Day: February 18, 2021

Female Disruptors: Dr. Swathi Varanasi of Elēment Apothēc On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.

You may have heard this one before. How big are your dreams? Could they be bigger? The bigger you believe your dreams can be, the bigger the dreams you will achieve. It is still the beginning of the year, so take the time to write down your goals and dreams for 2021. Rip them out of your notebook and post them where you can see them everyday, or, if you are more of a digital person, perhaps make it your phone background. Either way, being reminded of your dreams as often as possible will help keep you on the path to achieve them.. as well as to stop being busy and to be intentional.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Swathi Varanasi.

Dr. Swathi Varanasi, or Dr. Swathi for short, is an award-winning bilingual pharmacist specializing in integrative health and botanical medicine. She is a plant-based wellness expert; a medical consultant for CBD, adaptogen, and health food brands; a published clinical researcher; an advocacy non-profit board of director; a multimedia content contributor; and a matcha enthusiast. Emphasizing an innovative and evidence-based approach, Dr. Swathi is passionate about educating practitioners, students, and patients on natural medicines, and empowering everyone to be the best, most authentic version of themselves.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Absolutely! I was the sort of person who always knew I wanted to be in healthcare, but I did not know what that would look like. Given the family friends I knew who were in pharmacy, I was exposed to such a range and variety of roles in pharmacy that I decided to walk down that path.. To start.

Much of what I have done, much of what I have accomplished, and much of what I have learned comes down to me following my curiosities. I am a naturally curious person, but when I found what excited me or what I wanted to know more about, I jumped the metaphorical fence to completely uncharted territory. This led me to where I am now: forging my own path as an integrative health pharmacist dedicated to making a difference through education. As an educator, I have been lucky to work with a number of brands, including co-founding one — Elēment Apothēc, that are as dedicated as I am to promoting evidence-based information to the conscious consumer. I was recently on a podcast and was asked what my superpower was; without second-guessing, I said communication. Looking back at the experiences that I have had and the things I have done that have brought me the most joy and satisfaction professionally, they have centered around communication — breaking down complicated concepts to easy-to-understand bite-sized bits of information to people to help them on their journey to living their healthiest, most fulfilled lives.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I am a disruptor. I created my own path in the field of pharmacy into the unknown. Throughout my pharmacy schooling, I was told that I had two set options as a pharmacist after graduation: hospital or retail. Given that neither of those paths spoke to me, I was on the search for something that did. This led me to creating a new niche in pharmacy: integrative health pharmacy. As one of the only pharmacists in the nation with a specialization in integrative health and plant-based wellness, I combine the use of prescription medications with incredible complementary therapies including but not limited to nutrition, physical activity, mindfulness, and adaptogens. Through innovative projects such as co-founding and serving as Chief Scientific Officer of a women- and minority-run, cruelty-free CBD/botanical brand, Elēment Apothēc; we pride ourselves on the importance of transparency and clean science, which is raising the standard in an industry in which that is not standard practice. In addition, as a pharmacist, I am taking on and establishing roles that have not been held by a pharmacist before, such as the Director of Science at an herbal medicine advocacy nonprofit organization. Simply by following my interests, I have been led down exciting paths of disruption at every turn.

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

One of the initial mistakes I made in the beginning was believing the dog-eat-dog mentality to be true and assuming that everyone was only out to help themselves. I found, through the wonders of networking, that so many people I had never met were so willing to give advice without an expectation of something in return. It was one of the most humbling things as a new practitioner to realize the innate collaborative nature within the health and wellness community. As an Aries, it is very natural for me to make the first bold move, which, in this case, is to reach out to someone who seemed to have an intriguing role. But, little did I know that so many people would be willing to become unofficial transient mentors to me. This is one of the many reasons why I am passionate about giving back to students and anyone else interested in an unconventional career path; because I would not be here today without the help from so many before me.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I cannot thank one of my mentors, Dr. Pam Tarlow, enough. Her guidance and support as one of the only integrative health pharmacists for over twenty years has helped propel me to where I am today. We first met during one of my clinical rotations during my Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree. After four weeks working together as preceptor-student, we decided to transform our relationship to co-founders of the first-ever (and still only!) postdoctoral training program for pharmacists interested in being a part of the integrative and/or botanical space, the PGY1 Integrative Health Pharmacy Residency program. If she had not taken a chance on that one student a few years ago (aka me!), I would not have been able to have the influence or make the impact I have in my short time as a pharmacist.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

This is a great question. Change itself and its impact can be highly subjective. I have always thought of this adjective in a positive way as it means that you are surpassing the norm to achieve and/or fill a void. Although there are many things that have stood the test of time and there can be so much value in tradition, there is also a time when we, as a society, should evaluate when it is time to move beyond what is comfortable. The word, disruptive, is an action word; to me, it means something that has gone its course in the comfort of commonplace and it is time for it to be disrupted. In this case, I view words like comfort and commonplace as passive in that when we are in these states, there can be no change.. Without change, there can be no progress, so, in my opinion, disruption is the only solution.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Stop being busy.

I had to learn this one the hard way. There is such a glamorization of the hustle and of ‘being busy,’ especially in the start-up world. People think that being busy makes them superior to others, but, in reality, being busy does not necessarily mean that you are doing what truly maes you happy, it just means you have a lot to do. This quote from one of my recent reads, and it rings so true: You will never have enough time to do the things that you do not want to do and you will never have enough money for all of the things you do not need to buy. Being busy comes down to time. People are ruled by time when we forget that it is a man-made — or rather, self-made — construct. When you realize that you have control over time and how you spend it, everything changes.

Be intentional.

This statement is two words, but holds so much meaning. So much of our lives can feel like autopilot, just doing whatever ‘should’ be done, but many of us do not sit to think about how we are really spending our time. The ancient philosophy of stoicism talks about making friends with death; by that, it means that if today was your last day, would you have spent it the same way? Not to be morbid, but the stoics had a perspective on death that really puts our daily habits and behaviors into perspective. Marcus Aurelius once said, “It is not death that a man should fear, but rather he should fear never beginning to live.” It is incredible that what these philosophical thought-leaders said in the second century still apply to our lives nearly twenty centuries later.

If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.

You may have heard this one before. How big are your dreams? Could they be bigger? The bigger you believe your dreams can be, the bigger the dreams you will achieve. It is still the beginning of the year, so take the time to write down your goals and dreams for 2021. Rip them out of your notebook and post them where you can see them everyday, or, if you are more of a digital person, perhaps make it your phone background. Either way, being reminded of your dreams as often as possible will help keep you on the path to achieve them.. as well as to stop being busy and to be intentional.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

You are right! One of the most exciting things I am working on right now is the first-ever online course specifically for consumers on the basics of the endocannabinoid system and cannabis. It is such a new topic for so many and with its swift rise in popularity, people do not know where to look for reliable information. There is such a sea of myths and misinformation on the internet. I aim to be one of the sources of evidence-based, scientific information when it comes to these otherwise complex disease states and systems.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Women and men in positions of power performing the same tasks are still perceived differently. Why is this? The timeworn relationship between women and men in the workplace, particularly when it comes to innovation and disruption, is nothing short of appalling. This polarizing dynamic hurts the potential of us all working together, regardless of the gender with which we identify. Generalizing all women, or any group for that matter, to be and act a certain way benefits no one. We must look beyond the external appearance to find out more about the person themselves and their special talents; understanding the people with whom we work and with whom spend time is key to everyone operating at their best. Breaking these barriers and providing opportunities to those who may not have received them otherwise is one of my goals as a minority woman disruptor.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I am an avid reader and podcast listener, so it is difficult for me to pick only one, but I have to mention The Great Leap by Gay Hendricks. I have two quotes from that book on post-its on my desk. One is, “I commit to living in my Zone of Genius now and forever,” and the other is, “Every time you say an enlightened No to something that does not serve your genius, you build a stronger foundation for yourself in the zone.” Hendricks has an incredible way of distilling so many teachings into concise, thought-provoking phrases. By Zone of Genius, he means living a life that brings out your unique abilities and finding what skills come naturally to you that you thoroughly enjoy doing. What is it that you spend so much time doing, but does not seem like work? In Hinduism, there is a concept called, dharma. This concept and Hendricks are in synergy stating that the goal is to find your life’s purpose. On the road to finding your reason for being on the planet, the concept of ‘the enlightened no’ has forever changed my professional interactions. Before, I would be overly keen to do almost anything that seemed like it could help me progress as a professional; but, I rarely took a second to think about what that would mean for my future. Ask yourself before doing anything personally or professionally: Is this in alignment with my truth? How can I be the best version of myself and serve the world at the same time? That intersection is where you will find your dharma.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

What has been life-changing for me has been spending time with my inner self. I do not want it to come off as woo-woo, but here goes: creating the time to learn more about myself and what I am here to do has been instrumental in my success and in my overall happiness. I cannot underscore the importance of your self-worth. By feeling worthy of success (however you define it), you will achieve more than you think could ever be possible. I would love to inspire a movement that provided everyone a moment to pause to think about who we want to be and how we want to spend our time. Are you really using your unique talents every day? In the future, I hope to see the incorporation of personal development work into our school system, so students do not need to seek external sources to figure this out. We are forever learners in life, but it would be wonderful to have the time built into our schedules (before entering the real world) to delve into the many layers of who we are and what it is we are here to do.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“By creating the world I wish I existed, I am changing the world.” This quote came to me recently and has stuck with me since. It speaks to the power we all have as people. From an astrological perspective, we have officially entered what some are referring to as the Aquarian Age or Aquarian Decade; this means that we are shifting to the Aquarian values of community, collaboration, and collective consciousness. If we each were to harness our own power to be the change we want to see in the world, now more than ever we can work as a collective to create the most peaceful, prosperous world for our generation and generations to come.

How can our readers follow you online?

Please connect with me on LinkedIn and check out my website (https://www.doctorswathi.com/) for news and updates about my upcoming appearances and interviews. Looking forward to e-meeting you soon!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Female Disruptors: Dr Swathi Varanasi of Elēment Apothēc On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Y was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Go local. Covid has alerted us to all the great stuff that is right within our own backyards. Micro-adventures have became THE trend for 2020, but I think it’s here to stay. With so much to explore within your own country, travelers are reducing their carbon footprint and lifting up their local businesses at a time they need it most.

As part of my series about “developments in the travel industry over the next five years”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Richard Campbell.

Richard Campbell believes he has the greatest job on earth as the founder of 10Adventures — an adventure travel platform, allowing community members to plan their own trip or book a tour in over 50 countries. Outside of work, he’s a lifelong traveler and outdoor enthusiast. These days, you can often find him trying ever more adventurous recipes, reading and hiking with his wife and three young boys in the Rocky Mountains.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My first job out of university, I had the choice to join a big German bank or join a startup that didn’t even have a website yet. I ultimately decided to join the startup, as it seemed more interesting. Over my time there, I got to manage the development of every new product. At one point, I recall feeling bad that I kept getting, what I felt, were the best projects in the company. I was sharing this with my colleagues in the pub after work, and suggested I go to the CEO and mention that somebody else should get a shot. They all looked at me funny, and one said “Richard, you have the worst job here. Nobody wants to do what you do”.

Since then I’ve realized that I love the challenge of building something new, going from nothing to something. I had long assumed that everybody enjoys this part of creating a business, but in truth, most people don’t like this type of task, and prefer more structured jobs with less ambiguity and risk of failure. This is why I founded my own startup, 10Adventures, which is an adventure travel platform, allowing community members to plan their own trip or book a tour in over 50 countries. I ultimately enjoy being able to create something that is important and meaningful, and serve an important need in the adventure travel community.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

On the first big travel conference I ever attended, I arrived in Tuscany a day early in order to scout hikes for our Tuscany section on 10Adventures. I booked an apartment for the first night and woke up to realize I’d been bitten everywhere by bedbugs. Thankfully, the owners were very gracious and apologetic, but my face was completely swollen. That day, I arrived at the travel conference looking like I’ve been beaten up. I was super self-conscious, but it turned out to be a good icebreaker and led to some great connections. I guess it was worth it!

