Women In Wellness: Vanessa Rissetto and Tamar Samuels of Culina Health on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks

Women In Wellness: Vanessa Rissetto and Tamar Samuels of Culina Health on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

Focus on one goal at time, start with the easiest one. Setting overly ambitious and unrealistic goals is one of the biggest reasons why people fail at achieving their lifestyle goals — hello New Years Resolutions. If you want to be successful with really changing your lifestyle in the long term, we recommend starting with one goal that you feel confident you can achieve in a shorter period of time. This helps you build the confidence to add more challenging goals and build on a solid foundation of healthy habits.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Vanessa Rissetto and Tamar Samuels, registered dietitians and co-founders of Culina Health, offering nutritional coaching and a science-based health and wellness education. Taking the complicated diets, numbers, and more out of nutrition, Vanessa and Tamar simplify healthy eating ideals and plans in order to stop stressing about food and start living life. Vanessa has over ten years of experience as a RD, and currently serves as the dietetic intern director at New York University. Tamar is a RD and National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach, with a unique and holistic approach that integrates functional medicine, positive psychology, and behavioral change techniques.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

Interestingly enough, Tamar did her dietetic internship at Mount Sinai Hospital where I was her preceptor. We both completed our dietetic internships through New York University at Mount Sinai, but somehow our paths hadn’t crossed until then. As women of color in a predominantly caucasion profession, we instantly clicked and had a strong mutual respect for one another. Fast forward 7 years later and both of us have successful private practices, but felt that something was missing. A coffee date turned into a two hour long conversation and the birth of Culina Health. Now almost a year later we have 5 employees and a lot brewing for 2021.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

Vanessa: If you told me ten years ago that I would have a thriving private practice and be the Director of the Dietetic Internship at New York University, I might not believe you, but that’s where I’m at right now. I think the main lesson is to always push ahead, and say yes to as many things as possible. I’ve always been one to rise to every challenge, help out where I can so that I can learn, and take every coffee date. I believe that because of this, I’ve been able to make strong connections and been able to showcase my talents to others.

Tamar: I think being an entrepreneur is the most interesting thing that’s happened to me. I’m someone who loves guidance, structure, and knowing what to expect from life and entrepreneurship is kind of the opposite of all of those things. Through my journey, I’ve learned to lean into the discomfort and use any sign of unhappiness as an opportunity to learn, grow, and make changes. Getting outside of your comfort zone is tough, but usually leads to huge, positive changes. Stay positive and enjoy the ride, it always works out!

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you each made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Vanessa: Biggest mistake would be trying to DIY everything. You know you’re capable and able to do a lot yourself, but it’s important to be able to delegate to professionals so it’s done correctly the first time and you aren’t left doing double work and spending more money and time than you needed to.

Tamar: If I could go back to when I first started my private practice, I think my biggest mistake I made was not connecting with more entrepreneurs in my field or mentors. I’m really independent, but that can be a weakness because I tend to just do everything myself when I could have saved a lot of time reaching out to others for information, resources and support. Private practice is also a really solitary and lonely business so having a strong community of like-minded, experienced women in business that I can relate to would have helped build community early on. Thankfully, both Vanessa and I have used what we learned on our own and applied those invaluable lessons when we founded Culina Health.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you two are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Vanessa: Honestly for me, I believe that the success I have achieved is due to my husband who supports me in all my crazy endeavors — he believes in me and lets me run with whatever no matter how outlandish it might seem to be. Also, our staff is hands down the best in the business, supportive, intelligent, motivated RDs who are forward thinkers and can make real changes in the industry. Finally, I wouldn’t be here without Tamar believing that it was the right time for us to make a big move. I was able to feed off that energy and here we are doing more than I ever imagined we could.

Tamar: I second all of what Vanessa said! My husband has been an entrepreneur for 15 years and he’s always been my biggest cheerleader, believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself and challenging me to do things I never thought I wanted to do. He’s been a source of unwavering support emotionally and professionally. Our team or RDs and our administrative support staff are such empowered, driven, loving, and thorough women who are damn good at their jobs and truly love nutrition. Starting this business with Vanessa is truly one of the best personal and business decisions I’ve ever made. She’s an amazing mentor and friend and we have a natural ability to push one another to be better with grace and compassion.

Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you both are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

We want to make health and wellness accessible to everyone — that’s one of the main reasons we take insurance. We want everyone who wants to make a life change have the ability to do so and we want to be there to support that journey. We also want to be a trusted source of nutrition and health information. So many people are confused about conflicting diet advice from influencers, diet books, and even doctors and we want to clear up the confusion and make it easier for people to understand what the science says and also advocate for personalized medicine. Everyone’s needs are different, and we want to help people understand what their unique needs are to feel healthy mentally and physically. We believe that feeling physically and mentally well opens up opportunities for everyone to live life to the fullest, which of course impacts society as a whole. Health is wealth!

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

1 — Sleep is just as important, if not more important, than nutrition and exercise. Having a healthy sleep routine makes eating healthy and exercising easier. Sleep deprivation causes insulin resistance, which can increase cravings for sweets and carbohydrates, it also affects mood, motivation, and energy, making it harder to exercise.

