Female Disruptors: Zakia Torres of Quartz and Rainbows On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up…

Female Disruptors: Zakia Torres of Quartz and Rainbows On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“Stay true to yourself” is the best advice I’ve received and the best that I can give. It’s super hard to grow a business and keep up if you have to wait to see what the next person is doing. My business flows easily because I’m just being me… my bright, foul-mouthed colorful self!

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

Zakia Torres, an entrepreneur disrupting the spiritual space. Master Manifestor, inspiring women everywhere to walk in their truth, trust their intuition, and manifest a ravishing rainbow after every treacherous storm.

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?

Honestly, I didn’t choose this career path. I feel like it chose me. My very spiritual grandmother (even called a witch at times) passed away the same summer of my separation from my now ex-husband and I feel like she passed me the torch. When I was a young child I remember her telling me that I was just like her but I didn’t know it yet and she saw something in me that I didn’t even know existed. I became obsessed with learning more about healing and spirituality. My business allowed me to share it in a way that newbies like me could relate to and still feel comfortable with.

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

A lot of spiritual brands that I see online keep things very safe and neutral. My brand is colorful, I use provocative words and the whole brand is a reflection of who I am. I am far from perfect but I’m growing and I’m not the depressed woman with no hope for the future that I once was. I think it’s my authenticity that is disruptive.

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

This mistake won’t sound funny to some, many will think it’s a good problem but I remember a day that I made thousands of dollars with a flash sale but I had absolutely no inventory, so it took weeks to get the orders out from just that day. Making a lot of money fast always sounds good but honestly, it can destroy your business, if you aren’t prepared. The lesson that I learned was to trust my process, don’t rush success. Get my back end in order and then the rest will happen exactly when it’s supposed to.

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

I have many mentors that I haven’t even met yet. I read books, watch YouTube and study my favorites. I watch a podcast called the Social Proof podcast hosted by a duo named David and Donni. They are my current mentors because they share the good and bad parts of entrepreneurship and I soak it all in. I listen to people who are where I want to be in business as well as in my personal life.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Disrupting an industry is positive when you can come in and help people improve their lives while still growing your business. Disrupting would be negative if you are coming in strong and selling false promises. I make my customers understand that although I believe in my products 100% they need to believe in manifestation and do the work!

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

“Stay true to yourself” is the best advice I’ve received and the best that I can give. It’s super hard to grow a business and keep up if you have to wait to see what the next person is doing. My business flows easily because I’m just being me… my bright, foul-mouthed colorful self!

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

I’m nowhere near done. The book that I will release when I finish writing will shake up my industry because it’s raw, honest, and inspiring. I am taking accountability for the bad choices that I made throughout my life that I do not regret because they lead me to exactly where I am today.

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

I’m nowhere near done. The book that I will release when I finish writing will shake up my industry because it’s raw, honest, and inspiring. I am taking accountability for the bad choices that I made throughout my life that I do not regret because they lead me to exactly where I am today.

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

Living Untethered by Michael A. Singer was a complete life changer for me. It helped me to be present and realize that I control my thoughts, they don’t have to control me.

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

I would inspire a movement where we all learn how to face our self-limiting beliefs and change our mindsets. A lot of the things in our way come from childhood trauma and not being taught to dream bigger and have faith. I just want people to believe in themselves and keep pushing through tough times.

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

Many years ago, way before I started my business, a very successful person told me that “Life is what you make it.” I hated hearing that, I just didn’t understand it at the time but it’s the truth. We all have the power to change our lives and become what we want to be if we truly believe that we deserve it.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow me on Instagram. I’m very active there @Quartzandrainbows

and you can check out the coolest spiritual lifestyle brand — Quartzandrainbows.com

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


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

Modern Fashion: Brooke Mullen of Sapahn On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand…

Modern Fashion: Brooke Mullen of Sapahn On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today

An Interview With Candice Georgiadice

Connection with supply chain: There is a lot of power in knowing your supply chain, the very people who make your beautiful goods. They can be solutions to your problems. They are part of your team. Part of business is knowing things from start to finish so knowing this piece is crucial.

Many in the fashion industry have been making huge pivots in their business models. Many have turned away from the fast fashion trend. Many have been focusing on fashion that also makes a social impact. Many have turned to sustainable and ethical sourcing. Many have turned to hi tech manufacturing. Many have turned to subscription models. What are the other trends that we will see in the fashion industry? What does it take to lead a successful fashion brand today?

In our series called, “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today” we are talking to successful leaders of fashion brands who can talk about the Future of Fashion and the 5 things it takes to lead a successful fashion brand in our “new normal.”

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Brooke Mullen of Sapahn.

A self-taught designer created out of a beautiful journey of discovery, connection, and understanding, founder and designer Brooke Mullen lived in Thailand for 10 years and launched Sapahn in 2010 while pursuing her master’s degree in Human Rights, traveling to places many don’t gain access to. A fiercely authentic entrepreneur, Brooke is disrupting what today’s designers stand for — along with her enduring and conscious designs, Brooke is steadfast in showing the fashion industry that a focus on human rights is the pathway toward alleviating many vulnerabilities of exploitation. Businesses, even fashion brands, can be a force for creating a world where the human rights of ALL are upheld and respected.

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”?

Fashion brand founded in Lincoln, Nebraska. Not a headline you hear often, but with my Midwest roots also came a heart of an entrepreneur. Starting as early as first grade I would think up different “business” ventures. First it was a game show for neighborhood kids — in exchange for coins, kids could play carnival games to win toys I didn’t want anymore. This became more sophisticated as the years went on.

My passion for business blossomed in highschool by participating in DECA, where I first met a foreign exchange student who was from Hungary and sponsored by the Rotary Club. This ignited my desire to travel. Not long after, I applied to be a scholar, figuring out how to graduate a year early. Six months later, as a 17 year old, I was a foreign exchange student in a small town in Romania called Ramnicu Valcea. It was a life changing experience. I’m convinced travel has the power to change the trajectory of your life, your purpose and direction.

During my time in Romania, I met another American who was a Peace Corps volunteer. For the remaining months of my exchange program, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to several Romanian communities volunteering alongside other Peace Corps volunteers learning about the community projects they were part of. A few experiences really stand out in my mind. I remember standing in the bitter cold winter in the center of Bucharest handing out clean needles to users, many of whom were young people, to limit the spread of disease, organizing Christmas presents for children of the organages, and spending a few weeks inside an institutional orphanage alongside therapists. It was all eye opening. It was eye opening because it showed the gray areas of life. The realities of what marginalized people experienced. There’s always more to the story. It was these experiences and stories that led me to extend compassion to people, even for things I don’t understand. To remain curious, not stagnant in my opinions but open minded to learn, to see the world with open eyes, not fixed views.

After my time in Romania, I went to a community college before transferring to the University of Nebraska graduating with a degree in International Studies and a minor in Business. I spent all my extra money traveling — a month studying in Asia (Japan, Korea, Thailand) followed by a trip back to Romania, then studied for a semester in Spain, visiting Thailand again before completing college.

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

After college, I got married and moved to Thailand, ended up living there for 10 years and became a solo entrepreneur along the way. I didn’t have all the pieces, but three pivotal things happened during a short time; 1) I was in grad classes for my MA in Human Rights; 2) I was working at the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in Bangkok; and 3) I was meeting crazy talented female artisans in rural areas throughout Thailand who faced challenges making their businesses sustainable due to location, accessibility, design, raw materials, market exposure, etc. But these three things didn’t mean anything until I met Marie Tu, a young Burmese woman in Myanmar. She was bright beyond measure and resilient as heck but poverty and lack of education opportunities were holding her back in a never ending cycle. When I asked her what would change her life she immediately replied education.

Hearing this was the real gut check. Here I was living in Thailand studying Human Rights traveling to Myanmar for research and I found myself pondering the tangible impact I was going to make with this degree. And I realized this was it. I knew my husband (who was pursuing his PhD in Human Rights) and I could figure out how to generate an opportunity to bring her to Thailand to study Human Rights alongside us.

So, the question became how would we raise money for a scholarship for Marie Tu. Well, I started sourcing beautiful, handmade accessories from rural Thai women and paying them fairly (a wage they set themselves), and then hauled it back to my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska, and hosted a trunk show. It was a big success. Everything sold and people wanted more! A month later, I incorporated Sapahn, meaning bridge in Thai, and brought Marie Tu to Thailand to study. This was 12 years ago. Back then, I would travel village to village, by bus, in the back of trucks, on trains. Over 2,500 miles to reach nine different artisans communities, producing nine product lines twice a year. Four months out of the year, I would fly back to the U.S. to market and sell the goods, telling beautiful stories along the way and inviting customers to join me in my pursuit with conversation of how their purchase was impacting women’s lives, how we as women across the world from one another are more similar than one would imagine. The whole idea originally started as a way to generate scholarship money to get a girl in Thailand through school and it grew into something wildy better than one could imagine. Much has evolved over the years, but what hasn’t changed is the way we do business.

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

In 2010 I was trekking rural Myanmar, with my husband. He was conducting research for his dissertation to understand how rural villagers went about creating their own change in their communities under military dictatorship.

We wanted to meet the people where they lived, in the hills of Shan State Myanmar, and the only way there was on foot. We walked miles each day. For a while, nothing really notable happened. Until one day I saw one mother wearing a bright orange scarf. Then I saw another woman, and then another. They were so beautiful and captivating.

I made eye contact with some of them, exchanging smiles, when I saw one carrying her baby in the most beautiful sling. I pointed to her scarf, and in slow English I said, “I love it.” She may not have understood my words, but she understood my facial expression. Communicating wasn’t easy — we had to translate from English to Burmese to the local tribe language — but we worked it out eventually. They told me they made the scarves themselves and would sell some to me if I wanted. “How much?” I asked. They told me their price and I didn’t bargain. The scarves were worth every penny.

As I gazed at the incredible quality of their work, I looked up and asked “How many do you have?” A few of the family members ran to the house and came back with what they had. I lit up. “I want them all.”

As we walked on to the next village, I could feel a vibrating, giddy, excited buzz permeating all around us. This wasn’t still about the scarves I had just bought was it? I tugged on my translator’s sleeve, “What is it? What’s going on? What are they saying?” His response shocked me. It was also the moment the idea of Sapahn was conceived (and how we would raise that money for Marie Tu). He leaned over and said, “They’re excited because now they can buy a cow for the entire village.”

It’s hard to describe what his words meant to me, but what I can tell you is that this moment has stuck with me every day since it happened, 12 years ago and has impacted the deep sense of purpose and journey I’m on today to change the way business is done globally. I often dream about the ripple effect this one act had on their village, their life, their wellbeing, their hope in the world.

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?

  1. Deep passion and curiosity: You don’t have to know everything to start a business, nor to be successful. You need to have innate curiosity, a thirst to know more, figure it out, bridge the gap, network, and learn.

Starting a human rights based fashion brand as a 24 year old who was starting her MA in Human Rights, had never worked retail, never taken a design or fashion class, I definitely didn’t know everything. But, I was obsessed with figuring out how things were made, who was making them, how they were making them, what challenges they faced, especially in their business, what were their dreams, and, at the end of the day, how I could harness and connect all of this to something greater. It manifested in the physical form of a product that women in the U.S. would LOVE because of the thoughtful purpose and function and timeless design. Something they couldn’t help but tell their friends about because it made them feel beautiful, they got so many compliments, and they wanted to share this good with people they cared about.

2. Mindset: Throughout my career I’ve had to deal with a lot of unknowns and I believe my success through it all came down to mindset. When things don’t go my way or the way I anticipated, I see it as a pathway to learn and find out a new way to take things to the next level. I love a level of uncertainty and find this keeps me on my toes and, in a twisted way, makes things more interesting and challenging. I’m a person who feels like getting through the grit and the tough is rewarding because it stretches and challenges me to do more.

I am resilient — I WON’T STOP. I don’t have a fear of the unknown. The true terror for me is going to a 9 to 5 job.

3. Commitment to my mission: In the early days, people in my community, my close friends and my family got behind Sapahn’s mission and product because they wanted to support me and this big vision I had, and then they happened to love the product as well. And 12 years in business later, I have never turned my back on that initial vision, to make beautiful things doing beautiful things in the world. No matter what the future holds for Sapahn, we will always stand for people. We will always seek to build a world where all human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights, have a voice in the decisions that affect them, and have the agency to act on their own behalf.

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

I think we really stand out because I never set out to start a fashion brand. The purpose for starting wasn’t fashion or to make products. It was to mobilize people, especially those who are marginalized.

Most fashion designers go to Parsons, where I studied human rights. Most fashion brands never step foot in the factory and meet the very people who make their goods. I talk with our artisans almost daily, have spent weeks, months in our factory and met them face to face.

So for customers, Sapahn offers the ability to indulge in luxury fashion without sacrifice. Beautifully designed, handcrafted bags that stand the test of time, and stand for something bigger.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Where there is a will, there is a way.” No one is standing in your way but yourself.

While I was supposed to be writing my thesis for my Master’s all I could do was walk the streets of Bangkok meeting people, figuring out where to buy leather and hardware, making friends with women in the markets. It was during a similar time where there was starting to be more exposure of inhuman practices taking place in supply chains of well known brands, especially in fashion. Thier response was there was no way to trace their supply chain to ensure exploitation and child labor was not taking place. What I would say in response is “Where there is a will, there is a way.”

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Do you see any fascinating developments emerging over the next few years in the fashion industry that you are excited about? Can you tell us about that?

I always wonder what the fashion industry as a whole might look like if we put people first, and I think the tide is starting to change and consumers are expecting more from the brands they choose to support.

The respect for human rights is a brave new journey. It is something far more essential than donating profits or quantified sustainability. Human rights are the inherent rights that protect our status as humans — as free beings, equal in dignity and equally deserving of freedom from fear, freedom from want, and freedom to take action on our own behalf. By protecting each of us, human rights protect all of us. Yet, this only works if people embrace the responsibility that makes human rights possible. All of us can enjoy and exercise our human rights to the extent that we do not infringe upon the inherent rights and freedoms of others. We all share a responsibility to respect human rights. And in 2011 the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) established that all businesses, as specialized organs of society, have a corporate responsibility to respect human rights — a responsibility to do business in a way that treats people as humans with inherent rights and freedoms.

Practically, the UNGPs call on businesses to:

  • Recognize and treat affected people as rights holders with inherent dignity and rights and agency, rather than charity cases or passive subjects.
  • Get accountable to those rights holders
  • Identify and address salient business-related risks
  • Make a best effort to create tangible result for affected rights holders, and
  • Report on the success, lessons, and plans for continuous improvement.

