Women In Wellness: Christina Pack of Resurgens Postpartum On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
It never hurts to ask. Because, the answer is always no unless you ask. I’ve gotten so many clients through referrals just by asking people if they had someone to refer to me. I’ve hosted events in spaces for free just because I asked if I could. I mean sure, I’ve gotten plenty of no’s along the way, but asking is free and it never hurts!
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Christina Pack of Resurgens Postpartum.
Christina is a Mom Coach in Atlanta who specializes in working with pregnant and postpartum moms to help them feel confident as they transition into motherhood. She connects moms to resources they need around the city, educates them on what to expect postpartum and how to navigate the fourth trimester (both from a baby care and self-care standpoint), and provides coaching as moms explore their identity in motherhood. Christina desires for all moms to feel empowered and confident so that they can experience a life in balance with their kids.
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 actually came to this work because of what I observed was missing when I had my own children. When I had my first son I had a really hard time. I had a tough time recovering physically, establishing boundaries with friends and family, and learning to care for him. I felt very lost and was headed to a kind of dark place if I’m honest. I realized that my experience was pretty common, but moms just don’t talk about it. I also learned that there really aren’t enough supports for new moms, especially those who don’t have family close by to help.
When I had my second I felt much more equipped to manage and the experience was so much better. It made me realize how hard a time I had with my first and I knew I had to figure out a way to support moms so they wouldn’t experience what I did the first time around.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I think this might be less of a story and more of an experience, but we’ll go with it! As I’ve been networking and getting to know other providers in the area, I’ve been slowly realizing that the huge city I live in is actually quite small when you think about the circles you run in. I’ve made connections with people that seemed to be complete strangers, but I realized that we have all of these friends in common from various other parts of our lives — whether it’s the gym, church, or previous careers! I am learning that putting myself out there, reaching out to people and sharing what I do with them, is way less scary than I expected, even for an introvert like me! When you are passionate about something, like I am about moms being prepared for postpartum and getting better postpartum support, it’s easy to talk to people about your passion. And typically, when people you are with see your passion and can feel it, they get excited about it too!
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?
When I first started on this path I thought I’d be able to fill my client load really quickly.
I launched my business in April of 2022. When I first started I had a ton of optimism and thought that clients would just kind of appear and that everyone would want to sign with me. Because of that I stepped back and reduced my hours from the job I was working in education at the time. I truly had no idea what it meant to build a brand from scratch and get my name out there. I definitely thought if I created a website, the clients would come. Ha! The optimism in that was great, but it was far from what I experienced.
I realized I had to shift my mindset to instead focus on networking and making connections with like-minded providers to get my name out there. That has been my biggest lesson probably, to build a business you don’t get to start off right away doing what you love — in my case supporting pregnant and new moms. You have to start by learning accounting and marketing and how to network. I didn’t learn any of that in college with my Elementary Education degree. It truly is a grind to start a business. I knew that, but I thought I’d be the exception somehow.
But, I’ve honestly learned so much about myself and the grit I have. There have been some hard days and weeks, but I am still grinding and big things are happening!
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?
As a Mom Coach, I focus on mostly pregnant and postpartum women. My desire is that every new mom feels prepared and confident before she gives birth so that she can heal and recover knowing that she is capable and has the support system she needs to care for her baby.
In that, I help moms prepare by thinking through four areas that I’ve noticed are pain points for new moms — preparing their mind, body, home, and support system. So many moms prepare the perfect Instagram-worth nursery, or take a birthing class and think they’re set. They forget that having a baby is more than the fun baby showers and labor and delivery. In order to be well-prepared to have a baby you need to prepare for the life you’ve have once baby is here. I compare it to preparing for a wedding vs preparing for a marriage. The marriage is the rest of your life!
As I’ve worked with moms the key thing I can say is making the biggest impact, is the level of confidence and support they feel. When moms feel confident and supported and cared for, they can experience fewer instances of depression and anxiety, which is critical to a mom finding balance.
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.
I love this! I think that sometimes we don’t realize how much each individual thought we have and action we take can impact our overall well-being.
1-Set realistic expectations. When I work with new moms and couples as they prepare to bring home their baby, I love to give them an expectation reality check. It’s easy to expect maternity/paternity leave to be a bit of a vacation. Parents think they’ll have so much time to do fun things. Honestly, you will have more time in some ways, but also your time will be dictated by a tiny human that doesn’t speak English yet. So, I like to talk about expectations — how it will feel to operate on less sleep, how to support each other to get more sleep, how to live your life in 3-hour chunks since babies eat about every 3 hours. I find that laying it all out there helps new parents understand what they’re getting themselves into.
