Pursuit of Wellness - My Texas Update (Q+A!)

Starting point is 00:00:00 This is the Pursuit of Wellness podcast, and I'm your host, Mari Llewellyn. What's up, guys? Welcome back to another episode of the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. Today is a solo. As you may have noticed, we are switching off between guest and solo episodes. So every Monday is a guest and every Thursday is a solo episode with me. It seems like you guys really enjoy that because it gives us a moment to kind of like talk one-on-one, if you will. It feels like a little FaceTime chat. And then on Monday, we're getting all the hard-hitting information from the guests. And we have so, so, so, so many good interviews lined up. You guys are going to freak out.

Starting point is 00:00:45 If you're watching on video right now, which either if you're on Spotify or YouTube, you probably are, you will notice that I'm in a different studio. This is not our usual Pursuit of Wellness studio. I'm in my current Austin studio. This is the first recording I'm doing here in Austin. We have officially moved and it's very exciting. I'm here in this new studio. It has great lighting. We love a little setup. I won't always be in this studio. I will be traveling back to LA to do my guest interviews, but you may see me in here for my solo episode. So hi and welcome to Austin, Texas. I thought today it would be great to kind of ask you guys to ask me anything that's been on your mind. I've been seeing a ton of DMs come in

Starting point is 00:01:32 about why we moved, what's going on. You guys have a ton of questions. So I thought let's do a Q&A today and just really chat and answer any of the questions you guys have because I do realize my situation is a little bit confusing. Before we hop in, I'll just give you guys a little like update on how I'm feeling and how we're doing here the first week of our move. I definitely feel a little bit chaotic, like my stuff is all over the place. I'm still establishing a new routine, still figuring out like my grocery store, all of the things. But I will say, considering we just moved to a completely new state, I feel so at home and at peace already. I absolutely love it here. My neighborhood is like so quiet, family friendly,

Starting point is 00:02:21 big trees, birds. I've been going on tons of walks I feel so safe I feel like I already have a little community here we obviously moved with Fi her boyfriend Leo and his girlfriend so we have our friends but I've also like you know been putting myself out there and meeting new people and spending time with people who lived here before us. So we are really, really enjoying it. The food here is amazing. The vibes are amazing. Everyone's really lovely and nice. And it feels like everyone has really good. I mean, not everyone. I don't want to overgeneralize, but everyone has like great values and it seems pretty family forward. So we've been loving it. My house is currently in boxes. I am working with an awesome organization

Starting point is 00:03:06 team to kind of unpack and organize everything. I will be the first one to tell you I am horrible at organization. Greg and I both, like, we are good at a select few things in life and organization is not one of them. So we definitely got help with that. Thank goodness. And they are making our house look livable right now. The dogs, Arnold and Lulu, have been thriving. They are loving life here. Their yard is like, I don't know, six times the size, if not more. They are sprinting around, exploring. They're definitely barking a lot, which is a problem, which is a problem. But we're working on that. Beau, my horse, is loving life here life here I went to visit him I haven't ridden yet I'm excited to ride this weekend but he has big grass turnouts he's running in he's got all these other horse friends they've been taking such good care of him I feel so good about where he is and life is good

Starting point is 00:04:02 guys I mean obviously we're in a transition period. Things are a little bit crazy, but we've already found our gym we're going to. We're excited to make the house we're in, you know, like our permanent home. We're going to be in this house for a long, long time, and I'm really excited to make it very us. So yeah, that's a lot of updates. And as I think about things, I'll bring them up. But I really want to hop into your questions. I don't want to miss anything. The first question I see is, why did you move? And this is probably the number one question I've been getting online in general. I talked about it a little bit in previous episodes, but perhaps you guys haven't listened

Starting point is 00:04:39 yet or you missed it. There's a few reasons. Austin has been on the table for us, I would say, for a couple of years, and it was always in the back of our heads. When we moved to LA, we very much had the intention of going there for business. We're in the fitness industry. We had this new supplement company, and we felt like there was a lot of talent in LA in terms of hiring. Also, just a environment for like content. We're a very content forward brand at Bloom. So we wanted to have, you know, be in warmer weather and make it easy for us. And I will say we accomplished a lot in doing that. Our HQ is still in LA. We grew our brand way more than we had anticipated in Los Angeles. And I really like,

Starting point is 00:05:23 I really thrived in that environment career wise, got to meet a lot of great people, really establish our brand. But it was never the place that I wanted to have a family. And I think I realized that quite quickly. I would say LA is very, people come and go. And it feels like people are there for a reason. They want to, you know, excel in their career, or they want to become well-known or whatever it may be. It doesn't feel like a place to settle down and have a family necessarily. I always had thought maybe we'd end up either in Orange County or in Texas.

