the bossbabe podcast - 341. Changing an Entire Industry, Creating Global Brands + Balancing the Journey of Motherhood with The Food Babe, Vani Hari

Episode Date: December 12, 2023

In this episode, I interview my friend, and NY Times Best Selling author, activist and Entrepreneur, Vani Hari. She has influenced incredibly well known companies to remove or ban harmful ingredients and has built a successful brand and supplement business, Truvani. Tune in to hear the background of her story, as well as learn how she exposed the food industry. HIGHLIGHTS Going from constantly sick + on multiple medications growing up to realizing what was causing it all was her nutrition Emergency surgery + the moment Vani decided to make a change for her health What Vani told Chick-fil-A HAD to change - and changes major companies like Starbucks, Kraft and Chipotle made because of Food Babe. The banned chemical that's used in yoga mats that is being used in bread Changes in Vani’s business, Food Babe, when she became a mom Vani’s specific daily routine as a creator, entrepreneur and mom of two Taking her business Truvani to #1 plant based protein powder in natural stores worldwide What Vani feeds her kids + tips for eating healthy while traveling LINKS Check out Vani’s Cookbook: Food Babe Family Join The Société: The Place to Build A Freedom-Based Business FOLLOW bossbabe: @bossbabe.inc Natalie Ellis: @iamnatalie Follow Vani Hari: @thefoodbabe

We were able to get Subway to remove chemicals from their breads, Kraft to remove artificial dyes from their mac and cheese, Starbucks to remove caramel coloring from their pumpkin spice lattes and release their ingredients for the first time in history. Chipotle went GMO free. The food industry at that point was very scared of the movement that I had created and what I was doing to the food industry, because there was billions of dollars at stake. Welcome back to the Boss Babe podcast. Oh, you guys, today's episode is actually one of my favorites that I've recorded in a long time. So I sit down with a friend of mine who is a serious CEO mama, Vani Hari, who is most well known as the food babe. So Vani is an author, activist,

and entrepreneur. And you're going to hear through her story some of the wild success she has had. Her brand in its space right now is one of the most successful in the world. She is a New York Times bestselling author and she has influenced companies that are incredibly well known to remove certain ingredients or have certain ingredients banned in their products. She is a force and she is also a wealth of knowledge and very, very real. We go everywhere in this episode getting into the real nitty gritty of her story, which I was hooked. I could not stop listening and pull myself away. I just kept saying, tell me more, tell me more. It's so interesting. Then we get into how she's balancing being a creator, an incredibly successful

entrepreneur and a mom, how she's balancing all three of those. And then we get into the nitty gritty specifics of certain products that we might be feeding our kids, especially when traveling, when we're looking for things that are convenient, she analyzes all the things. And it was just so informative. I absolutely loved it. And I'm really, really excited for you to hear it. So with that, let's dive in. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much, Natalie. It's so good to see your face. The last time I saw you was in Switzerland. I know. We had the most fun lunch with all the kids there. It was so sweet. Your daughter is the sweetest little girl on the planet. Oh my goodness. She's obsessed with Noemi. I mean, completely obsessed. It's the best. Okay. So for those who are tuning in, who maybe

haven't heard of the food babe, which is going to be very few people. Can you give me a bit of a lay of the land of how you got started and what that has turned into, which is essentially this incredible empire around your brand? Yes, I grew up as a child to two immigrant Indian parents. And so when they came to the United States for the very first time, they wanted to do whatever they could to live like Americans. And so they raised me and my brother the same way. And so growing up, my mom didn't know how to cook any American food. So she relied heavily on all the processed foods at the grocery store. I remember our Thanksgivings were always cranberry out of a can, the Pepperidge Farm bread stuffing that you get the mix or the stovetop stuffing, anything you could buy that was packaged, processed, that would help my mom

recreate this American lifestyle, we did. And even though she cooked Indian food for herself and my dad every single night, she would let me and my brother eat whatever we wanted. And that meant we could go have fast food three or four times a week. We could have Salisbury steak dinners that we would stick in the microwave. We would have the Fry Daddy out and we would eat the mozzarella sticks. And it was everything. And my parents grew up surrounded by poverty. So the fact that they were in America and now trying to thrive in this

environment and having food so readily available and cheap, it was a totally different experience to them. And so they just wanted us to be fed, right? They didn't care what it was and they didn't really put a lot of emphasis on nutrition. They didn't know a lot about nutrition. They didn't know what had happened to the American food supply and how it had been inundated with all of these chemicals. And so as a young child, I was in and out of doctor's offices all the time. And the doctors never asked me, hey, what are you eating? You know, and they never asked how they're raising me and my brother. We just went on antibiotics and pregnazone and

in corduroy treatments and, you know, shots. I just remember these shots in my butt of cost of corduroy. And it was just like insane amount of medicine to control ailments that I know now are related to food, which is all of the eczema all over my body, my asthma, my anxiety, you know, my stomach issues, all sorts of things that I was experiencing as a young child and a young adult, I knew was related to the food I was eating once I started to figure that in my early twenties. But when I was young, my parents did what every good parent out there does is just try to find a solution to their child's ailments by taking them to the doctor

and trusting what they had to say. And so thankfully in my early 20s, I just hit rock bottom. And I say thankfully, because it's really what allowed me to wake up from this zombie-like state that I was in for most of my life. I felt like a zombie walking around. Now that I know what it feels like to

feel really healthy, it's like my whole life changed once I put nutrition in my body. So picture this, I'm right out of college getting a wonderful job with this big consulting firm where immediately your first day, they put you on an expense account and you have like $70 a day to eat whatever you want and to travel on the road. And you build all these airline points and you get all these hotel points and you're living this like crazy lavish lifestyle because your job allows you to, and then you get all these extra perks. And so you get to travel on the weekends instead of coming back home. And like, you're just on the road and living this like rat race environment where it's, you know,

