Women In Wellness: Zehra Murhty of Belfiore Herbal On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
There are two: the first being skin and scalp awareness for overall health, along with rejecting mass marketed chemically produced products. The second would be sourcing ingredients and manufacturing correctly to help those less fortunate (farmers, etc).
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Zehra Murhty of Belfiore Herbal.
Although Belfiore Herbal officially was founded in early 2020, the company was in the works for years beforehand. It’s founder, Zehra Murthy, is a brilliant woman that has been growing and experimenting with the home-grown lavender from her backyard. She began creating one-of-a-kind skincare that was a hit among her family and friends, and would eventually become her business.
The odds of launching a successful business at what would unknowingly be the very start of a global pandemic is not an easy task for any. For Zehra, who is an older woman, it was even more of a challenge. Still, she continued to work hard, striving for the business to launch.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
I was born in 1949 in India. I am the oldest of seven children — I have 5 brothers and one youngest sister. My father passed away when I was 13, and since then I was my mothers helper and assistant. We were and still are a very close knit family. I always wanted to learn a lot; I loved to study and work, and always wanted to learn something new. In my curiosity in human and plant development, I studied biology then decided to focus on cell biology and genetics.
I joined UCSD in 1979 as a research scientist and worked on cell and molecular biology along with genetics. I started Belfiore Herbal in 2020 — I had lots of interest in plants and herbs. From 2018–2019, I started to grow lots of lavender and rosemary and started to research scientific papers on the healthcare benefits of these plants. My interest and inspiration to develop skin and hair care products using my own herbs when I started to look and read all the ingredients in these products. Most of them have petroleum based chemicals and synthetic chemicals & in my genetics research, I know how dangerous these chemicals are. As a second inspiration, I wanted to give back to society by using my knowledge of science and plants to make something that would be simple, affordable and work for all skin types to keep their skin truly healthy. My 3rd inspiration is involving my family to make Belifore Hebral a growing family business — we all love to work together.
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?
Lesson Learned: How and when to put your foot down.
When I had first started to work in science, I was working long, long hours. Since I enjoyed science I didn’t mind working 12–14 hours a day and producing lots of results, but after a year or so I noticed my work was not appreciated, and instead the directors demanded more and more out of me. That’s when I learned to put your foot down and work in the allotted time to keep a family life balance.
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?
Biggest Mistake when first starting: ‘Columbia Cosmetics Story’- Before starting Belfiore Herbal, we were cheated by one of the contract manufacturers charging us enormous fees for testing, then not holding up the agreement and not providing proper results. Our lesson learned is to properly research who we work with.
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?
Belfiore Herbal skin care products are formulated to keep skin healthy at the cellular level, that means keeping every cell in our skin well nourished and healthy to produce lots of collagen and hyaluronic acid to keep our skin well hydrated, free of dark spots and wrinkles. Actually, healthy skin is beautiful skin that brings out or gives self-confidence which can help change the world. We focus on using botanical (vegan) ingredients that are only derived from nature in our formulas. This decreases the amount of chemicals someone will put on their skin.
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.
● Here are my 5 lifestyle tweaks;
○ Each morning I give thanks to god for blessings (this is mine, but gratitude overall is important) ○ Meditation for self confidence and mental health
○ Dedicated, consistent exercise for physical health
○ Always allowing time for family and friends, keeping the connections strong. Not canceling plans last minute
○ Being patient and listening well.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
There are two: the first being skin and scalp awareness for overall health, along with rejecting mass marketed chemically produced products. The second would be sourcing ingredients and manufacturing correctly to help those less fortunate (farmers, etc).
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
● Here are the 5 things I wish someone told me
○ Be patient, the money will not come overnight
○ Stick to what you know and your expertise and focus on this.
○ Involve the whole family, everyone brings some experience
○ Manage your investments carefully
○ There is a whole world of B2B out there, go to some trade shows!
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Dearest to me is Mental Health, very simply because without a healthy mind one cannot live a truly complete and fulfilling life. Mental health is part of overall health. We already stand on only using vegan ingredients and rejecting animal derived products like retinol or hyaluronic acid.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
The best way for readers to follow our work is the blog on our website
(https://www.belfioreherbal.com/blogs/lifestyle) or our social media channels (@belfioreherbal on instagram).
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
Women In Wellness: Author Beth Shaw On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Give up sugar — A diet high in refined sugars can lead to all sorts of health issues like lower immunity, digestive issues, obesity and more serious problems like Type 2 diabetes or heart disease. As the leading cause of inflammation, giving up sugar will increase your overall health by strengthening your immune system, improving sleep quality, and increasing energy levels.
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Beth Shaw.
Beth Shaw is the author of four best-selling books on health and wellness. A pioneer in the Wellness, Yoga & Fitness space in North America, Beth is the CEO and Founder of YogaFit Training Systems Worldwide Inc the global mind-body education school, YogaFit.
Beth is a go-to yoga/mindfulness expert in the media and has been featured in numerous fitness, business, and consumer publications Beth is a frequent speaker at universities, conferences, and Fortune 500 Corporations. Beth educates others on Health & Mindfulness in the workplace and conscious business.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I was stranded in Istanbul Turkey doing a YogaFit Training on 9/11 — the experience taught me that life is short and that we should take time in life to make a positive contribution to the planet as that’s what I believe we are here to do. The experience also taught me to be present in the moment and SURRENDER to what is and give up what we cannot control.
Also taking groups of people to India every year to the birthplace of yoga Rishikesh has shown me that when we have expectations in life we often get disappointed, I have learned from taking thousands of people to India every year that life gives us the energy that we give it, I have watched people who had expectations get very disappointed and people who have a positive attitude have a very positive experience while traveling abroad.
Additionally I have learned from traveling to Saudi Arabia and Japan that we must act in accordance with what the local cultures are and adopt a mindset of going with the flow and learning that cultural differences are real and need to be respected.
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 I made when first starting was to not hire a proper business trained COO to handle all business operations so that I could focus on presenting, writing and creating content. Not having a well trained business person was a mistake. I have since spent three years gaining Harvard Business School Alumni status by participating in the Harvard OPM program, I have also joined several business organizations like EO, WPO and done the Goldman Sacks 10k Small Business Program
Also in the early days of starting, I was not strategic — I have since learned to be that person
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 am the founder and CEO of the largest Yoga Mind Body school in the world, YogaFit — We have transformed millions of lives in 25 years — teaching people to take control of the health on every level — We have taught over 250,000 teachers who then share the gifts of yoga and mind body health with many others — We have a robust community service program that gives people a chance to take yoga who normally would not — We have instigated over 3 million hours of community service work teaching yoga to those who are disadvantaged. ADD LINKS TO YOGAFIT COMMUNITY SERVICE
I also host the radio show MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY on Voice America — we cover all topics related to mental and physical health and we have over 30,000 listeners a month. Guests include Dr Pam Peeke, Dr Edward Group, Dr Nick Perricone, Dr Patrick Porter and many others
We empower listeners with simple tools to get their health back on track.
Here are some links to episodes of Make America Healthy
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.
Give up sugar — A diet high in refined sugars can lead to all sorts of health issues like lower immunity, digestive issues, obesity and more serious problems like Type 2 diabetes or heart disease. As the leading cause of inflammation, giving up sugar will increase your overall health by strengthening your immune system, improving sleep quality, and increasing energy levels.
Give up Gluten — As a common allergen, gluten negatively affects the body by exacerbating arthritis, producing brain fog, inducing bloating, and causing gut issues. Not considered to be nutrient dense, eliminating foods with gluten from your diet will prove to be an essential lifestyle change you didn’t know you needed.
Drink more water — More than half adults in the United States don’t drink enough water. It is recommended that adults drink at least 64 ounces of water throughout their day. By increasing your water intake, you will improve brain function and physical performance by increasing energy and relieving fatigue. Drinking enough water will flush out any toxins in the body, promoting weight loss and improving skin complexion.
Exercise 30 min every day — It’s no secret that there are numerous health benefits to working out. By incorporating at least 30 minutes of exercise into your day you will notice a reduction in stress and fatigue, improved cognitive function, an increase in productivity and a greater self confidence.
Try intermittent fasting — There is a reason why more and more people are trying intermittent fasting to optimize their health goals. Interested in learning more I invited renowned anti-aging doctor, Nick Perricone, onto my radio show Make America Healthy as he went over the vast benefits intermittent fasting has on countering aging and aiding weight loss. When performed correctly, intermittent fasting can regulate insulin and hormone levels throughout the body so you can burn more fat and extrude more waste. Here is a link to my show featuring Dr. Perricone
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
The entire world should practice yoga and meditation — also everyone should try plant medicine and connect with the divine source of energy.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Get a mentor
Join a professional organization
Take a business course for small business owners
Learn to think BIGGER
Hire people smarter than you
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 biggest passion now, we are in a dire mental health crisis and people need self directed tools. People need to be empowered to take control of their own physical and mental health.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
Inspirational Women in STEM and Tech: Eveline Buchatskiy of airSlate On The 5 Leadership Lessons She Learned From Her Experience
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Be mission-driven. That’s a must. People have choices, so why would they work for anyone without a mission that actually moves the world forward in a meaningful way?
As a part of our series about “Lessons From Inspirational Women in STEM”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Eveline Buchatskiy.
Eveline leads special projects at airSlate, including managing the partner go-to-market programs, as well as corporate and content marketing initiatives. She has worked with fast-growing startups for over 10 years, initially as CEO of a cleantech startup and then as an investor at a seed fund and accelerators, including as Techstars Director for their Boston accelerator. Eveline received a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of California — Berkeley, a master’s in engineering from University at Buffalo, and an Executive MBA from INSEAD.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was always passionate about my studies, particularly science. My high school Chemistry teacher in Brazil saw my drive and took interest in the girl that managed to be top of her class. I also worked my way to the top of my Physics and Math classes. But my Chemistry teacher encouraged me to pursue a degree in Chemical Engineering, and that ultimately launched my career trajectory.
