Lit Up With Lo

Marita is a money and mindset coach focused on helping young professionals transform their relationship with money, tackle their debt, and build future plans to support their dreams and aspirations.

After paying off over $120K in student loans in 3 years, she developed a passion for helping others overcome similar challenges and find financial freedom.

Marita’s coaching philosophy blends her personal experience with a holistic approach to help her clients heal old wounds, build repeatable habits, and make money “easy.”

This episode is sponsored by Vapor Fresh.

CONNECT WITH MARITA
@maritaraecoaching
Website

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

Bethany Holmes is a Wellness Blogger, Certified Holistic Health & Wellness Coach, Reiki Practitioner and Spiritual Interior Designer. Bethany received her coaching certification from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition based out of New York City. Prior to becoming a health coach, Bethany earned her degree in Communications and PR from Michigan State University and worked in Human Resources for 6 years before entering the health and wellness world. In 2015, Bethany underwent emergency brain surgery to save her life from a hemorrhage. From that experience, Bethany started on a healing journey and was inspired to put her focus into health and wellness and help others live their best lives. For 4 years Bethany worked with individuals both one on one and in group settings guiding them to release their fears, heal their traumas, practice mindfulness and become the best vibrant versions of themselves. Recently Bethany has pivoted her career into a new business called spiritual design by b which is all about helping people energetically up level their spaces to improve their well-being.

This episode is sponsored by Vapor Fresh.

CONNECT WITH BETHANY
@bethanyaholmes
@spiritualdesignbyb
Website

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

MaryKate Schmidt is the creator and founder of Movement By MK, a community that focuses on using movement as medicine and empowering women to feel their best through fitness! MK has overcome struggles with yo-yo dieting, binge eating, lack of self worth, and the on and off lifestyle so she works to instill self confidence in women and help them understand the diet doesn't have to start Monday. She built her brand on community and her primary focus is to bring the community together through her LIVE workouts, on demand platform, in person workouts, and retreats!

In this episode, we talk about movement as medicine, building confidence through fitness, moving across the country, founding a business, entrepreneurship, her relationship (all the juicy deets!), and making her parents proud doing an unconventional job (spoiler alert - she cries!!!).

CONNECT WITH MK
MK's Instagram
Website

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

Collagen is an essential protein that helps support strong hair, skin, nails, and joints. We lose the ability to synthesize it as we age. Copina Co's herbalist-approved blends are plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, and non-gmo and work to boost your body's natural collagen production without the use of animal products.

Carolyn Yachachin's journey to starting a beauty company centered around empowerment and body positivity actually began from her own struggles with cystic acne. She started getting hormonal acne at 25. What changed was when she decided to take her health into her own hands and heal with holistic medicine, adaptogens, and stress management and when she realized that no one is perfect and that millions of women were going through the same thing as me - the thing was, few we’re talking about it! She saw not only the healing power of plant medicine to boost her overall health and heal her skin from within, but also the power of self-love.

She started Copina Co. to empower all to live their happiest, healthiest, most vibrant lives exactly as they are now. She got tired of beauty being tied to perfectionism and wanted to create space to build a new definition of beauty. It’s one that rests on the fact that you’re at your most beautiful when you’re highlighting what you love most about yourself and loving your body and your life. You can be perfectly imperfect and be beautiful. Life is too short to spend it chasing perfection when you’re already beautiful as you are!

She discovered the wonders of plant medicine to boost collagen production in our bodies and help us deal with the demands of modern life when she began exploring holistic medicine. Copina Co’s plant-based adaptogenic collagen blends are made with the best science-backed ingredients.

In PART 2, we get into the ups and the downs of founding a business, how to design a product from origination to getting it on shelves (shelves like Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and Erewhon!), bootstrapping your business, and so much more.

CONNECT WITH CAROLYN
Carolyn's Instagram
Copina Co's Instagram
Website
Use code LITUPWITHLO15 for 15% off

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

Collagen is an essential protein that helps support strong hair, skin, nails, and joints. We lose the ability to synthesize it as we age. Copina Co's herbalist-approved blends are plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, and non-gmo and work to boost your body's natural collagen production without the use of animal products.

Carolyn Yachachin's journey to starting a beauty company centered around empowerment and body positivity actually began from her own struggles with cystic acne. She started getting hormonal acne at 25. What changed was when she decided to take her health into her own hands and heal with holistic medicine, adaptogens, and stress management and when she realized that no one is perfect and that millions of women were going through the same thing as me - the thing was, few we’re talking about it! She saw not only the healing power of plant medicine to boost her overall health and heal her skin from within, but also the power of self-love.

She started Copina Co. to empower all to live their happiest, healthiest, most vibrant lives exactly as they are now. She got tired of beauty being tied to perfectionism and wanted to create space to build a new definition of beauty. It’s one that rests on the fact that you’re at your most beautiful when you’re highlighting what you love most about yourself and loving your body and your life. You can be perfectly imperfect and be beautiful. Life is too short to spend it chasing perfection when you’re already beautiful as you are!

She discovered the wonders of plant medicine to boost collagen production in our bodies and help us deal with the demands of modern life when she began exploring holistic medicine. Copina Co’s plant-based adaptogenic collagen blends are made with the best science-backed ingredients.

In PART 1, we talk about ways to find mindfulness, the power of being still, spirituality, Harry Potter (!!!), holistic tips for healing acne, and so much more.

