Women In Wellness: Blakeley Blackman on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s…

Women In Wellness: Blakeley Blackman on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The first thing I wish someone told me is that a lot of people equate being healthy to losing weight or being slim. This is a huge misconception because weight does not necessarily determine whether someone is healthy or not.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Blakeley Marie Blackman.

Blakeley Marie Blackman, CEO of Blakeley Blackman Enterprises LLC, is a nutritionist, certified Zumba instructor, financial coach, single mother of two, and advocate of developing a healthy lifestyle to avoid preventable diseases and ailments. In 2015, before Blakeley’s grandmother passed, she expressed her regret in not listening to the doctors who were avidly trying to correct her diet and lifestyle choices. It is Blakeley’s goal to make sure that she educates women and her community about the importance of generational wealth and financial literacy. Her health and wellness coaching encompasses a full circle of nutrition, fitness, lifestyle, and financial wellbeing with her clients. She is partnered with a whole food nutrition company, along with credit monitoring and restoration services that include attorney consultations. Throughout COVID-19, Blakeley has continued to empower women everywhere to remain focused on the keys to longevity — nutrition and fitness, along with their financial freedom.

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

My grandmother passed in 2015 due to kidney failure. Throughout her life, she had over twenty-seven surgeries and had even had a lumpectomy in her seventies to remove cancer. My grandmother was a warrior in her own right. However, before her passing, she revealed that she regretted not listening to doctors in the past who told her to live a healthier lifestyle. After seeing my grandmother suffer, I knew that I did not want that for myself or my children. That experience ignited a passion from within, and since that time, helping others develop healthier lifestyles has been my mission.

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?

One of the most interesting things that have happened to me was realizing that I was getting in my own way at the beginning of my career. As a single mom of two girls, I started to compare my life to the other health coaches that I saw on Instagram who were living these glamorous lifestyles and traveling all over the world. I became intimidated because I felt that my life wasn’t as glamorous and that people would rather be coached by these other women who seemed to live carefreely. I eventually had to realize that I was the only one limiting myself and that there was a place for me in the health coaching space. I learned that the only person I should be comparing my journey to is myself.

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

The biggest mistake when I first started was not realizing that everyone has their own health journey and their own process to get to where they want to be. This may seem obvious, but it wasn’t obvious to me at the time. I had a friend that I was encouraging to get healthier. They expressed their dislike of being overweight and I wanted to help. I began to pour a lot of myself into my friend and their health journey, but it seemed like they weren’t as dedicated to their journey as I was. Health and Wellness is my passion, and I couldn’t understand why this friend expressed a want to lose weight but was not listening to the lifestyle changes that I was suggesting them to make. I pushed them too hard and it eventually caused a wedge between us. The lesson I later learned from this experience was that there are a lot of factors that can contribute to why some people have a difficult time losing weight and developing healthier lifestyles. Sometimes it is rooted in mental health issues like depression. Other times it is rooted in physical health issues. This experience showed me to have more compassion and to be more attentive to a person’s needs altogether.

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 am grateful for my mentor and business coach, Chris Holder. He is the busiest man that I know, but he makes himself more available than anyone else I know, too. I have known Chris for years because he mentored my mom for about 10 years before he became my mentor. One of the things that he taught me years before I became an entrepreneur was about the importance of constantly evaluating the quality of your friendships and the people around you, and whether they are adding to or taking from your life. I didn’t completely understand until I became an entrepreneur, but I have appreciated that information because it has helped me to prioritize myself and my clients and the change that I want to make in the world.

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

The work that I am doing is super important, especially because we are currently in a global pandemic. I am always stressing the importance of fortifying your immune system and eating more whole foods because our food is our medicine. The pandemic made this a more important issue. While doctors and experts were pushing the importance of wearing gloves and masks and social distancing, I felt that it was equally important to talk about what we are putting in our bodies, and making sure that we are eating more fruits and veggies to increase our source of nutrition. The stronger our bodies are the more we have a fighting chance against any virus whether it be the common cold or COVID-19. Moreover, I use my grandmother’s death and the experiences of people around me to encourage others to develop healthier lifestyles. Earlier this year I learned that Tufts University had done a study that determined that the U.S. alone could save $100 billion in medical costs if doctors prescribed more fruits and veggies. This would ultimately prevent about 650,000 deaths, 120,000 cases of diabetes, and 1.93 million strokes and heart attacks every year. This information only further proved how important what we eat is, and how we can prevent so many ailments if health and wellness became a priority in our lives.

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

I love giving people lifestyle tweaks because wellness is all about taking baby steps until it becomes part of your everyday routine. The first lifestyle tweak I would say is to incorporate some type of movement into your everyday routine. Whether it is a workout you found on Youtube, or just taking a nice walk around your neighborhood, it is important to keep your body active. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins, which ultimately makes you feel good. It may be hard to start at first, but once you get your body moving, you will start to feel better overall. The second lifestyle tweak I have is to not go cold turkey and quit unhealthy habits immediately. Some people can go cold turkey, but others struggle and tend to return to their unhealthy habits if their goals seem unattainable. It takes 21 days to develop a habit so start developing healthier habits slowly. You can start with something as simple as drinking more water or reducing your consumption of fried foods. Once you can master this for 21 days, you add on something else. Third, it is okay to have a cheat day, as long as they are sporadic and you don’t overindulge. You know yourself and you know what your body can and can not handle. I always suggest making your cheat day about every two to three weeks but don’t make it too close together where it will be easy to fall back into your bad habits. Also, don’t spend that cheat day overeating and eating the most unhealthy foods that you can find because that will counter all of the lifestyle changes that you have made, and your body will not feel good after. The fourth tweak I think is super important is to surround yourself with people who are going to support your wellness journey. Whether it is family and friends or an accountability group you found on Facebook, this journey can be tough. I needed support when I began to develop a healthier lifestyle, and you will feel so much better with people around you who want to see you improve your wellbeing. The last and most important lifestyle tweak is to not depend on diets and to truly make wellness a lifestyle. So many people look at health and wellness retrospectively, instead of doing things proactively. You should not wait until you are sick, or struggling with your weight or other ailments to eat better and change your habits. If you made an effort to eat better and live better now, then you could prevent a lot of sicknesses in the future.

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

A movement that I would start is education around the critical connection between nutrition and mental health. This is one thing that I teach my clients because people don’t realize how what we consume can affect our brains. There is a reason why certain foods make us tired, while other foods make us energized. I feel like this is very important and isn’t talked about enough. In my own journey combatting depression, I came to learn that I was lacking essential vitamins and minerals which were a contributing factor in my energy levels and mood. More emphasis needs to be made on incorporating more holistic treatments into Western Medicine, especially preventative ones.

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

The first thing I wish someone told me is that a lot of people equate being healthy to losing weight or being slim. This is a huge misconception because weight does not necessarily determine whether someone is healthy or not. The second thing I wish someone had told me is that there are a lot of people that just don’t care enough about their health to make the lifestyle changes that they need to make. I have coached many people, and some people tell me outright that they refuse to make certain lifestyle changes. This response especially hurts when someone is seeking my help due to a health issue like high blood pressure or diabetes. It is heartbreaking to know that someone would rather struggle with their health than take certain things out of their diet to improve their overall quality of life. The third thing I wish someone told me was that it is okay to have your off days. At the start of my health and wellness journey, I used to feel bad if I craved some ice cream or cake once in a while. I used to feel even worse if I gave in to those cravings. I had to learn that I was not a failure and my journey was not inauthentic just because I ate something that wasn’t healthy. I even have my days now where I will enjoy something sweet, which does not mean that I do not care about myself. This is something that I make sure to share with others at the beginning of their wellness journey. The fourth thing I wish someone told me was to not get discouraged when I lose clients. This can be general advice with any business, but I would get so excited with people starting their wellness journeys, that I would take it personally when they decided that they no longer wanted me to be part of that journey. I had to learn to wish them well and to not let it get me down. The last thing that I wish someone had told me is that this wellness journey does not have to be miserable and restrictive, it should be fun. The wellness journey is all about finding the activities that you like and can have fun with, finding healthy substitutes to the foods you crave, and still giving in once and a while.

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 definitely a cause that is dearest to me because I have struggled with my mental health. In January of 2019, I suffered a mental breakdown. Before that breakdown, I had also been struggling with having panic attacks and severe insomnia. I had been struggling with depression for a long time, but as a single mom of two who worked and went to school full time, I figured that I didn’t have time to go to therapy and get help. My mental breakdown was my wake-up call and I immediately put myself in therapy, and I was put on antidepressants. I was able to address a lot of my issues in therapy, but there was something else that I realized while I was going through this experience: my diet was horrible. I saw my primary care doctor a lot during this time and learned that my iron, blood pressure, and Vitamin D levels were low, and I had never had these problems before. While seeking therapy was still part of my healing journey, I realized that I had not been taking care of my physical health during that time. I always knew that unhealthy habits could be a contributing factor to depression and anxiety, but now the evidence was right in front of me. The day that I nearly passed out in my doctor’s office in April 2019, I knew that I had to return to my healthy lifestyle. I reestablished my health habits and my iron, blood pressure, and Vitamin D returned to normal. I also was eventually taken off of my antidepressants. I tell this story often because many people do not understand how much unhealthy eating habits can be a contributing factor to depression and anxiety.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Instagram: instagram.com/blakeleymarieblackman

Facebook: facebook.com/blakeleymarieblackman

https://www.blakeleymarieblackman.com/

Thank you for these fantastic insights!


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

Jordyn Pollack of Ziggys Naturals: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a…

Jordyn Pollack of Ziggys Naturals: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis or CBD Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The thing that excites me the most about the CBD industry is how much CBD appears to be helping so many people. While we are not allowed to make “claims” as to exactly what CBD will do for you, we are constantly hearing from our clients how much our products are helping them in so many different ways. That was my goal, to help people and we are!!!

As part of my series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business” I had the pleasure of interviewing Jordyn Pollack Co-Founder of Ziggy’s Naturals.

At Ziggy’s Naturals, products are made using unique formulations specifically created to meet the needs of consumers, while adhering to the highest standards in efficacy, purity, quality and consistency.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you share with us the story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I’ve always wanted to own my own business. My father has been in his own business for as long as I can remember. Several years ago, during the holidays, my dad sat me down with my brother and told us he wanted 10 ideas from each of us for a business we could start together. He was all about the saying “if I only knew then what I know now”. He wanted to take his knowledge from years in business and give it to us. At the same time, he wanted to learn from our knowledge about the millennial generation, what we like and the type of consumers we were.

