Women In Wellness: Julie McClure of HelloMe On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support…

Women In Wellness: Julie McClure of HelloMe On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Get enough quality sleep. So many people are sleep-deprived and running off of caffeine and sugar. Getting 7–8 hours of sleep per night is key for optimal health and wellness — as this is when your body and nervous system rejuvenate. It decreases stress levels, helps balance mood and is the time for cellular repair (important for many things, including immunity). Staying off screens 2 hours before bed, wearing blue light glasses while on your computer/watching tv (especially at night), having a wind-down routine before bed with a relaxing ritual (gentle stretching, meditation, reading or an Epsom salt bath), reducing sugar consumption and limiting or avoiding caffeine after 2 pm (stimulants) — all helpful tips for getting a good night’s sleep and feeling rested enough to take on the next day.

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

Julie McClure is an entrepreneur; advisor in the beauty, health & wellness space and is a clean living & hormonal balance expert. Currently, she is the Founder & CEO of Hello.Me, a brand focused on helping women take back control of their hormones so that they can get back to looking and feeling their best. Hello.Me’s innovative, science-backed supplement products solve for the root cause of wellness & beauty challenges — hormonal balance. Julie’s own personal experiences became the springboard for her mission to help others and she prides herself on championing women in the entrepreneurial and femtech spaces.

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’m Canadian and have always had a passion for and interest in health & fitness. Although I grew up thinking that I wanted to be a medical doctor, I pivoted after finishing my science degree and went to business school. After almost a decade of working on Wall Street and living with chronic migraines (while on birth control), I left the industry to reconnect with my passion for wellness and to solve my own health problem.

Specifically, I had started taking The Pill in my early 20s when I was in business school and quickly developed chronic migraines. My migraines persisted for 10 years (4 to 6 per week), putting me in survival mode throughout my highly demanding career in corporate finance. I finally started to listen to my body screaming at me at age 33 — took matters into my own hands and quit my job on Wall Street to figure out my health.

I began my new journey by saying no to the endless pharmaceutical pain killers, which my neurologists were recommending as the only possible solution for my chronic pain (at least until menopause, despite being in my early 30s!). And, I took a full year off beyond that to solve the problem and to reconnect with the person I used to be.

One of the first people I met after stepping out of the finance industry (while doing a 21-day cleanse) was a natural practitioner who, upon hearing of my symptoms of migraines and then developing anxiety, asked if I was on birth control? With my quick ‘yes’ response, she began to tell me that hormonal birth control was causing me to have these chronic yet common birth control symptoms. Little did I know that my body was being stripped of key nutrients such as B complex vitamins, CoQ10, probiotics, magnesium, etc. and that these depletions were the key contributors to how horrible I had been feeling for 10 years!

The science was not as caught up at the time re: hormonal birth control’s effect on women’s nutrient status so I took her word (I was desperate for a possible solution) and went off of birth control. I then proceeded to spend months nourishing and rebuilding my body (and my nutrient levels) in order to reduce the systemic inflammation. After 10 months, I was a completely new person, having 1 to 2 migraines a month — down from 25 or more a month. This complete change in quality of life inspired me to want to continue on my journey in the wellness space. I leveraged my science degree to apply to postgraduate naturopathic medical school in Toronto — to learn about clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, physiology, etc. I met my great friend Elizabeth Goldspink on the first day of ND school (in downward dog… while I was teaching yoga to the incoming class!). Fast forward a few years, the stars aligned for us to collaborate on creating game changing products to empower women with the natural solutions they need to get back to living their best lives. Based on our personal experiences with hormonal birth control and the common complaints from all of the female clients in Elizabeth’s personal medical practice, we knew it was time for a brand (enter Hello.Me!) to start solving for the massive yet unmet pain points associated with hormonal imbalance — an untapped and huge area in need of innovation and focus.

As women, we have at least 42 years of fluctuating hormones. Hello.Me was born to eliminate the side effects associated with these hormonal fluctuations by getting women’s hormones back into formation so that they can be their most authentic, beautiful and badass selves and can gracefully transition from one life stage to the next.

Hello.Me launched its first product, Top Up Tonic, in the summer of 2020 to address the 74MM women (in the US alone) in their reproductive years who suffer from PMS and/or symptoms (and long-term health risks) associated with nutrient depletions from hormonal birth control. Top Up Tonic is a once-a-day capsule that contains the 18 key nutrients, probiotics and antioxidants women need to keep their hormones balanced and feeling on top of the world.

Hello.Me has been changing the quality of lives of women across America ever since — and with so much more to come!

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 — the most interesting story! I have many stories… and what is defined as ‘interesting’ is subjective to who is reading this but I’ll happily share some color on when I knew it was time to make a personal pivot in my career and how success has been redefined for me over the years.

I have experienced a lot in the business world but having to overcome my health challenges have been my greatest source of personal growth and inspiration for my entrepreneurial career. I began my career wanting what everyone else in my highly competitive business class of Type A students wanted — to obtain the top job on Wall Street, to be ranked in the top tier of my peers at the firm, to get the highest eligible cash bonus at year-end and be put up for early promotion (‘stay on the fast track’). I was extremely driven and sought perfection in my deliverables at work at all times — at the expense of my health. 9–11 happened and I had a big wake up call. After watching the Twin Towers fall to pieces from a screen at the Milan airport (where I was traveling at the time… I was very fortunate to not be in NYC — where I lived — that week), I realized for the first time that life is short. There was no turning back after this moment… the questions started flowing re: my purpose and path forward and whether what I was doing was fulfilling my soul. Although I tried to push these thoughts to the background in the daytime, they would show up in my dreams as nightmares. Eventually, forcing me to realize that a new path was needed. The pursuit of ‘perceived’ traditional material success was no longer enough to keep me getting up in the morning. I took a deep look at my values and asked — ‘if my life were to end tomorrow, would I be happy with how I had been living and spending my time’. The answer brought immediate tears to my eyes and I knew that it was time to make a major shift. My body was screaming at me (which was exhausting in itself) and my soul was tired. So, I hit the pause button — which allowed me to step outside of the box and my comfort zone (high paying job) to reconnect with my passion for health. This was the catalyst for the beginning of my journey as an entrepreneur — allowing me pursue what I believed was my purpose — inspire others to live their most authentic and best lives.

Fast forward a decade, if you were to ask me today how I define success, I would say it is living a purposeful and fulfilling life that brings you contentment and inner peace and leaves you sitting at the end of your life with no major regrets (e.g., of things you were too scared to try in case you failed/didn’t succeed).

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?

Many of my biggest learnings have been around people and talent. Early in my career (e.g., my first job on Wall Street), I worked at one of the most prestigious banks which, to this day, I have the utmost respect for. However, when asked to pick my group, I knowingly hand-picked one of the few groups renowned for being extremely hard on its analysts and associates. Having never worked 100 hours with anyone, I was lured in by the industry and thought the sexiness of the industry would be enough to fuel me, regardless of the reputation of the personalities in the group. From this experience, I learned the importance of choosing great leaders (from a people management perspective). Specifically, always looking for and choosing people who want to see you thrive, who nurture your & your colleagues’ talents and who take a personal interest in you. After a year in this difficult group, I made an unusual and very bold move for a first-year analyst to transfer out of the group (despite the severe backlash from one of the toughest members in the group). I did this because I felt like it was the right thing to do. I was then rewarded for this act of courage. I spent the next 2 years working for some of the firm’s most talented individuals and best leaders — two women who were instrumental in my professional development and the firm’s Co-CEOs — who exemplified exceptional leadership. I continue to be incredibly grateful for this learning and these experiences to this day.

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?

Historically as women, we have always been led to believe that hormonal fluctuations and symptoms of hormonal imbalance are something we just have to ‘deal with’ — it comes with the territory of being a woman. Hello.Me is on a mission to change what it means to be ‘hormonal’. It’s time to remove the stigmas and to open up the dialogue about our hormones! By empowering women around the world with education, a safe space to talk with our hormone coaches, a budding but powerful community and natural solutions to resolve challenging symptoms, Hello.Me is helping women to shift from surviving to thriving. When we feel our best, we see the world through new lenses and make the most profound and beautiful impact on the world. So, in essence, Hello.Me is helping to make an impact on the world one bold and beautiful woman at a time.

