Women In Wellness: Emily Ruth On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey…

Women In Wellness: Emily Ruth On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Being financially dependent on your spouse will be a challenge for both of you. Leaving the hospital to start my coaching business was something we talked about but didn’t understand the implications of. It led to a lot of stress and drama that could have been avoided if we had realized it would be “a think.”

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

Emily Ruth is a Holistic Health Coach who harnesses the internal power to heal bodies outside of traditional medicine. She uses her degrees in radiologic sciences and coaching to teach physiology, while providing programs designed to help her clients discover the root causes of issues, creating a well-rounded picture of health, as opposed to just treating symptoms. Emily’s clients learn to trust their inner voice, strengthen the intuitive connection with their body, and develop proven habits that build a lifetime of happiness and wellbeing.

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?

As soon as I finished x-ray school, I knew imaging and the Western model of medicine wasn’t actually what I was meant to be doing. I wanted to help people actually get well so they could stay out of the hospital and minimize doctor’s visits.

I evaluated PA school and family medicine.

I took an introductory course to Public Health.

I decided to finish what I had started, do it well, and continue searching along the way.

But I kept listening, learning, observing. Collecting ideas and information.

I had some health issues arise that had me seeing my OBGYN every month for nearly 6 months. She finally switched me from the Nuva Ring to an oral contraceptive. I got a little bit better, but not much. Between frustration with my doctor’s lack of solutions and support, and my own intuition, I knew I needed to get off the pharmaceuticals completely. But, I also needed an answer to contraception.

A colleague and soon to be husband’s cousin recommended tracking my fertility. I was blown away, because in all my years of studying the human body, including working in women’s imaging, I had never heard of this concept.

I didn’t have any other options at that point, so I dove in. I was shocked to learn that the science and fertility doctors have understood women’s fertility since the 1970’s! I felt so betrayed by our culture and the Western medical model. I had found a piece of my “life mission puzzle.”

As a Radiologist Assistant and x-ray tech, I had been trained that patients have the right to understand their medical exams, the risks, alternatives, and the right to refuse. I’ve always believed that understanding how our bodies work is fundamental to creating good health. I got really good at explaining how the body works in a simple way that resonated with the patient in front of me so that they could make the best decision for themselves about the current exam.

When I finally found health coaching in 2017, I knew that this was the answer to helping people find their motivation for change as well as understand their thinking and emotions.

I now combine a deep understanding of how the body works with life coaching to help my clients heal themselves.

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 mentioned that learning about charting my fertility was an important part of my back story. When I first got started, everyone told me I needed a niche. Since I am passionate about women understanding their bodies, I was focusing on women’s hormones. It was really difficult for me to explain succinctly early on. A lot of people aren’t comfortable talking about periods in public yet. It made for an awkward transition into our new home when I started talking about periods at the bar!

Lessons learned. Well, I’ve broadened my niche out to all things health, but I still work with women on their hormones. And I have found that opening with “I help eliminate PMS” leads to a more engaging conversation. Women and men want to talk about solving problems that plague them or their loved ones, but most people don’t want to start out talking about periods. Even if that’s where the conversation leads.

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

The biggest mistake that comes to mind is not making it clear to a client that it is their responsibility to reach out to me when they need support.

I am always available to my clients between calls, but as a coach, it’s not my role to initiate contact. In some ways, working with a coach is a lot like working with a therapist or doctor. If you need something, we’re here, but you need to make the call.

The two lessons I take from this confusion with a client are to dive into the uncomfortable conversations and make expectations clear on the first coaching session.

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?

Helping one person take care of themselves impacts everyone they know. Not only do they feel better and stronger, they develop more self-compassion and patience. As our compassion and patience for ourselves improves, we are able to be more compassionate, empathetic, and patient with those around us. This ripples out into my client’s families and everyone around them. Slowly, bringing a happier and more peaceful world!