The responsibility to respect human rights is about progress, not perfection. It is about addressing rather than concealing the realities and challenges of doing a business.

Yes, this is a brave new journey. Corporate respect for human rights is about doing business in a way that is humane and empowering. It is about ensuring that profit does not come at the expense of people or the planet. And I am excited to see more and more brands adopting policies and procedures that do just that.

At Sapahn, we embrace our responsibility to respect human rights as outlined in the UNGPs. We understand that respecting human rights is not a passive exercise. It’s a call to action.

Can you share how your brand is helping to bring goodness to the world?

When properly put in motion, the power of respect for human rights is immeasurable. It is accountability, not philanthropy, that transforms business as usual. Equality is not a pledge, but a human right to demand equal treatment. Agency changes everything because it enables people to act on their own behalf, to prevent harm and to empower themselves.

When we say that Sapahn is a human rights-based brand, this is what we mean. We embody a commitment to accountability, equality, and agency.

  • We have a responsibility to do right by our artisans and customers, and we take that very seriously.
  • We recognize all as rights holders and ensure that we are accountable to them.
  • We do business in a way that promotes our shared dignity, equality and rights.
  • We think deeply about how our business decisions and practices impact everyone in our value change.
  • We listen to our artisans.
  • We problem solve with them.
  • We work with them to overcome challenges.
  • We ensure they are in a position to protect themselves, their interests, and each other.
  • We put our artisans in a position to empower themselves and this puts our customers in an empowered position.

This is what we mean by our rallying cry, Carry Forward. It’s about creating change the (human) right way. We are setting the stage and proof of concept for how a business can impact significant change by putting people first. By putting people in a position for them to protect themselves and advocate for what is best for them.

Can you share with our readers about the ethical standards you use when you choose where to source materials?

We go directly to the source. I dedicated 10 years to figuring out our supply chain on the ground in Thailand. Traveling directly to our artisans, collaborating with them on sourcing the best materials, and gaining access to this type of transparency was no easy feat. It took seven years to get access to our tannery, a third generation business in their village. Not everyone has that luxury of time. But through it all, I know that my artisans are being paid fairly and treated with dignity.

Pursuing various environmental standards when you are not backed by millions in capital takes a lot of legwork. And when you are sourcing out of developing countries with smaller businesses who are not able to afford these expensive certifications you face yet another challenge. Both parties face huge cost obstacles yet make up a huge percentage of business and operations worldwide.

So, we are committed to doing everything we can to improve our environmental footprint. All of our leather is a bi-product of the meat industry. We use deadstock for the lining of our bags. We use all of the hide and donate any leftover scraps of leather to a local college’s art program. We know there is much more we can do, and want to do, and that’s why we are still in the game.

As a customer, I must admit I too was a little naive when it comes to advocating for brands to ‘just do better.’ For example, it’s technically not that hard to introduce a better water purification process in a tannery, but it ultimately comes down to your leverage and resources. When we met with our tannery it was clear there were ways they could manage water waste better. They, the tannery, knew this very well. Heck, it is in their own backyard, so it was 100% something they too wanted to incorporate, but who was going to pay for it? We learned that even what we were ordering was maybe 5% of the amount they’d need to even consider investing in such technology. We are not alone in this. Speaking to colleagues leading sustainability efforts for Fortune 500 brands also run up against the same problem of not having enough buying power to influence processes in factories solo. It comes down to leverage. If you can collaborate and join forces with other brands who source from the same tannery for example, change is more feasible.

Fast fashion has an advantage, that it is affordable for most people, but it also has the drawback that it does not last very long and is therefore not very sustainable. What are your thoughts about this? How does your company address this question?

It has a massive drawback. Is something truly affordable if it comes at the expense of something, someone else?

Fast fashion is built on disposable pieces and dispensable people. Predatory practices and unfair exchanges of value. Self-indulgence and short sightedness. Business practices that disregard the intrinsic value of all people, and brands that back down from the opportunity to make the world a better place.

When we call it like it is, like this, who would want to support ‘fast fashion’? When you know better, you do better. Our customers are conscientious and care about social justice and the environment. To them, a luxury product of any kind should reflect a commitment to top quality and, wherever possible, social and environmental responsibility. One previous fast-fashion customer said it best, “you get what you pay for. I don’t save any money by buying fast fashion because it doesn’t last. If I invested in quality from the start, I would come out ahead, plus I feel like I’m doing my civic duty by shopping sapahn.”

You know that feeling when you have been super intentional and even worked extra hard to save up for something? You’ve invested a lot of time, effort and money, therefore, it means something more to you. It’s symbolic in many ways. It marks a moment in time. You take pride in the purchase and in yourself for what it took to get you there. I wish more people would look at every purchase this way, big or small.

Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand”. Please share a story or example for each.

  1. A clear mission and vision: You need clarity in what you are trying to achieve. I knew from day one that 1) I was founding a human rights based company (artisans are participatory and equal, artisans set their own wages, the company would mobilize people through business done right). 2) To be sustainable, we needed great designs (timeless, not trendy) and 3) the product must be high quality (long lasting). My vision was to create sustainable impact AND a sustainable business.
  2. A strong purpose: Why are you doing what you are doing? What’s motivating you in the work, in the brand you’re about? You’ll need to be extra clear here and find purpose in it because it requires a lot of energy, time, curiosity, and facing constant friction. When I founded Sapahn, my purpose was not to start a fashion brand, it was to seek answers to BIG questions — How do we reduce people’s vulnerabilities when they migrate? How can we build businesses in rural Thailand that offer an enticing opportunity to men and women so they don’t have to leave their communities in search of work? What does empowerment look like? How can we flip philanthropy on its head? For me, these questions and the greater purpose that what I’m doing is bigger than myself drive our business. If we fold today or if I quit, I’m not the only one it will impact. Hundreds of people who are part of our supply chain will be impacted. I don’t take this lightly in building a sustainable company.
    So the mix of vision, mission, purpose, and add in values, this will guide your culture, attract customers and employees, and give to what you are doing and why and how you will do this. This all provides a crucial foundation for the business.
  3. Identifiable product: You know a Sapahn by our signature Omega hardware. It’s never mistaken. It immediately connects people and ignites a meaningful conversation. One year early on I didn’t put the Omega hardware on a bag, it just didn’t look great with it on. That year after showing off this new bag design I was told by customers time and time again that they loved it but because it didn’t have the Omega on it they didn’t want to purchase it. They loved the subtle, yet strong statement the Omega hardware gives to the bags. From this day on, the Omega became our signature piece.
  4. Loyal customers: Sapahn has been very lucky to have loyal customers that have been with us since the start. They are truly champions for us and I think it is because we invite them on this journey with us and bring them into this community of women who simply want other women to succeed. And typically, they first fall in love with the product, and the human rights mission becomes the cherry on top. Many customers share, “Oh, I got stopped in the TSA line,” or “Someone said I love your bag at the grocery store.” Customers then tell me how they gush about the functionality, the pockets, the lining, and the story of doing good. If you spot a Sapahn across the room or at a store there is an immediate sense of connection; like-minded women who want their beautiful things to do beautiful things and whose shopping habits speak to their values. These encounters in everyday situations are how many first discover Sapahn — for the first 10 years our marketing was all word of mouth.
  5. Connection with supply chain: There is a lot of power in knowing your supply chain, the very people who make your beautiful goods. They can be solutions to your problems. They are part of your team. Part of business is knowing things from start to finish so knowing this piece is crucial.

I don’t see many companies viewing their supply chain as the true asset that they are. For instance, during COVID, our artisans immediately came to us with the idea of making face masks out of our lining fabric after learning of the massive mask shortages the U.S. experienced early on. They produced the masks, we sold them at cost and offered “buy 5, gift 5 free,” because of the high demand the U.S. was facing at the time. This solution kept the artisans employed, served a safety massive need stateside, and connected us to thousands of new customers throughout the U.S. All throughout COVID, we didn’t have any supply chain issues when everyone else did because of our strong relationships and transparency with them. We were able to do something so beautiful by keeping people employed, giving them a source of livelihood, wellbeing, and stability.

Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?

Simply put, people first. At Sapahn, we reject the false premise that fashion consumers must choose between “doing good” or “looking good”. No one should be disregarded or discounted in the name of fashion. Everyone deserves to live a life full of meaning. Equal rights and agency for all people. This starts with the supply chain.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start 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. 🙂

It’s not new, but the movement I’ve been advocating for is business + human rights.

Do people have a voice in the decision making process? Are they consulted in decisions that impact them? Are they treated with respect and dignity? Is their safety kept in mind when making decisions? Are they paid a liveable wage? At Sapahn they are. I would love to help any other brand seeking this type of improvement even make just the tiniest step in the right direction. It is all about progress, the journey and the pursuit of doing better, little by little.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Readers can read more about our human rights based business model and shop our products online at www.sapahn.com and also join us on Instagram by following @sapahn.

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


Modern Fashion: Brooke Mullen of Sapahn On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Maya Magennis On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s…

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

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Move your body every day in all directions. It doesn’t have to be a formal movement practice or exercise regime, even adjusting the way that you sit periodically can have a profound impact on how your body feels long term. To the extent that it’s possible, I try to move my body every 15 minutes or so, and have been known to take conference calls while stretching or walking!

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of Maya Magennis.

Maya Magennis is a seasoned operations executive, wellness educator, and yoga teacher. She is currently the President of YogaWorks, the world’s leading provider of online yoga classes and teacher trainings, as well as a top teacher on the YogaWorks platform. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Duke University and has received over 1,000 hours of yoga training from some of the industry’s most notable teachers.

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’ll start from the very beginning. I was born and raised on Kauai. My parents were total hippies. My mom, a massage therapist and yoga teacher, and my dad, a classical guitarist and surfer, moved to Hawaii looking for adventure and a simpler way of life. My childhood was as idyllic as you can imagine — I spent lots of time at the beach, learned to swim before I could walk, and was encouraged to explore the beauty of my surroundings. For most people in Hawaii, tourists and locals alike, Kauai is an escape, a place to get away from it all. Yet, since elementary school, all I wanted to do was escape the island. For a long time, I felt out of place. I was a geek whose passions were academics and ballet (which I studied for over 15 years). I was never drawn to the conformity and complacency that seemed to hang over the island.

My parents never pressured me to succeed, and I always dreamed of being surrounded by individuals that challenged and stimulated me. In my mind, I had more to contribute to the world than Kauai gave me the space to offer. When it came time to apply for college, I only applied to schools on the East Coast. I ended up attending Duke University sight unseen, which was my version of rebellion against my free-spirited parents. It was at Duke that I initially became interested in yoga — both the physical practice and the philosophy. Although my mom had practiced yoga around me for many years, growing up, I was resistant to it. Yoga wasn’t nearly as mainstream as it is today, and I wouldn’t be caught dead doing something that my mom did. Little did I know, that yoga would become a driving force in my future.

Post Duke, I moved to New York City to pursue a career in investment banking. Though my job left me exhausted and unhappy, I was set on making it in the finance world. I felt set for life when I started my banking career, however, after a few years, I knew I was wrong. I was clinging to an idea of success that was destroying me. Even though my health and self-esteem deteriorated, I held on to the idea that I needed to be in finance to make it in the world. In 2011, I was let go from my job, which was the proverbial blessing in disguise. I needed a break to reconnect to myself and my passions, so I enrolled in a yoga teacher training course.

While I was pursuing my training, I ended up taking a job at YogaWorks, the studio I was training at. Initially, I viewed the job as a sabbatical from “real” life and figured that after some time away I would be ready to do something more serious. It gave me time to explore teaching yoga — something I loved, but also something that required me to be vulnerable in a way that was totally scary. The universe had a different plan, and I ended up moving up the ladder at YogaWorks, got promoted, and was transferred to LA. I’ve been with YogaWorks for over 11 years now, in many different capacities. I had been teaching and leading teacher trainings for the company leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the fitness and movement industry especially hard. Fortunately, I was still connected to several people on the business side at YogaWorks, and when the time came to rethink the brick and mortar studio business I rejoined their team and helped stand up the digital platform that exists today. We ended up successfully navigating a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and I’m proud to be leading the charge at the company today.

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 feel very fortunate that serendipity has played a big part in my career so far. Some people may call it luck or karma, either way, I recognize that the right people and situations have shown up in my life at the right time. The COVID-19 pandemic was a great example of this. Prior to the lockdowns, I had been working full-time as a yoga teacher and teacher trainer. It was a career that I thought I loved, and I had worked really hard to get to that point, but I missed using my brain in the analytic and strategic way that had been required both in my finance days and when I worked on business side of the yoga industry. When yoga studios closed, I had the opportunity to rethink how I wanted to spend my time professionally. It came with some stress about the unknown and grief about the contraction of the industry at large, but I recognized that we were headed for a new normal, and for me that meant some changes in my professional life. Fortunately, I was still connected with the then-CEO of YogaWorks, and when the time came to pivot the business from a physical studio business to an online studio, I rejoined the company to head up all things — operations and programming strategy.

It was an interesting time for anybody working in the fitness industry, and by no means to I discount the heartbreak and sadness that came with the isolation, financial hardship, and massive loss of work that many yoga teachers experienced. But I viewed the situation as an opportunity to rethink the way we did business and (potentially) set the company up for greater success. In order to do this, we had to file for bankruptcy, work with new ownership, and have continued to evolve the business model based on what is happening in the world around us. It hasn’t been easy, but as I’ve gotten more comfortable with uncertainty and developed a willingness to experiment, the more joy I’ve been able to find in my days. Ultimately, I believe that the universe works in mysterious ways, and this period of my career has proven that for me. I’ve been presented with people and opportunities that have taught me some of my greatest lessons, and this has reinforced my belief in the power of serendipity.

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?

This is a tricky one! I’ve made so many big mistakes over the course of my career and have learned so much in the process. One of my biggest was thinking that to be effective in my career I had to know how to do everything on my own. During my finance years, I was conditioned to ask for help as little as possible, so I became wary of asking for help at all. It didn’t serve me well, especially as my career evolved and I was repeatedly exposed to things that I had very little experience in. A certain level of professional self-sufficiency is always a good thing, but learning how to ask for help is equally as important! No matter how intelligent or experienced you are, you can’t know everything. Identifying blind spots and seeking out the expertise of others is an essential component of good leadership. I’ve learned to be gentler on myself when I don’t know things, and turn those moments into opportunities to expand my knowledge base!

