Women In Wellness: Kayleigh Christina of ‘CLEARSTEM Skincare’ on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
Prioritize your mental health. If you can’t show up for yourself, you won’t be able to show up for anyone else. You and your body are what are most important, which includes your mental health. Going to a therapist, energy healer, or even just talking things out with a friend can make a huge difference.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kayleigh Christina.
Holistic Nutritionist Kayleigh Christina is the co-founder of CLEARSTEM Skincare, a non-toxic skincare line that targets acne, anti-aging, and scar reversing utilizing premium ingredients. Guided by a passion to make a positive impact, Christina studies the latest research on skin and whole-body wellness. She is the co-host of the Balancing Your Hustle podcast, which interviews thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and wellness experts, diving into their individual stories and journeys. Christina is also the published author of Healing with Apple Cider Vinegar: 115 Recipes for Health, Beauty, and Home and has been featured in numerous health, wellness, and lifestyle publications.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Thank you so much! I am honored to be a part of this series! I used to work in the corporate world and also as a holistic nutritionist. During this time I experienced a lot of different health issues, which led me to expand my knowledge about how what you put into your body affects your overall wellness. I felt a personal responsibility to share my findings with others so that they could also gain control of their own health. I struggled with celiac disease, leaky gut, and, to top it all off, extreme cystic acne. I was able to get everything under control, except my acne, which led me to dive deeper into research and cross paths with my now business partner Danielle. Together we discovered the extreme lack of knowledge surrounding skin health and acne, and the struggles I went through with my acne turned into a company, CLEARSTEM Skincare. We not only created a line that tackled both aging and acne, but also provided consumers with information about nutrition, hormones, supplements, and whole body wellness.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I was one of 20 female entrepreneurs invited to Lorna Jane’s house. Because I consistently shared the behind the scenes of my business and was vulnerable on my social media, I was noticed and invited. Danielle and I were also featured at FounderMade’s Discovery Show this past year, which was a career highlight.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake in CLEARSTEM’s early days was when 2,500 bottles arrived from overseas with pink metallic labels. Our labels were white and blue. We had no way to reverse this and the company had an 8 week lead time, so we just had to roll with it, and, luckily, people went nuts over it!!! They loved it and still ask for it sometimes!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I could never choose just one person. I am truly grateful for the friends I’ve made along the way creating my business who have also been huge mentors to me in many different ways. To name a few: Brandon Cohen, Steven Barelli, Rich Blankenship, Julia Broglie, Mark Mastrandrea, Sam Pantazopoulos and Christina Rice.
Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
At CLEARSTEM, impact is our motivation. There’s so much misinformation about skin health that exists, particularly around acne and aging. These two pain points for people cause a lot of stress, anxiety, and confidence issues. We help people become confident in their skin by taking control of their health and helping them see positive results. When people become more confident, they let their light shine and are able to make a positive impact on others.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
I believe simple changes make the biggest impact. It’s also easier to make small habit changes that create massive change over time.
Drink more water. I know you hear this all the time, but drinking more water is one of the greatest things health wise that you can do for your body. If you’re in a pinch, find a product like Liquid I.V. that you can put in your drink on-the-go.
Sleep quality > sleep quantity. It’s not always about the amount of hours you get. Your body and cells do the most generation between 10pm and 2am. If you are missing these hours, you are missing quality sleep. If you’re anything like me, you have a grind mentality. Something I always prioritize is quality sleep because I can’t show up to do my best everyday if i’m not feeling my best.
Prioritize your mental health. If you can’t show up for yourself, you won’t be able to show up for anyone else. You and your body are what are most important, which includes your mental health. Going to a therapist, energy healer, or even just talking things out with a friend can make a huge difference.
Limit caffeine intake. Caffeine may seem like something that just gives you energy, but in reality it can spark anxiety and blood sugar levels for a lot of people. The combination of these two can put your body in a high stress mode that can lead to poor sleep, inflammation, high levels of anxiety, and overeating. Limiting your caffeine intake can help you avoid that.
Reframe to the positive. Life is full of twists and turns and it’s never going to go the way you expect it to. When you learn to take things that seem to go “wrong” and find the learning lesson and positive experience from it, it shifts your mindset so you automatically start viewing anything negative as an opportunity to be a positive.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
A movement idea is National No-Makeup Day! Celebrities and models included. It would inspire everyone and connect us all in such a powerful way!
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Pick what you say yes to wisely. There are going to be a lot of opportunities and directions you can go in. Always lead with your gut and focus on your main priorities.
Prioritize your time. Having the flexibility to make your schedule can be both a blessing and a curse. Create routines to make the most out of every day and stay focused.
There are going to be a lot of ups and down, so learn to pivot. Things are going to go really right sometimes and really wrong other times. Pivot when things go wrong. You’d be surprised how many amazing learning lessons come from that.
Your network of people is everything. Who you surround yourself with is a direct reflection of you and can either inspire you or bring you down. As you grow, you realize that your network of people is your biggest support system.
It’s ok to grow slowly. Growing takes time. There are a lot of changes that happen along the way so be okay with growing slowly and making small adjustments along the way. Sometimes growing too fast doesn’t allow for little tweaks and changes that can make a big difference.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Mental health! We are saving people’s mental health by helping them feel confident in their skin again!