2 — Don’t skip meals. For the vast majority of people, skipping meals leads to poor decisions about food, overeating, and even mood changes and anxiety. You should eat a meal or snack about every 3–4 hours to help stabilize appetite, blood sugar, and stress hormones.

3 — Self monitor something! You don’t need to weigh yourself every day to be successful with your goals, but when you’re trying to make a lifestyle change, it’s important to collect data about your habits and have some way of checking in with yourself to bring more awareness to your decisions. People who track their food, fitness, mood, symptoms, sleep or really any target lifestyle they want to change are more tuned in to those habits and are better able to learn from and change them. Tracking makes the experience less emotional and more data driven, which can be helpful for people who have feelings of guilt and shame around their wellness habits.

4 — Focus on one goal at time, start with the easiest one. Setting overly ambitious and unrealistic goals is one of the biggest reasons why people fail at achieving their lifestyle goals — hello New Years Resolutions. If you want to be successful with really changing your lifestyle in the long term, we recommend starting with one goal that you feel confident you can achieve in a shorter period of time. This helps you build the confidence to add more challenging goals and build on a solid foundation of healthy habits.

5 — There’s no way around eating vegetables. No tea or pill or exercise will replace the health benefits of eating vegetables. It’s simply a non-negotiable. If you’re not eating veggies with every meal, then that should be your number one wellness focus for health and longevity. Have trouble hitting this goal, get help from a professional, look for some hidden veggie recipes, keep a food journal, have a salad with at least 4 different kinds of vegetables for lunch every day. There are too many resources to make excuses for this one. Make it happen.

If you could start a movement as partners that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

We think the current wellness movement is seriously lacking in diversity and inclusion. We love seeing the progress that’s being made around body positivity and health at every size, but there’s not much conversation happening around personalized medicine or wellness that is accessible to people with different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. We created Culina Health to help people understand how their body works and what it needs to be well. That looks different for everyone. Our movement is not about one size fits all for the masses, it’s about empowering all people to learn about their unique bodies, and feeling confident in their ability to take care of them.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Us Before I Started” and why?

1 — More work doesn’t always equal more money, give yourself space to rest so you can be more efficient when you are working.

2 — Don’t be afraid to mess up, it’s the best way to learn, grow and hit your goals

3 — Don’t compare your beginning to someone else’s middle. Social media makes it easy to think that people wake up looking fabulous, eating perfectly, exercising, meditating, and all while running successful businesses. Wrong — everyone has help and for most people it takes them years and a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get where they are. If you’re just staring out it’s ok to be motivated by people who are more successful than you, but keep in mind that they didn’t get there overnight and they had a lot of help to get there.

4 — You don’t have to do everything. Focus on your strengths and interests and hire out everywhere else. It may be more expensive upfront, but it saves you a lot of time and mental health in the long run, which is invaluable.

5 — You’re unique even in an industry that’s oversaturated. Don’t get hung up on the competition, instead focus on what makes you different and how you can attract people who you want to serve. You don’t need to be everyone’s cup of tea, find your people and serve them well.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you as partners, and why?

Mental Health and Sustainability.

What’s the point of sacrificing really anything for your mental health? It’s going to be really tough to get anything done well if you’re not mentally sound. How can you enjoy the fruits of your labor if you follow a diet that makes you miserable? What’s the point of doing something that won’t give you lasting results? We want people to achieve their goals in a sustainable way without losing their minds, or feeling inadequate through that journey. Why else do it?

What is the best way our readers can follow you guys on social media? @culinahealth @vanessarissettord @tamarsamules.rd

Women In Wellness: Vanessa Rissetto and Tamar Samuels of Culina Health on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Dee Burrowes of ‘Transformational Life Coaching’ on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks…

Women In Wellness: Dee Burrowes of ‘Transformational Life Coaching’ on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

I am a strong believer that success and happiness works in alignment with your mindset — which is one’s belief system that affects everything from your thought, action, emotion, and how you react to the world around you.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dee Burrowes.

Dee Burrowes, Certified Professional Coach, NLP Practitioner, Speaker, Trained Teacher, International Awards Judge, Mental Health and Behavioural Disorder Coach help individuals to gain more confidence in being more effective at bringing happiness into your life. Through NLP and mindset modalities, I will support you to identify and eradicate the emotional pain points that hinders you in achieving balance, clarity, fulfillment and success — not only personally but professionally with forming good habits and rebuilding self-confidence. If your quest for life is authentic in achieving mental and physical wellbeing as part of your journey — I will put you in the driver’s seat.

Dee has held executive senior management roles in her corporate career and represented the United Kingdom at the International G20 summit.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

Coming out of university after my first degree in Hospitality Management, I secured a very lucrative role in a well-known global hotel chain. After twelve years in the hotel industry at senior executive level, I then had a stint in the financial sector. I gained more skills and pivoted from a corporate career to a professional life and mental health coach for the last four years. When I began my career in a fast paced industry, I quickly learned that individuals took on more mentally than what actually meet the eyes. As a result they were never given the opportunity to live life authentically of being present emotionally, mentally and physically.

