Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark - Dani Austin On Going Crunchy, Breast Implant Illness, & Building An Influencer Empire

Episode Date: June 27, 2025

Dani Austin like you’ve never seen her — raw, real, and unfiltered on money, marriage, health, and friendship in a bombshell sit-down with Alex Clark. The Divi founder and multi-millionaire influencer spills behind-the-scenes secrets you haven’t heard anywhere else. Can Alex convince her to go fully crunchy?Thank you to our sponsors!TAYLOR DUKES WELLNESS: Use code ALEXCLARK for 10% off UTZY: Use code ALEX for 20% off A'DEL NATURAL COSMETICS: Use code ALEX for 25% off first time orders HARVEST RIGHT: Visit harvestright.comMASA CHIPS: Use code REALALEXCLARK for 25% off Our Guest: Dani AustinDani's LinksInstagram: @daniaustinTik Tok: @thedaniaustinDani's Favorite Book: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah 🌿 Top Tip: Pray and surrenderFOLLOW ALEX:Instagram |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @realalexclark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @cultureapothecary⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @realalexclark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @yoalexrapz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @RealAlexClark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🌿 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Culture Apothecary WEBSITE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🗞️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WEEKLY NEWSLETTER SIGNUP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Cuteservatives Facebook group to connect with likeminded friends who love America and all things health and wellness!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the CUTEservative Facebook Group!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to ‘Culture Apothecary’ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. New episodes drop 6pm PST/ 9pm EST every Monday and Thursday.#daniaustin #health #wellnesstips #podcast #haircare #influencer #culture #cultureapothecary #momlife #relationship #marriage #health #family

Who is Danny Austin when the cameras are off? I'm just trying to figure it out, just like every other mom out there. There's times when I question if I'm a good mom too. There's times that I'm like, man, I don't feel like I spent enough time with my kids this week. You're seriously considering taking your breast implants out. Last year, I had the flu 10 times. Doctors were like, we've never seen this before. They had you down for 13.6 million for last year.

Is that accurate? It's crazy what people can make, I will say. Today's guest is one of the internet's most recognizable and influential women, Danny Austin. She's a Forbes top creator two years running, founder of the wildly successful scalp and hair care brand Divi, which made a jaw-dropping 40 million in its first year. She's also a powerhouse digital creator who shared everything from her closet and marriage to motherhood with millions of followers. But in this episode, Danny Austin gives us one of her most raw, honest, and wide-ranging interviews ever. We're talking about her journey with the...

discernment and why she's reconsidering breast implants. What made her stop vaccinating her kids and why her pediatrician is not thrilled? Why she's seriously considering making the transition to full-blown crunchy, some inside baseball on influencing, and if she'd ever delete Instagram to focus solely on divvy, this conversation is completely uncensored on Spotify, which has video and Apple podcast. Just subscribe to Culture Apothecary to hear and watch it all. You can also watch the episode on YouTube at Real Alex Clark, but heads up, we will be muting the word vaccine. because apparently we don't live in a free country anymore. By the way, Danny and her husband Jordan interview me on their podcast, D-Influence.

So go and listen to that after this. I got into a lot that I don't usually talk about, including dating. Before we dive in, do me a huge favor. Pause right now. Leave a five-star review for Danny to thank her for showing up and being so transparent with us. Follow me on Instagram at Real Alex Clark and The Show at Culture Apothecary. All the links to follow Danny are in the show notes. Now, please welcome wife, mother, founder of Divi, host of de-influenced podcast, an unapologetic

internet trailblazer Danny Austin to Culture Apothecary. Danny Austin, welcome to Culture Apothecary. I'm so happy to be here. When was the last time you had a Diet Coke? I have to know before we start this interview. Okay, I'm not going to lie. I'm hiding one right now. I'm just kidding.

Because you're kind of dibbling and dabbling with giving some stuff up, right? Well, my biggest question for you, I was going to ask you, what's worse, Diet Coke, or breast implants because those are my two vices right now and um so much i could say about both yeah it's um it was a journey for me that was actually the the last thing that i gave up when i was starting to eat cleaner and everything was dr pepper that was the hardest thing it was the last thing so what do you drink instead of dr pepper now i love electrolytes olipop okay um i love the grape and the lemon lime olypop and they're not a sponsor i genuinely love it um and then I mean, yeah, like flavored water, fruit water.

Spindrift? I like spin drift. And, oh, let me tell you about, is it spin drift? I went to this huge food conference in Newport Beach in March where they, it was like an expo where they show new flavors coming out and stuff. Was it spin drift that has a new pop coming out? I think it is. It's spin drift.

And I think they sent me some and they're like, they're like sodas. Like grape soda. Yes. I tested them. They had a Shirley Temple. sample flavor. Yes. And it was the best thing I've ever had. No, they're very good. I love Spindrift. So Spindrift is like my number one like healthy fun drink, but can I tell you why I drink Diet Coke right now? Yes. So I recently gave up drinking alcohol. Okay. So then I was like, okay, that's a no. So now I'm like,

my vice is going to be Diet Coke. So like, I'm just like, let me have a little fun with that. Just for a couple years, Diet Coke and Lyme. We're at the beach. And then I'll slash that out and I'll just go probably like all sparkling water with lime. Like I can do it. I would. I would, will say I love a sparkling water with lime of splash of OJ and tahine on the rim. Oh, that's good. So good. So good. Why giving up alcohol? I mean, honestly, so many reasons. Mainly because I feel like I drink enough for like my whole lifetime in my 20s in college. And I was like, okay, I want to move into this like healthier, cleaner era of my life, really focused on my mental health. I also noticed like I'm like a go girl. Like you give me a drink. I'm up on the tables. I'm this. I am the life of the party. And I was like,

that was for my 20s, not for my 30s. I don't have to be the life of the party. Like I can just be Danny. I can, you know, just like be secure in myself. I don't have to have this drink to make me feel more outgoing. And so it's just kind of like that era of just kind of figuring out how to love myself like that. I know exactly what you mean. I'm kind of in the same thing.

I wouldn't say that I'm completely sober, but almost 98% of the time going out now, going to dinner, I'm not getting a drink. I'm getting a mock tail. And what radicalized me was getting an aura ring. And I could see just from one drink how it affected my sleep and how I felt like crap. Just one drink. You know, I wasn't even buzzed at all. And I was like, I don't like this.

Yeah. It definitely affects your sleep. Not only that, but when I quit drinking, I also noticed, like, I mean, this is, this was a couple years ago, but, like, just the little pudgy areas or whatever that, like, that, like, just snapped and went away. I was able to run further. I'm a big runner. I love to run. So many positives. And there's so many great mocktails now that I'm like, you don't feel like fomo like you're missing out.

People don't even know whenever you get a mocktail. So is Danny Austin going full crunchy? That's a good question. I mean, I still have the implants in. So that's something that I've been like really learning about a lot. So this is kind of what got me into this space. Last year, I had the flu 10 times. Okay.

Like, no lie, flu A or flu B. It would just like, I would have that for one week, flu A. and then I would have it for like seven, eight days, then I would get better, and then I would have flu B. And then it just happened every single month. Like doctors were like, we've never seen this before. So they've done all this blood work, tried to figure out what's going on. This actually kind of technically started more in 2023, the end of 2020, 23, before I got my implants, but it almost got worse with my implants. But it makes a lot of sense.

I mean, you have this like foreign object in your body. And now from what I've learned, it's like that's what my body is now attacking. so my immune system is not acting like normal. And so I don't know. So that's kind of what got me into the space. I was like, I'm going to do everything I possibly can. And if I'm still not better and I'm not, if my immune system doesn't get better, then I should take the implants out and see.