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

I once found myself working in Argentina, where the national language is Spanish. And while I speak French, I was just starting to learn Spanish. Many Spanish words are very similar to French words, so I was able to speak decent Spanish quite quickly. One word I used often was “excite” (excited). I would say “excitado” quite a lot, and I noticed some of my colleagues would look at me weird when I would say “I’m really excitado about the new website” or “I’m really excitado about lunch today”. Finally one of the only English speakers said “Richard, do you know excitado means sexually aroused?”.

What did I learn? Don’t guess too often, and pay attention to how other people react.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Can you share a story about that?

I feel like we’re the luckiest people on earth in travel, as we’re all doing things we’re passionate about. Adventure travel itself is even better, as the guests are generally great people, and super interesting. So every day, I’ve chosen to surround myself with passionate, inspiring people.

Even working in such a great environment, I believe it’s important to have time off. In my case, I prioritize family time, and make time in my schedule to have lunch with my family, take days off to get into the outdoors and have incredible adventures with my favourite people on earth.

In the pandemic, it’s especially easy to get demotivated or depressed — it can really suck. For our team, we have aggressive goals that we are all working on. Being busy helps in the downtime, our team is never idle and we focus on accomplishments — not on what’s out of our control.

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?

I’m incredibly grateful for my team, I’m always learning from them. My career has been about growing companies, and I believe it all comes down to people. Surrounding yourself with knowledgable, passionate people is the key to achieving success. Too many managers think they know everything. Listen to your colleagues, not just about work (where they often know more than mangers), but things in general. We all have challenging lives, and working in a team where you are valued and the team is flexible about other life commitments is important.

Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the travel and hospitality industries?

Adventure travel is booming now more than ever, as people realize the benefits of more natural travels, rather than plushy resorts. Adventure travel isn’t just hard-core mountain travel, but includes a lot of soft adventures, like e-bike touring, walking and more.

Unfortunately, the tools to assist in planning an adventure are stuck in 2005. Honestly, planning adventure travel sucks, and we’re here to change that. 10Adventures has everything you need for booking or planning adventure travel. Whether you want to plan your own trip, hire a guide for the day, or book onto a multi-day tour, you can do it all at 10Adventures.

In the face of COVID-19, we’ve also pivoted to focus on our custom, private group trips. Our custom guided trips are for you and your group only, and can often be customized based on specific requirements and timeframe. These trips were created for individuals or small groups that know each other and want a guide — perfect for a self-contained adventure. All our tours, regardless of destination are outdoors, exploring lesser-known destinations and isolated within your private group of cohorts.

Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing this innovation?

Booking adventure travel, or any travel for that matter is time consuming, as you need to use dozens of websites to book just one trip. It’s also risky to book a tour off the web, as you never quite know if that guide or tour company is legitimate. At 10Adventures, we strive to connect guests directly to local tour operators, saving you money, time and hassle.

As you know, COVID19 changed the world as we know it. Can you share 5 examples of how travel and hospitality companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers will prefer to travel?

1. Small groups. The days of 60-person group travel on buses is slowly dying. It makes sense, as it’s far more fun to make lifelong memories on a holiday with a group of friends, or your family. Private, small groups are the future. We’ve seen a huge trend of multi-generational bookings and a transition from cruises to experiential travel.
2. Go deeper into a region / Go Slow. People want to learn more about less. This means exploring a smaller region, but getting to know it better. Engage with the food, culture, towns and people rather than booking a top attractions tour. This often means going slower as well, as you aren’t rushing to see every little thing.
3. Get outdoors. With so many physical and mental health benefits, spending time outdoors on a holiday is becoming more and more important. Innovations like ebikes have opened up cycling tours to people who have never done an active vacation before, and they love it. A week spent hiking, kayaking or cycling is one of the best ways to rejuvenate oneself.
4. Sustainable tourism. More people are looking to explore off-the-beaten path destinations, as some destinations are a victim of their success. We’ve seen a huge influx of adventure travel that is off-the-grid, eco-friendly, and gives back to the local communities you’re touring within. Travel is often referred to as a major polluter, but these days with carbon offsetting and a focus on local or sustainable travel — you can do more good than harm.
5. Go local. Covid has alerted us to all the great stuff that is right within our own backyards. Micro-adventures have became THE trend for 2020, but I think it’s here to stay. With so much to explore within your own country, travelers are reducing their carbon footprint and lifting up their local businesses at a time they need it most.

You are a “travel insider”. How would you describe your “perfect vacation experience”?

Honestly, all vacations are great, and sometimes a luxury city break is what I need, other times a beach holiday, and often something in the mountains. Ultimately, almost all my favourite memories are moments from vacations or family adventures.

What I’m dreaming of now is teaching my boys to snorkel off the coast of Maui, snowshoeing to a mountain cabin, as well as summer backpacking. These are amazing experiences, in beautiful locations and I know the wonder my family will have, as they learn something new. There is always guaranteed to be a lot of laughing.

Can you share with our readers how have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I have worked on causes that support nature and education in developing countries. This has taken the form of working with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect critical mountain environments, as well as a major trek to raise money to build schools in Nepal.

Right now I’m on the Board of Directors of the Alpine Club of Canada, where we work to preserve Canada’s alpine environment. At 10Adventures, we are currently working on programs to support local communities we directly impact, as well as their environments. We expect to announce and expand on our initiatives in 2021.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

If I could find a way to convince everyone to take a week long hiking trip — the world would be a better place. A week on a hiking holiday will change a person’s life. It encourage them to get away from their phones, social media and day-to-day pressures, and just enjoy being outside and on a different rhythm. I think they’d easily reconnect with nature and the outdoors, which is a real human condition. Almost everybody that completes a hiking or trekking tour once — often does them for the rest of their lives. They find they lose weight, gain new friends, explore the world and find so much joy.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I’m not crazy about social media, but you can find out more about 10Adventures and myself at www.10adventures.com or you can connect with me on LinkedIn.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Richard Campbell of 10Adventures: The Future of Travel in The Post Covid World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Farrah Miller of FM Wellness: ‘How To Develop Mindfulness And Serenity During Stressful Or Uncertain Times’

“As spiritual beings, we are on a temporary journey through this life, experiencing our human selves. This universe is a reflection of our souls. We always have the choice to focus on resilience and mindfulness, and these things give us the courage to do what our soul is calling us to do. When we release resistance from our mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies, we can truly thrive.” — Farrah Miller

As a part of my series about “How To Develop Mindfulness And Serenity During Stressful Or Uncertain Times”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Farrah Miller. Farrah is a health, nutrition, and life coach, speaker, and founder of FM Wellness. FM Wellness is an online platform dedicated to helping women heal their traumas, rewire limiting beliefs, and find freedom, peace, and their soul’s purpose. Farrah is deeply passionate about self-development and using a holistic mind-body-soul alignment to change one’s life. Through the FM Wellness platform, speaking engagements, and workshops, Farrah provides her audiences with the tools and resources that help with living an authentic, vibrant, abundant lifestyle. Farrah specializes in helping those struggling with chronic stress, anxiety, low self-worth, and body-image issues. She also helps those wanting to add whole foods to their diets and learn intuitive eating habits.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

Struggling with low self-worth, limiting family and religious beliefs, and divorced at the age of 20, I was left with a heavy heart, stressed about my future, and feeling lost. I did not know my passions, purpose, and what a balanced lifestyle looked or felt like. Unfortunately, these things were not taught to me by my peers or in schools. I felt brain-fogged, low energy, and was developing body image issues keeping me from living my sacred essence. Somehow, I never felt like I could be enough.

Day by day my inner voice kept nagging me to make a change, not tomorrow but immediately, and suddenly I found myself taking the first courageous step to a new horizon. I moved to another city, not knowing a single soul or knowing what the future might hold, but I knew from intuition that it was the right choice for me. I believed that there was much more untapped potential in me, and that I must allow myself to explore who I was as a human being, a spiritual being, and as a creation of God. I went on a healing journey, and self-development became a huge part of my life. That is when I found my calling to pursue and teach holistic healing, wellness, mindfulness, and meditation to women like me. I realized my purpose was to help others to tap into their own inner voice, and master their well-being, align with their higher purpose, living in bliss and laughter.

I started reading books by extremely successful people and great teachers, and they opened my mind to many of life’s deepest questions. I believe that we are much more than what the media and our environment has led us to believe. I think many of us have been stripped of our real emotions, and have been sold terrifying fears and hatreds, so that we cannot possibly reach our highest potentials without intensive awakening and self-work.

Human beings are conscious beings, and we have control over our decisions, eating habits, and lifestyle choices. Today, we can choose to surround ourselves with the fears of failure or brilliant success stories, both of which will affect us deeply. We may need new opportunities and patterns of being with ourselves and with others.

We live in a society which often promotes commercial products by inflaming greed, fear, jealousy, bullying, and the desire for control. How then can a person look at the world each day with an open mind and still feel justly empowered, successful, and at peace? Only through self-examination and discipline.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Like many of us, my career started after college, and it was somewhat of an unguided career choice. I continued to work in the banking industry, leading a floor team and enjoying my path into management. At the time I did know how to sit with my passions in meditation and plan inspired action. However, my path in life eventually took me to where I was meant to be. Ten years in corporate finance flew by and I found myself a vice president at my bank, but not deeply fulfilled. I enjoyed numbers, people, and managing teams, but I knew that it was not my calling. One day I asked God to show me my true purpose. Why was I working so hard to be here? I knew I was meant to make a difference in the world.

I had started becoming aware of the global wellness movement around this time and I took a chance to join the IIN, the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, for nutrition health coaching. The IIN is a global movement and school, empowering their students to take control of their health to reach their health goals — from weight loss to stress management to resolving chronic conditions through diet — and teach others how they can do the same. That is the IIN’s mission: spread health and happiness to the world and make an impact one person at a time. Now I help clients as a certified Beyond Quantum Healing practitioner, Reiki healer, and spiritual life coach.

After two years since my decision to pursue a holistic healing practice, I began hearing from a group of old friends who I had not seen in the past 10 years. Several of them had stories about leaving their marriages and developing worrying feelings of not being enough, negative body-image issues, and fears of failing in life. I was surprised that this group of peers who had seemed to have it all figured out was going through troubles very similar to my own and I had an “Aha Moment.” I knew I was destined to help women like them and this was my confirmation. I had figured out my own path to healing and self-realization and started observing many changes in my life. It was leading me to a better life experience.

Just like when someone gets sick and needs to go to a physical medicine specialist, helping people with their overall well-being, decision-making skills, and listening with love and compassion put me in my comfort zone. It has been a beautiful journey to experience connections with others who are feeling stuck, just like I was at one time of my life. Looking at someone’s bigger picture and filling in the gaps is something that comes natural to me.

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

Compassion, kindness, and mutual respect are often missing in the corporate world. Today’s millennials understand the importance of these three concepts on a higher level than the last generation, and they are confused when they don’t find them in their careers. This is one reason they are called the “why” generation. The world’s corporate culture needs to be reformed into a much more caring, compassionate, and respectful society where employees are celebrated for their unique talents and gifts, rather than being pressed into wasteful competition and burn-out. According to Forbes, more than 70% of millennials aren’t engaged at their jobs, and 30% will quit due to dissatisfaction within 2 years.

Based on my own experiences and observations, emotional intelligence is sorely missing from all levels of corporate culture. Compassion is the art of being a good listener and having genuine concern about the employee’s development and progress, not simply creating an effective salesperson.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

I read The Essentials of Rumi in 2013 and Rumi philosophy really impacted my perceptions about life. Growing up I was not satisfied with the stories I was hearing from popular culture and in school as they did not resonate with my inner knowing. I believe we all have an inner-knowing and that we must listen carefully to it and ask ourselves more questions. Rumi’s teachings are soulful and help with connecting the dots. As a child I was curious about God and what the purpose of existence was, but I never received an answer which resonated with me at the core level. It was not until I read Rumi’s spiritual teachings that I developed a more open-minded approach to understanding why we are here and how we are uniquely loved by the Creator. Rumi really makes you think about life more subtly.

“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” -Rumi

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the focus of our interview. From your experience or research, how would you define and describe the state of being mindful?

