Day: October 5, 2022

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

An Interview With Tyler Gallagher

Starting a stress management/mindfulness practice can help me understand ways to better cope with the stress and the mental health portion of this phase. Nourishing my adrenal glands is also important since they play a major role when it comes to releasing stress hormones.

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

Andrea is a Nutritionist, Media Personality, Entrepreneur, Best-Selling Author, Health & Wellness Lifestyle Expert, Menopause Educator and Podcast Host. She is the Co-Founder of NaturallySavvy.com — a multiple award-winning website, and Wearemorphus.com (together with her business partner of 22 years, Randy Boyer). Among her numerous publications, Andrea co-authored the best-selling book “Unjunk Your Junk Food” published by Simon and Schuster. She also co-authored “Label Lessons: Your Guide to a Healthy Shopping Cart,” and “Label Lessons: Unjunk Your Kid’s Lunch Box.” Andrea hosts the weekly Morphus podcast, and appears as a Healthy Living Expert on TV across North America.

Andrea has more than 21 years of experience in the health & wellness space, and is a Multiple Award-Winning Influencer. She was awarded the “Lifetime Achievement Award” for her work as a Nutritionist by CSNNAA (2018), was honored with the first ever “Shifter of the Year Award” at Shiftcon Media (2018), was named a “Top 100 Health Influencer” by Optimyz Magazine (2018, 2019 & 2021), was named one of the “Top 100 Most Responsible Health Influencers” in the U.S. by New Hope Network (2020), and was named one of Canada’s Most Inspiring Women by Marquee Magazine (2021). The John Holtmann — CHFA Industry Leadership Award Recipient (2022)

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Please share your “backstory” and why you became a menopause educator

I had my third child at the age of 41. At 42, I started feeling “off,” like something or someone had taken over my body and mind. I was having strange symptoms, including uncontrollable mood swings, night sweats, weight gain, shoulder pain, sleep issues, increased appetite…and the list went on and on. I didn’t think much of it and just brushed it off as postpartum hormonal changes. Then, two months after my 47th birthday, I got my first hot flash and everything changed. It finally clicked that the symptoms I’d been experiencing for five years were due to menopause — something I knew nothing about. So I made it my mission to find out as much as I could about this stage of life. I thought if I didn’t know anything about it — and it was my job — then perhaps others didn’t know either. And I was right.

Now I spend hours researching, reading, interviewing, speaking to as many people as possible, listening to their stories, and doing research on myself to see what works and what doesn’t — and I love every minute of it. My 22 years of experience as an expert in the health and wellness industry has prepared me for providing education and solutions for women in this phase of life when it comes to nutrition, lifestyle, and supplements. My passion is learning as much as I can and then sharing what I learn with others.

What were the main lessons or takeaways you’ve gathered from starting the journey to educate others on menopause?

I realized I wasn’t alone in how I felt or in how little I knew or understood about menopause. I didn’t even know there was a difference between perimenopause and menopause! I also didn’t know how many symptoms there were. I felt like I was going crazy…but I learned through my incredible TikTok community that so many women feel the same way. We aren’t alone because we have each other.

What are some of the biggest misconceptions about menopause and what are the truths? Share a few examples.

One of the biggest misconceptions is the age women can start perimenopause or go into menopause. Many women are told they’re too young so they’re often dismissed by their doctors or health care providers. We now know we can start perimenopause as early as 35 (roughly 10 years before menopause) — and sometimes even earlier, as many women have shared with me. The average age of menopause in North America is 51½.

Another misconception is the number of symptoms there are. When I first started perimenopause, I heard from someone who started an app that there were 20 to 40 symptoms; but because I was so curious about the number (I love data!), I started tracking them myself and discovered there are more than 85 of them. Think about that for a minute…there are 85+ different signs and symptoms of menopause and many of them are not well known, like itchy ears, easy bruising, fatigue, and pain. I posted the full list on my website here where people can read about each one of them.

Another misconception is that menopause is a myth, or it doesn’t exist. This one makes me laugh because it’s simply not true. However, as silly as it may sound, women are being told how they feel is all in their minds, or that they’re exaggerating their symptoms, or they’re just having a bad day. Unfortunately menopause gaslighting is real and many women are being dismissed for how they feel. This needs to change.

When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

I love this question because it’s my “why.” It’s the reason I do what I do. I was recently honored with the prestigious John Holtmann Leadership Award for my work in the health and wellness industry over the past 22 years. I’m passionate about educating others through my work be it through my TV and radio appearances, social media, talks, books, podcasts, websites, etc.. When I learn something new I share it with others because I want them to know what I know. I want them to understand what’s happening to their bodies. Being left in the dark about something that’s physically and mentally happening to us is extremely difficult, so education is my way of empowering women to take charge of their symptoms and their health.

I also love research. The more data, the better. I love it so much that we are doing our own research on perimenopause and menopause so we can share the results with our community. I’d love for your readers to complete this survey on sleep and this one on the 85+ signs and symptoms. They are both super short.

Share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing as they go through menopause?

What we did before perimenopause and menopause has to be unlearned, and we have to relearn how to eat, manage our stress, exercise, work, be in relationships, etc.

Nutrition is very important at this stage for many reasons, including brain health, focus, heart health, weight, liver health, blood sugar regulation, etc. It’s key to focus on eating more protein, veggies, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates.

In addition, it’s really important for both our physical and mental health to make sure we’re hydrated, to take supplements, and to incorporate some form of exercise into our lives. That doesn’t have to mean going to a gym — even taking a walk around the block can be really beneficial.

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

We’ve already started one! My company, Morphus is a no-judgment zone for open discussion about menopause through our various social media channels, including Instagram and TikTok (@andreadonsky), where we have an incredibly supportive community who learns from each other.

And I believe as women we are stronger together, so I have partnered with other menopause warriors to banish the stigma and change the conversation around menopause. Two in particular are: Ann Marie McQueen, an award-winning journalist and the founder of Hotflash, Inc., who co-hosted the Menopause Shift Summit with me, and Tamsen Fadal, a journalist and news anchor at WPIX in New York City, who initiated the campaign #menpausetok on TikTok, of which I am a part of.

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

1. I am not alone. Millions of people are going through the same thing at the same time — or have gone though it already.
2. It’s okay to just be and not take on new challenges or work too hard during perimenopause when I’m not feeling up to it. I need to understand how my body is calibrating and how it needs time to go through the chrysalis to become the beautiful butterfly on the other side. Some days, that may present as not wanting to do anything or not being able to focus or concentrate…and I need to be understanding of myself when that happens.
3. I need to ask more questions. Speaking to other women (my mom, grandmother, friends, etc.) and my health care provider about it can help me be better prepared.
4. I shouldn’t blame myself for things that are out of my control.
5. Starting a stress management/mindfulness practice can help me understand ways to better cope with the stress and the mental health portion of this phase. Nourishing my adrenal glands is also important since they play a major role when it comes to releasing stress hormones.

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 very important to me, as many of us in perimenopause and menopause start to feel like we are “losing it” from an emotional standpoint. For example, one minute we might laugh, the next minute we may cry, the next minute we are raging, and then we’re back to laughing the minute after. We are on such a rollercoaster of emotions, and I want women to know that they’re not going crazy and, again, that they’re not alone.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

Follow me on TikTok (@andreadonsky), subscribe to my newsletter and listen/subscribe to my ‘Menopause Reimagined’ podcast.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

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

Women In Wellness: Ana Kertesz of Amyris Studios On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Think less, do more. Don’t ask for permission. Knowledge is potential power. Action is real power.

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

Ana Kertesz is Amyris’ Chief Growth Officer and President of Amyris Studios. Ana leverages her experience as an entrepreneur, investor, finance executive and content creator to build Amyris Studios as a content, education, experiential, and community platform to support Amyris’ mission to accelerate the world to sustainable consumption and healthy living and redefine clean beauty and wellness through high growth, purpose driven brands including Biossance, JVN, Rose Inc., Costa Brazil, MenoLabs and Pipette. Since joining Amyris, Ana has built a high performance, diverse team focused on a shared vision and high impact. By driving awareness of their pure, high efficacy ingredients, products and brands through storytelling, education, entertainment and experiences, Ana has helped accelerate the growth of Amyris as a leader in sustainable biotechnology and the trajectory of clean beauty and wellness for humanity.

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 Brazil to a family of creatives from grandparents who had immigrated from Europe. My mother is an incredible artist, my father was an architect. Since I was a child, I was inspired by how my family always embraced change and saw life as a process of creation. I have always had a passion for math, reading, learning, and finding ways to make things happen, of making a real difference in the world. I see a problem; a solution comes to mind. I used to pretend I owned a business when I played, pretend to sell things, do deals — a mini entrepreneur. I started working when I was very young as a tutor for middle school kids while I was in high school, and I saved enough money to help pay for my experience as an exchange student in the U.S. and then in France.

A few months before my college graduation, I got a job at Goldman Sachs, where I spent 13 years in total, three before my MBA from Harvard Business School and 10 afterwards, between Sao Paulo and New York. Goldman Sachs was a very entrepreneurial and transformative experience for me, allowing me to work amidst very smart and driven people, while leading deals with visionary founders, CEO’s, and Board members across industries in Latin America. Goldman has been a big part of my life: I met my husband Ari in my first year there and had each of my three kids while working there. At the time, I was one of the first women to have a flexible work arrangement at Goldman, which was really wonderful. I was the co-head of the Women’s Network for Latin America, working with other women especially on work-life balance and self-advocacy.

