Day: November 3, 2022

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Cathy Bergstrom of AdRoll On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Don’t settle. Find the company that is right for you. I found myself saying, “well, this is better than [fill in the blank],” but being better than, doesn’t make it good. It wasn’t until I committed to myself to not find a company that was a bit better for me, but to find the right place. I made a list of what I needed from an employer for my success. It was tempting in my job hunt to tell myself that I didn’t have to find somewhere that completely filled my list, but then I would be settling. I stuck to that list, and found somewhere that is the right place for me.

In the United States in 2022, fields such as Aircraft piloting, Agriculture, Architecture, Construction, Finance, and Information technology, are still male-dominated industries. For a woman who is working in a male-dominated environment, what exactly does it take to thrive and succeed? In this interview series, we are talking to successful women who work in a Male-Dominated Industry who can share their stories and experiences about navigating work and life as strong women in a male-dominated industry. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Cathy Bergstrom.

As Head of Product for AdRoll, Cathy Bergstrom oversees product strategy, innovation and growth. Her work has been instrumental in driving AdRoll’s evolution from a leading display advertising platform into the market’s only martech+adtech platform for DTC brands. Based on AdRoll’s goal of enabling marketing teams of any size, budget, and expertise to do excellent marketing, Cathy has spearheaded the creation of the only single platform that automates campaigns across display ads, social ads and email.

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 childhood “backstory”?

I grew up in Provo, Utah — the youngest of 8 children. The expectation for a girl at that time was being a mother and wife. My education both formally and culturally was to prepare me for those roles. I pushed against gender role norms even from a young age. Common feedback of being bossy, difficult, and too much. Developing interest in all things my brothers were doing; playing soccer, convincing my dad to let me attend the annual backpacking trip, and helping him fix things around the house. It was fixing things that started my love of problem solving, spending time with my dad, an engineer, learning how to solve big problems with simple solutions (duct tape and spackle really can fix just about anything), developing that mindset that has carried me throughout my career.

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

I was head of ecommerce and found myself delegating many aspects of my work load, so I could spend more time with our engineering team. Developing improvements to our website, building an integrated fulfillment system for our warehouse and brick-and-mortar stores, and marketing technologies. As this became the work that was most fulfilling for me, I made the decision to shift my career from generalized ecommerce into the digital product development field. At that time, there was a new course introduced at a local engineering bootcamp about User Experience Design. I decided to take this course as it would benefit me to polish my self-taught skills around user interviewing and prototyping. At the end of the program the instructors help each student build a portfolio and practice for job interviews. While going through these assignment exercises with the teachers of the program, they gave me some mentorship advice: based on what they had seen in classroom participation, if I wanted to pursue a career in UX design I would do fine, but they strongly encouraged me to stay in Product Management. That conversation was the confirmation I needed to continue pursuing what I loved, Product Management.

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

I had a boss that I regularly clashed with, he had one view of what my team and I should be focused on — company profits.I had another view — solving customer and user problems. I spent a lot of time trying to explain why building a better marketing experience for the customer would result in more sales, with less cost, and showing tests to prove the ROI, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t see it that way. I was pretty worn down and not in a great place mentally because of it. In one particular conversation, that will always stick out in my brain, he said to me “maybe product management isn’t what you should be doing.” And for a short bit, I believed him. Until some good friends snapped me out of it, and I saw that I needed to leave that boss.

I set out to find a new place to work. And I used all my product management skills, training, and instincts to organize and set out to solve my problem of working in a place that didn’t align with my philosophies of product management. I did user story mapping (my absolute favorite) for myself. That shift in how I was looking at everything, really solidified for me not just that 1. He was absolutely wrong, and product management is what I should be doing. But also 2. Product Management is what I do, whether it was my job or not. I can look back and see how many times I used the framework of Problem discovery> solution discovery> plan & refine> develop> validate, to solve some bump in the road of my life.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Curiosity — I’ve always been that kid, asking “why.” Lucky for me I found a career where that is valued. I had a woman approach me about being her mentor. She admired my confidence, when I probed a bit about what she perceived as confidence. It was my lack of fear when it came to asking questions, and holding people accountable for data to back up their claims. I told her how little this had to do with confidence, but just genuine curiosity.

Empathy — As a girl, growing up I was taught to nurture those around me, not as a leadership quality, but for motherhood. Being able to see what others need, take care of them, and understand perspectives different from my own. These are personal traits that have served me well both professionally and personally.

A “How hard can it be” Mentality — this is a bit of a joke between my husband, Matt and I. I love doing DIY home restoration and renovation, and when I come up with a plan, nothing will get in the way. When I told Matt I was going to rip out the shower and tile the entire upstairs bathroom. He asked, as he normally does, “do you know how to do that? Have you done it before?” and I respond as I usually do “nope, but how hard can it be?” This trait/mantra has guided me in my life. I have very little fear that something is too difficult, can’t be done, or requires little more than reading a book or two to learn. But, that doesn’t mean I am fearless. One of my first public speaking engagements was a keynote speech at E-Tail West. I am terrified of public speaking, I have a speech impediment, and am a very introverted person. Getting up in front of a crowd is not something I look forward to doing. But, my how-hard-can-it-be is stronger than my fear. That morning waiting in the green room for my slot, I kept my eyes focused on the screen showing the other speakers on stage. People I had just chatted with, and were equally nervous, they were doing it, and doing it well — so I kept repeating in my head “how hard can it be?”

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you help articulate a few of the biggest obstacles or challenges you’ve had to overcome while working in a male-dominated industry?

Finding a mentor — with few women in product management, most of the product leaders I knew were male. The prevailing culture in the area is that married men should not be alone with a woman that isn’t their spouse. This made it very hard for me to meet over lunch, or schedule mentorship one-on-ones. It also brings in a subconscious energy that a man and woman can’t have a meeting without it being about heterosexual attraction. The difficulty in finding a mentor also fed my self-doubt. Not so much in doubting that I was capable or belonged where I was, but doubting that others thought that.

Colleagues, and work friends making comments in the form of jokes; dumbing it down for me, filling a diversity requirement, watching our language because now there is a lady present. People pointing out to me that I was the only female in the room, or the first female PM they’d worked with. These things coupled with overt comments about how I dressed for work, critique about wearing the wrong makeup “red lipstick only meant one thing in my day,” left me regularly fighting between wanting to challenge, scream and educate. I wanted to bring change for other women, and also wanted to fit in, pretending to care about RC cars and basketball so I could form a relationship with coworkers.

This was a big internal hurdle for me to overcome. Confidently being myself, and not caring if others believed I belong.

Can you share a few of the things you have done to gain acceptance among your male peers and the general work community? What did your female co-workers do? Can you share some stories or examples?

My previous answer touched a bit on the negative side of this — forced or pretending to care about things my male colleagues were interested in. I have evolved my approach and stopped pretending to care about things just to fit in, instead finding the true common interests. Arguing over the best Dr Who (Tom Baker), whether or not Red Velvet Cake is better or just a regular chocolate cake trying to stand out. I love telling dad jokes, I am not a dad, so you could call me a faux pa (my favorite one to lead with). In every company I can find my people by finding the bad (dad) jokes slack channel.

I apply that to work related interests as well. I find things I can teach my colleagues as well as being eager in learning what they can teach me. The great thing about product development is we are all building something, to solve some problem, for some customer. There is common ground there, with colleagues in product, design, and engineering.

What do you think male-oriented organizations can do to enhance their recruiting efforts to attract more women?

Do some housekeeping and clean your work culture. Recruitment efforts to “attract more women” will fail if the people met throughout the process are not committed personally to an inclusive environment. There are too many companies where the only team really committed is the recruitment and people team. A page on your About Us that talks about your inclusive culture falls flat real fast when the people a candidate is interviewing with are all male, or worse, the women on the panel have jobs that have nothing to do with the open position. I’ve seen panel participants for product management roles, where the female on the panel was a customer support manager in a completely different division — because that was the only place they had women in leadership and they knew they needed a woman in a leadership role on the panel.

Create paths for your employees to move into other departments, be honest about where you are, and how you are trying to change.

Ok thank you for all of that. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Be intentional with your energy. Sometimes phrased as “pick your battles” I have learned recently to adjust my approach to not focus solely on what I am fighting, as “battle” would imply. Rather asking myself “is this worth the energy.” My current boss and mentor, Roli Saxena, gave me these words that I use to evaluate where, what, and who I spend my energy on. This has helped me to go from fighting to survive in a male dominated industry, to thriving.
2. Embrace what you bring to the table. I keep a sticky note reminder of this on my computer. Your experiences, and perspective is not only welcome… it is expected. I have learned in my career to not see my caring nature as a weakness. Leadership expectations have shifted over the years of my career, to value empathy and collaboration, because of women. Not adjusting ourselves to fit the male dominated culture, but to demand the culture shift and value what we bring.
3. Don’t settle. Find the company that is right for you. I found myself saying, “well, this is better than [fill in the blank],” but being better than, doesn’t make it good. It wasn’t until I committed to myself to not find a company that was a bit better for me, but to find the right place. I made a list of what I needed from an employer for my success. It was tempting in my job hunt to tell myself that I didn’t have to find somewhere that completely filled my list, but then I would be settling. I stuck to that list, and found somewhere that is the right place for me.
4. Leave it better than you found it. There are kids looking at us, teens coming up into the workforce, and young adults finding their career path. It is up to us, to make it better for them. It doesn’t have to be a big event, start small in your neighborhood. I found a female designer, and female engineer that were interested in sharing their stories. We contacted local elementary and high schools to see if they would let us come talk about careers in tech to their students. All were eager to work with us. I bought a few pizzas and we shared how we got into tech, highlighting that if you love art and design — there is a career for you here. You love problem solving, talking to people, learning new things — there is a career for you here. You love building things, making ideas come to life, coding and engineering — there is a career for you here. Let the girls, the non-binary individuals and the underrepresented voices know that tech won’t be a male dominated industry in the future.
5. Earplugs. Literal and figurative. When you travel, always pack earplugs, getting a good night’s sleep is imperative to being able to do your best the next day. Don’t listen to what isn’t helpful. This doesn’t mean not listen to critiques and advice, but filter out what isn’t helpful. Listening to “girls aren’t good at math” shaped too much of my life — not because I am secretly a math genius, but because I listened to it and didn’t even try to learn in my math classes.

If you had a close woman friend who came to you with a choice of entering a field that is male-dominated or female-dominated, what would you advise her? Would you advise a woman friend to start a career in a field or industry that’s traditionally been mostly men? Can you explain what you mean?

You should choose what you love and are passionate about, regardless. That is what will make it worth pushing through the challenges. The only way to make a change is to be part of it. If you are afraid of entering a field because it has been dominated by a specific gender, other than your own. Be the start of breaking that down, just by joining.

Have you seen things change for women working in male-dominated industries, over the past ten years? How do you anticipate that it might improve in the future? Can you please explain what you mean?

I’m not the only woman/non-male in the meeting anymore. There were so many times early in my career that this wasn’t true and I have been happy to see the shift in the makeup of meeting attendees, even as I have progressed into more senior leadership roles. I know that all companies in the industry aren’t as diverse as AdRoll, but I am optimistic that every workplace will continue to evolve.

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.

Amy Edmondson — her Psychological Safety TedTalk. That talk changed my life. Prior to that I was focused on changing myself to fit a leadership mold that was given to me. This talk, it unlocked something in me and gave me permission to be true to me, that leadership wasn’t about force. That I should speak up, and the more I did, the more I found my voice and changed the work environment to create that space for others.

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

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Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Cathy Bergstrom of AdRoll On The Five Things You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Nicola Cleaver of Quality Sport Holiday Clubs On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Set out a plan, include short and long term goals and give yourself deadlines to achieve them by. Some plans may change and deviate but make sure you reach the end goal and then set more goals and targets and deadlines.

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

Nicola Cleaver is on a mission to make sure as many children as possible are being fed and engaging in fun activities during the school holidays. This is driven by her passion to ensure all children are given the same opportunities regardless of their background and circumstances. Having worked in the private children’s activities sector for 15 years only offering paid provisions she is determined to make sure her company is serving all of the community and not just those who can afford to access it.

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 entry into the world of entrepreneurship wasn’t in the business I am now in. In 2006 I founded a dance school with a couple of friends. It began as a side-line business with everyone involved still working full time and teaching at night from church halls and community centres. Within a couple of years, business was booming and that’s when I decided to leave my day job in the family business to concentrate more on the growing dance business and offer a summer club during the school holidays. In 2009 we opened a state-of-the-art dance studio in Bury and bought out another dance school in Radcliffe. With over 1,000 pupils between the two sites, we then moved the Radcliffe studios to bigger premises in 2014. During this time, the business also got into working in schools offering their sports provision and we expanded our holiday club provision too. In 2018 we split the business and that’s when I took the holiday club arm of the business and from then to now, we have grown from 2 sites to 10 sites and more than quadrupled our turnover.

My initial intention was to keep the business fairly small and work it around family life due to having young children at the time, but demand saw me take a different path and my desire to help those who needed extra support took over. We were serving hundreds and hundreds of children, but it quickly became apparent to me that many of the children who attended the schools we are based in weren’t accessing the provision we provided during the holidays, and it was apparent it was only serving those who had money. This is when I made it my mission to secure funding to enable us to facilitate these children who I felt we were failing.

Along with Quality Sport Holiday Clubs I also run a dance events company where we run dance competitions for children from different dance schools to come together to compete against each other. We run 6 x 1-day events and 2 x full weekend events per year. We have schools travelling from all over the UK to compete with us and regularly sell out 600–800 places at our events. I am driven by seeing children enjoy life and use sport as a way of finding fulfilment and all my businesses have had this driver.

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?

Once I made it my mission to secure funding to enable children from all backgrounds to access our provisions, I started to explore options and applied for community grants but to no avail, failing due to being a limited company and not a charity. We continued to expand due to the demand for paid provision, first into Chorley where I now live and where my children attend school, then into Bolton but I kept coming back to the need for us to be open to all not just those who could afford it.