Starting point is 00:05:57 And those two things are in the back of my mind. Now, what was really the catalyst for the actual move was ultimately a business deal between Bloom and a company called Nutribolt, which owns C4 Energy. And this is, I think I've spoken about this, but this is the first time we've ever sold a part of our company before. Greg and I have been 100% owners of Bloom from the beginning, and this is still a minority stake. Now that we're getting a little in the weeds now, and I know people probably don't care about this, but we sold 20% of Bloom to bring on a partner who can help us expand. We have really big dreams with Bloom, and we don't want to just do greens. We want to do greens and something amazing. So this partner is going to help us do just that and expand into this world

Starting point is 00:06:54 that we're so excited about. And Nutribolt is based in Austin and actually a lot, a lot, a lot of CPG companies, consumer packaged goods companies are in Austin. So some of your favorite supplements, drinks, meat, whatever it may be, a lot of the founders are here. So it's a really great community for that. So those are the reasons, family, personal and business. Do you use non-pore clogging shampoo and conditioner curious which ones oh fee do you mind pulling up the ones i use i think on amazon i want to say the shampoo is like thomas something it's in a gray bottle and then the pink conditioners l'oreal but i checked the ingredients of both and they both passed they're not all natural but they both passed the pore clogging

Starting point is 00:07:43 test so let's check on those for you guys. We've got the lovely Fi in the room. Oh yeah, the shampoo is Kevin Murphy. Shampoo is Kevin Murphy. And the conditioner, L'Oreal hydrating mask. Yeah, the conditioner is L'Oreal hydrating mask. But I'm not like, I'm not like a huge hair product person. I really stick to like a couple, but I'm always willing to try new things. If you guys have suggestions, let me know. Will we get Austin vlogs? It's something, okay, I think this person's referring to YouTube and I used to love YouTube. And guys, by the way, all full episodes of The Pursuit of Wellness are on YouTube video form. We also have

Starting point is 00:08:32 shorts. So go check out my YouTube channel if you haven't yet. I'll make sure it's in the show notes. In terms of vlogging, I used to love vlogging. However, it takes so much time to vlog and edit myself, especially when I'm working, you know, on the podcast, on Bloom. And I felt like I wasn't sure if people were watching it, if it was worthwhile. But I do hear that you guys love it. I'm wondering if I do more of like a real, like an Instagram reel with a voiceover. Those are much easier for me. If you go check out my Instagram, I did two van life vlogs. We actually drove a van here from LA. Oh, sorry, we actually drove a van from LA to Austin. We took three days. We slept in the van, cooked in the van, had two dogs in the van. This has like been a dream of mine and Greg's for such a long time. And it was so much fun we had

Starting point is 00:09:25 the best time as I said it took three days we made some stops we were like making breakfast in Joshua Tree we were like out in the forest in Arizona it was really really fun um on the last day Arnold must have eaten something crazy off the ground and I woke up every hour with him because he had diarrhea. And then he started throwing up everywhere all over the van. So the last day wasn't amazing. And I ended up driving directly to urgent care, the vet urgent care when we got to Austin. So we didn't even go to our new house. We just went straight to the vet. So that was like a grand finale. But sorry, the question was about vlogs. Maybe I'll do Instagram real vlogs. Let's see. Spring is right around the corner, which is crazy to say, which means warmer weather is approaching and the Vionic Vitals collection has the best essential styles for everyday wear to

Starting point is 00:10:24 get you ready for the season you guys have heard me talk about bionic before they are the most comfortable cute shoes for any situation you're in whether you're at work headed to the grocery store headed out for dinner i personally love the willa slip on flat i feel like the ballet flat style has really come back and it's so cute to wear with like a flared jean or a skirt the essential flat combines luxe materials with a seriously supportive footbed maximum versatility with over 12 colors to complement any outfit year round and day to night i love wearing my flats with some like wide leg jeans out to dinner with a cute like

Starting point is 00:11:06 90s style bag. I feel like it's the best way to dress up an outfit. I feel like I tend to wear sneakers too much and these are like a great solution to elevate a look without full on wearing heels. Vionics exclusive bio motion technology is what sets them apart. They began by revolutionizing medical orthotics and today they continue to use that science to engineer shoes that leave you feeling energized and confident all day. I personally love the fact that I can wear my flats at home and feel so comfortable and then also wear them out and about and know that my foot health is being supported. Use code POW15 at checkout for 15% off your entire order at www.vionicshoes.com when you log into your account. One-time use only. Vionic Shoes, wearable well-being for your feet. You guys know I have