At the level of hierarchy I was privileged to have held, I led many individuals and my passion was to support them in their career aspirations as much as it was in my power to do. Shooting for the starts was always within me which transcend to the culture of my team and ultimately the organisation to an extent.

In hindsight, I knew I had a raging fire burning on the inside to be and do better as a human being and that aligns with my desire for personal excellence that eventually became a powerful driving force.

After successfully completing my MBA, I had many chances of direct introduction to the entrepreneurial environment that sealed the opportunity to delve into the world of entrepreneurship that birth my life coaching business.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

As my career grew, I have had a few interesting stories that in fact turned into learning moments — satisfying to an extent and a few strong decisions made for the better. For me, it was taking chances when others thought it might be impossible to achieve specific life goals.

How difficult could it be to manage a hotel? It’s more than just folding towels and managing a diverse workforce right?

One of the most coveted positions to have had my name embellished within the hospitality industry. There is never a dull day and that came with its own challenges, varied encounters (some strange and isolated) and these experiences will last a lifetime. I have seen it all from meeting heads of state to having the odd female walking the corridors searching for what could be found in case she struck luck on any one night.

I was afforded the opportunity to connect with individuals from all walks of life as the nature of the business had daily checking in and out of guests globally. I’ve mastered the art at some point of how to thrive in a fast paced environment that is a 24 hour-a-day, 365 day-a-year non-stop operation which keeps anyone on their toes under emotional and physical tension as well.

Dealing with high maintenance guests, one may encounter a bit of a grumbling and are often at the receiving end of the ire that must be resolved very pleasantly and tactfully.

The sacrifice — time away from your family and friends that eventually had burnt out creeping in along with negative daily habits as a means of coping mechanisms if you aren’t careful. I had to keep healthy boundaries between personal and professional life when it could be squeezed in. Conscious efforts had to be made to actively strike a balanced life between both.

There’s nothing worse than feeling like you’re trapped in your career and to escape the office stress seems distance away — if this habit persist professional support might be your guiding light in the near future.

On a personal level, I have learned a lot of things — not having balance and setting healthy boundaries will no doubt result burn out as many can attest to or they are teetering on the edge. In fact some of these very lessons are continued to be relearned to this day — recovery and reinventing oneself is a constant process.

  • Know your limitations
  • Be selfish — take care of you first
  • Relax frequently — wake up daily and refuel your mind
  • Don’t Bring Work Home with You

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

At some point, making mistakes that can be learned from are bound to happen. Simply because finding solace in the fact that mistakes are completely human. From that perspective coupled with anxiety induced emotions mistakes are a part of life — the big questions is, what lessons can be had to avoid or minimize such mistakes in the future.

Earlier on in my career, I learned a valuable lesson when I under-communicated with another team member. It was an extremely busy morning at the front desk and the team was overwhelmed with both guests checking out and in simultaneously. Suddenly the system developed an error and as the front office manager on duty I had to report the fault to the external IT department to have the matter rectified. I returned to reception and decided to support the team with checking in a few guests in. I was assured that the manual vacant room list was up to date and all rooms already assigned were ticked off. As fate would have had it — that wasn’t never the case. I manually checked a guest (double booked the room without my knowledge) into a room and the guest immediately returned to reception informing that the room was already occupied and for your sanity I will exclude the brief encounter both guests had.

When I realized what had gone wrong, I profusely apologised to both guests and took responsibility by accepting the reality. I explained to the guests what had happened, they both respected my honesty and transparency and as such to inform that the guests were over compensated in true hospitality style would be an understatement.

I learned the value of communication even when it comes to be misinformed and why it’s paramount to establishing trust through admitting that a mistake was made.

Despite the cringe worthiness of mistakes and failures they eventually create a guidepost in learning and growing personally and professionally. It allows us to embrace shortcomings, failures and screw ups because they not only form a part of life’s experiences but also teaches profound powerful lessons.

In reflection, the mistake taught the following –

  • To accept fallibility and face our fear.
  • Teaches about oneself and how to tell the truth.
  • Focuses on a mindset shift
  • Not to confuse your mistake with who you are.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

“We don’t live and work in isolation, and when you can take advantage of the wisdom and even failings of those around you, the climb toward success is made that much easier.” — Carol Dacey-Charles

My truest source of inspiration came from innumerable amount of individuals that have supported along the journey. More so transitioning from corporate to starting a business. I have been encouraged, motivated and lifted to not giving up despite topsy turvy moments.

Even though I had quite a few supporters there was one person that pushed me out of my comfort zone all the time. I had a mentor for many years that taught me how to better navigate the challenges, empowered my personal development sphere, helped to identify and achieve personal goals.

I credit where I am now to my mentor and I am incredibly grateful for all of the time that was invested in me — one of my biggest cheerleader yet toughest critic and a forever sounding board.