I contacted everyone I thought could help, the councils, the local MP’s, head teachers — anyone who would listen to my story. In May 2021 Bury Council contacted me regarding the government roll out of the HAF programme (Holiday & Activity Food Fund) and asked Quality Sport Holiday clubs to be a provider. At this point I had no idea what the HAF fund was but after a little research found this was exactly the funding we needed to ensure that we could offer places to all children regardless of family circumstances. Of course, I wanted to partner on this — it was what I had been searching for, for over a year. Shortly after Bury council contacted me, I was also contacted by Chorley and Bolton councils to partner with them on the programme too. In Summer 2021 we delivered our first ever HAF Programme across 4 sites via 3 councils.

It was a huge success and immensely rewarding. We learnt a lot as a business and provider and tailored our offering to suit everyone, employing a SENCO for the first ever time and applying for 1:1 funding so we could offer that level of care too — something we had never done before and knew very little about but knew we needed to do in order to serve the children in our care in the best possible way.

My focus had been on securing the funding but now we actually had it we had to adapt quickly as a business and ensure we were delivering the best possible service to our new customers. We had to change systems and booking processes to suit families better, we had to employ specialist staff and change the structure of the day. This was all in a fairly small window of time too (about 8 weeks from being approved to actually delivering the project).

The main lessons I learnt from this are to never give up on your mission, be willing to adapt your business model in order to enable more people to access you and know that the hard work actually starts once you get the go ahead for your new ‘mission’ but I can guarantee the reward is 100% worth it.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

If you are going into business with others, make sure you have an up-front conversation regarding the process you agree on if any of you would like to exit the business. Even if you are going into business with friends, it is good to have a contract in place and a shareholder’s agreement to give you all peace of mind. Circumstances change and protecting yourself and the business from the forefront is important. I went through this experience 4 years ago and as we had nothing formal in place it did get a little messy however these are all learning curves of business and in the last 4 years the portion of the business I took has grown significantly, likewise with the areas of the business my ex-business partners took. I feel this is because we are now all focused on one area of the business and can grow that how we want to with sole focus on our own field of expertise rather than taking on too many different job roles over multiple areas.

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

In Summer 2022 Quality Sport Holiday Clubs ran 8 provisions (3 in Chorley, 3 in Bury, 1 in Bolton and 1 in Oldham), reaching approx. 650 children, through the Government supported HAF programme. Not only did this mean that 650 children we previously couldn’t reach were engaging in fun sporting activities it also enabled us to provide 10,000 lunches to children who may not have been fed had they not come to us.

I am really keen for Quality Sport Holiday Clubs to continue to deliver the HAF programme, expanding to reach even more regions, we have company expansion in sight for 10 locations in place by the end of the year, 15 for 2023 and 20 sites for 2024. We are also in talks with a Special Educational Needs (SEN) school to offer provision there next year too.

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.

Exercise — Take time to yourself to exercise for both the body and mind (be selfish if you must but prioritise time to exercise)

Eat wisely — Chose your food wisely to help nourish the body and mind however also incorporate things you like or enjoy to eat into your diet to help maintain a healthy relationship with food

Hobbies — Have a hobby that you enjoy, giving you that crucial ‘me’ time doing something you love

Work — Do something that fulfils you and makes you want to get out of bed in the morning

Family — Make time for your family, prioritise family time, make memories and enjoy each other’s company

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

‘Wellness’ should be a main focus for schools. Being sat behind a desk ‘learning’ for 6 hours, in my opinion isn’t teaching our kids varied life skills. I am a huge supporter of the education system and teachers, but I do think sport should feature more in the curriculum — in fact everyday children should take part in some sort physical activity when in school. Not only is it good for their bodies but their minds too and their willingness to learn/get on task after physical exercise will increase. I appreciate that we all need to learn to read and write etc that is without question but what about teaching children the importance of keeping their minds and bodies healthy and making wellness a habit for life by instilling it in children from a young age?

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

1. Set out a plan, include short and long term goals and give yourself deadlines to achieve them by. Some plans may change and deviate but make sure you reach the end goal and then set more goals and targets and deadlines.
2. Believe in yourself and trust your instinct — if something doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t. Turning opportunities/projects down isn’t always a bad thing.
3. Use your business to do good in your community, take responsibility for what is going on around your business and incorporate it in your business to make change, have social impact and to grow your business.
4. Take up space in your industry, make yourself known, become the expert (go to person) in your field and shout this from the roof tops, celebrate your own and your company’s wins along the way, all the small wins are leading to the big win.
5. Build a team around you that is as passionate about your company as you, who share your company’s values and missions and can allow you work on your business rather than in your business.

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 in children is particularly close to my heart, this was highlighted to me during covid as some of the most vulnerable children were isolated with no school, no outside activities and on some occasions no food. This is when I made it my mission to help these children, which I have, however giving these children activities and food was just scratching the surface and the increase in mental health and anxiety in children became very apparent. Mental wellbeing is now a very prevalent in our holiday club programmes and we work with lots of agencies to ensure we are working together to make sure children are receiving the services they require when in and out of our care.

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

www.qualitysport.co.uk

www.nicolacleaver.com

facebook.com/QualitySportHC

facebook.com/nicola.cleaver

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

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Women In Wellness: Nicola Cleaver of Quality Sport Holiday Clubs On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Lori Bregman of Seedlyfe On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Establish a good self-care practice before you have children because once your baby comes, your time often gets diluted. You have to put that oxygen mask on yourself before assisting others. Children ride off your energy so by taking care of you, you will better take care of them. Not to mention the best way children learn is by watching your example. When they see you taking care of yourself, you will be a living example of self-love.

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

Celebrity doula Lori Bregman brings her unique blend of healing, spirituality, nutrition and wellness as Co-Founder of Seedlyfe, a, delicious superfood smoothie blends & powdered vitamins brand, where she empowers women to find their voice in pregnancy and create a solid, healthy foundation. The author of The Mindful Mom to Be, The Doula Deck and Mamaste, Lori works with women throughout all stages of their personal transformation from fertility through pregnancy, into motherhood and beyond.

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

I am many things in my life. I am a doula, life/wellness coach, author of The Mindful Mom to Be, Mamaste, and The Doula Deck, and the co-founder of Seedlyfe superfood smoothie blends and powdered vitamins. I am the creator of the Mindful Mom-to-Be virtual group coaching program, Doula to Doula 12-month mentorship program, and The Mama Portal, an online community for mindful and conscious moms and moms-to-be.

There is that famous Steve Jobs quote that says, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward — you can only connect them looking backward.” This really rang true for me and it helped me to see how everything in my life has set me up to get to me where I am today to be living my soul calling. Ever since I can remember I have been drawn to working with pregnant women and children. Over the years I have studied all kinds of healing modalities such as nutrition, spiritual coaching, bodywork, yoga, and more, and in the back of my mind, I was always thinking about how I could bring this to my pregnant clients. When I was learning massage and energy work, my teacher told us about doula training and I immediately enrolled.

Around this time, I was doing a ton of deep, deep healing on myself, and during a hypnotherapy session, I uncovered some harmful revelations. I had thoughts come up that I was a burden, unlovable, and didn’t deserve to exist. I was completely shocked by this sudden rush of emotion and I had no idea where this first originated. Wanting to know more, I went back the next day for another session with the intention of finding the root cause of the wounding. My hypnotherapist guided me back and I kept going until I found myself in the womb. It felt awful in there and I actually started to have a panic attack. My therapist asked me what happened to me when my mother was pregnant with me and I had no idea how to answer. She suggested I ask my mother about it. When I did, my mom started to cry and told me that I survived a very tumultuous pregnancy and because I did, it means my soul was meant to be here. There were things she tried to do to get rid of me during her pregnancy, and afterward went into a deep depression and tried to put me up for adoption. During my birth, she was all alone, very scared, and crying out for my dad and her mother. The doctors put her to sleep and I was pulled out with forceps ( a common thing back then), and because I was so little I was in an incubator for days without being held.

In the following months, postpartum depression set in and she couldn’t properly care for me. Through all my years of education, and deep healing work I have built an incredible career in helping women and families thrive during pre-conception, the pre and postnatal period, birth, and beyond, and it truly comes full circle for me. I can look back now and see how if I didn’t come into the world the way I did, I wouldn’t be doing the work I am doing in the world today. My greatest wound has become my greatest gift.

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?

Oh my gosh, there are so many amazing stories, each with its own uniqueness and magic! Over the years I have supported over 1,000 births and taken thousands of couples through the journey into parenthood. There isn’t one that stands out the most, but I can say this: no two women, couple, families, babies, pregnancies, paths to conception, postpartum journey and birth have ever been the same — they are all so unique and one of a kind. What works for one family might not work for another. So my takeaway and lessons in this are to really get to know each person as an individual and understand the way they operate. I support them with compassion for their uniqueness and choices without judgment or projecting my own views onto them. It helps to deepen our connection and strengthens the journey.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Something that I work on a lot with my doula mentors is self-care, boundaries, pacing yourself, and knowing your limits. This is something that I didn’t do and my health and well-being suffered greatly. It took me years to find this balance. I was doing 9 births a month, writing books and co-creating my Seedlyfe product line, and more. I am the kind of person who thrives on having my hands in a lot of different modalities and I am very mission-driven to support women and couples during the pre and postnatal period. It took blowing out my adrenals, my hormones crashing, and a bout of depression and drinking way too much to wake me up and find a new pace. My self-care and well-being are at the top of my priority list now and I have all the new doulas do the same so they don’t go down the path I have traveled.

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?

During pregnancy you are your child’s environment — what’s done to the mother is done to the baby. From the way you feel to the foods and supplements you take to the products you choose to use and the people and environments you surround yourself with, they all go into the foundation your baby will grow from. My Seedlyfe smoothie blends and cutting-edge prenatal vitamin powder are making a huge impact by supporting a woman’s body before, during, and after pregnancy. My doula and coaching practice, educational classes, and online community all help empower women and couples to be more mindful and conscious of this sacred period. They learn that with the choices they make, they are building the roots from which their children will grow. I remember a download I got a year ago when I did Ayahuasca: “That I was here to help the children through the mothers. That the storms these children will be facing in their lifetime will be like nothing we have ever seen. That they need to come in deeply rooted to better weather these storms.”

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing?

Take a high-quality prenatal such as Seedlyfe’s Prenatal Vitamins + Electrolyte Powder. The average woman does not get all the vitamins and minerals they need to support a healthy pregnancy. We spent years working with scientists and dietitians to perfect the ultimate prenatal with the right kind and amount of choline, Vitamin D, methylated folate and so much more to keep mama and baby healthy and thriving.

Education is key as knowledge is power. Take a non-hospital birthing class and know your options or you will not have any. Pick your support team wisely and hire a doula. Your birth will stay with you for the rest of your life and have an imprint on your child. We need to do better than healthy mom and baby, we need to add non-traumatized mom and baby too.

Patch things up. If you have unhealed wounds from childhood without knowing it, you could unconsciously try and fix your wounds through your children. Your wounds are not for your children to carry. Also if there are deep problems in your relationship work on them before you have kids. If there are problems in the relationship, having children is like adding salt to a wound. Get on the same page with each other about philosophies, transitions, and ways of parenting and raising your child.

Establish a good self-care practice before you have children because once your baby comes, your time often gets diluted. You have to put that oxygen mask on yourself before assisting others. Children ride off your energy so by taking care of you, you will better take care of them. Not to mention the best way children learn is by watching your example. When they see you taking care of yourself, you will be a living example of self-love.

Follow what works for you and your family. As I said above, no two people, babies, couples, and families are the same. What might work for another might not be what’s right for you.

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

I’m already doing it! My Seedlyfe products help nourish and support women through all phases of womanhood. My Mama Portal membership site helps to educate and bring women and families together in community to empower, support, and educate them all.

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

1. You will live a life on-call and that can be really hard for making plans.

2. You will see the most beautiful and magical things and also see things that break your heart. I am talking about the way in which many women are disempowered, their choices disrespected and taken away by so much fear-mongering, which has all escalated since and after the Covid pandemic.

3. That doula work is not a career; it’s a calling and it’s addictive AF!

4. Self-care is crucial for longevity in this field.

5. Having a strong support network is a necessity to help process and get support during and after births.

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

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Women In Wellness: Lori Bregman of Seedlyfe 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: Jennifer Cairns of Rebel World & Lady Rebel Club On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“Get it on the field of play.” — Todd Herman would have said this to us often. He’s right. Having something in our heads doesn’t mean anything. We need to stop waiting for the perfect time, put stuff out there, and test it. Yes, we’ll fail, and things won’t work, but we can only adjust a product or offer if we have tried it. All action happens on the field and that’s where we need to be if we want to move our business forward, not sitting on the sidelines constantly planning and fidgeting with things.

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

Jennifer’s the Founder of Rebel World ltd and the Lady Rebel Club® movement that’s out to empower, connect, advocate for and elevate women and all marginalised gender entrepreneurs, creatives and small business owners who are neurodiverse or have disabilities. Being neurodivergent and having several disabilities, including Fibromyalgia, GAD, CPTSD and rare blood cancer, Jennifer knows how high the hurdles can be for humans like her. Learn more at Our Rebel World.

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’ve always felt different. Even as a child, I struggled to fit in with those around me. I was very good at masking or hiding traits that stood out too much and adopting a lot of mannerisms, speech patterns, dress styles and interests of those around me. I was quite the chameleon, although now, I feel that’s helped shape my diverse taste in music, art, style, food and more. The negative side is that all that pressure and stress to hide who I was taking its toll on me constantly, and I had more than one anxiety disorder.

In theory, this is why I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and own my own business. Even as a kid, I loved being at my grandparents’ campground or my other grandmother’s insurance agency. I would sneak office supplies home after summer visits and set up my “office” in my closet or cardboard boxes I kept underneath my bed. Being an entrepreneur would mean having a business I loved as much as my grandparents all loved theirs. That, however, wasn’t the case.

