasn't bad. It wasn't I didn't. I didn't notice a major difference. But Katie has noticed the difference was which is great. So I think it just works maybe for some people and not for others. Yeah,

Katie: 26:55

I think so too. The ingredients are raw cacao powder, coconut milk powder, l glutamine, horsetail extract, kelp extract, tonight. Gymnema sylvestre extract, coconut sugar, it has a 1% blend of stevia and low how gow extract

Jen: 27:19

Chinese that's from traditional Chinese medicine. That's an herb that's commonly used in TMC.

Katie: 27:25

Okay. And then the last Oh, and TMC, which is bad. And is that no traditional

Jen: 27:29

Chinese medicine?

Katie: 27:30

Oh, I'm sorry, I got something else.

Jen: 27:36

Very common herbs in traditional Chinese medicine that it's okay.

Katie: 27:40

And then the last one is black pepper fruit extract. So, I thought it clean suckers.

Jen: 27:48

I mean, it's our glutamine that's giving you the metabolic effect. Okay. And the others are probably to make it palatable, but also like ingredients that aren't going to hurt you.

Katie: 28:00

Yeah. And they said that I think it's the horsetail extract that kind of helps with, like, like, helping you with bloat and puffiness, kind of getting rid of like extra water weight and things like that. But yeah, so I love that one. Alright, here's the next one. It is it's a red bag. Yep, exactly. I'm sure you've seen it all over social media. Alright, so get ready to have your mind blown. Whoa, there's this new tool that I have been wanting to get for years, but it was so expensive. Three years ago, I was like, alright, this isn't in my future. It is, I think just more available to the public now. So the price is more palpable. It's called the lumen. The lumen metabolism, hack, or hacker?

Jen: 28:48

You're gonna see a jade roller, I'm not gonna lie.

Amy: 28:51

Oh, yes, come on. Alright,

Katie: 28:54

so this is it. And what it does is it measures your co2 output that tells you if you are burning fats, or carbs, you blow into it. And the reason why I know that this is legit. Years ago, when I first started with my autoimmune stuff, my husband, I didn't know what was going on. We went to this very, like intense clinic in New Jersey with legitimate doctors and all of the tests and everything. They run everything under the sun. And one of the first things they had me do was blow into a device to see what the strength of my metabolism was. I think it was like my, like resting metabolic rate or something like yeah, so that is, yeah, so that is via checking your co2 output, and that's exactly what this does. So I blow into this. It's connected to my phone, and it tells me what I'm burning and then it gives me a plan for the day should I eat some more carbs today? Should I stay away from the carbs and the whole So is to get you to what they call metabolic flexibility. And it's where engine knows. Alright, Jen just perked up, you know,

Jen: 30:10

metabolic flexibility? And I bet you

Amy: 30:12

do. I would like that I definitely don't

Katie: 30:14

have it. Yeah, so that's what I'm working towards. And that's where your body, Jen, help us understand what that what that is,

Jen: 30:22

oh, that literally means what you think it means, which is that your body can metabolize all of the macronutrients, so fat, protein, and carbs. So what happens is with diet plans, like if you went on keto, for example, you're only eating fat, so your body and it's there. So there's, this is actually harder to explain than I thought, there's nine calories and one gram of fat, there's four calories in one gram of protein and carb. So when the concept behind keto not to get too into it is like if you're fat fueled, and you're only eating of a high amounts of fat, and you're limiting, like severely limiting, like under 10%, your carbs and proteins, then your body is living off of ketones, but you need to eat a lot less because there's so many more calories in that like, that's why it works, right? Like if there's only if there's nine calories and one gram of fat, you can eat a lot fewer, like more than half the amount than if you're eating if you are fueled by carbs and proteins. Does that make sense?

Katie: 31:21

Yeah, and also, go ahead. No, no, continue.

Jen: 31:25

I love that about the flexibility means that your body can digest all of those versus like you having to go on some specific diet plan or like your body really only knows how to digest one of those macros, because yeah,

Katie: 31:37

yeah. And also I read as well, that when you like, stop eating carbs, you stop making these enzymes that help you break them down, and all of that. And, Amy, I don't know if you remember we Amy years ago, before we knew better Amy and I were like really into keto for a while. And then when we tried to come off of it. It was crazy. It's like we couldn't eat a carb without feeling like we were going to put on five pounds. And I think it's exactly that. Do you remember that? You said, I feel like this screwed my body up. And I can't even eat a piece of bread anymore. So that'd be the piece of red. And again, like three rounds. Yeah, that's like exactly what the opposite of metabolic flexibility is. So this is a tool that you use to basically collect data and you have to be engaged, you check your you check, you check it multiple times throughout the day. And eventually using the data properly and applying it to daily life, it should get you to metabolic flexibility. So I'm all about like, you know, give me the data. And I'm a biohacker I

Amy: 32:33

love it. That's so cool. Wait, so explain how it works. So you blow in it. And then what? What's the output? What does it say

Katie: 32:40

in an app in my phone, it's Bluetooth. And it tells you it's like a little scale. One is your burning fat five is your burning carbs. And then there's in betweens, and the goal is to you know, like wake up at a one so you know that you're burning fat through the night. i This morning, I woke up at a five because I had pasta and wine last night. So you know that makes sense. But yeah, I'm still learning it. I've had it for a week. And it is complicated. It does take commitment. But yeah,

Amy: 33:15

but it's interesting, very cool. I think it's hard to know, like, I have no idea that you don't really know how your body is working unless you're super in tune. So that can really help to guide because I don't like you're right, like sometimes you eat something you feel a certain way. And like, yeah,

Jen: 33:32

I will interject and tell you that your body will always choose to burn carbs. First of all right? Like, that's why when you're running, if you're running a marathon or something like our bodies are smart, they know that as a quick source of energy. That's why every four to five mile marker, if you're doing a race, they're gonna have gummies and things that hit your bloodstream really quickly. Those are carbs like sugar is a is the literally the most accessible, digestible form of carbohydrate, it's not so good for you, because then your blood sugar spiking and your cravings are all over the place. But your body will definitely choose to digest carbs. So it sounds like this is helping you know what to eat so that your body is like, Hey, listen, we're not only digesting carbs, we got to like, move on to the other stuff. I'm concerned.

Katie: 34:12

Yeah. And also the other thing too, is like I'm attuned to my body, but just because I'm attuned to my body, I might crave carbs, but that doesn't mean my body needs carbs. There's other factors like hormones and things at play that could be making me crave carbs. So to have something tell me whether or not I really need them in that moment. Is is a tool that's a very useful tool. Yeah,

Amy: 34:34

so for this what's a cotton muddiman No, no, but the flexibility metabolism, linear metabolic flexibility. That is what when you can eat things without like gaining or losing weight, like you kind of stay the same and

Jen: 34:53

raising your blood sugar. So like if you were a diabetic, for example, and you were really obsessing over your blood sugar being in a healthy range, that would also be beneficial. So metabolic flexibility just means that no matter what you're eating, you're not, it's not going to affect not only your metabolism, but also your blood sugar and other like biometric factors.

Amy: 35:12

Interesting. So by using a tool like that, you could see how you were that day and then kind of like base your meal plan essentially on that,

Katie: 35:19

then it gives you a meal plan macros and everything. Oh, that's cool.

Amy: 35:24

Based on like, it'll tell you how to eat Yes, off of your

Katie: 35:27

score. It gives you a meal plan, like oh,

Amy: 35:28

that's so cool.

Jen: 35:29

The illuminator the lumen

Katie: 35:32

l you, me and for the listeners will have it in the show notes. So I went is this Jen Silverman approved? Are you

Jen: 35:41

interested in it? I'm totally going to DM them and ask them to send me one for free so that I can post about it. Yeah,

Amy: 35:46

maybe I need to do that again. Yes,

Katie: 35:48

it's it's not I mean, it's not super affordable, but it is up to I believe it was 299. And then you have a four month subscription to the app that does all the things and then pay another 299 to keep in that program. Or you can be like my goal where I'm trying to really use it, learn it. Right figure out ways to like personally hack it into my life. kind of love that. Yeah.

Amy: 36:16

Okay, that's really cool. And I definitely want to research that more. And Jen will circle back with us and give us her yay or nay on it, but it sounds pretty legit. Very cool. Yeah, it is.

Jen: 36:27

We're a numbers nerd.

Katie: 36:28

I'm also like a research geek.

Jen: 36:31

Metrics person then

Katie: 36:33

metrics

Amy: 36:34

are whoop. What's up? Like just listening? Yeah,

Katie: 36:38

I need one of those. No, that's

Amy: 36:39

the sleeping thing. I know. Well, there's

Jen: 36:41

the aura, raise their aura. And somebody gave me a whoop, and I don't want to activate it because I'm not like you in that regard. And that I don't want to wake up and see that my whoop is at 10% recovery and then not like move my body because I'm like, Oh, but I feel okay, but it's telling me that I shouldn't like I would read too much into it. Like I've had rice like Christmas time and I will not activate it and everyone's like learn

Amy: 37:06

and it tells you what is it do it measures your sleep and like and how well you

Jen: 37:10

Yeah, and not it's not as much like how many hours although will tell you that it's more like your recovery because you know, there's the sleep where you actually like get decent sleep and then there's a sleep that you're restless and you're waking up and you're you know, I don't know, I guess show REM sleep but it tells you like how are you burnin output and

Katie: 37:29

oh, I want one. Yeah,

Amy: 37:30

yeah, I was just I keep hearing about this and it's very interesting. But sometimes it's like ignorance is bliss because you don't it's you could get crazy with it. But I Katie, like when I get like blood tests or different things with the doctors I like give it to Katie she's like my metrics nurse. Like she'll be like, oh, yeah, this this. I'm like, oh, okay, like I don't even pay attention.

Katie: 37:50

But like, yeah, I have the teeniest tiniest wellness hack for like helping with bloat and a flat stomach that I think is great for summer. Right? Okay. Yes, peppermint tea with lemon. But prior to that the Trader Joe's No joke, Ginger shot. If I take the if I'm bloated, you know, gasoline, whatever. I take this. And then I drink peppermint tea with lemon. I'm doing it now. And it helps get rid of all of that. So that's just one nice little treat to Joe's lemon. The Trader Joe's organic, no joke. Ginger shot. It's a blend of coconut water, ginger, lemon juice and a little bit of cayenne pepper. And then pepper. I used to Trader Joe's organic peppermint tea with some lemon slices. And it like it really helps

Amy: 38:38

with that's good to know, especially on a day after you've had pasta and wine sounds like exactly.

Unknown: 38:43

Yes.

Jen: 38:46

She has a breathalyzer and

Amy: 38:49

I know I'm like I'm imagining her

Jen: 38:51

pulling that out like in a publicly

Amy: 38:53

No, no, she's totally. Yeah. She's like, literally probably going to be at a restaurant and be like, Hold on. Let me take meglumine Okay, I didn't order salad or pasta.

Katie: 39:03

It's 100% the truth and people think I'm vaping it's ridiculous.

Amy: 39:07

Oh, that's so funny. That would be that would That's very funny. All right. Let's do okay, I'm going to end with a quick this or that summer edition. You ready? Yes. Okay, blueberry or raspberries,

Jen: 39:24

raspberries twice as much fiber by the way as blueberries.

Amy: 39:27

That's nice to know that okay. Next one. Beach or mountains.

Jen: 39:34

Each. My heart belongs to the beach.

Amy: 39:38

Like failure. I feel you Okay, hot coffee or iced coffee.

Jen: 39:43

Iced year round which is not in line with what I said about wow, I know but I would rather drink iced coffee around and then have hot water to warm myself up in the winter after

Amy: 39:54

okay. Okay and last one sweats or judged up

Jen: 40:00

Oh, sweat. I'm a natural beauty. Yes, you are. And I'm not. I don't look, you're already Asian. Like I don't. It looks weird. I got my makeup done once for a wedding. And my David looked at me and he was like you look like, like Trump like he's like

Katie: 40:19

well, you are very naturally gorgeous. Thank you.

Amy: 40:25

Awesome. Well thank you for your this or that. This is so much summary. Thank you for being on the show. This is so good. I love all these tips and tricks. We'll have to digest and put it all in the show notes because there's so many good things to get everybody ready for the spring and the summer and the roses and the tequilas and the snack lens and whatever else we talked about, and don't forget your Luna thing that one of us has gotten me. Oh, we all need to make this frozen watermelon situation and do some videos and like share them with each other.

Katie: 40:53

Good idea.

Amy: 40:54

Put them on Instagram. Okay, I love it. Thank you so much for joining us and so good to see you too. 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.

Episode 52 - Common Chiropractic Myths, Helpful Tips To Stay In Alignment With Dr. Debra Block - Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 52 Common Chiropractic Myths, Helpful Tips To Stay In Alignment With Dr. Debra Block Part 2.

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. In this week's Part Two episode with Dr. Debra Block, we really get into the details. So last week, we talked about why chiropractic care is good for you and all the benefits. But this week, we really go deep into things you can do on a daily basis that can help you what to expect when you go to the chiropractor, what to look for, and more. So enjoy this episode. It's full of tips and tricks that we think will be really helpful.

Katie: 0:59

Amy, I'm curious why you were so scared of the idea of being adjusted. I mean, I love going in and getting my neck adjusted. And I know like something like, didn't you tell me that like that the whole thing kind of freaks you out that whole the whole neck adjustment?

Debbie: 1:13

I just want to say that Amy has asked me to rob her and touch her and examine her.

Amy: 1:17

I love a good massage and hands on my neck. I mean, always yes, yeah. Our whole moving your bones into a different place. Like only because and I'm sure people that are listening feel the same way. Like you've heard the horror stories of like, oh my god, I went to a chiropractor, I got my neck adjusted and like, I can't move or like you hear these. And it's miss. And that's one of the things I wanted to ask you, Debbie, like those common myths that people hear about. And I think that's why it was always because it's not just like, you know, you're you're adjusting the body. And if you don't go to someone good, something could happen. I mean, you're super qualified. And of course, I trust you with everything. So like, I felt so good. And it was funny, Katie, because Debbie was like, Oh, I can refer you to someone closer. You don't have to like, drive, you know, half an hour to see me. I'm like, No, I'm not going anybody. Like, you know, it's it's it's intimate to your point, and you want to trust the person you're with. And so I think that's why I tend to get over the fear. And now, I would happily go back to do it. But I think there's probably a lot of people that feel the way that I do. So Deb, what are you seeing as like myths that you can dispel for people, there's

Debbie: 2:21

lots of people who feel that way. And I do a tremendous amount of work. You know, my psychology degree really helps me with every single person I can sense and pick up on that even when someone's not telling me. So I really learn how I've learned how to and it's one of the I think it's one of the things I think every doctor should have is an understanding of where their patients coming from and being able being able to sense their own comfort or discomfort. But ya know, I do I do a lot of communication and explanation. And if I have to go really slow with people I do, we have non aggressive options that if I have to start out, you know, with an instrument instead of my hand so that they're not feeling the vertebra moving, then I will do that. But I do a lot of communication and a lot of explanation to get patients to feel more comfortable and you know, ease into it slowly. There are a lot of myths. Some of them are kind of laughable. My favorite one is Hey, Doc, you know, I've watched Jackie Chan movies, and he always breaks people's necks. And are you going to do that to be? Him? I want to be like, how dumb are you? Like, I don't say that. But you know, I first thing I say is okay, that's a movie, you know, like, that's fake. And I never took that class in school. Like, you know, I never learned how to break next, I only learned how to fix them. Now, I mean, are there any, you know, concerns and real reasons to be concerned? It's few and far between. And I will tell you that malpractice insurance wise, this is always interesting to people. When you look at health care providers, we have the lowest malpractice insurance cost of any health care provider because it's relative to the amount of injuries that are caused by the people in your profession. Wow. So the number of malpractice suits for somebody having been injured by a chiropractor are very, very low. So chiropractors malpractice insurance, like in comparison to a gynecologist and OBGYN who's I don't even know what the numbers are. But, you know, really exorbitant chiropractors are really, really very low rates because we really don't have many, many injuries. There are myths, the biggest one probably is besides this, you know, one that I just shared before is stroke. That's you know, people are like are we gonna have a stroke? And where that comes from is that there are patients with stroke symptoms that present like lots of other chiropractic patients neck pain, headaches, fatigue, range of motion restriction, those are typical for stroke for stroke patient, and they walk in. And they are most likely going to have a stroke sometime within the next few weeks. And if I were to do a Doppler ultrasound on those patients, which would evaluate the arteries in the neck, I would most likely see a clot what's called the thrombus, sitting in the artery waiting for that moment. And so if we don't properly screen for those patients with those issues, is there a possibility that we could adjust them and they could end up having a stroke a couple of days later, and then thinking it was the chiropractor? Who did it? Yes, that's happened. And chiropractors have had issues, you know, with that before, but it has been proven that it is not the chiropractor that caused the stroke, the stroke was going to happen. But the patient came in with symptoms similar to neck pain, headache, you know, patients, and the chiropractor that treated them didn't catch it because a Doppler ultrasound is not something you're going to order. Unless there's, you know, a very clear reason to do so.

Katie: 6:11

Yeah. So let's talk let's talk about that. Let's talk about when a patient comes in as a new patient, the screening that they go through the diagnostic processes that you do, to decide, you know, what they need, etc.

Debbie: 6:24

Yeah. So, obviously, patients fill out a lot of paperwork before they come in, they give me their whole health history, as well as their genetic family history. And have they had chiropractic care before? Have they had traumas have they had car accidents, you know, athletic injuries. So we get a little bit of a picture just from what they've filled out on paper. And then we sit down and have a detailed consultation where I asked all of those questions and we talk about them in depth. You know, what, what your family history is, is important. If you're a smoker, if you're a drinker, if your job requires you to be on your feet, or physical or sitting at a desk all day long, what your stress levels are, what your sleep and hydration and nutrition and exercise look like, what your pain is now, how you're describing it, you know, some of those descriptors can be really red flags for us, you know, worst headache I've ever had in my life is a big one that's refer out to hospital, they're most likely about to have a stroke or about to have potentially an aneurysm. I've, I've caught some scary things in my time. I actually just had a patient who came in post colonoscopy with a whole bunch of abdominal pain. And she was 41. Works out seven days a week in amazing shape and was coming to me for maintenance care to keep her spine in good alignment. She went for her, went for a colonoscopy routine and ended up having all of this abdominal discomfort two weeks later, and both of both her gastro her gastro and her regular doctor told her Don't worry about it, you know, give it some time. I was alarmed. There was something off about it. I said you need to go right away and have a have an ultrasound down and let's see what's going on. Turned out she had a ovarian tumor the size of a grapefruit Wow. emergency surgery within the week. Wow, I just got a while I have that kind of case walk in my office. I have referred out probably four or five strokes and my time. Usually they walk in and they're usually they're pretty obvious. I'm usually it's an older person. It's somebody who is slowed. I mean, I literally had a woman once years ago come in in a wheelchair. And she wasn't feeling well. Her husband pushing her in a wheelchair. She was in her 60s. And one of her feet. You know how in a wheelchair, you've got those foot pedals where you put your feet on, the foot pedals were up. And she was able to hold her left foot like you know, holding it still, but her right foot was literally dragging behind the chair. And I'm like 911 like something's not right. So yeah, I mean, we do have things like that walk in. So yeah, being a good diagnostician and not just looking at the spine. But looking at everything, you know, to the to the point of you guys talking throughout your podcast about kind of an integrative health care approach, which I think is ultimately part of your message. It's really hard to look at someone nowadays especially and not take into account their gastrointestinal health, their cardiovascular health, their gynecological health, their endocrine, health, and all of those things, play a part in what I'm doing. If I want to be a good doctor, talk to people about all of these things. And then once I get a really good understanding of what they're experiencing and what they're feeling and where they've been. Then I have them go through a range of motion. I'll look and see how they're moving and their lower back and their neck and their upper back. I'll do some orthopedic testing to see if there's an eye via sign of problem in the spine, and if they're having neurological symptoms like numbness, tingling, burning, loss of loss of muscle control or weakness, then I'll do some neurological testing. We also will palpate the spine and feel the areas that are bothering them to see what we can pick up with our hands. And, and then if necessary, depending on the age and the issue that's going on, and the history, I'll often refer out for either x rays and or an MRI, depending on what what they're dealing with. If I'm referring out for films, I bring them back and we go over the films once they've come back, we go over the findings, and then I'll treat them if there's no if there's no contraindication based on examination and history, then I'll usually treat on the first visit.

Amy: 10:49

Okay. Yeah, and what I was gonna say, I mean, you're obviously extremely thorough, and you I would hope that most other chiropractors are, but they probably might not be so like, How does someone find a trusted good chiropractor? Like, what would be the best way to do that?

Debbie: 11:05

That's a good question. I wish I could say there wasn't differences from one chiropractor to another. But I think that's probably true

Amy: 11:12

for every house, every kind of

Debbie: 11:15

industry, you know, there are some that are going to be you know, more in tune and aware and concerned and focused, and others who are going to kind of treat you more like a number and get in and get out. I always tell people who are moving to other states to ask, you know, I mean, nowadays with technology, there's so many great places like, you know, besides Facebook and neighborhood listservs there's also what is it that neighborhood app?