I spent the first 10 years of my career as an engineer in the industrial gases industry before moving to Ukraine where the tech talent was prominent. Kyiv was completely new to me at the time, but I was able to make connections right away. My introduction into the tech startup world was with a deep tech company, and I haven’t left the industry since. After moving beyond that role, I launched a startup accelerator that primarily focused on the digital space. Today, I’m the VP of Special Projects at airSlate, a SaaS company, but what that really means is I’m involved all throughout the company.
My love for tech continues decades later because of the talented, innovative people and the ambitious solutions we’re able to share with the public. Not to mention the fact that I still feel a strong connection to that young student who fell in love with science and engineering — my nerdy roots run deep.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?
I don’t know if I would call it interesting as much as surreal. airSlate has a large R&D office in Kyiv, Ukraine, with over 800 people. On February 24, 2022, the lives of these people changed drastically. At 5 AM Kyiv time, I found myself in Boston, going down a spreadsheet of all these people and putting check marks to indicate that I had contacted them to wake them up, one by one, with the news: Russia had declared war against Ukraine, they needed to pack and leave the country. For the following two weeks, I did not sleep (yes, I found it to be biologically possible), working on the evacuation of all of them, together with their spouses, children, extended families, dogs, cats, turtles, all together over 3,000 people in the span of two weeks. We had to make logistics, lodging, and emmigration arrangements, all the while having to predict where the next bombing would strike and how to avoid it. We also had to find cash to pay for all of this because no one would take other forms of payment. All our employees are safe, relatively speaking considering the circumstances, and we have adjusted to normal business productivity despite all the challenges they continue to face daily, for over 120 days of war thus far.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. 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?
During my first engagement as CEO, I was managing a high-tech ultracapacitor company. This electrical component had many applications, from electrical vehicles to wind turbines, from scooters to mobile phones. We ended up falling in love with one client: Ferrari Formula 1 racing cars. It was cool to tell everyone we were going to be at the next Grand Prix. We were in Bologna, Italy, where they had the wind tunnel tests. There was so much glamor throughout the whole experience and of course I had my nails in bright red for all serious meetings. In reality, it almost killed the company. Ferrari had a very specific set of requirements which made us change the whole production line just for them. Yet, how many of these cars are out there in the races? Two! You can’t build a large business out of a handful of high-performing units for a cool Formula 1 client.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
airSlate’s modus operandi is to empower teams to digitize workflows of any complexity through no-code technology. We are the only company on the market with a full suite of digital transformation solutions in this space. Our solutions are integrated so customers can combine them or upgrade their existing processes without a hitch. We’re also the largest document workflow platform with over 100 million users.
We recently celebrated becoming a unicorn (reaching a $1 billion+ valuation) as airSlate became the first portfolio company for the newly launched UiPath Ventures initiative. It’s an exciting time for all of us at airSlate. We’re continuing to unlock new opportunities along the way to helping SMBs become automated organizations.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
The beauty of tech is that we’re always working on something new. airSlate’s latest round of funding backed by G Squared and UiPath is the catalyst for new projects that will accelerate our growth. More specifically, we’re working on expanding airSlate’s mid-market and enterprise customer base, opening new go-to-market channels and developing new products, as well as onboarding new technical talent to support with all of these efforts. Every day provides something different!
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? What specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
I believe more female representation is needed to change the status quo of women in STEM. We need more role models and mentors embracing future generations. Young girls and women should be able to see STEM as an approachable field and environment — it should feel relatable, which happens when we can see ourselves in a particular role. We can also empower young girls to take an interest in STEM from an early age with their toys and activities and the power of their educators. I feel fortunate to have had educators and mentors along the way who have guided me toward a rewarding career despite a few twists and turns.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by women in STEM that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts? What would you suggest to address this?
Unconscious bias is one of the biggest challenges for women in STEM. Despite having advanced degrees in Engineering and Business, people still question whether I am technical or analytical enough to be leading in my role. I was in a meeting not too long ago with a branding agency I was planning on hiring, but then I was asked if we could bring a decision-maker into the conversation. They didn’t realize I was that person!
The more we interact with female leaders in STEM, the less likely these unconscious biases are to occur. Women in all fields, including tech, need to keep sharing our stories to inspire and encourage future talent.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a woman in STEM. Can you explain what you mean?
None of us spend our days dwelling on what our work environment would look like if we had perfectly equal conditions and opportunities. In reality, like any man in STEM, we women spend the vast majority of our time thinking of roadmaps, objectives and key results, KPIs, growing and nurturing our teams, acquiring new skills, building products, services, and experiences that create value for people. We also spend time mentoring up and coming talent so they have a more accelerated path towards their goals. And yes, time allowed, we advocate for some changes either explicitly through activism or subtly, by choosing to bring value to companies and teams that share our vision for such an equal world.
What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in STEM or Tech” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
Be human. That goes a long way. From putting yourself in your team’s shoes during the lows, to having a genuine desire to help them grow, to celebrating the highs, everyone wants to be around a leader that is above all a good human being.
Be inspiring. As a woman, you jumped through many hoops and yes, you still made it. It’s the leader’s job to continuously show optimism and to exceed expectations with a vision that will make people put all their bets on your game.
Be ambitious. For you and your team. Goals should be set such that everyone should feel at least slightly uncomfortable with the vision, even better if we all feel like there are a million butterflies in our stomach.
Be unique. In short, don’t be boring and lean into your unique story. Create memorable experiences for the people around you.
Be mission-driven. That’s a must. People have choices, so why would they work for anyone without a mission that actually moves the world forward in a meaningful way?
What advice would you give to other women leaders to help their team to thrive?
Tech can be a demanding industry, especially in the startup space. But remind yourself and your teams that it’s rewarding when you’re passionate about what you do and the solutions you’re building together. Have your sights set on a better future, and nothing can get in your way.
What advice would you give to other women leaders about the best way to manage a large team?
The only way to effectively manage a large team is to empower direct reports and nurture a culture of accountability at all levels of the organization. I always tell my team that the best way to get promoted is to make yourself replaceable by building a team that can run without you. This philosophy forces you to work hard to raise the confidence and skill set of your team, and to put in place the right processes for everyone to take ownership of their results at a much deeper level. Your team members should feel you trust they have what it takes to make the right decisions. It’s equally important to clearly communicate and get the buy-in on the vision for the business and how that translates into what is expected from each member of the team.
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?
That is very true. While there are a handful of people that helped me navigate forks in the road of my professional journey, my parents’ support may have had the most impact on me. You see, I am the second youngest in a family of 15 children, and the first person to go to college. However, everyone in my family — my siblings, my parents and grandparents — were all entrepreneurial in their own right. My parents worked hard to provide opportunities for me to grow, but they didn’t fully understand my obsession with education.
My mom understood that a degree in engineering most likely meant I would be working for someone else, which wasn’t exactly her dream for me. She was supportive, but I still had to pave my own path without a clear example to model. She also helped me understand that above all, I value a civic-minded life and a career that enables me to give back or advance the public wellbeing in some way, shape or form.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
One of our ongoing focuses is ensuring safety for our community in Ukraine. In 2014, airSlate opened the doors to our office in Kyiv, and we’ve continued to welcome many colleagues in Ukraine since then. The war is incredibly close to our airSlaters and we’ve used our platform to call for contributions that will make an immediate impact. Three of the organizations we’re proud to donate to and support are Nova Ukraine, Razom and Project C.U.R.E.
As an organization, we have provided around $2 million in humanitarian efforts for our Ukrainian team members and their families. We are also happy to share all that we know and our personal experiences from the ground to help others offer much-needed support to those in Ukraine.
If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would love to create a “magic wand” that unlocks human potential at scale. During my years as an investor, I lived through these magical moments of removing barriers for entrepreneurs that went on to achieve incredible things. Sometimes even small actions such as an intro to a co-founder became the catalyst to life-changing results. There is abundance of talent within most people, which may be restricted by lack of access to capital, opportunity, education, network, or just plain freedom. I often fantasize about a movement that would ensure each individual is able to fully realize their potential. I would start with unlimited access to education.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Chance only favors the prepared mind, said Louis Pasteur. I love the combination of discipline (always do your homework!) with serendipity (luck matters) of this quote. There were many times in my life when it looked like I was at the right place at the right time. In reality, it was a bit of luck and lots of planning. One good example was when I met Cecile Drucker, daughter of the legendary management guru Peter Drucker. For no obvious reason, for six months we worked diligently on a concept to match tech talent in Eastern Europe with new money in that region to create a world-class startup ecosystem. We designed an accelerator without even realizing that the model had just been launched in Silicon Valley. We were a small team of enthusiasts with a very strong vision, no funding, and no real chance of executing on what we knew could be a transformative project. One day I got a call asking if I knew anything about accelerators. Yes I did! I had a full business plan. When can I start?, I asked. And that marked the beginning of my venture investment career.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?
The world is hungry for leadership in the public sector. After a series of unfortunate events of historical proportion ranging from a global pandemic to war in Europe, a select group of women stand out by their strong principled leadership with grace: Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. I would love to have a girls night out with these honorable ladies to discuss their secret sauce and how we can spread such leadership style across the globe. If I must pick one person only, I would have brunch with Angela Merkel. For all these years, I admired her pragmatism that led Germany’s economy growth by 34% — 15 percentage points more than its nearest EU rival, France. But I have some unresolved business with her. I think she completely miscalculated the relationship with Russia and Germany’s energy dependence. Was being a woman a factor? Was she hoping that graceful (almost motherly) diplomacy through economic ties would tame an aggressive bear? It’s puzzling to me. I would love to find out.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Disruptors: Amy Bachof Measures for Justice On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Shrink the change. This is from the Heath brothers’ book Switch. When people face a daunting task and their instinct is to avoid it, you’ve got to break down the task. Shrink the change. In other words: Make the change small enough that they can’t help but score a victory.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Bach.