As I became older, my health started to plummet, and I developed chronic illnesses like Fibromyalgia and chronic headaches. As time went on, other autoimmune disorders plagued me. In early 2020, right after my husband’s stroke and right before Covid-19 hit the UK, I was diagnosed with rare blood cancer. Off the back of my cancer, I developed Paraneoplastic Syndrome, where my immune cells attack my nerve nodes along my neck, spine, and brain. This condition is causing things like loss of feeling in my hands, feet and face, nerve pain, seizures and facial tics.

My whole life, including in the consultancy business my husband and I ran together before his stroke, I felt like I had to hide. I had to hide my disabilities and then my neurodiversity after joining the neurodiversity party in my early 40s. It took me nearly two years to tell my mum after I found out. I was used to hearing and dealing with all the biases because my son is also neurodivergent.

And then, when my husband and I went to move the business online in 2019, I was blown away by the number of women who, like me, had so many hidden disabilities like chronic illnesses, pain, fatigue or conditions, and diseases. Or maybe they were hearing impaired or were Autistic, OCD or ADHD. A vast proportion of us were out there, yet most of us felt alone, hiding in the dark, waiting to be “found out”. Ironically, this was the most common thing between us that we all hid.

We didn’t want our clients finding out or our audience to know about our disabilities or neurodiversity. We knew these were what others labelled our “limitations”, and we feared how it would affect people wanting to hire us. We knew that they wouldn’t want to work with us because of the way we could hear people talk about humans who were disabled or different in any way. After my husband’s stroke and Covid-19 hit, the business couldn’t go on the way it was. I had been struggling online, which affected my confidence and mental health in the real world, too. I felt like I was standing on a cliff and could either continue to hide like I had been or jump and change things. So, I jumped, and that’s when the name Lady Rebel Club® came to me.

I wasn’t sure at that time what Lady Rebel Club® would be, yet I knew I couldn’t go on hiding myself from everyone in the business world. It was toxic and not only affecting my health and self-belief, but also, I was keeping my business in a box. By this stage, I had spent a couple of years getting to grips with how I could work best in a way that suited me. I also got clear on my definition of success. I refused to use cookie-cutter restrictions that said we had to build our business a certain way, run it a certain way or be a certain way. I knew attitudes, behaviours and thinking in the entrepreneurial and business world had to change and how we, the neurodiverse and disabled entrepreneurs talked to ourselves.

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

We see three elements that need an excellent shaking-up: conversation, coverage, and cookie cutters.

Firstly, we want to spark genuine conversation. Even if those are small conversations, between business besties, for instance, sparks often lead to giant flames, and that’s the goal — to light a fire in the entrepreneurial and business worlds. We want honest conversations to take place, where we can openly discuss ourselves as the shame and limiting beliefs we are forced to carry.

Secondly, it’s about changing the narrative and messages put out about us and providing more control over our media content. Many people will have heard a saying in various disabled and neurodiverse communities: “Nothing about us without us.”. Most stories, interviews, profiles, quotes and other content portray us as a sad story that requires pity as entirely superhuman. No matter the intention, both approaches give false impressions. If a select few are being elevated in media to this superhuman status without any kryptonite; we mortals feel even worse about ourselves.

The impact of seeing all these superhuman stories is that we believe we’re doing something wrong. When we believe that we’re the problem, it can affect our mental health. Instead, we need to see someone say, “Hey, look at me and this awesome thing I can do but also look at all this stuff I struggle with, AND still, I’m freak’n incredible!”. Having hurdles, we struggle to jump over or can’t jump over isn’t something we need to hide. We should be able to openly talk about those things and all the ways we have a purposeful impact and excel at various things in our business.

The real story — the in-between story, is often left out. That’s, in part, what the new media and publishing part of our organisation is focusing on — showing us as the actual humans we are, weaknesses and all because it’s perfectly okay.

The third part that needs shifting is this idea of a cookie-cutter approach to building a business and how we show up and work within that business. I was prey to thinking I had to work a certain way, behave a certain way, be a certain way. When I spent two years focusing on improving those things, I realized the whole cookie-cutter needed to be thrown out.

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?

Cash flow forecasting, of course, has its place and investors, funding bodies, and revenue modelling will all require various forms of cash flow forecast. I remember the first funding grants I applied for, one of my cash flows was nearly 12 pages long! I had it detailed over five years, showing all the scales on all products. I spent weeks and weeks on it and was proud of its complexity. Ironically it wasn’t very helpful! Refrain from assuming that everything in your cash flow projection will come to be the way you plan.

We always overestimate the desire for our products and services to succeed. Usually, we need to pay more attention to the costs associated with producing and selling them in real time. It’s great to have projections but be aware that what is on your paper or screen and real life are often different things, especially in the start-up phase. So, as I’ve learned, get on the field and test as that’s the only way you’ll find if your numbers are correct.

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

I’d love to shout out to my Grandma and Grandpa Harper and my Grandma Williams. They were instrumental in instilling in me that I could do anything. They taught me that working hard for something, even if we don’t achieve it, is a reward in and of itself and that ceilings, walls, whatever is holding you back is there for you to smash through.

More recently, there are a few people I’d mention, including Janine Cummings for helping to support me through my Facebook® live video days, it was a considerable struggle and after being bullied by a coach for several months she really helped me come out of my shell more and reach my goal of being comfortable doing live video. Courtney Foster-Donahue was someone I learned a lot from regarding course building. Yet, her best teaching was seeing her being her lovely sparkly self while still having a solid business acumen. You can have both. Most recently, John Swain has been an invaluable mentor while I’ve been on the SLAP programme.

To date, the most impactful for me, personally and professionally, has been Todd Herman’s PRO programme. Here I had the wonderful experience of being mentored and coached by both Todd Herman and his Head Coach, Dave Cooper. Two very different personalities and approaches in how they coach, too.

Together they gave me the tools and confidence to go and figure out how to build a business that suits me and my life rather than one I couldn’t work in. Their process made me realise I didn’t have to work like everyone else. Especially within my community, we often grasp these cookie-cutter approaches because we’re desperate to struggle less and want to fit in. They helped me say to heck with the cookie-cutter and build a business that suits me.

Todd Herman’s book, The Alter Ego Effect, was also instrumental in helping me to create my alter egos like Buffy-O. She’s a hybrid of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Oprah. It brings together qualities from both that I that align with, and qualities that have allowed me to grow more confident in networking and speaking especially.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is always disrupting good? When do we say that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time? Can you tell 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?

In my opinion, knowing if disrupting is good or bad will depend on the person you ask. Let’s assume we’re disrupting an industry or market because we see a need around limiting beliefs about someone because they are a woman founder, we seek to correct those and show we’re just as capable. Yet the hurdles are even higher, and limiting beliefs are often more entrenched when talking about a woman or any marginalised gender who is also neurodivergent or has a disability.

Our Lady Rebel Club® movement is out to open up conversations to evolve that thinking and portray us as how we want to be represented, as humans. We are aiming to disrupt, to use your term, the current thinking, behaviours and attitudes; it’s creating conversations around them in the hopes of evolving them. I often say that we’re not about destruction or tearing down but more about changing the view and building something new because I see what we’re doing in a positive light. Others who do not support our ideas or don’t want to acknowledge their biases will likely see us as being harmful disruptors. They’ll see us as wreaking havoc versus wanting to evolve.

A perfect example of this is an experience I had applying for funding. I offered the organisation some straightforward and quick feedback about an experience I had numerous years previous. I made it clear this was only to help them improve an approach towards humans, for example, who are neurodiverse or have anxiety disorders. I fully expected to have a short, pleasant conversation with them before proceeding to supply all the business information I knew they needed. Instead, I was blown away by the negative and defensive attitude I received.

Furthermore, after making an FOI (Freedom of Information) request, I was shocked by the conversations that went on about me behind the scenes between the Business Services Team and the Equality Team. One of them stated how they didn’t believe I would get funding. They had formed this opinion despite never seen my business information, knowing what the business was about or having any discussions with me.

And that incident is far from obsolete. These are the attitudes my community face all of the time. That caused undo stress that impacted my physical and mental health and my business at that time. People need to realise that things they do and say can have far-reaching impacts beyond their desk, social media profile or blog. So yes, if archaic attitudes like these stop any other humans like me from even being able to apply for funding — something needs to change.

Yet because that funding body will probably say they offer many ways to access their information and are fulfilling their responsibility. They may likely see our work as a negative disruption.

I’m very blessed, too, in that my work allows us to connect and support so many changemakers. Within our community, there is a movement to change the travel and healthcare industries for those affected by chronic illness. One aims to advocate for and uplift black moms with ADHD and another to help them create bespoke nutrition and fitness that suits them. Someone is looking to grow her multicultural movement. One is all about supporting and empowering social communication among neurodiverse humans, and another is changing how we view ourselves in our skin and advocating for visible differences.

Ironically, I’ve said 2023 will be the “year of the rebel”, as, besides us, I am working with numerous changemakers ALL around us. People often laugh at me when I see us not only as changemakers but also as the dirt that is here to help grow and nourish other changemakers. Although that statement may not be visually stunning, it’s true.

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

“Get it on the field of play.”

Todd Herman would have said this to us often. He’s right. Having something in our heads doesn’t mean anything. We need to stop waiting for the perfect time, put stuff out there, and test it. Yes, we’ll fail, and things won’t work, but we can only adjust a product or offer if we have tried it. All action happens on the field and that’s where we need to be if we want to move our business forward, not sitting on the sidelines constantly planning and fidgeting with things.

“Don’t bet all your pennies unless you are happy to watch everyone else play without you.”

My Grandma Williams used to say this a lot, and she, my Great Grandma Nardi, Aunt Lee and I played many cards, including poker. She made me aware with significant risks come big rewards but not to bet all the pennies if I wasn’t going to be happy to (literally) sit and watch them finish playing. More challenging lesson for a kid to take on board, and I remember sitting not so happy after losing all my pennies in one bet but growing up. I always remembered this. In business, it’s the same; make sure the strategy you use, the risks you take, and the money you spend — that you are okay with the outcomes if they don’t work or if things go wrong. If it’s a huge risk you’re taking and there’s a chance your business won’t survive, ensure you’ll be okay with that outcome, too.

“You don’t need a degree or fancy title. Your experiences are the USP, and nobody can copy those.”

I’ve always had a bit of a rebel side. Standing up for others has been built into my DNA. Moving into speaking and talking about my experiences on stages, in the media and bigger groups was a huge fear. I often compared myself to incredible humans with qualifications I don’t have or titles that I wasn’t even that fussed on. Yet, those two things meant I wasn’t qualified to speak, write or share about my experiences and those I saw around me because I didn’t and don’t have either of those two things.

Yet, I was wrong. Dave Cooper, from PRO, was very right in saying that my speaking about my experiences was more than enough and had colossal value to give. I’ve seen it open conversations that others are now having, and more and more people come to Lady Rebel Club® and me saying, “Me too!”. They can see they’re not alone and that there are others like them out there.

My point is to not cut yourself short because you maybe don’t have the exact qualifications, experience, perspective or approach as someone else. Pull from what you have and use that and try not to compare yourself to others.

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

We have big plans for Lady Rebel Club®! We are amid planning chapters on a global scale, real-world events, innovative hybrid events, merchandise and more.

We also have some cool things on the media side of the business plan, including additional books, the launch of our cable show, Indomitable, at the end of 2022 and the launch of our full-service agency. We aim to be the agency to come to. If you want to be elevated or work with someone who is a woman or marginalised gender entrepreneur, small business owner or creative and who is neurodivergent or has disabilities.

I’m also Co-Founder of, Redefined Workforce, where we are creating a new type of digital intelligence. I have ideas of how we can tap into that digital intelligence and use it in very cool ways.

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

Men can’t give birth. This statement may sound odd, yet giving birth is one of those things you can’t explain as your body is being stretched, ripped, pulled, and changed in ways that we don’t even understand. My point is that it takes a lot of work. We are capable of far more than peole often believe. If men truly understood how strong we are, they’d give us more of a chance to show up on the field of play and be judged by that and not assume we’d fail before even entering the field.

Another challenge is that we need to pay more attention to the words we tell ourselves. I talk about this a lot within our community, which also applies to all women. We have a lot of ideas about the things we want to change, yet the way we talk to ourselves keeps us back. We have these thoughts for numerous reasons, but flipping that internal switch is enormous. We will never truly change how others talk or think about us until we change how we speak to ourselves.

There is a lot of negative association with women having that title disruptive. There’s that connotation that we must be aggressive. For men, it’s great — they’re cheered, and their peers see it as natural. For women, it’s different, and culturally, most societies still see us as gentle caregivers. We are humans that see a problem and want to solve it or evolve something, so it’s better. Often, we need to be fierce as it is challenging to disrupt and create change, and you do ruffle a lot of features. Being fierce isn’t the same as being aggressive, though, and that perception in society also needs to change. I am powerful yet still a caregiver, and it’s time women stopped having to choose between them.

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

As mentioned before, The Alter Ego Effect for me was a biggie and although the concept of wearing different hats isn’t new, his approach makes it so easy to implement. Plus, I love his no-BS approach to how he speaks to you.

Another book, which may sound like an odd choice, is Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. Of course, it is a brilliant read, but ice-nine to me sums up the fact that as leaders and disrupters, we have a duty of care to our communities and society. As lessons of ice-nine show, and history show, there are always consequences and being benevolent to those can be disastrous. This thinking, of course, can apply to many things in our business and having that awareness and taking the time to be aware of outcomes and impacts is a huge advantage.

Also, an interesting new read was The Heroine with 1001 Faces by Maria Tartar. It looks at the role women have played in folklore and myths. It is interesting to see how women have played in storytelling over the years and how that reflects the real world. It challenges the existing male role-model blueprint for “hero”. It explores how heroines, rarely wielding a sword and not often having a pen, “Have flown beneath the radar even as they have been bent on social missions.”. Sound familiar?

