Day: March 11, 2021

Hannah Easley of Vanity Beauty Boutique: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry

Always push your boundaries. With an industry that’s consistently changing, there’s no room to plateau. Keep learning, innovating, and skyrocketing past what you think is your limit. If you’re uncomfortable thinking about something because you think you’re not capable, then that’s the very sign that you should do it! Massive action will always lead to massive results.

As a part of our series about “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Hannah Easley, owner of Vanity Beauty Boutique, is a longtime beauty guru with over nine years of expertise in Las Vegas’ bustling health and wellness scene. The impressive entrepreneur who originally founded her business as Vanity Body Sculpting in 2012 at just the young age of 22, has since expanded her service offerings for an all-encompassing self-care experience for her clients.

Today, Easley’s new full-service holistic spa location located in Village Square (Summerlin) provides an array of luxurious aesthetic options, including micro-current body sculpting, teeth whitening, facials, zero gravity massages, organic spray tans, infrared sauna treatments, and more. Despite opening in January 2021 during a global pandemic, Vanity Beauty Boutique has opened to rave reviews, which is a true testament to Easley’s resiliency as an entrepreneur and speaks to the overall demand for a relaxing oasis for beauty and wellness during tumultuous times.

Celebrities from around the nation have flocked to Vanity for their renowned body sculpting treatments, which uses electric microcurrents to build and tone muscle, shrink fat and eliminate inches instantly including models, ring girls, Strip performers, adult entertainers, professional bodybuilders, and more. Vanity made a huge splash to more than 3.5 million viewers on TLC’s hit TV show, “90 Day Fiancé,” in September 2020, when starring cast member, Larissa Lima, came to Easley for body sculpting to complete her dramatic full-body makeover transformation.

In her free time, Easley enjoys going to church, reading, doing yoga, traveling and spending time with her three-year-old daughter. A powerful force in the industry, Easley donates service treatments to support local causes close to her heart annually. Dedicated to staying up to date on the latest health and wellness trends, Easley believes in continuous education and is always learning new holistic approaches to achieve outstanding results with her clients’ overall optimal health in mind.

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?

In 2012 I was in school for echocardiography when I first discovered my passion for the beauty industry and holistic health. I was introduced to microcurrent technology and instantly fell in love. I knew this was something that people could benefit from especially living in Las Vegas where it is pool season majority of the year. Keep in mind, this was almost 10 years ago, before the huge boom of noninvasive body sculpting became the huge trend that it is today. I wanted to be able to introduce a healthy, safe, and effective way to help people reach their body goals without having to go under the knife. Within a couple months, I changed my career path and opened up my first business, originally called Vanity Body Sculpting, at just 22 years old.

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

Hands down it has to be being featured on TLC’s hit reality TV series, “90 Day Fiancé.” A few summers ago I struck up a friendship with Larissa Lima, one of the stars of the show, through mutual friends. She was going through a terrible divorce and in the midst of undergoing this huge post breakup surgery make over. Naturally, she was curious on my treatments and how it could help with her new body makeover (specifically to help tighten and tone her shape up.) We ended up filming one of her treatments and I was on half the episodes that season! Larissa loved the results and I was thrilled to see her so excited! It was something so spontaneous and unexpected.

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?

My tipping point happened when I changed my mindset from scarcity to abundance. It was time for me to believe in myself as an entrepreneur. I have learned to listen when I feel drawn to do something. Even though we were in the middle of a pandemic, I knew I had to take the leap. I want to show my daughter that when you put your blood, sweat, and tears into it, no one can stop you from following your dreams.

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?

My backbone of support has always been my mom. Having a cheerleader in my corner regardless of the outcome of my success always gives me the extra push when I have needed it. I will be forever grateful to my friend Lauren of LaLa Photography for saying the exact right thing at the exact right time. She introduced me to a book called the E-Myth by Michael Gerber and told me with all honesty that I had not built a business, but only created a job for myself. This reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I told her my dreams of opening my own retail space where I could offer an array of holistic beauty services. The timing could not have been more perfect. She was busy building an empire of her own and had outgrown out of her original space, so it was now on the market. I went the very next day to look and got the ball rolling right then and there to sign the lease and open up what is now Vanity Beauty Boutique.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The global beauty industry today has grown to more than a half a trillion dollar business. Can you tell us about the innovations that you are bringing to the industry? How do you think that will help people?

People are really starting to open their eyes to what harmful chemicals and toxins do to our bodies and the negative impact they have long term. Unfortunately, the beauty industry has made it seem you need all these unnatural and damaging procedures to feel beautiful. Vanity Beauty Boutique offers a safe variety of self-care services. We specialize in holistic, plant-based products and treatments. Especially after the stressful year we have all had, I feel people need a place they can trust as a beauty sanctuary where they can feel and look their best.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the modern beauty industry?

1. I’m really excited to see the popularity of holistic spas. People are really becoming more and more educated about long-term effects of what they put on their skin (the largest organ on our body) and are interested in finding more all-natural treatments that still yield powerful results.

2. It’s so exciting to see that “skincare is the new makeup!” There is really nothing like a clean and beautiful radiant complexion and like never before, women are really investing into a solid skincare routine so they can feel confident without makeup and when they do put makeup on, they really transition and really have that “wow moment.” Going bare-faced and feeling beautiful is really an important step in a holistic beauty routine, which really aims to make your mind, body and soul feel good. Feeling comfortable in your own skin is what it is all about.

3. Seeing an emergence of new entrepreneurs pursuing fields and open new businesses in the beauty industry is absolutely thrilling! There are so many service and product offerings for whatever your concerns may be.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry?

1. The effect that social media has on self-esteem is overly concerning. This exceeds far outside the beauty industry but especially in the beauty industry, people of all ages are comparing themselves to filtered and photo shopped selfies and feel “not enough.”
2. Breaking the stereotype that skincare isn’t important and it’s all genetics. Genetics of course plays a big part into many skin issues but a solid skincare routine is imperative to maintain your skin’s health!
3. How cut throat the industry can be in terms of other entrepreneurs. I would love to see more of a movement of business owners supporting business owners (even similar businesses, there is room for all of us!)

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

Don’t ever compare yourself! What I’ve learned in this industry is that even the person you admire the most has their insecurities. Do the things that feed your soul and you’ll see yourself in a happier, more “beautiful” light. Self-care isn’t just spa days and vacations. Take the time every day to get proper rest, stay hydrated, eat healthy, take a walk, look in the mirror and literally say “I love you” to yourself. You’re already beautiful, show yourself some love.

Here is the main question for our discussion. Based on your experience and success, Can you please share “Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern Beauty Industry”. Please share a story or an example, for each.

1. You absolutely have to believe in what you’re doing. Take the time to research and learn all you can in your field, you need to be the expert. When you believe in yourself and your business, it’s easy to bring others on board with you.
2. One of the most important things to me is that we are open every day to serve our guests, not to just provide a service. You need to genuinely care and go above and beyond what anyone else in your industry is willing to do. Reach out, get to know your customers, follow up. This makes it easy for you to get feedback on how to be better too!
3. Don’t try to take on everything yourself. Invest in staff that’s on the same page as you and allow yourself to delegate. You need to focus on the important things to GROW your business. When you look at your “to-do” list, start thinking of it as a “to-who” list. Find people better than you in that field to get tasks accomplished.
4. Always push your boundaries. With an industry that’s consistently changing, there’s no room to plateau. Keep learning, innovating, and skyrocketing past what you think is your limit. If you’re uncomfortable thinking about something because you think you’re not capable, then that’s the very sign that you should do it! Massive action will always lead to massive results.
5. We live in a time where social media is everything. Use it to your advantage. It’s free to post updates, before/afters, deals, engage with people who are interested. People want to relate and when making a decision, they’re going to choose who’s top of mind.

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. 🙂

As a single mom and entrepreneur, I know the struggle of incorporating balance. I love to encourage moms to always take the time to fill their own cup. Whether you’re a stay at home mom or working full time, we’re all so busy all the time. It is easy to feel guilty about not spending every free minute with our kids. We all know you cannot pour from an empty cup. When you take time for self-care, you become abundant and overflowing to be able to give even more to the important people in our lives.

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

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

Maya Angelou

I apply this quote to all aspects in my life from parenting, health, business, etc. We are always doing the best we can with the resources we have in that moment. There is no sense in looking back in regret, just in how we can always move forward.

How can our readers follow you online?

VanityBB.com

Instagram @vanitybeautylv

Facebook.com/VanityBeautyBoutique

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

Hannah Easley of Vanity Beauty Boutique: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Modern… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Rectify the biases that lead male-dominated jobs to be paid more. One of the most frequent wrong-headed defenses of the wage gap is that it’s the result of women choosing to be in positions that are less demanding and therefore paid less. Like the “lean in” refrain, this is placing the blame on women. Actually, there is deep gender bias in what jobs are paid more than others, even when they require the same level of skill and experience. In the 1940s and 1950s, when most computer programmers were women, they received relatively low pay and prestige. The salaries for these jobs increased when men started doing these jobs.

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Melanie Ho.

Melanie Ho is the founder of Strategic Imagination, a firm dedicated to drawing on the power of the imaginative arts to drive transformational change. She believes that today’s wicked problems won’t be solved unless we find new ways of getting past trapped mindsets — and that the tools of fiction, theatre, and the visual arts can help pave the way. She was born and raised in Southern California and currently resides in Washington, DC.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

When Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In came out in 2013, I was in my early thirties and had just been promoted into a senior management role. I went from managing four people to over 70 almost overnight, and I was grappling with the challenges of being a young woman in that role, and also the barriers I was seeing for women on my team, which were different from what I was seeing for men on my team. At first, I was excited about Lean In. It’s got a powerful message, and Sandberg says very directly that the book is meant to be only one part of the conversation on gender equity. But my excitement turned to disappointment and anger. Organizational leaders were looking for a “quick fix” to their gender gaps, and they’d found one. It’s a lot easier to put the blame on young women by telling them to “lean in,” rather than look at the larger set of systemic and cultural barriers. The term started to become almost a cliché. I talked to a lot of women in a similar spot in their careers, in different industries, and heard the same stories. Anytime any kind of gender gap issue was raised, the answer was always, this will be solved if women lean in.

