Danielle Hu of The Wanderlover: Five Ways To Leverage Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business
Collaborate with other accounts and cross pollinate audiences — Collaborating with other brands and people in your niche exposes your account to hundreds of thousands of other people, simply by going live with someone.
As a part of our series about How To Leverage Instagram To Grow Your Business, I had the pleasure of interviewing Danielle Hu.
Danielle Hu is a travel influencer, online business mentor, podcast host, and Founder of The Wanderlover. Her mission is to enable travel and freedom through entrepreneurship, providing resources and tactical strategies for others to build profitable online businesses. Since quitting her corporate finance job, she has been traveling living abroad in the tropics full-time for the past 3.5 years, from Bali to Hawai’i, balancing work with post-surf coconuts.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Thank you for having me! So I grew up in a traditional Asian-American household, where I believed that a stable career path would make me happy. It wasn’t until I entered corporate America when I realized that wasn’t the case! I felt like a cog in the wheel, creativity stifled, working all year for 15 vacation days, which was so limiting for my wanderlust. I knew there had to be something more, so I quit my job in 2017 to start The Wanderlover, pursue online entrepreneurship, create content, and work from wherever there is wi-fi. I’ve been traveling full-time ever since and teach others to do the same.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
Being able to meet, work with, and impact the lives of so many ambitious individuals around the world! I’ve gone on press trips with countries’ Ministries of Tourism alongside many successful content creators, some with millions of followers, and am also able to inspire and coach international clients from Hong Kong to Mauritius. On one of my press trips, I met a Korean Youtuber who spent six hours a day recording her vlogs (this is before editing), and it really opened my eyes to how much work people put into the creative entrepreneurship industry.
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?
When I was first starting The Wanderlover, I had no business plan and relied solely on Instagram for exposure. I would spend hours writing a blog post and not even think about promoting it evergreen afterwards. It wasn’t until I finally hired a mentor who saw my blind spots, when I expanded to other platforms, came up with a business plan where I could predict my quarterly income, and saw my business grow exponentially. Through this, I learned failing to plan is planning to fail. Also that there are no shortcuts in entrepreneurship, but it definitely helps when someone is showing you the way!
Ok. Let’s now move to the main focus of our discussion. For the benefit of our readers, can you explain why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?
As a travel influencer, I’ve built my entire brand on Social Media to a community of over 100K+ visionaries around the world, and I successfully coach my clients on building their social media presences. I’m also the author of The Travel Influencer Handbook and Instagram for Business: The Ultimate Branding + Client Attraction Guide, sharing strategies that have helped me build my online business and work with international brands. I still remember the day I quit my corporate job, and being able to guide my clients’ businesses to a point when they’re able to do the same, is so rewarding.
Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?
Instagram has been the most powerful social media platform to grow an audience, land collaborations, sell products, and connect with clients. A free feature is the shop feature, where followers can purchase from your photos with a click of a button. Instagram and Facebook Ads are also incredibly powerful for generating leads and sales — they have helped me grow my email list and increase book sales by thousands.
Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share five ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.
Have a call to action in your bio — When a new user lands on your account, you want them to hit follow AND become a warm lead. Make sure to have an opt-in incentive, a sales page, or a call to action in your bio where they can join your email list in your bio link and direct them to it!
Search optimize your name— Instagram is a search engine, and when someone goes to search something for business, you want to make sure your name is optimized to show up. For example, my Instagram name is Danielle Hu — Business Mentor, so if someone is searching for a Business Mentor, the chances of me showing up are higher. Choose your keywords wisely so users know exactly what to expect on your page even before landing on it.
Show up live — Connect with your audience live, as authenticity is so important on Instagram. When you go live, every single one of your followers gets a notification, which puts you in front of so many people at the same time. Give value in your live series which you can then save to IGTV, and feel free to pitch your products and services at the end.
Shop feature — Instagram shop feature is great if you have products in your suite. On my Instagram, users can purchase The Travel Influencer Handbook and Instagram for Business with a click of a button.
Collaborate with other accounts and cross pollinate audiences — Collaborating with other brands and people in your niche exposes your account to hundreds of thousands of other people, simply by going live with someone.
Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
You cannot pour from an empty cup, so I hope to inspire others to share their stories, design, and live out their dream lives. If you’re not happy with your current reality, you have the power to change it. The Wanderlover mission is to enable travel and freedom through online entrepreneurship, and I hope to also empower other Asian-Americans to go against cultural norms and pursue creative ventures if it makes them happy!
Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Gary Vaynerchuk was one of the voices when I was still working in corporate, who gave me the confidence and mindset shift to start over in a completely different industry. He inspired me to quit my job and I still refer back to his posts and advice to this day! His motivational videos about taking action, believing in yourself, and taking risks early on in life, spoke to me when no one else believed in me. Check him out if you need some pep talk, or feel free to DM me on Instagram at any time! You got this 🙂
Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!
Women In Wellness: Nicole Grant of Zero on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
Learn how you respond to stress and the best ways you destress. We experience stress every day. In small doses it can be a good thing and help us get stronger, however, chronic stress can be a major detriment to our health. Not just the physical toll on our bodies, but also poor habits that tend to emerge in response to those emotions. Stress eating happens all the time, but if you can learn to address your needs and destress in productive ways while avoiding food as a crutch, it can definitely lead you to a healthier being.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole Grant.
Nicole Grant is a Registered Dietician and Certified Nutrition Support Specialist who practices in the inpatient and the outpatient settings. She has years of experience in both the prevention and treatment of chronic disease. In the outpatient setting, Nicole works with patients one-on-one and applies evidence-based practices to help them achieve longevity and health goals unique to their individual lifestyles. In the last few years, she has also focused much of her time and research around the benefits of fasting and how this practice can be successfully implemented into most nutritious routines. She is also the nutritionist for Zero, the world’s most popular fasting app with 7M+ users and over 370,000 5-star reviews in the App Store. Zero helps people make long-term lifestyle changes that can improve their overall health and Nicole offers her expertise to users in the form of written content.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I grew up in a single-parent household after my dad passed away when I was six years old. My mom worked three jobs in addition to caring for my brother and me. Even with the abundance of stress, work, and juggling two kids, she still cooked all of our meals and made nutrition and health a priority in our household. So, fortunately, I was introduced to the importance of healthy lifestyle practices at an early age.
However, when it was time to choose a career path and a college to attend, business was my initial focus since I thought that was where I could make the most money. I saw the financial struggles my mom went through and wanted to avoid that at all costs. Fast forward 3 years, as a business undergrad, after an inspiring and eye-opening trip to Madrid for a semester and some inner reflection on my purpose in life, I decided to change my major and focus my studies on something I was truly passionate about. I came to the conclusion that money doesn’t mean everything, especially if you are unhappy while making it. I needed something I was passionate about and that I would be excited waking up each day practicing and learning more about. So, I changed to a BS in Foods and Nutrition and after that, completed my dietetic internship at UCSD Medical System.
I started out my career in a role that combined my interest in healing with foods and medical science and worked in the hospital setting for a few years. It was quite impactful working in the ICU, cardiovascular units, and the cancer ward, however, I eventually became more and more drawn to a career that helped prevent people from ending up in the hospital in the first place, and I knew nutrition was a key player in that field as well.
So, I spent the remainder of my career up to now working in an innovative, boutique private practice, conducting health coaching, consulting, and most recently, spreading knowledge around the intricate world of fasting through Zero’s platform. I have been collaborating with Zero, the world’s most popular fasting app, on expanding education and awareness around the considerable number of benefits fasting can provide.
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?
In my career, I have had the opportunity to work with many interesting people and connect with patients from all backgrounds across the world. However, one interaction that has stuck with me over the years was with a patient I worked with in the hospital . This man was in his mid-40s and experienced his first heart attack. I was asked to provide him with education and encourage the start of a heart-healthy diet. At first glance, I saw a healthy-looking guy, with his two children and wife. Without reading his chart prior to seeing him, I would not have expected that this man had just had a heart attack. Once I started speaking with him, I could tell he felt the same. I could hear the nervousness and seriousness in his voice. I knew that this was something he nor his family ever expected, and it was quite a shock to them all.
I brought a heart-healthy handout to the visit and started reviewing this with him. However, I could tell that he needed more. It seemed like he had heard these recommendations in the past, but for some reason he had trouble changing his nutrition habits. Days at the hospital can be quite busy and you usually have over 10 people to see in a day, however, I could see this family needed and wanted the help. So, I sat down and started learning about them as an individual family. They shared with me their lifestyle and diets they had tried in the past, but more importantly, the missing piece to the puzzle — his wife has struggled with an eating disorder for years and she was the main grocery shopper and the one who took on the responsibility for cooking meals. She was having a hard enough time dealing with her own challenges around food that she was unable to provide the family with the home-cooked meals that would have helped her husband and kids’ health. She was very brave in sharing this with me and I admired her desire to help, however, she just did not have the right tools to do so. I told the family I would work on putting some resources together for them and be back in an hour or so.
I rushed back to their room, hands full of website options for recipes, meal plans, prepared meal options, and meal kits, a referral for the wife to address her eating disorder upon her request, and fun ways to get the kids involved in mealtime to help take some of the burden off mom. I was pleasantly surprised when the resources were received with tears and a hug from the wife. The entire family showed their gratitude for the help, but also shared that they finally felt listened to. That extra five minutes I took to get to know them as individuals and provide catered recommendations meant more to them than I thought.
From this simple but impactful interaction, I learned the importance of communication, empathy, and treating people as unique humans, not just a number or patient X, Y, or Z. There is usually a lot more to someone’s story than we think and taking just a few extra minutes to get to know them, can have quite the impact on their overall wellbeing.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I made the mistake of assuming that helping people change their nutrition intake would be much easier than it actually is. At the beginning of my career, I would spend hours scouring the internet for the best recipes, meticulously put together menus that met all the patient’s nutritional needs, tallied grams of carbs, protein, and fat, and created extensive lists of “eat this” or “avoid that.” This approach was great for a handful of the people I worked with, but there were a surprising number of patients who did well for a few weeks or a few months but then fell right back into their old habits. I slowly began to learn that people generally know what they should and should not eat, the hard part is building the habits that support these changes.
I have now shifted the conversation from what to eat to exploring the context around why people eat and how they respond as individuals. I spend a lot of time with patients exploring their unique and individual responses to nutrition, as well as their environments, emotions, social aspects around food and a more holistic approach involving optimizing exercise, sleep and stress. I have also learned that the notion of when to eat can also be easier adapted than what to eat. Certain fasting practices can help with this.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There have been numerous people — mentors, colleagues, family, friends — that have helped me get where I am currently at. I could never have done this without the immense support from my husband Rich. We were blessed with a new baby during the pandemic and have both continued to work. He has done an amazing job stepping up as a dad, husband, and provider.
I am also very grateful for Dr. Peter Attia, a friend and colleague whose medical practice focuses on longevity. He took a chance on me back in 2014 when he was starting up his private practice. I was lucky enough to be the Dietitian on his team and work with some great colleagues and patients while there. He taught me how to turn most things I had learned about nutrition in undergrad upside down and showed me how to look at nutrition through the skeptical lens of evidence-based research.
Dr. Attia also introduced me to the team at Zero; I collaborate with them to build their educational offerings with users interested in learning more about fasting.
Ok perfect. Now let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
I currently wear many different hats — clinical dietitian, health coach, writer, consultant, mom, wife. However, I think the common theme here is helping others and figuring out ways to improve as many lives as possible. Clinical work has given me the opportunity to make an impact in the acute setting for those who are critically ill, health coaching has allowed me to connect with people on an individual level, and my work at Zero has allowed and encouraged the sharing of knowledge around health, nutrition and fasting to millions of users.
Zero not only provides people with a sense of community, especially in times where that can be absent, but provides tools and resources for people around the world to improve their health and sense of wellbeing.
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.
Consider experimenting with fasting. It is not for everyone, but for many it can be a useful tool to experience some of the positive benefits — boosted energy, reduced inflammation, accelerated cellular repair, improved body composition, and mitigate risk for metabolic syndrome.That said, everyone who is interested in starting intermittent fasting should speak with their doctor beforehand — it’s not for everyone, particularly people who have Type 1 diabetes, are pregnant, or have experienced disordered eating.
Practice a mindful meal at least once per week. With so much going on in the world as well as our busy day-to-day lives, it is easy to consume food mindlessly or let other triggers such as emotions drive our food choices aside from true hunger. The practice of a mindful meal helps you tune in to what your body needs and how you respond to food. It helps you grow a sense of purpose and respect for how you fuel your body and ultimately lead to healthier choices.
Learn how you respond to stress and the best ways you destress. We experience stress every day. In small doses it can be a good thing and help us get stronger, however, chronic stress can be a major detriment to our health. Not just the physical toll on our bodies, but also poor habits that tend to emerge in response to those emotions. Stress eating happens all the time, but if you can learn to address your needs and destress in productive ways while avoiding food as a crutch, it can definitely lead you to a healthier being.
Learn how you respond to habit-building as an individual. I have been very interested in reading as much as I can on a variety of theories approaching behavior change. One book I read years ago that I still refer back to is Better than Before by Gretchin Rubin. I love how she discusses the uniqueness around habit building and how various personality traits and tendencies we have determine how we respond to motivation and change.
Tech can be your friend (wearables, apps, etc.). I love learning as much about myself as possible. Along with my competitive nature and love of anything you can gamify, wearables and apps have become a motivating piece to my healthy habits. Continuous glucose monitors, ketone readers, sleep rings, and apps such as Zero have been part of my journey of learning about my individual response to nutrition and lifestyle choices I make.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would love to bring nutrition education, cooking classes, and basic lifestyle courses back to schools! Teach meditation, the importance of good sleep, how to exercise, where food comes from, and more at a young age to help children learn how to integrate these practices into their daily routines. We would not only see the risk of chronic disease and medical conditions decrease (and the benefits continue through adulthood), but I am sure attention, focus, and productivity in the classroom would improve as well.
