Harriet: Hello, and welcome to today's episode of The Naked Health Warriors Podcast. Today, I have Jolene Hart, who you may recognize from some of her international bestselling and outstanding books that are—they should be, not they are—they should be in every single woman's hands. They should be on every bookshelf. Jolene is a beauty editor turned health coach. She's an absolute expert on looking and feeling your best inside and out. Her books are honestly amazing, and today we're going to dive into some of the amazing content that she has within those, and some of the secrets that she likes to live her life by.
Harriet: Jolene, welcome to the show.
Jolene: Thank you so much for that incredible introduction. I'm so happy to be here.
Harriet: Amazing. Amazing.
[00:01:19]
Harriet: There are some people who may not have heard about what you're up to and what your mission is. I'd love for you to share maybe who it is you love to help, and what's really exciting you right now in your health practice business?
Jolene: Absolutely. So, yeah. My mission was ... you know, my background was working as a beauty editor, and I've been on this mission for a while of trying to help women, you know, look and feel their best. But it has gone a lot deeper for me in the past decade or so, and I really look at—obviously, if you've seen my books, nutrition and lifestyle, and mindfulness, and how they all play into the way we look and feel. Right now as a health coach, my focus is really helping women to create and build that lifestyle of beauty that supports them in looking and feeling their best, no matter how busy they are, no matter what they do day-to-day, where they travel. Just kind of helping them to establish those routines and those strategies that are going to help them look and feel their best.
Jolene: What's exciting for me right now? There's a lot of different things that are exciting me. Spring coming up is exciting me. I'm still really sharing my new book, "Eat Pretty Every Day," that I worked for a long time on. This book is a collection of 365 daily readings that just kind of weave what I'm talking about—beauty, nutrition, and a lifestyle of beauty—into your life. It goes season by season and features recipes, and challenges, mantras, kitchen tips, self-care exercises, just a little bit of something for everyone so that you can kind of get that health coach experience in your own home and your own life by turning one page every day and getting a fresh idea.
Jolene: Spring is coming up, so I'm hoping that everyone will kind of open to that spring chapter and get really excited to spring clean their bodies from the inside out, to detoxify, to bring in all these fresh, chlorophyll-rich green foods, to adopt some new mindsets, maybe a couple of fresh habits, and create a really beautiful start for themselves this season.
[00:03:18]
Harriet: Amazing.
Harriet: There's one thing, before we move on that I'd love for you to share a little bit more about, and that is your meal time mantra. What is that, and where did it come from?
Jolene: It's one of my personal goals, and something that I talk a lot about with my clients, of; "Bring a little more mindfulness to mealtime." I think we're all trying hard to be mindful with what we eat and how much we eat, but there's a whole other level to that. You know, the digestive system, and how we break down and assimilate food, is really, really important to the type and the quality of nutrition that our body receives, and that our skin receives. Making sure you digest well is going to help support that really radiant, glowing skin.
Jolene: The reason that mantras and mealtime mantras are so important to that is that when you take a moment to focus on something mindful, breathe deep, look at your food, reflect, and slow down at mealtime, you are devoting so many more resources to your digestion. Blood flow is going there. Your body is calming itself down, and it's going to be in that "Rest & Digest" system that's going to help you to digest and assimilate better.
Jolene: Throughout the book, there are little mealtime mantras—just mindful thoughts for you to consider before you eat, just to encourage you to take that time to create the environment that's going to allow you to get the most from these foods that you're so carefully choosing for your body and your skin.
Harriet: That's beautiful. I love that. Spending a little bit of time in California, I was able to notice just how many people really do sit and take the time to think, "I'm about to eat this thing. Let me take a moment." With a crazy fast lifestyle, and I know, Jolene, you're a mum, we sometimes forget to take a minute. I actually love that. There's quite a few within your book. Is that right?
[00:05:09]
Jolene Hart: Absolutely. Yeah. There's several in each chapter, in each season. Some of them are very season-specific, and some of them maybe you'll find one and you can put it on your phone as your background for the rest of the year. You might find one that really speaks to you. But definitely. This is something that I try to practice every single day, and I find myself rushing to get dinner on the table, and then everyone sits down, and I need that moment, because otherwise I will just launch right into my food, and I won't really create that optimal environment for making sure I get well-nourished.
Harriet: Nice. I love it. Thank you for sharing.
[00:05:44]
Harriet: I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about yourself. Some people don't really know a lot about your background. What allowed you to feel that this was going to be somewhere where you were going to find some solutions for some of your own problems? Maybe if you want to share about your upbringing. What's been influencing you positively and negatively growing up to be the person you are today?
Jolene: Sure. I think that's such a great question, because I think if we all asked that of ourselves, you really find that there are—there's so many influences that maybe we don't even really think about or acknowledge, that have led us to where we are today. I can talk more about kind of the big catalysts for Eat Pretty, and for my career as a health coach, but growing up, my mom was ... she would sort of describe herself as an "earth mother," but she was into health food.