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

I’m a huge believer in the value of physical wellness practices and have made it my personal mission to make yoga more accessible to people around the globe. And by yoga I don’t just mean the physical postures — I think the general population has been a bit misinformed as the practice has become more mainstream; yoga is so much more than physical exercise! Ultimately yoga is a practice of paying attention and becoming more mindful in your daily life, noticing your reactions to the things that you like and those that you don’t. In essence it’s very simple, but in practice it’s not easy! We’re all dealing with so much stimulation every day, whether in the world around us, the constant “connection” made possible by technology, or the incessant thought patterns running through our minds. Pausing and paying attention to what is happening in the here and now is such a powerful tool, it can totally change your perspective. The physical practice of yoga is a great entry point to learn to do this. By paying attention to your body, your breath, and the state of your mind you can anchor yourself in the present. The cool part is that you don’t need to do fancy poses (though those can be fun) … you don’t even need a yoga mat! At YogaWorks we have a lot of different options of yoga styles, teachers, and class durations, and maintaining that mix is an important part of our company’s mission. I want to help people understand that even a few mindful minutes a day can completely change your reality, and, in turn, have a positive ripple effect on the world around you.

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) Move your body every day in all directions. It doesn’t have to be a formal movement practice or exercise regime, even adjusting the way that you sit periodically can have a profound impact on how your body feels long term. To the extent that it’s possible, I try to move my body every 15 minutes or so, and have been known to take conference calls while stretching or walking!

(2) Become more mindful of your breathing patterns. Our breathing can have a really significant impact on our nervous systems, especially in moments of challenge or anxiety. Noticing your breath in certain situations is a great place to start — notice if your inhales are longer than your exhales, if you breathe through your mouth or your nose, if you subconsciously hold your breath. As you observe, slow down your breathing, with an emphasis on the exhales. To the extent that you can, breath through your nose, which will help elongate each breath and encourages proper use of your diaphragm. This can have a calming effect on your nervous system

(3) Connect to nature every day. There are recent research studies that point to the great benefits of getting outside daily. Most people live in pretty domesticated environments, especially with all of the sitting indoors that we do daily, so spending time in nature, even if only for 20–30 minutes, can have such a positive impact on our health. Public green spaces are great, or if you have access to a yard that can work, too. I try to get outside every morning (having dogs to walk helps), and have noticed that feeling the sun on my skin and air on my face is such a positive way to start the day.

(4) Stay hydrated. Many of us simply don’t drink enough water. Our bodies are seventy percent water, so not having enough water in our bodies is a big problem, even at the most basic cellular level. Dehydration can also cause fatigue, mood swings, and brain fog — no fun! A general rule of thumb is to take your weight in pounds, divide it in half, and drink that many ounces of water on a daily basis. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, drink at least 75 ounces of water a day. I like to keep a big bottle of water at my desk and grab for it often. There are also apps that remind you to drink water at a certain frequency, or, if you prefer to go old school, use post-it note reminders!

(5) Practice healthy boundaries, in all aspects of your life. Boundaries create trust and help build stronger relationships. If you’re a people pleaser, remember that every time you say “yes” to someone else, you may be saying “no” to yourself. This can lead to low self-esteem, excessive stress, and a host of other negative effects on your health and wellbeing. Boundaries vary from person to person, so only you know what your personal boundaries are. I often ask myself, “is this choice/relationship giving me energy or taking it away?” It’s a great way to gauge if I am putting my own sanity and success on the backburner.

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 really believe that knowing how to breathe properly is a superpower, so if I could start any movement, it would be teaching people how to breathe well. The movement patterns that power our respiration can impact how we feel, think, and move, and intentionally changing the mechanics and cadence of your breathing can have a powerful influence on your entire being. If children were taught the power and importance of their breathing from a young age, they could leverage that information in all of life’s situations, contributing to a greater sense of calm, better decision making, improved sleep, and a host of other great benefits!

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

(1) Your health is the most important thing you have. Without your health, you can’t fully experience any of the positive things that happen in your life. In the early days of my career, I was willing to trade money for my time and health, which only led to feeling awful and being dissatisfied with my life. Now I make an effort to prioritize my health and well-being every day, even if that means I have to do less or disappoint others in the process. This has led me to feeling better physically and mentally, not to mention making me more productive in my professional life.

(2) There is no “right” way. Each of us has completely unique ideas and perspectives, and no one can accurately predict the future all the time. I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so this was a hard thing for me to accept for a long time. I think there is comfort in thinking you know the answer or the correct path forward, but the more comfortable I’ve become with uncertainty and experimentation, the more fulfilled I’ve felt in both work and life.

(3) Trust your intuition… and use data, too. Data without intuition can be misleading, but conversely, intuition without any data can lead us astray. Both are important, and it’s essential to consider both in decision making. Data can provide facts, great insights, and validate business requirements, but it will never replace our experiences, ideas or whims. Our minds are amazing at harnessing creativity, and intuition can be the spark that leads to ideas beyond what we’ve experienced in reality. I’ve learned that there is a place for the subjective (intuition) and objective (data) in business — the combination of the two is a total superpower.

(4) As a leader, delegation is key. You can’t do it all alone, and learning how to delegate to your team is essential to maintaining your sanity, especially as a business evolves and grows. Letting go of control can feel scary, but it gives you the space and time to focus on the bigger picture.

(5) Be weird. Always be yourself, even if it means defying societal norms. We need people in the world who are individuals, who are unique, and are willing to create businesses that reflect their uniqueness. This means that your choices, hopes, and dreams only have to make sense to one person — YOU. The world wants to see and experience the real version of you, and being authentic to yourself will ultimately lead to awesome things in your life and the world.

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

Mental health is a cause that is so near and dear to my heart. It effects how we feel, think, act, and interact with others, and is a crucial component of better understanding our relationships with ourselves. It directly affects the choices that we make, and in that way can positively contribute to some of the other topics on this list as well. By making a concerted effort to spread mental health awareness, I believe we can de-stigmatize how we think about and approach mental health issues. This will contribute to a greater sense of acceptance of the ups and downs inherent to our humanness, which is important as we navigate stress, pressure, and the demands of life in modern day society. Yoga and present moment awareness are hugely helpful tools in supporting mental well-being and improving quality of life, and I will continue to facilitate these practices in service to all of those around me.

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

Readers can follow me on Instagram @mayamagyoga and find my classes at YogaWorks.

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


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

Women In Wellness: Mary Pat Wallace of the Luxury Bed Collection On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That…

Women In Wellness: Mary Pat Wallace of the Luxury Bed Collection On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Invest in a quality mattress made with natural materials. Shop various brands, get educated and experience the comfort and support that is right for you!

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mary Pat Wallace.

Mary Pat Wallace, founder and principal of the Luxury Bed Collection, has been in the sleep and mattress industry for over 20 years. She is a proud business owner and entrepreneur who strives to teach the public and her clients about the importance of quality sleep.

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 roots as a design entrepreneur go back to 1991, when I founded my first venture, MP and Associates Inc., a contract furniture manufacturer focused on the financial industry. Having gained experience early on in career in design, furnishings, and the luxury-to-trade market while working at Holly Hunt, I combined my intimate understanding of the design and manufacturing world with my expertise in client service to bring creative solutions to office design.

Balancing entrepreneurship with home life proved even more challenging, however. As a young businessperson and mother, I found myself struggling with lack of sleep — a problem I knew I had to remedy in order to fulfill both of my passions. Following my friend’s recommendation as well as my own research, I visited the famed European mattress manufacturer Hästens, where I realized the impact a perfectly fitted mattress of exceptional quality can have on restorative sleep. As a design industry veteran, I recognized the value of the bed as the most important piece of furniture in the home; a place where we spend one-third of our lives, and a key element for optimum health and productivity. Having witnessed firsthand that the right mattress is critical to a deeply restful night of sleep, I and my then-husband, Andy Wallace, brought that experience and my unique expertise to the luxury market in Chicago, opening the first Hästens retail store in North America in 2005, now known as The Luxury Bed Collection.

We continued to evolve with our success as the company became known for our curated mattress and sleep solutions specifically tailored to fit the needs of the individual consumer. Adding to the Chicago showroom, my brand expanded into new markets with locations in Dallas and Naples.

Committed to sourcing the highest-quality, bespoke mattresses and sleep products from across the globe, my team of experts and I have spent the last 20 years helping clients transform their lives through sleep.

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?

After 25 years, the stories stack up! The biggest lesson learned was managing through the great recession of 2009. In 2008, we had two Hastens stores — one in Chicago and one in Winnetka. By January 2009 our traffic and sales stopped. We had fixed expenses that could not be reduced. We had two landlords that refused to reduce our rent. We had other Hästens retailers who owned substantial inventory which they were selling online at a 50% discount and Hästens could do nothing to help us. With the help of my Vistage group, my accountant, and a magnificent attorney we were able to manage through the crisis and build back a stronger business. Having seasoned professionals in your inner circle are key to helping a business pivot in crisis.

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?

Underestimating the time and money it takes to build an unknown luxury brand in Chicago and the US.

Based on the research I had done I expected sales to grow much faster than reality. I quickly learned that having a superior product and two beautiful stores with trained passionate sales associates does not equate to high revenue and profits. Brands take time to build. The luxury consumer needs to be educated on the value of a luxury product or experience and then it needs to be accepted culturally. If you are building a brand, you need twice as much money and twice as much time as your most conservative plan.

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?

My goal is to educate consumers on the importance of sleep and how the right mattress can improve the quality of your sleep. This goal was created after meeting the Ryde family (Founders of Hästens Beds) in Koping Sweden. In my 20’s working for Holly Hunt, ltd. I had the opportunity to tour the most exclusive factories of the luxury home furnishings brands. That education taught me the value of using the most exclusive materials, built by generations of craftsman whose pride and goal was to create products of legacy. The Hästens family did exactly that, for 170 years this family has been building the best beds in the world. Why? To improve lives through great sleep!

My team and I have been preaching the value of investing in a great mattress for 20 years. The science and research show, sleep is the number one determinate to a long and healthy life, more than diet and exercise. Yet people spend thousands of dollars on luxury health club memberships, personal trainers, and organic food to then unravel all that investment by not getting the proper sleep at night.

Covid got the conversation started! People were home, not traveling, and were sleeping in the same bed every night. Quickly, the world woke up and said no more bad sleep. Our phone began ringing off the hook asking us to open the store during quarantine. Every headline was about our health, how to stay healthy, how to build and maintain a healthy immune system, and manage the mental health challenges that accompany a pandemic. SLEEP IS THE ANSWER!!

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.

My top lifestyle tweaks are directly correlated with sleep and a “sleep routine.” There are many tips that I’ve picked up along my 20-year journey in the sleep industry and these five have always stuck with me.

  1. Cut back on caffeine as much as possible and try to stop caffeine consumption before noon. From my favorite book on sleep Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, he explains the reasoning behind ridding yourself of that afternoon cup. “Caffeine has an average half-life of 5–7 hours,” I often quote from Walker, “meaning 50% of that caffeine may still be active up to seven hours after consumption.”
  2. Don’t consume alcohol in the evenings. As much as I love to have a glass of wine in the evening, it is a terrible disruptor to our sleep pattern.
  3. Commit to a mindfulness practice before bed. Anything like meditation, breathing exercises, or reading a few pages of a book can help let your mind release stressors from the day.
  4. Turn off any screens at least an hour before your head hits the pillow. From a phone light all the way to a streetlight coming in through your blinds, all light can disrupt our sleep pattern, so be sure to block these out as much as possible that hour before sleep and continue through the night.] In addition, reduce light levels in your home by using dimmers, this allows the production of melatonin.
  5. Invest in a quality mattress made with natural materials. Shop various brands, get educated and experience the comfort and support that is 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?

That sleep is wellness. Our society, especially in the United States, is built around this idea of deprioritizing sleep in order to achieve other goals throughout our daily lives, but this is a harmful mindset. Our mental performance, physical performance, and overall health are dramatically affected by how well we sleep. It is very rare that anyone can properly function off of less than 8 hours of sleep per night. If I could start a movement, it would be to treat sleep the same way we treat drinking enough water each day or eating vegetables or exercising — sleep is a vital necessity to well-being and longevity.

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

Sustainability is incredibly important to me and it’s one of the main ideas I built my business around. Often I’m asked, “Why invest this much money in a mattress?” And my answer is always, you spend 2,920 hours per year in your bed. Invest in something that will make those hours spent worth it, but also something that will last, something that can withstand the test of time. The fewer mattresses that go into the landfill a year, the better, but TLBC’s products are also all-natural and full recyclable, so when the time comes for a new mattress, our mattresses won’t be contributing to further waste. I want to put quality, sustainable products in my showrooms to support this belief.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
The Luxury Bed Collection’s website (www.theluxurybedcollection.com) is a great way to keep up with new releases that come through the TLBC showroom.

You can also follow us on Instagram @theluxurybedcollection where any media appearances (fireside chats, virtual conferences dedicated to sleep, or recent articles) are also highlighted, along with company updates.

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


Women In Wellness: Mary Pat Wallace of the Luxury Bed Collection 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: Karen Riley of The Heart Of Oneness Holistic Expo On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks…

Women In Wellness: Karen Riley of The Heart Of Oneness Holistic Expo On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Cultivate Stillness. When we think of stillness, we often think that this requires not doing anything. When, in fact, in the beginning, it very much involves the act of slowing things down and this takes practice. Cultivating stillness requires our focus to move from doing to being and feeling. No matter where you live in the world you know that life is always bustling with things to do and places to be and it takes a focused intention to slow the thought process down as we then invite the body to do the same. Each day, set aside time to slow the mind and body so that you can feel into each breath with ease and calmness.

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

Karen Riley is a Light Path Visionary, Life Deisgn Coach, self-taught jewelry deigner, and founder of the Heart of Oneness Holistic Expo. Her greatest Joy in life is supporting others in bringing forth their individual uniqueness and innate intuitive gifts as this becomes the gateway for activating the unlimited human potential. Karen’s unique interests ahs helped her turn her deep passions of life into her businesses.

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?

Of course, I’m happy to. I was born and raised in the New York area and grew up primarily as a young child and teenager in Staten Island and became a single mom at the age of 19. Throughout my early adult years, I worked in the medical industry primarily in administrative management and billing. At the age of 39 my family and I were relocated to Florida through a new business opportunity and had a chance to meet with a woman who forever changed my life. Prior to moving to Florida and experiencing the beginnings of what many would call a Spiritual Awakening, I led a very basic life that consisted primarily of black and white thinking, meaning, you wake up, you go to work, come home feed the kids, do a little more work if needed and go to sleep. The next day would be the same wash, rinse and repeat cycle. Weekends consisted of watching TV and heading off to do routine shopping. Nothing quite out of the ordinary. However, the universe knew my heart and soul was longing for so much more in this lifetime and in 2007 my life took a turn and there was no looking back. I often like to compare it to the Matrix film, an awakening that once embarked upon just could not be stopped. What began as a “chance” meeting became the spark of a lifetime and began a wellness journey that today is the foundation for this incredible life and new human experience.