So yeah, I have been dabbling more with the crunch. Not only that, but just like mental health wise. I feel like there's, I had a unmedicated birth for my third baby, which was so crazy. Amazing. The best experience ever. Like, I mean, okay, sorry. Like, the worst experience because it's unmedicated birth and it's really painful. But, like, I have never been more proud of myself in my life.

How did that compare to having your other babies that were medicated births? The biggest difference was my mental health after. I have had the worst postpartum with both of my children. With my first, I went on an SSRI. Wow. I was four months postpartum laying in bed thinking, I don't want to live anymore. I was sleeping 12 hours a day, like napping six hours.

It was horrible. And it was, I mean, it was basically like textbook postpart depression. Yeah. But I had never had depression or any mental health issues. I didn't know what I was dealing with. So, but then I told my husband, I was like, hey, I don't know if this is normal, but like I kind of just don't really feel like there's a purpose to living anymore. And he was like, and I'm the most typically like most energetic.

Like I love life. And he was like, yeah, this is not Danny. Went to a doctor immediately. They're like, that's postpartum depression. Right. So I don't know what got me into that state. There's probably a ton of things. I was working way too much.

I was not balanced. Nutrition-wise, probably wasn't doing great. Maybe the epidural, maybe some of the drugs that they gave me in the hospital. Who knows? You know, you do all these things. And all you can do is your best and just try to, you know, fix these little, you know, bridge the gap in the ways that you can. But I decided for this third baby, I was like, I'm going to go old school and just

like follow my gut and like I made like God made me to be able to do this you know I want to see if when I do this if it's a different experience and like I know that I can um and so I just went for it I actually told my husband like two weeks before I was like hey just so you know I think I'm not gonna get up with they're always like okay yeah sure whatever and I we didn't I had a doula and that's one thing I'm like birth is a girl's game yeah need other women there that understand and can speak into you hold your hand and be like Danny you got this you like you're made for this keep going and the whole time I'm telling my deal like I can't I can't I can't do this she's like Danny yes you can't and she kept telling me I've done this three times so you can do it like and I was like yeah you're right

like we can both do it and it was just like after I had summit that's his name I was like on cloud nine for honestly up until this point I have not had postpartum depression this go around oh my gosh I'm so so yeah I don't know what it is yeah but I just felt like I wanted to strip it down, take it back to the roots, just be more, just do it like in a more natural way. And what was your experience like, are you off the SSRI or still on it? I'm still on it. And how is it going for you, honestly? Honestly, it's going great.

I'm on a very low dosage. I'm too scared to get off of it. And I would love. You got to be careful. Yeah, you have to be careful. You have to wean yourself off of it. And that is something that I would love to explore. I started following this guy on, I think he's on TikTok or Instagram and he was weaning himself off of

his SSRI and he was doing these like cold plunges in the river. He was doing cold blunges to like regulate his system to get off of it. And I was like, man, if this is what I have to do, I don't have time for this right now. I got three babies at home. But I would love to get to that point. I think it's admirable that you talk about the postpartum depression and all of that. Because man, that's something that a lot of people don't want to admit because then it's like, oh my gosh, if I say this, does that mean people are going to think that I'm a bad mother? You know what I mean? So I think that's really important that you do that. How do you decide what you are and are not willing to share on your platform? I have learned the hard way with being extremely vulnerable on my platforms. So I started making YouTube videos when I was 19 years old in my dorm room. And I have grown up with my audience. I've shared everything with them. Like I knew my audience before I met my husband. When I started dating my husband, you know, I started putting him in boyfriend tags and date vlogs. And so,

It's just kind of like a part of my lifestyle now is sharing everything, but then I've gone through some really hard times in life where I've learned that, you know, boundaries are just as powerful as vulnerability. And I've decided now, like, when I'm going to share something, I'd rather come from a place of healing. And when my wound is already kind of healed than these like scars where I'm bleeding out and I don't know the right direction. Because honestly, it's very, it's hard whenever so many people are speaking into your life. it can kind of like make you live or make you choose, make these decisions that aren't really you because you feel the pressure from everyone else. I don't know if you feel that way. I know that I don't know like in the dating scene. Like whatever it is, it's just hard to share things that you maybe don't even know the answer to just yet. It's such a tricky game to figure out. So with my last

relationship, I had a plan. We'd actually talked about it. I was like I'm not. So my thing is I'm not posting anybody again until I'm engaged. Like I'm never doing this with my audience again. Good boundary. Okay. I thought so too. Oh. And I, that was the plan. And then like him and I were going out. We're at basketball games, whatever. And I would post little teases on my Instagram story, but I was like purposely not following him on social media. I was trying to make sure they couldn't find who it was. We were going to basketball games and stuff. They were watching ESPN, taking pictures, sharing

it online. This is who it has figured out his identity. And then like the whole cat was out of the bag. And at that point, I'm like, okay, well, everybody knows who you are. So I guess we might as well just, Just go for it. Go for it. So we did. And then we didn't end up working out. And then like, here I am again. Like all over again being like, okay, I introduced you to this guy.

Now this didn't work out. That's why I didn't want to share that in the first place. It was very much I was going through like when we first started dating. It was very much a Sabrina Carpenter. Please, please, please don't you embarrass me. M.F. You know what I mean? Like it was very much that.

And, you know, I learned my lesson again. So now I'm like very, I'm like never. I'm never posting anybody again because, yeah, it's hard. But then if you don't, they're like, why is she keeping this person from us? Like it's like a very entitled, we deserve to know this information because we've supported you for so long. So you need to tell us. Do you feel that way?

1,000 percent. But like, we also have to kind of respect ourselves enough to know those boundaries. And I think that when you do set boundaries and you stick to them, people end up respecting you more. It's like more, it's a stronger influence than just like letting someone just run all over you. But it's definitely, it's definitely hard. The thing is, I love to be vulnerable. I love to share what's going on in my life.

I love to kind of like connect with women through those struggles. But I've also learned because like I had to take two months off last year. Like I've learned the hard way of saying, hey, like, I gave you guys everything. And it wasn't their fault. It was my fault for not setting those boundaries. And now I literally had to like, I ran myself into the ground. I want to have boundaries so that I can show up long term. Have you tried raw milk yet?

Is it illegal? I don't know what it is. in Texas. Some states, you have to buy it and it's called pet milk. They can't even say it's human milk. Sometimes, or it's for human consumption. Some states, I mean, California, Arizona, you can just buy in the grocery store. No, I have been dying to get my hands on raw milk. And apparently there is like an underground supplier here in Dallas that I've been hearing out, but you have to like go like early morning or all sells out. But like somebody told me that it was like illegal. Why is raw milk illegal? That's what you need to do is you need to do a series. You need to be like

on the quest for raw milk, Danny Austin. You're outside, middle of the night with a lantern. I can do that. You think I'll get in trouble? There will be people that freak out. I mean, look, Emma Roberts, you know, the actress Emma Roberts? Yes. So she did a campaign, one of those regular dairy milk campaigns.

She was just posting about like, we should be drinking milk. She was paid, like the got milk people. Yeah. And her comments, but also these are all like Hollywood people that get very offended. They were like, how dare you promote drinking milk? you know, that's a dairy product. We shouldn't be drinking it because it comes from animals. The vegans, freaked out.

Oh, the veg. But like, I feel like your audience would probably be like raw, raw sisterhood. Yay. I mean, you've been hanging out with Taylor Dukes. She has, because she's a mutual friend of ours. Taylor will give you your Dallas raw milk hookup. No, for sure. At the time, I was also breastfeeding whenever we hung out.