Amy: 11:42

Next door next door, thank

Debbie: 11:44

you. So there's lots of good ways. I mean, where I am, there's always people asking for, you know, who's a good chiropractor in town, and I'm always watching to see what people are saying. So there's lots of referrals, I would look start there, look for who else other people are seeing and you know, talk to them, especially if you've got something specific going on. Like I think you mentioned earlier, I treat pregnant women, but many chiropractors do not. So you know, if you're pregnant, you would want to look for other pregnant women who have seen a pregnancy trained chiropractor, because we are, you know, a unique bunch. And it's not something that everybody is well versed in. So looking for referrals, looking at people's websites, you know, what somebody puts into their website, I think really makes a difference and reading, seeing how that resonates with you, and then honestly going and meeting them. And if after that first visit, you don't feel like they're a good match for you, then you need to move on and go somewhere else. Yeah. Trusting your own intuition about how that person feels when they do they make you feel comfortable. Do you feel trusting? Do you feel like they're not what they know what they're talking about? Those are the things that I would recommend?

Katie: 12:50

Can I get? That's good advice. Yeah, that's great advice. Can I ask personal questions? Can I can I get a little diagnostics? I?

Debbie: 12:58

I'm very, very honest and revealing. So ask whatever you want.

Katie: 13:03

Well, I'm just curious. So and we talked about this actually, you're the Debbie's the whole reason why I went to a chiropractor recently, because I we chatted on the phone not that long ago, and I found a great chiropractor that I'm thrilled with there. I felt like that. They went through all the processes that you just explained, I feel, you know, really good feeling about them. So she did an x ray. And we found out that my hips were like, misaligned, and I'm thinking is I guess I'm just curious, like, is this something that I was born with? And it's just now aggravating me? Is this something that is happening over time? Like, like, how do these things? How does that even happen?

Debbie: 13:37

How old is your youngest? Okay,

Katie: 13:39

my youngest is four. My oldest is eight. Okay,

Debbie: 13:43

were you somebody who carry your kids on your hip? A lot? Yes. On your side? Yeah. Okay. And do you remember which side you carry? I

Katie: 13:51

carry them on the side all the time on my left, which hip is which hip is high? I don't remember exactly. But that makes perfect sense. Makes better. Zero. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. But it's just bothering me so much. You know, because you spent

Debbie: 14:06

eight plus four years carrying

Katie: 14:08

your children. Yeah. Yeah, no, I

Debbie: 14:10

mean, I don't know how long you were carrying your older one, probably, you know, probably, up until your younger one was born. I would imagine you've probably spent about four years, you know, off and on carrying each of them. And that in and of itself, you know, it's amazing. One of the reasons I got into pregnancy workers because I saw this huge void for moms, both pregnant moms and women after they give birth. I mean, in my opinion, that's the most physically taxing thing that we go through. And there's not much you can do to relieve your discomfort while you're pregnant. And post pregnancy after you give birth. Oh, my God, you're barely sleeping. You're changing diapers constantly. you're breastfeeding or you're bottle feeding. You're bending down and the biggest thing is that and this is what I think is amazing about moms women We forget about ourselves because our maternal age is so, so strong that whatever our children need, our needs are like, we don't even hear them. So if you have something in your head that says, Watch how you're bending, forget it, my kids crying, I'm picking them up and putting them on my head. So I watch moms every day put themselves into compromising positions at, you know, at the detriment of themselves for their children. And that I think, is just part of our DNA. So if you're not going to someone, or exercising, stretching, doing yoga, doing all of these things to counterbalance what you're doing on a given day, especially when your children are young, you will feel it and you will have issues and I I have like a kids free policy in my office where I say, you know, bring the kids if it means I can fix you, and you don't have to pay for a babysitter. Just bring them and I've got toys in my office. And sometimes we have lots of smart kids, but it's okay, because I'm there to help them off. And I sometimes help the kids too.

Amy: 16:00

Yeah, that's, that's a really good message. Because you're right, when you first make it, you're thinking about that, right? And so it's like, the last thing you would think about is like, going to get drafted or

Debbie: 16:10

when you're walking into your kid's room and they're crying on the veranda and you're like, are you thinking about how you're leaning into the grave? Or like 20 pounds, and you're like, great,

Amy: 16:20

and it's like, you're you're not doing a phase where you're thinking about taking care of yourself. I feel like that comes a little bit later. So you're not even thinking like all the things like maybe if you knew it, you knew now you would, maybe Ben differently or whatever, but I remember to when my kids were born, and I was holding them so much my like, wrists and forearms were like killing me. And I was like, This is so strange. And I was like, oh, whatever, right? You just ignore it. Right? Yeah, that's so interesting. I never thought about that I

Debbie: 16:48

educate my new moms about create space for you to you know, let your kid cry for an extra 20 seconds, so that you can put yourself in a better position before you start breastfeeding. Or, you know, don't change your baby on the floor. You know, let your baby you know, have a poopy diaper for another couple minutes, you know, and take them to a more ergonomic place for you to change their diaper, things like that. Just thinking about you know, doing things differently. So you're not harming yourself. So yes, Katie, your head, I would look to that. But one of the things that I do a lot with hips like that, especially if you see on X ray that there's a misalignment and you can ask your chiropractor, this, sometimes there's just like a little insert that you can put into the shoe. It's like cork and it can be anywhere from, you know, like three millimeters to nine millimeters, but goes under it can go underneath the insert to your shoe. And it'll just take your low hips. So if your hips are like this, you put it in this shoe, so that your hippo come up in balance. Oh, that's interesting, okay. And it's just a very benign, something that in you know, like I usually sell, especially for someone like you, you probably need a bunch of them for all your shoes. Like,

Katie: 17:58

I was gonna say, Do I have to switch it every time I've wear a different pair of shoes, because that would be a problem.

Debbie: 18:02

I just stick it in your shoe. And then you don't even have to think about it.

Katie: 18:05

Yeah, no, that's interesting. That's a great tip. I'm definitely going to ask about that. Because I like it's the alignments. And the adjustments are without a shadow of a doubt helping, but it's, it's not fixed yet. And I can tell and my other question for you is like, they want me to come three times a week. So when someone is first coming to you with a problem, how frequently do you like to see them? I can't get in three times a week. I'm trying but it's like, really once? What do you suggest?

Debbie: 18:30

So, you know, it's that's like a kind of a common, that's also a common myth. Or, you know, one of the things I had, I had thought about when you asked me that question earlier was, you know, do I have to see the chiropractor for the rest of my life, like, I don't want to become an addict, and you know, feel like I need this forever. That's, you know, a very common myth. When somebody first starts care, depending on the issue, and depending on what's going on with them, having them come twice, or three times a week is usually what's recommended for the first four to six weeks. And the reason is not because we're trying to get as much money out of them as possible. But it's usually because the chronicity of the problem has been there, especially with someone like you and your what you just described, it didn't just happened overnight, or over the last couple of months, it wasn't like you slipped and fell two weeks ago, and now your hips been bothering you, it's probably been building for quite a number of years. So to correct it is not something that's going to happen with one or two visits. And if we see you once a week or once every other week, you're probably going to return to the lifestyle habits that you're doing that are aggravating it. And so you're kind of like a bandaid instead of really trying to address the underlying problem, which we can do more readily if we see you in a closer together period of time and then we're telling the spine once it's coming out of alignment note you got to go back to this position and then we're also encouraging you while we're working on you to talk to you about how are you sitting and how are you sleeping and tell me when you sit down on the couch and watch TV Are you like you know holding your legs underneath your hips? Or are you you know, thinking about where your legs are, are you walking around the house barefoot, or, you know, like, all of these little things about your daily life are going to impact your your healing. So I want to both treat it regularly for the first four to six weeks. And I want to educate you so that you're doing the right things when you're not with me to help facilitate the healing, okay,

Amy: 20:26

someone would potentially go four to six weeks, and then they're kind of in maintenance mode under that we,

Debbie: 20:31

we have, everybody does it a little bit differently. But we have three phases of care. And I call acute for the first four to six weeks where I'm really trying to get you out of pain. The second phase was another four to six weeks, but we're seeing you less frequently, once a week, once every other week. And that's called stabilization, where I'm trying to just stabilize the issue. And then we move to maintenance, which is typically once a month or once every two or three months. And then I'm just maintaining what we've done kind of just making sure that you're still staying where you are. And you know that frequency can extend out if you're if everything seems good, but periodically, I just want to check your issue. And make sure that like the dentist that you're coming in and that your spine is aligned.

Amy: 21:10

Yeah. And I think it also depends on the severity of the issue, right? Because when I came to see you I came in a few times, but they weren't in the same week. I think it was like once every few weeks until I felt better. Yeah. And you know, now I haven't been back. So I think it also depends on feeling. Can I ask fine? Yeah, totally fine. I think, you know, just sometimes my neck will be in pain, but I'm a little bit more aware of it. I'm trying to stretch. And that's what I was gonna ask you to for listeners. So I love all the tips you just gave before. What are some tips like good stretches are things that people can do every day, to keep their body in alignment, a lot of people are sitting on computers, like what are small little things that people could start doing today.

Debbie: 21:49

So my biggest recommendation, and I do this every single day is to foam roll. I absolutely love foam rolling. And I think it is good for every single spine. We spend so much time compressed, you know both at the computer at work with our children, you know, we're in this compressed forward flex kind of state. And if you can open up your spine and expand it and have a foam roller that kind of is rolling across it and helping you to just elongate and extend. I think that's an awesome tool. And there's so many videos on YouTube that can show you how to foam roll. And that's a really inexpensive, something that you can buy at Walmart or Target. Yeah,

Amy: 22:32

that's a great tip.

Debbie: 22:34

So foam rolling number one, number two is when you are someone who's sitting in front of a computer all day or really anything at any job, I recommend stretching your neck, and I recommend stretching it in six different parts. So actually eight different positions you both have both are doing it. So she's posted lateral flexion. So left and right lateral flexion. Then you've got what we call flexion, which was going forward extension, which is going back, and then you've got rotation, which is turning to each direction. And then my favorite one, which is I call sniff the armpit where you're wearing the nose to the armpit and put your hand on the crown of the head

Amy: 23:12

and pull. Yeah, I love that one. Oh, yeah, that's a nice way you show me these, and I haven't been doing them. Yep, so

Debbie: 23:18

that's gonna really help both with the lower neck and the upper back and PT. What I then say is check your nose and take a deeper sniff. So go a couple degrees further. And then pull down towards

Amy: 23:29

this video out so people can see it. This is hilarious feel the upper back,

Debbie: 23:33

it's also a good opportunity to make sure that you're not smelly.

Amy: 23:37

Yeah, that's, that's really good. Because you just sit at your desk and do that when you're on a call. I yeah, I haven't been I forgot about those, I need to

Debbie: 23:45

recommend when you're in the car, and this is good for like, you know, my stage of life where I'm constantly driving my kids to a million different places, is all you know, just periodically, I recommend doing add a light not while you're driving, but I'll just retract my chin into the headrest, and just push and hold. And that helps to strengthen the anterior neck muscles. And we spend so much time on what we call forward head carriage with the phone and the computer. That by doing that and kind of using your head rests in your car, it really helps to remind your neck in your head that they Your head should really be right on top of your shoulders ear should be right on top of the shoulder within here. So kind of pulling back retracting like a chicken and pushing the head into the headrest and holding for five and then relaxing. That really is helpful. Yeah, I

Amy: 24:35

love all these tips because it's I think integrating these things into the things you're doing in your daily life. So it's not an extra task. It's like you're in the car anyway, you're at a light do that right? That was like one nostril breathing one amount of light just to relax. So I love that. Okay, so quickly before we get into our rap session. Deb, I want to hear about you know running your practice as a businessman. Then because not only are you taking care of people on the daily, but you're running a really successful practice, and it's a lot, so give us your kind of POV on that. I know you'd like that side of the business, but it's very different. It is,

Debbie: 25:11

it's hard, it's great. And I love it. And I think I love it because I like people a lot. And I think what makes you good at it is, is, is being good to people and knowing, knowing what you how people want to feel. So I think, you know, I've always been a people person. And I knew that I wanted to go into a field where I was working with people. But there's a difference between working with people and really being in the right space, in terms of helping them to feel both not intimidated, welcomed, you know, my patients, I mean, I have a community of people who, most of them come in and hug me hello. I mean, even you know, now we asked, like, is it okay, if I hug you because of the pandemic, you know, I have an environment that's really friendly and warm. And so that part of becoming successful was easy for me, the part and I'll just back up and tell you that I have a father, that's an entrepreneur, so I kind of grew up in your office and, and watching him build multiple businesses. And so one of the boxes that I wanted when I was in college and trying to figure out what my career was going to be, was a job in which I could be my own business owner someday, knowing that I could be a mom, and that I could have a family and I could also have a business. And in healthcare, that's a little hard because I didn't want to be on call. I didn't want to be, you know, needed on the weekends, I didn't want to deliver babies in the middle of the night. So this field fit for me in that regard that I knew I could create my own practice in my own business. But yeah, it is hard, I definitely have a lot more gray hair as a result. You can't tell because I highlight but but yes, it's stressful. And the hardest part is probably just managing people, staff management. And right now in the pandemic. I mean, this has been the hardest two years of my life. Being a healthcare provider through a pandemic has really been challenging. I think health care providers have very much been on the frontlines. with teachers, you know, we we've I mean, teachers were, I don't want to talk about teachers, they went through their own, you know, challenges, but I was, Amy, Amy and our other two closest friends and I have been on a text thread since a couple days before the pandemic really hit. And I was the only one going to work every day, they were all home working from home and their careers. And jobs continued in the comfort of their home and I was home for six weeks, and then back in the office with a ton of PPE on having no idea if I was gonna bring COVID back into my home. But having too many people in pain and hurting that I had no choice but to go in. So it's that part of the responsibility of, of being available for people, you know, in a snowstorm like I usually open and I'm usually there because I feel a responsibility to be. So it's an awesome it's an awesome reality that I've created this business and that it's successful. But it definitely comes with a lot of stress and a lot of burdens. That, you know, people who don't own businesses don't really know from right, but you wouldn't change it. No, I wouldn't, because I absolutely love the freedom and I could never imagine having someone tell me what to do now.

Katie: 28:35

Totalling? Yeah,

Amy: 28:36

I feel you on that. Okay, so we're gonna get into our rap session. So besides keeping your spine aligned, what would you say is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Debbie: 28:49

So I told you about the foam rolling, that's definitely number one and number two that you made that we didn't really touch on. And this is a big one for me, is I take a CBD gummy every night before bed nice. And I started doing that over the last six months six to nine months or so both because I feel more discomfort physically than I used to. And hormonally I am in a stage where I was like waking up in the middle of the night, every night at like three in the morning like on the nose and wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep and so that insomnia was something really new for me. And the CBD which has really awesome anti inflammatory benefits helps me to stay asleep and I have an awesome night of sleep because of a brand. So I actually saw this brand in my practice. It's called noetic nutraceuticals. And it was created by a friend of mine who I believe you know wholeheartedly in his science and in the process in which they went through to create it and that's probably a whole nother podcast in and of itself. But not all CBD is created equal.

Katie: 29:57

Yes, I agree with that. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah, but

Debbie: 30:00

no, that's probably my best health hack besides the foam roll

Katie: 30:04

that's a good one. I'm gonna have to try it because I was doing CBD like tinctures for a little while at nighttime. This was a couple of this was like during the pandemic in the beginning, and you're right, they're not all created equal. Like I I had to stop because I don't know it just it wasn't working for me, but I would really love to try that one. Okay, sure. The next one, we call it our five minute flow. Just got out of the shower. Uber ping do their five minutes away. What are you going to do to get into that? Uber on time, get yourself ready? What are your holy grails your go twos?

Debbie: 30:33

You know, Amy's gonna totally laugh at this and she could probably answer this for me and the answer is Ubers gonna have to wait. That's like never a possibility for me to get out the door in five minutes. There's a joke. I'm I have an issue with punctuality. Getting out the door to five minutes. Uber might have to wait an extra minute or two. But yeah, what would I do? I I don't ever ever get dressed without putting body cream on all over. Face Cream. legs, hands. I think I'm like a little dry. So like if I don't do that, I feel weird. So that's number one. Number two would be hair gel. I have curly hair as you can see. And so like just throw hair gel in and then run out the door. And mascara lipstick even during masking lipstick.

Katie: 31:24

Wow. Really? Yeah. They make you feel good. Yeah,

Amy: 31:30

I mean, if you felt like finished, yeah,

Debbie: 31:32

finished or like, you know, like going out lipstick.

Amy: 31:35

Yeah, that's good. That's good. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Debbie: 31:41

Oh, that's a good question. And to be totally honest, there's lots of days where my nirvana is missing. I think it's hard. Being a mom business owner chiropractor. I am often needed by everyone else. And so the biggest challenge for me is creating space where I get to exist without anyone needing me. Some days I can accomplish it. And other days I cannot exercise. Nice weather this morning. I went out for a walk and oh my god, it's so gorgeous out. And honestly, this is gonna sound really ridiculous. My dog.

Katie: 32:17

Yeah, that's.

Debbie: 32:19

That's an unconditional constant. And I love that she doesn't really need much from me.

Amy: 32:24

That's yeah, sweet. What

Katie: 32:25

kind of dog kind of dog is she?

Debbie: 32:27

A beagle Collie max. And she's just

Amy: 32:30

as like the best dog you've ever met. She has the best personality. She's like a human. And she is like, so sweet and so friendly. And like, she's such a sweet.

Katie: 32:39

I love puppy Snuggles. That's great. I love that. Nice. Yes.

Debbie: 32:43

And that's probably what brings me my Nirvana more than anything is coming home to her because she is just always super happy and only wants to just

Amy: 32:52

she's obsessed with you.

Debbie: 32:55

And I'm obsessed with her. So it's I don't blame you.

Katie: 32:58

She's the sweet. That's

Amy: 32:59

awesome. So I have a quick product review that. I think Debbie, you might have an opinion on, which is why I wanted to review this today. And I haven't I don't have a full review because I'm still trying it. But I recently got this LED lights, like this red light. I'm gonna put it in the screen. I

Katie: 33:18

saw that in your bedroom. And I was like, Wow, is this contraption I'm not surprised. Amy is the one that has it, of

Amy: 33:25

course. So I've been wanting to try red light forever. Because I've heard it has really great benefits anti inflammatory, it's really good for so many different issues. And this one I got on Amazon. But I had seen it because I got a facial a couple of months ago or something and the woman when she had my mask on or something did this red light, but it was like a portable one. So we'll share a picture of it on our Instagram. But it's kind of like a small little LED light that's flexible and can go over your face. So you just sit there for 10 minutes or 20 minutes and it goes on your face. So I've I haven't carved out enough time to do it. Like a lot of people do it daily a couple of times a week. I have noticed that when I do it. My skin does look good, but I know it's cumulative. But I would love to hear your thoughts, Deb on red light therapy because I know it's very much like in vogue right now. And a lot of people are starting to use it. But I have heard it has incredible benefits, but I want to hear your point of view on it. Well,

Debbie: 34:14

I don't really know a lot about it and in terms of facial rejuvenation, but I would love to come over and try it at your house. But I know that my acupuncturists, we have red lights. We have red light lamps in my office and I dry needle and they do acupuncture and when I have the needles in the person's back, we put the red light on top. Yeah, and it's supposed to help further the benefit of the needle into the tissue. So I know that there's definitely some, you know, Eastern philosophy that the red light is really helpful and that it really can benefit you know tissue and wellness and reduce inflammation and all of that. So I would imagine it should be good For the face, I've never tried it.

Amy: 35:01

Yeah, and this one actually I use it for my face. But like if I had, you know, joint pain or something, they say, this is flexibles you could like put it on your arm, you could put it on your leg, you can really put it anywhere. We were actually thinking, forgetting one, but we've been researching like the red light saunas, like the big ones that you can walk in, because it's supposed to be just so good for you like for every part of your body. So anyway, I'm testing it out. I'll keep I'll keep the audience informed on it. But so far, so good. Just gotta carve out a little bit more time for it. But that's, that's a fun one. And

Katie: 35:29

Amy, the brand and the name of that and how much was oh,

Amy: 35:33

yeah, sorry, this one I researched. This one's on Amazon. It's called hydras, skincare PD, PDT, LED light photodynamic facial skincare rejuvenation, photon therapy machines $279. I will put a link to it, but I had researched this one. And I feel like this was the one she had recommended, etc. So we will talk about that. And just for everyone listening, if anybody wants to reach out to Debbie, I would say to go to your website. Right, Deb? Is that the best place for people to find you? It's blocked? chiropractic.com?

Debbie: 36:05

No, it's actually as Laurie chiropractic center.com. Sorry, Chiropractic Center. And there's a contact on there where you can just click and send an email and it'll come right to us that you're at if you're interested.

Amy: 36:18

Okay, perfect. Yeah. And then you're gonna close that. Go ahead.

Debbie: 36:22

No, I was just gonna say that. Besides chiropractic. There's also acupuncture and massage therapy, too. If that was something else, that somebody wanted to look for it, we can do a podcast in the future talking about those things.

Amy: 36:31

I know I would love to. And I was saying to Debbie, when I was there, I'm like, I need to spend a whole day here. I need to get adjusted, then I need to get a massage. These are all the things that I love. This is like, no mana day for me. But in Okay, and we always like to

Katie: 36:44

go Yeah, I was just gonna say like, that's something that I love so much about what you do. It's like it's holistic, you're approaching the body holistically. And I just, I think it's great. We were when we first started doing thinking about doing this episode with you. You know, you can think like we were saying before, like could the chiropractic care, it's just adjusting the bones in the spine, it but it's so much more than that. And I love that our listeners learned that today. And I just love your approach and everything. So thank you for being with us today, Debbie.

Debbie: 37:17

Yeah, you guys. I really appreciate you having me. All right.

Amy: 37:20

And we always like to close out with a mantra to set a tone for the end of the episode. So Katie has one for us today.

Katie: 37:26

I do and it is Be kind to yourself. Your body is a temple and You are the Goddess that resides within it. So to carry your body and go find a Kyra

Debbie: 37:41

episode. It's perfect. Thank you.

