Why We Love Leanne:

Leanne Shear is the co-founder of Uplift, a progressive fitness studio and female society that offers group classes, personal training and a multitude of events outside of fitness related to career, relationships, finances, and well-being (panels, retreats, workshops) that empower women in all aspects of their lives.

Before conceiving the idea for Uplift, Leanne was a professional writer: she is the author of The Perfect Manhattan and Cocktail Therapy: The Perfect Prescription for Life’s Many Crises, and her writing has also been featured in The Nation, The New York Times, New York, and Glamour, among others. Leanne graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and received a Master’s degree in Women’s Studies and Cultural Politics from New York University.

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• Her different why behind fitness and how being strong physically translates to empowerment in all facets of life.
• Leanne’s career trajectory from professional writer to where she is now.
• Why sometimes the next step is just to take the next step and not be afraid.
• How she shifts her negative thoughts into positive ones.
• Her mixed feelings on Masters Degrees and why she believes there are easier better ways to get out there and do what we want.
• Why taking the baby steps is the best way to start, and why mitigating the noise in your own head is the most important.
• Confidence comes from taking action not from thinking.
• How she built Uplift into something much bigger than a boutique fitness studio.
• Why overcoming limiting beliefs is crucial if you want to succeed in life.
• Uplifts retreats and what’s coming up this year.
• Why making friends as an adult can be so hard and how a place like Uplift or retreats are a great way to make friends and make connections around stuff you’re into.
• What’s on the horizon for Leanne.

Helpful Links:

• Our 90-day group coaching program, Lighten Up
• The Uplift x Wellness Lately Summer Solstice Retreat in The Hamptons!
• Before Happiness by Shawn Achor
• The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins
• Leanne’s Books, The Perfect Manhattan and Cocktail Therapy
• The Confidence Code by Katty Kay & Claire Shipman
• Uplift Studios Website
• Follow Uplift on Instagram and on Facebook
• Follow Leanne Kelly Shear on Instagram

To learn more and view complete show notes, visit wellnesslately.com/podcast.

Why We Love Caroline:

Caroline is writes funny self-help for chronic dieters and is the author of the book The F*** It Diet, which is coming out March 26th, 2019.

Before she became a writer and irreverent mindfulness teacher, she spent years as a performer, trying really hard to fit into the tiny/beautiful category. She believed she was a food addict, and so she dieted like it was her job (because it kind of was), and hoped it would help her meet her destiny, but all it did was actually crush her soul and hurt her body.

Now she runs a business called The F*** It Diet and writes about our relationship to food and weight. She runs online workshops and courses and shares cutting-edge science on weight and health and metabolism. She believes wholeheartedly that anyone can heal from food obsession.

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• Caroline’s dieting birthday epiphany and how it lead her down the road of healing from chronic dieting for life
• The false promise of diets and how we’re often seeking spiritual fulfillment and safety and security from dieting, which can never provide us with those things
• Why dieting is a linear, rational non-solution to a non-linear, irrational problem for women
• Why dieting itself is the cause of irrational food thoughts and behavior and therefor can never be the solution to them
• The Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment by the infamous Ancel Keys and what it taught us about the shocking psychological effects of food restriction - and how every single woman who diets can probably see herself in the reported impact
• Why dieting has potentially caused the obesity epidemic in our culture instead of being the cure for it
• Why cultural assumptions about weight and health are actually causing so much harm
• The Healthy at Every Size movement and why losing weight doesn’t necessarily equate to improved health outcomes - as many studies have shown
• The ongoing struggle of having giant boobs in a culture that pretends to celebrate them but really just sexualizes them
• The underlying fear of femininity in our culture and how that plays a role in our obsession with our bodies, food and dieting
• Why women being distracted by these issues is preventing us from using our voices and claiming our power
• Why eating more helps you psychologically start to heal and alleviate the symptoms driving you crazy
• The F*** It Diet process and how she helps women heal through her 4 step system
• How and why we tend to numb our hunger alongside of our feelings and how we can stop

Helpful Links:

• Caroline's Book! The F*** it Diet: Eating Should Be Easy 
• Caroline’s website
• Her Instagram handle
• Her Twitter feed
• The science behind The F*** It Diet
• Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls, by Jes Baker
• Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole, M.S., R.D. and Elyse Resch, M.S., F.A.D.A., C.E.D.R.D.
• Women Who Run with the Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D.
• Health at Every Size, by Linda Bacon, Ph.D
• The Religion of Thinness, by Michelle M. Lelwica Th.D

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: wellnesslately.com/podcast

If you haven’t yet, leave us a review on iTunes and be entered to win a copy of The F*** It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy! (Just send us a screen grab of your review or share on social media and tag us to be eligible.)