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 love this question so much, thank you for asking and I do hope your readers enjoy this most eye-opening experience. Back in 2015, after I had completed a crystal certification program, I began diving deep into the energy of crystals and their connection to universal consciousness. Not fully understanding the power and connection humans innately have with crystals I believe, put me at an advantage because my human mind still wasn’t understanding how it all worked which allowed and facilitated a most profound experience of piezoelectric energy. Like any excited and full of knowledge student, I was very eager to begin testing out crystal healing on anyone that was open and willing. Surprisingly enough it was my husband who just as eagerly volunteered for the job. (Looking back, he had such deep faith and trust in my natural abilities). Since I was already trained as a Reiki Master practitioner, I was quite familiar with sensing the auric field and was even developing a keen ability to detect blockages in the human body when in flow with a client. So, as my husband laid down for his crystal tune up, I began laying down certain crystals on and around his body. First, I’d like to explain that crystal energy is always activated; however, when energy meets energy with intention it becomes a field of quantum expansion. We were probably about 5 minutes into the session when I was guided to take a clear double terminated crystal quartz point and began slowly moving into his solar plexus chakra (stomach area). As I moved into the stomach region I could feel the energy very strongly, and began moving and working with the quartz crystal to help loosen and move along the energy. All of a sudden, a sharp, quick pulse of what I can only describe as white energy shot out from his solar plexus and up and through the quartz crystal startling myself and of course him as well. We were both shaking and pretty stunned at what happened. It had never occurred to me that when energy meets energy and there is a conduit (quartz point) present anything is possible and sparks will fly. The experience taught me so much humility because as humans, we believe oftentimes that we have it all figured out and that with a little education, we are grand masters. But, the truth of the matter is that we are but a small molecule of consciousness whose vastness is in constant connection with everything and everyone and we are just beginning to understand this when it comes to how this world and universe works. It was a day of great reverence for the power of energy, vibration and intention.

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

When I first started, I really believed I could do it all. Looking back, I realize that I had that typical “A” personality and was convinced I could be all and do it all by myself. There was this part of me deep down inside that was afraid to depend on other people for fear of being let down, and often felt like I needed to control every situation. I quickly began to recognize that there was something deeper inside of me driving this behavior that was creating this conflict of wanting to work harmoniously with others but couldn’t because I had so much fear of letting go of control. Through deep inner work I began connecting with my inner child-aspect to balance and resolve this belief pattern that I had adopted as a way of surviving. In truth, every once in a while, I still catch the behavior pattern running in my subconscious. Today, having a strong and ever evolving relationship with the self has only strengthened my ability to understand what is going on vibrationally within me which now has transcended into being able to help others understand themselves as well. Through the experience, I learned that everything is a divine partnership of creation that includes everyone. There can be no such thing as personal or business success without the inclusion of others. The very fabric of this earthly experience is dependent on how we live and perceive others and that relationship can only flourish when we live and work in harmony with ourselves.

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 my husband and I do together with the Heart of Oneness Holistic Expo is everything. Our Heart of Oneness Holistic Expo is an annual gathering of like-minded individuals who are on their own individual paths to becoming the best versions of themselves. We host this event with over 100 exhibitors from across the globe who come together to divulge in their passions and surrender into their own expression. We feel like we get to experience the best of the best as we collaborate with some of the most amazing people who are living their best lives as well. Creating a solid foundation through these holistic events that supports the works of others is the best opportunity to make big collective changes specific to wellness and the evolutionary journey of self-discovery.

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. Go Vegan. It will change your life for the better in so many ways. Do it responsibly, with support and under the supervision of a healthcare professional if needed. You will see improvement in your physical, mental and emotional bodies immediately. Some of the benefits for me have been: weight loss, improved sleep, better skin and hair, improved mental state. Over the years, I have self-regulated and corrected the imbalance of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, and have been medication free for over 10 years now. I am 53 years old and take no medications at all.
  2. Get to know yourself. I know this sounds cliche but it’s so vitally important to really get in touch with who you are and why you are. The most important relationship you will ever have is the one with yourself. Get deep with yourself and the world will transform in the most profound ways. It strengthens all parts of your inner world and you will be the better for it.
  3. Stay Curious. As humans we truly are creatures of habit and we often lose that child-like wonder and curiosity. As we gradually become adults, we often forget to have a light heartedness about ourselves that keeps us innocently curious about life and the nature of things. I’ve always held the belief that the familiar keeps us from experiencing something new. When one is constantly curious about life, a seeming magic will appear in the most surprising ways and you will discover the world anew.
  4. Exercise is key to moving, expanding and clearing energy. As energy begins the most important thing is keeping the physical vessel healthy and active. Whenever I feel like my energy is starting to wane a bit, I know that I need to move my body. The process then becomes to get the mind on board with moving. Keeping the mind and body in synergy is vital for optimal health. Making exercise a priority is always a win win.
  5. Cultivate Stillness. When we think of stillness, we often think that this requires not doing anything. When, in fact, in the beginning, it very much involves the act of slowing things down and this takes practice. Cultivating stillness requires our focus to move from doing to being and feeling. No matter where you live in the world you know that life is always bustling with things to do and places to be and it takes a focused intention to slow the thought process down as we then invite the body to do the same. Each day, set aside time to slow the mind and body so that you can feel into each breath with ease and calmness.

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

Collectively, I believe we (my husband, Matt, and I) have always been on the path of igniting the movement. One by one and person by person, we make a difference as we recognize that we all have a connection and power way beyond our wildest dreams to the cosmic fields of energy. On a more personal note, it would be a movement of compassionate acceptance of one another and ourselves. When we as a global society recognize that we are all universally and energetically connected we will begin to treat ourselves and others with great honor, appreciation and reverence. Our lives are but a reflection of the whole. In unity consciousness, we recognize that we all inhabit the same field of energy; we simply choose to show our colors differently. If we were to look at the rainbow as a great example, we would see that each color shines uniquely, vibrantly and individually, yet together they are far more beautiful, powerful and inspire deep wonder from within. This is how a unified world can and will look like when we collectively come together as ONE. The idea and concept of separation is what keeps our world from coming together in the most remarkable of ways. My mission and movement are to help others understand that change starts from within and the more compassionate and expansive we are, the better the world will be.

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

I wish someone would have told me before becoming an entrepreneur that it would be so satisfying because I would have started sooner.

I wish someone would have told me how much inner work would be required.

I wish someone would have told me how much courage it would take to start up a business and the hours of commitment it takes to make it work.

I wish someone would have told me that there would be sacrifices that need to be made and the impact on family and friends.

I wish someone would have told me that just when you think you know, there’s always something else new to discover.

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

Yes, I agree, they are all so very important. At the moment veganism is at the top of my list. I truly believe veganism can and will be the greatest catalyst for change and revolutionize humanity. As people begin to become more aware of their own energy fields and how it relates and impacts others it will ignite a global shift in consciousness. We can already see that the shift has begun as more and more people are moving toward plant-based foods and living. As humanity continues to know itself better the natural laws of attraction will bring forth a resonance of experience that is cohesive and beneficial for all forms of life. It has always been interesting to me that here in America as a society we are raised to eat meat and yet one of our most beloved traditions is taking our young children to the farm to pet and play with the very same animals that are offered up as food later on. Why do some animals have rights and privileges of being loved while others suffer and perish? Where is the disconnect within our societal consciousness that chooses to look over this. I believe innately we all know there is something fundamentally wrong with the way we are treating animals. We can see it in people when a conversation comes up about it. Most people will do anything to avoid looking at the true nature of animal cruelty and how meat ultimately arrives at the grocery store packaged neatly for human consumption. From an energetic standpoint if we were to measure the vibrational state of the meat you could feel the discordance of energy as this animal was in pain and turmoil as it was prepared. Energy as we know, never dies, it simply is transformed. However, when it comes to food and how it is processed, the energy of pain and suffering is still ever present and we as humans absorb that energy as we eat it. Most children, if you think about it, are “taught” to eat meat and other animal products because it is something that is simply handed down from generation to generation. However, humanity and the grand design of evolution is always at play and animals are very much a part of that field of energy. As humans, it’s easy to assume that we are at the top of the food chain, however, the principle of unity is what bridges all things to work and thrive cohesively. I suspect like with all moments of great change there will be a tipping point and before we know it, the entire animal and farming industry will change. As people begin to see animals as a vital part of our collective experience, we will understand that they are here to assist us in remembering that we can do better.

I personally gave up eating meat over 7 years ago after a chance encounter with a cow. Soul to soul and spirit to spirit I knew I could no longer pretend not to see and know. The time had come to stand for something more.

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

www.heartofonenessholisticexpo.com

www.kaynea.co

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


Women In Wellness: Karen Riley of The Heart Of Oneness Holistic Expo On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Janine Stichter of Healthy Behavior Institute: 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Dramatically Improve…

Janine Stichter of Healthy Behavior Institute: 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Dramatically Improve Your Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Evaluate your physical state each day to determine what you can and should do. Being a certain age, gender or physique does not dictate what feels good and is good for you.

As a part of our series about “5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve One’s Wellbeing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Janine Stichter, Ph.D.

Dr. Janine Stichter has been in the field of behavior change for over 20 years as a researcher, author, educator and practitioner. She understands the importance of behavior science for client success. Her career has focused on understanding the why behind behavior and identifying clear practices that are practical and result in sustained change. Most recently she has co-founded the Healthy Behavior Institute, an educational platform for fitness professionals and gym owners that specialize in behavior modification. Their educational materials provide professionals with a clear system to add an additional service for better client results and increased revenue.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the story about how you first got involved in fitness and wellness?

I was fortunate to grow up with parents who emphasized good nutrition and they were avid tennis players so modeled for me how to add movement into their lifestyle. I started to focus on my personal pursuit of fitness and wellness in college when I was diagnosed with an autoimmune issue. I did not want to get on lifelong medication so the doctor said that exercise might slow the progression. So, I dove into learning more and doing more and have not stopped since.

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

When I first started working with behaviorally challenged young boys in college, there was one that was a ward of the state and in turn did not have any family that was involved. I started including him in my family holiday celebrations and within two years I adopted him. He has taught me a lot professionally, but more importantly on a personal level.

Can you share with our readers a bit about why you are an authority in the fitness and wellness field? In your opinion, what is your unique contribution to the world of wellness?

My expertise and doctorate are in behavior science and how humans learn and modify their actions. Many practitioners in the fitness and wellness space have expertise and experience with the physiology but not much on the psychology. We need to understand the role of motivation, will power and compliance on implementation of the strategies we provide. We also need to understand how environment and individual characteristics impact habit formation and lifestyle change.

I can teach and create systems to help fitness professionals do just that.

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?

My mentor in graduate school was a huge impact on me in college and out. He was the one that encouraged me to pursue graduate school, although I told him that I did not want to become like him- some stoggy professor. He was patient and encouraging and always taught me to persist, not let others define me and know that I am making a difference even if people did not always recognize it at the time.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. We all know that it’s important to eat more vegetables, eat less sugar, exercise more, and get better sleep etc. But while we know it intellectually, it’s often difficult to put it into practice and make it a part of our daily habits. In your opinion what are the 3 main blockages that prevent us from taking the information that we all know, and integrating it into our lives?

1) How to fit it into your lifestyle.

2) There is a tendency toward extremes in our culture. We all too often try to go from eating a lot of sugar to none at all. Cold turkey is not effective for most people.

3) Prioritization. There is so much information available on how to have better health. It’s almost too much. Focusing on the basics and picking one or two things to work on is much more effective than the traditional “New Year’s Overhaul”.

Can you please share your “5 Non-Intuitive Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Dramatically Improve One’s Wellbeing”? (Please share a story or an example for each, and feel free to share ideas for mental, emotional and physical health.)

  1. Focus on more process goals than outcome goals. The latter are dichotomous. They happen or they don’t. In addition, they imply there is a finite spot where we no longer must work toward them. This is why “maintenance” is so boring to most, yet necessary. Instead process goals helps your brain understand that it’s not pass/ fail — good or bad. Rather, the goal is to make small incremental changes over time to feel and look better.
  2. Create small benchmarks (drink two more glasses of water this week than last week) that you can celebrate. Emotionally we need to feel success, reward effort not just outcome.
  3. Evaluate your physical state each day to determine what you can and should do. Being a certain age, gender or physique does not dictate what feels good and is good for you.
  4. Competition can be great to create fun and challenges. But avoid comparison when it becomes the only motivator.
  5. Find rewards that are both extrinsic and intrinsic. The combination will sustain you better over time.

As an expert, this might be obvious to you, but I think it would be instructive to articulate this for the public. Aside from weight loss, what are 3 benefits of daily exercise? Can you explain?

  1. Weight Management — activity helps us use energy which leads to working off excess food intake.
  2. Mental Clarity — movement increases circulation which in turn helps us think better.
  3. Ability — By exercising regularly we are able to do more things. For example go on a hike with a friend, play in a slow pitch softball game, or play pool volleyball at a friends house.

For someone who is looking to add exercise to their daily routine, which 3 exercises would you recommend that are absolutely critical?

Walking, (Chair, body weight, barbell) Squats, Body Weight Rows.

Walking is great for movement and is easy to do. Some forms of squats are necessary for daily living, you want to be able to get on and off the toilet for the rest of your life. Most of our life is lifting things in front of us so when we exercise, we need to work our back muscles.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

One of my favorite books is “Culture Code” by Daniel Coyle. It highlights what makes organizations prosper by focusing on three main tenants: safety, vulnerability, and purpose. All of us function within one type of organization or another and collectively creating culture that brings out our best is a key part of my work and passion.

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

I would have a one credit course required beginning of senior year of high school that helped young adults understand their own personality traits, how they communicate and what they are wired to thrive doing. There are many good assessments that can elucidate this with the right educator. So many people move through life choices based on the story that others have told them (you are good with people, you are smart) yet they do not really fully understand how to discern between outward appearances and inner workings. When people better understand themselves and potential impact on their environment, they have strong self-agency to pursue goals, careers, relationships and health activities that are ideal and sustainable for themselves.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

“Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens”

This quote to me is about mindset. The one thing we truly do have some control over is how we view things and what we do with the situation. Our minds are so powerful so being mindful of how we use that great tool can significantly and positively impact our lives.

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 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 🙂

There are many, but I think I would start with Tony Robbins. His focus is motivation and getting people to execute. I am interested in how he approaches one on one conversations with clients, his perspectives on barriers and the importance of health and wellness with the leaders with whom he works.

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

Healthybehaviorinstitute.com

@drjaninestichter (Instagram)

Janine-stichter1 (facebook)

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!