When schools take a budget cut, PE, home economics and those types of classes are the first to go. Unfortunately, they are just not seen as a priority. Even in medical school, most programs provide only one class on nutrition for the entire four years someone is studying medicine. We need to bring back the importance and awareness around education and wellness.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
You will likely never feel like an expert in your field — and that is okay. No matter how much time you spend diving into a topic around nutrition and health, science is an ever-changing field. We are constantly learning more, and nutrition recommendations continuously evolve, sometimes contradicting previous recommendations we have given based on outdated science. Although that part can be challenging, constant learning and growth is what also keeps me interested, motivated, and engaged in this field.
People are unique, so their nutrition should be too. One diet does not fit all! Patients should be seen as individuals with varying genetics, family history, lifestyles, etc. So, health care recommendations should be tailored to each unique human as well.
Nutrition should take a holistic approach. Positive nutrition changes may not mean much if stress is spiraling out of control. Improvements in exercise can be overshadowed by binge eating afterward. When thinking about improving wellbeing, all aspects of health should be considered — nutrition, exercise, stress, hormones, supplements, sleep, etc. and how they work synergistically.
If it isn’t tough, you aren’t growing. There have been many times in my career where I have gone through rapid change, times where I have been thrown into a position with uncharted territory, and instances where I felt my knowledge was lacking. For someone where things tend to come easy to them, being pushed out of my comfort zone is no easy mental task. However, I would never be where I am today without those obstacles and push towards bettering myself.
Always work on building your tribe. This can be applied to work and personal life, however, in my career, I have had so many opportunities come around due to the people I have built strong relationships with.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
These topics all have a place in my heart; however, sustainability and mental health have been top of mind lately. I believe mental health is a huge piece to the wellness puzzle and I wish it was made more of a priority in our society. Sustainability is another one that is underappreciated, but so important to our health. The quality of the nutrition from the food we consume can be greatly improved by sustainable farming practices and we would not have many of these current issues of depleted soil, food scarcity, and negative impacts to the environment if sustainability was more of a priority.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
I’m currently collaborating with Zero on expanding education and knowledge around fasting. I recommend following Zero on Instagram, @zerofasting and on Facebook.
You can find me on LinkedIn and I also have a very laid-back Instagram account, @dietitianapproved, where I post some of my favorite recipes. I love cooking and this is an easy way to share some of my favorites!
Women Of The C-Suite: Kristi Siegel of ‘Statewide Staffing’ On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive
Women who earn an executive role are competitive by nature, and this lends to fierce competition to reach higher levels within a company. This also often fosters a cut-throat environment and makes it hard to build a support system in the workplace.
As a part of our series about strong women leaders, we had the pleasure of interviewing Kristi Siegel.
Kristi Siegel, founder and president of Statewide Staffing, has built a name for herself as a rising star in the staffing industry while being one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in her field. For more than a decade, Siegel has thrived by connecting employers with full-time professionals nationwide, delivering the best match for both the candidate and company, leading to long-lasting careers. Her grit and determination have played major a role in her ability to run a successful, women-led recruiting company.
She has navigated the pandemic with relative ease in an industry that was arguably one of the most hard-hit. Even with an all-time high unemployment rate of 14.7 percent in April 2020, Siegel and her team successfully matched 17 employers with 40+ experienced candidates in the following industries this year: real estate, construction, manufacturing and consumer goods within positions such as: accounting & finance, property management operations, human resources, administrative roles and many others. Siegel is not only an advocate for her clients, but for all women in the recruiting industry.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! 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 landed an internship during my senior year in high school within the human resources department at Mercy Health Center. Back in 1996, that department was known as “personnel”. While there, I assisted Director Pat Cicchini, who taught me the “ins and outs” of the interview process. She emphasized how essential each employee was to an organization and demonstrated how the smallest thing could impact one’s potential to work for a company. I was always eager to hear about the process and see why a particular candidate would be considered as either “excellent” or “not a good fit” based on a number of factors, including education, experience, personality, criminal record, etc.
Pat loved her job and she certainly wore it well. I always admired the energy she exuberated throughout the day, knowing that her decisions were going to make a positive impact on her team. She performed her job with such confidence and portrayed a kind, yet respectable, leadership style. However, the thing I admired most was the vivacious personality she displayed in the workplace. As a 17-year-old, I didn’t correlate happiness with work. That was until I met Pat. I was determined that I was going to do whatever it took to be a part of an organization that made a difference in people’s lives, all while maintaining the same energy that Pat did every day. It’s easy for me to say after my short-term encounter with Pat, I had my long-term career path nearly figured out.
As if that wasn’t the easiest part, another sign quickly appeared when the University of Michigan had incorporated Workforce Management into its Bachelor of Business Administration program in the late 90s, and everything seemed as if I was destined to fall into the world of staffing.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
The most interesting thing that has happened to me since I started my business was finding someone who shares my passion for recruiting. That person is Anna Amcheslavsky, who is my business partner and one of my closest friends. As I mentioned, my career path in staffing seemed as if it were destiny. Luckily, the one thing, or should I say, person that makes this job even more joyous is leading my company alongside Anna. Anna is my ex-sister-in-law, but there’s nothing that could get in the way of our passion and desire to reward those who rely on us. Helping individuals and corporations make crucial decisions, such as taking the plunge to make a job change or significant hiring move, kept us going.
I am always referred to as the “leader” because I have gone through great lengths to create a brand and vision that separates us from our competitors, and a philosophy based around delivering our clients with quality, not quantity.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest mistake I made when I was first starting out was when a client asked me to provide a manager for three properties. Mistakenly, I was under the impression that she wanted three different property managers. I worked diligently to provide five profiles with various characteristics, which included strengths in leasing and property management, and different ranges of experiences. Later I found out that it was only one position, but I managed closing two of the candidates. Not only did I create an additional job, but my client was so gratefully and thanked me for proposing options she initially hadn’t considered.
The lesson I learned from this is that mistakes in life are also learning experiences, and they don’t always have to be negative. Not only do we fill jobs at Statewide Staffing, but we also create them and, in this case, — by accident!
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There are many people who have helped me along the way. My mentor Pat, business partner Anna, and father have all been some of my biggest supporters throughout my career. But the people who challenged me to be my absolute best were my former bosses.
I started my career in staffing for engineering and IT roles in the temp world. Although these two fields weren’t exactly of interest to me, the role taught me that it wasn’t about my likes and dislikes. It was all about focusing on the client and candidate and what their needs were at the time.
My first boss was a young, go-getter who hustled and always closed the deal. He taught me about corporate America, and how important it was to not only know the clients that I represented, but also the candidates, too. He showed me you’re about as good as the last deal you closed and if you didn’t jump on the next opportunity, you would fall behind. It was all so clear that I was selling personalities and skills, as well as my own!
I went on to work for another motivated supervisor with a lot of competition at a Fortune 500 Company with more than 300 locations across the globe. I was very challenged, which I loved at the time, working on a team of six where I was the only woman. Our team was number two in the country and expectations were high. Micromanagement had completely taken over leadership at this level and a solid understanding of why this public company was so successful was due to a metrics-driven environment. Coupling this method with a driven salesperson, I was caught in the rigamarole of meeting my numbers for the month and trying to exceed them rather than doing what was most important to me and my client.
If I didn’t know what the word competition meant prior to taking on this role, it was certainly engrained in me. Not only did my supervisor and this larger-than-life company prep me for survival in the world of staffing, but I also realized the importance of why I originally entered this industry and I had lost sight of why I was doing what I was doing due to placing quantity versus quality. The employee turnover was painful to watch on a weekly basis and we could almost foresee whether someone would make it or not within the first week of starting a new position. From then on, I vowed to put quality over quantity.
In my work, I often talk about how to release and relieve stress. As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?
Yoga has been a solid means of relieving stress. Thoroughly understanding the mind and body and how important it is to breathe and relax is key when facing anything stressful in our lives.
Incorporating the practice of hot vinyasa has been my therapy and escape from the challenging moments I endure in all aspects of my life. To become one with movement and breath in a 99-degree room, while flowing through a complex series of poses and focusing on “one breath, one movement” helps alleviate this. Putting my body to the test and holding poses and balancing and breathing my way through it all, while shaking and sweating profusely, teaches me that I have the mental and physical strength to take on anything.
I was taught that how one practices yoga is a pure reflection of how we perform in life and respond to its ups and downs. If I make the choice to fall out of a pose or coast through my practice, this is how I’m going to deal with the outside world. Learning the ability to let things go without overreacting is the best feeling in any stressful encounter and/or situation.
As you know, the United States is currently facing a very important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality and inclusion. This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?
I do believe that having a diverse executive team is crucial for bringing different viewpoints, experiences and levels of creativity to every organization. There’s no reason why any person should be disqualified or discriminated upon in their search for an executive role. Variety only provides more knowledge and, I believe, is essential in making sound decisions. This can and should be transformative for a company.
As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.
Understanding is the first step. Accepting and acknowledging the ability and quality of people will foster a successful environment. In my opinion, the success of society is through equity and equality. You want the best person for the job regardless of who they are or their background.
Once a leader has a good foundation and greater understanding of inclusion, it’s important to use resources to educate others. Whether that is through an open-ended discussion in the workplace or a conference or seminar, it’s important for executives to take the initiative to set a positive example.
Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?
It’s the CEO’s responsibility to make sure the company is profitable and operates efficiently.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?
Perhaps surprisingly, I find that many people think that the CEO doesn’t answer to anyone. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Not only are they responsible for the success of the company, but also responsible to each and every employee and, often times, answering to a board of directors and/or shareholders. It’s not an easy role to navigate.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
In a world where men dominate corporate America, a woman must be strong enough and driven enough to achieve an equal status, which unfortunately, I feel, doesn’t exist quite yet. This often leads to a difficulty in maintaining a healthy work-life balance because you’re so focused on working your way up the ladder.
Women who earn an executive role are competitive by nature, and this lends to fierce competition to reach higher levels within a company. This also often fosters a cut-throat environment and makes it hard to build a support system in the workplace.
What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?
Achieving the needs of my client isn’t always as simple as identifying the right fit for an organization. The problem I’ve discovered is there are also others within the company and/or HR department who play a role in making hiring decisions. They are competing with people, like me, in the staffing industry and that tends to cause conflict.
Certainly, not everyone is cut out to be an executive. In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?
Executives have to understand how to manage people and build strong relationships with their employees. A successful executive won’t put an employee in a position that they will fail, but one they will succeed in on behalf of the company. In order to do this, an executive must possess a willingness to take calculated risks and truly get to know those who work under and around them.
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
You have to recognize that you ARE a leader, but also that you may not always get the respect a male leader enjoys. Winning the respect of my peers, employees and clients is a driving force for me.
Beyond that, I would tell a female executive to focus on their vision, find mentors and aim to mentor other women in their company or industry.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I would like to believe my success and positive mindset has helped to make the world a better place. By volunteering and donating my time to mentor others, I always aim to be kind and considerate.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
I wish I knew the difficulty of working with some HR departments because instead of working against us, we should be working together to reach the best outcome for the company.
I wish I knew how difficult it would be to lead and get employees to follow suit.
I wish I knew how difficult it would be to succeed in a man’s world. LOL, wait…I think I do.
I wish I had known how much the staffing world be affected by a global pandemic.
I wish I knew how much more time goes into staffing as you are always working to make connections. With everywhere I go, everyone I meet is a potential lead.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I believe more executives need to make people feel like they are truly a valuable part of a company. The best player won’t win the game without being part of the team. Companies must always recognize their employees’ achievements, so I would like to see more employees at all levels get more recognized and rewarded for hard work.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite “Life Lesson Quote” comes from Steve Jobs.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it on living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by Dogma…which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.”
This rings true in my life because I am determined to do things my way. While many others in the industry focus on quantity and metrics, I have prided myself in looking for quality. Not only does it make my clients and candidates happy, but it’s good to know I’m able to have their best interest at heart.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them
Women In Wellness: Helen Kagan of HealingArts on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
Learn that Self-Love is not selfishness. Practice it daily (put your own oxygen mask first!) I had to learn (still learning!) that I have to become my number 1 priority for myself in order to show up for people I serve, help, and assist. Therefore, my “lifestyle choices” now are shifting in a direction of “what are the most loving things I can do for myself so I can help others who need me, who rely on me, who I am here to serve“. Yes, it does feel a bit weird, as I am absolutely not used to be the number 1 priority for myself. It is a learning curve, again, but a very necessary one, as many of us, especially women caregivers, are so used to serve others while forgetting to take care of or at least attend to our own needs.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Absolutely. Thank you so much for inviting me! I appreciate this amazing opportunity to present my unique HealiingArts to your readers. If you don’t mind, I would like to call our Interview “A Journey to YourSelf. Embodying Light, Love & Gratitude”. Because, in a nutshell, this is what my “HealingArts” is all about (and besides, it’s a title of my book I’m working on “ARTIST OF THE FUTURE. A Journey to YourSelf. Embodying Light, Love & Gratitude” :).
Color provokes a psychic vibration. Color is a power which directly influences the soul.
W. Kandinsky
I believe that art heals. I believe that for many of us, creatives, art — is a spiritual path, a transformational process, a way of being. I believe art is a catalyst for healing individuals, society and the environment. I believe in the inter-connectedness of mind, body and spirit. I believe that now, more than ever, the World needs the positive energy and spiritually-based intentions, beliefs and values. As a statement of all my beliefs, my “HealingArts” is my unique way to synergistically bring together fine art, expressive arts, and the art of healing to enhance well-being in a viewer.
But… my own Journey to this deep and profound understanding was not linear to say the least. Growing up in a Communist State of what then was the USSR, where oppression and control were a daily reality, formed my beliefs, values, and a great respect for freedom to express yourself. In 1991 I immigrated to the USA, whereto I brought my Jewish heritage, 3 graduate degrees, 0 English, $100, 2 small suitcases, and an unending thirst to explore the World and its meaning. Coming from a family of scientists, I was always fascinated by the left/right brain relationship, which led me to study many things — from mathematics and science to psychology, therapy and healing to fine art, and finally create my unique concept and venue “HealingArts”. As a refugee from Russia, my art reflects an existential view on life, a desire to bridge Realities and heal the Past. The further I go on my Journey, the more I evolve, the more my art ascends to higher vibrations and reflects higher dimensions of being. Communicating on subliminal levels my art delivers Love & Healing through positively charged intention, healing frequencies of color, embedded spiritual messages, and energetically balanced composition, which all facilitates your own healing Journey and brings you in touch with your own Quest.