Amy Bach has been the Chief Executive Officer of Measures for Justice since 2011. She founded the organization as a follow-up to her acclaimed book, Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court, which won the 2010 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. In June 2011, Echoing Green, a premier seed investor for social entrepreneurs, selected Amy as a Fellow out of 3,000 candidates worldwide to support the launch of Measures for Justice. Following that, she was named a Draper Richards Kaplan Social Entrepreneur. For her work on Ordinary Injustice, Amy received a Soros Media Fellowship, a special J. Anthony Lukas citation, and a Radcliffe Fellowship at Harvard University. Amy was a Knight Foundation Journalism Fellow at Yale Law School and is a graduate of Stanford Law School. In 2012, she taught Criminal Law during the spring semester at the University of Buffalo Law School as a Visiting Professor. In 2019, she won the Academy of Criminal Justice Science’s Leadership and Innovation Award and the Charles Bronfman Prize. Amy lives in Rochester, NY, where the organization is based.
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 went to law school, clerked for a federal judge, and then spent eight years writing a book about criminal trial courts in America. I saw how legal professionals could make the same mistakes over and over. And not realize that anything is missing. Like the public defender who pleaded 48 people guilty in a little over a day. And barely knew their names, much less their cases. Or the prosecutor who had no idea he had not prosecuted a domestic violence case in 21 years. My idea was to measure the delivery of basic legal services. So that everyone could see patterns and then improve their systems. To reach into the heart of courts across America and ask: How are we doing? So that counties could have a yardstick to see how they compare. And the tools to reshape our judicial system via data and hard conversations with communities.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Pretty much everything! When we got started a little over ten years ago, almost no one was doing this work. No one was talking about the importance of data or performance measurement. It was too hard, it couldn’t be done, don’t even try. That was the message out there at the time. But we pressed on because it was so obvious to me that we can’t change what we can’t see. And we were seeing nothing.
Fast forward a decade and the culture has changed. We’ve been leading this movement to upend how justice gets done in this country by bringing to the table transparency and accountability via data. We’ve worked to develop national data standards and measures. We’ve unlocked 1/3rd of the country’s data in more than 1200 counties. And now we’re bringing new data platforms to police departments and DA offices that depend on real, sustained collaboration between these agencies and departments and the people they serve. When data and collaboration are the centerpiece of how criminal justice gets carried out, transparency and accountability become the norm. Which amounts to more than disruption–it’s a revolution.
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?
One day I had a meeting in a room with a judge who was supposedly really into data. We showed him some of the initial data that suggested his county had fared quite well with few racial disparities.
“You can’t compare counties,” said the judge.
“Why not?”
“It’s not possible,” he said.
“Don’t all the counties in the state have the same laws? Why can’t you compare two counties?”
“One county is an apple and one’s an orange.”
“Well why can’t you compare an apple and an orange? One is orange and bumpy and one is red and smooth.”
“But I don’t want a tomato in my fruit salad.”
I don’t remember what he said next. I ran over to try and shake his hand. He looked down at my hand. He left me hanging. His legal assistant looked at me with disgust.
What I didn’t understand at the time was how little prepared everyone was for publicly comparable data. But his saying he didn’t want a tomato in his fruit salad really became a metaphor in my head for: Get out of my state.
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?
So many people have helped me. I am indebted to many of our Board members who guided us and helped us grow. But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our Board Chair who died this year. Ed Schallert was chair of the Debevoise & Plimpton’s Litigation Department. He clerked for Thurgood Marshall. He gave me a lot of faith that when things were hard, they were just the growing pains every organization has to go through. And he did it in a way that didn’t make me feel judged. At his memorial service I learned that I was not the only one — there were a dozen or so people at his firm who said he mentored them and did it in a funny, honest way. I hope to pass that on one day.
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?
That is a great question. Social media might be a good example. It’s obviously made it possible for many more people to tell their stories. And create relationships with each other. But the relationships are often superficial, and the lack of depth there can and has led to a lot of isolation and loneliness — feelings Hannah Arendt calls the preconditions for tyranny. People need a public square where they can have real interactions. And be drawn into real conversations over facts. That is why I love our work so much: we bring data and facts to places that are often tinderboxed or fractured. People have hard conversations and set data driven goals that generate accountability.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
Shrink the change. This is from the Heath brothers’ book Switch. When people face a daunting task and their instinct is to avoid it, you’ve got to break down the task. Shrink the change. In other words: Make the change small enough that they can’t help but score a victory.
“I am in charge of the butter.” This quote comes from a story one of my board members told me. It’s about a politician who once bragged relentlessly about everything he was in charge of while attending some dinner. But when he asked a waiter for butter, the waiter wouldn’t give it to him. “I am in charge of the butter,” the waiter said. Which just goes to prove that the guy who seems like he has no power can always block you. So don’t be a jerk.
Get a bookkeeper. When we first began I tried to write all the checks myself and it would take forever. I got a bookkeeper and an accountant. It’s a metaphor: You need to have your house in order to be creative. It’s true for the whole organization, really.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
You’re right, we are just getting started. We plan to bring our newest data platform, Commons, to a large portion of the population. What Commons does is publish recent data people really want alongside policy goals set by local law enforcement and the public they serve. These goals are shared and tracked in service of real transparency and accountability. Which we anticipate will lead to greater demands nationwide for more of same. Which will necessarily lead to better infrastructure, mandates, and legislation to make live data streams just a regular part of how justice gets done in this country. That is the vision.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Women have to create tracks and then be willing to jump from track to track. I have a large number of women in my organization who are the breadwinners for their families–as spouses or single moms. One woman on my team was writing to me while on a plane to her grandfather’s funeral about a work document, saying she felt better working than not. This is our reality: We multitask more. We love what we do. And trust we will get it all done at the same time.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
I always think about Simple Justice by Richard Kluger. It tells the story of Brown v. Board of Education that saw the US Supreme Court reverse a long-standing precedent of separate but equal held in Plessy v. Ferguson. How did this monumental change occur in such a glacially paced court? The NAACP used data in its early strategies to show separate is not equal–e.g., how much money Black teachers were paid compared to white teachers. This paved the way to Brown and primed the court to rely on data to make its decisions. So that in the end, the Court zeroed in on data from the “the doll tests,” which demonstrated the psychological effects of segregation on African-American children, to make its choice. Incremental change paved the way for lasting change. And all of it hinged on reliable data.
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’m lucky to be able to say, honestly, that the movement Measures for Justice has already started to make the criminal justice system fully transparent, accountable, and accessible stands to change millions of lives over time.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There is a very famous saying from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers): “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” This incremental approach means that the goal cannot be reached in one generation. Each generation will improve the world as much as it can. Then the mission must be passed on to the next generation, until the goal is reached. It’s arrogant to think otherwise.
How can our readers follow you online?
None of what I do is about me–it’s about the work. So follow us here, here, and here.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Women In Wellness: Dr Angelina Posteovof IBI Healthcare Institute On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Move around as much as you can — walking, taking the stairs rather than the elevator, etc. Set small activity goals for yourself each day and increase your goals as you can
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Angelina Posteov.
Dr. Angelina Posteov, MD is a triple-board certified cosmetic surgeon and the founder of Surgicare Arts & Aesthetics and co-founder of IBI Healthcare Institute. She received her undergraduate degree from Ohio State University, attended medical school at Ross University, ranking in the top five percent of her class, and completed her residency at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Angelina and her family reside in the Atlanta, Georgia area.
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 with my family in Russia and then when I was 15 years old we moved to the United States. When we arrived in the US I, like all the other members of my family, did not speak English. It was a major challenge to navigate my way through college and medical school with very limited guidance and the language barrier but I never gave up.
My command of the English language improved as I completed my four years of undergraduate education, four years of medical school, five years of residency in general surgery, and a two-year fellowship.
During that time, I met and married my husband who is also a surgeon. We desired to open a private practice that would allow us to use our skills and knowledge while employing the best techniques, surgeries, or medications to do what was best for the patient.
Often, when working for a hospital or large practice, the options for patient treatment are dictated by an entity such as a board, an administration, or a large insurance company. This can sometimes “tie our hands” as surgeons and doctors and we are unable to treat the patient the way we feel would be best for their situation. As doctors we are not trained to be told what to do, we are trained to heal people and make critical decisions that could be life or death in nature.
We moved to Georgia and opened our practice together where we had the freedom to put patient well-being first.
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 think the way I met my husband and business partner is one of the most interesting stories of my career.
We were both surgical residents at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio but he was a year ahead of me in his residency. I saw him around and knew he was in the program but we were never really in the same proximity to speak or interact.
About halfway through my second year of residency, we began working together in the critical care unit. He was in his third year of residency and the Senior Resident with me being the Junior Resident. One day while running morning rounds, (which is the time when all the residents and students move from room to room and visit each patient to make plans for the day) there was an incident that kind of put him on the map for me.
There was this one guy in the group that was saying something that made absolutely no sense to me. I began to get irritated and eventually I got mad (It usually takes a lot to make me mad but he succeeded to make me mad that morning) I quickly turned around to get away from this guy and at the same time began saying “a few choice words” under my breath in Russian. The only problem with that was I had completely forgotten that the Senior Resident, my now husband, spoke Russian! He busted out laughing!
We continued to have rotations together but we were also both busy with our own responsibilities, he in the operating room and me running the unit. There was a core group of us that would hang out sometimes after work and we were both involved in this group and became friends.