Jolene: In the 80s, it was called health food, and she and her best friends started a health food co-op, so women in our town and in surrounding towns could get access to some of these fresh—sometimes organic, not always organic—but more of the wholefoods that they weren't able to get in supermarkets. Month to month, they would all kind of get together and place orders, and order in bulk. Things like the gluten free-grains, and different dried fruits, and juices, and powders, and flours, and things that they couldn't get easily in some of their supermarkets.
[00:07:11]
Jolene: Growing up, I always had this appreciation of kind of this spectrum of the different whole foods that were out there that weren't really being used in mainstream cooking. And also her focus on cooking with whole, fresh foods, and teaching me to cook from a really young age, and gardening at home, and having an appreciation for that. All the stuff that, by the time I was a teenager, I kind of just shrugged off. Like, you know, "Whatever. I don't really need all of that in my life." You know, went to college. And then, this is when I was having ...
Jolene: I began having extreme skin issues. Cystic acne, eczema that would come out really badly, seasonally, during the year, and had seen so many different dermatologists for this issue, so many prescriptions, topical and internal, and went on to then follow a career in journalism, and became a beauty editor, and was still struggling with so many of these issues. At this point in my career, I was the face of a beauty magazine, working in their beauty department, and seeing different companies every day, and really feeling like I needed to hide my skin, or I needed to find an answer.
Jolene: I spent several years, and just about any resource I could find; again, dermatologists, facialists, all kinds of skin experts, and just whatever products I could get my hands on over the counter or otherwise, trying to really resolve these skin issues. And I found after a while that there was just not a solution that I was finding topically. Here I am thinking, "I'm a beauty editor. I have all this access to these experts and these products, but what are other women out there doing with their skin? Because I know this is a massive issue, and I have friends with this problem, and this is not just like a unique situation, so what is everyone else doing, and how can I be helping them, and steering them to a place that's going to be helpful?"
[00:09:03]
Jolene: At that point, kind of went back to what I learned from my mom, which was that food is medicine, and that you have to start with what you're putting in your body, and began realizing that on a molecular level, the food that we ingest breaks down to become those building blocks that our body uses to repair, defend, detoxify, to heal, and to nourish, and that if I wasn't putting the best building blocks in my body, I wasn't getting the best results out.
Jolene: At that point, because I was a journalist, used a lot of my access to start interviewing experts in some really diverse modalities. Things like Ayurveda, and Chinese medicine, and genomics, and obviously aesthetics and dermatology and those kind of things, to really find what was the connection, if any—which obviously there is—between nutrition and skin, and lifestyle, and mindset, and sleep, and hormones, and digestion, and all of those great things that we weren't talking about in beauty magazines, that I wasn't writing about in beauty magazines. That led to my career as a health coach, and starting my practice, "Beauty is Wellness", and that ended up leading to Eat Pretty. It's been sort of one after another. Maybe started when I was young, and I was cooking with my mom, and learning the value of those foods, and I didn't know how that information would serve me later on in life.
[00:10:30]
Harriet: For sure. Do you feel learning all of that, that you did from your mom, do you feel that that's made you more of a mindful parent when it comes to the education of "food is medicine" with your family?
Jolene: Oh my gosh. 100%. Absolutely. I think as parents, you're always struggling to do what's best for your children, but the importance of just kind of letting them experience food in a different way. You know, my son will just like grab a whole tomato off of a plant, and like eat it that way. I kind of remember as a kid just like having that experience with food that I knew wasn't exactly ... it wasn't cut up and put in front of me on a plate, but I could smell it and taste it in a different way. Those things are really memorable for you, and I think that kind of guides you in your relationship with food, too.
Harriet: I love that. That's super important.
[00:11:22]
Harriet: Do you feel like there was any massive turning point for you when it came to beginning to make a change? Or do you feel it was going back to what felt right? You know, the teachings from your parents.
Jolene: Yeah. I mean, definitely going back to what felt right. I think the tipping point was just reaching a point of desperation, where it had been years, and I wasn't finding anyone else out there who was giving me the information that I wanted, and just thinking, like, "There's got to be a better way." Like, "I'm going to keep searching until I find something."
Harriet: Nice. I love it.
Harriet: Jolene, there's so many things that we could talk about today, but there's some specific areas where I hear a lot of people talking about in social media, in the media, and just people who I'm in contact with, and I'd love for you to maybe shed some light how you feel and what you've been experiencing in some of those areas.
Jolene: Sure.
Harriet: The first one is—because there's these planes that can teleport us from place to place these days, we're all wanting to go on holiday, and we're changing our environments of where we live, visiting family and such. I know that women and men—we want to arrive feeling good. However, by the nature of a plane and exactly what goes on in there, and what we eat doesn't really help that. I'd love for you to share maybe about how to feel good and to arrive feeling great, when it comes to traveling.