Amy: 37:43

Good one. 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.

Episode 49 - Product Junkies - April Edition (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 49 Product Junkies - April Edition.

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:29

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. So Amy and Katie here and we have a special episode we are starting to introduce something called our hashtag product junkie sessions. And this is the first one this was based on a lot of feedback from you all saying that you love to hear other product reviews at the end and the different things we talked about there. And so we're doing a bit of a we're gonna do a quick quick flash round of a bunch of products that Katie and I have been loving lately. If this is something that you like, we'll continue to do it monthly. Katie and I are always trying out different products. I want to make sure that we're bringing you kind of like the goods and the bads of all the things starting with a quick round I'm going to I'm going to send it to Katie to give us her first product reco of this episode.

Katie: 1:15

All right, this is great. I'm super excited because I have some products that I'm like obsessed with the first one here the first one all right, I was looking at pictures of myself from years ago and I was thinking why does my skin look like that? It was really like really clear my pores are really small gonna have a pore on my face and I was I just couldn't understand what had changed. And then I remembered I had this product that I was obsessed with back then and for whatever reason it just fell out of rotation and I totally forgot about it. So here she is again, or the company rather good old Sunday Riley I don't know how many times I've talked about them I'm upside I do love Sunday Riley Yeah, love it's there Martian mattifying melting water gel toner and interesting gives your skin this really nice matte look. And it also really legitimately minimizes your pores so your face just looks I know it's like the smoothest and my skins ever looked and I don't know why I stopped using it I have no clue maybe I like couldn't find it one day and I was too lazy to order it online and then forgot about it. But as soon as within probably a week of using it it my skin game was

Amy: 2:30

back on like it okay so it's Sunday Riley and what's it called Martian

Katie: 2:34

Martian mattifying melting water gel toner.

Amy: 2:39

And is it in the morning or at night

Katie: 2:41

I use it in the morning I use it during the day for like how I want my skin to look during the day and it says it's for oily to blemish prone skin which lately mine really has been in this is helping instantly transforms from a cooling gel to a water toner as a clarifies removes oil and tightens the appearance of pores for clearer cleaner skin. And let me tell you, it delivers. It really does.

Amy: 3:05

I need to try it. I'm

Katie: 3:06

as much as that it's $25 and they have it that's it. Yeah,

Amy: 3:11

that's very reasonable for Sunday. Riley it is.

Katie: 3:14

But also I should note this is for 1.7 ounces. It's a pretty small thing. But if you're only using a little like dime size once a day dime size does that it's all you need. Okay, and yeah, and they have other things in this like Martian family that I haven't tried yet. But yeah, um, I like this will never go out of rotation again in my life.

Amy: 3:39

That sounds great. It's funny, my friend Erica. I was talking to her about products the other day and she said she got a product similar to that by Clinique that minimizes pores I don't know if it was a toner or a CRM or something but interesting, I will have to try that. Okay, next product let's give each other and this week take a picture. Take a picture of this one because it's a fun bottle, we'll edit the sound texture spray. So first of all, the packaging is so cute. I love it. It's so colorful. But this is actually like a really good spray if it's like second day or third day or whatever and you just want to like judge up your hair and give it some volume and texture This is great. So my hairstylist Teresa shout out introduced me to this not this brand but this specific spray she had introduced me to another spray years ago from aura bay that I still use, which is good but I actually like this one better. It's just a little bit more texture II so whenever I use it, it adds like volume in it's great. I think I might have used a little bit today but it's it's great. So it's a mica undone volume and matte texture spray $27 You can find it on Amazon probably Sephora, etc, etc. So good little hair hack,

Katie: 4:47

do you so do you use it on like clean just dried hair or do you use it like a couple days later? Like a dry like a dry shampoo?

Amy: 4:58

I think you can do both. I think it works better on dry hair I'm looking at the directions and it says dry finishing spray builds instant fullness and matte texture for perfectly. How do you say this word to us led Taos Walsall. Okay, for perfect not editing

Katie: 5:18

that out.

Amy: 5:21

I can't say the word Telcel high volume hair, use it shake spray in sections all over dry styled hair tarsal is so you I use it like you could use it after you blow out your hair. I've done that too. Like I've blown out my hair and then just use it to like judge it up. And then I'll use it like day to day three, whatever. So you could use it anytime. But you do use it on dry hair. Yeah, I mean, it's almost like a dry shampoo or conditioner but more of a texturizer

Katie: 5:46

right. So when I wash my hair, I let it air dry and then it doesn't get that good texture for like a day or two. So that would be a way to do that. Because I had never washed my hair the same day. I have an event for that reason. I need something like that. Yeah,

Amy: 6:00

I always do second day hair too. I find it always looks better the second day, but this definitely helps with that. It just like pulls that texture out. Yeah. Okay, what do we got next?

Katie: 6:07

All right, well, speaking of hey, this. So lately I've been getting a lot of compliments on my hair, you wouldn't be able to tell right now my roots are so grown out. But this actually fixes that problem. I like I just said I washed my hair and then I have super thick hair as Do you. So really I wash it like once or twice a week max otherwise it gets dried out. So the way that I keep it going and fresh is with dry shampoo. And I've tried a billion different brands. And this is my new fav This is a super cheap drugstore. Find. It's Batista. I use their Oh yeah, they're brilliant blonde. Which is great, because when my dark roots come in, it actually like hides my roots. So the great thing about it is that obviously I can stretch the washes and but it also it also gives me volume. And like covers up the roots and makes it really fresh and great. Yeah, I mean, I'll show you right now.

Amy: 7:03

Wait, is it sorry, did you say it was a dry shampoo?

Katie: 7:05

It's the Batista dry shampoo blonde blends smells like our color tracks. Yeah, look, watch.

Amy: 7:12

Okay, cool. Demonstrating

Katie: 7:16

look like I mean, I mean, like blended a bit, but no more. Wow. Isn't that wild?

Amy: 7:22

That's so cool. I need to get that ASAP. Yeah,

Katie: 7:25

I'm obsessed. And they have got like CVS, yes, CVS, you can get it literally at any drugstore. I feel like it's I mean, and let me see. It's $10 and then they How

Amy: 7:36

does it How does it wear? Like if you put it in your hair today? Like is it still in tomorrow? Is it like get weird and gross are

Katie: 7:43

wears really well. I'll put it in sometimes, like a couple times a day, I have to do it. And the only thing that I do notice is that when I do go to wash my hair, I really need to do like a double rents to clear up any just like product residue, you know, right? If it gets a little sticky or something. Yeah, but like, because it's dry shampoo. It keeps your hair going for a long time. Like I mean, I can get away with one wash a week with it. And then totally it's

Amy: 8:12

it frustrates me it's like playing double duty. It's like doing your roots plus it's a dry shampoo. And I don't I don't use dry shampoos that much because my hair like I could wash it once a week and it never gets oily but I do use a dry conditioner which I've mentioned before from dry bar which is really good. But I want to try that because I My roots are I feel like the older I get the more and more my I need to get my roots or like my highlights done more often. So that's a great one.

Katie: 8:36

Yeah. And they have like they have it in brown. They have it in different colors they have they also have dry conditioners, which I'd never heard of until I was on their site earlier. So I need to look into a dry conditioner, especially for metal anything could be really good for her. So yeah, there you go. Yeah,

Amy: 8:52

I love a dry conditioner. It's not it's just as a different feel than a dry shampoo. It's not as like thick. It's just a little bit more smoothing. Okay, so speaking of hair than and getting out all of the dry shampoo that makes your roots blonde. I have another products. This is a hair scalp massager. I've seen this. So I actually got this shout out to Taylor rose aka healthy who got who we had on our show because she's doing a lot of content lately about hair and using Rosemary which I started so I'll report back to to get the results on that. But on her site, she had a link out to this specific hair scalp massager I got on Amazon, it was $6.98 and it's great. I've never used something like this before. First of all, it's nice and big. So when you put it in your hand it has like a good feel and then you literally just like massage your hair with it. First of all, I love the massage part. It feels so good, so much better than just like washing your hair and like scrubbing with your fingers. And I do feel like it does a better job at cleaning my hair because I usually just do it so quickly and Ramona veers fingers through it, but this really like gets in there and I think it like stimulate your hair follicles. It's really good. So I just put shampoo on this now and then I wash my hair with it and use the conditioner with it too. It feels really good. It's a little little little Nirvana in your shower. So what's it called this product? It's called I'm sorry if I didn't mention it. It's called just the hair scalp hair scalp massage shampoo brush, by Mack soft scalp care brush. So we'll we'll provide all the links of all these products so you all can check it out. But great one

Katie: 10:28

nice. Okay, hair. All right, well, I'm going to pivot to skin back to where we started. Alright, Trader Joe's find supergene love it. It's always there. Their dermatologists formulated hydrating Hyaluronic body gel cream. Oh this is my new like everyday go to body lotion. And it's really it's really nice like it's definitely moisturizing and it leaves kind of a nice I don't know just like a cooling effect on your skin. It's not super heavy you know solutions you put on there like really thick and it feels like you got to rub them in and rubber man and rubber men right

Amy: 11:09

and then like you have to wait to put your clothes on because they get sticky exactly that

Katie: 11:13

this is not that it's nice and light and and it really is very hydrating. I mean it's like still winter where I live which is shocking. And my skin is really never dry because I'm using this so it's from Trader Joe's and it's only 699

Amy: 11:30

I love Trader Joe's so on we've been finding so many Trader Joe's products frankly like we I think we talked about the the eye cream and the rose spray. Yeah, they just randomly have like good products. Is that product thick or thin?

Katie: 11:41

It's kind of it's funny, it's like in between it's kind of hard to explain. Yeah, because it's a gel cream. A gel cream like that's fine like the little cooling Yeah, like it's I mean you can see it's on my finger right now. And it's looks like it's thin and I guess it kind of is but it's like it was clear. It's as hydrating as a healthy a heavy one would be Yeah, I love it.

Amy: 12:06

I definitely want to try that. Okay, so speaking of body lotions and oils I've been using this one for a while and I haven't talked about on the show. It's the OSA undara Algae body oil nice. Have you seen this I love this body oil. It feels so good on this skin. It's $48 you can get it at Credo Ulta Sephora etc but let me talk about the the oil so my skin is really dry so I do use moisturizer but sometimes I like to use maybe a couple times a week in oil just because I feel like it's more hydrating and my skin doesn't get as dry when I use an oil but a lot of times I like what will what I do with this is because sometimes I don't like to put the thick oil on my skin it just feels like too sticky. So what I do is I put a pump of this and a pump of moisturizer and mix it together and then it's like a smart combination of like cream and oil and it my skin feels so good when I use it it feels so like just plump and moisturize and I love it so I've been using it for a while as you can see it's helpful and it's a really really good one a little goes a long way so it is $48 But it does last a long time. I also have another one that I don't have in front of me and I can talk about it on the next episode. There's another bottle oil that I have from skin and senses which I think is a little bit less expensive and I also really liked that one so I can talk about that one but anyway really good finds. Again it's the Osia Undaria Ondara algae oil

Katie: 13:33

and what lotion do you mix it with?

Amy: 13:36

It's funny I don't have I don't have it to show you but I can send a link to it. And it's I found this suave lotion which is super cheap because I used to use you remember the and you have a to the bliss butter and Shea cream like that thick moisturizing cream I like love that lotion I used to buy it all the time. But I was like sick of buying it you can't like find it in the stores to buy it online. It's it's they would sell it in these big jars is really expensive. So the suave stuff that I found is almost it's not a dupe for it, but it has similar it has a similar smell. It has shea butter and has coconut and it's paraben free you know all natural it's like from the suave naturals collection so I really like it and the consistency is perfect for me. So that's what I've been using lately and I mix it with the oil so I'll put a link up for

Katie: 14:24

that tonight. So do you know what say I feel like our listeners have heard sky bark so many times that we need to give them some sky can assume your office. Take a picture she is let's get her in there

Amy: 14:34

crazy woman topic she has to she's so bad cashmere. She just got something in our mouth Put on Skype probably wants to go outside. Oh here she is.

Katie: 14:50

I cannot believe she's like quadrupled in size since I saw a huge

Amy: 14:54

Yeah, look at her. She's a big girl.

Katie: 14:55

Oh, she's so cute.

Amy: 14:57

She's like 26 pounds now.

Katie: 14:58

Oh my gosh.

Amy: 15:00

Okay, all right, I max on the skin route.

Katie: 15:03

I'm done on square one, actually. But I have. So I have a product that I promised I would review a long time ago I story about it. Actually, I posted about it, it's volume. It was their, their health intelligence test that I did, that you they send you a kit. And they take a stool sample and not the funnest, and then a blood sample. And then you send it back. And they have all of this amazing technology that tells you exactly what pre and probiotics your system is missing and needs, and what vitamins and minerals and antigens your body needs. And then they customize and send you probiotics and vitamins. So it's not cheap. I mean, when you when you think about what it actually is, I think it's a very good price. It's 199 to do the testing, and then the supplements and everything that come back, I think the first go around, they give it to you for like $70. But it's a lot. It's like, for example, this one package. I'm supposed to take this whole thing in a day it has eight in it, there's no way I could take eight vitamins, like one in here does the job. I feel it working.

Amy: 16:24

What what vitamins. So when you do the stool sample and the blood sample, what does it tell you about your store? Because I know we talked about that on the period guru episode and I was like, oh, I should do I should do that testing to see like what I'm missing or all of that. What is it? Does it tell you anything or just recommend something, it tells

Katie: 16:40

you so much information, it's insane. You download the app, it gives you all of these scores, whether or not your gut microbiome is like a good average optimal or not optimal, your cellular cellular health, your mitochondrial health, immune system, your stress response health, your what's your biological age, mine's 35, thank you. And it's and then it goes deeper, and it tells you foods that you should be eating and foods that you shouldn't be eating. And then in regards to like the stool test, it basically tells you like what your microbiome like what the imbalances are, and it gives you what you need to balance that in the customized probiotic. And then and so

Amy: 17:28

with the probiotic has that been helping you?

Katie: 17:30

It has, you know what the probiotics really heavy and actually, my stomach's been pretty good lately for like the last year I've taken out eggs kind of like was it a huge life changer for me. So for the probiotics, I'm not using them that much because my stomach has been doing very well. And when I do use them, it did feel a little bit heavy. But the disclaimer is they say you have to give your system kind of some time to adjust to them, which I think is fair. The vitamins, like for example, in my vitamin is 300 milligrams of curcumin, 35 milligrams of B 649 milligrams of a Kobo manera extract 201 milligrams of vitamin C and it goes on and on. And apparently this is like the exact dosage of what my body needs. While meanwhile, they're pretty strong. And I'm also just you know, I'm hypersensitive to stuff I put in my body. So that whole like trying to do aid, no shot, so I paid Yeah, like $75 for all of these. And I'm taking one pill from this pack a day. And there's 30 of these pills 30 of these patterns. So it goes it's gonna go a long way.

Amy: 18:34

How did you find out about this company? Like, what's the

Katie: 18:38

it was in that's kind of embarrassing, but it was really good Instagram advertising. But it was targeted me properly. But I went in and I did loads and loads of research and qualified them and read all the reviews and everything and the science and it's like it's backed. I mean, there's there's a lot of like peer review studies that are backing all of it. So it's legit. Okay, that's good. Great. Yeah.

Amy: 19:00

Okay, so speaking of. I have a the a bunch of skin stuff. But since we're in the supplement vitamin space, I'll talk about this brand, which is my new favorite semiotica Oh, yeah. So I have mentioned this brand before. And I've heard the founder interviewed several times on, I think it was the skinny confidential podcast and he goes super deep into the science and all of the backing and so totally legitimate. And these two supplements, one of them is the symbiotic aka b 12, and B six cellular energy. And the other one is the D three plus k two plus CO Q immunity and heart health. And these two I picked because I take B and D Anyway every day, but this is according to the founder and this company which I heard the whole explanation. The way that this is administered is lipids. somo which means through the mouth, so it's a pump, and you just put it in your mouth and it tastes yummy. You just do like 12 drops a day of each. And so that, I guess is a better way to take these types of vitamins. The other thing about this and I'm gonna butcher this as I don't really know how to describe it, but this b 12, mix with a B six, it's a better way to administer the B like it, I don't know, there's some rationale. They help each other i But if you absorb, they help each other. And that is the same thing with the d3. So I was just taking d3, but this has the k two and the CO Q and I think co Q is what you just I forgot what the it stands for like CO

Katie: 20:42

it might be co cretin. CO Q is maybe yeah, so Oh, no, I'm sorry. Coenzyme Q 10. So yeah, so this

Amy: 20:51

one with d3 has k two plus CO q 10. And the K two is a vitamin, which I don't know much about, I just like listen to the guy. And it's, you know, made sense to me. So, and essentially it says Like if you, you know, take these together the d3 Ketu and CO q 10. With the B 12. They help each other. So the d3 supports immune health support strong bones by assisting in the regulation of calcium and supports cardiovascular health by reducing arterial plaque. So that's the D three and then the B 12. So the B 12. It's the beach of plus B six can help with boosting energy improving your moods supporting heart health. And again, it says you know to take 12 pumps daily. And these two so when I was listening to the episode, he basically talked about his whole company and all the stuff they had about a few other things I bought like a vitamin C supplement, I bought magnesium supplement a few other things. But these were the two that like he said appeal to most people and that everyone should use so because they asked him on the show. Like if you had to pick two or three, what would you pick and it was like these jewels, something else. So anyway, I tried it two months ago, and I really like it, I replaced my I usually take like a gummy vitamin because I don't like to swallow a big pill. So I replaced my gummy vitamins with these. And I can definitely tell a difference with my energy, my mood, everything, I think it's definitely made a difference. In fact, I've ordered it now. I had one I ran out of it, I ordered another and now I just started I subscribed to their like bundle and save. So I get it every month. The only rub with this company is it is not cheap. So the vitamin B 12 is I mean, it's not too bad. But it's like if you do this, Subscribe and Save. It's like $43. And it's you know, not a huge amount. It's it basically a month, a month's worth the d3 is $69. So it is quite expensive. But if you've read and do the research and listen to some of these episodes I listened to I think it's worth it. I've also eliminated all my other vitamins and supplements. I literally use these two and it's like the vitamin C and whatever a few other things, but it's sort of equaled itself out because I'm not buying all of this like gummy vitamins and things. So yeah, I'm really, really into this synbiotic A company I think their stuff is it's super clean the way he describes all the way that they get their minerals. It's super legit, and I love it. So that is my supplementation product reco lately,

Katie: 23:16

I think you know, investing your money into a quality supplement product that you know the source and you know, what's in it is really important because supplements and vitamins are they don't go through like FDA approval. So you can buy a supplement and it can just be complete garbage. So I don't the price doesn't scare me so much. And the really cool thing about the fact that it's a spray that I heard you say it like was so long, I don't know if that's like a cell wall. Yeah, so part of that is the perk behind that is because they can they can give it to you with less filler with less junk, it's more of a straight shot and then just the way that your body absorbs it is faster, it's more readily available in your system. So I think

Amy: 24:02

I can I can definitely tell a difference and these are both I know the vitamin B says it's keto and vegan. I think the other one is too nice. So really, really quality quality product. Yeah,

Katie: 24:13

I love that. Well I just have one last super quick one that is just kind of like a fun little bit. It's my new favorite candle. It's the it's the root brand I find it here at Fresh Market. I don't know I mean they have their own website root candles.com part of their aromatherapy seeking balance like capsule collection and you can get a you know, an eight ounce candle for $23 It's a little steep but it lasts a really long time. It's a scent of eucalyptus now

Amy: 24:42

I think that's a good price for our candle. Yeah, those

Katie: 24:44

are right, like I pay $65 for my favorite Diptyque candle. But the cool thing about this is that it increases overall brain activity and relieves congestion. And I swear when I like this sucker during the day when I'm working, I don't know what it does, but it stimulates something like it helps me With my flow the scent in the air I really like I kind of spares if I can't light it when I'm working so anyway it's just a fun one it's a good thing to have in your house

Amy: 25:08

yeah that's a good one and I think that's a reminder any like I have so many candles and I never like think to put them on I just like we put them on sometimes at night for having dinner but like it is a good thing to do while you're working put you in the zone. Yeah, for sure to in a good flow. So I have a few products and we're gonna go through them really quickly because we all gotta go. So first one I'll recommend is this Glow Recipe watermelon glow, nice cinnamon dewdrops, obsessed, obsessed, obsessed. I've seen this like all over it's something I've wanted to try. It's like a serum you put on that basically, it's it can serve as a primer or just a serum. But as soon as you put it on, it's like your skin is glowing. And I love that glowy dewy look. So highly recommend $34 Sephora, you know glow recipe.com another one and this is like an amazing dude. So everybody, listen to this one. We all talk about the SkinCeuticals vitamin C and folic acid. This is a dupe of it. It's called the Dr. Brenner C serum vitamin C for like I think is around like 160 $170 this Dr. Brenner C serum is $20. Wow, got on Amazon. And I found it through, I had posted about a site which we'll put the name in the show notes because I can't recall the site right now. But there's a website that you can put in certain products and it takes the ingredients and it matches it with other products that are very similar. So this was a match by like 99%. And I've been using it and I don't see a difference. I actually almost like it better. It's it's a really, really nice quality product. So highly recommend this for do for this SkinCeuticals vitamin C E for reliq. And two other things quickly. So this I got from our friend, Shelley, a beauty Shaman. So this is one of her tools. She posts about it a lot, but it's called the this is called the obsidian rock roller. And I am obsessed. I use it all the time. So I just brought this out skiing with us with all the altitude I was so puffy. And I use this every day. I used it on my kids, they loved it. I mean, it's on my neck though. It's basically like it's kind of like a guasha and like a cupping. I'm feeling all at once and I just feel like it's like a lazy guasha. So for me, I just sit here and I use it all over my face and it's so like it kind of sucks in your face and it definitely works for swelling and just like to get kind of like stuff out of your skin. I use it on my neck first like Shelly always says and then I also use it on my shoulders when they're sore to like massage my shoulder. So I was just using it on my kids the other day on their shoulders in the back of their neck. It's such a good one. So I've been using this a ton of time. It's the obsidian rock roller on beauty shamans website. It's $98 Such a great beauty tool. I love it. And the last thing I will say is I've been using for a while now this L'Oreal True Match nude Hyaluronic tinted serum. Okay, so this is a serum but it's tinted. The only thing is is doesn't have SPF like the there's a another one that I have to that's not to say but the other brand that I always mix Ilya, Ilya, I always get those two brands confused and that one has SPF and is good, but I actually like this one better because it's a thinner formula. So this is by L'Oreal. And again, it's just like a serum. And so you put it on your hands like a serum and you just rub it in and it just kind of smooths out your face. I mean, I don't really wear foundation and this is like a good like, I'll wear this at night. Sometimes you could just you could wear it every day. It's super light. It's just kind of like, you know, puts puts together your luck almost like a tinted moisturizer but it's a serum so it's not so thick and you just like put it on and it really makes a big difference. It's

Katie: 28:40

great. It just smooths out so drunk so I lie and write Did you say L'Oreal?