A few years later we began dating, and then we got married and then opened our practice together. I guess long story short, I not only found an appropriate business partner but I also found a husband and a friend.
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?
We have learned many lessons since we first started our practice and we faced many challenges. As doctors and surgeons, we understood medicine and how to navigate large trauma centers, perform surgeries and take care of sick patients. But all of our years in school and experience working with people in the medical field never prepared us to start and run our own business.
Most of our challenges starting out were related to running the business side of things. I think the biggest mistake we made when we were starting is not investing more in the real estate side of the business when prices were much lower. (offices and surgical center locations)
We were both just coming out of residency and we could not afford to purchase exactly what we wanted and of course, everything increased in price and now we are paying for that.
The lesson learned is do not procrastinate. If you think it is the right thing for your business, find investors and continue pushing forward.
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?
Having our own practice, we can treat patients based on what is best for them and are not limited by constraints imposed by a hospital or medical practice. IBI Healthcare Institute consists of a state-of-the-art surgical center, a weight loss/bariatric surgery division, and a cosmetic surgery practice that all work together and can provide patients with an individualized plan and a continuity of patient care not found elsewhere.
For instance, an obese patient may undergo bariatric surgery or a weight loss procedure and lose a significant amount of weight. This loss of weight improves their health and possibly eliminates a weight-related illness they suffered from such as type 2 diabetes. This patient has also received personalized nutrition education, guidance, and support to effectively make lifestyle changes that will help them maintain their health in the future. This patient then passes this mindset and learning experience on to their friends and family who hopefully will live healthier lifestyles.
This same patient, after losing a great deal of weight, may be left with loose sagging skin that can cause medical issues and/or create emotional anxiety. The next step in their continuous plan of care would be to address this excess skin at our Surgicare Arts & Aesthetics division. Cosmetic surgery eliminates the loose skin and the patient is not only pleased with the aesthetic results but the rewarding physical benefits. They can now move around freely; maybe something as simple as playing with their kids on the playground. We continue to support these patients to help them maintain their health and their weight loss indefinitely.
Watching these patients progress and achieve these changes and knowing that we played a small part in helping them get there, makes all of the hard work and hours we put in each day as doctors worth it.
We also have a non-profit organization that helps patients who have no access to medical care, finances, or insurance. By helping these patients and performing what are sometimes life-saving surgeries, we hope they in turn will pay it forward and help someone else. By working together, each doing what we are able to help others, we can make a big difference and it will go a long way in making the world a better place.
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.
Wake up early and make a plan for your day
Practice intermittent fasting
Move around as much as you can — walking, taking the stairs rather than the elevator, etc. Set small activity goals for yourself each day and increase your goals as you can
Be proud of all your achievements big and small
Drink more water
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
As a doctor and a surgeon, I would like to see more responsibility and stricter regulation of ingredients in the food products that are marketed to the American people.
Our Nation’s current obesity epidemic is partly fueled by the increase in additives and unhealthy ingredients that are contained in processed and pre-packaged food. Cancer and other health issues can be directly tied to food additives or the way foods are grown or harvested. The United States has the highest rate of cancer in the world.
The regulations in Europe regarding food additives are much stricter than in the United States and only additives that are proven safe are allowed in Europe. There are also strict regulations regarding genetically modified foods.
Many food additives that are contained in products sold in the United States are illegal in Europe and so companies that sell the same product in both markets alter the ingredients according to the market. The version that is sold in Europe does not include dangerous chemicals, color agents, or artificial flavors. Why are there not the same standards in the United States?
Generally, processed foods are less expensive to buy than whole or healthy foods. Research has proven that obesity levels are elevated among individuals in lower income brackets.
I would like all Americans to have access to healthy foods that are free from dangerous cancer and obesity-causing agents.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
I wish someone had told me about college scholarships. With no guidance and my lack of English, I did not know about scholarships.
I wish someone would have helped me become financially educated. Planning for retirement early, etc.
I wish I would have understood the benefits of securing real estate for the business sooner rather than later.
Take time to take business and/or marketing classes. They will be useful in any field.
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 would have to say mental health, especially the mental health of women, and finding a balance in your life that includes time for yourself.
As women, we feel we have to take care of everyone and everything but we rarely even “pencil in” time for ourselves. Living an unbalanced life full of stress can lead to many serious health conditions including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and can contribute to obesity.
Be deliberate in scheduling time for yourself. Maybe it is as simple as 10 minutes of yoga every day guided by Youtube or taking a nice peaceful walk.
It may be a challenge at first and you may have to adjust your plan a few times before you find what works for you. Most of us women need to adjust our thinking to prioritize ourselves and our well-being because we are so accustomed to being last.
Taking time to invest in your own wellbeing will help alleviate stress and benefit your health and wellness long-term. It can be the difference between managing through your life and enjoying your life.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
You can take a look at my cosmetic surgery website www.surgicarearts.com and from there you can find the links to follow me on other social media platforms.
From there you can also learn about the line of skincare products that I have developed and find videos and articles that cover a variety of subjects.
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
Women in Wellness: Jennifer Marler of Pivot On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview with Candice Georgiadis
Learn to say “no.” I still struggle with this, but it is a vital life skill for longevity and sustainability in the workforce. I truly believe this one takes practice, as in practicing what you will say in the mirror several times before delivering it. If you are caught off guard with a suspect request, you can indicate you need to think about it or check your calendar and get back to the requester — then go practice and then deliver your response).
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jennifer Marler, M.D. Vice President of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Pivot.
Jennifer Marler, M.D. is the Vice President of Clinical and Medical Affairs at Pivot, a digital health company that delivers clinically proven, behavioral science-based solutions that empower people to take control of their personal health.
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 the east San Francisco Bay Area, in Pleasanton. I was lucky to have lots of active outdoor time and grew up in a safe, loving, supportive environment. I am a member of Gen X, and some of what you hear about this generation applies to me: I was a latch key kid as both my parents worked full time. I believe this, along with the unfettered outdoor time and participation in team sports, fostered independence, collaboration, problem-solving, and self-sufficiency. I was a good student, which I primarily chalk up to being conscientious and a people pleaser (more on that later).
I went to UCLA and got my BS in Neuroscience, then on to medical school at the Medical College of Virginia, and then to UVA in Charlottesville for a residency in Radiology. I’ve lived in California, Colorado, and Virginia, and currently call the Monterey Bay Area in California home. I’ve been in the medical device and digital therapeutics fields for the last 15 years. My focus has been designing and conducting clinical studies and then creating and communicating the resultant evidence-based narrative. I currently do this at Pivot, a digital therapeutic company where we help people kick their tobacco addiction.
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 made a major career change early on. In high school, I decided I wanted to be a physician. I wanted to help people, was a strong student, and liked science — it clearly was the perfect career path for me, right? So, I got on that path, kept my head down, focused, and worked hard, but didn’t check in much with myself along the way. I would characterize this time in my life as being guided by too much head, not enough heart.
That approach caught up with me during my radiology residency. I was unhappy and increasingly felt like this wasn’t due to residency being a tough and stressful time, but rather because I was no longer on the right path for me. I enlisted the help of a career coach who was a radiologist himself and specialized in helping physicians make career transitions. I worked with him for about 12 months to sort things out and develop and execute a plan. I left my residency after the second year. I left on good terms, giving them ample notice and an explanation of what was going on with me that was driving my departure.
I was fortunate to have a soft landing with my family and friends, who were surprised at this out-of-character move but also supportive. I vividly remember the ride home from the airport; I had just turned 30, had walked away from my promising dream career and was moving back in with my parents. My silent tears streamed as I looked out the backseat window and watched the familiar landmarks pass by en route to my childhood home. I appreciate this now as both a low point for me and the necessary starting point from which I would build back up. Painful though they are, these touchstone moments are important.
In another out-of-character move, I gave myself three months to recover and restore, with little to no expectation of jumping right into the next thing, whatever that was going to be. I focused on getting enough sleep, eating well, exercising, and connecting with loved ones. I need to acknowledge that being able to do this was a luxury, but this self-care investment enabled me to bounce back in the healthiest and likely most comprehensive and expedient way possible. And bounce back I did, first with some consulting and then with a medical director position at a medical device company focused on treating precancerous conditions in the GI tract. While I worked hard and soaked up the learning during this transition to a new career, I also benefited from the input and guidance of kind, caring, and wise mentors.
The main lessons I took away from my career change experience are:
It’s OK to change your career path. Most people will have multiple careers over their life, and that’s normal and OK.
When going through a major career or life change, leverage whatever resources you can, like trusted and helpful family and friends, career coaches, and/or mentors. Note that I was able to work with a career coach because he offered a special rate for medical residents that I could afford on my meager salary. Look for such opportunities.
Change is hard and often comes with low points. Know that these points are important and often necessary parts of the process. Appreciate and value their sanctity accordingly.
An upfront investment in self-care may seem like a luxury but can pay dividends in the efficiency and quality of your transition.
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?
Hmm, there’ve been a few… I’ll go with a general personality trait that has presented challenges at work: people pleasing. Accordingly, I have experienced the following:
Being rewarded for good work with more work
An inner sense of frustration and lack of fulfillment
Being less likely to take risks because I was too scared to fail
Caring too much about what others think (or what I thought they were thinking) and the fatigue that comes with it
Sacrificing or delaying dreams and experiences that mattered to me because I was trying to make someone else happy
Mistakes I made include:
Not saying “no” to projects that were low priority or detracted from more important work.
Not setting boundaries for when and how I could help with these secondary projects.
Not requiring adequate background, details, and timelines at the outset of a secondary project so I could make an informed decision on my ability to participate.
The result was that I wasted my time and shifted my focus, compromising the most important deliverables.