As I share the story of when I was first starting up and attempting to grow a business, I was somewhat apprehensive as I thought I did not have what it takes and clearly underestimated myself. Through my mentor, I regained much needed confidence in executing systems and being retrained as a life coach and later on in NLP and Mental Health coach. I gave myself the extra push, disregarded any negativity from the naysayers and wholeheartedly believed in the person that I do see daily in the mirror and that was me. Patience is key as I continued to crush my goals and be proud of myself even on the cloudy days.

Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

I came to the realization that in order to encourage healthy behaviors we will need to address and support both physical and mental wellness.

I am a strong believer that success and happiness works in alignment with your mindset — which is one’s belief system that affects everything from your thought, action, emotion, and how you react to the world around you.

A mindset shift also prime others to be more effective in learning from past experiences and adapting to change.

“It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” — William Shakespeare.

Every day in my work as a mindset strategist and mental health coach, I support professionals and consult with companies that are deemed a cut above the rest however their workforce are not living a balanced and health lifestyle that directly impacted the scope of achieving optimum return on investment. I’ve observed over 10 years (combination of working in corporate and within my business) that there are critical factors behind generating sufficient productivity. Too often, this is linked to subconscious blocks and negative mindsets that are holding individuals back from being there authentic self.

My main focus has always been on supporting others in cultivating wellness and having a sound mental health that promotes a healthy lifestyle. Through emotional, psychological and implementing physical wellbeing individuals can experience balance by tailoring interests in creating an environment which prioritize their wellbeing in bettering themselves.

Emotional wellness is our own ability to accept, understand and successfully cope in dealing with obstacles life and work throws at us. Emotional wellness identifies how you are and why you’re feeling certain emotions — what emotions are surfacing as well as acknowledging and effectively channelling anger, fear, hope, love, happiness, frustration, sadness and stress.

Similarly physical wellness is administering proper care of the body for the most favourable functioning that also encompasses activity, exercise, diet and nutrition. Health and wellness supports improving wellbeing and support recovery from stress-related symptoms or trauma.

Encouraging development and maintaining a growth mindset can boost positive changes by increasing one’s propensity to remain determined, focused and motivated in the face of change. To achieve both personal and career goals, your mindset will have to match your aspirations otherwise there is a high chance of not moving purposefully and getting to where you want to be.

The current global crisis have impacted many detrimentally and still is with social distancing and different restrictions in place — anxiety and depression among individuals have skyrocketed. The fear is that not many know how to handle the feeling of uncertainty and distress. It continues to burden resources and the sudden isolation is unfamiliar to all and may not know how to reach out to others for support — this is where my expertise comes in as a driving force for accountability, inspiration and motivation

Nothing I enjoy more than having that wellbeing talk in bringing awareness to mental illness. Although there is significant stigma around mental or emotional wellness, it’s important within my practice to create an environment where others feel comfortable, safe without judgement to express and share how they feel. Improved psychological wellbeing can result in a reduction in stress, associated absences from work by being present as well as more positive with better outcomes for happier and healthier life.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

The path to wellness do have the tendency to feel more like a marathon, life can tend to be journeying through the hills which appear too high or the valleys too low and the need to reassess our focus is imminent. Implementing small wellbeing changes is one aspect that I incorporate within my daily habits for myself — from meditation, to journaling and exercising. As you make small yet effective tweaks in your lifestyle these changes eventually become habitual that will be noticeable in the long run. It will enhance your emotions with a renewed sense of hope.

The art of gratitude –

Gratitude is such a powerful emotion that can make life much better in more ways than one. Gratitude is an affirmation of goodness and a recognition that these sources of goodness exist outside of ourselves.

Over the last ten years or so, gratitude is something that I have become very fascinated with in my life — the practice of and decided to be intentional in appreciating what I have instead of what I do not have. My new found obsession led to stumbling across Robert Emmons’ work in recognising the benefits of positive emotions and confirms that the human mind is always craving something new and exciting. Practicing gratitude is a way to appreciate the value of something that needs to be practiced every day to be consistent with until it becomes a habit. Keep a gratitude journal to attract more positivity in your life by writing down the reason and why you’re grateful for the things you have.

Embrace self-love –

Do you tell yourself I love you? Do you smile when you look in the mirror?

Self-love can make a positive change in your life.

To love ourselves is to know ourselves and to recognise the full spectrum of our powers within. Self-love is the foundation of the single most important relationship with oneself. The strength of all other relationships lies exactly equal to the strength of that self-love foundation. Self-love always create an environment of liberty, and health where people can thrive, create and explore.

More of self-love is the right antidote for mental health and well-being — keeping depression and anxiety at bay. Learning to love yourself takes effort and acknowledgment, but its benefits are rewarding therefore embrace it in full throttle.

Live life on purpose –

What gives your life meaning? What should I do with my life — you ask? Your life purpose consist of the motivating aims and reasons why you get up out of bed. Purpose will guide your influence, shape goals, offers a sense of direction and know that your life has value and importance. Do your purpose allows commitment that serves both yourself and humanity in a positive manner.

Finding and living on purpose is key to having a fulfilling life and thus strive to support others by infusing purpose into their lives.