The real problems are more complicated, but we live in a world that’s about soundbites and simplifying things as much as possible. I was doing a ton of research on the challenges beyond leaning in, and I wanted to write about them. But I puzzled over how to portray the complexity of the problem in a way that would be digestible for busy readers. Before my career in business and consulting, I received my PhD in English and taught literature, and I’d spent a lot of time thinking about how novels can open our minds to new perspectives and help us make sense of a complicated world, while also entertaining us. That led me to start writing Beyond Leaning In as a novel.

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

Any conversations with early readers of Beyond Leaning In have been fascinating, because each person is able to make the book their own, identifying with characters or finding meaning in scenes in ways I anticipated! As I writer, I tried to be purposeful about how much backstory I gave to each character, so that readers could more easily put themselves in a lot of different shoes. But I hadn’t expected the range of “offstage” information (histories, futures, etc.) that folks invented for characters while reading the book. People will say things to me like, “This character was thinking X at this point,” and I’ll think: wow, that really opens up a lot of new directions.

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

When I was first dabbling in fiction as a freshman in college, I remember a professor telling me to stop writing every single character as if they were me. They might all look different and have completely different lives, but I wrote as if they all thought either exactly like me (or sometimes, if they were a villain, the exact opposite). People are much more complicated than this, and I started reading a lot of psychology to better understand how people process information in totally different ways. A good lesson outside of creative writing too!

Ok let’s jump to the main focus of our interview. Even in 2020, women still earn about 81 cents for every dollar a man makes. Can you explain three of the main factors that are causing the wage gap?

First, professions that skew male are paid more than professions that skew female, even when they require the same level of skills and education. Second, women face a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” when it comes to negotiation. We are blamed for not being as assertive as men in pushing for salaries and raises, and yet thought of negatively when we do. And third, even in the same positions, women and men are not given equivalent opportunities, and we are evaluated, rewarded, and penalized according to different standards.

Can you share with our readers what your work is doing to help close the gender wage gap?

My work focuses most on that third point. The wage gap won’t be solved until we grapple with the full range of ways, many of them hidden, that women and men have very different experiences at work. For example, men tend to get promoted based on potential (what’s called the “bet with” phenomenon), whereas women have to it again and again. People whisper about such things behind closed doors, but these delicate and emotionally-charged topics are hard to get out in the open. My hope is that Beyond Leaning In provides a way for individuals and organizations to start having those difficult conversations.

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the gender wage gap. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Rectify the biases that lead male-dominated jobs to be paid more. One of the most frequent wrong-headed defenses of the wage gap is that it’s the result of women choosing to be in positions that are less demanding and therefore paid less. Like the “lean in” refrain, this is placing the blame on women. Actually, there is deep gender bias in what jobs are paid more than others, even when they require the same level of skill and experience. In the 1940s and 1950s, when most computer programmers were women, they received relatively low pay and prestige. The salaries for these jobs increased when men started doing these jobs.
2. Address the “fatherhood bonus” vs. “motherhood penalty” in workplaces. There’s a lot we need to do related to supporting working parents, such as around paid child care, leave policies, how men and women share responsibilities, and more. One issue that impacts the wage gap is what’s called the “fatherhood bonus” vs. the “motherhood penalty.” Where women who are parents can face all sorts of biases in the workplace because they’re seen as less committed, it can help men: they are seen as more dependable and even deserving of more money as breadwinners. Having PTA involvement on a resume has very different implications for a woman compared to a man.
3. Hold organizations accountable for a more expansive set of diversity metrics. We’re beginning to see some governments and the public holding companies accountable on representation; for example, do they have any women or people of color on the board? But that’s really only the first step. Representation is only helpful to a point if women and other historically disadvantaged groups aren’t treated equitably in those jobs, in ways that can really impact equal pay. What do promotion rates look like? Is there not only salary parity at different levels, but parity as far as what expectations are for those jobs? In order to evaluate their business success, companies track ridiculous numbers of indicators. Not just big things like sales, but they look at all kinds of metrics down to who clicked on what specific email links that they assume will eventually lead to an impact on the bottom line. We need to start holding organizations accountable to use that same kind of rigor and thoughtfulness when it comes to diversity metrics.
4. Recognize that the compensation gap isn’t just about equal pay — it’s also about equal penalty. Salary, or how we’re rewarded for good work, is hard enough to talk about. We’re even worse at talking about what we do when employees are not meeting expectations, but unequal penalty is just as important. For example, there’s a scene in my book where you see a man and a woman reacting to a new policy they don’t like in a meeting. The man explodes, slams his laptop shut, and storms out of the room. The woman says something a bit brusque. The discussion afterward about the woman is, “She can’t control her temper; it’ll really limit her career.” For the man, even though he behaved in a far worse manner, it’s “He can’t control his temper. But he’s a good guy, nobody’s perfect.” These kinds of different standards can have two problems. First, women who make mistakes aren’t given the chance to learn and grow that men get. Second, too many excuses can be made for men who aren’t a good fit for their jobs and probably shouldn’t be in them.
5. Understand the broader range of systemic and cultural bias that that lead to inequity in opportunity and recognition. What I’m getting at more broadly here is that the pay gap conversation can’t just be about pay. Pay is only one part of how organizations recognize the contributions of their employees. Anytime men and women are praised differently (“Chad is great with data.” “Haley has an infectious smile”) or assigned different kinds of tasks (i.e., women always being asked to take the notes in meetings), we are valuing the time and talents of men vs. women differently.

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. 🙂

At the beginning of Beyond Leaning In, I tell the reader that the book might make them feel sad, angry, frustrated, defensive, or other emotions. As a business leader and as a consultant to organizational leaders, one thing I’ve been most struck by is how much individuals and organizations suffer because nobody knows how to deal with their emotions at work. This isn’t just on topics like diversity. For example, I’ve watched discussions of future business strategy where leaders struggle because some kind of emotion is getting in the way: maybe grief over an old business strategy they loved but now have to replace, or fear about having to learn new skills. They think they’re having a rational discussion, but actually emotion has overtaken their logic without them having a clue that’s happened. So if I could inspire a movement, it’d be that people could talk about feelings at work. Masculine corporate culture is suspicious of emotion, assuming that making room for it will lead to bad decisions not founded in reason. Actually, the opposite is true. The emotion is there whether you like it or not. The bad decisions come when you don’t acknowledge the emotions and therefore let them unwittingly control you.

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

I love every life lesson quote that’s about focusing on the journey, rather than the destination. It’s too easy in our busy world to get obsessed with outcomes — are we where we think we’re supposed to be? Are we getting there fast enough? We get sucked into that vortex. A few years ago, I went on a weeklong silent meditation retreat and it really changed how I thought, allowed me to realize the benefits of being in the now.

We are very blessed that 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 whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I love all her shows, but I’m especially obsessed with Shonda Rhimes’ book Year of Yes, about overcoming fears and really clarifying for yourself who you are. I read it when it came out five or six years ago, but thought about it a lot as I quit my day job a few months into the pandemic to finish writing Beyond Leaning In. I’ve really tried to take her lessons to heart in saying “yes” to things that scare me or are unfamiliar. And I love how she talks about how she had to learn how to be a “gladiator,” not just for others, but also for herself.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.

Melanie Ho of Strategic Imagination: 5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

There’s no sense in being your own harshest critic. I’ve spent most of my life batting away compliments. “No, I’m fat!”, “The book is great but I should have made it bigger/smaller/funnier”, “No, my talk was awful. Didn’t you hear me mix things up at the start”. I am dreadful! Everyone else is allowed to be human, except me. But the thing is, no-one looks at your achievements as critically as you do yourself. I still struggle with perfectionism. It’s a trait that drives you but it can also drive you into an early grave! Now and then you have to sit back, look at what you’ve achieved and say, “I did that and I’m proud of myself!”.

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

Internationally-bestselling sex expert Tracey Cox is one of the world’s most famous sex experts and writers on sex and relationships. She has appeared on Oprah, CNN and The Today Show in the US, as well as many prime-time chat shows world-wide (e.g. Jeremy Vine on 5). Sharing over thirty years of expertise and research with her readers, Tracey has written 17 books, including Hot Sex: How to Do It — available in 140 countries and translated into over 20 languages. Her latest book is Great Sex Starts At 50: How To Age Proof Your Libido is available now.

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?

I don’t think anyone sets out to be a sex expert. It just evolved. I had a big sister who worked at Family Planning, so became very comfortable talking about sex. I also had a healthy libido and was fascinated by the primal forces of love and sex and how it shapes — and often disrupts — people’s lives. That led to me doing a journalism and psychology degree and specializing in writing about sex and relationships as a journalist.

I worked as Associate Editor on Cosmopolitan magazine in Australia, then left to go freelance. I had about 500 books on sex that I’d use for reference (online research wasn’t happening back then) and none spoke to me. So, I decided to write the sex book I’d like to read myself: a practical, funny, no-nonsense guide to sex. Hot Sex: How to Do It ended up being a world-wide success — and suddenly I’m traveling the world as a ‘sexpert’.

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

Proving that great sex can START in the second part of your life, not stop. We’re better than we were, but there’s still a societal view that sex is for the young. Ask anyone to imagine sex, regardless of their age, and they’re likely to picture the same thing: two young bodies having lusty, frenetic intercourse. This feeds the perception that older people don’t have sex. It also stops older people having good sex because they think this is the only kind of sex that counts.

Sex after 50 can be brilliant sex — but it’s different than the sex you had in the first half of your life. It’s not based around intercourse, it’s more foreplay focused, and it can be infinitely more satisfying, particularly for women.

What stops a lot of older people enjoying sex post 50 is falling for the myth that sex is for the young — and not altering the way they have sex. Menopause and general ageing can throw up challenges post 50, which make the old style of sex challenging. (Sex is painful for lots of women and men often experience erection difficulties.)

Think outside the square and a whole new sexual world opens up.

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’m so clumsy! I went on a live chat show that involved puppets in Ireland at the start of my career. On cue, I bounded on stage to talk to the puppets and fell over the man controlling the puppet. I landed like a sack of potatoes and was beyond embarrassed. Everyone else thought it was hilarious. At least it cured my fear of ‘What if I fall over or something?’. The worst case scenario happened and didn’t matter.