60 to 80 hours a week. And you're eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner based on whatever they cater in so that you can build more hours to the client. And that's when I ended up with appendicitis in the hospital. When I had that terrible pain in my side, my parents took me to the emergency room. Thank goodness I was in Charlotte and they were able to drive to my apartment and pick me up and take me to the emergency room. And the first doctor who saw me said, Hey, there's nothing wrong with you. You can go home. And thankfully, their sixth sense said, you know, we need to see another doctor in the morning. And they took me to my regular doctor and he was like, you need to have an emergency

appendectomy now. And I had my appendix taken out. I was overweight, feeling really bad about myself. Again, all I cared was doing well at my job and traveling and eating all of these lavish dinners and lunches. And all of a sudden, just everything became clear to me that like, this is not how I want to feel. And it was the holiday season. And so everybody's going out to all of these parties and having fun. And I'm 22 years old, recovering in a hospital room. And I just said to myself, like, I don't want to feel this way anymore.

I've got to do something about it. And so January 1st hit the corner, right? And it's like when everybody gets well, right? Like everyone is like, I want to go on a diet. I want to feel better. Like all the things. That was the time period for me too. And that's what created my awakening.

And I started to treat my health like a debate round. In high school, I was a top tier debater, policy debater, where you would go around with these huge tubs of evidence that you would photocopy at the library because you didn't have Google or the internet or iPhone. And so you would have to go through the microfiche and all these law journals and figure out how to win your debate rounds, the affirmative and the negative. So you learn both sides of an issue. And so I learned the both sides of my health in a way where here's what traditional doctors say, and here's what other people say on how to heal your body. And the first thing I learned was

I learned that all the doctors that told me that, Hey, your appendix isn't necessary. It's not an organ that you need. It's like, it's like a routine surgery. It's no worries kind of thing. We're just going to take it out. It seems inflamed. I found out that it's actually there for a reason and goodness, why didn't they tell me that? Like, actually it's actually there for a reason. And goodness, why didn't they tell me that? Like, actually, it's actually there for a beneficial reason in terms of providing your gut with good bacteria, helping your immune system. And now there's all this new research coming out about like, oh, the appendix isn't just a useful organ. I mean, it's just so silly. Like, of course, God created us to use all of our organs. But, you know, it's just so silly. Like, of course, God created us to use all

of our organs. But, you know, if you just think spiritually about it, but back then you trust the doctors and what they're telling you. And so I started to research that. And then I was like, well, wait a minute, there's this other side of the story. And then I found the other side of story about food. And the first side of story that I learned was it's all about calories. It's all about low fat versus fat grams. You know, it's all about how many protein grams and carb grams you're counting. It's about Weight Watchers and like the point system. And that's what's going to help you get healthy. And it came to head for me when my coworker who was on Weight Watchers said, Hey, we can go over to our boss's desk and eat red vines,

which are these Twizzler lookalikes. And she's like, they're only one point each. So you can eat like five of them and still like be fine under your diet. And when I turn around the red vines and see what was actually in them, it was like all of this corn syrup and red dye and all of these chemicals that I was learning about and teaching myself about. And I was like all of this corn syrup and red dye and all of these chemicals that I was learning about and teaching myself about. And I was like, this doesn't make sense why a diet would allow something like this on it. Like there's no nutritional purpose for your body. And like, if you're not going to get like good calories in there, you're going to obviously

be like looking for nutrition elsewhere. And it's just like, you're going to like, suddenly my intuition started firing about the way that we had been taught about how to lose weight and to be healthy. And so I started reading Michael Pollan and he had just come out with like his book. So it was, you know, many, many, many years ago. And I was just so gunho about teaching myself the truth about what had happened to our food. And I started to research all of the foods that I thought were healthy, like Subway sandwiches and Chick-fil-A and Starbucks. And I started to teach my friends around me like, hey, do you know this about this Chick-fil-A sandwich? Or do you know this about this Subway sandwich?

And nobody knew what was actually behind the marketing of like eat fresh. And so I was doing this to myself and to my friends and like people around me. And then all of a sudden, when I started to eliminate processed foods and just eat real food, my whole entire body changed. And my looks changed, my hair changed, my skin changed, like everything changed to the point where people were like, whoa, we want what you're having. And that's when Food Babe was started. At first, I wanted to call it eat healthy, live forever.com. And my husband, who's was started. At first, I wanted to call it eathealthyliveforever.com and my husband, who's the technique in the family thought that was a horrible idea. Again, I'm still living this very rat race lifestyle, traveling on the road. And I started

