Today’s guest is Missy Franklin, five-time Olympic Gold Medalist and multiple world record-holder in the sport of swimming. Franklin, who was raised in Centennial, CO, began swimming competitively at the age of five and competed in her first international event at the age of 14. She became a household name during the 2012 Olympic Games in London when she won four gold medals and one bronze medal, becoming one of the most decorated athletes in the history of the games. Upon retiring from competitive swimming in December of 2018, Franklin now lives in Denver with her husband Hayes and their one year old Bernese Mountain Dog, Ollie. She also continues to make public appearances, maintains several noteworthy endorsements, participates in swimming community outreach across the country, and is a certified Barre instructor.

In our conversation, we discuss: 

Missy’s path to extreme success. The role that her upbringing played in it all, and her take on nature versus nurture in getting her to where she is today

How she navigated comparing herself to others and dealing with imposter syndrome at such a young age

The power of belief, self talk, and awareness for your thoughts in achieving goals and overall happiness. And why she believes self-love is the opposite of being egotistical

What happened when Missy started to put pressure on herself in combination with attempting to meet the expectations of others rather than purely swimming for the love of the sport

The importance of gratitude and presence in her daily life

The tool of visualization. How she used it in her swimming career and the difference in how she uses it today

Today’s guest is Shannon Siriano, founder and CEO of Rebelle Community, a community for working women which supports them both personally and professionally. With a background in marketing and business coaching, Shannon allowed her entrepreneurial spirit to guide her to a role where she feels most aligned: connecting women with other women, giving them a space to share, be vulnerable, and learn. 

Wellness is a topic that is always talked about at each Rebelle Con event. She believes it is important for women entrepreneurs to consider their own sense of wellness. For years she struggled with both mental and physical health. Additionally, she lacked fulfillment and the ability to manage her stress. 

We get all into it in this conversation! We discuss: 

Today’s guest is Locke Hughes, journalist, content creator, and author who specializes in the health, wellness, and lifestyle space. Her path has landed her in multiple positions in the industry, working for major health publications such as Shape, Greatist, WebMD, and the Well. Her career has allowed her to bring her passion for writing and wellness all under one roof. 

While she has a beautifully balanced approach to life, she admits she hasn’t always felt this way. She has suffered from anxiety and adrenal burnout, as well as confusion about what it meant to take care of yourself. She took matters into her own hands, and educated herself on health and nutrition, experimenting with various food and lifestyle factors until she found what worked. 

In our conversation we discuss:

Today’s guest is Brittany Mullins, the blogger behind Eating Bird Food. She started blogging in 2008. It started out as a food journal of sorts, wanting to hold herself accountable after achieving weight loss in college. Nutrition quickly became a passion, and she eventually took the leap to the next level, making Eating Bird Food her full-time career. 

These days, the site is less of a day-to-day account of what she is eating, and more of a beautiful, delicious library of her kitchen creations. She incorporates lifestyle content and adorable photos of her daughter Olivia. She believes consistency and authenticity, as well as making the her audience the focal point of her purpose, has influenced her growth over the years In our conversation, we also chat about: 

Katie Brown remembers growing up with a healthy mindset around food. While it was a big part of her upbringing, it was never overly talked about, just something that was shared. Her mom was a really good cook, creating homemade meals. Her brother was a chef. It was something to be enjoyed.

In college (like many of us), she gained weight. Without a fundamental understanding for nutrition, she spent years in a weight loss/gain cycle. Her weekends were spent eating and drinking, and then she would restrict Monday through Friday. She finally reached a breaking point, making the connection between what she ate and how she felt. After establishing a motivating factor of wanting to feel better, she began to make changes in her diet.

She created her Instagram account @realfoodwithgratitude to share everything she was learning about the power of eating real food. Additionally, as she was improving (or rather getting back to) her relationship with food, she felt compelled to make that a part of her message as well.

In our conversation, we discuss how food blogging has impacted not only what she eats, but how she eats. How releasing the fear around food has been a game changer, and getting back to basics with cooking led her to more enjoyment for what she was eating. How fitness plays a role in her relationship with her body, and how both encourage her to stay consistent. Lastly, we touch on her relationship to alcohol, and how that has changed for the better as well.

Today’s guest is Jane Ellington, yogi, entrepreneur, and founder of The Yoga Shed, a studio that offers both in person classes and online streaming services. Jane Ellington considers herself a lifelong student, not only in her yoga practice, but also in life. After discovering yoga at the age of 14, it has been a fundamental aspect of her life, positively impacting her teens and twenties. She received her 200-hour YTT certification in 2017, and her 300-hour in 2020. 

Knowing she one day wanted to turn her passion for teaching into her career, she started offering private and small group classes to friends and family. While she had an idea of how she wanted her path and business to unfold, the situation with COVID-19 forced her to pivot. Fortunately, it led her to a business model that felt much more aligned. And in the fall of 2020, Jane opened The Yoga Shed. 

In our conversation, we talk more about her personal yoga practice, how it has influenced her physical, mental, and spiritual health, what it takes (and what you have to overcome) to pursue your dream path, and so much more!

Today’s guest is Sarah Thacker, licensed psychotherapist, certified EMDR therapist, certified yoga therapist and certified holistic health coach. Sarah offers a holistic approach to mental and emotional wellbeing. In her private practice she is dedicated to supporting those who struggle with emotional eating, eating disorders, anxiety, trauma and a variety of other challenges. While we have had multiple conversations across these topics, this is our very first, which actually occurred a few years ago, but I wanted to reshare it here, but there is so much useful information pertaining to emotional eating, food relationships, mindful eating, and mindfulness in general. It does cut off a little abruptly at the end, only because the conversation transitioned to our online courses we were offering at the time. To learn more about Sarah and her work, visit wholisticfoodtherapy.com.

In this conversation, we discuss:

Today’s guest is Rachel Brooke, both a clean beauty consultant and wellness and lifestyle content creator, who is passionate about both natural food and beauty. She believes that the closer we eat and use products from the earth, the better off we are. With a background as a make-up artist, she discovered Beautycounter as an adult, and has been an advocate for the brand and clean beauty in general ever since. 

In our discussion, we talk more about her story and why working in the clean beauty industry is important to her, why making the switch to cleaner products is important for you, what to look out for if you are wanting to make yourself more aware, and baby steps to take to make the switch.

Today’s guest is Brett Dunevant, founder and owner of the barre studio Barre South, located in Charleston, SC.

Today’s guest is Laura Lea Bryant. Laura Lea is a chef, cookbook author, and creator behind her website Laura Lea Balanced. She spent her post-graduate years in New York City, living a lifestyle that one day made her realize didn’t make her happy. That is when her interest in healthy food and cooking launched her into what is now her career. After enrolling in the Natural Gourmet Institute, she never looked back. She felt what it meant to feel aligned, and is now living her passion each day, immersed in an online community who resonate with her recipes, message, and overall amazing energy.

In our conversation, we discuss what it takes to change your path, how culinary school influenced her relationship with food, her advice for creating a better mindset around cooking, and her new meal plan service she offers to make food prep fun again.