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
Women In Wellness: Julie Quick of ‘Cultivate Financial Wellness’ on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
Consider All Dimensions of Wellness: Wellness can be viewed as a multi-dimensional approach to living life to the fullest — by cultivating and engaging the mind, body and spirit. To do so requires conscious and deliberate attention to what is referred to as the eight dimensions of wellness. Here’s a brief summary of each dimension:
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Quick, CFP®, BFA™, CDFA®
Julie Quick is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER TM professional with over 20 years of experience working with a wide variety of clients. Throughout her career, she learned that financial planning is about so much more than numbers. It’s about paying attention to the emotions and life experiences of each individual person.
Julie understands that women, in particular, face unique financial challenges. These may include the long-term effects of the gender wage gap, time out of the workforce to care for family members, and longer life expectancies — all of which can be compounded by a death, divorce or other major life events. As founder of Cultivate Financial Wellness, she uses her personal and professional experience to help women take charge of their financial lives and move from feelings of uncertainty to a place of freedom in pursuit of overall well-being.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I am the third of four daughters. My early childhood was pretty idyllic. We lived in the country where we could run around, explore, build forts, ride horses and eat carrots out of the garden after a quick rinse with the hose.
My parents divorced when I was eight years old. Overnight, my mother went from a stay-at-home mom to a single mother of four girls who had to work as she put herself through nursing school. Money was tight and a persistent source of stress. Even at that young age, I understood the vulnerable position my mom was in and how quickly financial security could change — especially for women.
The next formative money moment in my life came much later, when I was in college. I wanted work experience in business and I came across a listing for a part-time job at a consulting company — which turned out to be a financial planning firm.
I quickly fell in love with the idea of being deliberate with money and understanding how all the pieces of our “financial puzzle” (income and expenses, investments, taxes, insurance, etc.) fit together to form a cohesive picture. I went on to get licenses and certifications to further my technical expertise but also realized that financial planning is about much more than numbers — there is an emotional component to money.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
Years ago we had a client pass away suddenly and I was working with his daughter to settle his estate. Three months after her father died, her husband asked for a divorce. This made an already emotional period of her life far more challenging. I enjoyed guiding her, serving as a confidant and helping her evaluate the various financial implications of her situation with objectivity. This is something that is hard for anyone to do in the midst of turmoil.
From a physiological standpoint, emotionally charged events affect the quality of our decision-making. The emotional portion of our brain takes over. We may think we’re making rational and objective decisions when the fight-or-flight response may actually be in play. Having an objective third party helps to reduce mistakes and any unintended consequences when we react emotionally.
Because her father had done good planning, her inheritance was not included in the divorce settlement. I saw first hand the necessity of combining both the technical and emotional aspects of financial planning.
Throughout my career, I naturally gravitated to working with women finding themselves in similar situations — highly emotional life events surrounded by uncertainty. It’s a privilege and an honor to stand beside someone during their darkest days and see them emerge with confidence and resilience.
It seems obvious now, however, only after doing my own reflective work did I make the connection between my personal story and my desire to help women in similar circumstances. I knew I had to cater my services to women.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
It’s ironic but my biggest mistake was playing it safe out of fear of making mistakes. Despite my desire to provide financial planning to women, my fear of failing prevented me from making it my focus. Instead, I stayed in my comfort zone, supporting other financial advisors and their businesses. I found myself feeling unfulfilled. I came to a point where I couldn’t deny the dream that was in my heart to build my own financial planning practice catered specifically to women going through major life events. There is a quote by Ernest Shackleton that sums up how I felt: “I believe it is in our nature to explore and to reach into the unknown. The only true failure would be not to try at all.”
As a result, I linked my passion for helping women navigate financial challenges to my desire of having a business that provides meaning and serves the life I want. I used to think that I stumbled into this profession by accident. I now believe, wholeheartedly, that finding this profession was no coincidence. This is absolutely the work I am supposed to be doing and God has had His hand in guiding me the entire time.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I have been blessed to work with some amazing people over the course of my career — colleagues and clients alike. The widows and divorcees I’ve been able to serve have especially impacted me. They have shown me the courage to be vulnerable and also the resilience of the human spirit.
My previous employer and mentor, Tom Duncan, with whom I worked for 14 years gave me the opportunity to learn, freedom to make decisions (and mistakes), and encouragement to grow professionally. Under his leadership, I was able to gain experience in all aspects of this business which has been instrumental in my ability to run my own firm.
Last, and most certainly not least, my husband of 18 years, Jeff. He has been a source of unending love, confidence and support. Because of him I understand the massive power behind the phrase, “I believe in you” and have depended on that belief in moments when it was hard for me to believe in myself.
Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
It’s important to expand our definition of wellness. I firmly believe that our financial wellness contributes to our overall sense of well-being. It’s just as important as our physical, emotional, spiritual, and social health, etc. The opposite of this is also true: financial stress impedes our ability to feel happy and fulfilled.
Year after year, money is cited as the leading source of stress among Americans. Stress has far reaching implications. It leads to physical health issues (migraines, heart disease, diabetes, difficulty sleeping and more), emotional issues (anxiety, depression), and social issues (affecting relationships with loved ones).
To complicate matters, most of us aren’t adequately taught how to manage money by our families and schools. In fact, our culture views money as taboo. Furthermore, we all tend to have what is known as “Money Scripts”, a term coined by psychologist Dr. Brad Klontz, which are the unconscious money beliefs that stem from our childhood and shape our current and future financial state.