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

  1. Take just 5 minutes each morning to be still in silence. Feel what you feel and notice what you notice. This is where I started and where I begin with many of my clients. Many of us wake up and hit the ground thinking about all the things we have to do and the people we need to take care of. Just 5 minutes at the beginning of the day, tuning into ourselves, goes a long way in knowing what we need and where we want to go.
  2. Talk to your cells! It sounds crazy, but talking to your body out loud in a loving way helps you increase your self-love and primes you to make better choices throughout the day. Something like: Listen up cells of my body. I love you, work together with love and compassion and I will lead you with love and compassion. A bonus for taking a moment to send that love and compassion out to the world, wherever it is needed.
  3. Take a walk outside in the morning light as soon as you can. If you have a dog, you probably already do this. Fresh air, morning sunlight, and movement is a great way to activate your body’s internal clock and influence the hormones that help you stay awake and energized during the day. We all spend so much time indoors and exposed to unnatural lights, it’s no wonder we feel sleepy all day and can’t fall asleep at night.
  4. Eat your meals on real dishes and at a table. Take some deep belly breaths and give thanks. We digest our food better and get more nourishment from it when we are relaxed. We also tend to eat less when we take the time to make meals an event, instead of eating in the car or in front of a screen.
  5. Drink more water between meals and less during your meal. Water is important for hydration. Too much just before eating dilutes stomach acid, leading to indigestion and less digested food. About four ounces with a meal is ok, just try not to flood your stomach 30 minutes before or an hour after you eat.

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

Cultivating self-love. So many of us seem to hate ourselves. We don’t care for ourselves or talk to ourselves the way we would a best friend. Like I said earlier, when we have compassion for ourselves, we have more empathy and patience for others. I’m not a mathematician, but I’m guessing it would have an exponential effect toward worldwide wellness, peace, and collaboration to solve our problems in the most beneficial ways.

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

  1. Being financially dependent on your spouse will be a challenge for both of you. Leaving the hospital to start my coaching business was something we talked about but didn’t understand the implications of. It led to a lot of stress and drama that could have been avoided if we had realized it would be “a think.”
  2. Ignore the internet and interview several business coaches. Pick one and stick with them. I chased all the shiny objects that show up online when you start thinking about entrepreneurship. I made some terrible investments. Wasted a lot of time and energy on programs that weren’t aligned with who I am and operating from generosity and compassion.
  3. You have to actively practice your new self-concept with strangers. When you’re new to something, you’re unsure. It’s normal. But as adults, we frequently forget. As an x-ray student, I was totally terrified to do exams on real people. The process is so built in from book learning, to practicing in lab, to watching an older x-ray tech, to doing one with supervision, to teaching someone else. It wasn’t until my current business coach explained this that I realized I had practiced “being” an x-ray tech for so long before I was working as a “real” x-ray tech and could confidently walk a patient through their exam. There is no formal format like this for entrepreneurship, so you have to create that structure yourself. And be patient enough to allow it all to “just be.”
  4. Everything you’ve done in life up until now is applicable to what you’re doing now, you just have to look for it. If you’ve been keeping yourself alive, making money, and paying taxes, you’ve already figured out a lot of stuff about how to live in the world. Combine that with all the relationships you’ve cultivated and professional experience, you’ve got experiences and knowledge that can translate into so much of what’s coming. Just because you change into a career that seems totally different or you start a business doesn’t mean you don’t know anything. Looking for proof of what you have already done well builds your confidence in charting your own path.
  5. “Charging your worth” is nonsense. Pick the price you have the least amount of drama over and start selling your services. Even if others tell you it’s too cheap, at least you’re making money. If you’re good at what you do and your customers are happy, they’ll be so excited about you that they’ll want to tell everyone. Once you run out of availability and people are still asking to work with you, then you can think about raising your prices. You’ll get so much more experience so much faster this way, impact more people, and make more money in the long run.

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

Mental Health. We don’t have the bandwidth to live sustainably or work on animal welfare issues unless we are mentally healthy and well cared for.

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

My website: www.EmilyRuth.Health where you can sign up for my weekly newsletter.

I’m also on Facebook sometimes, my pages are: @EmilyRuthHealth and Emy Crinklaw-Bunch

Thank you for these fantastic insights!

