Women In Wellness: Kerry Wekelo of Actualize Consulting on the Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Use Humor: Don’t take life so seriously; take time to laugh. For example, when the pandemic first began, it was an uncertain time for everyone. My team came up with an email chain of memes — a fun way to bring positivity and relieve stress by focusing on lighter topics.
As a part of our series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kerry Wekelo.
Kerry Wekelo, MBA, is the Chief Operating Officer at Actualize Consulting, a financial services firm. Her book and program, Culture Infusion: 9 Principles for Creating and Maintaining a Thriving Organizational Culture and latest book Gratitude Infusion, are the impetus behind Actualize Consulting being named Top Company Culture by Entrepreneur Magazine, a Top Workplace by The Washington Post, FORTUNE Best Small & Medium Workplaces™, and Best and Brightest ELITE National Winner in Communication and Shared Vision category. In her leadership, Kerry blends her experiences as a consultant, executive coach, award-winning author, mindfulness expert, and entrepreneur. Kerry has been featured on ABC, NBC, NPR, The New York Times, Thrive Global, SHRM, Inc., and Forbes.
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 grew up playing sports, so I was always active in some regard. Having a slower metabolism, I was encouraged to run and walk to stay healthy. After a while, I noticed the impact it had on my mental health — my mind is clearer when incorporate movement, I feel calmer, and overall, I have more capacity at work and in other areas of my life. Because I’ve reaped so many benefits, I ensure to always keep it a part of my routine.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
When I was working at Accenture, I started a project that involved shiftwork — everyone on my team was putting in 12-hour shifts. That unfortunately didn’t leave too much time for life outside of the workday. As I function better with some form of daily movement, I had to get creative to stay active. Living in a city, it didn’t make sense to run or walk outside at weird hours, so I was often on the treadmill in the early morning or late at night. It was important to me to have that time to take care of myself, so I made that a priority, even if it meant maneuvering my schedule to accommodate odd workouts.
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?
This isn’t overly humorous, but I think it was a good lesson for me. When I first started practicing yoga and attending classes, I never stayed for the savasana pose which is the resting period in a yoga class after completing the majority of the balance and strength poses. I wanted to keep moving and didn’t believe it to be particularly beneficial. I would even walk out of class early to avoid that part of the routine. Funnily enough, it turns out I needed that relaxation to recharge. Now it is arguably something I consider the most important part of the class for me as it helps clear my head and offers time to pause and stay mindful.
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?
Wellness has been a lifelong focus of mine. Growing up, my parents have always instilled the importance of keeping healthy and lead very healthy lives themselves. As I got older and lived on my own, I found taking care of myself and my wellbeing pivotal to my overall happiness. Incorporating movement, mindfulness, and keeping a healthy diet are something I teach my kids as well. I got involved in children’s yoga, would often teach it at their school, and found incorporating fun activities inspired them to try new foods. Based on the success with my own children, I wrote an activity book titled If It Does Not Grow Say No which provides parents with creative solutions to get their kids to try new vegetables and learn about the different ways the things you eat can influence your health.
When my kids were in elementary school, the traditional time out periods for children in their classes to calm down weren’t very effective. They need a self-soothing technique in order for that quiet time to be successful. I developed stress ball foam cubes with different breathing techniques on each side to offer a new way to teach kids to be self-reliant when facing challenges and incorporate mindfulness. I later developed many other Zendoway cubes, all with different purposes: gratitude, stress relief, and coping strategies to name a few.
At Actualize Consulting, we incorporate wellness year-round; instead of an annual wellness program, we incorporate wellness in some capacity on a monthly basis. With my internal team, we always do an email chain of the things we are grateful for that week. At a firm-wide level, we often have mindful calls where we practice an easy meditation and have various health challenges throughout the year, like participating in Alex’s Lemonade Stand’s Million Mile and weekly workout challenges.
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 dad has been a great role model to me, especially in regard to how he has taught me to take care of myself. He has led by example by always incorporating movement. He is one of the healthiest people I know and has successfully avoided sugar for almost ten years. While I don’t know that I’ll ever cut out sugar entirely, it’s been a great encouragement to find what works well for me and stick with it. For example, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I didn’t consider how my normal exercise routines like running might be challenging. I couldn’t do intense exercise. My dad encouraged me to try out yoga, not only as a way to exercise but also as a way to stay mindful. Since his recommendation, I have learned to love yoga and even got my yoga teaching certification.
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 think the 3 main blockages that prevent us from integrating healthy choices are patterns, peer pressure, and an all-or-nothing mindset.
- Patterns: Often our habits are so engrained in our lives, it can be challenging to make any changes and stick to them. For example, when I am stressed, I like to eat sweets. After recognizing that pattern, I am able to develop a strategy to ensure I am looking after my health. Instead of depriving myself, I focus on eating a full meal with variety instead of just eating the dessert I am craving as a meal.
- Peer pressure: When we go out to eat with others or spend time with friends, no one wants to feel like they are the odd one out. If everyone is getting dessert or is drinking, it can be hard to say no. As I mentioned before, being healthy doesn’t mean depriving yourself; just try to be aware of getting enough variety and making conscious decisions. Don’t do things because the group you are with is doing them.