Mindfulness is truly a game changer. Today we are learning more and more ways to tap into the power of our mind, and we are learning what a gift it truly is. Mindfulness helps you slow down and become a peaceful observer, instead of an agitated reactor. Our circumstances are not us, they are outside experiences like the weather, and when we understand that we can take the control in life that we are meant to have. That’s when the magic happens.

Mindfulness helps us become more tolerant, compassionate, and deft at balancing giving and receiving.

This is the path to becoming the highest version of ourselves. Human potential is so vast, and we are just starting to realize it.

One big part of mindfulness is being in the present moment. When the mind is chattering and overthinking about the future or past, we are not aligned with the harmony of the universe and with ourselves. Something that I have learned, experienced, and constantly teach my clients is that your mind is your gift and you must tend to it like a loved one.

This might be intuitive to you, but it will be instructive to spell this out. Can you share with our readers a few of the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of becoming mindful?

Mindfulness helps us realize the fact that life is not against us, it surrounds us, and we are to navigate it with the best of our developed capabilities.

The physical benefits include calming symptoms of disease, chronic pain, stress, blood pressure, and sleep. Helping ourselves deal with difficult symptoms allows our bodies to heal unobstructed. Mindfulness practices help create a heart-mind coherence which leads to better physical health through better healing conditions and can resolve many neurological issues taxing our energy and rest. Yoga for instance is a great way to practice mindfulness while soothing the body’s aches and pains, thus reinforcing that synergistic relationship.

Mental health is everything. I personally started practicing mindfulness techniques about 11 years ago and it started with rethinking a lot of what I had been taught by my environment. I gave myself permission to release many of the older cultural ways of thinking and living and began practicing mindfulness in each interaction with people and ideas. This brought an immense peace to my life which allowed me to concentrate more deeply on each of my passions and projects. Many Western psychotherapists have become more open to Eastern mindfulness techniques in recent years and add them to their practices as a helpful way patients can calm their anxieties and allow more clinical therapies to work. Calming a patient’s neurological state is especially helpful when treating typical issues like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, couple’s problems, drug abuse, and obsessive-compulsive behavior. Mindfulness is helpful on its own as well as when combined with standard therapy treatments.

Emotionally mindfulness helps with releasing intense memories and removing harmful learned reactions. When we think calmly and clearly before we react, we can avoid unnecessary internal and external conflicts. Being mindful of our emotional health can help with balancing our internal world, which is the source of our daily inspiration and decision making. We learn to remain calm and capable in situations which must be resolved with a delicate approach. Many times, people fight and argue because they are not listening to understand but listening to respond, and that is often caused by unfamiliarity or fear of one’s own emotions. Emotional awareness and intelligence plays an important part in our life experiences, and mindfulness shows us the root causes of our emotions, allowing us to finally deal with them.

Ok. Here is the main question of our discussion. The past 5 years have been filled with upheaval and political uncertainty. Many people have become anxious from the dramatic jolts of the news cycle. The fears related to the pandemic have only heightened a sense of uncertainty, anxiety, fear, and loneliness. From your experience or research what are five steps that each of us can take to develop mindfulness during such uncertain times? Can you please share a story or example for each?

I know that these times are especially serious, and we have heard many stories about children losing their parents or spouses losing their partners. We can’t help but feel saddened and hurt for them. And we are all close to people who have lost their jobs, struggled financially, emotionally, or have lost some of their shine due to staying indoors for extended periods. I would recommend that we all practice the following techniques for peace, health, and joy. Health is wealth and when you take care of your wellbeing first, you can change the world.

Here are few ways to start to shift one’s perspective and become more positive and optimistic:

Create a sacred space: Start with having a sacred space in your house that is for your “self-discovery, self-love, and interruption-free” time. Pick any space that speaks to your heart. It can be your bubble bath or small area in your home dedicated and decorated for this purpose. It does not matter. What matters is that you create the space for your well-being, and you design it to be personal and soothing. You can practice your physical, mental, and emotional mindfulness techniques here.

Intentional mornings: Start the day with an intention. We choose many of our feelings, thoughts, and habits, and we can control what we give our attention to by creating a daily intention. Reaffirming the intention throughout the day helps us stay alert, mindful, and cultivate a consistent sense of well-being. I often start the day with the intention of letting go of any negative experiences which do not serve me.

Mindful Yoga: I love my yoga practice. It helps with calming the mind and reduces stress. It helps with releasing energy blocks in the body and regulates energy flow. Yoga has endless benefits:

• Helps with deep relaxation and chronic pain
• Helps with coping skills, acceptance, rest
• Helps build compassion and tolerance of self and others
• Helps with your visualization and meditation practice

Focus on breathing throughout the session, being fully present, and your balance. 15–25 minutes per day, preferably in the morning, is a great start. And don’t be afraid to start small, even 5 minutes a day will help you build this helpful habit.

Mindful Activities: These are simple practices which reinforce our mindfulness through physically and mentally stimulating projects.

• Gardening or watering your indoor plants
• Talking a walk
• Drawing or painting
• Reading a self-development book or memoir of your favorite person
• Walking barefoot, walking meditation
• Watching wildlife, birds, pets
• Sky watching, rain, and snow
• Uncluttering your home

Mindful Meditation: This may be the most important practice of all. Mindful meditation has helped me explore my true self and develop my inner wisdom. When we are in silence and breathing deeply, we are tapping into the part of us that easily aligns us with our environment to live in a controlled and effortless way. This meditation is a good place to start and involves sitting in a comfortable, sacred place, and focusing on breath, posture, and your “inner eye.” Visit mindful.org for more information.

From your experience or research what are five steps that each of us can take to effectively offer support to those around us who are feeling anxious? Can you explain?

I believe that due to years of fear or flight behavioral programming, most of us are programmed to feel anxious, alone, and uncertain about the future, especially in macroscopically uncertain times. This buildup of nervous energy can lead to depression and more serious illness. However, we can help our friends, family, or even strangers with a few methods.

Educate yourself about the symptoms, causes, and behavioral attributes of anxiety first. This includes standard research practices and well as opening dialogues with peers who have been through or tried helping with these issues. Make sure to look at a wide spectrum of informational and personal sources to avoid developing early biases.

Understand that anxiety can manifest in many forms. Your loved ones may not complain of these issues, but you may be able to learn about them through careful listening. Some of the common physical symptoms are:

• Restlessness
• Dry mouth
• Chest pains
• Sweating
• Shortness of breath
• Headaches
• Feeling out of control
• Feeling of pain, fear, or nervousness
• Irritable
• Compulsive overthinking
• Difficulty concentrating
• Constantly believing the worst will happen
• Problems falling or staying asleep

Then make sure you show up for them. Showing up for a friend or family member means being there for them when they need it, whether they are visibly hurting or not. Simply listening without judgement can make so much difference for people. It can deepen the relationships and create a sacred place for them to heal. As humans we want to be heard, cared for, understood, and to belong. When we show compassion and kindness, we create an environment for others to share their struggles and feel lighter.

Recommend further activities and practices that they can do on their own. Teach them methods of mindfulness and meditation that they can use when their pain is affecting their daily life. Practice these methods with them, both as instruction but also as your own personal practice. Meditating with others is a great way to complete the circle of internal and external self-work.

Lastly, follow up to make sure that they are improving and not giving in to despair. Sometimes we will find that a person has a problem they cannot fix on their own or with friends, and they must seek psychiatric help. Remind them that this additional work will help them grow in yet another dimension and is nothing to feel ashamed of. Many of our great pioneers and teachers have sought help throughout history, and their success shows us a path forward.

What are the best resources you would suggest for someone to learn how to be more mindful and serene in their everyday life?

I do a lot of self-discovery, and research to learn new ways to enhance life experiences for myself and my clients. I also write about mindfulness tools and practices which have helped me in my journey to self-realization and I read many books which are life changing. Today there are so many groups, organizations, movements sharing tools and practices to help empower people all over the world to become more mindful and realize their true potential.

Here are 7 resources that I recommend:

Happify (mobile app)

Headspace (mobile app)

Calm (mobile app)

Brain.FM (mobile app)

Mindfulness (mobile app)

Joyable (mobile app)

Mindful.org (website)

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” -Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein is one of my favorite gurus. Beyond the fact that he was a scientific genius, his open minded, childlike curiosity exemplifies an important key to success. I believe that success leaves clues, and he left so many for us with his witty quotes and written commentaries. Life experiences are our gems; we are to not be crushed by them but must use them as lessons which allow us to stand tall and walk with our heads held high. Why do we feel discouraged and fearful when we are born with the innate power to handle everything that comes at us? Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” I believe that the way to find the proper level to solve a difficult or chronic problem starts with mindful meditation and self-awareness, two momentous skills in life which take time and practice.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Everybody has a greatness in them and a genius potential which just needs nurturing and tapping into. We are all filled with divine abilities; we can reach our heart’s true desires and create our best health, wealth, and fulfil our life’s purpose. No one must suffer. Suffering is a choice in many cases. Some of life’s situations are of course out of our control but many times we can make a subtle choice and change the direction of our lives. I might call my movement: “The Highest Version of HER,” because I want every woman in the world to thrive and get the best education, resources, and respect no matter where she lives. In many countries women are struggling, poor, victims of violence, or routinely talked down to. I want to see a change in these cultures and situations now. It is time that we understand that all humanity is connected, and when we thrive individually, we thrive together. We are the world we create, and mindfulness is the first step in that creative process.

What is the best way our readers can follow you online?

www.farrahmiller.org

ww.instagram.com/farrahmiller_

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

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Farrah Miller of FM Wellness: ‘How To Develop Mindfulness And Serenity During Stressful Or… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Future of Beauty: Paul Peros of Reduit On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Beauty Industry

The race and opportunities towards a much more sustainable future in beauty; We delve very deep into this and create all of our products with innovation and sustainability at the forefront. Our Return & Renew program has already been launched for over a year now and is being met with great delight from consumers and partners alike. We’re always looking at more ways to improve and further push towards a more sustainable beauty industry.

As a part of our series about how technology will be changing the beauty industry over the next five years I had the pleasure of interviewing Paul Peros.

Prior to beauty and beauty tech, he spent over 10 years in management consulting, mainly working on new product development. Being a part of GEA, a “pre-McKinseyan”, small strategy boutique in Milano, where he had a very typical Italian, product-oriented client pool of entrepreneurs and family business, many of which were global leaders in their respective segments, from Leonardo Del Vecchio (Luxottica) and Oscar Farinetti (Eataly), to Vittorio Merloni (Indesit) and Giuseppe Rana (Rana).

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Maybe it is difficult to pin a single one, but just the other day I was surprised how much I enjoyed participating in a simple training session at a local Swiss clinic. Following months of at-home, or other distance work, I never thought I would miss the experience of discovering new products together so exhilarating and useful. To see the reactions to some of the aspects of the product I never thought about, to engage in creative discussions with professionals of different backgrounds, as simple as it might sound, was truly amazing.

I know it is circumstantial to the current COVID context, but I can’t stop thinking about it. I think that the mere fact that such an experience would have never made a “most interesting story of my career” in itself is telling about how important realizations of what is important to us come in very simple and unexpected situations.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

I spent the early days of my working life in a physics laboratory. A few months into my first job, we had one of our lab magnets returned from service. Watching the 5 movers use simple wooden levers to lift and navigate the +2 ton piece of equipment through the room and into its position, I was really impressed by the way they worked together seamlessly. As I turned around to share my amazement with my boss, the professor, I saw him crouched behind his desk, feeling really queasy about having all of these strange people in his lab.

I quit the job the same month and have never worked in a lab since then. I realized I needed and wanted to work with people — and I am happy to have had the fortune to do so for over 25 years now. For me, this is what it is about, to be able to build and do things together that alone we would never be able to — this is success.

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

I was fortunate to always have had extraordinary mentors by my side. At GEA my mentor was Mario Consiglio, one of the firm’s founders from 1965 with over 50 years of experience that included directing Confindustria — Italy’s chamber of commerce that was led by legends such as Benetton, Agnelli, and Pininfarina; at FOREO I worked closely with Filip Sedic, the company’s founder and one of the most astonishing entrepreneurs I’ve ever had the chance to meet; presently, I’m grateful to have the support from Steven Schapera, an expert in luxury beauty and the founder of Becca Cosmetics.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the “cutting edge” (pardon the pun) technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?

