Success Unscrambled Podcast

Shownotes: The How to create a Facebook business page is part one of a 3-part series.  In part one we will look at the preparation involved in getting ready to create a Facebook business page.  So we will be covering:

* Niches

* Goal of the page

* Artwork

* Post or content

Alvern: Hello ladies, Alvern here. As I mentioned there we're going to look at how we're going to create your Facebook business page for business or maybe you're doing it for a hobby and how to create it perfectly and effectively so that you can actually get results and then how to get your first 100 followers on that Facebook business page within seven to 14 days.

Okay, even if you're driving or if you're stationary and you have a pen and paper or you can just download it and listen to it over and over again. Like I mentioned this is part one. Part one we're going to look at the niche, decide on the goal of the page, consider artwork and then looking at your post, posts for your Facebook business page, queuing that up, alright?

Let's start with a niche. I don't know where you are in your business or doing your hobby or what is the reason why you would be interested in creating a Facebook page. Just to give you a little bit of background, one of the things I do, you can probably call it a side hustle, I don't know, I have so many side hustles, I managed Facebook pages for businesses and I manage all my own Facebook pages. The success I've been having around Facebook page is generating between 100 to 20,000 followers or Facebook business page likes for the pages that I manage so I decided to share knowledge that I have based on that particular experience so that you too can start experiencing some success with regards to whether it be a hobby, side hustle or for your business as well.

Alright so I guess I'm going to start with a niche or niche, some people call it nitch, some people call it niche. Essentially what a niche is, as I explain it in my previous podcast where I looked at content marketing strategy, a niche is really a way of dissecting the way you approach the different verticals or different specialities in the business world. An example of a niche or nitch would be politics or insurance or dog training or it could be in a very broad sense fashion but as you can imagine fashion is very broad so you'd have to break down that fashion view into we call sub-niches or specialist areas. For example you have ladies handbags, that's a good niche to go into but then you have sub-niches of that so you have ladies handbags leather, ladies handbags designer, ladies handbags eco friendly like cotton handbags, recyclable handbags, you have all different sub-niches and you can break that down even further as you can imagine.

You have things like purses and all sorts of different names now I can't even remember, clutch and all the different kinds. Within the whole handbags niche, we know fashion niche we have handbags, in the whole handbags niche you have sub-niches and of all the sub-niches you have sub sub-niches as you'd like to call it. The reason why you would want to look at a niche for your Facebook business page is because it sort of helps you to build a tribe or a following. That is of course if it is you want to be able to manage followers because it's one thing to get a page and get 20,000 followers but are you the type of person why you see yourself managing or contributing to a tribe of people, being the leader of a particular tribe. That's what you'd have to look at when you think of creating a Facebook business page.

You don't have to have 20,000 followers or 100,000 followers, you can have a small amount, like 1,000 followers and manage that small tribe. Ask yourself the question,

Shownotes: The How to create a Facebook business page is part one of a 3-part series.  In part one we will look at the preparation involved in getting ready to create a Facebook business page.  So we will be covering:

* Niches

* Goal of the page

* Artwork

* Post or content

Alvern: Hello ladies, Alvern here. As I mentioned there we're going to look at how we're going to create your Facebook business page for business or maybe you're doing it for a hobby and how to create it perfectly and effectively so that you can actually get results and then how to get your first 100 followers on that Facebook business page within seven to 14 days.

Okay, even if you're driving or if you're stationary and you have a pen and paper or you can just download it and listen to it over and over again. Like I mentioned this is part one. Part one we're going to look at the niche, decide on the goal of the page, consider artwork and then looking at your post, posts for your Facebook business page, queuing that up, alright?

Niche

Let's start with a niche. I don't know where you are in your business or doing your hobby or what is the reason why you would be interested in creating a Facebook page. Just to give you a little bit of background, one of the things I do, you can probably call it a side hustle, I don't know, I have so many side hustles, I managed Facebook pages for businesses and I manage all my own Facebook pages. The success I've been having around Facebook page is generating between 100 to 20,000 followers or Facebook business page likes for the pages that I manage so I decided to share knowledge that I have based on that particular experience so that you too can start experiencing some success with regards to whether it be a hobby, side hustle or for your business as well.

