Category: Featured

The Future of Beauty: Kimberly Shenk of Novi Connect On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Beauty Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Data is power because it provides transparency to enable better decision-making. And in the beauty industry, technology is what will allow the flow of information to happen between material suppliers and consumer brands. It will give brands the transparency they need to make better sourcing decisions so that more sustainable products are developed.

As a part of our series about how technology will be changing the beauty industry over the next five years, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kimberly Shenk.

Kimberly Shenk is the co-founder and CEO of Novi, a company helping consumer brands develop clean, transparent consumer products. Novi was developed out of pain points she experienced first hand as the co-founder of NakedPoppy, an online clean beauty company. She formerly served as Head of Product/Data Science for Domino Data Lab, Eventbrite and Sports Authority, and as a Data Scientist and Officer in the United States Air Force. Kimberly holds an MS from MIT and a BS from the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! 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?

One thing to know about me is that at the core, I’m motivated by serving others & serving the greater good — which is why I joined the United States Air Force to work on hard problems and serve my country. At age 17, I got my private pilot’s license with a dream to fly fighter jets but ended up having an incredible career as a data scientist in the Air Force instead.

I was stationed at Pearl Harbor as an Air Force Captain with a highly coveted Top Secret security clearance and worked directly for the Pacific’s 3-star General, running intelligence models.

I was so enamored with the power of data that in 2008 I decided to study machine learning and AI at MIT. During my studies, I was fascinated by how AI was being used in the emerging tech industry so I finished out my service commitment with the Air Force and made my way out to Silicon Valley to work at tech startups. I built and led the data organization at Eventbrite and led the product organization at tech startup Domino Data Lab.

I’ve always been a wellness junkie, extremely passionate about health and the environment and when I got pregnant in 2017, I started to learn and become very aware of what ingredients were in my products — and kind of got obsessed. I learned about how so many of them are toxic, can alter the growth of an unborn fetus, and can cause major harm like cancer. I decided to co-found NakedPoppy with Jaleh Bisharat, the former CMO of Eventbrite, Upwork and OpenTable and VP of Marketing reporting into Jeff Bezos in the 90s. We raised $4M to leverage data & tech to build personal care products that are better for your health and the environment.

And this is where I experienced first hand the difficulties in bringing better products to market. I discovered how difficult it was to find data on the ingredients being used and intimately experienced the constraints of the chemicals industry and the tools available. We started to build the beginnings of Novi to solve our own problems and it turned out to be a massive data science problem. I was “all in” from day one — I couldn’t let it go. It was an amazing amalgamation of everything I’ve done in my career leading up to this point and I knew this is how I would serve the greater good.

We named the company Novi because in Latin it means “to know/ to know how” — we believe all consumer brands should have the power to know about the ingredients they are choosing to use in their products and how to use them to make better products for the people and our planet.

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

I have a consistent thread in my background of being “turned on by the impossible.” I gravitate towards pushing the boundaries and tackling problems that aren’t comfortable in order to generate progress (which is why I’m taking the immense, antiquated $5T chemical industry head-on!)

So I’d say that my interesting story is how my personal passions coincided with my professional passions to fuel my career path. One of the ways I’m drawn to pushing my physical/ athletic limits. I took up racing in Ironmans and ended up qualifying and racing in the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. I then decided to try what I felt was impossible and train to run a sub-3-hour marathon. I ended up running the California International Marathon in 2 hours 58 minutes, missing the Olympic qualifying time by only 13 minutes.

Throughout this personal journey, I decided to share my passion for health and wellness on Instagram and ended up building a large following of 10s of thousands to address these topics around wellness. Little did I know that this personal journey would lead me to the world of consumer products to build a beauty brand that would then help me uncover a problem in the chemical industry where I would leverage my background in data science.

As an Air Force veteran, I never could have imagined building a platform that helps brands build sustainable products and I find my path to getting here to be the most interesting story of my career.

Are you able to identify a “tipping point” in your career when you started to see success? Did you start doing anything different? Are there takeaways or lessons that others can learn from that?

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

A first-generation American citizen, I had an intense admiration for my grandparents, who fled with their children from Nazi Germany to Canada. I have also been heavily influenced by my parents, who taught me from an early age that nothing in life will be handed to you but you can do anything you put your mind to. I’m particularly grateful to my parents and my grandparents for not only being role models but also challenging me to push against the odds and go do anything I wanted.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. The beauty industry today has access to technology that was inconceivable only a short time ago. Can you tell us about the “cutting edge” technologies that you are working with or introducing? How do you think that will help people?

As consumers, we’ve seen technology help drive accessibility and transparency in other parts of our daily lives. Zillow allowed us to transparently see houses available on the market, in real-time, and explore them independently. Amazon brought product information and pricing online, enabling us to discover more selections at the best price. TurboTax decoded the complex tax system and gave typical folks like you and I the power to do our own taxes. But the crux of all these solutions is data.

Data is power because it provides transparency to enable better decision-making. And in the beauty industry, technology is what will allow the flow of information to happen between material suppliers and consumer brands. It will give brands the transparency they need to make better sourcing decisions so that more sustainable products are developed.

This means like we’re doing at Novi, technology will be used to rapidly assess ingredients, fragrances, flavors, formulas, and packaging, down to their source. It facilitates our online marketplace where brands and their manufacturers discover, sample, and purchase these materials, in a completely transparent and easier way.

Technology also comes into play when we think about balancing transparency and Intellectual Property (IP). At Novi, we believe in transparency without disclosure. And that’s why we help manage that information disclosure with our partners. We want to help protect IP because that is the foundation of how the beauty industry operates and thrives. So when we think about balancing transparency and IP, it means Novi serves as the secure third party to verify the information.

We’re seeing this play out in all aspects of the industry:

• Consumers are demanding more transparency, but brands don’t want to share their proprietary formulas with the world
• Brands are demanding transparency from their manufacturers, but third party manufacturers don’t want to share their IP
• Both brands and manufacturers are demanding transparency from ingredient and packaging suppliers who don’t want to share their IP

It’s a cascading effect and REALLY hard, if not impossible, for any single player in this ecosystem to achieve full transparency on their own. This is exactly why Novi exists — to help facilitate information sharing between all of these parties, at scale.

Keeping “Black Mirror” and the “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?

It can seem daunting to build a new product with ambitious sustainability and transparency goals. But transparency allows the diversity of decision-making and ultimately leads to more efficacious products. You have the power of information in your hands to make decisions about what should be used.

Let’s take glycerin for example. It is generally made from palm oil (harvesting palm oil is burning down our rainforests) or animal oils (it’s not vegan). But now we have built infrastructure to responsibly harvest palm oil, and can even make glycerin without palm oil or animal oils at all. Transparency means that you can use data to source responsibly made glycerin — and not compromise the performance of your product.

The kind of technology Novi is building gives brands the power to seek information about the source of all of their materials (like glycerin) to make informed decisions. The potential drawback is how overwhelming this can be if you’re going to do this for every ingredient, especially if you have ambitious goals for your products (most products have 30+ ingredients in them, imagine doing this across hundreds of products). But it’s the best route to true product innovation.

This is why we built Novi. We work with hundreds of innovative suppliers who provide us with source data so that brands and their manufacturers can find industry-leading materials that are pre-vetted — with information like how the glycerin was derived and the certifications it meets, along with the ability to rapidly sample and purchase these ingredients with transparent pricing and lead times.

Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the “beauty-tech” industry?

Beauty-tech is enabling brands to bring better, more sustainable products to market for the health of our consumers and planet.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

Sustainable and healthier materials are more expensive, but only because they haven’t gained mass adoption. A way to naturally bring down their prices and make them the same, if not less expensive, is to shift the industry to using them in place of current materials. My concern is that even the most well-intentioned brands are forced to choose less sustainable options because the cost is too high. At the end of the day, a brand needs to make money to survive and can’t always afford to “do the right thing”.

You are an expert about beauty. Can you share 5 ideas that anyone can use “to feel beautiful”? (Please share a story or example for each.)

I don’t view myself as an expert in beauty — I’m more of an expert on what data is needed to make amazing beauty products. Being so close to the ingredients that go into beauty products, I can say that switching to clean beauty products that are formulated without ingredients that are harmful to human health and the environment, is the number one way to not only improve your skin’s health but improve your overall health — and that makes me feel beautiful.

Outside of switching to clean products, getting regular exercise is my other way of feeling beautiful. Exercise can definitely have positive impacts on your physical appearance, but I find that it helps me mentally and emotionally. Whenever I’m feeling stressed I put on my running shoes and head out for a run.

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. 🙂

The EU bans over 1,800 ingredients in cosmetics, and the US fewer than a dozen. The EU is much more progressive and I think it’s appalling that we haven’t been able to keep up in the US. This is also why we’ve seen such a proliferation of standards from retailers as well as certifications from new non-profits being stood up — they are trying to fill the void where regulation is lacking.

I am encouraged to see the current federal proposal to increase regulation of the beauty sector as well as the state level efforts in California and New York. Because it’s about time. These efforts are much needed and extremely important and unfortunately, it has been very hard to get to this point which is still far behind.

Regulation is not keeping up with consumer demand and consumers are no longer accepting self-made claims by brands. They are well too attuned to greenwashing and brands selling them garbage and lies. But I do think legislation gains velocity when demanded by the people and in this case, the drastic shift from consumers is only going to help get these pieces of legislation out faster.

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

“Nothing in life will be handed to you.” — I mentioned this in my previous response, this was embedded in my head at a very early age. My grandparent fled with their children from Nazi Germany to Canada which gave me the inspiration to work hard no matter where you or your family comes from. Nothing will ever be “handed” to us and if you’re determined enough, I believe good things come to those who really put in the work.

How can our readers follow you online?

• https://www.noviconnect.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/noviconnect/
• https://www.facebook.com/Novi-Connect-106880961629416
• https://www.linkedin.com/company/noviconnect/
• https://twitter.com/noviconnect

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

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The Future of Beauty: Kimberly Shenk of Novi Connect On How Their Technological Innovation Will… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Power Women: Rhoda Brimberryn of Loot Rentals On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life As A Powerful Woman

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Discipline — Set goals and stick to them. We have recently adopted a new operating model in our company that focuses on discipline. We meet weekly to discuss issues, we create quarterly and annual goals and all focus our energy to achieving these goals. As creatives, we easily get excited about new opportunities, but practice discipline to make sure these opportunities are not just “chasing butterflies” and detracting from our bigger goals. Discipline is holding yourself accountable and sticking to the goals that we set.

How does a successful, strong, and powerful woman navigate work, employee relationships, love, and life in a world that still feels uncomfortable with strong women? In this interview series, called “Power Women” we are talking to accomplished women leaders who share their stories and experiences navigating work, love and life as a powerful woman.

As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Rhoda Brimberry.

Rhoda Brimberry is the co-founder and CEO of Loot Rentals. The company specializes in top quality, design forward furniture rentals for parties and events allowing guests to create deeper connections with one another through interactions with great design. Since starting the business with her sister-in-law 12 years ago, the company has won numerous accolades including Best Rentals across two markets, nominated for best women led business of the year and has had the pleasure of being featured as contributors for some of the country’s most recognized weddings and events. Rhoda resides in Austin, TX with her husband and two teenage children, always making sure to remember that balance is not a destination, but an action that constantly needs to be exercised for a healthy life.

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”?

Growing up, I always had an eye for details. I remember a class wide activity in the third grade that had all the students study an image that was then taken away. Then we had a few minutes to write down everything that we remembered from the photo. I recalled having the most items on my paper by the end of the exercise. I also was deeply fascinated by interiors. I would go to my artist aunt’s house once a year and had great pleasure in seeing how she adjusted and changed her home from the last time that I visited. I loved all the details she put into her interiors. As a teen, I enjoyed encouraging my friends to go to open houses with me to look at architecture and details of homes that we wouldn’t be able to see otherwise. I thought I was so sly to suggest that I was an active house hunter, but looking back I’m sure it was pretty clear I was not and I appreciate all the realtors indulging me in my fantasy. My natural curiosity and belief that details are important was a guiding force behind how we developed our success at Loot.

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

I have always had a love of furniture and interiors. When Loot was born, I had given up a career unrelated to my current passion because I wanted to have more time with my kids. At the time, I was basically handing over my paycheck to someone else to watch my kids which wasn’t fulfilling. When I was home with them, I had a little more opportunity to explore my creative side. I loved collecting vintage items and trying to upcycle them into something new and interesting. While I was playing in this arena, I would send some of my creations over to my sister-in-law to evaluate and provide feedback. I always appreciated how she took me seriously even if I was in the beginning stages of product development. At that time, she was also planning her wedding and enlisted my help in collecting vintage items for her speakeasy vibed event. Nobody in the event rental industry was carrying the items she was looking for like mismatched linens, oil lamps and mismatched dining ware. That was a perfect job for me and I had a blast doing what I was already accustomed to: vintage sourcing and yard sale shopping. After items started to accumulate and it was clear this was a bigger job than just purchasing and storing, it became evident to me that there could be a market for these types of items for rent. It seemed crazy to imagine we were doing all this work and spending so much money for a one time event. When I started to think through this concept, it turned out that Anna, my sister-in-law, was also thinking along these lines. Before the wedding date, we already started to map out how to make a business out of specialty rentals with the items we had collected for her wedding.