In the last several years my art participated in over 50 Juried shows, local, national and international exhibitions, and always elicited a profound positive response. “HealingArts” has been shown in many physical and online galleries, cities, states, magazines, articles, catalogs including FL Design Magazine, FineArt NY Magazine, BLINK Art Resource; major Art Fairs including SPECTRUM Miami, ArtPalmBeach, Art SanDiego, ArtEXPO NY. I was named a “Collectible Artist” by Brickell and Key Biscayne Magazines (“Dealer’s Dozen” 2016), by “Inspiration” International Catalog, by ArtTour International. My art won awards, exhibited in NY, NJ, MI, AZ, WI, MN, CA, VT, and in many cities in FL, featured in many online Galleries including Saatchi, Fine Art America, Art&Beyond, LightSpace&Time, ArtsyShark; is currently on display in VT, NY & FL.
Despite all this vast publicity and recognition, I have never had any sponsors or patrons. In the beginning of 2020, right before the pandemic was officially announced, my hard work finally got rewarded — I got a sponsor and had 3 Solo “One Woman Show” Exhibitions scheduled for the Spring/ Summer of 2020 in 3 major locations — Orlando FL, Brooklyn NY, and Rome Italy. I was in Heaven as it was my dream come true!
But… due to COVID all my 3 Solo Shows were canceled, my art (80+works) which was already curated, delivered and filled the 3 Floors of the high-end Commercial building in Orlando, is still hanging there (a year later) with no further notice… My other scheduled 3 group Shows in Ft Lauderdale FL were all canceled as well. I felt crashed. Again and again. (you are welcome to read my essay “Transformational 2020” @ my blog http://helenkaganhealingarts.blogspot.com).
And this is exactly WHY it is so important for me to bring my art to the World to heal. It is my Mission, Vision and Purpose. Because all my “HealingArts” creations are made with Light, Love & Gratitude — that can allow healing and enhance wellbeing.
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?
The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.
P. Picasso
I created my brand “HealingArts” over 25 years ago when I first was practicing healing work as a holistic practitioner. Being a scientist, psychologist, therapist & counselor helped me to conceptualize and further develop my concept “HealingArts”, while being a healer and artist — added a gift to express it in beautiful ways that warm your Heart, uplift your Spirit, and touch your Soul. For almost 30 years my “HealingArts” has been a one-person enterprise, which, of course, brings a lot of challenges. In the 90-s I started to develop my concept while working as a therapist, social worker, and energy healer providing services to various populations in need.
At that time, I was very motivated, dedicated, and devoted to build (from a scratch, with no support provided) the unique culturally competent Mental Health & Substance Abuse Clinics for the disenfranchised immigrant client populations. I did develop and ran (literally from a scratch, with my “broken English”, and almost zero resources available) several clinical Programs for immigrant clients and their families in NYC. I was working 3 jobs, I had International delegations visiting my Programs, my Project H.E.L.P. was articled on the front page of NYTimes (1999), I had also developed my energy healing private practice basically by the “word of mouth”, I was using Art therapy, Movement therapy, multiple energy healing modalities in my practice, I had also enrolled myself in an esoteric IM School of Healing Arts with a very demanding schedule and profound inner work one had to embark on their Journey, I was helping people heal in so many different and creative ways, I called myself a holistic psychotherapist (which sounded quite provocative 25 years ago!), my practice “HealingArts” was blossoming serving people in need of healing, and I was really happy doing all that working 25/8…
Then, I burned out. Completely. I was 43. When I was picked up by Ambulance from the streets in Manhattan because I collapsed (it was a massive panic attack which mimicked a heart attack) and spent a couple days in EMR I’ve realized that I have to seriously change something because something was not working. Then I learned that pretty much all of my multiple former traumas got re-activated from the amount of stress I put on myself. I became quite a “vegetable” learning to do many basic things from a scratch… I had to stop working. I had to give up my beautiful small private office in the middle of Manhattan (something I dreamt to have for a long time). I had to transfer all my clients to other practitioners. I felt totally crashed. Devastated. I didn’t know how to be sick. I couldn’t do anything.
But I knew I had to do something, anything, everything — to get back to “normal” whatever it meant. I had to bring myself back. I began to use every healing modality I knew, to help myself get out of that debilitating state filled with overbearing anxiety, panic, hopelessness, depression, uncertainty, flashbacks, and all other wonderful PTSD-related things. In a cold winter of 2005, I felt a strong desire, more like a need, to start painting. I’ve always painted some, here and there, but never done it consistently — I just never had time for doing art between all my studying, degrees, jobs, “surviving and making it in America”! I’ve just always been too busy with my schools, work, family in immigration, patients, clients, projects — all of those very important things (as I thought) that constituted Life (at that time for sure).
Well… That one was a big Lesson. Starting painting felt like a sip of fresh air, like a refuge, like a Divine Guidance. I was immensely grateful. I felt I needed to create more and more healing artwork — first, for my own healing as a person suffering from CPTSD, who began to learn from the firsthand experience that art heals.
Since then, I have been developing my unique “healing through art” modality while communicating its healing message to other people and communities in need. I felt that this is my new way of being a holistic practitioner serving people in need — I was becoming a healing artist. I felt that I can serve many more people this way. Since then, I have been painting non-stop. I have been a full-time artist for 15 years, and I am working very hard (again! 🙂 to ensure that my “HealingArts” is having a substantial online presence, is communicated consistently to galleries, curators, collectors, various art venues and organizations, Hospitals, Medical Centers, Corporate venues & facilities, Hotels, and other audiences, as I believe my unique and special HealingArts has a big future.
It hasn’t happened yet, but I keep praying, believing and keep creating my art knowing that there will be a big demand for it when it’s the right time for that to happen. In our nowadays reality, in the midst of World-wide multiple challenges & crises, COVID pandemics, protests, fires, escalated overall crises saturated with fear, anxiety, illness, grief, and lots of stress and uncertainty, I know that my “HealingArts” can become a tool for serenity, a place for refuge, and bring healing and wellbeing to everyone in need.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Well… I have to confess — I don’t believe in “mistakes” 🙂 I believe there are “lessons” given to us to learn from. Sometimes they can be really hard, even harsh, but… at the end they all appeared in our reality for the one and only reason — to make us better. I can say I made a lot of mistakes, and not only when I first started… I can say I always trusted people and thought that everyone I met on my Journey has the exact same set of dignity and integrity like I do. They did not. I can say I had a lot of people who took advantage of me, used, abused and even betrayed me. And all of the above will be true — but only from my perspective. Because I can choose to say that I had a lot of Lessons given to me to learn about people, to learn about who is right and who is wrong for me, how to be with them, how to act, what to expect, and what to do when you live your life on Purpose while they are not, and so on. I trust that my many very sad “stories” — are not mistakes, but they are my “old stories” that need to be shifted because these “old stories” that constitute my “old reality” need to be changed for the new ones. You know why? Because it will help me tremendously to start anew, to deeper connect with my True Self, to live from a place of Love & Gratitude, to embody the Light that I AM. And because I do believe that in accordance with many of our new age spiritual leaders — “we create our own Reality”.
I believe that life is not happening TO us, it’s happening FOR us, i.e. our experiences (both, good and bad) are given to us to learn, improve and ultimately evolve. I believe that these “Lessons” are given to us to help us shift from our “old stories” and create new ones. What do you think is the ultimate Lesson in Life? Is it different for everyone, or is it pretty much the same for all of us, Spiritual Beings on a Human Journey? (this is my understanding of who we are). What is the grandest Lesson a person can discover on their Journey called Life? I believe that it is when we realize (become conscious, become aware, discover, un-cover, have a life-changing experience, have an epiphany — any and all of these are valid) that we ARE Spiritual Beings on a Human Journey. That we are Soul in a Body with the Mind, and not the other way around.
I can cite hundreds and hundreds of resources and references — from scientists, neurobiologists, quantum physicists, renowned authors, and many other authorities such as Bruce Lipton, Gary Null, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Miguel Ruiz, Dan Millman, Gary Zukav, Neale Donald Walsch, and I can go on and on… And one of the quintessential learnings from all these amazing teachings is that “we are the Creators of our own reality”. We are here, on this planet Earth, to live our Purpose, our Truth, and we all, individually and as a society, create our reality. This is why I think it is critically important to do it with love vs. hate. As an Empath I feel and experience that, unfortunately, there’s too much hate on our planet Earth. I think it is important to feel and believe that we are Love (that “love is all we need” :), we were created from Love, and to be Love, and just because Love & Gratitude have the highest vibrational frequency, when we live from the place of Love, we become it. We embody it. And then — we can bring it to the World to share. My art does just that. This is exactly what I communicate in my art using embedded spiritual messages, energetically balanced composition, sacred geometry, high frequencies of constellations of colors, and some other secret ingredients 🙂
What I am constantly learning in my “Lessons” is that for many of us, creatives, art — is a spiritual path, a transformational process, a way of being. I also believe art is a catalyst for healing individuals, society and the environment. As a person who strongly believes in and practices the inter-connectedness of mind, body and spirit, I can say that now, more than ever, the World needs the positive energy and spiritually-based intentions, beliefs and values. My “HealingArts” can be an answer for many. You can just look at my artworks, take a deep breathe, inhale the bright healing colors and positively charged high-dimensional frequencies of Love & Light, relax, let go, become grateful for this moment of “here and now”, and just enjoy the feeling… Then repeat.
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?
Oh, yes! I totally believe there’s always help available to us, it can come in very different shapes and forms, but it is definitely there for us. However, I also believe it is our own responsibility to reach out, ask for help, even if we feel quite self-sufficient and independent and don’t think we need that helping hand or feel deserving… Remember — “ask and it’s given”? I am grateful to God, Universe, Multiverse, Higher Power, Angels and Archangels, all spiritual beings, my family, my friends, and everyone else who’s been helping me (both, intentionally and unintentionally, directly, indirectly or adversely) to stay strong, to keep going, to never give up, to continue creating and bring my soulful services, my heart, and my art to those in need, regardless any difficulties, challenges, upheavals, illnesses, and all other complexities of my own Life.
I am grateful to all my big Teachers, to coaches, speakers, and other professionals offering various online webinars, seminars, lectures, challenges, spiritual retreats, providing great content, especially in our current challenging unprecedent times of COVID, bloody protests, political & ideological upheavals, broken dreams, lost jobs, closed businesses, and just many crushed lives…
I am grateful to all wonderful publishers, Art Magazines and Catalogs publishing articles about my art, Galleries for exhibiting my art, collectors for buying my art, all my wonderful friends both in physical reality and online who support me in many different ways in many difficult times, for loving my unique HealingArts and appreciating my Vision, Mission and Purpose.
I am grateful to all people I meet on my Journey. And… my biggest gratitude goes, of course, to my father — a very strong resilient powerful man, a big scientist, a huge mind, a world-known inventor, a role model, a man of honor, a big extremely talented person who has always pushed me (indirectly and quite directly) to be better, whom I always had to rebel against, to prove my own gifts and talents to, to look for and eventually find that proverbial “approval” from (after getting several graduate degrees, earning my “uneasy” PhD in science, working in a few completely different fields, developing and running clinics, and finally doing what I love most — creating my art, which he actually likes), to whom I always compared every man I’ve been with, who’s always ready to give a hand particularly when I don’t ask for it, who still (at the age of 85) continues to work and invent some new age revolutionary scientific and engineering concepts and devices in different fields despite his own very challenging health condition… and who is, was, and always be a very powerful figure in my Universe.
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?
Well… I think there are several important factors to consider when it comes to health and wellness in relation to art as a healing tool. As well as how my unique “HealingArts” can make a really big impact in the World, especially now — in our turbulent trying and challenging times.
I believe that I am doing a very special soulful heart centered sacred work for the betterment of the people, communities, and even society at large. I do believe the more love and gratitude is there in the Universe — the better, happier, and more fulfilled our lives become, the more we can spread the love — the better and healthier we become. It is that well known principle “As within, so without. As above, so below” which is so important to me, and hopefully it will become as important to many more people who can relate to and embrace the concepts of “being on the Journey”, “going towards the Light”, “the more you give, the more you receive”, and alike. These are some of the major spiritual principles I live by and, of course, all of them are very present in my art.
As a healer and artist, a creator of my unique multi-dimensional concept “HealingArts” I’ve been developing for about 30 years, I believe that art is a catalyst for healing individuals, society and environment. I have been called a pioneer in creating art with an intention to heal. As a severe PTSD survivor my own complex Life Journey brought me to the point where I would probably not survive without creating. As a true healing artist who started to use painting, energy and spiritual work, music, movement, and other expressive modalities to support my own healing first, and then — to enhance a healing process to those in need, my art always elicited a profound positive response. My art is intentional — which means that every time I start creating a new painting, I set a healing intention using various sacred tools from my healing toolbox. My work is often described as “symphony of colors”, and is saturated with passion, movement, love, joy, positive intention and high-vibrational healing energy. I synergistically integrate the Fine Art, Expressive Arts, and the Art of Healing by blending together healing frequencies of colors, positively charged intention, embedded spiritual messages, and energetically balanced composition.
My Vision, Mission, and Purpose is to bring my “HealingArts” to HealthCare, Residential and Hospitality facilities — to assist in recovery, encourage joy and happiness, and enhance healing and wellbeing to those in need, by introducing high-vibrational multi-sensory experience, meditation & relaxation. It is not an easy task to accomplish as a “solo-entrepreneur”, but I keep trying, hoping, and doing everything I can for the right people and venues to show up on my Journey.
In the midst of World-wide multiple crises, protests, and escalated pandemic saturated with fear, anxiety, illness, grief, and lots of stress and uncertainty, I do hope that my “HealingArts” can become a tool for serenity, a place for refuge, and will be truly healing to everyone in need. You can just inhale the bright healing colors and positively charged high-dimensional frequencies of Love & Light from my artworks, exhale heaviness, sadness, tiredness — all the junk. Enjoy the feeling and, keep getting better.
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). Find (create) your Vision, define your Mission, and live on Purpose.