And yet, we can’t escape the fact that money touches every single one of our lives every single day. We must intentionally and proactively address our financial wellness like we would other aspects of our health.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
1.) Identify Your Core Values: Financial wellness goes beyond numbers and investments. Knowing our values helps clarify the “Why” behind our money. It allows us to establish meaningful goals which determine the financial decisions that need to be made. When our goals are aligned with our values, we are more likely to achieve them and we feel more fulfilled as a result. Keeping our core values top of mind when making any major decision (not just financial) can contribute to optimal wellness. I like to start client engagements with a values identification exercise. To do this yourself, you can search online for a list of values. Identify the 15 that resonate the most with you. Reduce the list down to 10 and then to your top five core values. Post them somewhere conspicuous so that you see them on a regular basis.
2.) Consider All Dimensions of Wellness: Wellness can be viewed as a multi-dimensional approach to living life to the fullest — by cultivating and engaging the mind, body and spirit. To do so requires conscious and deliberate attention to what is referred to as the eight dimensions of wellness. Here’s a brief summary of each dimension:
Physical Dimension — recognizing the importance of physical activity, good sleep, and proper nutrition
Emotional Dimension — identifying, understanding and respecting feelings (both in ourselves and in others); managing emotions in a constructive and healthy manner; promoting positivity and resilience
Social Dimension — developing and maintaining meaningful relationships and a sense of belonging with others and our communities
Spiritual Dimension — connecting to a sense of purpose and meaning in life — with or without organized religion; aligning our actions with our beliefs and values
Occupational Dimension — finding satisfaction and fulfillment by contributing our unique gifts, skills and talents in a meaningful way
Financial Dimension — managing our money in a responsible way; feeling confident with current and future financial conditions
Environmental Dimension — seeking pleasant, healthy and stimulating environments — both in our personal surroundings and global environment.
Each dimension is interconnected and makes up our overall sense of well-being. Disruption in one dimension can have ripple effects in other areas of life. Although each dimension requires focus and awareness, it’s important to note that there doesn’t have to be equal balance among them. Rather, thoughtful contemplation and assessment on our level of satisfaction within each dimension can identify areas needing attention. As humans, we are constantly ebbing and flowing. Regularly evaluating each dimension allows us to determine different areas that require our awareness as we grow and change.
3.) Take an Active Role in Your Finances: Even if the day-to-day financial activities are delegated to a partner as a way to divide and conquer household tasks, you can stay on top of what is going on through regular reviews of budgets, accounts and mutual goals. Regardless of your marital status, understand how much it costs you to live, put some money aside for your future self, protect yourself from the financial devastation of various risks. This also sets an awesome example for children. In the event you should become fully responsible for your finances, being familiar with your situation will put you in a much better position.
4.) Seek Out Professional Help. There is an abundance of information available on personal finance. Educating yourself is a good place to start; however, it can be daunting and the information isn’t personalized and curated to your unique circumstances, goals and values. Not to mention, some people simply do not have an interest or the time to do it all themselves. Similar to hiring a trainer when we want to get in shape or a therapist to help us through a difficult time, hiring a financial planner is a great way to develop financial wellness. When looking for a financial planner, take some time to consider your needs and desires. More and more planners are specializing in a specific niche such as a specific occupation or industry, stage of life, and more. Furthermore, don’t be too quick to let physical location prevent you from working with someone who would otherwise be a perfect fit. Thanks to technology, many financial planners are effectively serving clients nationwide. Simply entering your needs into a search engine could help you find a great match.
5.) Practice Mindfulness. Mindfulness exercises such as meditation and journaling provide a whole host of benefits not the least of which include exploring and improving our relationships with money. They are a great way to resist impulsive purchases, reconnect with core values, and explore your history around money and any prevailing money scripts. These practices can help to redirect our attention away from external influences, such as advertisements and social media, instead allowing us to focus on our internal motivations, goals and desires.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Without a doubt, I encourage people, especially women, to take a much more active role in their finances and to consider it another form of wellness. Women, in particular, face unique financial challenges including the long-term effects of the gender wage gap, time out of the workforce to care for family members, and longer life expectancies — all of which can be compounded by a death or divorce. Unfortunately, despite all the advances in women’s power and equality, it is incredibly common for women of all age groups to defer financial matters to their partner. According to a 2019 UBS study, 58% of women globally — including millennials — defer to men on important financial decisions. Yet, life expectancies and divorce rates suggest that more and more women will be responsible for their own finances at some point in their lives.
Even though “money can’t buy happiness” I firmly believe that when our financial resources are used intentionally and in alignment with our values and goals, they can be a tool to enhance our lives as we seek fulfillment.
Even though “money can’t buy happiness” I firmly believe that our financial resources can be a tool to enhance our lives and seek fulfillment when used intentionally and in alignment with our values and goals.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Emotions can often trump facts. The financial planning industry is improving, however, much of the education and training has been mostly technical in nature. There has been very little focus on the emotional relationships people have with money or how to help them address those emotions. When left unchecked, strong feelings will often influence decisions despite knowing better or being presented with strong analytical evidence to do otherwise.
Living life in fear of failing, isn’t really living at all. Failure is part of the process, an opportunity to learn, evolve and experience joy. It isn’t something to be avoided at all costs.
Progress not perfection. I’m a huge fan of Brené Brown and her work on courage and vulnerability. I love her quote “Perfectionism is a 20-pound shield that we lug around thinking it will protect us when, in fact, it’s the thing that’s really preventing us from taking flight.”