So at that time, she was like, girl just put breast milk and everything. Yeah. Yeah. But, no, I would love to try it. I've heard amazing things. But, like, truly, do you actually know why? illegal because it could be unsafe but like isn't there a lot of other unsafe things that well sure okay let's not go down this gravel hole you know I was saying you're like that's a whole thing you talk you

about that on your show yeah okay yeah yeah yeah yeah okay let's let's talk about the breast implants yeah you're seriously considering taking your breast implants out when I saw that you were going through being sick over and over and over again that was the first thing I have to tell you the first thing I was like it's that's what it is no doubt in my mind has to be That is such a commonality with women that, like, this sickness that you cannot, you cannot kick all these weird symptoms. And that's what it ends up being. Do you think there's a difference between silicone and saline? Because a lot of people were saying, oh, are they silicone?

Because saline is, like, more natural since it's saline. I think it's either. Because they both are wrapped in something. Yeah, they're both, yeah. So I've never had any serious, I've never had plastic surgery. I have gotten. Oh, you look good. Oh, my goodness.

Oh, well, thank you. I have had, I don't need more. It's been years, but I was getting for a minute Botox, and I was getting lip filler. And stopped both of those because the last time that I got Botox, I felt my, well, I had a flu for like a week. My hair started falling out. And I just, I think that was like my bucket had finally overflowed, my toxin load. The threshold. Yep.

And so I started getting super sick. So I wonder if that was kind of the case with your breast implants. It truly could be. I will say when I. I talk about it and I call my doctor, everyone is like, no, that's, no, truly, that could not be yet. We've never seen that before. What?

Yeah, but then, you know, you go online. I listen to the skinny confidential. I know she had something similar. So it is something that I'm considering. I've only had them for about, it's been a year now. So, like I said, it's one of those things where I'm going to try out all the, maybe I need to cut out Diet Coke first. Maybe that's my number one.

I mean, cut that out either way. But the only other thing, Danny, that it could be, I feel. like would be mold. Okay. Which if you don't know, like maybe there's something wrong with the way your shower was built, it's something that is in your environment every day. There's some mold in your life. I don't know. Did you ever do an environmental test? No, no. I've never done that. Oh, you need to do that. And they come to your house? Yes. You need to have Ryan from Test My Home. He did my apartment. He did Lauren Bostick's place. He's done like everybody's place. He'll come out. He'll test your whole home to tell you how bad in your environment, like your air quality, your toxic

your cleaning supplies, your candles. Like, he can test everything and figure out, like, how bad your situation is and then also mold. How was your situation? Pristine, he said, I got, like, an 8-5. You can eat off my floor because I use only non-toxic stuff. Do you have air filters everywhere? I have air-pilers.

I've got the Jasper air purifiers in every room. Okay, did you see ours? No, I didn't know. We have massive, chunky ones. And we actually don't have one in this room because of the sound. Yeah. But we did, Jordan, my husband. I came home one day when I was getting really sick.

I mean, boxes up to the same. ceiling. He had bought the, like, I don't know what brand they are, but they're huge. And he put them in each room. So we did start doing that. Do you turn your Wi-Fi off at home? Yes. Hard, hard Wi-Fi off at night. Yep. So no EMFs. And my phone always- Do you microwave anything? Never, never, never. I don't believe in microwaves. Never use microwave. I believe you. I believe you. Those got to be bad. Really bad. And- no AirPods. Don't own AirPods. I'm wired headphones. Wow. And- She's back in the 90s, girl. My phone is on airplane mode.

always at night in my room never on. So don't get offended when Alex Clark doesn't text you back. It's not because she doesn't like you. It's because she's on airplane mode. Exactly. So yeah, I think you could look when if you are like, I love my breast implants. I want to try everything else first. See if there could be a mold exposure.

I'm going to try that. I'm going to get Ryan's number. People think like, I don't know. There's a weird thing about mold is that you think like, oh, well, it couldn't be my house. Like, I mean, I have a new house or whatever or like I have a cleaning person comes, you know, weekly, daily, like, it can't be. It's like, it is so hidden. It could be something within the construction. You know what I mean? Yeah, for sure. Some minor leak that you don't know that's causing it. Wow. What if that's what it is? Okay, that'll be a good saga. We're going to try

that out. I also wanted to say, navigating, I wanted to warn you, navigating the wellness space, there's a lot of new age woo-woo that can come up. So as a Christian, I think this is important is kind of having this discernment, which I feel like you're really good with this. I feel like you pick up on things based on your conversations with Jordan about conspiracy theories and all of this. Like, you're like something right there. And you are going to need that if you're jumping into wellness. I think you need it if you're jumping into anything in life these days.

But yeah, that's my one thing is, did you hear the conversation about the telepathy tapes? Is that way you're referring? Which is fascinating. My husband is so into these telepathy. It really is so fascinating. So say what it is for people that don't know. So the telepathy tapes, it was a documentary that we watched about children with nonverbal autism. And basically they were communicating through, what do they call it?

I mean, telepathy. They're like mind reading. Mind reading. And so they're communicating with their mothers or their caretakers through telepathy. And that's what the claim is. But when I watched it, it seemed like a lot of like guidance. touched. Oh, you think? Yes. And I like, we can go down this whole rabbit hole, but that's what it appeared to, whenever we actually paid $10 to watch the telepathy tapes, like the actual tests that were

taken, there was a lot of guided. So like whenever you point to a letter and then you apply a little pressure on someone's knee, then you stop at that letter. So that's how they know like what to spell. And regardless, whatever it is, I think maybe it's a great way of communicating. That's not for me to say I'm not an expert in that, just telepathy in general, and some people having that gift and some people not when it's not given to them by the Holy Spirit was confusing to me. Like, because I do believe in spiritual gifts and I do believe in miracles and I believe in everything that scripture talks about, but a lot of those were given, happen through like the Holy Spirit or asking God, you know, to reveal something or whatever, through prayer. And so whenever people were just receiving

these gifts without even being like believing that Christ I don't know it was just a little a little woo-woo for me so it really that's where it really came down to it was more of like the religious spiritual aspect of it the OG cute servatives know that my favorite term of

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and how much they allegedly made last year. Now, they had you down for things. 13.6 million for last year. Is that accurate? Man, we have to ask my accountant. I don't know. I mean, it's crazy what people can make, I will say. So I want to nerd out a little inside baseball. Yeah, yeah. I really want to nerd out on this because this fascinates me. Yeah. I am not an influencer. I mean, I am like backdoor influencer, like somehow I ended up here because that's where everything's going. You are an But I'm a media, but I'm a media person.

So I, when I first started working at Turning Point, they were like, oh yeah, let's work together as an influencer. I didn't even know what that was because I had just done radio. So I kind of fell into this, but this, you've built this world, basically. We're all on your back. So I have so many questions. And I think some people, I think some people will be like, well, this isn't relatable. And I'm like, who cares?

I don't care what you think. I think this is interesting. So here's what I want to know. I love her. I wish I could be more like Alex. Are you an eight on the Enneagram? I am a four. Really?

Which nobody believes. I guess I can see that. I think like everything dark and sad is beautiful. Like all the art in my place is really dark and weird. You're like so individual. Like nobody understands you. Yes. Yeah.

Well, nobody understands me or nobody likes me, but also I have to be unique and different. It's a weird contradictory thing. Okay, I love it. Anyway, go ahead. Okay. So what is generating the most income for you at this moment? Instagram wise? Is it post stories or reels? All of them. But I would say that stories have always taken a front seat in my business just because they are like the easiest way for me to connect with my audience. And I can

create them so fast and frequently. So I created, when I started when Instagram stories came out, I decided, okay, this is going to be like my little reality TV show. And so I would wake up with my audience go through my entire day with them. I mean, some days, I'm having so many dots on my stories. Like, this is before they recently changed the algorithm. So they, like, used to get a ton more story views. And so, but it's crazy because I was posting every day. And then they would just all disappear. And which was kind of a bummer. But at the same time, it kind of created this, like, novelty to like coming back in this consistency and this relationship with my audience. So some people think it's dumb. I was like, well, this is great because people just keep coming back.