We are constantly pushing the boundaries and innovating to find solutions to everyday health, wellness and beauty needs and this is what sets us apart. We currently have over 20 patents in technological innovations — arguably the most famous of these is our magnetic misting application technology which essentially reduces the surface tension of the products and maximises fine-film creation for better delivery of beauty actives. This alongside our ultrasonic diffusion technology found in our beauty brand REDUIT devices, disperses droplets 50 times smaller than traditional mist applications, so together, has completely revolutionized the way we apply beauty treatments. This not only helps consumers to deliver only the best potent actives from products to their skin and hair, but is more sustainable as each of our pods which hold the formulas are only 5ml, yet provide the same as a traditional 200ml bottle of hair or skin products so it is much better for the environment and produces much less wastage.

We are also currently looking at ways to provide a universal offering, thus bridging the gap between male / female product offerings and stepping up to close the gender gap when it comes to everyday beauty. We are nearing completion of our first universal device and will bring it to the market very very soon. We’re extremely excited to see consumers respond to this.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

I believe technology can only be a positive force in all industries. The beauty of technology is that it is not a one stop shop project and consistent monitoring, testing, refining, V1, V2, V3 and so on, and continually evolving will lead to great things, even if unintended consequences occur. We innovate everyday and come up with new means and ways to deliver technological solutions that will apply in things we use in everyday life, so if the initial outcome doesn’t work, we go back to the drawing board until it does.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?

The endless opportunities in innovation

The convergence of health and wellness into beauty and vice versa

The race and opportunities towards a much more sustainable future in beauty; We delve very deep into this and create all of our products with innovation and sustainability at the forefront. Our Return & Renew program has already been launched for over a year now and is being met with great delight from consumers and partners alike. We’re always looking at more ways to improve and further push towards a more sustainable beauty industry.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

Courage and confidence to see things really through, to find the truly best solution to any problem;

Vision to engage valuable resources beyond the way things were done in the past;

Solidarity and collegiality, trust in both one’s and our colleagues’ experiences, competences and ability to tackle challenges.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”?

Love yourself

Start at the basics. Good skin and good hair is the basis of any beauty regime

Spread kindness

Make time for yourself; selfcare is as important for the mind as it is for the body

Live a well, active and healthy life to the fullest

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Kindness… If we have kindness and grace then the world would be a better place. We are deep rooted in the health, wellness and beauty via REDUIT and our parent company WELLFULLY, so we are as much about the mind as well as the body and of course beauty and kindness goes a long way in terms of making people feel beautiful inside and out. In fact, for Valentines Day this year, we initiated a pay it forward with kindness movement, rather than focus on the commercial aspect of this occasion. We feel consumers relate and respond much better to a movement and an initiative that evokes real emotion in people.

Additionally in our response to the pandemic which has hit the beauty industry pretty hard, we recently created a unique Ambassador Program that will provide an exciting digital platform for industry enthusiasts and professionals to engage with our brands in communications as micro-influencers, as well as in active promotion activities either directly, or as affiliates.

We seek to provide value where it is truly needed. Experienced and motivated professionals are an immense and valuable asset that has been hit hard by the crisis. The program will offer interesting engagement opportunities across a number of collaboration tracks, from digital communications and general professional development, to specific activations with Wellfully’s brands and proprietary enhanced delivery products and innovations.

Through this movement, we would like to not only assume a role of responsible industry leadership, but also actively assist in the development of future best practices in communication and distribution across beauty, health and wellness.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“No matter how much you beat your cat, you will never have a dog” by Tom Vollman, professor at IMD, Lausanne — I think that one is self-explanatory. Really useful in organizational behavior. Especially when trying hard, it is sometimes easy to lose sight of constraints.

Virtually all the quotes from Dickie Fox in the Jerry Maguire movie. From “I love getting up in the mornings, I clap my hands and say, ‘This is going to be a great day!”, to “If the head is empty, the head doesn’t matter”, and most importantly “I don’t have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I have failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success.” It is not just their simplicity, but the responsible and proactive direction of these that I enjoy remembering for years now.

How can our readers follow you online?

I technically do have both FB and IG, but I manage most of my communications via LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.

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The Future of Beauty: Paul Peros of Reduit On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Dr. Manasa Mantravadi of Ahimsa On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

As a woman in science and also a mother to three young children — I always look at the evidence. It’s how I take care of my patients — evidence-based medicine. It’s how I take care of my children — evidence-based parenting. Right now, the evidence is that the industry disruptor decades ago is truly disrupting things far more important these days — our planet and our health. And that is not a good type of disruption.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Manasa Mantravadi, Board-Certified Pediatrician and Founder of Ahimsa.

Dr. Mantravadi took matters into her own hands and created the brand Ahimsa to offer a safe alternative to the growing number of plastic products for children. Ahimsa (Sanskrit for “avoiding harm”) is the first colorful stainless steel dinnerware for kids that’s non-toxic and environmentally-friendly.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

After my husband and I became parents, we began to educate ourselves further on healthy food practices and the impact of our daily decisions on our environment. Although we did make the mistake of buying some plastic dinnerware with cute characters on it when our twins were infants — I was soon met with my mother standing in the kitchen, hands on hips, lecturing me about the dangers of plastic, particularly with heat. The next day, I came home from work to find that she had replaced all of my plastic with traditional Indian stainless steel dishes.

5 years later, my fellow pediatrician moms discussed the recent American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) recommendation to use alternatives to plastics, such as glass or stainless steel. I will let you imagine my mother’s response when I told her the AAP agreed with her — that chemicals in plastic negatively impact children’s hormones, growth, and development. Particularly with heat. Go figure — mother knows best. I will tell you that it was the biggest “I told you so” moment in the history of motherhood.

I quickly realized the lack of options for these types of products here in the USA. Billions of Asians have used stainless steel as a standard for generations — they can’t all be wrong, I thought. However, I knew that metal at the dining table in America would require some convincing. I wanted to get plastic off the table and put something safe, but still enticing to children, on it. Since necessity is the mother of invention, I thought about how I could make stainless steel attractive for kids. I had seen various colors of medical implants that were meant to be indwelling in the human body — they were made of steel and titanium. They were colorful. I started to voraciously read about the research that had been done by the AAP, the process of steel molding, the process of transforming stainless steel to take on color, and — anything else I could learn. I called numerous manufacturers and finally found one that could help me develop my products using the existing process that the medical world was using on its medical implants … to create a safe, non-toxic, environmentally friendly product that still excited children at mealtime.

I always say Ahimsa found me as my worlds truly converged right in front of me — my love for children, background in medicine, and Indian heritage intersected in a way that I just could not ignore.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

If you are a parent and have started the food journey with your infant, you likely purchased your baby’s first feeding utensils. It was more than likely made of plastic. The overwhelming majority of the market share in the children’s dinnerware space is plastic products. It’s cheap, doesn’t break, and comes in fun colors with your child’s favorite characters printed all over it. However, before the era of fast food, TV dinners, and mass-scale processed food in the grocery stores, people did eat fresh produce more often and yes, eat from materials other than plastic. Glass, tin, and stainless steel, and others were the norms before the disruption by the plastic industry. With the growing concern of plastic’s effects on the environment and now on human health, it’s time to change the way we live.

Stainless steel is typically thought of as camping gear or travel ware in the US — not traditionally at the dining table. However, stainless steel is the norm in many parts of the world, including India. Billions of Indians use stainless steel dishes daily at the family dining table and in restaurants. It’s durable, lasts for generations, is made of the most recycled material in the world, and is safe for human health. I am combining my roots in India and my knowledge of the rapidly-evolving science of endocrine-disrupting chemicals in plastic to change the American dining table. Adding color in a safe way to an already safe material (stainless steel is recommended by the AAP) is a game-changer for parents. They can feel good about what their children are eating from and their kids are excited to eat from a literal rainbow. It’s the next big disruption to the American market coming from India … yoga, coconut oil, turmeric, and now stainless steel dinnerware.

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

While I pride myself on having the desire and ability to learn — supply chain management and manufacturing are not quite the most translatable principles from medicine. As I learned about minimum order quantities and logistics to move the goods here, I thought I could simply store all of the products in my garage and basement. When I spoke with our freight forwarding company she asked me if I had a forklift and how I would be transporting the goods from the port to my home since commercial transporters didn’t deliver to residential properties. I remember thinking “Ok — you are clearly in over your head. But — don’t go find a forklift and semi-truck Manasa, find a fulfillment center”. My entire journey has been reading books and articles about each aspect of building a company. However, the most fruitful information has been from the “aha” moments in real life that highlight the real-world nature of the details and planning needed to actually execute. I’ve learned that talking to as many people in the fields you are learning about gives you the real and practical advice you need to bring it all to life.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

Medicine is truly an apprenticeship — one of the longest of any professions. Mentors were at the root of my training to become a physician but I felt very alone as a business owner. Since most of my friends and family had not owned businesses, I did not have a built-in network of mentors in this space. Luckily, I had joined the JPMA (Juvenile Products Manufacturing Association) as they are the leading organization for quality and safety in baby and children’s products. They have great resources including access to a business consultant. There I was able to connect with Ron Sidman, the former CEO of The First Years — a widely known baby product line. He was highly successful and had decades of experience. But the most wonderful thing about Ron as a mentor was that he constantly shared his real-world wins and losses. By being able to discuss with and learn from someone who beyond success did have trials and tribulations, it made the journey for me as a new entrepreneur less frightening. One of the biggest impacts Ron had on me was to teach me that first and foremost — I need to know the finances in and out. This was important for me because as a physician, this is not at the forefront of what we do. We take care of our patients. Plain and simple. It’s the hospital execs that are chasing the billing, profits, and financial well-being of our healthcare system. Most of us did not go into medicine for the money — it’s a long road with a lot of sacrifice and a lifelong commitment to the health of others. There are much faster, more cost-effective, and less emotionally burdensome paths to money.

He taught me I had to think about it though — all the time. So, it was the first time I started to constantly dig deep into the numbers and strategy towards profitability. Learning that a successful business is what would actually move in the needle in my broader mission for children’s health was crucial to my development as an entrepreneur. I often say that I am a much better philanthropist than a business owner — I would give it all away for free if I could. However, it turns out that is a terrible business model. Striving towards profitability allows me to meaningfully impact the communities and missions I am passionate about.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

I think we must just evaluate the outcomes. I am a scientist at heart so looking objectively at data to form a conclusion is a logical way to evaluate if the “disruption” is good or bad. In fact, the same thing can be a good thing and a bad thing at various stages of learning. Take plastic for example. When it was first introduced, it was a great solution to many of our everyday problems. For businesses, it was cheap and fast to produce — sourcing it wasn’t difficult since it was manmade. It made great packaging for food items that now needed a longer shelf life. For parents, it didn’t break when their kids tested gravity. In general, it was indestructible and simply lasted forever. At that time, being the disruptor in a world that was evolving towards a fast-paced life with more processed goods was a great thing.

Fast forward a few decades. All of the same things that made plastic the disruptor to help people’s daily lives are now ruining our environment and posing harm to human health. It’s cheaper to produce new plastic than recycle it. It lasts forever — yes, more than 400 years to start breaking down. This is affecting the worldwide problem with overwhelmingly increasing landfills and ocean pollution. It’s synthetic so easily made. Well — it’s those chemicals in plastic that are interfering with our endocrine (hormonal) systems — adults, pregnant women, and yes, children. The Endocrine Society and World Health Organization identify these endocrine-disrupting chemicals as an emerging global threat to human health. It doesn’t break — parents continue to purchase plastic products for their children. However, these chemicals in plastic interfere with a child’s hormones during crucial periods of growth and brain development. Yet, the market is saturated with plastic for kids — because it’s cheap, colorful, and lasts forever.