Janine Stichter of Healthy Behavior Institute: 5 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Dramatically Improve… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Jillian Hayward Schaible of Susan Hayward Interiors: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space…

Jillian Hayward Schaible of Susan Hayward Interiors: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Choose colors that make you happy — Do you gravitate towards warm or cool tones? Do you like a soothing palette or vibrant pops of prints and colors? For clients that have trouble nailing down their style, we always recommend creating inspiration boards of photos they love- even if they can’t tell us why. After you have enough pictures together, you will start to draw similarities in colors you are naturally drawn to and how you may like to begin the design. It can also be helpful to look through your closet and see if you feel more comfortable in warm colors like tan, browns, and yellows, or cooler hues like blues, greens, and grays.

As part of my series on the “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jillian Hayward Schaible, Principal, Susan Hayward Interiors.

Jillian Hayward Schaible is a renowned member of the American Society of Interior Designers and partner of Susan Hayward Interiors. In a similar fashion to her mother and mentor, Susan Hayward, Jillian took a very unconventional path to become a designer. With her husband working as a helicopter pilot for the US Navy, it took a few moves and career changes before she could finally find a career that not only works for her lifestyle but that she loves.

Thank you so much for joining us in this series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My path to interior design was certainly not a typical one! I studied Marine Science and French Language & Literature in college, intending to come out on the other end in the marine biology field. After graduating college, I found my way into a position as a Zookeeper in Florida while my now husband completed flight school as a Naval Aviator. Faced with across-country move on military orders shortly after, we headed to San Diego where I guided sea cave kayaking tours along the La Jolla shores and began working with my mom on the side in her interior design business. When my husband was deployed for 7 months, I spent more and more time working with my mom and really loved the business and the flexibility that it gave me. I completed an interior design certificate course during that time and decided to join Susan Hayward Interiors full-time, leaving behind my science background for the wonderful, fulfilling position I’ve had ever since!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

Since starting this career, I have been so lucky to have such a unique working experience that has totally changed my life. As a military spouse, flexibility and understanding are absolutely key to a happy, healthy work-life balance. I am fortunate to have my own mom as my partner as well as some of the best clients around. Until I started working with her, I always felt like having a family and a job in this military lifestyle was impossible. I’ve learned that a job can be so much more than just something you have to do everyday, but rather something that you can make work for your lifestyle while building strong relationships with clients,vendors, and suppliers!

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 we first started to use a new home design software program, it took a lot of time to get used to the various settings and templates. I remember one time I imported a CAD file using one of their style presets, which seemed simple enough, and I couldn’t figure out why the measurements weren’t fitting with the furniture we selected. Of course I was getting worried, until I realized that this particular preset imported all my US measurements into metric. A quick conversion cleared that right up and saved a lot of worries in the future!

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

We are incredibly excited right now to be working on a restaurant project as a complete renovation. Getting in on a project like this from the ground level is so exciting because it allows for so much creativity in envisioning the end result, with opportunities to make our vision into a reality. Designing restaurants requires so much artistic thought as well as technical knowledge, so it has been very interesting working on this team creating and problem-solving in real time.

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

Family comes first. Always. I am lucky enough to have family in my personal life as well as my work life, so it’s pretty amazing to have that support from all angles. We always tell our clients that family schedules come first in everything- from the start of the design process in their home to the end of their last delivery date. We want to design homes to be loved and lived in, and that is our favorite part of the job.

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?

There is no way I would be here without my mom. In all facets of life, she has supported me and got me to where I am- both personally and professionally. It is such a gift to be able to grow as an individual and now also together in this company. She still teaches me so much every day, and it is wonderful being able to learn things together on every job that we do.

Thank you for that. Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space Spark More Joy” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

Choose colors that make you happy

Do you gravitate towards warm or cool tones? Do you like a soothing palette or vibrant pops of prints and colors? For clients that have trouble nailing down their style, we always recommend creating inspiration boards of photos they love- even if they can’t tell us why. After you have enough pictures together, you will start to draw similarities in colors you are naturally drawn to and how you may like to begin the design. It can also be helpful to look through your closet and see if you feel more comfortable in warm colors like tan, browns, and yellows, or cooler hues like blues, greens, and grays.

Complete a room design at once, not in pieces

We always encourage clients to take on a home project once they feel comfortable completing it at least one whole room at a time. If that means saving up in order to do so, or spreading out the complete home into phases, they will be so much happier with the end result. When you piecemeal items in a home, the result is often choppy and conflicting. Choosing your pieces as a cohesive design is crucial to getting the overall aesthetic you are trying to achieve.

Be thoughtful in materials you select

Whether it is a hard surface or fabric, selecting the right materials for your form and function are important in the durability and longevity of the piece. One of the most important parts of our job is to educate our clients on why or why not they should select a certain material, and that is most useful when we are familiar with their lifestyle and how long they want a piece to last.

Invest in quality where it matters most

For pieces that you want to have in good condition for years to come, it is important to invest in quality. It may seem like a good idea to buy a budget sofa, but you may go through two or three of them in the same time you could have just one of a higher quality. Plus it will feel more comfortable and look fresher as time goes by. Think about the items that are most important to you for comfort and durability, and invest your money in those first.

Consider the overall flow of spaces throughout your home

Creating a design that allows each room to flow seamlessly into the next creates an exciting experience, almost like telling a story throughout the home. You want each room or hallway to complement the next, so always keep the colors and styles of other spaces in mind as you design within any room of the home. The result will feel much more complete and deliberately crafted.

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

I wish so much that we could create a bigger space for sustainable home design. The options and price points can be incredibly limiting, but I also know what a huge strain on our world we are creating with our demand on inventory today. Being able to have more options at inclusive price points for clients would be such a dream to source in our projects.

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 whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them.

Oh my goodness, there are so many incredible designers we look up to. Kelly Wearstler, Justina Blakeney, and Thom Filicia are a few of both myself and Susan’s biggest inspirations.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

We would love to have you follow our journey @suhayinteriors (Instagram)

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


Jillian Hayward Schaible of Susan Hayward Interiors: 5 Things You Can Do To Help Your Living Space… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Founders: Kristen Sumpter of Red’s Beer Garden On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and…

Female Founders: Kristen Sumpter of Red’s Beer Garden On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Don’t make decisions based on your fear. We’re taking risks every day, some big, some small. When I look back and think about decisions I wish I had made differently, it usually comes down to the fact that I had been focusing on past failures and future fears (usually money). Emotionally releasing those fears and not letting them control you is so freeing and really puts you in the proper headspace to make decisions.

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

Kristen, also known as ‘Red’, is the owner of Red’s Beer Garden, a counter service restaurant in Atlanta with over 200 types of beer, wine, cider, mead, kombucha, and NA options. Kristen functions as the visionary, making sure the mission of Red’s is always at the forefront of what they do. She also buys all your beer, leads all the events, and posts on social every once in a while.

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?

My husband and I moved to Atlanta in 2014 after I received my MA in Sociology to start a job at UGA. It was my dream job: benefits, PTO, the works. I felt financially safe and secure. My goal growing up was to find success in a reliable job with work/life balance, and I had done it! Fast forward 4 years, two things started to happen. 1) I started to feel like I was missing something in my life and 2) during college, we always went to cool spots with self-serve coolers of beer and I could not find anything in Atlanta similar to this concept. During this time, my husband and I used to sit on our porch in the evenings while drinking a beer and dream about our life in 1 year, 5 years, 10 years from now. Ed would say night after night after night (you get it, he said it a lot), ‘you should open up a fun beer place here in Atlanta! You’re always complaining that it doesn’t exist’. One evening, I stopped and actually allowed myself to think about the idea. I put aside my fears of losing my financially safe and secure bank account and life, and it felt exciting. I spent the next two two weeks writing a draft business plan, making phone calls, and surprised myself when I realized I wanted to give this a go. I haven’t looked back since.

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

Up until about six months before opening, the concept of Red’s Beer Garden was to be solely a beer garden with a couple pre-packaged snacks, no food. I was to be the sole owner, visionary, leader, and boss to just a few employees. About five neighborhood and city meetings later, it became apparent that the city would only allow us to open at our location if we were a restaurant. The next six months really allowed me to understand the definition of pivot. What was supposed to be beer storage, became a 7 ft x 8 ft kitchen, serving hotdogs from a local company. What was suppose to be my husband continuing his full-time job with benefits to provide me with an ounce of ‘security’, became my husband quitting his job two months before we opened to lead kitchen operations. I had been so adamant about not being a restaurant. I fought my councilmember at meetings and did everything in my power to avoid selling food. But the thing about pivoting is, when you realize one door has been shut in front of your face, you have to sprint to the next door that is open. The Red’s Beer Garden that exists today is not the original vision I had four years ago, but now I can say that it is even better than I had imagined. Become a restaurant has allowed us to bring on more employees to strengthen the economy, and customers stay much longer when they are able to eat a delicious hot dog with their beer. It’s always good to fight the good fight, but sometimes it can be even more beneficial when you accept your circumstances and ask, “how can I make this even better than before?”.

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

I was so fresh in the industry, I made funny mistakes every day. Well, more embarrassing mistakes, but after a few months of our build out and getting the business ready to open, I decided one day to just laugh it off and not take myself so seriously. If I didn’t know what I was doing, I started asking people to explain the situation or I would ask for help. Turns out, pretty much everyone is willing to give some advice or assistance because we’ve all been there.

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?

Back when I was searching online for possible locations for Red’s, I didn’t have a commercial real estate agent and was just using websites like LoopNet.com, which are usually not accurate and not very helpful. I sent several emails to the agents of those properties and only received one response back, Kevin. He took me out for a beer to understand my vision a little better, and 4 years later he has also become a mentor. He is extremely successful in his career but also takes the time and energy to fight for the little guys and gals like myself. Having a real estate agent and mentor like that in Atlanta is crucial for any minority entrepreneur, who statistically has less capital and experience.

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

I believe a lack of financial resources, knowledge, and a strong cohort or community are the main reasons why women hold back from founding companies. But, I believe non-profits, local/state/federal government, and corporations are starting to do a great job at creating grants and cohort groups that specifically focus on providing these three things to minorities.

Regarding my experience as a restaurant owner, with a large focus on beer, there are also industry specific reasons why women hold back from leading. For one, the beer scene has historically been white men, with very little minority ownership, and even employees. While stereotypes are starting to change (I believe because more women are leading the beer scene), there is still the stigma that women are not as knowledgeable about beer as men. Additionally, the ‘me too’ movement hit breweries hard across the US in 2021, exposing hundreds of breweries displaying discrimination and sexual harrassment towards women and POC.

Additionally, as a 30 year old female who is 5 ft 1 inches tall, I routinely had individuals not take me seriously while acquiring a loan, signing a lease, working with the city, and offering beer suggestions. Now that we’ve been in business and I’ve been the face of Red’s for almost 3 years, my perceived authority has drastically changed, but situations still happen.

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

As stated in the previous question, I believe the grants, classes, and access to capital that is starting to become available specifically for women and POC is extremely important. I received my SBA7(a) loan through a non-profit that provided additional capital to minorities, I have attended classes and worked with personal coach and two financial advisors through my state’s small business development center, and I am currently in a one year cohort with the non-profit Bpeace, who specifically work with women and POC business owners to empower them with knowledge and assists in growing their business and the total number of employees, creating further economic stability.

In the beer industry, women are starting to lead more than in the past. Let’s keep this up! The more women who are leading and sharing their perspectives, the stronger the beer community will be. I do see this already changing in Atlanta.

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

As a feminist, I believe all humans are equal, no matter their gender identity. But, as a society, we generally still believe and teach the unconscious assumptions regarding who is better at what role. For example, we see this on a macro level through media and on a micro level with relationships. Women (and other gender minorities) have had to rise up from the depths, study even harder, work even longer, to get on the same page as men. Because of this and countless other reasons, our ideas are different compared to men. We can be upset about this, but we can also see it as a gift. Such awareness should propel us to lead even better. Bravo!

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

I was always told, both consciously and unconsciously, that the business — my restaurant — will control me. You will work long hours, it will be your life, and you may get lucky and be successful. So that was my mindset for the couple years owning Red’s. Granted, we opened right before a pandemic, so the entire world was dealt a pretty bad hand. But pandemic aside, I felt guilty when I wasn’t working every waking hour or doing something positive for the business.

I recently got so burnt out by this mantra that I had horrible anxiety and desperately sought therapy and coaching. I guess I had an ah-ha moment out of despiritation. I realized, I don’t have to let Red’s control me, I don’t have to work all the time to be a good business owner. I have to daily, and sometimes hourly, remind myself that I am more important than Red’s. Nothing good will ever be accomplished if I am not living out a balanced life.

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

I believe a founder or owner of a business needs at least two things: the ability to take risks and grit. I would say the ability to take risks can definitely be learned, I have seen that play out in my story. Grit can also be learned, but that basic spirit of perseverance is stronger in some compared to others.

All that to say, anyone who thinks they are only cut out for a “regular job”, needs to figure out what they mean by that definition. A risk taker with grit could be a great founder, but they could also be an incredible accountant, cook, or teacher. Figure out what wakes you up in the morning, and use that passion as fuel to be the best version of yourself every day.

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

  1. You don’t have to ‘entrepreneur’ every day to be an entrepreneur. The way I practice mindfulness is through running. I either run with no noise/distractions and meditate, or I choose a Nike Run Club run. I can’t remember which run it was, but I will always remember what the coach said: “You don’t have to run everyday to be a runner.” Your body needs a day off from running, and my mind needs a day off from entrepreneuring.
  2. Don’t make decisions based on your fear. We’re taking risks every day, some big, some small. When I look back and think about decisions I wish I had made differently, it usually comes down to the fact that I had been focusing on past failures and future fears (usually money). Emotionally releasing those fears and not letting them control you is so freeing and really puts you in the proper headspace to make decisions.
  3. Just be yourself. At the beginning of acquiring our location, building out, and opening Red’s, I was taking myself too seriously and trying to fit into the ‘business owner’ mold. One day very early into Red’s being open, I was having a meeting with a couple of beer sales reps trying to sell me their products and decided to just enjoy the meeting. I stopped asking the ‘right questions’ and started asking my own questions, making some jokes, and having the conversation that made me feel at my best.
  4. Stop saying sorry when you don’t mean it. A couple came into Red’s and asked us if the shop next door was open. The hours of operation said they were, but it was obvious that staff had not yet arrived. The couple was disappointed and was leaving and I said, “I’m sorry!!”. An employee immediately asked, “Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything.” Own your mistakes but don’t take credit for other people’s missed opportunities.
  5. Seek out every opportunity, grant, or course there is for you to continue learning and gain resources. I owe every single ounce of my success to countless humans, classes and programs, financial advisors, and my life coach.