You can reflect upon your life purpose by asking:

Who am I?

Where do I belong?

When do I feel fulfilled?

Be physically active –

Maintaining your physical wellbeing is crucial to incorporate daily activities like walking, gardening, yoga, running, muscle relaxation exercise and biking. Moving your body slashes your risk of premature death and improve your overall mental health — any amount of physical movement you can squeeze in counts.

Regular exercise promotes positive attitude and outlook, supports falling asleep quicker and sleep more soundly as well as improving self-image and self-confidence.

Food affects mood –

Eating a well-balanced diet that is nutrient-rich can improve mood, increase energy levels and gives clearer thinking.

Can what you eat affect your wellbeing?

There is quite a strong correlation between diets and mental wellness as poor diets play a role in mood disorders such as anxiety or depression. Food is the fuel that fills the human brain even while sleeping the brain functions is at its best. Taking care of yourself and controlling your diet certainly counts as your spirits pick up, gives more energy and that’s an antidepressant in itself.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Happiness is a choice! It is an emotion that is deserved by all despite anxiety, stress and disappointment at times. Starting a Happiness Movement would be my ultimate passion. I realized that when individuals are happy they show up more and do live a fulfilled version of themselves amidst life’s inevitable ups and downs.

Be the happy change you want to see.

How does one sustain happiness in a world full of hate and negativity?

The movement would be a catalyst for change underlying wellbeing which will be experience as an emergence of positive psychology focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses, faults and mental ill health.

On a daily basis many are dodging hatred, resentment, bitterness, disappointment, jealousy that are being thrown into our minds, bodies and souls that eat away kindness, love, joy and peace. It’s time for a happiness movement. I need happiness — you need it, our neighbours, communities and the world beg for the constant infusion of happiness.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

I have had multiple evolution and stages within entrepreneurship journey — if I knew what I know now things would have been a bit more seamless.

  • Strategy over vision and mission — It took a while realising how powerful a great strategy could be. Execution of strategy is where the real playoff takes flight.
  • Mentors are not optional — I wish I had sought a mentor at the starting gates.
  • Critics will be your fuel — the naysayers will come in droves no matter who you are — let them be your perceived motivation in moving forward.
  • Have patience with the process — everything that is destined for you will come at the right time. In your pursuit for success — it will take time.
  • Don’t listen to everyone — Too many opinions will spoil the recipe literally and cause unnecessary doubt. Trust your gut feeling and deep purpose.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

I found that individuals were having difficulty and overall poor experiences with these various topic areas. All causes do have significant importance personally however I am passionate about Mental Health and supporting the mission to living a balanced emotional and healthy life.

As mental health is stigmatized by society — it is highly associated with shame and being misunderstood. Like anything, once left unsupported and untreated the symptoms will unravel for the worse. I am the voice in advocating for those who are directly affected and removing any barriers that will deter any coping mechanism.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Website: http://achievepurebrilliance.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dee_burrowes/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindsetstrategist/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachdeeburrowes

Women In Wellness: Dee Burrowes of ‘Transformational Life Coaching’ on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Julie Levin of Leaf People on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support…

Women In Wellness: Julie Levin of Leaf People on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

Take time to center yourself each morning. Whether it is a few minutes of deep breathing, stretching, mindful tea or coffee drinking, grounding myself first thing in the morning sets a beautiful tone for the day.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Levin.

Julie Levin is a Medical Herbalist and Founder of Leaf People, a Carbondale, Colorado based line of plant-based skincare for modern life. The extensive line is encompassed by daily facial and body products, a clinical collection for those 35 and older, and a men’s line formulated with certified organic, ethically wild harvested, certified herbicide/pesticide free, gluten free, and vegan ingredients. All products are packaged in a mix of recyclable and compostable materials printed with vegetable and water-based inks.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

My name is Julie Levin. I’m a Medical Herbalist and the founder of Leaf People, a line of botanically focused skincare products. I grew up in rural Alaska, where I spent my youth learning about wilderness survival, which fueled a lifelong passion for plants and their healing properties. I took my curiosity across the globe, traveling from the Amazon to Australia for most of my 20’s, gaining an education in herbal cultural traditions everywhere I went. In my medical herbalism training, I studied the science behind plants, their chemical properties, and various healing modalities, including indigenous plant utilization and harvesting techniques. I have been a formal student of Buddhism for 20 years, and even spent a year in silent meditation. My journey eventually led me to Colorado, where I founded Leaf People, in 2003, well before conscious beauty was a trend. Leaf People is plant-based skincare for modern life, marrying botanical science with western medical herbalism. Our ingredients are certified organic, ethically wild harvested, certified herbicide/pesticide free, gluten free, and vegan. We donate 5% of all sales to charity.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

My career has been full of interesting stories from the start. One in particular that has shaped my life, and Leaf People, is my experience living and learning from Don Miguel Kavlin, master student and protégé to the famous healer of Beautiful Painted Arrow and South American legend Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez. Under their guidance, I was immersed in nature’s sacred spaces and followed a plant-based diet. Most days I would consume just one or two plants at a time in order to fully receive the plant’s messages, this practice is called Plant Spirit Medicine. This spiritual awakening opened my eyes in a completely new way and helped me recognize my interconnectedness with the Earth. As a child in Alaska, I often talked to trees, but I never thought to listen back and there in the Amazon, I finally heard them speak.