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. 🙂

That’s a great query and at the heart of everything I’m looking to do at Rebel World is Lady Rebel Club®. It’s a movement about empowering, advocating for, connecting and elevating women and all marginalised gender entrepreneurs, small business owners and creatives. It is great we are starting to see a lot of conversations in the corporate world. However, there is such a gap in the small business, entrepreneurial and creative landscape. According to research from the IPSE, in the UK alone there are approximately 264,800 women who are self-employed and according to the CDC, one in four women in the USA has a disability. More and more women and those with disabilities and neurodiversity are entering self-employment and growing a business. Yet we face even more significant hurdles than our sisters who are not disabled or neurodiverse.

Attitudes around women in business still apply to us; however, we face additional biases and archaic attitudes that believe we are less capable. We face tremendous amounts of shame not only from our male peers but from society, often as a whole. That shame keeps us stuck. We do not want our clients “to know” or “find out” that we may have a chronic disease, pain, fatigue or illnesses like Fibromyalgia, Crones, or cancer. We do not want our peers to know we’re neurodiverse or have mental health conditions. Because we are caring that ashamed, we hide. Being women, too, we feel like we often have to do “more, “ and we already have to work harder than our male peers to be counted as equal. On top of that, not being considered “normal” weighs on you like a lead weight.

The attitudes, thinking and behaviours in the entrepreneurial landscape mean that funding bodies, organisations, peers and even governments see us as less. People often feel that we’re not as capable or lazy, even though living in a world not designed for us has meant working twice as hard. I’ve experienced this first-hand, as everyone in my community has.

It’s not a glass ceiling we’re up against. It’s an entire box society wants to shove us into and getting out isn’t easy.

When we hide part of ourselves, we also hide many attributes that are our strengths. Hiding our weaknesses isn’t a positive thing either. It can cause additional physical and mental health issues and prevents us from finding the support we need. Everyone has weaknesses and needs help, training and improvement in certain areas. Suppose we can stop hiding and normalise talking about our neurodiversity and disabilities. In that case, we can liberate not only ourselves but significantly improve the impact we can have on our businesses. Thus, the impact our businesses can have in the world.

For anyone reading this who thinks, this is me, I feel this way or have experienced this, too — please know that you are not alone. We do not have to hide who we are to be successful; only you define what success is for you. For each of us, it is different.

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

“Jazz is a white term to define black people. My music is black classical music.” Nina Simone.

Some might not understand why I identify so much with this quote as a white woman. Yet, feeling so different, out of place and incorrectly labelled my entire life I do. I can never understand what it is like to be a black woman, and this isn’t a comparison to what that is like in any way. It’s more about identifying with process itself in how one aspect of society chooses a label without including the people related to what or who they label. I know we humans have that basic need to sort and label things. As we evolve, we must better ensure the community related to what we are labelling is doing the labelling themselves.

This ties in with the concept of #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs, a popular hashtag in the neurodiverse and disability communities. It is why we have our media outlets with the philosophy of #MediaForUsByUs. We’re tired of being labelled, portrayed in specific ways or shouting to be seen and heard at all.

I’m going to be cheeky and offer another one from Marilyn Monroe, “We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.”.

I have a saying that says we all have gold to share, and I genuinely believe that. Having a disability or being neurodiverse doesn’t mean we don’t twinkle, or as I like to say rock. We do rock and sparkle. Even if that sparkle is slightly different, it is just as bright.

Be more rebel. Know your worth, own your sparkle and rock your business in your own unique way.

How can our readers follow you online?

Jennifer’s Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/JenniferLCairns

Jennifer’s LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-cairns

Lady Rebel Club® Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/LadyRebelClub

LRC IG: @lady.rebel.club

https://www.instagram.com/lady.rebel.club/

Rebel World Media Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/RebelWorldMedia

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

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Female Disruptors: Jennifer Cairns of Rebel World & Lady Rebel Club On The Three Things You Need To 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

Give yourself some grace. Humanity is riddled with beautiful imperfection. The reality is you won’t be your best all the time and that is okay. Be patient with yourself and allow those chances to learn and grow and improve. Recognizing that you aren’t perfect but that you are good enough can be a freeing experience. Once you latch on to the idea that you don’t have to be perfect you free up space to be your best. Your free up space to realize that you are competent and do belong here.

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

Samantha Jacobson PsyD is a licensed psychologist with multiple years of experience in treating children and adults. She specializes in trauma, specifically working with survivors of narcissistic personality disorder, using an integrative and client-tailored approach. Dr. Jacobson is trained in several modalities and most relies on her training in EMDR and play therapy. She provides assessment in the areas of autism, specific learning disability, psychoeducation, differential diagnoses, and ADHD. She administers qEEGs and neurofeedback services within Serin Center. Research, relationships, and creativity are her framework for success. In her free time she likes spending time with family and being outdoors. She also loves to spoil her Aussiedoodle.

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

I grew up in a small town of about 2,000 people. I was the first on my father’s side to graduate high school and the first on both sides to pursue a graduate-level degree. I took a solo trip across the country at 21 to pursue my new passion of becoming a doctor of psychology. By 25 I was a doctor seeing patients who had suffered from some pretty severe trauma. In the field of psychology, it is typical to either go towards therapy as a psychologist or put more of an emphasis on brain functioning and assessment and take the neuropsychology track. It’s pretty standard to choose one or the other and I had chosen therapy. My clients were making progress with therapy but I could see that there was a gap I could fill with neuroscience. I then decided that I wanted to have my cake and eat it too. Doing therapy alone wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to be able to tap into that neuropsychology side and have that deep understanding of the brain so I could explain to my patients what they were experiencing neurologically and why- and then take it a step further by also providing healing. I started my neuropsychology training learning to integrate neurotechnologies with therapy under the training of Dr. Amy Serin. By combining both neuropsychology with clinical psychology modalities I have been able to not only heal wounds but also promote healthy brain functioning that nurtures and encourages quality of life.

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

I’ve met many interesting people and worked with some wonderful clients and I think I learn a little bit from each of them. There is one particular client who stands out though. I can’t go into much detail due to confidentiality but this particular client was the survivor of a major and ongoing trauma. They were kidnapped, and after a series of terrifying events, survived a homicide. These are the kinds of traumas that I often work with but this particular client was one of my first major trauma cases and I found myself becoming paranoid about my own safety. There was a period of a few weeks where I would interpret any strange behavior of a stranger as suspicious and a potential threat. I knew if I was going to be able to help my client I needed to get my act together because they were truly suffering and I was developing secondary trauma. I learned how important it was to take care of myself as a clinician. I also learned that even though I am a professional and a specialist, I am also human and vulnerable, as we all are.

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

The company I work for has very clearly defined core values that we refer back to frequently and they truly guide how we do business and interact with patients. They were created with not only our patients in mind but also with our team in mind. We work really hard to foster happy and healthy humans and I think the mindset we approach our work with permeates through all aspects of our company and its noticeable by others. As an example of this, our CEO, Dr. Serin has each new employee complete a strengths based assessment. She then puts our top five strengths on a compass for us to display as a reminder for us to find fulfillment by aligning our work with our strengths. As a team we talk frequently about how we are or are not using our strengths in our lives and we look out for others using theirs so that we can encourage one another as we grow.

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

I could list multiple people who have helped me get to where I am today, and when I stop and think about my professional achievement two women stand out to me. The first being Dr. Ashley Garrett. When I was younger and very new to the idea of potentially becoming a doctor I interned under Ashley at her counseling clinic. She instilled confidence in me that I needed to take those first steps to get started. She also trained me in play therapy which I now refer to as “my roots” in terms of therapeutic approaches. Once at a social event hosted by Garrett Counseling I was introducing a friend and casually made the joking comment, referring to Dr. Garrett, “ she’s getting me in grad school” to which she quickly introjected “you’re getting yourself into grad school” and that is just the perfect picture to describe how she constantly was sowing that still, small voice inside of me to grow.

As abundantly as I am grateful for Ashley in being a cheerleader in my start I am equally grateful for Dr. Amy Serin’s influence in my growth and development. There is probably not a single person who has poured more into my shaping as a professional than she. She is a trailblazer in the field and a mentor to me personally and professionally. Once while I was still a student she made a comment that I not only never forgot, but remind myself of frequently and I think it plays in really well with what we are talking about today. She said, “as healers, we can’t be perfect but we can be good enough and that is transforming.” I’ve resonated with that a lot over the years as I fight my own bouts of imposter syndrome.

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

Imposter syndrome is when a person who is qualified feels as though they are inadequate for the job. They feel like an “imposter” walking around pretending that they know what to do when they do not. The reality is that they in fact do know exactly what to do and logically they may even register that, but there is a disconnect between logic and feelings. Someone with imposter syndrome will have an inner critic in their head that sounds something like, “What am I even supposed to do? How can I trust myself? Maybe I am too young. Can I truly help them? I’m in over my head.”

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

It limits people because it makes them doubt their selves and limit their potential. It causes people to be averse to trying new things, taking on new roles or responsibilities, and stifles confidence. Imposter syndrome can lead to burnout because you are never feeling good enough and that is exhausting. It also leads to comparison. Imagine how it might feel to be in a position where you feel as though you don’t belong because the job you do won’t measure up. No doubt that would affect your confidence and likely your performance. You might not ask for that promotion coming up or try that new exciting product you’ve been researching about. You would get in your own way of success.

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

Communication and relationships are hindered due to holding back and sometimes even from resentment of those we view as more competent. Someone struggling with imposter syndrome may hold back in performance or even just in interactions due to feeling unsure. As a doctor, holding back because of self-doubt might result in me withholding the best possible treatment for my client because I am worried I don’t measure up or might fail. The key here is that I am more than qualified, but if I don’t FEEL qualified and allow that narrative to run rampant in my mind then I suddenly fall victim to my own belittling and that affects my mood and the quality of relationships with colleagues and clients alike. If someone is always feeling crummy about themselves it is only a matter of time until that negativity spreads to others as well.

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

As an early career psychologist I have had to work really hard to combat Imposter Syndrome. And more so, being a YOUNG, fresh face in the world of healers I can see how my age will sometimes play a role in that. I skipped my last year of high school and started this journey at 17; by the time I completed my doctoral program I was still only 25 and wide eyed. Many people might see my accomplishments in my youth as impressive or as an indication that I must be intelligent or work hard and those things are true, but it is also easy to fall into the comparison of those who are older and more experienced and feel as though I don’t measure up to their accolades or expertise.

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

Yes, I mean it comes and goes right? It has certainly decreased since I first started providing services. I have learned a lot over the last several years and I’ve worked to overcome my own doubts and find that inner confidence to succeed. In my opinion the way to do that is through compassion, humility, and grace- as well as community. I think that if you talk to most professionals across fields and they are being honest with you, even the most experienced and well-known, will show you that we all struggle with Imposter Syndrome from time to time. And that’s okay. Let’s talk about it. Let’s not suffer alone. Let’s discuss what concepts and practices teach us to trust our skills, rely on our knowledge, and increase our confidence so that we can be the best practitioners and professionals we can be. It isn’t something we just outgrow but it is something we transcend past. Part of the way we do that is to have open and honest communication about what we are experiencing. And let’s learn to appreciate it. That might sound weird but in a way Imposter Syndrome keeps us in check and motivates us to continue to learn and improve. It keeps the hunger alive. We don’t want it out of control but if we can take a step back from the overwhelm of it all we can start to see how to make Imposter Syndrome serve us. In small doses, it can keep us humble. Personally, I never want to get to a point where I feel as though I have mastered it all because there is always room to improve, and if I let my ego get too big and get too comfortable in my “doctor status” that is when I will start slipping.

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

1. Name it to tame it. Be honest. You are feeling inadequate and that stinks. But claim it so that you can combat it instead of trying to ignore it. There is power in just putting a name to what is going on.
2. Reach out. Talk to those you admire and have been through the same thing. No man is an island. You can find some peace of mind just by leaning on those you trust. And you’ll learn what tips and tricks work for them to try for yourself. I would have suffered a lot less and would have helped my trauma client I mentioned earlier more sufficiently if I would have just reached out sooner than I did. Instead I thought I had to tackle the world on my own to prove I was qualified.
3. Give yourself some grace. Humanity is riddled with beautiful imperfection. The reality is you won’t be your best all the time and that is okay. Be patient with yourself and allow those chances to learn and grow and improve. Recognizing that you aren’t perfect but that you are good enough can be a freeing experience. Once you latch on to the idea that you don’t have to be perfect you free up space to be your best. Your free up space to realize that you are competent and do belong here.
4. Find a mantra. Recite affirmations to remind yourself why you are competent, capable, and a total Boss Babe (or Bro). Something magical happens when we speak kindly to our minds and when we repeat those things over and over- we start to believe them. It doesn’t happen overnight but it does happen. Create a mantra that truly speaks to you. Make it specific. Then live by it.
5. As an added bonus, trick that brain of yours into feeling powerful and confident by standing in Superman pose for 30 seconds to one minute. So that’s standing tall, feet spread under shoulders, with your hands on your hips. And don’t forget to smile! That’s important.

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

I think it would be to just inspire true kindness. As I have gotten older I have really explored the difference between just being nice and being kind. Being nice is intended to keep the peace, to please others. It’s doing what others want or expect to save face. Nice often comes with the expectation of return or some gain. Kindness is different. Kindness comes from a place of genuine care. Its doing what is needed out of love and compassion and sometimes that means making the hard moves or having the difficult conversations. It means understanding people in deeper ways. I strive to be kind. I believe that if we acted out true intentions of kindness we would be better professionals, friends, and humans.

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

Growing up as a small town country girl I have always admired Dolly Parton. Everyone knows her as the country star but she is also a champion for education. She covers tuition costs for her Dollywood employees, created a literacy program that provides free books to children, and regularly donates to and speaks up for projects that she believes in and I think that is really cool.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

You can follow my whole team on Facebook or Instagram. Our handle is @serincenter on all accounts.

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

Thank you for having me!