As a woman in science and also a mother to three young children — I always look at the evidence. It’s how I take care of my patients — evidence-based medicine. It’s how I take care of my children — evidence-based parenting. Right now, the evidence is that the industry disruptor decades ago is truly disrupting things far more important these days — our planet and our health. And that is not a good type of disruption.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

• Trust your gut. While I have learned from books and sought advice from others — I’ve learned that my gut did bring me this far and when I trust it, more often than not I have made the right decision. My initial business plan had eCommerce first and then a B2B model specifically for schools and children’s hospitals. I was told I should look at retail first. However, I felt my margins would be lost at retail and that institutional change would be important for our broader mission of children’s health as well as our profitability. We have officially dipped our toes into wholesale and received our first large order from a Montessori school in Atlanta. More schools are contacting us and I hope we can change the dining landscape in schools as they are truly the second home of children (and as a pediatrician, I advocate for our children to be back in this important home as soon and as safely as possible during this pandemic).
• Hire slow, fire fast: When I first launched the company it was just me and my Shopify store. I knew it was important to build a team of great people around me. I like to hire based on recommendations but I’ve learned that sometimes what works for one founder or company may not work for another. I was too patient with certain people or agencies — in this world, every dime and every minute counts. I typically give others much more time after mistakes or the inability to deliver — I’m an educator after all. I train medical students and residents to become physicians one day — that requires patience and encouragement from a teacher. However, I was using those same principles here and realized that I was paying people for their guidance and deliverables. As a start-up, we don’t have time or money to waste. I’ve been better about evaluating based on KPIs and deliverables to make my decisions more objective rather than subjective. That has proven successful as we are building a team of people who are executing and have the right attitude.
• There is no such thing as work-life balance. It’s just about integrating your work, health, relationships, and roles into your one life. This is my biggest goal for 2021. I feel I just emerged from the newborn fog a mother feels after her baby is born; those first three months are just filled with emotional and physical exhaustion — in the name of the child you love so much. Ahimsa is like that for me — it truly feels like another child. However, I have not done a great job of ensuring all the other aspects of my whole life get the same time and attention. There is no such thing as true balance if you want to be successful in all your roles at the same time — as a mother, a wife, a physician, an educator, an entrepreneur — it’s humanly impossible to be great at all of those in a given moment. I am learning from other women who have built successful businesses that being a CEO doesn’t stop at work. You need to be the CEO of your life — planning and committing to all aspects of your life. Now my daily, monthly, and yearly planning has three main buckets: work, relationships, and myself. They all need to work in unison and for me to be healthy, happy, and successful. It’s a work in progress.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I am just getting started. It’s a work in progress. As a new member of the Council on Environmental Health at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), my goal is to reduce the footprint of plastic on children’s health and the environment. I am proud to announce our newly formed scientific advisory council for Ahimsa. A leading expert in pediatric environmental health, Dr. Leonardo Trasande, and author of The Endocrine Society report on plastic (2020), Dr. Jodi Flaws, are here to guide us on the latest research. I’ve seen firsthand how science, policy, and industry intersects — we hope to lead the way for safe and toxic-free children’s dinnerware. I started Ahimsa with children’s health as my top priority. It’s what I do for a living but with my new role as a founder of a company. I am now advocating for kids in a new way: safe products, public health education, and hopefully one day, regulatory change.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Often, it’s simply that we have more roles to fill. Motherhood is essentially one full-time job per child. Managing the household is another full-time job. Being a “disruptor” takes a lot of time. I think women feel the constant pull towards each of their roles. We often have guilt when we feel we are doing a suboptimal job at any role — which typically is all the time. Men have multiple roles too — but it is easier for them and the industry to separate their roles. There is a reason the term “Mompreneur” is so mainstream but “Dadpreneur” is not. It’s more often described as a male founder or disruptor paving the way for the world. At some point, you find out he also happens to be a father. But see, even in these terms you cannot separate the mother from the entrepreneur. We are described rather as “a mom on a mission”. But, I take that with great pride and many women may feel the same — I am first and always, Mom.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I was always a fan of the podcast “How I Built This”. It was fascinating and inspiring to hear the stories of such successful people. It humanized them and gave me the extra push I needed to get started. Knowing that each of these individuals was an ordinary person who took a leap of faith and worked tirelessly to achieve extraordinary success made me think “maybe I can do it too”.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Ahimsa is a movement, not just a company that sells products. Much like my job as a Pediatrician, I aim to educate parents and children, empower them to make decisions about their health, and provide tools and guidance to help achieve positive outcomes. In this case, the outcome is to decrease the footprint of plastic on the environment and human health. As parents, we want to protect our children and provide them with opportunities to thrive in a safe and healthy world. While this may feel like a mountain to climb given the overwhelming amount of plastic that persists in our lives, I have always believed in the power of parents and the cumulative effect of small changes. Taking baby steps in your own home and uniting with parents across the globe to ensure the future is bright for our kids — now, that’s a mountain worth climbing together.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My father always told me that, “When you are given opportunities, you should take them and work hard to achieve success. But always remember to reach back and provide opportunities to those who aren’t so fortunate to be given them. You see, success is the combination of opportunity and hard work. Not one or the other.” I have seen many children and families who face adversity every single day. The answer for them is not just to work hard to overcome adversity. It’s having the opportunity to even be able to do so … it is something I will never forget.

My commitment to food insecurity is born out of my own experience as a resident physician in Chicago. On a routine basis during my training, we saw young children with health problems like obesity and type 2 diabetes. We had clear-cut solutions — healthy eating and regular exercise. But what I quickly learned was that I was counseling my patients on the solutions but they didn’t have the opportunities or tools to help them achieve the solution. Many of my patients had no access to a grocery store because they lived in a food desert. I would drive to my clinic and realized that only fast-food chains and liquor stores were present; the first grocery store was miles away. There are no gyms or YMCAs and if there were, parents could not afford a membership. Children could not safely take family walks as a form of exercise in their neighborhood because the gun violence in Chicago they face every day is real. They did not have internet access to participate in free online dance classes. So — what is a child to do?

While my children’s stainless steel dinnerware company, Ahimsa, aims to get plastic off the table, I know all too well that for many families the priority is just putting food ON the table. This is why childhood food insecurity is so closely tied with our mission. I have an amazing opportunity with Ahimsa — and I won’t forget my father’s life lesson, “reach back and provide opportunities to those who aren’t so fortunate to be given them.”

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow us on social at @ahimsahomeusa — Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest. Visit our website at ahimsahome.com for information on our products and advice from our team of expert Pediatricians on raising a happy healthy child.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Female Disruptors: Dr Manasa Mantravadi of Ahimsa On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Ind was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Create Share-worthy Content: The way that the algorithms are today is that the Instagram algorithm wants people to linger on your posts. They want people to experience your brand and not just keep swiping. One of the best ways to give that little notification to the algorithm and say, “Hey, this is important,” is to have people share it. It is one of the most powerful ways to dramatically improve your business.

As a part of our series about How To Leverage Instagram To Grow Your Business, I had the pleasure of interviewing Andréa Jones.

Andréa Jones is fiercely committed to helping businesses and podcasters build profitable online communities through simple social media solutions. Andréa and her team of eleven serve nearly two dozen notable brands across the globe. She’s the host of the Savvy Social Podcast and the creator of the Savvy Social School, a digital platform designed to teach its 100+ members how to implement organic social media strategies.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I got into the online space very early when I started a Harry Potter blog back in 2004. I constantly found myself being drawn to social media. In 2007, I started a YouTube channel while I was still climbing the “corporate ladder.” I worked my way up through my career at a spa from the front desk to management. It was then when I realized how much I enjoyed helping companies build their social platforms. I knew that’s what I was supposed to be doing. Then in 2013, my husband and I met (through YouTube of all places!) and collaborated on some content for our channels. We began dating long distance, fell in love and eventually got married in late 2014.

He was the catalyst for me to start my business, OnlineDrea.com. I knew I wanted to leave my corporate days behind and when we got married, I moved from the U.S. to Canada to be with him. It was out of necessity that I started my business and got it off the ground. We made some big goals from the get-go (for him to be able to leave his job and join me in the business) and with our backs up against the wall, it was now or never.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Back before blogging was “cool” and before I even started my social media marketing agency, I ran a fashion blog for a few years. During that time, I got to work with very exciting brands like CoverGirl, Neutrogena, Giant Tiger, Dillards, Macy’s and Goodwill. While running this fashion blog, I got invited by Steve Madden himself to interview him for my blog. It was an exhilarating experience that I will never forget!

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

Back in my early days, I was hired as an actress to complete product reviews for items that I never actually tried. There are literally videos of me saying, “try this shampoo, it’s amazing,” for products that I hadn’t ever used before. Someone that I know reached out to me and told me they saw me on a YouTube ad. I was embarrassed that I was promoting something I didn’t love and quickly realized that I didn’t want to be aligned with that! It is funny looking back on it but I realized through this experience a big lesson: you should always be authentic and align yourself with things you actually enjoy.

Ok. Let’s now move to the main focus of our discussion. For the benefit of our readers, can you explain why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I’ve been a social media marketer for over 7+ years helping to tailor done-for-you strategies for dozens of notable brands. My program, the Savvy Social School currently teaches over 170+ members (predominantly small business owners) how to implement organic social media strategies for their business as well as thousands of past members and 1-time workshop attendees. My podcast, Savvy Social Podcast helps entrepreneurs elevate their social strategies through practical, proven advice.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

When it comes to the direct impact of growth in my own business, I’ve found that Instagram has been the most effective. For me, building partner relationships has been a key component of this. Being that I am a social media strategist, a social media agency owner and someone who teaches others how to use social media, a lot of times my ideal clients aren’t even on social media themselves.

They aren’t hanging out on Instagram or to be honest, many social media platforms at all. That’s why building relationships with partners like brand strategists, speaking coaches, web developers, graphic designers, course creators and other similar businesses is important to me because a majority of the time we share the same clients. That has been one of the most effective ways to increase my business revenue.

This is a big reason why when you look at my Instagram page, you’ll see I’ve got around 6K followers. I am working on building really deep connections and not just increasing the follower number for the sake of increasing it. When you’re thinking about leveraging Instagram for your business, you want to think about how it works for you and what you can do to really make an impact on the bottom line of your business.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share five ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Know Your Niche: You want to know where people are and be very tuned into what they need. I have a client who is teaching people how to build their soap making business. She is very in tune with who her clients are, she’s dynamic in her content and brings an energy to her work that other craft businesses kind of ignore. A lot of people in the crafting space tend to think a certain way, act a certain way and look a certain way. What she’s doing is shaking up that narrative by intentionally promoting businesses of color and other diverse soap making businesses that her niche can relate to and understand. In turn, this is exploding her Instagram page and getting her audience very tuned in. Knowing your niche and being able to speak to their unique set of challenges is something that helps attract more people to your brand and bring followers to you organically.
2. Participate in Your Community: Oftentimes when businesses look at social media, they sort of view it as more of a billboard. I like to compare social media to dating because if you’re dating, you could get all dressed up, sit at your house and wait for someone to knock on the door but most often if you’re dating you’re likely going to go out and network. You’re going to go into the community and chat with real people. Marketing on social media is the same way. It’s not like a billboard where you sit and wait for people to look for you. You have to be in your community and network. An example of this is for one of my life coaching clients, before us working together their hashtags weren’t being acknowledged, shared or used strategically. We started participating by sharing the posts that their account was tagged on and engaging with other people in the community through hashtags. We found that this helps you as a company to have a pulse point on what’s happening in your community. It also shows that you care more about the people than about making the sale and making the money.
3. Share Your Story No Matter What Others Think — You want your Instagram to clearly share the story of who you are and what you stand for (no matter the opinions of others)! I currently have an OBGYN client who recently had someone in her community who didn’t stand for the right things and who wasn’t honoring that all humans are created equal. She took a stand and said something about it on her Instagram. She got a lot of flack and negative responses from people telling her she had no right to speak on the issue. However, on the flip side, she also had so many new people come into her community. These new people were attracted to her story and her brand because she decided to share something no matter what the naysayers may say in response or think about her. This helped her establish herself as a stronger brand and get her followers super tuned into what she’s saying, her message and what she’s doing.
4. Create Share-worthy Content: The way that the algorithms are today is that the Instagram algorithm wants people to linger on your posts. They want people to experience your brand and not just keep swiping. One of the best ways to give that little notification to the algorithm and say, “Hey, this is important,” is to have people share it. It is one of the most powerful ways to dramatically improve your business. Secondly, when people share your content it’s maximizing the number of people who are going to see that post and it reaches beyond your audience to other people. One example of this is one of my feminist life coaching clients. She has a strong stance on thought work, the mind and how we as women (especially as women of color) live in this world. We often pull her strong quotes and content that will shake things up a little bit for her posts because we know it will be shared on social media. Another client of mine who is a doctor has had great success with sharing topics in an infographic style which makes it very easy to consume and share in stories or by sending it directly to a friend via direct message. Share-worthy content is like an amplified version of word-of-mouth marketing which is very cool because instead of us promoting who we are and what we do, our customers can share a thought-provoking or informative post that will help their friends and spread our message even further.
5. Use New Features Like Reels: The algorithms LOVE when you use their latest features. Instagram wants its users to test and try out their new features. They also want people to spend time on their platform consuming other people’s content from their latest features. When you create using these features, they’re automatically weighted more and more likely to show up to an even wider audience. Right now, this would be Instagram Reels so if you aren’t on Reels yet you want to start thinking about how you can get on there. One example of how you can do this and get started easily is by taking some of your previous video content, chopping it up and using it on Reels. The way that Reels is set up is very similar to TikTok in that it’s set up for discoverability and helps you to get noticed and followed by new people who like similar content to what you share!