Amy: 28:43

It's a drugstore fine. Yeah, it's, it's $15 Target Amazon, wherever and it's a great one. So it's great one to put on after you've done all your glowing tools and everything else. So that's it. That was our episode. And we hope you enjoyed it. Definitely give us feedback and we'll be sure to do another product junkie section session next month. 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.

Episode 47 - First Love Yourself with Dr. Alisha Reed, the FLY Pharmacist and Self-Care Strategist (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 47 First Love Yourself with Dr. Alisha Reed, the FLY Pharmacist and Self-Care Strategist.

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 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.

Katie 0:18

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

Amy 0:28

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we are here with Dr. Alisha Reed and so excited to talk to her. We met online and we've been wanting to chat with her for so long. She's got amazing content on our Instagram and has such an interesting story. So I read a little bit about Alicia before we get into it. So the fly pharmacist, self care strategist and founder of lifestyle brand fly with Alisha Reed. Dr. Reid was born and raised in New Orleans, where she attended Xavier University of Louisiana and received a Doctorate of pharmacy degree. Dr. Reed has been a licensed pharmacist for almost two decades and has seen firsthand how self care impacts health in the community. The Fly pharmacists acts as an advocate to empower and educate her community to make self care a priority in their lives. As a self care strategist, Dr. Reed provides the tools and training necessary to create a successful self care plan. She is a widow mom who believes that self care is non negotiable, totally agree with that and is determined to break that generational curse that strong women don't take breaks. I can't wait to hear more about that such an interesting thing to think about. Self Care has become such a buzzword. But the truth is, is that self care is whatever you need it to be. After losing her husband, Dr. Reed wanted to normalize grief by publicly sharing her grief journey while continuing to practice exceptional self care. Dr. Reed moderates, a widow support group and hosts the fly widow podcast and one quote I also just wanted to say I was reading in your Southern Living article, congratulations, by the way, and it said, I love this quote it says everyone thinks that self care has to be a spotlight or massage or pedicure she says but it's doing whatever you need to do to feel like you again, which I really, really loved. And that really resonated with me. So welcome to the show. Dr. Reed. We're so excited to have you

Alisha 2:20

for having me. Thank you for having me. This is one of my favorite topics. Yes, we're excited to get to share more with you. Yeah, us too. So

Amy 2:30

we always like to start the show with our nirvana of the week or day, something that brought us joy this week, something that, you know, brought a smile to our face. So I will pass it off to you, Katie.

Katie 2:42

Thank you, Amy. Well, it is such a pleasure to meet you. Dr. Reed. Should we call you Alisha? Dr. Reed

Alisha 2:48

Alisha is fine.

Katie 2:50

Okay, great. So yeah, it's great to have you here. My nirvana of the day. It happened on Friday, I think we had our, like, first day that it felt like spring here. I'm in Connecticut on the East Coast, Alisha. And I feel like it's spring everywhere. But here. We're the last to get it. And I just spent the day outside with my daughter with my four year old after school for like two hours, just you know, playing around exploring the yard, taking a walk, having her on her bike, all that fun stuff. So it was really nice to just be out in nature again, and not be freezing cold and the fresh air and you know, the sounds of spring. It was great. It brought me a lot of nirvana. What about you, Amy?

Amy 3:29

That's so good. Mine was yesterday morning, I spent I don't know, maybe a half an hour doing a recipe with Jules, my my younger son who's 12. And he's been a little, you know, he's in middle school. He just started middle school this year. And he's been a little, you know, he's getting a little sassy. And doesn't like to spend as much time with me talks back. And so he wanted to make this like dessert recipe thing. And so I was like, okay, so we did it together. And it was really nice to kind of just step back and like, read a recipe and get the ingredients out and do it step by step because I feel like in my kids world, Alicia, I have a 12 and a 15 year old. And I know you have a son too. Like they're running around and everything so quick. It's like, Can we order dinner? Let's buy it on Amazon. Like there's no pressor virens I feel like so just to like read the recipe and like do everything step by step in the order and wait. And yeah, it was just nice to kind of take a moment and spend time with Him and do that. And he was like, cute and like I loved just doing that little project with him. So it was fun. It brought me a lot of joy yesterday morning. So what about you?

Alisha 4:35

So we had our air show here in New Orleans. It's been five years since the Blue Angels performed or did their flight show in New Orleans. So my son and I, we went there and it was really good to be outside. The weather was perfect. Not a cloud in the sky. We watched all the airplanes do their tricks, and it was a real cool mom and Sunday. You Do you think about what we can do together and it was just great. He got a little cub scout patch, because that's something that he needed to do to check up on his list. And we just had a great day, eating chicken tenders and fries and watching all the planes do their tricks. And one of the most interesting things was ourselves, my cell phone wouldn't work. Because we were in like an air Siena airspace, we're on the naval base. And, you know, sometimes we talk about disconnecting from our phones, but I couldn't send anything, I couldn't post anything. And I was essentially without the use of a phone for four hours. And that, for me was really good, because we were actually just present with each other. And it was a great day.

Katie 5:47

So that sounds amazing. How old is he?

Alisha 5:49

Six going on?

Katie 5:53

I understand that. That's a fun age, though. It's really Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great. Nice. All right. Well, should we get right into it? I want to kick it off. And I elite, Alisha, if you could give our audience a bit of a background? Within your career, you're a pharmacist? How did how did you get into all of that? And and how did it? How did your career really get you diving deep into self care? How did that come about? Sure. So

Alisha 6:22

I've been a pharmacist for 18 years, almost 19. And I was always interested in helping people and science and all that and but I didn't want to go to school forever. You know, like doctors, you spent all that time in school. So pharmacy was a six year program. And I felt like that was long enough to get into the profession, the health care profession, really enjoyed it did retail which pharmacies, CVS, Walgreens all those big boxes, that, you know, as a pharmacist, that's where you will you go when you first start, but it was just so busy. And we were always rushing, anxious, didn't have time to eat didn't have you no brakes, and long hours. And I really thought about like, that's not what I want for life, you know, I don't want to be rushing all the time and have anxiety. So I stepped away from retail and chose another area of pharmacy, which was managed care. And I was able to work for a health plan. And, and that we focus on like a lot of metrics and just checking to see how people managed their health. And it was that at that moment, I realized that we can do a lot to prevent health conditions, and you know, these diseases, disease states, and as a pharmacist, you know, I fill the prescriptions, but cost a lot of money for people, it's not always accessible. So I wanted to think about ways that people could help with their health conditions and do things that didn't require a lot of money, you know, instead of having something most times yes, you do have to take your medicine people because I don't want people to say, oh, no, I don't take my medicine, but just being able to counsel patients on lifestyle modifications, because that's big. You have diabetes, and you take your medicine every day. But if you aren't following the diet or exercising, you know, it's really not going to work. So for me, that was the whole connection to pharmacy and the self care world. So I launched a brand. In 2014, I thought of the brand it was Nola Bougie. And it was for women, because I wanted women to understand that. Even though we're all moms and wives and caregivers, that we were still women. And I didn't want to have to give up the things that I love because I chose to be a mom or a wife. So out of that brand, it was just about inspiring women to just be their best selves. And I did that officially launched in 2017. And in 2019, I lost my husband. And when my husband passed, I didn't want to do it anymore. Because I felt like that was something that we did together. And I was done. I was done with it. And I didn't want to do it. And my audience reached out and they said, you know, you inspired us to do so much as a mom and as a wife that you can't give up. You can't leave us here. And we want you to do inspire yourself, do all the stuff that you're telling us. We want you to do. And I thought about it and said you know what? I need to keep going but I didn't want to keep going as Nola bougie so I changed i rebranded as fly. So flies first love yourself because it was always about loving you. And I learned that on this grief journey. I had to figure out who I was again, because I was a mom before yours. I was a wife for, you know, almost six. And now my life was had changed. So it was just all about loving myself. And I continue to take the women on the journey with me. And that's where I am now.

Katie 10:14

That's amazing. It's so empowering your story and your journey, I kind of want to unpack it a little bit, save a few questions within it. To circle to go to go back to management care, that I've never heard of this i i see pharmacist I get I have autoimmune conditions, I have to take so much medication, it's obnoxious. And I see these pharmacists. And just like you said, they are busting their butts all day long. And it seems like a thankless job. They're just over and over and over and over again, new customer, new customer, new customer, it looks like it's a really long day and really hard work. So this Manage management cares that we set our mind and manner

Alisha 10:54

managed care and health care plan. So when you have your insurance card, and you know you fill your prescription there are pharmacists working with the health plan to determine what medications should be offered or should be covered. So a lot of times, you may fill a prescription and they'll say, oh, this medication is not covered by your health plan, or it needs a prior authorization. So as a pharmacist, I was a part of the team that research the medicines to figure out which ones were best for our patients. And then also, on the other end, I talk to patients about their health condition. So I did what's called medication therapy management. And that's when you do a whole review of medications with the patient, and talk to them about their health condition. So you know, with your autoimmune disorder, we would talk about your medications, but then also talk about what you're doing, like let's say, stress, I mean, stress is a number one cause of like flare ups for a lot of conditions. So we were talking about your stress management, like what are you doing for stress? Like, what is your diet look like? So all of that goes into healthcare. And for me, it's almost like self care as healthcare. Because after all those things work together, not just taking the prescription.

Katie 12:17

That's yeah, I'm sure that was probably a lot more fulfilling, also, just generally speaking, than being behind the counter at a CVS or something to which is really, really cool. And so you're not doing that anymore. You are still so I still

Alisha 12:29

am. I work for a hospital now. And it's kind of like the same thing. It's not managed care, but I'm doing home based primary care. So I'm also a member of a care team, like I was before and get a chance to talk to, to patients and review their medicines and give information and help. So it's very similar. And I find that that's like my sweet spot. That's what I love to do. And most people ask, Will you ever quit your job? Like, I don't know. I mean, I don't know if I would, but I love it that you enjoy it right? I enjoy it. So it's not something that I dread doing or you know, going to work. So I enjoy I know it's rewarding.

Amy 13:15

And you probably learn new things by all the different people that you meet and you probably hear so many different stories so I can imagine it's really interesting and really sorry to hear about your husband that's just I can't I mean it's just so hard to go through but really proud to see that you have powered on and that your community like has has encouraged you to do so because I'm sure it's helped you heal so yeah, tough, tough stuff. Okay, so moving right along. Let's talk about self care and beauty because all of your content on Instagram has so many like fun tidbits about all the new stuff you're trying and all the new things you're doing. So tell us about kind of what you look for in products and kind of what your what your favorite things are to shop for and look for. I mean your skin is glowing, literally guys, their skin is so gorgeous. It is.

Alisha 14:11

Thank you go. I also find that the sell the beauty products, I really enjoy looking at the ingredients. I think it's probably because of the pharmacy.

Amy 14:25

Yeah, but they are more than most people.

Alisha 14:29

And I think about you know, chemistry and like being in the labs and all that. So for me, it's like I really like to look at the labels. Obviously, less is better, you know less ingredients is better. So I look at that. Also look at you know whether or not there are additives or you know, the parabens, a lot of things that shouldn't be in products. It's clean beauty, is what I'm really paying attention to. One of the most interesting things is that cosmetics are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. And whereas if you get a prescription, you know, it is but not cosmetics. So essentially anyone can put something out there. And, you know, people buy it because marketing in you know, they don't pay really pay attention. So I want to be that person to educate and share. Okay, this is a good product. So not necessarily endorsing and promoting products, which is something that I really try to stress as well. I'm really looking at ingredients and whether or not it works for me, and I like to share that it's not so much a sponsored post or anything. So I like to educate and let you know, my followers know, this is what you need to look for. You need to pay attention to how its manufacture where what's in it, you know, check your allergies because there's a lot of things that you may not be able to use because you know if you have a shellfish allergy, so that is my that's my like standard like what I'm when I'm picking up a product and looking at the things that I'm loving right now or like what I'm really into is just clean skin. I'm not so much into makeup, I love makeup. But I find that if you take care of your skin, then you know makeup is optional. Yeah, totally.

Amy 16:26

It's like the cherry on top. Yeah. So

Alisha 16:29

I really focus on serums and collagen. You know, I'm really big on that right now. Just making sure that I have the collagen and the probiotics, diet. All of that goes into like my self care and beauty routine. So I shared the other day about collagen. My nutritionist has me mixing it in the collagen powder the proteins in my coffee, because we're looking at my diet and ways to incorporate protein. And she's like, why don't you try the collagen peptides? So I've been doing that for about a month now. And I like Which brand is it? Is it the this is the Vital Proteins? Yeah, so I'm having that. Um, they also have the water, the collagen water, the shots. A lot of people don't realize it helps with the skin elasticity. So you know, you want to make sure that you are supplementing the collagen. You want to find good collagen, because there are a lot of things out there and so it's clean. I also look at the probiotics, the supplements, I make sure that you know I have all the vitamins

Katie 17:37

do you have a probiotic that you like, specifically?

Alisha 17:40

I don't have a specific probiotic. I mean, I'll be honest, I just make sure that you know, it's a good quality product. Um, Trader Joe's and I you know, we'll get to that get to that out and pick up something at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Um, there are a lot of skincare products that have probiotics in them. Oh, really? Yeah. I didn't know though. You know, you can get a moisturizer. So those are the I stick to collagen. Vitamin C, of course. And right now the hydration like I've been adding those liquid hydration packs. Electrolytes to water. Yeah. Be more hydrated, especially with the warmer weather. Yeah.

Amy 18:25

There you go.

Alisha 18:26

So for me, it's really about inside out. Yeah, no, I really want to take want to take care of, you know, inside and then you know, the skin itself.

Amy 18:38

Right, then you're young gets better and then you just put serums and all those things that just enhance you mentioned serums what serums Do you like? Moisturizing or Yeah,

Alisha 18:48

so like moisturizing serum, was just checking out this Hyaluronic serum that I picked up. So I am into making sure that my skin is moisturized. That's a big thing for me, especially going out in our weather. It's very humid, but just being out in the sun for me, so I you know saram is great. Especially at nighttime. I love like my time series. I'd laugh because there's a meme that something like it has you looking like a glazed doughnut. Yeah. So like, under eyes is you know and vitamin C serums are a big for me. Yeah,

Katie 19:27

yeah, the vitamin C, your skin is so bright. It's it's that vitamin C two I always notice a difference. So I'm using my vitamin C and I'm not it's interesting that you mentioned the allergies because I feel like a lot of people don't think about that when they're looking at their skincare routine. Like my mom has a latex allergy and I can't tell you how many times she called me and she said I picked up a new product and now my eyes are swollen shut because it has that in there and she doesn't think to check for it. And like you said also like shellfish allergies and everything that can be found in skincare. Yeah, um, yeah, that's right. Actually, no one heard

Alisha 20:01

that I got a facial HydraFacial and the esthetician say like, at the end, we're doing a ceremony. She's like, Hey, do you have a shellfish allergy. And I said, why? And she said, Oh, the, the serum that I use has like the glucosamine and chondroitin. So a lot of people take that for like cartilage and you know, the jump bone and joints. But it's in the serum that she had. And she said, I need to know because if I put this on, you have a shellfish allergy. And I was like, thanks for asking. I wonder how many people use these products and don't ask?

Katie 20:37

Yeah, I'm sure and have no idea that Yeah, yeah. 100%

Alisha 20:41

Yeah. So that's definitely something that I think people don't pay attention to. I know, they don't you know, picking up skincare, you don't think about a food allergy.

Amy 20:51

Right? Right. It's so it's so true. Okay, moving on, because I want to ask you, because I saw this on your Instagram a while ago, and we were DMing about it. And I want to hear about this because so we had a dermatologist on our show a while ago Dr. Nazarian who told us about QUO first time I had heard of that and I was like, Oh my God, I need to look into this ASAP. But I saw that you looked into it. I don't know if you've got the procedure, but tell us all about it. And for reference, this is the cellulite Yes. Yeah. Treatment. So yeah, girl about it.

Alisha 21:20

Yes. So I actually I went when I saw I was like, oh my goodness, like I need this I was

Amy 21:26

it like at a doctor's office or one of those men thought yes, a

Alisha 21:29

dermatologist. And then so I went in and I listened to it. I didn't get it done. But I did the consultation because honestly, I thought that I really needed it. But I didn't have a lot of the cellulite on my on my on my butt. So what I did have, it was like some type of dimple. That may be like a birthmark, but what I was told was that it wasn't going to fill it. Like it wasn't going to do anything, if I got it. So I'm like, alright, well, I'll just live with it. It's, it's cute. But the way the product works is it helps to release like the fiber, the fiber fibers so that the skin have flattened out because a lot of people think that it's fat. You know, this Oh, I'm fat because they think only fat people and have these, you know, these dimples or these areas, but it really works to release the five release of fiber so that it smooths out the skin. And what's interesting is, as a pharmacist, I recognize that the name of the medicine like the the the the generic name, should I say and I was like, Oh, that is I know that that's something that's another drug and they say oh yeah, it is used for something else. So I thought it was interesting that the company found another use for the media, which is very similar. Not it's not the same as Botox, but you do know like Botox can be used for obviously cosmetic, but it's also used for migraines and bladder and wedding. So it's a lot of has a lot of other uses. So they found that this particular quot was a it was you know, able to be used for the dimples. And I saw that I thought it was amazing. And there are women there who were really excited about it and wanted to use it. One of the side effects, minimal side effects, but I think it was bruising, which was you know what they said, but I don't I didn't feel like it was something that was super. I wouldn't stop me from getting it. I just

Amy 23:31

And when they say it like actually works because there hasn't been anything for cellulite that actually works.

Alisha 23:37

Again, I mean, looking at the photos, it says they do show before and afters. Yeah, you know, you do see, see see some results. But I always like to I want to see somebody that has a lot of it. Like, you know, right, like major transformation I want to just had a little bit then yeah, but as someone who had like all these areas and then it gets more expensive. Because you have to you have to use so so much of the product. Yeah, now they say that the longevity of it. It's supposed to last a long time.

Amy 24:11

Yeah, I was gonna like what did they say? Is it permanent? Or is it just

Alisha 24:15

yeah, if they said it's supposed to last for a while it hasn't been studied that long. Yeah. Are you gonna say okay after five years, you know, like with Botox we know you know, after a couple of months you have to go back and you know, get get the area redone. But before that, she said right now it's just the studies, they don't have enough long enough studies to know if it's, you know, permanent or not.

Amy 24:39

And injured. How is it administered?

Alisha 24:41

It's a little injections. Okay. It's funny, I still have my, my papers. So yeah, it was like injected, and it's the package of three. So it's like a series of three injections and I know Till that, I would probably need a fourth treatment because it was like a deep dimple. Mm hmm. Sounds like oh, well, that's to me. That's the part that I really want to get rid of. Right. And they it goes by the severity like mild, moderate or severe. But, I mean, if you if someone wants to get it, I mean, I think it's worth it. If you have, you know, small enough areas. Yeah, it's not something that I feel like would alleviate, when you would just have a completely smooth, but

Amy 25:34

you do seem to get a commie Amy looks very interested. Well, this is my biggest complaint because I always have I always have like, dimples on like, the back of my thighs and the size and it's always bothered me, but there's nothing you can really do about it. So when she told me about this, I was like, Oh, my God, that's so interesting. So yes, I'm definitely going to look into it at some point for

Alisha 25:56

sure. 10 minutes, like 10 minutes.

Amy 25:59

That's crazy. Yeah, I did read or I feel like maybe Dr. Jones area told us that, like the bruising is pretty bad afterwards. So you just have to do it. Like, when you know, you're going to be covered up

Alisha 26:09

like, so that's like, that's like the photo that they you know that they get somebody it's like that not that bad to me. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So it's like, hard to say animal. Yeah. Like, I want to see someone. Right. Information. I thought that I had a lot and like, you actually don't have that much. Oh, okay.

Amy 26:32

Like, now I feel better. Okay. Like,

Alisha 26:35

I'll always love to read and hear about, like, new thing. Me too. So that will

Katie 26:41

there's a new one that I want to know if either of you guys have heard about have you heard about Lipo Light?

Amy 26:47

Like a light I want to

Alisha 26:49

when you're awake. You're awake. Yeah. And it's just like, light for a week or something.

