We have more wellness information, products, supplements, trackers, peptides, and “life-changing” protocols available than ever before—so why do so many of us still feel exhausted, stressed, and disconnected from our bodies?

Following their conversation about becoming an unconscious consumer, Nicky and Allie explore another side of the wellness industry: our tendency to chase advanced optimization while overlooking the basic things our bodies need to function well.

They share their own experiences with burnout, health challenges, anxiety, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and trying to “do everything right” while their bodies were quietly asking for something different. Together, they break wellness back down to five foundational areas: sunlight and nature, movement, breath, sleep, and nutrition.

This episode isn’t about adding another complicated routine to your life. It’s about slowing down, becoming more aware of what your body is telling you, and making small, sustainable changes before buying the next thing promising to fix you.

• Why more optimization doesn’t always lead to feeling better
• How targeted wellness marketing keeps us searching for the next solution
• The difference between supporting your body and overriding its signals
• Why wellness is an ongoing journey—not a finish line
• The five foundational areas your body needs before any advanced “biohack”
• How morning sunlight can support your natural daily rhythm
• Why movement doesn’t have to mean an intense workout
• Using breathwork to regulate stress before a meeting, presentation, or difficult conversation
• Why protecting your sleep is one of the most powerful boundaries you can create
• How nighttime scrolling keeps your mind and body overstimulated
• The connection between food, energy, mood, and overall wellbeing
• Why small, consistent changes are more effective than trying to overhaul your entire life overnight

Before you buy another supplement, tracker, peptide, or wellness product, pause and ask: Have I given my body the foundational things it needs today?

Wellness doesn’t have to be expensive, complicated, or picture-perfect. Start with one small change, pay attention to how you feel, and build from there.

What if you've achieved everything you thought you wanted... and you're still unhappy?

For years, we chased the promotions, bigger paychecks, beautiful homes, impressive titles, and the version of success we were taught to want. From the outside, everything looked perfect.

On the inside? We felt exhausted, disconnected, and completely out of alignment.

In this vulnerable conversation, we're sharing the moments that forced us to ask some uncomfortable questions:

• Whose definition of success am I living?
• What happens when the life you've built no longer feels like yours?
• How do you find your way back to yourself?

We talk about burnout, divorce, entrepreneurship, identity, rebuilding, and the surprising peace that comes from letting go of everyone else's expectations.

If you've ever wondered whether there's "more" to life than checking the next box, this episode is for you.

Whether you're thinking about starting a business or you're already in the middle of building one, this episode is the conversation we wish someone had with us years ago.

This week, Nicky and Allie sit down to share the biggest lessons they've learned throughout their entrepreneurial journeys—from trusting your intuition and making difficult decisions to finding the right people, staying aligned with your values, and learning that success rarely happens overnight.

These aren't strategies from a textbook. They're lessons learned through wins, mistakes, pivots, burnout, growth, and a whole lot of trial and error.

If you've ever questioned whether you're on the right path, felt behind, or wondered if building a business is supposed to feel this hard...this episode is for you.

• Why trusting your intuition may be your greatest business advantage
• The importance of building a business that's aligned with your values, not just profitable
• Why doing everything yourself eventually becomes your biggest bottleneck
• How the people in your circle influence your growth
• Why comparison steals momentum (and what to focus on instead)
• The reality of entrepreneurship that no one talks about
• Building something that lasts instead of chasing quick wins

In a world where we have endless information, products, opinions, and trends available at our fingertips… have we stopped asking ourselves what we actually need?

In this episode of The Within Podcast, Nicky Wallace and Allie Sartain dive into the idea of becoming an “unconscious consumer”, not just with what we buy, but with what we allow into our bodies, minds, schedules, and lives.

From beauty and wellness trends to social media influence, supplements, routines, and even the people around us, we explore how easy it is to start following what everyone else says is “right” instead of reconnecting with our own intuition.

We talk about:

• Why more information doesn’t always lead to better decisions
• The difference between chasing trends and understanding your unique biology
• How epigenetics, functional testing, and data-driven wellness can help you personalize your health journey
• Why your genetics are only part of your story — and how your environment, stress, and lifestyle impact your wellbeing
• The hidden cost of constantly consuming content, products, and other people’s opinions
• How silence, reflection, and simple daily check-ins can help you reconnect with yourself

This conversation isn’t about perfection. It’s not about throwing away every product, deleting social media, or completely changing your life overnight.

It’s an invitation to pause and ask:

Is this actually serving me?

Am I choosing this… or was I just influenced?