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I was first starting out, I made the mistake of listening to people outside of my core mentor group. When you start a business, everyone wants to share opinions and advice. It takes great strength and focus to commit to your own vision without letting the ideas of others become more important than your own. Early on, I was convinced (against my better judgement) that I needed to invest in advertising. I placed their knowledge and expertise above my own and in the end, I lost both money and time without any positive results.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My husband joined Leaf People about six years after I started my business and brought a tremendous amount of calm to the frustrations of owning and running my business, helping me to expand my long-term vision for the company. He had successfully started and operated several businesses before we met and journeyed firsthand through the entire process that I was going through multiple times. His wisdom and guidance aided me enormously as the company continued to grow from year to year.

Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

The goal of Leaf People is to create a deeper connection between the physical body and the environment. The skin is our largest organ, an incredible sense organ, and a key player in immunity and protection. We formulate each product with powerful medicinal botanicals that help each person steep themselves in the benefits of the natural world.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

1. Take time to center yourself each morning. Whether it is a few minutes of deep breathing, stretching, mindful tea or coffee drinking, grounding myself first thing in the morning sets a beautiful tone for the day.

2. Make little decisions every day that push you towards better health. Choosing water over juice, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, stretching or mindful breathing while waiting in line, picking a whole food snack instead of a processed snack — all of these little check-in moments and small decisions add up over the day.

3. Take the time to make your food. As a vegan/vegetarian for over 35 years, I had to make all of my own food because there weren’t many options available. This laid the groundwork for my lifestyle. I bake bread for my family each week and make all of our food from scratch so that we can avoid the hidden, unwanted ingredients that come in pre-packaged or pre-made food. It is a great opportunity to practice gratitude for the time and energy that goes into growing and preparing food, along with gratitude for the growers and the food itself.

4. Exercise regularly. Regardless of how busy I am, an hour of exercise at least four days per week is a must. Not only for the short-term endorphin release, but after working intense hours for decades, it has physically trained me to deal with the long hours and an unforgiving schedule.

5. Sleep! You must sleep enough. I read a study once in college about how you can never really make up for lost sleep and that terrified me. Proper sleep is so critical for healthy aging, stress management, and a clear mind. Now that I am 25 years into this business (and not always getting enough sleep), I can say that proper sleep practices will help you through the toughest times.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would encourage everyone to grow their own herbal medicine garden. There are a plethora of benefits that come from growing and caring for plants.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Don’t underestimate your target market. When I first started out, I thought the Leaf People target market was a very specific, niche market. After about a year of business, I realized that our target market was a broader and more expansive group. This taught me to keep an open mind so I could shift our focus to address our ever-growing variety of customers.

2. Embrace social media. When I started Leaf People, social media was very new and I was not very excited about it — I still prefer letter writing over emailing. Once I eventually gave into the shift towards social media, I learned the payoff from developing active channels, a healthy following, and using those platforms as an avenue to grow our business.

3. Embrace a marketing team early on. Leaf People is a self-made, self-grown, community-based company. Though we have had steady growth each year by word of mouth, I think we would have eased some of our early growing pains had we hired a few key marketing experts.

4. Balance being introversion and extroversion. I have always greatly loved my time alone and my private life. When I started Leaf People, I envisioned that I could stay behind the scenes. However, as it turns out, people love meeting the maker, knowing all about you, where your ideas come from, and learning about your brand. I have since learned to open up in a way that allows me to share my story. It’s certainly an ongoing process that I am continually learning to embrace more deeply each day.

5. See the value of delegation and asking for help. I was raised in a remote area of Alaska in a small family where we provided for ourselves. Being fiercely independent was a way of life. With Leaf People, I had to retrain myself to learn how to trust and rely on others because it was not part of my origin experience. We wouldn’t be where we are now without our wonderful collaborative team.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

Veganism is the dearest to me. I have been an ardent animal activist and vegetarian/vegan most of my life, and I’ve learned that veganism encompasses all of the other issues listed. From decreasing deforestation used for animal farms and minimizing chemicals in the water from raising animals or fish farming to respecting animals as an extension of respecting ourselves, veganism is kinder to the Earth. The practice of non-violence is not discriminatory — it applies to everything. Veganism, plant-based diets, and vegetarianism are generally beneficial for your health thus helping you feel better mentally and emotionally. Obviously mental health issues and treatment are much more complex than diet alone, but diet can play a critical part. I have yet to meet a fellow vegan who disregarded the environment — often those committed to a vegan lifestyle are also interested in sustainable and renewable living practices.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

@leafpeople on Instagram and Facebook, Leaf People channel on YouTube, and the Leaflet at LeafPeople.com

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

Women In Wellness: Julie Levin of Leaf People on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Face Yoga Expert Fumiko Takatsu on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help…

Women In Wellness: Face Yoga Expert Fumiko Takatsu on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

…I trust my intuition. It never lies. I have trusted people based on their business experience, background, thinking that they knew more than I did. Only found out that they did not know anything I was doing. I was feeling something was not right but I was forcing myself that I needed them in my business. I was betrayed.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Fumiko Takatsu.