Our first goal was to venture into something where we could really help people. I had already been working in the cannabis industry, first on the payroll side of the business and then in medical cannabis. Both my brother and I believed that with all the growth ongoing in that business sector, that it was definitely the area we should pursue. I was always into the plant and how it can help people in so many different ways. At first, we investigated creating a line of edibles, but we kept running into roadblocks and the red tape for entry into actual cannabis products was not easy to overcome.

We then started considering what else we could do in the industry where we could really help people. After an extensive amount of legwork and research, we decided that producing a line of CBD products was the way to go. We partnered up with one of the best hemp farmers in the country, worked on our branding and Ziggy’s Naturals was born!!! At first it was just my father and I running the business, but a short time later my brother joined the business as well.

I am really excited about the direction our company is heading. We are continuing to establish new relationships to help grow our social media marketing. We are adding new products to provide a wider array of choices. We have also made a very strong push into the LGBTQ+ community. Being a transgender male, this is a huge area of excitement for me. We are selling our products throughout the country and look forward to continuing to grow our market share in this very competitive business. We strive every day to provide the best customer service possible and do our best to make every client feel like they are our most important customer!!!

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?

I think the most interesting that happened to me was learning that someone who works at the state Capitol building here in Texas was using our product on a regular basis. A friend of mine happened to be in their office one day, and a Ziggy’s Naturals product was on their desk. He told my friend that he got the product from another person that worked at the Capitol. Pretty cool!!! The lesson I learned; everyone is a potential client!!!!

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

This is embarrassing, but I will share it. About a year ago, I accidentally erased our entire Dropbox folder that contained EVERYTHING. While that does not seem too funny, we all actually laughed our way through rebuilding our files by searching through emails, both sent and received, and we were able to get everything back. It was like a walk down memory lane reading all of the emails going back to when we first started the business. The major lesson I learned was to slow down and not rush through computer work….and definitely do not click on any buttons unless I 100% know what the result will be. Even though we got through it, my dad and brother constantly roast me about that mistake.

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

As part of our push towards marketing to the LGBTQ+ community, we are working on new partnerships with people that identify as LGBTQ+. We have recently partnered with Rob Kearney, a gay man that is a World’s Strongest Man competitor who has been a world record holder and is a trailblazer in the LGBTQ+ community. We are also working with Alex Tilinca, a trans man whose goal it is to be the 1st trans man to win a Mr. Olympia competition. A long-standing partner is Aydian Dowling. Aydian was the first trans man to appear on the cover of Men’s Health Magazine and was also a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

By aligning with these individuals, we believe we are raising awareness in the LGBTQ+ community and inspiring people to be who they truly are and to aspire to achieve all of the goals and dreams they have for themselves.

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

I am extremely grateful for my father. First of all, he has supported me unconditionally throughout my journey and my transition. Neither one of my parents even flinched when I told them I wanted to transition. With my dad, it was particularly important for me knowing that he always looked at me as “Daddy’s little girl”. Starting this company together and having my father by my side as my partner is amazing. The experience is truly more than I could have ever dreamed of. He has taught me so many things about life growing up, and now he is showing me the path of being successful as an entrepreneur. He pushes both my brother and me to be the best people we can be every day, in all aspects of our lives. He is definitely helping us to learn about and reach our true potential in life.

This industry is young dynamic and creative. Do you use any clever and innovative marketing strategies that you think large legacy companies should consider adopting?

I think our social media marketing strategies are the key to our success and the way to sell products now and will continue to be for years to come. There are so many people that are glued to their phones and are constantly interacting on social media. By partnering with the right influencers that have a solid amount of followers with strong engagement, we can reach consumers with our message quickly and effectively. TV commercials and radio ads are old school. Most people are streaming both TV and music now and pay a bit extra to get rid of ads. Why waste money trying to get to the consumer on the big screen….the little one in their hand is the true target.

For us, our message is very clear. We want everyone to know that we are an inclusive brand for all. We try to make that our motto. Even though we are selling CBD, we want to make sure our clients feel loved by our brand and that they are not just a customer, but part of our family. Using social media in the right way allows us to get that message across.

Large legacy companies should utilize their marketing budgets to partner with influencers that have massive social media followings. With the amount of money available to them, they could simply scale up the same strategy we use and I believe they would see incredible results.

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

I will address the CBD industry, rather than the cannabis industry, as they are definitely different.

  1. The thing that excites me the most about the CBD industry is how much CBD appears to be helping so many people. While we are not allowed to make “claims” as to exactly what CBD will do for you, we are constantly hearing from our clients how much our products are helping them in so many different ways. That was my goal, to help people and we are!!!!
  2. I am definitely excited to see how widely accepted CBD products are becoming. Since the passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, which removed Industrial Hemp for the Schedule 1 Drug List, the CBD industry has exploded. The industry is projected to continue to grow at exponential levels for many years to come.
  3. Finally, I am excited about the future of testing and trials to learn about more ways that CBD will be able to be used to help people. We are still at the infancy stage in this industry, the best is yet to come.

Concerns:

  1. A lot of people have ventured into this business and not everyone is producing good products that contain what they are advertised to contain. We independently lab test every product and have a QR Code on all our packaging that will lead the client directly to the lab report for exactly what quantity of CBD is contained in that product.
  2. Another concern is that different states have different sets of rules regarding the sale of CBD products. This can complicate things. We try to be as transparent as possible about our products and to stay on top of all of the changing rules and regulations around the country.
  3. Finally, there are still some people that have a misconception about CBD in comparison to marijuana. This is a concern in that it may prevent those people from ever exploring the potential ways that CBD can help them. More education is the key, which is an area that we will continue to expand upon.

Can you share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading a Cannabis Business”? Please share a story or example for each.

  1. I wish that someone would have told me about how difficult it would be to advertise in the CBD business. For whatever reason, even though CBD is legal, and you see it everywhere, there are still tremendous restrictions on advertising. What is frustrating is that companies that are marketing “Hemp Oil” are given much more freedom in advertising, even though they are essentially selling the same product. There have even been several companies lately that have changed their labels from “CBD” to “Hemp” and now their ads are popping up everywhere. This is something we have considered doing, but with how quickly things are changing in this industry, we believe that soon the use of CBD will be allowed without issue.
  2. I wish that someone would have told me how many people would get into the business. Even though the industry is super competitive, we believe that we have a special niche in the LGBTQ+ community and that our products are far superior to so many others in the industry. We know that many people will not survive as competitors, and that we will continue to rise to the top.
  3. I wish that someone would have told me at the outset that getting credit card processing was going to be difficult. While this is no longer the case for us, early in the business we had a tough time getting a merchant account that would enable us to take credit cards. We had many companies offer their services, with assurances that they could approve us for processing, but only one came through, and that took several months to accomplish. We lost a lot of business at that time.

None of these things would have deterred us from starting our business, but awareness of them would have helped in our planning and business development strategies.

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

What I would have to say, particularly as a former employee, is to make sure that your employees are kept happy. Always listen to and try to understand their position. Empower them to achieve the goals that you set for them and that they set for themselves. Encourage open communication with your employees so they know they can come to you with any questions or problems. Create a fun and exciting working environment. Lead your employees and empower them to lead their teams.

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 just want all people to accept all people. People don’t need to try to understand why someone else feels a certain way or wants to be or look or dress a certain way. THAT IS WHO THEY ARE. We need to just let everyone be themselves. Without the questions, without the stares, without the laughs. Just let them be and love them like you would anyone else.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

@jojopollack

@ziggysnaturals

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


Jordyn Pollack of Ziggys Naturals: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started Leading 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: MacKenzie McClain Hill of LumiBloom on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help…

Women In Wellness: MacKenzie McClain Hill of LumiBloom on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Finding the answer to a problem often occurs when you stop looking. It turns out staying loose fosters creativity and problem solving so when there is something that you just can’t figure out, it helps to take a minute and turn your attention to something else.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing MacKenzie McClain, CEO of LumiBloom.

With over a decade of experience in creating the best health and wellness products available, MacKenzie combines her love for innovation with a sincere desire to help women unlock authenticity, confidence, and boldness.

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

The thing that defines me is my competitiveness and resilience, which really started to assert itself when I began running track as a 13 years old. I will never forget winning my first race, seeing the tape at the finish line, and the overwhelming drive I felt to get there first. I went on to become a state champion, to earn a place on the podium in my first international competition serve as co-captain of my University track team and have continued to train and compete in competitions around the world while building a wellness and beauty lifestyle brand.

Competitive sports instilled in me an appreciation for my own strength, the mental toughness to run at top speed toward 10 hurdles; and the physical endurance to train 4 hours a day before heading off to lead my business team. It triggered a real reverence for the gift of vitality that can be achieved through consistent effort and an understanding of the powerful relationship that exsits between your mind and body. Most of all it helped me better understand my own uniqueness, to be confident in my abilities and ultimately led me to my entrepreneurial passion project… LumiBloom.

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

The biggest mistake that I made when I was first starting was to undervalue my own experiences and ideas. I was too easily influenced by outside “experts” and as a consequence deferred to advice that did not always line up with how I saw things.

Over time, I learned to trust myself, and to not just believe in my vision, but to defend it. There is a place for collaboration, partners and expert assistance, but at the end of the day, the final say rests with me, and these days I’m really good with that.

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

There have been so many people that have contributed to my success, but the one that I appreciate most is my mom. She is an attorney, an entrepreneur and an advocate for women’s leadership and empowerment.

A little over a year ago I arrived at a crossroads in my company’s evolution. Moving forward required me to completely shut down for a period, while I revamped the entire business platform and formulated new products. I was determined to lean all the way into our mission of prioritizing the needs of women and inspiring confidence. That said, I was uncertain about the timing and of course any kind of shift or business disruption is a risk. My mom didn’t just support me, she helped me put together the plan to raise the capital so that I could make it happen. Even more important, she reminded me that trusting my instincts and following my passion had been the key to my success up to that point. It’s just one of the many ways that her light has illuminated my path. And, I know that my own commitment to not just promote wellness, but to inspire confidence in others, is in many ways related to her and what she has done for me.

Ok perfect. Now 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?

At LumiBloom, we believe that beauty starts from the inside, so we focus on products and ingredients that support a healthy lifestyle. We are excited to support and celebrate the unique beauty, strength, expressiveness, individuality, diversity, and resiliency of all women. More than a brand, we’re building a platform to connect with and inspire other women, and to share and magnify their stories.

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.