But I, like, love Instagram stories. I, like, I love them. When you are posting on there, I mean, are you the one actually scheduling, posting all this, or do you have a team that's like helping you? Obviously, you're making the content, but then are they deciding when things are posted when they're coming out? No, no. I post everything.

You do it? I post, unless there's like, I'm like, hey, can somebody throw up this slide for me? Yeah, I post all my own Instagram stories. My reels, we can schedule those out. Someone can help me schedule those out, which is super easy. But no, I'm the one on the phone. I always just say, I'm just a crazy mom with an iPhone. Do you read your messages?

Depends on the state of my mental health. Like right now I'm in a really good place. So I'm in there. I'm replying to everybody. If somebody's snarky, I'm snarky right back. Like, I have a lot of fun with it. And then there's sometimes whenever I'm like, hey, I need to put my phone down. I need to focus on my family.

This is too much for me. So it truly just goes in waves. How far in advance are you planning your post? Probably a month in advance. So once again, it kind of just depends on like the season of life. But like when I'm really on my game, like we're scheduled out for. four to six weeks for reals. Do giveaways, when you're doing those giveaways,

like follow me, follow this person, follow this person, and then you'll win something. Do those really have a good return for followers? Or is that more of a way to like just give something back to your audience? Both. I mean, first of all, people love them. And it's such a great way to get back to our audience.

Why not? And then it's a great way to kind of put your name out there. And I have so many people that I meet. I'm like, how did you find my channel? They're like, oh, through a giveaway. And then I just started following you and I loved, you know. So it's just kind of like a way of marketing yourself. but also like it I've met some of the people that have won our giveaways and it changes their

lives. So it's amazing. Is most of your income coming from Divi or Instagram? Oh, Instagram. I don't, we, we invest everything back into Divi. Really? Everything. So ever, yeah, since day one. So my business alone, the Danny Austin brand has supported Divi from day one. Like that's what we use the, that's how we invested in the brand. That's how we launched the brand. And ever since Divi launched, I'm like, I want to pour every single dime back into that brand to help it go because we didn't have any P.E. Any investors to begin with. For Instagram, what is the biggest check you've gotten for a brand? I don't know what mine is, but I remember the first time that I went to dinner with one of

my influencer friends and she had a seven-figure brand deal. A seven-figure brand deal? How many followers does she have? At the time, she was mainly on YouTube. She probably had about four or five million. The thing was like she had this insane relationship with their audience. And I think that that's one thing that people don't understand. People get so caught up in followers and follower growth.

But it's like really just having a close relationship with your audience and trust with your audience is everything. Like I always am like, man, if I just have 20,000 people that actually trust my opinion, I'm good. It's very valuable. That's all that you really need is just trust. If you had to rank everything, I know you love everything that you do. but if you had to rank favorites between Instagram, the podcast, and Divi, how would those rank for you, like, most favorite thing right now to least favorite? My favorite thing overall is probably Divi just because it's grown so big and, like, so outside of me.

The team is incredible. We have a team of female scientists that create all of our products. I'm most involved in product development. But outside of that, I'm just like, I sometimes I'm like, we walk into Ulta or, target. I'm like, oh my gosh. Oh, yeah. Like, I created that. It's just, it's wild. And didn't you say something to your daughter when she was little, like shopping at Ulta? Like, wouldn't it be so cool if Mommy ended up here? Oh, yes. And I was, we had just launched our scalp serum, just D-To-C. And I always wanted to get it into Ulta. And I'm like, pushing my daughter. I'm like, Stella, do you think we can do it? Do you think we

do it? And a year later, like, almost to the day we launched at Ulta. Do you live in fear of all of this being taken away and being canceled? I live in no fear. It's kind of like. It's maybe one of my superpowers whenever I got married to my husband and I was trying to convince him to quit his job and let's work together. This is back when he was like the influencer husband or the Instagram husband. He's always like he's way more fear-based and he's like, well, what if it just like, what if we get canceled? I go, babe, the worst thing that couldn't happen is we have to move out of our house and we're homeless. But we still have each other. Like that's literally like that's a worst thing that can happen.

And that's still great. So I truly don't live in fear like that. I'm also really, I've always been like a saver. So everything from day one I've just saved or invested. Like, and so I think that also helps me not feel so fearful of it all going away because we always have something to fall back on. But yeah, no, I've just, I'm honestly just very grateful that we're still here. When you look back in time at the moment that your hair started significantly falling out, do you feel like? like that was coming from stress of content creation? 100%. I mean, I've probably been canceled, quote unquote canceled, like four times in my life. And this one happened after the first, like, cancellation, which I've never even really talked about this. We'll tell us because I don't know. Well, I mean, it's like a whole, you know, everybody's been canceled so many times for so many

different things now. It's like, but, but this one was like the first time that I had like really intense hate. People are telling me to go, you know, jump off a bridge to hurt myself. whatever and I had never had that type of feedback before and so on top of just like honestly nutritionally not taking care of myself I wasn't working out I wasn't I was just like a workaholic on top of all of that the stress that came from that cancellation like really affected my hair I think too and then I got a hair extensions to try to cover it up and that caused traction alopecia And what people don't understand about hair extensions or traction alopecia is if you're tugging on this like one section of your hair, you don't just lose hair where the hair extension was attached.

You lose like the entire patch like around this whole surface area. So and so that's why when you see people with hair extension damage and you take out their hair extensions, their hair looks very jig, jaggedy and like almost like very fluffy on the ends. And that's that's why. So anyway, I had so many, there were so many issues with my health. And so I just decided, okay, I'm going to take this year. and transition into wigs. And I'm going to wear wigs. And I actually went to school to, I was a kinesiology major. So I went to school to apply to PT school. I didn't apply to PT school. But I understood like the basic systems of your body. And so I would get into my like bathroom and start making my own scalp

serums because I felt like this was like the air of dry shampoo. And people were just like just spraying dry shampoo, never showering anymore. And that's great. But all of that gunk was just sitting on your scalp, which is also just not good for you. It has horrible ingredients in it. It's going through your hair follicle, clogging your hair follicle, not giving your follicle a like a full chance of growth. And so I just decided, okay, I'm going to start like detoxing and stimulating. And I shared all this with my audience on YouTube and they were like, hey, can you send us some? So my first, when I wanted to launch Divi, it was really just like a scalp serum I had made in my bathroom. That was really all it was. And I don't have like genetically the most beautiful hair. It's thin. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's really.

No, same. I have clippins in. My hair, you and I have the exact same hair texture. Yeah. And it's, and like so, but I feel like there's not a lot of products for girls like us because all the people that are creating shampoos and conditioners, they all have genetically beautiful hair. So I was like, can we focus on like the thinning hair girls and women that need help with their scalp? And so it was just insane. I launched that scalp serum. We did 40 million in sales the first year. And what were you hoping to make? Honestly, I didn't even. even have a number. This was not like a business that I thought. Like if you made $200,000, you'd probably been like, wow. Oh, 100%. Yeah. I've been like, wow. And like,

that's good. We got this. We got the product out to the girls. Now let's move back on. Like, I didn't think I was going to have a hair care company. Like, $40 million, though, in the first year, that is outrageous. Like, I, that's like Kim Kardashian or something. Like, that is unfathomable to me. And it was just from you being an Instagram influencer. Yes. It was, well, so then I think what happened. happened was I launched the scalp serum. I encouraged women to use it for three months. First of all, this is the first time that anyone is taking care of their scalp. No one had heard of like the skinification of scalp. Scalp. Scalp serums were not a thing at all.