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

When I went to graduate school, I was under the impression that people would be lucky to have me once I completed my degree. I remember the school’s environment suggesting such. But when I got out into the field I was trained in (mass communication and marketing/advertising) that was furthest from the truth. It took me a while to land a job where I thought my training would be of service and even then it was entry level. It was then I realized that it didn’t matter how much school or training I had, it was how I presented myself and the amount of confidence I exuded. Ever since then I have been continuing to strengthen my leadership skills.

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?

Vulnerability, vulnerability and vulnerability. I didn’t go to school for business or entrepreneurship. I had to learn as I went. Thankfully there is zero barrier to entry into our industry, but that by no means leads to success. You have to know how to pivot. You have to be able to look at your blind spots and see where you’re lacking and where growth or change is needed. You need to recognize when you’ve made a mistake and be vulnerable in that. Most importantly, you need to learn that you can’t do it all. Call on your team and choose to be surrounded by people who are better than you in areas where you lack. While I’m always happy for our company’s success, I am also very aware that you keep plowing forward, continuing to look toward the horizon. What is the next challenge we’re going to face in our new level of success? Always keep your eye on the ball.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. The premise of this series assumes that our society still feels uncomfortable with strong women. Why do you think this is so?

We are still immersed in a patriarchal society. The men are the breadwinners, and the women hold down the fort. The men are the hunters, the women stay at home tending to the meals, housekeeping, and child rearing. He brings home the bacon, she fries it up in a pan. This idea has existed for centuries. It has only been in the past 50 years that women are seen more as valuable contributors to more of society than just tending to the home. That can feel uncomfortable for a lot of people who are used to these more traditional roles.

Without saying any names, can you share a story from your own experience that illustrates this idea?

I have worked in a Good Old Boy network in my past. It is not uncommon to be overlooked when speaking out about ideas. I feel as a woman you have to be extra powerful to be heard in a room full of men than it would be if you were in a room of women. You need to be seen before you can be taken seriously. I don’t necessarily see this in our events industry which is heavily led by women. I am more heard in these environments when I speak up and don’t have to fight as hard to get my points across. That is a blessing for me to look to the leaders in our field and learn from the best. I have worked in male dominated industries and offices before and do feel there’s an extra step required when proving yourself as a woman leader. I worked in the restaurant industry while in college and experienced a very male dominated environment. I recall I had one manager who treated the women poorly in the kitchen and I was bothered by this. I tried to speak up, but was overlooked and laughed away. I then asked for a meeting with the manager who viewed me as a troublemaker and manipulated the situation to suggest that I was the problem. If any male person in the restaurant were treated with such disrespect as I felt, I knew right away that they would have leveled with him much more easily than I was able to. It got so bad at one point that he cornered me and threatened me. I was so scared that I backed off and moved on. I suppose I could have continued to push forward in trying to find justice in this very chauvinistic environment, but I was young and didn’t feel prepared to continue pushing my point.

What should a powerful woman do in a context where she feels that people are uneasy around her?

I like to find commonalities to connect with any person, male or female. You need to find common ground before you can explore ideas and collaborate together. Be down to earth, be vulnerable and find ways to connect.

What do we need to do as a society to change the unease around powerful women?

I think people should be patient. When you push an issue that is uncomfortable for others they might shut down and you lose the opportunity to share your POV. Again, find common ground.

In my own experience, I have observed that often women have to endure ridiculous or uncomfortable situations to achieve success that men don’t have to endure. Do you have a story like this from your own experience? Can you share it with us?

I have been in work situations where the Good Ole Boy network was the driving force behind the company’s success. I was aware I had to work much harder to gain station whereas other people were hired because they were members of the same fraternity. It was acceptable to say lewd and racist comments among the halls of the building and around the boardroom table. So long as it was said with a smile and a friendly pat on the back, then it wasn’t serious. That was very uncomfortable for me and it took an extra dose of energy for me to not only be wholly affected by the comments, but to remember that this wasn’t right and shouldn’t be accepted. I remember sitting in a meeting with all men and I heard one man suggest we achieve results by “jewing down” another person. I was so shocked by this comment. It was more shocking, however, that I looked around the room and nobody had the same reaction that I had. What did he just say? Thankfully my superior in the room knew I was a Jew and quickly tried to address the comment in a jovial way. He laughed and said, you can’t say that! And everyone laughed. Except me. I still was dumbfounded that this was an acceptable way to talk, much less think, and if I wasn’t there to cause one person to briefly make mention of the comment, would that have flown without repercussion or discussion? If the offended person in the room was higher on the org chart or even one of the guys, would the attention to the comment been different or even taken a little more seriously? It was situations like this that really painted for me how I wanted to act as a leader. I knew that in my work and in my leadership, I would always try to pay as much attention to all the individuals that contributed to the success of the company and make sure their voices were heard. In this particular scenario, I didn’t feel I had the power to say anything about how insulting a comment like “jewing a person down” felt to a Jew. I had tried in my past to stick up for the underdog, and was threatened. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again and risk my job.

Another example of a ridiculous work situation I have endured: pumping my milk at work. After having my first child, I went back to work six weeks postpartum because that was all the time I was afforded at this particular establishment. I wanted to make sure my son still had his mother’s milk, so I brought along a breast pump to work to use on breaks. I worked in a cubicle that was not private so I approached my supervisor to see if there could be other accommodations for someone like me that needed privacy to pump my milk. She thankfully found somebody’s office that was conveniently not being used at certain times in the day that she allowed me to use. This was a great solution, only I would be in someone else’s space yelling through the door to let people who knocked (to find the person that normally occupied the office) that person wasn’t there. Needless to say, all the equipment and accommodations would not have been necessary if I was just able to have my child with me in the early stages of his life. I did ask if it was possible to bring him to work with me in the first months to help us both adjust, but that wasn’t an option. Because of this experience, it was important for us at Loot to have more accommodations for new moms. We allow babies to come to work for the first 6 months so the mom can transition back into work. The work community all chip in to help the mom and baby transition back to work and this allows more freedom for the mom to nurse and tend to her baby while working. So far, it has worked out nicely for all our new moms and I’m very proud that we offer this benefit that I never had.

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

For one, getting ready in the morning. It is not lost on me how easy it is for my husband to get out the door and look fantastic. He showers, shaves and brushes and he’s ready. Maybe 15 mins from hopping in the shower to running out the door. Our society demands women to look perfect. And by perfect, I mean applying all the touches and details to alter our natural state. We apply foundation for flawless skin, we apply make-up to highlight our features, we curl our lashes, straighten our hair and plump our lips. There are days where I just have so much I want to do and spending time in front of the mirror takes away from that. I know that if I want to be seen as someone worth listening to, I need to make sure I have spent enough time in front of the mirror to put my best foot forward. That honestly can be exhausting. But most days, it is nice to put that energy into myself. When I do that, I know others will give me that energy as well. If I feel it, it will radiate.

Let’s now shift our discussion to a slightly different direction. This is a question that nearly everyone with a job has to contend with. Was it difficult to fit your personal and family life into your business and career? For the benefit of our readers, can you articulate precisely what the struggle was?

ABSOLUTELY. It is the most important consideration for me in my life. My family is always at the forefront of my world. And I also view my business as my third child, not to mention all the people whom the company employs. All these areas need my full attention. There are days where the business takes precedence and I find myself apologizing for not being more present at home. Then there are days that I give to my family while others take the wheel at work. But at the end of the day, I know that I’m doing the best I can and I am teaching my children what hard work looks like. I like that they see me putting passion into my work. I also like that they notice I don’t cut corners when it comes to meal prep and attending all the events whether it is school related or socially related.

What was a tipping point that helped you achieve a greater balance or greater equilibrium between your work life and personal life? What did you do to reach this equilibrium?

I’m still in the process of learning this, but I have found that spiritual exploration is helpful for me. When I can remove ego from my interactions and see the bigger picture, it provides me a lot of calm. There is so much beauty in all the world. And if you’re able to pull out of your microcosm to observe and feel that, many of the issues that plague you on a daily basis melt away.

I work in the beauty tech industry, so I am very interested to hear your philosophy or perspective about beauty. In your role as a powerful woman and leader, how much of an emphasis do you place on your appearance? Do you see beauty as something that is superficial, or is it something that has inherent value for a leader in a public context? Can you explain what you mean?

I’m going to use the word beauty in my answer to mean attractiveness. And to be attractive doesn’t necessarily mean to have superficial good looks. To be beautiful is to radiate positive energy that makes people want to also do the same. It’s contagious. When you are young, it is easier to put energy into superficial looks because your skin is tighter and plump. As you age, these qualities wane allowing you to make the choice if you want to preserve those qualities that the media deem as success, or dig deeper into your spirit to allow the superficial changes to unfold as they naturally do and experience life to the fullest.

How is this similar or different for men?

I can’t speak for men in how they experience aging, I imagine they too struggle with the changes in their bodies and make decisions on how to continue to present themselves to the world in their new age and new superficial changes. I do believe that society allows the grace of men’s development a little more than they do of women overall. The message I have received from the media is that men get better with age, they gain more distinction. Women? We just get tired. To have done all the great things we have done: carried, nursed and raised babies while raising a healthy business should also give us badges of honor, of distinction. Not dark bags under our eyes. I think there’s room to change the conversation and I would love to see more talk about aging with grace and wisdom for women, not ways to combat our hard earned crows feet.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Powerful Woman?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Vulnerability — If I didn’t respect this quality as much as I do, I don’t think I would be as effective a leader. To be vulnerable in front of your team opens the door for them to be as well. Afterall, we are human and we make mistakes. We are constantly growing and changing and we should honor that and not shame against it. Explore your blind spots, speak up when you’ve made a mistake without fear of being judged, and be authentic. That’s the only way to show up.

Discipline — Set goals and stick to them. We have recently adopted a new operating model in our company that focuses on discipline. We meet weekly to discuss issues, we create quarterly and annual goals and all focus our energy to achieving these goals. As creatives, we easily get excited about new opportunities, but practice discipline to make sure these opportunities are not just “chasing butterflies” and detracting from our bigger goals. Discipline is holding yourself accountable and sticking to the goals that we set.

Focus — Keep your goals at the forefront of your day. For me, it is easy to lose direction because so many people or projects require my attention. But if you remind yourself of the big goal you’re trying to achieve whether it is a quarterly goal or an annual goal, it will become very clear quickly where you need to put your attention.

Exercise: mind and body — During the week I wake up before the rest of the household to read, journal or meditate. This helps me set my intentions for the day before I turn my attention to the family and their needs. Getting out in the morning with the dogs for a jog or walk after the rest of the family gets off to school and work also helps me. I get my heartrate up, I listen to inspirational podcasts whether it is business or spiritually based and get my blood pumping before getting into the office to join the team in dealing with the issues of the day. These activities ground me and help me bob and weave around anything thrown my direction that day. When I don’t start my day like this, I notice a marked difference on how I respond to the situations of the day.

Look for opportunities to PLAY! — This is something I’m trying to hold more space for than I realized I needed in the past. I found myself getting grumpy because I was depleted from giving all the time, but not showing myself love. For many years, I believed that this was the most honorable way to live: always give to others, practice servant leadership. While I find this to be true still in many ways and it really boosts my feelings of self-worth, I realized that I wasn’t effective in this act of giving if I was empty and not giving to myself with as much love as I would give to others. Maybe you could say this might be one of the more powerful beauty secrets…giving yourself love and space to enjoy playtime.

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.

BRENE BROWN! I love how approachable she seems. I appreciate all the years of study that she’s put into her work and her method of leadership really resonates with me. I think she’d be a lot of fun to spend time with as well.

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

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Power Women: Rhoda Brimberryn of Loot Rentals On How To Successfully Navigate Work, Love and Life… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Wisdom From The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry, With Autumn Shelton and Hanna Brand of Autumn Brands

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Don’t try to build a shiny object from the start. We have seen so many cannabis businesses lease huge farms or warehouses and spend millions to make them fancy and well beyond their current use/needs thinking they will expand into them one day. But they all went under because they ran out of money to actually run their business and pay themselves an income. Autumn Brands has been frugal from the start. We measure every dollar that we spend and bought cheaper versions of assets until we had the funds to invest in longer term assets.