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

  1. Get enough quality sleep. So many people are sleep-deprived and running off of caffeine and sugar. Getting 7–8 hours of sleep per night is key for optimal health and wellness — as this is when your body and nervous system rejuvenate. It decreases stress levels, helps balance mood and is the time for cellular repair (important for many things, including immunity). Staying off screens 2 hours before bed, wearing blue light glasses while on your computer/watching tv (especially at night), having a wind-down routine before bed with a relaxing ritual (gentle stretching, meditation, reading or an Epsom salt bath), reducing sugar consumption and limiting or avoiding caffeine after 2 pm (stimulants) — all helpful tips for getting a good night’s sleep and feeling rested enough to take on the next day.
  2. Daily movement & exercise. Moving every single day, even if it’s just for 20 minutes is key to a healthy lifestyle. There is a lot of misconception that exercise needs to be high intensity for it to be effective. Research has shown that moderate-intensity is best for overall health, especially for immune health and to decrease inflammation. Mixing your exercise routine up in regards to the types of exercise is also important (e.g., yoga, outdoor hikes/walking in nature (very grounding!), weight training, HITT classes, cardio, etc.). That being said, whatever gets you excited to move your body and leaves you feeling empowered post workout is my top suggestion as it’s what will make this healthy lifestyle habit one that you look forward to and will prioritize.
  3. Balance your hormones with the nutrients they need to thrive. If you are feeling not quite like yourself showing up as mood swings/irritability/anxiety/depression, bloating, continuous fatigue, acne, PMS symptoms, low sex drive, brittle and dry hair and skin… you likely have a hormonal imbalance. These key messengers for the body are critical to you looking and feeling your best. And, despite your best effort to do all that you think will help get you back on track such as drinking your green juices, exercising, reducing salt intake (bloating), etc. — if you don’t get to the root cause — balancing your hormones, you will have great difficulty getting back to feeling energized and radiant. If you’re suffering from PMS and/or on hormonal birth control, you are likely in need of key nutrients to get your hormones humming again. Our Top Up Tonic gives you the 18 key nutrients that women in their reproductive years need. And, if you are concerned, you can always go see a naturopathic doctor who specializes in women’s health to get your hormones tested and to and to investigate further (e.g., Dutch test).
  4. Eating more alkaline-based foods (e.g., anti-inflammatory foods). Inflammation, which is often caused by acidic internal environments, is the root cause of so many diseases, chronic pain and premature aging. For this reason, I put a lot of weight on this lifestyle habit (which is easily controlled). You can start by beginning your day with lemon water upon waking (juice from ½ of a lemon + ½ L of filtered water); adding a green smoothie to your daily diet; and/or adding a big leafy (organic) green salad to your diet. For smoothies, something as simple as filtered water, organic kale, pineapple, green apple and ginger thrown into a high-speed blender can be refreshing, alkalizing and delicious! You can also supercharge with a daily dose of chlorophyll (I add chlorophyll drops to my water) and incorporate a few anti-inflammatory supplements such as turmeric (I take liposomal turmeric by Apex Energetics) and Moringa Leaf (I take Prairie Natural’s Moringa Leaf capsules) on a daily basis.
  5. Human connection. Get off our phones/screens (which are also stimulants for the brain) and schedule time for fun, hobbies and time with friends & family. This nurtures your soul, decreases stress levels AND in turn, boosts your immune system. If we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, it’s the importance of human connection and feeling a part of a community.
  6. Limiting daily intake of caffeine and sugar (stimulants). Decreasing caffeine and sugar is one the quickest ways to feel more grounded, yet energized. Anxiety is on the rise and limiting caffeine is a helpful way to reduce it. If people don’t want to decrease caffeine, ensuring it’s not consumed on an empty stomach is helpful to buffer the impact/decrease the jitters. If you can switch to a nice matcha mylk (non-dairy) latte or organic green/white teas — you will not only get a little pep in your step from the caffeine but also get a nice dose of antioxidants.

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 believe that a lot of disease begins with emotional distress so I would start a self-help movement to get people to operate and make all of their decisions from a place of love (for themselves and each other) versus fear. By developing a global environment where people are celebrated and valued for being their most authentic selves, we would liberate individuals to utilize their unique gifts and to live a life filled with purpose — creating a sense of individual contentment and gratitude while also helping to heal the world at large.

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

I gave a bonus one! Here are six:

  • It’s a marathon, not a sprint. Be sure to carve out part of your day as sacred time to exercise and stay healthy. The entrepreneurial journey is intense (as well as very rewarding!) and you need your health to make it to the finish line. Like a professional athlete, you will not perform at your best (or keep your passion for your vision) if you don’t take care of your body. Having learned first-hand by burning myself out with my first business, with my second company (Hello.Me), I am better at protecting my health. I block 2 hours out of morning to ensure that I have the opportunity to exercise and to get ready for my day, on my terms. And when I need a personal day to reset and rest, I take it (and don’t feel guilty). In the end, this is better for everyone. Others are investing in you, you need to invest in your long-term health to succeed.
  • You will never please everyone in business (or in life!). As a leader and/or visionary who is trying to forge a new path, you are certain to be met with challenging situations and personalities that you have to deal with. And, not all of the individuals will end up liking you. That is ok. You’re the one who has to go to bed at night at peace with yourself — knowing that you have acted in good faith and with the best intentions for your employees, customers and investors. As my brother said to me a few years ago (when I was dreading a very difficult but necessary business conversation): “there are over 7 billion people in the world. If one or two don’t like you, you’ll be just fine”. I often remind myself of this when I have to manage a conflict in business.
  • Pay attention to the early red flags & always follow your intuition. When it comes to raising capital and/or negotiating big agreements, people tend to show their colors quite fast (e.g., in the way that they deal with you). Take note of any major red flags in the early days — as if they are showing up at this stage, there is a high probability that they become a long-term problem. And this can change the entrepreneurial journey for you. I no longer let anyone with capital invest in my company — it has to be a strong fit. When I’m raising capital, I pay a lot of attention to people’s energy and their belief in my vision; the investor’s reputation with prior founders; and I follow my intuition. If my ‘gut’ check says no, I don’t bring them into the business.
  • Find & surround yourself with people who inspire you & who you can learn from. For example, people who have been or are doing what you’d love to be doing. Seek these people out (if not obvious) and establish relationships so that they can evolve into mentors. Having seasoned mentors in your field/industry who can provide different perspectives and learnings from their successes and failures is invaluable. I’ve had a few mentors in my career but this was not something that I was taught early on. I think I could have avoided some pitfalls in my early days as an entrepreneur (my first business) if I had a seasoned mentor who was able to help me navigate through the more challenging situations.
  • Have compassion. No human is perfect and no start-up is perfect (when it’s close, it’s no longer a start-up!). Show yourself (and others) compassion when mistakes are made. Acknowledge your contribution/mistakes, do what you can to fix the situation and spend the bulk of your energy focusing on the learnings and the path forward (to improve & to avoid the same mistakes in the future). We’re all on a path of evolution and growth in both our careers and personal life. My younger self didn’t show any compassion for my missteps. Over the last many years, I’ve been working to unwind this perfectionist attitude — which has made me more kind to myself (always more work to be done!) and more understanding of other people’s mistakes.
  • Don’t invest all of your money into your business & think carefully about whether you should ask/let friends & family invest in your venture. Invest what you can afford to lose (or an amount that doesn’t keep you up at night). I learned this the hard way with my first business 7 years ago. I had never had something that I worked on not be successful; so, I never imagined that forces beyond my control could influence the success of my business. Although I was the pioneer in the space, the company didn’t monetize due to a go-public deal going sideways at the eleventh hour. Second, think very carefully before having family & friends invest. Most will want to support you if they have the financial means (and it’s a wonderful sign of support!). However, I personally found it to be the most stressful element of my first business not working out. Although I lost the most amount of money (and countless hours of blood, sweat and tears!) I felt an enormous amount of responsibility and guilt when the business didn’t sell. To this day, it remains one of the most memorable low periods (mentally) of my life. Thankfully, it didn’t keep me down as Hello.Me would never have been born!

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

I am very passionate about mental health & the mental health epidemic that we are seeing in the world. First, like hormonal health, we need to continue to de-stigmatize anxiety, depression and other mental health illnesses. Second, we need to talk more about mental health so that people don’t feel alone and isolated and are encouraged to openly seek help. Anxiety and depression are so widespread in our society today (especially after 2 years in a pandemic with limited human connection) AND people of all ages are unnecessarily suffering in silence (and from a much younger age than in the past). It’s time for us all to step up to facilitate wide-scale, massive change.

And, if people were in a better mental state, they would have the capacity to do more to heal the environment.

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

Personal Instagram: juliekmcclure

Personal Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliekmcclure

Hello.Me Instagram: hellome.co

Hello.Me TikTok: hellome_co

Thank you for these fantastic insights!


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

Nancy Medoff: How To Thrive Despite Experiencing Impostor Syndrome

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The first thing to remember is that what you’re experiencing is a feeling. And feelings are not facts. Check in with yourself and try to hone in on what you are feeling. Is it nerves? Excitement? Fear? These are all very different than feeling like an imposter.

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

After close to three decades of walking the talk in corporate sales, Nancy Medoff, best-selling author, keynote speaker and executive coach has literally “written the book” on women and confidence. Unmute Yourself and Speak Up to Stand Out is a game changer and a call to action for women (and men) who are ready to get their seat at the table — then build a bigger table.

Listed in Forbes before the book was published, #1 new release during pre-sale and #1 at launch. What? How? Wow!

The “Confidence Evangelist”, Nancy is an indoor cycle enthusiast, two-time marathoner, and feet-in-the sand philosopher who won’t stop until women everywhere show up confident, compelling and walk through the doors being opened like they own them. When she’s not traveling for work, you’ll find Nancy enjoying the food and beverage scene in her home town of Boston or beachside on Outer Cape Cod, likely diving into the latest best seller.

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

It was a typical corporate meeting and I was sitting around a board room table in Boston, looking over the harbor. As the subject matter expert in the room, I was being asked questions that I was the only one qualified to answer. When trying to respond, I kept being interrupted by my male colleague, and after the third time this happened, I was fuming. I finally looked around the room and dramatically asked; “Am I on mute?” This halted the meeting and stopped the serial offender in his tracks. The floor was turned over to me, I shared my views and we continued on with the discussions.

Oprah talks about ah-ha moments and mine was at that boardroom table that day, being silenced. I’m an extrovert, the youngest of four kids and in my house growing up if you didn’t speak up, you weren’t heard. At that moment I thought to myself, if this was happening to me, what about other women out there who are afraid to speak up? The introverts? The women who won’t raise their hand and allow the world speak to over and silence them? That’s when I knew I had a higher purpose which is to increase the confidence of women globally so they can advocate for themselves or their position. The next step was pretty clear. I left my corporate sales job a few weeks later, founded my company and eventually published my book, Unmute Yourself and Speak Up to Stand Out.

Since then, my mission has taken me all over the world to work with women who need help advocating for themselves. From Boston to Bahrain, Sydney to Singapore, in the boardroom and the classroom I hear the same thing. Women are ready to walk through the doors being opened for them like the own them!

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

There are soooooooooooo many and what stands out if a story of when I trusted my instincts and made a massive career decision.