Women In Wellness: Emily Ruth On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Sascha Mayer of Mamava On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Empathize to innovate. It’s important to honor every individual’s journey (from our colleagues to our customers), and engage, explore, and seek a deeper understanding to make our products and processes better.

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

Sascha Mayer is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of Mamava, the creator of freestanding lactation spaces for breastfeeding on the go. Sascha is a recognized expert on lactation space design, family-friendly workplace policies, and social entrepreneurial leadership.

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

I studied sociology and gender studies at the University of Vermont, and got my first job out of school working for then-Congressman Bernie Sanders. I believed in the power of progressive policy to create more equity, but the convolutions of government and the pace of change felt excruciatingly slow. After a couple of years, I found a job at a local design studio. There I grew into the role of brand strategist and learned how positioning and good design could be a far more efficient path to influencing people and creating change. If government was about creating language to guide the law to affect lives, design was about creating experiences and environments that could change minds and affect lives almost immediately. As a breastfeeding mother who needed to travel a lot for business, I found there was no dignified place designed for using a breast pump. My co-founder, Christine Dodson, and I were able to incubate Mamava at the design studio while still working our day jobs.

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

At Mamava, we design and manufacture freestanding lactation spaces for worksites and public places. We’re disrupting the status quo of built environments — especially workplaces — that have been primarily designed for men by designing products specifically suited for breastfeeding and pumping parents. We’re bringing a more inclusive approach to the concept of “human-design” with our freestanding moveable lactation pods so that breastfeeding people have private spaces to pump. (When breastfeeding parents are away from their babies, they need to express milk every three hours or so to continue making milk.) Our designs are helping solve the perennial problem breastfeeding mothers and other lactating parents face when they work outside the home.

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 wouldn’t say this is that funny, and it’s more about starting again versus first starting, but at the beginning of the pandemic my executive team and I spent countless hours discussing what the future of work at Mamava should be — remote, hybrid, flexible hours, etc. After two months, however, it became clear that no one was going back to an office any time soon, and expectations around work and working environments would be radically changed. Now we know that these changes, like greater flexibility and reduced commuting, are better for everyone, but especially for working parents. The lesson we all learned during the pandemic is that control is an illusion and change is inevitable.

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?

Michael Jager is the creative director and owner of Solidarity of Unbridled Labour, the design studio where Christine and I incubated Mamava. He’s also a board member at Mamava and continues to be a trusted advisor. My greatest lesson from Michael is just the resilience and perseverance you need as an entrepreneur. He has always been there to remind us how important our mission is, how far we have come, and to keep going.

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?

Progressive social change in this country has often been considered a disruption — consider the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights demonstrations of the 190s and today, equal marriage rights for LGBTQ people — as the change is a challenge to the status quo. Yet none of these important milestones that secure rights for more people would have happened without massive disruption. (And, as evidenced by new laws limiting reproductive rights, voter registration, and access to gender-affirming care, clearly there are many in this country who continue to not only resent but resist these changes.) Structures that are inherently unequal or built on systemic oppression deserve to be disrupted and changed. It’s hard to think of an industry that has not benefited from disruption of some kind because the history of human innovation is about solving problems and change, and hopefully achieving greater social justice. All industries benefit from being open to new ways of being, doing, and thinking. Consider our imminent climate crisis — everything will need to be disrupted to adapt and survive.

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

Progress over perfection. With every product we’ve launched we’ve made changes. It has been more important to bring something into the world — and to learn from the feedback — than to get it perfect the first time.

We each have different gifts for the revolution. This is an expression taught to me by our colleague Janet Stambolian when we were first starting out. She and I were working at my kitchen table and I wondered out loud if I had what it took to figure out the business. Her words have stayed with me ever since and became one of our company values. Our diverse backgrounds, experiences, talents, and styles make us stronger. At Mamava, we celebrate our differences.

Empathize to innovate. It’s important to honor every individual’s journey (from our colleagues to our customers), and engage, explore, and seek a deeper understanding to make our products and processes better.