[00:12:45]
Jolene: Yeah. This is really an important question. I think there are a lot of factors that are kind of stacked against you, which we've heard a lot of them. How dry it is, and the environment in a plane. How the jet lag can really throw off those natural rhythms of your body, and things like that. But I think in general, there's a couple of things, a couple of tools that I keep with me, and I keep in mind, and I share with my clients.
Jolene: Number one is that air travel can be very disruptive to your microbiome and your digestion. I mean, you know this by, when you travel, maybe your elimination habits are different. Maybe your digestion isn't so great.
Jolene: Always keeping probiotics on hand, maybe even a digestive enzyme supplement, and making sure that you have some of those fermented foods that are rich in probiotics, and get those in your diet wherever your destination is, can be really helpful. Obviously, staying hydrated, too, is going to hydrate the inner lining of your digestive tract, and again, help you to digest and assimilate better, which is definitely your goal for having really healthy skin.
[00:13:46]
Jolene: Beyond that, air travel can also slow down your lymphatic system. Your lymph is the detoxifying fluid that runs under the surface of your skin. When you sit for a while, so imagine yourself on a plane in a cramped position, or even when it's cold out, when it's wintertime, your lymph flow tends to slow down a little bit. One of my favorite rituals for speeding up your lymph, and for helping that detox to happen more naturally, is dry brushing. Whenever I travel, I always pack my dry brush in my suitcase, and when I arrive at my destination, if I want to shower, I will do dry brushing afterward, and then apply some organic body oil, or lotion, or something that's going to be really moisturizing, and I feel 100% better.
Jolene: That and maybe a little nap, too. You'd be surprised, just kind of revving up that lymph flow, which also helps with your circulation when you dry brush, it somehow just kind of takes away dark circles, or if you have any puffiness from sitting for a while, it can help with all of those things, and I really love that as like a little secret.
Jolene: When I'm traveling, I love things that keep me centered and relaxed, and keep me from getting into the hustle and bustle and stress of traveling, which can really kind of snowball and catch up to you. Obviously having some kind of like essential oils that can help with sleep or relaxation. Some of my favorites are from Tatia Harper. She has a great roll-on stress remedy, and something that has a little bit of lavender is wonderful for relaxation, especially in your hotel room. I also love just to have my meditation app on my phone, and remember to pull that out and do some deep breathing, and just kind of keep myself centered.
Jolene: All of those things are going to help reduce inflammation in your body, which will show up in clearer skin, in skin that's not sort of breaking out, or getting red or sensitive when you're traveling, which happens to a lot of people.
[00:15:45]
Harriet: Awesome. I love that you mentioned dry brushing, because that is something that's been around for centuries, centuries, centuries, and has died off, because it seems a little bit strange. I'm glad that you mentioned it, because it is super powerful. Thank you.
Jolene: I love it. Right before sleep, it's kind of amazing. It makes you really, really relaxed. Definitely before bed, try it too.
Harriet: Nice. I know one thing that you love to talk about is waking up well. I'm going to see what the flip side of that is. I know that we've got in society today, we all have phones, we've got computers, we've got so much going on, sometimes going to sleep, it can seem tiresome, pardon the pun, right?
Jolene: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Harriet: Is there something that you do at the end of the day? Like, I know that you mention in the Eat Pretty Every Day, you talk about the self-love end of the day treat. Is there anything that you do to go to sleep well, that's like a ritual for yourself?
[00:16:46]
Jolene: Yeah. For one, I mean, you mentioned a little bit about tech, but I try really hard to create boundaries around when I'm on my phone or my laptop, or iPad, or social media, and I have all of my devices set to—it changes the blue light to sort of a yellow. I think it's called like a night timer, to sort of change the reflection of the screen, because that blue light really affects the melatonin production in your body, which can be a contributor to throwing off your hormonal balance in your body. I have that set to, I think like around 8:00 it'll come on, and my phone screen will turn a little bit yellow, and that also reminds me of like, "Okay, pretty soon you should probably be putting your devices down." Sometimes I'm still up late working on things and finishing things, but I really try to set boundaries around my screen time, and that includes like TV time, late at night. If I know that I need to get a good night's sleep, all of those screen exposures are going to be disrupting that great, restorative sleep that you get.
Jolene: Beyond that, something like a cup of Natural Calm, which is like a magnesium drink. I love to do that in the evening if I want to sleep really well. If I'm feeling snack-y, I try to go and just have herbal teas, and drink hot liquids instead of going for snacks, because that can disrupt your sleep as well. Obviously if you're feeling hungry, you want to have something that's going to balance your blood sugar, and that will help you to maintain that restful sleep, too.