Why We Love Beth:

Beth Clayton is a soul-based life and health coach and loves to help open-hearted people break free from their own self-sabotage, outdated thought patterns, and past pain so they can deepen their relationship with their own soul’s intuition, speak their truth courageously and fulfill their most authentic desires.. She is the creator of multiple group programs, retreats, and transformational workshops, leading hundreds of truth seekers toward finding freedom and ease in their relationship with food, their bodies, their lives and ultimately, themselves.  

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• Beth’s struggle with body issues as an actress and how her journey began
• The transition from working in nutrition as a Health Coach to doing the deeper internal work with her clients around self-sabotage
• How her definition of self-love is different than the buzzword we hear everywhere
• The gap between knowledge and implementation, and why we need to uncover the unconscious motivations and behaviors
• What self-sabotage actually is and how it shows up in our lives
• How to know if you’re self-sabotaging (hint: it’s not always obvious)
• “Tiny deaths” and how these moments from childhood can affect the rest of our lives
• Dana’s tiny death moment and how it’s affected her notion of leadership later in life
• Why self-sabotage can creep in when you want something the most
• Bridget’s historical struggle with procrastination and what’s going on under the hood
• The steps to take when you notice you’re engaging in self-sabotage
• How to separate our thinking mind from our inner voice (who we really are)
• Beth’s experience as a Mom and what it has taught her disconnecting from the thinking mind and following her inner self
• Why we always consider what could go wrong instead of what could go right when working with self-sabotage
• How she guides people through the process of understanding themselves and the shifts that happen
• How diet culture has become a religion in our society and why it intersected with the rise of feminism
• The very first steps to take in order to actually move through self-sabotage and change your life

Helpful Links:

• Visit Beth’s website and get her free e-books
• Follow her on Instagram
• Watch Beth’s TEDx Talk on Self-Sabotage
• The Dark Side of the Light Chasers by Debbie Ford
• Jess Lively’s podcast, The Lively Show
• The Religion of Thinness by Michelle M. Lelwica
• Geneen Roth

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: WellnessLately.com/Podcast

Why We Love Jeanne:

Jeanne provides career coaching and brand strategy to individuals building either aligned careers in the corporate world, entrepreneurs building socially conscious businesses or influential digital platforms.

Her goal is to support individuals, executives and entrepreneurs in becoming more healthy, conscious, and impactful leaders. No matter the career path, she supports all clients through a deep career discovery and self-inquiry process that clarifies and supports values-aligned action in their work.

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• Jeanne’s career journey: how she got started in the coaching business, and how she got to where she is today
• How clarity in our careers affects our overall health and happiness
• How she honors her values in her career and finds alignment in her work
• How our education system can sometimes lead to discontent and a lack of fulfillment in our careers for some people and why it works for others
• Why career trajectories are never linear and look very different at different stages
• What career alignment feels like and how to identify what your values are in order to feel connected to your work
• Moving through fear around career transitions and how to move past the freakout moments (which, um, we’ve all had)
• The power of working with a coach or having a supportive community, and why you don’t need to figure it all out on your own if you’re feeling confused, depressed or stuck
• Tangible, tactical action steps for making career transitions, whether that’s to another company or starting your own business or side gig
• How to make a transition to a role or company you’re interested in when you have little or no experience
• Why building a personal brand can be useful for getting a job at a company and how to do it with integrity
• Manifestation and how to use it for calling in career opportunities
• How to focus on your own work and life, block out the noise and drop the comparison game or concern around judgment or criticism
• Why vulnerability and moving through uncomfortable feelings is required in going after what you want

Helpful Links:

• Jeanne’s website for career transitions and business strategy
• Follow Jeanne on Instagram
• High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: WellnessLately.com/Podcast

Why We Love Laura:

Laura Charelle is the Founder of Balanced Bombshells, a women’s health organization empowering women to use food, fitness, and their lifestyle to balance their hormones, so they can feel happy, confident, and stress-free. After leaving numerous doctors’ offices in tears and without answers, Laura sought a holistic approach to her health. Sparked by the desire to learn why good or bad things happened in her body, Laura has been studying hormones and how they relate to the female body for over six years.

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• Laura’s experience with PMDD symptoms (a more intense version of PMS) and how she turned it around
• An overview of cycle syncing, the phases our body goes through and how supporting it with this process can help balance your hormones
• What hormones actually are and the symptoms caused by an unbalance
• How things like stress levels and sleep deprivation affect our hormones and the consequences for our health
• Different cycle tracking apps and how to use them
• How to sync your lifestyle and optimize your energy based on where you are in your cycle
• How our cycles are related to moon cycles
• How cycle syncing has dramatically changed Laura’s relationship and how she communicates with her fiance about hormones
• The major causes for hormone imbalances and what to look for in tests and speaking with your doctor
• The birth control pill and how to navigate making the decision to take it or come off it
• How sleep deprivation affects our hormones
• How Laura’s business came to be and the biggest challenges she has faced in building it