And work spilled over, frequently, to late nights, early mornings, and weekends. At some point, I realized my co-workers were going home to their significant others and families, exercising, meeting up with friends, or taking on exciting hobbies. I was not. I believe there’s a time and place to throw yourself into your work, particularly when you are starting out. But it must be balanced with some boundaries and punctuated by spells of non-workaholism if your career path is to be sustained.
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?
Each year, smoking kills almost half a million people in the US and about 8 million globally. And life expectancy for people who smoke is at least ten years shorter than for those who do not. Smoking is still way too big a problem and has been so for too long; it’s unacceptable.
I’ve been at Pivot, a digital health company that empowers individuals to embrace wellness and enables corporations and health plans to improve their population’s health, since its inception. We’ve come up with a better approach to help people quit smoking. I think it’s such an effective solution because it marries tried and true approaches such as behavioral intervention and nicotine replacement therapy (nicotine patches, gum, and lozenges) with more recent technology-enabled capabilities, including sensor technology, smartphone apps, and SMS-based coaching. Between our published clinical research and commercial efforts, our quit rates and user satisfaction are high, which feels incredibly good.
While we all know that smoking is bad for your health, I’m struck by how multi-tentacled and ruthless a problem it is. It harms so many areas of life, including personal finances, relationships, confidence and self-esteem, the health of our loved ones, employability and job opportunities, the environment…the list goes on. Based on this, helping a person achieve their goal of quitting smoking has profoundly positive ripple effects. I honestly can’t think of another single problem that, when you solve it, has so many meaningful impacts. While I cannot deny that tackling tobacco addiction is tough, the reward is immense when you break through and help people kick the habit.
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.
Acknowledging that I am forever on the well-being learning curve, here goes:
Some type of meditation — The benefit of a brain reset can’t be overstated. I’ve found that I’m better able to focus and see my tasks through (with less mental and emotional angst too.)
Exercise — This one repeatedly falls down the list for me. So, I upped the ante and signed up to work out with a trainer once a week. A couple of factors at play here hold my feet to the fire: accountability and not wanting to waste money.
Community and self-care — Yep, I linked these two, but hear me out. I struggle with consumerism. I’m increasingly trying to make thoughtful decisions about what I buy and, in general, buy less stuff. And as I mentioned, I support self-care, which I see as an investment in helping me stay functional and on the rails. Accordingly, I’ve shifted to seeking out experiences for self-care. And I’m finding so many benefits to this approach, beyond achieving self-care, that generally fall in with the theme of community. So, I encourage you to get a facial, an art lesson, a massage, a trainer, a pedicure, whatever might bring you a bit of respite or joy, and know that the benefits are multiple. A note about finances: I want to acknowledge that paying for these services is not on the table for everyone, but self-care is. There are free or inexpensive ways to get some self-care in. Examples include taking a stroll in a place of beauty, grabbing a tea with a friend, curling up with a book by the fire, or volunteering somewhere where you receive something that speaks to you in return.
Involvement — I don’t know many people who aren’t affected by the state of affairs in the world today. Personally, I am often cycling between rage, hopelessness, sadness, bewilderment, and a sense of powerlessness. I’ve learned there are more and less productive ways to cope. Less productive (although periodically necessary) is me starting or jumping on a text chain with my friends where we collectively bemoan the state of things. It feels good to commiserate and vent. More productive is channeling those emotions into something productive: peaceful protest, donating or fundraising for a cause you believe in, volunteering, random acts of kindness, or communicating with elected officials. I’ve done at least a little of all these things and find comfort in the fact that these actions yield something meaningful, and I appreciate that they fill my cup a bit and bring me some healing and a sense of control.
Compassion/empathy for numero uno — As a daughter, partner, employee, mom, friend, pet guardian, etc., I often feel like I’m doing lots of things and none of them very well. And when I start thinking about this, the negative self-talk kicks in. Which honestly is not productive or helpful in any way. Even though I know this, it’s a tough habit to break. I like and have been using the advice to talk to yourself like you would to your best friend. Would you say those mean, hurtful things to your friend? Nope. Would you remind her no one is perfect, encourage her, and let her know you care and got her back? Yep.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Other than eliminating smoking, I’d focus on nutrition. The way we currently approach nutrition is at the root of many of our significant public health and environmental issues and, frankly, goes against common sense. Why do we wait to intervene until the health issues associated with poor nutrition develop? And then we intervene with medications and procedures.
Why not avoid or minimize these health issues altogether and focus our efforts further upstream by shifting subsidies to make healthy food affordable and unhealthy food cost-prohibitive? Might such investments be offset by money saved down the line in healthcare expenses? Why not support education that starts at the pre-school and grade school level and focuses on where our food comes from and what healthy choices look like? And not offer unhealthy choices in school-provided meals. What about tackling food deserts and ensuring health care providers are trained and adequately reimbursed for addressing nutrition with patients from infancy through the golden years?
My medical school training on nutrition 20 years ago was negligible. I don’t remember much other than learning about the illnesses associated with vitamin deficiencies like scurvy and vitamin D deficiency rickets. Do you know a lot of people with scurvy? I don’t. I do know a lot of people who struggle with their weight, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and cancer — all of which are linked to nutrition and diet. Why are we OK with the destruction of rainforests for cattle grazing when the environmental impact is devastating? And the overfishing of the oceans? Why haven’t we implemented policies that would prevent or limit the financial gains from such practices? I’m no expert on this topic, and it’s incredibly complex, but there clearly is room for improvement and a mandate to act.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
I actually think someone told me most of these things before or when I started; it’s a matter of to what extent I listened and had to learn some of these lessons firsthand.
Set boundaries. It doesn’t require much explanation but know that it’s best to do it early on when establishing a new role or relationship.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint. My significant other and I frequently nudge each other on this one. We’re both in start-ups and sometimes need a reminder that not everything is urgent all the time.
Start saving for retirement immediately. If your workplace offers a 401k, by all means, take advantage of it. Even if you can swing setting aside 1–2% of your monthly paycheck, do it. Something is so much better than nothing and really adds up over the years.
Make time for life and your dreams today. I remember a talk from a geriatrician during medical school that stuck with me. His job gave him the privilege of being with many when they were at the end of life. He noted that no one had ever said they wished they had worked more during life. He noted that many did say they wished they had spent more time with their loved ones and had taken a shot at their dream. A cautionary tale…
Learn to say “no.” I still struggle with this, but it is a vital life skill for longevity and sustainability in the workforce. I truly believe this one takes practice, as in practicing what you will say in the mirror several times before delivering it. If you are caught off guard with a suspect request, you can indicate you need to think about it or check your calendar and get back to the requester — then go practice and then deliver your response).
Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Well, these causes are all inextricably linked and overlapping, so it’s tough to pick just one. I think I’ll go with veganism as it’s probably the one I know the most about as a vegan myself. I became a vegetarian when I moved out for college. I had always been an animal lover, but it was the drive on I-5 to school, passing a large cattle feedlot that made me sad and uncomfortable, that sealed the deal for me. I became a vegan about nine years ago. I’m pretty sure I was building up to it but made the decision after attending a discussion on factory farms. I unexpectedly walked out of that talk as a vegan, with no ceremonious or multi-step goodbye to my beloved favorite food: cheese. It was like I didn’t have a choice, which actually made the change pretty easy.
I’m a vegan for the typical reasons you hear about: health, environment, animal welfare, and spirituality. For health, I noticed my skin cleared up, and my body just felt better, as in not achy; my take was that I had less inflammation. I’ve also followed with interest the growing and compelling evidence showing that diets high in plants and low in animal products, such as the Mediterranean diet and Okinawa diet, are best for health and longevity.
For the environment, I am not OK with the destruction of rainforests for cattle grazing and the loss of biodiversity due to overfishing. I’m also not OK with and have a hard time seeing the logic in the harmful practice of growing soil-depleting monocrops to feed to factory-farmed animals to then feed to humans. Instead, we could grow rotating crops to feed directly to humans and avoid a lot of wasted resources and suffering in the meantime. I do believe that in the future (likely beyond my lifetime), we will look back on our treatment of animals with a sense of, “I can’t believe we used to…”
Finally, on the spirituality front, I don’t want something that comes from such suffering going in my body; it just feels like bad juju. I see my veganism as an attempt to decrease my contribution to suffering.
I say all this, acknowledging most people contemplating or dabbling in veganism won’t have my binary not-a-vegan/now-a-vegan experience simply after attending that lecture. And I think that’s totally fine. Trading off some meat- and dairy-based meals for plant-based ones is a meaningful change people can make; it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. The impact of many people undertaking small changes (swapping in a few plant-based meals a week) can be profound.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
Well…I don’t have the biggest online presence, and I didn’t mention it above, but another well-being hack is limiting my time and presence on social media. But I am on LinkedIn and would love to connect.
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
Listen to your gut! It wasn’t until I took this advice myself that things started flowing in my life career-wise without me always feeling like I’m battling upstream for my next opportunity.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brianna Arps.
Founder and CEO Brianna “B.A.” Arps is a former Refinery29 editor-turned-marketing expert whose passion for people, storytelling and all things beauty finally led to the birth of her very own “brand-children” MOODEAUX® and Black In Fragrance.™ In the same way as her bold sense of style, Brianna wears her emotions like a badge of honor — navigating through life by the simple motto: Flaunt How You Feel.® A St. Louis native, she’s known among family and friends alike as an outspoken, charismatic big thinker working to make the world around her better — starting with perfume. Brianna holds a bachelor’s degree from the world’s first School of Journalism seated at the University of Missouri — and currently, she is an aspiring graduate of the renowned School for Aromatic Studies.