I worked in a global sales role for two decades and in doing so was able to travel the world. Multiple trips to Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Canada and of course all over the U.S. I thrive on calculated risk taking and love love love global travel so it was way out of character for me to say “no” when asked if I would move overseas to lead our global sales offices in Asia.

The job seemed perfect at the time. I was single, I loved to travel, I adore Asia and dreamed of living in Hong Kong — this was my career dreams coming to life right in front of my eyes. But in peeling back the layers of the role; the teams, the nuances of the culture, the personal sacrifice, the tradeoffs and the likelihood of success — it just wasn’t a good fit for me at the time.

I was terrified to tell my SVP that I was declining the offer — I mean really scared. I was asking anyone and everyone for their opinion. Random strangers on the flight back, the flight attendants, my seat mate, even the driver who picked me up at the airport to bring me home.

They all agreed. Bad idea.

So I got some rest, then gathered the courage to speak up. I called the Senior Executive who wanted me to do this, laid it out for him, shared my thoughts on what I had learned about the role, the country, the culture, in essence the realities of the job and politely and sincerely declined. He was not angry at all and in fact he truly valued the feedback and moved forward with my recommendation on another candidate for the role.

The lesson here? It’s simple and one we need to follow more often. ALWAYS GO WITH YOUR INSTINCTS. You always know what’s best.

Many times, the stories you tell yourself in your head about anticipated outcomes are rarely the way things turn out. I was terrified to turn down this job and my boss was grateful for the information, appreciated my perspective and impressed that I had the courage to say no.

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

At my company, we walk the talk — and in my opinion that’s a deal breaker. Some people in my space talk about empowerment; I provide actionable tools for women to take their careers to the next level and start getting what they want and deserve at work. I’m a straight shooter and help women to raise their game at every stage of their career. Some find their unicorn job, negotiate a higher salary, or leapfrog up the corporate ladder. Others successfully change careers, dive into their next chapter or simply level up their own leadership style. From CEO to recent college graduate, the women I work with all have one thing in common: they gain the confidence and skills needed to truly thrive at work.

All of this, all of my success as a female entrepreneur goes back to the day, I decided to own who I am, step into my strengths and truly follow my passion. Everyone deserves 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?

For sure. In this case It’s a particular group of people for whom I am forever grateful; my Personal Board of Directors. It’s important to note here that what I’m referring to is not my tribe, my squad or my friends. My Personal BOD aren’t the people I go to when I want to feel good about myself, celebrate or even commiserate. My BOD has been curated over the years from colleagues and acquaintances. They have a vested interest in my success, they don’t all work for the same company and most importantly, they are direct and honest with me, even if it’s something I don’t want to hear.

I’ll share an example here from my own twenty-five years in corporate sales.

I was moving up the ladder at the company and had applied for a few positions for which I was not selected. I was frustrated and I considered leaving. I did not feel comfortable sharing my frustration with my boss, so I went to my Personal Board of Directors. I’ll never forget when Alan, a member of my BOD looked at me and said point blank “Our company pre-selects for open positions which is unfortunate. I support your decision to leave.” That comment hit me between the eyes for a few reasons. First, he validated what I thought was happening and that I was not getting these roles because I was not being considered in the first place. Then, his comment gave me permission and support to consider leaving, which was unheard of in my organization. Last, he was factual and unemotional, which removed the fear and anxiety out of the situation, which in turn allowed me to consider this decision objectively. I did not end up leaving at the time, and instead I made sure before applying for a position that the hiring manager was indeed considering all qualified candidates.

Think about how much time and energy this one interaction saved me. That’s the power of your Personal Board of Directors.

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

I’ve been researching the confidence crisis for close to a decade and the concept of Imposter Syndrome has changed in recent years. We are using this term as a catch call for anxiety, fear, lack of confidence or simple nerves. There’s a big difference and I’ll drill it down here.

I can lack confidence at a particular moment in time, but still know I deserve to be there. I earned my seat at the table and I am the expert. Again, I’m not sure that I can DO it, but I know that I did what it took to get there. I don’t feel like an imposter per se, but I am not 100% confident that I can achieve the task.

Another important clarification is the myth that Imposter Syndrome only happens with women. This is simply not true. Men feel the same way. They second guess their qualifications; they lack confidence but they do it anyway. Allowing our lack of confidence to impact our actions is what is holding women back at work.

What are the downsides of Impostor Syndrome? How can it limit people?

Again, let’s make sure we are talking about feeling like an imposter versus lacking confidence — big difference. Feeling like an imposter and letting this feeling impact your actions is the number 1 career derailer. Feelings are not facts. Feelings are feelings. And you can experience them while at the same time taking action.

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

I believe it’s our responsibility to Amplify women. We know that Imposter Syndrome impedes women from speaking up, raising their hand and taking calculated risk. We all need to step up and Amplify what women are saying, their ideas, their input. It’s our responsibility, all of us. And it’s as simple as incorporating a few tactics like I list here.

“If we can go back to what Bonnie was saying, she had a great point and I’m not sure we all heard…”

“Hang on just a second — Jenny was talking and I’d like to hear what she has to say”

“That’s an excellent idea, Frank — I know Mary surfaced this last week so let’s get her opinion here before we get too far down this path”

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

It’s important to note here that Imposter Syndrome happens to everyone. Everyone. Men, women, experts, rookies, everyone. And every day. Any time I’m getting ready to speak before a large crowd, there’s a quick moment where I become super nervous. Every time! And I’m a confidence evangelist! The key here is to know that it happens, use your proven tactics to overcome this, and do it anyway. Just like the men do.

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

I promise you that simply knowing that you are not alone in how you feel will make a huge difference. I take this nervous feeling and translate it into nervous energy which in turn translates into excitement and then I step into THAT feeling. Turning the nervous feeling into excited energy. This is the key.

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

  1. The first thing to remember is that what you’re experiencing is a feeling. And feelings are not facts. Check in with yourself and try to hone in on what you are feeling. Is it nerves? Excitement? Fear? These are all very different than feeling like an imposter.
  2. Remember that this happens to everyone and is totally normal. J.Lo, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Fonda, all of these women have talked about feeling less than and that they didn’t deserve their spot at the table.
  3. Turn your nerves into energy. Excited energy is contagious!
  4. Think back to a time where you felt like this and then nailed it. This works for me every time. I visualize my largest speaking gig and all of the people who lined up to speak with me afterwards. That visual image pumps me full of endorphins every time.
  5. The last step is my favorite and it’s really just one word. Grace. Rather than beat yourself up when you’re already feeling off, allow yourself some grace to honor those feelings and then take the steps needed to overcome the feeling, step into your power then crush whatever is in front of you!

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

If more women could truly step into their strengths, truly believe that they can do what they love to do and only what they love to do all day (and get paid for doing it) think about how much better the world would be. We would have a workforce of thriving people, sharing their strengths and their passions with the world. I believe this can truly change the world. Think about it. A world where people who are working in medicine, are working in medicine because THEY LOVE IT. A world where people who are working in the athletic industry are working in the athletic industry BECAUSE THEY LVOE IT. Childcare, the service industry, accounting, you name it! The whole world would be humming and the possibilities are endless.

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

Amy Porterfield. She’s a massive success in her field, she freely shares her knowledge with her community and she also shares her struggles (including Imposter Syndrome) so that others know they are not alone. It takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable like that and I admire her greatly for putting her whole self out there. She offers plenty of free tools and programs so that others can learn from her expertise, and in doing so is elevating all of us.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancymedoff/

https://www.instagram.com/nancy_medoff/

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


Nancy Medoff: How To Thrive Despite Experiencing Impostor Syndrome was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Melina Baxter of Shaklee On the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support…

Women In Wellness: Melina Baxter of Shaklee On the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Make sure to move. In the world of commuting from the bedroom to the dining room table home office, it’s easy to get sedentary. Make sure to schedule time in your day to get up and out: whether it’s a workout class, a run or just walking around the neighborhood, schedule it like you would an important meeting and make it a priority for yourself.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Melina Baxter, Chief Marketing Office at Shaklee.

Melina is a marketer, mom and multitasker. As a working mom, she’s more aware of the challenges and wanted to pitch in to help make it easier for the next generation of moms. She always has a passing for bringing great products to parents and their kids but helping make better and superior supplements was her dream job. She wanted to make this world a better place for her two sons, solving the problem for mom fits the bill.

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! I’m a marketer by trade; I’m passionate about products and brands that resonate with me personally, so I’ve had a really fun career working across beauty, fashion, retail, tech and now, wellness. My real job is being the mother to two little boys, which has been my best adventure yet. Speaking of adventures, I have a severe case of wanderlust, so I take every chance I can to explore new places near and far. San Francisco is where I call home.

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

My career path reflects my desire to constantly learn and grow. I’ve expanded on my experience with every job, adding new skills rather than just sharpening existing ones — it’s because of that that I can contribute to the business in different ways. I encourage people to push past their comfort zone to broaden their impact. In the middle of my career in marketing, I pivoted and spent 3 years focusing on Public Relations. That experience made me a better marketer. Go outside your comfort zone at least once in your career to learn how to do your job better.

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 assumed that if I just worked really hard and did everything well, that my career progression would naturally come. That doesn’t just happen — you have to vocalize what you want (a raisea promotion), chart the path and make a plan. You have to advocate for yourself — this can be particularly hard for women. That includes sharing your goals and intentions with your manager, tracking your successes, and making sure you’re adding value to your team and company. Coming up against internal challenges or a wall? Find a way to move around it. As long as you’re learning, stay. Once you stop learning, it’s time to move.

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 feel an immense sense of responsibility working in the health and wellness space. The products we develop have a direct impact on people’s well-being. Ensuring that we’re bringing to market safe, clean, scientifically proven, quality products is our priority, but we also need to balance that with our larger global and environmental commitment along the entire supply chain.