Jolene: If I'm feeling especially stressed, I will do a list. A to-do list that I'm thinking of for the next day. There's nothing worse than getting in bed and then thinking of, like, five different things that you forgot to do, or that you're late on, so I always try to kind of jot things down and get my mind focused for what I do have ahead of me for the next day, so that I can just let it all go when I sleep. Those are my big rituals. I think lately, that tech boundary has been the big one.
Harriet: Absolutely.
[00:18:42]
Harriet: I love that you mentioned turning on the blue-blocking light onto your phone. That is one of the ways that you can really protect yourself from burning out your adrenals as well.
Jolene: Yeah. It's called Night Shift. I'm just looking it up, and it's a really simple little setting you can do on your phone, and it will help a lot.
Harriet: I love that. It's called Night Shift?
Jolene: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Harriet: Is that just from the App Store, did you get that one?
Jolene: No. It's right on your iPhone. You don't even need an app for it. If you pull up the bottom of your screen where it has kind of your quick access, you can turn it on right there.
Harriet: Nice. I love it. Awesome! Thank you for that tip. That's going to be powerful for a lot of people. I'm the glasses-wearing person, so ...
Jolene: There's that, too. I think that's even better, but this at least is an easy way to start.
Harriet: Yeah. I love that, because we always want simple ways that we can make changes today. Love that.
[00:19:36]
Harriet: There's this concept, Jolene, and I like to call it "real health." Real health to me means something that's probably 100 times different to what it means to you. It's literally about how you define your health ... not boundaries, but how you define your health regime, or how you define the way that health shows up for you in your life. If you had to define what it was real health really meant to you, what would it be for you?
Jolene: I think it means ... to me it means a body in balance, and also kind of a connection to the earth and the cycles of nature. Still kind of being in touch with those rhythms that are really, really important in our lives. There's so much wisdom there. I think there are a lot of ways to assess, "Is your body in balance?" You can tell by the quality of your sleep, the way you feel day-to-day, your stress levels, but I also think that your skin is a really great visible barometer of your inner health and balance.
Jolene: I think not enough of us use our skin, our complexion, and just, "Is our skin reactive?" Do you break out in rashes, or are you itchy, or dry, or oily? Those kinds of things can tell you a lot about what's going on inside your body, and if you have that, that real health and that balance that you're striving for.
Harriet: Nice. I love it. That's powerful. That's awesome.
[00:21:02]
Harriet: Hey, I'd love for you ... I would be honored for you to share a little bit about your books. I know that you've got three books right now, one of which I personally love. That's the Eat Pretty Every Day. But what were some of your inspirations for getting these books out? I know you've been involved in a couple of courses, but what prompted you to actually take the time?
Harriet: Because these aren't small books, listeners. These are huge, and they have so much knowledge in them. What were some of your inspirations to actually make sure this got done?
Jolene: Yeah. I mean, I've always been a writer, so I kind of knew that was going to be my career path, and when I came upon this information and started researching it and developing it, and putting it into practice in my own life, and in the lives of my clients, I really felt like this needed to be part of the larger conversation around beauty. At the time, there really were not resources out there like this—at least not that I was finding—and I felt like it just needed to be developed.
Jolene: Eat Pretty came from that need, from wanting to throw the focus onto the power that we have with our food decisions every day, and really the fact that food is our greatest tool for beauty. I think as women, so many of us have kind of a tricky relationship with food, so if you've ever scolded yourself, even in your head, for eating something, or you've said, "I shouldn't have eaten that." Or you've kind of created rituals or controlling ideas around food.
Jolene: I think a lot of us think when we eat something it has all these potentials to be hurting us, and making us gain weight, and creating difficulties in our body, but I wanted to put the focus onto all of the amazing benefits that we weren't seeing and focusing on with the food that we eat. Your food also has the power to reverse DNA damage, to block damage from the sun, to reduce allergies that you're having, to speed up repair in your skin and balance the sebum production in your skin, to make your complexion glow and look more radiant.
Jolene: This is what I wanted to focus on, rather than the fact that, you know, "I shouldn't have eaten that." Or, "I ate this at my last meal, and I regret it." There were so many regrets and negative statements around food that I think just kind of needed to be crowded out, and there needed to be more focus on the power that we have to be in control of what we're eating, and also how we're aging, and how we're living day-to-day.
Harriet: Nice. I especially love that you just, at the end there, mentioned aging.
[00:23:31]
Harriet: There's so much research out there that suggests that the foods we eat are a massive correlation to the way our body ... the way that we experience our body, let's just say. Do you get much feedback from your clients about how they feel transformed after reading the books, or taking some of your coaching?