to teach myself how to eat organically on the road and like take my food in a suitcase and check it on the plane and like do all these things and become like, you know, the health nut in my little circle of friends at work. And I just remember going to these like C-level executive dinners and going to these big steakhouses and all of a sudden like whispering into the waiter's ear, like ordering something off the menu, not like on the menu, but off the menu and then getting something so beautiful and amazing and fresh and like so many vegetables to the point where the people around me were like, Whoa, what did you order? Like, that's amazing. And so I was having this effect on people around me and I was like, okay, I really do need to share this information. So I started writing on food, babe. And the way I found time to do that is I gave up television. And that was the best decision of my life. Not on just the fact that I started Food Babe,

but the fact that my entire mindset changed and I stopped being programmed by what I was seeing on television and all the advertisements and everything else. And so I started to focus in on writing and researching and sharing. And when I started to share about these big fast food places that I was eating every single day on the road that I used to eat and what was actually in them, these blog posts started to go viral. And one of the first ones that went viral was actually on Chick-fil-A. I showed the 100 plus ingredients that were in a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich at the time. And it went so viral that the head of Chick-fil-A called me and emailed me and invited me to their headquarters to consult on their menu items. And this is when I was still working in the banking world consulting and I was taking off like taking PTO to go fly down to Atlanta Georgia where their headquarters are and they picked me up on it in

a cow mobile and then doing the whole you know dance and pony show to to try to impress me how awesome Chick-fil-a is in which, by the way, they're amazing people. They're so nice. Their food is shit though. They're such nice people. And they were so nice that they sat me down in a, after they did a huge tour and I ate in their cafeteria and who knows what I ate. I don't even remember what I ate, but it was not a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. And I, I sat down in their boardroom surrounded by all the decision makers at Chick-fil-A and they said, okay, you have a lot of complaints with our food. What do you want to do first? What's the most important to you? And I said, well, the first thing is, is you have to raise your chickens without

antibiotics. Because I met the former general of the U S army, Wesley Clark at a chance meeting at some event. And the one question I asked him was like, what's the most important food issue to you? And he said to me, he says the overuse of antibiotics and the production of our meat could wipe out the human race. And so for someone who oversees the US Army, like that would be the most important thing to me, because it's like to protect citizens, right? Because the overuse of antibiotics creates super bugs, and then you can't treat those with traditional antibiotics. And so then they kind of take over, right? And so I said, that's number one.

And they looked at me and the head chicken guy was in the room and he looked at me and he was like, there's no way we can do this. There's just not enough supply. And I said, it's not about finding the supply. It's about changing your current supply. And you have to convince them and you buy enough chicken that you can convince them to do this because this is what we have to do in order to survive. Let's take a quick pause to talk about my new favorite all-in-one platform, Kajabi. You know I've been singing their praises lately, collecting payment, all the things so much simpler.

One of our mottos at Boss Babe is simplify to amplify and Kajabi has really helped us do that this year. So, of course, I needed to share it here with you. It's the perfect time of year to do a bit of spring cleaning in your business. You know, get rid of the complexity and instead really focus on getting organized and making things as smooth as possible i definitely recommend kajabi to all of my clients and students so if you're listening and haven't checked out kajabi yet now is the perfect time to do so because they are offering boss babe listeners a 30-day free trial go to kajabi.com slash Boss Babe to claim your 30-day free trial. That's kajabi.com slash Boss Babe. And so I had that conversation with them along

with several other problematic ingredients. One of the most problematic ingredients was artificial food dyes. They were using artificial food dyes in their ice cream product that was part of their like, you know, quote unquote happy meal that they use at Chick-fil-A for kids. And that really bothered me and artificial dye into pickles and, and really problematic preservatives like TBHQ that affect the immune system. And so I made my list of things that I wanted them to change, as well as the fact that they were using MSG in their chicken sandwiches, which was one of the top two ingredients. And they started to not only make the changes that I recommended that day, but they announced that they would be the first fast food chain to go antibiotic free out of anyone that I know. Wow. So they

were like the ones to like lead the way. And it was such a cool experience to be part of that change. But it was because people who I call now the Food Babe Army, who followed Food Babe at those early stages, were so committed to getting the truth out about these food companies, but also to like, tell their friends like, hey, you eat at Chick-fil-A, you should know about this. And it was just the coolest thing because we started this movement online. And after that, we were able to get Subway to remove chemicals from their breads, Kraft to remove artificial dyes from their mac and cheese, the beer companies to not only release their ingredients for the first time in history on beer labels, but we were able to inspire one of the biggest beer manufacturers in the world to create an organic beer, Anheuser-Busch.

We got Starbucks to remove caramel coloring from their pumpkin spice lattes and release their ingredients for the first time in history. Chipotle went GMO free. All of these things were campaigns started on Food Babe that eventually led to this massive change as well. It's like so many countless others, like Panera Bread removing all artificial ingredients. Papa John's removing all artificial ingredients. So it was like this amazing snowball effect that was happening. I was releasing my first book, Food Babe Way. It hit the New York Times bestseller list. And then

an article came out in the New York Times. And it was a huge piece on me, like multi-page piece and photographs and everything. And it was so annoying. Let me just tell you, Natalie, there were three people like negatively talking about me in that article that this reporter went and talked to. And I went, and when the reporter called me and asked me about these individuals, I told her they work for the food industry and you need to look into this, right? She never did. And instead, they look like third party independent experts trying to say like, these additives are completely fine. You know, she's pseudoscientific. She's not a scientist. She's not a nutritionist. She's not a doctor. Who is she to be saying all of this? And the food industry at that point was