So imagine like you're someone that's never taken care of your scalp and then all of a sudden you start taking care of it. Like you're going to see results. And so women started using it for three months and they, they started posting before and after pictures. I never really asked people to do that. But they just did. This was like around like 2021, 2022. And, and And I think because women know, and it was men as well, but people know that hair loss is so emotional that when they started to see results, they're like, wow, I want to share this. Like I want to help other people. I finally found something that also we used clean ingredients. So it was something that they didn't feel uncomfortable like monocidal, which can cause like dizziness and, you know, all these other issues.

Heart palpitations. Like we actually use clean ingredients that you could use long term. And so people saw great results. And I think just like it was a lot of people sharing it with their friends and family that I think grew it so fast. But yeah, so ever since then, it's just been about like listening to my audience, hearing more of what they want, shampoo, conditioner, volume products, hair supplements, whatever it is. And here we are. It's crazy. It's the craziest thing.

So you're riding this wave. You've got one of the most successful products on the market. Your Instagram influencing thing is off the chain. You've got kids at home. when did the burnout start really creeping in for you after creating divvy? The burnout started creep in in 2024, the beginning of 2024, where, oh my goodness, I mean, here's a thing. I don't know about you, but I was raised in this like girl boss era mentality where it's like

you can be anything that you want to be and go after your dreams and sacrifice everything and hustle, hustle. And it was great because that's what my parents always told me. I really took that to heart and I went for it. But I think once you start to have children and you get married, no one ever talks about the transition of slowing down. So you get on top of the mountain. You get everything that you ever desired.

You work so hard. You're going a million miles an hour. But now you got these little beings that are like relying on you. You got a husband that you also need to support and be there for. And I had no idea how to slow down. So what I just did was I just kicked it in a year and just kept going. And I found a lot of my worth in work and in my accomplishments. You mentioned that you used social media to cope with emotions that you didn't want to address within your marriage, which led to misunderstandings, led to some resentment.

Like, does that mean that you were searching for validation with your followers that you should have been seeking with your husband or you were posting digs about your husband and kind of venting to them, which wasn't right? Or what did you mean by that? I try my best not to vent about my husband because I feel like that's really disrespectful. But I was mainly just seeking validation probably in the little successes, whether it was a post or a launch or maybe a collab that I created with another brand. And I think that after a while, that just didn't start to fill me up. And I started looking at my life and I'm like, I'm not the mom that I want to be. Does it also feel like for an influencer of your caliber that there is no. true time off that even on vacation you're posting, like the content creation doesn't stop.

Of course. I mean, the content creation really doesn't stop. And it seems like every opportunity is an opportunity that people want. And it, so you really, like I said at the beginning, like, you really have to set strict boundaries for yourself and really stick to them because it's so easy to say, oh, this trip that we're going to go on is a family vacation. But then you get DMs and where you going. I want to see. Tell us where you're going. It'll be so helpful. What are you wearing? Can you send me the link? And then you just keep posting and keep posting. And then I just, like I said, I looked back one day and I was like, this is not the

life that I want to have. This is not the way I want to raise my children. So I decided to put down my phone. And the way I kind of describe it is I decided to fight for my children. And I took two months off last year, like around November and December. And I mean, it was a lot of like no screens puzzling, took it back to the roots, dinner every night together with the family, woke up every morning, had my wife. worship walk, did my praise and worship, did my Bible study. And I was like, I just want to get back

to the normalcy. And what I really wanted, what I was craving so much with my family were like, I call it kind of like the trashy moments. Like not the moments that were on a family vacation, going to dinner and the nannies have set up everything perfect. Like I want the moment where we wake up, we're exhausted, we're like feeling like we'll leave a little hungover because we haven't slept enough because the babies are crying and like those moments that like we all have to fight together and like those are the learning moments that also like I can teach my child something not whenever everything is like pristine and perfect does that make sense absolutely makes sense when you decided I have to take a break I need two months off I mean were you like planning this with Jordan in

advance was he totally thrown for a loop like shocked I told Jordan whenever I was like listen I need to have a break. I need to just put down the phone, literally took the phone and put it away and was like, like, we just have to start from scratch. I was like, I need to blow up my life so that I can build it back the way that I want to build it up, build it. But he was so supportive. And so how was Jordan feeling about that? Yeah, you didn't care. Oh, we both like do not care. Like that wasn't the hard decision. The money wasn't the hard decision. It was the letting people down. Yeah. The money, like, like I said, we've always been really, like, smart so we've always put the... Jordan actually said that he had like a fund, like set aside

for like the blowing up my life fund that he knew was coming from me. He was like, I knew this would happen. He's like, we're good. Don't worry. That's a good husband. And no, and Jordan was like, I don't want any of this. I don't care about any of this. Like, I just want a happy wife and like, I want you to feel healthy and supported. Do you ever walk into a mainstream beauty store and immediately feel like you're breathing in a cloud of chemicals? That overwhelming fake fragrance hit me hard the other day. I couldn't even stay in there for like five minutes. I mean, my eyes started burning my head hurt, I couldn't breathe. I thought, why does this place smell like a cleaning aisle disguised as a beauty counter? That was my wake-up call. I started researching,

okay, well, what is actually in conventional makeup? And it's not great. Synthetic fragrances, paraben, preservatives, just toxic overload. That is why I use Adele Natural Cosmetics. It's a family-owned brand making non-toxic small batch makeup with real ingredients like hobo oil, cocoa butter, and raw coconut oil. Their loose powder foundation is a great go-to for summer because it controls shine and gives natural coverage and layers beautifully over a cream or liquid foundation for a fuller look without the weight. No chemicals, no perfume clouds. Just clean makeup. So if you're ready to breathe easy and feel beautiful, go to adele natural cosmetics.com, use code Alex on your first order for 25% off. That's Adelnaturalcosmetics.com code Alex.

Clean beauty shouldn't come with a warning label. I'll admit it. When I first heard about freeze-dried candy, I thought it was just another TikTok trend that would disappear in a few weeks. But then I tried it. And now I love it with my Harvest Right Home Freeze Dyer. I've made crunchy clean skittles, puffed marshmallows, even ice cream sandwiches that somehow tastes better than the original. It's turned into a go-to weekend ritual, especially on those scorching Arizona nights when a movie and homemade snacks are just the perfect escape. And the best part, these treats last for months.

But Harvest Right isn't just for fun snacks. You can also freeze dry full meals, fruits, veggies, even leftovers, so you always have healthy homemade food on hand. You can freeze dry your lasagna. Whether you're prepping for emergencies, cutting down on food waste, or just want to make life a little easier, it's one of the smartest investments that you can make for your family. Trust me, try freeze-dried candy once. Tell me you're not obsessed. Go to Harvestrite.com. See what's possible. That's harvest right.com. So here's the question. With the success of Divi, what is stopping you from just quitting Instagram altogether?

Could you just live off of Divi? I mean, I guess I technically could. Like I don't we don't pay ourselves anything from Divy right now. But yeah, I guess I technically could. But here's the thing like I know I've talked a lot about maybe mental health. But like I love what I do too. I feel like there's a reason why I call myself like sometimes the cockroach because I feel like I cannot die in this space. Like because I truly feel like a purpose in it.

And I love love my community. Like I'm not even just saying that. Like when I meet women out and about like, and I'm like, oh my gosh, you're a real person and you support us. And it means so much to me. And like a lot of these people have been there for me in really hard times. And sometimes I feel like, okay, like I don't know why they follow me. I don't really. But then there's sometimes that I feel like God puts this like message on my heart.

And I'm like, this is why I do what I do. And I get to share this with people. And I feel like one thing about me is like I can sit at a table with. with like so many different type of people, whether they are super left, lean super right, if they're come from money or if they don't, and like I can connect with them. Like it doesn't matter to me.

And I feel like I'm able to do that like over the internet as well. Like, and I just, I love it. I love what I do, but it's just that sometimes I love it so much that I don't take care of myself. And that's what puts me in this position. So how are you feeling now? How is your marriage? How is your stress?