CONNECT WITH CAROLYN
Carolyn's Instagram
Copina Co's Instagram
Website
Use code LITUPWITHLO15 for 15% off

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

Morgan Raphael is the Chicago-based creator behind Bun Undone and Bun Undone Self-Care Society, a community, e-book and journal. Her mission is to share attainable wellness, positivity, and self-care practices to help you embrace yourself and step into your power.

In this episode we talk ALL about self-care (of course), rebuilding after heartbreak ("breaking up to break through"), what's next for Self-Care Society (SO juicy - you heard it hear first!), spirituality, manifestation, angel numbers, signs from the universe, and SO much more!

CONNECT WITH MORGAN
Instagram
Website
Shop Self Care Society e-book and journal
Use code LITUP15 for 15% off

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

Rachel McClusky, originally from Chicago, is an LA based fitness instructor and founder of Recharge Wellness Co. Rachel has been teaching fitness for the last seven years specializing in beat driven HIIT she created The Recharge Method as a way to connect the mind and body while moving and creating a release. Her passion is within music and movement and you are guaranteed to feel stronger, both mentally and physically after her class.  Rachel’s Recharge Wellness Events offer women a space to connect through panel style and workshop based events all around the world. She is currently hosting all events and retreats virtually!

In today's episode, we talk about pivoting in your career, moving to feel good, founding your own business, hosting retreats, self-care, and so much more!

CONNECT WITH RACHEL
@rachelmcclusky
Recharge Method
Recharge Wellness Retreats

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

Baxter Blue LITUP15 for 15% off

Meghan is a dancer, fitness trainer, journalist and creator of CitySweat. CitySweat was founded on her passion to fuse fitness and dance in a space where everyone can stand in their own spotlight and celebrate themselves. She trained as a dancer for 20 years and always used fitness as a supplement to her dancing. 

CitySweat is a dance-inspired, low impact training method that serves as a celebration of movement through self-love, hard work, and community. Whether you are dreaming of becoming a professional dancer or just love to celebrate life, we all come together to upgrade to the best version of ourselves. And it's a party!

In this episode, we talk about working on the set of In the Heights as assistant to the choreographer (!!!) and all the behind the scenes juice, the life of a professional dancer, founding CitySweat during the pandemic, and the importance of community and morning routines.

CONNECT WITH MEGHAN
@meghanmcferran
On-demand platform:
https://www.meghanmcferran.com/on-demand
30-day challenges:
https://www.meghanmcferran.com/monthly-challenge

The Best Fitness Instructors in NYC article

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

Emily Groden was handling mergers and acquisitions at a Chicago law firm when an episode of Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” got her thinking about a whole new career path. She cold emailed the founder of Alinea and ended up as general counsel of a three Michelin star restaurant. She followed her passion for food and it brought her to an amazing opportunity, which then led her to founding her own company!

With  the  arrival  of  her  daughter  in  2018,  she knew  she wouldn’t  have  as  much  time  to  cook.  But  she didn't  want  her  family  to  subsist  solely  on  takeout.  She needed  something  around  the  house  that  was  tasty,  nutritious,  &  ready  at  a  moment’s  notice.  She settled  on  frozen  mini-waffles:  a  crowd-pleaser  that  wouldn’t  spoil  &  would  be  satisfying  as  breakfast  or  a snack. There  wasn’t  an  option  on  the  market  that  checked  all  of  my  boxes,  so  she  started  tinkering  with  recipes.  She  was  hyper-focused  on  keeping  her  mini-waffles  clean:  no  refined  sugars,  no  dairy,  &  no  preservatives.  Flavored  only  by  real  fruits,  vegetables,  nuts,  &  spices.  To  ensure  my  ingredient  list  would  be  as  lean  as  possible,  she made  everything  from  scratch,  including  her  mixed  berry  jam. After  months  of  experimenting,  she settled  on  her  first  4  flavors.  she was  so  excited  by  the  results  that  Ishe had  to  share  them.  Just  like  that,  Evergreen  was  born.

CONNECT WITH EMILY & EVERGREEN
@eatevergreen
Website
Emily's story in the WSJ

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook

Ashley Nickelsen, a serial snacker since birth, is the Founder & Chief Snack Officer of B.T.R. Bar. Ashley started the company in honor of her parents, determined to pass on their legacy and inspire the world to be BOLD, TENACIOUS & RESILIENT. Five years ago, both of Ashley's parents were diagnosed with rare forms of cancer. As their caretaker, working full-time, Ashley was constantly on-the-go, inhaling so-called "better-for-you" bars and bites high in sugar with ingredients she couldn't pronounce. With a background in nutrition & food studies, Ashley craved a snack with a "BTR" ingredient profile that also served a functional purpose. And that's how B.T.R. Bar was born. 

In this episode, we talk all about the B.T.R. story and mission behind it, as well as every podcast, book, and resource that Ashley recommends for entrepreneurs! From taking care of her parents as they died of cancer, to the meaning behind being BOLD, TENACIOUS, AND RESILIENT, Ashley's story is SO beautiful and inspiring, and it was a JOY to speak with her! She is one of the most positive and joyful humans I have ever met and I know her parents would be so proud of her company built on CLEAN, superfood, adaptogenic snacks that are functional as well as delicious.

CONNECT WITH ASHLEY & BTR BAR
@btr.bar LITUPWITHLO FOR 10% OFF
Website

CONNECT WITH LAUREN
@litupwithlo
@litupwithlopodcast
Website
Facebook