It was during that time that I had the vision for a technology education business, and after a few rounds with founders and investors in California, I ended up joining a large family office in Brazil called Peninsula, where I helped lead the creation of the private equity, venture capital and fundraising business. I’ve always been passionate about inspiring and educating people and helping turn their visions into reality. That’s my real passion. I moved back to the U.S. six years ago after I left my job at Peninsula because I wanted to create a different life for our family. That’s when I started my own business, HOWto.LIVEit, a digital platform to help entrepreneurs validate a business idea and ultimately fund and launch it. Doing my own thing was a great experience, but I started to feel very isolated, I missed working with larger teams.

That’s when I reconnected with John Melo, the CEO of Amyris, whom I had met years before while at Goldman Sachs. After a few rounds of interaction on his vision, I realized that at Amyris I could combine my entrepreneurial drive with a bigger mission and higher purpose and have a key role leading the next phase of growth of Amyris and our purpose driven brands.

2. 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?

So many stories and learnings I can think of. I’ll share the story that provided me with the biggest lesson that I think has also been inspiring others along the way. After all these years of studying and working, when I moved back to the U.S. six years ago, I could not work for two years while I waited for my green card.

During that time I did a lot of soul searching to find meaning in the second half of my life. And it honestly took me a while, a lot longer than I thought it would. I was surprised when I realized how much of my identity was tied to my professional life. For a while, I was looking for a sign from the universe on what I should do next. I felt lost and I was seeking permission for any new idea I had. I thought I would find my purpose one day as if a lightning bolt would strike and I would know it.

I then realized that so many people feel the same way, especially people who had a career and took a break for parenting, or any other reason, often feel a lost sense of identity and feel really stuck, forgetting about all the incredible talent they have and all that they have accomplished.

After a lot of studying, and going deep into self-awareness, purpose, meaning, confidence, change, and entrepreneurship, it became clear to me that purpose is not something you find, it is something you create. Knowledge is only potential power, action is real power. We only absolutely know when we try, when we put ourselves out there.

My family is my life. My work is my passion. I have so much energy, and for me, life is about the people you meet and what you create with them. I feel best when I’m creating, building, learning, teaching, and inspiring people. I have been mentoring people and sharing my experience, resources, and ideas. That was the original intent behind HOWto.LIVEit. I want more people to try, to change, to imagine, to believe, to see the beauty in the struggle and know that the universe wants us to come alive.

3. 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?

When I started working, I used to think that if I did a good job, people would see it and I’d be rewarded and compensated accordingly. After some time, I realized that’s not the way it works at all. Of course, we need to do a great job and create real impact, but it’s actually up to us to constantly remind the people around us the impact we’re making and what we’re doing. It may feel unnatural in the beginning, but then it becomes part of the job. When I mentor young people, I remind them that they have to be their best self-advocates and that is as important as doing a great job.

4. 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 in a very unique moment in which wellness is becoming more mainstream: people’s expectations of a healthy routine have changed. Wellness is bound for great disruption and growth. This younger generation is so different, they are more aware about the healthy choices they make. I have three kids who are now 16, 13 and 10. They study, investigate, they’re curious, they know about mental health, they care about their well-being, exercise, nutrition, sleep, and living well. I wish I knew what they know now when I was a teenager. From them, I started to feel a responsibility to think about ways I could contribute to health and wellness on a bigger scale.

At Amyris, we’ve been able to create the technology that turns science into wellness with the highest performance, clean and safe ingredients — what we call “hero ingredients.” We’ve found a way to put them into real products with simple formulations that people can use every day. When you think about it, your skin is the largest organ on your body, so shouldn’t what goes on your body mean as much to your health as what goes in your body?

My main mission and the work we’re doing at Amyris Studios is to change the way people think about and understand the science behind clean, healthy living. We want to inspire people to imagine a healthier way of life and actually provide them with the tools to make it possible.

I’m building Amyris Studios to be an awareness and education engine, leveraging content, experiences, and community. I am lucky to have been creating an amazing team with Joe Zee, Chief Content Officer, Joan Cheng, Head of Creative Operations and Rachel Marlowe, Senior Content Writer, already on board with a few other very talented members on our team. We are working closely with our incredible science & ingredients teams as well as our brand teams, who have mastered building successful brands with a purpose and who are changing the clean beauty game, including: JVN in partnership with Jonathan Van Ness, Rose Inc with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Biossance with brand ambassador Reese Witherspoon, Costa Brazil, Pipette, MenoLabs and our new brands to be launched soon, including Stripes with Naomi Watts, our make-up brand EcoFab for Gen Z, a hair brand called 4U by Tia in partnership with Tia Mowry, and a men’s brand in partnership with David Beckham.

5. 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.

We tend to know what is good for us — exercise frequently, eat well, sleep, meditate, disconnect from our phones, etc. — but the question is how can we keep doing that in our super busy, increasingly overwhelming routines? Is a balanced life actually achievable? I used to think there is a formula for balance, but I have realized that balance is unachievable and the belief that we can achieve balance causes us more frustration and stress. I have studied and experimented with many lifestyle hacks, and this is what has been working for me. Does it always work? No, it doesn’t. But I have learned to seek progression, not perfection, and it feels so liberating.

Focus

People always ask me — how do you do it? Work, family, house, travel, sports, friends (oh, and a puppy!). I don’t have a formula and it is never as easy as it seems, but I do think that focus is a superpower. What has worked for me is to protect my energy, so I have energy to pursue the things that matter the most. Eliminate distractions. I like to do my deep thinking and work early in the morning, before anyone is up, so I can focus. We all have bursts of productivity that last about 2–3 hours. I take advantage of that to get things done. I am trying to live more the life of an essentialist and really prioritize where I can make my biggest level of contribution. I am trying to say no with more of a peace of mind and to want less, not more. As philosopher Seneca said, “Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more.”

Sleep

Those who know me well know that I have fallen asleep at the table of most restaurants in NYC. With three kids and a work schedule that was always demanding and involved a lot of travel, I have had many periods of sleep deprivation. But I have always taken sleep very seriously, for me, for my kids. There is so much science about sleep and still most people have trouble with it. I have created a few hacks that work for me to protect my sleep — especially disconnecting from emails and phone for about two hours before I go to bed, reading with no light on my Kindle, eating a light dinner. I have also learned that having consistent sleep times is very important for quality of sleep. I need 7–8 hours of sleep every night — I think everyone does. Sleep is what allows us to think more clearly and operate at our highest level of contribution so that we can achieve more in less time. Are there days I wake up in the middle of the night and my brain doesn’t stop thinking? Of course there are. But I do the best I can to mitigate those.

Habit

I know it sounds cliche, but the power of habit is what has kept me going over the years, especially when we’re so busy and pulled into so many different directions. Many of us often feel that if we can’t do something perfectly, we shouldn’t do it all. If we can’t exercise for an hour, we shouldn’t exercise. But I have learned that sometimes just showing up is good enough and is what keeps us going. I now know that when I exercise early, eat well, sleep well, manage stress — my day is very different from when I don’t. There are chemical changes that happen in our brain that impact our mood and overall well-being. The small improvements we make in our day-to-day life actually give us a sense of control and help us feel like we’re fulfilling our potential. Habit is a means for self-improvement and allows me to feel a sense of ownership over my health and life.

Action

I have always been an action driven person, and I feel that over the past few years of working with visionary founders that just take action without seeking permission, while seeing so many people feeling stuck, it has become very clear to me that we gain confidence through action. We evolve when we get out of our shells, put ourselves out there and experiment. I call it “giving life a chance to give you an opportunity.” You can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket. Connecting to people is an essential part. Life is about the people we meet and what we create with them. The real connections we make and the ideas that come out of it, bring real meaning to our lives. Making time to have real conversations and explore ideas.

Gratitude

We tend to think that we need to be happy to be grateful, but it is actually the other way around. Gratitude brings joy. Living in the moment, being grateful, we want that, but how can we do it? We have to remind ourselves every minute of the day that life is a gift. When we are grateful, we fear less, we love more, life is simpler. Gratitude is the simple act of seeing good revealed in multiple ways. When we feel that we are enough, our life is enough, we feel gratitude.

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

I’ve always wanted to start a movement around pro-aging and healthy aging, and that’s what we’re doing at Amyris. We’re living longer, but not necessarily better, especially in our later years. If people spend their time trying to deny the aging process, they deny themselves the opportunity to learn and get the tools to age well. Understanding what aging means can help us make better choices. I know it sounds harsh, but we start aging from the day we are born. Accepting aging as part of life and understanding the habits we can adopt from an early age to achieve healthy aging for our physical, mental and cognitive health is very important.