Starting point is 00:11:52 had an extensive journey with my skin. I've had acne for about 10 years and it's been very up and down for me. And finding products that I feel comfortable with has been a struggle. But there's one brand that I always know I can trust and that I recommend to any of my acne girls, and that is ClearStem. ClearStem Skincare is a revolutionary skincare brand that is both anti-aging and anti-acne with zero known hormone disruptors. What I love is that ClearStem was founded by two women,

Starting point is 00:12:21 Danielle and Kaylee, who have both struggled with severe cystic acne. So they really know what works. The product I use every single day is the Gentle Clean Vitamin Infused Calming Wash. It comes in the orange bottle. It is the best cleanser. My husband's mother even uses it. I recommend it to absolutely everyone. You guys have also probably heard me talk about the ClearStem Acne Lab Test. You guys know how big of an advocate I am for getting lab work done. And I think it's the best way to get your tests done without having to hire a naturopath or someone else and spend a ton

Starting point is 00:12:56 of money. This is really the best way of seeing what's happening and what's at the root cause of your acne. It's empowering thousands of people to get to the root cause and find out, you know, the next steps to take. Another ClearStem product that I really love is their non-pore clogging sunscreen. It is tinted, so it gets you a nice little glow. It's called You Are Sunshine. I'm obsessed with it. I wear it every single day. And I love the fact that they are focused on acne and aging, which are two things that I feel like are quite hard to come by. Visit clearstemskincare.com and use code POW, P-O-W, for 15% off. That's clearstem.com and use code POW for 15% off your order. tips on navigating seeking validation from others oh such a good question I feel like it's the question we all have I feel like this is something I struggle with if you grew up in a household where maybe you weren't getting that validation you needed it does end up popping up in your adult life.

Starting point is 00:14:06 I actually was speaking to my therapist about this yesterday. And just how, you know, to be completely honest, I try and be as transparent as possible with you guys. I've definitely struggled with relying too much on Greg for validation and kind of like projecting that on him in my daily life. And I have been really working on validating myself. And I've kind of struggled with this in the past, feeling like, let's say I achieved something that I've always wanted to or that I was really proud of. Learning to pat myself on the back rather than looking around and seeing who's clapping for me has been a really, really powerful journey for me. And it was something that I've definitely practiced on my fitness journey. On my fitness journey, it was the first time I was

Starting point is 00:14:58 really like doing something for myself. And I also feel like it might sound silly, but in my horseback riding journey, you know, most people don't really like understand that or, you know, are super interested in horseback riding. So every time I achieved a new jump or a lead change or something, I had to learn how to be really proud of myself. And obviously it feels good to get validation from other people, but you want to know that at the core, you're doing it for you. So it's a work in progress. But I think things like meditation, I know it sounds woo-woo to a lot of people and it did to me for a long time. But being alone in silence and really like

Starting point is 00:15:41 practicing gratitude and taking time to do those small habits like really helps me channel that like self validation, if that makes sense. If I'm just running about it because I find myself like when I'm really stressed and overwhelmed, I tend to go in like X Games mode and that's when I lose those healthy habits. I need a house tour video. Everyone's asking for a house tour. I don't think I'm ready yet for that. The house definitely isn't ready and I want to, we're working with a designer. He's awesome. I can't wait to get going with him and see where this house goes. But I also like want to be a bit more private. I feel like with the Venice house, I was so excited. We did the house tour, but I felt a little bit unnerved about how much I showed of the house and I had mail showing up sometimes from people who didn't know me. So I feel like I want to be a bit more cautious about

Starting point is 00:16:52 that with the Austin house. But obviously, you know, I'll definitely show you guys as progress is being made. This girl said she's a pal girl for life. I just moved to a new town with no friends. What do you suggest? I suggest joining a gym, finding a cafe you love or a smoothie shop and just like being really friendly and chatty. And I've actually learned this from Fi. She talks to literally everyone like on a plane. She'll be friends with at least 10 people. I've been implementing this habit. And so for example, I was at the gym a couple days ago, and I saw a girl did the cold plunge. And I was like, wow, you did the cold plunge? Like, how did it feel? And just asked a question and initiated that conversation and introduced myself. And that was it. Like we didn't get it to this phone numbers or anything. But I feel like when you go about your day in that way and just like spark conversations, smile at someone, introduce