Drink lots of water. It’s so basic I know, but so essential. I drink 64 ounces a day which is a lot, but it really does make a difference in terms of flushing out toxins, and supporting systemic bodily functions.

Pay attention to how your body reacts to certain foods. After an elimination diet, one, where you stop eating foods that may trigger allergic reactions, (gluten, dairy, nuts and things like that) slowly reintroduce those foods one at a time to see how your body reacts. When I did it, I discovered that I have a high sensitivity to gluten. Consuming it resulted in me having headaches, bloating and breakouts. Now that I’m gluten free, I don’t experience any of those issues. Some people will find they have problems tolerating sugar, milk or a number of other things. Nutrition is really important, and can be very particular to each individual, not one size fits all. Listen to your body.

Power naps work. We all have different body clocks, there are morning people and night owls and I’m all for leaning into what works for you so long as you realize that your body needs rest. If you’re like m,e and you do your best work at 2:00 am, it’s fine, but a 30 minute nap in the middle of the day is game changing.

Pilates or other exercises that promote strength and flexibility will pay dividends for your entire life. I am so committed I bought a Pilates Reformer for my home so that I can take classes remotely during the pandemic.

Explore CBD as an alternative to pharmaceuticals for pain management, to combat anxiety, and/or gain clarity and focus. What can I say, I believe in the products that I market, they work for me and offer a safe and natural alternative to the things that I deal with every day as an entrepreneur and elite athlete.

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

The movement would focus on women and girls and center around self-acceptance, self-care coupled with magnifying your achievements and achievements of others.

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

What a great question. The 5 things I wish someone told me and why…

  1. There’s a lesson in every experience, no matter how it turns out. Not everything that you pursue in business is going to work out the way you expected. Knowing that you either win or learn helps keeps things in perspective.
  2. Don’t let perfection become the enemy of the good. Knowing that your efforts are always a work in progress allows you to keep moving forward.
  3. Celebrate the small things along the way. It’s easier to stay motivated if you recognize every success no matter how small.
  4. Finding the answer to a problem often occurs when you stop looking. It turns out staying loose fosters creativity and problem solving so when there is something that you just can’t figure out, it helps to take a minute and turn your attention to something else.
  5. When it comes to executing your vision, you really do know best. Over time I have learned to be vigilant about resisting self-doubt, if you let your guard down, sooner or later it comes knocking. Say hello and then firmly close the door in its face.

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 and of course climate change are critically important issues but if if I had to choose just one cause to promote from your list, it would be mental health. At the end of the day, I believe that everything begins with individual wellbeing. The capacity to tackle our challenges as a society require us to first and foremost care for ourselves. Good mental health, emotional wellbeing and clarity is foundational to every other human endeavor.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

Follow me on Instagram @MacKenzieMcClainHill and of course check out @LumiBloom on Instagram as well.

Thank you for these fantastic insights!


Women In Wellness: MacKenzie McClain Hill of LumiBloom on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Mari Nazary of Bloom Institute of Technology On The Three Things You Need To…

Female Disruptors: Mari Nazary of Bloom Institute of Technology On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Know your strengths. But don’t stop there. Use and lean on your strengths instead of constantly trying to level up your weaknesses. As I grow in my career, I’ve found this is great advice for leading, too. Not everybody’s the same. Each member of a team has inherent strengths, and letting them shine is the best way to lead. People feel successful and rewarded when they’re able to tap into what they’re best at, rather than feeling like they never measure up.

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

Mari Nazary is Chief Experience Officer at Bloom Institute of Technology, where she focuses on delivering an unmatched learning experience that yields the best possible outcomes for BloomTech learners and hiring companies. She is rethinking the education experience to create an accelerated path to employment in tech — accessible to more people who have traditionally been underserved by higher education. She lives in Miami, Florida with her husband and son.

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

My background had a big influence on where I’ve ended up. I come from an immigrant family: My parents were born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan. They had to make sense of a totally different world when they moved to Queens, NY. My older sister and I were their de facto translators growing up.

My parents stressed the importance of education for me and my two sisters. I started tutoring other kids in my elementary school when I was in the fifth grade. I still remember how excited I felt when I saw them understand something — those “aha” moments lit me up!

I went on to study classics, Spanish, and linguistics. I never lost sight of wanting to help others learn, so I joined Rosetta Stone — a revolutionary company at the time — to develop its first online classroom experience. I then focused on instructional design and product development at Education First, Voxy, and DataCamp.

At one point, I took a computer science course at a prestigious university. On the first day of class, the professor lectured for three hours, and we didn’t write a single line of code. After class, I asked him when we’d begin the hands-on portion of the course so we could practice what he was teaching. He explained to me that he’d been teaching for decades, that he knew how to best teach, and he was going to keep on teaching that way.

I walked out of that classroom and never went back.

Since then, I’ve built my career on questioning “how it’s always been done” to create results-driven learning experiences that work for students.

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

As the Chief Experience Officer of Bloom Institute of Technology, I lead the design of our online programs and learner experience. We’re hyper-focused on meeting the needs of motivated learners underserved by traditional higher education. Every detail of the program experience, from curriculum to career guidance to post-graduation support, is focused on a single goal: helping learners get a better, more rewarding, and higher paying job. I wish this work weren’t so out of the ordinary, but jobs-focused education is less common than it should be.

Too often, work — especially in the tech field — is like a fancy club or gated community. If you’re a member, you get access to all the benefits. You have better opportunities. And once you’re in those opportunities, you pull up more people behind you who are like you — who are already in the club.

That kind of exclusion infuriates me. It’s why I’m so proud to be part of BloomTech, where we provide an accessible, direct, and accelerated path to higher income and a tech career.

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?

Fair warning: This mistake isn’t particularly funny, but I carry its lesson to this day — so I think it’s worth sharing.

My legal name, and what my family calls me, is Morwarid. It’s a Persian pearl that means “pearl.” It’s also a lot of consonants, and anytime someone sees it, you can see the look of panic on their face. So in high school, I shortened my name to Mari.

During one of my first jobs, I was meeting with a director within the company, and he mispronounced my name — he called me Mary, like “cherry.” I didn’t correct him. It was an awkward moment, and the uncomfortable situation just spread. My coworkers felt awkward on my behalf and didn’t know if they should correct him. Then other people started calling me Mary. It was a mess.

Now I correct people much more readily. “It’s Mari, like ‘sorry,’” I say, to everyone from venture capitalists to CEOs to candidates I’m hiring. Names are powerful, and everyone deserves to hear their name said correctly.

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?

My mom has been my mentor from day one. When I was little, if I wanted to give up or I was falling behind in class, she’d say, “Those other people can do it. Why can’t you?” Her point was that I shouldn’t sell myself short. She was right. Whenever I felt like I didn’t understand something, I’d ask myself, what am I not getting? Then I’d go figure it out.

I’ve internalized my mom’s voice to the point where I ask myself, “Why can’t you do it?” — but for others. Everyone has the potential to learn, code, build a website, build a regression model — all of it. Human beings don’t lack potential. They just need a GPS. We’re designing BloomTech courses to be that guide and a cheerleader along the way. We surround learners with resources like live instruction, career success coaches, office hours in the day and evenings so they can get help when they need it. That way they’re eliminating barriers to learning and gaining confidence.

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?

Too often, people think distraction equals disruption. If a company or a person is doing something different, but it doesn’t make a difference, it’s gratuitous, not disruptive.

True disruption is tied to accessibility and opportunity. Are changes a net positive for opportunity or accessibility? That comes from rethinking an existing model to make it better.

I think of Uber. It offered both customers and drivers more access, flexibility, and opportunity. Drivers were able to make money on their own schedule by using a commodity they already had — their car. Passengers benefited, too. That led to other ridesharing companies, and the old model — taxis — adopted things like apps and more transparent pricing to compete.

At BloomTech, we’re trying to disrupt higher education and formal education. We’re providing people a faster path to the jobs that used to be reserved for only those who had the time and financial resources to get a four-year college degree. It’s my ultimate goal to contribute to a statistically significant change in the demographics of people holding tech jobs.

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

The first one: Know your strengths. But don’t stop there. Use and lean on your strengths instead of constantly trying to level up your weaknesses. As I grow in my career, I’ve found this is great advice for leading, too. Not everybody’s the same. Each member of a team has inherent strengths, and letting them shine is the best way to lead. People feel successful and rewarded when they’re able to tap into what they’re best at, rather than feeling like they never measure up.

Another one is to tap into your experience as an outsider. When I was an undergrad at Barnard, I think I was the only student of Afghan heritage. I felt different from most of the students. My parents couldn’t afford to pay for my college and I earned scholarships and grants on my own to get there. I didn’t have a Kate Spade backpack; I did work study; I didn’t look like my classmates.

It was sometimes hard at the time, but those experiences allow me to empathize with people who aren’t members of the fancy club. I can better understand our learners, many of whom have been left out of opportunities because of their background or life circumstances. That perspective pushes me to create a more inclusive team and a learning experience that works for more people.

Finally, a mentor reminded me that delegating gives people room to grow. It can become second-nature to take on more and more, to add things to your list, especially as a woman and a mom. At one point in my career, I had put my name next to all these OKRs in my department. My mentor told me to delegate. You know what? I realized that empowering others to take on responsibilities, too, allowed them to move in and move up.

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

I can’t stop talking about making BloomTech even more jobs-driven. We’re implementing changes literally every day to make tech education more accessible to more people. For example, we’ve made changes based on feedback from hiring managers who said our graduates needed to better communicate about their code. Our curriculum continues to focus on technical proficiency, and we’ve incorporated computational thinking and professional skills as well. We help them practice explaining their thinking and whiteboarding. We support them in producing and refining what we call career artifacts, such as their LinkedIn profile, GitHub profile, and resume.

The career aspect of our programs are now baked into the curriculum, which makes sense, since everything we do is designed to help our learners find and thrive in rewarding careers. Learners can’t move on in a unit until they pass everything, from technical sprints to earning a solid score on the General Coding Assessment, which is often used as a filtering mechanism by hiring managers. They can repeat the parts they don’t pass, and we support them throughout. That way they’re ready to be hired as soon as they graduate.

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

I could talk about so many challenges faced by female disruptors, unfortunately. I wish this didn’t even have to be a question. Layer on top being a woman of color in an industry that has representation issues and you have even more to discuss.