2-Intentionally Move your body every day! You probably hear this a lot. I feel like it is important to name, especially with the population I serve, that moving your body doesn’t have to be an intense, hour-long workout. It doesn’t have to be much more than 5–10 minutes if that’s all you can give to it. And moving your body intentionally can be a rather still activity if it needs to be. I tell mamas to try to stick to the 5–5–5 rule. So, after delivery, that’s 5 days in bed, 5 days on the bed, and 5 days near the bed. That’s two weeks of mostly staying home, resting, and recovering. But, I also do CrossFit and work with a lot of moms who are athletes, so I recognize how hard that rule can be. You can STILL move intentionally while following that rule. Deep belly breathing is intentional movement. Slow stretching is intentional movement. A walk to the stop sign and back is intentional movement. We put so much pressure on ourselves to do an “all or nothing” approach, when something is always better than nothing!
3-Embrace where you are. By that, I don’t necessarily mean the physical place you are, like your home or whatever. I mean embrace where you are on your journey in life. Social Media is such a mind-trick. It can make you feel like you should be further along than you are and that’s just ridiculous. You have no idea what is going on on the other side of that camera. Instead, embrace your current phase. For me, that’s embracing that I’m in the early stage of starting my business. When I compare my beginning to someone else’s middle, of course I’ll feel like I don’t measure up. But when I embrace where I am and look how far I’ve come, I can find contentment and joy in the process.
4-Drink A Lot of Water. I can’t tell you how many people I know who don’t get enough water in daily. You’re supposed to drink half of your body weight in ounces daily (ex: 120lb person should drink at least 60oz a day). It’s definitely a task you have to spend time thinking about to accomplish. But, being well hydrated will help all of your systems work better. It improves skin, focus, alertness, bowel movements, the list goes on! Drink your water, y’all!
5-Try Softer. Y’all, when things get tough, it is so easy to be hard on ourselves. “I should’ve tried harder.” “I should’ve worked harder.” I’m here to tell you, try softer! Instead of beating yourself up when things go wrong or when things get hard, how about being gentle with yourself. Allow yourself the grace you wish others would give you. Chances are if you made a mistake, it wasn’t so big that it can’t be fixed. You deserve a soft spot to land when things get tough, and if you don’t have that, BE that for yourself!
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Oh wow, well, I immerse myself in the pregnancy and postpartum space, so I would definitely lean in there. I think my movement would be, well, intentional, well-planned leave. The first thing that comes to mind, naturally, is maternity leave. But it doesn’t just have to be that, since lots of people take leaves from work at various stages of their life. I think the challenge is that when we take a leave from work, we tend to go into it without a plan. This can honestly make the leave less enjoyable. For moms, when they aren’t prepared and planned, they can spiral into a dark place. But for others, when they don’t plan how to spend their leave, they may slip into some bad habits that don’t benefit them and actually counteract the break they’re getting from the daily grind of life.
I believe that if we plan for and prepare for any season of life, really, that we can find joy, be balanced, and have contentment.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- It never hurts to ask. Because, the answer is always no unless you ask. I’ve gotten so many clients through referrals just by asking people if they had someone to refer to me. I’ve hosted events in spaces for free just because I asked if I could. I mean sure, I’ve gotten plenty of no’s along the way, but asking is free and it never hurts!
- On your hardest days, remember your why. When you start something new, you’ll have hard days. It’s a given. It’s easy to let those hard days defeat you. But, instead, if you focus on your why, you will keep your passion burning. That is critical to combat feelings of inadequacy and doubt.
- Find your cheerleaders. We aren’t meant to do things alone. Humans were designed for community. Starting a business is lonely. You have to build your community of cheerleaders so that you have people to celebrate with, cry to, and navigate the uncharted waters with.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. No really, they don’t matter. I spend months focused on creating the perfect logo, the perfect website, the perfect mission and vision statement. They matter, but they’re not set in stone. They can be changed. Honestly, just start, let it be messy, grow through it, and come out on the other side stronger!
- You can build a business without an office. I thought I had to have the perfect home office to be a legit business owner. But, here I am, sitting on my couch, running a business. You don’t need as much as you think to make it happen!
Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
For me personally, mental health is HUGE! Maternal Mental Health Disorders are so prevalent in developed countries because we don’t support one another the way people in less developed countries do. Building that support network is crucial to combat these challenges. And, honestly, being open and honest about our struggles. There is so much help out there if we are just willing to be vulnerable about our challenges.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
Check out my website www.resurgenspostpartum.com. I post weekly blogs and also have an email list you can sign up for there. You can follow me on Instagram @resurgens_postpartum. There you’ll find pregnancy and motherhood tips, self-care strategies, and so much more!
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
Women In Wellness: Christina Pack of Resurgens Postpartum On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.