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 started my writing career working for Cosmopolitan magazine in Australia and worked as Deputy Editor for a long time. The editor, Pat Ingram, was both a mentor and a close friend. She taught me so many lessons that I have carried through my life. Work doesn’t start and finish at a certain time, you do it until the job is done. If you love what you do, you’ll be good at it. She guided me through many difficult transition periods, including how to stay friends with your workmates when suddenly you’re their boss.

I stayed at Cosmo way, way longer than I should, considering how ambitious I was. But I loved working with Pat and it paid off in the end. Because I was loyal, Cosmo was loyal to me when I left and went freelance.

There were Cosmopolitan magazines in all the major world-wide cities and all of them bought my stories and supported my first book. It was a tremendous leg up.

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?

Disrupting to make a positive difference in the world — when you passionately and truly believe in something — is very, very different to making a lot of noise to get yourself noticed. Nothing riles me more than people saying controversial things, that can do a lot of harm, purely to grab the spotlight.

Very early on in my career, I appeared on a TV show to talk about sex education in schools. It’s something I feel strongly about, so was arguing vehemently that it should be made compulsory. I was pitted against a well-known UK radio journalist who argued against it.

I couldn’t believe he was so neanderthal in his attitudes. But he was a great speaker and persuasive and trotted out all the stuff that makes parents worried. The minute we came off air, he said, ‘You’re right of course. It absolutely should be compulsory’. I was incensed! ‘What was all that about then?” I asked him. “You know we’re paid to argue against each other?’, he answered, ‘plus I could do with a bit of media attention at the moment.”

We were paid — a paltry sum — and obviously the producers choose people to represent both sides of the argument. But I have never and would never agree to argue the case for something I didn’t believe in.

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

There’s no sense in being your own harshest critic. I’ve spent most of my life batting away compliments. “No, I’m fat!”, “The book is great but I should have made it bigger/smaller/funnier”, “No, my talk was awful. Didn’t you hear me mix things up at the start”. I am dreadful! Everyone else is allowed to be human, except me. But the thing is, no-one looks at your achievements as critically as you do yourself. I still struggle with perfectionism. It’s a trait that drives you but it can also drive you into an early grave! Now and then you have to sit back, look at what you’ve achieved and say, “I did that and I’m proud of myself!”.

Fake it until you make it. I’m not a natural public speaker. In fact, I hate it. But I do (pre lockdown) have to appear regularly on live television and used to give talks in front of thousands of people on book tours. At the start, my knees would literally knock together. But then a publisher said to me, “I know Tracey is terrified of public speaking. But Tracey Cox, the international sex and relationships author, isn’t.” Everyone says, ‘Go out there and be yourself’. Rubbish. I was so much better when I went out there and pretended to be who people thought I was. An articulate, confident speaker. Think of a version of yourself who takes the things you dread in her stride, then play act that person.

If you want something done, ask a busy person. Busy people deliver things before the deadline. They are always on time. The reason, of course, is that if you have a lot on your plate, you organise your time so every minute counts. Nothing makes you look more inefficient or unreliable than putting things off and not delivering on time.

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

I hate to be completely predictable but it will probably be with a podcast. I’m formulating an idea which will allow me to speak to everyone in the world I’ve always admired — which is an eclectic mix — but also shines a light on something that needs a fresh perspective. I love interviewing people and hearing their stories. I’ve never been scared to dive in and ask the hard, personal questions and most people are happy to answer them if you ask in the right way.

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

When women are strong and confident and unafraid, it makes some men afraid. Like the ‘male, pale and stale’ brigade — middle-aged men who rarely challenge and think the world works to serve them. Look at how these men gang up on women like Greta Thunberg. It’s disgusting!

I find it deeply depressing when I read that young women are being put off entering professions like science because female scientists still get bullied and objectified by men.

When is all this going to disappear? I grew up in the 80s and Cosmo was all about blasting the ‘We can have it all’ message. The world has definitely changed in a positive way for women — especially in the last decade. But I thought we’d be where we are now about 20 years ago.

Male disrupters don’t have to deal with any of this.

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

Belgian psychotherapist Esther Perel’s ‘Where Should we Begin?’ podcasts are fascinating. Esther does a one-off counselling session with a couple, tackling their problem, offering insight and advice and — satisfyingly — reports back at the end on whether the couple made it through. She is so perceptive and eloquent. I spend the whole time simultaneously transfixed by what she’s saying and frantically taking notes.

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. 🙂

I’d wish for everyone in the world to wake up kind. Wouldn’t that solve pretty much everything?

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

“Youth isn’t wasted on the young. Being old and content is just as enjoyable as being young and driven.”

My fifties are the happiest time of my life. I feel peaceful. The fire in my belly hasn’t died but I’m happy with what I’ve achieved. I take on new, interesting projects but on my terms. I’ve loved every second of my life but I’m loving this time the best. Probably because I finally feel like I’ve got a few things figured out.

How can our readers follow you online?

@TraceyCoxSexpert — facebook

@TraceyCox — twitter

@traceycoxsexauthor — Instagram

Female Disruptors: Author Tracey Cox On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Fatima Goss Graves of the National Women’s Law Center: 5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap

Secrecy around pay helps hide gender and racial wage gaps. Sixty one percent of private sector employees report that discussing their wages is either prohibited or discouraged by employers. Equal pay laws must be strengthened to uncover pay discrimination and hold employers responsible, protect employees who discuss their pay with each other from retaliation, prohibit employers from relying on salary history in setting pay, and require employers to provide job seekers information about salary ranges.

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Fatima Goss Graves.

Fatima Goss Graves, who has served in numerous roles at the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) for more than a decade, has spent her career fighting to advance opportunities for women and girls. She has a distinguished track record working across a broad set of issues central to women’s lives, including income security, health and reproductive rights, education access and workplace fairness.

Goss Graves is a co-founder of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund. Prior to becoming President and CEO of NWLC, Goss Graves served as the Center’s Senior Vice President for Program, where she led the organization’s broad program agenda to advance progress and eliminate barriers to employment, education, health and reproductive rights and lift women and families out of poverty.

Prior to that, as NWLC’s Vice President for Education and Employment, she led the Center’s anti-discrimination initiatives, including work to promote equal pay, combat harassment and sexual assault at work and at school, and advance equal access to education programs, with a particular focus on outcomes for women and girls of color.

Goss Graves has authored many articles, including A Victory for Women’s Health Advocates, National Law Journal (2016) and We Must Deal with K-12 Sexual Assault, National Law Journal (2015), and reports, including Unlocking Opportunity for African American Girls: A Call to Action for Educational Equity (2014), Reality Check: Seventeen Million Reasons Low-Wage Workers Need Strong Protections from Harassment (2014), and 50 Years and Counting: The Unfinished Business of Achieving Fair Pay (2013).

Goss Graves received her B.A. from UCLA and her J.D. from Yale Law School. She began her career as a litigator at the law firm of Mayer Brown LLP after clerking for the Honorable Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

She currently serves as an advisor on the American Law Institute Project on Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct on Campus and was on the EEOC Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace and a Ford Foundation Public Voices Fellow.

She is widely recognized for her effectiveness in the complex public policy arena at both the state and federal levels, regularly testifies before Congress and federal agencies, and is a frequent speaker at conferences and other public education forums. Goss Graves appears often in print and on air as an expert on issues core to women’s lives, including in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, AP, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, CNN, MSNBC, and NPR.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

I am the first lawyer in my family, but the backstory to my career is quite straightforward for someone who knew very little about jobs like mine. From the earliest age, I understood the power of the law and the power of people to effect change. I learned it through the stories of my family — my father and his siblings were the plaintiffs in a lawsuit to desegregate the local public schools in Knoxville, Tennessee. Despite their fears of retaliation, my grandparents responded to the call from the NAACP to change things for their own family and for Black people in Knoxville. Long before I ever read a case, I understood that the law could empower and liberate communities. I also understood that it’s up to each of us to deliver the change we want to see in the world. Today, as we continue to grapple with a pandemic, a recession, a racial justice reckoning, and growing threats to our democracy, my grandparents’ determination to never stop fighting for justice motivates and guides me and the work at NWLC.

Ok let’s jump to the main focus of our interview. Even in 2020, women still earn about 81 cents for every dollar a man makes. Can you explain three of the main factors that are causing the wage gap?

The gender wage gap — which is significantly larger for many women of color — persists across virtually every occupation, in part due to outdated stereotypes that still shape workplace decision making, like the notion that families do not rely on women’s income or that women do not need higher pay, which contradicts the reality for most women and families. Racial and gender stereotypes influence hiring, pay setting, promotion decisions, women’s compensation, and career options, all of which affect women’s wages.

Women’s overrepresentation in low wage jobs and underrepresentation in high wage jobs also fuel the wage gap. Black women, Latinas, and Native American women, who often are the family breadwinners, routinely are overrepresented in the lowest-paying jobs — and this leaves them struggling to support themselves and their families on poverty-level wages.

Common pay-setting practices that employers use — like relying on an applicant’s salary history to set pay or refusing to provide pay transparency to applicants or employees — perpetuate the wage gap.

Can you share with our readers what your work is doing to help close the gender wage gap?

The National Women’s Law Center has been advocating to shrink the gender wage gap for decades — and the goal remains a top priority. The COVID-19 crisis has exposed both the undervaluing of women’s work and the devastating impact of job losses on women — especially Black women and Latinas — which will further widen gender and racial wage gaps if equal pay measures fail to materialize. The convergence of the pandemic with a crumbling economy and a racial justice reckoning has created increased momentum to tighten the wage gap. In January, Congress reintroduced the Paycheck Fairness Act that prohibits employers from relying on salary history to set pay when hiring — and we are pressing legislators to swiftly pass this critical piece of legislation.

The Center recently released a State Playbook for Gender Justice resource that provides data, policy briefs, and strategies for legislators and advocates in the states to center the needs of women as they rebuild from the pandemic and economic crisis. The Playbook highlights how to initiate and secure support for strong equal pay laws. My colleagues are frequently behind-the-scenes drafting equal pay bills and holding strategy sessions with state legislators. So far, 14 states have passed salary history bills that explicitly prohibit employers from asking job applicants about prior wages. This is an important start, but there’s more work ahead.