Alright so I guess I'm going to start with a niche or niche, some people call it nitch, some people call it niche. Essentially what a niche is, as I explain it in my previous podcast where I looked at content marketing strategy, a niche is really a way of dissecting the way you approach the different verticals or different specialities in the business world. An example of a niche or nitch would be politics or insurance or dog training or it could be in a very broad sense fashion but as you can imagine fashion is very broad so you'd have to break down that fashion view into we call sub-niches or specialist areas. For example you have ladies handbags, that's a good niche to go into but then you have sub-niches of that so you have ladies handbags leather, ladies handbags designer, ladies handbags eco friendly like cotton handbags, recyclable handbags, you have all different sub-niches and you can break that down even further as you can imagine.

You have things like purses and all sorts of different names now I can't even remember, clutch and all the different kinds. Within the whole handbags niche, we know fashion niche we have handbags, in the whole handbags niche you have sub-niches and of all the sub-niches you have sub sub-niches as you'd like to call it. The reason why you would want to look at a niche for your Facebook business page is because it sort of helps you to build a tribe or a following. That is of course if it is you want to be able to manage followers because it's one thing to get a page and get 20,000 followers but are you the type of person why you see yourself managing or contributing to a tribe of people, being the leader of a particular tribe. That's what you'd have to look at when you think of creating a Facebook business page.

You don't have to have 20,000 followers or 100,000 followers, you can have a small amount, like 1,000 followers and manage that small tribe. Ask yourself the question,

Shownotes: A content marketing strategy is the focus of this Success Unscrambled podcast where we will look at article writing.  The podcast is broken down into 11 areas including:

* Website Hierarchy

* Keyword Research

* Article Length

* Call to Action (CTA)

* Article Title

* Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

* A 6-24 month plan

* Frequency of Writing

* Images

* Taking Things Up a Level

* Social Sharing

Hello, ladies. Alvern here. For today's podcast, we are going to switch things up a little, and we'll be looking at content marketing strategy. We will be focusing more on article writing. So, if you are planning or thinking of creating articles for your blog, today we'll be looking at that in a little bit of detail, just to give you a better understanding of how best to take advantage of content writing, or creating content for your blog.

The five ... Actually, it's more than five, isn't it? There are about 11 areas we'll be looking at. In the podcast today, I'll be covering website hierarchy; keyword research; the length of your document or article; the CTA, or call to action; the article title; search engine optimization; the 6-24 months plan; frequency of writing; including things like photographs, or charts, or whatever kind of pictorial representation; taking things up a level; and then, the actual marketing, sharing it, or promotion, should I say. Sharing it on different areas of the web.

Website Hierarchy

All right, let's start on the first topic, which is website hierarchy. So, you decide that you want to start a blog, or you already have started a blog, and maybe you've thought about this before, I don't know. Just in case you haven't, it's really, really important before starting a blog, or even very early on after you've already started it, to think of the hierarchy of your website, in terms of from sort of a search engine optimization point of view, or from the whole business strategy point of view.

What is the focus of the website? You could be deciding to create a news website. Then, probably, there isn't a specific focus, but you probably have several subcategories or categories across that website. However, if it is you deciding you want to go into your specific niche or sub-niche, then sometimes you want to carefully consider because it affects you or the website. Maybe not in six months' time. Maybe not in 12 months' time. But in maybe 36 or 72 months' time down the road, where you realise that there isn't a specific focus for your particular website or blog.

The reason for that is, if there is no specific focus, then in terms of driving traffic to your website, when people get there, they probably wouldn't know exactly what it's about, especially when it comes to blogging. Of course, things like podcasts, you don't have to do that too much, because it depends on the type of podcast that you're running. But anyway, let's not dive into that, get distracted. Let's not get distracted.

Say, let me give you an example. Say, for example, you decide you wanted to be in the dog training niche, or you wanted to be in the DIY niche, or, say, for example, garden furniture niche, or outdoor gardening, or cosmetics, or makeup. Whatever your niche is, your broad niche, it could be even relationships. Whatever your broad niche is, there's a very big, broad niche, and you can't really do everything on a broad niche. So, you may want to sort of focus down into a much more narrow, focused niche.