A big part of healthy aging means embracing menopause and changing the way we look at it as a society. In this age of youth obsession, women in their primes are a forgotten demographic, often left feeling invisible. By 2025 an estimated 1.1 billion women are expected to be postmenopausal in the world, yet women are still suffering from the lack of information and shame related to menopause. Women aged 40 to 59 have the highest rate of depression of any group based on age and gender in the U.S., and women have a 1 in 5 chance of developing cognitive diseases after their 50s. Only 20% of OB-GYN residency programs in the U.S. offer training in menopause. This lack of information on identifying symptoms related to menopause as well potential risks that are higher for women after menopause such as heart diseases, stroke, osteoporosis- has to be seriously addressed. Despite this reality, innovation for women’s health in later life has been practically non-existent. Women are suffering it alone, without the support of their partners, their kids, their families, their friends, their workplace.

The work we’re doing at Amyris is helping change this reality. We recently acquired a company called MenoLabs, focused on probiotics for women in menopause as we realized that menopause has a huge impact on your gut microbiome and without a healthy gut microbiome, everything else in your body suffers. We are launching a new brand in partnership with Naomi Watts’ in October called Stripes, which will have a line of science backed products for women in menopause leveraging our hero ingredient ectoine to address extreme dryness, as well as centered around helping foster these difficult but important conversations and bringing community together. We are also launching a podcast on pro-aging, addressing all the taboos and questions related to healthy aging, relationships, sex, menopause.

The time is now to accept menopause as a part of life. The more we leverage science to address and challenge the stigma and inequality in women’s health, the more we can help women age in a healthier way. Women should feel confident sharing their experiences, because when we share our experiences, we start to fundamentally change society’s views and attitudes towards menopause and aging in general.

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

Think less, do more. Don’t ask for permission. Knowledge is potential power. Action is real power.

Learn, experiment, connect, repeat.

Say yes before you know how to do it.

Fail fast, early, often. When you fail, bounce back with passion.

Focus is a superpower. Saying no is much harder than saying yes.

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 believe that everything and everyone is interconnected, interdependent, inter-related, we are part of a bigger web that connects us all and with nature. And we all have a responsibility to change our relationship with nature.

We are currently living in a world of exponential climate transformation that is leading our planet and all of us to real catastrophe, yet we lack the understanding, global consensus, investment, and policy to make any real change. John Doerr, one of Amyris’ biggest investors and supporters, has written a book called Speed & Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now that offers details on an action plan to address this urgent state we are in. It is not someone else’s problem; it is our collective problem.

At Amyris, we’re doing our part. We have been able to develop the technology for clean chemistry that creates pure ingredients that are safe for people without depleting our planet, and to use that in products people can use. Our dream is that we all transition to sustainable consumption of products that are safe for people and the planet.

Climate change, sustainability, environmental impact — seem complicated and distant for most people. But the threat is real and is happening now. It is the biggest threat to our existence, and we need to each take one small step every day, use our own voice, demand change, so that collectively we will have a positive impact. Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. I need to have hope that we will do our job to leave our planet better for our kids.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

You can read more about the work we’re doing on the Amyris website, and follow me and my work with HOWto.LIVEit on Instagram.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

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

Female Disruptors: Emma Vollrath of Emma Lou the label On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Always ask for feedback. Feedback is how you grow as a person and brand. You are able to get customer insight on your product from people who are actually using it.

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

Emma Vollrath turned her passion for fitness into an innovative athlesuire line. Starting out as a personal trainer, Emma was tired of hearing critical comments women had to say about themselves during training sessions (particularly directed towards the lower stomach area). Emma Lou is known for their Glow Band™, which is the sweat-enhancing waistband to reduce water weight, bloating, & built up toxins in the lower stomach area, made out of recycled thermoplastics.

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?

Growing up, I really struggled with my body image, and wanted to find something that would help me improve confidence in a healthy way, so I became infatuated with fitness and wellness. After always trying the “next big thing”, I decided to become a personal trainer to help other women who had felt the same way about their bodies as I did. While getting to know my clients, they usually all had the same goal, which was to target the lower stomach area for a number of reasons. There was nothing on the market I could point my clients to that would help them with their concerns, so I decided to make something myself. The process of starting and developing product definitely wasn’t linear, but starting was the most important thing.

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

Creating athlesuire with textile technology to help reduce water weight, bloating, and increase fat oxidation for our lower stomach area.

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 of the first orders that was delivered right before we were supposed to launch, all of the logos were upside down. I remember both crying and laughing when I saw the logos and thinking I was doomed. A quick phone call to my manufacturers mended the problem, and the next shipment was on its way within the next week. Since that moment, I always triple check my tech-packs before production to make sure everything is as it should before launch.

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?

Sara Blakley, who is the founder of SPANX, is someone whose journey I have followed since I knew I wanted to start a fashion brand. I really resonated with her because SPANX was self-funded, and she was super scrappy with her business to get it off the ground. A lot of what comes in business is out of your control, and Sara has taught me that you have a choice in reacting. Not everything that happens needs a reaction (both positive & negative) and based off of your reaction it can either propel you forward or back.

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?

Some industries need to be disrupted and changed for the better. For example, the fashion and fitness industries. Both were outdated in terms of sizing, diet culture, trends, and sustainability. I am grateful for the disruption that has taken place and we are introducing healthy, inclusive ways to go about feeling good in your own skin. When an industry disruption can be negative is when we float towards unethical trends that surface in beauty and wellness, and go in for short term goals instead of longevity. I’ve seen a lot of this happening with TikTok trends being so prevalent. Not everything is going to be as it seems online! Be your own muse and figure out what works for you.

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

Always ask for feedback. Feedback is how you grow as a person and brand. You are able to get customer insight on your product from people who are actually using it.

You don’t have to listen to everyone. Everyone is going to have something to say- whether they are in your industry or not- and it’s your job to figure out who you are going to take advice from.

It’s encouraged to be vulnerable and authentic. This is probably my favorite piece of advice I have gotten since I started Emma Lou. I heard during a call once and it made me feel safe in what I was doing. It was the reassurance I needed to just be myself and to continue putting out products I love.

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

I want to continue to design pieces that do something good for our bodies. I have the next few capsules ready to go, so I am excited to get those going to get out to the Emma Lou audience. Simultaneously, I’m working on getting the sets into retail stores, so women can try the clothes IRL. I want to continue to challenge textiles in ways that are fashionable, yet innovative.

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

Fundraising! I have recently been working on fundraising for Emma Lou, and as a first time female founder, the odds statistically aren’t in my favor in this male dominated industry. Since I have been working on fundraising, I have met tons of amazing, supportive investors, but also some who don’t understand the problem/product. Just 2.3% of women start-ups received VC funding in the last year, making it even tougher for women owned businesses to receive support. A change is desperately needed here and I hope to be part of it.

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

Podcasts are my favorite! The TSC Him & Her podcast has been super insightful, especially the entrepreneur interviews. My favorite, most insightful episode has to be with Ed Mylett. Some of the episode topics were how to be vulnerable with your customers in business, and getting specific with your goals even if they seem insane (at the time). I have learned to be vulnerable with my consumers on what goes on behind the scenes of running a brand, and has helped so much in connecting with them.

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

I would love to inspire a movement that is related to funding women owned start-ups for those women who are on their own. It would be so helpful to gather credible, inspiring women who are in the space and can provide feedback and knowledge for first time founders.

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

You are exactly where you need to be! It’s so easy to feel like you are falling behind with social media being so prevalent and where it seems like everyone is always doing something. I mute or unfollow anyone who isn’t making me feel good or like I am not doing enough. Focusing on your journey alone is more than enough.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow us on TikTok & Instagram @emmalouthelabel and our website is www.emmalouthelabel.com

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

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

Women In Wellness: Lauren Abelin of Kiki Milk On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Less blue light and more ‘red light’. Blocking blue light or limiting it to certain times of the day is beneficial for our circadian rhythm. Seeing sunrise and sunset daily is beneficial for our brain and sets the tone for our sleep and wake cycle, allowing for better quality rest each night and improving mental health and immune system functioning.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lauren Abelin, Co-Founder Kiki Milk.

Lauren has dedicated her life to researching and developing human-centered solutions to problems impacting mental and physical well-being. Previously she worked in the non-profit sector as an emotional learning specialist, implementing programs in school districts which helped thousands of children develop stress management skills. Her 10+ years of experience in the field and her own healing journey managing a chronic illness have inspired her to address the issue of toxicity in our food and the state of children’s health. She co-founded PlantBaby and created Kiki Milk alongside her husband after their son was born. She is committed to empowering others in their journey to attain mind-body wisdom, adopt healthier lifestyles, and live the most enriched lives possible. Lauren brings to the company the vision, a health and nutrition background, and experience designing products as a Mom.

Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

I’m from Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, where I grew up as an only child of an incredibly strong mother who broke through glass ceilings in finance and a terminally ill father who survived brain tumors, strokes, and multiple surgeries. He passed away when I was 17. I studied psychology with a focus on early childhood development. I worked in early intervention services and then helped build a non-profit that delivered trauma relief, stress management, and social-emotional learning programming in schools. It was beautiful work. Personally, from the time my father passed all throughout my 20’s, I focused on healing my own trauma, PTSD and anxiety. I had witnessed a lot during my childhood through my dad’s illness. I helped save his life multiple times. It was an incredible amount of responsibility and grief. I found immense healing through breath work, meditation, and therapy… which ultimately led me to teach similar modalities in schools through the before mentioned nonprofit. I left the East Coast for Hawaii with my then fiancé, now husband and co-founder, Alex, when I was 30 for our wedding, and we quickly found out I was pregnant. We had our son Alakai on the island, and our lives were changed forever. We stayed in Kauai to raise him there, on an organic farm initially, and found career purpose alongside becoming parents. Alakai has a dairy and soy intolerance, and right before he turned one, we needed to find an alternative to breast milk; as I could no longer solely breastfeed, we needed to substitute something nutrient dense enough for him that was dairy and soy free. This is when we developed Kiki Milk. I originally made it in our kitchen for Alakai from raw local coconuts, coconut water, local bananas, sprouted pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, and oats. We saw a white space in the plant-focused children’s market and had many families share this was also a product they had been looking for. This is the genesis of PlantBaby and our launch product Kiki Milk.