Jolene: Definitely. A lot of the feedback is around that food relationship, which I think maybe we don't even realize is an issue until food becomes this big tool, this really big benefit. A lot of them talk about kind of that transformed relationship, and then getting back in touch with, you know, preparing food for yourself, or knowing how better to choose food when you're out. Just kind of getting back to basics when it comes to what really is nourishing your body, what's making you feel your best, and how to know how to choose that. I think these are skills that maybe we have sort of lost over time, or we haven't taken enough time to develop, and they can be really easy and just serve you your whole life long.
Harriet: Absolutely, and sometimes even in the beginning stages of life, the relationship hasn't been there with understanding the correlation between the food we eat and the way we feel about ourselves.
Jolene: Definitely.
Harriet: Nice. Awesome.
[00:24:45]
Harriet: Normally, Jolene, I ask you about time travel, but today I want to just switch it up slightly. I know that you have people who you coach one-on-one, privately, and obviously the book is kind of a written coach, right? If you could imagine the person who comes to you and they're ready to take your help—if you were to ask them, "If you went back in time 20 years and tell your old self one thing ...?" What do you feel that kind of person that comes to you, what do they say most frequently that they ... "I wish I had of ..."
Jolene: Maybe I'm missing ... what is the time travel element? It's telling myself 20 years ago what that person would be?
Harriet: Yeah. What does your client really wish that they'd have done? Maybe five years ago, maybe 10 years ago?
Jolene: Oh, okay. What does my client wish they had done before?
Harriet: Yeah.
Jolene: I think it's difficult, because there's so many factors that go into someone finding the need for a coach, and a lot of my clients do come to me with skin issues, but other people are just feeling, you know, maybe "lackluster" is the word. They don't feel like they have that sparkle, and they want to kind of get that back. They want to get back in touch with it. Other people maybe have direct goals around weight loss, and they want to get control of their relationship with food and their diet.
Jolene: I think it's different for everyone. I think if I bring it all back to one thing, maybe it is just having that connection and the empowerment around our food choices, and not seeing food as an enemy, because I think when that starts to happen, maybe you sort of give up on putting the effort into a lot of your food choices, and you just go with what's maybe convenient, or what someone else is cooking, and you stop being the person that says, "What is best for me?" And asking your body, "What do I need today?"
Jolene: I think that's maybe where we've disconnected, but I do really encourage my clients to wake up and say, "What do I need today? What do I need to eat? What do I need to do? What self-care time do I need?" And listen to that answer from your body.
[00:26:51]
Jolene: I think maybe we haven't been given enough empowerment around how much amazing intuition and wisdom there is coming right from our body and right from the way we feel, and reaction to things. Even a gut feeling, or again, intuition, or a skin reaction, I think if I could tell them five or ten years ago, how to start changing something, it would be to tap into more of that personal intuition and personal wisdom.
Harriet: Nice. Nice. You reminded me of the younger version of myself just then, when you mentioned "food isn't an enemy," and you posed the question, "What do I need today?" I remember, and I'm sure you and a lot of listeners can resonate. I remember thinking, "I shouldn't have eaten that."
Jolene: Yes. Oh my gosh. 100%, and I probably said that to myself five times a day. I wish I had never gone through that experience, but realizing that so many of us do that really helps me to understand how important it is to get this message out there that food is our greatest tool, and that we don't need to have that kind of difficult relationship with food.
Harriet: For sure. I feel sometimes we ... there's many expensive programs out there, Jolene, I'm sure you'll agree, from the low carb, to this, to that, the exercise, the, "Go crazy and don't eat anything and just have water." But asking the question, "What do I need today?" Oftentimes I wake up, and it's my menstrual cycle, and I think, "You know, today I just want a gluten-free donut."
Jolene: Yes!
Harriet: That's just the way it is, right?
[00:28:23]
Jolene: You have it, and enjoy it, and relish every crumb of that, and don't feel at all like you ever did anything wrong. I think that's what we need to remind ourselves, that we're totally entitled to respond to our body and give it what it needs, and then kind of have that [00:35:30] healthy baseline that we go back to.
Harriet: Absolutely. I feel there definitely is a space right now for young girls between five and 11, and letting them know that the media isn't always right, because I see all these messages out there that are going to these young girls, and it's like, "Oh, you should eat this because of this. You should not have that because of this." But in reality, I feel the message should be the other way around. "Oh, you had a salad. That is amazing. That is so good for you."
Jolene: Yeah! Celebrate those things. I think it's interesting you say that about the media influence on that age, because if I bring back, you know, first of all, why I even became a beauty editor, like the fascination with magazines that I had, and also the influence of magazines on the direction that I sought for treatment of my skin issues, and what I thought the parameters were for what was going to be correct, all really came from the media, and from my experience with reading those kind of magazines when I was younger, and so it's true.
Jolene: There's so much power and influence there. That age is just so key, and high school age, too. I felt like if I had this information then, I would have been put on a totally different path.
Harriet: For sure. I don't know if it's maybe a different social media—
Jolene: Right!