So, say, for example, dog training. You want to decide to focus on golden retrievers, or Siberian Huskies, for example. Or if you wanted to do things on pets, or fishes as pets, instead of focusing on all types of fishes, like catfish,

Portrait Photography, Maternity photography and newborn photography is the focus of the podcast today.  Speaking with Charlene whose photography work has appeared in the Ultimate Wedding Magazine.

Alvern: Hi, ladies. Alvern here. Today, we are going to be looking at the topic of portrait photography, and to do that, I have a special guest on with us today. Her name is Charlene, and I am going to get Charlene to introduce herself. Over to you, Charlene.

Charlene: Hi. Yes, my name is Charlene, and I am the founder of Honey Bee Lens Photography business. I've had my business for around about six years now.

Alvern: Very good. Awesome. Well, thanks for joining us today, Charlene.

Charlene: Thank you, my pleasure.

Alvern: Good, good. So, to kick it off, I'm just going to ask a few questions. In terms of the photography, obviously, business, or even just portrait photography as a whole. Obviously, you didn't start as a business, you probably started doing it as a hobby first. So, in terms of that, when did you get involved in photography, and why?

Charlene: Yes, of course. My path and my journey in photography started when I was a child, when I was a teenager, really. I loved to study all the old photos in my home, and we had so many photos from retro photos from my grandparents to my siblings in the 70s and 80s, and myself included. I just realised that every single snap was capturing a moment in that one person's life, leaving memories to last a lifetime, really. So, it always fascinated me in that regard, and at around when I was 17, an option arose for me to take an extra A Level at my school at Banbridge Academy here in Northern Ireland, and I jumped at the chance to study photography. So, this was all before the digital age when all film cameras were around. I had many fun hours in the darkroom, developing my images. That was a lot of fun. So, that was really the start of it, and I just sort of went on from strength to strength. I've been a freelance photographer, a portrait photographer, and as I said, I'm the founder of Honey Bee Lens portrait photography.

Alvern: Awesome. That's great. That's a really nice little background there, which leads me nicely on to the next question. Because of that then, that little background that you've had, would you consider yourself to be a natural at photography because some people have to study a lot of years for it. But would you consider yourself being a natural photographer?

Charlene: Yeah, that's the thing. I honestly do think that it does come second nature to me, and I am ... Apart from my A Level, I'm all completely self-taught as a photographer. So, I definitely I'm a creative person, and I think that's reflected in my images, but everybody can photograph, so every individual's different. But I think it was natural for me, yes.

Alvern: Cool. Nice. And what would you consider as your area of specialty, or areas, even?

Charlene: Yeah. As I mentioned there, I'm a portrait photographer, but I do specialise in baby bump or maternity, if you want to call it that, and newborn babies. I also work with both families and children as well, so that's my specialty, in that field.

Alvern: Good, good. What would you consider being your favourite? Every photographer has their favourite set of camera kit that they like to use. What would yours be?

Charlene: Yeah. Definitely. Well, I'm a total Canon girl, that's for sure. I've used Canon since I was a teenager, and I just love the brand and I've stuck with it. That was my favourite camera. I currently use a camera the Canon 6D at present. It's a great camera. In terms of lenses, well, I've actually had a love for a lot of lenses. The Canon 1.4 aperture, effects 50 millimetre, is one that I use a lot, and I love that one for closeups, for instance,

Endometriosis Symptoms

Shownotes: Endometriosis Symptoms - Join me as I speak with Alli Leech about her 25-year struggle with endometriosis.  she will give you a guide to the symptoms, signs and treatment of endometriosis.  175 million around the world suffer from endometriosis.  You can check out previous podcasts around uterine fibroids treatment.

Alvern: Hello ladies, Alvern here.

Today we have a special show on where we'll be looking at all things endometriosis. And to do that, I have a special guest on myself. Her name is Alli and I'm just gonna let Alli introduce herself.

Over to you Alli.

Alli: Hi ladies. Thank you Alvern, Hi ladies, my name is Allie and I'm delighted to be part of this discussion in relation to endometriosis. I hope you find it useful and I am ready for all questions. Thanks, Alvern.

Alvern: Brilliant. You're very welcome.

Before we get into it, there would be some people on here who wouldn't know anything about that very big long word that you just call, so I'll let you start off by defining or giving your definition of what endometriosis is all about.

