SheSez with Linda Grasso

Suffering from the autoimmune disorder, rheumatoid arthritis, Mecca Elliot tried nearly every prescription medication on the market. But none would alleviated her crippling pain. On a lark, she tried meditation. "Meditation calmed and centered me—I was so anxious at the time—and I became addicted," she recalls. Then an unexpected bonus: slowly, she saw her arthritis symptoms go away. Today Mecca, completely pain-free, credits meditation for her recovery. The former hair stylist went on to become a certified meditation instructor and then, wanting to share the benefits with others, had an light bulb moment: why not marry mediation and the manicure/pedicure experience? Mecca shares the story of how launched and built her innovative, luxurious concept: Namaste Nail Sanctuary. The first salon, which incorporates Deepak Chopra guided meditation—complete with LED glasses and headphones—opened in Studio City, California. And now she and her husband, Michael Elliot (you might remember him pitching his Hammer & Nails concept on Shark Tank), are in the process of opening 8 more outposts. And the couple has launched a franchise operation, and hoping to have 100 open by 2021.

Sheena Yaitanes shares with Linda the story of how she fused her skills as a chemist and her talent as an artist to found the botanical oil-based, clean cosmetics company Kosas. It started with with her simple desire for a lipstick that was non-toxic, came in natural shades and actually felt good on your lips. "It's not just about the pure and natural ingredients Kosas puts into products, it is about all the toxic stuff we intentionally leave out," Sheena explains. With that as its guiding principle, and a staunch belief that women wanted a minimalist, no-fuss approach to make-up, she launched with 8 lipstick shades in 2015 (just 8 months after giving birth). Now, three years later, Kosas is turning a profit, has acquired investors and expanded its line to include blush/highligher duos and a tinted face oil, an alternative to traditional foundation. Sheena is an unapologetic trend bucker, an industry innovator and a soft-spoken gal who believes "getting something done is better than getting something perfect."

In this episode, we hear the story of how 3 sisters —a techie, a PR executive and fashion designer—joined forces to turn a $7500 investment into the multi-million dollar LA-based clothing line, Naked Wardrobe. Shirin, Shida and Shideh Kaviani (all in their 30s) share with Linda how they got the idea to manufacture form-fitting viscose clothing, how they cleverly used Instagram to market the line and ultimately how they got celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Selena Gomez to wear it.

Lisa Lillien is not a nutritionist or a dietitian, she's just hungry—and that is why she created the Hungry Girl brand.

With a website and a daily email that goes out to more than a million subscribers, 12 New York Times best-selling books and her own magazine, Lisa offers tips and recipes with a realistic approach to healthy eating.

Listen in as Lisa shares with Linda how she quit her job as a successful media executive and took the leap to launch Hungry Girl with little more than an interest in figuring out a way she could eat the foods she craved and still be healthy.

Grace Liang's story is a thesis in the power of believing in yourself. While growing up in rural China, wearing her brothers' hand-me-downs, she always thought of herself as an ugly duckling. No one ever told her she was pretty—until she met her husband. He was an American and the two fell in love. In 2007 Grace moved to the US, the two got married and she began working as a teacher.

Then four years ago, she decided to channel her lifelong passion for fashion into Color and Grace, a lifestyle blog for the petite, over forty fashionista. On the site, Grace (who is five feet tall) shares everything from great app suggestions to healthy recipes to fashion tips. But the common thread running throughout all of the content is beautiful, highly editorial shots of Grace posing in fabulous outfits.

Today, Color and Grace has a cult following— and Grace has quit her teaching job. That's because she has (paid sponsorships) from companies like J. Crew and Urban Decay to get all done up in their products and appear in photos. Grace shares with Linda how she created a successful brand in just four years, how "being real" trumps any posturing with fans and followers, and how she got the confidence to put herself directly in the public spotlight.

Love music and ever wonder what it would be like to be a professional DJ, handling the tunes at chic and sophisticated events all over the world? Meet Nikki Pennie, one of the very few female professional DJs working in the male-dominated field. Specializing fashion and beauty parties, the flame-haired DJ shares with Linda how she broke through barriers to enter the field —from how she made the decision to transition from being a fashion stylist to being a full-time DJ just two weeks after giving it a try on a whim…to how her former job as a stylist for the British cult brand, Issa actually provided her with some of the necessary skills…and how her almost incanny ability to "read a room" is what separates her from the rest.

Today Nikki DJs for people and brands all over the world and she is the official DJ for Christian Dior Beauty. A self-taught music producer, she is currently working on her first EP.

Kombucha started out being a healthy, effervescent tea sold at natural and health foods stores—and it was expensive. That is, until Humm Kombucha came along. Humm Kombu-cha is the brainchild of Jamie Danek and her partner, Michelle Mitchell.

Back in the 90s Jamie had never even heard of Kombucha. She was busy climbing the ladder as a top-tier tech executive.She spent 14 years cultivating her IT recruiting firm and, although the money was good, she a felt like she was wearing "golden handcuffs." Then the stock market crashed in 2008 and overnight, Jamie's business was decimated. As the major breadwinner in her family (which includes two kids), Jamie certainly thought about rebuilding, but she just couldn't get herself to do it.

Jamie shares with Linda the story of how, while she was playing tennis one day, she met Michelle who'd had come up with a tasty recipe for Kombucha. The two bonded over their fierce swings and their love of the beverage, which contains digestion-aiding probiotics , and the duo started sharing the tea with the stressed out community. "At that time, the local economy was terrible. We just knew drinking it made us feel better and we wanted to make everyone else feel better, too. So, that is how it all started." In 2009, the duo joined forces to found Humm Kombucha and began delivering it door- to-door in their Bend, Oregon neighborhood. Discover how the pair turned Humm Kombucha into the 4th largest effervescent tea brand in the country and how not money, not prestige but personal growth is the most rewarding aspect of Jamie's success.

Kombucha started out being a healthy, effervescent tea sold at natural and health foods stores—and it was expensive. That is, until Humm Kombucha came along. Humm Kombu-cha  is the brainchild of Jamie Danek and her partner, Michelle Mitchell.

Back in the 90s Jamie had never even heard of Kombucha. She was busy climbing the ladder as a top-tier tech executive.She spent 14 years cultivating her IT recruiting firm and, although the money was good, she a felt like she was wearing “golden handcuffs." Then the stock market crashed in 2008 and overnight, Jamie’s business was decimated. As the major breadwinner in her family (which includes two kids), Jamie certainly thought about rebuilding, but she just couldn’t get herself to do it. 

Jamie shares with Linda the story of how, while she was playing tennis one day, she met Michelle who’d had come up with a tasty recipe for Kombucha. The two bonded over their fierce swings and their love of the beverage, which contains digestion-aiding probiotics , and the duo started sharing the tea with the stressed out community. “At that time, the local economy was terrible. We just knew drinking it made us feel better and we wanted to make everyone else feel better, too. So, that is how it all started.”  In 2009, the duo joined forces to found Humm Kombucha and began delivering it door- to-door in their Bend, Indiana neighborhood. Discover how the pair turned Humm Kombucha into the 4th largest effervescent tea brand in the country and how not money, not prestige but personal growth is the most rewarding aspect of Jamie’s success.