very scared of the movement that I had created and what I was doing to the food industry, because there was billions of dollars at stake. Like a chemical that was in every single bread, almost on the grocery store shelf, had to be removed from every single bread manufacturer after Subway removed it because it became worldwide news. And so like, you can only imagine that chemical. It was called azodicarbonamide. It's the same thing in yoga mats and shoe rubber. It's actually what makes evenly dispersed air bubbles in bread the same way it does in a yoga mat when you turn it sideways and you see the evenly dispersed air bubbles. Yes. Yes yes and by the way if you use it in singapore it's banned all over the

globe except the united states and if you use it in singapore you get fined and put in prison it's crazy right it's a very hazardous chemical but anyway but it's still legal here it's still legal here but bread manufacturers had to remove it after this huge subway campaign because everyone learned about it. Right. And so I had started a petition online to remove it. And that and then it just it just hit worldwide news. It was kind of really it was comical how how fast it became viral because there were countries writing about it that were like worried that this chemical was in their bread. Like all of China, for example, was worried about it that were like worried that this chemical was in their bread like all of china for example was worried about it and they didn't have it which was actually really cool and they

like it were warning their citizens not warning them but like letting their citizens know like hey by the way we don't use this chemical in our bread here in china it was very interesting the worldwide response to this campaign but you can only imagine that chemical who created, you know, the people who make that chemical, the people who've created that chemical no longer have a business. And even though we're doing the right thing from a health perspective,

from a capitalistic perspective, we're not. Because the brand manufacturers have to change their product. They have to change all their labels. They have to change all their labels. They have to change all their packaging. They have to pull their packaging off shelves. I mean, there's so many things involved with all of the bread companies that had to change as a result.

So like the money taking place was very large. So they were able to hire quote unquote third party experts that were like shills basically to come after me in the public media. And so anyways, this New York Times article actually laminated in my hallway right outside my door right now. These three shills that are in this article is so funny. Let me just tell you about this one guy because it is just hilarious. His name was Fergus Clydesdale. Okay. Why wouldn't the reporter just mention this little fact? He was on the board of Sensient Technologies, the same company that makes caramel coloring level four, the one that Starbucks removed from their pumpkin spice lattes from my campaign. Like just mention that because like the conflict of interest

is so insane. Another guy, Kevin Folta, who was mentioned in there, he got caught taking money from Monsanto to basically follow me around and make sure he was like negatively talking about me wherever. And it ended up hitting actually the front page of the New York Times later on when we found out that information with a Freedom of Information Request Act that was submitted by this amazing nonprofit called U.S. Right to Know. And so it was insane. And then another guy, basically, I submitted a FOIA request to his university to see all his emails because they're public

information. And so I read all of his emails back and forth between these big chemical corporations and himself. And he would write things like just, you know, let me be your mercenary. And it was just insane what I found out about these cast of characters that kept showing up in all these articles to take me down. But at the time, I didn't have all this information, right? It came out later. And so it was annoying, let me just tell you, because I thought I was just doing the right thing. But suddenly the conversation went off the food chemicals

and on me as a person. And I was never expecting to be a public figure in that respect. I didn't mind doing the CNN spots or the Good Morning America spots or being on the Today Show or being on any of these worldwide news programs because I was talking about the chemicals and food and I wanted people to know the truth. But I didn't realize that that would throw me in the spotlight. And after time magazine named me one of the most influential people on the internet, that's when the food industry like had enough. They were like, forget this. Like we cannot let this happen. And so they did whatever they could to take me down to the point where they would send armies of people protesters to like

my talks what yes yes like university of hawaii almost had to shut down my talk and they hired security just to protect me and like all the people coming to yes it was insane. This is blowing my mind. Like you hear this stuff happens, but to hear it happens like for real is actually mind blowing. Yeah. How did you feel when all of this was going on? Did you want to throw in the towel

or did it make you want to double down? Well, it definitely dimmed my light because all of a sudden I was dealing with all of these detractors and haters. And every time I went online and I would post something or somebody would say something nice about a campaign that I was running or shared a post of mine, there would be 10 negative comments all of a sudden. And I never understood why, but later I found out that Monsanto had a program that they funded that said, leave no comment left behind. So they literally hired trolls on the internet to make sure they're on comment sections everywhere to try to sway public opinion. Because at this time, there was a huge legislation in the federal government for GMO labeling. And the Monsanto did not want GMOs to be labeled.

And so they would do anything to protect the fact that the majority of our food is genetically engineered and it's created to withstand heavy doses of their chemicals that cause cancer. And so this was a very interesting time to be on the rise and also be the target of these campaigns and actually wrote about all of that. If anybody wants to get a schooling on how the food industry works in the playbook behind the food industry and all of these crazy stories that happened to me, which made me very clear on how the pharmaceutical industry works too, is Feeding You Lies. It's my second book. It is probably my most important work because it shares all of these stories in depth. And the reason why I'm telling you this background, Natalie, I think is so important to where I am today, because shortly after all that was happening, I had to do a couple changes that has fundamentally made me a better human, a better business person, a better woman, a better mom, everything. Number one, I turned off Google alerts.

I said, it doesn't matter if somebody says something nice about me online or negative about me online. It should not change my mission. It should change why I was put on this earth or what I need to share. So people know the truth about the food industry. Eight years ago, I turned off Google Alerts. So occasionally here and there, my team will say, hey, this article came out, just thought you should see it, that kind of thing. You know, sometimes it's something they think I maybe should respond to. But, you know, a lot of times I tell them don't send me any of that stuff. I don't want to know.