As part of my series about “Wisdom From The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry” I had the pleasure of interviewing Autumn Shelton and Hanna Brand.

Hanna Brand — Chief Sales Officer, Partner, Autumn Brands

As CSO, Hanna oversees strategic planning, marketing, product development, packaging and sales. She led a team of 20 in the harvesting and packaging departments and has transitioned into a deeper focus of product development and sales. Hanna grew up on the family farm and learned best agricultural practices and sales from her Dad, Hans. Only a few years after graduating from Cal Poly with a degree in Environmental Horticultural Science, Hanna has proven herself to be a force in the cannabis industry.

Autumn Shelton — Chief Financial Officer and Partner, Autumn Brands

As CFO, Autumn oversees strategic planning, marketing, compliance, legal, human resources, and finance. Autumn has been successfully navigating the unchartered waters of California’s Prop 215 and the Regulated California Cannabis industry (Prop 64) since 2015 and is a sought-after panelist and public speaker on the nuts and bolts of operating a licensed California cannabis cultivation business. In 2021, under Autumn Shelton’s leadership as President of CARP Growers, the Cannabis Association for Responsible Producers concluded a year-long negotiation and reached a historic agreement between the CARP Growers and the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis on a cooperative agreement for odor abatement.

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

Autumn Brands is a licensed California cannabis cultivator that is united by the vision of two families that own and operate it. The Brand family are 6th generation farmers originating back to Holland growing the world’s finest tulips. Autumn Brands namesake originates from its 4 owners, Autumn Shelton, Hans Brand, Johnny Brand and Hanna Brand. The farm originally grew numerous types of cut flowers including Gerbera Daisies, Lillys, Tulips and many other varieties, which allowed for a seamless transition to Cannabis in 2015 under the medical collective model and then to the regulated market in 2018. At that point, we decided to create a consumer packaged product and our Brand.

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

Well, there is never a dull moment in this industry. But, in all honesty, we found our dream job and the best partners we could ask for. There have been and continue to be many intense challenges along the way, but we wouldn’t give up this opportunity or business for anything. I have always been a believer and user of cannabis, but we never knew just how incredibly passionate we would become over this life changing plant.

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 we didn’t know whether to wet trim or dry trim and whether to machine or hand trim. Wet trimming provides for more weight, but you lose a lot of the terpene aroma. We didn’t know how important the aroma and hand trimming really was to the user experience so we focused on wet and machine trimming originally. It didn’t take long though to be convinced by our warehouse manager (aka my husband, Abe) at that time to switch over to dry and hand trimming. The best lesson we learned was quality over quantity is key to success!

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

When we originally started it was in the medical marijuana collective model days. You didn’t tell anyone. Even though medical marijuana was legal in California and we had all the legal documents, the federal prosecution risk was still so high that anytime a helicopter came over, we would hold our breath. But once Prop 64 passed, we felt confident in our business and started sharing with family and friends. They were supportive and also very curious. There are a lot of unknowns because the recreational market is so new. But overall when we made the transition over to cannabis we felt the love and support of our friends and family. And we’re proud to be one of the first cannabis brands in California to have women in these types of leadership positions.

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?

One of our founders, Hans Brand, had a vision to unite us all. I was CFO for his cut flower business at the time. He had leased out some of his greenhouses to a medical marijuana collective and quickly saw the opportunity to switch over almost all the greenhouses. I have always been a supporter of Cannabis and had an entrepreneurial mind frame. I will never forget the fateful day, when my partner said, “why don’t we start something?” I immediately started drawing up business plans and ideas. His kids were going to be graduating from college a few years later and he wanted them to also be a part of this emerging industry. So the four of us joined forces and never looked back!

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

Yes, we recently launched our new branding and sustainable packaging which we feel like our fans would appreciate our new reusable tins for the pre-rolls and will be packaging all of the glass jars with compostable lids.

The bright new branding is in celebration of the California sun-grown, clean cannabis that exemplifies the powerful convergence of mountains, oceans and plants. The environment is a priority, from the new reusable tins for pre-rolls to the closed-loop watering system that ensures no water is wasted. Autumn Brands is dedicated to full-circle sustainability and is excited to be rolling out this new look to align with century old family farming practices that respect the ecosystem.

The new packaging for the Hybrid, Sativa, and Indica Strains has custom color gradients that correspond to the type of feelings one might get when using it:

• Sativa — Sativa strains are great for daytime use. The vibrant greens and yellows align with the sunrise and daytime, hopefully bringing brightness to the consumer’s day.
• Indica — Indica strains are great for rest, relaxation and sleep. The dark purple aligns with the sunset or evening time.
• Hybrid — Hybrids can be dominated by Indica or Sativa characteristics, or they may be very balanced. Most cannabis today is a type of hybrid marked as either Indica or Sativa dominant, rather than pure Indica or Sativa. Autumn Brands carries its Dutch heritage and balanced business practices with pride, represented by orange, AB’s primary brand color now balanced out with a shade of pink (Autumn’s favorite color).

“The bold colors help represent the feeling one might get when using the particular strain.”

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

• Treating each other as equals.
• Supporting and uplifting our fellow cannabis founders — men and women
• Always stay true to your company vision and when something isn’t working, make small revisions so you can figure out exactly what needs to change.

Lastly, regardless of our gender, age, and color. Spreading factual information for our industry is essential. There are many health benefits to cannabis and has been deemed an essential plant based medicine.

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

1. Don’t try to build a shiny object from the start. We have seen so many cannabis businesses lease huge farms or warehouses and spend millions to make them fancy and well beyond their current use/needs thinking they will expand into them one day. But they all went under because they ran out of money to actually run their business and pay themselves an income. Autumn Brands has been frugal from the start. We measure every dollar that we spend and bought cheaper versions of assets until we had the funds to invest in longer term assets.
2. Be ready to pivot everyday. This industry is still in its infancy. It literally changes every month, maybe even every week. You have to be ready daily to pivot and adapt to where the industry is shifting to, whether that’s in the ever changing regulations, packaging rules or consumer demand.
3. Leave your ego at the door. Along the way, we have mostly met wonderful people in the industry. But there have been a few ‘ego maniac’s’ that need a serious check. Growing and selling cannabis isn’t new, but when its done under regulations, taxation and on a greater commercial scale with consumer packaging its a whole new ballpark. Whether you have been growing cannabis, other agricultural crops or have been successful in other businesses, you need to leave your ego and set ways at the door and be open to the ‘new world of cannabis’.
4. Do your homework. Reach out to others that have been in the industry before you start a business. Really learn and understand the trials and tribulations that others have gone through, so you know what works and what doesn’t
5. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Being in this industry is not for the faint at heart. There are so many challenges that you will face in this industry. You need to be able to step over the small issues and mistakes, learn from them and continue to move forward.

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

I’m excited to see more female founders in this space, more education, less stigma and cannabis becoming more and more accessible to the world.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest?

Running a medium-scale cannabis operation presents a variety of challenges for any commercial grower. Every aspect of cultivation requires strategic precision, from selecting the hardiest strains to keeping up with increasing demand for products. In a notoriously competitive market, many sellers rely on harsh chemicals and pesticides to speed the growth process and ensure a strong final product. Under the watchful eye of our Head Grower Johnny Brand, we far surpass federal and state regulatory standards, offering powerfully potent strains of clean, pesticide-free cannabis from a name customers trust for quality and consistency.

“You can wash your lettuce but not your weed” — the saying is a regular reminder that drives our team toward an uncompromising approach to clean, safe practices. While other growers may claim a “pesticide-free” process relying on neem and similar oils, Autumn Brands’ “no spray” policy means just that… and customers can look for the ladybug PURE stamp of approval as the gold standard in integrative growing techniques ensuring clean, pesticide-free cannabis products they can count on for quality and safety. The brand’s PURE guarantee marks a product that is:

● Pesticide-free, grown and nurtured by hand according to integrative, no-spray techniques that allow beneficial creatures like ladybugs to coexist peacefully

● User-first, always keeping the safety and experience of customers top-of-mind during every step of the process

● Responsibly-grown, using hydroponic methods and natural well water on a closed-loop system

● Eco-friendly, incorporating into the grow process earth elements like sustainably sourced coco noir fertilizer that keep the brand’s carbon footprint small

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

Federal legalization if done right could be very positive for the industry. It would open a lot of opportunity, allow business to actually be 100% treated as a legal business, but it can’t be overtaxed. The impact of 280e is detrimental, but the federal tax rate has to be under 5% or it’s the same effect as 280e for cultivators. Cannabis must be decriminalized at the federal level, allow states to continue to regulate independently but working together for interstate commerce, create well developed state funded social equity programs and keep the federal tax rate on cannabis to 1%.

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

Clearly, Cigarettes and Tobacco are very harmful to one’s health and don’t provide any health benefits. This is purely a vice that some people continue to enjoy at the known risks. Cannabis provides many health benefits and is medicine to many. However, it does have psychoactive properties, so its good that it’s regulated and age-limited to ensure it doesn’t affect our young minds. No one has ever overdosed or gotten cancer from smoking pot, but with manufactured product innovation, the levels of psychoactive properties are increasing, so it is important to keep those in check. Overtaxation works if you are trying to limit something harmful, but cannabis isn’t that and therefore shouldn’t be as highly taxed as it is.

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

“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are an excellent leader.” Dolly Parton

I feel so fortunate to be a part of an industry in its infancy and for everything I have learned along the way. I have had many mentors in my life that have guided me where I am today and I hope to continue to be a mentor and leader to others.

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

We encourage all cannabis growers to stop using all pesticides and herbicides, including organics to ensure all cannabis that is grown is 100% safe for inhaling. You would be surprised at what you can accomplish when you create a balanced ecosystem beneficial to insects on your farm.

How can our readers follow you online?

• https://autumnbrands.com/
• https://twitter.com/autumnbrands/
• https://www.instagram.com/autumnbrands_/
• https://www.facebook.com/autumnbrands/

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

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Wisdom From The Women Leading The Cannabis Industry, With Autumn Shelton and Hanna Brand of Autumn… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Melanie Hicks of Inked Elephant Publishing House On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The best words of advice I ever received was “View Life as an Adventure”. Goals and visions are fabulous tools to help us focus our energy and achieve things we want in life. But there is a downside. If you are only focused on the end game, forever striving for the ultimate prize, you miss a lot of life along the way. When you see life as an adventure, you can never be let down by what comes your way. There are no failures, only surprises and obstacles to overcome.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Melanie Hicks of Inked Elephant Publishing House.

Dr. Hicks is an empathy driven leader with more than two decades of experience in workforce, education and nonprofits focused on the areas of human centered leadership, strategic planning, employee engagement and organizational culture. Her debut memoir, Incongruent; Travel, Trauma, Transformation will hit shelves March 2023. She is the founder of InPursuit Research, a boutique consulting firm offering organizational and workplace training.

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?

Sure. I am blessed to have spent nearly two decades building a career toolkit full of unique experiences all grounded in making authentic impact. From education to nonprofit to public policy, I have sought to find ways to put people above profits in every chapter of life.

Finding my way to writing and social impact publishing was a long and winding journey. Early in life, I realized I held a gift for words, and I began centering my career pursuits around that talent. Over time I made intentional career choices to use that talent to benefit others. Early in my career, I was not necessarily sure how to do that. But I just looked for opportunities that seemed authentically interesting and had growth potential and said yes. I think life is richer when we take smart risks and just say yes even when the path is unclear or a little fearful.

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

Incongruent, my upcoming memoir is more than just a story of my own life and travel lessons, it is a call to action. It is meant to inspire others to take stock of the way we spend our time, our talents and our resources and become more intentional about the choices we make and the boundaries we set.

Disruption happens when we are vulnerable enough to take stock of our current reality and brave enough to go after what we really want. I have developed a 3-step method to help individuals and organizations lay a plan to begin this process called the 3E Method of Change©.

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 been blessed with a variety of fabulous mentors along the way. One comes top of mind as an important influence on this work; Dr. Fred Seamon. You can fill an entire article with his career accolades spanning fifty years and positively impacting hundreds of individuals. But much more important than any of that is his inspirational character. He is the living, breathing example of leadership he is as a man. He is the first to say yes to any opportunity that will add value to those he cares for, be that his family, company, community, or church. He will never ask of you what he will not do himself. He is the cheerful rally to a team that is down. He is the insightful influencer in times of controversy. And he is a voice of reason during times of distress.

Fred and I first crossed paths in 2002 when I arrived in Tallahassee as a doctoral student at Florida State. However, it was more than a decade later that his impact on my life truly began. Upon seeking his steady council for a decision weighing heavy on my heart, he was all too willing to put aside his busy schedule to listen, comfort, and reflect. The lessons he shared were powerful reminders. Be confident in the value you add. Set and keep limits on what you can healthily give of yourself. Be willing to walk away from what doesn’t serve you. There is always another door to open.