Our economic analysis provides a compelling and urgent case for closing the wage gap. Our analysis demonstrates how the economic impact of the pandemic disproportionately hurts women of color — whether they are working on the front lines of the pandemic, undertaking the lion’s share of unpaid caregiving, losing jobs at the highest rates, or getting pushed out of the labor force altogether. The significant earnings that are lost to gender and racial wage gaps — more than $1 million for a Latina over her lifetime — leave women with less savings to weather any crisis and undermine their ability to establish economic stability in the future. Women who have lost their jobs or been forced to quit in order to care for children will likely be forced to accept a lower paying job when they try to re-enter the workforce because they lack the savings to hold out for a higher paying one.

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the gender wage gap. Please share a story or example for each.

#1: Raise the minimum wage.

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 for over a decade, with even lower minimum wages for tipped workers, youth, and workers with disabilities. In most states, the minimum wage leaves a full-time worker with two children near or below the poverty level. Gradually raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour and ensuring one fair wage will lift pay for nearly 32 million people by 2025. Almost six in ten workers who will get a raise are women — and nearly one in four is a Latina or Black woman, helping to close the wage gap.

#2: Provide paid family and medical leave and sick leave.

Women accounted for almost 80% of U.S. adults who stopped working or looking for work in January, according to our analysis. More than 2.3 million women have left the labor force since last February — largely due to the lack of both sufficient child care and paid leave. The United States is the only wealthy industrialized country without a national paid family and medical leave, or a paid sick leave, program. It’s shocking that 79% of workers lack access to paid family and medical leave through their employer. Even before the pandemic, women were cutting their hours or leaving the workforce to manage caregiving responsibilities, which undercut their wages and advancement. Providing a national paid leave program is essential to prevent workers from having to choose between their paychecks and caring for themselves or a loved one during this emergency pandemic and permanently.

#3: Increase families’ access to affordable, high-quality child care and early education.

Even prior to the current crisis, many families struggled to find and afford child care. The average annual cost for one child ranges from $3,800 to $21,000. The pandemic has proven the necessity of child care for women’s ability to get and keep a job, but decades of underinvestment have created a precarious system that is now on the verge of collapse. Since the start of the pandemic, one in six child care workers has lost their job. Child care is a fundamental cornerstone of our economic recovery, and a federal investment of at least $50 billion will be required to stabilize it.

#4: Strengthen equal pay laws.

Secrecy around pay helps hide gender and racial wage gaps. Sixty one percent of private sector employees report that discussing their wages is either prohibited or discouraged by employers. Equal pay laws must be strengthened to uncover pay discrimination and hold employers responsible, protect employees who discuss their pay with each other from retaliation, prohibit employers from relying on salary history in setting pay, and require employers to provide job seekers information about salary ranges.

#5: Protect pregnant workers: Pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

Seventy-one percent of mothers are in the labor force — so it’s shocking that in 2021, women are still forced to choose between a paycheck and a healthy pregnancy. Over one in five pregnant workers — disproportionately Black women and Latinas — are employed in low-wage jobs, where they are likely to stand or walk continuously during work and may need an accommodation during pregnancy to work safely. But, too often, they are denied accommodations that would allow them to keep working — like sitting on a stool, carrying a water bottle, or taking additional breaks. Instead, they are pushed onto unpaid leave or forced out of the workforce when they can least afford it. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would require employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees who need them and clarify ambiguities in the law that have left many pregnant workers unprotected for too long.

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

“The only recognizable feature of hope is action.” — Grace Paley

Put another way, hope is an act. It is a choice. And every day, especially in this work, I decide — we decide — that we can build a future that is better than the one we have today. As the country confronts a pandemic, and Black and brown women disproportionately face crushing job losses, it’s time to boldly reimagine a new future. It’s possible to secure wages that allow women and their families to thrive. It’s possible to invest in a care infrastructure that allows families in this country to work and care. In my lifetime and possibly sooner than not, I believe we will see more women represented at the highest levels of government — including the presidency — and a politics that is more inclusive, more effective, and more democratic. I am hopeful about what is possible for us in this country because of the work we do every day that puts us on that path.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.

Fatima Goss Graves of the National Women’s Law Center: 5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Marissa Abdo & Morgan Renfro of Lumen+Bevel Aesthetics On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

“There’s a reason we have two ears and one mouth.” — While we practice this in every aspect of our lives, we feel like this is especially important in building our relationships with each patient. Every patient has a different story, background and aesthetic goals so it’s so important to take the time to listen to each and every patient’s individual concerns, expectations, past experiences and desired outcomes. You never know what someone has gone through until you’ve given them time to explain their past and it’s so important that people feel heard, especially when it comes to their face! We often remind patients that they only have one face so it’s important to take great care of and that’s what we’re here for in any and every capacity!

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marissa Abdo & Morgan Renfro.

As go-to injectors for celebrities and the Hollywood elite, Marissa Abdo, MS, RN, CANS and Morgan Renfro, RN, CANS are taking their professionalism to the next level. Former team members of Dr. 90210 in Beverly Hills, the duo have combined their expertise to create a one-of-a-kind aesthetic practice Lumen + Bevel Aesthetics. They are top trainers in the world of aesthetic injectables, a multibillion-dollar industry. Together, they offer clients a collaborative experience using non-surgical facial sculpting and contouring techniques to enhance and preserve each individual’s natural beauty. Their specialized experience of exclusively performing non-surgical injectable treatments has resulted in the performance of nearly 2,000 procedures a year each. This statistic speaks volumes when compared with the average annual injectable treatments performed by many medspas and plastic surgeons at around 500 annually. Marissa and Morgan have both learned from the most prestigious injectable leaders from all over the world. Additionally, Morgan was just asked to lead a talk for the upcoming “Train the Trainers” conference where she will be training other national leaders on how to use Galderma’s interactive anatomy. Marissa was one of the first in the country to become a Certified Aesthetic Nurse Specialist and helped grow a small practice to a top ten national account for both Galderma and Allergan, the top aesthetic companies in the world. Keep an eye on these two because they are female disruptors in the world of aesthetic injectables.

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?

Marissa Abdo: I grew up on Long Island, NY and attended ASU on an academic scholarship. Freshman year at university, I got a job for a young, up and coming plastic surgeon. Botox was still sort of taboo and not as mainstream as it is today, and I found the medical aesthetics industry fascinating and exciting. I had to be a part of it. After nursing school, I moved to London and received my master’s degree in Healthcare Management. I always had the goal of working in aesthetics and a dream of opening my own practice one day. The following 10 years, I lived in Santa Monica, CA where I helped build a small business into a Top 10 injectable practice in the country and became a national trainer for the two top aesthetics companies in the world, Allergan and Galderma. Five weeks after my second child was born, we went on COVID lockdown in California. Like so many others during this time, it gave me the push and courage I needed to take the plunge and move to Scottsdale, AZ to open my own practice with my business partner and friend, Morgan.

Morgan Renfro: After nursing school I moved to Los Angeles to be with my now husband who had been working there while I was obtaining my RN degree. At the time, I was pretty set on working in an ER as soon as I could find a position. While I was waiting for a spot to open up, I started working at a medspa where I was introduced to the aesthetics world. I told myself I was just going to work there until I got into the hospital but as soon as I was introduced to facial injectable treatments, I was hooked! The idea of being able to make people feel beautiful and confident all day while still having a great focus on medicine and anatomy confirmed that this was the industry for me! From there, I sought out the best injectable practice in the area and sent my resume several times until they decided to meet me!

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

Our vision for our practice is to create a niche service for aesthetic facial injectables that fits between a medspa and plastic surgeon practice. As national trainers for the top two aesthetic companies in the world, we pride ourselves on our facial anatomy knowledge and advanced skillset. We offer a very small, specialized menu of services, unlike our medspa colleagues that usually provide a plethora of services. At the same time, we provide a medical service based on our patient’s health history and advanced knowledge of facial aging more on par with a plastic surgeon’s office.

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?

About 4 months after we opened our own facial injectable practice in Scottsdale, AZ we had this adorable patient come in for Botox for the first time before her wedding. We had so much fun treating her and hearing all about her upcoming nuptials that at the end of the appointment, we walked her to the front door to wish her luck. She then said, “Wait, I still need to pay you!” This experience not only confirmed how much we love what we do, but it also reminded us that we have to wear all of the hats when it comes to running our business.

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 remember working at the first aesthetic practice in my career when an Allergan Representative came in and offered for me to observe an official Allergan Training on one of their products called Kybella. I had started injecting prior to this but wasn’t offered much training so I was so excited for the opportunity to observe any type of training even if I wasn’t able to participate. The trainer blew me away! She was so confident, kind and educated about facial anatomy and injectable treatments that I knew right then that I wanted to one day be able to do what she was doing. I started looking into the practices that solely offered injectable treatments and who put a huge emphasis on continuing education. I started sending my resume over to them consistently until I was finally asked to come in for an interview. When I was offered a job, I was able to focus on exactly what I love — facial anatomy and injectable treatments. Even better, the Senior Injection Specialist that ended up doing my official training was the same Allergan Trainer that inspired this career step! Fast forward to today, I have also been a National Trainer for a few years now inspiring other new injectors. Fun fact? That very first Allergan trainer is now my business partner, Marissa Abdo! Long story short, she was my mentor before she even knew me, and we now work together every single day doing what we love and elevating the aesthetic standards as we go!

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?

In the aesthetic industry, being disruptive can be very positive in regard to pushing the limits on how we use these products to create beautiful outcomes. The industry is disrupted every time a new product is FDA approved, giving us more tools in our toolbox to create natural aesthetic results, and implement new injecting techniques that are discovered and shared among the community.

On the other hand, when injectors are disruptive by trying to use these products in new ways without the proper training or anatomical education, outcomes and safety are compromised. We also need to be careful of trendy injectable treatments taking off on social media. There was a big “snatched jawline” trend recently, but we saw so many women who had their jawlines over injected and ended up looking more masculine which is not what we are going for! In order to positively disrupt the industry, education is crucial to keep our patients safe and looking their best.