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Dr Samantha Jacobson of Serin Center On How To Thrive Despite Experiencing Impostor Syndrome was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Trust your gut. If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s to have confidence in my intuition and that the decisions I make should align with my core values and my sense of purpose.

As a part of my series about strong women leaders in the cannabis industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Monica Lo.

Monica Lo is a multidisciplinary creative and the creator of Sous Weed®, a blog-turned culinary cannabis resource founded in 2015. With a formal background in communication design from Pratt Institute, she honed her skills as a food photographer and stylist while working in the advertising industry in New York City. Monica is also the author of The Weed Gummies Cookbook.

Her work for Sous Weed has been featured on The Today Show, VICE’s Munchies, Healthyish, and in magazines such as Vogue and Kitchen Toke. Born in Dallas to food-loving Taiwanese immigrants, she finds pleasure in documenting family recipes for posterity, collecting vintage Chinese cookbooks, and researching ancestral cannabis in ancient Asia.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the cannabis industry?

My cannabis journey really began in 2015 when I herniated a spinal disk during an early morning bootcamp workout. My doctor had prescribed a mixture of opioids and acetaminophen, but they wrecked my stomach, making the whole situation worse. I eventually tried a cannabis edible my roommate brought home from the dispensary and that night I slept so well.

The next morning, I knew I needed to figure out how to safely make my own edibles. Since we lived in a strict no-smoking building, I had to be discreet about the wafting scent of cannabis; this meant I had to rule out cooking on the stovetop. At the time I was a creative director of a sous vide start-up and thought I’d put our machines to the test–and it worked!

Since the cannabis flower and cooking oil are sealed in an airtight bag and placed underwater to infuse–there’s no smell! Plus, I can make multiple cannabis infusions at once, using all my favorite cannabis strains. I would use these infusions in a variety of sweet and savory dishes. This is how Sous Weed® was born! These sous vide cannabis experiments ended up helping me manage my back pain, and by documenting it on my blog, doors opened for me to collaborate with really amazing people and brands in the cannabis industry.

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

A cookbook has been a dream of mine since the start. I worked hard on a Sous Weed book proposal and started to send them out in 2019; it got rejected left and right. The combination of sous vide cooking, cannabis edibles, along with a story written through the lens of an Asian American, was too niche.

In 2021, cannabis edibles sales in medical and recreational states began to skyrocket as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We started to see consumers choosing edibles, specifically gummies and candies, over inhalable forms of consumption. It was the perfect timing to work on a cookbook focused on sweet treats and I was excited to team up with Ulysses Press to do it.

The idea behind it is, it’s far more cost-effective to make your own infusions and treats at home, especially as dispensary prices are on the rise due to a variety of reasons from taxes to operating costs. Dispensary edibles often have preservatives to extend their shelf life. But when you DIY, you can make your edibles without the commercial preservatives and also customize the dosage to your body’s needs. With The Weed Gummies Cookbook, I was able to share my sous vide technique, recipes, and story. It took a few years for the timing to be right but I finally had the platform.

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

When you’re super passionate about your craft–it shows. Starting out in this industry people were constantly pitching projects and my expertise as a creative contractor was in high demand. I would jump headfirst into projects with people I had not fully vetted. It was not fun when an invoice would go unpaid for months but now I’ve been able to look back at my naïveté and laugh. These days I review incoming projects with a critical eye, boundaries, and my work does not begin until a contract is signed!

Do you have a funny story about how someone you knew reacted when they first heard you were getting into the cannabis industry?

I had kept my cannabis cooking experiments from my parents for quite some time. I eventually had to bring it up to them because the SF Chronicle wanted to interview me and I felt it would be better for them to hear it from the source rather than reading about it in the paper. But they were initially very concerned; my father even called me a drug dealer. This was mainly because of the stigma around cannabis and the lack of education on its medical use. Dad went down a research rabbit hole and came back feeling better about the situation. It took mom a little longer to come around though. For mom, I flew her out to San Francisco and had her tinker in the kitchen with me as a bonding experience. I wanted to show her how I use cannabis infusions in our family recipes and we worked together on this Infused XO sauce and Oyster Mee Sua. I mentioned in my book, that’s how I discovered her beginner’s dose is my maximum dose! After a meal of noodles and 25mg of XO sauce, I took a long nap on the couch while she blasted music and deep cleaned my kitchen.

We also worked on the Taiwanese Snowflake Crisp Nougat recipe together for the book. When my son was born, my mom made the nougats for me to take to the hospital to share with the NICU staff–uninfused, of course!

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?

Asian Americans face unique issues when it comes to cannabis use and acceptance due to differences in culture and social stigmas–which is why I started Asian Americans for Cannabis Education (AACE) with Ophelia Chong and Tiffany Wu back in 2015. We felt the mainstream media didn’t accurately represent cannabis users and we most definitely did not fit into the lazy stoner stereotype. We wanted to be a responsible face for cannabis users and to help dispel myths and stigmas around this beneficial plant. Looking back, I’m incredibly grateful for the experience to trail blaze with the two of them. The landscape did not look like it does now. With legalization and widespread cannabis education, we’re seeing a lot more AAPI brands and entrepreneurs entering the space and being extremely successful. Ophelia is still leading the charge in LA and hosting Potlucks to connect and network with Asian Americans in the cannabis community. The summer event had 140+ in attendance!

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

I am currently riding the high from the release of The Weed Gummies Cookbook! I am also focused on motherhood right now. It’s incredibly important to me to bond with my baby and to build a solid foundation for his development and wellbeing.

Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Despite great progress that has been made we still have a lot more work to do to achieve gender parity in this industry. According to this report in Entrepreneur, less than 25 percent of cannabis businesses are run by women. In your opinion or experience, what 3 things can be done by a) individuals b) companies and/or c) society to support greater gender parity moving forward?

Great question. In the early days of legalization, especially here in California, there was an exciting number of female founders and executives in the cannabis industry. The landscape has since changed. At an industry level, we need to increase access to capital; it costs quite a lot to operate legally in the cannabis industry. A push for more mentorship and training resources will also help women and BIPOC participate especially as large corporations have now entered the playing field.

That said, achieving gender parity should be an ongoing process. Companies, big and small, should set goals to increase the number of women and diversity in hiring, especially in the C-suite.

You are a “Cannabis Insider.” If you had to advise someone about 5 non-intuitive things one should know to succeed in the cannabis industry, what would you say? Can you please give a story or an example for each.

If you’re starting out in this industry, go in with an open mind. You may be working on ancillary products or services that aren’t directly related to cultivation or production. Understand that you won’t know everything and that’s okay. We are all still students of this plant. The cannabis industry is in its infancy and I’m excited to see more clinical and scientific studies and upcoming technologies.

Regardless of the sector that you work in, it’s important to understand the legalities and follow regulations as it varies from state to state. As a brand, identifying and understanding your audience is important as your marketing efforts will need to be focused. You won’t be able to use traditional marketing tactics due to advertising regulations. Many brands utilize social media influencers but they must be vigilant and follow FTC and state advertising compliance. For example, in Washington, the risk of noncompliance can cost up to $1,000 per violation for the brand. Marketing in the cannabis industry is an exercise in creativity and tenacity.

Destigmatizing cannabis use is a long-term endeavor–there’s decades of bad propaganda embedded in our culture. Consumers look like you and me and we need to work together to squash the stoner stereotypes. Be responsible and conscious in your cannabis consumption. Vocalize how legal access to cannabis has been beneficial for you. And when cannabis is on the ballot–be sure to vote.

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

I am excited to see cannabis education and cannabis medical research now being conducted all over the world. With that comes destigmatization which then leads to decriminalization and legalization. And hopefully with all of that comes the expungement of cannabis convictions and more access to cannabis for medical patients worldwide.

What are your thoughts about federal legalization of cannabis? If you could speak to your Senator, what would be your most persuasive argument regarding why they should or should not pursue federal legalization?

Cannabis is an incredibly versatile plant that evolved 28 million years ago on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. More than 4,000 years ago, Chinese farmers used it for oil and fibers. Over 2,500 years ago, the Chinese used it for medicinal, spiritual, and recreational purposes. This is all to say, humans have cultivated and utilized cannabis since the beginning of recorded history. Cannabis is our ancestral medicine. And let’s be honest. The War on Drugs is a massive failure and has led to corruption, violence, and mass incarceration with a disproportionate impact on people with lower income and the BIPOC community. People are now generating immense wealth from this plant while others are sitting in jail for cannabis-related convictions. The U.S. is quickly legalizing state by state and users are seeing the benefits. It’s time to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, legalize on a federal level, and grant clemency to the 40,000 people still incarcerated.

Today, cigarettes are legal, but they are heavily regulated, highly taxed, and they are somewhat socially marginalized. Would you like cannabis to have a similar status to cigarettes or different? Can you explain?

It has been proven that the chemicals in tobacco are toxic, addictive, and can cause variety of diseases like cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Whereas the cannabis, has deemed itself useful in a variety of medical research from chronic pain management to Alzheimer’s Disease to epilepsy, and beyond. While I agree more medical research should be conducted and an age limit enforced to purchase cannabis, I do not think it should be as heavily regulated and taxed as cigarettes. They are not the same.

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

Trust your gut. If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s to have confidence in my intuition and that the decisions I make should align with my core values and my sense of purpose.

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

It is so important for us to understand the history of cannabis, not just the origins, but also how communities of color in the U.S. have been disproportionately harmed by the failed War on Drugs. Anyone who is entering the cannabis industry should be building criminal justice reform support into their company’s purpose. For example, I am donating a portion of the profits of The Weed Gummies Cookbook semiannually to The Last Prisoner Project.

Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you only continued success!

Thank you so much!

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Wisdom From The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry, With Monica Loof Sous Weed 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

Protect family time and personal downtime: Most marriages and romantic partnerships have plenty of ups and downs, and running a business often adds extra difficulties and stress. Remember to watch out for and help each other. Just like the saying “Friends don’t let friends drive drun,”, good partners don’t let each other get into dangerous amounts of stress and get burned out. Often people who are headed down dangerous paths don’t realize it in the moment, so you have to help them retain a healthy balance.

As a part of our series about lessons from Thriving Power Couples, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Ruchi Thanawala and Jonathan Jesneck of Firefly Lab.

Dr. Ruchi Thanawala, Thoracic Surgeon and co-founder of FireFly Lab, was recruited to Oregon Health and Science University in late 2020. She joined the thoracic surgery faculty as an assistant professor, after completing her cardiothoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Iowa and her general surgery residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate Medical center. She also completed a Master of Science in Health Informatics from Northwestern University and a Surgical Education Research Fellowship from the Association of Surgical Education, becoming one of a very small number of thoracic surgeons informaticians with education research training in the US.

Jonathan Jesneck is the co-founder and CTO of Firefly Lab, where he coordinates data security, machine learning, and the analytics of surgical and procedural training. As an enthusiastic technologist, he has been developing machine learning and data mining applications for complex systems for 20 years. He has founded and grown several technology companies focusing on large-scale analytics, machine learning, and medical data. At Duke University, he earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and M.S. degrees in Statistics, and Computational Biology and Bioinformatics.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you two to your respective career paths?

Ruchi — I can remember a distinct early morning rounding as a 2nd-year general surgery resident. It was quite early in the morning, and we were making our way through rounds. At 7:30 am, the senior residents were going to head to the operating room (OR), and I knew that I would have to head to a computer to spend the 2–3 hours writing progress notes. It took that long because the Electronic Health Record (EHR) was not built for surgeon workflow. Ultimately, I was missing out on learning in the OR because of the challenges with getting the documentation done.

I was already interested in surgical education research, and now I knew that I needed to learn more about informatics. I wanted to build a system that was geared toward surgeon and surgical resident workflow. After that year, I entered my research fellowship, where I did surgical education research, got an M.S. degree in Health Informatics, and then did a fellowship in Surgical Education Research. I started Firefly Lab after this with my husband, Jonathan. Jonathan’s unique skill set with mine allowed us to take this experience and turn it into a start-up and a technology that is helping to reshape surgical education in the US.

Jonathan — I feel very grateful to be able to contribute to the intersection of two of my passions: artificial intelligence (AI) and learning. I’ve always been very enthusiastic about using computers for human empowerment, specifically helping people to achieve more and lead safer lives. In high school, I founded a tutoring club for math and computer science students. I preached the idea that math and science are not scary, but rather tools you can use to expand your life opportunities, similar to how learning a foreign language can help you dive into another place and culture. In graduate school, I built an AI system to assemble and leverage vast amounts of disparate medical data and enable radiologists to detect breast cancer in the very early stages, when it’s easier to treat. During post-doctoral training, I built the analytics for a robotic high-throughput screening system to characterize millions of molecules, enabling my fellow cancer researchers to understand drug effects more deeply and to identify promising new therapeutics for leukemias. At MIT, my lab and I built a city-scale system for scanning buildings for energy leaks. This helped to inform utility companies and empower homeowners with maps of lost building energy and guided plans for how to fix energy leaks. And most recently, with Firefly Lab, our team is doing fascinating work on mapping out how people learn in complex medical environments, using AI to measure and quantify skill transfer from expert to novice. It’s very motivating to empower surgical and medical educators to optimize their training programs on a system level, as well as help support the development of individual doctors on a human level. Also, there is something very meta about training large AI systems that learn how people learn.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you two got married?

Jonathan — We would have to say that high-stress careers can come at a high cost. While launching Firefly Lab, I was starting my academic lab, and Ruchi was doing her surgery residency. It was already a very stressful time for us both, exacerbated by having to live apart from family and each other most of the time for work. For doctors in training, there’s never a “convenient” time to have a baby, but surgery residency is an especially tough one. It resulted in a very difficult pregnancy, with Ruchi once fainting due to exhaustion in the OR during a case, and we almost ended up losing our daughter. Luckily, the obstetrics and NICU teams at Baystate Medical Center were amazing, and with the surgery program giving Ruchi plenty of time to recover, we could just focus on being together as a family in a difficult time. Today our daughter is a happy, healthy 4-year-old. So the silver lining in going through an experience like that is that it helps us focus on the truly important things. It provides a solid foundation for support whenever life gets challenging.