Living on Purpose and bringing my Visions into reality has been always important to me as I consider myself a Visionary and a person of dignity and integrity. But very often, I find myself being conflicted by various things that I do not accept as “spiritual”. I am sharing here my own struggle as an example, but you might need to find and identify your own limitations that are on your way to success — they can be same or different. What’s important — is to find your limiting beliefs, recognize where they are, work with them, and hopefully, get rid of them!
I have always had an internal conflict of how I can simultaneously be spiritual and prosperous. I felt as if I am on my Spiritual Journey it is impossible to become wealthy. Abundant — yes! But prosperous? This is exactly the place of my most and biggest limiting beliefs, blocks, or whatever else you want to call them. I have worked plenty, both by myself and with various holistic practitioners, to get rid of my limiting beliefs about wealth & prosperity, as well as on many other challenges that keep me from being abundant and happy. I can’t say that I am where I want to be in regards to abundance and prosperity, but I know I am on my way there! What was quite surprising for me to learn is that those “financial blocks” I have — are indeed multigenerational, and are also related to my Self-worth, Love and Gratitude… Interesting!
I hope it will be helpful for you to identify and get rid of yours — good luck!
2). Learn that Self-Love is not selfishness. Practice it daily (put your own oxygen mask first!)
I had to learn (still learning!) that I have to become my number 1 priority for myself in order to show up for people I serve, help, and assist. Therefore, my “lifestyle choices” now are shifting in a direction of “what are the most loving things I can do for myself so I can help others who need me, who rely on me, who I am here to serve“. Yes, it does feel a bit weird, as I am absolutely not used to be the number 1 priority for myself. It is a learning curve, again, but a very necessary one, as many of us, especially women caregivers, are so used to serve others while forgetting to take care of or at least attend to our own needs.
I also feel that NOW is the critical time for me and for many of us, to shift. To shift from Fear — to Love, from surviving — to thriving, to bring ourselves from despair — to happiness. Regardless the circumstances. My “HealingArts” — is the foundation for my own shift to Love & Gratitude. It can assist you as well, as it is based on many holistic healing spiritual and energetic principles embedded in each work, especially in artworks from latest Collections “5D”, “Serenity”, “EnergyArt”, and ColorScapes.
3). No matter what your professional occupation or personal lifestyle is, I believe it is very important to create your daily routines. “Morning routine” is an amazing healing tool that grounds you and sets the stage to maintain the high-vibrational frequencies for the day. Meditation, breathing exercises (pranayamas, etc.), singing loud (a very good tool!), doing Yoga, Qi-Gong, journaling, writing, playing music, writing “morning pages” (as in Julia Cameron “Artist’s Way” wonderful bestseller), brisk walking, jogging, just moving your body and thus your energy that needs to get unstuck — use whatever modality or a combination of such that works for you. For instance, I’ve written hundreds and hundreds of “morning pages” when I was in groups to work with “Artist’s Way”. And then I choose various tools from my “healing toolbox” and combine them, just trusting my intuition following what feels right at the moment.
No less important is your “evening routine” — especially considering a nowadays very stressful nature of our external environment, jobs, lack of such, COVID-related complications and limitations, psychological and emotional difficulties in handling and dealing with the current reality, eating, resting, sleeping disturbances, and multiple factors affecting our normal sleep pattern (which, unfortunately, is becoming a “new normal” like everything else, but it is in our power to change that too!). Remember? “Change your pattern — change your Life”!
4). Find what makes you happy. Express yourself!
Find or choose what makes you happy — is it playing music, writing poems, dancing, journaling,
painting, crocheting, singing, making cakes? Get creative — just move your stuck energy & raise your vibration!
My passion is dancing, so for me it would probably be the first choice to move my energy — I’ve been dancing every possible dance including Shamanic Trance Dance (one of my favorites, Chakra dance, and my super favorite is East Coast Swing, Boogie-Woogie, Lindy Hop and alike) So, even in our crazy times of isolation and quarantines, when we can’t go anywhere, let alone — dance with somebody 8ft apart! — I just put my favorite music on (Big Band, Swing, Jazz), and just dance “like nobody’s watching”, to shift my energy. Usually, I do a combo of a few “healing tweaks” daily, like for instance, I integrate some movement, meditation, deep breathing, chakra clearing, Yoga and/or Qi-Gong, playing music, etc. — all depending on how much time I have today, and several other factors like — did I paint non-stop last night? or am I going to spend 25H today on creating some important media campaign? or do I have to be writing an article for a Magazine or preparing for a Show? is there a family emergency? and so on… Just be creative. Express yourSelf! But make it a daily routine. It helps a lot, trust me!
5). Remove clutter, chaos, disturbances. Make clarity. Stop procrastinating. Just do it!
When we are removing all this accumulated junk form our environment (both, external and internal), we are literally shifting ourselves from Fear to Love. One step at a time. From Breakdown to Breakthrough. Just one step at a time. From Surviving to Thriving. Just make one little step in this direction. Just one. Then another one, and another one. See? You are moving in the direction of your Dream Life! And we can go on and on and on… (remember how good it feels when you de-clutter you closet? or when you clean your living room or organize our garage or your study, or get rid of a lot of stuff from your kitchen, or donate lots of unneeded clothes to Good Will or other Charity?) Now imagine HOW GOOD IT WOULD FEEL if you remove all this clutter, chaos, uncertainty, anxiety, overwhelm, lack of clarity, junk, etc. from your inner world? It will feel Divine! The main thing here is the notion of transformation. And it is an internal (vs. external) transformation. We are shifting our “old paradigm” — our old patterns, thoughts, perceptions, limiting beliefs, reactions, etc., and as a result of that we are changing our Reality, and thus — our Life. Isn’t it something magical?
6). (an extra one — couldn’t skip it as it’s too important! 🙂 Define your Vision. Find (discover) what you are good at. Follow your Dream even if it looks or feels impossible.
As multiple wonderful “new age” sources suggest — “Change your mind, change your Life. Change your thoughts, change your life. Change your attitude, perception, emotional state, your energy …. — change your life! And it’s all true (I am speaking form experience). I think it does not matter where and how you start, what is important that you do start. Find or discover what you are really good at. What do you like? What makes your Heart sing? Take action. Map your direction. Listen to your intuition. Follow your inner voice. Define your Vision in your terms and on your language. Embrace your Journey. After all — it is your Soul Journey to yourSelf!
I still keep doing it as I know it is a Process, it doesn’t happen overnight unfortunately 🙂 For me — it is of course my “HealingArts”, and the multiple ways I can bring it to the World to heal. It is my Vison, Mission, and Purpose. But… it did take me many years to get to the place where I felt certain about it, and then — allowed myself to follow my calling despite all the challenges on the way. If I get impatient (which I do :) — I remind myself that I am on my Quest, and the most important thing is not a destination, but the Journey…
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Ohhh, that’s easy — of course my “HealingArts”! 🙂
It is already a known fact that Love and Gratitude have the highest vibrational frequencies. When we operate from Love, the true miracles happen. When we learn to live in Gratitude, truthfully from the heart, we begin to live happily “for no reason” and good things begin to happen for us, and not because we learned from the “Secret” that in accordance with the Law of Attraction everything we want will magically come to us when we just think and wait for it to manifest in our reality, but because we begin to spend more time in higher dimensions, we begin to operate from higher frequencies, we embody Love and Gratitude, and we become it.
If I could start a World-wide movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, of course it will be a movement embodying Light, Love and Healing through the Arts. As an artist — I speak through art, I express myself through art, I live through art. In fact, I can say that I have already started a few of this kind of similar movements. When I was wearing a “therapist hat” long time ago living in NYC, I have developed and ran several Mental Health & Substance Abuse Programs integrating different culturally sensitive quite advanced and perhaps even revolutionary at that time, clinical treatment, prevention and intervention approaches. Then, I had also developed my Holistic Therapy & Energy Healing private practice where I was using and synergistically integrating multiple energy healing modalities including Cranio-sacral therapy, Polarity Therapy, Reiki, and many others, Energy Psychology techniques, Art therapy, Movement therapy, and other holistic approaches, methods, and techniques to enhance the healing process in my practice. And then, I started to create my “HealingArts” — first as a healing tool for my own devastating condition (as a person with a re-activated severe PTSD), and then — to bring healing and enhance wellbeing through art to everyone in need.
As a statement of all my beliefs, my “HealingArts” is my unique way to synergistically bring together fine art, expressive arts, and the art of healing to enhance well-being in a viewer.
My Vision, Mission, and Purpose is to bring my “HealingArts” to HealthCare, Residential and Hospitality facilities — to assist in recovery, encourage joy and happiness, and enhance healing and wellbeing to those in need, by introducing high-vibrational multi-sensory experience, meditation & relaxation.
Because of my strong belief that art is a catalyst for healing individuals, society and the environment, and that NOW, more than ever, the World needs the positive energy and spiritually-based intentions, beliefs and values — I am sure that Art for Healing will be one of the major ways to bring the most amount of healing to the most amount of people.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
1). If somebody told me that “as an Artist I have to die first to become famous”, I can speculate that of course, I would first think — what’s the odds :), but then… I’d still follow my heart’s desire anyway. I would still follow my Vision and Purpose to become a professional artist and make it a successful career despite all the challenges and difficulties one has to face in the process of becoming a professional artist and treating it as a business vs. just painting as a hobby — which is a very different story.
I believe even if I were warned, I’d still come to a place where my Soul is happy because I am following my Dream of being an Artist living my life on Purpose having a Mission to continue creating my unique “HealingArts” to help people heal. As well as to bring (and even donate) as much of my art as possible to the Healthcare — Medical, Rehabilitation & Residential facilities, holistic practitioners, hospitality & residential markets. For this particular direction of my Purpose, I am currently in the process of organizing a “Healing Arts Initiative” with an intention to bring Sponsors and Patrons to this campaign dealing with the Healthcare.
2). I wish somebody told me how important it is (especially for artists, musicians, writers — people of any creativity-led profession) to organize your day, have a set schedule, and at least try to keep it! Because for us, creatives, it is difficult to focus on one thing, we are constantly “multitasking”, sometimes it’s nearly impossible to focus on one thing as there’re so many ideas, images, sounds, melodies, words, poems, pictures, simultaneously coming to your being that it becomes quite overwhelming… This is why it is so important to organize your day and chose, let’s say, 3 things that you will do today no matter what. Just 3 things. And tomorrow — choose just 3 things. But you have to do them no matter what — just 3 things. Focus on them. And so on. Of course, you can say — but what if I have not 3, but 33 things every day, and I go nuts trying to juggle all of them, and I never have enough time to do them all! Then I’d say — just chose 3 major things and take care of them. Then the next 3 major things, then the next. That’s it. Prioritize, compartmentalize, put perspective, decide what’s most important to do today, just for today. What can be done tomorrow. What can be done on a weekend. Yes — you can do it. And… don’t forget to love yourself while doing that 🙂
3). I don’t necessarily believe in affirmations. I know lots of people do, and some even practice them regularly. And some are even successful in achieving results they want while repeating daily that “I am x-y-z”, or “I can do a-b-c”. For me — affirmations feel somewhat mechanical, something which is not aligned synergistically with my Soul’s Purpose. They feel like something that doesn’t teach me my “lessons” but rather takes me away from them. I would prefer a deep meditation, a guided soulful high vibrational sound or music meditation, an incantation, activation, a magic formula, invocation, which aligns my own energy with the higher Purpose, something that lovingly and carefully guides me from fear to love, from chaos to clarity, from poverty to abundance and prosperity, from surviving to thriving. These transformational tools need to feel “organic” with my whole being, with all my multiple energy & ethereal bodies that I want to bring in alignment with my Mission and Purpose. My “HealingArts” that I create, or rather “co-create” with the higher Source, serves that for me.
4). One might think that being a “full time artist” entails some sort of a luxurious lifestyle, like similar to what you can see in the movies…:) But let me tell you that a “creative process” is not an easy thing… Really! If you ask me — How does your workday look like? I’d say — usually quite crazy! Those who are familiar with various intricacies of a creative process of any nature, those who know closely what it is, will agree with me, I think. So… my “workday” might look like a regular “working day” for most folks who work like 9–6 schedule, and then work another job on top of that for a few more hours :). Or my “work day” might become totally crazy with a lot of actual painting time and lots of “processing and conceptualizing” time in-between which would result in like 25H “working day”… And then there’s a huge chunk of time going to other (yet important) stuff like creating advertising materials, ordering, producing, and hand embellishing giclees, making prints, taking good photographs, endlessly improving previously worked on images of your art, writing articles, press releases, creating and managing websites, and of course, making arrangements for shows and exhibitions, inviting guests and collectors, actually providing and facilitating your Shows, packing, shipping and handling your art, transporting yourself AND your art pieces to and from those Shows and Exhibitions, producing all possible marketing materials, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. — well… you can see that even reading about all this makes you feel overwhelmed, right? Well, it does make me feel overwhelmed for sure! 🙂 I think the actual time I spend painting is only about 20–25%, if I’m lucky to have this time! Other 75–80% goes to everything else around your art career — of course if you treat it as a career vs. hobby. And it is very sad for me. I’d rather spend 75–80% of my time creating my unique art — because this is what I do best. But I do understand that other things are just a “necessary evil” 🙂 So, you can see that developing my concept, venue & brand “HealingArts” AND creating my actual unique artworks — is of course, a full-time career!
5). And… if I knew what I was putting myself into… — I think I’d still do that 🙂
My Higher Self would still finally drag me to this place where I will have joy creating. Where I feel Home. That sacred place where the most important things to consider when we are starting anew (after changing our “old story”) — are Light, Love and Gratitude.