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

• “Always be learning.” — The facial aesthetic industry is moving at such a fast past with new products being FDA approved constantly. It’s important to value continuing education in order to stay up to date on the latest techniques and trends to provide natural, refreshing results.
• “Be a jack of few trades and a master of all.” — Many medspas offer an extensive menu of services. We focus solely on facial injectable treatments giving us the opportunity to hone-in our expertise.
• “There’s a reason we have two ears and one mouth.” — While we practice this in every aspect of our lives, we feel like this is especially important in building our relationships with each patient. Every patient has a different story, background and aesthetic goals so it’s so important to take the time to listen to each and every patient’s individual concerns, expectations, past experiences and desired outcomes. You never know what someone has gone through until you’ve given them time to explain their past and it’s so important that people feel heard, especially when it comes to their face! We often remind patients that they only have one face so it’s important to take great care of and that’s what we’re here for in any and every capacity!

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

We’ve noticed there is a lack of advanced specialized training in our market, so we decided to create an advanced training program for other injectors. Our goal is to train as many people as we can on the safe and effective use of facial injectables so we can elevate the industry as a whole. There is a lot of competition in the market, but our philosophy is that if more aesthetic providers had proper training, we can minimize complications and push our field to a new level.

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

Some patients think they need to see a plastic surgeon to receive noninvasive injectable treatments, a field where males dominate. However, there are many female registered nurses in our industry that are certified to perform these procedures. Often, these nurses specialize in injectables and see more injectable patients a year than a surgeon who also performs surgery. We are just as qualified and have extensive training in facial injectables, yet we don’t see these women being published or participating in clinical trials like our male dominated physician counterparts. There’s room for all of us to shape the future of injectables. We are both very proud of the impact we’re making as female medical professionals in the Aesthetic industry. Marissa has sat on the board for Allergan as an advisor for future products in the industry and Morgan was just asked to speak on behalf of Galderma in a podium position, getting the opportunity to train other national trainers!

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

The Happiness Advantage! There is one specific section that talks about how our brains are very used to following specific patterns and sometimes we can find ourselves in a negative thought loop. This book helped us tremendously when feeling overwhelmed with starting our own practice and learning how to navigate all the different pieces that go into this huge endeavor we’ve set out on. Now we use this way of identifying patterns as a tool (with patients and with trainees) to help people find the possibilities they might not have been able to appreciate due to a negative thought process. Identifying these patterns and finding a way to help people see things from a different perspective has been so empowering and impactful in our lives and careers. This is a go-to book for both of us whenever we need a boost or inspiration!

The big leap! This book helped us find the courage to leave the stability and comfort of our jobs in LA to pursue our dreams of creating our own practice and making our mark on the aesthetics industry. Wayne Gretzky said it well when he said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!” We knew that we would never be fully ready to make this big of a transition in our lives, but thanks to The Big Leap and Mr. Gretzky we surely knew we would never get where we are now if we didn’t try!

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

We truly believe that kindness is contagious and when we are kind to each other, we can build each other up and the possibilities are endless! When we were little, we both had a chore chart that included doing something nice for someone. Every time we would do something nice for someone, we would tell our parents about it and they would write it down and give us a sticker for it! It may have seemed silly then, but this taught us at a very young age, the power of kindness and how even one act of kindness can blossom into the biggest of movements. If there were ever a way to start a movement that involved people celebrating acts of kindness they have received as well as done for someone else, we believe that could have the ability to spread positivity through the world.

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

“See one, do one, teach one.”

After leading my very first training as a National Trainer I thought back to that quote my dad used to say about how to truly become a master in your craft. His point was that to truly understand something you must first observe it, then you can practice it (see one, do one). But to TRULY master your craft you must also be able to take a difficult concept or procedure and explain it in the simplest way. If you can’t explain something simply, you probably don’t fully understand what you are teaching. After that first training that I led, not only had the trainees learned so much but I feel like I learned as much as they did just by having to explain simply what I was doing in my head. This has really been a huge reason as to why we value training so much. We believe in always learning and always educating and inspiring others to one day even be a trainer themselves.

Another favorite is from Mom. “Don’t make that face, it’s going to stick like that!” She was right. Thank goodness for Botox.

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram: @lumenandbevel

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

Website: Lumenandbevelaesthetics.com

Female Disruptors: Marissa Abdo & Morgan Renfro of Lumen+Bevel Aesthetics On The Three Things You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Jeannie Koulizakis of Ergo RX on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

Success is a feeling, not a destination — End every day recognizing at least 5 things that fill you with feelings of thankfulness. They’re why we are here, so enjoy them.

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

Jeannie Koulizakis, MPT, is a physical therapist and custom ergonomic workstation designer on a mission to advance the art of living, learning, and working from home. She is the founder of ErgoRx.Com and the inventor of the “Ankorite Work System”, a patented and Cornell University-validated method of computer workstation design proven to eliminate the awkward postures during computer use at the root of the chronic spine and joint pain she treats every day as a practicing physical therapist.

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

When I first finished physical therapy school, I did not yet own my own laptop because that was the year 2000 and they were still pretty expensive. My first job after school was treating injured factory workers on the west side of Chicago and medical notes were still written by hand, at least in the clinics I worked.

Fast forward a decade, I pivoted from the clinic to the classroom. It was my first desk job and I worked from home, something no other PT I knew was doing at the time. My job was to develop an academic program for PT assistants in Florida and, without students in the classroom yet, writing the curriculum could be done from anywhere. I started working at the office, but eventually moved to working from home full time with the laptop they gave me.

A few months into what was supposed to be my dream job, I experienced my first ever moment of intense upper back and neck pain. I had experienced a few less intense bouts prior to that, but nothing like this one. This time was different. It was less slow-onset and more baseball bat to the back. I was young, active, and fit. It made no sense to my PT brain. I tried to stop it with self-care, but it kept coming back with what seemed to be a grudge. Eventually, I hated my job so much that I quit and returned to the frontlines of patient care, where I thought my body was telling me I belonged.

My next job would move us back to Northern Virginia where I grew up. I accepted a Director of Physical Therapy position in a multidisciplinary primary care and rehab center (shout out to Nova Pain and Rehab Center) where I still work to this day. Our small clinic sits inside a very busy Gold’s Gym in South Arlington, just a stone’s throw from the Pentagon, and the rest of the federal government and its many surrounding neighborhoods of tech consultants. When I first started treating patients here, I began to repeatedly hear echoes of my own neck and back pain from almost every patient intake, mostly from gym members who clearly prioritized their health and wellness. As time went on, those echoes just got louder and more frequent (especially now, post-COVID). I realized early on that much of the pain we were treating was being aggravated by, if not the singular cause of, the chronic awkward sitting positions being assumed during computer use, regardless of weight, fitness level, or standing desk use.

I spent the next few years burrowed in online rabbit holes centered around all things office ergonomics research-related. I went on to receive a certification in corporate ergonomics and took on a part-time job performing desk-side evaluations for techies complaining of neck and back pain in Fortune 50 and 500 companies. These expensive, reactive workspace evaluations would usually occur in very high dollar cube farms, in $1000 office chairs, in the most cutting edge of open plan offices on K Street or near the Dulles Corridor, DC’s version of Palo Alto.

My AHA moment (I’ve had a few) was when it became crystal clear to me that none of the surprisingly numerous stakeholders in the world of office furniture and its proper operation were understanding the real reason why people sitting in self-identified ergonomic chairs were experiencing real pain. The root cause of toxic postures and repetitive stress injuries during computer use, I eventually came to realize, wasn’t a glitch with the will of the user, it was a simple glitch in workstation design. Once I understood that essential, non-negotiable reality, my path was made clear and I’ve been on it ever since.

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?

It was while sitting and working at my kitchen table in Florida that my first real ergonomics-related AHA moment occurred. At 39, I started to experience extreme pain and stiffness in my neck and back of unknown origin. One evening, as I was sitting at home on my laptop, the pain ramped up quickly again. As I started to rub my neck to calm it down as I always did, it happened. I suddenly caught a full-body, side view glimpse of myself in our glass sliding doors. This was the first time I had ever really stared at myself while seated and typing. The horrid hunched turtle posture I saw in my reflection and my “mystery” pain instantly made perfect sense to my PT brain. The fact that I did not realize I was sitting so awkwardly all that time was equally surprising. That physical self-reflection was so powerful, that I have used “before” and “after” posture pictures with my patients ever since, to help them make the same connection for themselves.

My chronic pain was the spark that launched my own journey. Particularly in the last decade, and most especially post-pandemic, chronic exposure to toxic postures while working, learning, and even gaming, is a full blown public health issue that will only get worse if it continues to go unaddressed on a mass scale. The big takeaway for me was, if you are suffering from a serious problem and you manage to find a better way, fix it for others, too. Chances are great that you are not the only one suffering. And second, I believe whole-heartedly that, when you aspire to help the world in a good way, the world welcomes it and seems to conspire to help you right back.

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

I think the biggest mistake I made at first was not understanding who my target audience was and that it can be a moving target. At first, I tailored my messaging to the injured worker. However, after understanding that they do not buy the furniture they use for work, their input often made little difference in terms of policy formation. Facilities managers, environmental health folks, architects, interior designers, furniture sales people, were all new professionals with whom I was interacting, but with which I was completely unfamiliar. What I learned was that, in changing ergonomics policies, each of these varying disciplines have their own unique agenda and that, to help the most people possible, better understanding of the pinch points of each stakeholder is an essential part of successful execution. So get to know your stakeholders, as it may not always be strictly the end user, and target your messaging accordingly.

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?

Like most success stories, it takes a village. My mom has been particularly helpful by being the only octogenarian using The Ankorite as of yet. After she had lumbar stabilization surgery at 76 years of age about a decade ago, I immediately set her up with an Ankorite and she uses it to this day. Her posture, daily long walks, and 3 days of vigorous Zumba each week a decade later is exemplary which, as a PT, makes me so proud to see. Much of the posture decay we see with older people comes from prolonged poor sitting postures in recliners without adequate lumbar support. My two sons, a kindergartner and a fourth grader, also help every day by being my guinea pigs at the other end of the lifespan spectrum. They are subjected to daily R+D while they homeschool in their mom-made “learning stations”. This front row seat to watching the formation of their computer use habits has been both horrifying and inspirational to watch. There is no denying, they will not know a world without high durations of daily computer use. Teaching them good habits now is the key to prevention. As they say in my biz, it’s a lot easier to raise an intact spine than to fix a broken back.