If I do my job well, I’m helping our customer’s health and the health of the planet — it’s an honor to be able to make that impact daily.

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. Time is your most precious resource: You cannot get it back, use it wisely and be efficient. There is a reason that the “this could have been an email” thing is a thing!
  2. Not everything is equally weighted. Know what things mission-critical and which things can survive a reschedule or really don’t need your involvement.
  3. Outsource what you can!! If you can afford to get help, get it. If someone offers to help out, say yes. Can’t deal with dinner tonight, order in. Don’t feel bad about any of it!
  4. Setting boundaries is Ok. I’m a better mother, friend, colleague when I’ve had time to rest and reset. That can be no-meeting blocks on your calendar or not checking emails at night (and being ok with it).
  5. Make sure to move. In the world of commuting from the bedroom to the dining room table home office, it’s easy to get sedentary. Make sure to schedule time in your day to get up and out: whether it’s a workout class, a run or just walking around the neighborhood, schedule it like you would an important meeting and make it a priority for yourself.

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 love the idea of bringing people together via wellness experiences — the best way to bring our mission to the world is to get people actively experiencing what it feels like to be healthy. If we can connect children and parents, families and communities through healthy activities like yoga and meditation or healthy eating, we’ll teach healthy habits. That leads to healthy action. We started a free program called Wellness Wednesday to do just that — build connection and community around wellness activities available to all.

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

  1. Sometimes the best way forward in your career is to go sideways. Learn as many different skills as you can and be as broad and general as you can. The more you know about a range of things, the more dangerous you are.
  2. If no one else is taking charge or leading a project — STEP UP and own it! That’s your opportunity to break out.
  3. When experiencing issues at work, don’t only bring the problems to your boss, bring possible solutions as well. This shows resourcefulness and maturity.
  4. You are curating your resume with every new job — think about the long game.
  5. Be the colleague and partner you want to work with — you’ll be surprised how connected your work network is and you want to leave a legacy of being someone people admire and respect.

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

They’re all important topics but the one that unites us all equally is the state of our environment. We are only as healthy as the planet that sustains us. If we can do better for the planet, we can positively impact more people now and in the future.

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

Let’s connect on LinkedIn or Instagram!

Thank you for these fantastic insights!


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

Female Disruptors: Kate Hao of Happy Mango On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” I wrote these words on a card and displayed it on my bedroom desk at age 12. It has pushed me through many obstacles in my life journey, and to this day it is still my core belief. It is my dream that through technology everyone can access the financial services that he or she needs. I am working to make that dream come true through Happy Mango.

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

Kate Hao is the Founder and CEO of Happy Mango. She founded Happy Mango to bring greater transparency to credit reporting. Kate’s training in fundamental financial analysis enabled her to develop a forward-looking consumer credit assessment algorithm that lay the foundation of the Happy Mango Score computation.

Kate was previously the Treasurer of the broker-dealer subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, where she worked for over 12 years across various functions. While working as a bond trader during the 2008 crisis, she recognized the limitations of existing consumer credit reporting systems, which provided information about a problem only after the problem has occurred. Her training in fundamental financial analysis enabled her to develop a forward-looking consumer credit assessment algorithm that lay the foundation of the Happy Mango Score computation.

Kate’s executive experience in managing large teams and complex projects ultimately led to her decision to bring her idea forward and form Happy Mango. She earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Accounting from Albion College. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), and Financial Risk Manager (FRM).

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

Financial service companies pursue wealthy clients because that is where the money is. Meanwhile, according to the Federal Reserve, “40% of Americans do not have $400 in the bank for emergency use.” These individuals need financial services that help them manage, not cash, but cash flows. However, they are often considered too risky or too costly to serve. We believe today’s financial industry is missing a great revenue opportunity. Happy Mango has built an online platform that makes it prudent and profitable to deliver financial products that are uniquely designed for serving the 40%.

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

Our modern economy is built through creative destruction. I believe every industry will be disrupted and every disruptive force has a positive side and a negative side. Humanity is still adapting to the disruptive force of the Internet. With the power of the Internet, we can deliver affordable loans from a community lender in South of Bronx to anyone who has a smart phone, enable a financial coach in Florida to craft personalized advice for her clients in Colorado, or generate a clear and complete personal financial analysis for anyone who strives to improve her financial health regardless how much money she has in her bank account.

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

I have been truly fortunate to have had many mentors who have positively influenced my life. There are simply not enough words to talk about all the people who have been instrumental to my career. I will talk about my father who has advised and inspired me throughout my life. My father was born in a rural Chinese village to parents neither of whom had spent a single day in school. Yet he became a renowned doctor and the leader of a prestigious medical university. Throughout his career, he always believed he could become better by seeking out insight and inspiration from different people and varied situations. When I started my career at an investment bank, I was disappointed that while others in my peer group got line operation jobs in trading or banking, I was assigned a role in divisional management staff. My father explained what a unique opportunity it was to have a bird’s eye view of the full operation and persuaded me to embrace the role. That broad experience has been instrumental in my current job as the CEO of Happy Mango.

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

Founding a company, championing a new idea is hard for anyone. It is more challenging for women simply because there have been so few women recognized and celebrated as pioneers or disruptors. Even today male founders far outnumber female founders. That said, the number of female founders is growing quickly as we build on the work of the female role models who preceded us. And the women disruptors of today will further inspire and encourage generations of future disruptors among our younger sisters, daughters, and granddaughters.

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

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” I wrote these words on a card and displayed it on my bedroom desk at age 12. It has pushed me through many obstacles in my life journey, and to this day it is still my core belief. It is my dream that through technology everyone can access the financial services that he or she needs. I am working to make that dream come true through Happy Mango.

How can our readers online reach you?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/katehao

https://www.happymangocredit.com/

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


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

GenwrightWomen In Wellness: Alice Domar on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support…

GenwrightWomen In Wellness: Alice Domar on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

There is competition everywhere. Between colleagues, even if they are good friends, between siblings and other family members, between neighbors and friends. It took me a long time to understand this, especially with my co-workers.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Alice Domar.

Dr. Alice Domar is the Executive Director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health and a pioneer in the application of mind/body medicine to women’s health issues. She established the first Mind/Body Center for Women’s Health in the country.

Dr. Domar conducts ongoing ground-breaking research that focuses on the relationship between stress and different women’s health conditions — and actively creates innovative programs that help women to decrease the physical and psychological symptoms associated with infertility. She has conducted research on infertility, breast cancer, menopausal symptoms, ovarian cancer, and premenstrual syndrome — and has earned an international reputation as one of the country’s top women’s health experts.

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

I am the child of European immigrants, both of whom came to the U.S. in their early 20’s and both received their education here. My mom was a social worker, and my dad was an economics professor at MIT. I like to think I am a combo of the therapist from my mom and the scientist from my dad. I have always been fascinated by medicine; not so interested in the physiology, but more the psychology of illness. I earned a Ph.D. in health psychology, majoring in OB/GYN and because my parents struggled to conceive both my sister and me, I was fascinated by the mind/body connection in infertility and have dedicated my career to understanding the stress and infertility connection.

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 treated a patient who had been experiencing infertility for years and had gone through every treatment possible. Although she was young, her egg quality was poor and thus she didn’t make healthy-looking or normal embryos. I started seeing her for weekly counseling because she was very depressed and anxious; she was also facing huge family challenges. As time went on, she became far less distressed. She had only two embryos left, and it was her last chance. Her physician told me that he was only allowing her to do a treatment cycle so that I wouldn’t get mad at him and guess what? She completed the cycle, conceived twins, and now has two perfect babies. She took a picture of me holding the twins when they were about four months old, and I have it taped to my computer, so I see it constantly and it gives me hope for every patient I see. So, the takeaway? Miracles happen, and it is a tiny bit of evidence (or actually two tiny bits of evidence) that stress relief can increase fertility. That is one reason why I am supporting FertilityOutLoud.com, where patients can seek help from a fertility specialist, find out information about costs and insurance coverage, and get advice from a community of others who are struggling with infertility. FertilityOutLoud.com also just launched new resources for the holiday season for patients and their loved ones on how to deal with insensitive comments from friends and family surrounding fertility.

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?

Early in my career a woman called me and told me that she had just been diagnosed with early-stage uterine cancer and had been advised to undergo a hysterectomy, but that she didn’t want surgery and wanted to come see me to help her “meditate her cancer away”. I knew that a hysterectomy would likely cure her of her cancer and told her that I couldn’t support her in her quest to take an alternative approach to treatment, so I couldn’t see her as a patient. But later I realized that she surely found someone who agreed to help her use meditation or some other alternative approach, and that not having a hysterectomy likely allowed the cancer to spread to the point where surgery couldn’t cure her. In hindsight, I wish I had agreed to treat her to explore why she was so afraid of the surgery and hopefully teach her the stress management skills so that with my support, she would have considered surgery.

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?

When my dad, the economist, heard that I was going to have a career determining if stress relief would increase pregnancy rates, he said that I would be doing the world a lot more good if I could figure out a way to prevent unplanned pregnancy, not trying to help people get pregnant. However, I stuck by my goal of helping patients who were diagnosed with infertility get the emotional support, stress management skills, lifestyle advice, and counseling which could increase their chance of conceiving. I have worked directly with thousands of patients (and thus far there are nine babies named Ali after me, plus one dog), and indirectly tens of thousands more from the professional trainings I do and the books I have written. All the research I have done has shown the same thing women who participate in a mind/body-based intervention experience pregnancy rates anywhere from two to four times the rate of women who do not participate. I am helping to spread the knowledge that infertility is a disease and there are incredible resources available, like Fertility Out Loud which may contribute to better physical and emotional health and potentially cause higher pregnancy rates as a result. I encourage anyone struggling on this journey to visit Fertility Out Loud for more resources and tips to support their mental health, specifically as we prepare to gather with loved ones this holiday season who may in fact ask those well-meaning questions about your fertility. For those looking to join a community, Fertility Out Loud is on Instagram and Facebook as well.