Starting point is 00:17:48 yourself, like you really are setting yourself up to make friends. And then people know that you're friendly and approachable. And it's just like easier. I've been reading this book, Manifest by Roxy Nafusi. And she talks about showing up every day the way you want to be. Like think about the dream version of you. When I think about the dream version of me, I want to have a very close, connected group of friends. I want to have that community. So when I show up in places, I try to act the way I envision my life, if that makes sense. So I hope that's helpful. Text in here, what are your favorite restaurants and grocers you like to visit the most? Okay, so obviously I've been here for about one minute, but in terms of grocery stores, I really like, obviously there's a Whole Foods here in Austin

Starting point is 00:18:36 that's amazing. I think it's the flagship. Love it. Central Market, I really like. There's a few, oh, local pastures is this like blue van with raw milk, local farm raised meat, cheeses, kefir, sourdough. Obviously, I like love that. So I've really been enjoying that. In terms of restaurants, I really like Picnic. It's like healthy, really good. I've ordered from Ziki a couple of times. They have no seed oils, which is awesome and great meat quality. We really like Arbor. What else? Oh, Uchi is really good for sushi. I'm going there tomorrow. So that's just a couple. Favorite affordable handbag. Okay. So really, really affordable. There's a brand called JWP, P-E-I at the end. Those are really cute and affordable. Amazon has some really cute finds

Starting point is 00:19:34 as well. I know Fee has a really cute bag from Amazon. I have a couple bags from ByFar. They aren't like super duper affordable, but they are like kind of like designer dupes and high quality material. I really like those as well. What do you look forward to next in life? What a cute question. At the moment, I'm really looking forward to getting more established here in Austin and establishing a routine. We have some amazing travel coming up. We leave for Houston actually next week. I'm doing a couple of amazing guest recordings with some dream guests. I'm so excited about three people. So let me know if you can guess who they are. I'm going to the UK because Bloom is launching in the UK, which is absolutely insane to launch my business in my home country. It feels,

Starting point is 00:20:26 doesn't feel real. So we will be in London for the event. I believe I'm doing a meet and greet in London. So if you're listening and you are London based, keep your eyes out. I will be posting about that meet and greet. What else am I looking forward to? We're going to be in LA at the end of February for some amazing interviews. Long term, I'm looking forward to obviously getting pregnant at some point. And yeah, there's a lot a lot happening that I'm really excited about. What has it been like being a superpower, but also has caused some personal like, yeah, a little bit of adversity, I would say. I think being a woman in business, I am my consumer, which is really helpful. Like when I started Bloom, I know what my girl's looking for.

Starting point is 00:21:27 And I think a lot of supplement companies are owned by people who are not the customer. They're owned by like older men who may not understand what young women are looking for when it comes to health and wellness. And I love that. I think the fact that, you know, as women, we really connect to each other as a community, and I feel very well connected to the community, to you guys listening. And I feel lucky to be in this position and meet other powerful women in business. Now, I do end up in a lot of rooms with men. A lot of the time, I'm one of the only women in the room, which is fine. But just from like, I guess the way we are raised, it makes me nervous. I think more so in the past,

Starting point is 00:22:12 I was very aware of that fact and felt a little like dominated in rooms. But I have really gained confidence over time and learned to have a voice and also to ask questions and to also just like, remember my value. I think that's something we struggle with a lot as women, maybe from childhood, but understanding that, you know, I know as much as the men in the room, and I have as much experience as the men in the room and the things I have to say are as powerful. So keeping that in mind and also being comfortable asking questions and, you know, that applies to everything in life. I'm huge on just asking questions. Maybe that's why I have a podcast, because I think most likely everyone else in the room is thinking it too. I have had a couple

Starting point is 00:22:59 people say things to me that, you know, were interesting about the fact that I'm a woman and that I'm young or X, Y, and Z. And the fact that it's surprising to people that I own a business the size of Bloom. So yeah, there's pros and cons. But overall, a good experience. Have you done cutting or bulking recently? No. That was very much like a 2018, I don't want to call it a trend. It was like the bodybuilding era where everyone was like, you know, eating a ton and building up muscle and then cutting down for summer or whatever it may be. I just kind of like live a lifestyle right now. Like I really don't think about gaining or losing. I just eat things that make me feel good. I try and get as much movement in as I can. It's really not about that for me anymore. So yeah, I haven't done that in a while. And I did feel like there was a little bit of like,