First off, risky or disruptive ideas are often more palatable coming from a man rather than a woman. By definition, unconventional ideas disrupt the status quo, and that can ruffle feathers. So from the get-go, that gets in the way of the pressure for women to be “likable.” Plus, women are too seldom seen as pioneers, creatives, and entrepreneurs. That means people sometimes fail to see their ideas as pioneering, creative, or entrepreneurial.

So many times in my career, I have offered new ideas only to see someone else get credit for them. As female disruptors, we have to find ways to amplify our voices without being perceived as pushy.

It’s really too bad because we end up splitting our energy between innovation and the delicate work of not offending people. It’s a waste.

I wish I didn’t have to share tips on how to navigate offering your best to make your industry better. One thing I’ve found that helps is to share your opinion in writing. It’s especially useful in today’s world, when it may be uncomfortable to jump into the conversation over Zoom. This strategy has the added benefit of connecting your opinion to you so you get credit.

I’m thrilled that most of these issues don’t apply to me in my current role. Not everyone works in as supportive an environment as BloomTech’s leadership team, though. I hope that talking about disparities helps nudge all workplaces toward welcoming minimized voices and innovative ideas.

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

This isn’t business-related, but one of the most impactful disruptors in the parenting space has been Emily Oster. Her data-driven parenting books, such as Cribsheet and Expecting Better, cut through the noise and are a total departure from the usual unhelpful parenting advice.

It was very nerve-wracking to have someone else’s life in my hands when I had my son. It’s overwhelming. You have to wade through unsolicited advice, which always seems to contradict the wise words you heard from someone else just minutes before.

Reading her books helped me relax a little because she doesn’t tell you what to do. She dives into the data, shares what you should consider as tradeoffs, and gives you tools to figure out what works best for your family.

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 wish people would listen more and talk less. This applies at home, at work, and even at a geopolitical scale. Miscommunications arise when people talk over each other or are just waiting to get airtime.

We can learn so much by listening. Pay attention to other perspectives, especially when you disagree. Focus on the other person’s story rather than formulating your own opinions or counterarguments.

A good rule of thumb: Every time you want to talk, wait five seconds. That small change would be a movement I could get behind.

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

I recently read something that hit hard: Be the adult you wish you had growing up. It changed how I look at everything. Being a parent, I’m always questioning how I’m doing. Am I focusing on what I should focus on? Am I spending too much time on my phone? Is my son getting what he needs?

Thinking about what I wanted and needed as a child crystalizes the kind of parent I want to be.

You can look at just about every aspect of your life through this lens. I want to build the type of school I wish I had and, more importantly, our learners wish they’d had. Thinking about our learners’ needs first guides all my decisions.

How can our readers follow you online?

I’m active on LinkedIn; you can also follow along with the exciting jobs-driven school developments at BloomTech.

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

It was my pleasure — thank you!


Female Disruptors: Mari Nazary of Bloom Institute of Technology 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.

Women In Wellness: Brenda Scott of Tidy my Space on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help…

Women In Wellness: Brenda Scott of Tidy my Space on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Have some quiet time! Just 5 minutes alone with your thoughts, this can be while you’re out on your walk. Nobody else, maybe you and some soothing music. Or if you need to stay inside, put a set of headphones on for 5 minutes and just be still. Reground yourself, listen to your body. What’s it saying?

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

Brenda Scott retired after working 31 years at Kelloggs, and is the owner of Tidy my Space, a Home Organizing company in London, Ontario, Canada. She works with clients who need help getting their homes decluttered, organized and safe to live in. She uses her years of experience to deliver an unique solution specific for each client.

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

I’m not in fitness and wellness, I help clients achieve wellness through decluttering and organizing their homes.

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

A client shared with me that after clearing her kitchen table and dining area, she was able to have friends over for coffee. Something she hadn’t been able to do in years, she felt light, happy and her confidence was through the roof.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

I went into a clients’ home with a plan of getting it done quickly but they wanted to chat about each item and visit. I learned to let the clients tell their story, especially if they’re senior, but still get the work done. They need company as much as they need work done. They have a sense of pride about their home and their sense of self is part of their home.

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

My approach to wellness, is to help my clients achieve a home that makes them feel good, proud of and happy to share with others.

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

My mom helped me to see that a tidy home can and will make a difference in the people who live in it. An untidy and disorganized home will have people who are losing things, feel frustrated, miss deadlines, grumpy, quick to anger, feel overwhelmed with housework and sometimes verbally abusive.

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

The 3 reasons I see are: 1. Too much information that gives you different answers, we don’t know what to believe.

2. Money is a big factor, some healthier choices are more expensive and not realistic for a whole family

3.People don’t like change! Simple and to the point, they want to keep doing the same.

My clients want their home organized and tidy as quick as possible but still want to continue to purchase too much stuff. You can’t have it both ways, it’s either a tidy home with a lifestyle change or a messy home with a ‘more’ lifestyle.

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

  1. Write your thoughts down, Journaling is just another word for a Diary. Secret thoughts, dreams, wishes, inspirational quotes, all help to get us in a better mental mood.
  2. Get your home decluttered and organized. Being organized is having your life under control, you control the stuff not the stuff controlling you. When you have a home full of clutter and can’t find important items or it takes more than 5 minutes to find an item, you feel totally out of control and scattered.
  3. Get Outside! Even in the cold weather, go for a short walk. Break the cycle of being inside and refresh your mind.
  4. Have some quiet time! Just 5 minutes alone with your thoughts, this can be while you’re out on your walk. Nobody else, maybe you and some soothing music. Or if you need to stay inside, put a set of headphones on for 5 minutes and just be still. Reground yourself, listen to your body. What’s it saying?
  5. Read a book, find a title that speaks to you and escape to other world or time. Fantasy and Dreams are still important.

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

  1. Social interaction; humans are social animals that need to feel like a part of something bigger.
  2. Better physical condition; it’s important to keep flexible and healthy to cut down on medical bills and expenses
  3. Improved emotional attitude; after a workout, the feel- good hormones are high and you feel great about what you just achieved.

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

  1. I would recommend walking. Simple and inexpensive.
  2. A resistance training like resistance bands to keep muscle tone without bulking up.
  3. Yoga for flexibility and stamina.

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

No books, I enrolled in Revkor, a resistence yoga class taught by Angela Revard. The program was yoga moves and stances with overhead bands, it really gave you a great workout with weight training combined.

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

Classes that teach young women about their self- worth, a place to learn life skills, a place to speak their minds without judgement.

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

‘There is nothing more satisfying than being loved for who you are and nothing more painful then being loved for who you’re not but pretending to be’ by Neil Pasricha This has come to mean so much to me because I started to lose my identity by trying to run my business like everyone else. Be yourself!

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

I would love to sit down for a chat with Michelle Obama. I’ve read her book and even though I live in Canada, I’ve watched and admired how she lives her life so real and truly concerned for others.

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

Your readers can follow me on [email protected] or www.tidymyspace.ca

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


Women In Wellness: Brenda Scott of Tidy my Space 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: Nikki Day of Ayla & Co On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a…

Female Founders: Nikki Day of Ayla & Co On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Be patient with yourself and don’t compare yourself to other brands or companies. It’s easy to focus on where you want to be and get caught up on how far you are from that. Don’t compare your year one or year two to someone else’s year ten!

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nikki Day, founder of Ayla & Co, the innovative diaper bag company that is helping parents everywhere take on the chaos of life with a little less mess.

Ayla & Co combines both fashion and function, with beautiful diaper bags and handbags made for the modern women, that also can include their patented 1 lb cordless vacuum! With its dual suction and beautiful design you can tackle life’s messes wherever they happen.

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?

First and foremost, I am a wife and mom of 4 little kids. In fact, we had four kids in 4 years (no multiples) so it’s safe to say life was/is a little hectic. I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit and have owned various smaller businesses over the years. I remember one pivotal moment that really got the gears turning for Ayla & Co was when I “graduated” to minivan status (yes that’s a thing that many of us moms have to embrace). I told my husband I would only drive a van if it had all the bells and whistles. Long story short, the van came with a small built-in vacuum. At first I thought it was ridiculous, but I ended up using it almost every single day. It made me think about how nice it would be to have a small hand held vacuum with me wherever I went, because let’s face it, kids are messy! I was also feeling extremely frustrated with my current diaper bags and felt that nothing was really suited for my needs. This is what led to my “light bulb” moment when I really knew I could design something better, more functional, and more innovative than anything else on the market. It took about a year of product development and design but we finally launched our business at the tail end of 2020. Looking back, I’m not entirely sure how I survived that year because I became the sole income provider and a homeschool teacher for my four children all about one week before our business officially launched. It was nothing short of sink or swim, but I did it. All that hard work has paid off and will continue to pay off.

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

As I stepped into the role of leader and founder, I noticed a shift in my confidence. The self esteem that I’ve gained and the sense of purpose outside of my role as just a mother was real. Being a mom will always be a very important part of my life, but it isn’t the only thing that defines me. Running my own business allows me to explore that creative outlook and nourish myself in a way that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to outside without it.

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

This is a little embarrassing to admit but if you can’t laugh at yourself you are never going to make it in this world. I once was doing an instagram live and was showing our followers our new products. The “live” lasted about 25 minutes and once I finished I watched it back over to make sure I didn’t forget anything, and to my horror, I realized that my cute oversized sweater was tucked into my underwear and showing above my pants waistline. All in all it was visible for about 30 seconds of the video. It was pretty embarrassing (luckily nothing R-rated) but definitely not my best moment.

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 was lucky enough to have a lot of mentors who were just a few years ahead of me in the product development world. I was able to ask lots and lots of questions and they so graciously offered their advice, support and help throughout my startup life. It is very easy to feel isolated in this entrepreneurial world and having that connection with other business owners is a priceless blessing that I was able to experience. It is my hope that I can return the favor one day to a fellow entrepreneur.

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?

While we have come so far in the last 50 years with women in business, we still have such a long way to go. The Covid-19 pandemic hasn’t helped in recent years. According to a recent study, 1 in 5 women were forced out of the workforce since the pandemic began, most citing child care or family care responsibilities and have not returned to work. That is decades worth of progress erased in a matter of months. The challenge of running a household, providing childcare, homeschooling and/or working from home all hold women back from founding companies. Today, more than 80% of CEOs are male. The glaring discrepancies between men and women in the workplace are likely to deepen and last for generations. We desperately need a recovery plan that supports women in the workplace.

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?