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

I hope I have created a space where employees and customers feel loved, valued, and seen.

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

Public spaces, such as restaurants and breweries, should be safe spaces. For the employees, the customers, and the neighborhood. Be inclusive, truly listen when people are talking, and allow for all types of discussion to be had. Part of our mission that I try to live out every day is: Yes, it’s about the beer. Yes, it’s about the food. But Red’s was built for you, for our employees, & for our neighborhood. All are welcome. All are loved.

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.

It sounds silly, but Al Roker. I watched him every morning before school on The Weather Channel. Back then I actually wanted to be a meteorologist when I grew up, and it was because of him. Now, he’s doing a ton of other things in his career and his personal life, but to me, he has always been true to himself. He’s the same honest, caring, and goofy Al Roker whether he’s interviewing the President or posting on social media. I really value how he displays his self-confidence and I strive to always be my true self, in every situation.

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


Female Founders: Kristen Sumpter of Red’s Beer Garden On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Dr Amy Attas of City Pets On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The best piece of advice I received along my journey came early on from my husband, Steve. He taught me to look at each problem individually, after which a solution can be easier to find.

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

Dr. Amy Attas founded City Pets, “The House Call Vets,” in 1992 to provide the highest quality veterinary care in the comfort of home and in the process, disrupted the veterinarian business model. The innovator is a graduate of Barnard College with a V.M.D. and an M.A. in Animal Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the School’s Board of Advisors.

The pioneering vet is an active fundraiser for the Global Health Program of The Wildlife Conservation Society, as well as many other animal-related charities, including Best Friends Animal Society, which leads national efforts to make animal shelters no-kill nationwide. Dr. Attas has been awarded both the Award of Merit and the Award for Outstanding Service to Veterinary Medicine by the Veterinary Medical Association of the City of New York, on whose Executive Board she served for over a decade, including as the Board’s Public Liaison to governmental agencies addressing animal health policy and practice.

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

I was born wanting to be a veterinarian; in fact, I think I was born as a veterinarian. When the other girls were playing with Barbie dolls, I was injecting my stuffed animals with hypodermic syringes given to me by our family pediatrician.

Eventually, my family adopted an adult pug dog, named Duchess, who was a willing patient until my youthful veterinary career was put on hold at age 6: one day, I wrapped an ace bandage around her neck and — after my parents undid the wrap — they kindly suggested that I put a hold on practicing veterinary medicine until I received a bit more education.

As a young teen, I read All Creatures Great and Small, the first of a series of autobiographical novels written under the pen name of James Herriot, about a young veterinarian practicing in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1940s. This was what I had been waiting for. Herriot’s vivid descriptions of the medical conditions of his patients and the intricate details of their care were the spark I needed to start my career. And the quirkiness of his Yorkshire clientele made it all sound like an adventure.

So, after telephoning every veterinarian in the Queens, New York Yellow Pages, I finally procured an opportunity to ‘work’ at an animal hospital: I was OK’d to observe veterinary practice at the Forest Hills Cat Hospital for just one afternoon. I jumped at the opportunity, and after two buses and a subway, I got to the hospital.

I was excited and a bit nervous. The vet had just taken blood from a cat, and he handed me the tubes of blood and asked me to invert them back and forth slowly as required. Within seconds of rocking the tubes and watching the blood go back and forth and back and forth, the room also started going back and forth, and I fainted dead away.

But I didn’t let my embarrassment deter me, and without being asked, I just showed up the next day and continued to show up for weeks and months after that. I went from being an innocent but keen observer to an extra set of hands that were a real asset to the practice as I learned skills from my daily observations. The vet who had kindly allowed me in as a little girl just to observe over fifty years ago is still a close friend.

While attending Barnard College, I continued working at the Forest Hills Cat Hospital, pursuing a pre-vet (just like pre-med) curriculum. As a biology major, I studied animal behavior and was part of a team that published several research projects, on one of which I was the lead author, something unheard of for a college kid.

In my senior year, at only 19, I submitted my application to veterinary school. I had good grades and respectable standardized test scores and had amassed a wealth of experiences with large animals (cows) and small animals (dogs and cats), as well as in the laboratory. I was more than ready.

I interviewed at several schools and finally received the news after months of anxious waiting: all rejected me. I had applied to three schools and wouldn’t attend any of them the following year.

I was particularly surprised by Cornell, where they said no despite having positive feedback from the admissions committee. Cornell’s Dean contacted me afterward and offered strong encouragement to reapply; he explained that competition was so fierce, and the committee believed that given my young age (now a ripe old 20), I had an even stronger chance as a re-applicant.

Tuskegee Institute had put me on its waitlist, and a few weeks later, over the course of several hours during which I was not home (remember, no cell phones), their Dean left me 7 or 8 messages on my brand new answering machine bought for the very purpose of applying to vet school! His first message just asked that I return his call; the second was to tell me that I had been accepted off the waitlist, and the next series of messages were pleading with me to call him before 5:00 pm to let him know if I was going to accept and attend in the Fall. His final message — at 5:20 pm — was an apology, letting me know that because I hadn’t returned his call, my position had been accepted by someone who was home to take the call. All that money wasted on the answering machine.

Deeply disappointed that I was not enrolling in veterinary school in the Fall, I chose instead to attend the graduate program at the University of Pennsylvania and pursue a Ph.D. in animal behavior. However, I still had hopes for vet school. It turned out that because of quirky state funding of veterinary colleges, which are few and far between in the United States, applicants have the best chance of attending the school in their home state. I was a lifelong New Yorker, so Cornell was my best chance. Still, I felt that my sensibilities were better suited to The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where the teaching hospital serviced a large dog and cat population, which was frankly my interest.

So I became an official Pennsylvania resident while studying for my Masters en route to a Doctorate there. Nonetheless, I submitted my applications to Penn Vet, Cornell, and again to Tuskegee (I knew I’d get in) two years later, coinciding with completing my master’s degree. This time, I was accepted to all three institutions and chose Penn Vet.

In veterinary medicine, upon graduation, you go right out and practice. Internships are highly competitive, and I was successfully matched at the prestigious Animal Medical Center (AMC) in New York City, my hometown. The work schedule there could approach 90 hours a week; we worked all day and often had night shifts on top of that. This grueling schedule left little time for my style of personalized client communication (much less a social life). At graduation from AMC, each intern received a “tongue in cheek” award, and mine was “Ma Bell” for the veterinarian who spent the most time talking with clients.

Most vets will tell you that they became veterinarians because of their love of animals. For me, it is my love of animals, but also my love of medicine itself and my genuine love of working with the families who love my patients.

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

I’ve disrupted the norm in veterinary medicine twice. In both instances, I’ve been greatly rewarded and believe my experience was an inspiration to others following after me.

After graduating from the Animal Medical Center, I was hired to be the junior associate vet of two associates at a small animal hospital on Park Avenue. Many of the clients (the people) were wealthy and could afford the best quality of care for their pets (the patients).

I was there for only a few months when my senior veterinary colleague was summarily fired (by message on his answering machine, left during the Super Bowl). He was an excellent veterinarian with a strong following in the practice. I had not seen this coming but subsequently learned that other excellent vets had been fired from this practice with no prior warnings over the years.

Many clients were initially reluctant to see me, the new “young vet,” and preferred to have either of the older vets care for their pets, but now they no longer had that choice. And within a few months of clients experiencing my style of compassionate care, I became extremely busy. So busy that many wealthy and even celebrity clients now requested appointments with me instead of the practice owner. I felt secure at this practice since my boss, and I had finally entered negotiations to make me a partner, and discussions soon turned to offering to sell me the practice outright. I was thrilled.

On the very day of my fourth anniversary of starting at the hospital, the owner invited me to a celebratory dinner and made reservations at my favorite restaurant. He told me that we would discuss my bonus and raise at the dinner, noting I’d be very pleased with them. As I finished work that day and was getting ready to go to dinner with him, he called me into his office and told me I was fired. I was to take all my personal belongings, hand over my key, and not return. I was stunned.

I was now a member of the “club” of respected veterinarians who had become too successful in another person’s practice and so apparently became a threat to the practice owner. One of my mentors at the AMC told me to get over it because this happens in the Manhattan vet world all the time.

What was I going to do? I hadn’t been looking at other places to work (although I had been solicited) because I was about to buy this practice. I stayed up all night thinking of ways to turn this unexpected unemployment into something positive, or, at the least, a way to make a living.

I remembered the wise words spoken to me by a long-time client who had become a dear friend. He was the retired head of a major New York investment bank, a gentleman in his early 90s, a Jewish man who had fled Germany in the 1930s with nothing when the writing was on the wall. He said that I should remember that every black cloud has a silver lining; you just have to spend the time to find it.

Early the next morning, two clients with very sick pets called me at home. They had appointments scheduled with me that day at the hospital but were told that I was suddenly no longer there and that the hospital didn’t know anything about my whereabouts or even why I was gone. Worried about me, they both found my home number and called me, and when I told them that I had been summarily fired, both said they didn’t care and instead insisted that I find a way to see their pets that very day. One had chemo scheduled for her dog, and I had better be there on time!

I phoned the former colleague fired from this practice a few years prior. He now had a successful Upper East Side hospital, and he immediately offered whatever help I needed. I borrowed the necessary supplies and medicine from his practice, asked a veterinary technician to join me, and we made two house calls that first day, including the one to do chemotherapy. A similar thing happened the next day — when I made four visits to pets in their Manhattan apartments. The clients were very pleased.

I quickly realized that this form of veterinary medicine, so personalized for the client and so much less stressful for the patient, was a unique and wonderful way to practice. It reminded me of what I had loved in Herriot’s All Creatures books, that the patients were only one part of the relationship that a veterinarian can have. Getting close to the animals’ families added a new and wonderful dimension, and I loved it. Without a thought-out business plan, I started my house call practice right then and there.

I advertised in all the local newspapers, including The New York Times and New York Magazine, that “Dr. Amy Attas, formerly of … was now doing veterinary house calls,” and so introduced the concept of a full-time house call practice. Until then, some hospitals would occasionally send the junior vet to a valued client’s home to see their pet as a one-off event, but that was rare and viewed as a money-losing accommodation to the client. Likewise, my friends and advisors didn’t think my novel way of practice would last and suggested I “find a real job.” Most of the vets I spoke with told me they, too, had dabbled in house calls for a little while in between jobs but couldn’t handle the difficulties of going from apartment to apartment, getting around the City, parking, carrying equipment, scheduling and on and on.

But I could.

I decided right from the beginning that I was not going to just dabble in house calls. It would be a professional, full-service practice where I could provide virtually everything a vet could do in a hospital examination room right in the patient’s home. My patients would still need to go to the hospital for anything requiring anesthesia, x-rays, surgery, as well as genuine emergencies, of course. Still, I was amazed at how much medicine could be properly and, in some cases, even better provided in the pet’s home. Diagnostics are in fact often more accurate when they are taken in the pet’s home as the animal is more relaxed. The reverse of “white coat syndrome.”

Most of my clients lived in the affluent area of the Upper East Side, so my house call practice was seen as a threat to the animal hospitals in that neighborhood. Each of the practice owners on the UES asked me to join their practices, but they offered ridiculously low salaries with completely unacceptable schedules.

In any case, I was no longer interested in working in an animal hospital nor for anyone else. I knew I could change the way that veterinary medicine was being practiced by offering the highest-quality and compassionate veterinary care in the comfort and privacy of a person’s home. No one else had ever done this the way that I envisioned it.

Except, of course, James Herriot.

It wasn’t easy, and on many days it was physically challenging. Each day I’d return home and list the obstacles I had encountered, trying to devise a solution for each. And all of them had solutions. Shortly, I had a whole staff of administrative help, one and then two full-time veterinary technicians, an associate doctor, and even a driver. I named the practice City Pets Vets, and its logo is a Manhattan skyline bracketed by a cat and dog, all using NYC taxicab colors of yellow and black.

City Pets’ success was, in fact, an inspiration to others who wanted to start their own practice but didn’t have the capital to start a brick-and-mortar hospital. They, too, liked the concept of house calls, thinking it was cheap and easy. Some even came around with me for a week to see what it was like. Most who did said that they couldn’t handle the non-stop work, going from building to building; eating breakfast and lunch in the back seat of the car on very long days; taking every phone call from a client and giving them all the time they needed to answer their questions and explain everything they wanted to know.

Some decided that this style of practice was right for them, and they benefited from my years of experience and guidance. To this day, New York City’s house call vets remain a group of close-knit, non-competitive colleagues for which I serve as the senior mentor.

And now the second illustration of disruption.

Despite starting out well, I was rightfully concerned that the manner of my dismissal and the things that were said to clients afterward could damage my reputation. I contacted the Chief Medical Advisor of the Animal Medical Center for guidance. Through the years, he has given me wise and thoughtful advice on so many subjects. This time was different. He was the one who told me to get over it. He said, “Oh Amy, what are you complaining about? All junior associates get fired by veterinary practice owners when they get too successful. The old owners are afraid that the good vets will leave and take all the clients with them, so they fire them instead. Just get over it and move on!”

I was shocked. Maybe the veterinary community knew this, but the public did not. And I certainly didn’t know, as I was led down a deceptive path first to being a partner, then to being the buyer, and ultimately, fired without warning. Right then, I decided to sue my ex-boss and protect my professional reputation.

I met with a well-respected, genuine labor lawyer who told me I didn’t have a good case. New York State was and remains an “at-will” state, as its law permits employers to fire an employee for any reason except the protected no-no’s (e.g., race, religion), and those didn’t apply to my situation. My boss had told staff and clients that “I didn’t have the kind of personality that he wanted to go forward with into the 90s,” which made it sound like I was a real problem. But because the case wasn’t a good one, the lawyer said he’d take the case — but only if it were not on contingency, meaning I would have to pay for all his time and expenses, win or lose.

To his surprise, I agreed, and we sued the practice owner and went to a jury trial. During the trial, we told a compelling story of the long history of senior vets firing their employees, this particular practice’s history of doing so, my ex-boss’ attempts to defame me by the things he said and wrote to the staff and clients and then all the false documents that he presented to me when we were engaged in discussion of partnership and later the sale of the practice. In less than a week, the jury had decided the case in my favor with both compensatory and punitive damages awarded.

Since then, dozens of vets have contacted me to say that they wished they had the courage to do what I did when they were fired. My case is now documented in veterinary textbooks and even taught in veterinary schools. I don’t know the long-term effect in other places, but I can tell you that the practice of willy-nilly firing a competent young vet after just a few years without cause or prior warning has virtually stopped in New York City.