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.

Stop treating food as your enemy. There are no “bad” foods. Since we all seem to experience the “what the hell effect” (you don’t allow yourself to eat anything sweet for days, then give in to temptation and eat a cookie, and then since you have already broken your diet, you say what the hell to yourself, and eat a bag of cookies). This is why we teach the 80/20 plan. If 80% of what you eat is the good stuff (fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meat and fish, a more plant-based diet), then the other 20% can be what you crave. So, the cookie is your 20%; not feeling guilty about it and not forbidding favorite foods will likely allow you to not eat the whole bag.

Think of exercise in a different way. Exercise should not be a punishment for eating something “bad” or used to allow yourself to eat something “bad”. Instead, I encourage you to think of exercise as the best possible way to decrease stress and improve your overall health. Walking is the best form of exercise. I keep a pair of sneakers in my office and drag patients for therapy sessions while walking to show them how good they can feel after exercise.

Allow yourself to self-nurture without guilt. Women tend to really struggle with this. We feel guilty doing anything for ourselves and then feel resentment when others don’t take care of us. Every morning, when you wake up, think of one nice thing you can do for yourself that day. Without guilt. I was on a book tour years ago and woke up in Los Angeles. I realized that I was a couple of blocks away from their farmer’s market (I lived in LA as a kid and loved going there). It was January and it occurred to me that there would be fresh fruit there, so I planned which kind of fruit I would buy, and I bought a box of blackberries and ate every single one.

Goof off. Guilt free. We can’t be thinking and doing and looking at devices all day. Read a juicy novel (my patients loved the Shades of Grey series), watch something you love on TV, or listen to your favorite music and dance — I recommend U2.

Hang out with friends. Social support is crucial to our mental and physical health. COVID-19 has had an awful impact on people’s abilities to see friends and connect with others. The definition of social support is trusting someone enough to confide in them. People who are lonely are as likely to die prematurely, as do people who smoke. Prioritize time with friends on the same level as taking care of others.

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

That’s exactly it — movement! Exercise is the single best thing one can do for their health. It is effective in treating/preventing depression and anxiety, cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, etc. If any of us could invent a pill which does everything that exercise does, and if that pill was basically free and had no side effects, we would be richer than Bill Gates.

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

Not everyone will support you. Even mentors can be competitive.

People will say bad things about you and all you can do is stay true to your morals and ethics. Always be honest and do the right thing. Be nice.

You can’t be perfect in everything you do. Choose what is important to you and let some other things slide. I prioritize my kids, my husband, and my job. The house? Not so much. Clothing/fashion? Nope.

Moms who work outside the home and stay at home moms don’t always see eye to eye. I still don’t understand the competition/hostility between the two camps, but I feel proud that I have good friends from both, however that doesn’t mean I haven’t been painfully ignored at many soccer and softball games.

There is competition everywhere. Between colleagues, even if they are good friends, between siblings and other family members, between neighbors and friends. It took me a long time to understand this, especially with my co-workers.

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

Mental health is my number one concern. As a psychologist, I have seen a dramatic increase in the need for counseling across all sectors of humanity increasingly since the pandemic started. Our calls have tripled since then. Depression and anxiety are their own epidemic now.

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

Good question! I am not much of a social media person; hard to be as a mental health professional. I have a website www.dralicedomar.com which my older daughter is helping me update! I’ve also partnered with Fertility Out Loud to share some tips related to the connection between mental health and infertility on Instagram.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

My pleasure!


GenwrightWomen In Wellness: Alice Domar on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dave Hargett of Innovative CBD: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis…

Dave Hargett of Innovative CBD: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or CBD Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Just keep it simple and do on to others as you would want done onto you. Stay honest and transparent at all cost. we all need to work together to make this industry more respectable and enjoyable for all.

As part of my series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business” I had the pleasure of interviewing David Hargett.

David Hargett founded Innovative Nutraceuticals, LLC in 2013 but has changed the entity to Innovative PR, LLC which is an Act 73 company as of October 2019 in Puerto Rico and currently serves as the President and CEO of the company. Innovative PR produces pure, solvent-free Hemp Oil for use in the medical and wellness industries with a focus on organic alternative medicine. Innovative PR, LLC owns a number of elite brands including Innovative CBD ®. These brands represent Innovative’s internationally recognized food grade and medical grade products. Innovative PR produces the highest quality Hemp products in a variety of forms that include tinctures, capsules, salves and topicals.

A pioneer in the industry, David has designed and built a supercritical C02 extraction machine, which extracts pure, organic cannabinoids from industrial hemp grown on his own farm in California with-out the use of any hydrocarbon solvents.

David’s past entrepreneurship endeavors include ownership of the profitable nursery, SoCal Cuts. David is also a lecturer at the Cannabis Career Institute, Cannabis and Hemp Association and the Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition as an expert of the standards and requirements of extraction.

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

I had invented my own C02 extraction machine for cannabis extractions and while doing so the girl I was currently dating had one of her daughters recently diagnosed with epilepsy. Hemp was currently illegal in the United States as it was 2013 so I flew to Spain to buy a farm and import hemp legally through the Federal Controlled Substance act so I could make CBD rich hemp oils to help treat her daughters seizures.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

In 2017 My company had had numerous shipments of Hemp seized from Customs and border protection claiming it was illegal to import. I then hired a team of lawyers and filed a class action lawsuit against Jeff Sessions “attorney general” and CBP for unlawful seizure and destruction of property. After 3 years my company won a $350,000 settlement and my seized Hemp was released to me. I learned that even when you try to do things legally the Government will still try to claim hemp is illegal and you have to really fight to prove your innocence. My business had done everything correct to import and had successful imports so the seizure made no sense to my legal time and when the government gets involved and says its illegal there is not much a person can do. Thankfully we fought the system and won which not sets case law for anyone importing hemp in the future.

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

I would have to my funniest mistake was thinking it would be easy to start a CBD business and sell to mass market. I had to learn how difficult it really is to get your brand on store shelves and maintain market share with so much competition.

Are you working on any exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Innovative is currently building out a USDA Organic Certified Farm in Canovanas Puerto Rico. This new project will allow us to hire more people and bring organic CBD hemp products to our customers. We will also grow other organic produce to donate to the local community and churches in need.

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

I am very grateful for my attorney Michael Chernis in Santa Monica California. I would have wild ideas about what I wanted to do with my business and he was always there to help me put together the proper contracts and to make sure everything we did followed federal law.

This industry is young dynamic and creative. Do you use any clever and innovative marketing strategies that you think large legacy companies should consider adopting?

Marketing in the CBD business is very difficult because the world we are living in people think cheap and more is better and that’s just not the case with CBD. Innovative is stall navigating the CBD marketing space trying to figure out what works beast and for s it has always been to be transparent with our consumers and showcase customer reviews and let them help us build consumer confidence.

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

Adoption of CBD and cannabis worldwide, federal banking coming soon “hopefully” More consumers becoming aware of the amazing health benefits from cannabis and hemp. What concerns me is too much regulation of a natural product. FDA classifying CBD as a drug. Large scale manufactures mass producing Hemp products and consumers thinking all CBD is the same.

Can you share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business”? Please share a story or example for each.

1- difficulty selling to mass market. Finding and hiring a sales team to sell in all 50 states is extremely challenging when you don’t currently know anything about selling to brick and motor stores. Thankfully my team was built from one person who tried my product and with his knowledge of the mass market industry he landed me sales reps in all 50 states and is currently my largest wholesale broker. 2- what is legal one day may not be the next. We have sold in states like Texas and Missouri for 1–2 years with no problem then all of a sudden we receive a call from a health food store saying there government made cbd illegal and they wanted to return all products. After a few months the government reversed their decision and it was business as usual. 3- be prepared to spend more then you ever imagined in legal fees keeping your business legal in all markets you plan to peruse. Every state has their own laws regarding cbd and they can very drastically from CBD percentage to labeling and things can change in an instant and all of a sudden, the product on store shelves could need a recall because of a label change requirement. 4- the competition can be fierce and will do just about anything to gain market share. When we first started in mass market Innovative was competing with 3–4 other brands then as CBD started to gain traction with consumers more brands started popping up and mostly were white label products and they would give stores free products just to get on the shelf. This made it very difficult to complete as our product has a higher price point do to the unique oil manufacturing process proprietary to innovative but consumers at the time were mainly focused on price not knowing they were purchasing an inferior product. 5- I wish I knew how unpredictable the CBD and Cannabis market can be. One day things can be going great and the next things completely slow down. The market has many ups and downs that have been tricky to navigate and predict.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Be honest with consumers about the product you are manufacturing and selling. Its going to be a lot of work but the reward is priceless when you change someone’s life with your products.

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. 🙂

Just keep it simple and do on to others as you would want done onto you. Stay honest and transparent at all cost. we all need to work together to make this industry more respectable and enjoyable for all.

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

InnovativeCBD.com and Innovative CBD on YouTube, twitter, IG and FB.

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


Dave Hargett of Innovative CBD: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Billy Kim Of 5to9 Wellness: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or…

Billy Kim Of 5to9 Wellness: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or CBD Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Lack of Regulation in the CBD industry — This was quite the shock for me to realize there were a lot of shady companies out there taking advantage of this, especially after having worked in a highly regulated pharmaceutical industry. It’s a bit of an honor system to uphold good manufacturing practices and do proper quality control and testing on your products, but it’s something that everybody should strive for to push the industry forward. Plus, consumers are getting smarter about recognizing trustworthy brands that can demonstrate this commitment.