- All-or-nothing mindset: Perfection is impossible; there are going to be days where don’t eat as well as we could have, or days where we miss a workout. Instead of striving to have a flawless routine, strive for balance. Do the best you can today because you can always try again tomorrow. Don’t give up after one bad day.
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.)
- Use Humor: Don’t take life so seriously; take time to laugh. For example, when the pandemic first began, it was an uncertain time for everyone. My team came up with an email chain of memes — a fun way to bring positivity and relieve stress by focusing on lighter topics.
- Focus on Learning: Build your confidence by picking up a new hobby or trying a new activity to help develop self-efficacy. My son and I have been using Duolingo and playing each other to learn Spanish. This has been particularly useful to me as we have opened an office in Mexico, and also allows for healthy competition with my son as we practice vocabulary. It can take your mind off of stressful situations and inspire you to always focus on self-improvement.
- Find Gratitude: For me, this is one of the fastest ways I can shift my mindset to a positive outlook. As a quick pick-me-up, I often mentally denote 3–5 reasons of gratitude or focus on sharing gratitude with others. The more you look for ways to be grateful, the happier you will become. Don’t focus on comparisons — stay present with what is going right!
- Breathe: Breathing sends signals to your brain to relax, which in turn gets signaled to the rest of your body. Every exhale triggers the parasympathetic nervous system and the rest and digest response. Take a deep breath before beginning a new task during the day or inhale and exhale a few times before reacting to a situation. It keeps me working at my highest capacity and is an essential self-soothing technique.
- Stay Mindful: Stress can make us feel out of control. When you first notice the feelings of stress, take a moment to ground yourself using your senses. Place your feet on the ground and rest your hands in your lap. Notice how it feels in your body. Do you feel tension? Look around and choose one or two objects to mentally describe. Are there any smells in the space? What do you hear? Take a few breaths as you go through your senses to ground yourself in the moment. I often lead this mindfulness exercise at work and many have messaged me saying how effective it is!
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?
Exercise strengthens your mental health, builds confidence, and can help encourage you to live a healthy life overall. I exercise because it helps me clear my head — I find myself spinning less in stressful situations and more swiftly moving forward to positive solutions. As you take care of yourself, this often creates other positive habits; it changes the way you view yourself and can inspire you to take on additional healthy habits as you reap its benefits.
For someone who is looking to add exercise to their daily routine, which 3 exercises would you recommend that are absolutely critical?
In my yoga training, we were always taught that opposites heal — counterbalancing movement can give your body a chance to rest and strengthen other areas. For example, when experiencing carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand, I switched to a left-handed computer mouse. Not only does it relieve my right hand, but it also helps train my brain and reflexes.
To keep your mind fresh and relieve stress, try a grounding meditation. Close your eyes, put your feet on the ground, and take inventory of your senses. What do you feel? What do you hear? What do you taste? Focus on the present, using your senses as an anchor.
Lastly, incorporate variety into your routine. Doing the same things over and over can lead to burn out. If you always go running on the same path, try a different route. If you are tired of running, incorporate strength training. Doing so can help trick your body and keep interest in healthy habits.
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?
Louise Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life has been a big inspiration of mine. After a tumultuous upbringing, she relied on the power of self-help through affirmations and self-care to keep positive. She discovered a connection between the mind and the body. When she used powerful affirming intentions, her health and wellbeing was strengthened. She was later diagnosed with cancer and instead of opting for traditional medicine, she intensified her self-care routine and practiced visualization; her cancer went away within 6 months. I now incorporate affirmations and set intentions as a way to better lead and take care of myself. She taught me we are all worthy of happiness and health.
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. 🙂
Instead of dwelling in a challenge, find positive ways to move forward as it is much more productive. I coined the 3P Method of Pausing to Pivot to a Positive. In the midst of a challenge, pause to feel your emotions, then pivot out of the negativity to a more positive perspective. In every challenge there are positives, even if it is just a lesson learned. At the end of the day, life goes on, so it is better not to stress.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
Lousie Hay’s affirmations have been really influential to me because they remind me how much of our life is powered by choice. Instead of focusing on what is going wrong, we can remain grateful for what is going right. One of her quotes is, “I choose to feel good about myself each day. Every morning I remind myself I can make the choice to feel good. This is a new habit for me to cultivate.” Positive perspectives are key.
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 🙂
Soccer player Abby Wambach — she wrote a book called The Wolfpack. It has been a great inspiration to my son as well, especially as he plays sports. Abby thought she should be benched because she wasn’t playing at her best. She soon discovered it was her attitude that was shaping the way she showed up on the field. When my son was playing baseball, it taught him the importance of having a positive mindset. He ended up spending more time on the field than many of the other players because he always showed up ready to play and very motivated to try his best.
What is the best way our readers can follow you online?
I send out regular tips, stories, and ideas on my email list. If you’d like to be placed on it, you can shoot me an email at [email protected]. You can also use that email to contact me with any questions or comments. Otherwise, you can follow me on Instagram or Twitter @kerrywekelo or LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryelam/
You can check out my wellness company, Zendoway, here: http://www.zendoway.com/
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Women In Wellness: Kerry Wekelo of Actualize Consulting 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.