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?

There are absolutely times when disruption is the wrong way to proceed. (Did someone say recent Twitter changes?) Organizations that have a clear path for steady growth and articulated mechanisms for evolving and innovating are not served with a disruptive change plan. On the other hand, organizations that are stuck in traditions that do not serve them, hold historic or systemic discriminatory policies or norms, or generally have not been successful at innovating over time, these are the organizations where disruption is critical.

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

The best words of advice I ever received was “View Life as an Adventure”. Goals and visions are fabulous tools to help us focus our energy and achieve things we want in life. But there is a downside. If you are only focused on the end game, forever striving for the ultimate prize, you miss a lot of life along the way. When you see life as an adventure, you can never be let down by what comes your way. There are no failures, only surprises and obstacles to overcome.

Here is an example, last summer my husband and I set out to do an overnight 60-mile roundtrip bike packing trip. About 22 miles into the trip the weather turned, the trail became a mudslide, and we were left shivering in a lightning and hailstorm. Rather than force ourselves to go on just to achieve our goal, we turned and headed back to town. That night rather than being miserable in the freezing rain, we had hot showers, classic cocktails and endless laughs. We still ended the weekend with a 40-mile challenging bike trip at nearly 10,000ft in elevation but we also made happy memories of time spent together. There are times in life when we need to stop, reassess and change direction. Being self-aware enough to realize that and allowing space to do that is a key to a happier life.

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

After traveling the world and having the privilege of hearing so many people’s stories, I became passionate about the importance of storytelling and its place in our societal shared understanding. I spent the next few years studying the art of storytelling and the publishing industry. What came out of that is Inked Elephant Publishing House.

Inked Elephant is a Social Impact publishing firm assisting authors at every stage in the writing process. We believe everyone has a story and everyone’s story deserves to be told. We have a goal to tell 10,000 stories by 2025. For every story we tell from a paying client, we write and promote a story of impact pro bono. This is our cycle of life. This is how we honor and amplify those doing good for the world. This is how we shake up the publishing industry.

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

Perception of speaking out. Full Stop. Women are more likely to be judged harshly for speaking out than men and it causes so many of us to get quiet. We avoid the controversial stances and the uncomfortable conversations. We absorb workplace bullying and sexual or social trauma. The consequence of this repression is greater anxiety, higher levels of stress, more physical illness and less career advancement.

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

While Incongruent had been a dream of mine for over a decade, there was a particular moment in time where I formally started to put words on paper. I was sitting on the balcony of my 26th floor condo in Tampa, Florida reading Stephen Cope’s The Great Work of Your Life for the third time. Despite having read the words before, timing is, in fact, everything. On this day, in this moment I read a line from the open chapter.

“What do you fear most in this life? What is your biggest fear? Right now. When I pose that question to myself, the answer is this: I’m afraid that I’ll die without having fully lived.”

Not only did this light a fire in my soul to live more present and more fully day to day, but also to follow my lifelong dream of writing. My version of fully living means following that dream with ferocity and that is exactly what I set out to do.

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 deeply believe what the world needs most right now is a movement of authentic acceptance. I believe that acceptance of others is the deepest love we can give them. We do not have to agree with their religious traditions, political beliefs, or social values but we can love and accept them anyway. These differences make a beautiful stained-glass window through which we can view the world.

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

“You can’t set yourself on fire to keep others warm.” This was shared with me by a mentor and friend Dr. Fred Seamon. To me it is the ultimate reminder to know our worth and set our boundaries appropriately.

During a particularly tumultuous time in my professional career, while working for a very toxic organization, Fred would remind me of this regularly. He would also continuously be encouraging me to assess its deeper meaning in light of my current organization. Was the organization really serving me? Do value and effectively utilize my talents? This mantra became not only critical to solidifying a fantastic career leap, but also to many future decisions I made in my personal and professional life.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can find all my social media as well as information on the release of Incongruent at my Linktree https://linktr.ee/MelanieSueHicks

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

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Female Disruptors: Melanie Hicks of Inked Elephant Publishing House On The Three Things You Need To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Roxanne Conrad of 360 Painting On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

First of all, as a female in a man’s world, no feelings. Of course, everyone has feelings, but I used to say this in my marketing role all the time. There are no feelings in marketing. Everyone will have an opinion, but what matters is whether something works. In a male-dominated industry, there will be a ton of bravado and opinions, and you’ve got to be able to just say, “Thanks for the feedback,” and let it roll off. Then, take the things that make sense to you and incorporate them. Take the granules that are really helpful and important and incorporate them into your business, and just roll with the rest.

In the United States in 2022, fields such as Aircraft piloting, Agriculture, Architecture, Construction, Finance, and Information technology, are still male-dominated industries. For a woman who is working in a male-dominated environment, what exactly does it take to thrive and succeed? In this interview series, we are talking to successful women who work in a Male-Dominated Industry who can share their stories and experiences about navigating work and life as strong women in a male-dominated industry. As a part of this series, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Roxanne Conrad of n360º Painting.

Roxanne, a native of Forest Park, Illinois, is a graduate from the University of Illinois: Urbana-Champaign. She began her career within a subsidiary of Xerox, starting in sales and eventually creating and launching two different departments from the ground up. Over her 15 years with Xerox, she received various awards and commendations, launching both the escalated customer service call center and a marketing/sales operations team. Roxanne left corporate America in 2018 to join her husband, Brian in growing their 360 Painting franchise location, where they were honored to be named the 2018 Rookie of the Year Franchise.

In 2019, Roxanne was contracted on as Vice President of Marketing with a pet-related call center for the American Kennel Club. Her main responsibility was to build the organization’s brand and market strategy through B2C sales and complimentary acquisitions — to assist in overall revenue growth for a liquidation event. Throughout this time, she continued to run the marketing and HR operations of their family business.

In 2021, Roxanne rejoined Brian within 360 Painting, taking on new roles and leveraging her expertise to not only grow their business, but assist others within the franchise system. Roxanne has been involved in sitting on the Franchise Advisory Council, a Women Owner’s Cohort, and has taken lead on piloting and building out several initiatives within Premium Service Brands.

In October 2023, PSB announced Roxanne as the new President of 360 Painting and would be leading the system beginning November 1st. With 5 successful years in franchise business ownership, Roxanne is extremely excited to take on this new challenge and utilize her experience and expertise to help foster an environment of growth and positivity within the 360 Painting community.

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

I grew up in a western suburb of Chicago — in the Oak Park area. It was a town called Forest Park. I think I had a pretty standard childhood, I was very academic; I had straight As and was in the National Honor Society. I also played tennis! Since I’m from this area, I’m very familiar with the territory that we ended up buying into with 360º Painting.

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

This actually has to do with a personal relationship of mine. I met my husband at work, and we’ve only ever not worked together for one year of our marriage. I was in marketing at a subsidiary of Xerox, and he was in data analytics. He had always had a dream of owning his own business, so we decided it was probably a good opportunity for us to diversify the family portfolio. We kind of saw the writing on the wall as it correlated to Xerox — there’s only so much work in a paper in a digital world.

We started looking at options, and we were thinking, “Well, what can we do?” He was in data analytics, and I was in marketing, so aside from being consultants, there wasn’t really a great path to opening a business. That’s when we started pursuing franchising.

Really, we settled more on Premium Service Brands than we did the painting industry.. That being said, one of the things that really stood out to us about the painting industry was the opportunity to bring our background in customer service into an industry that was not well known for providing a great overall customer experience.

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

Our first six months in business, we had a painter who was in one of our customer’s closets, and he was shaking a paint can. The lid wasn’t closed all the way, and it went everywhere. I mean, the paint was just all over her closet. It was all over her clothes, and she was a businesswoman, so she had a lot of suits. Our attention to the customer experience and the quality of the overall job came into play, and we told her we would clean or replace every single one. That’s what we did. And honestly, she’s not only a repeat customer, but she became a great referral!

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?

Number one is going to be drive. A successful business owner has to have drive, and that’s not something you can teach or train. It is what it is; successful people find a way. When we first started, we recruited some painters. We thought we had way more than we needed, so we went out and sold some jobs, then we realized that if we had five painters lined up, all five could flake and we’d have five jobs with no painters. You need about triple the number of painters you think you do to really provide that great customer experience. Rather than letting that shake us, we went to 10 different Sherwin-Williams locations and hung up flyers. We implemented a hiring bonus and a loyalty bonus, and we held open interviews in the early morning and during lunch hours. So when the crews were rolling through getting ready to go to their jobs for the day, we were sitting there with coffee and donuts, offering stable work.

The second characteristic is that I’m 100% committed to quality. It doesn’t matter what industry I’m in, if it’s a new role, or anything else in my life. Now, owning a painting business, quality has to be there because that’s how you continue to grow your business. If you have a bad review, that’s public, and it will drive away customers. Attention to quality is a defining characteristic for successful business owners. Going back to that shaken paint can in the closet story, a 100% commitment to quality doesn’t just mean that we want to do the best painting job; we want to provide the absolute best experience. Even though we made this massive mistake, we took care of our customer.

My third characteristic is attention to employee development. As the owner, everything rolls up to you, whether it’s a subcontractor or a salesperson. Sometimes people forget that development piece. You can hire an employee that has a ton of skills, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to perform the exact way you want them to 100% of the time. The only way to get them there is to continue to have those development conversations and continue to invest in them not just monetarily through salary, bonus and other compensation but also mentally. We have a painter who is a perfect example of this. When we hired him, he was one of the best technical painters out there. But, about a year later, we were almost ready to let him go. Even though he was great technically, his jobs were almost always over hours because he wasn’t managing the whole project, so we were essentially losing money on him. We had to make the difficult decision of pulling him out of the field to have a series of meetings with him to drive that development. We realized that the more time we invested in him, the more he started to understand his role. Now, he’s a salaried employee, he works as our head trainer, and he’s a huge part of our culture.

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

I will share with you that some of my favorite comments have been, “Well, can you talk to the owner and ask them if… ?” There are two pieces of the puzzle when it comes to working in a male-dominated area.

The first is the customer’s perception. Generally, the customer’s perception is that, as a female in a painter’s world, you couldn’t possibly be either knowledgeable about painting or the owner of the business because you’re a woman. From a customer’s end, those are always fun questions to field. When they start asking technical questions or wanting more information about components of the job, you can either provide the answers or explain that you’re the owner. Either way, that doubt begins to break down rather quickly. Once customers hear that, their perception starts to realign, and they begin to realize that they’re doing business with a company that will provide not only a good service but a great experience. That has actually been a benefit.

The second aspect of it is dealing with employees. Many painters are used to dealing with bosses that are men. In the beginning, I think some employees have this idea that they will be able to talk me into something because I don’t know what they are talking about or don’t have the experience. Part of fixing that is really about setting an expectation. We have a pay structure, it’s set, and there’s not really room for negotiation. We’re going to be looking at the quality of your work and the customer’s experience — both of those are pretty easy to learn about. A customer rates you based on these things, and your scores determine whether or not you work for us. If customers are happy and our painters are doing a great job, then we have a great relationship, but we’re all very clear on expectations.

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

Within the industry, I don’t really do anything to change the perception of my competitors. In fact, if they underestimate me, that’s better for me!

Within the larger trades industry, it’s a different story. What I have found extremely beneficial is being involved in a lot of networking groups. I am the one who goes to those meetings as the face of the business, and I’m able to go out and create relationships with plumbers, roofers, electricians and general contractors. What we’ve found is that working with these people within the networking groups gives us business opportunities. At the end of the day, another business owner wants to partner with someone who is going to take care of their customers. Once they see that customer experience is my primary focus, they’re all in. When you’re working with tradespeople, what they really want to know is, “If I bring you into one of my customers’ homes, are you going to take care of them like I would?”

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

One thing that’s very different with women than it is with men is the way they review a job description. Women tend to be more focused on checking off all of the qualities that are required to perform the role. Men tend to think along the lines of, “Well, I have about 70%, so I should be good.” There are studies that have been done on this!

When we’re recruiting, I think we need to be mindful of who is reading the job descriptions. That’s not to say that they should be written in a gender-specific way, but we have to be mindful. What if we just think about what accomplishments will be required if a person is hired? What are the KPIs going to be? Allow people to bring their varying skill sets into the job and meet those metrics in their own way rather than outlining exactly what skills and qualifications you think are needed. Of course, this is a bit different when you’re hiring a technical person — a painter, for example. But in your infrastructure, if you need a salesperson, territory manager or production manager, talk more about what you’re going to be measuring than the list of qualifications you want them to check off.

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

First of all, as a female in a man’s world, no feelings. Of course, everyone has feelings, but I used to say this in my marketing role all the time. There are no feelings in marketing. Everyone will have an opinion, but what matters is whether something works. In a male-dominated industry, there will be a ton of bravado and opinions, and you’ve got to be able to just say, “Thanks for the feedback,” and let it roll off. Then, take the things that make sense to you and incorporate them. Take the granules that are really helpful and important and incorporate them into your business, and just roll with the rest.