The Universe is working for you. However,…
Anything worthwhile takes time. In a world of instant gratification it’s easy to lose sight of this. I think it’s the Universe’s way of testing how bad we want something.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Definitely mental health. Especially as it relates to our relationships with money — which are often complex. We all have individual histories and beliefs around money that ought to be examined as part of our pursuit to financial wellness. Human beings can’t be boiled down to numbers and spreadsheets.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
They can find me on Instagram and Facebook with the handle @cultivatemyfw. Or for deeper insights they can sign up for my email newsletter through my website.
Women In Wellness: Chimere Holmes of ‘Be Ye Renewed Consulting’ on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
Create a daily routine- In order to overcome the monotony of quarantine and the woes of COVID fatigue, it is helpful to create some sort of daily routine, as structure allows people to feel focused, more energized, and lends the way to a daily sense of purpose. Try not to neglect the things you would do if this were life pre-COVID. Take a shower each day, drink plenty of water, write down a small list of goals for the week, maintain healthy eating habits, aim for 7–8 hours of sleep every night, and do not neglect your fitness routine. During these times of social distancing, it is important to mask up and take walks outdoors for fresh air and vitamin D-3 whenever you can.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chimère G. Holmes, LPC, founder of Be Ye Renewed Counseling.
Chimère G. Holmes, LPC, an ordained minister and licensed professional counselor founded Be Ye Renewed Counseling, a private counseling practice in center city Philadelphia. Chimère is also the co-founder of the forthcoming podcast, “Trust Us; We’re Almost Doctors!” Created with her classmate and friend who she met in her current doctoral program, the podcast will offer a fun and fresh perspective on mental health — particularly as it relates to Black women, men, and families. Chimère was also a 2018 recipient of Main Line Today’s women on the move cover feature and was named a 2018 Power Woman based on her clinical work and dedication to men and women struggling with mental health disparities as well as opiate addiction. She obtained her first Master’s degree in Theology and Pastoral Ministry from Villanova University (Villanova, Pa) and a secondary Master’s degree in School & Mental Health Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pa).
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I have a background in journalism and majored in communications in college at Immaculata University. I have always been an avid reader and writer. I spent several years as an editor at a medical publishing company. Later, I pursued my first master’s degree in theology and pastoral ministry at Villanova University. This 3-year program was transformative, as it afforded me the opportunity to become a campus minister who educated prisoners facing life sentences who were obtaining their college degrees in jail. I learned a great deal about social justice and I will forever be changed from the international missions work I did in Kingston, Jamaica, El Salvador, and Guatemala. This program resulted in me becoming an ordained reverend and I practice ministry by serving as a keynote speaker, preaching at churches, and officiating weddings throughout Philadelphia. After Villanova, I pursued a secondary masters in counseling at the University of Pennsylvania and garnered diverse clinical experience throughout Philadelphia, before becoming a licensed therapist. To date, I oversee my private counseling practice, Be Ye Renewed Counseling. At Be Ye Renewed, I treat individuals, couples, and families struggling with depression, low self-esteem, family challenges, anxiety, and spirituality issues. My prior work as a minister informs my practice as a therapist, and I love the fact I can offer a unique and holistic scope of practice to people struggling with emotional pain and distress.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
Upon graduating, I spent the early years of my counseling career working in a very impoverished part of Philadelphia at a methadone clinic. This was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had in my life. I was extremely fortunate to meet and serve some of the most resilient, intelligent, and special men and women who happened to be battling both mental health and substance use disorders. Working at the community agency in the throes of the nationwide opioid epidemic was rewarding and heartbreaking all at the same time. Most of the patients I worked with came from treacherous beginnings and had less than ideal upbringings riddled with various forms of trauma, abuse, and neglect. I learned firsthand about poverty, the crisis in the urban education system, and what it means to be a resilient human being. This role helped me to not only cultivate a tremendous sense of gratitude for the life my parents provided me, but it also humbled me and proved that at the end of the day, everyone deserves kindness, help, and to be loved. The addiction crisis is real and when you are poor and have a substance use disorder, it is harder to get quality care and long-term help. We need more efficient and quality rehabilitation facilities in this country.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Looking back, I think I treated much of my career endeavors like a sprint instead of a marathon. I tend to be a bit of perfectionist with my work, and this can be both helpful and harmful. I now have greater trust for the timing of life, how my career will unfold and ultimately learned that if certain opportunities are meant for me, they will always find me and vice versa. The 2020 pandemic stretched me to think outside the box and tap into my creativity. The quarantine also forced me to slow down and take a step back from all the busyness — which in looking back may not have been serving me in the first place. Biggest lessons learned have been to trust the process of life and savor everyday; the pandemic is a constant reminder just how precious life is.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are numerous people who have helped, trained, mentored, and blessed me to get to this point in my career. The one constant and my number one fan that has been “team Chimère” from the beginning is my mother, Kimberly. She epitomizes the definition of a stage mom — but in a fun loving and supportive way! My mother’s love, wisdom, support and faith in me have been invaluable. From the early years of taking me to dance class or attending my high school plays, she was always there for me. My mother saw to it that I received my education. She would drive me to television auditions, practice with me before big job interviews, and I will forever be grateful for my mother’s deep faith in God and the fact she always encouraged me to shoot for the stars and that I can do anything I put my mind to. I love to bask in every level of success with her now because she is a major part of it. I want to give back to her just as she gave so much to me — love you Mommie!
Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
My work as a therapist is providing much needed counseling services to a generally underserved population — the African-American community. People of color must overcome several obstacles to get adequate therapy. My philosophy is that everyone deserves and can benefit from participating in therapy. Factors such as historical trauma, distrust and uncertainty toward the medical community due to maltreatment and systemic racism tend to keep African-Americans away from the counseling office. Generational trauma and the societal stigma surrounding all things psychology and psychotherapy also contribute to people not seeking professional help in a timely fashion. My work enables individuals and families to alleviate their emotional suffering and gain a fresh perspective — it gives them hope. People seek counseling when they do not feel well, need help making a difficult decision, or feel stuck, perhaps unfulfilled in their life and relationships. I strongly believe that human beings are tripartite — composed of a mind, body, and soul. I also think we are spiritual beings having a human experience here on earth. Assisting someone understand and manage their anxiety, trauma, and depression initially impacts their emotional wellness, and it can eventually improve their physical and spiritual health as well. I love journeying with people and watching them accomplish their goals. The more healthy men and women there are, the healthier families, children, communities, churches, and organizations become. Awareness is always the first step to psychological change, so essentially good therapy has the potential to strengthen and improve systems and communities — one mind at a time.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
Introspection- Find some quiet time throughout the day to think about the major takeaways of each day. Reflecting on key lessons learned in 2020 can set the tone for how we will all navigate 2021 and put things into proper perspective — e.g., the importance of health, family, friends, faith, social networks, and fulfilling your life’s purpose.
Maintain an attitude of gratitude- Research suggests that there are various mental health benefits of being thankful and grateful. Taking time to name, list, or write down daily wins, gifts, and blessings of the day improves the mood and rewires the psyche. There will always be things to complain about, why not combat the negative and concentrate on the things that are going right in your life instead.
Practice Mindfulness- Mindfulness is all about paying more attention to what is going on in the present instead of fixating on uncertainty or things beyond our control. Incorporating mindfulness exercises into your daily routine can greatly impact your mental and emotional health.
Mindfulness-based practices such as deep belly breathing and tapping into the 5 senses keeps us from going into “autopilot,” which can put us in a position where we are more likely to react out of stress or respond to stress with unhealthy coping mechanisms.
Focus on what you can control- We are all affected by the actions of others, but it is important to remember that we can only control our own words, thoughts, feelings and responses. Make it a point to focus on what you need to do in order to prioritize your own health and wellness.
Create a daily routine- In order to overcome the monotony of quarantine and the woes of COVID fatigue, it is helpful to create some sort of daily routine, as structure allows people to feel focused, more energized, and lends the way to a daily sense of purpose. Try not to neglect the things you would do if this were life pre-COVID. Take a shower each day, drink plenty of water, write down a small list of goals for the week, maintain healthy eating habits, aim for 7–8 hours of sleep every night, and do not neglect your fitness routine. During these times of social distancing, it is important to mask up and take walks outdoors for fresh air and vitamin D-3 whenever you can.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
If I could start a movement that would contribute to overall wellness to the masses it would involve accessible psychotherapy services for as many people as possible, particularly the marginalized. I am equally passionate about contributing to the healing of our nation’s racial divide and wounds that continue to linger and infect the way we treat each other. I can foresee myself presenting work on the psychology of racism and steps to achieving more racial justice and harmony — starting in the counseling room.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
There is no such thing as perfection. If you make a mistake or fail, count it as a lesson that you would not have learned otherwise.
Always consider the “Why behind what you do.” Intentionality and having a clear understanding of the work you want to create and the people you wish to serve will help you forge forward when you grow weary and want to throw in the towel.
When building a business it is important to take risks from time to time. It does not always pay to play it safe and stay in your comfort zone.
Change is good! It’s okay to shift, reinvent, and fine-tune your vision. Human beings change and evolve all the time, so the same must be true for business endeavors.
Rest, rest, and rest some more. Our society has it backwards with the whole multitasking grind culture. Less really is more when you are trying to cultivate quality of life. None of us can pour from an empty cup and in order to be the best at your craft, you will need to unplug, get quiet, and recharge.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
I am most enthralled with all things mental health at this time. Being a mental health practitioner in the midst of a pandemic has been an incredible new aspect of my work. More and more individuals are reporting issues of isolation, anxiety, stress, and depression. Perhaps one of the many gifts of the pandemic is that a lot of people have had to address their mental health challenges and give their emotional wellness time, attention, and the help it deserves. When it comes to mental health, I think we are only seeing the beginning of the ramifications of collective trauma from COVID-19. There will need to be emotional supports in place for the first responders and frontline professionals who are in the thick of fighting this virus. Telehealth has been a revolutionary new way to conduct therapy. I am hopeful that the stigma that has always surrounded mental illness and mental health will start to fade away. Hopefully, mental health will be all the more normalized and embraced like any other health or medical discipline for the long haul.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
For more information please visit my website: www.chimereholmes.com and please follow me on Instagram: @beyerenewed_counseling
Women In Wellness: Megan Faller of The Aligned Cycle on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
The power and beauty of a woman’s cycle goes beyond her ability to get pregnant. So often when we discuss menstrual cycles, the focus is on periods and trying to get pregnant or avoid pregnancy. But our menstrual cycles provide us with critical information about our health, our mood, and our energy. We can get a baseline picture of health from a single charted cycle. With continued charting, we can predict when the next cycle (period) will begin, we can evaluate the impact of dietary or lifestyle changes on a particular person’s health, and we can go deeper into understanding our own unique patterns.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Megan Faller.