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 would refer back to the story I began to touch on in the previous question. The reason I have my current career and the reason we built this company is because of that issue we faced with our son, Alakai. An issue so many parents face, navigating their children’s overall health or food allergies, chronic illness, etc. 1 in 2 children now has a chronic illness.

When I had Alakai, I thought I would solely breastfeed until he began to eat solids. My breast milk supply dropped around nine months postpartum. We had to look for a plan B, an infant formula for Alakai, who has a dairy and soy intolerance. The only FDA-approved infant formula on the US market is cow dairy or soy formula. We were left without any options to feed our son at that moment. Thankfully, he was old enough to start trying solids, and we live on an abundant island where we could utilize the fresh coconut meat and coconut water as ingredients in a ‘milk.’ We worked with a pediatrician and naturopath to develop something that would work for Alakai. We also had to look abroad at very expensive goat milk formula options. Dairy wasn’t ideal for him, but making a formula was time-consuming and challenging. We couldn’t believe, at this time in history, there was no plant-based infant formula option in the United States for the millions of babies that share the same issue as Alakai, a colicky baby with resistance to dairy and soy. As he quickly grew from 9 months to over a year, we realized there was also no suitable, nutrient-dense, totally clean label plant-based milk, made with children in mind, on the market either. So we decided to launch with that product — a delicious and organic milk made specifically for kids that we now call Kiki Milk.

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

I lead with my heart and often innately trust others. I believe this to be a beneficial quality. However, I have learned to practice discretion and discernment when sharing innovations and product ideas with others. Those in the same space of CPGs are often very supportive; however, it is ultimately a business, and there was a moment early on where I shared our vision and idea with another plant-milk company. We were on a call, set up by a friend who knew the CEO of this other company, as a gesture of support or even founder support. Nine months after this call, where we excitedly shared our vision and welcomed any guidance as we were new to the space, they released a very similar product. There wasn’t any mention during that call around this which led me to believe our call is what inspired them to rush a similar product out and be first to market, trying to capitalize on this white space made apparent during our call. Early-stage visions do need to be handled with care and sometimes kept close.

When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

We aim to make a positive impact in any way we can from multiple areas. We source sustainably and regeneratively. It’s very important to me that farming practices are ensuring the health of our soil. I believe the health of our soil directly impacts the health of our bodies through the quality of our food. I also feel strongly about only using whole foods in our products, ensuring there are never any preservatives, fillers, gums, artificial flavors, etc. Beyond that, I believe the conversations we’re inviting around health are making an impact. I believe we have misunderstood what health fully encompasses and how it’s all intrinsically connected. Our environment can support or hinder our health through a toxic load. Our mental and physical health are undeniably linked — what we eat supports our mental health. Nothing is isolated. I’ve navigated chronic illness for over a decade, as well as mental health. I know that rates of chronic illness in children, as well as adults, are on the rise, and so are mental health diagnoses. We must have more conversations around this and offer solutions and support where we can. I believe one factor attributing to this is how disconnected we are from nature and the source of our food. Children especially can benefit from getting involved in growing their own food. Our hands in the soil benefit the microbiome as well as our mental health. Growing our own food is not only healthy but empowering.

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

1. Breathwork. I’m partial to the style I learned over 10 years ago, a 30-minute practice I have used every day since called Sudarshan Kriya. Breathwork boosts the immune system, benefits the lymphatic system as well as supports our parasympathetic nervous system. And it’s FREE while being readily available every second of the day. It just takes commitment.
2. Less blue light and more ‘red light’. Blocking blue light or limiting it to certain times of the day is beneficial for our circadian rhythm. Seeing sunrise and sunset daily is beneficial for our brain and sets the tone for our sleep and wake cycle, allowing for better quality rest each night and improving mental health and immune system functioning.
3. Walk slowly in nature for at least 10 minutes a day. Our society tends to rush everywhere and sit indoors for the majority of the day. Ideally, walking barefoot or ‘earthing’ is best because it can boost immunity and lower inflammation.
4. Drink remineralized and filtered water with high-quality magnesium. Many people are chronically dehydrated and lack essential minerals. This can cause anxiety and fatigue.
5. Slowly remove toxic ingredients from your packaged food and body products. Ingredients like artificial coloring agents, titanium dioxide, artificial flavors, endocrine disruptors, etc. Focus on whole-food eating and simple ingredients.

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

This is a toss-up between the immediate benefit of learning to utilize the breath to regulate the nervous system, build vagal tone, increase immunity, etc. It is the most important tool we can utilize for our health.

However, the health of our planet and our bodies also relies on a food system that has more integrity around food production and sourcing. I would like to see regenerative farming methods used widely so the use of pesticides can greatly decrease. This movement would take many years. Part of this movement would include reconnecting to our local farmers as well as learning to grow our own food.

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

We honestly received so much support and incredible advice from our community of entrepreneurs that we are now just living out the scenarios they advised us on. We’re very grateful for this advice from experts with far more time and experience in this field than us.

1. You can usually find a way around a ‘no’
2. When something gets flagged in production, there usually isn’t anything to be concerned about
3. The system is pretty broken and needs to be reinvented
4. Your relationship with each other and your family is most important and will always be more important than the company
5. Building a company doesn’t have to be grueling. It can actually be earful in ways and fun.

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

“When the mind ceases, love dawns.” Mental health is the most important. For anyone who has experienced a mental health crisis, they know the world stops. I believe the better our collective mental health is, the better we can regulate our emotions, make better decisions and lead from a place of compassion, honesty, and heart. This will translate in business, at home, etc.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

Please follow along with us on Instagram @kikimilkco and sign up for our emails which always include informative and thoughtful content.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

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

Female Disruptors: Tongtong Gong of Amberdata On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The first came at a dinner with Shawn right after our series B funding round. The weight of the pressure behind the money we had raised started to settle in and I began wondering if I had what it took. It was the imposter syndrome. As I brought this up with Shawn, he looked at me and said, “Remember this: nobody has any idea what they are doing. They are all faking it until they make it.” Running a company of this magnitude is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it can be scary and challenging. But Shawn’s words reminded me that I was just as capable as anyone else in my position. The key was to remain humble, procure resources, and work hard.

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

Tongtong Gong is Co-founder and COO at Amberdata, the leading provider of digital asset data infrastructure and market intelligence to financial institutions. Tongtong has an extensive background in building and managing distributed systems at scale for enterprises and has led advanced development teams focusing on incubating new businesses for major software players. Her teams have successfully built high-performance computing platforms and marketing analytics software for both offline and digital markets. Prior to co-founding Amberdata, Tongtong served as VP of Engineering at Unified and a variety of engineering and leadership roles at Acxiom, including establishing a Global Service Center in China. Tongtong was named one of CloudNow’s Top Women Entrepreneurs and has been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, and Nasdaq.

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?

Thank you for having me! I grew up in Beijing, China, and came to the US when I was 17 as an exchange student. I felt self-conscious about my English as it wasn’t great, and I thought if I chose to study anything related to English or journalism I’d be at a big disadvantage to compete with my peers. My advisor suggested I consider a computer science degree and it was very interesting because I realized I’d be learning a new language along with all my peers, so we would all be at the same starting point. I’m very competitive, I like to win, so I said, let’s try this computer science thing. Long story short, I got my degree and started my career working for Acxiom as a backend data security engineer.

I’ve always worked with data and data integration products, trying to figure out ways to provide value to end users. Fast forward to 2016–2017 when the blockchain/crypto space started picking up, and I was intrigued by the space. I found myself opening Chrome tabs one after another and going completely down the rabbit hole. I wanted to jump right in, so I quit my job and started exploring opportunities. I realized there was this huge gap in collecting data, insights, and analytics in the ecosystem, and that just happened to be a space I was very familiar with. I was happy to be able to start participating in the space I wanted to be involved in and that is how Amberdata was born.

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

I think being in digital assets, by default is disruptive because it really challenges the current status quo: The centralized control over the financial system today and reliance on government issued fiat currency. I think crypto and the origin of Bitcoin came about right after the financial crisis because of corruption and various degrees of security breaches. People have a hard time trusting centralized entities. So, a mechanism to have an open, decentralized, interoperable, transparent, and immutable system of record is what, I believe, the general public is eager and yearning for. The very existence of digital assets is disruptive to the entire financial industry. They challenge the way we think about ownership, value, and different financial privileges. I remember attending a talk by Bobby Lee and he was holding up a $100 dollar bill and asking people what gives the piece of paper value? Was it the paper itself, or is it the backing, or is it the reputation? That was really thought provoking. The bottom line is… being in the crypto industry means providing transparency, data, and insights to allow the general public to gain a deeper understanding of what’s going on. I guess I’m helping the disruptive force.