Number two is to always be open to coaching. And I don’t necessarily mean from other people within the industry, but seek that coaching outside. As much as we want our employees to be open to coaching, we have to do the same. We’re never the best version of ourselves; the best version is always yet to come. If we don’t have those experiences, but someone else is willing to offer them, let’s be open to that! That’s less pain that we have to go through. I have been in a couple of different careers in terms of different organizations, levels, and positions, and one of the things that has always been consistent with me is that I have always had a mentor. Even though this person is from a different industry, they can still give me great feedback from a 30,000-foot overview.

Another one is empathy. That sets us apart in male-dominated spaces because I think we have an opportunity to have more employee loyalty than our male counterparts. We tend to listen to our employees and work through things with them more. We had an employee who had a lot of children, and the kids were on state health insurance. One of the things that came from speaking with him was a better understanding of his life and family situation, and that allowed us to create a new type of culture within our organization. We now provide health care and insurance options to our employees, and that’s not very common in the painting industry, but it came through really understanding one of our employees’ family situations and researching options to find a way that we could help him specifically, as well as our entire staff.

The fourth is the ability to really focus on holding people accountable. Especially in a male-dominated industry, as women, we have to put up some rules and guidelines. “Here are the company policies, here are the expectations. If you break those, there will be consequences.” You can’t let people get away with things one, two, three, four or five times because then they start taking advantage of you. Especially as a woman in a male-dominated industry, people will come into a conversation with this perception that they’ll be able to get one past you. This happened with a customer who just did not want to pay any sort of deposit for his project. I explained why we had the policy and that it was something we absolutely had to enforce. He had already signed a contract, but I was willing to let him out of it if he didn’t want to give a deposit. He gave a deposit the day before, and that’s when we went shopping for materials for the project. It all worked out, but I had to hold firm on our company policies.

The last is confidence. You just have to be confident in what you’re saying and doing; people can sniff it out if you’re not. Girl, you know your books, you know your business, you know your employees and you know your customers! There’s a difference between hubris and confidence, and it’s okay to be confident in what you’re doing. I probably have a million stories about this one, but one of the clearest situations I remember was getting on a call with a vendor. We were negotiating pricing, and I knew my numbers going into the conversation. They tried to bring up the market and industry standard, and I had to be confident enough to say, “We’re talking about my account, so let’s talk about my account. Here are my numbers. I’m not going to negotiate my prices based on data from your overall base of business.” Being confident in the data I was bringing to the table allowed me to go into that conversation knowing that I would get the pricing setup I needed or take my business elsewhere.

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

Yes, absolutely. In fact, I would argue that it would give her a leg-up in a lot of ways. Any kind of market shake-up provides you the opportunity to do exactly that — shake up the market. When you shake up the market, you can cash in on a bigger piece of the market. That said, that advice only applies if the friend is going into it with her eyes wide open. You still have to learn the industry and hire the right people. I would absolutely tell my friends to go into a male-dominated industry because, again, when you can be the horce of a different color, you can stand out more.

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

I definitely think more and more women are getting past the hurdle of thinking, “This is a male-dominated industry, so I’m not even going to try.” I think if anything, there are a lot of women who just show a level of drive naturally by choosing an industry that they feel like they might not fit in. They decide that they’re going into the industry and they’re going to be successful. There’s really no other choice. You have to be better than everyone else because not only do you have to be successful, but you have to prove yourself first.

We still have things to overcome in terms of perception of technical abilities, but that’s something that will change over time. Just culturally speaking we’re already changing, moving away from this idea that men are technically more inclined in certain areas. I think many customers’ perceptions have already changed, and they’re already seeing that women in some of these male-dominated spaces can be beneficial for them in terms of what sort of service they’ll receive.

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.

Barbara Corcoran. When you think about female entrepreneurs making a splash and turning the market on its head, that’s everything she’s done. And it’s not just one thing, right? She’s done that in various industries! She’s invested in other organizations, and she’s successful across the board. I’d love to just pick her brain about how she spends her money, what she concentrates on and the top three things on her mind every day. When you have that kind of range, you obviously have the right formula.

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

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Thriving As A Woman In a Male-Dominated Industry: Roxanne Conrad of 360 Painting On The Five Things… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Ashley Hocking of Big Little Bar On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Get Up and Move! — Even if it’s just a walk around the block, removing yourself from your computer screen and into a different physical and mental state, I find it helps to bring clarity to whatever situation I may be dealing with whether at home or work.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ashley Hocking, President of Big Little Bar.

Ashley is an experienced leader in the DTC eCommerce space with a background in strategy, product, marketing, and insights. She is currently serving as President of Big Little Bar, a food company focused on developing daily wellness rituals for the modern-day consumer through essential nutrients and real ingredients. Prior to this recent role, Mrs. Hocking led the marketing, creative, and customer experience teams at Purple Carrot, a plant-based meal delivery company, for over five years and through their acquisition in 2019.

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’m originally from the Midwest, moved out to the east coast after college where I fell in love with the world of consumer insights and brand building. I was fascinated by the blend of art and science required to build brands from nothing. I’ve moved around through various consumer tech and product companies leading growth, brand, and marketing. Prior to Big Little Bar, I was head of marketing for Purple Carrot, a plant-based meal delivery service, for about 5.5 years where and grew it from $5M to over $100M in revenue over that tenure. It was an amazing experience, with incredibly talented people and big bold ideas on how we can influence the plant-based movement. Purple Carrot is where I got to really experience what happens when you mix food science with creativity and flavor — and have taken that with me over to Big Little Bar. So now at Big Little Bar, I’ve been able to bring along some of my amazing colleagues from Purple Carrot and we’re diving head first into disrupting women’s nutrition.

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?

Back in 2017 when I was leading Marketing at Purple Carrot, we launched a partnership with Tom Brady his TB12 product line. We locked in the partnership and launched the co-branded product offering within 4 months. It was a massive amount of work, but we agreed to it because the timing just felt right. At launch, the response was unlike anything we could have ever imagined. The volume of customers and coverage that this partnership got was unprecedented. One of the best days in my career to date! The lesson here is about the importance of timing and following your gut. No one was really doing co-branded partnerships at this time, we were one of the first and while we knew it was risky, we also felt that it was the right fit at the right time. And it paid off!

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

One lesson that has come up many times in my career both early on and even now is what happens when you don’t listen to your customers. Especially for brands that have a somewhat established customer base looking to bump up AOV or LTV, making assumptions about what your customers want and need without asking them will almost never pan out. It’s a lot of wasted work and energy only to get a place of disappointment when the new offering/product goes live. Listen and learn as much as you can about your customers and their needs, wants, and desires, and let this be the guide to how you view innovation and growth.

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?

After uncovering the data around how many women are not getting all the essential nutrients through food alone (nutrients critical to protecting our mind and body as we age), we knew we wanted to create a solution that was able to give women these key nutrients in an effective, enjoyable and convenient way. We like to say, “We’re all superwomen, but not superhuman, and we deserve better.” We need a better way to get the nutrients we need to operate at 100%.

We wanted to create a wellness ritual that you look forward to doing vs. something you have to do. And with that Big Little Bar was born. Big Little Bar is on a mission to create foods that protect and support brain, heart, and beauty wellness. We aspire to develop wellness rituals for the modern-day consumer by focusing on essential nutrients our bodies need and nothing they don’t. We’re committed to showing how little changes can impact your overall health both now and in the future.

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. List 3–5 things you’re thankful for each day — Life can get a bit crazy sometimes as we all know so starting the day by reminding yourself what’s important I find really grounds me.
2. Get Up and Move! — Even if it’s just a walk around the block, removing yourself from your computer screen and into a different physical and mental state, I find it helps to bring clarity to whatever situation I may be dealing with whether at home or work.
3. Start your day with an 8oz glass of water — It’s the first thing I do every morning as I know that I, like most of us, wake up dehydrated which can often manifest into feeling tired and unmotivated.
4. Eat a nutrient-dense breakfast- While I now have a Big Little Bar every day, prior to that I would make sure to have a nutrient-dense breakfast before heading out the door so that would have the energy I need to take on whatever the day would bring.
5. Stay Connected — As we all realized in those early months of COVID, social connection is so important to our overall well-being. Even if it’s just a text, I prioritize connecting with family and friends every week.

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

I would have to bring it back to my Purple Carrot days, and would say simply getting consumers to swap out a few meals a week with a plant-based option. Science has continued to show the many health benefits of eating plant-based meals, and yet there is still such a stigma around these meals not being as tasty/flavorful as meals with meat/dairy. I believe if we can crack this code, we could really start to see the movement unfold.

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

• Prioritize your daily schedule — There will never be enough time in the day to finish everything you need/want to do. The ability to quickly prioritize what needs to get done and what can wait is crucial.
• Delegate — Hire experts and let them do the work you hired them to do. Micromanaging is almost always a lose-lose situation.
• Never stop learning and listening — No matter your role, always have new learnings and insights you can bring the table
• Speak up — Everyone’s time is valuable and oftentimes we all don’t have the same background or context on the situation. It is your responsibility to give your opinion, perspective and feedback on a project, initiative, or whatever you are involved in, however difficult it may be.
• Build meaningful relationships — Most of us are not going to be in the same role/company for the next 20 years so not only will building meaningful relationships help when seeking that next opportunity, but it will also make work, in general, a bit more fun!

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

Sustainability, veganism and environmental changes I feel are all interconnected and near and dear to my heart, however, veganism would take the lead again. Having worked in this space for a while, I know how widely impactful the health and environmental benefits of consuming more plant-based meals is to our overall well-being.

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

Go to www.biglittlebar.com or @biglittlebar on Instagram !

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

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

Women In Wellness: Kellie Sabas of Happy ME Yoga On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Know your WHY. It’s the reason why you do what you do. Your Purpose. It will put fire in your heart and inspire you to keep you going and thrive. When you operate on your WHY, you inspire others to take action. And the more people you inspire, the more successful you become.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Racquel ‘Kellie’ Sabas.

Kellie Sabas is the Chief Happiness Officer at Happy M.E., a marketing and events company.

She is the creator of Happy Body, Mind & Soul Retreats, and chief curator at www.HappyME.yoga

Kellie is a veteran wife and a mother of two growing boys. She is a certified yoga and meditation teacher and enjoys volunteering in non-profit organizations where she holds a leadership role.

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

It all started during the pandemic lockdown in 2020 dubbed as ‘The Great Pause’.

Although I was working from home for a couple of years by then, I found myself having two new ‘coworkers’ at home a.k.a. my two young school kids doing distance learning who constantly needed help with schoolwork and figuring out their new schedule and technology, among other things. It was all brand new for all of us. And as we got increasingly uncertain how long the lockdown would last, everything went on pause. As clients cut down on spending, I found myself having time affluence on my side. Driven by my love of learning and optimism, I consumed all the free online courses and certifications I could get in digital marketing. And around July, I stumbled upon The Science of Well-Being, a popular course at YALE University offered free through Coursera. I enjoyed learning about the brain and how it works as it relates to ‘happiness’ and strategies to help lead a healthy and happy life. Special shout out to Professor Laurie Santos, PhD. Thank you for planting the [happy] seeds in millions of people around the world through your teachings.

Towards the end of the course, we did a ‘rewirement challenge’ where we chose an activity to re-wire our brain and practiced it for four weeks. I chose yoga and meditation. I was already doing a 30-day yoga challenge right before I started but wanted to go on and put it to the test. You see, although I did yoga [on and off] since I took stretching P.E. class in college, and my pre-natal yoga during my two pregnancies, I was never consistent with my practice. Since taking The Science of Well-Being, I am happy to share that I have been doing yoga and meditation practice daily. It’s been two and a half years and counting. I even dove deeper in my practice by taking yoga and meditation online classes where I received teaching certifications. I continuously study distinctive styles of yoga as well as coaching and yoga therapy today. Through my personal journey, I have noticed a strong commitment to holistic wellness. I experienced a massive change in my overall well-being and unknowingly began my self-discovery in the process. As a result, I now sleep better, have more clarity, focus, and discipline. I can observe my thoughts now without judgment or ruminate on things that happened or could happen. I feel less stress and worry less. And I dare say, I feel happier and grounded no matter the situation or circumstances. Our meditation teacher says, the goal in yoga is equanimity, and I am grateful that I am learning this ancient technique in modern times.