Katie 26:55

It's an but it's a it's a it's like a light treatment instead of the cool sculpting where they freeze. Okay, it's the opposite. It's it's a light, I'm gonna actually go talk to get a console about it this week. But it's just like, if you have trouble spots, you know, like, oh, wow, I've got the love handles that I can never seem to get rid of. It's for that. And it's a it's a light where the heat. I don't know that it's more of like a red light or an infrared light or the heat or something is supposed to dissolve and loosen up the fat cells. And I think it's less invasive and safer than the CoolSculpting Oh, wow. Which I've recently who was it? Amy? Amy's mom sent us an article. I think it was Linda Bandula. Yeah, it's been sculpting and had a horrible adverse reaction to it. Did you see that, Alisha? Oh, yeah.

Amy 27:43

If you read if you Google all over, it's yeah.

Katie 27:47

It's crazy. It completely deformed her body. So I mean, you know, it's that was she was allergic to something that they were using. So that was a one off. But But yeah, so I just wanted to see if either because I've heard about a

Alisha 28:00

plastic surgeon doing a week labeled like a week like, oh, that's different. Okay. Yeah. And I'll say, Oh, wow, I wouldn't want to be a week.

Amy 28:10

You're like, knock me out? Oh,

Katie 28:12

yeah. That doesn't sound like fun. Alright, I want to talk about your love yourself Self care to do list because we see them on Instagram. And I think they're brilliant. So tell us a little bit about that.

Alisha 28:28

So the idea for that came about? Because I realized a lot of people didn't really know what to do for self care. Mm hmm. Yeah. Always ask to say what did you do for self care this week? And then all the answers were manicure? pedicure. Right? Know that. There's other things that you could do besides that, like, oh, right, like really what, like, whatever you want to do. So I started that putting together the to do list. For a little background for my social media. I used to share things to do, like places like events, you know, what's going on in the week on the weekend. And a lot of people enjoy that. And I said, Well, I want to change it up to where people don't feel like they have to go somewhere. Or like it has to be like something that everybody who's going to like a concert and wants to make it easy so that I've picked 12 things. It's like a little bingo card and my followers from out of state made me realize that I have things on there that only local people can do. So think about that. Like okay, well, I'll tell them you get a free free square or something. They love it because it gives people things to do. They like to check it off and I look for things that don't cost money. Because that's trouble for a lot of people. They don't want to spend the money, things that don't cost a lot have a lot of time because those are the two major ones. You know, I don't want to I don't Have time. And the idea is to make people realize how they that they can incorporate self care into their daily lives. And it doesn't have to be something that takes a lot of time or it takes a lot of effort or it's hard. So I love doing those.

Amy 30:16

Yeah, I am. I really liked it too. And I think our listeners will like it, because it's like, we're all about sort of this approachable, accessible, wellness or well being. And this is exactly that. It's like, I'm just reading a few that you have on marches lists. So like, you know, call a friend, instead of texting, have brunch in a new spot, drink some water or support a local business, buy some flowers, do something fun. It's just like small bite sized, really attainable things that help with your well being. So I love that. So we look forward to seeing those every month. Yeah,

Katie 30:47

so yeah, it's true. And it's to your point, like everyone self care, a lot of people have this idea of what it should be, and that it's usually very time cumbersome, or it's going to cost a lot of money or very extravagant, very, like, you know, just over the top. And the littlest thing, like you just said, pick up the phone and have a nice phone call instead of a text, you know, sit back with a cup of coffee, call your best friend and chat it up for an hour that is loving yourself. And yeah, you know, those really simple things that I think some people are so busy in life, and they don't, they don't put themselves into caring for themselves first, of course, are not going to think that is self care. So it's they're, they're great little reminders, I really appreciate it.

Amy 31:27

And also, I wanted you to elaborate on what I talked about in the beginning around strong women don't take breaks, because it's so true, like this stigma of like, you gotta hustle. And you can't, you got to grind it out. So talk to us about what your

Unknown Speaker 31:42

Yeah, I ran across a quote A while ago, and it said like, there's no award for overworked female of the year or something. And I was like, That is so true. And I don't know where my I think it's obviously it's generational. As women feel like we have to be busy, or we have to do all the things. You know, even as moms, you know, there's like the soup. They're the super moms out there. Because and we call them super moms because we feel like they get everything done. They show it for everybody. But like, I don't want to be that I don't want I don't want to be that supermom. Mm hmm. And because I'm if I choose to not do all of those things, that doesn't make me a bad mom. And I really wanted to change that, that narrative and have let people understand that it's okay to take breaks, it's okay to say no. It's okay to sleep in. Like I don't understand. It doesn't, it doesn't make you a better mom, because you can. You're tired all the time. And you know, you're out all day all day and you bring the kids everywhere. doesn't make you a better mom than I am. You know, cook. I'm a rested mom because absolutely

Amy 33:01

arrested mom is a good mom. So yeah,

Alisha 33:05

you know, that's the, the, the, the big piece and even working like working moms, you know, you work. And we already feel like we have a lot to do and a lot to prove. And it's just like, I don't want women to feel like they have to burn out. So yeah, that they're valuable.

Amy 33:25

It's so true. I work in, in corporate America. And definitely, I'm always looking around at the women and the leaders in my company. And the ones that are balanced, you can tell and the ones that are not you can tell especially like pre pandemic, when everyone was traveling and doing all this stuff. And I could always tell the people that weren't taking care of themselves, because they would always get colds, right, they always look tire bags, and you know, like you could just tell, and I think is women leaders like being able to support other women and be like, Yeah, you know, take a break or do this or like making sure that people are taking care of themselves in, in a work environment is so important. Because I think definitely there's this mindset of like, moving all the time and being busy and just not taking that step back. It's so important that we all continue to like make sure the women around us are okay and hanging in there and not, you know, burning both ends of the candle or whatever that whatever that phrase is.

Katie 34:29

I think there's there's something to like there's strength in knowing your limitations and I don't mean limitations of what you can't achieve but your physical limitations and you need to stay balanced and healthy and present so that you can do everything like actually that much better because you do feel well and you are you know, I mean when you're when you're frazzled and like you said burden burning and on both ends. It's like that's, for me personally, that's when I start to really See, my family suffers. And, you know, it's like it's not self care. It's, I wish people would not look at it so much as like a luxury or a vanity and more a necessity.

Alisha 35:12

Yeah. Yeah.

Amy 35:13

And, and, and altering things to help achieve yourself care. Like, for example, if I have a business trip, I try to go in, like, if it's an early morning meeting the next day or whatever, I'll try to go in the night before. So I can have some downtime, and I can be rested. Whereas like, some people will just like, fly in a plane, go straight to a meeting, go straight to a dinner, do calls in the car. And I'm like, I just don't understand, I could not do that. Because it's too much. There's no downtime. And like, it's just like making sure that you're scheduling your own cell for what you know, is going to work for you. And like how your body reacts, I think the older you get, you start to realize like, okay, you know, here's my schedule for tomorrow, let me like, figure out when I'm going to take a break and have some downtime. So I'm feeling present and focused and rejuvenated. But it

Alisha 35:59

was interesting that you said that because I reached out. So I'm always about looking for ways to teach people about self care. And I reached out to a magazine and publication I don't, I won't say the name. But I said, you know, I read your magazine every time. You know, I travel, I check into a check into a hotel. And I said, Why don't you ever talk about self care for travelers? Or you know, and she's like, well, our market is, you know, usually for business travel or recreation said, Okay, I said, But when people travel for business, they need to know that it's okay to take a break for that from that to like, your, you know, you're there for your, your company or for work. But they're, they need to know it's okay to have downtime to, like, it's still work. Still work. And she's like, Oh, my God, I never thought about that was like, Okay, I see. Like, okay, but it's like you're traveling for work. And it's like, you're, you're I got this meeting, I have to do this, I have to pack up. So it's like your mind you really not know, I'm just traveling for business. That's no fun. Right? Really?

Amy 37:01

Yeah. Why not? Yeah, it's funny. They say that. So I work in, in hospitality and travel, and so work with a lot of hotel brands. So there are definitely a lot of hotel brands now that are focused on wellness well being even while you're traveling for business, taking care of yourself, like all that kind of stuff. So yeah, it's super important. And I think like, things are moving in that in that direction, which is great. So tell us about self care at home, because I see all your halls to like TJ Maxx and Trader Joe's and all that stuff. So give us some give us some goods on that.

Alisha 37:37

Yes. So that really started during the pandemic for me, because I was I wasn't going anywhere. I didn't want to go to a spa. I didn't want to get my nails done at home at a place. So I decided to just create little self care days at the house. And my favorite places to go or TJ Maxx Trader Joe's Marshalls target. I mean, that's all women, I will put that thing, right. Yes. And it also gave me a way to share that with my followers too, because you don't always have to spend the money. So I make a weekly trip to any one of those but most often TJ Maxx and I just browse the aisles, and I find, you know, products to things to try. And it's not expensive sometimes. I mean, I'd literally spend less than $20. Mm hmm. I'm in there. But I'll pick up a mask a sheet mask. I mean, there's tons of them, a bath salts, lotion, body scrubs, candles, all of those things, and then just go home and create my own little self care space. And I look forward to it. Yeah, that's nice. And it's just like, oh, I pick this up. And there's a lot of brands in there that you know, it's favorite brands. save a little money on them. So that is totally, yeah, that's like the highlight highlight of my week, I guess. Like I know, on Tuesdays, they used to restock every Tuesday. I know a lot of people I don't know if people knew that they got a shipment in Tuesday. So that's how I schedule my little time in there. That's a max and then I asked and I said isn't every Tuesday she's like, Oh honey, we start bringing in trucks every day. Now it's like but you know, I like to share that because it gives, you know, other ideas. So whereas you can pick up the socks, these comfy socks and you know, make a plan to Okay, Friday night I'm going to stay in. I'm going to wear these comfy socks and drink some tea. So that allows me to share other ways that you can practice self care, so I love it.

Amy 39:47

Yeah, that's

Katie 39:48

that I used to live. I moved to Connecticut recently from the Cincinnati area Alisha and there was a TJ Maxx by my daughter's school so I would drop her off and I would go to the TJ Maxx and do the like same exact thing. Also I would pick up kids clothes like you can occasionally get like, I know

Amy 40:02

you find good stuff. Yeah, yeah,

Katie 40:04

I have, but I haven't found my local TJ Maxx yet I need to check it. I don't know where it is. I'm looking for in Connecticut. Yeah, that's all Trader Joe's has good stuff there. Amy, I know you've highlighted a couple of products. So

Amy 40:21

I'm just saying to Katie, like I've been I've done a couple of reviews on the show recently that Trader Joe's products that I just like, same thing. I was just wandering down the aisles. I'm like, Oh my God, look at all this beauty stuff made like a great rosewater spray, just like five bucks or something. They have a really good eye cream. They have so many fun things. I was like, This is so great. I love finding stuff like that.

Alisha 40:43

And you know what I did for so every year for Christmas beauty. Oh, so like the advent calendar? Yeah, I just did that. Yeah, they do. So I always get those. And then I like let's meet up so that way I can try like everything they have. And they of course they have the seasonal things like the pumpkin mask. So I'll pick that up. They have like this blueberry exfoliant.

Amy 41:08

Yeah. So Alisha tell us about your podcast. I know you launched it, I think a few years ago now and the community you're creating around, fly, which I love what that stands for. It's so cool.

Alisha 41:19

So the podcast, supply widow podcast. And what I realized after shortly after losing my husband, was that there weren't many outlets for widows, particularly younger widows. And I wanted a space that allowed us to talk to each other and, you know, hear hear stories, because the conversations that were were going on for me, were from older women who were like, Oh, well, you know, you shouldn't be doing that. Or, you know, you shouldn't, and I would never get remarried. So I felt like, that's not what I want to hear as a young widow. So I wanted to be able to put that out there for other widows like myself, so that they would be encouraged in you know, they could resonate with a lot of things were going on COVID had just, you know, picked up and just started in 2020. So at that time, it was a lot of younger widows, because you know, their husbands were dying from COVID. So I got to put this out here. And I did so I launched it. December 2020. And, but it was initially supposed to be as like, I was not expecting it to be like every podcast that was launching every week. I just got so many stories from women who wanted to share. So I think now my like 56 episodes, wow, wow, that's amazing. And I really enjoy it. It's a great community. I've received a lot of feedback from the widows. I think most importantly, it's showing that you can grieve and be happy at the same time, because that's something that people don't think that that can you those two things can exist together, that you can have to be one of the other because if you're happy, then that means you don't miss your husband anymore. Mm hmm. So I said, That's apps, that's like, absurd, that's not true. So that's what the podcast is about. And I'm moving into more of my life now and not so much. I mean, I do have widows Come on, but I like to share what's going on in my life. Because it's almost been three years, I'm ready to date. So like that part, you know, it's, I like to share so that we can all talk about it and know what to expect and, you know, validate your feelings, because it's a range of emotions, and I just enjoy it.

Amy 43:46

That's great. You're awesome. Your,

Katie 43:48

your positivity, it just exudes so much, especially in your podcast, I was listening earlier. And it's just it's really amazing to out of a situation that I can't begin to grasp that you experienced that you've come out with handling it with so much positivity. And where does that come from? Do you were you always a very positive person?

Alisha 44:15

No, I wasn't, um, I had a lot of life struggles. For me. I was in a domestic violence relationship prior to meeting my husband. And it just I had gone through so much. And I think I have, I felt like I was I had already rebuilt myself from like that previous relationship. And when I met my husband, it was like his personality. He was just bubbly personality. Just enjoy life. And I remember I share an early, earlier app that one of the first episodes is just our conversation. Like, I don't know if he truly knew. I mean, he had a heart attack. So it was something that was you know, unexpected. But I remember he had a conversation. And he just said like, if something ever happens to me, just miss me and let me go And I was like, oh my god, like, What are you talking about? And I knew that kind of person he was he just enjoyed life to the fullest. And I don't mean, sure he may have died with regrets of not being able to visit places or do things, but he woke up and live life every single day. Like, some days I was like, and he was an attorney. So he's worked for himself. And he would just pick up and say, Let's go to Puerto Rico tomorrow. I'm like, I can't do that. I have shop, like, work for yourself. But I just, I wanted to carry that with me, because that's how he was and my close friends and everyone that knew him. On they understand. So I know a lot of people are looking who don't know us or didn't know us. So you know, are looking like, oh my god, like, she's, how can she be like this, but I just know that this is what he will want. Like, he wouldn't want me to be sad, he wouldn't want me to not enjoy life. And that is where it comes from. For me.

Amy 45:56

That's wonderful. I mean, you're you're carrying you're carrying through his legacy, yeah, with your

Katie 46:01

dad, and, and really, I'm sure inspiring and uplifting and empowering so many of these widows in your community. So they're really blessed to have you to listen to you on the podcast and to turn to you it's, it's really beautiful. So congratulations on all of

Alisha 46:17

them my son. Because a lot of people meet my son and his, he's a happiest kid. Oh, the happiest kid, and, you know, I don't understand. I tell people, you know, kids feed off of, you know, he knows how I am. And he sees my personality, and he is genuinely happy. He's a great personality. And it's just that you can tell that we are really, we are really happy. Happiness, and it helps to make it and it spills on to other people too. So I enjoy it.

Katie 46:53

Yeah, you're spreading joy. Did I did I hear that you did? Was it like 2012 dates in a row? 21 days in a row was a challenge or something?

Alisha 47:01

Yeah, so I'm working on that I committed to do 12 dates in 90 days. was like, that's a lot. I'm like, actually, like, once a week. Right? Um, I had a dating coach on a few episodes back and we talked about it. And she said, you just got to get out there. Like, what do you mean? Like get out there have practice dates, do whatever, you know, just so you can have conversation. And what's interesting is when you as a widow, men will just have that they just come out of nowhere, right? You're just like, oh my god, like and so it's like always been there where people like all me take you out for dinner or for a drink. So it's just now that I'm like, Okay, fine. You know, you guys. Okay, let's go. But, um, the 12 dates. So when when we came up with a 12 days or 90 days, it isn't all dates with like romantic dates. It is date like friend dates, it's with my family dates with my son. So I want people to be able to see that you know, you and you can get yourself so I'm right. I'm putting together like a journal of like recapping dates. And when I finished it'll see that it's a date with myself. It's a date with my son. It's a date with my best friend from college. So it's all of those dates, but I do have some dates with some some guys in there. Like I've had a couple so

Katie 48:28

how's it going?

Alisha 48:30

It's it's going for that, you know, dating I haven't dated. It's been a long time. Like I've met my husband until 2010. So I mean, it's been like that long since I've been out of like the dating game. So just relearning you know, trying to figure out things and how people think and then also dating as a 42 year old so that different you know, you're in their 30s is I just felt like it's I don't want to do that like can we just go to listen to some live music or right right so it's but it's fun because i You don't realize how much you miss getting dressed up and having conversation with someone of the opposite sex. Yeah, I have my girlfriends I have my son to talk to but just talking to someone else about life and getting to know them and I like that part.

Katie 49:26

Nice. Yeah. Good for you.

Amy 49:29

So it's typically on the show one of us will do a product review but since we have you here we were thinking you could give us your latest and greatest what you're loving right now give us a little product review Alisha.

Alisha 49:42

so I actually my favorite thing right now. I love mask. I love a face mask but loops. Have you guys tried the loops? Um no. So loops is and it's a clean skincare brand but they have these face masks, and they're really like a gel gel face masks. But what I really love about them is they stay in place, you know, like a lot of masks like you. You have to like, set up, but the way that their masks are cut out, it's like when you put them on and I was looking to see if I

Amy 50:18

had is it loops like L oh, PS Yes. lol

Alisha 50:21

Yes. So they have the maths and then they have the I've under eye patches. But I love the maths because the way that they're cut out, they just go on perfectly, because it's kind of like two different pieces in one. But you can like walk around the house.

Amy 50:37

And you know, you don't like sliding off your face. So it's like it's

Alisha 50:41

a gel, and they make them they have different ones. So there's like a of reset. There's like a vitamin C one, there's a detox. So I like those like you can get a package is like five of them. And it's like the different ones. But I love them. So keep it on for I usually do like 20 minutes, okay, just because that's like, I got little I have like a little routine where I'll drink tea. I mean, read a book. So that's all like in my self care, but that's like one of my Sunday. Things like my Sunday little streets. And it's easy. Right? So ended. It's kind of like a when my son sees me with my mask on. He's like, Okay, I'm a Libra. So, yeah,

Amy 51:30

to try that brand. Yeah, yes. Good. That's great. All right, let's get into our rap session. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Alisha 51:43

So I like a Once I apply serums I like to use I have these little ice scopes. Or and I have one so I like beauty tools. I love to use like the wind The cons of wands, or the ACE ology has some ice groups. And yeah, I just sit there and I massage my face. So that's one of like my favorite hacks a lot of puffy eyes you know from crying. It's allergy season, which is approaching and that's just something that I try to incorporate in my beauty routine daily using the little globes, put them in the refrigerator so they're you know really cold and then just move them onto the fly so like that like

Amy 52:30

that trellis I've seen those and I've always wanted on but I haven't animate it's also good

Alisha 52:33

for you know, like tension headaches. Yeah, I you know, not I'm not only use them for like under eye puffiness but like, you know if I've had a stressful day or I've had a headache, you know, I got my eyebrows microbladed retouch. So like I've been like putting them on there a little bit when they were sore. So those are like, that's like my treats like the beauty the beauty tools we have like the the PMD I'm like the moist the cleanser. cleanser tool, but there's on the other side there's a rose quartz that you can just apply I used to apply serum see your face too because it heats up like that as well.

Katie 53:17

So I want to try those I've seen the gloves I need to buy them I use the like the rollers also sometimes with a tension headache around the jaw and I feel like the gloves would be good for that to be a bit tight jaw. Nice. Okay, all right, this next one we call your five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dried off Uber pain Do you they're five minutes away. What are you going to do to get into that Uber on time What are your holy grails your go twos to get there and ready for your day?

Alisha 53:41

So the thing would be is I don't really have like an elaborate makeup routine. Like if I get my makeup done for an event I'm going to go to someone I'm not very good at I can apply skincare all day long. I just not my thing. So I have my eyebrows already done. So five minutes. I mean I'm totally throwing on a tinted moisturizer like you know that's easy has SPF in it and you know the tent? A little bit of bronzer or highlighter on on my cheekbones. The cream blush super easy, you know, just I mean, I really learned just put my hands in it and then rub it on. And some lip gloss and mascara, huh? Yes, it?

Amy 54:21

Yeah. Great. And you were saying before your skin so good. You don't really you don't need anything.

Katie 54:27

You don't need a lot. Yeah, that's true. All right, last one is how do you maintain your daily nirvana? What keeps you calm and balanced?

Alisha 54:35

I like affirmations and meditation. So as soon as I start my day, I wake up early. Try to get up 30 minutes earlier than my son because that's when I can get my quiet time in so that's when you're listening to like meditation. I have apps calm app. And I get that's how I get my time and you know, I'm be able to start the day and I'm not rushing. Because you know, if you start your day rushing that sets the tone for the rest that your entire day. Yeah, I know when I'm running late or something, that's just it. But when I have that moment, so just get started and everything else flows from there.

Katie 55:17

Yeah, it's so true when you when you start your day off late, it's just like it stacks. Like one more thing. Yeah. Because you're behind on

Amy 55:26

money. Yeah. Yeah, it's so true. I was listening. I heard a podcast this week, I forgot who was mentioning this. But there was like a stat. I don't know the exact stack, stat. I'll find it. But it was like something like the first 15 minutes of your day, determine the rest of your day. Right. So if you're calm, your day is gonna be kind of calm and chill if you Yeah, so it was interesting. I never thought about it that way. But it's so true.