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?

Ruchi — Looking back, we like to laugh at how naive we were at the beginning of the Firefly Lab project, when things looked much simpler because we just didn’t know anything. We hadn’t yet learned of the complexity of learning science and the interesting conflicting constraints of medical education in a busy hospital setting. Not to mention the extreme difficulty of doing business in the closed world of medical software. Our VC investor friend likes to describe the medical software space as a “place where startups go to die.” As entrepreneurs, we wouldn’t give the advice to try to build a company at the same time as trying to discover new science around it. Either of those goals is hard enough. But on the other hand, it’s empowering just to dive right in and see what you come up with.

Back in academia, Jonathan used to think that if there was a common need that people hadn’t already solved, then there must be a good reason. Maybe it’s even impossible, meaning only frustration ahead for anyone foolish enough to head in that direction. But now, we think that with the speed of modern technology development, the situation is shifting so that new research and commercialization opportunities are emerging faster than the entrepreneurship community can tackle them. So we suppose we’ve transformed from a skeptical mindset to more of a blue ocean outlook.

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

Jonathan — We are a company co-founded by two people who are not only domain experts in multiple fields, but overlap just enough to speak a common language. We’re unique enough from each other that we bring new perspectives. Plus, we are married and love being together as a family with our daughter and growing this company.

Some of our best brainstormings happen while enjoying doing things as a family, like giving our daughter a bath or making dinner together. That isn’t to say that we let our work take over our lives. We think it shows that Firefly Lab is a part of who we are and our creative thoughts flow at all times. Being married lets us share our lives and our thoughts fluidly without the constraints of scheduled meetings. We can have a quick brainstorming session and then back to the bath without skipping a beat.

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

Ruchi — Our current company Firefly Lab is a medical and surgical education platform that brings quantitative data science to the education of physicians. It is the perfect meld of our skills and what we are passionate about. With myself being a surgeon, surgical education researcher, and informaticist paired with Jonathan’s expertise in AI, informatics, and computer science has made for some exciting and innovative work in the space of learning science. The training of a surgeon is interesting considering the number of years that go into training, which is around 5–10 after medical school, especially if you are subspeciality trained. That time investment needs to be efficient and effective for both those training and being trained. Digital transformation has been slow to come into medicine and surgery, but it is here now. Education tends to fall lower in priority given that the budgets aren’t big but, arguably, has some of the greatest impact if targeted. As many residents do, I felt the pain of well-meaning but often inefficient learning models in training. So, we decided to build Firefly Lab and focus it on learners. We are helping by giving residents and those investing in training them control over understanding how they learn and driving it. It is about empowerment and accelerating learning.

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

Ruchi — We think some important advice is to find your passion. If you are passionate about the problem, you will find a path around all obstacles. You need that craving to make this work to get past the many challenges, contenders to success, and curveballs. And it’s essential for the whole team to feel this way. Each good thing and bad thing is a way to grow and get better. We think framing the process that way to employees is necessary to help the team and individuals thrive.

How do you define “Leadership”?

Jonathan — For us, leadership is being the one looking for a pathway in good times and in those times when it seems hard, dark, almost impossible. A leader knows that there is only one way, which is forward.

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?

Ruchi — My parents. I know that isn’t one person. Unequivocally. If I didn’t have my parents, I would not be where I am with all that I have. They emigrated from India and stayed here without their own family. They built a life and gave me the foundation to take on challenges. My parents still do that even to this day.

Jonathan — Similarly, I’m grateful to my mom. She showed us firsthand, as a single mother of 3 kids in challenging financial circumstances, how to develop grit and persistence through tough times. And of course, I’m very indebted to my mentors, especially Prof. Joseph Lo at Duke, who is a wonderful and caring teacher. He got me excited about AI and deep learning back when it was still a crazy idea that few believed would ever amount to anything meaningful.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Ruchi — I am fortunate to have my career as a thoracic surgeon. On a daily basis, I get to partner with amazing people and patients. I am regularly astounded by the grace of people who are living with diseases and pushing forward. I get to be a part of that. I hope that I bring goodness into the world through my role in each patient’s journey toward better health. My role as an entrepreneur and informaticist is to inspire other girls and women to be bold, confident, and push forward in arenas that have not always been crafted for women.

Jonathan — I’m very motivated by helping people for “social good.” For example, with my previous companies, I helped people upgrade their buildings in a smart way. This was for them to feel more comfortable and lower their energy bills, while also helping the environment by lowering building energy usage. And with Firefly Lab, we’re empowering people in a much larger way: To achieve their potential and to do it faster. That social good has a very large multiplier effect on improving society as a whole.

What are the “5 Things You Need To Thrive As A Couple”? Please share a story or example for each.

Jonathan –

Trust and support each other: This is probably the most important one. There were many times when I was feeling burned out or doubting whether we could somehow pull it all off. We were developing a new learning theory science, building a new learning measurement technology, developing the market by educating the medical training field, and building a company to commercialize the solution too. We needed all these simultaneous efforts to make sure Firefly Lab can survive long-term and grow to make a national impact. Ruchi always trusted that we would figure out each step as we came to it, and she was there to support and remind me that we should keep going, even when it all felt too impossible.

Remember what comes first, the business or the relationship. There is usually friction that builds up between business partners, especially during challenging periods. I strongly advise each couple to talk about priorities and figure them out together. For example, if the startup is causing too much stress in the marriage, and you can’t do both, which one to you keep? How big does the startup have to get before you’re “done” growing it and are willing to hand it off to others? Exactly how much financial risk are you ready to accept before you call it quits or try a different strategy? Financial stability is, of course, important for long-term relationship stability. With solid priorities, you build a solid foundation to stand on and a prepared game plan to use when things get tough.

Protect family time and personal downtime: Most marriages and romantic partnerships have plenty of ups and downs, and running a business often adds extra difficulties and stress. Remember to watch out for and help each other. Just like the saying “Friends don’t let friends drive drun,”, good partners don’t let each other get into dangerous amounts of stress and get burned out. Often people who are headed down dangerous paths don’t realize it in the moment, so you have to help them retain a healthy balance.

Complement each other’s strengths: Especially first-time founders can feel that they need to do everything personally, for things to get done right. This is not sustainable. Figure out which activities are natural fits for you and your partner. Which ones give you energy and feel satisfying, rather than a chore? Let each other handle the right areas, and figure out when to bring in outside help for the pieces that are hard for both of you. Try to enjoy seeing your partner (and your employees and other team members) developing their own interests and skills.

Focus on the process: Achieving something valuable in any field (startups, research, etc.) is difficult and takes a significant amount of luck. Often it’s hard for founders and innovators to acknowledge that certain things are just not in their control. So when things don’t go perfectly according to plan, this can lead to a lot of frustration, which can derail things both professionally and personally. Rather than getting hung up on external factors, it’s vital to focus instead on the process of innovating and growing your business or project. For example, you can figure out how much time and energy to put into product development, networking, fundraising, etc., in order to increase the probability of success. Try to anchor your energy and self-worth internally rather than on external milestones you can’t control. That’s all you can do, and keeping that in mind will help to keep stress at manageable levels. This more sane thinking also helps people to keep a back-up plan ready, in case the main project doesn’t work out.

You are people 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. 🙂

Ruchi — A movement we would like to bring is making knowledge and information accessible to all, especially regarding your own learning and future directions. For this, we all need to meet in the middle. Technology needs to bring content well-matched to people’s goals and needs, and we need to educate people that they have control over their learning and future in both small and big ways. We all have an individual right to learn, grow, and inspire, and to have a say in building our futures.

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

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” -John Powell

Ruchi — We must decide a path. Not choosing is not an option. Because of that, worrying about a choice is only as good as its role in helping to choose the most informed option. After that, when all the beads are sorted as perfectly as they can be, we should not be afraid to choose because of the mistake of being wrong. But choose and then be prepared for what comes next. This empowers us to learn, grow, and take smart risks to make choices. We try to avoid being stuck in indecision. If anything, each time we make a choice and wish we had done the other, we learn from it and learn something new we might not have known if we always made the right choice.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US 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 🙂

Jonathan — There are so many people doing amazing things nowadays. Just to pick one, it would be great to chat with Sam Altman, the former president of Y Combinator (a very influential startup incubator), and now CEO of OpenAI, which is doing fascinating work in large-scale AI. I’m especially interested in the intersection of artificial general intelligence and leveraging it to help people in previously unfeasible ways.

How can our readers follow your work online?

Ruchi — Linkedin, and Firefly

Jonathan –Linkedin, and Firefly

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

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Lessons from a Thriving Power Couple, With Dr Ruchi Thanawala and Jonathan Jesneck of Firefly Lab was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Alison Rowley of Journey to Heaven on Earth On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

I GOT U would be my number one. Working on your mental health is the scariest, most challenging thing anyone will ever have to do and if you have at least one person by your side it will make the healing process so much easier and beautiful. So if that person can say to you “I GOT U” when you can’t say it to yourself, well you are ahead of the game knowing that there is someone by your side.

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

Ali Rowley started her career working alongside the great Jack Hanna, which led to her appearing on Late Night with David Letterman; Good Morning America; Martha Stewart Show; working on such films like: Furry Vengeance and One for the Money to becoming CEO and Founder of Animals Galore & More out of California. She has more than twenty years experience working with all different types of exotic animals around the country starting as an exotic animal trainer and educator, as well as working in the film and television industry.

Ali had a profound spiritual awakening in 2020, which led her to start her other passion project and organization, Journey to Heaven On Earth, as a Certified Spiritual Life Coach. She dedicates her time not only to her animals but helps others through healing their traumas, personal relationships, and guides people in discovering who they really are and what is their purpose in life. She has the tools and understanding that helps others get a renewed sense of self and create the life they always dreamed of.

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?

It all started in 2020 when the pandemic hit. My exotic animal education business was shut down so I was confused and curious to say the least why this was happening to us and the entire world. Nothing at the time seemed to make any sense. I had time on my hands to look into this disease, how it was spreading and if the dangers were as serious as they said. With that said it led me to a whole new world I didn’t expect to find. This is a world that I had no clue existed “along with most of the population.” It was a world full of lies, secrets and the unimaginable things that were going on behind the scenes. I was so distraught and full of fear that not even my family and friends would listen to my tears. I felt more alone than I ever thought possible and I sank deeper and deeper into depression and suicidal thoughts. I cried out to God to save me and as I looked up into the sky I saw writing in the clouds, there was one word spelled out so clearly “GOD.” Right then I knew everything was going to be OK and that word is what led me on the wildest journey of a lifetime, full of terror and bliss!

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 had a spiritual awakening. I had no clue what that was let alone what was happening to me. I was receiving messages in my head constantly about the world around us and I started obsessively doing research about anything and everything that was coming my way. I was seeing signs everywhere. It started with synchronicities such as numbers 111, 222, 333, and so on. I would see them on a clock, a license plate, a billboard, etc. I would look them up and sure enough they were messages from angels (angel numbers). Then nature was calling me all the time. I would ask myself a question and sure enough an eagle, or butterfly, or a dragonfly, or lady bug would appear. Yes, I know that sounds normal but it was every single time I would be pondering a serious thought (which was a lot). The best for me was music. I always have music playing randomly in my barn (Alexa) while I was cleaning up after the animals and I would receive literal messages in music about what I am doing at the moment, what I should be doing, and what I want to be doing for instance. The music was talking to me. Literally every song. This was my confirmation that I wasn’t alone. It was quite creepy at first then I got so used to it my life turned into its own road map. Like a game I would play and follow signs, listen, feel and see everything around me. There were no coincidences I soon learned, and the Universe was playing with me. I was the main character in a movie and they were leaving me treasures every time I completed a challenge or obstacle.

The main takeaway is that we are not alone, we were never alone. We have spirit guides leading us through life, angels showing us signs through nature, and we have ancestors helping us remember who we are and how powerful we truly are. If mankind only knew the gifts and magic they all carried inside them then this world and everyone and everything inside it would be free. It’s that simple. However, freedom does come at a price. You have to work for it. All you have to do is heal yourself internally and your external world will match the beauty we all carry inside us. Sounds easier than it is however. It takes an immense amount of strength and courage but it can be done by everyone. If I can do it then so can everyone. There is no one more special on this planet than you, If you believe in yourself then YOU GOT THIS!

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Wow, just one mistake? There are so many. I think the biggest mistake I made was to try and tell my family and loved ones about what I experienced, how I viewed the world to actually be, and to try to take them on this journey with me. Every time I spoke it was like silence. Like literally hearing a pin drop, people staring without blinking, and being told I should be on medication. Now with that said, I am not blaming anyone for the responses I have gotten because the experiences were so off the wall unordinary, I thought about locking myself up in a psychiatric ward. However, I trusted my instincts, followed the signs, and told myself every day that I was not losing my mind. I made the bold decision to go in at this completely alone and as silently as possible. Within a year of what I call hermit mode and going within, not only did I throw out 47 years of what I had been taught my whole life and start over again, I went through horrific paranormal experiences I couldn’t tell anyone about in fear of really being forced into a mental facility and put on medication which would completely stop the awakening process. The main reason why I knew I wasn’t going crazy was the fact that within that year of working on healing my inner traumas, I lost 30lbs without even trying. Also, I had severe permanent skin damage on my arms since 2009 that healed on its own miraculously. So every time I questioned my sanity, which was almost daily, I looked in the mirror at my body and realized I didn’t do that by myself, I had help from a higher power. That was the physical proof I needed to keep going. Now I am not here to scare people away from the awakening journey or healing process by any means. I know now that my awakening was so intense and powerful because I have a mission on this planet and that is to heal the world. I am one of the many guides to show the way on how we were always supposed to live, our true HEAVEN ON EARTH.

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?