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?

Oh I make mistakes every day, and they’re often funny. But one example I can think of is when I first started working. I was programming with a very senior engineer sitting next to me and we were trying to troubleshoot something. I don’t know what led to this, but we just decided to delete one of the databases to see if that helped. “You sure I should delete this,” I asked. He said, “Yeah, sure.” So I hit delete, and it turns out I deleted the live database! Well, it wasn’t funny at the time, but now I can laugh about it. The lesson learned, however, is that number one: always have a backup. Number two: don’t listen to someone just because they’re more experienced or are older than you, always use your own judgment. And number 3: human error happens. You’ve got to design systems and processes that don’t need to rely on an individual to make the perfect decision every single time.

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?

For the longest time, my co-founder, Shawn Douglass was my mentor. We met in 2006 when I was working for Acxiom as the lead engineer. Shawn was the executive sponsor, basically acquiring the Grid software division for EMC (now Dell/EMC) and I was part of that acquisition. I started working for him for a while before eventually leaving EMC, and there was a period of time where we didn’t work for the same company and I was always calling him up asking for advice. He was always so encouraging and would see things in me that I didn’t and he’d encourage me to take on responsibilities that I didn’t think I was capable of. So when he called me up about starting a new company, my first reaction was, I’m not a startup person, I am not a founder, and I wouldn’t be helpful to him… but he was persistent. He believed in me and proved me wrong. Now, I’m really glad I joined him on this journey. Mentors are an incredible resource to have throughout your career and I wouldn’t be where I am today without mine.

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?

This is an interesting question because I think for anything to withstand the test of time is a credit to it being disruptive. It has to be fluid and adaptable. Times change, people change, society changes, economic situations change. Ideas and concepts from 20 years ago are not necessarily accepted today. I believe time itself changes and you have to be able to adapt to change. And what is change? Change is disruption. Change is always good, it pushes and tests us and lets us know whether our existing systems are strong enough. Being a startup, I am the agent of change. I am challenging the status quo and creating value that didn’t exist before. I think there is so much value in accepting change and I don’t think anything can withstand the test of time without changing and being disrupted in itself. In my perspective, change and disruption is always good.

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

The first came at a dinner with Shawn right after our series B funding round. The weight of the pressure behind the money we had raised started to settle in and I began wondering if I had what it took. It was the imposter syndrome. As I brought this up with Shawn, he looked at me and said, “Remember this: nobody has any idea what they are doing. They are all faking it until they make it.” Running a company of this magnitude is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it can be scary and challenging. But Shawn’s words reminded me that I was just as capable as anyone else in my position. The key was to remain humble, procure resources, and work hard.

The second came at cocktails with one of my friends Lisa Xu. She’s the founder of NopSec, another enterprise security software company. When we were just a seed funded company early on, while we were both lamenting the challenges of running a company she asked me who my “ICP” was and I had no idea what she was talking about. She explained it’s my ideal customer profile. She told me that to build a company, I needed to understand who I was serving. That idea stuck with me because no matter what you do, you should never forget who it is you are seeking to help.

The third piece is similar to the second, and it came from the framework Lisa gave me. Amberdata became fully realized when we understood that we served financial institutions with transparent access to data. Early on, we were busy satisfying so many requirements from developers and our open source community, that we became spread too thin across the map. When we were able to articulate clearly who it was we were specifically serving, it allowed us to focus on the right work making everything else noise. Sometimes as a startup you get so distracted by what’s in front of you, you forget what got you started in the first place. Never forgetting your audience allows all the work that follows to become natural.

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

Yeah, far from being done. We’re just getting started. We are going to shake up the financial services industry by helping financial institutions usher in the next trillion dollars to DeFi. Based on our DeFi primer, we found that all it will take is a one percent increase in participation of financial institutions to do so.

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

This might be controversial, but I believe our tendency to over-analyze situations and outcomes as being tied to our gender is a challenge many “women disruptors” face at some point. More often than not, our male counterparts don’t tend to correlate their wins or losses to their gender. They don’t actively think about whether their maleness had something to do with them getting a piece of feedback of the outcome of that meeting. As women, we need to protect our mindspace and overcome our tendency to overthink, over-question, and over-index on the basis of being women. Focus on what’s valuable and what moves you forward.

Everyone has to navigate some level of discrimination or prejudice in their life; the key is to not let that define you. Overcome it. I want to be known as a badass founder building a successful company, I don’t want to be known as a badass woman founder.

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

I am inspired by interviews of other entrepreneurs who built amazing companies. I find courage from listening to founders share the stories of their struggles. It is a welcome surprise to me that nobody knows what they are doing at the time, everyone has hustled. Everyone has struggled to raise money, find someone who believes in them, and then catch a break only to find that more money means bigger problems and more mouths to feed. Ever since I started Amberdata I’ve enjoyed finding a community of like-minded founders who share their experiences so we all can learn from each other.

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. 🙂

For the past 10 years my husband and I have sponsored the Amazing Maasai Race for the Maasai tribe in Kenya. It originated as a destination marathon in Kenya where you run to raise awareness and funding for the secondary education of young women in the Massai tribe. This offers them a better chance to get out of the village and into the city where they can pursue their dreams. The race evolved into a global run because not everyone had the resources to travel to Kenya. Plus, that is money we would rather spend on education. We do this every year. We all wear the same T-shirt, go on a run, take a selfie for social media, and participate in fundraising. No matter where you are, you can pledge from walking a mile, to running a full ultra-marathon for these girls.

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

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.”

~Mark Twain.

I have always lived by this. Whenever I’m in doubt if I should act, I usually act anyways.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow me on Twitter @Gongt2 and keep up with what we’re doing at Amberdata @Amberdataio

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

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

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Listening is often more powerful than speaking. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we’re going to say that we forget to put the focus, energy, and attention into really listening to the people we are working with. Deep listening builds trust, strengthens relationships, and allows for more authentic conversations.

As a part of our series about “dreamers who ignored the naysayers and did what others said was impossible”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Elena Rue.

Elena Rue is the Co-Founder and Creative Director of StoryMine, a women-owned video production company that marries strategy and creativity. StoryMine partners with publications, national nonprofits, and purpose-driven businesses to create targeted, compelling projects that expand the reach and impact of their work through strategic video storytelling.

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

Absolutely. I grew up in a small town in Iowa where you were either a “sports-person” or a “theater-person” — and I was neither. So naturally I gravitated towards documenting sporting events and performances for the school yearbook. I loved being an observer behind the camera and this started me on the path of documentary photography. For about 10 years I pursued still photography, studying and working at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and traveling for various projects. After a while, I reached a point where I wanted the skills to tell deeper, more complex stories with my work. This led me to pursue a master’s degree in journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

On the first day of graduate school I met Catherine Orr. We clicked right away, signed up for all the same classes, and worked together throughout our time as students. Neither of us wanted a traditional journalism job so we decided to start our own company, StoryMine, and continue the partnership that was already working so well. We are celebrating StoryMine’s 10th anniversary this year. During the last decade we’ve both moved multiple times and had 4 children between us. So we’re currently navigating life as working moms and business-owners.

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

Yes, we are very excited about a series of video projects we’re creating with the New England Journal of Medicine. For each project we are featuring a specific health topic, using the power of video to share groundbreaking research, new treatments, as well as highlight health inequities and barriers to care. One goal of these videos is to increase the amount of trusted content available to people online regarding common and often hard-to-treat conditions.

In your opinion, what do you think makes your company or organization stand out from the crowd?

We love to take complex issues and find the story within them. So many videos tend to rely on broad overviews, but we believe the power of video is finding the specific details or anecdotes that bring a story to life and allow people to connect with it. With every project we take on, we learn everything there is to know about the topic. Most of what we learn doesn’t appear in the video itself, but for us to understand the nuances and context of a story, we need to be experts ourselves.

The other thing that makes us stand out is that we are committed to collaborating with our story subjects whenever possible. We have check-in points throughout the project that allow us to receive feedback on whether their story is accurately portrayed. And when possible, we hire producers from the community we are highlighting to give us guidance on what is important to those most impacted.

Ok, thank you for that. I’d like to jump to the main focus of this interview. Has there ever been a time that someone told you something was impossible, but you did it anyway? Can you share the story with us? What was your idea? What was the reaction of the naysayers? And how did you overcome that?

When my business partner Catherine and I came up with the idea of starting our own video production company over 10 years ago, we sought the advice of other people we knew who were doing what we wanted to do — not surprisingly, they were all men. We happily shared about our unique relationship and collaborative approach to our work, but some of them were surprised and skeptical about us working as a team. One said, “You need to have one person in charge, you can’t share that role. You’ll only ever make half of what you should be making.” Another said, “Editing can’t be done as a team. It’s a solo job.”

At first we were taken aback and started questioning ourselves. I remember feeling ashamed that the way of working that felt so natural to us was somehow wrong. And because we didn’t see any examples in our circle of people running a business like ours in the way we wanted to, we didn’t have any role models to point to.

In the end we decided that the advice we were given wasn’t right for us. And that even though what we were doing was a different model than what was out there, that didn’t mean it was wrong or wouldn’t work.