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

One of my first clients as a house call vet was a woman who had several cats and was always very anxious about their care. She was drawn to my practice because she liked the easy communication and that everything I did with her cats was done directly in front of her so she could watch. I quickly learned that pet owners don’t like it when the hospital vet says, ‘I am taking your pet to the back for tests, ‘ and then disappears with their dog or cat.

This client also liked my house calls because she was a talker, and I gave her all the time she needed. But whatever I told her, she turned into the worst-case medical scenario; she was always sure that her pets had cancer.

On this particular day, she phoned to say that one of her cats was holding his eye closed. It was an extremely busy day, but I never say no to a pet with a medical problem, so I added her to my schedule. Fortunately, I had just examined all her pets two weeks before for their annual physicals and vaccinations, so I assumed I could do what I needed to do for the eye and quickly move on with my day.

Usually, I sit down with my clients while my technician sets up and ask questions about my patient’s general health. I didn’t this time because I was sure that my exam two weeks prior was sufficient, so I went to work examining the eye.

Just like the ophthalmologist does when you go in for an exam, I instilled a drop of fluorescein stain to the cat’s eyes to determine whether there is a corneal injury, an injury that causes pain and is a common cause of squinting like this cat was doing. Fluorescein turns everything in the eye bright yellow, and if there is a corneal ulcer, the injured portion instead turns fluorescein green.

My patient indeed had a large corneal ulcer, and he would be fine with a few days of eye medication. After I packed up and was ready to leave, my client told me she had neglected to mention that the other day she found the cat chewing on the fringes of the carpet, and he had been making some gagging sounds since. Uh Oh! I had only done a cursory exam, focusing on his eye. Could he have ingested the carpet fringes and had some gastrointestinal obstruction? I hadn’t heard any gagging sounds, but despite having packed up, we took everything out and set back up again, and this time I did a full examination of my patient’s entire body in case I missed something.

I started with a complete oral exam to look for any carpet fibers stuck in his mouth, and I was shocked by what I saw. The cat was totally jaundiced! His tongue and mucous membranes were the bright yellow color we see in patients with serious liver disease. I had just seen him two weeks before, and his bloods were normal at the time. Such rapid onset of jaundice could not possibly have a good outcome for this patient.

I sat down with my client and told her that I had found something else wrong with her beloved cat. I would need to recheck his blood work and schedule an immediate abdominal ultrasound to determine the cause of his jaundice. She saw I was grim and looked at him and saw exactly what I had seen. In between sobs, she told me to do whatever I had to do. She knew this meant terminal cancer and she was finally right.

As I prepared to take his blood, I realized my mistake. My patient was not jaundiced. His tears carried the bright yellow dye I used in his eyes into the nasolacrimal duct, and as a result, the tissues in his mouth were just as bright yellow as were his eyes.

I laughed and told her my error — but she didn’t see any humor in it. Nor did she agree. She was now absolutely convinced that the cat was jaundiced, no matter what I said, and she insisted on the blood work and an ultrasound. Nothing I could say would convince her that it was merely the eye stain and that her cat didn’t have cancer. I had to follow her wishes. We took his blood (which was normal), and I spent the next 45 minutes calming her down and finally convincing her to forego the ultrasound.

I learned from this that there are no shortcuts; each patient — and each client — must be treated with my full attention. I simply can never deviate from my successful protocol of performing a complete and comprehensive ‘interview’ with each client and doing a complete and comprehensive physical exam on each patient without assuming anything.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors and how they made an impact?

James Herriot, the autobiographical character and pen name of the veterinarian Alf Wight I highlighted earlier, has honestly been my spiritual mentor from the start. Although I did have the privilege of meeting him (and thanking him) once, over the past 50 years, I’ve reached out to him for advice through his written words. From him, I’ve learned that treating the clients is as important as treating the patients, leading me to personal relationships with them that are both medically and personally satisfying.

I’ve also learned that being empathetic and sometimes even emotional doesn’t diminish one’s professionalism and creates an honest bond with my clients. It is OK to cry, for example, when my clients do and their sorrow reaches me deeply in that personal place. I often share my own experiences and losses with them and know that this helps when they need to make a difficult decision.

And I’ve learned from Herriot that it is OK not to know everything and to reach out to others who have more experience or expertise than I do when that’s the case. Although my early boss hated when I referred a patient to a specialist (probably because he saw most things through the lens of income), people understood and appreciated that they were being steered towards the best care for their pets.

I had another, perhaps surprising, mentor from the very first days of my practice. Joan Rivers, the comedienne, who I met while at the animal hospital I first worked at. She allowed me to treat her dog (the famous Spike) for a Saturday night emergency when I was the only one on call, and she frankly had no other option. Spike made a quick recovery, and from that point on, Joan didn’t hesitate to call me when she needed help with her dogs.

I know it was Joan who was innocently responsible for getting me fired, leading me to start City Pets. A day or two before I was summarily dismissed in the midst of the practice purchase negotiations, she was in the waiting room, and my boss offered that he was free at the moment and could see Spike. Joan said no, politely, noting that she was waiting for me to look at Spike. The practice owner explained that I was still finishing up surgery, which could take quite some time. Joan rebuffed him again and said she would read a magazine until I was done. The boss was furious, and my fate was sealed.

When I was fired, I called her and told her the details. She replied: “We girls have got to stick together.” She became my best client and a good friend until her untimely death. Joan often shared with me stories of the hard times she’d had in her long career, offered as life lessons. She also told me of all her “self re-inventions,” which she likened to my new situation. Joan personally sang my praises to everyone she knew and was a great business getter for me (ask Cher).

A quick story. One day, years later, when I wished her a happy birthday and asked what she was doing to celebrate, she told me that she wasn’t celebrating but instead had a gig that evening. When I replied that I was sorry she had to work and couldn’t go out and celebrate, she corrected me. “Au contraire.” She explained that people like us, “people who are pursuing a calling, “celebrate when we are fulfilling that calling, and so when working, it is we who are the lucky ones.

Boy she was right, and I refresh that advice and memory of her virtually every day of my life. As mentioned, Joan remained a close friend and loyal client until her passing and even after, as she left instructions and money in her will that I continue to care for her pets for the rest of their lives, which I do to this day.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

I agree; there are times when disruption may not be good, and I see that happening now in the veterinary medical industry. In the past dozen years, many large and small private hospitals have been sold to and are now run by large corporate entities, often applying standardized metrics and impersonal approaches to the practice of veterinary medicine to increase revenue.

As a result, these practices have lost their personal nature, and, often, vets working at such places are forced to “make their numbers,” which can lead to, for example, unnecessary or, most kindly put, ‘over testing’ to generate revenue at the expense of the pet owner. For years veterinarians have been regarded as one of the most respected and intimate medical professions, and I am concerned that this new, impersonal corporate trend may negatively affect our profession.

Today, for example, during an exam, veterinarians often sit across the room staring at a computer screen displaying data generated by technicians performing diagnostic tests on the pet. That’s not for me. I absolutely must put my hands on the animal. That’s not only good medicine, it is also good practice.

Additionally, I know from my long career that there are many advantages to having a personal relationship with the owner and the pet. The knowledge, intimacy and continuity of care are great benefits for the patient and the family. This is lost when the patient sees a different veterinarian each visit; or the doctor fails to interview or listen to the client because of timed appointments or even to touch the animal, all often the case in the corporate practice style. That’s not my idea of good veterinary medicine.

There are, however, some advantages to the corporate change in veterinary medicine. Many of these new hospitals employ large numbers of specialty veterinarians who have undergone additional residency training in a specific field and are certified experts in their area. These specialists serve the veterinary community with their expertise, and often their hospitals have access to expensive equipment beyond a general practitioner’s ability. That, of course, is a good thing for the vet community. I have strong relationships with many such specialists at different hospitals throughout the New York area and take advantage of those specialists on behalf of my patients. In this regard, my clients and patients benefit from the infusion of capital that corporate ownership can bring.

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

The best piece of advice I received along my journey came early on from my husband, Steve. He taught me to look at each problem individually, after which a solution can be easier to find.

Early on, each day upon my return home from a long and usually difficult day of house calls, I shared with him all the obstacles I encountered trying to be an urban vet going around Manhattan to my clients. Remember, this was years before the days of Uber and Lyft, not to mention cell phones or even the internet.

One day, when I came home late into the evening, I told him that I had a genuine premonition that I would die in the back seat of a taxi or else get killed on the street trailing to hail one. “Yikes. But that’s easy to fix,” and he suggested that I simply hire a driver. What?! Simply hire a driver? I was no millionaire, and the practice was barely scraping by. “Trust me,” he said, “this will make you money, not cost you. And it will keep you safe.”

So even though I thought it was an insane idea at first, as soon as I hired a driver (actually, I’ve had many — which itself is a story) I was able to see more patients, get around the city far faster and more easily, avoid inclement weather and finish my house calls often while it was still light out. And once cell phones became small and smart and the internet arrived, the back seat became not only my breakfast and lunch spot but also my traveling office. By the end of month one, the driver had already paid for himself.

When viewed all together, the startup problems in my new practice seemed insurmountable, but with Steve’s advice of a solution for each problem one at a time, all were surmounted. City Pets’ smooth operation over the last few decades is my case in point.

The second piece of advice that has stayed with me from the first day of my new practice was the wise words of the elderly client I mentioned. I knew he was a refugee from Nazi Germany and had worked his way up literally from being the mail room boy to becoming the CEO of a major New York investment bank. On the night I was fired, he told me he lived by the maxim that there is a silver lining in every black cloud, and your job was to find it. He told me that years before I knew him, he had been widowed of his beloved wife when she took her own life. He thought he would never or even could ever be happy again, but years later, he met and married a woman who was his soul mate. (Cute story: they were the first to be married by the captain of a Concorde while in flight and so were gifted free Concorde flights for life by the airline; unfortunately, the flight was bumpy, and his wife would never fly that airplane again.)

I came to appreciate his personal story even more in a short time. Getting fired was devastating to me — personally and professionally — and starting a practice from nothing was extremely difficult. But the reality was it was the best thing that could have happened to me. And this situation paled in comparison to what he had overcome.

Joan Rivers was also a source of great inspiration for me, as I’ve noted. Even as a child I was a great admirer of hers. I was delighted to learn that she graduated from Barnard College as did I. After years of treating her dogs she and I became dear friends. I was always amazed at her grueling work schedule (the schedule was posted on her refrigerator door, so I saw it often) and knew that any mere mortal would have difficulty with the demands she put on her time. Joan shared with me that she was thankful for every single job she got and would always give her best in every performance. She knew she was privileged to have her career. On that birthday night, she told me: “Amy, if you’re as old as I am and you’re still in demand to go out on stage, who cares what night it is — just be grateful!”

I often remind myself that I am privileged to have this career. All my life, I wanted nothing more than to be a good and respected veterinarian, and today, practicing in the personalized, compassionate way that I do, I am. And so, I will continue to do this and enjoy it for as long as possible.

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

City Pets has been very successful in Manhattan. I believe my model would work just as well in other urban settings with a high density of people and pets, such as Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, and similar places. Although City Pets would need to be customized for each city, I have the “secret sauce” to make a successful house call practice in all those places. So, while I can’t reveal what may come next, rest assured it will be exciting.

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

That’s a real issue. When I sat in the lobby at Cornell University Veterinary College awaiting my interview some 40 years ago, I marveled at all the honorary plaques on the wall that named the first-place graduates in each graduating class. They were all women.

That might lead you to think that females dominated this profession, but the absolute opposite was true at that time. In the past, the entire veterinary class was made up of male students as this profession was considered too difficult and unacceptable for females. The few women who back then could get admitted to veterinary schools had to be brilliant, and they naturally graduated first in their class.

Through the years, the proportions have changed dramatically, and now the profession is predominantly female, though the women still earn less. A recent Cornell study revealed that in the top earning quartile, women vets earn about $100,000 less than their male colleagues.

Currently, in the U.S., 67% of veterinarians are women, and the mean age of male veterinarians is ten years older than that of females. As time goes on and the older male vets retire, we will see an even further increase in the percentage of women vets in the profession.

Although I think it is good that women are no longer discriminated against when entering the profession, I do believe that the major reason for the proportion change isn’t a good one. Although veterinary school remains one of the most competitive medical programs to get into, the veterinary profession’s monetary compensation pales compared to other medical professions.

The average salary of working veterinarians today is $98,827, whereas the average human doctor’s salary is $238,000, a huge difference. I think, frankly, fewer men are applying to vet schools than before because of this, and I suspect many men are drawn to the more lucrative medical professions while women remain in the lower-paid veterinary profession.

We all know that women who worked were often considered the second family income and therefore didn’t need to earn as much as the primary wage earner. Not only is veterinary medicine not a lucrative career, but the high costs of specialized education required for vets (college pre-med just like human doctors; then many of the same initial medical school courses that human medicine students take; and, then, medical training in multiple species, quite unlike human doctors who have it easy concentrating in only one specie!) all should result in acceptable compensation, but as you can see this is not the case.

And so, I suspect many men are drawn to the more lucrative medical professions while women remain in the lower-paid profession. So it is the job of the women in our profession to fight for financial equality with our professional colleagues not only within the veterinary profession but between veterinary and human medical professions as well.

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

As I have shared, the greatest influence in my professional life was the books written by James Herriot. I have returned to them repeatedly whenever I need a little help or inspiration. Fortunately, he wrote a whole series of titles, so I never get bored reading and re-reading a chapter. And when I need a boost, I watch an episode from the original BBC series with Christopher Timothy as the young Herriot. Just the opening music gets me going.

When I read one of his books, the descriptions of his unique and often quirky Yorkshire Dales clients, his patients (from cats and dogs to pigs and bulls) are so clear that I feel I am alongside him as he works. In fact, the television series actually had the actors performing some basic veterinary medicine.

The joy of his work reminds me of my own on a good day. In so many of his tales, he had to be creative while treating a patient in the client’s home (usually a farm). So speaking of being creative, I remember one of my house calls when I was asked to remove the dewclaw (the extra toe) on a litter of twelve Irish Setter one-day old puppies. This was an impossible task as they would wiggle and squirm while I had to do a minor but genuine surgical procedure.

What would James Herriot do? I thought while setting up. It came to me immediately. He would work with what he had. Recalling my baby nephew’s recent circumcision (you know what happens there), I asked my client if she had any sweet wine or sherry. She looked at me oddly but brought me a bottle and a lovely crystal glass. I realized she thought I was going to drink it! Instead, I poured a little into the glass and dipped a long Q-Tip into it and then put the sweet wine-saturated cotton swab into the first puppy’s mouth and watched as he gladly suckled on it.