As part of my series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business” I had the pleasure of interviewing Billy Kim.

Billy graduated with a BS in Neuroscience from Duke and a Joint Master’s in Translational Medicine from UC Berkeley and UCSF. Prior to founding 5to9 Wellness, Billy was a commercial strategy consultant serving big pharma and biotech clients, and previously worked as a research assistant in esteemed molecular biology and biochemistry labs at Duke and Scripps Research.

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

I’ve actually always wanted to start my own business, and I finally made the leap after coming up with a business idea that I was passionate about.

I quit my job working as a consultant for big pharma clients to promote plant-based wellness instead. When it comes to our daily health and wellness, pharmaceuticals leave a gap that I believe herbal remedies could help cover. I was guided by the scientific evidence.

I have always had a passion for science and its betterment of society, and was trained as a scientist in biomedical research labs before my pharma gig. Having always been an avid user of herbal supplements as well, I kept close track of the scientific literature surrounding plant remedies and noticed an explosion of compelling research in just the past decade supporting their health benefits. Though these benefits have been known since ancient times, it seemed like forgotten knowledge in the modern world.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

In the very early stages of building the business, my original herbal wellness product idea actually did not include any CBD. What happened was: I knew a cannabis entrepreneur who invited me to move to St. Louis so that he could provide some mentorship and resources like R&D lab space for my original idea. However, while working day to day in a shared space, I realized the stuff that he was working on was truly revolutionary. They were leveraging pharmaceutical grade technology and manufacturing expertise to develop multiple patents involved with cannabis product development. I was so amazed that I actually ended up briefly putting my own project on hold in order to help his business out and learn more about the cannabis industry.

I’m actually now licensing some of the aforementioned technology to manufacture our herbal tincture Mind Unwind. Because of my little venture into the cannabis industry, I learned to create an even better product than what I had originally planned. It just goes to show that an entrepreneur’s journey can be quite windy!

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

I accidentally spelled “green tea” incorrectly on the first set of Mind Unwind’s box packaging. Because the font was so small where the word is used, it took me weeks to notice. I first started selling Mind Unwind at the local farmer’s market before launching online, and I’m pretty sure every customer from the market bought my product with this typo on it. I’m definitely more careful now with reviewing art files for packaging and labels, but I think this also had to do with my tendency to overwork myself and not get enough sleep. I need to remind myself trying to be hyperproductive can actually be counterproductive if you aren’t getting proper rest and your brain isn’t functioning optimally!

Are you working on any exciting projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We’ve recently launched with our debut product: Mind Unwind. It’s an advanced herbal concentrate containing CBD, Lion’s Mane Extract, and L-theanine. All three of these plant ingredients have unique biological mechanisms that can help people with anxiety, pain, sleep, and more. In addition to having this amazing blend of herbal compounds, we utilize a new cutting-edge technology to make it water-soluble. This means that it can be mixed into drinks (unlike CBD oil) and starts working within minutes due to the much higher bioavailability.

Nothing else like Mind Unwind exists, and it was quite technically challenging to develop. I certainly think that all that extra R&D work was worth it — I’m convinced Mind Unwind is one of the most effective CBD wellness products on the market. Not just my own words, but also what I’m regularly told by customers!

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

There’s multiple people:

There is obviously the cannabis entrepreneur I mentioned earlier who provided me with the resources that helped get my business where it’s at today. His support has helped me build a strong foundation to get my business off the ground. I can only hope to pay it forward one day if I also find myself in a position to guide younger entrepreneurs.

I also need to thank my parents, who were open-minded and trusting enough of me to quit a career with a good trajectory and build a hemp-related business. Being that they had always been pretty conservative when it comes to cannabis, I appreciate that they did research on CBD health benefits enough to see it in a positive light.

Lastly I need to thank my good friend from college and now business partner Mike. He quit his job to work on his own set of hustles, but still enthusiastically agreed to help me build 5to9 Wellness. I feel like I would have gone crazy from stress and overworking had he not joined the team. It’s also been valuable for me to have a highly competent colleague to bounce ideas off of and help me make tough decisions.

This industry is young dynamic and creative. Do you use any clever and innovative marketing strategies that you think large legacy companies should consider adopting?

When it comes to CBD Ecommerce brands, I feel like everybody needs to be a little creative due to all the advertising restrictions for CBD. The approach we are investing most heavily into is creating bite-sized educational content via social media content or blog posts — an indirect way of creating brand awareness, but more importantly to gain the trust of our potential consumers as an intellectual authority. We’ve posted educational bits about CBD and our other herbal ingredients, as well as the research and biology behind mind and body wellness in general. People really appreciate this type of content and it’s helped us gain our first 2k instagram followers within just a few weeks!

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

Exciting:

Rapid growth and no signs of slowing down

More legalization in the US and around the world.

New innovations providing higher quality products

Concerning

Federally illegal

CBD products being sold in gas stations, which include a lot of crap products that tarnish the value of CBD

On the flip side — The market prices for Premium CBD products such as ours might not be the most financially accessible to many Americans. In the pharma world, patient access programs are standard across drug companies to help the underprivileged pay for their treatments. I’m hoping to one day figure out how to implement a system like this for 5to9!

Can you share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business”? Please share a story or example for each.

Lack of Regulation in the CBD industry

This was quite the shock for me to realize there were a lot of shady companies out there taking advantage of this, especially after having worked in a highly regulated pharmaceutical industry. It’s a bit of an honor system to uphold good manufacturing practices and do proper quality control and testing on your products, but it’s something that everybody should strive for to push the industry forward. Plus, consumers are getting smarter about recognizing trustworthy brands that can demonstrate this commitment.

Education is important — There’s still a lot of learning to be done by consumers!

We’ve come a long way as a society in accepting cannabis and hemp as having legitimate therapeutic uses, but people still have a lot to learn. When I was selling Mind Unwind at the farmer’s market, I had many more people than expected ask me if CBD would get them high (it will not). I also found that many of those I spoke with who had taken CBD products before couldn’t recall what doses they’ve tried!

Advertising will be tricky

There’s a lot of restrictions with online advertising when selling an ingestible CBD product. There are workarounds, some riskier than others. Keep yourself up to date on the policies on Facebook and Instagram to keep your ad accounts from being suspended or disabled. Also, know that even when you are compliant you might still get flagged and have to deal with an annoying appeal process.

Banking will be tricky

If you try to open up a business bank account at any major bank, you’ll get turned away as soon as you mention hemp or CBD. Also, only a handful of payment processors will want to work with you.

Not all 3rd Party Testing labs are equal

We get all our batches tested for quality and safety measures by a third party lab, and publish their data on our website for transparency. However, it can take time to find the right partner. Testing results can vary considerably depending on the lab, and some labs can be completely unreliable. We had to learn this the hard way.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

N/A. I don’t have enough experience with employees yet to speak on this.

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

In general, I think everybody should strive to be more open-minded with different people or ideas. The world isn’t as black and white as much as people make it out to be, but it’s easier for us to think in those terms. Our brain is biologically wired to take mental shortcuts for processing efficiency. It’s easy to label and be quick to judge, but a commitment to learn and understand will be better for the growth of your spirit and your intellect.

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

Definitely our instagram! @5to9.wellness

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


Billy Kim Of 5to9 Wellness: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Erin Stokes of MegaFood on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support…

Women In Wellness: Erin Stokes of MegaFood on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Consider a daily multivitamin. I believe in “food first” when it comes to nutrition. Food should always be your first source for vitamins and minerals. That being said, nobody eats perfectly, and it can be challenging to get all of the vitamins and minerals you need from your diet alone. A high-quality daily multivitamin can fill in the inevitable gaps that exist in our diet.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Erin Stokes, ND.

Dr. Erin Stokes is a Naturopathic Doctor, passionate educator, and mom living with her family in Boulder, Colorado, where she also acts as the Medical Director for MegaFood. Erin received her Naturopathic Doctor degree from Bastyr University in 2001 and launched her career in private practice before becoming an instructor at Southwest Acupuncture College. For over 10 years, Erin has spearheaded the health and wellness education movement at MegaFood through social media, webinars, and podcasts to empower people to change their lives and help grow healthy communities.

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?

Growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio, I didn’t even know Naturopathic Medicine existed until after I graduated from college in Vermont. I have generations of family who have worked in the medical field, but Naturopathic Medicine was a new frontier that I wanted to explore. I was interested in health from a young age and simultaneously drawn towards nature and the healing power of plants. Ultimately, naturopathic medicine represents the perfect blend of science and nature in my life.

I’ve now been a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) for over 20 years, and choosing this career path was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m passionate about seeing how people can transform their lives when they have access to the education they need and are inspired to change.

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

My career as a Naturopathic Doctor in private practice began on October 1, 2001, less than a month after September 11th. I joined an experienced ND, who previously had a long waitlist of patients, many of whom we hoped would be able to work with me. After September 11th, everything changed. Specifically in this practice I had just joined, the waitlist disappeared, and my practice was much slower than anticipated for the first couple years. It was through this difficult time, that I found the resilience to expand my career path beyond what I had previously imagined. I became an instructor at Southwest Acupuncture College, and later, began consultations at an integrative pharmacy, both while continuing to see patients. When things don’t work out as we had envisioned, either in our professional or personal lives, there are often other potential opportunities to pursue if we are open to them.

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

At the start of my career, I had a very specific plan for what I would, and should, do as a Naturopathic Doctor. I was attached to the vision of me solely being in private practice, which is why I stayed for so long. I realized over time that I have a strong passion for educating people about health and wellness on a much larger scale than what my private practice allowed for at the time. At first, I was too stubborn to admit that this was my purpose, but once I started to teach, I couldn’t stop. Certain circumstances in my life pushed me to pursue this route more, taking me in a totally different direction than where I initially thought my career would go. My advice is to not get attached to what “success” should look like. There are many different versions of success and even more paths you can take to get there. The more we open ourselves up new possibilities, the more opportunities will come our way.