Harriet: —but it's literally making my skin tingle right now, thinking about the opportunity that there is to help—like, if you're listening right now and you're a parent, I'm sure you'll agree that you want your children to actually understand what it is. When I look to magazines, I see one skin product, and I see another skin product. Then the next week it's, "Oh, highlight of this skin product." It is just advertising. Otherwise they would be telling you the same skin product every week, right? That is one of the worst things that I've found, is changing from product to product. If you change your shampoo 52 times a year, your scalp's going to be irritated.
[00:30:36]
Harriet: It's the same with your skin. You need to find something that works for you, and give it time. I think that there needs to be a massive, empowering movement for the younger generation understanding that social media is not a guideline. It's mainly ... it's what you could have. It's like a menu, right? "You could have this, but you should maybe just try what works for you."
Jolene: Right, and that feeling of never having what you want, or always seeking something new because you don't have what everyone else has, or you don't have the latest new product, I mean, that can be ... Just that can affect you so much, too, and really influence the way you feel about yourself. You need to remember that you have everything you need, really, inside of you, and that with your diet and your lifestyle, you can make enormous changes, and it's not that you're missing an expensive skin cream or a new cleanser or shampoo. I think that's the message that we're getting, but it's really not the case at all.
Harriet: Nice.
Harriet: Knowing that you have worked as a beauty editor, I'd love for you to share some of your biggest eye-opening moments. I don't want to slight magazines too much, because they're great. There's so many things. We get to meet people who we'd never be able to talk to, they do interviews with. The President's wife, for goodness' sake. Like, there's some amazing content in there, but in reality, I'd love for you to share what some of your big takeaways were. Some of the greatest takeaways from working as a beauty editor.
Jolene: Yeah. I mean, I agree. I'm obsessed with magazines still. I subscribe to an embarrassing amount of magazines, and I still love them, and it's still that fascination from maybe when I was young. But certainly, I mean, it is funny. It wasn't until I was immersed in the industry that I think it really hit home that, "Yeah, that is all advertising." You know, you see those placements and articles, and just how difficult it is for there to be a balance in what magazines present to you. I think journalists strive to present you with the facts, but in many cases, things are really skewed, so you have to always be the one that's questioning.
[00:32:36]
Jolene: I think another big lesson, which isn't directly related to the beauty industry, but just life in general, is that you might reach a place where you've checked off that goal, and you've reached the summit of this mountain, and then you realize, like, you're not happy where you are, and that it's not meant for you. Getting to be a beauty editor at a major magazine was absolutely a dream job, and then working there for a couple of years and realizing it wasn't my dream job after all, even though I worked so, so hard to get there, I think that's just like a really empowering lesson, too.
Jolene: It doesn't have anything specific to do with magazines, but if that's what you're feeling somewhere in your life, you should honor that intuition, and always trust that maybe this is not what you're meant to do, and maybe there's something else out there for you. If I hadn't done that, if I had just kept kind of doing what I was doing, I never would have published any of these books. I never would have become a health coach, and I wouldn't have learned all of these things about myself and my body, and I often think, "Wow, what if I hadn't taken that risk, or just kind of listened to that voice. I might not have done any of this."
Harriet: Absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing. That's actually invaluable. Sometimes we think we're at the peak of Mount Everest, but there's a bigger mountain ahead of us to climb, right?
Jolene: Right, and your dreams change. I mean, your dream job one day, or your dream life situation one day can change, and that's totally fine.
Harriet: For sure. For sure.
[00:34:02]
Harriet: Some of the things I love about you, Jolene, is within your books, and within you as a person, you post some really great questions. For listeners who are listening to a podcast like this, they're joining because they want to be a Naked Health Warrior, and they really aspire to have great health.
Harriet: What question would you pose to the listeners to take away, and to put some deep thought into, around becoming the healthiest version of themselves?
Jolene: Well, I think, you know, I always try to tell people, you know, "What is it that you bring to your life and your purpose?" Nobody else has had the same life experience as you, and I think if you look back at your life, you can find a lot of insight around what it is that is going to be motivating to you and your life, and that could be motivating around your health decisions. It could be inspiring you to choose certain well paths, but it could also just motivate you in terms of what you do for your career, or who you choose as a partner, or where you live.
Jolene: I think those all have to do with your health and balance in your life, and I think, again, you have to look. Be introspective and look inward, but also kind of look back at your past, and what experiences you have had that lend themselves to something that you can share with the world.
Harriet: Nice. Thank you. I love that. Great question.
Harriet: I love deepening the thought of how our purpose, as a women on the planet, can help change anything and everything, all at the same time.
Jolene: Yeah.