Megan Faller is a Menstrual Cycle & Productivity Strategist and Founder of The Aligned Cycle. As a Certified FertilityCare Practitioner she spent years helping women understand their bodies and chart their cycles so they could make important decisions about planning their families and scheduling medical procedures. She stumbled into using the power of her cycles and hormonal waves to schedule her work and now she helps other women put their cycles to work for them, so they can make an impact and grow their businesses with flow and ease.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
In my early 20s I was introduced to fertility awareness and it blew my mind. How I’d gone through over 10 years of menstrual cycles, sex education, and hundred of women’s magazines and never come across this foundational health knowledge still confounds me. Eventually I took a class to learn more about tracking and interpreting my cycles and then I went through an education program to teach other women fertility awareness. While I personally used the power of my cycle to interpret my health and plan my family, it wasn’t until I stumbled into resting during menstruation that I realized the full potential and beauty of my cycle and hormonal patterns. Now I use my cycle to plan my schedule so that I can enjoy more flow and ease in my work, and I help other cycling female entrepreneurs to do the same. As a homeschooling mom of 3 boys, I want to use my work time to the fullest, so that I have energy, time, and attention to give me family, home, and health.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
During a session, a client exclaimed that she had to call her mom and tell her about what she just learned about her cycle and reproductive health. She wanted to fill her mom in! Not on the details of her health, but on general reproductive knowledge that she thought her mom needed to know. The client herself was almost thirty years old, and yet there she was, wanting to fill her mom in on this important information. The main takeaway is that we can do so much better. We should equip all women with the facts of their health and fertility, and do it early on.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I was scared to pivot, so I kept doing the same work, in the same way, for too long. It was safe and familiar, but I was approaching burnout. I knew I wanted to continue working in the fertility and wellness space, but the way I was working wasn’t aligned with my highest skills. I wanted to be energized by my work and to find ease and flow. I wanted energy and attention to give when the work day was done. I have found these things now, but I had to let go of something good to discover something better. The lesson is — don’t be afraid to pivot or change course. There is power in leaning into the unknown. Also, tune in to your unique patterns of energy and mood and work in accordance for maximum flow.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
The other women in the world of women’s health and cycle/fertility awareness. Their passion for, and commitment to, serving women and empowering them to make informed choices is an inspiration. The work they do, in spite of many obstacles and objections, inspires me. Our work as entrepreneurs can be lonely. On particularly hard days, the collaboration, community, and encouragement of women doing similar work make it possible to keep going.
Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
I believe that women have incredible gifts to share with the world. Sometimes women can feel like their biological design keeps them sharing their gifts on a larger scale. I want all women to have the tools and support they need to make an impact. Our womanhood allows us to create, grow, and nourish human life. It also gives us an advantage when it comes to building and sustaining businesses and movements that change the world. We should know how to tap into, and maximize, that advantage.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
The following tweaks are good for fertility and cycle health, but also overall wellbeing.
Optimizing your sleep by limiting unnatural light. We can do this by avoiding screens in the hours prior to bed (or wearing blue light glasses when screens are unavoidable). Sleeping in total darkness helps increase our sleep quality and supports our hormonal health, so get the lights and devices out of the bedroom and invest in some blackout curtains.
Find your favorite fast, good-for-you food options. Instead of being tempted to grab processed foods focus on keeping some easy, nutrient dense options on hand. Some of my favorite options include bone broth and sweet potatoes. All you need to do is warm the broth or roast the sweet potatoes and then add in what you have on hand. For bone broth, this may be veggies, herbs, or spices, along with a scoop of coconut oil or a splash of coconut aminos. And for roasted sweet potatoes, consider hummus or avocado, a pickled veggies for gut health supporting probiotics, and a sprinkle of seeds.
Dry brushing. It is super accessible and can help with lymphatic flow and detox. As an added bonus, it feels amazing and exfoliates the skin. I like to dry brush prior to a shower. You simply use a dry body brush to brush your skin, beginning at your feet and brushing toward your heart with long, gentle strokes.
Find your favorite way to move and do it, often. We all know exercise is good for us, but sometimes we get caught up in how it should look. But the thing is, movement does so much for our bodies — releases stress hormones, increases blood flow, supports digestion and detox. We don’t need fancy classes or equipment to move our bodies. We just need to find a way of moving that brings us joy and to incorporate it into our day. This could be as simple as stretching, hiking/walks, or jumping jacks.
Take a few slow, deep breaths before meals. It helps your body shift into rest and digest and allows for better digestion and nutrient absorption and it supports hormone health by reducing stress.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
A cycle awareness and tracking movement. Understanding that our cycles are an important indicator. Charting our cycles provides a to monitor and optimize our wellness. Cycle awareness gives menstruating women a powerful way to connect to their health and wellbeing — both their physical and mental health. Thankfully, I think this movement has already begun, but I would love to see if spread like wildfire. My vision and hope is that we are equipping younger women with this critical self knowledge and that they can pass it on to future generations. While cycle tracking directly impacts the health of cycling women, I believe that women who understand and care for themselves are better able to care for the health and well being of those around them, both young and old.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
The power and beauty of a woman’s cycle goes beyond her ability to get pregnant. So often when we discuss menstrual cycles, the focus is on periods and trying to get pregnant or avoid pregnancy. But our menstrual cycles provide us with critical information about our health, our mood, and our energy. We can get a baseline picture of health from a single charted cycle. With continued charting, we can predict when the next cycle (period) will begin, we can evaluate the impact of dietary or lifestyle changes on a particular person’s health, and we can go deeper into understanding our own unique patterns.