And sometimes they send the good stuff. Sometimes, you know, my mom will see it or something and she'll say something about it, but I don't see it and it doesn't affect my job. And it's the most beautiful thing because I stay true to who I am and I don't let anybody influence what I'm doing. The second thing that I did was I decided that I wanted to have a child because I just, it was that moment in time where I was like, okay, things are getting real. I really just, you know, I started to feel it in my body. I felt like, you know, whatever the clock that ticks or whatever, you just kind of just the hits a number one day and you're like, Oh, it's time. No, it was, it was really, it was, it was all the way from, I'm not sure if I want to have children to, I'm going to have a child right now.

Let's go. Right. And we did, we went and I had a beautiful daughter and she changed my life because she taught me that I was not going to be the same person I was before having her and that I would completely change who I was. And I definitely did soften in terms of being a food activist, because suddenly I was, you know, your brain changes when you become a mother. So about seven or eight months in, I realized I still have ambition and drive to change the world.

Like I can't just stop what I'm doing, but I can't be marching down the headquarters of giant corporations and having all of these detractors and people trying to take me down and drive-bys by my house because that really did happen and rape and death threats and all of that stuff. Like I couldn't allow myself to be that vulnerable because in that risky, because now I had a dog. And so I talked to one of my very good friends who I met right around the time I decided to quit my job and do food bank full time. And he's one of the guys that inspired me, Derek Halpern. And he and I were talking about getting into business together for so long because I just loved his morality, if that makes any sense

about marketing. The way he taught marketing was always about telling the truth and not lying to your customers. And that to me was always like so admirable and the way that he would always look for a real story to tell something in order to sell something eventually, but like a real story. Right. And I loved that about him. And I thought if I ever wanted to create a product and bring it to the world, I would want him to help me with the marketing of it. And me and him were talking. And meanwhile, he was talking to one of his friends, Devin Duncan, and Devin Duncan and him were talking about creating a supplement company. And he called me and was asking me about turmeric. And I was like, I love turmeric. It's

what saved my tailbone. When I had a crazy injury where I broke my tailbone. And the first thing the doctors told me was like, you know, you have to get your tailbone. It's the only thing that's going to fix it. And I was like, well, what, what does that look like? They're like, oh, for six months, you're going to be, you know, you're not gonna be able to exercise and I'll be able to do this, blah, blah, blah. I was like six months, half a year. Like, are you kidding me? I was like, no, I don't slow down. Like that's not an option. So instead I just tried to heal it naturally. And I literally got acupuncture needles right into my tailbone area, needles in my butt again. And, and I took turmeric, a medicinal version of it. And it was just like,

it healed me within nine months. And so when he was talking to me about turmeric, I was like, this is something I've been wanting to create forever. Because I found out my turmeric supplement had been bought by a big conglomerate, and they changed the ingredients. And they were suddenly adding synthetic ingredients in it. And I was like, you know, it would be great to have the purest form of turmeric. And so Truvani was born. The three of us became partners and turmeric was our first product that launched in February, 2018. And now we are creating, we have so many products. I can't even tell you the number of products because we actually, we actually argue over it because there's so many different skews

and different sizes, but we have now created the number one plant-based protein powder in natural stores in the world right now. Wow. And it's been number one for the last 52 weeks. And it's the coolest thing ever. But to get to this point has been such a journey for me in terms of how I want to show up as a partner, how I want to show up as a mother and how I want to show up for food, babe, right? Because food, babe is still a company in

its own. And so it's, it's been such a learning journey for me on how I navigate not only this amazing success that we've experienced, but now navigating how do I continue teaching the masses about the truth about the food industry. And it's been a very up and down journey for me emotionally, because again, when I became a mother, I had no idea how it would change me and my priorities. I mean, my priorities are number one, my kids, like there's no other person, place, thing, anybody, I'm sorry, my husband, I'm so, so, so, so sorry, but they are number one, right? They are just number one over everything. And I've had to sacrifice so much because I know the value I have put in them. And it's so funny because people always ask me now, they're like, so are you traveling a lot these days?

Like, wouldn't you do it? I'm like, yeah, I travel with my kids, but I don't really, I wouldn't necessarily go on a work travel trip unless it's a quick one, right? Like back and forth, right? I don't go for a long time because I don't want to miss those moments.

And my little one's two, my older one's six. And it's just this time period that I know is never going to come back. We recently launched our Life HQ Notion template inside of the Society and let me tell you, it is beautiful. Notion is one of today's podcast sponsors and if you're new to using Notion, it's an amazing platform that combines your notes, documents and projects all together for you and your team to access. You likely already know how much we love Notion at Boss Babe but I wanted to tell you that now it's even better and easier to use than ever