Professionally, I think the person whose belief in me and my work for which I am most grateful is that of Dr. Alan Hedge. He is Professor Emeritus at Cornell University and an internationally acknowledged leader in the field of ergonomics. It was his personal invitation of the Ankorite Work System to be the subject of PhD ergonomics research at Cornell (that he would go on to co-author) that has been the most distinguishing feature of my solution versus all others on the market. He has spent years in the field of computer based-worker safety and workstation design and his appreciation of my approach to a solution has meant so much to me. Dr. Hedge and co-author Dr. Gourab Kar found that my solution eliminates all the awkward tech-related postures that cause pain and, eventually, spine and joint disorders. This isn’t just reduced spine and joint pain. This is an immunization to what I felt that day at my kitchen table in Florida, and to much of the pain I see clinically every day. It also reduces claims risks, healthcare costs, absenteeism, presenteeism, and other collateral damage and buzz terms I learned at the crowded stakeholder table. So I am eternally grateful for the work of Dr. Hedge and Dr. Kar in helping to advance my determination in reducing the unnecessary pain so many are experiencing today.

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?

The work I am doing right now is all about eliminating the spine and joint pain that is coming from chronic toxic postures during computer and cell phone use. SInce the COVID pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, people have been working and learning on their electronics, largely in poor ergonomic conditions, causing a huge spike in patient and ergo client caseloads. By educating patients and clients on the best spine and joint hygiene practices during computer use, which includes employing ideal postures and movement patterns, musculoskeletal disease prevention is finally possible. The impact I am trying to have is to reduce spine and joint decay by making compliance with healthier tech-use habits as human-proof as possible. Like brushing and flossing, healthy daily routines must be taught and adopted young, and should be guided by science. Tools may vary, but ideal work postures and patterns will not.

To scale the educational component of my work, I am currently creating a continuing education ergonomics course for rehab professionals that welcomes any and all other stakeholders including HR, wellness officers, facilities folks, and anyone else who wants to learn the art of avoiding the many layers of damages caused by poor tech-use hygiene. Post- COVID, HR departments are being bombarded with reports of employees suffering from achy backs and necks, especially as work-from-home is becoming mainstream, and claims are on the rise. Because most of the research relating to computer use is published in ergonomics, human factors, and other peer-reviewed journals that physical therapists, HR managers, and facilities people do not read, my life’s work at the moment is dedicated to being that missing link at the intersection of healthcare and the built-environment, providing the right information and evidence to all the right stakeholders, as soon as possible.

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. Success is a feeling, not a destination — End every day recognizing at least 5 things that fill you with feelings of thankfulness. They’re why we are here, so enjoy them.
2. Nurture emotional intelligence — LIfe is not perfect and, as soon as we realize that we don’t need to be, the better. To nurture long term feelings of success, it’s important to put setbacks and the hard days into better perspective. The more innovative your work, the harder the setbacks can feel, so reminding yourself of that when things are rough and to keep you moving forward.
3. Stay active — This may be the PT in me, but movement matters. I look at my mom and I am so grateful to have her as an example. To feel as alive as possible, I think you have to roam about. Roam about your living room, your city, and the globe. RIght now, most of us are limited to our living rooms, so we should work on creating healthy interior spaces and habits that facilitate as much movement as possible exactly where we sit and stand the most often.
4. Eat well — Though it was stolen from a Wayne Fields poem, Steve Jobs said in the last essay he shared with the world before he died to “Eat your food as your medicine, otherwise you have to eat medicine as your food”. That stuck with me.
5. Work Right — Make the plunge. Invest in a healthy home workspace. Like brushing and flossing, it’s not the price of the brush that reduces tooth decay, it’s about hygiene routine compliance. A healthy workspace does not have to be expensive, but ideal postures and movement patterns are non-negotiable. I don’t see daily use of computers going away anytime soon, so teaching our kids healthy habits as soon as they first hold a cell phone in their hands without help, should be a priority.

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

I was recently reading about the origin and history of dental hygienists. One of the first mentions of decay prevention in the history of dental research noted that so much attention was paid to therapeutics and surgery of rotten teeth, yet “the hygiene of teeth was wholly neglected”. The author of the paper, from only 150 years ago, went on to say, “Certainly there is no part of the physical organism to which prevention of disease can be more successfully or effectually applied than to the teeth”. I believe the exact same can be said of the spine and joints in our new tech use reality and my movement would include creating an army of spine and joint hygienists through an accredited education program, helping to prevent the spine and joint disease happening all around the industrialized world as we speak.

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

1. Nothing happens overnight. When I started to hit my first big milestones, I used to think my life would change dramatically. I didn’t know how, but it was my expectation. Unfortunately, after my first patent, the Cornell research, my first workstation installation, and my hundredth, the ticker-tape parade in my mind did not materialize. Now I see my journey to success as a quieter and collective celebration of all these milestones.

2. Team building matters. Forgive the overused cliche, but there is no “I” in team. You don’t know who you’ll need, or who will need you. To be successful in launching health and wellness initiatives, you should be prepared to fully embrace your humanity and welcome the village with open arms, prepared to act responsibly as both mentee and mentor.

3. Beta test perpetually. Stealing this from a recent interview with Elon Musk, he said that being constantly focused on improving your product or craft is essential to remaining relevant. With the increasing amount of time we are spending interacting with screens, and with what devices, perpetual beta testing is just a part of the program. The evidence that belies the most current best-practices must come from the most relevant of user behaviors. WIth the speed of light with which everyone’s industries are morphing right now, I could see this being relevant to so many reading this right now.

4. Work-life balance matters. This is about the art of time management for the entrepreneur. Burnout is very real and can sneak up, at any time, seemingly out of nowhere. But it’s not out of nowhere, it comes from not spending enough time on non-work-related activities. With kids at home during a lockdown, the reminders are built in. But I had both of my sons in my forties, and fully remember an adulthood devoid of those reminders. I could see having a much tougher time with this one if I was on this journey a decade sooner, especially during a pandemic. Research shows that we spend over 70% of our life indoors and, of that time, we spend much of it interacting with electronics, and that was data gathered pre-COVID. Remember that there’s a world out there and to safely go outside at least twice a day. A dog really helps

5. Invest in a good lawyer. As a plaque hanging in our local Jimmy John’s sub shop states, “Honesty is not only morally right, it is also highly efficient.” As a PT, I fully acknowledge I am not schooled in these skills and, as I venture out into the world with real innovation, I have found that the input of a good lawyer and contract writer has helped me dodge many bullets. Again, prevention is the cheapest remedy!

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

Environmental changes that are evidence-based to improve health is in our DNA at ErgoRX. Most people spend nearly 90% of their days indoors and a significant percent of that time is interacting with electronics. The profound impacts on physical and mental health that the built environment of our working and learning spaces can have, from cradle to grave, cannot be underestimated in these unprecedented times. With prevention being the eternally sensible remedy, best-practices must be established through a combination of science and common sense. Hurt people hurt people, legend has it, and nothing leads to hurt quicker than being in unsafe conditions most of your waking day. An affordable and evidence-based built environment that leads to a lessening of exposure to unhealthy physical and mental repetitive stresses wherever we live, learn, and work is the cause most dearest to us and the one enthusiastically working towards every day.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media? You can follow me on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeannie-koulizakis-physical-therapist/

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

Women In Wellness: Jeannie Koulizakis of Ergo RX on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Pradeep Goel of Solve.Care: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A CEO

Being a CEO is not just about how smart or talented you are. A big part of being a good CEO is how good the team reporting to you is. You need a strong, trustworthy team to execute your mission and vision. Instead of focusing on the doing, the focus should be on proper delegation. There is great value in creating the right team that can manage and coach the rest of the company; they are the ones who should be hands-on in helping implement your vision. Give your team the freedom to focus on the how, and you can focus on the big picture.

As part of my series about the leadership lessons of accomplished business leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Pradeep Goel.

Pradeep Goel is the Chief Executive Officer of Solve.Care, a global healthcare company that redefines care coordination, improves access to care, empower consumers with information, reduces benefit administration costs, and helps reduce fraud and waste in healthcare around the world. Pradeep has more than 25 years of healthcare experience, developing groundbreaking software for the insurance industry, and co-founding four healthcare IT businesses where he has served in a number of management roles including CEO, COO, CIO, and CTO.

Pradeep was previously Founder and CEO of health software firm EngagePoint, where he was deeply involved in implementing the Affordable Care Act across multiple states. He also served as Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Information Officer at Noridian BlueCross BlueShield of North Dakota. Pradeep Co-founded Dakota Imaging in 1990, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, before the company was subsequently acquired by WebMD. Pradeep has been named one of the ‘100 Most Promising Entrepreneurs Worldwide’ by Goldman Sachs. He holds a B.E. in Systems Engineering from the University of Punjab in India.

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

Of course — thank you for taking the time to chat with me! My name is Pradeep Goel and I currently serve as the CEO of Solve.Care, the healthcare technology platform leveraging blockchain to change the way we deliver and manage patient care.

Solve.Care is the result of more than two and a half decades spent working as an executive in healthcare, insurance, and IT. It was here the inefficiencies inherent in the healthcare industry were really laid bare and I vowed to do all I could to make the space more efficient, accessible, and secure.

On a personal level, I have also experienced first-hand the difficulties and inefficiencies with our healthcare system as my young son has a developmental disorder and requires continuous care. I am determined to “solve healthcare” and so, Solve.Care was born.

Can you share one of the major challenges you encountered when first leading the company? What lesson did you learn from that?

Solve.Care is nothing like any of the companies I had managed before. Although I have had extensive experience leading companies in the healthcare industry, and while blockchain and crypto were topics I was interested in, before Solve.Care, I had no professional experience working in that sphere. The main challenge was coming to terms with how different this job was to any of the previous companies I was involved in before. To overcome this, I had to disengage myself from my past successes and failures and look at Solve.Care with a fresh perspective.