Alisha 55:50

Yeah, yep, I believe it. Mm hmm.

Amy 55:53

Absolutely. All right. Well, so where are where can our audience find you before we Katie, we'll probably close out with a mantra. But where can we find you? Give us all your

Unknown Speaker 56:05

hang out on social media. Instagram is Dr. Alisha Reed. Website is super easy. It's Dralishareed.com and Twitter is Dr. Alisha Reed.

Katie 56:16

All right. Well, Alisha, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure getting to know you and hearing your story. And we love all of your self care recommendations and tools. It's it's just all really great stuff. So thanks. So let's close with a quick little mantra. And you know, I'd like to say this, Amy, I've been thinking about this lately. We use the word mantra a little like loosely or flippantly. And I just want to call out to our listeners, like, mantras are very can be very personal and very important. And not everything that we say every time is necessarily a mantra. Sometimes it's just a reminder or an equation. Yeah, a quote just one thing to take with you is really what we want to send you off with. So this week is self care is giving the world the best of you instead of what's left of you. And I thought that was pretty appropriate with with Dr. Alisha Reed here today. That's so much.

Amy 57:13

Thank you so much. You're welcome. 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

Episode 44 - Parent-Child Relationship And Everything In Between With Parenting Coach, Erika Brunwasser Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 44, Parent-Child Relationship And Everything In Between With Parenting Coach, Erika Brunwasser Part 2.

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family, we got such an incredible response from parent Coach Erika's episode last week that we decided to add a part two and with some more pieces of feedback tips and tricks to talk to your kids. This one is really about getting advice on some real life scenarios. Really tough topics like sex, how to answer some of your children's more difficult questions, really, really helpful sort of templates, how to approach it, take a listen, and hope you enjoy.

Erika: 1:04

I'm really grateful for my time spent in the schools because yeah, was a window into adolescence, I worked at a charter school in Brooklyn with elementary and I also worked in high school. But for three years, I spent every day with adolescents. And I think having that insight, and they came to me with everything, I mean, everything there is not, I have not seen banging down my door, this Brown was Sorry, gotta talk to you about this, because BrahMos are going to do about this. And having that insight is so important for knowing and having foresight into what I want to develop and not develop in my own kids. And it's not going to be perfect. By the way, they're going to have plenty of their own should write

Amy: 1:46

a book. I'm sorry, the things I learned from middle schoolers. And I think

Erika: 1:51

that I've mentioned things to friends about, well, I don't want this to happen in the future. And I don't want this to happen in the future. And it kind of looks like anxiety like Erica, why are you worried about that? They're there. They're three? Like, what are you talking about getting a phone at 10? They're not three? Or what do you mean, they're gonna work crop tops when they're 12. They're three and six. Because I know what's coming. And we there are so many intentional things we can do in our families in the younger years to set up our family for connection and for success. And starting young is is a great way to do it. And I'm not saying it's too late once they're teenagers. But knowing that every night at nine o'clock phones go in the basket and having them see you do it. Yeah, will be much easier when they turn 11 to say, I'm giving you this phone, and it goes in the basket every night at nine o'clock. No ifs, ands, or buts or eight o'clock or whatever.

Amy: 2:50

I've fucked all that up. Lately, like, I started off good phone contracts the whole thing but now it's like a frickin shit show.

Erika: 2:59

It's just like, like, we're all we're all going through it. I'm not Yeah, I'm not perfect. You know how they say like, the shoemakers kid has no shoes. Yeah,

Amy: 3:08

I'm not always fine now. Like, in my head, like, I have my phone contracts. And it like worked for a little while. But now, with my 15 year old Forget it. Like if I asked him to put his phone away at nine o'clock. We used to do that. But now it's like, he has a girlfriend. He's this he's that like, I mean, it's in his room every night. And I've like given up and that's bad, but I can't it's like I gotta pick my battles

Erika: 3:28

your battles. Yeah, and, and nothing's perfect. And small progress is still progress. So maybe a night a week that you guys are just hanging out together and phones are away. And that's that has an impact.

Amy: 3:41

But we instituted like, no video games for my older son during the week. And for my younger one. It was like, I think we had like two days where they he can't play video games or something. And that's worked because it's been consistent.

Katie: 3:57

Yeah, that's great. If it's consistent, right? Isn't that what matters? Yeah.

Amy: 4:01

Katie, I want to hear your question about Maddie and what she asked.

Katie: 4:05

Okay, so that's that's a good segue. Why don't we Why don't we do some like quick scenarios and some of these can go really really deep so Okay, with as much as I would love we'll have to have you come back for round two? Sure.

Amy: 4:22

Feel like I've been like dumping all my problems? No, it's an appointment 100%

Katie: 4:30

Alright, so quick scenarios and how and how you you know, your quick advice on it. But we'll start with with what Amy said. So the other day, Madeline, my eight year old who's eight? What feels like going on 20 It's freaking terrifying. came to me and said, Mommy, what is a stripper? And I might hit the floor and I said to her Where did you hear that word? And she said I heard it on a teacher's ringtone which is code for or is code for? I heard it on probably a fifth graders ringtone on the bus ran because I Yeah, who's this teacher? What do they look like? She couldn't give me anything. Yeah, yeah, we didn't I didn't even worry about that the little white lie fine. My first reaction was, I don't know that word. And then I said, Oh, I think they're talking about a candy striper. That's a type of nurse. Then I ran to my bedroom and texted Erica, what the hell do I do? So, Erica gave me fantastic advice, and it worked in.

Amy: 5:37

Okay, so what was this advice?

Erika: 5:39

Okay, so, number one, I will tell you that I've had time to prep my answer to this question, because you did come to me with this a few days ago. So it's not as quick as some of my other answers might be. And I hope that that's okay. I want to cover a bunch of stuff that I think is important here. It can be about a stripper, it can be about what is depression, it can be about what is war? What is sex? This is my formula for everything. Okay. Okay. For number one, I love it. You thank your kid, thank you for coming to me with this. That was not easy to do. And I know that. And I trust you and you trust me, and I'm here for you. You were brave. You number one, you have to reinforce it. But for specifically for the stripper question. I think this answer is very much going to depend on the family's values, cultural norms, expectations. And the reason that I am thinking about this is because we're here and puritanical America is at the highest, purest country in America, where we cover up and we, you know, we don't strip and whatever. However, maybe someone in France thinks it's okay to be a burlesque dancer, right? You know. And I think that just in the same way that I work with clients, not to put my values on them, but to help them raise their children with their values. This is similar. So you want to show your kid, you know, that there are different ways of life without being too judgmental. However, because of everything that is going on in our world, raising a kid in 2022, is not the same as it was raising a kid 20 years ago. And it's not the same as it was raising a kid 40 years ago. And when a kid comes to you, with something like this, you should absolutely take the opportunity to share your values, and use it as a learning experience. Because they have so much unlimited access to information, right. And if you don't take the opportunity to educate them about what's right, and your family and what's not, they will make their own conclusions. And that's why it's so important to be able to set a tone, where in your house, you do talk about these things. So by thanking them, thank you for coming to me with this, you know, it's really, it's really setting them up or having said that, take it as an opportunity for for teaching and for sharing the values that you want them to grow up with, and have in your family, but be as factual as possible. And I think this is really important, depending on the age of the kid too. Because people always offer up so much information, they start to feel nervous, oh my god stuff. And they just share everything about a stripper that they ever knew in the world. But guess what, when a five year old asks what a stripper is, it's different than how you would answer a 10 year old, right? Which is different than how you would answer a 15 year old. And so I think being as factual as possible is really important. So a stripper is a word for some grown ups, who have a job where they take their clothes off and show their bodies to other people. That is a fact. So thank them for coming to you. Tell them the factual information, define it for them, and then share your values and your in the way you want to educate them. So it's not a job that I agree with, or it's not a job that I think is okay. It's it's not a job that I would hope for you to have one day, you're going to have your choice to do lots of other jobs. And, and you can remind them depending on the age as well. And you should remind them and when a question like this, that our bodies are private, we keep our bodies private, we respect our bodies, you know, we don't share our private areas with other people. So especially with an eight year old, this is something I would want to incorporate into this conversation. I wouldn't necessarily necessarily say it to a 16 year old because they already know that, you know, hopefully right? And you know, if they ask you more you answer and then at the end you always close it with I am here for you. And you can ask me anything else about this. Always.

Katie: 9:44

That's exactly what I did with Madeline and first of all, she was like salivating when I went to say I'm gonna tell you what this is. So she sat on my lap and she had a smile on her face like, Oh, this is gonna be good. Like that's totally what was happening. thing. And then I went through all of that everything that Erica just said in my own words, and she walked away with them was just like, Okay, mommy, I understand. Okay, thank you. And like, it's awesome.

Amy: 10:14

You went back into the room and you said like, thank you.

Katie: 10:18

Day, I told her I said, I Googled this, to find out what it is, which I don't know if like, that's good or not. But I'd already told her I didn't know what that word was. My track? Yeah. So and yeah, and it hasn't come up since. And she Yeah, I mean, it's and I, when you

Amy: 10:37

said like, this is something that I don't think is a good job. And you did it. Like, did she understand that? Like, what did she what were her reactions? Sure

Katie: 10:47

you understood it because I said, and Erica helped me on this one that like, not all adults make good choices, you know, like, we can all make bad choices.

Erika: 10:58

And it's because they're grown up doesn't mean they're always making the right choice, right. And then sometimes they don't have a choice. And you are going to go to college, and you're going to have a choice of jobs. Exactly. Some people don't have a choice about how they make money. And they feel desperate. I mean, they're depending on the age and things like that interesting,

Katie: 11:13

you know, and I also, I also interjected with one thing that I'm not sure if it was right or not, but I said, you know, mommy, like mommy and daddy would never want this job for you, you come from a very loving home. And sadly, not all grown ups always come from a loving home or have a have a supportive life coming up in the world. And so that has kind of led them to make these difficult bad choices. And I said, you have a very loving mommy and daddy that, you know, it's like, I don't know, I just it was kind of just like me more, make sure like honing it in that it's not anything that would ever interest her or she would even would be unnecessary or need or on the table. Like that

Erika: 11:51

part might be different with a 13 year old, right? Because they might say, you know, well, what if this makes me feel good, and you would explore what makes them feel good? What makes them feel respected? What doesn't? And you would explore? Well, you know, how do you feel about a five men standing around and looking at your body? Let's talk about that. This happens with a stripper, you know, you would, depending on the age, it's different. And then you're gonna talk about? Well, I think it's very powerful to share your own story. Sometimes you don't want to tell everything. But when I decided that a boy was going to see my body and my private areas, and by the way, I like to use real anatomy. Yes. Usually, when I decided that my boyfriend was going to see my vagina, by the way, vagina is not a bad word. It's a medical term for something that's on our body. And my breasts, I was in a relationship with that person. He was my boyfriend, we trusted each other, we loved each other, I felt comfortable with him. And I loved taking my shirt off with him, because I knew that he was going to be there for me, and he thought I was beautiful. And I felt beautiful. So depending on whether they're 515, eight, whatever, and all the conversation is gonna look different. Yeah. And the number one thing is, we're open enough that we want them to, you know, feel comfortable coming back, because if not, they're going to google it. They're going to figure it out on the bus. Exactly. We're going to come up with some weird explanation. You want to be the one to deliver it with your values, because you're raising a kid based on your values.

Katie: 13:31

Right? That is a great segue into sex. And I feel like you kind of just, like touched on it a little bit. But how do you talk to a kid about sex? I mean, my Madeline has. In second grade. She went to a Catholic private school last year, wonderful school, but they did send her home with a sexual abuse pamphlet in second grade, which I didn't really feel was super. Oh my god. Yeah. So when I didn't know that, at that point, and so I didn't say the word sex. It did. Yeah. And so she said, Mommy, what's sexual what sex mean? Like what sexual because what she meant, gosh, what abuse was, but she didn't understand that part. And so I just explained it to her in a very anatomically like scientific way. It's like Mommy has the egg Daddy has the fertilizer like that

Erika: 14:15

time. First of all, we have to acknowledge that sex is here to stay, guys. It's here. It's not going anywhere. Right? If you want your kids, just like with everything else, I've said, If you want your kids to internalize your values, and be educated by you, then you have to be open to talking about these things. Plain and simple. What you say sends a message and what you don't say sends a message. And it's very clear, and they absorb it and they know what they can come to mom with and what they can't or mom and dad and whoever. Right. So you have to you have to strive to make your house A place where they can come to you with anything or else Or else they will find it somewhere else. So with sex, I would be as factual as possible, especially with the young ones if they hear about it. sexes. My daughter actually asked me recently, something like was I was in your tummy and then I came out of your tummy. And I was like, yeah. And but how did I get in your Tomic? And I said, and that's a common one that parents get all tripped. They're not asking you to, like, tell you about your craziest sexual experience that you ever had one night in college like, asking you though, they're asking you, How did I get in your tummy? What is the answer? a sperm and an egg came together. And that is how you are in my tummy. Men have sperm in their bodies. Women have eggs in their bodies. And they come together, and they make a baby. And by the way, this accounts for differences in how people have babies too. Because some people, you know, don't have a mom and a dad, some people have two moms, some people have two dads, some people are from sperm donors, some are adopted. The fact is, for every single human being on this planet, a sperm and egg has come together to make a baby. Then if they ask you more, you go deeper.

Katie: 16:14

Yeah, that's great. That's That's it? Yeah, that's that's kind of how I was thinking about it. When Madeline came to me just like facts and like science. Right? You know,

Amy: 16:24

I mean, that's what happened with us with our kids, and also in school. And fifth grade is when at least here is when they do that subject. And they do it very science oriented. But they tell you before, so you can have that conversation before they actually learn it at school, which I think is really helpful. You know, speaking, speaking of googling things, this is a friend of mine years and years ago, Katie, you know, this friend, but I won't, I won't say who it is. Her daughter was asking her at a very young age what sex was and she kept. I'll tell you later, we'll talk about it later. Because when her daughter would ask would be like, in the middle of something that they were doing that like they were in a store, or they were you know, it wasn't like the appropriate moment. And she kind of ignored it a couple of times. And then her daughter, Google that. And porn came into her face. And she freaked out. Yeah. And it was like such a lesson one, I'd heard that because my kids were younger at the time. I was like, Oh, my God, that's so scary. And she's a very communicative mother. It's just like, you know, sometimes you just blow things off. And you don't think about the consequences of what that could mean.

Katie: 17:29

And you also don't necessarily know how big your child's curiosity is about it.

Amy: 17:33

Right? And you might hear it and ask once, and then she probably figured out they're not going to ask me again. Yeah, it's yeah, one quick thing. I'll say, my little one asked one time was asking me about sex or talking out about it. And I said, Oh, do you know what that is? And he said, Yeah. And I said, Okay, what would you think it is? And he said, Well, it's when a man and a woman get naked, and they take a bath together. And I said, okay, like, I didn't like clarify it. I just at that time, sort of just because sometimes they'll say things that they don't even know like, they think they know what it is, but they don't. And they said, I think

Erika: 18:11

when a kid thinks that and they want to know more, they'll come to you and say, Well, I thought it was this, but really what is it? And that's when they're ready to know, right? Yeah.

Amy: 18:20

Yeah. So it's just funny, because they'll say things that they think they know. But they actually don't. Right.

Katie: 18:25

Yeah, yeah. Well, okay, before we wrap, there's just there's two quick things that I want to hit. Yeah, Erica says this quote of hers that I love, and it really resonates with me and I, our listeners have to hear it. Because we all are busy parents all the time. And you know, it's like, maybe on a Saturday, when there's no work going on. And the kids are in the house. And it's like, okay, oh, I've got so much to do, I've got it, I gotta do the laundry, I gotta get caught up on this go up. The kids are here, I gotta, I gotta I have to be at the kids. Eric has quote is I have to be with my kids all day, versus I get to be with my kids all day. It's just like a little flip in the mindset that it really impactful. And it really, it was, like, last weekend, it was it kept going in my head because I could have been doing the things that I needed to do. But then I said that to myself, and it just like changed everything. And I was like I like enthralled in the kids. And we'd love that they're, you know, so anyway, it's a great one. I love that.

Amy: 19:30

I love that. Yeah, I

Erika: 19:31

think just reframing is such a such a big part of what I do with my clients, like, just just, you know, taking in as much positive stuff about them as you can and think of all the people who don't get to be with their kids for whatever reason, or, you know, just I think that we have to just look at them with the most positive light that we can and the more we appreciate them, the more they feel that and it's just like, the goodness gross

Katie: 19:57

Yes. 100% Okay.

Amy: 20:00

Yeah, I love that. And I, it's funny because I think we talked about this on another episode recently, but we were talking about like, mindset and like framing things differently. I've never really thought it as much. Well, I guess I have thought about myself more. But like if my kids will say that to go to school today, and I'm like, you get to go to school today, you're lucky that you get to go to school and not everybody, you know, so, yeah, it's really I love that. That's great.

Katie: 20:23

All right. Well, Erica, how can our listeners find you? Because now they're all going to be knocking down your door? Yeah, I was

Amy: 20:29

just gonna say do you do virtuals

Erika: 20:32

Of course, we've been doing zoom with clients, I google meet whatever floats your boat. I have an Instagram, which is parent coach, Erica Erica with the K. parent coach, e ri K. And anyone can look at that I share a lot of content there. Like you mentioned, Katie. I am working on my website, which is going to be parent coach erica.com, I believe but it's in the process. And you can email me at Erica Braun, Wasser, e ri K A B as in boy, are you NWASSE are@gmail.com

Katie: 21:12

Fabulous. And we'll have all of that in our show notes. Awesome. And trust me, you're gonna want to reach out to Erica.

Amy: 21:19

Oh, I'll be reaching out.

Katie: 21:22

Alright, so let's do our quick wrap session. Erica. It's just some fun questions. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Erika: 21:30

So I don't know if you guys know about Beautycounter. It's an amazing brand that has been developed by this awesome CEO Greg Renfrew in California. And it was the goal was to make cosmetics and skincare without 1500 of the most toxic ingredients that are commonly found in our in our skincare. And I sold it for a while and now I've just hooked it. I love it. Oh, nice. Really awesome. Is that Yeah, it's

Amy: 21:59

um, it's all vegan, right? Not vegan or organic,

Erika: 22:04

free of, of harmful chemicals. And it's really high performing to like, I find that it works just as well as the department store stuff. And it makes me feel good because I know that I'm doing something healthy for my skin when I put it on. Nice. Yeah, I love this. Oh, thank you.

Amy: 22:22

Podcast with the founder of beauty counter because I wanted to try it. They have like, it's like their own line, right? Because, yes,

Erika: 22:29

but she but it's awesome. And it's also you're supporting a small woman owned business when you buy from them because it has Alton's. It's just a great it's a really cool brand. Like I've heard

Amy: 22:41

it's really good. Yeah,

Katie: 22:42

I love that. Okay, so this next one we call our five minute flow. You just got out the shower, Uber, ping do the five minutes away. What are you going to do to get out the door? And in that cat, like, what are your holy girls? What are you gonna throw on and get in that car on time?

Erika: 22:57

Okay, so if I only have five minutes, I'm really hoping it's the summertime because I don't know if this is five minutes. I'm going out with wet hair and letting it dry. So hopefully it's summer. And I would just you know, put on my my face lotion, a little concealer, some eyeliner, little lip gloss a dress sandals and call it a day.

Katie: 23:20

Nice. Yep,

Amy: 23:22

we need some summer. I know. All right, now we're ready to the sun. And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Erika: 23:29

Well, I would love to say that I attained nirvana every day. Myself. And even though I seem, you know, calm, cool and collected. It's not so easy when you're raising a three and six year old but I will say I take a lot of breaks. And I am not ashamed to say, you know, your whole podcast is about self care. And when I heard that when I first met Katie and heard about it, I was like, yes, yes, yes, yes, we need self care. And I am not ashamed that I take breaks. I go get a 20 minute foot massage at the nail place. I do what I got to do. And thank God for my husband because he's extremely supportive. He is really my partner. He's my he's a team player. He takes over and does stuff with the girls all the time. And I'm like, gotta Garcia. I love them out. Mommy's going to the grocery store.

Katie: 24:24

All right, Eric, I love everything you just said we could not agree with you more. The breaks are super important. So having said that, let's close with our mantra.

Amy: 24:32

So the mantra is, smile. It's good for your immune system.

Katie: 24:38

Oh, I like that. Yeah, reminder.

Amy: 24:41

Yeah, great. I that was posted by a company that I just got some like supplements from called symbiotic AKA, I don't know if it's their quote, or they just don't know. I saw it on their Instagram recently. And I was like, Oh, I love that. That's great.

Katie: 24:54

Love. Yeah, smiling right now. All right, well, Erin co brandmeister. parent coach spectacular. I thank you so much for being here.

Amy: 25:01

Thank you so much.

Erika: 25:03

This is so fun guy.

Amy: 25:05

I feel like I vented everything that I needed to then and now I

Erika: 25:11

need to God we gotta get absolutely

Amy: 25:13

or Yeah, no, it's great. Thank you again. 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 well now so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 40 - Vogue Mexico Editor-In-Chief Karla Martinez De Salas on Inclusivity, Diversity, Fashion, Beauty, & Well-being (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 40 - Vogue Mexico Editor-In-Chief Karla Martinez De Salas on Inclusivity, Diversity, Fashion, Beauty, & Well-being.

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.