[00:35:34]
Harriet: Let's jump into the clarity round, and wrap it up. I appreciate so many amazing gold nuggets that you've brought to the table today, because the knowledge is invaluable. You are a person who just knows so much collectively from working in magazines, and from trial and error for yourself, so it's really, really appreciated. Thank you so much.
Jolene: Oh, you're so welcome. You're such an eloquent interviewer, and it's so nice to be here and really talk about these deep issues.
Harriet: I love it. All right. Let's step into the clarity round.
[00:36:02]
Harriet: What is one piece of advice that you have received from your industry that gave you a great shift?
Jolene Hart: Well, I have a quote here on my desk that I look to a lot, because I'm kind of the person that will spend a lot of time being anxious about decision making and what's happening in the future. The quote is, "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength." I'm always trying to, you know, live in the present and let go of future worry, and just kind of keep doing what I'm doing day-to-day, and know that that's my best.
Harriet: Nice. Living in the now. That is powerful. Thank you.
[00:36:41]
Harriet: Is there one of your personal habits that you feel strongly contributes to your successful health?
Jolene: I think we already talked about sleep, but that's free anti-aging. It's better than the most expensive beauty product you can buy, and I prioritize that for sure, and I need it to be, you know, at my best.
Harriet: I could not agree more.
Harriet: What are your key hours of sleep? When do you make sure you get ...?
Jolene: I mean, I try to make sure I get seven and a half to eight hours, but in the evening, I guess it's darker in the evening now, so I'm going to bed, 10:30 would be my ideal. I get up early because I have a little guy, but just making sure I get that quality sleep, and settling down in the evening to make sure I sleep well.
Harriet: Nice.
[00:37:29]
Harriet: I know you mentioned the meditation. Is there any other piece of equipment, or app, or book, or training that your body can't live without?
Jolene: Yeah. The Meditation App Insight Timer, I love. There's another app I've been using called MyFlo, which was created by my friend Alisa Vitti, who is an amazing health coach, and author of a book called Woman Code. This is ... it's a cycle timing app, so you're timing your menstrual cycle, but all throughout your cycle, you're getting information on the foods to eat, the lifestyle strategies to keep you in balance week by week with the different phases, because we don't really get a lot of information about how your body shifts week to week during your cycle. We think about just when you have your period, and maybe like when you're PMS.
Jolene: But this is all, you know, how you should be exercising, what specific foods you need for nutrients that your body needs at different times of your cycle, and I've been using it and I love it, and I'm recommending it to my clients. It's called MyFlo.
Harriet: Wow. I love it. I'm currently using the Glow app, so I'm shifting over right now. That's amazing. I love it.
Jolene: Yeah. It's so good.
Harriet: Absolutely. Awesome. MyFlo. Make sure you get it, ladies.
[00:38:51]
Harriet: Is there any kind of resource that you recommend for anyone who's wanting to not just change a little bit, but drastically make a shift in their health?
Jolene: I mentioned the book Woman Code. I think everyone knowing about their hormonal health is so key, especially—I mean, any age, but just kind of understanding whether you are ... there's a lot of questions around the influences that we have on our hormones, and how that connects to our skin. The book Woman Code is a great understanding of hormonal health, and yeah, in general, there's just so much out there. I can't even think of one specific one.
Harriet: Nice. That's okay. There's so many, right? When you think about them, they all ... when you're not trying to think about them, they—
Jolene: I know. I have to kind of look at my bookshelf. There are just ... I'm always consuming whatever is the latest in ... I think what's really fascinating is the study of genomics, and how our food and our lifestyle influences our genes. Any books you can find on that is really fascinating, too.
Harriet: Awesome. Thank you.
[00:39:53]
Harriet: Is there a person who you look up to, idolize, or think is awesome in the health industry right now?
Jolene: There are so many. Like, so many amazing women doing incredible things with their books and their brands. It's hard for me to pick one. I mean, again, like I bring this all back to why I started this, and I have to think about, like, my mom's influence. I always think about her as being the driving force, but yeah. Day to day, there's just so many women out there who I love. It's hard to name one.
Harriet: Nice.
[00:40:26]
Harriet: Is there something ... I know we talked a little bit today on magazines and the media. We also talked about how young girls need a lot of education, especially with how the media's shifting and moving today, but do you feel that there's something that the health industry is missing? What does the world need most to really take it to the next level?
Jolene: This might be the influence of social media, but sometimes I think there is just so much attention put on the extremes. The people who are going to meditate on a mountaintop for two weeks, and then there's the contingent of people who maybe think all of that is just, you know, completely the wrong lifestyle. Who are those of us who are in the middle, and who are realistically juggling a lot and wanting to feel better?
Jolene: I think there's not enough attention on how to incorporate some of these wellness strategies into the life of the average person who, yeah, is going to eat fast food sometimes, and other times is going to get really inspired to go to the farmer's market and cook fresh food, and who is that person that we can help to feel a little bit better, to look and feel better? That's not the one that's committed to an extreme lifestyle of wellness, and is not the person that is going to kind of shrug all of this off altogether. I think we need more focus on that realistic average person.