I know many can relate to my experience, so I wanted to share this journey with women who are on the same path and want to step up and enhance their well-being: body, mind and soul. That was when the inspiration came about creating a platform to find wellness resources like workshops and retreats, online and in-person. And because I love to travel, my dream is to create an ultimate self-care holiday where vacation meets transformation. To be more specific, I want every woman to treat herself to a beautiful destination holiday for herself, dedicated to bringing out her best self and discovering her true authentic self in the process. Surrounded and supported by other amazing women. My goal is to help all empowered and enlightened women move towards a healthy and happy body, mind, and soul. The whole being. This is my WHY.

And that is what happyME.yoga is all about, where people can cultivate mindfulness through yoga and meditation classes, meet their perfect coach, and find wellness retreats from vetted teachers and experts around the world.

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 background is in marketing and events. I’ve done product launches and brand campaigns in prestige beauty and hospitality industries. As a marketing consultant, I help my clients on their digital marketing and manage their online presence. I am also a meeting planner specializing in site selection where I match my clients with the best hotel and negotiate the best overall value on behalf of their organizations saving them time and money. Then I had a lightbulb moment, it dawned on me that I can marry my work with my newfound passion and focus on wellness retreats. And so my passion project was born.

Since I started the Happy Body, Mind and Soul Retreats as a passion project two years ago, I have met amazing people who support and encourage me in both my wellness and entrepreneurial journey. It’s like everything aligned effortlessly. New opportunities appear from everywhere and I’m always meeting people who are aligned with my vision. I call them our wellness experts and you can find them in our website. They are doctors, coaches, therapists, healers and teachers with diverse background across various disciplines. Each wellness expert offers their own unique programs and modalities to help individuals achieve the best version of themselves. All my partners and fellow yogis from my yoga school, Yogamu, have been an inspiration and motivation for me to continue working on my passion which has now become my purpose.

The lesson here is never stop learning and pursuing your passion. Always believe in yourself and find people who will help you reach your goals. They can be a friend or a colleague you admire, a mentor, or a coach. They are your tribe who will help you succeed. Your people. Having a supportive community plays an important role to your success.

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

Right when I started my passion project Happy Body, Mind and Soul, I was approached by a tech startup geared toward health and wellness to lead their marketing efforts and mentor young bright minds who will be our interns. I did the smart thing to do and weighed the pros and cons and the scale tipped more on the startup. My rational mind could not resist the allure and promise to make an impact on a massive scale, and possibly cure cancer. I thought to myself, I can ‘park my dream’ and I can always come back to it later. I took it as an opportunity to learn more. The company made me sign a non-compete and told me to stop everything I was doing with HBMS. As weeks go by, I was disillusioned. You know how some things are good in paper but not IRL (in real life), this was exactly that. Eventually, I had to make a tough choice and let go of a potentially promising career in health tech sooner than later. It was a short unpaid stint, but I learned valuable lessons and insights in others and myself. This slight distraction admittedly delayed my plans for HBMS and had to pause for a moment and asked myself what I really want. I had to rethink my next step before jumping back in. After some introspection, I hosted a virtual retreat which was a great experience overall. It reminded me of my WHY and what I love doing which is creating and collaborating. I realized, I was ready and that’s when I made it official and put up my own company in January 2022.

My key learning in that experience is to not get distracted with shiny new toys. Focus on your vision and things will happen effortlessly. When you are in alignment with your true passion and purpose, the Universe will conspire to bring it to fruition. This may sound contrary to what we were always told, to use our head, but I say this, always listen to your gut and intuition. As Steve Jobs said “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.” I believe that we all have this intelligent higher power inside all of us that always guides us back to the right direction to our calling, to our purpose. We call it in many names, God, the Universe, Divine power, higher power, the higher Self. We just need to learn how to tune in to this inner wisdom and listen. This is where meditation also sometimes called yoga of the mind can help.

In yoga sutra 1.2, the second sutra of book one, Patanjali (the father of modern yoga) lays out the definition and purpose of yoga. Yogas citta vrtti nirodhah: yoga is the cessation of the modifications, or fluctuations, of the mind. This sutra gets right to the heart of why we practice yoga.

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 truly believe that if everyone practices mindfulness in their homes, workplace, and the community, our world will be a much happier place.

I want to make yoga accessible to everyone and make meditation a mainstream where everyone can just do it from just anywhere. Just like coffee breaks, we should have 5-minute mindfulness breaks for people to calm and center themselves. Where people can join group huddles for silent meditations or do some light movement like stretching. Whether one is a beginner or a lifetime yogi, everyone can benefit from the clarity, focus and peace that comes from every practice. Instantly. Science has proven that meditation changes our brain waves and turn down our sympathetic nervous system (flight-or-flee) and turn up our parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-relaxation). Harvard Health published a study how our brain activities go from Beta to Theta when we meditate. Beta waves are the most prevalent type when your brain is engaged in mental activities, such as having a conversation or teaching a class. Theta waves reflect the state between wakefulness and sleep and relate to the subconscious mind, creativity, and learning. Electroencephalogram studies show that when you meditate, theta waves surge as your brain enters a state of deep relaxation.

I also advocate for companies to create a Culture of Wellness, where employees’ well-being are a top priority, especially at these times when work and home blur out more and more due to hybrid and work-from-home set up.

My vision for HappyME.yoga is to provide a platform where people can cultivate mindfulness through yoga and meditation. We offer virtual yoga classes, live workshops, group huddles and daily meditation classes. Anyone, young and old can study or practice at the comfort of their homes, their office or anywhere, anytime. I also envision planning corporate wellness retreats, like a fun team-building but with a holistic approach.

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

I’d love to share what I personally did to practice daily yoga and discover my passion. These are my key takeaways from The Science of Well-Being:

1. Decide: Commit to improve your overall wellbeing. It all starts with YOU. You have to decide that you really want it for yourself, not for anyone else’s approval. You only have one body; love it, nurture it. When I chose yoga and meditation as my rewirement challenge, I wanted to sleep better and get more focus. Today, I sleep well and wake up feeling great every morning.
2. Take Action: Once you’ve committed, do the daily practice. It takes a few weeks to form new neural pathways in our brains. In The Science of Well-being class, we picked one activity and did it for four weeks. This helped us form a new productive habit and train our brain to keep going. Eventually, it will become a part of your daily routine, without even thinking. Like an autopilot.
3. Be Consistent: Put it in your calendar and keep it consistent at the same hour each day, if possible. Set an alarm reminder or place a note where you always see it, like your workstation, the fridge or your bathroom mirror. Treat that activity as an important appointment with yourself. You wouldn’t cancel a doctor’s appointment so don’t cancel on you. Stick to it as much as you can. This 4-week is crucial. Adapt it to your lifestyle and make sure it’s realistic. Do what works for you.
4. Be Strategic: Use situation support. Design your environment to help you achieve your goal. Wanna fit on that dress or jeans again? Trade that cookie jar for a fruit basket on the counter. In my case, I put the yoga mat in my bedroom where I can see it every day. Seeing the yoga mat a few times a day sends a constant reminder to my brain that I need to do my daily yoga. And if I’m too busy that it’s impossible to stick to my daily schedule, I can always just grab my mat and do a quick evening practice before going to bed. Not surprisingly, it helps me sleep better because yoga and meditation activate the rest-and-relaxation response in our nervous system so we feel calm and relaxed after.
5. Be Accountable: Share your wellness goal with someone. Have a buddy or accountability coach. Find a community who can support your goal and will help you commit to it. When I did my 4-week rewirement challenge, I shared my progress with my two closest friends. Additionally, I shared my ‘story’ on my social media every time I finished my yoga for the day. I also posted a video every time I completed my 30-day yoga. I have this yoga app that lets me create a templated post when I finish the guided meditation and I can add my own photo too, so it’s personalized. I also am blessed to have found my tribe and to have met amazing and generous people who are always willing to share their precious time and knowledge with HappyME.yoga community. They are all an inspiration for me to go on with my mission. One of these days, we will host wellness retreats in a beautiful destination around the world and I hope you can join us!

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

I would advocate for mindfulness breaks. It’s a quick breathwork or meditation practice where we can breathe and just be silent by ourselves or as a group. I would also advocate a culture of wellness be a priority in all companies and not just a nice-to-have or a box HR can tick. This is a dire need in the workplace as employees’ well-being is directly proportional to productivity. I believe investing in employees’ well-being has a direct impact on the bottom line. After all, happy individuals perform their best at work. And this has a positive ripple effect not only in the workplace but all the way to home and the community they belong to.

These are the types of activities that I would love to spread in our community either individually or as a group.

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

1. Know your WHY. It’s the reason why you do what you do. Your Purpose. It will put fire in your heart and inspire you to keep you going and thrive. When you operate on your WHY, you inspire others to take action. And the more people you inspire, the more successful you become.
2. Find your tribe. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals. They say you’re the average of five people you hang out with. Choose them well. It’s easy to get distracted or discouraged especially when people don’t understand your vision. If you don’t have them right now, find them. There are people or groups willing to help and support you. There are communities like International Association of Women, or women co-working space like Hera Hub, where you can find like-minded and supportive individuals who are in the same journey as you.
3. Keep learning. Always improve your craft and diversify your skills. Life is non-stop learning. You learn valuable lessons even from your mistakes and failures.
4. Fail forward. In our society, we tend to hide or be ashamed when we fail on something. Or worse, fear trying because we’re afraid to fail. But failing on something does not make you a loser. It just means there is a better opportunity or discovery waiting for you. Failure provides a stepping stone to your success. It’s part of the process. In the words of Churchill, “Success is all about going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.”
5. Give back. We are a social species. We are meant to help each other make it and thrive on this planet. Pass your learning and blessings to others. Volunteer your time to a cause you believe in. It seems counterintuitive but giving your time and energy in service to others, fuels you even more. It’s the law of abundance. If you haven’t done so, find something that you love doing and pass it on.

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

I believe that mental health is everyone’s business because mental health is the foundation of one’s well-being. When someone is not feeling their best self physically, emotionally, socially and mentally, everyone suffers. Their family and work suffer.

It’s important to me because my mission for HappyME.yoga is to provide a holistic approach to wellness. We can talk about being fit and eating right all day, but if our mind and soul are not nourished as well, all will crumble.

Yoga has been scientifically proven to benefit the mind and body. From lowering blood pressure, increasing oxygen and blood flow, toning the muscles, improving posture, balance and flexibility to reducing stress and anxiety. It’s fairly easy and accessible. There is a yoga for everyone, young and old. You can practice yoga at home, in your office, outdoors, anywhere really. It’s the perfect exercise anyone can engage in.

Additionally, these ancient techniques have been around for thousands of years and have positive impact on the psychological and spiritual being as well.

I am thankful for my yoga practice for helping me with my emotional and mental health during uncertain times and for providing me a space to feel calm and grounded, from moment to moment, one breath at a time.

This is what I believe, if everybody practices yoga, the world will be a much kinder and happier place.

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

They can visit our website https://happyme.yoga or follow Happy Body, Mind and Soul on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/happyMEcamp.

Additionally, they can connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelliesabas/ I love connecting with

like-minded individuals and see how we can help each other.

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

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

Women In Wellness: Dr Maria Banks of The Health Mamas On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Don’t throw money away. Early on during my business I was persuaded by the many sales pitches that promised to advance my business. I lacked clear direction and spent a ton of money to get my name out there , with little to no benefit. I wish someone would have told me to have a clear direction prior to spending money, which brings me to my next point.

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

Dr. Maria Banks, the owner of The Health Mamas, is a Certified Pre and Post Natal Fitness Specialist certified by AFPA and a Maternal Health OT with over 10 years experience helping adults achieve their health goals. Dr. Maria uses her background and personal experience as a mom to provide a holistic approach to new and expectant moms in order to help them achieve their overall health and fitness goals during and after pregnancy. Dr. Maria is passionate about empowering women and focuses on fitness, nutrition, habits/routines and overall well being for moms’ pregnancy journeys.

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! Thank you for having me!

I have always been interested in helping others live healthier, more fulfilling lives. Growing up I was a ballet dancer and I sustained a back injury at the age of 13. I had to take physical therapy to help with the injury, which was my first introduction to this amazing healthcare profession. As I went through my treatment sessions I became intrigued with this profession. When selecting a college major, I knew it would be in the helping field. After much research, I decided to pursue a career in Occupational Therapy (OT).

I have been in the healthcare field for over 11 years working as an OT helping adults live more fulfilling lives. After over a decade working, a shift in my mindset happened after having my son. I gave birth to my first son over the age of 35 and it caused me to be more attentive to taking care of my health. After doing a deep dive and realizing the need for more help in the maternal health field, I decided to shift my focus to new and expectant moms. If you’ve heard anything about maternal health, you know that there is a crisis going in with many women having pregnancy and birth complications. One way to help is to ensure a healthy diet and exercise.

This prompted me to become specialized in maternal health and obtain my certification as a Pre & Post Natal Fitness Specialist. I started my business to educate and help women take full control of their maternal health at a time where it is much needed.

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?