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

My passion is empowering people by equipping them with the inspiration and tools to make big changes in their lives. It’s incredible to see the metamorphosis that happens when people start making thoughtful health choices for their body and mind.

Education is a primary tool for change, and that’s why 10 years ago, I joined MegaFood where I’m the Medical Director and leader of our ongoing education movement. The more that we can scale and leverage education on various platforms, the more people we will continue to reach. We have many avenues to communicate, whether it’s through a retailer webinar, an educational blog on our website, or engaging on social media with the thousands of people who use our supplements every day.

Over the decade at MegaFood, I have seen a noticeable shift — now more than ever, people are more proactive in their everyday lives about putting their health first. They’re more willing than to invest in better lifestyle changes, nutritious food and supplements to reach their health and wellness goals.

Speaking of which, a current MegaFood initiative that’s having a bigger impact is “What Matters,” a social media series that reframes the conversation around health and wellness. In this series, I interview inspiring thought leaders and have conversations about how we value and prioritize both our personal health and the health of the planet. These discussions are engaging, impactful and packed with powerful insights. Our incredible “What Matters” guests include Ally Love, CEO & Founder of Love Squad, Peloton Instructor, and Host of the Brooklyn Nets, Kanchan Koya, PhD, founder of Spice Spice Baby, Kathryn Kellogg, sustainability and zero-waste advocate, and Ann-Marie Hourigan, Quality Standards Principal Advisor at Whole Foods Market. My colleague and friend, Bethany Davis, Director of Social Impact at MegaFood, participates in the “What Matters” episode on regenerative agriculture and sustainable living. You can follow @MegaFood on Instagram to watch the conversations!

“What Matters” is also helping raise awareness for the Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA), a global organization that catalyzes women-led, grassroots solutions to protect our environment, support farmers and strengthen communities, all to ensure the long-term health of our planet. Recognizing the importance of these efforts to our collective well-being, MegaFood has donated $30,000 to support WEA’s work with women leaders.

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.

  • Get outside. It’s so important to get outside and enjoy nature for at least some part of each day, both for your mood and your energy levels. Some days, it may be a long run or hike, but other days, it could just be a short walk around the block. Research has shown that as little as 5 minutes spent outdoors each day has a positive impact on mood.
  • Prioritize sleep. There is nothing like a good night’s sleep, and I do everything I can to get 7–8 hours of quality sleep every night. My nightly routine includes getting off screens as early as possible, taking a shower and using lavender essential oils, and making sure I go to bed by 10pm.
  • Drink a green smoothie. My husband and I take turns making green smoothies for each other. We’re even able to get our 15-year-old son to drink them daily. Don’t be afraid to be creative! A recent creation of mine included kale, lemon, lime, avocado, apple and frozen banana.
  • Hydrate. Hydrating may not be the most exciting tip, but it’s vitally important for overall wellness. In particular, our immune system and our musculoskeletal system function much better when we drink water throughout the day. I have a water bottle with me pretty much everywhere I go, whether at home, in my bag or in my car!
  • Consider a daily multivitamin. I believe in “food first” when it comes to nutrition. Food should always be your first source for vitamins and minerals. That being said, nobody eats perfectly, and it can be challenging to get all of the vitamins and minerals you need from your diet alone. A high-quality daily multivitamin can fill in the inevitable gaps that exist in our diet.

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 start a movement of deeper connections, where people first and foremost connect more closely with themselves and their individual health and wellness needs. From there, fostering more connections within families, neighborhoods, and communities is vital for us all to thrive and grow. Humans are built to be connected.

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

Your career trajectory does not have to be linear. You don’t have to do just “one thing.” Most people have a range of gifts and talents, but there is a lot of pressure from society to find your career early and stick to it. I have been most inspired lately by peers who have developed new skills and embarked on new careers in mid-life.

Candor is key. In my earlier years at MegaFood, I was more careful about what I shared. Now, I strive to be known for candor with compassion. This shift to being more candid has been a career game changer, and it’s liberating! I’m much more effective at my job because I’m willing and eager to share my input candidly.

When in doubt, always reach out. With all of the digital communication these days (texts, emails, etc.), there’s plenty of room for misunderstandings and it’s important to clear those up as soon as possible. I’ve been working remotely with MegaFood for over 10 years, and this has been critical to thriving in an offsite role. Never hesitate to pick up the phone and make a call or jump on a Zoom meeting. I’ve created so many strong connections and cleared up misunderstandings by following my instinct to reach out, without delay.

Stop and celebrate wins — both personally and professionally. Time goes by fast, and it’s important to overcome the hard-wired “negativity bias” that exists in all humans. It’s essential to genuinely celebrate wins, especially at work, where it can be easy to just push forward to the next thing.

Failure is essential for growth, too. I like the expression “fail forward” and, ultimately, I think that failure needs to be redefined. I’ve learned some of my best life lessons from things that didn’t go as planned.

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

All of these causes are important. The topic that is most important to me at this moment is regenerative agriculture and its potential to improve the future health of the planet. I am very excited about the work that we are doing at MegaFood with our network of farm partners. We have developed a Healthy Farm Standard, which is essentially a Regenerative Agriculture scorecard that focuses on soil health, conserving resources and supporting thriving livelihoods.

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

I would love to stay in touch. You can follow me on Instagram at @erinstokesnd and on LinkedIn — Erin Stokes, ND. You can also access a lot of the educational content that I’ve written for MegaFood’s blog.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!


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

Female Disruptors: Liz Yam of Keithcity Group On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Female Disruptors: Liz Yam of Keithcity Group On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

There’s a chapter in Michael Bierut’s 79 Short Essays on Design where he retells a story of Massimo Vignelli when he had a client that kept rejecting a design because the typeface “wasn’t French enough.” At their next meeting, Vignelli presented the same type choice, but said the name of the font with a French accent. After that, the client loved it. This anecdote has always stuck with me, reminding me that design is subjective. Oftentimes, it’s more about intuition or presentation than a design at face value.

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

Liz began her career art directing for clients from several industries, including fashion, music, and SaaS companies. Before joining Keithcity Group, she spent several years at Peter Arnell Agency as the Head of Digital Products. Currently, as Head of Strategy at Keithcity Group, Liz focuses on strategic ideation, content development, copywriting, project management, and art direction. She holds a BFA in Communication Design from Pratt Institute.

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’ve always been creative and artistic. When I was younger, I wanted to be a fashion designer because I enjoyed the idea of being able to transcend someone’s mood with apparel. During high school I would travel to NYC to attend FIT’s Saturday Live and Summer programs where I took classes in fashion sketching, draping, pattern making, etc for a few years. But being surrounded by the elitist culture of fashion turned me off from the field. Around the same time, I had a moment of clarity where I realized what graphic design was. It was something I never knew the term for — I think because, growing up, I didn’t have exposure to things like museums or other cultural touchstones. That is largely due to my parents being immigrants, constantly working to give us a better life. “Graphic design” as a term, let alone as a potential profession, was simply not a part of my vocabulary. But then, when I realized it was something that surrounded me my entire life, I wanted to be a part of creating it. I love that it is simply a visual exercise in problem solving. To me, good graphic design is effortless; it’s just there.

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

Over the past several years, when I attended board meetings, I was often the youngest person in the room, the only female, and the only person of color. My presence alone disrupted the norm.

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?

Not funny, but more so embarrassing: I cried during my first job offer because I was told by my boss that my salary would be a certain amount, but when I met with HR, my offer letter was for far less. I took it as a personal jab to my livelihood. The HR person told me it was an honest mistake and soon fixed it. I learned that in some environments, there are A LOT of politics involved.

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

My biggest designer mentor was one of my professors at Pratt, Frank DeRose. He was known to be a super tough professor — either you’d crack under pressure in his class or you’d let that drive you. He pushed me to approach problems differently and that really opened up my creative mind. I ended up interning with him at his graphic design studio, Zut Alors!, for a bit.

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

I think even well-established brands can benefit from shaking up their repertoire. I remember vividly when Louis Vuitton launched a collab with Stephen Sprouse. An iconic fashion house had adorned neon graffiti on its handbags at a time when streetart wasn’t widespread. The collection was disruptive to Louis Vuitton’s style and within the industry as a whole. It was bought by people who likely never had an affinity for graffiti, which helped normalize street art in addition to paving the way for more artistic LV collabs (like Rei Kawakubo’s “Bag with Holes”). This is a great example of a disruption done well that maintained the brand’s classic identity while offering a well-received fresh perspective.

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

There’s a chapter in Michael Bierut’s 79 Short Essays on Design where he retells a story of Massimo Vignelli when he had a client that kept rejecting a design because the typeface “wasn’t French enough.” At their next meeting, Vignelli presented the same type choice, but said the name of the font with a French accent. After that, the client loved it. This anecdote has always stuck with me, reminding me that design is subjective. Oftentimes, it’s more about intuition or presentation than a design at face value.

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

I don’t see a limit to the mediums to which I can apply my skills. I hope to work within tech, interior design, film, and fashion to some capacity in the future.

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

It’s great to have so many opportunities for self-expression but it feels like choices in appearance are often looked at under a microscope. For example, your nail color, shape, and length can be scrutinized: If you’re due for a manicure, your neatness is questioned. If you’re too bold, your professionalism is questioned. If you’re freshly polished, your work ethic is questioned. Breaking through perceptions like these is the first hurdle before you’re even on a level playing field with your male counterparts.