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Something that I am extremely passionate about is moderating the amount of time we spend on social media. I know that might sound odd coming from a social media manager and strategist who has built an entire business around it and as someone who coaches people on social media, but hear me out…

Social media addiction is a very real thing. The designers of these platforms create them to be addictive. They design these apps so that you can keep scrolling through and consuming more and more content on their platform.

One of my big missions is to help people moderate their social media usage, especially as business owners. A lot of busy entrepreneurs will feel like they have to spend their time on social media platforms to connect with their customers. They will soon realize how many hours that they’re spending each week online when they could be accomplishing other things.

I want to inspire a movement of social media mindfulness. This is a concept that has come from my history with social media. In 2017 when I was three years into building my business, I got completely overwhelmed with notifications. It was notification overload! I was managing several clients, logged into all of their accounts on several platforms and getting hundreds of notifications from DMs, retweets, likes, comments, all of the things.

One thing that saved me from this was I realized that I needed to be more intentional and mindful. Now, I have all notifications turned off. Instead of being bogged down by constant notifications, I log into the apps regularly while I am working and when I’m not, I can just set it and forget it until it’s time to check in again.

Additionally, I use a lot of meditation to start and end my day. When it comes to social media and the work that I do, it’s no secret that there’s a lot of negativity floating around on social platforms. It can be a lot to take in when you’re constantly seeing negative comments online. My meditations help to set the tone for the day and get me in tune with my emotions, better understand myself and my overall thought process.

Getting in tune with thought work has been a game-changer for me. Thought work is the study of the mind, brain and how it works and the idea that our circumstances are neutral and we get to choose how we feel about them. For example, if we see an email over the weekend we can choose to feel panicked about it or to let it be, not think too far into it and be okay with the thought of responding to that email on Monday morning.

I am actually so passionate about social media mindfulness that I created a free mindfulness series with meditations to help you understand your relationship with social media, prepare you to react to negativity on social media and so much more.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

If I could have a private breakfast or lunch with anyone, hands down it would be Oprah! She inspires me so much, especially with her interviewing style. She is a great interviewer and I aspire to take away some of her skills and techniques for my podcast and the interviews I conduct. The ways in which she’s developed over the years and built her career is truly inspiring. I look up to her so much as a woman in business. I just love her.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

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Andréa Jones of OnlineDrea: How to Use Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Create a small win- When you focus on creating small wins for yourself it goes a long way towards building your confidence. Confident people go after things. When I started speaking, I would picture myself speaking to thousands of people. That picture in my mind really would get my heart racing, kicking in the fight or flight response. It really helped me to start with just a few people and speak to the people right in front of me. From creating this small win, I gained momentum, confidence, and freed myself from overwhelm.

As a part of our series about how very accomplished leaders were able to succeed despite experiencing Imposter Syndrome, I had the pleasure of interviewing Linda Mitchell.

Linda Mitchell is a leading women’s health expert, best-selling author, Fitness Boutique Owner, and creator of The Sisterhood of Sweat brand. After surviving domestic violence, Linda has made it her mission to empower other women by helping them take responsibility for their health so that they can be in the best shape physically and emotionally.

A graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, Linda has worked with dozens of thought leaders such as Heidi Powell, JJ Virgin, Natalie Jill, Anne Louise Gittleman, Dr. Will Cole, Dr. Lori Shemek, and Elaine LaLanne. In 2020 alone, Linda has been able double her net worth while eliminating all debt.

An award-wining fitness competitor and host of the podcast Sisterhood Of Sweat, a Top 50 podcast with over 200,000 downloads, Linda has written her own column “Fit Over Forty” and has spoken on numerous stages including Podfest and Women’s Future Conference. She has appeared on ABC, NBC, Bold TV and Fox.

Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

When I was young my mother suffered from depression and suicidal thoughts which scared me. At such a young age I really did not understand what was going on. I just knew my mom was sad. As a result, I discovered fitness in my teens and recognized it would lift me up out of any mood. After witnessing my mother’s severe depression, I always wanted everyone around me to be happy and would do whatever I could to help keep them cheery and motivate them. Early on I would teach my friends to exercise. I remember thinking when I discovered group fitness classes and the gym “I wish I could have an exercise studio and exercise all day long” I would watch Joanie Greggains who was a fitness icon on television back then and think, maybe someday I will be good enough to make something out of this. Little did I know this would come true and in a big way. At eighteen years old I married a military guy and started a family, it looked like my happily ever after. Unfortunately, soon I found I had leapt out of the frying pan into the fire. I suffered for nine long years before I left. I am now what they call a domestic abuse survivor, but I like to say I am a thriver. At first, with two small children, and no job I was not sure how I was going to make ends meet. Though I did not have a college education I soon became the fitness director at a local YWCA. As part of their outreach program, I taught aerobics to battered women and children. As I listened to them tell their stories of abuse and I knew I did not want to remain living as a victim, but I wanted to change my story and help others change theirs too. I knew someday when I had gotten through my mess and had the resources, I wanted to have a place where women could go to feel empowered and supported. I never wanted anyone to be as alone as I had felt without support. My decision was to become a victor and show up like one. We are not defined by our circumstances we are defined by our decisions and what we do about them. Through many difficult times in my life fitness has always proven to be my mainstay. I want to show people that a healthy body and mind can help them through any difficulty. A lot of time has come and gone since then. I have had a lifelong career in fitness and raised three college graduates with my new husband of 26 years. My wish comes true every day at my studio The Sisterhood of SWEAT, and I even collaborated on a sequel to one of Joanie Greggain’s books. SWEAT stands for Strong Women Empowering Achieving Together. Years ago, I left a unacceptable situation with two children and nothing but the clothes on our backs, now I’m a debt-free multimillionaire, bestselling author, champion fitness competitor, gym owner, speaker, IIN Graduate, and podcast host. Choices that are hard require courage, but they are not without reward.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?

When my husband and I had another child, I wanted to be able to be more present. So, I left the corporate gym world behind and began building my business within somebody else’s business. This was perfect because I could still make a great income on own timeline. I was able to attend all my sons sporting events and be home after school. I built my business up in this place for over five years and things were going great. Although I felt there were some restrictions, working within someone else’s business I was able to build and grow my business more and more each year. The day of reckoning came it was New Year’s Eve, when you are supposed to be excited for the new year thinking about new beginnings. I came back from a NYE party to find an email. I called it my “Dear John” letter. It read something like we are changing our business model and will no longer have any private contractors. I was so upset by the news and took it to heart. I practically cried all night. My husband told me it was a blessing in disguise. What I cried about New Year’s Eve I celebrate now. I would have stayed thinking and living small. Getting kicked out of the nest was exactly what I needed, or I would have stayed doing what I had always done. That kick in the pants was the catalyst to start my first small fitness studio. Five years later I got kicked out of the nest again when my building was sold, and the new landlord tripled the rent. It was time to go big or go home. So, you know we went big. During the pandemic we expanded once again adding 50 percent more space in a class A retail center. My husband and I designed our entire new facility and it was built from scratch.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

My company is an all-women’s fitness boutique that is more than just a place to get your workout in. We have built a community that fosters support, collaboration, and life-long friendships as well as health. I asked my clients about why they think The Sisterhood of Sweat stands out because what I think does not matter, their responses were overwhelming. I picked one that I thought summed it up. “Being a part of The Sisterhood of Sweat community is not just about fitness, it is about life, positivity, love, inclusion, and raising each other up during tough times. SOS is a place where you work on becoming stronger physically, emotionally and mentally, and where the focus is placed on going after your dreams and helping others to do the same.” One story that stands out is when a participant lost over 100 pounds coming to sweat camp and following the plan that is in my book “The Sisterhood Of Sweat Project”. She happily informed me she had purchased a season’s pass to King’s Island amusement center where she would be able for the first time to ride the rides comfortably with her children.

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?

My husband Tracy Mitchell has been my biggest supporter, fan, and confidant. He always pushes me to think bigger. He truly is the wind beneath my wings. I am thankful for his all his hard work, know how, and sacrifice that has enabled me to live out my greatest dreams. Before we got married, we had a big discussion about what our dreams and goals were. I think we both worried at times that one or the other of us would hold each other back from achieving them. Funny thing is I think we both learned partnership has made us thrive. The truth is the only person that can hold you back is you. In order for another person to hold you back, you have to give them permission. The real culprits that can hold us back are when we submit to limited beliefs, self-doubt, and fear of taking risks. Overcoming these are important on the way to claiming your dreams. The most pertinent thing is giving permission to one important person and that is yourself! My husband and I have reached our biggest, boldest dreams together.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of this interview. We would like to explore and flesh out the experience of Impostor Syndrome. How would you define Impostor Syndrome?

I would define impostor syndrome as a feeling of not enoughness, nothing is ever enough. The statements that run through your mind before doing almost any task range from: Who am I to do this? What if people do not like it? What will people say about me? What if I do not know enough to do this? Who will Listen? Who will come?

What do people with Imposter Syndrome feel?

They feel like they will be exposed at any moment as not being knowledgeable or the expert about the project or topic that they are involved in. There is a huge feeling of nothing is ever enough. You may find yourself continually signing up for courses and continually learning, but rarely implementing. It all boils down to fear of being found out as a fraud or a fake.

What are the downsides of Impostor Syndrome?

Whenever you do something that is reaching outside of your comfort zone it may feel a little scary or terrifying in fact. You may start criticizing yourself in a way that is self-deprecating instead of building yourself up, recognizing how you can do whatever is in front of you.

How can it limit people?

I know for many people when they do not feel valid or authentic it can cause them to limit themselves and literally hold their own selves back from pursuing their dreams in an effective manner. Knowing your own value and worth are a huge factor in recognizing huge accomplishments in your life. You must first believe you are worth and deserving of what you want before you will go after it.

How can the experience of Impostor Syndrome impact how one treats others?

I think you can find yourself feeling FOMO (fear of missing out) about all the opportunities that others are experiencing and going after. Deep down inside you may be holding the wish that you were doing and experiencing all the same things. You can experience jealousy, envy, wondering why you are not the one doing the talk on stage, having one million followers online, winning the trophy, and so much more. The one thing that you may be missing is the people that you admire and have FOMOED after did one important thing, they worked through the fear and used the muscle of courage to move forward regardless of how they were feeling.

We would love to hear your story about your experience with Impostor Syndrome. Would you be able to share that with us?

I have to say in the past I have seriously suffered from imposter syndrome. In almost every big thing I have ever done these fears have come up, the feelings that I expressed come up. I will share a funny story about how I finally overcame the fear of public speaking when I was having the grand opening to my fitness boutique. I had asked many speakers to come and speak at my grand opening. When the time came close, speakers began canceling and bailing on their commitment. I had been feeling called to speak, but even at my grand opening which was a prime opportunity to get started, I found every reason to resist and try to find somebody else. It was not until I was frustrated and ranted on a little zoom video that the answer came to me. I was going to show up, jump feet first into the water in front of my friends, family, and everyone. No more treading with my big toe on the edge of the pool. In my video “I said if this is how people show up, I am going to do great in the playing field in public speaking, because I am going to show up prepared, regardless of my fears. So, in essence others not showing up made me show up for myself and recognize that it is not about being perfect, it is about being there.