Helpful Links:

• Laura’s website, Balanced Bombshells
• Her free Hormones 101 Masterclass
• @balancedbombshells on Instagram
• @laura_charelle on Instagram
• Book: Moody B****** by Dr. Judy Holland
• Dr. Christiane Northrup
• Book: WomanCode by Alisa Vitti

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: WellnessLately.com/Podcast

Why We Love Aubrey:

Aubrey is the founder of Postbiotics Plus, a microbiome startup that aims to protect the gut from assault when antibiotics or other medications are given. She is also the founder of My Custom Herbs, where you can take a quiz to find out your gut type and an herb program tailored for you. Previously, she had a tonic and elixir startup, featured in Oprah Magazine, Elle, Well & Good and Japan Vogue and partnered with brands such as One & Only Resorts, Wallpaper Handmade, and The Tracy Anderson Method. Aubrey is a certified health coach and created a gut health course for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She holds a BA from Boston University in Advertising and won an award for best women’s health resource while at Grey Healthcare. She has an MFA in creative nonfiction from The New School in NYC where she has been a guest lecturer on product adoption.

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• Her intro to the world of wellness and desire to solve problems
• Her company combining alternative health with cutting edge microbiome science to maximize the benefits of both
• What probiotics are and the difference between taking them and eating them in our regular foods
• Why probiotics are so important for our immune system
• The types of diets that harm our gut biome and the kinds that support it
• The big factors that can wipe out the good bacteria in our body
• Why eating sugar is like eating the lazy, couch potato, bacteria instead of the hard workers we really benefit from
• The gut - brain connection
• How her entrepreneurial experience has taught her to show up in life in a bigger way
• What happens when you face your fears and challenge yourself
• Why having mentors is a crucial part of the growth process and how to find one
• How her company is trying to bridge the gap between Western and Eastern medicine to compound the power of both

Helpful Links:

• Aubrey’s company, Postbiotics Plus
• Her herbal formula company, My Custom Herbs (Save 10% with code Gutgold2019)
• Michael Pollan on fecal matter transplants
• 5Rhythms Dance 
• Elena Brower’s work
• Julia Cameron and The Artist’s Way
• Martha Graham

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: WellnessLately.com/Podcast

Why We Love Liza:

Liza has been there, she was living a life where she didn’t know where her money was going. The end of the month would come, and she wouldn’t have enough money to buy groceries or pay her monthly bills…and she knew something had to change. Wealth is so much more than what you think it is. It is the thread that connects your body, heart, soul and emotion together.

Liza teaches how to live a fulfilling life by healing your relationship with money, creating a money plan that allows you to save, build personal wealth, and pay off debt. She’ll dive deep into your financial hopes and dreams and create real wealth-building strategies to get you where you want to be.

Being on her own financial journey for the last five and a half years, Liza has increased her quality of life by having the best relationship she has ever had with money (including conversations with her husband), and paying off over $240,000 in debt. She now teaches others how to do the same.  

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• Liza’s personal definition of wealth (it’s more than investments and 401k plans)
• How she and her husband paid off over $250,000 in debt and the first steps they took in the process
• How to broach the subject of money with your partner
• Where our money stories and beliefs come from and how to navigate them
• The habits and behaviors that are often underneath our challenges with money (hint: it’s usually it’s not the actual money)
• The common troublesome patterns and beliefs around money that Liza sees among her clients
• Making the energetic shift from cutting out costs to empowering yourself with aligned purchases
• How to align our habits around money with our subconscious beliefs
• How our language can affect our experience with money
• How to face your finances and tackle the fear of getting started
• Liza’s definition of budgeting and how to do it in a non-restrictive way that creates more freedom
• Her system for saving, paying off debt and how to allocate funds
• Her opinion on renting vs. buying a home
• How she instills a positive, empowering mindset around money in her child
• The approach for eliminating debt she recommends and why

Helpful Links:

Liza’s wonderful website

Her free gift: how to being re-writing your wealth story

Connect with her on Facebook

Follow her on Instagram

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: WellnessLately.com/Podcast

Why We Love Blair: 

Blair is the founder of Blair Badenhop, Inc., a global brand strategy and copywriting service destination for entrepreneurs in the wellness industry. She has supported 200+ health coaches, best-selling authors, spiritual teachers, and thought leaders in clarifying and creating their authentic brand identities online through careful strategy and conversational copy.

She’s also the host of Brand Yourself, a top rated podcast that gives listeners a behind-the-scenes look at what female entrepreneurs in the wellness industry have done to establish successful businesses and stand out brands.

She is also the mastermind behind Your Wellness Brand, a 10-week business mentorship experience that teaches wellness coaches and entrepreneurs how to leverage their purpose and personalities to stand out online. Previously, she worked at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Dress for Success, and Harper's Bazaar.