Oh, marriage is your stress. And not only that, but my husband started working on, and he's looking foreign. Like, I'm telling you, he's looking so good. He's on this health journey, too, where, oh, my gosh, like, I look at him, like, oh, my God. I feel like I, like, invested in, like, a really good piece of property. Like, he's just, like, he's just growing and growing. No, marriage is amazing. I feel so close and connected with my children.

My third baby, like I said, I went unmedicated, unmedicated. I kind of threw out a lot of those norms. was like the sleep training and all of like the advice that you heard. I kind of just like didn't listen to any of it. And I just followed my mommy gut with my third. And it put me in like the best place mentally. So I'm just learning. I'm learning.

I'm evolving. I'm changing. And it's like, you know, it's not perfection, but it's progress. Speaking of mommy intuition, is it true that you started noticing adverse side effects in your oldest when it came to vaccinating and decided not to do that with your other kids? Yes. So my first, I was fully like gung-ho all vaccines. So I vaccinated my daughter up into her 12-month appointment. This was back in 2020. And she didn't get the COVID vaccine, obviously. I did not either because I was pregnant. So when we did her MMR on her 12-month checkup, she came home. And that night, in the next day, she had like a horrible fever, got rashes all over. her. She started, my daughter was like running at 10 months. She was like on the ground like just like flat on her face. Like I'd never seen her like that before. It was like she was regressing. Yeah, almost like regressing, but almost like in pain like from the inside or something. Like I'd never seen it. And so I'm just like so concerned. I don't know what I'm called a doctor. It's normal. These rashes are normal. And I had heard, you know, sometimes getting the vaccine like the MMR like can cause side effects like they have like the measles or whatever it is. So I was like, okay, well, maybe this is part of the process, but what really got me, and to be

honest, if that would have happened and then she would have been better the next day, I probably would have been like still maybe pro vaccine. But like the day after that, this was, she was cold outside. She started getting these massive hives all over her body for about a year anytime it was below 40 degrees. What? So she developed what they called cold uticuria. And it was was the craziest thing. So anytime it was cold, like we went on a walk outside. I remember Thanksgiving, she was like just like covered in waltz. And, um, it was directly correlated with the MMR vaccine. It literally happened like, you know, 48 hours after. So I go to the doctor. They recommend us to, um, you know, another specialist. And they tell me, they're like, Danny, this is not because of the vaccine.

This just happened. And I'm like, listen, I'm no doctor and I'm no scientists, but I know what a correlation is. Were you sharing this with your audience as it was happening? Not as it was happening because this was also 2020. I was like, we're not going to be. I was going to say, this would be brave. No, no. I started sharing it probably in like 2023 when I told my audience that we weren't going to vaccinate Stratton or summit.

And so, yeah, so for a year she had colded, apparently she still has it. Or sometimes they can grow out of it. But after that, I was like, I don't know. I'm not going to say that I'm anti-vax. I'm not here to spread any, like, because I honestly don't know, but what I do know is I do have this mommy gut, and I would never put my kids through something like that, if, like, if I have control over it, there's no way that I'm going to do that.

I saw it firsthand, so all I know is my own experience, you know. And that's all that you need to know. That's what every mother needs to know. And if that mother's experiences, my kids thrive with all, you know, 70 plus vaccines, great. That's, you know, your kid, your family, and you as the mother know what's best, and you as a mother knew what was best for your kids.

And I mean, that's all we want, is mothers and parents again to feel empowered. You know what's best for your kids. You make the best decisions for your kids. I don't know how we ended up to this place where you're the last person that's supposed to know what's going on with your kids. Some stranger just because they have a medical degree,

well, they're the ones that know, even though you are day in, day out with your kid, seeing what's affecting them, seeing what isn't. Well, and I'm actually kind of bummed today right before you got here. So my son, Stratton, he didn't walk till about 17 or 18 months. So I was like, there's no way in the world I'm going to give him a vaccine. Like he's already delayed in terms of like what the doctors say he was delayed. He's fine. He's fine.

But right before you got here, I got a call from a school that we were trying to send him to like the summer camp. Oh, here we go. And he's not vaccinated. So he's not like, so I didn't feel out. I felt I sent in the forms. but like it shows how many vaccines he has. And they just called right before you got here and they're like, hey, like we're going to need a full vaccine form where he's not going to be able to come.

And that just like kind of bums me out. Yeah, how that makes you feel? It bums me out because so because Stella's technically vaccinated. And she's missing one MMR, but she can go to all these camps and Stratton can't. You'll have to send him to go to a camp in Florida. Yeah, seriously. Or somewhere else. Yeah.

And I think it was just like this was also a camp of a school that I really wanted my kids to go to. And I think it's just like something I've been praying about. I'm like, okay, maybe this is the answer. Maybe they're not supposed to. You know what? You can start this. A school? No, not necessarily a school, but you could start a kids camp where it's like, hey, like, stuff like that doesn't matter. Yeah. Like, I don't know. I'm sure there's so many other camps, but this was just like a special one because it was like a school that I was really excited about. So it's fine, but it is, it is kind of a bummer. I will say this. And I'm not a parent yet, But if I were to imagine if I was in the situation, it was my kid, I'd be like, okay, this is a huge bummer to miss out on this camp.

But what if my kid missed out on talking for the rest of his life? You know what I mean? Yeah. It's like, so that is like the pros and cons and the weighing. And then you have to decide everything as a risk. Vaccinating your kids has a risk, not vaccinating your kids has a risk. And then as the parent, you have to decide, okay, what risk am I comfortable with? Some people are like, I'm terrified.

If my kid were to get measles, that's the risk I'm not going to take. I want to vaccinate. Some are like I would rather take the chance, you know, that we don't get it and then he does, you know, so it's, everything is risk. I agree with you. I think the one thing that also just bothers me in this conversation is just like how mean some of the doctors and nurses have. And I'm like, I don't just like throw around the word mean like lightly. Like they are like really mean about our kids not being vaccinated. And like they're probably going to kick us out of the doctor's office that we're.

at pretty soon. I'm trying, I'm, I'm like dangling by a thread because honestly, they have a great 24 hour line. So I'm like, I kind of just want to stay as long as I can. But when we go in there every single time, it's like, I'll go in because my, my newborn has pink eye. And the whole time, they'll just lecture me about, they truly will be like, you're not responsible for what you're deciding and what you're doing. And like, this is not the place for you. And if this is the way that you want to raise your children, we suggest that you go elsewhere. And I'm just like a normal mom. I'm like, I'm not a health expert. I'm not a doctor.

I'm learning as I go. I mean, thankfully for, like, podcasts like yours and other podcasts that I listen to, I'm learning more. But, like, how else am I going to figure things out? This is an epidemic that's happening around the countries that are kicking parents out of pediatricians' offices who are not vaccinating their kids. But the truth is, it's because, you know, they're making Buku Bucks when they send in their reports to the insurance company saying how many their patients are getting the vaccines. They're getting a massive, like, office kickback. So does the office get a kickback? do the individual doctors also?

The office does. So their office, all their personnel, whatever they want to use for their facility, they're getting a massive check. Okay. And does it come in waves? Because with our pediatrician office, they were all fine with my decisions

up until about, like, I would say a month and a half ago. And it's like they kicked out like two or three of my friends that were going. You could get out of there. It was like a wave of like all of a sudden, now we care. It's almost like someone came into their office

and was like, we got to meet a quota or something like that. Well, probably did. They probably looked at their numbers, said, hey, you've got X amount of patients who are not getting this. You're missing out on $75,000 a year. You know, it's something like that. Yeah, yeah. But you should read Dr. Bob Sears book.

He's a pediatrician in Orange County. Okay. What's it called? It's called, I think it's just called the vaccine book. Okay. I read Vax. I read some of Vax facts. Yeah.