My advice is to set clear expectations with your partner about both your work life/home life balance. Figure out how to divide up childcare, work, and what accommodations need to be made. While you could have the most supportive and productive partner in the world, the fact is that women still carry most of the emotional and mental load in a relationship and families and this really is a huge factor in why women don’t have a larger role in business. Women don’t have adequate access to resources needed to succeed. The reason there aren’t more women CEOs is unfortunately because as a society we set women up to fail. In addition to these limitations, there are also the same old assumptions about assertive, empowered and successful women. We need to teach people how to reframe their view of a successful woman.

As a society, we need to aspire towards more affordable child care, and better maternity leave options. We also need larger corporations to create more accommodations that make it easier for women to have more flexible schedules. Lastly, we need to address the pay gap discrepancy, especially for women of color.

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?

Arguably, the best time for women to start a company is now. Women have been fighting back against lost jobs by creating their own. According to the most recent census, women were two times more likely to start a business than men and over 4.4 million businesses were created in the US during 2020 alone. This is the highest on record to date. It’s never been easier to get your product or service out there to the world. Marketing, word of mouth, social media, and the resources available to you on how to be successful are all at the tips of your fingertips.

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

I would like to dispel the myth of what you think life as a founder looks like. What people typically see on the outside is surface level and might look a lot like financial freedom and creating your own schedule. This is the tip of the iceberg and while entrepreneurship can bring those things, it is often not as simple as that. Owning a business and being a founder is super rewarding, but it is also a lot of work. I quite frequently refer to Ayla & Co as my fifth child. There are a lot of sleepless nights, tears, sweat, and worry put into this business. While I knew it would be difficult, there are some days that I never dreamed it would be this challenging.

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?

Resiliency. You have to have the ability to dust yourself off after falling down and be willing to try harder. You can have the greatest work ethic in the world, but if you quit after one set back you will never make it as the founder of a business. If I would have quit after my unfortunate instagram live video, I would never have been able to hit my million dollar mark in sales and be able to celebrate that win. If you can learn to look at your setbacks as growth opportunities, then they can propel you forward and help you make necessary changes within yourself and your business to really achieve the growth and success you are looking for.

It is also important to surround yourself with people who believe in your aspirations. If you create a support system that helps you thrive, the chances of doing so become much greater. I am lucky enough to have a very supportive husband and family who are able to help with childcare while I work.

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. It’s a marathon not a sprint. Focus on the journey not necessarily the end goal, and remember that the small steps forward that you make each day will make the biggest difference in the long run.
  2. All growth is not necessarily “good” growth. Grow responsibly. In other words, make sure you can support the scaling that you are wanting to do. It can be a business crippling problem to grow faster than you can reasonably support.
  3. Start creating a profitable business as early as you can. Of course there are certain start up investments related to starting a business, but turn your focus to profitability as soon as you can. It is all too easy to get caught up in the “reinvestment” strategy of the business and never graduate from that. At the end of the day, you are starting a business to pay yourself and be profitable.
  4. Be patient with yourself and don’t compare yourself to other brands or companies. It’s easy to focus on where you want to be and get caught up on how far you are from that. Don’t compare your year one or year two to someone else’s year ten!
  5. Don’t be afraid to hire. Hiring new team members can feel impossible early on and not financially feasible. However, hiring out the work that you can, really can be a catalyst to scaling and growing your business. Find your strengths, focus on how they can support the business, and hire out your weaknesses.

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

At Ayla & Co we like to find ways to give back. One of our favorite causes that is near and dear to my heart is World Purple Day which is March 26th. World Purple Day is a day to help bring awareness and public understanding to Epilepsy. In March of 2020, my 6 year old daughter was diagnosed with a seizure disorder and we have been learning to adapt and thrive with this diagnosis ever since.

As many as 65 million people worldwide have Epilepsy including 3.4 million in the United States, 470,000 thousand of whom are children. 1 in 26 people will develop epilepsy at some point in their lives, so you probably already know some one with it!

In honor of World Purple Day, Ayla & Co donates 100% of their profit from the sales that day to the Epilepsy Foundation for research and to train more people in seizure first aid response. In addition, we match that amount donated to the foundation and put it towards new books that get donated to the Neuro Trauma Unit at one of the largest children’s hospitals in the country.

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

I would love to eventually get to the point where we are able to set up scholarships for women entrepreneurs. I would love to find a better way to help support and encourage women in business.

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

I think it would be amazing to sit down with Kendra Scott. Not only is she one of the most notable self made women in America, but she is also a mother as well. It would be an honor to pick her brain and learn from one of the best.

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


Female Founders: Nikki Day of Ayla & Co 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.

Female Founders: Jill Schmidt On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

A vision you can share with others — You must have a goal and be able to communicate it to others in aid of support and business growth. Developing my business in the UK or Spearmint now would not have been possible without the support of the teams I work/worked with or clients who retained me. You need to communicate well to develop momentum.

As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jill Schmidt of Jill Schmidt|PR. Jill Schmidt|PR is a full-service public relations firm. Jill and her team have been in the media relations business for over 35 years with experience in a wide range of industry sectors including high-tech solutions, consumer electronics, food products, medical devices and general businesses of all kinds.

Focused on creating editorial stories, the team excels at getting our clients attention across the media spectrum. Based out of Chicago, the team has excellent contacts with local press including, TV, Print, Radio, Online and top bloggers.

National placements have ranged from The Today Show, The Rachael Ray Show and Good Housekeeping to The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fast Company, The New York Times, TechCrunch, Mashable and virtually every other outlet relevant to client products.

All staff members are skilled in every facet of strategic public relations including strategy, positioning and messaging, tactical media and analyst execution, event management, and financial communications.

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 think what fueled my drive and ambition is fairly typical: my parents, who were amazing people went from relative comfort to having the lights turned out when I was in my early teens. The trauma of this experience forced me to understand the importance of self-reliance and the value of money: what it is like to have, and not to have- at a very young age. I watched my mother return to work– a complete professional/life transition in her 40’s (and after she would return to college to earn a degree in her 50’s!) and following 7 years of bitter legal battles my father relaunch his career, successfully and give 110% to overcoming the seemingly insurmountable legal bills and other setbacks he experienced. There was no one as “glass half full” as my dad! When others would have simply closed shop, he carried on with no loss of self-respect or optimism. As an adolescent, it was painful to watch but it was formative in my belief that humans have the capacity to grow, overcome and learn from their struggles and set and achieve new goals. My Dad was my first and best coach. His unshakeable belief in my abilities, consistent encouragement and ability to ask questions that led me to discover the best way forward shaped who I am today.

Until I was 21 my passion was performing, not academics. I was accepted into of the most prestigious theatre/acting conservatory programs at a top university on audition alone. To be frank, I wasn’t prepared for the rigor or the competitive nature of the program and really crashed and burned while there. It was a humbling experience to accept that as much as my identity was as a performer (no one disputed my talent) the lifestyle didn’t align with values at that time. I transferred to Emerson college as a Communications major and had great success in sales, one of my side hustles for 3 years during college. After graduation, I decided to go into advertising sales. I tried the agency side in planning but the $12,000 they offered post grad just wasn’t going to cut it. One solid contact my parents had was a senior media director who at first said I would need to work AT LEAST two years in planning/buying before I was ready to make the transition. This was one of the first memories I have of someone, a man I trusted, saying “hang on”, “hold up”, “not so fast”, and me deciding I know what it takes and have what I need to try. Fearless! I convinced him to introduce me to a headhunter-who was super connected and he soft-peddled me to Larry Burstein then Publisher of NYMagazine. Fast forward 7 years later and I was the youngest ever (at the time), Advertising Director of Vanity Fair. This was when Tina Brown and Graydon Carter were Editor in Chief and every move we made was under immense scrutiny. That high profile experience was SOME learning curve, not without its personal hits and misses. I moved permanently to the UK to be with my British husband in 1993 and had a successful career in corporate media, founding my own company GoMedia Sales. In 2008, the market and media world were in upheaval as it largely moved to digital. This coincided with the personal decision to, after 15 years in London relocate our family to the US. I dabbled for a nano second in Real Estate, looked at other sales opportunities, but ended up right back in ad sales working for a one of my favorite mentors. For many reasons, it was clear after 25 years in sales, it was time to find my 2.0. Using the process, I use now with those looking to pivot I decided to formalize my experience as a coach. People have sought me out for wise counsel, direction, to help them fix their professional challenges all my life. I decided on an academic grounding at NYU and have been working as a coach ever since. In 2018 I founded Spearmint Coaching.

Two quotes I love regarding resiliency and perceived failure are from Winston Churchill:

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It’s the courage to continue that counts.”

“Success is going from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm”

No Founder I know has not experienced some form of failure in their lives. Your responsibility is to learn what you can from it; accept your contribution, forgive others for theirs and move on.

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

How Spearmint came to be is super interesting. I never thought my business would be propelled by a surge of work with young professionals. I planned, prepped and marketed myself to serve senior leaders and CEOs, because in my previous roles, I understood their challenges and immensely admired the work of coaches like Marshall Goldsmith. But when I hung my shingle, my immediate network of friends, friends of friends and family asked if I could offer their college senior some career guidance, or their 23–24-year-old re-launch or transition successfully. I wandered in the halls of corporate HR for about 18 months, until realized this is where my focus should be. Working with young people is tremendously gratifying and that’s been the biggest surprise. I love it. If I had been mentally rigid and not read the tea leaves, I would have missed out on this.

My mentor at NYU once said to me, “you don’t find your coaching practice, it finds you.” And that is what happened.

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 I finished my Executive Coaching studies at NYU, (all full of knowledge and vigor!) the first people I reached out to were those who knew me as a sales leader and entrepreneur. I had a reputation in ad sales as a result oriented, somewhat intense, fixer and producer, yet I assumed that people would be able to see me in my new role as a career coach. A woman I had a good working relationship with said to me, “I just can’t see you in this.” The company she was working at used coaches all the time, but she couldn’t envision me as one. I thought I could just sell my way into my coaching practice like I did in ad sales. The lesson was that changing people’s perspective takes time, you need to be strategic and play the long game. It doesn’t happen overnite but it if you are committed it will happen. Ironically after founding Spearmint, I was retained by a leading digital media company for various leadership coaching engagements. They saw me as someone who (correctly!) got what they did and had the chops to help their team. My corporate work in outplacement is a direct result of patient commitment to long term goals.