I believe everyone at this point most likely asked themselves about those grand lessons we’re given as humanity. Big existential questions like WHO AM I? WHY I AM here? WHAT I am here FOR? What is my MISSION? Do I have a VISION, what is my PURPOSE? What I find helpful in finding answers to these big questions are the following basic spiritual principles (regardless any religious believes):
Learning Forgiveness. Knowing your Strength. Speaking your Truth. Learning and embracing Self-Love. Practicing Gratitude. And… a few more. And as I said earlier, I don’t believe in “mistakes”. I believe there’re Lessons given to us to learn, and if we have not learned the first time, they will be given again, and again — to finally learn what we need to learn being on our Journey. We also need to find and define our WHY-s. I am finally clear about my “WHY”. I chose to be an Artist that I was born to be, and that is my Truth. But I want you to know that it took me almost 40 years to realize that I can not NOT do it because it’s my Truth, because this is WHO I AM. Because this is not only a way for me to express myself but to heal myself and others. I am here to bring this message to the World that my Art is Healing, my art is Love and Light, it is a healing tool that can help you on your Journey to YourSelf.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Well… all four are definitely important, as well as other big themes such as political and economic changes, cultural, racial and ideological shifts, spirituality, 21st Century technology, and others. My “dearest” cause lies, of course, in the Mental Health, Spirituality and Energy Healing (also called Energy Psychology). Why? Because I strongly believe that if we don’t heal ourselves first, we simply won’t have a healthy society, healthy environment, nor a healthy Planet.
“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it”. Eckhart Tolle
Since I am being invited to present my “HealingArts” in a “Women & Wellness” Series, I would like to remind us that we, women, are beautiful, intuitive, loving, caring, insightful and just simply amazing creatures. All of us. Whether we are aware of this or not, whether we’re living our Truth or not, whether we are still in a “survival mode” or have already made our conscious choice to be on a Journey to “thriving”… Regardless, I want us to remember that we are Beautiful. We are Lovable. And we are Enough. I am not so sure that we are from Venus necessarily, but we definitely are lovers, keepers, and caregivers — by default. The vast majority of us are trying to live our lives by taking care of others, most often BEFORE we take care of our own needs. Wrong. I’ve been learning my big lessons that I need to change the way I live my life simply because there won’t be one to live if I continue doing what I do expecting different results… (remember this popular “definition of insanity”?) As a holistic therapist and a Mental Health practitioner I can say that this definition is quite correct. If we, wonderful caring women, won’t learn how to take care of ourselves first (i.e. to put a proverbial oxygen mask on yourself first), and continue to give yourselves away, and literally waste your energy trying to “fix, rescue or save” others, then we still continue living in our co-dependent and so habitually comfortable reality or pattern (even if it’s abusive, disrespectful or terrifying — we are often still doing it…). I do know this by fact as I’ve experienced these “lessons” many times because I didn’t learn from the first time… Yes, I have been always living my Life with dignity, integrity and intensity, just in my hypervigilant “superhero” mode of saving the World, often just one person at a time, always working or studying or working plus studying 25/8, and literally killing myself while helping others. I got my lessons then and there. Then, there were other ones. Yes, I have had many lessons. And still do. But… I would never call them mistakes. Because they were Lessons teaching me something critically important about me as a Human, as a Woman, as a Caregiver, Lover, Wife, Mother, Scientist, Creative, Artist, and most importantly — about what I need to change, and how. These “lessons’ were all transformational. Some were almost unbearable. Like “life & death scenario” ones. Many of which showed me that I had to change my Life… And as a result, I did change my life completely, many times, and moved on.
I am wondering if, perhaps, NOW could be just the right time we can change our Reality by changing our patterns. Why? Because we lived through a challenging extremely difficult exhausting stressful and really scary for many, 2020. Because we were shown, literally in our face, that if we won’t change “our reality” this reality will change us, and not always in a way or direction we want. Because if we won’t shift our own reality — Life will bring to us new “lessons” to learn, and those new “lessons” could be even more challenging or devastating. And also, because living from a place of Light, Love & Gratitude is incredibly nice, soulful, and rewarding.
We are now in 2021. It was a very transformational year 2020… A year of many Losses. A year of many Lessons. A year to learn embracing and sharing Gratitude despite all possible challenges and difficult circumstances. It’s been a transformational year on our individual and collective Journey to our Truth, Love, and Enlightenment. What will be our new “Lessons” in 2021?
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
There are many ways to reach me on social media. If you just Google Helen Kagan or Helen Kagan Healing Arts, you will get hundreds and hundreds of entries. My official social media handles are:
Women Of The C-Suite: Cedar Carter of The Good Patch On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive
A successful executive has opinions based on facts, is not afraid to hire people smarter than themselves, and enjoys mentoring and leading a team. I like to hire good people who know more about the specific thing I’m hiring them for than I do. If you give them the tools, information and encouragement to succeed you’ll see great success.
As a part of our series about strong women leaders, we had the pleasure of interviewing Cedar Carter.
Cedar Carter has more than 20 years of collective experience across the apparel and wellness industries, working for companies such as ROXY, O’Neill and 2XU. She joined The Good Patch, a wellness brand known for its plant-infused patches that deliver sustained relief for everyday ailments, in 2019 as President and COO where she was responsible for growing sales, developing and retaining top talent, maximizing efficiency, and increasing bottom line profitability. After less than a year in her position, Carter was promoted to CEO to continue growing the brand’s consumer base, online offerings and retail presence nationwide. In addition to her operating expertise, she brings a breadth of knowledge in strategic digital, creative and brand marketing to the company. When she’s not working, Carter enjoys decompressing and taking care of her own wellness by surfing, running and practicing yoga.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! 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?
It’s always been important to me to work in an industry I’m passionate about, and as you might be able to guess by my name, my upbringing was very “earthy”. Wellness is something that every person strives toward, and to be a part of that every day journey is appealing to me. I started my career bringing people joy through clothing at brands such as BCBG, Roxy and O’Neill. I’ve always loved the way a good outfit can bring confidence, and I really enjoy surfing, so bridging the two was a great way to make my work fun. Now I’m excited to be a part of a wellness company, The Good Patch, bringing joy in the form of a patch and providing an alternative form of relief from life’s common ailments.
I began my career in marketing and public relations, but was always interested in the bigger picture. How did marketing fit into the company overall and drive lasting results? How could I impact the company as a whole? That eventually led me into a GM role at an activewear brand, then President/COO for The Good Patch, and now CEO.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Joining a new company, in a new industry, and then diving headfirst into a pandemic was certainly interesting! I’m always up for a challenge and with the biggest challenges come the greatest rewards. I’m really proud of our small team and how hard everyone worked to pivot our business from primarily wholesale through apparel and spa accounts, to more “essential” wholesale channels while building our online business. To be a start-up and not only survive, but also thrive during 2020 was a big accomplishment for our entire team.
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?
Well, there was the time I was running down the hall with an armful of folders from one meeting to another and didn’t see the mail cart, so yeah, you can use your imagination there. In all seriousness, the biggest lesson I learned along the way was always follow your passion. It can be very tempting to follow the money instead of following along a profession or industry you’re passionate about, but it’s not worth it in the end. If you work hard (like REALLY work hard and give it your all), you’ll end up achieving more in a career path you enjoy.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
There have been so many people along the way who have been supportive of my journey. I didn’t come from a family or area with a lot of connections, so I had to make my own way. Every job, since I was 12 years old assisting gymnastics classes to pay for my own, has come from some connection or relationship I made at a previous job. My job coaching led to another coaching job in college, which led to coaching at a summer camp on the east coast, which led to a prestigious internship at Donna Karan, which eventually led to a job at BCBG, and so on.
When I got to Donna Karan and realized I was the only intern in the department, I asked why they decided to hire me. The answer was, “We could tell you wanted it the most and would work the hardest.” That was true, and it continues to guide me to this day as a CEO.
As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?
Exercise in some form works best for me, along with being prepared for whatever I’m walking into of course. Going for a surf calms my mind like nothing else. Running (without technology) clears my thoughts before a big meeting and allows me to focus and lowers my stress level overall. Yoga is also a tool I use that just makes my entire mind and body feel good.
As you know, the United States is currently facing a very important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality and inclusion. This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?
There are so many reasons this is important, but from a basic business perspective, the world is diverse. The potential consumers buying the products you’re selling are diverse. Different perspectives are key to having a view outside your own bubble so you can make informed decisions that make your products resonate.
Equality is a must. It’s important we instill the value of equality in our families and employees, and lead by example in every aspect of our lives, from the boardroom to our daily interactions.
Any way you look at it, diversity and equality is something we should all stand for together.
As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.
We need to be a resource for the people coming after us. Share our valuable time, give advice, help others who are less privileged get ahead.
At The Good Patch, we donate a portion of sales from our product, Rise Effervescent Tablets, to a scholarship fund that supports underprivileged youths in Los Angeles. The organization is called Ambition, and it has a direct effect on people’s lives. We also participate in their mentoring program and encourage all staff members to use work hours to spend time volunteering.
But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?
An executive is the glue that holds it all together and points it in the right direction. If you’re at a start-up that also means rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty. An executive gathers info and makes decisions that guide the big picture, leads by example and sets the tone for the organization and corporate culture.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?
I think sometimes people think executives have it easy and have lots of people doing all sorts of work for them. In reality, there is an immense amount of pressure and responsibility that goes along with the role. A large amount of work needs to be put in to operate a business on a daily basis, at any size, and to guide along a bigger path for a successful future for both the company and its employees.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Unfortunately, while I do think it’s getting better, there is still a stigma for women once they have children. I’ve certainly experienced it, although I’ve also experienced wonderfully supportive people along the way. There’s also often a double standard as to how a strong woman versus a strong man is perceived.
It’s been very interesting to have a name that’s often perceived as male, and I think a benefit in many cases. I find people email me one way when they think they’re interacting with a man and another way once they find out I’m a woman.
What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?
I don’t think I had a lot of pre-conceived notions of what the job would be. I try to go into every new job with an open mind and the confidence to know that I can gather info and make informed decisions, even if I haven’t done a specific role before. I know every new job is a lot of work, and there are a lot of things you just won’t know until you do them, and that’s okay.
In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?
A successful executive has opinions based on facts, is not afraid to hire people smarter than themselves, and enjoys mentoring and leading a team. I like to hire good people who know more about the specific thing I’m hiring them for than I do. If you give them the tools, information and encouragement to succeed you’ll see great success.
If you’re in it for the power or don’t like to share the success that your team helped build, you’ll end up with a horrible corporate culture and won’t attract good talent — it’s all about the people.
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
Lead by example, hire good people, be confident in your ability to make informed decisions. Don’t be afraid to have empathy, and listen. You may have a general management style, but each individual needs the style of management that motivates them. You need to manage what your team needs to be successful, which will ultimately guide your success.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I sure hope I have! I try to serve as a mentor to current and former employees, empowering them to make their career goals a reality.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
Follow a career path you’re passionate about because you spend the majority of your week working — may as well enjoy it!
Try to find something close to home. I commuted about 1.5 hours each way for years and it was such a waste of valuable time. I think that’s getting better now that there are more tools to work remotely and it’s more accepted.
Find a mentor and don’t be afraid to engage them. There are so many people out there who are happy to help others along in their journey — having a couple of people you can bounce situations off of or who can help guide you is so valuable.
Build your network along the way because you never know who will help you or provide that critical introduction you need. It may be your intern, so treat everyone with equal respect, no matter how “important” you view them to be.
Nobody had to tell me this, but work hard and it will be recognized and rewarded — don’t give up.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Wow, I’d say a basic concept like “pay it forward” can go a long way. Do one nice thing for someone else each day. Write that LinkedIn referral, offer to be a reference, thank someone for a job well done, instill confidence in those coming after you. Teach your boys to respect strong women and teach your girls that they can do anything they set their mind to. Treat everyone, everyone, with equal respect. Sounds easy, right?!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Someone gave me a paperweight early on in my career that says, “what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I still have it on my desk today. It’s a little reminder that things are scary, but just meet them head on and power through. Failure is okay, and sometimes necessary, as long as you learn from it. I don’t know anyone who has been successful without a little failure along the way.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them
Michelle Obama. I think she’s such an amazing example of a strong woman who encourages others to realize their full potential through mentoring the younger generation. She also just seems like a fun and down to earth person!
Remember your why: Why do you want to lose weight, why do you want to eat clean, why do you want to work out more? I hear all the time, “I can’t have carbs” or “I have to go to the gym”. Why? Keeping your why top of mind will help guide you and put any changes you are making into perspective. For example, eating anti-inflammatory foods doesn’t really mean anything to me, but being able to get on the floor and play cars with my 10 year old because my joints don’t hurt — now that means a lot.
As a part of my series about “5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve One’s Wellbeing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jill Bucaro.
Jill is an Integrative Health Practitioner and owner of Wellness Riot. She has a degree in Kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a graduate of the Naturopathic Doctor program through Trinity School of Natural Health, a Board Certified Doctor of Natural Medicine through the American Naturopathic Medical Certification Board and a certified Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Jill helps busy men and women who feel stressed, tired and overwhelmed come up with a plan to feel like their joyful, energetic selves again. She also has many tricks up her sleeve for kids, so she loves helping parents who are looking for healthy solutions that include the whole family. Jill’s true desire is to make health and wellness accessible, affordable, and exciting for everyone.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the story about how you first got involved in fitness and wellness?
Absolutely, I appreciate the opportunity to connect with you! It’s been a lifetime of events that guided me to where I am today. I was introduced to the idea of healthy food by my 70s granola mom. We had black strap molasses and wheat germ in everything, no fast food and very little soda. At school, nobody would trade lunches with me, so I had no choice but to eat what she packed! As a teenager and in college, I rebelled a bit (OK, maybe a lot) and ate all sorts of junk…and paid for it. It was during those years that I started to understand what you eat really affects how you feel. At the same time, my mom went through some health issues related to artificial sweeteners, which initiated my skepticism towards “magic bullets”. When I became pregnant at age 35, I was automatically lumped into a high risk category (even the word geriatric was used as a descriptor of me on a doctor’s invoice!). This confused me because I was waaaay healthier at 35 than I was at 25, so I started to question the markers and measures they used to determine health status. Why did the doctors only look at my age to determine risk of pregnancy? Why is 35 considered elderly? If we are supposed to feel worse as we age (because isn’t that what we’re told?), why did I feel better at 35 than 25 and now feel even better at 46? Why didn’t all my friends and family feel better as they aged? Why did some people get diseases and others didn’t? A few years later, I started to experience some difficulty with swallowing and digestion. I was eating pretty healthy at this point (I understand “eating pretty healthy” can mean like a thousand things), but I had an incredibly stressful job and a 3 year old, so I started to understand what an impact stress can have on physical health. On top of that, my doctor (a GI doctor, mind you) never asked me about what I ate, what I drank or any lifestyle questions at all. After an endoscopy showed I had erosions in my stomach, I was given two prescriptions to take indefinitely and a wave goodbye. I decided to do my homework and ended up resolving the issue by adding and subtracting foods and supplements and incorporating some serious stress management strategies. I felt like a superhero! And I thought about how many people I knew that could benefit from this kind of information, yet I was sure they didn’t know any of it. I returned to school so I could add some credentials to my passion and now I help empower people to improve their own health. Anyone can do this, anyone can feel better regardless of starting point.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
I was preparing to do a presentation at a local health food store about advocating for your own health. I had reached out to a friend of mine, a medical doctor, because I had wanted to get his thoughts and perspective on what patients could do to help support their own health journey. He replied with “Happy to help, but I would probably learn more from you than you would from me.” It really took me by surprise, a medical doctor thought he could learn from me? I felt humbled and honored and proud, it was definitely a wow moment.
Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?
Well, I always like to try things out before I form an opinion about or recommend them. I had heard about the Master Cleanse and wanted to give it a whirl. Now, I had read up on the program in pretty great detail before embarking, but didn’t realize just how serious my relationship with the loo would become. Oh, and sometimes your breath is less than desirable. And mood fluctuations are not totally uncommon. And the best part? I decided to start it just two weeks after moving in with my boyfriend. Why I decided to turn my digestive world upside down at that particular time still stumps me, but thankfully my now husband found it adorable…or at least not a deal breaker.
Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority in the fitness and wellness field? In your opinion, what is your unique contribution to the world of wellness?
I think being an authority in any field means you are always open to learning more. I love learning, I like seeing and hearing all perspectives. In the health and wellness arena, there are many “sides” and the battles between sides can be fierce. I think it does everyone a disservice when we don’t listen to what others have to say, even if we think we disagree. If you hear the other side and still disagree, fine. But what if you learn something?
My specialty is really sleuthing or getting to the root cause of health issues. Most people know what is going on — can’t sleep, excess weight, low energy, aches and pains, bloating, etc. I help people figure out why it’s going on. Then I help them take small and sustainable steps towards optimal health. I treat everyone as an individual, no one size fits all for me!
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?
You’re so right! I consider myself fortunate to have had so many amazing people contribute to my vision, journey and success, but I’ll try to pick one to highlight. Angie Ates was one of my instructors at Trinity School of Natural Health, she was dynamic, knowledgeable and so much fun. After I graduated and was knee deep in the job search, I mentioned her name at an interview because she had access to a book that was relevant to the position I was applying for. I got the job (thanks Angie!) and a few weeks later, the company informed me they had reached out to her and she was coming out to help us with some training, so our paths crossed again. We kept in touch over the next few years, mostly through social media. She started her own school for natural health and had posted that she was looking for nutrition experts to teach modules as part of a Family Nutrition Course. I submitted interest and got the gig (thanks again Angie!). She was incredibly helpful, supportive and positive through the process and continues to support me in multiple ways. Much gratitude.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. We all know that it’s important to eat more vegetables, eat less sugar, exercise more, and get better sleep etc. But while we know it intellectually, it’s often difficult to put it into practice and make it a part of our daily habits. In your opinion what are the 3 main blockages that prevent us from taking the information that we all know, and integrating it into our lives?
Ah, that’s the good stuff, isn’t it? They say knowledge is power, but it’s truly action that is power. So, here are 3 things that keep us from doing what we know is best:
We make it too complicated. Do you think hundreds and thousands of years ago people were counting grams of carbs or timing out their protein intake or spending hours reading ingredient labels? Nope. They ate whole, unprocessed foods, drank plenty of water, moved around in functional ways, got some sleep and spent time outside. The end. OK, I might be simplifying it a little bit, but we really do make things more complex than is necessary. And overcomplicating things is a great way to come to a dead stop.
We think it can’t be fun. Now, I’ll admit that the health and wellness community is not necessarily known for its levity, however you can still enjoy your life while eating healthfully. In fact, I would argue that you can actually have more fun if you eat nutrient dense food and get some regular movement in because you will feel better. And I happen to think feeling great is pretty darn fun.
If it doesn’t work in 5 minutes, we’re not interested. We have become big fans of instant results, but unfortunately, the quickest solution isn’t always the best. It might help in the short term, but for how long and at what cost?
Can you please share your “5 Non-Intuitive Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve One’s Wellbeing”? (Please share a story or an example for each, and feel free to share ideas for mental, emotional and physical health.)
Happy to share! In addition to each tweak, I’ve included a specific action step that you can take today to get started.
1.) Remember your why: Why do you want to lose weight, why do you want to eat clean, why do you want to work out more? I hear all the time, “I can’t have carbs” or “I have to go to the gym”. Why? Keeping your why top of mind will help guide you and put any changes you are making into perspective. For example, eating anti-inflammatory foods doesn’t really mean anything to me, but being able to get on the floor and play cars with my 10 year old because my joints don’t hurt — now that means a lot.
ACTION STEP: Write down your why, keep it handy, keep it visible and always keep it in mind.
2.) Think beyond food: Many times, we don’t consider stress, work, physical activity, relationships, toxin overload or sleep when it comes to health. You can eat all the salads and smoothies you want, but if you are working 80 hours a week, in a toxic relationship, not sleeping or overscheduled, at best you will see some improvements, then plateau, but often you won’t see any changes at all and end up feeling frustrated. So, always take a holistic view.
ACTION STEP: Write these things down and rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10: Stress, work environment, home environment, movement/physical activity, sleep, toxins, relationships and community. Now put some attention on the areas where you scored the lowest.
3.) Remember what our bodies and minds know, love and are familiar with: Some things we see as normal today really aren’t. Sitting all day, being inside, on screens, staying up all or most of the night, driving, drinking out of plastic, taking medication, processed food, pesticides and cleaning with chemicals are all things we see as everyday and not out of the ordinary, but when we think a few thousand or even a few hundred years ago, almost none of that was in place. It’s really a tiny sliver of time that this has been our norm compared to how long humans have been on the planet and our bodies just haven’t had time to adapt. This also applies to getting healthy: Processed “healthy” snack bars, sugar free beverages, counting calories, grams or ounces, invasive procedures like stomach stapling or liposuction are all foreign to our bodies. Our bodies will try to compensate and deal with it (and they are experts at doing so), but it takes energy and causes stress, so it’s always best to stick to what’s in alignment with nature.
ACTION STEP: Go through your day and compare your environment, your actions, your routine, your food to what it might have been like 10,000 years ago.
4.) Stop being everyone (or anyone) else: We are all different and while there are some things that are generally good for all of us like eating more vegetables and drinking plenty of clean water, there is a lot that can vary from one person to another. Have you ever started a diet or eating plan with a friend, family member or co-worker and one of you does great and one, not so much? Or have you ever bought a book, started to follow the plan, but you don’t actually feel any better? In fact, you feel even worse? Then what happens? We think it must be something we did wrong. So on top of not seeing the improvements we want, we feel terrible about it and start questioning our integrity, our ability to commit, our knowledge. Nothing is for everyone. Some of our bodies tolerate dairy, some don’t, some do well with grains, some like to go longer between meals, some thrive on raw foods. When we tune into our bodies and really feel what works and what doesn’t, it’s amazing what we can do and how great we can feel.
ACTION STEP: Track what you eat and how you feel for a few weeks. Consider not only tummy issues, but how you sleep, your energy levels in the afternoon, mood fluctuations, aches and pains and mental clarity. Then use this information to make decisions about what to continue doing and what to change.
5.) Don’t make 50 changes overnight: I, too, have done 7 day health challenges and 21 day challenges. And even if they went well, I’ll tell you what happened on day 8 or day 22: Back to the routine I was used to and back to the health issues I was used to. Of course, because these were unsustainable changes that were not meant for the long term. Making small, but impactful changes over time may not seem glamorous or thrilling, but small changes work and they last…without turning your world upside down. Changes should push you outside of your comfort zone, but they shouldn’t add stress to your life because honestly, don’t we have plenty of that already?
ACTION STEP: Think of ONE thing you can do to step towards health. Implement that for a couple weeks or until you are comfy with it, then add on.
As an expert, this might be obvious to you, but I think it would be instructive to articulate this for the public. Aside from weight loss, what are 3 benefits of daily exercise? Can you explain?
Three things my clients (and most people) are concerned about are energy, mood and sleep. Studies have shown that exercise can positively impact all three areas! In addition to having a direct effect on energy, mood and sleep, the 3 areas impact each other. When you’re less stressed, you may have an easier time falling asleep and when you get quality sleep, your energy is more balanced. Win-win-win!
For someone who is looking to add exercise to their daily routine, which 3 exercises would you recommend that are absolutely critical?
What’s most critical is choosing an activity that you enjoy and will actually do. Do you like dancing? Dance! If you find joy in running, run. If yoga is your jam, then om and namaste to you. With that said, something that increases your heart rate (walk, swim, run, bike, hike) a few times a week has been shown to benefit your cardiovascular system. Strength training, which can look like lifting weights or exercises that use your own body weight, has been shown to help support bone health and improve muscle mass, which can give your metabolism a boost. And don’t forget to stretch! Stretching helps improve flexibility, posture, range of motion and can help decrease the risk of injury…and it just feels so darn good.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?
Only one?? There are countless, but one that sticks out is In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. I loved reading it and I really loved sharing it. I bought it for every person I knew for any and every holiday that year. I believe health is much simpler than we make it out to be and this book just nails that concept. It also is full of aha moments with regards to how food is processed, just how much food is processed, how food companies get to put questionable foods on the shelves (Olestra, anyone?), farming practices and who actually benefits when we eat a certain way.
You are a person of enormous 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. 🙂
Well first of all, thank you for the compliment! My movement would focus on increasing the availability, accessibility and affordability of proactive and preventative health solutions. At this time, very few of these modalities are available through or covered by insurance, which puts them out of reach for many that need them most. We need to connect medical doctors and health coaches. Every medical doctor — general or specialized — has a coach to support their patients post appointment. The average doctor’s appointment is 12 minutes, this is not nearly enough time to address the root cause of symptoms, discuss a thorough health history or provide detail regarding approachable and sustainable solutions. The doctor and coach work together to ensure their patients succeed in feeling better, and not just by masking symptoms, but by getting to the root cause of the issue and supporting the patient as they make diet and lifestyle changes.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
Growing up, my dad would regularly ask my brother and I to help with chores around the house (as dads tend to do). We usually replied with a groan or grumble, to which he would say “I’m not asking you to cut your finger off, I’m asking you to [fill in chore]”. We hated when he said that, but it makes me laugh now for a couple reasons. First, he was right, he never once asked us to cut off our finger. And second, we most certainly and positively overreacted to his simple requests. I think of this saying often when I’m faced with a task or work I don’t want to do because in some weird way, it puts things in perspective. I have not yet needed to cut off my finger, and for that I’m grateful.
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 just see this if we tag them 🙂
Dr. Zach Bush, hands down. I don’t know of another human that is so captivating, so heart and humanity focused and so in alignment with nature. He’s what we need in the world. If you have not heard him speak, I urge you to do so, you’ll walk away changed.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
Women In Wellness: Delia Passi of WomenCertified on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
Be informed and smart as to where to go for the best health care. Go to the Women’s Choice Award website and become familiar with the best in emergency care, stroke care, heart care, obstetrics, orthopedic care, bariatrics, breast care and so much more. Just know before you go, because if can cost you your life!
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Delia Passi.
Delia Passi is the founder and CEO of WomenCertified Inc., the home of the Women’s Choice Award®. The award allows consumers to identify brands and health care facilities that meet the needs and expectations of female customers based on robust criteria and data that consider a woman’s experience. It was named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies for three consecutive years. She is the former publisher of Working Mother and Working Woman magazines and was responsible for the success of the “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers” list. Delia has dedicated her career to empowering women and is a leader in marketing and selling to women. She is the author of Winning the Toughest Customer: The Essential Guide to Selling to Women. She has been a keynote speaker for multiple Fortune 500 companies including Toyota, Wells Fargo, Ameriprise, Office Depot, Merrill Lynch, UPS, Microsoft, Harley Davidson, Lexus and more.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Thank you for the opportunity to share my story and passion to empower women. I am the former Group Publisher of Working Mother and Working Woman magazines and author of Winning the Toughest Customer: The Essential Guide to Selling to Women. In 2003 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and experienced a horrific health care experience, which made me determined to empower every woman to make smarter health care choices by providing publicly available reporting on the best breast centers and hospitals. The need was evident as the brand grew and expanded quickly, resulting in being named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing companies for three consecutive years.
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?
Wow, this is a tough one as I’ve been blessed and challenged with lots of life lessons! After starting, growing, selling and closing a custom publishing company, I needed a job as I was a single mom of three young girls, so I accepted a business development consulting role at Working Mother magazine at far below what I was making running my own company. I remember walking into my new office which was a converted closet, with a small desk and a phone. I turned my experience as a custom publisher into an entire new revenue stream for the magazine, creating special advertising sections, custom books and customer inserts, generating millions of dollars for a struggling magazine. Three months later I was offered the publisher position, and 18 months later Group Publisher position. Lesson — When you know your worth it doesn’t matter where you start, what matters is what you do.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Greatest mistake was selling 40 percent of my custom publishing business to a publically traded company without a protection clause. Three years later the parent company filed Chapter 11. End result was that my entire team of amazing, dedicated staff of mostly single, working mothers had to be told without notice that their jobs were terminated. The hardest day of my career.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’ve been blessed to have a few amazing mentors, mostly men. My dearest champion was Ben Bliss. By the time I met him he was retired but quite a force in his time as an “Ad Man on Mad Men” personified. He had no fear and taught me how to see beyond boundaries, to call anyone and to network with everyone until you get what you need. He showed me the true meaning of “the sky’s the limit.”
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?
We all thrive when women are empowered to choose the best health care for her and her families. Choosing the best care was, and continues to be, a challenge, especially for certain demographics, but fortunately for women and men the Women’s Choice Award provides a free resource where patients are provided fact-based reporting and ratings on every hospital as well as for breast centers, mammogram imaging, surgical centers and more.