There were several times where I doubted myself and had fears of putting myself fully out there when I first started my business. There was one instance in particular when I was asked to give a presentation at a local baby expo. I had started my business about 2 months prior to the expo and I was terrified! I did all of this prep work and did the presentation. After the presentation I critiqued everything I did and started to doubt if the message was well received.

After the expo, I started to receive messages on my social media platform and e-mails with positive feedback and questions on how I could assist them during pregnancy. This let me know that the work that I am doing is important and necessary. This taught me to not doubt myself and stand in confidence in the work that I was put here to do.

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

So I’ll be honest, I know NOTHING about starting a business. I am well versed in the health and fitness world, but starting a business is a challenge for me. One mistake that I made was not having a clear direction and just trying to get my name out there. I would jump at any opportunity to work with someone in order to make money, but lacked direction. I would even involve myself in something that I didn’t really enjoy, but work was work to me at that point.

An important lesson that I learned was to stay true to myself and not to overextend myself for profit. Being an entrepreneur you obviously want to make money, but it’s also about doing it on your own terms. I quickly learned that staying true to myself and having a clear direction eventually yielded the results that I desired.

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

I am the owner of The Health Mamas, which is a company I started to provide fitness and nutrition services specific to moms and moms to be. My goal is to empower moms and provide full support to them on their health and wellness journey.

Maternal health is such a hot topic right now, and for good reason. Pregnancy can be a beautiful time for many women, however it can be extremely hard on your body. Some women experience pregnancy complications and go through major health scares during this time. Women also experience major changes to their bodies that can decrease their overall quality of life. One way to address maternal health complications is to be proactive about your health by proper diet and exercise. There are specific things pregnant and postpartum women should be aware of during this time. My goal is to educate women on how to safely complete exercises and provide proper nutrition during such an important time.

It’s time for us to be real about pregnancy and help women instead of denying their symptoms. Too many times I hear women saying their symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum are dismissed as just “part of the territory.” I feel the work that I am doing will empower moms and moms to be and help improve their overall quality of life.

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. Take a walk. It may seem simple, but getting outside and moving your body can do wonders! This simple activity can increase energy, improve mood and endurance. It’s best to walk outdoors, but walking on a treadmill works as well.
2. Meditation & journaling. This is one of my top strategies to help manage stress and become more self aware. Taking time for yourself and practicing meditation and journaling, even if you only have 10 minutes, can support your journey towards overall wellbeing.
3. Eating a healthy diet. Nutrition plays a significant role in your overall wellbeing. Maintaining a healthy diet can help with weight management and increase your energy and mood. This has always been a struggle for me, however once I was able to find a strategy that works best for me, I have noticed such a change in my overall wellbeing.
4. Engage in an active hobby. Engaging in activities that are important to you can be so fulfilling. It’s so easy to get caught up in sedentary tasks such as sitting and scrolling social media all day. Getting out and enjoying an activity by yourself or with others can boost your mood and contribute to improved overall wellbeing.
5. Start a morning ritual. This is another one of my favorites. Starting your day off with a positive mindset can set the tone for the rest of your day. I wake up early prior to my son and drink water, eat fruit, meditate and journal. This helps me to center myself and prepare for the day. Now I’ll be honest, some mornings I may skip, however I try to stick to this routine as often as possible.

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

Since my speciality is working with moms, a movement that I would start is a wellness retreat for moms. Moms deal with a major life change that comes with physical, mental and emotional changes. I would start a retreat in a beautiful outdoor setting with activities that review self care, fitness, nutrition and general wellness tips in order to help moms manage the many demands of motherhood.

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

1. Don’t throw money away. Early on during my business I was persuaded by the many sales pitches that promised to advance my business. I lacked clear direction and spent a ton of money to get my name out there , with little to no benefit. I wish someone would have told me to have a clear direction prior to spending money, which brings me to my next point.
2. Have a mentor. Having a business mentor is extremely beneficial when starting a business. Especially for me, I know my stuff when it comes to health and wellness, but starting a business is not my specialty. Having someone guide you through the process will help you find clear direction and increase your chances of success.
3. Read the research. Once you decide your direction and find your niche within the health and wellness field, it is highly suggested to review your competition and also understand the needs of your key audience.
4. Stay true to yourself. In this age of social media, it is so easy to lose yourself by doing trends just to stay relevant. One thing that I struggled with was trying to keep up with social media trends in order to grow my following and be relevant. As I’ve grown, I’ve learned to stay true to myself. As I’ve been more comfortable being myself, I have attracted the audience and clients that I desire.
5. Don’t compare yourself to others. There are so many people in the health and wellness space and it can be easy to look at others who have a larger following. This can cause you to think you are not good enough. You want to obviously look at your competition, but be sure not to compare yourself and doubt your abilities to be in this space.

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 dearest to me because the work that I do with moms has a huge mental health component. Many women are dealing with major lifestyle changes; I would argue that becoming a mom is one of the most life changing roles. With that change can come postpartum depression and anxiety which can take a toll on many women. I feel that exercise is one way to help manage postpartum mental health issues.

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

You can follow me @thehealthmamas on Instagram and Tik Tok to find exercise and nutrition tips. You will also find updates on my services.

You can also go to my website to learn more about my services and sign up for 1:1 services to develop a custom fitness & nutrition plan: www.thehealthmamas.com

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

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

Female Founders: Jess Flack of Ubiquitous On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Being a founder and CEO can be lonely. Being in the CEO role means you’re constantly fielding information, much of which may be sensitive. It can be tough when you’re the boss and there’s not really anyone you can talk to about the challenges you’re facing.

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

Jess Flack is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ubiquitous, an influencer marketing company focused on connecting social media advertisers and creators to develop mutually beneficial marketing campaigns.

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 studied digital media with an emphasis in cinema, but I really didn’t know where I wanted to take that. More than anything, I enjoyed the curriculum in the arts. But through my undergrad studies, I had to have an internship and wound up working at a marketing agency. Through that experience, I realized marketing involved both the creative side of my brain and also the analytical side — I’ve always loved math and numbers and making things make sense. That internship experience really set me on the course to my current role.

After a couple of agency stints, I wound up at Bellhop on the brand side. That’s where I realized I love startups. My time there made me a more well-rounded performance marketer, and I got familiar with the startup lingo and other concepts specific to that world. During my time at Bellhop, the pandemic started and the world shut down. I found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands and picked up some contract work — one of those jobs was to build a marketing strategy for a record label around the time that TikTok was really taking off. Although I had run influencer campaigns at Bellhop, it was always through an agency. I’d never run something like that myself. After reaching out to 200 or so creators and doing a lot of trial and error, I realized (without getting too deep in the weeds here) that TikTok was an insanely affordable and effective marketing platform.

After seeing the possibilities and successes of this campaign, I knew there was so much more we could do, so I pulled in more friends as contractors, formed a team, and we did that for around a year. In April of 2021, Ubiquitous was officially formed. We had a team of 10 up until November of 2021 when we raised our seed round of $5 million with a $28 million valuation. Since then, I have taken on the role of CEO, and we’ve grown to a team of about 40.

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

Becoming CEO of a venture-backed company before the age of 30!

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?

In the very beginning, we tried to put together a creator house — essentially a location where creators could go and develop the content they need to satisfy agreements with their advertiser partners. Suffice it to say that it didn’t work out. It wasn’t “funny,” but it was a learning moment for sure. In the startup world, it’s all about iterating, moving fast, trying things really quickly… But in this situation, I realized that sometimes you have to slow down, especially when there are people involved. We had developed real relationships with these creators, and I felt so personally invested in this working out for them.

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?

I can’t name just one! But here are the three that come to mind:

1. Anna Siler. Anna and I have essentially had parallel careers. We started our careers together at an agency, then we both went to work at separate startups. And now, we’ve been able to come together again at Ubiquitous. Having that rapport and work chemistry with someone — yes, we’re friends, but we became friends through work — means we’re able to collaborate in really impactful ways. She’s also just someone that I can rely on and trust deeply. I’m really grateful for her role in my life and my career.

2. Natalie Martin. Natalie worked with me at the marketing agency where I started out, and she was further along in her career than the rest of our team at that time. She brought context about work and life that I didn’t have yet and set me on a path where I started to realize the value I bring and helped me figure out how to hold myself to a higher standard. She showed me that I could set goals and do bigger things and that I didn’t need to settle for what was right in front of me.

3. Bill Chase. Bill is the CMO at Bellhop, my last boss before co-founding Ubiquitous, and in some ways, I had the least amount of time with him of anyone on this list. But I am constantly referencing Bill, replicating elements of his management style. He was always so willing to be in the trenches with his team without promoting an unhealthy work/life balance or grind culture. It inspired me to work harder. If I didn’t do something, Bill was going to do it — without complaint — but I didn’t want him to have to. I wanted to work hard because I saw how hard he was working. I wanted to support him. Today, I always have a campaign I’m running, I help people build spreadsheets… I never want to be out of touch.

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?

Although this is a human condition, women can be more prone to imposter syndrome. It’s something I struggle with at times. Culturally, there’s still a stigma that if a woman comes on too strong, she’s aggressive — if you’re too sweet, you’re soft. Knowing these stereotypes are out there can really contribute to imposter syndrome and make women unsure of how to act.

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?

Even though I sometimes deal with imposter syndrome myself, I know it’s up to me to help combat it. There have been people along the way in my career who have reassured me that I am up to the challenge, that I’m smart enough, tough enough… I think as leaders, we have to make sure we’re supporting all people, all voices.

It’s also our individual responsibility to put ourselves out there and surround ourselves with people who build us up, rather than tear us down. It’s not easy, but it’s so important to play an active role in your own story.

So I guess my answer is two-fold: We have a responsibility to believe in ourselves, even if we don’t see anyone representing us. To know we have the potential to break the mold. And we also have a responsibility as leaders and peers to reinforce and build the confidence of those around us. We have to see the potential in others and work to support and grow it.

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?

I think women, generally speaking, are more likely to approach business from a position of empathy. Empathy is such a superpower when it comes to being a manager or leader. It may sometimes feel like a weakness, but from my perspective, the relationships you make matter more than almost anything. If you’re able to create really healthy, close relationships, they will carry you wherever you need to go. I think this is something women leaders are particularly adept at, and these qualities make great founders.

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

You don’t have to have all the answers — you just have to have the right people. People make the company, not the founder.

Also, I’d say failure in general is a myth. Everything is a learning opportunity — in marketing, you’re always testing and learning, and when you get too caught up in what you perceive as a failure, you just set yourself back.

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?

No — being a founder is not for everybody. You have to be passionate about the vision, and you have to stay hyper-focused on it. Although my day-to-day varies, the focus on the vision remains. So if you’re easily distracted or need constant change and new projects to work on, being a founder may not be for you.

You also have to understand your personal hierarchy of needs — if work/life balance and having more structure in your day are most important, being a founder is not the right role for you. It’s an “always-on” job. It’s all-consuming — and it’s worth it — but people that aren’t extremely passionate about the vision and aren’t willing to compromise on other elements of their lifestyle may find themselves really unhappy or unfulfilled.

It’s also important to note that both roles are necessary and incredibly valuable. Not everyone has to be a founder to be a key contributor!

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. Being a founder and CEO can be lonely. Being in the CEO role means you’re constantly fielding information, much of which may be sensitive. It can be tough when you’re the boss and there’s not really anyone you can talk to about the challenges you’re facing.

2. Knowledge is power, but knowledge can also be a burden. Similar to the above, the emotional impact of hard decisions that are looming can feel like a weight or burden to carry. It’s not always fun.

3. Board relationships don’t have to be scary or rigid. It’s really important to have a diverse board where you rely on different people for different things — but I’d recommend having at least one person on your board who you’re really comfortable with. That outlet is truly invaluable (and helps tremendously with numbers 1 and 2 above).

4. It’s okay (and can even be a good thing) to admit when you don’t have the answer. It’s much worse to posture that you have it all under control if you don’t. Be open to (and encourage) a culture of constant ideation where people feel comfortable collaborating. You can earn a lot of respect from your team if you say, “I’m not sure about that. Let’s look into it and figure it out together.”

5. Focus your energy on the things you can control. It’s easy to get wrapped up in “what ifs,” but then you end up operating from a position of fear. I’m constantly having to step back, breathe, and get control over my anxiety when it feels like challenges are looming. You can’t predict the future, so there’s no point in worrying about it. Only focus on the things you can do today to move the needle; focus on healthy behaviors vs. doomsday planning.

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

I am thrilled to be in a position to make Ubiquitous a great place to work. Over the course of my career, I’ve seen things done poorly, I’ve seen things done well… And now I have the chance to take those experiences and use them for the good of our team members and our customers.