Alli: Okay, so endometriosis is basically where the lining of your womb grows outside of the womb on different organs around your body. In my case, it is attached to the back of my womb and to my intestines and my stomach. I also have some down towards my hips. It is basically the lining of the womb. Doctors still don't know why, but it grows in these places and can cause a various amount of symptoms that can be quite debilitating. That's essentially what endometriosis is and every month it sheds the same way as the lining of your womb when you have your period and that can be a particularly difficult time for women who have this disease.

Alvern: Perfect. All right, that actually sounds quite scary. I know a lot of women suffer from it around the world. Some of them don't even know they have it. So this leads me to the very next question. When did you realise you had it?

Alli: I realised I had it, I was fortunate enough to be finally referred to a South African doctor called Dr. Kroon and before that, it had been 11 years of me trying to find out what these symptoms meant and I had been told by several different doctors, most of the Irish and that's important later on, it's just not particularly well-known in Ireland or studied by general practitioners.

But, it was 11 years of me being told by different doctors that I had irritable bowel syndrome. That I suffered from Dysmenorrhea, which is painful periods and other doctors actually used the term, "ghost pains", which was almost suggesting that I was making it up.

I knew myself that it's not normal, every month, to vomit with your periods. To get diarrhoea, bloating, constipation sometimes and vicious headaches. I knew, deep down, it wasn't irritable bowel syndrome, there was something more serious going on. It was only when I tried for a baby and after I was married for two years, so I was trying with my husband for two years to become pregnant and it was ... we had no success. I had never fallen pregnant so I went to get a referral to this very, very highly educated lady who was very focused on endometriosis symptoms and fertility issues. She knew, the minute I told her my symptoms what was wrong.

Alvern: Perfect, wow. That is amazing. Then in terms of ... because you know this podcast I always try to help women ... Okay, there's other things that you get [inaudible 00:04:19] work like doing the right things with different skills and stuff like that but this, as far as I'm aware because I think one of my sisters actually suffers from this same problem or issue, it affects not only your everyday life but your work as well as,

Uterine Fibroids Treatment

Uterine Fibroids Treatment - today's podcast will continue from the first 3 days of my hospital stay where I spoke about my fibroid removal surgery experience.  This podcast I will cover the last 3 days of my hospital stay following the uterine fibroid treatment.

Day 4

Hello ladies. It's day four. Well, today was a very interestingly tough day, for me, at least. The day started off with a visit from the physiotherapist. Although, they normally don't do physiotherapy visit for people who had a Myomectomy as their uterine fibroids treatment. My Gynecologist specifically ordered me, probably because of my past history with my pelvic floor muscle, but anyway. She came to me, went through a few things and then we had to do the climbing of stairs. Because she wanted to show me the technique of how to climb stairs when I get home because I have stairs in my house.

Anyway, today I climbed two flights of stairs and when I got up, I was like, "Okay, how do I get back down?" Interestingly enough getting back down was harder than going up, which I thought would have been the other way around. Anyway, it was very helpful and very useful. She also gave me a leaflet on pelvic floor exercises, something I will address in another podcast for those who are interested.

Next up was an echocardiogram. Yep, as soon as I got back to the room there was someone waiting for me to go to get an echo scan done. Went and got that done, and then I also had to get a heart rate monitor installed, I guess, is the word, or attached to my body for 24-hour monitoring timeframe. That, again, was a very interesting.

Finally, while I actually was there, after getting my heart monitor scan, sorry, my heart monitor device installed, or attached to my body, I was waiting for the porter to bring me back to my room. I was given my patient chart, which I thought was an interesting read all together. Of course, some of the things I would have no idea what's happening in there, others I did. When I finally got back to my room, I took a few pictures before they took the chart away. If ever you get a chance to look at your patient chart, please do. It gives you a better insight as to what the doctors probably don't tell you in full detail, like the anaesthetic use, the exact start and end times of the procedure, the amount of blood that you lost, the results of all your blood tests, lots, and lots of information inside of that patient chart.

Okay. Like I mentioned yesterday, I didn't have any appetite today, although lunch, I believe, was lovely. Anyway, when I got back to my room before I even jump to lunch, I had my breakfast, and I had to address the issue of still no bowel movement. A lot of people think that you should get a bowel movement a few days after, a few weeks later. My doctor, my consultant surgeon, wanted to get it going before I leave. I suggested, "Give me some prune juice," because I prefer natural ways of doing things as opposed to using meds. So I decided to try the prune juice first.