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

There have been so many people and I am so grateful for that! You are always going to have different mentors at different stages of your career. But, if I had to be grateful to those specifically, it would be my sisters. They have been my wisest advisors and safe harbor, always. Every founder needs some unconditional support. And my kids, as they launch their own careers have taught me so much- the best reverse mentors for tech issues! The turning point in my career was at 29 when Ron Galotti promoted me to Ad Director at Vanity Fair. As I was young and relatively less experienced than others in the same role, he experienced A LOT of pushback internally with the team (at the time it was around a 70 million dollar business) This opportunity made a lot of my future success possible. It was trial by fire and an MBA all in one. He simply said “ok Orner-y (Orner is my maiden name), don’t screw this up.” Lots of hands off support and learning!

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?

The stat I see most often on the VC side is only two or three out of every hundred pitches received at venture capital firms are from women. Do I think anything conscious is going on? I would assume some bias but IF you believe what you read VCs are LOOKING for woman owned and operated to support. But I think the future for female entrepreneurs is going to brighten considerably. I saw a post recently citing what has changed the venture capital industry more than any other factor is Amazon.com’s role. AWS has helped lower the cost of starting a company by 90%.

On AWS and with open source you can achieve amazing results for $500,000. If someone is a developer, they can launch a company for $50,000.

I believe these price points are pushing entrepreneurs to start at a much younger age. You see that everywhere! Think about it — if you only need to risk $250,000 as an investor (or $50,000 across 5 people) to get an entrepreneur started then why wouldn’t you back younger teams [in addition to more experienced ones.]

So why does this relate to empowering woman to start companies?

If women can get funded to run startups at 22–25 years old, they can gain real traction as entrepreneurs before having to navigate the tricky years of balancing family demands with running a company. If your first chance at being a startup founder coincides with your first child, it’s difficult for either gender. But the reality is it is still even more challenging for woman. Woman will benefit from a longer runway.

Peter Thiel started the “20 Under 20″ program to encourage young, talented people to give entrepreneurship a shot. Perhaps somebody will champion a similar initiative to get more young women funded straight out of college to start to reverse the trend and help lead our next generation. Maybe I should do that! I wish I started on my own venture, younger.

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?

That’s a big question! As a coach and business founder, I’m always asking people why they feel they can’t do things, what are their limitations? Are the self-limiting beliefs, if so let’s address them. If they are gravity issues, (immoveable and fixed for them personally) I work with clients to come up with solutions around them and find the resources they need to move forward. Why wait for someone else to empower you to do anything? I would still be waiting for the Spearmint business plan to have miraculously appeared! When I pose the simple question “why not?” most clients have more irrational reasons than logical ones. People get stuck in the muck of obstacles. My coaching is all about goals, strategies, and solutions. The hardest thing about achieving a goal is setting one (clients are so sick of hearing me saying this, so I apologise). There is nothing as formidable as a thoroughly researched goal, and a plan to achieve it. Yes, we must encourage companies to offer support and programs, leadership training, and other resources to bring more woman up the ranks. But some of the most powerful and impressive young woman I have met have benefitted most from enlightened parents who encouraged and empowered them. I grew up in house full of woman and parents who did just that.

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?

Because they can chart their own course. In a larger scope, they can have the flexibility they want. There is a greater risk (your name is on the door so to speak) but if you can hack it a greater reward. If you have a passion, why give it to someone else?

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

I am not sure what all the myths are out there, but I like to point out to others who may think from the outside that it looks like someone was an overnite sensation- well, they weren’t. Most success stories I hear from founders, entrepreneurs are filled with years of hard work, driven by an obsessive determination to bring their vision to life. And most efforts aren’t single handled –they had a great team, and perhaps some luck that they created for themselves.

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

I don’t think everyone should be a founder. You must have enough drive, passion for your mission, vision, entrepreneurial spirit, relationship skills, and be willing to accept responsibility for the end result. I think successful founders accept large amounts of risk and have true confidence in their convictions. Not everyone finds this road appealing– it takes a whole team, in all positions to play a game of baseball; you just have to know where you like to stand on the field.

Based on your opinion and experience, what are the “Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

I am not sure these are limited only to woman — but here they are:

  1. A vision you can share with others — You must have a goal and be able to communicate it to others in aid of support and business growth. Developing my business in the UK or Spearmint now would not have been possible without the support of the teams I work/worked with or clients who retained me. You need to communicate well to develop momentum
  2. Create a “Board of Directors” — you can’t be a founder without mentors, advisors and peers. Find the right people to help you and absolutely seek help when you need it. Be vulnerable with someone, perhaps a coach ☺! Everyone needs a safe sounding board to grow personally and professionally
  3. Share and listen! Most of the best decisions I’ve made, I shared my thoughts and concerns and listened to other perspectives. In sales you quickly understand the immense value of listening and it’s this key skill that makes a great coach. Find quality people to advise you and listen to what they have to say.
  4. Integrity — if something goes wrong under your command, don’t be afraid to own it. Integrity goes a long way. Create something you know works. Don’t let it out in the world until you are confident that what you are selling works. I would not — and I was asked- work with paying clients until I was done with my NYU certificate.
  5. Dress the part- I have maintained that all my best wins and successes have been when I dressed the part. Everyone has their ‘power outfit’ so choose yours, whatever it is that inspires confidence in yourself will inspire others to have confidence in you. Sorry, may be superficial but I have countless points of proof! Another simple but important truth: make sure to do what you can to take care of yourself as well- you can’t launch a rocket without fuel.

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

In the first part of my career, I created a vibrant community for people to work, a way to support themselves and their families and opportunity to grow. What I do now as a coach helps people directly. They can become who they want to be and succeed in their professional lives.

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.

Two things: a movement to help people be heard and treated fairly, to help people learn to listen. One of my favorite books is “Just Listen” by Dr Mark Goulston which outlines the importance of this skill and tools to improve it. I share it with many clients. People want to be acknowledged and heard! Second, Temet Nosce is Latin for “Know Thyself”. The key to finding a purpose and fulfillment in life begins with knowing and understanding yourself. An essential part is understanding what drives and motivates you as well as recognizing the limits of your own wisdom and understanding — a movement where we focus on learning and respect the knowledge of others could be a very good thing.

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.

First Barbara Corcoran. My daughter and I are obsessed with Shark Tank. I was well aware of her business success before I really admire the public persona she has created there. Fearless, smart and empathetic. We need more woman founders like her.

Malcom Gladwell- he is a brilliant writer, thinker and I greatly admire his work. I have read and listened to everything (Revisionist History is a must). I am always searching for new perspectives on culture, business and people and he always has fresh ideas.

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


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

Female Disruptors: Deepa Purushothaman of nFormation On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Female Disruptors: Deepa Purushothaman of nFormation On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Decide. Make a decision. Don’t waver — When I first made Partner I was afforded a really unique opportunity to sit down with the Chairman of the Board at one of my clients. I used the dinner to ask him questions about his path, what he had learned, and his advice for me. His most important piece of advice to me was to not be afraid to make a decision. He said that good leaders weigh options but at some point they decide. He said they decide the best they can and then push the ball forward. He said, “you don’t always have the luxury of waiting. And good leaders know when to decide.” What I have learned since then is that great leaders know when to be transparent too. Good leaders decide and great leaders decide and if it wasn’t the best choice with hindsight, they admit it and move forward.

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

Deepa Purushothaman was a “first” senior partner at Deloitte, where she spent more than 20 years focusing on women’s leadership and inclusion strategies to help women of color navigate corporate structures. She was the first Indian-American woman and one of the youngest people to make Partner in the firm’s history. After leaving Deloitte in 2020, Deepa co-founded nFormation, a membership-based community for professional women of color, offering brave, safe, new space and helping place women of color in C-suite positions and on Boards. Deepa’s book The First, The Few, The Only: How Women of Color Can Redefine Power in Corporate America, published by HarperCollins comes out March 1, 2022.

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?

As I was deciding if I wanted to end my twenty-year career in corporate America, I started gathering senior women of color to figure out if I should stay or go. The dinners started as 1:1 meetings and over time grew to larger gatherings over ten across the country in total. I thought these would be informal networking sessions where I might get some ideas of companies to explore but something magical happened as we came together in community. There was so much shared story, shared struggle, and shared power that when I finally pivoted my career I decided to write a book about some of the themes from the dinners and to launch a company to help more professional women of color find community.

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

I am bringing together professional women of color to share their truths and their stories through a company I started with my cofounder called nFormation. We are talking about the microaggressions, racism, and the challenges the system creates for women of color. There is something special that happens when women of color can share their stories and witness each other’s truths. The women end up realizing they are not alone and step into individual and collective power. Many of them are then able to return to their workplaces and ask for greater responsibility, more money, or share more of what they need to survive and thrive. Being in spaces like the one we have created helps women of color find their full voice. This is important because many of us grow up in systems that don’t help us do this.

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?

Early on in our launch process we gathered a number of women of color together to do a COVID-safe photo shoot. I selected eight women from all backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. We wanted to show the breath of women of color in the working world. Two days before the shoot the women called me one by one trying to back out. Some felt they presented too white, others felt not old enough or too old, and some felt not senior enough to belong on our website. Here we were trying to share a message that women of color were worthy and the women in our photoshoot were questioning if they were enough which is a very real issue for many women of color. It made us realize how much work we had to do and also what happens when we are not used to seeing ourselves represented in popular media.

The funny part of this story is at one point we tried to augment the shoot with some stock photos. We could not find many professional WOC images. One of the few images that came up was of ME at an event and it cost over $800 to license. We had a good laugh about that. And no, we did not use it.

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 fortunate to have many mentors and sponsors. One in particular is a Southern gentleman from Atlanta. Even though upon first meeting each other we struggled with our connection, he became one of my biggest advocates especially when I wasn’t in the room. He put me up for every opportunity and stretch goal and gave me hard advice when I needed it.

He has given me the best business advice I have received to date, “never need a client, more than you want a client,” and I expanded that to many aspects of my life, even my dating life when I was single.

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?

Towards the end of my corporate career, I remember having a deep conversation with a colleague if I was perceived as a change agent or as an agitator. I was struggling with the idea of how much to push on norms and when it didn’t serve me to share all my truths.

My work today falls completely in the DEI and leadership space. This work is pushing on topics of race and even white supremacy. I challenge structures themselves and point out ways they don’t show up the same for all of us. I don’t think you can do this work and not be disruptive. And, I think we are in a moment in our history when we need to question everything around us.

This work requires honesty, bluntness, and pointing out issues people don’t want to see. I call it truth telling. But, I have also learned that you can truth tell in ways that don’t always agitate. I am ok being a disrupter and even an agitator but I think success in this work is helping people feel their feelings and to breaking open their hearts and their minds. And sometimes that requires patience. I love Dolly Chugh’s work in this space. She says you can approach a difficult issue with heat and use force and anger to get your ideas across, or you can use light and convince people with reason and compassion. Both work but sometimes light is more lasting and easier. So, I am all about disruption but it is how you disrupt may be just as important as what you disrupt.