Because the more connected you become with yourself, the easier it becomes to build a life, health routine, and environment that actually supports who you are.

Your body is always giving you information. The question is, are you listening?

Connect With Us

Follow along as we continue conversations around leadership, wellbeing, personal growth, and discovering the potential within.

Connect with Nicky
Founder of The People Co. and creator of The Potential Within Summit, Nicky is passionate about helping people and organizations thrive. With a background in HR, leadership, and organizational strategy, she's spent years helping leaders build healthier workplaces—but her own health journey revealed that success means very little without wellbeing. Today, Nicky brings together conversations around leadership, personal growth, and whole-person wellness to help others create lives that are successful and sustainable.

Nicky - Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/nwallace515/

Nicky - Instagram: @Freedomtoleadwell

Connect with Allie
Allie is an Integrative Trichologist and women's health advocate who believes our bodies are always communicating with us—we just need to learn how to listen. Through hair and scalp analysis, functional wellness, and years of working one-on-one with women, she helps uncover the deeper story behind symptoms like hair loss, stress, hormonal imbalances, and fatigue. Her passion is helping women understand their bodies so they can feel empowered to make informed decisions about their health.

Instagram: @Allie.maneoasis

Enjoying the podcast?

If this episode encouraged you, we'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could use the reminder that they don't have to navigate life alone. Thank you for being part of the Within community, we're so glad you're here.

The second annual Potential Within Summit may be over, but the conversations are just getting started.

In this episode, Nicky and Allie reflect on one of the most meaningful days they've ever created—what surprised them, what inspired them, and why community continues to be at the center of everything they're building.

They share pieces of their own health and personal growth journeys, discuss the importance of finding practitioners and people who believe in you, and explain why they're continuing the Within Podcast with a renewed vision.

Whether you're navigating burnout, chronic health challenges, leadership, motherhood, or simply trying to become the healthiest version of yourself, this conversation is a reminder that you don't have to do it alone.

Because sometimes the biggest transformation doesn't begin with another supplement or another productivity hack...It begins with feeling seen.

• Why The Potential Within Summit was created
• The loneliness that often comes with health and personal growth journeys
• What surprised us most from this year's event
• Why community accelerates healing and growth
• Behind the scenes of the Reset Room and Vendor Village
• Wellness isn't all-or-nothing—it starts with small daily practices
• How our own experiences led us to this work
• Why the Within Podcast is entering an exciting new chapter

Follow along as we continue conversations around leadership, wellbeing, personal growth, and discovering the potential within.

Connect with Nicky
Founder of The People Co. and creator of The Potential Within Summit, Nicky is passionate about helping people and organizations thrive. With a background in HR, leadership, and organizational strategy, she's spent years helping leaders build healthier workplaces—but her own health journey revealed that success means very little without wellbeing.

Today, Nicky brings together conversations around leadership, personal growth, and whole-person wellness to help others create lives that are successful and sustainable.

Nicky - Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/nwallace515/

Nicky - Instagram: @Freedomtoleadwell

Connect with Allie
Allie is an Integrative Trichologist and women's health advocate who believes our bodies are always communicating with us—we just need to learn how to listen. Through hair and scalp analysis, functional wellness, and years of working one-on-one with women, she helps uncover the deeper story behind symptoms like hair loss, stress, hormonal imbalances, and fatigue.

Her passion is helping women understand their bodies so they can feel empowered to make informed decisions about their health.

Instagram: @Allie.maneoasis

If this episode encouraged you, we'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who could use the reminder that they don't have to navigate life alone. Thank you for being part of the Within community, we're so glad you're here.

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace sits down with Andrea Irwin, owner of Empirical Sales & Marketing, to talk about resilience, advocacy, entrepreneurship, motherhood, and the unexpected challenges that can completely reshape your life. 

Andrea shares her journey through business ownership, motherhood, and navigating complex medical experiences with her daughter—an experience that ultimately uncovered a new level of strength, advocacy, and purpose she never expected to develop.

Together, they explore the idea of “potential” in three different forms:

the potential we naturally recognize within ourselves

This conversation is an honest look at what happens when life takes an unexpected turn, how advocacy can become essential in navigating healthcare systems, and why asking questions, trusting your instincts, and seeking support matters.

Andrea's diagnosis of C-PTSD came from a multitude of medical traumas, not just the ones discussed. She is a strong proponent of mental health care and recommends that everyone at some point in their life should see a therapist. If you suspect you have a mental health condition, please seek the help of a therapist or psychiatrist. If you are having a severe mental health crisis, please call 911.