In the end, how were all the naysayers proven wrong? 🙂

Now, 10 years later, I can look back and say that we proved them wrong. We are still working side-by-side, but have also grown and evolved as a business in a way that fits who we are now. We each have interests and strengths within our work, but what still makes StoryMine unique is our partnership.

This structure also allowed us to grow our families at the same time. Because we work collaboratively, we were able to step away for maternity leaves without the business falling apart and we continue to make a balance between work and family a priority. Our goal will always be to feel that the business is working for us, rather than us working for the business.

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?

Yes. The person who has impacted our work the most has been our dear friend and coach Sharon Lipovsky of Point Road Studios. Sharon and I met in a photography class in college and have been close friends ever since. She started her coaching business the same year we started StoryMine and we have supported each other every step of the way.

With Sharon we can dig deep into conversations about sales and revenue, but also dream big and look for magic within the work. She has helped us see our potential and understand our worth in a way that we couldn’t have done by ourselves.

It must not have been easy to ignore all the naysayers. Did you have any experiences growing up that have contributed to building your resiliency? Can you share the story with us?

If I were to point to a pivotal moment growing up it would be when I was 16 and I studied abroad in England. My best friend and I had a dream of leaving our small town and experiencing something new and we decided to go for it. First we found some families to take us in for a year, and then we spent many months planning, doing odd jobs, and saving money for the trip. The year in England was amazing, and everything we had hoped for. And I think the biggest thing that experience taught me was that things that seem like a pipe dream are possible if you believe they are, and put your mind to it. And it’s funny, even today I think about my 16 year-old self whenever I feel like something is impossible or never going to happen, because sometimes it does.

Based on your experience, can you share 5 strategies that people can use to harness the sense of tenacity and do what naysayers think is impossible? (Please share a story or an example for each)

1. Listening is often more powerful than speaking. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we’re going to say that we forget to put the focus, energy, and attention into really listening to the people we are working with. Deep listening builds trust, strengthens relationships, and allows for more authentic conversations.
2. Creativity needs space. Some of my best ideas come forth when I clear my schedule and let myself breathe; allowing my mind to wander and think beyond the constraints of my to-do lists
3. Sensitivity is not a weakness, it’s a superpower. Sensitivity often gets a bad rap and is thought of as an undesirable trait, but leaning into your sensitive side can help you be more empathetic in your work and become a better collaborator and team member. For our work in particular, sensitivity is critical to understanding and sharing someone’s story in a way that feels true to their experience.
4. Avoid the comparison game. I, like many others, have often struggled with comparing myself to others as a way of gauging my success. This tendency is not only toxic, but it also holds me back and often distracts me from my personal and professional goals. Find ways to tune out the noise and focus on the goals you set for yourself, not what others set for themselves.
5. Don’t try to please everybody. I grew up in a people-pleasing environment. The goal was to make sure everyone was happy and that I didn’t ruffle any feathers. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that not only is this impossible, it holds me back from speaking up when I see an injustice or pushing the boundaries to create something new. Being bold might ruffle some feathers, but it also brings forward change and new possibilities.

What is your favorite quote or personal philosophy that relates to the concept of resilience?

I am a huge Brené Brown fan and this quote captures what I would love all my relationships to be based on — both in work and my personal life.

Joy, collected over time, fuels resilience — ensuring we’ll have reservoirs of emotional strength when hard things do happen.”

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

I would love to see a movement towards deep listening. We have been conditioned to tune out the people who are on the opposite side of an issue, to the point where we don’t even engage in conversation (I am certainly guilty of this!). But if we take the time to ask questions and really listen to each other, we can find the things we agree on and begin to understand each other and build more empathy.

Can our readers follow you on social media?

I don’t spend a lot of time on social media, but do hang out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elena-rue-81811712/

Thank you for these great stories. We wish you only continued success!

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Elena Rue of StoryMine: “They Told Me It Was Impossible And I Did It Anyway” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Julie Burleson of Young Chefs Academy On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Even if you’re in a fun business, you need to be prepared for some not-so-fun times. Haters are real, but so is earned success. Don’t lose sight of why you started!

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Julie Burleson, Founder and CEO of Young Chefs Academy.

Julie owned and operated two culinary businesses before launching the Young Chefs Academy model and setting out to build a franchise network dedicated to teaching children the joy and value of cooking. Julie is the recipient of a Best Feasibility Plan award from Baylor University’s John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship and has been a panelist for IFA Convention events.

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 always an entrepreneur at heart. When I was in college, I started a business making homemade gingerbread houses for the holidays. I can credit my mother for my love of food and cooking. I spent so much time in the kitchen with her, but I always knew I wanted to open my own business that I was passionate about. I started off about 20 years ago selling culinary herbs in a co-op space and eventually started a business selling home-cooked meals for busy working moms, well before home delivery meal kits were introduced. Business was booming and I was finding ways to include my children in the kitchen with me as I got busier and busier. My son was having a blast helping me with the cooking and I had a lightbulb moment to open a children’s cooking school. We opened up and it took off. We were holding parties and classes and it wasn’t until customers had asked when we were going to open additional locations that I considered franchising the brand. Now more than 30 locations later, I’m so proud of the progress we’ve made for Young Chefs Academy.

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?

It’s so important to find mentors whose values align with your own. I made relationships with people in franchising, veterans in the industry who I could turn to and trust. Additionally, the leadership team at Young Chefs Academy, Shelly Young and Jamie Skinner. In addition to being incredibly genuine and loyal, they’ve always had my back in terms of helping to see who has our brand’s best interest at heart. I also owe so much to the YCA employees who care about the brand as much as I do. The success of this company wouldn’t be the same without the people who choose to be involved and I am eternally grateful for my team.

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

Why wouldn’t women want to found companies? I don’t think anything should hold them back. If a woman is being held back from their dream, their inner voice is to blame. The world isn’t holding you back, it’s either you or somebody you’re doing business with. My best advice would be to get out of your own head, because the time to act on that dream is now. Maybe a male counterpart tried to hold you down, but so what? Don’t give them the gratification. There are people who adhere to the older ways of thinking, but that system is outdated. They will try to find your weaknesses to discourage you- it happened to me. It didn’t hold me back completely, but it did stall my progress. If you get into a culture or system that wants to do things the old way, recognize it, learn from it and move on to something better.

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

Goes back to what we should have all learned in grade school- the golden rule; treat people how you want to be treated. It’s that simple! Standing up for yourself and for someone who you see as a victim of being bullied should be the standard. Be aware and be willing to have courage to stand up for what’s right. We need stronger support systems in the workplace.

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

Culture, culture, culture. Everyone is becoming very aware that culture matters- and it matters a lot! I believe women have that innate sense of relationship building, which is what companies thrive on. You can have the best business model or product, but without a healthy culture your company will not succeed to its fullest. Women are more nurturing, it just comes naturally. Female founders have the opportunity to build that nurturing, caring culture within the workplace, and I hope to see more women taking on that role.

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

Not all founders are naturally-born leaders. Founders are dreamers, they have big dreams, but founders and leaders they don’t come as a package deal. I loved the idea of starting a business and making a positive impact, but leadership skills have to be learned along the way. We are champions of our dreams but we have to grow into our role as a leader. You have to learn to lead, and it’s not easy.

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

I think successful founders know they are only a piece of the puzzle. However, founders are not any more important than the ‘regular jobs’ as employees. Successful founders stay humble and know their place in the world. Not to mention, we can’t all be founders. If we were all founders the world would crumble in on itself. It’s been a humbling experience for me to learn firsthand that I’m not any more important than the operators in a company. Founders know the right people to include in their business, but operators are who make their dreams come to life. A specific trait to being a successful founder would be staying humble in your position.

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

1. There are so many different opinions out there on how to approach franchising the right way. Make sure you build a trusted franchise support system before diving into franchising as a business model.
2. Understand that there are very tough decisions to make as a leader. You won’t always have the luxury of making decisions based on convenience, and sometimes the decisions you make may affect personal relationships. It’s no longer about you; it’s about your company!
3. Anything worth building is going to take a long time.
4. If you don’t establish a culture from day one, the culture will establish itself. If you fail to articulate it and make it very clear from the beginning, it will take a long time to turn that ship around.
5. Even if you’re in a fun business, you need to be prepared for some not-so-fun times. Haters are real, but so is earned success. Don’t lose sight of why you started!

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

Young Chefs Academy’s mission adds so much value to children’s and families lives. Our whole purpose is making people’s lives better through teaching the joy and value of cooking. In addition to our brand’s purpose, being a franchisor and providing opportunities for franchisees to fulfill a dream that they otherwise would not have been able to achieve without our support is invaluable. And the best part is watching it come full circle! Through enhancing a franchisees life, they are able to make a difference in other people’s lives. One of our company promises is that we expect our franchisees to support the communities in which they do business. We provide a platform for owners to give back to organizations that they are passionate about. It’s a wonderful experience to watch franchisees become involved philanthropically in their own way.

Just as well, Young Chefs Academy has partnered with several national and international brands. We enjoy incorporating philanthropic efforts into our business, especially when it aligns with our mission. For example, we include ways to encourage students and families to donate to World Central Kitchen, and hold events such as “Cookies for Kids Cancer,” where our students bake the goods for the cancer drive. It’s important to empower our students and involve children in the act of giving back. We enjoy watching them find joy in being an active participant in philanthropy.