The work I am doing is changing the world. I have spent two years healing my internal self. My traumas from the past, the present as well as past lives. Yes, you heard right. I was/am healing generational curses, my lineage, my ancestors as well. When you start healing yourself then the energy vibrates inside you at a higher level which heals the planet as well as an extreme amount of humans on the planet. If only people knew that they could help save the world on their own I honestly feel most people would. Our language is powerful and what we think, say and feel comes into existence good or bad. Most people don’t even realize that EARTH is also the HEART of the planet. Just take the H and put it in the front of the word. It is my mission and honor in life to guide the human race on their own healing journey. When they are ready I will be there to show them how to obtain their heaven on earth. We are all one, so when one of us suffers so do the rest of us. I want to see unconditional love being the only thing that exists on earth and not fear. Fear is not real, it’s an illusion we were taught. Think about it, when we came into this world we didn’t know what hate, fear, race, or war was. This was learned behavior. We only knew what love was and we will get back to that one day very soon. Sooner than you think.

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

1. Be kind to yourself- be your best friend, your forever companion. You came into this world alone and you will eventually die alone. This is your life, yours alone. No one should dictate who you are. Be who you want to be. Who you feel inside. No matter how wild it sounds, that is you. Don’t be like everyone else. No one knows what they are doing. Not one soul on this planet. It’s all opinions and hear-says. You know more than everyone because you have been here several times. Trust your gut, follow your own path, and remember the road less traveled might be harder, even scarier, but believe me it is so worth it.

2. Be kind to your body- this is a temporary suit you are wearing. You are blessed to have one. Just like astronauts need space suits, we need land suits. The only time you get a land suit is here on planet earth so enjoy it while you can. The more you take care of it the more fun in life you will experience. Watch what you put in your body. If it wasn’t made by mother earth then it is not supposed to enter it. Yes, I know, this is coming from a 49 year old woman with a 35 year old alcohol addiction and a 25 year old nicotine addiction. Thanks to my spiritual awakening and my spirit team I kicked that habit solo and you can kick any bad habit or addiction as well. I want you to know that whatever substance you are abusing or habit you may have, that is not the problem. The reason why you are abusing yourself is the problem. So get to the why (which may be several of them) and the addiction or bad habit will work itself out with your guidance.

3. Be kind to others- We are all the same with different and amazing personalities and gifts. We are all in this life together trying to navigate a system that was set up to harm us, not help us. Mother nature has provided us with everything we need and that was stolen from us since the day we were born. Water, food, energy, medicine, material for shelter, and so on. It was our birth right to live on a planet and learn from each other with unconditional love and share our talents. We are all here together now trying to survive in a world that lives solely on fear. 99% of us all strive for the same goal which is “peace.” It is time to get back to loving our brothers and sisters and not harming one another. We are meant to be here for ourselves as well as be here for others. It is not every man for themselves, it is every individual as one.

4. Be of service- There is no more joy you can experience in this world than the joy of helping others. I feel most, if not all can agree on that. Even if you only have enough to give to one person well then you did your job. Giving can be free. A smile to a stranger can literally brighten up their day, a “great job” to a co-worker can help them be a better version of themselves, lending a hand to a neighbor by helping bring in their groceries or mowing their lawn can change their bad day into a good day. Being of service does not have to be a grand gesture but you will find the more you do it the more you want to give. It opens up your heart space and not only do you feel amazing, the Universe rewards you for your service as well. Everything always comes back around. Karma is not just for bad things, it is for good as well. The more your heart is open the longer you live to enjoy this magical planet.

5. Self care rituals- There are so many ways you can give to yourself. Meditation is a major self care need that relieves stress. Now I am not saying sit in silence. This can be difficult for many since our mind goes a million miles a minute (monkey brain) which drives us crazy. There are several forms of meditation. Dance like no one is watching even if everyone is, sing in the shower, color in a coloring book, paint even if you don’t think you are good at it you might surprise yourself. Anything that you can give focus to that is enjoyable is meditation. Sun exposure recharges our batteries. Remember we are all energy beings and the sun is our fuel. Exercise will improve your mood. I am not saying run a marathon, but a walk in nature and/or yoga will not only improve your mood, but mindfulness, weight loss and stress as well. Salt baths are relaxing and will improve your sleep by washing away the negative energies you picked up that day from people, places, and things. My personal favorite is pet therapy. Hug and love on your pet. I promise they will take all your worries away with their unconditional love they have for you. No worries, if you don’t have an animal friend you can always volunteer at a shelter. Caring for a pet provides you with a sense of purpose and it helps them immensely . If you don’t have time, then when you go on a walk just listen to the wildlife around you. Whether it is birds chirping, or seeing butterflies pass you by, squirrels running by your feet, they are there talking to you whether you know it or not. If you have a fear of animals, no worries, trees are one of the best souls that will take away any negative thoughts or feelings you may be carrying. They are great listeners and they love the attention. And guess what? IT’S ALL FREE! Mother nature at its finest.

FUN FACT: My ears were ringing like crazy once I mentioned pet therapy. We all have spirit animal guides and past beloved pets that are always with us. Most of my spirit guides are from the animal kingdom. IMAGINE THAT!

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

I would call the movement “I GOT U!” During my awakening process I would say those words to myself. I would write them on a napkin, I would paint them on a wall, I would say them in the mirror every morning before I started my day. Those 3 words kept me moving forward. Not only did I know I wasn’t alone FINALLY because I had my spirit team to guide me every step of the way, but I knew I had myself. Knowing that I got myself and would pick myself up every time I would fall no matter what challenges I would face and demons I would fight, I knew I had myself and I wasn’t going to give up. Be your own champion everyone. Love yourself more than you love anyone or anything in this world and you can’t lose. I GOT U!

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

1. I GOT U would be my number one. Working on your mental health is the scariest, most challenging thing anyone will ever have to do and if you have at least one person by your side it will make the healing process so much easier and beautiful. So if that person can say to you “I GOT U” when you can’t say it to yourself, well you are ahead of the game knowing that there is someone by your side.

2.There are higher powers in the Universe that have been with you every second of the day since you were born. They love you, they have your back and they are here for your highest good. They are like your navigation system moving things out of the way so you don’t fall. Now sometimes they put things in your way so you do fall but that is only to help you maybe fall in a pile of dirt and not off a cliff. The dirt you can wipe off and keep moving, the cliff you might not get the chance to keep moving.

3. Trust the Universe. Stop trying to force outcomes in your life. If it is meant for you it will come to you. Don’t chase, attract. Notice that every time you are struggling to get something done, go somewhere, start a project, force a relationship, nothing seems to work out? It is because it is not meant for you. Maybe just not at that time or ever. The Universe wants to give you what you desire and if you wait patiently, it will give you something even bigger than you could possibly imagine. Remember the song “Row row row your boat?” Well, life is a dream so go with the flow of the river. Stop trying to fight against the current. We were brought up to believe that “Life is hard,” “Love is hard.” It is not, we make it that way individually and then give ourselves the excuse “Well that’s life.” Wrong, you make it how you want it to be. Trust the Universe, and trust the process and it will go smoothly.

4. Mistakes are learning lessons from the Universe. We came to this planet, a very dense planet, to learn. If you learn from your mistake then it is not a mistake. It was a lesson you learned from. If you repeat it, then the Universe will give you the same mistake in a harsher scenario until you get it right and stop repeating it. The biggest mistake we humans make is our relationships with others. How many times does the Universe have to show you that the person you are in a relationship with whether a friend, lover, or even a family member is not right for you and you either need to set boundaries or cut them off completely. We are so scared of being “meanies” that we take abuse over and over again from others that clearly haven’t healed their trauma and like to unload it on us just so we don’t feel guilty. Out of every lesson I had to fight to heal internally, “Guilt” was my number one enemy.

5. Enjoy the ride. Seriously! The mental health healing journey is no joke. It is and will be the toughest thing you will ever have to do in your life and once you start, do not stop. Starting is the biggest step to make. If you take that first step then you got this. Remember those 3 little words to always tell yourself “I GOT U.” So many amazing things will come to you with every step you take. Is it tough? Absolutely, but baby steps. It is not a race. You have your whole lifetime to work on yourself and the beginning might be tough because you are entering the unknown but trust me, it gets easier every time and with every challenge you face as you go along. You will be amazed at what you can do and the magic the Universe has in store for you. Oh, and don’t forget about your super powers that come out the more you heal yourself. Life is a game and once you start learning how to play it you can’t lose. You are the king and queen. CHECK MATE!

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 hands down. You have nothing if you don’t have your mental health in check. This life is about consciousness. Be aware of yourself, how you feel, act, want, desire. Be yourself. We came into this world with trauma and it ends with us here and now. No more genetic predisposition excuses, family curses. If we don’t stop the madness that we as individual souls have been repeating several hundred, if not thousands of lifetimes, then we are just going to keep continuing losing at the game of life and repeating it all over again. This is the final destination for us. Heal yourself and move on to live a life that you were always meant to, or repeat the same cycle of your traumas and add more karma to the list. This is a free will planet. Your only job on earth is to heal yourself and when you do that you can finally be free to be who you were always meant to be, your true authentic self.

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

You can go to my website at www.journeytoheavenonearth.com

There will be a podcast coming soon called “What Will The Neighbors Say” with myself and my sister Gaby who is also going through a spiritual awakening in which you can follow both of our journeys.

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

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Women In Wellness: Alison Rowley of Journey to Heaven on Earth On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Raana Kashani Gregg of LUNAESCENT On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Craft strong foundations for your business. Make sure to comply with local and state business and regulatory requirements. In many instances, if the correct basic steps are not fulfilled, the process may have to be restarted, costing you precious time and money.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Raana Kashani Gregg.

Raana is the founder and president of LUNAESCENT — Clean Skin Labs, a company that develops and sells innovative skincare beauty products. Besides being an entrepreneur, Raana is a mother of two teenagers, an attorney, an inventor, and a health and wellness researcher and enthusiast. She is a problem-solver who is passionate about coming up with simple and elegant solutions to everyday annoyances through her various inventions, and she believes in good design, good science, sustainability, and practicality.

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

Thank you for this opportunity! My background is pretty non-linear. I was born in Tehran, Iran. I first moved to the United States in the 1970s and started grade school not knowing English and without friends, which was pretty unsettling. After a year, my situation (and my English) had improved, but my parents decided to move back to Iran, a scenario that played out several times during my childhood, leading to fractured friendships and cultural whiplash. In 1978, after a year of US high school in Sacramento California, my family went back to Iran for summer vacation and got trapped there by the Iranian Revolution.

After finishing high school in Tehran (the year before my co-ed international school was closed by the religious police), I escaped to Paris where I studied French and immersed myself in the French fashion and beauty scene (and did some modeling) while waiting for my student visa to the US. After a year, I moved back to the US (to Iowa), then to Silicon Valley, California, where I finished college, went to law school, and graduated with JD from Santa Clara University. After training as an associate at law firms, I started my own solo law firm and worked for many years as a litigation and estate lawyer until I met my husband (also a lawyer) and decided to suspend my practice to be a full-time mother.

The early pandemic was my first downtime in a while, and I found myself reflecting creatively again. Since I was young, I have been a tinkerer and inventor. When I was trapped in Iran as a teenager, I had a diary/sketchbook where I recorded thoughts and inventions, but I had to traumatically burn it when my father heard that the religious police planned to raid our house for evidence of dissent.

It was in this mindset that I came up with the concept for LUNAESCENT (and three other inventions — stories for another day!). And like many inventions, the idea arose from personal need. As I’ve aged, my skin is drier and needs more attention. I had started a nightly routine of high-end lotions, serums, and oils, which helped, but I was having real problems with application: Expensive product was getting absorbed by my fingertips, oils and serums were dripping through onto the counter, and I seemed to always be touching my face which I dislike. I was also trying to diligently apply sunscreen, but this involved more face-touching which was a particular problem outside the house with unwashed hands. I tried to find devices to do the job of my fingers, such as silicone brushes or jade rollers, but neither was effective: Silicone brushes just move the product around and cause waste, and jade rollers are not well designed for application. So I sketched out my perfect tool and showed my husband. He was sure that it must already exist, so I challenged him to find it on the Internet. Three days later he admitted that nothing like my tool existed online. I won that bet, and LUNAESCENT was born! I filed for patent protection, began manufacturing, expanded the family of products to include complementary tools, located distribution partners, and the brand is now selling successfully in the US and overseas with plans to expand internationally.

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 will answer this questions based on my recent business career, rather than my previous legal career. One story that comes to mind happened at the first beauty trade show I attended after launching my product — the massive “CosmoProf” in Las Vegas — where I reserved a small booth in the middle of the aisle in the skincare area (booth 13, my lucky number). My practical goal for the trade show was to expose LUNAESCENT to beauty insiders and experts to determine if my invention had real potential or was just a pipe-dream. The response was more encouraging than I could have imagined, with enthusiastic industry confirmation that I had effectively invented a new product category — the touch-free applicator — which generated some exciting “viral” buzz. One memorable moment in particular revealed the subtle and important support structures that exist between women founders. On the last day of the convention, a lovely and friendly woman stopped by my booth, complimented my products, and took the time to offer some great business advice. When I pressed for her background, she eventually confessed that she had presented her own products at the exact same small booth in 2019, ended up winning a deal on Shark Tank, and was now selling in tens of thousands of retail stores nationwide. That moment was genuinely eye-opening and inspiring — tangibly revealing the potential pathways to success for innovative products and determined founders. I’m looking forward to going back to CosmoProf in a couple of years and providing my own business advice to fresh aspiring beauty entrepreneurs (maybe at lucky booth 13!).

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 chose the name LUNAESCENT because it means “becoming the moon.” In Persian and Asian mythology, a moon face represents beauty. Also, my product is designed as a multi-purpose tool to provide consumers with a more effective skincare routine which leads to more radiant skin, connecting “moon” and “radiance” themes. And I just loved the way it sounds. I checked the website domain name for LUNAESCENT and it was available. And I checked company names and found no conflict. But I failed to check how search engines might treat the word “LUNAESCENT” before rolling out the new company. It turns out that search sites like Google would automatically convert “LUNAESCENT” to “luminescent.” So, until I was able to raise our SEO ranking with organic backlinks, searches for “LUNAESCENT” would automatically convert the text of the query, leading to frustration and negative business impact when customers and partners simply could not find our website. The lesson for others is that when starting a new venture, try to carefully consider all aspects of your decisions because small and unexpected wrinkles can make big differences.