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

Tibor Kalman’s Perverse Optimist opened my eyes to a new way of thinking, while Stefan Sagmeister’s Made You Look opened my eyes to a new way of seeing.

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

As an agency leader, I find it important to create a comfortable and positive workplace culture where people can work autonomously, but understand when working as a team to utilize other people’s complementary skill sets is needed. Maintaining my team’s wellbeing means that sometimes, if I notice that somebody is a little “off,” I try to ask questions to understand or help. If workplaces operate with more empathy, it makes for a happier team, which, in turn, produces better projects.

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

My mom always reminded me, “Hard work pays off.” And it has.

How can our readers follow you online?

@liz_yam

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


Female Disruptors: Liz Yam of Keithcity Group On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Heidi Kristoffer of CrossFlowX On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help…

Women In Wellness: Heidi Kristoffer of CrossFlowX On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

It’s not how you fall, it’s how you heal- Despite our best intentions, we ALL fall, make mistakes, or fail. It may feel embarrassing, heart-breaking, or even gut-wrenching at the time, but everything happens for a reason (Remember, no mistakes!). How we recover and accept these learning moments with grace is what truly defines who we are.

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

Heidi Kristoffer is: mom to three tiny humans, her CrossFlow yoga app, and CrossFlowX™, co-host of new hit “Off The Gram” podcast, Dr. Oz collaborator, creator and producer of Microsoft Bing Fitness Yoga & MSN Yoga, and wellness expert for, and contributor to, multiple publications and platforms. Her goal is to make yoga, inversions, health, strength, and whole, happy living accessible to everyone. Rated one of the: Hottest Trainers in America by Shape Magazine, most inspiring yoga teachers in the world by DoYouYoga, and most popular instructors in NYC by RateYourBurn and ClassPass, Heidi can often be seen featured as an expert on television and in magazines worldwide.

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 Greenwich, Connecticut and attended Cornell University, then the British American Drama Academy (BADA) in London. When I graduated, I came to New York where I worked steadily as an actor for a decade. In 2007, after a moving to an area where there weren’t gyms nearby, I decided to go to a yoga studio and halfway through this class, I’m sweating, I’m exhausted, and I’m exuberantly happy. I wanted more. Yoga taught me that we are enough exactly the way we are, the universe created us perfectly, and our job is to remember that — my whole world changed. This ultimately inspired me to reevaluate what I wanted to do career-wise and pivot to teaching yoga. Yoga saved me on every level — physically, emotionally, and mentally. It truly changed my life forever. So, my goal is to share that magic with as many humans as I can.

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

Before becoming a mom, I couldn’t wrap my brain around short yoga videos. If my practice was only 90 minutes a day, I felt deprived. Cut to me giving birth to my twins and Googling “7 minute yoga videos” because that was generally all the time I had. Despite my pre-baby misconceptions about needing hours a day to move, I ALWAYS felt better moving a little, rather than not at all. I created the CrossFlow Yoga program with others in mind, but especially busy moms like myself. I aim to deliver time efficient yoga, intro to yoga, and my signature HIIT Yoga class — CrossFlowX™ — for endorphin junkies, along with various styles, intensities, and lengths for yogis and non-yogis; regardless of a person’s skill level or needs, there is something for everyone. The learnings are: any movement is better than no movement and let go of the all or nothing mentality — it’s neither healthy, nor is it balanced. I understand that everyone operates differently so I like to make sure to include everyone, be open to revisions, and mind shift.

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?

There are no “mistakes,” only learning moments. When I graduated college, I was really passionate about acting, but realized over time it wasn’t for me. Everything I learned in each phase of my life has prepared me to do whatever the next thing has been. We learn, we grow and we evolve. One of my recurring lessons is that I have to be unapologetically ME. I have to speak, move, and BE me. I wasn’t successful in acting when I was being told to be anything other than me. It wasn’t until I owned exactly who I am that I started booking work left and right. The exact same thing became true for teaching yoga — I learned the lesson much quicker the second time, thankfully.

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 hope to inspire others, motivating them to lean into their wellness routines and connect INWARD. I found my CrossFlow Yoga program to share different yoga-based workouts and flows, as well as tutorials, healing modalities, breathing exercises, and guided meditations. For those who are expecting, prenatal yoga classes are also available. My vision is for my app to be inclusive and ensure everyone feels like there is a form of yoga that works for them. When we learn to connect INWARD through yoga, rather than focusing on the external distractions, we are innately happier. When we learn the true meaning of self-love and self-care, we can love and care for others. Imagine a world where we all choose LOVE!

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.

It’s important to remember that wellness isn’t a “one-size fits all” situation and should never feel like a chore; it is about self-love and self-care. You can start small and build slowly, refining as you go. Most importantly, find movement practices and foods you LOVE, I promise it exists. Here are some tips to consider should you need some inspiration:

Make the minutes count. It’s important to dedicate time for daily movement and healthy eating. Between a packed work schedule and taking care of the whole family, simply taking ten minutes to stretch, walk, or snack on a handful of almonds during a break improves your mood instantly and elevates your energy levels to tackle the rest of your day. Blocking out time in your calendar for yourself to stay energized is one of my most important wellness habits.

Be flexible. Having a flexible mindset is key for a healthy lifestyle. Our lives are constantly being adjusted so being nimble and ready to pivot when needed is crucial. Give yourself permission to let go of control and learn how to adapt when curveballs are thrown your way. PLUS — as a mom to three kids, flexibility involves food too. When my schedule is extra busy and I don’t have time for full meal, I keep almonds on-hand; they’re the perfect on-the-go snack for me and my kiddos.

Believe you can and you will. You must believe you can before you will, and only you have the power to get where YOU want to be. No journey will ever be perfect but when you are clear about goals, you will know how to get there! It’s easy to get bogged down in the everyday minutiae, but staying clear and focused about where / what your destination is will ensure you will not get lost. Remind yourself (journaling is a great way!) that you are more capable than you think.

It’s all about BALANCE. Wellness and health come down to being balanced. Some days you have time to make super healthy intricate recipes, and sometimes you don’t. Be OK with simple meals and snacks on the go when you can’t sit down for a multi-course meal made from scratch. I keep my almond tin with me at all times for just that reason. While almonds are beautiful in my humble opinion, not every meal and snack has to be Insta-worthy. B A L A N C E!

Self-care isn’t selfish. In order to take care of others, we first must take care of ourselves. Never compromise your own mental or physical well-being for another’s. If you have a breakdown, or break a part of you, how are you going to help the people that you so dearly want to help? Self-care isn’t selfish; self-care actually helps you help more people (while helping yourself and reminding yourself that you too are worthy of your own love and affection). The airplane announcement got it right: put your oxygen mask on first.

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

Great question! There is no one-size fits all roadmap to wellness. The reality is that everyone needs to find a routine that works for them. But guess what? It can be as easy as starting with choosing the right foods. A healthy diet is an important part of a holistic self-care routine that helps you FEEL the best you can — from the inside out. I personally enjoy snacking on almonds daily. Plant-based snacks like almonds enhance my daily routine and give me purposeful, natural energy to fuel my best self. I think finding foods that are both nourishing and tasty is a big win, and when coupled with daily movement, you’ll feel phenomenal. My yoga practice made me want to fuel my body with all of the right things to feel strong on my mat, so that I could feel strong in my life.

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

If a door is too hard to open, perhaps it’s not your door. If you are staying stagnant because it’s what you think you SHOULD do, but something else has your heart, it’s not the right thing. My friend, Tara Stiles, pointed out to me that I complained an awful lot when I was on set acting, but “this yoga thing” seemed to come easily to me. Yoga brought me unlimited joy, strength, and every other positive attribute I could ever want. At first it was hard to swallow since I felt like I spent my entire life working towards the career I had. But she was right — the yoga path was effortless and joyful for me. I’m grateful for my acting career experience as I utilized every bit of knowledge I gained in the industry to reach more people through yoga. You don’t have to stay stuck! Everything will work out as it’s meant to.

Your hard work WILL pay off — I’ve always been a hard worker, but even I occasionally doubted myself. It’s important to remember that those are flukes. The true secret to success is to DO THE WORK. If you put in the time, work, and your intentions are pure, it WILL pay off.

It’s not how you fall, it’s how you heal- Despite our best intentions, we ALL fall, make mistakes, or fail. It may feel embarrassing, heart-breaking, or even gut-wrenching at the time, but everything happens for a reason (Remember, no mistakes!). How we recover and accept these learning moments with grace is what truly defines who we are.

Know your worth — As a mom, it’s important to me that my children feel like they can stand on their own two feet, hold themselves up, AND know their worth. Once you realize how strong you are and that you need no one but yourself, your mindset will change, allowing you to never to settle for less than your worth. I struggled for the vast majority of my life with impostor syndrome, but when I finally embraced who I am, what I know, and what I am worth, every aspect of my life changed for the better.

Live in the present — With children, the days are long, but the years are short. Soak in every moment. With or without children, dwelling on the past won’t change it, and worrying about the future can cause anxiety. Be right here, right now — it’s the only place to be.

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 are all so important to me as a mom, vegan, and yogi, but the one I can probably speak to the best is mental health. Connecting breath to movement, as yoga encourages, brings us into the here and now. Yoga allows us to feel more present. If you are in the present, you cannot have regrets about the past or worries about the future. There are a multitude of studies supporting that a yoga and / or mediation practice can reduce depressive symptoms, as well as anxiety. Yoga heals, and it doesn’t have to cost a penny. We all need all the help we can get right now.

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

Follow my journey on Instagram and Facebook @heidikristoffer, visit my website heidiyoga.com, or practice with me (with over 175 yoga videos) on CrossFlow Yoga! You can also listen in to conversations on all of these topics and more on Off the Gram Podcast.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!


Women In Wellness: Heidi Kristoffer of CrossFlowX On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.