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) Be informed and smart as to where to go for the best health care. Go to the Women’s Choice Award website and become familiar with the best in emergency care, stroke care, heart care, obstetrics, orthopedic care, bariatrics, breast care and so much more. Just know before you go, because if can cost you your life!
2) Breathe — learn to destress by a simple breathing exercise you can do anywhere and when needed to lower your blood pressure and anxiety.
3) Know your body, know your breast, be in tune to changes.
4) Early detection is so important so be proactive — when something doesn’t seem right don’t put off going to the doctor.
5) Sleep well. You hear this often, so if you haven’t embraced getting a solid 7–8 hours of sleep, then get started on a healthier you tonight.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Well, I’ll give you a sneak peek of what’s coming as that’s my health moonshot! To give every woman in America access to the best of the best doctors on demand and the drugs she needs at costs she can afford. We will be launching in markets throughout the USA soon through OKVera.com.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Don’t be discouraged by naysayers. People love to share all the reasons why things won’t work. If you have a clear vision of your success you can make it happen!
Starting a business is going to take an extraordinary amount of perseverance, beyond what you think you can handle.
Identify the people you want to help you succeed and then approach them. Don’t be afraid, the worst thing to happen is that they say no, but most will offer at least some valuable advice.
Be prepared with enough money in the bank to carry your household for 18 months when starting a business.
Don’t ever personally sign for a startup business loan. Find another way.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Mental health. One of my daughters, an attorney, struggles with ADHD and depends on Adderall. I see first-hand the many challenges she faces with access convenience, access to her prescriptions and support. Legislation needs to allow telehealth access so doctors can prescribe responsibly controlled substances while offering a convenient and affordable option to those in need. An opportunity we plan on addressing through OKVera.com.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
Women Of The C-Suite: Cathy Butler of Organic On The Five Things You Need To Succeed As A Senior Executive
Decisiveness — Your entire day as a CEO is spent making decisions.. I don’t think I understood the importance of this skill until I was in my first CEO role. As the person who has the final say in everything at your company you cannot be paralyzed about making a decision or you break the entire system you’ve worked so hard to create.
As a part of our series about strong women leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Cathy Butler.
Cathy Butler is the CEO of digital agency Organic, where she leads the agency with over 20 years of marketing and tech experience. She has worked with brands like Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo and American Express in their ambition to be digital-first businesses.
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?
My career beginning was unusual compared to most advertising agency CEOs. I started out with the goal to be a music journalist and my first job was at Rolling Stone Magazine. While I was there I helped the magazine move their content and experience online and in the process I discovered that “online”, whatever that meant at the time, was interesting. With some nascent online experience, I then went on to launch Epicurious, and e-commerce for Barnes and Noble and IKEA. It was really exciting to create anew, but also led to a deep but early understanding of online customer experience. I then jumped into agency land, working my way through roles in project management, operations, learned to run a P&L, and marketing/client service, leading bigger and bigger teams. It was this tour of duty that prepared me for being a CEO.
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?
There’s been a few times, early on in my CEO journey and through today, where I’ve been mistakenly overlooked as someone who holds the decision making power. I’m a petite Asian American woman and, at first glance, assumptions have proven that I don’t ladder up to the look of engrained CEO expectations. It’s a reminder of the challenges that female leaders continue to face, and that we have a long way to go to reset expectations.
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?
Gavin Fraser, now CEO of Small Planet, was instrumental in my early career. I don’t think I’d be where I am today without his mentorship, guidance and support. He really understood my ambition to lead a company one day and he helped me cultivate skills that I needed to become a CEO. Under his wing, I worked intentionally across every facet of running a company from P&L management through marketing to client services.
In my work, I often talk about how to release and relieve stress. As a busy leader, what do you do to prepare your mind and body before a stressful or high stakes meeting, talk, or decision? Can you share a story or some examples?
I sleep a lot, and deprioritize many things (TV bingeing, invites, life!) so that I can get close to a coveted 8–9 hours of sleep. I learned this the hard way, having spent a couple of years incredibly stressed and sleep deprived. Getting enough sleep enables me to feel healthy, happy, productive and able to manage the stresses of my job. I also like to have personal projects outside of work that require commitment and focus; I’ve run five half marathons and am currently training for my first triathlon.
As you know, the United States is currently facing a very important self-reckoning about race, diversity, equality and inclusion. This may be obvious to you, but it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you articulate to our readers a few reasons why it is so important for a business or organization to have a diverse executive team?
As an Asian American female CEO, diversity is inherently part of my success story. so I am responsible for ensuring opportunities are available to future leaders. Equally important is our responsibility to create work that represents our world at large. People who are diverse create work that is diverse. It’s as simple as that.
As a business leader, can you please share a few steps we must take to truly create an inclusive, representative, and equitable society? Kindly share a story or example for each.
Declare it as a priority and understand this challenge is much larger than you or I. We have to do everything we can at an individual and company level to ensure we’re cultivating an inclusive environment that strives towards a more equitable world. This isn’t about celebrating a DEI benchmark on paper or highlighting cultural history for one month out of the year. It’s about making conscious efforts each day to foster an environment where each voice is heard and respected so that we can all share in the benefits of diversity. At Organic, we host recurring “UnTownhalls’’ to create space for all voices to be heard and we coordinate regular 1:1 meetings between folks that don’t normally work closely together as another way to foster inclusivity and connection internally. Our goals for diversity will prevail if we continuously instill inclusivity as a belief system and exercise those values transparently.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a CEO or executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what an executive does that is different from the responsibilities of the other leaders?
My main job is to set a vision and to simplify the complexities of achieving that vision. To do so requires a macro view of everything happening at our company — from our people to our clients, the work being produced to our fiscal performance. Details really matter to me, and my goal is to create a company that feels personal with great career opportunities.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a CEO or executive. Can you explain what you mean?
Being the CEO can be a lonely gig. There is a perception that CEOs aren’t normal people and I spend a lot of time demystifying that belief. I try to make it clear that what separates me from everybody else is just my level of experience. I am not a super human. I make mistakes, I’m super clumsy and I have terrible ideas. I put in effort so that people really get to know me, and to know that I care. A lot. My goal is to talk to 3–5 employees every day. I have smaller breakfast meetings with specific teams and coffee with all new hires. I do whatever it takes for my employees to see me as a real person, not some distant, out of touch leader — even when it means getting out of my comfort zone as an introvert.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women executives that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Career planning and skill building is so important for women. There is a lot of research pointing to the importance of women being proactive about their own careers. For example, if women aren’t managing somebody within the first three years of their job, their career path will be entirely different than a woman who gets that early management experience. Young women entering the workforce have to be their own best advocates, be vocal about their goals and own their career development.
What is the most striking difference between your actual job and how you thought the job would be?
I never considered how lonely the CEO role is. There’s a lot you have to keep close to your chest while making pivotal decisions every day.
Certainly, not everyone is cut out to be an executive. In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful executive and what type of person should avoid aspiring to be an executive? Can you explain what you mean?
Decisiveness. Your entire day as a CEO is spent making decisions.. I don’t think I understood the importance of this skill until I was in my first CEO role. As the person who has the final say in everything at your company you cannot be paralyzed about making a decision or you break the entire system you’ve worked so hard to create.
You also need to be capable of earning trust. My approach is to be completely transparent — I will answer any question that I’m asked. This is especially true if you are pushing for dramatic change in your company. When you are asking everyone to take a huge leap of faith in your vision, you have to be open and honest about what that means.
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
Your career isn’t a linear progression. You have to develop skills you need to get you to where you want to be. I recently interviewed a candidate for a HR position who never held any HR-specific roles however her entrepreneurial endeavours taught her skills that are invaluable to this particular role. The more time you spend on growing and broadening your skillset, the more opportunities you can create for yourself.
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I make a point to get to know my junior staff and build relationships with each of them. A goal of mine is to foster an environment where we can all learn from each other and cultivate opportunities for the next generation of women leadership.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
It’s not about climbing the hierarchy. It’s about preparing yourself for the expertise you’ll need to succeed in your dream role.
Work/life balance is impossible. Set yourself up for success by organizing your priorities (and your calendar) while staying flexible instead of getting bogged down trying to strike a perfect balance.
Perception is reality when you’re a leader and you’ll have to rise above those presumptions to be successful.
True authenticity requires self-reflection. I carve out time each week to reflect on the days past and week ahead.
Be receptive to change and committed to collaboration.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Building corporate cultures around the idea of Positive Intent. If we all believed and behaved in the best interests of each other — no politicking, not acting on our insecurities, and thinking about the greater good of the company — the fundamental DNA of your corporate culture would be built upon trust. Trust breeds great relationships and great work. And that’s important to all corporate futures.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Are you a Giver or a Taker?” It’s a fundamental question that those on the cusp of or are in leadership roles really need to define for themselves as it shapes your leadership style. Adam Grant’s book (Give and Take) transformed how I defined the traits about being a good leader.
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them
Barack Obama or Oprah. They’re both incredible listeners, great decision makers and very empathetic — all qualities that I admire in a leader. I continuously strive to hone those leadership qualities in my position.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Dr. Brian G. Brown of ‘The Genesis Zone Advantage’: 5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness
Surviving & Thriving, Never The Victim. A phenomenon that I’ve noticed after years of clinical practice is that those who identify as surviving and thriving almost always have the highest optimized mental wellness. There’s no room for being a victim of your mind. This doesn’t mean that, by definition, you’re not a victim. The difference is that you do notidentify as a victim. Much like letting go of offense, this is an active choice that may need to be practiced daily.
As a part of my series about the “5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Brian G. Brown of the Genesis Zone Advantage™.
Dr. Brian G. Brown, the “Gene Fatigue” Doc, is a functional & integrated practitioner, author, and international speaker. He leans into his 23 years of experience to help high-achievers naturally eliminate “gene fatigue” obstacles that lead to unresolved emotional and physical challenges, so they can optimize for higher achievement & live the life of their dreams.
Dr. Brian accomplishes this by focusing first on the genetic causes, which he calls the True Root Causes™. Through this lens, he can facilitate more precise and practical recovery and performance optimization using gene-centered nutrition & supplementation.
After an undiagnosed pediatric heart condition that nearly claimed his life and left him with extreme fatigue and a host of physical and mental health challenges, Dr. Brian developed the Genesis Zone Advantage™, an efficient 4-step formula to naturally resolve emotional and physical health challenges at their True Root Causes™. Powered by his proprietary formula, Dr. Brian has helped thousands overcome emotional and physical difficulties, reclaim energy, and optimize their life for high achievement.
Dr. Brian is the author of the forthcoming books Health Hijackers for Women and Health Hijackers for Men. Dr. Brian is a dynamic presenter whose insights have been featured on podcasts and stages before world audiences. He can be found in Medium, Authority Magazine, Thrive Global, iHeart Radio, and forthcoming in BuzzFeed & Entrepreneur Magazine.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Around age five, I was electrocuted. Apparently, in the early ’70s, no one thought to check a kid’s heart status after an electrocution injury, so I was treated for burns and sent home. Within the year, I was waking with my heart pounding, shortness of breath, and profuse sweating. Everyone thought it was night terrors.
I carried the “night terror” diagnosis well into my adult years, even though less than 1% of children carry this into adulthood. By my early 30’s, I began struggling with anxiety and depression, and by the time I’d finished my medical training, I was placed on Prozac. This would be the first of nine different depression medications over the next 16 years.
Out of frustration with a broken medical system and a burning desire to end the madness, I set out on a journey to find healing. I closed my office practice and began working on re-educating and re-skilling. It’s led me to where I am today. Now, my focus is on healing the body, starting at the genetic level.
Genes are like light switches that can be turned on or off. They’re the basic building blocks of life. Most people think of genes in a negative light, but the overwhelming majority of our genes positively impact our health and often balance out the negative influences.
The key is knowing which of your genes have positive versus negative effects so that you can implement a custom-tailored plan to support your genes positively. Then, once this is done, other aspects of the healing journey come more easily and quickly.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
At the height of my frustration with mainstream medicine and the lack of healing that had occurred in my body, I had decided to leave mainstream medical practice. The problem was, I didn’t know how to get out of the hamster wheel.
Within days of saying to myself, “I can’t do this anymore. I’ve got to get out,” I attended a cardiovascular conference in Boston, Massachusetts. In the keynote address, Dr. Ernst Schaefer went utterly off-script. A Big Pharma company was paying him big bucks to speak about their drugs. Instead, he talked about natural treatment alternatives for cardiovascular disease management.
What he said piqued my interest, so I approached him as he exited the stage. He told me that with time, he’d concluded that the body was designed to heal and optimize itself. He’d also concluded that it sometimes needed a bit of help to get unstuck. He’d learned that natural alternatives were the answer, not the Big Pharma “chemical soup” prescriptions that many are forced to take.
Noticing my interest, he told me about a colleague and friend who offered functional and integrated medicine courses. He encouraged me to look him up and check into taking one of his classes. I accepted Dr. Schaefer’s challenge, and the next week I was in Salt Lake City, Utah at his friend’s course.
I left the course in Salt Lake City with an illuminated pathway off of the hamster wheel. Within 30 days, I announced to my patients that I was closing my office.
Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?
When I first started practicing, I had a blended practice; office, inpatient hospitalization, and nursing home. At least once per day, the funniest thing would happen when I saw patients in the nursing home. Fully adorned with a white lab coat and a stethoscope around my neck, I would walk into a patient’s room, and they would ask me, “Are you a preacher?”
For years, it made me uncomfortable, I would laugh nervously, and I would politely correct them. I later concluded this was a mistake. My take-away was this. To those at the end of life, a preacher, pastor, reverend, rabbi, or priest is a symbol of comfort in times of distress. Who was I to take that away from them?
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?
Hands down, without my wife, I wouldn’t be where I am today. We married at age 19 and 20 and put each other through college and graduate school. She’s been my number one cheerleader encouraging me through all of my educational, professional, and entrepreneurial endeavors.
What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?
To my colleagues in mainstream medicine who’ve been practicing for at least ten years, there’s a high possibility that you are burned out. So the question is this, “How do you stop the burnout cycle?” The answer, you get out of the hamster wheel.
Einstein was credited with saying, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results.” Regardless of who said it, there’s a lot of truth here. Many busy professionals live in an endless loop of insanity.