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

I lost my mother to Alzheimer’s last year. Going through that experience has inspired my next project where I hope to impact the lives of senior citizens. I’m currently working on a model where our Young Chef Academy students can be paired up with individuals at senior living centers. Through my mother’s diagnosis, I learned there are a lot of lonely people out there who weren’t blessed with grandchildren, or maybe their grandchildren live far away. Pairing two different generations together through cooking could really bring those two groups of people together in a beautiful example of mentorship. The idea is to bring the seniors to YCA and pair them up on a one-on-one basis where they share recipes or participate in a class together. The older generations are living longer and they have so much to give back and share with today’s youth, and we would be remiss to miss out on an opportunity to share those experiences before it’s too late.

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

Sara Blakely, Founder and CEO of SPANX, is a female leader that I have always admired. Sara personifies the female founder of doing it right. I’m continually inspired by her leadership style and the confidence she holds to stay true to herself. The journey she took to build her business independently set a tremendous example for aspiring entrepreneurs everywhere. Sara is a great representation of authenticity and humbleness.

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

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Female Founders: Julie Burleson of Young Chefs Academy On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Better Sleep Hygiene: There are many ways to improve sleep but today, especially with the push for work-from-home during the pandemic, you may find the distinction between relaxation and work slipping. It’s okay, it happens even without a work from home mandate, but let’s change that. If you have the option, then keep your bedroom a place that is naturally associated with rest and relaxation (not work), and to prioritize getting at least 7.5 hours of sleep each night.

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

Dr. Doni Wilson, ND, CPM, CNS, is a health visionary, researcher, bestselling author, and international speaker. Through her research and clinical experience, she developed her Stress Recovery Protocol, which takes stress management to the next level by utilizing epigenetics to individualize the optimization of cortisol, adrenaline and neurotransmitters. Dr. Doni earned her doctorate degree in naturopathic medicine from Bastyr University where she also completed her residency. She is also a certified professional midwife, a certified nutrition specialist, and has degrees in both nutrition and science. For more than 22 years, Dr. Doni has helped thousands of patients overcome health challenges that are considered irreversible.

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?

My father is a pharmacist and the intention was for me to follow in his footsteps and go to pharmacy school after I graduated with my science degree. When the first day of pharmacy school came, I had a strong feeling that it wasn’t the right decision for me. I wanted to study medicine that uses food as medicine and to help people who aren’t being helped by the standard of care. I found that in naturopathic medical school.

I also trained to be a midwife, and as part of that training, I studied how stress affects women in labor, especially women with a history of abuse. What I found through this research is that what helps labor progress most efficiently is an optimal amount of stress hormones, not none. While we often wish we could have zero stress, that is actually not optimal for our bodies or our health.

So when I graduated, finished my residency, moved to New York, and started seeing patients traumatized by 9/11, I had the thought that they too need help to re-optimize their stress hormones. I kept on researching cortisol and adrenaline — our stress hormones — found a way to test them, and effective ways to rebalance them, even after severe stress. I started publishing articles and giving lectures at professional conferences — in the U.S. and internationally.

Meanwhile, I was suffering from debilitating migraines. No matter where I turned, no doctor, pill, nor specialist could solve my seemingly unrelenting pain which made me feel defeated, exhausted, and overwhelmed. At the same time, I felt ashamed to tell anyone because I felt I should be able to solve them, which pushed me to continue my research. Through years of implementing what I discovered on myself, including amino acid therapy to balance my neurotransmitters, identifying gluten sensitivity and leaky gut and how to recover from them, as well as adrenal distress, I was able to decrease the frequency of the migraines. But it wasn’t until I diagnosed myself with hypermobility and toxicity from flame retardants, and addressed those issues successfully, while also experiencing an emotional-spiritual transformation, that I completely stopped my migraines.

Now, I am so grateful for the migraines because they led me to develop my Stress Recovery Protocol which identifies how stress uniquely affects each individual (what I refer to as Stress Types) and then uses epigenetics to reoptimize health. It’s about finding out how stress has specifically affected you and your body. We can do specialized testing to find out what is out of balance, and then use diet, stress recovery, nutrients, herbs and other natural approaches to rebalance what was disrupted by stress exposure. I help people of all ages understand their bodies and what they can do to feel their best and how to be healthy while stressed.

I am now the bestselling author of five books about the ways stress affects us, and how to recover from it so that we can live our healthiest lives.

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

In 2000, when I graduated from naturopathic medical school and was finishing my midwifery certification, I went to Manila in the Philippines. I delivered 100 babies in 4 weeks in the community hospital. I really enjoyed getting to know the culture and people and even had a chance to travel around the Philippines. I didn’t know if I would ever be back in the Philippines again in my life, but I knew that I was helping women there to bring their babies into the world safely. Then in 2018, I was invited to go back to Manila by a health food store. I was flown there to train their staff with my approach to stress recovery, to be on radio and TV, and to speak at a large public event. It was such an amazing, surreal moment to be back there. During my presentation, when I told the audience how I had delivered babies there 18 years ago, they all knew about the community hospital and were so excited to hear that I had worked there. I had probably delivered some of them! It was a full-circle moment to be able to go back and share what I’ve learned and teach them my findings.

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?

It wasn’t so much a mistake as a lesson on how I wanted to operate my business. The first five years in practice, my daughter was young so my mindset was more concentrated on being a doctor while letting someone else run the business. When my daughter was around five-years-old and my marriage was ending, I realized that I was ready to take on being both a business owner and a doctor at the same time. That transition pushed me to meet with a lawyer and incorporate my business and then hire my own bookkeeper and staff to assist with scheduling. I also had to decide what to do about where my office(s) would be located.

While most people just have one single office location, I decided that I wanted to have three locations even if it seemed like a lot. My staff worked virtually while I would rotate between the offices. At that same time, I was offered a full-time position with a successful, well-established company so I had to make a decision of whether I would take this role with benefits or continue with my own practice? One important factor that influenced my decision was knowing that I wanted to represent my own ideas and be under my own business. It was a challenge to go between two different states (New York and Connecticut) and deal with different taxes and different scopes of practice. However, I would say that I wouldn’t have done anything differently. Being in different offices was exciting and challenging.

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 taught that there is nothing we can do about stress, but “manage” it. We are led to believe that we are supposed to be able to eliminate all stress. The work I do is to help people take a much more compassionate and realistic approach to stress, which is to embrace the fact that we, as humans, actually NEED to be stressed. We need a healthy amount of stress hormones — cortisol and adrenaline — in order to survive and thrive. And the more we put expectations on ourselves to push through or to take on more stress, we are only perpetuating the effects of stress. Instead, we need to shift our perspective on stress to mastery. We need to understand how stress affects us as individuals and give ourselves and our bodies the support we need to recover from stress each day. That is how we will be able to prevent health issues caused by stress, of which 90% of health issues are caused by stress, so that is a huge impact.

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

1. Better Sleep Hygiene: There are many ways to improve sleep but today, especially with the push for work-from-home during the pandemic, you may find the distinction between relaxation and work slipping. It’s okay, it happens even without a work from home mandate, but let’s change that. If you have the option, then keep your bedroom a place that is naturally associated with rest and relaxation (not work), and to prioritize getting at least 7.5 hours of sleep each night.
2. Cut Out Sugar: Our blood sugar levels can affect everything from our immunity to our mood and sleep. For example, if you find yourself waking up due to hunger in the middle of the night, you might need to reflect on what you are eating during the day. Avoid heavy carbs and sugar at night, best is to have your last meal at least 2 hours before bed, and make sure each meal contains protein.
3. Identify Inflammation: If you have not yet been tested for food sensitivities (IgA and IgG is what I recommend), now is the time. This will tell you whether there are foods you are eating that are triggering inflammation throughout your body. This test will also give you a better sense of whether leaky gut is present so you can start healing it, which will help decrease inflammation.
4. Drink More Water: Drink a small amount of water — 4 to 6 ounces — every hour or two to help beat dehydration. You can add a pinch of sea salt for electrolytes.
5. Exercise: Exercise provides benefits including stress reduction and increased insulin function to help manage blood sugar levels. Start with small amounts, including core strength. Then gradually increase it based on how you feel and where you are in the stress recovery protocol for your stress type.

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 movement I have started is to understand the effects of stress on us as individuals, based on your stress type, and the potential to recover from the imbalances caused by stress, also based on your unique stress response. All humans are exposed to stress, more so after coming through the pandemic. We need stress recovery more than ever.

Stress increases infertility, miscarriages, cervical cancer due to HPV, other forms of cancer, autoimmunity, dementia, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and many other health conditions. If we don’t start prioritizing ourselves and outsmarting stress by ensuring that we get adequate anti-stress, then health issues will continue to skyrocket.

I want everyone to know their stress type and how to take better CARE of themselves based on their stress type, using the acronym I developed — C for clean eating, A for adequate sleep, R for recovery activities and E for exercise.