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The data is encrypted and answers will never use information from pages you don't have access to. Try Notion AI for free when you go to notion.com slash boss babe. That's all lowercase letters, notion.com slash boss babe to try the powerful easy to use notion ai today and when you use our link you're supporting our show notion.com slash boss babe at boss babe we always get asked what platforms we use for our day-to-day operating systems one of our most used platforms and today's podcast sponsor is Gusto. We've used Gusto since the very beginning of Boss Babe. Gusto is an easy online payroll and benefit software built for small and growing businesses. It really is an all-in-one remote friendly platform. It is the place to pay,

hire, onboard and support your hard-working team across the globe. We have team members from all around the world and Gusto makes it really easy to onboard our team and manage not only payroll but benefits, HR, taxes, time off requests and so much more. The platform is so easy to use and when it comes to processing payroll or taxes it's really simple for our CFO and accounting team to access as well, not that you need that. Not only can you manage payroll, taxes and time off requests but you also get direct access to certified HR experts and to small group health insurance options for nearly any budget you know when I came to America I had no idea about all of this stuff and so being able to plug into Gusto was the biggest lifesaver if you are ready to get organized and have

everything in one place all online to take care of your business employees, head to gusto.com slash boss babe and get three months for free when you run your first payroll. That's g-u-s-t-o.com slash boss babe. Oh my goodness, there's so many places I want to go, but listening to your story, I don't know, even though I've lived in America for quite a long time now, I don't know a lot about the American food system. When I moved over here, I started seeing all of these food products and fast food chains that I'd seen in the movies. And I was like, Oh, they're actually real. And I just decided to stay away from them. I just didn't. So I don't

know a lot about it. And I started Googling Monsanto when you were talking about it. And oh my goodness, the amount of articles popping up about them being sued and them being the ones that produce Roundup glyphosate that I think is starting to come into the conversation now. It's so incredible listening to your story and how way back when, when no one was having glyphosate conversation, no one was having the food conversation, they were paying people to post on comment on your stuff. They were paying people to go into articles and talk about it. And it's just interesting to hear because, you know, we hear a lot of, a lot of that online of these big corporations are trying to psychologically sway us. And I think the peaceful thing to do is pretend it's not happening and pretend it's being blown out of proportion, but actually hearing your story and seeing how it's come full circle of

people realizing how harmful it is, is just such an eye opener and just makes me very, very grateful for people like you who do take a stand in the world, because I think it's a very, very challenging thing to do, to be one person, to go up against these huge corporations, like you're talking about the threats that you've got, it's terrifying. So it makes me very, very grateful for people like you. And then hearing your story on motherhood, I definitely feel like we need to get into this as well. The way you talk about how it changed you and your priorities. What was coming to mind as I was hearing your full story unfold was the three big rules that you're in, you know, a creator behind food, babe, you are a creator, you are

an artist, you are an author. You are creating content for this business consistently. In addition to being a full-fledged entrepreneur with a huge company, in addition to being a really present mom to two young children, those alone, you know, and that's excluding wife, friend, all of the other titles, those three titles alone, you know, and that's excluding wife, friend, all of the other titles, those three titles alone, pretty big titles. How do you manage flowing between each in a way that has you feel like you can put your kids first as your priority? Because I know even just wearing one of those hats with the hat of mom isn't easy. Yeah. Yeah. It is. It is very challenging. You know, I have, from a practical standpoint, I carve out specific points in time during my day where I connect with

my children. And so there's certain time periods where are completely non-negotiable. Like for example, in the morning, I take my daughter to school. You know, that 10 minute car ride every single day, the conversations we have, everything about getting her in the car and being with her and sending her off, like it's so important to me. And so that period in time is non-negotiable. I could, of course, outsource that to a nanny or someone else, right? I could, right? of course, I don't get to have lunch with my daughter during the work day or the work week because she's at school when she was five and a half, I had lunch with her every single day. So I would literally in my calendar, there's no meetings at 1130 when they have lunch. And I'd have my lunch that early too. And I'd sit down with them. Sometimes we'd read books while we'd have lunch. You know, we would chit chat about, Hey, did you have fun playing this morning? Did you go to the park with, you know, our nanny? And we would just talk about what we would be doing, like, you know, what the kids did prior to sitting down for lunch. So spending that morning time with them, then I go and I work out basically, then come back. And then I have an hour period of, I do like writing or some kind of like very concentrated work. Then I sit down with my kids and have

lunch. And then after that is usually nap time for my two-year-old. So that's where that two, two and a half hour period, sometimes three, I can get the majority of my hardcore work done. And there's something, I don't know what it is, but when your child is sleeping versus any other time period, it's like you are the most at ease as a mother, whether it's in the evening or nap time. I don't know what it is. When you can see them on the baby monitor and they're in the room next door. Yeah. Your nervous system finally can just be, ah, right. Because even if they're with another caregiver, even my husband, right. I'm always like, did he get everything he needs to get the water bottle? Like all the, all of the unseen checklists that mothers have in their brains, right. Are constantly checking, right. It's like this, it's like this refresh button that keeps happening. Like they're alive, they're good and they're fed and like, you know, all the things. And so when that nap time period happens, it's like what we're, you know, right now it's nap

time, Natalie. So I'm just so relaxed talking to you because, you know, I've got this time to focus in on this conversation. I know I'm not going to be interrupted. I know that he's great and like everything's good. And then usually, you know, nap time ends and then my daughter gets home from school. And so that's the time period where I connect with her when she's having a snack. I ask her about her day, like everything's going well. And then I usually have to start prepping dinner around that time. You know, maybe there's a half an hour more work or another meeting that I slide in, but then I got to start prepping dinner because we're, we're making all of our food pretty much every single day. I mean, we eat out occasionally and we'll eat out obviously

when we're traveling and things like that. But like making our own food is really important to me just from a nutritional standpoint. I really believe that if you give your kids the most nutritious diet, like everything else will work out. Their brains are going to work so efficiently and so amazing that they're going to be the people they are meant to be in this world. Whereas someone like me, I didn't find out who I was meant to be until I had to hit rock bottom. I'm hoping that they find themselves earlier than I did. And, you know, I actually just wrote a whole book about this called Food Babe Family. It just came out in October.