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• Blair’s career trajectory and her journey from a soul-sucking stressful job in media to running her dream business.
• What it takes to be an entrepreneur and stay 100% committed to your vision
• The moment she recognized the power of staying connected to her intuition and how she’s strengthened that muscle.
• Her tools and strategies for handling difficult transitions in career, relationships, and life in general.
• Observing our self talk and how to recognize the difference between the thoughts in our head and the truth of who we really are.
• How “tiny deaths” throughout our childhood can subconsciously hold us back from stepping into who we want to be when we get older.
• How she manifested a fulfilling relationship with her dream man, who is now her husband.
• The biggest challenges she sees among wellness entrepreneurs and how to navigate them in order to build a successful business.
• What a typical day in her life looks like as a wellness entrepreneur.
• The importance of investing in yourself and your dreams, and how to get started in your business in a practical way that feels good. 

Helpful Links:

• Blair’s beautiful website: https://blairbadenhop.com/
• Blair brand mentorship program: Your Wellness brand
• Follow Blair on Instagram: @blairbadenhop
• Join Blair’s free private Facebook group: Brand Yourself
• Listen to Blair’s podcast: Brand Yourself
• Our Health Coach Alma Mater (and where we all worked together): Institute for Integrative Nutrition
• Book: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
• Book: Make Every Man Want You by Marie Forleo
• Song: Big Jet Plane by Angus and Julia Stone
• Her favorite morning beverage recipe:
  • 1 cup macadamia nut milk (warmed on the stove)
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 tbsp coconut butter
  • 1 dash cinnamon
  • 1 pinch of pepper
  • 1 tsp of turmeric
  • Blend until frothy and enjoy!

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: WellnessLately.com/Podcast

Why We Love Lizzy:

For starters, she’s Dana’s bestie from high school who turned into her sister-in-law (married Dana’s brother, Mike). But for our purposes, we wanted to interview her because she’s a super smart cognitive behavioral therapist.

After graduating from UMASS, Amherst with a BA in Psychology, she went on to earn her Master’s in Forensic Psych from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City followed by her both her MS and PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Basically, Dr. Lizzy is in expert in how our brains work, why we do what we do, and how to harness the power of our mindset to make positive changes in ours life, stop feeling stuck and become way more effective at achieving our goals. Oh, and how to feel way better in our own skin now (and in the future, with practice).

One of our favorite convos yet.

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• What cognitive behavioral therapy actually is and who it can be helpful for.
• The physiological responses we have to our own thoughts aka the very real mind-body connection we’re all experiencing.
• Why everyone on Earth has what cognitive behavioral therapists call “distorted thoughts” and how they affect us.
• How to uncover and shift our distorted thoughts to overcome challenges and get out of our own way.
• What ‘automatic thoughts’ are and how they can be problematic.
• How we can harness the power of our confirmation bias to stop ourselves from binging on the Dove Darks.
• How we all ‘mind read’ and ‘fortune tell’ and why we need to stop.
• How and why you might want to become your own defense attorney.
• Why our entire life experience is basically all in our heads.
• And so much more.

Helpful links:

• Positive Psychology by David Seligman
• The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley
• The Mask of Masculinity by Lewis Howes
• Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker 

To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: WellnessLately.com/Podcast

Why We Love Nitika:

Known for her straightforward tone and intense vulnerability, Nitika recently took everything she had learned from suffering with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis for the past 27 years and created a conversation about self-love in the chronic illness community. With her experience in public speaking, her highly engaged social media following and her raw and honest writing that she shares weekly on her blog, Nitika is determined to get honest with her audience so that they can get honest with themselves in a way that truly transforms lives.

On the Pod, We Discuss:

• How the way self-love is portrayed online can actually perpetuate a lack of self-love, and why her raw, vulnerable definition is different.
• Her journey with psoriasis, an autoimmune condition that has fueled her work and mission, and what it has taught her along the way.
• How she created her first content platform and transitioned to a talk show host.
• Why healing is ongoing and never linear, and how to consciously face pain, without numbing out.
• Her spiritual journey, and how she takes care of her emotional and spiritual health.
• Her experience in advocating for what she believes in and what it’s like to share her truth  to inspire action via her public platforms.
• Coming to her decision to not have children and her experience in publicly sharing it.
• How to intuitively find your purpose and figure out what you want to do with your life.
• And so much more.

Helpful links:

• Check out Nitika’s website
• Follow her on Instagram
• Join her free Facebook group, The Chronic (illness) Crew
• Read her article on pain as a superpower
• Read her article on her choice to not have kids
• Check out Glennon Doyle on Instagram

 To learn more, and for the complete show notes, visit: WellnessLately.com/Podcast