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 can’t tell you about our backstory at MOODEAUX® without mentioning the two most important, best-smelling women I know: my mom Cynthia and my grandma Minnie. When I was younger, I remember how much fun I had playing around in their makeup/toiletry bags — and more distinctly, the thrill I got from layering scents I “borrowed” from their designer fragrance collections. Both of the matriarchs in my life always encouraged individuality, which ultimately led me to developing my own ideals around beauty and self-care early on… It wasn’t until October 2018, though, that I decided to manifest those ideals into the form of a business.
At that time, I grew obsessed with learning about our sense of smell’s ability to influence our moods. I was also recently unemployed after being laid off from my “dream job” in women’s media and heavily reliant on self-care to stay sane. It might sound silly, but I always felt way better after a long, meditative shower followed by a spritz or two of fragrance. I didn’t even have to get dressed or go anywhere special, the whiff of a familiar smell was often enough to remind me that I’m worthy no matter what and that eventually, I’d be alright.
Digging around online, I quickly noticed a lack of mainstream Black-owned perfume labels, not to mention the prevalence of brands that were talking about the scientific connection between scent, emotion and memory. Regardless of not knowing much, I decided to pave a new lane and create something different.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Despite emerging trends concerning the burgeoning indie fragrance industry, 97% of buyers we surveyed agree that a great majority of today’s scents are too familiar, fade too quickly and leave too much unsaid about the psychological impact our strongest sense (smell) has on our moods. Not to mention, most of what’s seen online and on shelves today is still exclusively marketed towards a specific gender — although scent has no gender.
When the world commands you to shrink, we say do the opposite: Flaunt How You Feel.® As a clean fragrance label rooted in the scientific connection between scent, memory and emotion, MOODEAUX® turns accessorizing your mood into mindful self-care and “luxury” into a lifestyle — all minus any harsh alcohol, weird chemicals or unnecessary dyes. At less of a cost to the environment too, given we’ve also omitted water from our debut SuperCharged SkinScent™ formula and remain hyper vigilant when sourcing packaging solutions that foster sustainability. It’s through this attitude, along with our unique blends of drool-worthy accords and
skin-nourishing ingredients, we’re ushering in a new era of beauty and changing the game forever.
In addition to MOODEAUX®, I’m also working to build Black In Fragrance.™ Mainstream visibility of Black-owned fragrance labels has always been an issue. Contrary to popular belief, the main problem isn’t that Black entrepreneurs in this space don’t exist, it’s really that we often don’t receive the same love and attention needed to foster our growth. BIF is on a mission to build a global ecosystem of support among industry professionals, consumers, retailers and media outlets — each who pledge to help level the playing field for Black perfumers and Black-owned fragrance brands. As BIF’s founder label, MOODEAUX® leads the effort on the brand side, matching proceeds on limited-edition merch dollar-for-dollar and paying it forward to Black business owners on a rolling, application basis.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I’m not sure if this classifies as the “funniest” mistake, since at the time I was devastated. However, looking back on it now, I definitely chuckle at myself for being so green. Ha! Long story short, the moment I committed to launching a fragrance label (formerly known as Moode Beaute), I dove head first into all the creative aspects — logo, design, branding, etc. It was such a fun and freeing experience to build something uniquely my own; it consumed me. So much so that I was already a few thousand-dollars deep when my trademark lawyer delivered some very bad news. Unfortunately, someone else had filed registration for another beauty brand with a similar name just TWO weeks prior to when we started our process. This meant the likelihood of being granted federal protection for a Moode Beaute mark would be very slim, and I would need to go back to square one. Instant tears. I cried my little heart out — but within 24 hours, I landed on a new, MUCH better name for the business: MOODEAUX.® I haven’t looked back since, although the lesson of getting all my legal ducks in a row before anything else still sticks with me.
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’m so grateful and blessed to have had so many mentors along my journey — most of whom I’ve worked for in years past. Folks like Melissa Butler of The Lip Bar, Kitiya King of Mischo Beauty, Ngozi Opara of Heat Free Hair… Present day, industry leaders Beatrice Dixon of The Honey Pot and Ylorie Taylor of EDEN Body Works help guide me through operating MOODEAUX® and charting our roadmap for greater success. Both of these incredibly wise and talented humans have remained in my corner through various pitch deck revisions, startup grant competitions, line review meetings, potential investor conversations — although cliché, I really don’t know what I’d do without them. I for sure wouldn’t feel nearly as confident! No one story can explain the value they bring to my life and business; they’re truly my sounding boards who never shy away from asking the tough questions needed to help me think strategically and wrangle all the chaos that comes with being in business.
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?
Once ideals and systems become outdated and harmful, whether that be to people in society or the world we live in, it’s time for change. The whole “when (and if) you know better, do better” philosophy explains the rationale behind why disrupting an industry is overtly positive. However, there are instances when good intentions turn bad — most times because of inefficiency. Failure to make the best use of time and resources can lead to a negative disruption with serious repercussions that are difficult to reverse.
For example, let’s explore bottled water. Years ago, access to clean and portable drinking water was identified as a problem. The solve? Turning a universal need into a product conveniently packaged in cheap plastic containers. Fast-forward, we now know how detrimental that business model has become to our environment and potentially our health. Discarded plastic, largely from the bottled water industry, is polluting our oceans and destroying marine ecosystems. Bisphenol A (a.k.a BPA), which is used to manufacture plastic commonly used to make bottled water has been shown to affect the reproductive systems of animals. Although the CDC says more research is needed to understand the human health effects of BPA exposure, what’s already been discovered is alarming.
Another example, and the one I’m more familiar with, involves the fragrance industry. Unlike other beauty categories, it’s somewhat of a newer phenomenon for people at large, especially those who don’t have any fragrance sensitivities, to demand product transparency. Prior to launching, I can’t recall a time where I’ve walked up to a perfume counter/emailed a brand and questioned outright if my favorite scents are made without any dangerous and/or potentially harmful ingredients. This just wasn’t on my mind when deciding to purchase, given fragrance ingredients aren’t required by law to be listed individually on cosmetic labels. I also wasn’t checking for sustainability claims with regard to formulas and packaging. The same goes for a growing population of scent-crazed beauty fanatics like myself who used to assume everything’s all-good.
Nowadays, the tides have begun to shift with folks doing their research. And to me, this influx of inquiries surrounding things like chemical makeup, sourcing, labeling, etc. is more than enough reason for us all to decide now how we’ll participate in the clean revolution. Consumers can’t want better, when they don’t know for certain whether or not what they’re consuming isn’t great.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
Listen to your gut! It wasn’t until I took this advice myself that things started flowing in my life career-wise without me always feeling like I’m battling upstream for my next opportunity.
Walk with and in your own purpose. At times when I’ve found myself struggling, I realized it was often because I was trying to emulate someone else’s success. When I grew to become more intentional, and began living my life with intention, I realized I’m beautifully unique and have so much to offer the world that no one else can.
Mistakes come with the territory. They’re part of the process! So instead of fighting like hell to avoid “failure,” embrace it as a stepping stone to your success. I’m proud to admit I’ve messed up at times, because in order to win big, you have to get comfortable with failing fast, learning from it and not being afraid to pivot. We’re all more resilient than we may think at times, even when the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel seems so far away. “Mind over matter” has taken me places that fear and doubt tried to keep me from — but if you believe in your heart that something’s for you, nothing can nor will stop you from getting it.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
I’m thrilled to announce that MOODEAUX® was just nominated for a 2022 Beauty Independent Beacon Award, in recognition of our Worthy SuperCharged SkinScent™ Dry Oil Perfume Spray. Being one of the very few woman-founded and Black-owned fragrance brands visible in today’s market, to be listed as an organization pushing the industry into uncharted waters feels almost surreal! It’s such a privilege. One that we don’t take lightly, given MOODEAUX®’s humble origin story. What started out as a personal quest aimed at harnessing the benefits of “aromatherapy” through clean, edgy, innovative formulations has evolved over nearly four years to encompass so much more. Namely, a global self-care movement marked by our 2021 launch that’s since been supported by thousands and fueled by a mutual core belief that true beauty is felt, not seen. As dynamic individuals with unique lived experiences, our emotions are valid and worthy of celebration! If nothing else, we’re honored to challenge any status quo suggesting otherwise in setting a better course forward.
In relaunching Black in Fragrance™, I’m excited to continue our work in growing a platform mainly for Black entrepreneurs to learn, connect and get funded. Earlier this year, we awarded three women with grants that have helped them either launch their own brands or continue building their businesses. Aside from the grant, each industry disrupter has been invited to join the Black In Fragrance™ Network where we routinely share additional funding opportunities as well as ongoing education, tools and resources. We’ll be publicizing details on how others in the field can get involved soon!
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Hands-down, funding is the biggest challenge faced by women disruptors. Receiving access to capital for us comes with several nuances and unfair biases that men just don’t have to deal with, including some investors who have a history of doubting our competency and dedication to our businesses — simply because we were born with “lady bits” and maintain multifaceted lives. There’s been a ton of think-pieces on the matter, and although there’s been some progress, we have a long way to go until equality between men, women and non gender-conforming individuals is achieved.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
Another one of my mentors is Renae Bluitt, a multifaceted entrepreneur, filmmaker, storyteller and overall champion for Black women. On the heels of her breakout cinematic debut with her popular “ She Did That.” Netflix documentary, Renae has recently launched a podcast on the Dear Media network. Each episode offers you front row access to renowned thought-leaders who are forging their own paths, finding financial freedom and harnessing their passions to create more meaningful and fulfilling lives. I often listen while working or when running errands to fill up my “inspiration” tank and motivate me to keep going!
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’d love for everyone in the entire world to be confident and comfortable in flaunting how they feel and being their most authentic selves. Who gives a damn if whatever that looks like for you isn’t socially acceptable — do it anyway. We’ve really got to stop restricting people and limiting how they’re to act and what they’re to do with the little amount of time they have on Earth.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I kind of alluded to it earlier, but I’d say “what’s for you, is for you” and no one can take away that birthright. Keeping this in mind helps quiet the internal voice of doubt that creeps up from time to time and allows me to stay laser focused on achieving everything I’ve ever dreamed.