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

  1. Listen to those Who May Offend You at First: A few years ago, I was sharing some information with the CFO at one of my clients and he told me that the CEO provided him some feedback about me. The CEO felt I was smart but sometimes irreverent to his CEO title. The CEO felt I should be more cautious in how I delivered my opinions to him since he was CEO. The CFO told me that he immediately told the CEO he had missed a great opportunity. The CFO told the CEO that people who have the courage to tell a CEO how it is and not kiss the ring are the people you must make time to meet. The CFO said he told the CEO, he should have met with me every other week because I was telling him what he needed to hear — maybe didn’t want to hear but needed to hear. The CFO looked at me and said, “never change that. Know that most people don’t take the risk and you have it in you and that is the quality that makes you different and successful. Always tell it how it is. Those who don’t want to hear it won’t be around for long.”
  2. Decide. Make a decision. Don’t waver — When I first made Partner I was afforded a really unique opportunity to sit down with the Chairman of the Board at one of my clients. I used the dinner to ask him questions about his path, what he had learned, and his advice for me. His most important piece of advice to me was to not be afraid to make a decision. He said that good leaders weigh options but at some point they decide. He said they decide the best they can and then push the ball forward. He said, “you don’t always have the luxury of waiting. And good leaders know when to decide.” What I have learned since then is that great leaders know when to be transparent too. Good leaders decide and great leaders decide and if it wasn’t the best choice with hindsight, they admit it and move forward.
  3. It’s Lonely at the Top — When the CHRO at one my client first started in his role I offered to take him to lunch. It seemed like a normal thing to do. He was new at the client and I had been there for over a year. As we were sitting at lunch he said to me. “You know you are the only person — -vendor or peer who has asked me to lunch. I have been eating by myself every day this week.” He went on to say, “it’s lonely when people are too afraid to stop by.” My most important lesson came from that discussion. Leaders and execs are people too. They want to be liked and included as much as everyone else.

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

nFormation is going to focus on disrupting the process to qualify and place women of color on Boards and I can’t wait. The criteria we use to call a person board ready supports the same candidates being short listed. We need to evolve the criteria we use and find ways to place importance on the lived experience women, especially, women of color bring to the table. As “firsts, fews and onlys,” women of color have had to navigate a lot and the navigation alone brings new and valuable criteria to the table that should not be overlooked.

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

It’s the old tale. Men are rewarded for taking risks, being bold, speaking without all the facts and answers. For women and women of color that path is much harder. There is less leeway, there are more questions, and we have to provide a mile-long fact trail to often be heard and to justify our decision making capabilities. There is less permission for women and WOC to take risks and play big.

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

I love Women Who Run with Wolves. I remember reading it the first time and feeling like it was a special maybe even secret book. It talks about the innate power of women, what happens when we come together and how many of our stories have been displaced from historical canon.

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 want us to rethink power. What it means to be powerful and what we reward. The last few years have shown us we are on the brink of many things as a planet, few of them good. Maybe power shouldn’t be about how much we have or hoard but how much we share, how we amplify, and how we do good.

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

I have a quote in my bathroom that I look at each morning. It says, the universe will not give you more than you can handle. So often we tell ourselves a story that a challenge “is being done to me.” That places us in a victim mentality and keeps us away from all the synchronicity that can show up in the world if we open our eyes. I have used some really hard times in my life to figure out who I am and who I want to be. Sometimes challenges are just doors to what is next.

How can our readers follow you online?

Linked it at https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepapuru/

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


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

The Future Is Now: Vishal Goyal of AEX Technology Solutions On How Their Technological Innovation…

The Future Is Now: Vishal Goyal of AEX Technology Solutions On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

How rewarding it is to be able to help businesses, schools, and restaurants keep their employees, students, and patrons safer during a very difficult time. I have received such amazing feedback from the many businesses that have turned to AiroDoctor, and I have loved being a part of a business that is helping others stay healthy.

As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Vishal Goyal. Vishal Goyal is the CEO and founder of AEX Technology Solutions which offers unique technology to address business challenges and create engaging experiences.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us your story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I started my career in the pharmaceutical industry and was driven by the mission of educating others on life saving medicines that I supported. I then made a major shift to a family business in the technology industry, where I was providing unique technology solutions to a completely different audience. After some time in this industry, I wanted to get back to helping others but through technology. With all that was going on at the onset of the pandemic, I searched globally to find a technology solution that could help others during this time and beyond. This is when I discovered the AiroDoctor UVA Photocatalytic air purifier, which is manufactured in South Korea. It is a scientifically proven technology that provides cleaner and healthier air for people in indoor environments. Its effectiveness has been tested and proven by government entities and medical institutes. AiroDoctor was also most recently certified as an international medical device.

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

As mentioned, I came from the pharmaceutical and technology space and knew very little about air purification. And to be honest, due to my initial lack of knowledge of the space, I was not sure this was the area I wanted to focus my efforts on making an impact. However, I did a lot of research and found that there were not many options for commercial air purification. Most relied on HVAC systems, but those have their limitations and can be extremely costly. There were some portable devices available, but those were meant for a small space, like a room in a home. They also was not a lot of credible scientific data available to back up most claims that were being made by many of these devices and methodologies. From that point, I knew that bringing AiroDoctor to North America is where I could make an impact to help businesses, of any kind, safely emerge from the pandemic. This would allow these businesses to provide cleaner and healthier indoor air for their employees and customers.

Can you tell us about the cutting edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?

While the technology itself is manufactured in South Korea, we have the privilege of being the exclusive distributor in North America. The keyword when it comes to describing the AiroDoctor unit is “first”. AiroDoctor’s filtration and purification works in 4 stages — pre-filter (adsorbing large particles), activated carbon filter (focusing more on removing volatile organic compounds and odors) , HEPA filter (which removes fungal spores, bacteria, and viruses to a certain size molecule from the air), and finally eco-friendly, UVA LED photocatalytic filter, creating a reaction that kills aerosolized coronavirus and other viruses and bacteria, making the unit the first of its kind to not only combine all these stages in one unit, but to also use this cutting edge, photocatalytic technology in an effort to eliminate the virus. The AiroDoctor is also the very first air purifier scientifically proven to kill the human coronavirus by government agencies and medical institutes.

How do you think this might change the world?

The coronavirus pandemic shut down the world and took away practically everything we took for granted. Our hope is that this technology can allow people to once again feel comfortable being in indoor spaces and knowing that the air being shared by all of us is sanitary. AiroDoctor is about providing a cleaner and healthier environment for businesses all around.

Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?

I’ve always been working with unique technology solutions and AiroDoctor provided a solution for a huge gap in what we needed to move forward in the pandemic. Initially, I found the technology through previous manufacturing partners and worked hard to get exclusive rights to bring it to North America from South Korea. I’m excited to be able to see businesses thrive and have a solution to help with keeping their employees and patrons safe.

What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?

My goal is to educate more people on the importance of indoor air quality. It’s not as clean as people may have once thought and there’s a lot of transmission in general, from pollutants, viruses and more. People are so focused on just cleaning surfaces but don’t really stop to think about what’s in the air. That’s our goal — bringing the focus to clean air.

What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?

We’ve been using PR campaigns as well as using different digital marketing strategies. We’re allowing key businesses affected by the pandemic to try the units and demo them for a period of time before purchasing. We want people to know we’re not pushing an inferior product, we stand by our product, and we want to bring this confidence to others. We have the science behind it, we just want people to believe and experience it.

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

YES — my father, who has been an entrepreneur most of his life. As I embarked on this new venture, I have kept him updated on all that I am working on and all the initiatives we have made and continue to make. Despite him being in his mid-80s and unfortunately suffering from Parkinson’s, he is always interested in hearing about my progress. He even sets up calls with me and while he does not label them, his intention is to have brainstorming sessions about the business. Throughout life, he always has been in my corner. I had not realized the value he has brought me until later in life as I have reflected on various pivotal moments. Those moments can be traced back to the advice he originally provided, even when at the time, I did not view it that way nor realize how impactful his words would be. Earlier in life, I thought I knew so much, and a parent’s advice was viewed as just a lecture. Today, I do value each and every conversation I have with my Dad, and he is still providing those pearls of wisdom. I definitely have improved on recognizing those pearls much sooner. I launched this new company with a completely new product line to me, and some of the best pieces of advice have not come from the people in my network, but rather from my Dad. Even with all that he is going through and dealing with, he still has the time and patience to be in my corner. For this, I am forever grateful.

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

One particular finding that has come out of the pandemic is that indoor air quality is quite poor. I am currently working on a plan to rollout devices to facilities in underserved areas. Even as more people become vaccinated against COVID-19, it still does not address the primary way many illnesses are transmitted, which is by air. Many underserved facilities, despite outside funding, still do not have the means to provide a solution for clean air and this is where I plan to help with AiroDoctor. AiroDoctor has not only been tested with >99% effectiveness against Human Coronavirus, but also other more prevalent viruses and bacteria, including Influenza A, Rotavirus, Norovirus, MRSA, etc. This air purification unit has the ability to help so many.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)

  • The air purification marketplace appears to be very unregulated. Many companies state claims of what their products can do without proof of testing. Having a scientific background and coming from the pharmaceutical industry, I have always led with science. Unfortunately, this market has a number of unsubstantiated product claims.
  • Lack of awareness of indoor air quality and the lack of understanding of the impact. These days, I live and breathe (no pun intended) air purification, so I am a bit biased, but there is still a lack of awareness of how much is transmitted through the air and the adverse effects it can have on people.
  • Consumer marketing has a larger impact in the commercial/business marketplace than I would have thought. Many consumer air purification manufacturers are marketing on social media, like Facebook and Instagram, directly to consumers. These products are primarily meant to be used in rooms of people’s homes. However, due to the current lack of knowledge and awareness, many businesses, including schools are being influenced by this and purchasing air purifiers that are not meant for a commercial and business environment. This is unfortunate because many businesses may learn the hard way and cost them more in the long run because they did not select the right product for the right environment.
  • Prior to the pandemic, elderly care centers, such as nursing homes and assisted living have had high rates of death stemming from catching the common flu. This seems to have been an accepted part of life. At the time of the pandemic there was so much confusion around primary mode of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, that most centers focused solely on surface sanitation vs. additionally air purification. If known prior, this could have helped save lives.
  • How rewarding it is to be able to help businesses, schools, and restaurants keep their employees, students, and patrons safer during a very difficult time. I have received such amazing feedback from the many businesses that have turned to AiroDoctor, and I have loved being a part of a business that is helping others stay healthy.