And it's all about how I feed my children and what we eat on a daily basis and all the meals and lunches and everything. And the whole thing from the time where my daughter was born until now and how we sit down as a family and all the habits that we follow and what we do and all the tricky situations when we travel or we're at school or there's a party or there's a show that you go to and everyone's eating Dippin' Dots, like what do you do? And I share all of that information in that book. So if you're a mom, you need this book, Food Babe Family, it just came out. And at that point, we're sitting down

for dinner and usually we'll have a little bit of screen time after dinner. That's kind of our, we have like 30 minutes of screen time for the kids and that's kind of their little thing at the end of the day where they relax. And that's usually the time where I'll sit down, my husband does the dishes because I cook. And so, you know, and if he cooks, sometimes I'll do the dishes, that kind of thing, but we kind of flip off on that, but he's usually the one who does the dishes, which is so nice. And he learned that from his dad, which is so cool. Like his dad still does the dishes too, which I think it's just so cool to see guys do dishes by the way. So I sit down and usually relax with the kids and I'll, I'll usually try to watch

whatever my two-year-old is watching because it's like, he's so young. He's just now trying to figure out shows and he's not really, you know, he's about to turn three. So he's, you know, it's like he sees his sister watching it. So he's, you know, it's like, he sees his sister watching it. So he asks for it. Sometimes he doesn't always ask for it. So sometimes I'll have independent time with him, but it's, it's a, you know, it's a struggle when you see the, when the older child is doing something that looks fun. So, and then the TV turns off and we have about an hour of like mischief in the house. It's jumping on couches. It's gymnastics. It's jumping on the beds.

It's like going down in the gym and jumping on the trampoline. Like it's getting all the last wiggles out before bedtime at eight. And then after eight is when I will usually log on again and catch up on anything that I missed during the day because there's things that, you know, pop up. And then from nine to 10, usually I'll either read or watch a show. I started watching the squid game challenge recently. And that is just, oh my gosh, just a, uh, wow. It's just human nature is so, but I love But I love a good show. So if anyone listening has recommendations, please DM me.

Good shows because I love just to escape with a show if I can. Do you watch The Crown? I have not watched The Crown. Okay. That's a good one for you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm in my Crown era right now, binging.

They're amazing. Okay. Well, then maybe I'll start that soon. And, you know, it's like a little guilty pleasure at the end of the night, but I, you know, if I'm not watching a show, which I haven't found a show in forever, it's just randomly that I started this with anything, but I usually watch like podcasts, like educational podcasts that have videos, or I will watch documentaries. I love documentaries. So I'm always trying, I don't know, there's something about nonfiction that I just love too, just about learning and teaching myself something new. And I've been reading a lot about families lately on

how to just create a family legacy. I've been reading all sorts of genres, like books that I never thought I would read in a million years based on the political nature of that book. So it goes back to my debate roots of like learning both sides of an issue. And I'm finding that there's value actually in both sides of an issue. And I'm learning from people of all political backgrounds, which is blowing my mind right now, because I'm like, gosh, I was so short sighted before, you know, why didn't I open myself up to this? So I've been teaching, you know, learning something about myself that way. And so to go back to your question, Natalie, about how I'm able to handle those three big hats. It's really about that practical

day-to-day schedule, but also knowing that saying no to a commitment or something that is big coming up and taking a lesser role is not forever. Like there is this, definitely this spark that enters your brain at points when you're making these decisions of the fear of missing out, right? And there are so many instances where I'm invited to go do something that, oh gosh, looks so amazing. And it would be incredible. But the thought of leaving my children for a whole week to go do it would be too painful for me. And so I choose not to do it. And it's just the way that I became as a mother after I had Harley. Like, you know, when I had her, I didn't read anything about actually raising her.

I read everything about how to have a natural childbirth. Like, I just thought like the most important thing was to have a natural childbirth and like get her out of my body, like the most naturally as possible. And I read everything I could, I did all the breath work, I did everything I could possibly do. And I achieved that, which was so great. And then she came, and she just rocked my world to the point where I was like, wait a minute, I thought I was just gonna like go back to work and work as much as I was working before and like doing all this stuff I was doing before. And wait a minute, I'm a different person now. This is crazy. And I have to tell you, it really was hard putting up the boundaries at first, because at the time my business partners,

one had a child at the time and one did not. And the one who hadn't had a child yet, and I won't say which one, he didn't have a child yet. And so when he saw the changes I was experiencing in terms of my priorities, he would say things to me like, hey, you've changed. You're just not the same person. Why can't you be more like so-and-so? And it was hard to hear that because I was lost on how to create boundaries with my business partners, with my work life. And I had to figure all of that out. And I thankfully had this amazing life coach, Lauren Zander, who is just so amazing. She took me under her wings and she helped me create a beautiful relationship now with my partners and with my work-life balance in terms of there really is no balance, right? It's just your, what you prioritize

and you can't have it all once you know your priorities, right? And it's, it's taken a lot of time to get there. And what I've realized too, is that I have this situation where I become really anxious when I'm not being true to who I am. And my anxiety starts to go out of control to the point where I'm like, what's going on? My acupuncture is not working. My workout's not working. Like my diet's not working. What's going on? And it's usually because I'm out of balance and my intuition. And so whenever I'm in that situation, I just go back to that intuition and retool on like, here are my priorities, like what's going on, what's making me spiral out of control. And I can quickly get myself back to the equilibrium.