How can our readers follow you online?
My personal social media handle is @BriannaArps. If you’d like to learn more and shop MOODEAUX®, give us a visit at MOODEAUX.com — or you can also follow our social accounts @MOODEAUXofficial (Instagram and Facebook), @MOODEAUX (Twitter) and @BlackInFragrance (Instagram). Lastly, make sure to keep up with us at Credo Beauty, as we’re the first Black-owned fragrance label to be sold at the top clean beauty retailer — woot woot!
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Female Disruptors: Fulya Uygun of Bowery Boost On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview with Candice Georgiadis
Don’t be afraid to ask. Many of us, especially us women & minorities, are afraid to ask for more. Or even ask for what we want. I’ve seen this while speaking to female founders or job prospects. There’s no harm in asking. There’s nothing bad about knowing your worth. We might settle for less for a while in some situations, but you shouldn’t settle if you also didn’t even try.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Fulya Uygun.
Bowery Boost co-founder and CEO Fulya Uygun is a digital marketing expert with 15 years of experience. Throughout her career, she has scaled brands through seed funding to Series B in addition to working as lead digital for corporate companies. Her agency works seamlessly to scale direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands and is dedicated to investing in and supporting women and minority entrepreneurs.
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 was very fortunate to attend Bogazici University, one of the most prestigious universities in my home country of Turkey. After graduating with a business degree, I began working in Istanbul at the brand marketing department of a large corporation. After about a year, I proved I was ready to take on my first PPC marketing. I fell in love with data and watching customer behavior online, and I knew that was it for me.
I then moved to NYC and attended Baruch for a postgraduate marketing degree to get a better understanding of the digital world. Keep in mind this was back in 2009 when Facebook advertising was at its simplest and only about two years old. At that time PPC & affiliate were the kings of the marketing industry. After Baruch, I pursued my master’s in integrated marketing from NYU, and that’s how everything started. In the last 15 years, I’ve built on my academic knowledge with hands-on experience in fashion & beauty digital marketing. It’s truly my passion, and I love coming to work each day.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Despite the strides women have made socially, economically, and professionally, we still find ourselves taking the backseat in many aspects of business. As a woman who, in the eyes of others, has “made it” in her industry as a founder and CEO, I feel a strong sense of fidelity to uplift other women & minorities professionally. At Bowery Boost, we believe in products and services built by women. Many of our clients are not only women- or minority-owned but also sustainable. We are trying hard to change something that’s broken in this world with something beautiful.
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?
This was by no means funny at the time, but 10 years later, I have learned to laugh it off and chalk it up to a hard lesson learned. In 2010 I had a vision for a revolutionary jewelry eCommerce business, where my CTO and I built a virtual dressing room for shoppers to “try on” the pieces online. It was unique and cutting edge for the time, and it even earned us a spot as semi-finalists at IBM Smartcamp.
The problem was, we spent all our money developing the AI and buying the merchandise. We ended up with a wonderful, user-friendly site featuring exquisite designer jewelry with no budget left to market it and actually bring in customers. I learned that regardless of how amazing your product or service is, you will fail if you can’t bring in customers or if they don’t know how to find you.
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 found a wealth of comradery, counsel, and support from the women’s entrepreneurial community here in NYC. Organizations like the Female Founders Fund and the 10th House have connected me with other women leaders and have given me a wonderful support network. As a member of the Helm, a women- and minority-only investment fund, I’m constantly amazed by the impact we are making to uplift our communities and help us flourish. Being a part of these organizations helps to motivate me in my own business and in Bowery Boost’s mission to pay it forward to other women leaders.
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 believe disruption in business happens because there’s a need for change. Usually, the examples of disruptive businesses are there to change our lives, and usually for the better. We can look at the examples of Airbnb, Rent the Runway, and Upwork- these businesses provided people flexibility, more income, and cost-effective ways to live their lives. When the disruption happens, the traditional way of business that existed perhaps for centuries feels the heat, and it shows people are inclined to new ways of living when/if it makes their lives more comfortable.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
Information researched and learned is way more durable than the information you simply asked and listened to. When I was a kid, the internet or widespread computer usage wasn’t really a thing. But we did have a whole bunch of encyclopedias at our homes. Whenever I asked even the simplest question to my dad, he would say “Go and read about it, then come back and tell me what you think. Then I’ll discuss it with you thoroughly.” Most importantly, it helped me build my very own opinions — objective opinions rather than learning someone else’s truths. And second, it taught me to search for answers on my own. I believe that’s a great strength I have even to this day. I can always stay objective and am always comfortable expressing my opinions.
Don’t be afraid to ask. Many of us, especially us women & minorities, are afraid to ask for more. Or even ask for what we want. I’ve seen this while speaking to female founders or job prospects. There’s no harm in asking. There’s nothing bad about knowing your worth. We might settle for less for a while in some situations, but you shouldn’t settle if you also didn’t even try.
Mistakes are learning opportunities. Sometimes we need to mess things up to get better in what we do or who we are. I love learning by trying, and there’s no way we can figure it all out on the first go. I always tell our team members that it’s way better for all of us if they first do something on their own than just sit and listen to us teaching. It’s somehow harder to forget about the mistakes we made 🙂 Thus, they can be big learnings we can use to our advantage.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We are very excited to be launching a new influencer marketing tool that will transform the way businesses connect with influencers on paid platforms. Consumers are ignoring brand ads more and more, and they are engaging with influencer content. There’s a thing called whitelisting that allows brands to run ads through real people’s accounts with authentic content. Our tool, Voysit, is built to provide smooth integration between influencers and brands, track and monitor data more efficiently, and also create more opportunities for influencers to monetize authentic, high-quality content.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
I have faced firsthand how difficult it is to earn access to funding, loans, or credits, and how many no’s women receive compared to male-owned brands. A big message we discuss in the various women entrepreneur communities I’m a part of is how we all know we need to support each other to overcome this disadvantage. We, at least now, started comfortably discussing these issues, and business circles are starting to acknowledge the problem. Eventually, this acknowledgement will result in solutions. We do see that as much as it’s so new and small, change in trends has already started.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
The conversations that I mentioned above that I had with my dad, who was a journalist, were definitely the ones that made me who I am, and they shaped how I learn and grow. I’m always objective, will always search for the source of the truth, and am never afraid of sharing my opinions. I read a lot, research a lot, enjoy learning, and I am always up for a debate. That’s what got me to NYC from a small town in Turkey. It got me to have a great education and become an entrepreneur and supporter of many causes that I truly believe in.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Especially in today’s political and social climates, it’s more important than ever to challenge gender roles and our preconceived notions about gender stereotypes. Not only in business, but also in life, by reconsidering long-held ideologies, we can uplit all genders or everyone or every person.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster; it’s a cha-cha.”
I’ve — like many people — failed many times, both in business and in everyday life. A positive outlook in life is what keeps us going and keeps us trying. I’ve always believed, as long as you try again, and you try smarter, you will get to where you need to get. Just like in life, in marketing we do need to understand there are many trials and errors before success. And even when we get there, there will always be some failures. We need to learn to fail in order to grow.
How can our readers follow you online?
Entrepreneurs, marketers, and strategists can check out our blog where share and discuss the latest marketing trends and strategies: https://boweryboost.com/our-blog/
You can connect with us on social media via Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Women In Wellness: Samantha Byrd and Michelle Mayfield of Studio Diva On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview with Candice Georgiadis
Focus on the Experience. Much of our initial business expenses were spent on cameras, equipment, speakers, and other things that we do not use. Material things can be added after your business starts bringing in revenue. Instead focus on what your customers value and deliver that!
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Samantha Byrd and Michelle Mayfield.
Samantha Byrd and Michelle Mayfield, affectionately known as Sam & Shelly, have been best friends for over 15 years. Together they developed Divas ‘N Heels, a hip hop dance class for women. Divas ‘N Heels grew tremendously over the last six years. Today, Divas ‘N Heels has become a community, drawing people from multiple states to engage in a supportive and high energy atmosphere that promotes holistic wellness! Right before the pandemic, they expanded their capacity to serve the community with the opening of their own fitness center, Studio Diva — a new home for their popular Divas ‘N Heels class and a lineup of innovative, wellness-centered classes. The dynamic duo is known for their transformative Fit Diva membership that has shown many successes within the Diva community. In addition to the studio, Sam & Shelly host The Diva Getaway, an annual wellness getaway to great places in the Caribbean. Studio Diva is the ultimate safe space for women to tap into their most confident and balanced self.
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?
We have shared a passion for dance and ‘a good party experience’ since we were in our pre-teens. Shortly after marrying and starting our families, we often reminisced about how much we missed our ‘dancing days’. The absence of dance from our lives resulted in feeling disconnected. These conversations helped us manifest our mission and vision for Divas ‘N Heels and ultimately Studio Diva. We invited some of our cousins and friends, we rented a studio and held our first unofficial dance class. We shared each dance class on social media — Facebook initially — and we quickly gained the attention of other women in the community. After teaching open-level dance classes for a few years, we decided to give our movement a name — “Divas ’N Heels”.
What started as an opportunity to reconnect with ourselves turned into a mission to help others rediscover their passions and confidence. Together we have created a comfortable atmosphere to help women feel confident, step out of their comfort zones, and ‘just get back to being themselves’. Every Divas ‘N Heels experience includes a safe party atmosphere, perfect lighting, and amazing, confidence inspiring choreography in heels. Our focus on empowering experiences is the reason why the Divas ‘N Heels community quickly outgrew the studio spaces we rented. Based on the increased interest and class sizes, we decided to open our own studio, Studio Diva.