As medical professionals, we’ve invested a lot of time and money into our education, so getting out of the hamster wheel seems daunting.
The best advice I can give is to make self-care a top priority. If you don’t take care of yourself, who will be there to care for others?
Lastly, allow yourself to think outside the box regarding your continuing medical education (CME). Mainstream medicine is notorious for shackling us with blinders that make us focus only on what’s inside the box.
Take the blinders off and get some CME’s in an alternative medicine field; acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, bio-identical hormone replacement, functional medicine, or naturopathy. These are but a few examples of the limitless possibilities from which to choose.
What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?
Two things come to mind. For some, this first one may not be practical, but for many, it will be. Every single one of my staff is a product of the product. Being in the functional and integrative medicine space, all of my team members were clients before coming to work for me.
Culturally, having staff who were clients first sets an excellent tone for interoffice interactions and client interactions. It conveys a depth of empathy and understanding of processes that’s unparalleled in standard-hire situations. So, when possible, I encourage you to foster an environment where staff can be a product of the product.
Secondly, coming out of the first COVID year in 2020 has taught us a lot about work culture adaptation. I had been moving in the direction of telehealth for several years, but the rest of my team worked from a physical office building. One of the most significant epiphany moments has been allowing a flexible work environment. If a staff member wants to work from home, then do so. If they wish to work in the office, then do so. We’ve seen workplace happiness and productivity increase with this model.
Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Mental health is often looked at in binary terms; those who are healthy and those who have mental illness. The truth, however, is that mental wellness is a huge spectrum. Even those who are “mentally healthy” can still improve their mental wellness. From your experience or research, what are five steps that each of us can take to improve or optimize our mental wellness. Can you please share a story or example for each.
I’m so glad you pointed out that mental wellness is not merely binary and that one can improve mental wellness even when it appears good already. This is why I prefer to use steps that are applicable no matter where you are on the spectrum.
In my 23 years of clinical experience, I’ve met people who struggled with unforgiveness and ingratitude. I’ve met others who considered themselves victims versus thriving human beings. Some had no concept of WHY they wanted or needed a wellness strategy. In any case, they unwittingly set themselves up for failure.
No matter your place on the spectrum, the effects can be disastrous if they aren’t kept top of mind. That’s why I’ve included these top five things that will optimize your mental wellness.
Let Go of Offense. We’re all human and make mistakes. Research tells us that society, as a whole, is angrier than the previous generation. This is primarily due to harboring unforgiveness or offense, and it can take down the mightiest of persons. Letting go of bitterness is an active choice. The mistake people make is thinking that it’s a “one and done” option. In most cases, it requires an ongoing process of actively choosing to let go and forgive.
Practice the Art of Gratitude. When it comes to mindset, the most straightforward place to start is gratitude. Keep a gratitude journal. At the end of your day, take an inventory of your wins for the day. Celebrate your successes and write a brief gratitude statement for each one.
Surviving & Thriving, Never The Victim. A phenomenon that I’ve noticed after years of clinical practice is that those who identify as surviving and thriving almost always have the highest optimized mental wellness. There’s no room for being a victim of your mind. This doesn’t mean that, by definition, you’re not a victim. The difference is that you do notidentify as a victim. Much like letting go of offense, this is an active choice that may need to be practiced daily.
Do You Have a Big Enough Why? I’ve come to learn that if your why is big enough, you can accomplish pretty much anything. I had a client that struggled for months to find a big enough reason why she should lose nearly 100 pounds. She would lose five pounds and gain seven due to self-sabotage. When the light bulb finally went off, she realized that if the weight loss didn’t occur, she could become disabled or die. This would relegate her twins to living with an abusive ex-husband — her why suddenly got big. Within ten months, she’d take off nearly 85 pounds. What is your why, and how big is it?
Progress Not Perfection. This is a hard one for most Type-A personalities because many are in hot pursuit of perfection. Perfectionism is a seductive mistress that’ll pull you into her vortex of lies that she is the same as progress. Although it’s possible to achieve progress during perfectionist pursuits, it demands a tremendous amount of energy and resources that often lead to burnout. The answer is what I call “The 51% Rule.” With this rule, dial perfectionism down from 100% to 51%. In the end, you’ll discover that you’re able to get more accomplished, be able to keep your sanity intact, and feel better physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.
Much of my expertise focuses on helping people to plan for after retirement. Retirement is a dramatic ‘life course transition’ that can impact one’s health. In addition to the ideas you mentioned earlier, are there things that one should do to optimize mental wellness after retirement? Please share a story or an example for each.
Whether you’re retirement age, in mid-life, or approaching mid-life, there is one thing that you can do to solidify the optimization of your mental wellness. You can learn to nutritionally support your genes.
I hear things from clients in mid-life and beyond like, “I don’t have time to feel bad… have low energy… or deal with depression or anxiety. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. I’m tired of dying a slow, miserable, painful, and grouchy death.”
Once I’ve identified your gene imbalances, I craft a custom-tailored plan to support your genes nutritionally. This allows your genes to function correctly so that symptoms like depression, anxiety, irritability, brain fog, and low energy begin to resolve quickly in days versus months. It also saves you years worth of expensive guesswork found with other methods.
How about teens and pre teens. Are there any specific new ideas you would suggest for teens and pre teens to optimize their mental wellness?
The basic human need as a teen and pre-teen is belonging versus individualism. There’s a persistent struggle to belong while remaining a uniqueindividual. If I could give teens and pre-teens any suggestions for achieving optimal mental wellness, I’d have to say to them, “Don’t let peer pressure define who you are. Be your own person and walk your own path.”
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?
The Big Leap by Dr. Gay Hendricks is a book that I’ve fallen in love with. Dr. Hendricks explains how to overcome the mental blocks that hold us back. He calls this The Upper Limit Problem. It’s a book that I keep on the corner of my desk and refer to often because once I’ve cracked through one upper limit and enter a new level, there always seems to be a new upper limit to breakthrough. Life is full of upper limits that deserve to be shattered. This book has helped me do that on numerous occasions.
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. 🙂
Like Dr. Gay Hendricks’ Upper Limit Problem, I would create a movement that helped people break through the upper limit of their physical issues at the genetic level as well as their thoughts and emotions. Not surprisingly, as genetic research advances, we’re learning that our thoughts and emotions intersect at meridians within the nervous system that is regulated by gene expression. In essence, the two are inseparable.
With technology having advanced as much as it has the past few years, we’re now able to identify genes that can be nutritionally supported to operate more optimally. When combined with eliminating all manner of “stinking thinking” and emotions that hijack our behavior, supporting genes to become expressed more healthily becomes the next evolutionary step in peak performance.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. ― Mark Twain
As far as relevance is concerned, I’ve learned that finding your why or purpose is a journey. I’ve found this pursuit to be a series of significant events that draw us closer to our destiny. That’s what I think Carl Jung meant when he said, “Life really does begin at forty. Up until then, you are just doing research.” I laugh to myself when I think of these quotes because I’ve done an awful lot of “research” in my lifetime.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
Women In Wellness: Renee Watt on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
Be tough on yourself. I don’t mean that in a worthiness sense, but in a work ethic sense. If you know that you have work to do, but you’re on your second hour of Animal Crossing, you may need to check yourself. Sometimes your only choice is to roll up your sleeves and make yourself do the work that needs to be done, even if you don’t feel like it.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Renee Watt.
Renee Watt is a Celebrity Psychic/Podcast Host that has been featured in such well-known publications as COSMO, INSTYLE and TEEN VOGUE. Her extensive knowledge of the spiritual realms empowers her clients and improves their quality of life through positivity and optimism. Renee is host of the weekly podcast THE GLITTER CAST and co-host of the livestream BETWIXT THE SHADOWS with SAL SANTORO. Renee is an expert in crystals and creates magickal kits that support empowerment, prosperity, and wellness.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I was introduced to the Tarot when I was only 10 years old. My eldest brother’s girlfriend at the time had a deck of her own, which she showed to me and my sister. I was immediately taken by the images, and the idea that I could tap into the future and discover hidden information. I saved my allowance, and a few weeks later I was in a new age store, where I purchased my first deck. I busted out those cards every chance I got, and could often be found giving readings at recess. Around this same time my mother took my siblings and I to a class on developing your psychic ability and intuition, which was an exciting detour from the Catholic Sunday school classes I was used to. As with the tarot, I took what I learned in that class and began offering psychic readings at sleepovers with my schoolmates. Not long after that, I found a book on witchcraft at a local used book store, and began practicing the craft. On my 13th birthday I formed a coven, and we would often meet for slumber parties that involved casting spells and dabbling in divination.
My high school years were a bit more angsty, and I moved away from spiritual practices in favor of punk rock and atheism, though I would still reach for my tarot deck from time to time. College ended up leading to some very dark times, and the majority of my 20’s had me struggling with a severe opiate addiction. At the age of 28 I was broke, in debt, living with my parents, about to get a divorce, and I finally got clean.
I wasn’t interested in 12 step plans or rehabilitation therapy, I’ve always been a pretty internal person, and I wanted to sort out my issues in a solitary manner. I began having extremely vivid dreams, which I noticed where oftentimes prophetic in one way or another. It was as though all the intuitive senses I possessed that I’d dulled with drugs and ignored for so long, came rushing back with an accuracy and clarity I’d never experienced before. Without a second thought I picked up my spiritual practices, as if they’d never left, and began to feel a peace and joy that I hadn’t known for a long time.
In an effort to find myself and experience freedom, I embarked upon a cross country road trip that lasted several months, with almost no money in my pocket. About a month into my journey, I found myself in Louisville, KY where I stayed with one of my friends from my college days. I was near broke and 1,700 miles away from home. I decided to head down to New Orleans. I befriended a street poet there, and he helped me learn the ropes of the French Quarter. I pulled out my tarot decks, set up a booth in Jackson Square, and offered readings to tourists. In one weekend I earned more than enough money to continue on my journey,, which helped me come to the realization that this could be a profession for me. A few months later I was packing my bags for Los Angeles, which is where my career really began to take off and where I remain today. I spend my days giving readings, writing horoscopes, filling orders and working on my website rainbowglitterstar.com and I also have a podcast “The Glitter Cast” and a youtube show “Betwixt the Shadows.”
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I’m not sure that there’s one interesting event that comes to mind, because every day is interesting to me. I have this unique privilege to peer into the lives of strangers every day, and I’m always surprised by the information that comes through in my readings. Outside of readings, I feel like a lot of my current success is the result of spells I’ve performed and the witchcraft I practice. When you live a life with so much focus on magick and intuition, every day brings forth synchronicities and surprises that are both big and small.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I am a person who is always trying to see the best in others, and for that reason I don’t always acknowledge red flags when they are presented to me. I think there was a period in my professional life when I may have trusted or gotten close to people who didn’t have my best interests at heart, and I went through some unfortunate experiences because of it. I definitely use more discernment when I am meeting new people on both a personal and professional level these days, though I still try to remain open — it’s a delicate balance.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’m lucky to work in an industry with colleagues that value helping others and doing good deeds. There have been many people who decided to take a chance on me by allowing me to work in their store, quoting me in articles, interviewing me for their podcasts, and the list goes on. I’ve been fortunate that the people in my life know that helping me doesn’t take away from their success, and we are always trying to lift each other up.
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?
In the content I create, like my horoscopes and podcasts, I stay away from negative messages or thought processes, and instead try to promote patience, love, and understanding. Within both public and private platforms, I share the tools I use to live a healthier, more balanced life. Whether it’s on my podcast or in a reading, I am always trying to encourage people to be their best. When I work with clients one-on-one my main objective is to empower them, so they can leave behind bad situations and evolve into a more successful and happier version of themselves. I think the work I do has a ripple effect. If I am able to help a client overcome their fears, they then have the chance to go out into the world and do something fantastic. I also have a variety of different products available on my website rainbowglitterstar.com , to help my clients and followers manifest the life they dream of living. I keep my prices as low as possible because I want these tools to be accessible to everyone.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.
1- Take care of your body! I believe that eating well and keeping a consistent exercise routine works wonders for mental health and will give you the stamina you need to grow your career.
2- Be tough on yourself. I don’t mean that in a worthiness sense, but in a work ethic sense. If you know that you have work to do, but you’re on your second hour of Animal Crossing, you may need to check yourself. Sometimes your only choice is to roll up your sleeves and make yourself do the work that needs to be done, even if you don’t feel like it.
3- Be gentle on yourself- As important as it is to have a strict work ethic, you also need to know when to chill out and slow down. If you need to schedule your bubble baths and self-care activities, write it in your planner and keep the appointment.
4- Be happy for other people’s success- Nothing good ever comes from directing anger or jealousy toward someone because they scored a win (even if it’s internal). For the same reason, it’s good to avoid negative gossip and people who try to drag you into those kinds of conversations.
5- Keep your thoughts positive- If you’re feeling exhausted, switch your internal dialogue from “I’m so tired” to “I have the energy to get through the day.” Programming your brain to move in a positive direction can work wonders for your psyche.
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’m such a solitary person, that I’m not sure I’d be great at starting a movement! I do however love the idea that the work I do could have an impact on others and could help them to live their best life. Movements inherently will attract and repel a certain type of people, because there is no one-size-fits-all path to wellness. I think people often need to explore a variety of lifestyle choices before they find what works best for them, and I just hope that they can be open enough to explore new things.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
I became a vegetarian at 10 years old, when I learned of the harsh realities within factory farming. I initially stopped eating meat because I felt sympathy for the animals, but as I expanded my knowledge on the subject, I realized there were environmental and health factors that validated my decision even further. As a teenager I became involved in political activism, with a focus on social justice and equality within race, gender, and sexual preference. I always try to be an advocate for those who are marginalized, and once a month I offer free readings to anyone who donates $25 or more to a progressive charity, which I promote on my Instagram @RainbowGlitterStar. I think the world needs a lot of help in a variety of ways, I don’t have one specific cause I feel committed to but do remain politically and socially active in a fluid sort of way — picking and choosing different charities to support throughout each year.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
You can follow my business account on Instagram @RainbowGlitterStar to keep up with my daily life and new products I release. For daily horoscopes and updates on podcast episodes follow @TheGlitterCast.