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. 🙂

This is the clean air era. I want to push for better air quality so it can lead to better health overall. Not only eliminating viruses and bacteria, but also pollutants like chemicals, mold and other allergens. This can lead to fewer people suffering from allergies, getting sick and even death.

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

“As long as you tried your level best, that is all that you can do” — at the end of every week, day or meeting, I reflect back and if I can say that I did my level best, I can’t come down on myself if things do not go the way I wanted them. This statement keeps me in check and helps me improve Also, it allows me to celebrate every win even more because I am able to say that. Guess where I originally heard this quote? My Dad. He has always asked this of me.

Some very well known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Despite being one of the most advanced countries in the world, we still suffer from poor indoor air quality. We suffer from illnesses, allergies and many other ailments due to poor air quality. People die from the common flu due to airborne transmission. Businesses have financial losses in productivity and sick days due to airborne transmission of viruses, bacteria, allergens and other pollutants. While AiroDoctor will not solve all of this, it will help with minimizing airborne transmission and provide cleaner and healthier air to people. One thought I will leave you with to put this in perspective — indoor air is air we share, so what someone is breathing out, is what you are breathing in and that is gross! Let a scientifically proven and innovative technology solution, AiroDoctor, provide healthier air for anywhere there is indoor air — corporate offices & meeting rooms, schools, healthcare facilities, elderly care, veteran homes, etc.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

https://www.aextechnology.com/

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


The Future Is Now: Vishal Goyal of AEX Technology Solutions On How Their Technological Innovation… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Women In Wellness: Ivana Daniell on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s…

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

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

This positive attitude, this connection with your body that you will rediscover through healthy and intelligent movement, is the first link of the chain that will anchor you to a future of health and vigor for the rest of your life.

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

Ivana Daniell is a graduate of the Laban Centre in London, and the founder and director of Ivana Daniell BODY ID. Born in Italy, she is an authority and visionary on functional exercise and posture, I have worked in collaboration with renowned doctors and clinics around the world. She was also a consultant to the Aman Resorts hotel group for nearly a decade. She now runs her posture and movement re-education clinic in London.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

In spring of 2009, I was visiting London — at the time I was living and running my clinic in Singapore.

A doctor friend from London mentioned to me that a VIP patient needed a posture consultation, and I shared my full availability. The day after I received a call from Buckingham Palace saying that my presence had been requested by a member of the Royal Family.

Of course, I will not disclose more personal information, but I wish to share with you one of the most magical moments of my life.

At first, I thought it might have been a joke, I did not know what to say. Buckingham Palace?

It was unreal. I was polite and answered dutifully, but still thought it might be a very well-planned joke, so I played my part. It was only later that day when I received an official email invitation, I realised this was real!

The day after I felt I was walking on clouds, at 4pm I entered Buckingham Palace for the first time, it was like a dream!

It is an experience and an emotion I will never forget, and I will treasure it for the rest of my life. I have been entering that door now for the past 13 years, it’s a gift and an honour, and that magical emotion it’s the same as for the first time.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

I was working with a dance company in the late 80s in Paris, the much-awaited Gala Show at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. I had persistent pain due to my back injury.

During the show, a colleague noticed my discomfort and suggested that I apply some of his magic cream to numb the unbearable pain.

No one thought to mention that the “magic cream” was a hot chilli-based cream to rub into the muscles to warm them up to the point where the intense heat would ease the pain. Dutifully, and with gratitude to my helpful colleague, in the rush of a costume change, I rubbed the magic chilli cream into the area of pain… my lower back… my very lower back…

You can imagine the effect of the chilli cream in my rear… It was fire… chilli hot, in fact! I jumped and leapt through the air with seeming effortlessness. The show was a resounding success. I had survived the chilli treatment and given a hot performance on the stage.

That night after the show, after the ridiculous incident with the chilli cream, I decided I could no longer continue like this, living with chronic pain. The following day I went to the hospital to see an orthopaedic doctor. After a thorough examination and an x-ray, I was told I had a herniated disc in my lumbar spine. I was advised to rest and be very careful. My long journey to recovery became the inspiration of my future career.

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

I have worked in the wellness industry for over 30 years now. I was at the right place at the right time back in 1998, when I introduced the Pilates Method and other Intelligent Movement approaches to Singapore and South-East Asia. The success of that endeavour, led to collaborations with some of the most renowned doctors and clinics all over the world. I was one of the first consultants to talk about Menopause openly, to educate women to better understand their bodies.

My Body ID Method, which I outline in my book “A Manual for a Contemporary Body” is based on many years of professional experience in dance, intelligent movement and movement therapy and observations of the human body. It is a Holistic approach that encompasses a person’s lifestyle, body type and characteristics and mindful wellbeing.

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 have a long list of people who have contributed in a very significant way in my career.

First, my wonderful clients, who have inspired me and supported me across the arc of my career. They have given me the opportunity to explore the infinite potential of the human body. Their dedication to my work sets an example for those who are searching for a more intelligent and healthier way of moving.

Working in Singapore for 10 years at the incredible Camden Medical Centre. The doctors and practitioners who have supported my work. They also have been my teachers and I have been blessed to learn so much from them.

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

I believe that information shared in the public domain on how to live our lives healthily, and happily, is not sufficient, confusing, and often incorrect.

Unfortunately, we have become a society where we follow, instead of listening to what our bodies need.

We follow the latest fad we read about in magazines or on social media, or we are influenced by the friend who swears that the gym or by a particular exercise or sport that changed his/her life. Or we impulsively decide that we want to get fitter and lose a few extra pounds, so we join the gym next to our office without professional guidance and body awareness.

The old idea of physical exercise and physical education has today radically changed, and sadly, not always in a positive way.

In a world of mass information, there is no filter, the so-called “word of mouth” is disappearing.

You just need to have a look at the web today where you are bombarded with applications and photos showing you how to get fitter; how to get a better body in a few weeks, or a sexy chocolate-bar-shaped six-pack.

I look at these applications with horror and recognize that most of them could be very harmful to the public. Especially as they are often pitched as a quick fix, which leads to deflation and disappointment if results aren’t seen overnight, and then the cycle begins again.

Trust me, there is never a quick fix!

It all comes down to our Body ID — one step we can take is to better understand our body type, which can then help us to then start working with our body in harmony.

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

I believe that the following 5 tweaks (and sticking to them) will dramatically improve anyone’s wellbeing.

· Be aware of your body identity — understanding what type of engine you have is critical.

· Move and exercise in a safe and intelligent way — knowing what your body needs will ensure a happy body and minimal pain.

· Exercise according to your body type and movement personality

· Follow a healthy and balanced diet — food is fuel!

· Keep a positive attitude and be grateful for this wonderful gift called life.

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

A healthy body, free from pain and capable of enjoying the freedom of movement will give you a sense of general well-being.

This wonderful natural “high “called endorphin, accompanied by that positive feeling, is the most powerful anti-ageing and anti-depressant combination, a truly natural life motivator.

This positive attitude, this connection with your body that you will rediscover through healthy and intelligent movement, is the first link of the chain that will anchor you to a future of health and vigour for the rest of your life.

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

Three things that anyone can do easily to add movement to their daily lives is to put their feet on the street — either a 40 minute walk alone; conscious mindful walking (taking care to manage posture), or short walks throughout the day… walking is the best exercise you can do.

After all these feet are made for walking! It’s easy, it’s accessible to everyone and it’s free.

Walk as much as you can; it’s wonderful! I have learned that my feet are my wheels, and they can take me everywhere.

Walking gives you a lot of benefits, and if it’s done correctly and efficiently, it can be considered a very effective form of exercise. We all know that a good walk, especially in nature, does wonder for your health and for your mental well-being. A 30- to 45-minute daily walk can have several benefits:

· It can improve your general fitness and cardiac health.

· It alleviates depression and improves your mood.

· It can help you manage your weight.

· It improves your circulation.

· It will help you to maintain a healthy posture.

· It is a low-impact form of exercise; it will not damage your knees and your back, and it can be done for long periods of time.

On top of your daily walking routine, you can add then, a favourite sport or activity — for example dancing, swimming or yoga. This will only be chosen according to your BODY ID, and it would be very different for everyone.

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

There are so many books that made an impact on me it would not be fair to name just one.

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

It is a doomed future that our children are facing: a non-movement- orientated future lifestyle that will surely lead to a life plagued with chronic aches, pains and weight problems.

We need to be seriously aware of the damage that can result from living in this virtual world and start educating our children about the importance of movement and good posture. We need to be encouraging them to lead a healthier outdoor and movement-orientated lifestyle. This should be our mission as responsible parents.

My mission, my vision, goes even further.

I dream of a new concept of School Physical Education, where children are properly educated from the beginning of their school life on how to understand their body and the dangers of a non-movement-orientated lifestyle, or the damage caused by long hours spent in front of computers and sitting at desks that do not support a healthy posture.

A school environment is an excellent place to provide the right guidance and an appropriate programme of postural education.

Over the years education departments have introduced classes on personal hygiene, personal grooming and sex education. Why not introduce the most important health issue of all, posture and physical education?

The biggest challenge would start with re-evaluating the configuration of the classrooms. The way our children are sitting at their school desks is totally unsuitable and schools should seriously consider a much more posture-friendly environment. After all, these children are our future!

In order to give a healthier environment to my son, I had to decide to send him to a school in the woods, and literally back to the roots. Not all children can be given this opportunity and not all parents may consider being separated from their children a viable option. Mine was a big sacrifice, but it was worth it!

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

“It is never too late”

I love this quote, because it really is never too late to change your life, to enjoy a healthy and pain free life — I have experienced it first hand with my own healing journey — And through my wonderful clients, who have been my teachers, my inspiration, and greatest supporters — I have learnt so much from them, listening to and sharing their stories, their aches, their pains and listening to their bodies. I have experienced the joy and blessings of being told “I feel 10 years younger,” “I feel great — I have no more pain” — “I feel so confident now”.

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

No doubt, it would be Oprah Winfrey

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

You can purchase a copy of “A Manual for a Contemporary Body’ from all book shops. Or you can contact me online or follow me on Instagram.

www.ivanadaniell.com

Instagram — ivanadaniellofficial

Thank you for these fantastic insights!


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