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

We are about to launch a new product designed for the everyday, multiple-times-a-day user. With a low-profile exterior (that fits better into work environments) and an interior to surprise and delight, it’s specifically designed for multi-tasking while pumping in comfort and privacy. So while our first units disrupted from the outside by being bold billboards for breastfeeding, this unit disrupts from the inside (in a good way).

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

American culture is still reckoning with outdated gendered stereotypes that don’t serve women well. Speaking up and making change can be seen as rocking the boat. And women, especially in older generations, were raised not to make waves. So we all carry the weight of inherited cultural expectations and inherent biases and these are present for women leaders every time they enter a boardroom or join a speaking panel. Even though it’s 2022, I read articles every day about the persistently low percentages of women CEOs. Women are still woefully under-represented in leadership positions in every industry — especially BIPOC women. In my lifetime, it’s beginning to change, but there’s more work to do to ensure a level playing field of access and opportunities.

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

I’m currently reading The Extended Mind by Annie Murphy Paul. As we emerge from the pandemic, it’s a good reminder of the limits of our individual minds and of the importance of collaboration with others. We can extend our mind through empathy, experimentation, and even the environments we inhabit.

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

The movement I’m most passionate about right now is making sure that all parents have access to the infrastructure and support they need to breastfeed as long as they choose. Too many parents stop breastfeeding before they want to because their workplaces lack adequate lactation support. Breastfeeding isn’t just a women’s issue or a family issue — it’s a public health issue — so improving lactation support is a win for babies, parents, communities, and improved health outcomes.

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

I was a serious athlete in high school and went on to play two years of college field hockey. Whenever things felt too hard, or I wanted to quit, my mother would say to me, “If you have brass buttons, you have to polish them.” The idea is that you shouldn’t squander your natural gifts, AND it takes hard work to make something of them. I think it applies pretty well to entrepreneurship too.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m on LinkedIn.

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

Female Disruptors: Sascha Mayer of Mamava 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.

Female Founders: Caitlin Copple Masingill Of Full Swing Public Relations On The Five Things You…

Female Founders: Caitlin Copple Masingill Of Full Swing Public Relations On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

It’s actually not that hard to start a business. People less qualified than you do it all the time. I launched Full Swing in a weekend. Starting an LLC took about 15 minutes on the Secretary of State’s website. I had the network in place to start with a couple of clients, and an initial business model that is not at all what the company does now, but it got us started.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Caitlin Copple Masingill.

Caitlin Copple Masingill is the founding partner at Full Swing Public Relations, a PR and digital marketing firm that helps women leaders be seen and sought after so they can reclaim their power and rewrite the human story. Fed up with the dismal statistic that 30% of media sources are women (and most of those, white women), Caitlin has grown Full Swing PR to a seven-person remote agency that has placed clients in Fast Company, Forbes, TIME, and The New York Times, among others. In 2019, she was named among Idaho’s Accomplished Under 40 by the Idaho Business Review, and in 2021, she was honored among the Idaho Women of the Year. Caitlin holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of Montana and was the first LGBTQ person elected to the Missoula, MT City Council in 2011.

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

I started Full Swing PR in early 2019 after leaving a job at a national branding agency where I was the PR Director. Before that, I worked on the communications side of a top DC public affairs firm. What inspired me to go out on my own, believe it or not, was turning 35. It felt like one day I looked around the room and realized that I wasn’t the youngest person there anymore. I’d worked for enough men to see that they didn’t have any qualities that made them inherently better leaders or business owners than I could be. I also never felt fully “seen” at work. My ambition and drive were not always considered an asset. At some point the year I turned 25, I had enough experience and credibility to become “the boss,” versus feeling like I needed the validation of the people around me to garner respect. I also wanted to create a life that supported being a mother. My son was 2 when I started Full Swing.

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

Deciding to scale the business was not something I initially planned on. I wanted to be able to provide a decent salary for myself, but my goal was really just to make what I made at my last agency job. I hit that number in less than six months. A good friend and longtime client, Luke Malek who is an owner of the law firm Smith + Malek, encouraged me to keep growing my business. I learned a lot about the statistics around women-owned businesses plateauing from my business coach, Rachel Rodgers. It’s beyond depressing that only 2% of women-owned businesses hit seven figures, so I made it my mission to do my part to change the stats.