Ubiquitous offers great benefits, bonuses, the opportunity to travel… Our team members genuinely enjoy working with each other. We’re committed to listening to our employees so that we know what they need to be happy and healthy in our workplace culture. That happiness translates to better experiences for creators and customers, and it’s something I’m really excited about.

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.

In general, I’m really passionate about equal opportunities for people in different life stages. I’m not sure of a particular movement, but I’d love to be involved in something that empowers communities and individuals to understand each other better and support each other. Different voices and cultures and perspectives are critical elements of our humanity, and they should be celebrated through shared understanding.

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.

Stevie Nicks and/or Dolly Parton!

For Stevie: I grew up on Fleetwood Mac, and Stevie was what made me really fall in love with music, the person who led me to start writing songs and learning to play instruments. She’s always been my musical inspiration.

And of course, I love Dolly’s music as well. I was raised on Steel Magnolias and could probably quote it from beginning to end. Dolly radiates grace and humor in everything that she does, and somehow, she is able to bridge so many gaps without sacrificing her personal integrity. Everybody knows where she stands, but she’s still loved by everyone. I also love how feminine she is. She’s never toned down her femininity to appease people or to have them perceive her as strong or capable.

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

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Female Founders: Jess Flack of Ubiquitous On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Lucy Townsend of Functional Medicine Associates On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Get a “cognoscopy,” which includes a set of blood test that reveals the risk for Alzheimer’s; a simple online cognitive assessment that takes only about 30 minutes; and an MRI scan with volumetric (the MRI is optional for those who have no symptoms, but is recommended for those who already have symptoms of cognitive decline).

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

Lucy Townsend is the Founder of Functional Medicine Associates. She holds an advanced degree in Counseling, is a published researcher, is a Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach, and is a Bredesen-Certified ReCODE Practitioner. She has been in the healthcare industry for over 25 years. Lucy specializes in working with individuals to prevent and reverse subjective and mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.

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

Thank you for having me. I am humbled to share my journey.

In 2018, I founded Functional Medicine Associates. There, I work with individuals who have been diagnosed with subjective cognitive impairment and mild cognitive impairment to prevent and reverse the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. As a certified ReCODE practitioner, I utilize the Bredesen Protocol, a comprehensive, personalized evidence-based program to address the potential drivers of cognitive decline. I collaborate with my clients’ physicians to obtain accurate diagnoses through advanced cognitive and clinical assessment of their histories and labs, along with a report that reveals root causes — such as inflammation, glycotoxicity, lack of trophic support, vascular issues, and head trauma — to guide accurate medical intervention.

Prior to founding Functional Medicine Associates, I worked in the healthcare industry for more than 25 years. Today as a ReCODE practitioner and Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, I draw on my many years in physical therapy, counseling, and advocacy to provide insight, strategies, and support to my clients and their caregivers to make lasting lifestyle changes with the goal of improving cognitive health.

I matriculated at the University of California Santa Barbara, where I studied biology. I received my bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from San Francisco State University and my master’s in counseling from the University of San Francisco.

I acquired my certification as a board-certified patient advocate from the Patient Advocate Certification Board (PACB), an organization of professions including, but not limited to, healthcare and patient advocates, case managers and others who, on behalf of patients communities, share the goal of safe, effective and compassionate healthcare. Board-certified patient advocates work with individual clients who need assistance navigating complex medical situations by partnering with them, seeking to empower them, and supporting their ability to make autonomous decisions.

I received my training from the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA), the only coaching certification program that has completely incorporated functional medicine and functional nutrition into the curriculum. This program is approved by the International Consortium for Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches. The Institute of Functional Medicine, in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic, partnered with FMCA to develop the course content, which offers health coaches a time-tested standard that can be consistently applied in various settings and effectively discussed with other functional medicine practitioners around the world. FMCA-trained health coaches guide patients to optimum wellness using functional medicine, functional nutrition, mind-body medicine, and positive psychology coaching. A central theme of the training, positive psychology embraces and enhances people’s higher selves to achieve optimal functioning.

Years ago, I visited my grandmother in her nursing home, where she was convalescing with what was then diagnosed as arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Today it’s called dementia. She was confined to her hospital bed. She was 72 years old. She played with a doll. She had no idea who I was, nor did she know her own daughter, my aunt Lucy. I was seven at the time. Not long after that visit, my grandmother passed away. She lived in Boston; I was in California. That visit left a lasting impression. Fast-forward twenty years to 1994, when I was in graduate school. I had to select an internship, and I knew I wanted to work in research with dementia patients. I secured a position at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital, working at the Older Adult Center on the PTSD and dementia unit. I worked on a longitudinal study that evaluated dementia patients and their caregivers. The study involved interviewing dementia patients and caregivers regarding stress and coping skills related to activities of daily living. Going through this experience profoundly shaped my perspective about the importance of the caregiver/patient relationship.

Back in 1994, when I was doing research, very little hope was given to Alzheimer’s disease patients. Most families were told to get their loved one’s affairs in order. Today, thanks to a paradigm shift, decades of research, and recent clinical success, Dr. Dale Bredesen, who is a world-renowned neuroscientist and neurologist, developed a revolutionary protocol that will help thousands, if not millions, prevent and reverse cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. I’m on a mission to help him. I did my clinical training with him to become a certified ReCODE practitioner.

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?

Seven years ago, I was on safari in the Kalahari Desert, south of Botswana, which is and a very remote part of South Africa about seven hours by vehicle to Johannesburg. I fell from a horse, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury, eight broken ribs, pneumothorax (collapsed lung), a helicopter and airplane evacuation, and two weeks in ICU. I have never experienced fear or pain like that in my life.

I was alone in a third-world country in a hospital bed with a translator. I prayed a lot. Thank goodness for my background in physical therapy, which enabled me to insist that a non-English-speaking African nurse get me out of bed to walk. I didn’t want to contract pneumonia. Two weeks after the accident, when I was stable, I flew back to the United States. When I arrived home, I had a year of rehabilitation. My greatest fear was becoming addicted to pain medication because I was on the highest doses of fentanyl and tramadol.

This traumatizing event gave me a new perspective on the power of functional medicine and the mind/body connection in healing. I successfully weaned myself off of the pain meds using powerful anti-inflammatory supplements, tea, an organic, mostly plant-based diet, sleep, meditation, and spinning. My own journey back to good health, in addition to working with so many others who have gone through health challenges, enables me to bring a high level of empathy, respect, understanding, and wisdom to my clients.

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

The biggest mistake I made in founding a company was thinking that I could do everything on my own. Building and managing the website, branding, social media, blogging, podcasting, events, marketing, finance, scheduling, and on and on, is not humanly possible on one’s own. When I invested in outside help, I started to focus on my services. I wrote a business plan that helped me understand how my business model is referral-driven and relationship-focused. I analyzed where I could get the biggest return on my investments. After I did that, my business started to make money. It doesn’t happen overnight.

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 global burden of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, affects more than one billion people.Mainstream medicine largely considers dementia to be unpreventable, incurable, and progressive based on years of clinical observation and hundreds of failed pharmaceutical trials. Alzheimer’s is currently one of the top causes of death globally. Conventional physicians currently have a handful of medications that do nothing to stop the progression of the disease process and may even hasten cognitive decline after a short-lived improvement in symptoms.

Dr. Bredesen’s protocol was developed from insights gleaned after decades in the laboratory and years of clinical work with hundreds of patients. The Bredesen Protocol has demonstrated reversal of cognitive decline with published peer-reviewed case studies and now has unprecedented early results from a formal Clinical Trial. Participants in the trial who experienced reversal were experiencing the early stages of dementia — including early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subjective cognitive impairment (SCI). The protocol has been helpful for those in the mid- to later stages, but expectations should be tempered when beginning the program later in the disease process. Depending on what stage an individual enters the protocol, their willingness to institute healthful lifestyle change and agree with the contributors to cognitive decline that are identified through testing. In the years I have been implementing the Bredesen Protocol, I have seen dramatic improvements in cognition and a reverse decline in my clients.

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

For the prevention and reversal of neurodegenerative ideas diseases, I recommend the following lifestyle tweaks:

1. Get a “cognoscopy,” which includes a set of blood test that reveals the risk for Alzheimer’s; a simple online cognitive assessment that takes only about 30 minutes; and an MRI scan with volumetric (the MRI is optional for those who have no symptoms, but is recommended for those who already have symptoms of cognitive decline).

2. Implement the PreCODE (prevention) or ReCODE (reversal) protocol.

3. Hire a ReCODE certified health coach.

4. Stay connected to others for support (consider joining a support group).

5. Create a healthy lifestyle focused on prevention (nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management, sleep, brain training, detoxification).

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

Functional medicine examines the root cause of disease. For example, what we call Alzheimer’s disease is actually a protective response to a wide variety of insults to the brain: inflammation, insulin resistance, toxins, infections, poor nutrition, hormones, and growth factors. Bredesen Seven (B7), developed by Dr. Bredesen, is based on decades of laboratory and clinical research that culminated in seven foundational strategies that promote neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to heal and grow new neurons and connections between neurons in response to stimuli. Each strategy alone can promote neuroplasticity but, when practiced together, their combined effect becomes more powerful.

1. Nutrition: KetoFLEX 12/3 combines a heavily plant-based, nutrient-dense whole foods diet with daily intermittent fasting.

2. Exercise: A combination of aerobic, strength training, and mind-body practice is one of the best ways to protect cognition and help reverse cognitive decline.

3. Sleep: Getting seven to eight hours of optimal sleep nightly is vital to brain health.

4. Managing stress: Chronic, severe stress is a key contributor to cognitive decline. Adopting daily stress management habits is critical.

5. Brain training: Challenging the brain in new ways can forge new brain cell communication pathways, helping the brain to heal and grow.

6. Detoxification: Avoiding toxins that can harm the brain’s functioning is a vital part of optimizing brain health.

7. Supplements: High-quality supplements tailored to the specific, evolving needs of each individual have proven to make an important contribution. The B7 also rests on a foundation of mindfulness — the ability to be fully present in the current moment without judgment. Practicing the above strategies mindfully has a much higher rate of success.

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

1. Mindset is the foundation of everything. Research shows that mindset plays a significant role in determining life’s outcomes. By adapting and shifting your mindset, you improve your health, decrease stress and become more resilient to life challenges.

2. Surround yourself with people who encourage you. Being around people who support and uplift you motivates you to be the best version of yourself and facilitates growth and empowerment.

3. Live each day with gratitude and humility. A genuinely humble person that lives mindfully recognizes that everything they have is good. They accept that all the good things happening in their life are blessings for which they should be thankful. Gratitude improves emotional well-being.

4. Write a comprehensive business plan (BP). Include a mission statement. Whether you need a lot of funding on the front end or not, mindset is everything. Understanding your goals and objectives elevates much disappointment on the back end. Your BP is the foundation of your business.

5. Take your strengths and weakness seriously. If you start early in your career as an entrepreneur or become one later in life, you will have to work hard for it. Knowing your strengths and weakness is essential for business success or failure. Be realistic, budget for needs you can delegate to vendors, and focus and execute on your top skills.

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

The highest rate of dementia-related death in the world is in Finland. It has been suggested that one of the main reasons for this may be mold-produced mycotoxins. We are all exposed to toxins at levels not seen before in history. We inhale air pollution and eat mercury-laden fish such as tuna and swordfish. We prepare vegetables laced with glyphosate (Roundup, the weed killer). We build our homes and colonize our sinuses with neurotoxin-producing molds. We burn paraffin candles that fill the room with benzene and toluene. We drink water tainted with pesticides and arsenic. In short, we are swimming daily in an Alzheimer’s bouillabaisse.

Our ability to detoxify on an ongoing basis is, therefore, critical, and a breakdown in detoxification increases the risk of cognitive decline. The first step in dealing with toxins is to determine exposure. Get tested using blood or urine, or even hair. Several laboratories, such as Quicksilver and Great Plains, perform these tests.

To optimize detoxification, try the following: purchase a HEPA filter such as IQAir, avoid smoking and air pollution (to the extent possible), and avoid prolonged mouth breathing since nasal passages also provide a filter for particulate matter. Additionally, individuals should check their home ERMI score (mold exposure), use a water filter (such as reverse osmosis), eat organic foods, avoid toxins in health and beauty aids, avoid fish high in mercury, avoid dental amalgams, eliminate PBAs, increase sweat with exercise and sauna, consider lymphatic massage, Epsom salt baths, and support liver and kidneys (both of which are major detoxification organs) with polyphenols such as blueberries and cruciferous veggies. We now know that inflammation is the root cause of disease. Be mindful of the toxic burden constantly being placed on the human body. Do things daily to detoxify your mind and body.

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

https://functionalmedicineassociates.net/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-townsend-ma-fmchc-bcpa-83574b53/

@functionalmedicinelucy

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

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Women In Wellness: Lucy Townsend of Functional Medicine Associates 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.