Actually, while eating breakfast, like I mentioned, everyone in the hospital here partly gets blood thinners injection. So I got that done while having my breakfast like I had every other day. That made me feel a little bit upset and before I knew it, I had an unexpected increase in my body temperature. Excuse me. So I was given Paracetamol to bring it down. I'm sorry for the sniffles, but somehow I have runny nose today. So it seems like it's backward instead of forwards, but anyway.

They checked again this evening, and it's high again, so I don't know what's going on, but it looks like I'm not going home tomorrow like I originally thought. Anyway, that aside,

Fibroid Removal Surgery - My Experience

Today's podcast covers a fair bit of detail over a three-day period following a fibroid removal surgery.  I go into some detail as to what it felt like and what I experienced over a 24-48 hour period.  I decided to be vulerable and give you women personal details of what to expect once you decide to have a Myomectomy.

Of course there are many options available in the treatment of fibroids but I decided to have surgery because of the size and quantity of my fibroids.  Despite being advised to strongly consider having a Hysterectomy I opted for the Myomectomy for personal reasons.  I hope you find this coverage very beneficial.  I will be covering another 3 days next week.

Hello, ladies. It's just hours following my fibroid removal surgery. My voice is sounding a bit raspy (from the respirator), so forgive me for that. I decided to record the first 24 hours following the Myomectomy for my uterine fibroids. I had a fibroid tumour in the uterus and I went in just after four, and it took about four to five hours. Back up into my room then just before nine. I just wanted to let you guys know what it was like. Well, it was easy before I went in.

The last thing I remember before my uterine fibroid removal was that burning sensation of a liquid running into my hand, which I guess was the anaesthetic, general anaesthetic. Then they were waking me up and calling me. My consultant, she was calling my name and asking me how I was feeling. Time flew so quickly. It felt like it happened in an instant.

Anyway, once I said I was fine, they wheeled me up into my room. I was more or less conscious of all the way as I was going into the lift and then coming out onto the floor. In regards to pain, it doesn't actually feel painful at all right now. They keep asking me if I want pain tablets or painkillers. I feel fine. I'm not free of pain. It just feels like someone just pressing down on my tummy. To me, that is not pain.

Anyway, when I got here, I just wanted to eat, not because I was hungry, but because I was looking forward to eating food. They said they would try me on water first. Since I was normal, I took a few sips of water. Then I just wanted to continue that. They said if you feel nauseous, let them know. When I said I didn't feel nauseous, they said fine. They ordered some toast and apple juice from the kitchen. Within probably less than a minute of ordering the toast and apple juice, I started to feel nauseous. Oh, I just didn't know what to do. I was uncomfortable. My heel was in pain because of keeping my foot in one place. I wasn't able to turn left or right. Lying on my back was, room temperature was fine. I said, "Okay. Open the window because I just, I feel so nauseous." I felt like I needed to puke. When one walked in the door with the toast and apple juice, I was just like, "Oh, no thank you."

Then the machine that they were using to monitor my life signals kept on beeping. I noticed up in the corner of my eye I was losing, or dropping, blood pressure every time it kept on beeping. The nurses kept on going to and fro and didn't know what to do. At least they played like they didn't know what to do. Finally, they put me in straps because my blood pressure dropped somewhere around the low hundreds, 111/58. I was just feeling uncomfortable. I couldn't keep quiet. I kept on shaking my leg because I just wanted to do something to keep me comfortable with myself.

I kept on dosing in and out. People, nurses coming back and forth, in and out, what's they're doing, snoozing, staying awake, whatever. It's night time outside, so the light is brights and everything. I couldn't really sleep comfortably. Like I mentioned before, I couldn't turn.

Anyway, when, probably an hour, my vital signals started to improve. Again, still no pain.

Starting Business At 40 After Quitting Her Medical Career

Shownotes:  Starting business at 40 can be quite daunting even if means quitting your career.  For today's podcast we have a special guest on by the name of Edith Samambwa and she is going to talk about how she quit her medical career to go into business full time.