I brought on my first full-time team member, Holly Conti, just one month before the world was turned upside down by COVID-19. I felt a lot of uncertainty at the time about how to scale my business and how to deal with all of the external factors brought on by the pandemic. But, by the summer of 2020, we had tripled Full Swing’s revenue from the year before and were on our way to being an S Corp and growing our team.

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

I don’t know how funny it is, but when I started out, I only hired contractors, not full-time W2 employees, and most of them were my friends. I’ve always been a person who integrates work and personal life, so it seemed natural to lean on people in my personal network. That worked wonderfully well sometimes, as evidenced by my now-business-partner and forever work wife Holly Conti, but in other cases, hiring our friends majorly backfired. The HR part of business can be really overwhelming when you are just starting out. It’s important to have a fair, transparent process for hiring and letting people go when they aren’t a fit for the organization’s vision and needs.

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

I always tell entrepreneurs to invest in themselves through executive coaching, even when you feel like you can’t afford it. You can’t afford not to. I had a coach from day one, and since 2020, I’ve been part of Hello 7, Rachel Rodger’s company, as well as her mastermind for business owners at our revenue level. It’s a huge help to surround yourself with people who are going through the same challenges you are and to have a squad to support your success.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?

Opportunities for women entrepreneurs are on the rise, but most of these opportunities still go to white women. I’m interested in hiring BIPOC and LGBTQ employees, as well as supporting businesses that are committed to anti-racism. To me, that’s the fastest way to change the statistics and who holds leadership and power and controls the narrative in our society.

More women leaders need to embrace the power of their influence, and that starts by owning their stories. So often, we are told we are too fat, too queer, too melanated, etc. to go after what we want. My approach to PR and personal branding centers on leaning into what makes you unique because that’s often where our superpowers lie.

Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?

At a basic level, vote. If you’re in a position to run for office, do that too. If you can donate to female, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ candidates, that’s huge.

Surround yourself with people who are different from you. If 90% of your LinkedIn network is white, you’ll have a hard time hiring people who aren’t also white. Invest in DEI training, even when it feels like you can’t afford it. Hire BIPOC people and pay them well. If you hire a BIPOC contractor, don’t negotiate on price.

If you’re a parent, consider the books you read to your children, and whose stories are represented. Do they have BIPOC teachers? Do you have BIPOC friends, doctors, CPAs, etc? Living again in my home state of Idaho, I’m acutely aware of the impact of white supremacy here, and try to model for my child how we can do our part in dismantling its legacy in our community.

And, every chance you get, take steps toward reclaiming your power and owning your story. Full Swing’s mission is to help people own their stories because we believe that the more business owners and marginalized leaders share their individual stories, the closer we’ll be to having a more authentic and representative global story. Though we deliver PR and marketing services to our clients, we focus first and foremost on helping the leaders shape their experiences into stories that will resonate with the audiences they want to share them with. By teaching these skills, we are able to help change the perception of what a leader looks like and increase the number of women and BIPOC leaders seen as industry experts.

This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?

There’s no wage gap when you’re the boss, for starters. If you’re unhappy with how you’ve been treated by your employer or don’t like the policies in place, striking out on your own is a way to change the status quo. When women, particularly women of color, gain power and are at the proverbial decision-making table, we all win because we’ll have better governments, businesses, and communities.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?

That it is “so hard” to start a business. Starting and growing Full Swing is not necessarily easy, but it’s not nearly as hard as what we are taught. I never went to business school or even took a business class in college. There are values-aligned coaches and programs to help you hone your vision, own your story, and build the kind of company you dream about. Even for a queer kid who grew up in Idaho, like I did.

Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?