Did you ever shake the feeling off? If yes, what have you done to mitigate it or eliminate it?

Yes, I have truly overcome many of my fears of inadequacy by showing up regardless of my fears and taking big leaps towards my dreams. I believe taking daily action goes a long way in ridding you of impostor syndrome. Every time you can have a small win and move forward it renews your faith in yourself and proves, you can do what you thought was out of your league. This in turn is the ultimate confidence builder. For example, I really wanted to start podcasting, but I stood back in the fear of who am I to do this, I do not know enough, who will listen, for almost a year. Then I waited an entire year after I started podcasting before I started doing solo rounds. Once I started doing solo rounds my speaking career really took off. I found my voice by using it. The irony is my solo rounds are more popular than almost anything I do and this year I even reached two number one spots on the iTunes charts. I have reached more people speaking than I ever dreamed possible.

In your opinion, what are 5 steps that someone who is experiencing Impostor Syndrome can take to move forward despite feeling like an “Impostor”? Please share a story or an example for each.

Take action- I had a really bad experience giving me stage fright at the age of eight. I was in a Christmas play at church. At the last moment, my friend who was also in the play came down sick. The play director decided to give me their lines as well as my own. I completely froze and forgot their lines as well as mine. I was shy about any type of public speaking for years after that. I have since found that the only way out of fear is working through it. When I recognized this, I took the leap and started my speaking career. When I faced my fear, I was freed from it. Looking fear in the face is often the very thing it takes to free ourselves from its grip on us. I also worked on preparedness by signing up for an Improv class with my husband, a mic drop workshop, and became a certified speaker with The Big Talk Academy. Besides laughing with my husband for hours, Improv really helped me to think on my feet in front of an audience and overcome my nerves.

Face your fear- I have always had an extreme fear of heights. When I was young, I fell over 20 feet in a dark barn, falling through all sorts of boards to the bottom and had the wind completely knocked out of me. I have been afraid of heights ever since. A few years ago, as a family we went to the Grand Canyon. I had talked my family into going to the famous skywalk that overlooks the canyon. The sky walk is a see-through glass platform above the 2000-foot canyon below. When we arrived, my entire family went out on the skywalk right away. While I stood back against the wall in fear. I could not bring myself to get out on the glass at first. I had to talk to myself the way I would talk to my fitness studio clients about how overcoming fear brings you closer to what you want in life. I decided that the fear of heights was like any other fear. I thought if I can overcome my fear of height, I could soar to new heights in my career. I got out on the glass and got my proof, a selfie, then I went quickly back to safety again. Or should I say my comfort zone. I really wanted to overcome this unrealistic fear, so I asked the attendant on duty “do you have earthquakes here?” She said, “every day”. I decided right then and there I would rather die going after my dreams then standing on the sidelines. I walked the entire perimeter of the skywalk and at the end I pressed my face to the glass looking to the bare bottom of the canyon. I have thought about this moment many times when I do something that scares me. I remember I did that, so I can do this. Later, I had this epiphany, or should I say vision that we can have one foot on one side of the canyon in our comfort zone and one foot on the other side, that being the side of our hopes and dreams. At some point we must take the leap to the side of our dreams, or we may crash and burn in the middle by not making a choice, or worse yet we never leave our comfort zone.

Ask better questions- I used to ask myself when I was competing in fitness competitions what if I fall on my head in that pose? Many times, I would be doing feats that were difficult and new to me. I would worry about executing them. Things really began to change when I started asking myself new questions like where have I succeeded before? What if I nail that pose? I started asking my asking my brain more positive questions. When you ask yourself a negative question your brain generally can only answer in a negative way. Asking yourself positive question can lead to a better outcome.

Reset your mind- Whenever I have a negative thought, I like to replace it with a positive one. One of the things I really like to do is wear a band and snap it whenever I have undesired thoughts then immediately reframe them with a positive mantra. Such as if I am feeling less than confident, I say “I have got this and I’m going to crush it.” If I’m feeling tired, I say “I have so much energy and I’m not tired at all.”

Create a small win- When you focus on creating small wins for yourself it goes a long way towards building your confidence. Confident people go after things. When I started speaking, I would picture myself speaking to thousands of people. That picture in my mind really would get my heart racing, kicking in the fight or flight response. It really helped me to start with just a few people and speak to the people right in front of me. From creating this small win, I gained momentum, confidence, and freed myself from overwhelm.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would like to inspire a movement and environment where women feel seen, heard, and come together to support one another to collaborate not hate on each other’s accomplishments.

We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂

Forbes Riley! She is an amazing human being who really care about helping others. I recently engaged with her in a room on clubhouse and I was blown away by her knowledge, expertise, and high energy. She is truly gifted and an amazing role model for what is possible if we only believe.

How can our readers follow you on social media? @sisterhoodofsweat

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Linda Mitchell of ‘The Sisterhood of Sweat’: How To Thrive Despite Experiencing Impostor Syndrome was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Domestically, the federal government will look to play a larger role in regulating air travel both in terms of measures that the airlines must take, as well as measures the passengers must take in order to fly. These measures will likely mandate mask wearing for the foreseeable future and possibly include requirements to be vaccinated in order to fly. We will see these mandates being enforced internationally as well.

As part of our series about “The Future Of Air Travel”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Fred Murphy.

Fred Murphy holds the position of Founder & President for FEAM Maintenance/Engineering. Prior to joining FEAM, Fred held various positions in maintenance and engineering departments at American Airlines, US Airways, FedEx and Trans World Airlines. Fred served in the US Air Force as a noncommissioned officer and holds an Associate Degree for Aircraft Maintenance Management, a Federal Aviation Administration airframe and power plant license, Federal Communications Commission restricted radio operators license and a Federal Aviation Administration private pilot/ instrument rating.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

When I was growing up, I had an uncle that worked for an airline called Western Airlines at Los Angeles International Airport. When I was about 10 years old, he took me to work with him one day and I was blown away from being around all the airplanes and the airport activity going on around them. I think that day is when I fell in love with aviation. Later, when I graduated high school, I joined the U.S. Air Force and my love for aircraft continued to grow. I somehow knew at that young age and seeing those airplanes up close at LAX airport, that I wanted to be part of that industry as I got older. I have been very fortunate to turn that early passion into a business.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

There are so many stories over the 37 years that have happened, but probably the most profound moment in realizing our industry and our country’s resilience came after 9/11. I remember standing out on the flight line at Miami International Airport the next day and probably for the first time in my career, both in the military and in commercial aviation, I was realizing that the absence of noise was actually quite deafening. There were no aircrafts flying. The American airspace was essentially shut down. I had a thriving and growing business doing flight line maintenance, as well as heavy aircraft maintenance being performed inside an aircraft hangar. I had hundreds of employees counting on FEAM to support their families, and the absence of this noise was significant as to how it related to our business, our employees, their families, and of course, the country at large. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, no such event had ever devastated this industry more than 9/11. Like many companies in this industry at the time, our company suffered. We had to downsize the company, furlough employees, and shut down our hangar operation. It took a long time to recover, but we did indeed recover. To witness that horrible event and see a period of days with no commercial aircrafts flying and then see our industry crawl back from that crippling day was truly inspiring and why I am confident that the aviation industry will rise again as we move past this pandemic.

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

The funniest mistake I made early in my career, was bidding on a contract so low that we couldn’t afford to pay anyone to assist us. We wanted to break into the market so badly that we bid at a price that we really could not do. The lesson learned was that my partner and I had to perform the work ourselves. Our word was our bond, and we were not going to disappoint the customer that entrusted his aircraft to us. We handled that flight for three years before we were able to renegotiate a better contract.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Can you share a story about that?

My recommendation would be to create a real work/life balance. I have learned along the way that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Work smarter and not harder. Establish priorities and goals that need to be accomplished for each day, then go home and enjoy life. In all probability you will pick up the next day where you left off. As for a recommendation on how to accomplish this, I would say that it’s crucial to build a strong support team that can support each other and essentially cover for each other when someone needs downtime. One of my first realizations of this was many years ago, while I was still very hands on with the actual wrench-turning part of the business, I was going through a particularly rough stretch trying to run the business, fix aircrafts, and be responsive to my customers’ needs. I had reached such a critical point of being burnt out that I simply had to ask for help from my staff. I called my Director of Maintenance at the time and simply said, “take me out coach.” I had to count on my team to take care of the operation, while I spent a couple of days decompressing. It was a big lesson for me in making sure I have a capable support structure around me as we grew the organization, so that not only I could get the downtime I need from time to time, but so my team could as well.

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?

I was just starting out in business and still holding down a full-time job, it was a struggle to say the least. My partner and I had one truck to work out of and it was basically him and I, with our one truck, trying to convince airlines how we could provide better service to them than they were currently experiencing. In hindsight, I’m not sure I would have been sold if I was the airline sitting across the desk from my partner and I. Luckily for us, we were able to secure that first customer. My boss at my full-time job at the time, Ron Porter, who is like a father to me, told me that he understood what I was trying to do in balancing both of these situations but if I was to truly succeed, I could not serve two masters. I went home that evening and told my wife of my intent to leave this very lucrative job to pursue my dream. It was an uncomfortable conversation to say the least, but a life altering decision. Ron continued to support me in the years to follow as a mentor and friend, eventually joining FEAM to help me expand our services. Without a doubt, he is someone I will forever be grateful to for giving me that initial nudge and then supporting me in the years to follow.

Can you share with our readers how have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

My biggest focus is to carry forward what has been given to me. We are big believers in education and provide scholarships to students studying aviation. We are also quite active in our local church and help sponsor the K-6 school that has over 300 students attending. Probably one of the most important areas of concern for me is providing opportunities for our veterans. Being a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, I understand the anxiety that comes from separation from active-duty military to the civilian job market. We have a sizable group of employees that are military veterans. We work with recruiting companies whose sole focus is providing opportunities for recently separated veterans. One particular success story we had involved a recently separated U.S. Marine. I noticed his profile on LinkedIn and that he was actively looking for a company in Texas willing to give him a chance. I asked my team to reach out to him, and we were able to bring him onboard to train for a management role. He is just one example of a success story for us when it comes to military veterans.

Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the Aviation and Air Travel industries?

We are working on new training methods for today and tomorrow’s aviation technicians. What was traditionally a classroom and book method of training is now focused on computer-based training for the theoretical portion and virtual for the practical element of the training. Like many companies have had to do during this pandemic, we’ve had to find innovative ways to deliver training content vs traditional classroom training. The use of tools such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom are becoming the new norm for both training as well as holding effective meetings in lieu of face to face meetings. We are also actively working on initiatives with augmented reality and virtual reality as tools to be used in training and other applications. Most recently, we have worked with a large aircraft manufacturer on the use of the Microsoft HoloLens, a mixed reality device that can be used as an aid to remote troubleshooting aircraft systems.

Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing these innovations?

In terms of training, our industry faces critical shortages in these highly skilled positions, and we seek to shorten the learning curve by enhancing the training methods. When it comes to remote troubleshooting, our goal is rather simple in that we want to maximize the collaborative effort of our team across our network to rescue our customers’ aircraft when they are grounded due to maintenance issues.

How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?

I believe leveraging technology is the only way forward. Traditional methods of training are somewhat obsolete. Rather than try to teach someone how to do a task through classroom and book study, we are using technology to create an interface through which an experienced qualified individual can mentor and assist the technician in correctly performing the task in a hands-on environment where the mentor can visualize everything happening and direct the individual correctly. This is the same ideology for remote troubleshooting.

Are there exciting new technologies that are coming out in the next few years that will improve the Air Travel experience? We’d love to learn about what you have heard.

Passenger safety and comfort will be the forefront of this discussion as we move out of the pandemic. We are already seeing innovations in aircraft passenger compartment cleaning and sanitizing with methods that include electrostatic spraying to ultraviolet light cleaning devices. Innovations are happening with the aircraft ventilation systems that include high grade HEPA filters, as well as the introduction of ultraviolet lighting within the ventilation ducting systems. Seat back monitors are giving way to inflight content being delivered over personal devices to reduce touch points within the aircraft. Touchless technology is also being developed for use throughout the aircraft cabin and lavatories. All of these emerging innovations will help ensure customer confidence as we move out of the pandemic.