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? 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?
Of course, we made mistakes. Fortunately for us, we learned from those mistakes and our business is better for it. For example, when we first started posting video highlights of our workouts that featured instructors only, we learned that some Diva members felt intimidated. Based on the feedback, we started sharing videos that showcased clients in various stages of their fitness journeys doing the same moves as our instructors. As a result, we gained more participation from our Diva community.
Through these experiences we learned that being authentic and staying focused on the end goal is what helps drive our success. Our goal is to make sure that every woman leaves the experience feeling her best. Throughout a group fitness class or specialty workshop like Divas ‘N Heels or our ballet and jazz intensives, we check in with our Diva community to make sure that we are meeting that goal. And if we aren’t meeting that goal, we’re not afraid to change the itinerary mid-way through a class or event. At the end of the day, it’s about providing a safe space for women to grow.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
We are making an impact by introducing more women — especially in the black community — to yoga and providing access to many fitness and holistic wellness options. As a seasoned yogi (Shelly) and dance/fitness instructors, we noticed that when we took classes there weren’t many, if any, black women taking classes in our area. Yoga is so much more than a modality; it is a self-discovery journey! There are so many essential life tools that can be gained through this practice. We created yoga and fitness class experiences and other specialty workshops that really speak to the black community and that keep our members excited about exercising!
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.
Movement is Medicine. It has the power to heal your body. Be sure to move at least once a day. We encourage our members to preschedule their workouts at the beginning of the week, save them in their calendar and commit to it like they commit to clocking in for work.
Celebrate Often! We should celebrate all wins and successes no matter how small. Take moments to acknowledge when you’ve done a good job today, this month, and beyond. And reward yourself for it!
Listen to Your Body. Recognize when rest is needed. Sometimes we do need to push ourselves because we lack motivation, but sometimes we are just tired because we have overexerted ourselves. Extend grace to yourself and give yourself permission to rest and recuperate.
Love Yourself Hard. Pay attention to the words you use when you are referring to yourself because words hold so much power. If you catch yourself using harsh or negative words when referring to yourself, stop in real time and replace it with kinder and more positively impactful words.
Take a Moment in the Mornings to Yourself. Before you grab your phone or make coffee, check in with yourself! Set intentions for your day and/or recite affirmations that speak to what you need to fill yourself with for that day.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Our initial goal was to create an atmosphere where women could feel confident, step out of their comfort zones, and ‘just get back to being themselves’. Since opening our studio, we our movement has expanded to reaching a younger community. We believe representation matters — especially in performing arts. It is important to us to provide visibility, access, and connection for young dancers of color in our community. To this end, we have created a dance/fitness program dedicated to them. It’s called Studio Diva Kids.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
Focus on the Experience. Much of our initial business expenses were spent on cameras, equipment, speakers, and other things that we do not use. Material things can be added after your business starts bringing in revenue. Instead focus on what your customers value and deliver that!
Don’t Take it Personal. When your business is your passion it’s hard not to feel offended if/when someone doesn’t fall in love with it. What you offer isn’t going to be for everyone and that’s okay!Those that see the value will come and support.
Be Authentic. When you start any business, you will have many competitors. And at times it will be hard not to focus on what others are doing. In these moments, it is important to remember what sets you a part. Remain true to your brand and only focus on what feels right for you and your business.
Be Fearless. Don’t be afraid to try new things. You might feel tempted to do what your competitors are doing. Be fearless and try something outside of the box. And if it doesn’t work — that’s okay. The important thing is you keep going and trying new things.
Remember Your Why. There will be challenging times in your business journey. Fun fact — these challenges are temporary! When things aren’t going how you expected them to, remember your why. Your vision and your passion got you to this point. Trust in in that. Stay focused on your goals and do not give up.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
Honestly, ALL these topics speak to us. We strive to support our Diva community in all ways — especially as it relates to mental health. We started our dance and fitness community to find ourselves. As a result, we ended up connecting and serving many women who needed a safe space to get back to being themselves. In addition to our fitness classes which includes yoga and meditation, we curate annual wellness getaways via our Divas Getaway platform. To date we’ve hosted retreats in Jamaica and Mexico. We look forward to announcing our next location getaway.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
Female Disruptors: Alesia Hendley of Audinate On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
“Rise and Grind”. Simple but this phrase has stuck with me since day one. My friends and family would say this to push each other. To inspire us to get up and go get whatever dream we had. Till this day I still wake up with Rise and Grind to motivate myself to continue working towards the dream.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alesia Hendley.
Alesia Hendley is a professional that found her passion at a young age as a sound engineer within her Father’s church. Now you can find her making connections within Audiovisuals (AV), Digital Signage, and IT, along with executing creative ventures. As a young professional she’s finding ways to bring AV technologies, and creative visions together in the effort to leave her mark by making an impact.
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?
Just like some of the biggest names in music started in the church, the same goes for me. My father introduced me to a sound board at 12 years old and that was it. I didn’t necessarily see audio leading me down this particular path of Commercial AV but I’m glad I found this industry where I can grow in my overall passion for audio.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Once I realized that the AV industry exist, I came in with guns blazing. I started networking in an industry where there weren’t many people that looked like me. But I didn’t let that deter me in the pursuit of building my career. I attend tradeshows which lead to showcasing my expertise by creating and hosting podcasts for major brands. I made the industries 40 under 40 at the age of 28 and I was sure to keep that momentum going. Shortly thereafter I began speaking and moderating on some of the biggest stages and events to continue sharing my expertise within the industry. Building my brand brick by brick has led to some amazing opportunities opening for me as I continue to shake things up and create new creative content that disturbs the normal follow of how the story of AV is being told. I am a young black woman set out on a mission to make waves in this space in hopes to inspire more people like me to get into a this profitable field.
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?
My first speaking engagement! There were maybe 4 people in the room, I read my PowerPoint presentation word for word. Even I was bored during this session! I couldn’t have made a bigger mistake, death by PowerPoint is never the answer. While reading word for word my palms were sweating and I kept asking myself “what the heck are you doing up here?”. After the painful 1-hour session, the two people who choose to hang out through this boring narration left as soon as it was over. Now I look back at this moment and laugh, I made a huge mistake with my death by powerpoint presenation. From that day on I focused on creating all of my content from a place of passion, creativity, and infused with my personality! Now I present by telling a story and engaging those that choose to share and hour or more of their time with me.
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?
One of my biggest mentors is Dori Clark. Though I have never met Dori or crossed paths with her, all of her books and LinkedIn trainings have helped me build my personal brand in so many ways. Within my industry specifically Megan Dutta! I reached out to Megan Dutta years ago and asked her for guidance on how to find my way in this industry. She gave me a list of events to try and attend, when we finally met in person at these events, she took me under her wing and introduced me to so many people. That event and that simple but yet powerful gesture gave me the push I needed to take the baton and run with it. Networking is one of the most valuable piece’s of building a brand, and it changed the game for me.
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 don’t believe disruption is “not” a positive thing. Disruption breeds innovation. Yes, there is risk to doing things differently than we’ve always done them. Yes, it can take longer to adjust and carry out a new plan, but most of the time if navigated and executed with a strategic strategy in place, the reward can turn out to be greater than the initial risk.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
“If you can see me you can be me”. Not sure who originally said this by a good friend of mine Alexis Labroi would say this quite a bit. And I didn’t understand it at first. I always thought I could be whatever I wanted to be regardless of who or what I saw. But the higher I climb the ladder in my career the more this makes sense and helps drives my initicitves in effort to make this space more diverse. Representation matters.
“Nobody is reinventing the wheel, we’re all just putting our own rims on them” — Anthony Frasier. I heard him say this in 2014 I believe at the Tech 808 Summit. This was a summit that blended the worlds of hiphop, tech, and entrepreneurship. This single phrase opened my eyes to how I was going to disrupt the space I was in by adding my set of spinners to the wheel.
“Rise and Grind”. Simple but this phrase has stuck with me since day one. My friends and family would say this to push each other. To inspire us to get up and go get whatever dream we had. Till this day I still wake up with Rise and Grind to motivate myself to continue working towards the dream.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Creative ventures and more creative content. In the future you’ll see me working with more brands to help tell their unique story and assist in driving some of their company initiatives in the tech space. You’ll also continue to see me work my 9-to-5 within the AV industry for now, as it aligns with my personal brand in efforts to keep growing my career. I value my technical background, so i’ll continue grow with the new emerging tech in this space as well.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
Many, sometimes as a woman I feel like I am having to constantly prove myself and many other powerful woman that I know feel the same. We’re not only constantly showing up and over achieving but we’re fighting for equal treatment and equal pay. Women of color we have even more challenges on a daily as we continue to kick the door down and prove that we have a place here in tech. There are many bias in place for women across industries that our male counterparts will never have to encounter.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
“Don’t Dumb Down Your Greatness” by Anthony Frasier. This is a great book but one of the biggest take aways that impacted my thinking was you can’t microwave success. In his book he talks about how to be patient, how to think BIGGER than money, as well as how to embrace pain. Learning how to manage all of these things while working towards my version of success changed my approach in both my personal and professional ventures.
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. 🙂
Honestly, I would just inspire people to be kind. If I could inspire a large population of the world to be more kind and engage with more empathy I think us as humans can get back to a better society. With all that’s going on in the world over the last few years, if we could all put aside our difference and be kind, treat each other equally, then we may be able to get back to a place of more peace and less hate. So I guess whatever movement I could inspire, it would be lead by kindness.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Life is the best teacher” Some days I really wish I knew it all. But not knowing it all is where growth lives. So I take it day by day, compete with no one by myself, and focus on getting at least 1% better than I was the day before.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can find me via my website, www.thesmoothfactor.com. On LinkedIn, Alesia Hendley. And on all other social media @thesmoothfactor.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