No matter how much you have on your plate, as a woman there are times of the month when it will all feel like too much. This is what hormones do to cycling women. They rise and fall. And when they plummet, right before your period begins and on the first few days of your period, you aren’t feeling your best. You may experience overwhelm, exhaustion, or mood swings. Your inner critic may come out. This will pass. Give yourself grace and keep on going.
Managing your energy is key to preventing burnout and achieving your goals and our cycles provide a guide. So often we focus on managing our time and our money, but our energy is a critical resource. We need periods of rest. Tune in to when and where you most need a break and focus on the activities that actually restore your energy versus the ones that deplete your energy.
There are answers out there to whatever challenge we face. When we are faced with challenges — health, work, or personal — sometimes it can feel like we’ve hit a dead end. But just because you haven’t found the answers yet doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. During my time as a FertilityCare Practitioner, women would come to me after months or years of not finding answers or solutions to their health issues. They were thrilled at the chance to have someone look at their issues in a new way and, often, answers were found. Try asking “What haven’t I tried?,” “Who might be able to help?,” etc. to keep yourself open to new paths.
The way we work is equally important to the work we do. We often come to our work with a paradigm of the right way to work. We internalize a standard that may not be right for us. Ambitious women can get really good at self motivating and taking action, so much so that they find it challenging to take a break. When we work with our cycles we tune into our unique needs, whether they encourage us to go out and make things happen or to retreat and recharge. And as we work with our cycle, we can take our break with peace of mind, knowing that our time to move and do is just around the corner. We can also push hard during mid cycle when our hormonal waves are increasing our energy and drive.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Mental health is such a huge issue and can be more closely related to our cycles and hormones. We hear jokes about women being hormonal, but our hormones, or more specifically, hormonal imbalance, can cause a variety of mental health related symptoms ranging from mood swings to suicidal thoughts. There is a condition called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) that can cause severe anxiety or depression in the week or two before the beginning of a woman’s period. Tuning in to our cycles and connecting it to our moods and mental health can really help women to understand themselves and to seek help and support where and when we need it most.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
Follow me on IG @thealignedcycle to learn how to tune in to your cycles and to grow a business with flow and ease.
ROCK your BRAND! There I said, Rock out your Brand on LinkedIn! Yes, it’s a professional platform , but people do business with people. Be relatable! Be authentic. I have a saying, “It’s too hard to be two different people: one online and one offline. You should be the same online as you are offline.” Authenticity creates empathy and helps you be relatable to your audience. Remember there is a person behind the profile, speak to that one person. One of my highest viewed posts was me sharing a personal story and being authentically myself. Do not apologize for who you are, embrace it and work it into your brand. For me, I am energetic ,fun and informative, casual and conversational, joyful, bright,and strategic. All of this is weaved into my brand with colors, copy, and the tone and style of my LIVE shows.
As part of my series of interviews about “How to Use LinkedIn To Dramatically Improve Your Business”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mary Fain Brandt
Mary Fain Brandt is the CEO and CIO (Chief Inspiration Officer) at the LinkedIn Bakery and Mary Fain Brandt Coaching & Consulting where she serves up Bite-Sized Tips on how to turn your LinkedIn Profile into a lead magnet. She is an International LinkedIn Strategist, Speaker and Consultant who works with savvy business women who want to stand out as experts in their industry and get more clients through LinkedIn. She is also the co-host of LinkedIn Local San Diego.
Entrepreneurs, business leaders and sales teams call Mary when they’re ready to use LinkedIn to increase their visibility, boost their credibility, and fill their pipeline with qualified leads.
Having worked with over 300+ clients worldwide, hosting the multi-platform LIVE Show, “Bite-Sized Tips for Busy Entrepreneurs”, as well as creating a multitude of online courses has equipped Mary with the knowledge and understanding of what it takes to create successful summits.
In 2019, Mary started producing LinkedIn Live summits for other experts, allowing them to focus on what they do best: be a host and expert in their field. She brings in thought leaders from around the world and various industries to provide the latest trends and hot tips for a variety of attendees and target markets.
Known for her fun and informative style, she is an energetic remote live producer, emcee, workshop facilitator and speaker who creates engaging learning environments for attendees with actionable tips they can implement immediately.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Truth is I never wanted to be an entrepreneur. I saw my Dad go through “highs” and “lows” when he owned his own appraisal company. I started my business in 2014 when my mom got sick. She was officially diagnosed with Alzheimers. I was working full time and taking care of her and it all came tumbling down when she went missing on a cold raining Friday night.
Luckily for us, we found her. But it was that event that made me realize I needed to be there for her and a J-O-B wasn’t going to give me the flexibility I needed to do that. So I started off as a career coach for women understanding first hand their pain points of finding a purposeful career that aligned with their talents and skill set. I worked with women over 40 looking to pivot in their career. One thing that ALL of my clients had in common? They needed to create or revamp their LinkedIn Profile… so I did what I do best, research and learn.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
Professionally, Facebook showcased my company at their Facebook Community event in San Diego, that was pretty awesome! Out of the blue Facebook contacted me and said they were impressed with my business page and the value that I was bringing to my audience.
