Women In Wellness: Denise Liota Of Artemida On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Well-being
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Work/Life balance is essential. Once I understood how my family suffered because my business to-do list never ended no matter how many hours I put in at the office, I changed the way I approached my day and now take the time to be present and engaged with my family.
As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Denise Liota from Artemida.
Denise founded Artemida as an eco-conscious health, beauty, well-being and lifestyle brand created by women for women + earth. She is on a mission to launch high quality, forward-thinking products that are ethically sourced to nurture women’s need for true wellness. In addition, Artemida has an inclusive digital community connecting like-minded individuals through a desire to make sustainable choices that consider our environment and planet.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Upon graduating college with a marketing degree, I began my 25 years in the health and wellness space as an entry-level marketing assistant for a direct mail supplement company. In 2016, I took ownership of that company with the intention of creating something very special and doing business differently, placing an emphasis on the holistic nature of wellness where body, mind and spirit are integrated. Focusing on women’s health and well-being together with an eco-conscious mindset, Artemida is the result and I’m so in love with her. I’m also excited for the next evolution of who I am becoming by running a business I really love.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
I hired an agency with 4 people to execute what is now Artemida. After a few months, only the CEO remained and I was blinded by my exultant attitude towards the opportunity to create something I had dreamed of for so long, that I ignored the red flags, causing me to make very foolish financial decisions. I knew I had to change my ways, so I fired the “agency” and was determined to find the right people to help me create Artemida in the precise way necessary for her to be admired.
I now listen to my intuition and surround myself with people who are not only capable of doing the work, but also who are trustworthy, kind and authentic.
Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I always felt uncomfortable asking for help and proudly described myself as a professional multi-tasker. I came to understand those two traits are a sure-fire way to halt productivity and create stress. I had to relearn how to approach my day by slowing down and giving my full attention to a single task. Gary Keller’s book “The One Thing” was instrumental in helping me achieve this.
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?
How our society thinks about health and wellness is evolving all the time especially as we adapt to new challenges and circumstances in life. Here at Artemida, we hold space for this evolution by encouraging women to take small steps every day towards greater well-being. We believe in the holistic nature of health where body, mind and soul are interconnected and equally important.
We’ve launched SYNERGY, a women’s multivitamin supplement in plastic-free, compostable packaging and created a community of like-minded health and environmentally conscious women to encourage the exploration of what this means for their lifestyles. Artemida’s online space was created for women to feel a sense of belonging and connectedness to a community that’s charitable, eco-conscious and passionate about well-being, sustainability and low-waste-living.
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.
- Audible has had a significant impact on my well-being. Because my days are full from beginning to end, I couldn’t ever get through one book. Now I listen while I’m driving, cooking or grocery shopping. A few authors that have helped me are Panache Desai, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Eckhart Tolle, Michael A. Singer and Neville Goddard.
- Meditation is something I began a few years ago and can confidently say that I commit to practice each day — — even for a few minutes — — I feel a noticeable difference in my well-being. I love using a meditation app as it offers many options to choose from, the ability to create multiple playlists and it makes committing some time each day to meditation easier.
- How we talk to ourselves is so important. I had no problem being genuinely kind, compassionate and empathetic to everyone but myself. Once I began to consciously monitor every word quietly said inside my head — about myself — I was able to replace the negative words and feelings with positive ones. Now, I can confidently say I am the most amazing best friend to myself.
- Helping others enriches not only the lives of those being helped, but also our own. My work as a Guardian ad Litem has given me the opportunity to advocate for and make a real difference in the lives of children who unfortunately find themselves in the foster care system. I had previously assumed Guardian ad Litem’s were attorney’s but while researching charities across the U.S. for Artemida to partner with, I came to learn they are also volunteers, and there are not enough of them. Volunteering my time to help these children continues to improve my well-being.
- I’m conscious of what I allow to penetrate my brain as the saying of “garbage in, garbage out” holds true for me. If I am going to spend some time on the web for pleasure or watch TV, I choose things that will make me smile, laugh and feel good. That along with avoiding the news and limiting social media has had a positive effect on my well-being.
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
We live in a competitive society where value is placed on intellectual intelligence, while emotional intelligence is an after-thought or completely ignored. Just as courses like history, math, science and English are taught year after year, let’s make it a priority to educate our children to understand and increase their emotional intelligence. I believe this will have a positive impact on the well-being of our entire population. Artemida is committed to increasing awareness on the importance of strengthening our emotional IQ.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
- Be true to yourself. I had to learn to trust that I know what is best for me, and not to listen to what someone else thought I should be doing.
- Surround yourself with positive people who inspire and motivate you. Negative energy vampires need to be avoided!
- Everything doesn’t have to be perfect. Getting hung up on every little detail prevented me from moving projects forward quicker, or not at all.
- It’s okay to ask for help — — you aren’t a failure because of it. Trying to do everything myself gave me a false sense of control. Asking for help allowed me to put my full attention to things that were of most importance to me and productivity increased.
- Work/Life balance is essential. Once I understood how my family suffered because my business to-do list never ended no matter how many hours I put in at the office, I changed the way I approached my day and now take the time to be present and engaged with my family.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
All of the above!
Artemida has four core values: enlighten, encourage, engage and educate. We are committed to applying our values to exactly these topics.
The products Artemida offers will be vegetarian, as our SYNERGY multivitamin is, or vegan. I must confess it is challenging for me to sustain a vegan lifestyle. I’m not perfect, and do not strive to be. I intentionally attempt to make small changes each day that allow me to be a better woman for myself, my family and our beautiful planet.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
https://www.facebook.com/loveartemida
https://www.instagram.com/artemida.love/
Thank you for these fantastic insights!
Women In Wellness: Denise Liota Of Artemida On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.