Which was like interesting. But, and I had another interesting experience during COVID in 2020 when I was pregnant and man that was a weird year to be pregnant but um i went into my doctor's office and um my actual gyno that i see was not there that day so i had to see a different doctor she was like really pressuring me to get the COVID vaccine at the time and i was like okay this is really new and um i'm pregnant like i don't know like i was like can we just have like a larger sample size first and she told me that there were like a lot of studies that showed that if i didn't get it that my child was like way more likely to be born with like deformities or be born with all these issues.

I couldn't bring my husband into the appointment because it was COVID so you couldn't bring anyone in. And I remember calling my husband. Like I was like, should I do it? Should I do it? What do I do? I feel like I'm being a horrible mom. Like I don't want to be responsible for my child having issue. Like it was the scariest thing.

I just had no idea how to navigate. It was a weird, weird time. One of my most proudest accomplishments is that I never got that vaccine. That's what I heard you say that. I have an entire cabinet in my kitchen dedicated to masa chips. I'm not kidding. It's like when cartoon characters open their closet and it's just 40 of the same outfit. Yeah, except you open my pantry door and it's just 40 bags of the same chip.

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Vitamins A, D, E, K, and a flavor that brings back what chips used to taste like before seed oils ruin the party. Yes, Mossa is a little pricier, okay? I'm not trying to hide anything from you, but it's small batch. It's real ingredients. It's family owned. If you can swing it, it is worth it. get 25% off your first purchase with code real Alex Clark at mosa chips.com. That's mosachips.com, code real Alex Clark for 25% off your first purchase. When you talked about this with your audience, did you get a significant amount of hate? I usually get hate on if I'm spreading misinformation. But I feel like my own experience isn't misinformation.

You know, that's just my experience. I agree. I agree with that. You know what I do for my mental health? Block people. Girl, I'm like, I got to take that. I mean, I do block quite a few people. But honestly, I just don't look at my phone.

Post and ghosts, like Joe Rogan says, posting ghosts. There's been rumors that you've gone through some public friend breakups in the past. Whether or not that's true doesn't really matter. But what my question is, well, that's what I'm saying. Of course, me too. So my question is, like, how do you, what is your advice for navigating a friend breakup as an adult? Yeah, I wouldn't even say I have a friend breakup. Truly, everyone, there might just be some people that I'm not as close.

with and I think that's okay to go through different seasons. My biggest thing is I always look for for friends and women that are like cheering you on that want to see you succeed and you can feel that right away. Exactly. Yeah. I have a lot of friends that are influencers, but I have a lot of friends that aren't and which also just keeps you so grounded because when you're like complaining about some comment on they're like, they're like, Danny, like we're here. Like you're good. Nobody's angry at you. Just put down your phone and just live in the moment. And it almost makes it seem silly. So I love having friends that have like no idea. I play tennis with a group of women.

Like I swear they have no idea what I do. Like they're like, what do you? And I'm like, oh, my husband and I run a business. You know, and it's like the best because it really does just kind of show you how like small this little bubble on the internet is. It's just like you put down your phone and just live life. I think to, and I'm sure you you feel this way. I feel like every moment of my day, definitely the last year, it's, I've never been busier. My time is so precious.

And I mean, I'm so scheduled out. It's like I can look at my whole day sometimes and it's like, I have 30 minutes here. Like 30 minutes of free time. You know, and I'm sure you have those days. That's hard. And it's not always, but it's becoming more and more common. Today's probably one of those days for you. Yes.

And so like for me, I don't know about you, but I just feel like time is precious and you have to be so selective about who gets a piece of that. Because if I only have 30 minutes of my day or an hour in my day and I'm trying to make time for you, like I hope that we are pouring into each other's lives and it's a positive experience for us both like if every single time I have an interaction with somebody it's negative it's draining I feel like they're like everything is a personal attack or something like I it becomes like a super dreadful experience like oh I have to like talk to this person or whatever because it just makes me feel like crap oh yeah and you just have to start being selective about who gets some of that time oh 100% it's so important and that's one thing about me is like I don't need a bazillion friends like I just want like five

best friends that I can go super, super deep with. And that's really all I need. When you have like a crazy day where you're doing a bunch of stuff, content work, podcasting, what does that actually look like in reality with your kids? So we have a nanny. And our nanny is like family. So I was raised by a nanny essentially. My mom is, my mom is the oldest of five. She's Hispanic. And my mom like, she was basically pulled out of high school to, to work and to provide for her family. So that's the woman that raised me. Okay, so, like, I have that influence in my life that's, like, hustle culture, grit, keep going. And I remember thinking when I was a little girl and then my nanny's taking care of me, I was like, my mom is so badass.

Can I cuss on this? Oh, yeah. She is so badass. Like, I would go to school. I'd be like, and some girl would be like, yeah, my mom's a doctor. I'd be like, yeah, well, my mom's at a convention center selling strollers. And I was like, that is so cool. And so I always respected my mom and the time that she spent as like a mother parenting us, but also on herself.

Not only that, my parents would go dancing. And I remember, like, we'd have a nanny. They'd watch us. And my parents would go out Friday night. They'd come back and be showing me their dance moves. And I was like, oh, my gosh, that is so fun, so cool. Like, I can't wait till, like, I can go out and dance too. And so I've always respected women that work.

And I've always respected my mom for having a nanny that took care of us. And she was, like, family to us. She taught me how to speak Spanish. That's why I learned Spanish. And that's how Brenda. Brenda is actually Jordan's aunt. This is a manny? Yeah.

Okay. She's family to us. And she's someone that, like, I would trust, I trust with my children. And I trust, I would trust with my own life. Like, she's amazing. So does she live with you? No, she doesn't live with us. Okay.

So what time does she get here in the morning and what time does she leave? So she is here by 7.30 and she leaves like around 4. And that's because I work out at 7.30, but I work out here. So, um, so she, I usually get the kids up. I kind of get them up at like 6, 6.30. And then, you know, get the breakfast, whatever they need. And so then she helps me, like, pack them for school and stuff.

And then each day is different. Some days I'm like, hey, Brenda, can you get out of here? Like, I just really want to spend time with my kids. Then some days I'm like, hey, Brenda, I won't see you until, you know, four, you know, whatever it is. But no, I mean, she really is someone that, like, will be in our lives, like, for the rest of our lives. We love her. Do you find it frustrating that at the same time your audience is, like, be relatable,

Be transparent. Show us everything that you're doing. Don't hide anything from us. And then you talk about having help with your kids. Then they get mad. Like, why are you using a nanny? Like, do you have that? That hurts me because there's times when I question if I'm a good mom too, you know?

And so there's questions, there's times that I'm like, man, I don't feel like I spent enough time with my kids this week. And like, I'll just be honest and vulnerable and say that. Like, there's sometimes where like I have to be at an Ulta conference in Florida and I miss my kids more than anything. And then you have people in your DMs being. like why aren't you back at home? I'm like, I know. I feel that too. Like, I want to be back at home as well. But what I have decided in 2025 is like I am a mom first and work will fill into all of those

gaps that come in between. And so with everything that I've talked about, it's just like boundaries. And so I have these like things like I take Stella to gymnastics. That is my thing. Like I feed summit in the mornings. Like I did a lot of things different like I said with my third child because I wanted that time with them. I didn't want a nanny to be feeding them. Like I was like, no, I want to be cuddling with them. sleeping with them doing all of the trashy dirty work like I was talking about earlier. But no, I mean, it does sometimes hurt because, but then there's other times where I'm like, I am killing it as a mom.

And yes, like right now, we're filming this podcast because my nanny is taking care of my three children downstairs. We wouldn't be able to do this if, if Brenda wasn't here. But I know that like I feel good about myself. I love what I'm doing. And I know that I'm going to be able to show up better for my kids because of that. And not only that, like, maybe I'll be a good influence on them too. They'll see that mommy's like, well, like she's diverse in what she can do.