When Andrea refers to her daughter being too severe for Iowa City to handle, it was evident that they knew how to diagnose the condition but didn't have a lot of experience treating patients who suffered from chronic symptoms and were out of their depth. Andrea's daughter's condition varies greatly on a day-to-day basis and has experienced long periods of stability with minor breakthrough flares on occasion on proper treatment. The recent flare discussed on the podcast is being handled by the medical professionals on her team, and they are working together with Andrea daily to find and add suitable treatment options for this flare and her condition as a whole.

Condition discussed: Hereditary Alpha Tryptasemia - you can learn more about it here: https://tmsforacure.org/overview/hereditary-alpha-tryptasemia/

Connect with hosts & guests:

Andrea - 

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Heidi Buttoph sit down with Amanda and Kristen, founders of Vivid Wellness & Aesthetics

Amanda and Kristen share how their backgrounds in nursing and healthcare led them to create a space focused on root-cause healing, individualized wellness plans, and modalities designed to help people feel better—not just manage symptoms.

The conversation dives into the differences between traditional healthcare, integrative medicine, and functional medicine, while also exploring services like IV therapy, ozone therapy, hormones, metabolic lab testing, aesthetics, and advanced wellness technologies.

Together, they discuss why so many people are being told their labs are “normal” while still struggling with fatigue, inflammation, brain fog, hormone imbalances, and other symptoms—and how personalized wellness approaches can help uncover deeper answers.

Whether you’re new to functional medicine or already exploring your own wellness journey, this episode offers an approachable and educational look into the future of individualized healthcare.

About the show: 

Connect with hosts & guests:

Connect with our Guest: 

Amanda Kramme: 

Kristen Shelton: 

Find Vidid Wellnes + Aesthetics

In this special edition of Within: I Wish I Would Have Known, Ali Payne and Nicky Wallace sit down with Nikki Russell of Aptitude Fitness + Paws for an honest conversation about control, motherhood, business ownership, and learning to let go.

As a mom of three and owner of two businesses, Nikki shares how life has taught her that trying to control everything often leads to more stress, overwhelm, and frustration. Instead, she’s learned the importance of leaning into the chaos, trusting the process, and letting go of the pressure to do everything perfectly.

From outsourcing meals and household tasks to rethinking what’s “conventional” for her family, Nikki opens up about the guilt many women carry—and how creating systems that actually work for your life matters more than appearances.

This episode is a refreshing reminder that you don’t have to do it all alone, and sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is simply let go.

About the show: 

Connect with hosts & guests:

For more information on The People Co., check out our Webiste: thepeople-co.com

Connect with our Guest: 

Nikki Russel: 

Aptitude: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aptitude-fitness-dsm/

Pause: 

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Ali Payne sit down with Nikki Russell, owner of Aptitude Fitness and Pause Studio, to talk about women’s wellness, cycle syncing, recovery, perimenopause, and learning how to better listen to your body.

Nikki shares how her own experience as an endurance athlete led her to explore the connection between hormones, performance, recovery, energy levels, and nutrition. After realizing there was very little support or education available for women navigating these changes, she began building programming designed specifically to help women better understand their bodies through every stage of life.

The conversation dives into:

Together, they also discuss how wellness doesn’t need to be all-or-nothing, the importance of giving yourself grace, and why small sustainable changes often matter more than perfection.

This episode is an empowering reminder that our bodies are constantly communicating with us—and learning to listen may be one of the most important parts of the wellness journey.

About the show: 

Connect with hosts & guests:

Connect with our Guest: 

Nikki Russel: 

Aptitude: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aptitude-fitness-dsm/

Pause: 

In this episode of Within, Nicky Wallace and Ali Payne sit down with Katie Nyberg, founder of Iowa Baby Lady

Katie shares how her team of birth doulas and postpartum doulas helps families navigate everything from labor support and advocacy to overnight newborn care and postpartum recovery. The conversation breaks down common misconceptions about doulas, the realities of modern motherhood, and why support systems matter more than ever.

Together, they discuss the overwhelming amount of information new parents face today, the pressure many moms feel to “do it all,” and how postpartum support can help families move from simply surviving to truly thriving during those early weeks.

Whether you’re expecting, supporting someone who is, or simply curious about the changing conversation around motherhood and wellness, this episode offers a refreshing and educational look at what modern support can actually look like.

About the show: 

Connect with hosts & guests:

Connect with our Guest: 

For more information on The People Co., check out our Webiste: thepeople-co.com