Katie: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome to this week's episode of Nirvana sisters. This was a fun one, I get to catch up with Carla Martinez to Salas who is the head of editorial content at Vogue, Mexico and Latin America. And I realized as I was editing this at the beginning of the show, I didn't mention that she was with Vogue, which I thought was an important note. I hope you enjoyed the episode. Welcome back to the show Nirvana's sister's family. It's Amy and Katie, and we're here with Carla Martinez. Desai. Last. Did I say that right, Carla? Yes. And Carla is the head of editorial content for Mexico and Latin America. So excited to speak with you, Carla. So Carla, and I know each other from back in the day, we went to college together you have a Go Wildcats, and we probably haven't seen each other in, I don't know, 2025 years. We were just saying before we started recording that. Last time we saw each other was probably when we were both living in New York and in the in the street, like hustling around. But it's so good that she's here to talk to us about her fabulous, incredible, amazing journey in the fashion industry. So a little bit about Carla. As I said, she went to UVA with me, we were actually in the same sorority and she was my little sister. So I sort of call that out. So I feel that I did a very good job raising, you know. So Carla started her career as an assistant at Vogue us. And then in 2002, became an associate fashion editor from 2005 to 2010. She was fashion director for teen magazine of New York Times. Then she later took the fashion direction of Interview magazine, then went to be the fashion and accessories director of W magazine in 2011 2011. And then in 2015, Carla moved to Mexico City with her family, where she started working as a freelance in, I'm gonna say this wrong, but you can you can correct me Carla Cooperativa shop, an online store that specializes in readymade pieces by Latin designers, which is so cool. And then she became the editor in chief for Vogue, Mexico and Latin America in June 2016. And since then, has continued with the exclusive editorial line of the title. So she has been in charge of Vogue, Mexico and Latin America. She has been interviewed many times by major publications and been on TV very notable appearances across the board, it was recently included in the fee of AF us list. So that's business of fashion us list of the 500 international fashion leaders. And since then you've been in charge of the magazines management. So Vogue, Mexico and Latin America was also awarded the Best editorial content for Mexico's fashion digital awards. Congratulations on that. And you also a part of Project paws, a nonprofit organization with headquarters in New York, which has a goal of creating extracurricular activities for low income children, and see your daughter Wall Race in order to promote peace. So that's just a quick little snippet of her incredible accomplishments. But there's so much more and thank you for coming on the show. Carla, we've been chatting for months trying to get her on. So we're so glad that you're able to join us and super inspired by you and all that you've been doing. So welcome.

Karla: 3:44

Thank you, Amy and Katie for having me. I know it's so I can't believe you did do a very good job. As my big sister as I wouldn't say that that kind of whole sorority rush process was the like, prepares you for job interviews in a way. And kind of got you ready for the real world in that like, you know, you just graduated from high school. You at least at Arizona it was such a huge school and so difficult to navigate that you kind of wanted to have like a little community where you could go to and yeah, and

Amy: 4:23

a home base. And yeah, and I just remember you Carla, you're always so chic. Even back then always put together always looks good. I remember you being super into fashion then. So I love that you've followed your your passion and love for fashion and all things Lux.

Karla: 4:42

I know I was looking at a picture of a college trip that I took to Paris. And I remember having like a camel coat and I feel like I would wear that in Tucson and people would be like what are you wearing?

Amy: 4:55

I feel like I remember that code now that you're saying it I'm not even kidding you

Karla: 5:00

And when we all and then a lot of I mean, you guys were at least a lot more from like, you know, from the East Coast like I grew up in El Paso, which is certainly like, I think it was like a step below Tucson in terms of FAFSA. So I don't know, I think it's funny because I always tell people that like, I kind of got like, my education from magazines in general. And like, you know, my mom liked kind of more tabloid magazines and like, what Princess Caroline was wearing of Monaco or something, but, but she wasn't into like, the big like, she always liked reading that Hello are like Allah. Which, but, you know, I feel like really, really, like helped me grow up in that way. You know? Certainly I'll pass it was not somewhere where you where I learned about high fashion by any means.

Amy: 5:55

While you certainly have had the education since then. So Carl, I want to start out with something we called our weekly nirvana or Nirvana the week where we just talk about something that brought us joy this week, something that just sparked a little joy and put a little smile on our face. Because we always want to make sure we're looking at all the other good things that are happening so I can start, or actually I'll flip it to you, Katie, why don't you start? All right. Well, thank

Katie: 6:18

you, Amy. And Carla. It's so great to be here. We're really thrilled that you're here. I mean, this is a big deal. Vogue, like I feel very honored to have you for exciting role, boss. It's huge. So let's see my weekly Nirvana it happened on Saturday, I had a lymphatic drainage massage and Reiki done at the same time, and it was really kind of amazing. It was a whole experience. The whole thing lasted for hours. Like which was unexpected. Yeah, it was it was kind of wild. Like there was there was the the pre session of like talking with the energy healer. And then she did some spiritual healing. I don't know the terms for it. But these I turned clockwise a few times, like these really wild things, but it was very relaxing and calming. And then we did the lymphatic drainage and the Reiki massage and it was cool. I mean, I definitely felt I understand now the feeling of Reiki. I don't know if I know Amy, you haven't had Carla, if you have ever had Reiki done No, I

Karla: 7:23

haven't. And yeah, and I love people here have been talking a lot about something called cap that I

Katie: 7:29

know we haven't heard of us or that

Karla: 7:31

kind of like a like a koonta loony Kundalini kind of yoga process. But where the teacher kind of guides you with like energy and like touch. Oh, that's exciting. I'm just gonna do I haven't done it yet.

Amy: 7:45

Yeah, send it over we yeah, we interviewed Athena Baris. Her episode, launched a couple weeks ago and she's a Reiki Master and just read a book. So we were learning all about it through her but neither of us has done it. So Katie ought to fill us in more about that. That's super

Katie: 7:58

cool. Yeah, it was great. It was it was an experience for sure. So what about you, Amy? What was your nirvana?

Amy: 8:04

Well, this is kind of silly. But it did bring me joy. So I'm traveling later this week for business. And I haven't traveled in so long. Obviously, we've all been locked down. So it's nice to finally go on a trip. But I'm going on a longer trip than usual. And I always get super stressed before I travel. I just feel like there's so many details to take care of. I'm sure Carly, you can relate. But anyway, I packed early, which I never do. I packed Sunday morning, and I'm leaving Wednesday. Oh, wow. I'm always last minute. Katie knows I'm like throwing things together. I'm stressed and crazy. And I was like, I need to like think through because I have a lot of events and different things and locks. And I'm like, I need to think through this. I need to try and close I need to like be strategic in my packing, which I never am. And so I did it Sunday morning, and like I just have a couple more things to do. But I was like, so happy afterwards and so relieved. And I'm like, Okay, so now the night before I leave, I'm not like a crazy person running around the house. So that was my Nirvana the week. What about you, Carla?

Karla: 8:58

i Well, did we have the day off today? So I went to I always I feel like I do yoga once or twice a week. But usually I have to run out early because I'm stressed and there's like a million things going on. You know, like you have to be ready by nine to get to work. And today I did like the whole hour and a half class. And you know, there's like so many things in yoga that you're working through. And it's funny, I was doing the pinch up pose, you know, the kind of four arm stand and I hadn't fallen and I know how to fall you know, you fall like kind of in a backbend. And I felt totally fine and like when I left the class like I was, so I was so happy that like I was able to fall and not be scared if that man Yeah. And it was just nice. Like that kind of whole energy in the class was like, there were like five women. It was taught by like one of my favorite teachers. So I feel like that you know when you find that kind of like Nirvana in your like exercise or kind of in yoga, I find that always to be really nice.

Katie: 10:08

Yeah, 100% I completely agree with you on that I enjoy really going to like small private studios as well. And I haven't been able to find one here. I just moved to Connecticut recently, I haven't found one yet that like really speaks to me, like the one I had where I used to live. And it's, it's true, like the setting and the people and it all kind of, yeah, it's important. And also,

Karla: 10:29

like, I feel like just during COVID Like, I was doing it online at my house and in certain ways, like I was doing things better, but then you kind of miss that energy of like, other people and like, obviously, when it's like friendly, and there's no stress, right? I feel like and when you can't find that. It's frustrating.

Amy: 10:50

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Someone they're guiding you. So you knew you're doing everything right. Well, that's great. That's so nice. Okay, so we're gonna get into some like quickfire questions. And then we'll get into some some topics we want to chat on with you. So tell us a little bit. I mean, I gave your intro, but tell us a little bit about what you're doing now Vogue and like, and also kind of your personal mentors, like how you've gotten to where you've gotten so successfully, and kind of like, who's inspired you? And who uses like, your kind of personal board of directors, I like to say, um,

Karla: 11:22

well, I feel like God, I feel like, like that community at Arizona was such a great place. And like, I remember everyone kind of doing internships in the summer and like, really pushing to like, what are you going to do after you graduate? So I guess I lived in New York for 15 to 16 years. And, you know, when the opportunity came to move to Mexico, it was my husband grew up in Mexico City. It's, it's funny, his mom is actually from Connecticut, but she's as a young girl to Mexico City. And, and he, you know, was like, listen, like, I want this to be like a totally mutual decision. And, and obviously, I was super scared, I had like, never actually lived in Mexico, which is funny, because, you know, I've been coming to Mexico my whole life with my family, and my parents were from Mexico and moved to the US when, you know, before my siblings and I were born. And once we came, you know, we came for his job. And then in the end, I got this opportunity, which I don't know, if I would have would have gotten to New York, or certainly it would have taken longer, I think. But I think, you know, I always had, I don't know if you guys feel the same way. But I always had that. And I don't know, if it's just New York also is like, you're surrounded by like, amazing women that, that kind of have it all right, like they have families and yes, obviously, no one does it perfectly. And I don't think that there is an idea of the perfect mom, right? And, and all of them were just like, so inspiring to me, and all these places that I worked in, when I was an assistant in vogue us and, you know, obviously, I didn't have a lot of contact with Anna Wintour, then but now I do. And, you know, I feel like that it's it's so like, exciting. It was really exciting to have grown up there sort of say, you know, for that to my first job, because I really feel like it was a master's. And all the women that work there like Virginia Smith, who's still there, you know, she had, she had a child. And they were also like, hard working. And then I worked at the New York Times, which is amazing. And like a really, kind of it was that idea of like, what we like what is everywhere now, which is lifestyle, which when I feel like when you when we graduated was like fashion, right? And now lifestyle is like home and travel. And, you know, I worked for a woman named Jan Christiansen who also was an amazing role model because she was kind and you know, she had a child and, you know, we just like you saw all those like struggles and like, I kind of you know, saw these women that like some of them had a hard time getting pregnant, but like they kind of, you know, made it happen. And they were really great at their jobs. And they were also like, great entertainers and friends. So I feel like those women that I that I had, like that I worked for were were people that like I really looked up to and admired and really helped me kind of pave my way and find my voice. And then then I went to go work at W and that was the last job that I took before I moved to Mexico. And you know, I feel like along the way I have like really amazing peers like Ricky de Soleil, who's now the fashion director at Nordstrom. And we were all kind of just trying to find our voice. I feel like one of my best friends from growing up who went to UT Austin. Her name is Audrey Ponzio was kind of like, you know, you're one of the few Latinas in fashion. And I didn't even realize it at the time. I you know, I always, I never wanted to, you know, be I never wanted to say like, I'm Latina deserve this job. I just, it just kind of happened. And I always had like, really positive experiences, but I did. One of the things I did notice, like, you know, working at these different places was, yeah, I was most of the time, one of the few Latinas in the room. And that, you know, it's when we talk about like diversity and inclusion in like media, you have to talk about it, like, in the workplace, right. And like, what that means, and, and I feel like all of those experiences really prepared me to kind of moving then to Mexico where, you know, the Mexico I mean, people here like to say that, that there's no racism here. There's like classism, which is kind of the same thing in a way. And, you know, the son of like, your housekeeper would never get a job at a, you know, Conde Nast. Whereas in the US like those opportunities, like you can be, you can be any, anyone can be anything they want. And so that was something that always like, stuck with like, I always had it very present. And so I knew that I wanted to make the magazine more representative of what people are really like, here. So that's, that was, I feel like my whole journey in New York, just like being in fashion, and then kind of learning that fashion is not just clothes, that it's so much really helped me to kind of bring everything that I knew, to Vogue, Mexico and Latin America, if that makes sense. That was no, that's

Katie: 16:49

it. I was wondering, do you know now if, you know, in the States, W and Vogue and everything us, is it? Has it become more inclusive? Is there is there more diversity is did you kind of break the glass ceiling there?

Karla: 17:03

I think so. I mean, I remember, you know, when I started working in New York, like literally, I was like, God, how did you know I remember, what am I, my first boss at Vogue was like, oh, you know, here's your resume that like Anna signed off on and it said, like, Aw, okay, no. And I was like, Oh, my God, how did I slip in, you know, like, everyone here is like, tall, blonde, you know, an heiress, a child of a model, right? model, you know, and it's not something that ever, like, bothered me, like, I always knew that. I was super hard working, and I loved fashion. And I really wanted to be a part of this world. It's not something that ever, I'm sure it created, like, insecurities that I didn't know at the time, but I never had like any, like, I My experience was only positive. But I think it's also because I was also like, a really hard worker, and I was up for anything. And, you know, and that's what it took, like, I feel like that in that school in particular, like, if you were really willing to put the time in, then it wasn't the place for you to work because, yes, maybe your dad called someone to kind of help you get an interview, and you got the job. But like, if you weren't willing to like work a 12 hour day, like you wouldn't make

Amy: 18:26

right you're out. How did you get that first role as an assistant? Because were you interning or something like that? Because the breakthrough role, I would think to your point, it's like, you send a resume and and like, everybody else does, too. Like, how does that happen? Yeah,

Karla: 18:39

so it's funny because I actually, I remember, like, my sophomore year, in college, a friend of mine was like, Oh, I'm gonna go intern at Nicole Miller. My mom got me this internship. And I was like, oh my god, what am I going to do? My dad's a doctor and Oh, patho like, I'm gonna go back and like file, you know, folders all summer. And I started calling like, different fashion houses from W that I saw like W magazine. And someone by like, the good grace of God, like, picked up the phone and was like, Where are you from? And I was like, I Well, I'm from El Paso, but I go to school in Tucson, because I'm from Tucson. Wow, God, can you fly up here? And I was like, of course, like, when do you need to see me and I remember calling my mom and be like, I'm going to New York. And you know, wasn't like, I mean, you know, it wasn't like, going like, or maybe it is now. I mean, I don't know. But like, I was 19 And here I was like going to fly across the country to go to an interview. And my mom like called a friend of hers her daughter and was like Can my daughter stay on your couch? I mean, literally, it was like, that's amazing. Go like Mexican mom like asking like a friend of a friend if like I could crash on her sofa. And I remember I stayed at my friend's at my mom's friend's daughter's house. And I got the Interview and like from there, I like was in touch with a woman from human resources. And she remembered me. And then when I moved to New York after moved to Paris for a year, I called her and I got the job. So I feel like I always try. And I mean, I feel like we've all had these similar experiences. I always try and like pick up like answer like that DM on Instagram, right, or like, message on LinkedIn, because now we're in our like, that was our kind of way and we didn't have those tools. And so now I feel like I always try and like pick up the phone and like, give someone not pick up the phone but return a message. That's great. You're paying it forward.

Amy: 20:44

Yeah. And I it's funny, I have a similar point of view when it comes to like when people contact me and things like that. There's a there's a podcast that I listen to Ed my lat I don't know if you know who he is. He's like a entrepreneur leader. And he has this philosophy and I'm probably butchering it, but it's something like, you're always like, one step away from so like, the point is, is like one step away from like, reading an email that could change your life or meeting someone or that person picking up the phone. It's like, you never know. And you're always like, one step away from something good or bad. So

Karla: 21:17

I feel like when we were graduating, it was harder though, because Oh, my god, yeah, be one step away. I mean, you know, I feel like now, I get

Amy: 21:26

so accessible now. Well, now everything's accessible. There's Instagram. There's LinkedIn, like all these things. Like when I moved to New York, I moved to New York and my friend Jessica, remember Jessica from college, and she was working at this ad agency, and then get me a job. And that happened to be on a movie account, which I was interested in, and like, you know, marketing, blah, blah, blah, went from there, but it was all just kind of like who you knew, or like who you called, it was just you had to be probably a lot more resourceful. I'm sure. Yeah, you have to kind of stand out more because everyone's doing the same thing. But yeah, you definitely have to be scrappy, and resourceful. I mean, Katie moved to New York, and when how old? Were you occasionally? New York? COVID-19. 19?

Katie: 22:03

Yeah, it was, it was kind of the same thing. Like, I just got kind of got lucky that, you know, it was for modeling. And this an agency happened to call my agency and said, Sure, we'll move on. And then they ended up being like a horrible agency. But hey, they got me to New York.

Karla: 22:18

Yeah, sometimes, like the way would you like, arrive isn't necessarily the way that you know, but again, it's also much easier to find a job when you have a job, right? So I would always tell people that like, if you really want to move to York, then maybe try something out and you can leave, it's just, you know, getting that foot in, it's easier, like once you're there, right?

Amy: 22:40

Exactly, exactly. And you work really hard. Okay, so what have you seen? Like how have you seen the industry change over the years you've been a lot of places and like I'm sure the industry has changed in a positive way but like what have you seen as some of the biggest changes over the years I feel like

Karla: 22:56

I really believe like, I you know, as I was saying, like before, like when I first started working, I was definitely like one of the few like Mexican girls in the room and that has changed a lot. I feel like you know, just in terms of like designer, even designers, if you think about it, there was like Karolina Herrera Oscar, Nurse Cisco, right. And now you have like, Maria Coronae. Whoa, Willy Chavarria, who is like a Mexican American now creative director of Calvin Klein, you have like Joanna Ortiz, and from Columbia and like Sylvia Taurasi, and like just so many different people that like now make up you know, the fashion industry and like they're letting they even like last September when I went to Fashion Week, and it was after an app and a year and a half break of like, COVID and not being able to go to shows. There were so many young, cool, like African American designers, like I saw a girl from college that was working with this young designer from Jamaica called Theo Theo philia baillio I'm pretty sure it's from Jamaica. But just like, the front row is was different. I feel like for a long time, like the front row looked exactly the same. And now there's, like, young, like, different kids that like, look that don't, you know, everyone looks different. And that's really cool. I mean, I was thinking, like, you know, when I worked at Vogue and like Andre Leon Talley that died a few weeks ago, you know, he was really like, I mean, I don't think we even realized at the time what a big deal like this, you know, very like bold kind of loud African American man like how much he paved the way for other people, you know, people of color in general I mean, it the fashion industry, I feel like for a really long time was this very, like exclusive club, and now,

Amy: 24:46

like have skinny tall people.

Karla: 24:48

Yeah, like, people and now that's really changing and just like the front row also, but also like, I remember like, three, two or three years ago like probl girl only, like had three, two or three plus size models walking down the road. And I was like, oh my god, like this is this is so beautiful that he's like, so, you know, got out of this like space of only skinny models. And now I feel like if you don't have like a plus size or like a normal size model, not just like a super thin model on your runway, I feel like it feels uncomfortable. You know, like,

Katie: 25:26

you did see more of that body positivity as well,

Karla: 25:29

definitely, I feel like that has totally, like, I feel like designers are so much more aware of it and conscious. And, you know, five years ago, you know, someone like Lizzo probably wouldn't have been on the cover of all the magazines. And like, that's, that's really changing. And I feel like, you know, for us, like we put this American Mexican indigenous woman on the cover that was the star of Roma in 2019. And one of my best friends, like, if I can't even be I mean, I can talk for an hour about the engagement we got from putting this woman on the cover. And it was like people from around the world from different indigenous groups were like, this is such a big deal. And I remember the one thing that like really stuck out, like stood out with a friend of mine saying, like, thank you so much for putting someone that looks like me on the cover. And I was like, that's really impactful. Because yeah, for a long time, there weren't people that looked diverse, like it was one type of beauty and, and I think the industry and like after also Black Lives Matter last year, and you know, I think that hard conversations had had to be had and like, that made a lot of change in the industry. Of course, there's like a ton of work to do still. But um, but I do feel like the it's changed a lot for the good. Yeah, that's,

Katie: 26:57

that's good to hear. You mentioned Lizzo being on the cover. When do you think the shift from like, I mean, there was a point where the fashion magazines, the covers, were only models, right for a long time for as I was growing up, and then it's the celebrity culture. It's now it's very much focused on celebrities, do you, wouldn't you when did that shift happen?

Karla: 27:17

I feel like, you know, but I was reading something, an interview of when I think it was like 99. Like I think we were just like, like very early in our very early in our professional careers. I remember like when Vogue. Stop putting so many celebrities and like when I started working there in 2001. Like it was definitely majority celebrities with the exception of like Giselle, or Christy Turlington. And I think we're still seeing that, but we're also seeing, like, you know, people like female entrepreneurs, or like, in the case of American Vogue last year, that put in May, I believe, Amanda Gorman. So I feel like there is like, you don't have to just be making movies. It's more about like musicians and artists and poets and you know, different women. That I feel like inspiring women, right? I feel like it doesn't have to be like that, that model of like, only celebrity when the movie comes out is right feels like old you know, of course you want to time your cover to something to a project that someone's working on. But I feel like it's not like it's not just that it's like many more types of women including models, right? Do you feel like

Amy: 28:38

Right? Yeah, I mean, I think it's so cool to see who's always on the cover and like why and it has changed so drastically just from like what I've seen over the years not being like a major fashion person but like just seeing the change and like to Katie's point Lizzo and all of these people I mean, it's great it's just I love how inclusive it is and how I mean I think too that's that's a change just generally speaking with the luxury industry like every all these luxury brands are trying to be more accessible less so about this like club you can't get into it's more of like this inclusive nature because people are now turned off by that that's like right school, it doesn't feel genuine and real doesn't like you don't specially with social media. It's like you're a part of a community now like, it can be aspirational, but let people learn at this point. I

Karla: 29:30

feel like before it used to be like, This is what you we think you should wear it you know, and now it's like what are we all wearing? Like how does you know how do we feel like what is the kind of idea behind why we're wearing this kind of denim or something? You know, I feel like it's not that like it's not the kind of inaccessible kind of magazine at the top. It's it's more about like As you said, like building a community and, and kind of very much friendlier.