A few years ago, I volunteered for Social Media Marketing World (you know when in-person events were a thing) and I did a video in the morning about how excited I was to be volunteering and giving back my time and what a great conference it was.
During the training session while in the lunch line, Michael Stelzner (Owner of social Media Examiner and Founder of SMMW) turned to me and said, “Nice video Mary” to which I replied, “You watched my video? You know who I am?” insert big smile on my face. I was
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 had someone reach out to me that was pretty well-known. She was a best-selling author and international speaker.
She asked for a proposal for LinkedIn Training for her and her team. I thought OH MY this is it, my big break! I’d been working with clients one-on-one at this point and only had a few clients under my belt.
I wrote up the proposal (first one I had ever done) , sent it off and waited. She got back to me rather quickly to let me know that I misspelled her name! Imagine my embarrassment! I’m dyslexic and always need to double check everything. My brain works twice as fast as my fingers, and my eyes don’t catch typos. I actually have to say it out loud. Lesson learned, re-read everything before you hit send!
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?
All social media platforms have their purpose and place. But for me, wanting to have more professional connections and work with specific types of professionals — LinkedIn hands down is the most effective platform to do both of those things; build a strategic network and find qualified leads. With over 700 million users and the average user making over a 6 figure income — -well those are people who can afford my services. Sure, I’ll buy make up for $29.99 on Facebook or Instagram, but I’m not hiring a coach from there. I vet everyone over on LinkedIn. For example, I ask clients when onboarding them how they heard about me? 80% say, “ Oh I’ve been following you on LinkedIn for 6–7–8 months and decided I was ready to work with you. LinkedIn is a long game, not a short game. You use the platform to build a strong and strategic network, showcase your experience, highlight your talents and provide value (tips and industry trends) to your audience.
Let’s talk about LinkedIn specifically, now. Can you share 5 ways to leverage LinkedIn to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.
Communicate: Stories are a great way to engage with people. Truth be told, I wasn’t a fan when they came out. I thought “Oh no, LinkedIn is going to become just like Instagram and Facebook!”. But then I replied to a story by Judi Fox and we ended up setting up a Zoom call to get to know each other better. It’s through the conversations with others which can lead to future opportunities. It’s a great way to start a conversation with someone that you might not otherwise have the opportunity to engage with.
Comment: By engaging on your connections posts you are opening a door to connect on a deeper level with them. Don’t just hit the like button. Read their post and comment on what resonated with you. By doing this the author will see your name, it’s also great a conduit to sending a formal connection request to someone that you are not connected with. You can mention a post of theirs that you enjoyed reading or learned something from and if you commented on that post, they just might recall your name and accept your request to connect. If content is King, then Engagement is Queen (said by Mari Smith at SMMW19, but still true now.)
Cultivate your Connections: Don’t connect and forget. Where’s the value in that? Wait, let me answer that for you- there isn’t any value. Each month choose 3–5 connections that you don’t know well or haven’t connected to in a while and reach out to them. You’d be amazed at the magic that can happen in a conversation. Each month I have a goal of setting up 3–5 Zoom calls with people from my network. It also becomes a piece of content for me. I snap a photo of us on Zoom and then create a post on LinkedIn about how great it was to learn more about them and tag them in the photo. I also challenge my audience to do the same thing. Now more than ever, we are in need of connecting with people. WFH has isolated many people and this simple act of reaching out to someone can brighten their week and strengthen your network.
ROCK your BRAND! There I said, Rock out your Brand on LinkedIn! Yes, it’s a professional platform , but people do business with people. Be relatable! Be authentic. I have a saying, “It’s too hard to be two different people: one online and one offline. You should be the same online as you are offline.” Authenticity creates empathy and helps you be relatable to your audience. Remember there is a person behind the profile, speak to that one person. One of my highest viewed posts was me sharing a personal story and being authentically myself. Do not apologize for who you are, embrace it and work it into your brand. For me, I am energetic ,fun and informative, casual and conversational, joyful, bright,and strategic. All of this is weaved into my brand with colors, copy, and the tone and style of my LIVE shows.
Stay on top of new features and use them! Instead of sending a text style message through InMail, send a voicemail or even better a video message. I frequently do this after a call with a potential client or collaboration partner and everytime they are surprised and delighted! Stand out.
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. 🙂
In college I wrote a paper titled, CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility. I believe that ALL businesses of any size should have a Volunteer-Give-Back component. Whether that be one hour for an employee to volunteer, or one day. If everyone in the world gave back with their time and talent, we could solve some of our biggest problems: elderly care, tutoring to children to help them succeed in school, community clean ups, etc.
From day one, I set up to give back a percentage of sales to the Alzheimer’s Organization and I hope to increase what I give as well as add other organizations into the mix. I also regularly volunteer where I roll up my sleeves and clean out parks or paint classrooms.
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 🙂
Ellen DeGeneres- She’s overcome obstacles set by society, stayed true to herself, created her own space where she has had great success, gives back to many and is funny and a great dancer!
Business: Amy Porterfield- just love her and the way she shares her success without it being all about her. I had the chance to meet her at SMMW and she was just as great in person.
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