She goes through some surprising challenges about her life that you will not want to miss.  She also talks about what success means to her and what it should mean to you too.  She talks about what she wanted to be as a child and about her role model.

Alvern: Hello ladies, Alvern here, today we have a special guest on today with ourselves, she is one of my friends, her name is Edith and this time we're going to get Edith to introduce herself, over to you Edith.

Edith : Hi everyone! My name is Edith Samambwa, I am an independent consultant with Arbonne International and an executive area manager.

Alvern: Thank you Edith, welcome onboard to our podcast today. As you know this is a podcast that will be focused on empowering ladies and I brought Edith on today because ... Well I don't want to spoil the reason why. As we go through the questions you're gonna find out very clearly why it is I brought her on. To mainly inspire you, just in case you're in that time in your life when you're trying to make a decision. You're at a crossroads and you want to decide whether to go left or right or even make a roundabout and we'll find out as we go through.

I guess the first question I want to ask you Edith today is why do you do what you do?

Edith : Well, I'll tell you why I did it in the first place what's because I needed a change in my life and I needed to basically reignite myself after many years of having worked in the same industry on the same job on the same desk. I felt that my life was literally withering away. I was tired. I was terribly burnt out. I was always just over broke and I really needed a new lease of life and that is why I did what I do now in the first place.

I continued to do it because it really did do that for me, it gave me a new energy, a new life. Literally, I always tell people that it saved my life because I was dying inside and it literally saved my life.

Alvern: Wow. And you said that was the first reason why you did it?

Edith : Yeah, I did it for that reason because I had lost hope. I lost any sense of purpose, real purpose for what it is I wanted to do and I'd always believed it within myself that I was capable of so much more and after having been working for so many years in this one career, having studied, had two degrees, and masters, I wasn't going further than way I literally had been almost straight out of university.

When I started my business, it really changed my life, it transformed me. I actually get very emotional about it. Sometimes people don't see what you're going through because you seem to have a good job. You have a pension at the end of it all. But they don't see the struggles that are in your mind and in your heart because of what only you know and what I knew, was that there was more out there and I wanted to get it and I had lost hope of how to do that.

Alvern: In terms of ... you said it was a first reason, so how's that reason changed? Has ... have you found another reason why you do what you're doing or ...

Edith : Well, two reasons really. One, obviously my business has given me more financial freedom and time freedom, which is enabled me to do so much more but in ... the main reason why I do this now is to share this with other people so they can get the same time and financial freedom that I had and just the new lease of life. Plus, I do it because I don't want to ever go back to the way things used to be.

Work Life Balance Success With Zodwa

Shownotes: Today we have Zodwa as a guest speaker.  She is a Mother first and a Midwife second.  Zodwa is a practicing Christian who believes that is it through God's mercy that she has made it so far despite her trials.

Find out about her struggles being a Mother of 4 children, working fulltime and how she almost didn't complete her Masters degree. She will leave you with practical ways on how you to can overcome life struggles.

Alvern: So hello ladies, Alvern here. Today we have a guest speaker with us, and she's one of my friends. Her name is Zodwa, and I'm first of all gonna get Zodwa to introduce herself. Over to you Zodwa.

Zodwa: Hi ladies. My name is Zodwa Lennihan. I am a mom of four beautiful kids, and I'm also a midwife.

Alvern: Brilliant, thank you Zodwa. So ladies, as you know, I always try to find interesting ways to reach out to you, to help you in your everyday life. I'm just going to go through a few questions with Zodwa, just so she can share, obviously she's experiencing some work life balance success. So she's gonna just share a few quick tips. I'm going to go through a few questions with her, about seven questions, and she is going to inspire us, as to what we can do, with regards to success in our lives. So the first question for you Zodwa is, why do you do what you do?

Zodwa: Well Alvern, I am a mom first, and then a midwife. I love my job, and being a midwife means being most woman. Midwifery is embodied in the experience of being woman. Giving birth is a most unique female reality. In our share experience as women, giving birth is the most natural thing that happens to us. For me, attending to women during this most natural, life changing experience has a familiarity that I understand the enormous physical and emotional experience of pregnancy, labour, and birth. Is something that comes naturally for me as a mom, so the trust and care for this precious work that I do, which is a calling, it's an absolute privilege that I experience it, and that I'm part of it, and that I'm paid to do it.