As you know, the Pandemic changed the world as we know it. For the benefit of our readers, can you help spell out a few examples of how the Pandemic has specifically impacted Air Travel?

People are afraid of traveling and again, much of that fear comes down to safety and a sense of well-being. It has caused a record drop in passenger counts for an unprecedented period of time; however, it has been a boom for air cargo operators as e-commerce has become the new norm. I expect as we see the vaccine return life to more normal, passenger air travel will also pick up particularly with domestic travel first. Unlike the major air carriers, with massive aircraft fleets across a wide spectrum of aircraft models, the low lost carriers and domestic regional air carriers we’re really in better positions to react to this pandemic than the majors. These carriers typically only operate one aircraft type and usually it is a narrow body aircraft that is most suitable to operate domestically with small load factors, which is how we are emerging out of this crisis. These operators have also always operated in lower budget spectrum than their major air carrier counterparts, so tightening their belt per se due to the pandemic was nothing new. So, between the freighter market, and the regional/low-cost carrier markets, this is where we are seeing the biggest impacts in terms of recovery.

Can you share five examples of how the Air Travel experience might change over the next few years to address the new realities brought by the Pandemic? If you can, please give an example for each.

As stated earlier, I think consumer confidence that the airlines can provide safe travel will be paramount as we come out of the pandemic. Passengers will want to know what measures an airline is taking to keep them safe. The airlines are already making these assurances a big part of the marketing campaigns.

Domestically, the federal government will look to play a larger role in regulating air travel both in terms of measures that the airlines must take, as well as measures the passengers must take in order to fly. These measures will likely mandate mask wearing for the foreseeable future and possibly include requirements to be vaccinated in order to fly. We will see these mandates being enforced internationally as well.

Airports will then have their own mandates related to the health, safety, and well-being of passengers transiting through their terminals. Again, this will include measures such mask wearing, sanitation, and touchless contact points.

I believe the traditional market that caters to the business traveler will take a long time to recover as companies have learned to continue their business remotely and virtually, negating the need to jump back into sending their employees on the road with the frequency they might have prior to the pandemic. There will also be a portion of those business travels who opt to use business aviation models for their travel vs the traditional airlines. So, I think the airlines will face a challenge over the next few years on how to attract that lucrative segment of the industry back to filling those business class seats on their aircraft.

Lastly, I think the pandemic was a wakeup call to an industry that had experienced record year after record year of profits for the last several years. There will be a need to operate going forward that keeps the next pandemic in mind. This will undoubtedly mean smaller aircraft fleets, less variety in aircraft fleet types, and overall will need to have cost control measures in place. I think you will see more outsourcing to reputable suppliers that offer scalable options to the airlines as a means to control their own fixed costs and staffing.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

To be kind to one another. It is very disheartening to see the division in our country. I believe that we should be able to speak freely to one another and exchange ideas. We may not always agree, but it is alright that we agree to disagree with one another and yet remain respectful. I found it quite profound that the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg spoke so eloquently in describing her friendship with the late Justice Antonin Scalia. Although they were opposed in most of their views, they had a deep respect and admiration for the others’ passion. We need that type of behavior very badly at all levels of society.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Keep up with FEAM online by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Fred Murphy of FEAM: The Future Of Air Travel In The Post Pandemic World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There will be a continued focus on cleanliness onboard an aircraft, including all aspects of service. For example, no cash allowed for in-flight purchases, complete sanitization after each flight and increased air circulation.

As part of our series about “The Future Of Air Travel”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Danny Finkel, Chief Travel Officer at TripActions.

Daniel Finkel is the Chief Travel Officer leading all TMC and travel-related activities and functions at TripActions, including supply, global expansion, the product & operational components of inventory and TMC services, such as consulting, VIP and M&E. While supporting TripActions as the #1 global TMC, Daniel is responsible for building and maintaining the company’s partner strategy and relationships while working closely with internal teams to ensure TripActions offers the best shopping and booking experience for travelers. Daniel holds a BA with Honors from Brown University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I have been a travel nerd my entire life. In my early years, while my friends were playing with GI Joes or Tonka Trucks, I played with die-cast metal airplanes on the floor of my bedroom, turning my stuffed animals into airport terminals and imagining the far off places these planes could go. This love was also innate: my father, uncle and grandfather were pilots. Growing up, I spent many hours at airports and on planes and always knew I wanted a career in or around travel.

In college, I did my undergraduate honors thesis on the airline industry and after graduation worked at an aerospace tech company that was transforming airport operations and air traffic management. This intersection between travel and technology was a lightbulb moment for me and I craved future opportunities that blended technology with travel. After business school, I entered the online travel industry, which is where I have truly found my calling. While I thought technology and travel meant focusing on the hardware, it has been at this intersection of ecommerce and travel that has become a true passion of mine. I consider myself fortunate to have spent the last decade of my career focused on this space and playing a small part in driving forward innovation within the industry.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Working in the travel industry, I’ve been fortunate to visit and work in 50+ countries, and experience people, cultures, and cuisines. One memorable moment was when I was working for an aerospace tech company with a large manufacturing facility in the Czech Republic. We got word that the then president of the Czech Republic was going to make an impromptu visit to the factory and congratulate the team on the innovation that was being driven from a relatively small Czech town. I was still very early in my career and was put in charge of coordinating, planning and facilitating the event. Naturally, I had to fly to the Czech Republic, but more importantly, had to figure out protocols, safety, messaging and internal/external coordination. The event went smoothly, and it was a remarkable opportunity to spend several hours with a sitting national president.

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

Throughout my early career I was lucky to have had strong mentors and leaders who believed in me.. One of my first roles was to help lead the launch of a newly merged business at the world’s largest air traffic management conference in a small town outside of Amsterdam. It was my first international business trip, and my first time attending and managing a company presence at a large industry trade show. While I thought I had prepared for the trip, I made some inaccurate assumptions on last-minute details, language issues and that things would go as planned. I was wrong. On pretty much everything. When I showed up at the conference hall, there was no one to build the booth (because I didn’t fill out the right labor forms), equipment, such as plugs and refrigerators were not in the right place (because there was misinterpretation of the diagrams); and the only one print shop in town for our last-minute collateral had a very different interpretation of quick turnaround (24–48 hour hours versus 1– 2 hours). With the help of colleagues and conference staff (and maybe a few bribes of beer), I was able to pull together the booth and a successful conference . That experience made me more detail oriented and mindful of planning ahead and that with a positive attitude you can solve nearly anything.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Can you share a story about that?

As the cliche goes, if you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life. That is 90 percent true for me. It is impossible to avoid days or weeks where you feel like you are pounding the pavement and moving at a stand-still, but as I look back on my career , I can honestly say I have loved each step. The underlying passion for what I do has helped me avoid burnout. I find that many people in the travel industry, whether on the technology side or on the hospitality side are passionate about their jobs, which helps us all deal with the more challenging times — especially this past year.

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?

My first boss had the biggest impact on my career. He believed in me, challenged me, and gave the freedom to succeed, and fail, which showed me that you cannot be successful without humility and personal satisfaction. His leadership helped me find my own confidence, and it’s one of the reasons I enjoy managing and mentoring my teams. As a manager, it brings me much joy to watch people grow in their careers and help them nurture their own talent and skills.

Can you share with our readers how have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Outside of travel, I have been passionate from an early age about hands-on global service work. Throughout high school and college, I led community service groups focusing on child development programs for underprivileged families, and spent a summer in Vietnam building a curriculum for a youth homeless shelter. My trip to Vietnam was the most impactful travel moment in my life — it taught me the importance of sharing my time and resources to make an impact on the world.

Now, working in the travel industry, we have the opportunity to impact people around the world. I often remind my teams that working in travel allows us to ensure that these impacts are had by millions of people around the world. We bring the world closer together. We ensure that people have some of the most impactful and memorable experiences of their lives. We make global commerce happen. Travel is such a fundamental piece of the world as we know it — and everyone in the industry is integral to that. Ultimately, it’s one of the reasons that I know travel will return once we’re able to do so safely.

Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the Aviation and Air Travel industries?

The biggest thing TripActions is changing in the air travel industry is the experience that corporate travelers have when making their journeys. It’s strange, but when you think about it, corporate travel hasn’t had the same revolution that consumer travel has had in going from real-life travel agents to online agents. Right now, TripActions is leading that shift in consumerizing the corporate travel world. Until very recently, you often picked up the phone and called an agent for flight booking, support or anything related to travel. With technology and a very consumer-friendly user experience, we’re modernizing that process so that business travelers can book travel and get support in the same way that they source their leisure trips to Hawaii. Many people have this perception that airlines are merely a commodity product with very little, if any, differentiation between one airline from the next. That is simply not true. Airlines have actually done a pretty remarkable job investing in product differentiators that can dramatically change the flight experience from one airline to the next. The problem is that distribution channels have not built in the shopping experiences to show off those differences. This is why our investment in both NDC and our flight shopping UI have been so important. NDC allows us to bring in substantially differentiated content into our platform and our UX allows users to decipher this content in a way where they can ultimately pick the best fit flight/fare/seat/etc for their specific needs.

Obviously a lot of that is happening on the back end — one of the reasons that the corporate travel industry has languished is that it’s really difficult to link all of these inventory systems and technologies together. The really unique thing about TripActions is that we’ve been able to crack a lot of those codes.

Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing these innovations?

Historically, corporate travel created pain points for both business travelers and those who ran and managed the programs. For those travelers who are considered “road warriors”, the big thing that we’re re-imagining is the experience. Through technology, it’s now possible to change tickets online, get support over chat or search for personalized results in your favorite technology, all thanks to the code we’ve written. And the walls that we’ve broken down with that code have really helped passengers focus less on the booking experience and more on the journey.

From the manager’s perspective, that experience also comes through in our management and reporting dashboards, which take a visual, intuitive approach to managing travel — and which really treat our customers like humans. And because the whole thing is so easy to use, adoption goes up, which drives cost savings and program visibility. Travelers and managers leave happy while the boss saves money.

How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?

There will always be space for white-glove service, but in an era in which seconds can count when changing a ticket or booking a last second flight, the technology that TripActions is bringing to market is going to completely modernize the way that companies handle business travel. And by marrying tools like virtual cards and expense reporting to the travel experience, this technology should usher in a whole new era of corporate travel and spend management.

Are there exciting new technologies that are coming out in the next few years that will improve the Air Travel experience? We’d love to learn about what you have heard.

We’re really excited by the sustainability innovations that appear to be on the horizon, including carbon capture and carbon neutral fuel.

As you know, the Pandemic changed the world as we know it. For the benefit of our readers, can you help spell out a few examples of how the Pandemic has specifically impacted Air Travel?

The pandemic essentially brought all air travel to a standstill at the start, and while it’s definitely on a path to recovery today, non-essential work travel is still depressed, so I’d say just the overall volume change — and how that affects the industry and those who work in it — has been the biggest impact.

There’s been other changes to the air industry that are more positive: There’s been an increased focus on health & safety standards; we’ve had a bit of an environmental reset; and we’ve accelerated the adoption of touchless options, such as check-in and in-flight purchases (no cash).

Can you share five examples of how the Air Travel experience might change over the next few years to address the new realities brought by the Pandemic? If you can, please give an example for each.

1. There will be a continued focus on cleanliness onboard an aircraft, including all aspects of service. For example, no cash allowed for in-flight purchases, complete sanitization after each flight and increased air circulation.
2. Greater focus on efficiency and sustainability, with companies and individuals tracking their carbon footprint
3. Touchless tech will continue to evolve and be utilized, this includes everything from digital check-ins to digital health passports.
4. New levels of service differentiation (both to help win back customers but also because there are new things to think about with safety standards).
5. Lengthier border processing to address vaccination/health requirements

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

On every trip, whether personal or business, do one good thing that makes the location you visited better than it was before you were there. That could be anything from picking up litter you see on the ground to spending a day doing a local service activity to choosing activities, lodging, meals, etc. / that have a smaller environmental impact.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Visit us at tripactions.com and follow @tripactions on social media.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

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Daniel Finkel of TripActions: The Future of Air Travel in The Post Covid World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.