I feel that sometimes the more experience you have, the more you can struggle if you try to rigidly hold on to how you previously did things. Often, it is because there is a certain level of comfort in holding on to what you know, and it is tempting to continue trying the things that worked before, but solutions for one business may not work for another.

What are some of the factors that you believe led to your eventual success?

There are many factors that lead to success but the two that I believe to be most important are perseverance and adaptability. You have to persevere. There is no doubt that there will be great days and there will be dark days. It is good to keep in mind that a dark day is just one day in a long journey. As the saying goes, the sun always rises again.

Adaptability is a strong factor in finding success. One thing you have to consider is that even if you don’t obtain the specific goal you were pursuing, you may find other successes along the way, as long as you keep an open mind and don’t measure success rigidly. What both perseverance and adaptability have in common is that they require mental strength. But these are factors that are totally within your control.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became CEO”? Please share a story or example for each.

Being a CEO is a tough but rewarding job where you are always learning new things to better yourself. There are so many things I would love my younger self to know that would have been helpful along the way. Here are 5 of the most important things I wish I knew before I became a CEO.

Being a CEO is not just about how smart or talented you are. A big part of being a good CEO is how good the team reporting to you is. You need a strong, trustworthy team to execute your mission and vision. Instead of focusing on the doing, the focus should be on proper delegation. There is great value in creating the right team that can manage and coach the rest of the company; they are the ones who should be hands-on in helping implement your vision. Give your team the freedom to focus on the how, and you can focus on the big picture.

To be an effective CEO you have to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally. I would recommend that you spend at least 30% of your time outside the office. Take this time for self-reflection and other activities that can provide self-improvement. Be selective in what you read. What you read will have a profound impact on your management of the company, so also be wary of where your information is coming from. If you don’t step out and observe the things going on around you, it is possible to develop tunnel vision that can be counterproductive. Sometimes less is more, don’t be a workhorse.

As a CEO, you can never forget about revenue. The age old saying of “cash is king” comes to mind. You need to always ensure your company has enough income. There will always be more demand for money than there is money coming in. That is where your CFO comes in. But as CEO, your focus should be on the revenue. Be involved in sales meetings and observe what your clients have to say. In order to course correct, you have to personally know why a client does not want your product or why they don’t want to upgrade to a new offering. After all, the greatest source of information on how your company is perceived and how your products can be improved is by listening to your clients.

A company is like your child emotionally, intellectually, and in terms of responsibility. As your company ages and grows larger it will inevitably change. Things you did to manage your company when it was only a few months old may not work when it is older. This means that as CEO you have to change how you manage your company and adapt. Eventually that may even mean learning to let go of the reins a little.

Don’t hire your friends. This is age old wisdom that you have no doubt heard countless times before. The problem with hiring friends is that it complicates your roles, both in your work and in your personal life. It is not a game you can win. When you want them to behave like an employee they will behave as a friend, but when you want to approach them as a friend, they react to you as their CEO.

What advice would you give to your colleagues to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

The best advice I can give for preventing burn out is to make sure to create a structured routine and rituals. Take an hour or even just 5 minutes a day, and find something that works for you to re-energize yourself and allow you to refresh yourself mentally. For me, the ritual is exercise. I find that working out, with the proper intensity, clears my mind and challenges me. For 30 minutes to an hour a day, it lets me focus, both mentally and physically, on something simple which is within my control.

People also tend to experience “burn out” quicker when they are disconnected from those around them. Family, friends, and colleagues can help to keep you grounded. A five-minute phone call or a coffee with a loved one can get your mind off work and help you relax.

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?

There are many, many people I am grateful for, especially those who have helped to push me to where I am today. In my early 20s, at one of the first companies I worked at, I had a manager who taught me many things I still use to this day. He really expanded my views on how to run a business. One such lesson was not to focus on the problems but to focus on the people. Whether it is clients or employees, it is people that make decisions.

I remember when I started one of my earlier companies, I pushed the business hard to hit very high sales figures. When I was stressed about reaching those results, I asked him for advice. He answered me with a simple question, “What’s the rush?”. I remember being perplexed at first, but he went on to ask me why sales targets have to be my definition of success. Success can also be measured by customer loyalty or employee happiness.

Even today I sometimes find myself asking, “What would he do in this situation?” or “How would he react to this?”. Not necessarily to do exactly as he would but just to get another perspective. Being able to view a situation through someone else’s eyes can really help to find innovative ways to solve a problem..

What are some of the goals you still have and are working to accomplish, both personally and professionally?

Professionally, my goal is for Solve.Care to be a long-term sustainable organization. My main goal is for my business to outlive myself and the current management. I would be proud for the company to be sustainable enough to hand it over to the next generation of managers. Our ambition is to have a lasting legacy, like that of Colgate or Johnson and Johnson, that have spanned for over a century.

Personal goals are great to have too. Three years ago my personal goal was to get fit and healthy. I achieved this, and now it’s more about maintenance. My current goal is to read more. Reading is truly an amazing gift. In 30 minutes of reading, it is possible to learn about the past 30 years.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would enhance people’s lives in some way, what would it be? You never know what your idea can trigger!

What I want to work towards is helping the next generation to be more entrepreneurial. I believe that it is important to teach new generations to be fearless and encourage calculated risk taking. It is important to show alternatives to how business leaders think. There are so many ways to reach success in business and why they should not be afraid to try.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

We’re a social bunch over at Solve.Care and you can keep up to date on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, or join our community on Telegram

Pradeep Goel of SolveCare: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A CEO was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Trust yourself and believe in yourself. I knew that physical therapy was a steady career choice but because I listened to my gut and pursued design, I’m a much happier and more fulfilled person today.

As part of my series about the leadership lessons of accomplished business leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Sharon Reuben.

Raised by a Francophile mother with an explorer’s spirit, Sharon B. Reuben developed a love for fashion and other cultures at an early age.

While she graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology and practiced as a physical therapist for five years, she always felt something was missing in her career.

Sensing that travel would reveal her true north, she embarked on a journey of self-discovery in France. Following an inspiring visit to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, she was reminded of her childhood nickname, Chérie (French for sweetheart). She could not help but feel that she had returned to where she had always belonged. This place where design, creativity and culture were most celebrated revived what she had always been drawn to.

Upon returning to the United States she started over with a career in fashion. Her first role was as an in-house stylist at Theory, where she quickly became one of the top three sales associates nationwide. After Theory, she joined Zadig & Voltaire where she went on to open the brand’s Rodeo Drive location and continued to increase her responsibilities all the while growing her client roster.

The Chérie jewelry collection is Sharon’s first independent design project and is produced in partnership with her husband Jason’s family jewelry business.

Sharon lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

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

I actually went to school for physical therapy and was a practicing physical therapist for a few years. While I loved the human interaction and helping people, I started to feel unfulfilled creatively. This empty feeling had me book an “Eat, Pray, Love” kind of trip with a friend of mine. My quarter-life-crisis-trip to Paris really inspired me to bring more creativity into my life. Being surrounded by such a beautiful city, and a culture that isn’t defined by how busy you are, motivated me to start drawing up the plans for Chérie jewelry.

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

I was very scared to get into a creative field because of my physical therapy background. I went through a period of time where I was fearful no one would take me seriously as a jewelry designer. I imagined people turning me away after they heard about my background without even giving me a chance. Imposter syndrome is real.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

I had to dig deep inside myself and try very hard to forget about what other people thought of me. While designing the line, I realized that this is my passion and I’m very lucky to have found my passion in life. When I tap into my creative side, the happiness and confidence is what keeps me going.

So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?

Things are going well! We launched Chérie last year and while it took awhile to get off the ground, I decided to go at my own pace. I didn’t allow myself to be rushed into anything that didn’t feel organic to me or my process. I think the resilience that it took for me to keep going during delays led to my eventual success because what resulted is a jewelry line that is authentically Chérie.

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 was so excited and distracted by how the designs were turning out that I neglected to order more than one ring size. This was another instance of learning that I need to slow down and go at my own pace. No matter what, I need to enjoy the process organically.

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

Prior to starting Chérie, I worked as a personal stylist at Theory and a few other places. When I was working as a stylist, I felt there was a gap in accessories. I started Chérie to fill that gap. My experience working directly with accessories sets me apart. I’ve experienced first-hand the lack of high-quality but affordable jewelry. I’m also very hands-on, I’m the first one to test all our pieces and if I wouldn’t wear it myself, it doesn’t pass our quality check. I want people to love Chérie as much as I do.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

I know it sounds cliché but, stay true to yourself! If you sell out and create a product you don’t love, you’re not going to enjoy your process. Listen to your gut in all situations. If you find yourself doing something you don’t feel good about, take a step back and reevaluate. I think if you love what you’re doing, you’re way less likely to experience “burn out.”

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 very lucky to have my husband. My husband’s family has been in the jewelry industry for over 40 years. When I initially came to him with this idea he was immediately onboard and has believed in me during every step of this process. He’s never doubted me and I’m so grateful for him.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Since we’re so new, the goodness I hope to bring with Chérie is a little happiness, levity and confidence for those who wear it. In the future, we would love to be involved in mental health initiatives. Now more than ever, these kinds of programs are a necessity.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

• Trust yourself and believe in yourself. I knew that physical therapy was a steady career choice but because I listened to my gut and pursued design, I’m a much happier and more fulfilled person today.
• If you didn’t go to school or have formal training, it doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. If someone would have told me this sooner, I think I would have started sooner. Just because something is difficult, doesn’t mean it’s the wrong path.
• Think outside of the box and don’t conform. My trip to Paris taught me this one, by living in a different country for three months, I allowed myself to explore things that were outside of my norm.
• Ask for help. Asking my husband for help was the best thing I could have ever done. Don’t be afraid of sharing your company and experiences with others.
• Take in feedback and don’t take it personally. Understand the fine line between listening to your gut and also listening to others’ opinions. I’m able to take in feedback but still do what feels organic to me.