Entrepreneurs need to be comfortable with some amount of risk so they can bet on themselves and their team to do big things. They need to be adaptable to change. Most importantly, you need to be willing to work on yourself so you can be the best leader and embrace and model vulnerability and self-awareness for your team.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)

  1. It’s actually not that hard to start a business. People less qualified than you do it all the time. I launched Full Swing in a weekend. Starting an LLC took about 15 minutes on the Secretary of State’s website. I had the network in place to start with a couple of clients, and an initial business model that is not at all what the company does now, but it got us started.
  2. Embrace your values. Full Swing PR has invested in DEI training from the beginning, and we are an aspiring anti-racist organization. We offer healthcare on day one and eight weeks paid parental leave, regardless of how long you’ve worked with us. We pay our interns $20 an hour to start. Just because business is done one way by most people doesn’t mean you need to copy that outdated and unjust model.
  3. Invest in yourself. Even if you feel like you can’t afford it, hire a coach. The Hello 7 Club is a great place to start building the community you need to scale your business. It’s also an incredible marketplace when it comes to hiring like-minded people to help you grow.
  4. Hire out what you’re bad at. You aren’t good at everything, and you don’t need to be. I’ve always felt insecure about my financial know-how, so we’ve enlisted a bookkeeper since the early days of the business. It’s huge to have someone who can back up your vision with numbers and give you the confidence you need to make decisions.
  5. Lift up others. When I moved back to Boise in 2016, I started a group called Boise Women Who Get Sh*t Done because I wanted to find like-minded women friends who were committed to changing the good ol’ boy business culture of our state and community. I found some of my closest friends that way. We don’t need to compete with each other as women-owned businesses. I’m interested in ways I can use whatever success I’ve had to lift up BIPOC and LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.

How have you used your success to make the world a better place?

I spent my 20s working for nonprofits and advocacy organizations, driving change in domestic violence prevention, early education, protection of public lands, and LGBTQ equality in deep-red states. With Full Swing, I want to change the statistics around whose story gets told in the media and empower more women leaders to own their stories and build the platforms they need to leave a positive legacy for their families, communities, and the country.

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

Electing more women and people of color to public office. Our democracy is struggling, and we desperately need more people in power who reflect the diversity of America.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this!

Female Founders: Caitlin Copple Masingill Of Full Swing Public Relations On The Five Things You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Genevieve Dolan of Vieve’s Leaves: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a…

Genevieve Dolan of Vieve’s Leaves: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or CBD Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

They say you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with. While I learned this in my event planning career, it resonates more when it’s your own business at stake. I go back to the importance of due diligence and plugging in the numbers to know what you’re up against.

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 Genevieve Dolan.

Genevieve Dolan is the founder and CEO of Vieve’s Leaves, a scientifically backed wellness company designed for health-conscious individuals seeking natural remedies for the wear and tear of everyday life. Burdened by body aches, insomnia and anxiety, Genevieve was determined to combat any negativity that clouded her space — which led to her discovering the magic of CBD. With Vieve’s Leaves, Genevieve hopes to help others achieve internal and external balance through products designed to soothe both the skin and psyche.

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 was introduced to CBD at the recommendation of a nutritionist to naturally treat anxiety and insomnia. After doing my own research, I found that CBD wasn’t just a better alternative to pharmaceuticals, it could also help people who were experiencing mental health struggles like anxiety, depression and addiction — something that resonated personally with people close to me. It was on this journey of CBD discovery that I learned many of the internal benefits of cannabinoids can also be experienced when used externally.

When COVID-19 forced me to pause my (super fun, yet stressful) career in event planning, I decided to dive headfirst into learning about how else I could incorporate CBD into my lifestyle and what that could mean for others. As a late 20-something who struggled with adult acne and sensitive, aging skin, skincare was the next step in expanding my use of CBD to live a more balanced, natural lifestyle.

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?

Once I had the idea for Vieve’s Leaves, I focused all my efforts on creating the best possible product. I knew nothing about running a business or the science behind creating skincare, so I surrounded myself with partners who could complement my skills and bring my vision to life.

I still had to learn everything there was to know about operating a business in the cannabis world — which was intimidating. It took a long year of personal growth — trusting who I am as a person and believing in myself — to build something that I didn’t even realize I had been dreaming about.