Amy: 30:04

Yeah, which is great to see. So let's move over a little bit and talk about, like wellness and beauty. Because I'm sure you're exposed to all of that with with your work. So like, what does that look like, in Latin America in your region? Like what's important to people there versus here? And what are you seeing are the trends and well being and all of that.

Karla: 30:26

It's interesting because I feel like we kind of it like the we're so close to booth I look after Mexico and Latin America, which, which is very different, even though we all speak Spanish. Yeah, and, you know, Mexico is very, like, a little bit like, everyone here knows what's going on in the US. So we kind of follow those, like, if SoulCycle is really big, and like it, just like in a month or two, it'll become really big here. And it's certainly like, that idea of, of wellness and, you know, eating healthy, like walking, you know, moving your body, right community exercise, like, that, I feel is like a huge shift as well, I feel like people are really, you know, excited about, also, like, where do your beauty products come from? Like, how, you know, how can you have less impact, right, like, environmental impact, and those are things that are all really developing here, but it's interesting to see, you know, I call it kind of the gateway drug, like perfumes here are super big. So that's like your piece of luxury, right. And then like, obviously, like skincare and makeup, whereas in the US, it's more of like, the bag is like that intro point. But here, and obviously, like, the salaries are less so like perfume is, is a huge deal. And that was something that I learned, like, even in like coverage in the magazine, like, we didn't cover perfume as much as in the US as we do here. But here, it's like, kind of how that designer makes, like, gets the foot in the door. But it's really interesting, because people are, what I've seen is also people really love those niche designers, like people know about, like, you know, Virgil at off white, and that kind of has a huge cult following that you think is like very, like, you know, exclusive to, like New York are the big cities, but it's not like, like people love, like the off white and like the sneaker craze, like it's interesting to see like, it kind of happens a little later, but it definitely happens.

Amy: 32:36

And what about Latin America? How's that different? Well,

Karla: 32:39

Latin America is a bit more like Argentina, for example, like, the thing I've seen a lot is like, they have very established fashion brands, because of the you know, it's far from the US. The tariffs to, like, get into the country aren't so easy. So it's kind of like Brazil in that way that, you know, imported stuff is really expensive. So they really developed their fashion brands, which is good, you know, and then I, what I've seen the most with, like Peru and Chile, and like Colombia, is that people are really socially conscious. Like, they want it to be like organic cotton. They're really like the sustainability conversation. Like to start brands is much like you hear it and much more, which is like a nice surprise.

Amy: 33:25

Yeah. And does that carry over into the skincare space and beauty space in terms of Yes, being organic, and there's

Karla: 33:33

so many more brands now that are trying to do like the Glossier or you know, of Latin America. And like, that's been really exciting to watch is like these young kind of entrepreneur, like, these young brands, like coming into their own. How much?

Katie: 33:51

I might, I'm not sure if I'm phrasing it the right way. But the spirituality of Mexico and also Latin America, does that play into the wellness space as well, like, because I know, I have some friends that are from Chile, and when they go to Chile, they see their shaman and things like that. That's prominent.

Karla: 34:13

It's funny that you asked that because I feel like here like the kind of alternative medicine is always like, you know, I like even like an example. Like my daughter was having these, you know, those night terrors. Yeah. And my mom was like, we have to take her to like, we went to my small town where my mom was from and she goes, we have to take her to the healer. You know, what do you mean mom as she took her to the healer, and she like rubbed her with an egg, and like my mom's like, in two weeks, she's not gonna have nightmares. You know, it's a big part. It's a big part of our and even like, I always like to say that like, alternative medicine like those kinds of essential oils have been happening here for like ever, you know what I mean? Right? It make them like essential oils, but Um, even like in terms of like, when I was growing up and like coming to Mexico, like, I feel like all the milk was just organic because it just was, you know, like, my mom's town, they they literally took like milk from the cow forever, right? And then, you know, obviously, like NAFTA happened and those things happened and, and people hear like love what's American so that for better or worse right, you know those things have been but yes I people are here are like, very like spiritual in that sense and they like to you know, they always want like a, like a second opinion but that second opinion from like the Cheban or the healer?

Katie: 35:40

That's amazing. Yeah, that's, that's really beautiful. It's a really gorgeous part of the culture that is lacking, I think, in America. You know, I wish I wish there was some more deep rooted culture in that respect.

Amy: 35:53

Yeah, I totally agree. Because I think they're definitely people like us who love all that stuff. But it's not in the culture. Whereas like, if you're talking about Reiki, or whatever we were just talking about before people are like, Yeah, you know, they sort of look at you like,

Katie: 36:09

there things are, but things slowly become more pop culture also late, which is interesting how that can play out. All right, well, what are some? Actually no, this is this is an interesting question that I'm very curious about, because I feel like your industry comes with a lot of pressure, especially with your job. And your job is incredibly high power and aspirational and inspirational. So what are some of these pressures? You must feel pressure with creating content and, and reporting being the barometer of culture and fashion and beauty and lifestyle? I mean, that that's a lot. But what is it like taking that challenge on?

Karla: 36:46

I feel like, yeah, I feel like that, what, what I was reading, like, one of the questions, and it's like, we were just talking about how media has changed, I feel like, just constantly kind of inspiring people. And like, at the same time growing our audiences, and you know, that like, the challenge of like growing a website, which is now obviously super important, and, you know, we've grown like more than 80% in the past five years, but just that pressure of growing the website, but at the same time, remaining true to Vogue, and its core values, without falling into the trap of like, I have to cover this because this is what's going to bring me my numbers. So I feel like that is something that we're always kind of, not, it's always challenging, you know, how to, you know, talk about, you know, so and so seeing with her boyfriend on the street of LA, then maybe you change the focus, and you're like, So and so knows how to wear the best, the perfect jeans for, you know, her type of bodies. And those are things that like, we've like managed to do. And now we have like shared content with Bogle with different folks across the world. And so we can take like, a lot of the more investigative pieces, because we also have like a very small team. And then we kind of focus on the, the articles that will be big, like do well in Latin America. So with this kind of 5050 balance, we've found, like a good mix. And like, last month, we were like the second largest job after the US. So wow, that's exciting. Also, like, you know, how are we going to do next month and the day after, you know, so it's constantly like, looking at what we're doing and saying we're doing this right, but we also don't want to just talk about sneakers and jeans. So like trying to find that balance.

Katie: 38:42

I'm curious how much I'm sure you've found this question before. Is it as intense as it is portrayed in the movie that don't even need to say the name as it is at that? Tough or not? Really?

Karla: 38:56

I mean, yeah, I think, you know, there's, there's a pressure because also, like, I think in the movie, and I don't remember if they explain it, but in the end, it's, you know, the fashion is an industry and so people's jobs depend on it. And, you know, it's not just, like, it's not just a dress, right? It's a dress that a designer made that's going to hit stores around the US and and or around the world and what that means, right? Like what, like that sales part? And so I think it's exciting. It was, it was definitely you know, an I feel like the industry is very hard working because people make it out to seem like oh, you're running around and like a beautiful town car and like, you know, wearing you know, five inch heels and like running around New York City. It was not certainly not that glamorous. I would say I would say that. You know there was a lot of times that we were like doing a car in a for a trip that one of the editors were going on and we were wearing like sneakers and jeans like riding up every single, you know, all 500 of the pieces that were like in the car in a or, you know,

Katie: 40:07

but also just because it's glamorous doesn't mean it's not hard work. I mean,

Karla: 40:11

hard work can be really hard work. And, you know, I feel like the thing about working at Vogue was it's amazing and like now, you know, we're a much smaller team, but like, you know, it, I liked that it was never it was never just a dress, you know, it was like something that the editor had like a specific vision for when the shoot came back and you saw I don't know like I remember that Alice in Wonderland shoot that any Leibovitz shot with like Natalia Vodianova, it's like her and her blue dress that was made and that, you know, Grace Coddington, like, really specifically asked for that when the new big this picture is like, you know, 15 years old, and I still remember it. And that yeah, they are. Yeah, I think it's really like, in that way, like creating like iconic pictures and like, telling these stories through fashion that didn't just make it close, right? I think it was, it was so much more than that. Yeah.

Amy: 41:10

So you're so busy and running around and doing a million things. So like, what practices are you doing to stay balanced, and to stay present with your family? Since you are so busy? And you seemed really balanced?

Karla: 41:25

For I don't know, I mean, I feel like now, like, ever since, you know, this past year and a half that we learned how to work differently. And like, I feel like, you know, there's no reason why you can't work from home, like on a Friday night. Whereas two years ago, I was terrified to even ask that. Or, like, you don't have to go to a work trip, where you get flown for a party, like you can say no, right? I feel like that those ways, but I just try and like, not kind of put my daughter's like in, you know, the kind of, I don't try and like Instagram at them so much. They have like their own account. And like, I try not to bring them into mind personally, I mean, just because Mexico is like, not, you know, you never know, who's watching you. And just like really, like, what's helped me, which I'm sure you guys can relate to is just that quality versus quantity. Right? Like if, you know, if you're in it, like try and find like activities that you enjoy doing together. And that even though you know, you might have to travel for five days, when you come back, then you have that like bonding time with your kids, I feel like that's always super important. Like, bedtime has always been important. And like, you know, I am one of those. Also, like, I'm a big believer of like, if my nanny is here, and she can help me and like going out for a run, you know, and she helps me with them. Like, it's okay, I know, you know, and I can go out for a run because that run will probably bring me mental, you know, helped me clear my head, like I try not to get into that kind of mommy guilt so much addicts. You know, like, if you want to go to yoga, and you need they can stay with their fathers like playing or watching TV, it's fine. You know, we'll get like, so kind of worked up about those things.

Amy: 43:15

Yeah, I think too, was like the last year and a half, like, that's helped so much with the guilt because I feel like I have it so much. And now you're working from home. Or if whenever I do go back to the office, it's never going to be the same as it was like, because working from home is so much more accessible and easy now. So just being present, like physically is helpful, because you don't feel like oh my god, I'm like at the office, and I don't know what's happening at home. And I don't I'm not hearing the conversations. And so I think that's been a huge change for so many people.

Karla: 43:45

I think in the beginning, it was hard because they were like, I'm sure you have like homeschool and like, you know, it was impossible to like, you know, make sure that they were connecting, especially because they were four and a half and like for them to pay attention. But I feel like once you learn how to manage it. I feel like that work life balance. While yes, I feel like a lot of us are working more. It's still like now you can say like I'm going to work two days a week from home. Right and

Katie: 44:15

it's on your terms, right? Yeah, we were just speaking to in an episode that's gonna be airing shortly a parenting coach about this and what you said was exactly either Amy or or the coach said it was quality versus quantity. And that's like, you know, dedicating the hours to the work and being there instead of micromanaging the children at the same time and vice versa and dedicating the hours to caring for yourself instead, instead of hanging on by a thread. It's so important, but it's yeah, it's the quality. I love that and it's a great quote that we'll be putting on Instagram. So we would be remissed if we didn't ask you who your favorite new designer trends like what are some of your faves right now?

Karla: 44:59

Um But what am I, you know, I really like it's funny because I feel like your the way you dress probably changed like drastically, I mean, even from like New York to Mexico change so much because, you know, in New York I feel like people wear dresses and skirts and like a pantsuit. And now, I feel like here like not so much like, I'll be wearing a dress and people will be like, where are you going? To the office, you know? So I feel like that has like, really, really changed. And I feel like I'm always wearing like now, I was telling Katie before you got on me that the weather in Mexico is funny and like it since it never gets really cold. There's no heat in home, like in your house. So it's like 35 degrees in the morning. And then they'll go up to like 72 So you're freezing inside. So it's like kind of like a weird, it's like LA kind of Sanford right layers. And so it's a lot about layers and like sweaters. But I really love I mean, like my dream wardrobe would probably come from like Sarah Burton, Alexander McQueen. I feel like I love what she's doing. And I love what she's been doing with denim. I love Mexican American designer called Jonathan Cohen. That grew up in San Diego and now he's based in New York. I love Proenza schooler there was actually an article about them today in women's wear business of fashion. I think about a lot of these like mid price brands and like what, you know, like American fashion and what's happening with American fashion and yeah, it was it. I think it's really interesting and it'll be really interesting to see this fashion with like, how many more designers we see but yeah, I like I would say like Proenza Jonathan was saying this guy, Willy Chavarria, that's at Calvin Klein. He's doing menswear and he's kind of changing that. The like what like menswear, Calvin Klein, and he has like, really kind of cool casting ideas. But I guess I if I would, if I were to say like, who would be my dream kind of wardrobe. I would definitely say Sarah Burton net McQueen. Nice. And Fashion Week's what next week? Yeah, it starts Friday.

Katie: 47:18

Okay, that's exciting.

Amy: 47:19

So we'll have to follow you on Instagram. So

Karla: 47:21

we'd also love because I feel like she just like designs for women. And it's fun and like, is Lulu JOHNSON

Katie: 47:32

I love that you there's you love so many. But it's hard to narrow it down which of course, is appropriate.

Karla: 47:39

You know, because like sometimes for me, like I feel like wearing a skirt. And then other days I just feel like wearing like jeans and a jacket. You

Amy: 47:46

know, like she looks amazing and chic and everything like and like, even from like 25 years ago, always

Karla: 47:54

I had gotten dressed up for you guys. I was wearing this like pink silk shirt and then I took it off because I got called as I was walking around and the art week is start art week is starting here in Mexico. Tomorrow. It's kind of like the about Basel of Mexico. So

Amy: 48:11

that's cool.

Karla: 48:11

A lot going on. I mean, you know, it's obviously on a much smaller scale and like, you know, with all the precautions, but I feel like we see like thing I feel like with things coming back like little by little people will want to get dressed up again.

Amy: 48:27

I know that's nice. Yeah. Okay, so we're gonna move into our rap session, especially some quick questions. Okay. So the first one is, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Wellness or beauty hack, like shortcut or tip or what's your kind of favorite?

Karla: 48:44

Oh, oh my god, I have a good one. So, my sister worked for Karolina Herrera and you know, she looks amazing and is I don't know how old she is. But she's, you know, kind of

Katie: 48:56

looks gorgeous like timeless. Yeah,

Karla: 48:59

he always said told my sister to never which I do a lot but I need to every time I do it I remember her. She always said never to dry your face with a towel. You know like you grab your like she always says that the gentle Pat's like everything. So now I apply it like always like moisturizer. And like when I you know have like, these rituals? Like, I feel like I always remember the the non towel just to be a little more gentle.

Katie: 49:30

Yeah, and like that. Yeah, like that. Yeah. All right, this next one we call your five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and Uber ping do and they're five minutes away. What are you doing to like, get out the door and get in the car on time.

Karla: 49:42

I do this a lot.

Amy: 49:44

I was just gonna say. I think you guys could

Karla: 49:49

relate. But I remember a friend of mine used to get so mad when she used to see people putting makeup on on the subway. She's like, you have those that minute at home for God's sakes. Just But usually I kind of I guess I'm always rushing as I was saying about the yoga class like I'll like do an hour and 15 minutes and like rush home to be ready by nine. So when I have like five minutes I would say I think about what I'm gonna wear in the shower. When I get out I obviously am like huge on moisturizing. I use a great Sicily Moisturizing Cream SPF no matter where you live this is like one thing that my dermatologist and Dr. Tim, NGO Luke from Royal Fern told me is like you cannot leave home without it, whether it's like two degrees or 102. So that and then I love this kind of Chanel liquid foundation I've been putting on that I like it's like very loose and like feels like also moisturizing and then always concealer. And always lipstick even though that kind of face mask thing is annoying. But if I have to like, be ready quick, those are like what I try and do the most

Katie: 51:06

those years ago to like that. Nice. We need to get like we have to have your favorite products, the names and because people are gonna want to know Yeah.

Amy: 51:16

Love it. Love it. Okay, and you kind of touched on this before, but how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Karla: 51:23

Um, I like need to work out in the morning. I feel like that's something that I don't know if it was Tucson that did this to me, but like everyone always worked out. It was like, in Super shape, but like to me, I like love getting up and like, the first thing I do is have coffee. Even though I just did that Chroma cleanse and they were like, avoid coffee if possible. I'm like, the if possible is right. So that's like my kind of ritual in the morning. Like, no matter if I have like 15 minutes or 45 is just to have like a quick Nespresso. And then I get up and I go run or do like, Tracy Anderson videos, online. Okay, like for yoga, and then I kind of helped my girls get ready. And we rush out of the house. And that's, that's how I you know, I love walking to I just feel like that brings me like such peace. Like, especially during COVID When people were like, you know, locked in their homes. I would always go for a walk.

Katie: 52:26

Yeah, did Tracy Anderson method is it's good. It's intense. Like, yeah, right.

Karla: 52:32

I mean, it's I love that the streaming I feel like all of those like classes that like adjusted to like have the streaming moment.

Amy: 52:40

Wow. Yeah. Great. Great day. So Katie. So Carla, at the ends of our show, we usually do a product review or like something that we're loving right now that we want to tell listeners about. So Katie has something for us and I don't know what it is either. So I'm excited to hear what you have to review for us today.

Karla: 52:58

skincare product or anything,

Amy: 52:59

anything, anything related to like skincare, beauty, wellbeing, wellness,

Karla: 53:04

I was just saying I just did this. You know, I feel like you know, after Christmas, we're all kind of feeling like we need to reset like we go to our place at the beach and I don't know how to go to the beach without eating like chips and salsa every day. So I come back feeling not very healthy. But I just did the chroma cleanse. It's like a five day cleanse. Have you heard of it? It's

Katie: 53:29

I haven't No, tell us

Amy: 53:31

today. Really, like pretty looking at it. Like it's so

Karla: 53:34

beautiful. Yeah, like in this, but it's really great because I feel like it's not even like weight loss. It's just kind of to get your mind back to like, eating like a normal person. Not you know, or at least for me was it was well balanced. And like they send you it's five days and you have like soups and kind of like protein like veggies, but like they give you like a matcha latte in the morning and then like a like a shake a super greens, elixirs that kind of helps you get like all your vitamins. And when you finish like you don't even crave anything bad. Like you just want to have like, the item that you want to keep eating like veggies and fruit.

Amy: 54:18

It's like a reset kind of Yeah, yeah. It

Karla: 54:20

felt really, it felt really nice and not in that like you're starving yourself. You know? Yeah, I have to shut that out. Reset.

Amy: 54:30

Yeah, it sounds good now.

Katie: 54:31

Yeah, that is up to check it out to the network. What's the name of it again? Gramma.

Amy: 54:36

Ch ch O. O Ma.

Katie: 54:40

Okay, next. All right. Well, let I have one two and it's I'll just do it really quickly because it's not a beauty product or anything super exciting, but I've been trying to work on my sleep hygiene and trying to like fall asleep easier. That's my thing. I can't fall asleep. I can do once I'm out. I'm out. But getting there is tough. So this one It's by natural and it's relaxed plus night calm they have mult sorry, like part of the sticker came off but they have multiple products for all different things for for like for sleep and for joint health and brain health and then for mood and stress and this is actually for mood and stress not so much for sleep, but I take it to help me wind down and get the wheels to stop turning to law into a nice sleep and it works and legitimately worse it has. And I'm like I'm not the easiest person to put to sleep so I know it's good. It has l theanine five HTP and a small amount of melatonin which I like that it's a little because melatonin on its own does give me a hangover I'm like groggy the next day. Really? Yeah, it makes me like foggy me too. So

Amy: 55:46

I can take it Yeah.

Katie: 55:47

And then it also has a little bit of lemon balm extract and you know I gotta see yes, it's like $20 that a pill or like a gum it's a gummy and it's a pretty clean gummy. It's it's organic tapioca sugar, or an organic cane sugar, pectin, citric acid, vegetable juice, coconut oil, like there's no sugar alcohols and garbage in it. And it does taste really good. But yeah, it's 100% Drug Free non habit forming for like, I want to say maybe two weeks.

Amy: 56:17

I find it helpful. That's great.

Katie: 56:18

I found it very helpful. I've been playing like I've been trying different things here and there. I tried a different one last night. And it was I ended up like also taking it works. Yeah.

Amy: 56:30

I love it. good reviews. Thanks for chroma and for what is that called? Again? Katie. Your

Katie: 56:36

your is natural relax, plus night calm.

Amy: 56:39

Okay, well, we'll post all this in the show notes. But yeah, it's awesome. So Carla, thank you so much for like sharing all your wisdom and for spending time with us. It was so amazing to hear about your experience and how far you've come and I always love your voice. It's so like distinct and it's so great to see you and to hear you and we definitely have to meet up next time we're in the same thank you for being on the show. We always like to end with a mantra just kind of set our intention to close out the show. So Katie, what do you have for us?

Katie: 57:08

Alright, so this one is just something to remember and it is a quote I should add by Eleanor Roosevelt. It is happiness is not a goal. It is a byproduct of a life well lived. So I feel like you know like you're speaking to working hard and you know that I'm bringing up my phone left happiness.

Karla: 57:27

Thank you guys so much. I hope Thank you, you in person.

Amy: 57:32

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.