She's a mommy, but she's also a number one is a wife too. Like I think that it's so important to show up as a wife before anything because my kids are going to leave one day. And I want, I think that the relationship and how Jordan and I treat each other in front of our kids is so important and so impactful. When you started feeling the weight of everything on your back, like I'm killing it at my job, I'm doing all this with my kids, but everything's starting to weigh on. Why does it feel like I'm getting burned out?

Why does it feel like I can't do it all? I thought I was told like the best women can do it all. We're supposed to have this girl boss mentality you talked about. Were you confused? Like, is there something wrong with me? Like, is this, is it that we were lied to that we can do it all as women? Or is it just me?

I'm defective as a woman because I'm struggling doing it all. I think we were definitely lied to as women. I do too. I think there's a lot of women themselves that would admit it. They go up on stage and they're like, how do you do it all? And they have all these examples. And it's like, come on, we know, we know you were crying in your car for a couple hours feeling like you missed your child's

first walk or whatever it is. It's impossible. And like I'll just tell you that from my experience. It's like the times that I'm a really good mom, I'm not so involved in Divy and I have to like let go of that and maybe let someone else make a decision that I'm like in three months. I'd be like, why did I let them make that decision? Like I should have done it. But I just know that like I'm called to be a mom number one. And that's my biggest goal. And I have all these people. I don't know if you of people in your DMs that are always like, stand up for this or talk about this or say this. And it's on their timing, of course. And I'm like, listen, I really think the best thing I can be doing right now is raising my children and raising my children in the way that maybe you hate about

other people. Like, does that make sense? Like, if you don't like something about someone, then what I can do is instill those values and those morals into my children. Like, that's the most impactful thing I can be doing right now, not posting a quote on my Instagram stories. Like, that's not going to really do anything. Like, I need to be away from my phone, like, raising my children. What do you think about this trend of influencers all of a sudden being like, I'm not going to show my kid's face? I respect it.

Yeah. I'm like, everybody do what you got to do. Did you and Jordan talk about that? Or that just, like, nobody was talking about that. Like, so you already were posting. It's like, whatever. Nobody was talking about that at the time. And I will say, Stella is probably my one child that's like, I don't.

Like she doesn't even like to take a picture, just like to take a picture, like not even going to be posted on social media. So Stella is my one child that I'm like, like she, we did a vlog last night. We went to the movie theater and she didn't want to be in it. She was walking. And I was like, fine. I don't, I don't care. Don't be in it.

And Stratton's like, hi. You know, and it's like, but the thing is I never want to build a brand like around my kids. Like, Divi has nothing to do with my kids. The Danny Austin brand. I don't want. I always tell brands, I'm like, hey, if they want to show up in the background on my videos, like I can't guarantee that. I can't guarantee that my kids are going to be in a video.

So even if I do like a brand deal for a children's brand, I never guarantee that they're going to be in it. Yeah. And then sometimes Stella comes out and she's like, I'm a princess and she loves it. You just never, you never know. You never know. Yeah, just letting me kids. What dreams or goals do you have personally for your family for the next decade?

The goals we have personally as a family, I mean, a lot of time we just got a lakehouse. And I'm seeing my children evolve in such an amazing way. like Stella is so independent now. Just because, I mean, honestly, we've probably spent like six weeks out at the lake house. I love that. She is out chasing roly polis and collecting bugs and making so many friends. She wants to learn how to ride a bike.

Like, she is a different child just for having some, like, outdoor space and being able to run around. Stratton is a little bit more scared. Like, but he started going on the water slide by himself, you know, at the lake. So honestly, just family time. Like, that's really what. That's my personal goal. What do you think the biggest blessing is that you've gotten from this career?

This opportunity to love on people and connect with people. One of my favorite things that we do is our wig giveaways. And I'm able to connect with a lot of women that are going through like chemo or maybe alopecia or whatever it is. And bless them with this like really nice wig. We have a lady, she's the wig fairy, Mona. She comes, she flies in from Beverly. Hills and she will customize these wigs for these women. And, you know, a lot of women that are going through any type of illness, like their number one thing that they're upset about, it's not the illness.

It's their hair loss. And so those wig giveaways, because I went through hair loss, like, I understand how emotional it is. Those are like one of my favorite things that we do. What do you think the future of influencing is going to look like when we're, when our generation's, like, in our 50s and our 60s? Like, are we all, like, are you going to be influencing, but you're just older and now your audience is older? Or is everybody just like, hoarding their money now and then everybody's just going to quit influencing in their 50s or 60s. Man, 50s or 60s. I'm always thinking like the next five years. Because honestly, I feel like what you're doing, like niching down is exactly what you have to do

nowadays to become like an influencer because there's so many now that you really have to own your category or like own your lane. But for, I mean, the next like 20 years, I think there's still be like some form of influencing. Who knows like we're all good. If it'll be like all AI influencers. Jordan really thinks that it's going to be like all AI. He follows an AI influencer that's like big foot and the big foot like goes around and vlog. I know it sounds so weird, but he like vlogs every day and it's like really funny apparently. And Jordan thinks that's like the new era of influencing. Like you can have like your own like Danny Austin AI influencer or like you're like I can have my own best friend that I customized to be exactly what I want just for Danny Austin.

That's so freaky. Right. It is freaky. But like honestly, it's. actually sounds kind of cool to me. Your podcast is de-influenced. Yes. Did you guys decide we should do a podcast and then shop it around and see who wanted to pick it up or did Dear Media come to you and say, have you ever thought about doing a podcast? So something interesting about the Danny Austin brand, I have always done everything in-house. So I've never had like a manager, an outside manager, an agency.

I've always built everything in-house. So when I launched the podcast, that was the goal. I was like, we'll bring on our own podcast producer. will bring on sales, like a sales team that can sell our podcast. What I learned was selling podcast ads is very different than Instagram and TikTok ads. So we decided, and this is like in 2024 whenever I was like, I'm literally running myself to the ground. So Dear Media was always like my number one. And so we just reached out to them.

We had some calls with I think like Sony and some other like amazing brands that we loved as well. but just Dear Media felt like the best fit. Who is Danny Austin when the cameras are off? Danny Austin. Who is Danny Austin when the cameras? I'm typically in sweatpants, always, at leisure. I don't know. Like, I think I'm just a pretty normal mom.

I'm just trying to figure it out, just like every other mom out there. Danny Austin off camera is probably the same on camera. Truly, there's not a lot that people don't know about me. You and I did a podcast swap, So go over to Danny's podcast, her and Jordan interview me. So you can go subscribe, listen to that. Danny, I ask every single guest this question at the end of my episodes.

If you could offer one remedy to heal a sick culture, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, what would it be? Prayer and surrender. Where can they follow you on social media? So you guys can follow me over at Danny Austin, D.A. and I, Austin on Instagram and TikTok, and then Divi official. worse while at all altars and on Amazon. So amazing. Danny, thanks for coming on Culture Apothecary. You're so happy me. It's a bit amazing. I just loved how open and vulnerable Danny was in this conversation.

She's exactly like what you see online, in my opinion. Make sure you go listen to her in Jordan interviewing me on their podcast, D-influenced. If you've been listening for a long time, leave a five-star review. Tell me what the first episode was that you listened to. If you just discovered us recently, tell me which topic you'd like to see covered on Culture Apothecary. The premise of this show is to Heelisit Culture, twice a week. Mondays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern. Experts and guests come on and share their remedy on how they'd heal us at culture physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

Subscribe to Real Alex Clark on YouTube and follow me on Instagram at Real Alex Clark. The show is at Culture Apothecary. I'm Alex Clark, and this is Culture Apothecary.