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?

The pandemic was truly an eye-opener for me. It was deeply unsettling to watch the entire world brought to a standstill by a virus. Perhaps even more concerning is science’s prediction that the world will most likely witness dramatic increases in disease emergence and pandemics, and other existential issues, due to climate change.

As responsible citizens and entrepreneurs, we need to try to balance economic needs against the health of our planet. One way to help achieve positive goals is to minimize one-time use products. There is impressive industry movement, for example, directed to eliminating single-use water bottles. But there are many products, especially in the beauty field, that are designed as single-use and marketed for convenience.

I specifically designed LUNAESCENT to be a multipurpose, universal beauty tool with a long, multi-use life. Its many functions eliminate the need to buy multiple tools, and it is fully reusable, cleanable, and easy to maintain. Additionally, its touch-free design reduces one of the principal means of skin irritation and breakouts — touching our skincare products and our faces with our fingers.

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. Mental Health — I am choosing mental health as my first choice because it is the foundation for healthy lifestyles and wellbeing. Starting a new business, while exciting and fulfilling, is very stressful. During one particularly stressful period, I noticed I was literally forgetting to breath which was causing heart palpitations and headaches. I have since tried to be more mindful of how stress was affecting my body. I now have a daily routine to set aside a short period (up to 15 minutes, but as short as 2) to check in with myself, review and acknowledge the day’s developments, and plan the coming day. It is a mental reset that works wonders.
2. Physical Health — For me, physical health works in tandem with mental health. My best exercise routines are simple, consistent, and easily modified to daily circumstances. Any routine that is too fancy or restrictive becomes hard to maintain or becomes its own source of stress. When I travel, I take a yoga mat with me. The inevitable extra walking with travel counts toward exercise, and yoga keeps me flexible. When I’m back home, I return to my routine.
3. Nutritional Health — I believe mental, physical, and nutritional health are the underpinnings of wellbeing. Good nutrition results in a healthier and stronger body, which leads to a more active lifestyle, which leads to less stress: It is a positive feedback loop leading to improved quality of life. I cook at home and follow a vegetarian/vegan diet because it makes me feel better and is better for the environment. I always keep green or black lentils in the pantry. When I have limited time, I cook lentils with water and salt, chop up some red onion and parsley, squeeze lime on top, and add olive oil. It is a heavenly, creamy dish that can be made in 30 minutes with zero prep.
4. Community Health — The world-renowned Persian poet Sa’adi Shiraz said that all humans are limbs of one body. When one limb is hurt, the other limbs cannot remain at rest. I believe that being involved in our communities is essential to our wellbeing and the health of the community. So, right now, I volunteer my legal expertise for local non-profits at no charge.
5. Read Labels — Educate yourself about what you put in and on your body. Nutritional food labels are federally regulated, so there is good reason to trust them. But cosmetics and beauty products are less unregulated and it takes more work to figure out if claims are puffing or science. I am skeptical of fantastical marketing claims such as “this stone has healing properties.”

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

I would love to start a movement around women’s education programs — not just 4-year college degrees, but education in a more holistic sense. I strongly believe that educating women about their contributions and worth, and elevating their strengths at a local and national level, will benefit society and result in stronger and more resilient future generations.

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

1. There are many hidden costs in starting a business that do not reveal themselves until you are in the middle of your business plan. Make sure you factor in financial cushions to allow for samples, freebies, giveaways, and other marketing efforts, as well as any unexpected expenses.
2. Engage professionals, but make sure you do your own independent research and analysis before you make important business decisions. My goal is not to become an expert in every field, but to have enough relevant understanding to be able to determine whether I’m getting good advice or not. Also, try not to proceed with just one choice. Interview multiple professionals, and use comparative information to evaluate and make your best choice.
3. Craft strong foundations for your business. Make sure to comply with local and state business and regulatory requirements. In many instances, if the correct basic steps are not fulfilled, the process may have to be restarted, costing you precious time and money.
4. Determine whether you need to file a trademark and/or patent for your business and product. If so, engage the services of reputable intellectual property attorneys early in the process. Patents take a long time to be processed and can be quite costly. Plan accordingly.
5. It is important to have a vision and a “look” for your brand. “Branding” is not cheap. It would be nice to have a brand designer who can design your packaging, logo, website, and marketing efforts. However, for most startups, the cost is prohibitive. Look at similar products, study their concepts, and try to devise a vision that fits your brand. You can use platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork to hire designer for a fraction of the cost. If you decide to go that route, make sure to only use contractors who are certified as “pro” or have a high number of top-rated reviews.

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 these topics are interrelated, and I see them as a pyramid. Environmental changes, in my opinion, is the broadest layer and the foundation. We all need to take steps to ensure a stable climate and healthy environment. The other topics such as veganism and sustainability fold into this broader category, and are vital to helping reduce the effects of climate change. As an entrepreneur, I feel an extra responsibility of making sure my decisions do not exacerbate detrimental environmental impacts. Such concerns are why I designed LUNASESCENT to be a multipurpose and reusable tool, thereby reducing its carbon footprint.

If I had to choose, I will go with mental health. After seeing the devastating effect the pandemic, school closures, and forced and awkward remote learning had on my teenage children, I have become strikingly aware of the mental stress burdens being suffered these days by many of us. One of my first blog posts on my website was recommending taking a moment for yourself, to contemplate the day and recharge for tomorrow, as an essential daily routine.

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

The beauty and wellness industry is constantly evolving with new information and breakthroughs. My goal is to study the science behind the claims and separate the hype from the truth. I routinely update LUNAESCENT’s website and write new blogs on the latest wellness trends, research and developments, and how to achieve stronger and more resilient skin with the help of science and LUNAESCENT. My website is www.lunaescent.com; Instagram is @lunaescentskin; Facebook is Lunaescent.

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

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Women In Wellness: Raana Kashani Gregg of LUNAESCENT 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.

Leadership is a lifelong commitment to learning and listening to others. But, just as important is your loyal daily commitment to your own integrity and staying true to yourself

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

Dominnique Karetsos is CEO and co-founder of Healthy Pleasure Group. With the goal of building a Sexual Health & Technology Economy for better education, innovation and investment in the industry, along with her co-founders, Dominnique has developed a purpose-built global infrastructure via the HPG ecosystem that will enable this to happen.

Dominnique has spent the last 20 years working with brands; launching products and services across the beauty, retail and health sectors in 40+ markets to help startups, market leaders and challenger brands increase their market share, distribution channels and investment opportunities through smart, ]strategic planning.

Having worked for major players such as L’Oreal, Lelo Group, Cutler and Gross and O Boticário, Dominnique’s career highlight to date is being a UN Delegate at UN Women CSW65. A truly humbling time to understand the fabric of our global pain points echoed in each country’s socio-political system — then meet, talk and be inspired by those making a change for all of our futures.

Dominnique is passionate about empowering women of all ages to understand more about Sex, Tax and Money, alongside creating good and smart businesses to contribute what she can in creating a better world through behavioural change. In essence, helping people everywhere understand that healthy pleasure is for everyone and sexual self fulfilment and sexual health must be more accessible, affordable and attainable.

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 name is Dominnique Karetsos, I’m the CEO and co-founder of Healthy Pleasure Group, a pioneering collective that seeks to define, reshape and revolutionise the sexual empowerment of all generations and pave the way for healthy sexuality and healthy pleasure for everyone.

Having spent my youth in both Greece and South Africa, I studied in Sweden and I’m now based in London, with the Group also holding offices in Barcelona and Los Angeles. I’ve worked in more than 40 markets globally, helping start-ups and market leaders across beauty, retail and health improve and increase their sales, marketing and distribution channels.

As women, when we have questions about our autonomy or our sexual health, we look for permission to even ask them. For instance, on the Greek side of my family the generation before me would never discuss money and business at the table and on my mother’s side, children were to be seen but not heard. So, you didn’t have a voice, a choice or an opinion. It’s interesting to understand the taboos our parents’ generation fought to dismantle so that we can create our own fibres, weave our own way. I myself have been through a crippling divorce, which left me bankrupt when I was forced to take the crippling economic blowback for my ex-husband’s decisions. I was left with nothing, not even a roof over my head. Today we have the Domestic Abuse Bill which covers economic abuse that was brought into the UK parliament in 2017 to support women, but back then I made my way through this enormous situation myself. That is why I am very proud to have recently been asked to be a member of the UK charity Surviving Economic Abuse, sitting on the Experts by Experience Group. I am determined to ensure that no other women need go through what I did and that everyone is made aware of the support that is out there for them.

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 can give you one example of the state of the Sexual Health & Technology industry when I first joined it around eight years ago. I was working with an intimate health brand and we were trying to get a mainstream pharma category buyer to list a menstrual cup. To gain access to point of sales we had to get through the buyers, most of whom were men in their early 20’s. In order to make sure that the phone wasn’t just immediately slammed down on us, we bought the advertising space in front of a lead buyer’s parking spot for three months. When we eventually got him to answer our call, he said, ‘Where have I seen this brand before?’ those few seconds were critical in allowing us to start the conversation of how putting menstrual cups on the feminine hygiene shelves was going to make a positive impact to his bottom line, but most importantly change the lives of women. Perseverance and creative persuasion is often what we need to to thrive and get through to the naysayers.

Because, how does one communicate the need for a product that has no relevance to these young men? It’s not easy to explain to mostly male buyers that there is a difference between a tampon and a menstrual cup. Or that you pee in your pants after you’ve had a kid. Women have been categorically ignored and marginalised when it comes to our health needs. We had the products, but we needed a buyer who would listen to us.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I had so many meetings where I was not supposed to say the word sex! The amount of Boardrooms and now parents’ Whatsapp groups I have previously been kicked out of, is insane! On one occasion I distinctly remember telling my bosses at a leading beauty company to invest in male grooming as the future of the beauty category and they dismissed me out of the boardroom. Now that male grooming is mainstream industry worth billions, it gives me more confidence to stand by my beliefs and hold fast on my convictions. This space moves quickly, but my experience gives me that competitive edge for future trends. Looking back on this now, thankfully we’ve come a long way.

As the CEO I am today, I understand that my role comes with leadership, accountability, mentorship and ownership of our mistakes & successes. It’s important to make decisions that are in the best interest for the company, our people and our partners. I see my biggest responsibility as committing to continuous learning and sharing my knowledge with those same people.

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?

The work we do is intrinsically geared towards creating opportunities, products and education to support underserved communities and ultimately democratise sexual health globally. From supporting one client focus on improving access to STI testing for women in LATAM, to building a competitive advantage for a fertility tracking brand to position its new technology to educate girls and young women about their first menstrual cycle.

We want to enable the facilitation of innovative pleasure, insightful pleasure, investigated pleasure and ultimately, healthy pleasure — for everyone. Fortunately, I’m seeing a lot of changes and a collective effort, but we need to continue to normalise language around sexual health, a new way of dismantling taboos and stigmas. As these things are gaining momentum, policy makers will need to react, too.

From democratising sexual pleasure beyond binary understandings to removing stigma and barriers to reproductive healthcare, we refuse to accept the way things have always been. Ultimately, we built Healthy Pleasure Group to create behavioural change through three vital economic motors; Education, Innovation and Investment.

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

Healthy Pleasure is a movement. We define Healthy Pleasure as sexual self fulfillment, a state of wellbeing generated by perceiving yourself as sexually healthy. It’s about having coherence between what you want, think and do in every aspect of your sexual life. Encompassing three core values of respect, intimacy and care, Healthy Pleasure is not related to sexual frequency or sexual activity. Even if a person doesn’t have sex, as long as they are happy with that decision, they are sexually self-fulfilled.

For me, it is all about agency. Agency over our bodies, our finances and our equalities within the societal and political constructs that we inhabit. I sat as a delegate for UN Women UK last year at the Commission on the Status of Women, which was an eye-opening, global view on what we all face across every fabric of our lives. For me, the understanding and mis-understanding of a woman’s autonomy starts with the moment you tick that box on a form to declare if you are a Mr, Miss, Mrs or Ms. It may sound small, but that one declaration can have a massive impact on the way our needs are prioritised, especially for women. As soon as we tick that box, a lot of assumptions are made and a lot of regulations automatically apply in your life that affect you. Access to childcare, pay disparities, our health and more. I hope that will change one day. But in the meantime, women, just like men, should have a choice whether or not to declare this imposed societal status. They should be informed about what it means.

So now I’m just Dominnique Karetsos. I don’t tick the box. If I have an app and it forces me to do it, I just don’t sign up.

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

1. Time is not money. Time is time and we should learn to live recognising that it is an non-replenishable resource. You decide how much of it you want to dedicate to the things that bring you joy.
2. Energy is not woo woo. Where energy goes, money will come
3. No is a full sentence
4. When I have the confidence to ask for what I want in the bedroom I will have the confidence to communicate what I want and need in the boardroom
5. Leadership is a lifelong commitment to learning and listening to others. But, just as important is your loyal daily commitment to your own integrity and staying true to yourself

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

Healthy Pleasure as a cause and a movement, of course. Our sexual wellbeing is the most innate human experience and it dictates how we relate to everybody and everything in our lives. With our children, our partners, our colleagues. How we move through the world. Healthy Pleasure provides a new lens on how we view ourselves and this can be a lens of confidence, empathy, kindness but it can also be insecurity, depression or trauma. Healthy Pleasure is a movement that everyone must sit up and take notice of.

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

You can follow me directly on LinkedIn, read more about Healthy Pleasure Group on our website www.wearehpg.com and sign up to our monthly newsletter that brings you the latest news and updates from across Sexual Health & Technology industry here.

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

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Dominnique Karetsos: “Leadership is a lifelong commitment to learning and listening to others” was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.