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

1. Network: Take advantage of opportunities to meet new people and put your name out there. When I moved from the West Coast to New York and didn’t know anyone, it became crucial to make those connections.
2. Take every opportunity: Even if it seems scary or outside of your comfort zone, push yourself beyond what you think is possible. I had never spoken at a conference or written a book, and even though it seemed like it couldn’t be done, I learned how to and woke up each day following my desire to help more people.
3. Don’t give up: Even when it seems difficult, you are stronger than you think! I took on the challenge of operating three office locations which had me running back and forth between states. But, I knew that was what I wanted to do and I persevered.
4. Listen to your intuition: I listened to my inner self and went against what was intended for my career and said that I wanted to study medicine that uses a natural and preventive approach instead.
5. Market yourself: Understand the importance of a great website and social media. Get your name out there and let others know your capabilities with a strong web presence. During the pandemic I started my own podcast — How Humans Heal — even though I was so afraid I would fail.

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 a topic I talk a lot about! There are millions of people who suffer with anxiety and depression. Suicide rates are soaring, and yet, the conventional medical system is only offering prescription medications, which in some cases help, but in many cases, lead to dependency and worsening side effects. I see that the mental health system is severely lacking in its ability to help people with stress and the effects of stress.

Meanwhile, thousands of research studies and years of clinical experience show there are so many more options available. I experienced so much stress, anxiety and depression over the years myself. Starting back in 2001, I started testing cortisol and neurotransmitter levels and trained myself in amino acid therapy so that I could use clinical nutrition and biochemistry to rebalance neurotransmitter levels. I performed a research study in my practice to identify the 5 common stress patterns (stress types) and developed a protocol to address each individually. This approach has helped thousands of patients with mental health issues, and I hope to help millions more.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

Readers can visit my website at www.doctordoni.com where I post weekly blogs and my podcast How Humans Heal. They can also find me on social media on Facebook at www.facebook.com/drdoniwilson, Twitter at www.twitter.com/glutenfreedoc and Instagram at www.instagram.com/drdoniwilson. I also post videos on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/DoniWilsonND.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

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

Female Founders: Gina Rivera of Phenix Salon Suites On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

It’s okay not to have the answers to everything! I had to learn where my strengths and weaknesses were. This helped me to determine where I needed more training as well as who I needed to surround myself as a team that could assist me in areas where I needed assistance.

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

Gina Rivera is a well-known icon in the world of beauty. Rivera skyrocketed to success when the company she founded, Phenix Salon Suites became the fastest growing salon suite company in the beauty industry. PSS is the only salon suite company to be named to Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top 500 Franchise List. The company has now been named five times to the list and was recently ranked in the Top 25 out of 500. Rivera is the only female that serves as a company president in this elite group. Her company continues to flourish with more than 300 locations nationwide and a growing international expansion starting in Europe.

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 remember as a child I would watch my dad and mom for hours in awe as I swept hair from their salon floor. I loved how people felt after they left the salon. I also remember knowing that I was going to be different. My family has been in the beauty business since 1929. They have owned everything from salons to beauty schools and I currently have 25 salon professionals working in my immediate family. I always loved both the business side and the artistry of the industry. Both of my parents were hairstylists, and they owned their own salon.

I recall my first day of Kindergarten, I noticed that all the other little girls had beautiful long flowing hair. I was too self-conscience to remove my hat and display my short “Tenile” haircut I pretended to tug, and pull, at the hat so that it would appear to be stuck on my head, simultaneously the teacher repeatedly asked me to take off the hat. When I did, the laughter erupted. At first, I was embarrassed, but within seconds embarrassment turned to anger. Afterall, who were they to laugh at my stylish new look. As I walked to the carpet through roars of laughter, I turned to my classmates just as my teacher spun to write on the black board, and I did something that wasn’t very politically correct for a six-year-old. I shot them the bird!

Today, when I look back at that event, I realize that it was my first step towards establishing myself in the world of beauty. In some respects, this story reflects my career. Along the way, there have been many naysayers. I recall opening the first Phenix Salon Suites. Many people thought the concept was strange. Interestingly, I could have listened and deep down inside my six-year-old self still wanted to shoot the naysayers the bird. However, with time we grow and for me this meant learning how to be humble. So, I remained humble, and I focused on my goal, even though our concept was different. I forged ahead.

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

Early in my professional life I worked as a stylist in a salon. I was so excited about the job and felt I was doing well. One day I was called to my boss’s office, and I just knew that she was going to offer me a promotion or a raise. However, instead she proceeded to tell me that I didn’t have what it takes to make it in the beauty industry and that it would be best if I sought a different career. Today, I realize that if I had listened to her, there would not be over 10,000 beauty and appearance professionals operating their businesses under the Phenix Salon Suites brand.

Many people also don’t realize that I was a high school dropout at age 17. While I later went back to school, I think it’s important to acknowledge that each person must establish their own path to success.

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 had just finished beauty school and started my first salon job when I had a dark brunette client come in who wanted her hair to be highlighted. She was requesting a lot of highlights. This was the old days, and I had to pull her hair through a cap. I was mixing toners and trying to create a platinum toner for her hair as she wanted a platinum blonde. I applied the toner to her hair. However, when I removed the cap, her hair was a murky blue, green, dark, muddy colour. She ended up having to leave with a mohawk long before they were popular. The moment that she left I knew that I wanted to master colour application. If I hadn’t experienced that situation, I probably would have never developed my professional colour line.

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?

Above all I am thankful to God for always being by my side and walking with me on my journey. Without his strength and grace, I would be nowhere. I am also extremely thankful to both of my parents who were stylists and huge mentors to me. I can remember being 7 years old and attending my first hair show. I remember the lights and the runway, and the hair flying. I will never forget sitting in the front row and knowing inside that this was the industry that I wanted to be a part of in every way possible.

Then, there is my husband, Jason Rivera, who has worked side by side with me and been with me every step of the way when building this company. He has embraced my dream and my vision and helped everything that I envisioned for this company to come to fruition. I am also extremely grateful to my amazing executive team. I am blessed to have surrounded myself with a team that has been instrumental our growth. This team provides strength and knowledge in areas that I need support, knowledge, and insight which is key to the success of any company.

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

I believe that the fear of failure and the fear of being in a leadership position plays a big role for many women when it comes to achieving success. I also believe that it’s easy to talk ourselves out of things before we even try them if we’re not careful. In addition, I think possessing the confidence to make hard decisions is instrumental for women in leadership.

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

As a society we have come a very long way. We are seeing more female entrepreneurs and women in leadership roles. This is opening doors for generations of the future. It’s become more accepted to be a female leader, executive and businesswoman.

I believe courage breeds courage and we see this in female leadership. Our current female leaders can serve as both role models and mentors to leaders of the future. Women empowerment is bigger than it’s ever been, and we need to continue to foster this in the workplace and in society in general.

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

Women are naturally nurturing, and they can channel this towards taking care of their business as well as to taking care of their employees. This is a natural and normal function for women which makes leadership roles ideal for them. When something is nurtured; it’s loved and taken care of; the details are important, and it’s given the right amount of TLC to thrive. These are all characteristics that are required for a successful business.

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

Sometimes when you’re in a high position of leadership, people tend to think you work less and have a lot more disposable time on your hands. What people fail to realize is that my working days are very long. I seldom have a vacation that is not intermingled with a work trip. Much of the time, I make sure to bring family on the road so that I can spend time with them as I work to balance the demands of running a large company and being a mother and wife.

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

Everyone has it in them to be a leader at some level. The sky is the limit. Each person has their own unique character traits, but they must know how to tap into them. Being a leader is not a one size fits all. While there are characteristics that are important, everyone has different gifts that can be impactful professionally depending on what industry they are in. Some items a leader must be able to deal with include facing failure and being able to get back up and move forward. Sometimes failing is the best learning opportunity available. It takes drive, perseverance, and a thick skin at times.

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

• It’s okay not to have the answers to everything! I had to learn where my strengths and weaknesses were. This helped me to determine where I needed more training as well as who I needed to surround myself as a team that could assist me in areas where I needed assistance.
• Don’t be so hard on yourself! In the beginning I would internalize my failures. Now, I realize that there will be times that I fail. This is part of the learning process and how I improve. I had to take the lesson, learn to dust myself off, and keep moving forward.
• It’s okay to step away during the day periodically! It took me 15 years to realize that I was healthier when I stepped back and took time for myself. I am a much better leader when I take even 30 minutes for myself to take a walk, play tennis or just have some time to decompress. I am much better for it.
• It’s imperative to have a daily routine that begins with filling your spirit! For me this is my daily Christian devotionals. This fills me up and gives me fuel to face whatever lays ahead in my workday as well as my personal life.
• Stop and smell the roses! Learn to laugh at yourself. I can’t tell you how many times I crack myself up. In the early days if I was tongue tied or made a mistake, I was very upset about it. Nowadays, when I stumble over my words or do something foolish, I have learned to laugh at myself and not take everything so seriously. Laughter really is the best medicine!

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

What I do is not about me. I am in the business of changing lives and giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to own their own business and become their own boss. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

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

I feel like I am living the movement that I would want to inspire which is providing an affordable avenue for entrepreneurs to own their own businesses and become their own boss.

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

I would love to have lunch with Dana White. I really respect what he has accomplished with the UFC, both the brand he has built and the culture he has created. I admire his tenacity, his perseverance, and his ability to continue to grow and move forward.

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

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Female Founders: Gina Rivera of Phenix Salon Suites On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.