Fumiko has been practicing yoga for over 30 years. Since 2006 Fumiko has pioneered the unique techniques that make up facial yoga, and is one of the best known face exercise instructors in Japan. The results she found in her own face
and those of her students speak for themselves.

Frequently traveling between Japan and the United States, Fumiko hosts
events and workshops in both countries. She has spent the past years
teaching, creating Face Yoga Method DVDs, writing books, developing the Face Yoga Method products and making frequent appearances on TV and in magazine articles in Japan. Her Japanese books have been translated in Chinese, Korean and Thai and sold in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. She also has appeared on Korean TV shows.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I was born and raised in Japan, a “tomboy” with big lips and a longing for adventure. I never quite fit in and even as a little girl I had dreams to explore and travel the world, and even move to the US. Until I made the move, I was both a teacher and professor in Japan, mostly teaching women-only classes, so I guess you could say I’ve always been about empowering women through education. Even though I was successful, I knew that there was more from life I wanted to experience.

During a vacation in California, I was in a nearly fatal car accident that left my face, neck and shoulders off kilter. I saw a chiropractor in helping me regain the muscles in the body, but no one mentioned my face. This is when I had the realization that if through training, I can fix my body, I should be able to do the same for my face! As a lifelong yoga practitioner, pairing breath with poses was my natural remedy. It didn’t take long for people to start noticing differences and if it worked for me, it could work for others. This is how the Face Yoga Method was born and has been growing ever since! We are now a female-led business with a global reach, empowering women to embrace their age and LOVE the way they look.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

Before I started the Face Yoga journey in Japan almost 17 years ago, I was teaching at one of the oldest women’s universities in Japan. It was a very prestigious position as a woman. There was no regrets leaving that position because very deep down, I was not feeling that it was my calling. After leaving that position and starting teaching Face Yoga full time, including teaching, magazine interviews, TV shows, people did not take me seriously at first. People thought it was a joke. I started appearing on a lot of TV shows, but many times, I was treated like a comedian. But I kept doing it. One day, a good friend of mine asked me if I had lost my pride. “With your background, your high education (Master’s degree), don’t you think you should be doing something better? Don’t you have pride? Why do you keep making silly faces in public?” It hit me so hard, especially coming from somebody who knew me well — I could not find the words to say to her. It was something that I was not prepared to hear from a good friend.

Then, more than 10 years later, she told me that there was something she was meaning to tell me. At that time, I forgot about what she had said (about my pride). My business was thriving. She deeply apologized for what she had told me. “I did not really foresee Face Yoga’s potential. You are amazing.”

And while this was nice to hear and kind of her, the real lesson came from how I chose to persevere after the early conversation she and I had. The teachable moment I discovered from this is that even the person whom you think understands you very well does not understand who you are, what you are deeply thinking of, and/or passionate about. If I had listened to her and taken her comments personally, I might not have been where I am at now. I wrote about this in one of my blogs recently, never take advice from someone you wouldn’t trade places with. Remember not to take things too personally, and to focus on your own goals and letting your heart and inner voice be your guide — then you cannot go wrong!

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When things did not take off as I had expected at first, I started doubting myself and even my Method! I was looking for someone’s approval or token of “authority” to back up my theory of Face Yoga. Since I was the very first person who created this method in Japan 17 years ago, I could not find any “authority” figure. I felt so lonely. Then I realized that I had to be the person I was searching for — and prove through diligence that this Method really does work. Instead of seeking approval from some highly acclaimed source, I realized I needed to become the master I was looking to find. So I did!

My lesson was that when you set out for something new, do not limit yourself with a conventional mindset. The newer and stranger the idea is, the less people listen to you. Do not try to convince people because it’s not important what other people think/believe about you. What is important is to focus on your beliefs and the offer that you have that can positively impact the lives of other people. Once you do that, you won’t need to convince people anymore. They don’t even question.

Now, I use the airplane example with my students. Who thought that so much heavy metal could fly up in the sky with so many people on it? Now, nobody doubts it.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My sister in law and business partner, Maria, has been the backbone of my journey and The Face Yoga Method. She is the visionary of our business and even from day one had ideas of how to bring this Method to more people worldwide. I remember in the beginning, Maria wanted to recreate the business model I had in Japan, a conventional way to spread the message using TV, interviews and selling physical products. Even though I was very successful, I was exhausted. Teaching all day to my personal clients and then late night TV features left me with no personal time nor freedom. I didn’t want to be busy again like I was in Japan. Then Maria came up with the idea of creating Digital Courses which sounded better than recreating what I did in Japan, but I wasn’t sure how I could teach poses online. Also,I felt self conscious about my accent and initially thought I just wanted to share this work through books and eBooks. The demand from our customers was so high however that I started to reconsider video format programs and Maria has been such a great help and inspiration while I worked on getting out of my own way.