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. 🙂

A mentorship program designed to help people struggling with their mental health. A program where people who have experience persevering in times of a mental health struggle can help others. Kind of like a Big Brothers, Big Sisters, designed especially for those struggling with mental health.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

On Instagram @shopcheriela!

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

Sharon Reuben of Chérie: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Take smart risks. It’s natural to question yourself in the early phase of building your company. Often, you are not earning a salary as a founder and the pressure is really on, especially when the initial excitement burns off. One of the things that really helped us to get through that difficult early stage was that we knew we didn’t want to let anyone down. We weren’t going to risk our reputations by not delivering. That’s our biggest strength as founders — if we commit to something, we deliver all the way.

As part of my series about the leadership lessons of accomplished business leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Or Bokobza.

Or Bokobza is CEO and Co-Founder of Venn, the world’s only platform and experience company focused entirely on neighborhoods. Raised in a cooperative community in Israel, Or started his first neighborhood development company in 2012. In 2014, he became a founding partner of Selina, a hospitality and wellness start-up with nearly 100 locations around the world and more than $350M in funding.

In 2017, Or and his co-founders created Venn, The Neighborhood Company, merging best-in-class digital, physical and human experiences to foster real-world connections between neighbors and neighborhoods. Operating in cities from Brooklyn to Berlin and Tel Aviv, Venn powers thousands of units and drives Belonging for members and business growth for partners. Or lives between New York City and Tel Aviv.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path? Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

I spent eight years in a special forces unit in the Israeli army, an incredible, formative time. It was during that time that I met my co-founder Chen, and we would often talk about our vision for building a community that we could call home, where people would really support each other. We both grew up in communal communities — Chen in a kibbutz and me in a moshav — and this shaped our worldview.

One day, after leaving the army, I got a call about a real estate opportunity in a run-down and neglected neighborhood in the south district of Tel Aviv — Shapira. Chen, our friend David, and I immediately went to take a look. I remember stepping out of the car as a bunch of chickens crossed the street. I could smell the lemon trees — so unusual in the city. It reminded me of the moshav where I grew up. We all looked at each other and without saying a word we knew that this was it — the opportunity we had been looking for.

Right away, we moved to Shapira and started building our plans for the neighborhood — the coffee shop, coworking space, shared spaces. Everyone thought we were out of our minds, but we had a big vision and we were set on seeing it through.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

In Hebrew we have this phrase “לייבש את הביצות” (“Leyabesh et habeytzot”), which means “to drain the water.” It goes back to when previous generations came to Israel and had to create an agricultural system from nothing, draining all of the wet mud to build livable communities like the moshav and kibbutz. When we started Venn, we had a feeling that we were going back to our roots, reinventing what it means to be an active participant in a community and building the framework to make that possible.

So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?

Entrepreneurship is the art of the impossible. As a founder, you need to believe what you see in your heart, not what’s already out there. For me, it’s not very exciting to see something that’s possible and just to go get it; I am passionate about going after the impossible and making it a reality.

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 2017, we realized that the only way to grow was to partner with local landlords, so we focused on raising money. We invited some bankers to the Shapira neighborhood, and I remember this group of bankers coming to the neighborhood in their shiny shoes and buttoned-up shirts. I was wearing a t-shirt and flip-flops.

I remember walking down the street with them and pointing out where we were building the kindergarten and the coffee shop, among other things. I said, “And in 18 months, we’ll build 100 buildings on this site.” They didn’t exactly laugh in my face, but I could see that they were laughing inside, thinking “Here’s another entrepreneur who thinks he’s going to change the world.”

Eventually, we raised a $40M round, which was revolutionary in Israel — to raise that money around an idea. For me, it’s small proof that we can make things happen even if people may laugh at first. And we always want to keep that passion.

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

There are moments in your life when you just know. It happened to me when I met my wife and when I enlisted in the army. It was the same when I first visited the Shapira neighborhood. I knew that Chen, David, and I would build our company there and call that place home.

All of the phases of our company have really been led by intuition, and I hope to hold on to that even as the company grows. Intuition is what led us to the vision. It made no sense, initially, coming to the Shapira neighborhood, but intuition led us there and

it’s one of the most beautiful and amazing neighborhoods in the world. It’s like an unpolished diamond — and we’re working to make it shine.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Know how to raise money and recruit the best minds. To make this idea a reality, we brought together the most amazing and talented people in Israel. People came to work with us because they saw that spark in our eyes and the determination to make it. They stick around because we’re all working together toward collective success.

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 have a very entrepreneurial environment at home because my wife Tamara is also a founder. Her startup, Riseup, helps people manage their finances and get out of debt in Israel. We’re constantly sharing our experiences and talking about our challenges — how we can create a better culture, a better organization, a bigger business. And now we’re about to have our first child, so the conversation has shifted to, “How do we raise our child to be an impact entrepreneur so that he will make a positive impact on the world?” We try to live our values and to make them present in our day-to-day, whether at work or at home.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Community is a very buzzy word, but we’re building something real. With Venn, we’re defining the future of community and we’ll help others to envision how to build communities that are about real learning, education, and impact. Through our network of homes and shared spaces and investment in local businesses, Venn deepens the sense of belonging among neighbors and helps to build strong local economies.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Don’t be afraid to dream big. Your company will never be bigger than your dreams for it, so you should aim high.

2. Once you have the vision, you must act on it. Tell as many people as you can in order to commit to what you are building and hold yourself accountable to make it a reality.

3. Take smart risks. It’s natural to question yourself in the early phase of building your company. Often, you are not earning a salary as a founder and the pressure is really on, especially when the initial excitement burns off. One of the things that really helped us to get through that difficult early stage was that we knew we didn’t want to let anyone down. We weren’t going to risk our reputations by not delivering. That’s our biggest strength as founders — if we commit to something, we deliver all the way.

4. Be a pro. You learn this in the army, and it’s what helped keep us going when so many talented people were willing to contribute their time and talent to building Venn.

5. Know how to raise money and recruit great talent. You can’t succeed without the right team, so invest in company culture to surround yourself with driven, like-minded people.

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. 🙂

We’re doing it! If you really want to improve people’s lives, start with their neighborhoods. Venn makes it easy for people to contribute to their communities, shop local, and find Belonging.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/or-bokobza-22411123/

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

Or Bokobza of Venn: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a CEO was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Dr. Carolina Reis Oliveira of OneSkin On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Be laser focused on solving one problem at a time. If you have a clear problem, you have a business, if you have two problems, you are done.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Carolina Reis Oliveira.

Carolina Reis Oliveira holds her Ph.D. in Immunology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in collaboration with Rutgers University and is an alumnus of IndieBio, the world’s leading biotechnology accelerator. In 2016, Carolina relocated to Silicon Valley from Latin America to co-found OneSkin, and to lead the development of the company’s disruptive rejuvenation technologies for optimal skin health.

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?

From one side, I was lucky to witness my father and brother starting their own ventures and completely transforming the ecosystem they were inserted in. I was amazed at what is to create a significant impact in many people’s lives and in the land they were working on. On the other side, I was always inspired by the opportunity to use science to address the most fundamental problems of humanity, how we can live a healthy — free of diseases and suffering — and more fulfilling life. This passion led me to get involved in cutting-edge research in the field of stem cells and tissue engineering and by the end of my PhD I joined two other colleagues and we decided to bring this research to solve unmet needs in the life-sciences industry. That was the first step into an entrepreneurial journey that we have been on for seven years now.

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

We are developing products to address aging at the molecular level and extend the lifespan of our skin, aka, skinspan, which means the time our skin is healthy and functional. Most products in the market are focused on treating the symptoms, not the root causes. We have spent 5 years replicating skin aging in the lab and have found a proprietary peptide, a little piece of protein, that can target the underlying causes of skin aging, and promote an overall improvement in skin health, at the molecular and external level.

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?

In one of my pitch presentations I was brainstorming with a mentor that was a great storyteller and he made an analogy comparing old skin we were growing in the lab as if we were replicating many “grandmas” to test our products. The way he presented it sounded so intriguing. I tried to replicate the analogy and it didn’t land well and I learned the importance of authentic storytelling.

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 am very fortunate to have had so many great mentors along the way. From friend entrepreneurs who were more experienced and ahead of me in their ventures, to an advisor who prepared us to come to the US, to the founding partners of IndieBio, the biotech accelerator that helped us to get a foot in Silicon Valley. One of these partners specifically has become one of my main mentors and he is also one of the most inspiring leaders I’ve known. At one pitch presentation, he gave me very harsh feedback that made me feel terrible in the first moment, but it ended up working as a fuel to allow my real abilities to come around stronger and better prepared for whatever the future may hold.

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?

The reality is, disruption is always good for someone. But it is not inherently good or bad. While it is an opportunity for some, for others it’s a threat. For example, in our case, disruption means to develop a new approach to tackle skin aging. For all the other companies that are behind the new advances that could lead to a more effective product, we are a threat.

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

Build what you believe should exist, not what will make you money.

Be laser focused on solving one problem at a time. If you have a clear problem, you have a business, if you have two problems, you are done.

Building a company is a marathon, not a sprint. Burning yourself out won’t help the longevity of the business,

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

OneSkin will be at the frontier of the companies building preventative therapies to extend our health and maintain our vitality. We need to start treating ourselves in a more proactive way instead of relying on solutions that are reactive, when it may be too late.

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

Women are questioned by their ability to lead profound changes while men are considered audacious and bold.

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

The book — A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. It brings an important revelation on how our ego is behind most conflicts and that by being present and aware of it, you can recover your consciousness and make rational, righteous decisions.

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. 🙂

The movement I want to inspire is to invite everyone to build a future where aging does not mean any limitation to do things we love doing, but rather more years to enjoy a joyful and fulfilling life. If we all believe this is possible, and start to educate ourselves, change our habits and help each other along the way, we are already building the movement.

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

You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!”

― Rocky Balboa

When my father passed almost unexpectedly, it was like life had just punched me in the face and I had no strength to get up and keep fighting. Then you learn that life won’t get much easier, but we need to build the foundation and resilience that will get us through those hard times.

How can our readers follow you online?

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolina-reis-oliveira-a69b8a27/

IG: @caroll_reis

Female Disruptors: Dr Carolina Reis Oliveira of OneSkin On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Yo was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.