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?

Building a brand from nothing has taught me so many lessons; and, while we’ve had our funny moments, they didn’t seem funny at the time. I think the most impactful lessons thus far have been the beauty of patience and the importance of diligently researching everyone and everything that comes in contact with your ideas and plans.

While it might seem like simple things to ‘know’ how to do when starting up, it’s easy to get blinded by the excitement, creative pieces and potential success of the journey. I’ve embraced learning how to understand the time it takes and give myself the space to pause and embrace the rollercoaster.

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

Right now, our focus for Vieve’s Leaves is generating buzz for our flagship products and teaching consumers about the benefits of CBD-enhanced skincare. I think people hear CBD and immediately think it’s going to get you stoned or that it’s illegal; but it’s a perfectly safe and effective alternative to the chemical-laden products on the market.

I also have a new team in place that is helping drive our marketing and public relations strategy. It’s a refreshing change of pace to work alongside individuals who are just as passionate about the brand as I am.

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?

If it weren’t for my family’s support, Vieve’s Leaves would not exist! Everyone from my dad for believing in me and investing in our business to my brother for helping with sales and operations. Not to mention my sisters, mom and younger brother cheering me on, whether it’s on social media or just sending me a text to see how I’m doing that day. They’ve witnessed the intensity of the rollercoaster and have never failed to be by my side when I needed them most.

Of course, a huge shout out to all my friends, who not only religiously use the products, but believe in the brand and in me. I’m incredibly lucky to have such an encouraging support system surrounding me!

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?

Our marketing strategy has primarily been to connect with our customers through organic social media. I think what we do that larger companies could learn from is lead with vulnerability and honesty — both from the perspective of a consumer who struggles with skin issues and wants to feel like the brands they’re using care about them, and for other entrepreneurs to know that it’s a challenging industry with a lot of ups and downs.

We have an advantage because I personally deal with skin issues that many others also suffer from; so, I truly do care about my consumers and their reactions to our products. At the same time, this is a small business in an incredibly saturated industry with a lot of challenges. So much of what is shown in skincare marketing is perfect, pore-less glossy skin, or doctored before-and-after images; with Vieve’s Leaves we use unedited photos and are transparent about everything in our products, so our users know exactly what they’re getting and what to expect.

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

The three things that excite me:

  1. Industry growth — specifically to mainstream consumers
  2. Health and wellness innovations
  3. Environmental benefits

The three things that concern me:

  1. The potential oversaturation of the cannabis market
  2. Lack of information and bias — specifically among the medical professional community
  3. The number of synthetic versions of cannabis coming from overseas

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. You can’t sell CBD products on social media or Amazon, so we’ve created a strong e-commerce platform and are being aggressive with our PR and marketing strategy to drive brand awareness.
  2. Doctors can be super skeptical; however, I’ve been able to talk with more who are giving me great perspective and insight on their knowledge around the industry. We are both teaching each other — which is exciting!
  3. There’s a lot of ambiguity surrounding CBD, hemp and cannabis products. Some consumers are more hesitant than you’d think. We’ve gone to great lengths to research the benefits and potential side effects of our ingredients to ensure we provide honest information to educate our community.
  4. Like not being able to sell on Amazon and social media, there are some platforms that continuously flag CBD-related content, so we are incredibly mindful with the content we create. We want our customers to know that we have their best interests in mind and try to be as transparent as possible.
  5. They say you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with. While I learned this in my event planning career, it resonates more when it’s your own business at stake. I go back to the importance of due diligence and plugging in the numbers to know what you’re up against.

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

As a founder, I always try to lead with empathy and strive to make our workplace an environment where everyone’s ideas are heard. I love learning from other people! While it’s rewarding when people agree with you, I also love when I’m challenged, and a new perspective is brought to light.

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

I would love for there to be continued research and education around natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals, specifically as it relates to mental health and wellness.

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

You can follow us on Instagram @vievesleaves

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

Genevieve Dolan of Vieve’s Leaves: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.