Alvern: Brilliant, thanks so much for that. So I guess for the people who are listening, the ladies who are listening, why do you enjoy ... What do you enjoy most actually about what you do?

Zodwa: Well, in my consciousness, as a midwife and a mother, I know that pregnancy and child birth is wholesome, healthy process of a woman's entire being. So being there, or should I say, being part of one of the most life changing experiences in a woman's life, being able to support, and encourage, and empower women to believe in the strength that their bodies have to deliver their babies, and to watch them hold that new life in their arms, with a massive smile, filled with pride, each a different experience, each a different story to tell, is what I enjoy about my job.

Alvern: Awesome, thanks so much for that. It just reminds me, of obviously me being a mom as well, of when I had my first child. I actually had a home birth for my first child. I didn't actually have it in a hospital. So the midwife came home, and it was a, I guess a very surreal experience when you have your first born child, natural, but like you said, that feeling that you get when you overcome and you're now a mom, and you have to look after this child. It's really, really interesting-

Zodwa: It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful, and that's the best part of my job Alvern.

Alvern: That's brilliant. So when you are growing up, obviously everyone of us when we were growing up, we always know what we want to do, or we think we know what we'd like to do. For one, I wanted to be a doctor, and I'm not doctor, just in case anybody is wondering. But keep telling me that I can still pursue that dream and w...

3 Intimate Life Hacks For Women

Today we will be looking at 3 overall, intimate secrets on how you can gain success in three broad areas of your life as a women.  These 3 areas include women's health, relationship health and we will also zoom in looking at the way you preferred to be loved as a person.  We will also help you understand ways in which others prefer to be loved.  Although, these three secrets are simple they can have a profund effect on your life now and in the future.

Hello ladies, Alvern here. Today we will be looking at three intimate life hacks for women. So, the first of intimate life hacks is around managing and controlling candida also known as thrush. In my experience thrush probably doesn't occur, for me anyway it didn't occur in my teens or 20s, but it started to become more prevalent the older I got, at least that is what I've noticed. When it becomes uncontrollable you would have to go to the doctor who would give you a prescription.

Normally they would give you a cream or a tablet that you need to insert into the vaginal cavity to help control the overproduction of yeast in the virginal cavity.

Not too long ago it became apparent to me there are special diets available and that would help you overcome thrush and as you know for us women we have to watch our diet to make sure we control or weight not to become obese.  We have to watch our diets for many other things to avoid cholesterol and all of that.  So, with all of that we have on our plate already to think about making sure we control our diet for candida or thrush can be quite a headache.

Hence the reason why I decided to record this because I had the experience where it became so bad and I needed to do something other than every time going to the doctor to get a prescription to help control that problem.

So, some of the same symptoms just in case you've never heard of candida or thrush before some of the symptoms would be white excretions coming from the vaginal cavity so obviously it's nothing to do with your periods or anything like that you just have this white stuff coming out of there and there's also a very bad if it becomes,

I don’t know how to describe it, I am trying to think of the way to describe it but there's.. your skin begins to break all around the vaginal area all the vulva, everything just becomes very broken like if you got cut.  It’s very scabby you know they can get really, really bad.

I just had to ask my doctor, look, what is the story, how come?  I was actually worried I had some sort of strange disease because I've never had anything, that happened that bad before.

So, surprise, surprise there is a remedy so apart from your diet and making sure that you wear loose fitting clothing during the summer time, making sure you wear lots of skirts try and wear cotton underwear, the list goes on and on about the things that you can do to help you prevent the occurrence of thrush on a regular basis.

So my doctor recommended this thing called FloraPlus, it is a bit of a tongue twister but I’ll put a picture of it in the show notes but you can actually see what I'm referring to and it really helps, if it is you find yourself in a situation where you are getting thrush on very regular basis like once a month or once every six weeks or once every six months you know it shouldn't be that regular and it would help you because every time you go to the doctor you're going to have to pay the doctor's fee plus the price for prescription so instead of having to do that all the time you can maintain it all year long or possibly even longer by using something called FloraPlus.

For Candida diets, you just Google it there’s a lot of things they ask you to avoid eating or drinking or even include we are looking at the positive side now.