Starting point is 00:24:07 I think people struggle mentally with the bulking and cutting. So I'm glad that that phase is over. Hi, Mari, what's the mat you sleep on called and is it grounding? So I'm actually not sleeping on the mat, but it's called a PMF mat. And it is for grounding. I don't 100% understand the science behind it. But I try to sit on it when I'm meditating and doing my red light and meditating. I think it's very helpful for sleep. I'll have to do more research and get back to you guys. What will you miss the most about LA? I think what I'll miss about LA is definitely the beach and the scenery is stunning and definitely our team. I mean, we'll get to see them when we travel back, but definitely the team and the

Starting point is 00:24:52 office environment is amazing at the Bloom HQ. But as of right now, I kind of feel like my life is similar to what it was in LA, just without a lot of the inconveniences that existed there for me. So yeah. Will you be opening up a Bloom office in your new area? Will any of the Bloom team be moving? So it's something we're considering. We're not 100% sure yet. I think we're moving into an office in March. We shall see. And I believe we would probably be hiring a few key team members out here, possibly seeing if anyone in LA wanted to move with us. But as of right now, no, I'll keep you guys updated. I get a lot of questions about hiring. How do you convince yourself to keep going in the moments where you don't feel like it? I think as I talked about in my habits episode, if you haven't listened to that one, go back.

Starting point is 00:25:46 It's called How to Build Healthy Habits. I feel like for me at this point in my life, when I don't feel like doing the things I do, I'm so entrenched in my routine and my habits are so developed at this point from doing them over and over again, there isn't really an option. I think removing the pressure of making everything perfect. So like, if you go to the gym, the workout doesn't have to be perfect. If you're in the sauna for 10 minutes, if you go on a walk and it's not perfect, whatever it may be, or cooking a meal, as long as the effort's there, I think you can be happy with yourself, you know? And I think those are the moments too, where you probably need your habits the most when you really don't

Starting point is 00:26:31 feel like doing them and you're having a rough day. Going on a walk. I mean, and I went on a walk yesterday. I did a therapy call and I really wasn't in the mood for it, to be honest. I was like, I have so much to do. I don't want to do therapy right now. I ended up walking six miles down a beautiful trail. And I had one of the best therapy sessions I've had with my new therapist ever. And I was like, wow, like, the fact that I'm like moving and all this chaos is happening, and I have all this work going on. The fact that I took that time for therapy was so mentally productive for me. I'm so glad I did it. So I think that's a really good example. In those moments where you're feeling low or you don't want to do it, showing up for yourself is probably the best thing you could do.

Starting point is 00:27:14 How did you find your therapist? So my old therapist was someone I had found through a BPD program. So she was specifically trained with DBT therapy and borderline personality disorder. She went on maternity leave. So now my therapist was a referral from a friend and I really, really like her. It's a very different style of therapy, but yeah, I'm happy with the choice. I feel like it does take a lot of time to figure out the right therapist. It can be really, really challenging, but just keep trying and you know when it's the right fit. Like if you're vibing with someone and you feel like it's working, you'll know. And don't be afraid to kind of set that boundary and say, hey, I don't think this is working for me, but thank you for the time. I think that's something I struggled

Starting point is 00:27:59 with back in the day. So just keep that in mind. And yeah. So guys, I am going to wrap up this Q&A here. I really hope you guys enjoyed it. And let me know if there's anyone in Austin you think I should interview or talk to. Let me know what you want me to talk about in the future in terms of topics. I'm really excited to keep getting on the mic and sharing great info with you guys. This has been a really fun episode. I believe the next solo will be with Fi and we'll be listening to some voice messages. So reminder, in the show notes, we have a link for you guys to leave a voice message for us to listen to and respond to. Those are really fun. You can ask us anything or leave a fun story, whatever you have in mind, please go ahead.

Starting point is 00:28:46 Just a reminder, if you enjoyed the episode, please leave a review. Don't forget to subscribe and follow. I'm posting episodes twice a week. I love you guys so much and I'll talk soon. Bye. Thanks for joining us on the Pursuit of Wellness podcast. To support this show, please rate and review and share with your loved ones. If you want to be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast or

Starting point is 00:29:10 video player. You can sign up for my newsletter to receive my favorites at marilowelland.com. It will be linked in the show notes. This is a Wellness Out Loud production produced by Drake Peterson, Fiona Attucks, and Kelly Kyle. This This show is edited by Mike Fry and our video is recorded by Luis Vargas. You can also watch the full video of each episode on our YouTube channel at Mari Fitness. Love you, Power Girls and Power Boys. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and does not constitute a provider-patient relationship. As always, talk to your doctor or health team.

Pursuit of Wellness - My Texas Update (Q+A!)

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