Sure enough, within about a minute the puppy was out cold, and the procedure was finished faster than ever before. I completed all of them in a matter of just a half an hour with nary a mishap, and my client then brought out two more of those lovely glasses and we both toasted to the successful procedures. Smiling along with my client as well as the mother dog and all twelve of her awakening puppies while drinking some wine just seemed so James Herriot, who was often rewarded by a client for his hard work with a homemade brew of some kind.

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

I appreciate the compliment. My day job is to provide medical care for one animal at a time. Although this is very rewarding for me, I do believe that I must do more. I think veterinarians have a ‘special voice’ in society, and I exercise that voice through my actions, my philanthropy, and by educating those animal lovers I encounter about how they too can do more. By this, I mean affecting animal welfare policy itself.

I’ll give you an example. Many new clients contact me to vet a new puppy they have just adopted. Unfortunately, their definition of adoption often means they have just paid thousands of dollars to purchase a puppy mill dog at a pet store. The puppy mill industry is enormous in this country and a strong lobby in agricultural states promotes and protects it.

But these are puppy factories, and there is nothing benign about them. Dogs are kept in deplorable conditions, often bred over and over and over, and mistreated, including by withholding vaccinations and other health needs that might raise costs. The result is that the puppies produced by puppy mills and sold to pet stores around the country — and then to innocent purchasers- often have severe medical and behavioral problems. Even though you might look through a store window and feel emotional toward those adorable little dogs, every purchase of one of them encourages the industry to crank out more. It is an awful situation.

In the past, I have joined forces with the Humane Society of the United States and also with Best Friends, the largest animal sanctuary in the country, in anti-puppy mill campaigns (think “Certified Puppy-Safe” — certifying for sale healthy, non-puppy-mill dogs — as a local law requirement for the commercial sale of puppies).

What’s another solution? Real adoption. When Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy asked me what kind of dog would be best for them, I quickly replied: a rescue! And I suggested that since he is one of the most visible people in the world and a strong animal advocate, let’s publicize your decision to adopt a rescue. He and Nancy agreed, and we did just that.

In addition to dogs and cats, I have a real passion for wildlife, their health concerns and their habitat. Without healthy natural and wildlife ecosystems, the human leg of the health triad can’t thrive. Think Ebola, SARS, and COVID-19, all of which jumped to humans from wildlife. I have teamed up with the Wildlife Conservation Society, and through that alliance, I have been able to educate my animal-loving clients on the importance of the One Health concept. Through their subsequent generosity, I am responsible for over a million dollars of donations to WCS for wildlife and habitat health.

I also serve on the Board of Advisors of The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Through this position, I have helped introduce the One Health concept to Penn Vet, worked to modernize its curriculum, and mentored many members of the next generation.

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

My favorite life lesson quotes are two: “never give up” and “follow your passion”. I have both personal and professional examples of how these have served me.

As a teen, I didn’t give up after fainting in the vet’s office; instead, I showed up day after day for years after that. I didn’t give up after not getting into any of the veterinary schools to which I had applied; I reapplied with a better application and resolved to keep reapplying until I got in. I didn’t give up when I was fired and had no prospect of a new job; instead, I started my house call practice and created the most rewarding career for myself.

And I didn’t give up when the man, now my beloved husband of 27 years, didn’t ask me for a second date. We met at the Animal Medical Hospital when he brought a fatally-ill, beautiful Weimaraner puppy in for care. Although it was a wonderful first date, I didn’t blame him for not calling again after his puppy passed. So, many months later, with no HIPPA rules in the way, I pulled his number from the records and called him.

In all of these situations, I didn’t give up because I knew that I had to follow my passion, whether my profession or my future husband. My life would be unfulfilled unless I obtained those things that I really, really wanted. And so I don’t take no for an answer.

How can our readers follow you online?

Readers can follow me on Twitter (https://www.twitter.com/citypetsvets), Instagram for some great photos (https://www.instagram.com/citypetsvets), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CityPetsVets / City Pets, Manhattan’s House Call Vets) or even through City Pet’s website, www.citypetsvets.com.

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


Female Disruptors: Dr Amy Attas of City Pets On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Shikha Rastogi of Loving Our Fears Podcast On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That…

Women In Wellness: Shikha Rastogi of Loving Our Fears Podcast On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Positive thinking could become a trap — Because of the power of internet, so many of us have come to understand that positive thinking is the fix for all our troubles. As I started down my own path, I remember I would force myself to think positive. And even though having a positive mindset is always helpful, however, make sure you are not using positivity to run away from feeling your negative feelings.

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

Shikha Rastogi is a Master Certified Life Coach who specializes in Self-Love coaching. She is also the host of Loving Our Fears Podcast. Her mission is to empower Empaths, Highly Sensitive People (HSP), and women through Self-Love so that they can finally step into their own power to transform lives beginning with their own.

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?

Sure. My sibling and I were raised in India in a two-parent household. My mother was a homemaker and father worked outside of the home. Like kids in most families, I do not ever remember having a conversation with my parents around thoughts, emotions and mental health and the importance of feeling our feelings regardless of the fact that we call some of them ‘negative feelings’. I remember growing up only to find myself unable to deal with life’s challenges in my 20’s and 30’s. I especially remember the year 2007 as I was exhausted of dealing with life’s challenges back-to-back! I did not have the skillset, the mindset, or the wisdom to know how to navigate those difficult times. One day it occurred to me that if I kept going the way I was I would not stay alive for very long! And that is when I started down my spiritual path. In 2008 I picked up my first self-help book — A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by Eckhart Tolle and I still remember reading the first page of the book as if the book were written in a foreign language! Since 2008, I picked up several books, but it was not until 2013 when I started reading Dying to be me by Anita Moorjani that I understood the missing link in my own spiritual journey! Anita’s book taught me exactly what was missing in my own life — Self-Love! And that is when I began the Self-Love part of my spiritual journey and started to come home to myself!

As I began coming home to myself, I felt the urge to share my own life learnings and my own story of healing with the rest of the world, to inspire others. So, in 2016 I created a blog “Life A Shift in Perspective” where I would look at prevalent beliefs in our societies and would identify the fearful thinking behind these beliefs. I also started offering mindset group coaching, would present on topics like how to love yourself and how to let go of your fears etc. I would also teach how to meditate. Then in 2021, I started “Loving Our Fears” podcast because of everything humanity collectively was going through as a result of the pandemic. And in early 2022 I got my life coaching certifications, evolved my coaching business to create the Self-Love niche and also launched my business website.

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?

My entire career leading up to this point is an interesting story however I remember when I started my career as an Analyst it was very challenging to find work in the US as an immigrant. Ironically, after all the struggles I faced to create a career in Project Management, my heart is no longer in this career that I struggled so much to build over time. As I write this today, I am in the process of switching paths to move over to the healing world so that I could use my natural gifts of teaching and coaching and spreading awareness around self-love and wellness. The key takeaway so far for me has been that when you create your plans around your career or your life in general, keep in mind that most of us create these plans based on what others are doing in the society or the kind of jobs that are available or we choose jobs that would generate the most income for us. We rarely take inventory of our desires and natural talents and then create careers from that place. So, my greatest lesson so far has been to allow and trust this amazingly powerful Universe to lead the way and take me and my career to that place that is perfect for ME!

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

When I launched my Self-Love coaching business, I had this fire inside me to help people heal based on my own idea of healing. However, the mistake I made was to assume that each one of us is looking for the same level of healing which I personally experienced. But as I started meeting clients to understand their stories and goals, I not only realized that each client who came to me had a different idea, a different need for healing but also that they are all on different levels of consciousness which makes then understand healing differently. I realized that not all clients wanted to heal the way I thought about healing. I realized that it’s not about how I think a client ‘should be healed’. Rather it’s about what the client wants out of the coaching sessions. That realization changed the way I approached my first meeting with a client because I started focusing more on what my client goals are instead of creating and imposing my own definition of healing on them.

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?

Over the last two and a half years of this pandemic it has become glaringly obvious that in order to live a happier and more peaceful life you have to make health and wellness a priority in your life. And Health and wellness not only includes physical health but also mental and emotional wellness of a human being. As a Self-Love coach I am helping people review, renew, and upgrade their mindsets so that they can learn to view themselves, their life situations, and others from a perspective of love, kindness, and compassion. I am helping people evolve and transform by taking responsibility for their own life and lifestyles. I am helping people understand this deep and profound mind-body connection where our thoughts create our realities, and we have the power within us to shift our realities just by shifting our thinking and the beliefs behind that thinking! I am helping people come home to themselves through the power of self-love and self-compassion so that they can extend the same out into the world.

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

My top 5 tips for ‘lifestyle tweaks’ that you can start today are:

  1. Watch your intake — Many years ago, I made a conscious choice to stop listening to and watching every kind of news because of all the fear it would generate in my mind. Although I do not think you need to completely eliminate news from your life, however, I would recommend start paying attention to how a certain piece of news is making you feel. If you feel anxious that is your cue to find news or talks that inspire and empower you instead of making you feel disempowered and fearful. The biggest reason to watch what your intake is because what you feed your mind is the fuel it uses to create thoughts and if you feed your mind fear it will have an avalanche of negative thoughts which will end up showing up in your body as feelings of anxiety.
  2. Slow down — Everywhere you look and everyone you talk to is living such busy lives these days. It appears as though we have lost our sense of where exactly we are going and why! And this living very busy lives without a purpose has been taking a toll on our overall well-being. So, one of the best things you can do for yourself today is to clean up your calendar and cancel things/events/people who do not serve your well-being anymore. It is easier said than done yet until you do this ‘busy-ness cleanup’ similar to a spring cleanup, you will not know how already beautiful your current life is. And when you are grateful for what and who you have in your life today is when you connect with that happiness that you were so busy trying to chase through your next goal.
  3. Prioritize — If you are active on social media, you may have already realized that one of the most effective tools for avoiding being stressed and burned out is to ruthlessly prioritize. Prioritizing makes you focus on things that are truly important so that you do not get overwhelmed trying to do it all! However, ours is a generation totally lost in the chaos of wanting to do it all and having it all. As a result, our minds think of everything as important but because our ability to prioritize hinges on our ability to decipher what matters more to us so even though we may be well aware that we need to prioritize, we are just not capable. So, starting today as you clean up your calendar, start thinking in of the things/events/people that take space on your calendar and assign priorities to them. You can define your own priority levels but the ones that I love are — Can’t live without, Won’t die without it and My energy deserves better!
  4. Boundaries — Many of us already realize that setting up boundaries is one of the most important steps that helps us avoid frustrations with the people we love and work with. However, even with this knowledge, so many of us find it very hard to create these boundaries because we may be people pleasers and may not want to displease others by saying no, or, we may feel guilty for taking care of our own needs, or, we may be afraid of the consequences if we set up boundaries. No matter what the reason is for your inability to set up boundaries, at the root of it all is your own fears. So, the very first step towards creating any boundary is to identify and acknowledge our fears and how this fear feels in your body. The second step is to write down everything about this fear. The third step is to read what you have written a few times and see through the lies in these fearful statements. The fourth step is to begin taking small steps and create just one boundary which makes you the least fearful. The fifth step is to stay the course with this boundary even if your fear tells you to stop. Once you are successful in creating and staying the course with your first boundary, try creating the next one by choosing the one which makes you feel a little more afraid.
  5. Forgive yourself — This is the most important step because as you get started on creating boundaries, slowing down, and identifying your priorities, you will fail many times. And that is when you will need to lean back on compassion, kindness, and love for yourself. That is when you will have to remember to forgive yourself, move past your failure and then try again. Remember you are unlearning old and outdated beliefs and making space for the new and empowering beliefs and that takes lots of practice, patience, and time!

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

Now that so many of us are in the early stages of awakening, we are waking up to the fact that there is more to life than what meets the eye. Hence so many of us are looking to others, other teachers, gurus, guides, experts etc. to lead the way for them. We are looking to find ways to ‘improve ourselves’ by working very hard on ourselves. However, what I know through my own spiritual journey which began with self-improvement many years ago is that you can work very hard on improving yourself and it won’t make any difference until you take the time to know yourself through your own eyes, through this veil of other people’s opinions. So, the movement I would like to start is the Self-Love movement which simply means learning to love the imperfect human that we all are and then doing whatever it is that is needed to let go of the parts that don’t align with what we truly want from life and who we truly are! I want to lead people back to themselves so that they can learn to connect with their own wisdom, courage, and resilience instead of relying on gurus and experts!

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

  1. Wellness is much deeper than just physical and mental health — When I began my own spiritual journey, I understood that mental health is as important as physical health. However, what I didn’t realize is that underneath mental health lies emotional well-being which really is the foundation for our mental health. And I understood that as I started to peel the layers of my own beliefs, thoughts, and emotions.
  2. It is not Self-improvement rather self-awareness and self-acceptance what we are all seeking in this world — So many of us who are on an evolution path seem to have been caught up in the self-improvement mindset and I was one of them. Although improving yourself is important however even more important is to be true to ourselves and what we are feeling right in this moment. What is more important is knowing the self that we are working so hard on improving.
  3. Positive thinking could become a trap — Because of the power of internet, so many of us have come to understand that positive thinking is the fix for all our troubles. As I started down my own path, I remember I would force myself to think positive. And even though having a positive mindset is always helpful, however, make sure you are not using positivity to run away from feeling your negative feelings.
  4. Patience, compassion & kindness — I remember when I would be unable to force positivity on myself, I would get very frustrated and angry with myself. What I learned later is that the most important thing you could practice, even more important than positive thinking is learning how to be kind and compassionate towards my own self. This really is the foundation for change within myself as well as in the world because if I am kind towards myself, I will want to extend that kindness out to others. And that’s how you change the world and not by forcing yourself to be kind to others first.
  5. Forgive yourself — This is an extension of number 4 above. If you are able to learn to forgive yourself for the mistakes you made, the things you did or didn’t do, the people you hurt, the failures you experienced, the goals you didn’t meet, the rejections you faced is when you will experience the peace that so many of us are searching for in this world.

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 — A few years ago, when we would think about wellness we would automatically think about well-being of the body or physical health. However, over the last couple of decades mental health has also become part of wellness. Even though including mental health within the realms of overall well-being is crucial, however, it is time that we go deeper than that. It is time we begin to explore what is behind mental health and what causes someone to experience great or not so great mental health. It is time we being to explore the beliefs/thoughts/actions connection with mental health. It is time we being to focus on emotional wellness too which is what determines our mental health. It is time we begin to understand what being human is in the context of emotions and the role these emotions especially the negative emotions play in creating what we call mental health. A Deeper View into Mental Health is the cause that is closest to my heart.

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

https://www.instagram.com/shikha_self_love_coach/

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


Women In Wellness: Shikha Rastogi of Loving Our Fears Podcast 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.