[00:41:41]
Harriet: Nice. Realistically speaking. It's like Realistic Health.
Jolene: Yeah. I think we've got this ... It's sort of like what we should be doing, the—what's the word I'm looking for? What we should be striving for. Sometimes the bar is set a little too high, and it becomes intimidating, and I think bringing it all down, and this is what I try to do with my coaching clients. Just helping them to take little habits, because those little habits are really, really powerful.
Harriet: Absolutely. It's like the foundation of a house. If it's not strong, it's so much easier for it to collapse.
Jolene: Totally.
Harriet: Love it. Last question before we do the wrap-up.
[00:42:20]
Harriet: Are there one or two people who you feel would be amazing to share some great knowledge on this podcast?
Jolene: Yeah. A friend of mine, Adina Gregor, is the founder of a really cool skin care line out of Brooklyn that is now carried by Target. She has a brand new book called Just the Essentials, all about the power of essential oils. I think it's really cool. I think a lot of people can get really into essential oils, because we all love different fragrances. They kind of speak to us in different ways, but there's so much therapeutic value that way. There's so much therapeutic value in them.
Jolene: She'd be a really interesting guest to be able to speak to the development of her line, how she got a natural and organic company into Target, and also the real power we have in these tiny little vials of essential oils that we can use in our homes.
Harriet: Totally. I love that. She sounds amazing. I absolutely love anyone who jumps into the skin care area, because it's overly saturated, but there's still not some amazing solutions, so I feel like it's ready for someone to come in and really make a stand, and say, "We've got organic ingredients. We're not using any rubbish, and we just want your skin to look and feel lustrous."
Jolene: Right, and it's interesting, the influence that retailers are presenting. Someone like Target saying that they're going to create an in-store standard and really pushing the transparency around what is in their products even beyond personal care, you know? What are the different sprays that are sprayed on furniture, and clothing, and like all the different exposures that we're getting that we don't realize. I think there needs to be more transparency there, and it's being led by retailers, interestingly enough.
Harriet: Absolutely. I love that, and you just brought to the front of my mind how I'm noticing ... I love shopping. I love window shopping. I'm noticing what's being put on labels, and even though a label may say, you know, "taste of the rainforest—now with 50% more natural ingredients," it's like—
Jolene: Right.
Harriet: I'm definitely detecting that people are more turned on. Their internal thermostats now say, "Maybe I need to have a little bit more intuition when it comes to the chemicals that I'm consuming day by day."
Jolene: Yeah! We're encouraging them to be skeptics, and I think that's a good thing. I think when you look at the front of a package, whether it be a box of cereal or a facial serum, it's an advertisement, so you have to turn it over and see, "What is the substance there?"
Harriet: Absolutely. Especially as a parent when you're wanting your little ones to feel the absolute best, that you definitely need to make sure that what you're putting on there is the best for them.
Jolene: Right.
Harriet: Love it!
[00:44:56]
Harriet: Jolene, you're amazing. I am so grateful to have someone who I personally have been looking up to ever since that time I walked into Anthropologie and saw your beautiful purple and red book there.
Jolene: Oh, I'm so glad you did!
Harriet: For me, it's kind of fandom, but I don't know. There's going to be some women who are thinking, "I like this darling lady." How can they reach out to you, find out more about you, understand what programs, what resources you're offering elsewhere?
Jolene: Sure. My website is JoleneHart.com. From there, you can check out all the info on all of my books, where to buy those, what you'll find inside them, and just, you know, find extra recipes and what I'm writing and thinking about day to day on my blog as well as information about coaching.
Harriet: Absolutely amazing. Thank you so much.
[00:45:48]
Harriet: Listeners, this has been another crazy amazing episode of the Naked Health Warriors Podcast. I want you, if you haven't already, to go and find one, two, or even all three of Jolene's books. Why? Because I'm really into my health, and these things are not only really informative, they're also beautiful pieces of art to have in your kitchen. I never have a person that comes over to my house who's female who doesn't say, "What is that book?" With its Liberty-almost-look. If anyone knows what Liberty London is, they are little gems.
Harriet: Jolene, you're amazing. Thank you for your knowledge. Listeners, if you want to find out more about Jolene, go and do it, because she has got so many resources from recipes, exactly what she just said, ready for you to look at, and take your health to the next level. Thank you so much.
Jolene: Thank you so much for having me on, and helping me to share my work. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you to share everything in such an authentic way.
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Listeners, this has been another episode. Make sure you go ahead and leave a review. If you know a friend who has suffered from anything to do with their skin, whether they are trying to get their kids off social media, then go ahead and share this with them, because the more women we can empower, the greater our lives are going to be. Bye for now.