I’ll never forget when our “big picture” business model was just to sell 15 of our eBooks per week. Such humble beginnings, I’m so grateful for every moment, and now I am SO grateful for my amazing team of women who allow me to spread this empowering Method in multiple languages and on a global scale.

Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

There’s a silent crisis going on in our world where mothers, sisters, and daughters have given their all to others and begin to feel unwanted and invisible. Our beauty industries have taken the beauty and value out of the aging process, and quite successfully if you look at the dollar value on “anti-aging” products.

Women (and men too, of course) come to us to look younger, naturally, but they stay for the way they feel and the value they get for being a Face Yogi. We offer 100% natural alternatives to cosmetic procedures and plastic surgeries but we NEVER label ourselves as “anti-aging”. We empower men and women to reclaim their confidence and embrace their age naturally and become part of the new age in beauty — the PRO-age movement.

And you can literally SEE the impact we are making. These women are literally glowing. It’s not makeup, it’s not fancy tricks or lighting, it’s a true and genuine glow that comes naturally when we have sparked our self-care fire, and reclaimed our value.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

  1. First and foremost, hot water. Maybe it stems from my Japanese background but I believe that drinking hot water is the simplest addition to one’s wellness journey. Hot water first thing in the morning detoxifies our whole system, cleanses our internal organs and hydrates us all at the same time. Most of our practitioners already correlate this practice with Face Yoga, as we often encourage them to add it into their routines.
  2. A morning ritual and/or self care routine. When I first became a mother I completely lost myself. My endless devotion and love for my family made me forget that I also had myself to take care of. With time, however, I realized that when I care well for myself, I can also take better care of others. I now know that when I prioritize my wellness, it also gives my daughter permission to prioritize hers as well.
  3. Meditation. Meditation is one of my non-negotiables in my morning ritual. Once we discover the power of a mindset practice, it is hard to go without. The best part, it can be any length of time. Even 5 minutes in stillness goes a long way and I would recommend people to start there and build up on this practice.
  4. Movement. Most of us spend most of the day sitting. We also spend the bigger part of our day at our desks. Our business is completely virtual, and we encourage our employees to take breaks in the day to stretch, to walk, to move. I strongly believe that movement is one of the biggest answers to maintaining health, and once again, even a few minutes a day is a good place to start.
  5. Face Yoga — of course I had to mention this, right? But really, this practice will change your life and it is SO easy to fit into your day. My team always laughs at me when I say it, but if you INSIST you don’t have time in your day, do your Face Yoga while you’re using the bathroom! Even a minute or two a day can start to create that habit of self-care and the physical benefits will get you hooked.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I think I might have — The Pro-Age Revolution!

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

1. Do not limit myself. I was limiting myself based on societal expectations and based on my past experiences. I knew the physical benefits of the Face Yoga Method but didn’t know the mental benefits until I started hearing from my clients. Many of our Face Yoga practitioners have reported that Face Yoga has changed their life! They feel beautiful, alive, confident and so much more. The more I heard those comments from practitioners, the more I realized that I needed to let go of my limiting belief. And you know what, the more I let go, the bigger the business has grown.

2. Do not take advice from someone I don’t want to trade places with. At first, I took advice from people I thought had more than I had; business experience, life experience, etc. The more I did that, the more lost I felt. I realized that I needed to listen to myself, I needed to trust myself. If I don’t trust myself, how could I expect anyone else to? Their advice might have been accurate for them and their experiences, but I would never want to trade places with them. I loved my freedom doing my business online.

3. I don’t need to change myself. When I decided to take my Face Yoga Method global by doing everything online, I was worried about my lack of fluency/knowledge in English. Japanese is my first language and doing everything in my second language, English, scared me so much. “Do people take me seriously?” It turned out, because of the fact that I am not a native English speaker, we have so many international followers from all over the world! I didn’t need to change myself. I just had to give myself a little push to put myself out there. My weakness is my strength now.

4. Surround myself with like-minded people. At the early stage of my business, I was trying to find people with “power” and “success” and doing the business with them. I soon realized that their interests and mine were different. They did not care what I care about. I was pouring my energy into what proved to not really be worth my energy. I felt like my energy was getting drained, my creative ideas were ignored. Now with the Face Yoga Method team, they make me laugh, make me happy but also challenge me to be a better version of myself. It is a workplace but we feel so connected. It feels like my creativity ideas are stronger than ever with my team.

5. Trust my intuition. It never lies. I have trusted people based on their business experience, background, thinking that they knew more than I did. Only found out that they did not know anything I was doing. I was feeling something was not right but I was forcing myself that I needed them in my business. I was betrayed.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

While these all have a place in my heart and business, I would have to say mental health is dearest to me. Our mindset and our ability and resilience to face change builds us up and prepares us to take on challenges, as well as gives us the strength to pursue causes that are dear to us.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/faceyogamethod

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faceyogafumiko

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faceyogamethod

Women In Wellness: Face Yoga Expert Fumiko Takatsu on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.