Oh, so many things that you said during that were realizations that I've had, but I haven't been able to put words to yet. So I'm so grateful. There's a couple of things that I just want to call out the FOMO piece. Yes. Like I don't have FOMO anymore because I get invited to these same thing, huge events. I just said no to one recently and I was seeing everyone else there on Instagram and I didn't have FOMO because I knew where I would rather be. But it's really interesting because before I had my baby, I had this idea of myself and

I wrote it down that my kids would fit around my life. And I almost wore it as a badge of honor. My ambition won't change. Kids can fit around my life. You know, that's some of the narrative that I'd been hearing. And when I had Noemi, same thing. I didn't read anything about postpartum. I didn't read anything about motherhood. There's an amazing book called Mama Rising that I did read when I was in the throes of postpartum being like, what the heck's happening to me? But making the conscious choice that actually I don't want to have my kids fit around my life and I want them to be a part of my life was huge.

And same thing with conversations that then had to be had were very, very challenging because especially when people don't understand that, I think there's a lot of judgment or I'll speak for myself. There was some judgment that I was kind of less of an entrepreneur if I wasn't as ambitious or I wasn't saying yes, or I wasn't pursuing growth at all costs. And I think that's such an outdated conversation and I don't think it serves women. And like you were saying, why can't you be more like such and such? You know, if we see a woman that does prioritize her work, perhaps a little bit more, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I get, I think we all get to be on our journeys, but we shouldn't be compared or compare ourselves to, you know? Yeah, it was difficult at the time. And now

it's funny, because we look back at that, that time period, and now he has two children. And so he's like, okay, I get it. I get it. And, you know, we've had some heart to heart since then. And it's, it's a beautiful thing because they like all the things I thought about motherhood or parents or children before I had children were completely wrong. And I had no right to say anything to any of them. Right. And I did say stuff. Like, I remember like, like totally dogging my brother and my sister-in-law for having five o'clock dinners. And I was like, this is just lame. Like you can't have an eight o'clock dinner. And they're like, no, we have two small kids. And, and then when, after I had kids, I was like, Oh, I get it. Like, of course you can't have an eight o'clock dinner. That's your bedtime.

Like, you know, and so like all the things you figure out after you have a child, you just kind of laugh, like, what was I thinking? Right. And now we're to that, that space and it's really beautiful and everybody's given their space to kind of do their magic. And, you know, my job at Truvani is to make sure the ingredients are clean, that they're tested, that they're as true to what we say on the label as possible, that they're real, that's why I believe we're the number one plant-based protein powder in natural right now, because of that reason, because of the trust of those ingredients, but also because it tastes really great and it's not chalky, but we just created a bar too, that is made with ingredients that you would find in your own kitchen. And this was such a endeavor. I mean, it started in my kitchen. And I remember we took the bar to the manufacturer and they're like, can you recreate this? And it was going to be like $14 a bar.

And like, of course, that's just not feasible for people to pay. And so we really had to figure out how to make an organic, clean bar that is delicious, but it's also not $14. Right. And we finally did it, which is the coolest thing. And now like huge grocery stores, like sprouts is carrying our bars and I'm hoping that whole foods will start to carry them too soon. They whole foods just expanded our protein flavors, which is so cool. And so we're realizing this like enormous success. And again, like this upcoming year, like I'm thinking about all of the challenges that I'm going to have because we're expanding in retail. I'm required to like go into different grocery stores and do, you know, demos and other things, which is like the funnest thing ever, like hanging

out in a grocery store and like meeting like-minded people and talking about ingredients. Like, could it be any funner, right? Like the more fun, sorry, funner is not a word, but more fun than that. You know, it's absolutely a dream come true to do this job. And I'm so grateful that I was able to create this environment in this job where I'm not responsible for the day-to-day operations, which Devin is, or I'm not responsible for the marketing, which Derek is. I'm responsible for the, I think the most important part of the product, which is the integrity of the product to me. Right. And then I can let them do that work, which is another key to my success, which is pick partners that, you know, work very hard and want to succeed and have that same ambition you do. And that same level of trust, too, which is initially what I said about Derek, which was, I knew he was never going to market in a

sleazy, weird way. Right? It was always going to be true to who I am in my message and like the real integrity of our stories. And that's what I think makes Truvani such a beautiful company and why we're seeing the success we are. Yeah, 100%. I don't think you would grow like that without the integrity behind it. And I just have loved hearing your story. It's been so inspiring. And the things that you've shared so real about motherhood, too. There's like so many things I've been writing down around the boundaries you've had. And it sounds like the real key for you to wearing all of these hats is having a lot of structure in your day, which I really relate to. I need that structure. I need to know what my time blocks look like. And same thing, having those boundaries that, you know,

after 4pm, I'm not going to be working because I know I'm spending time. And it's, yeah, it's really nice to hear that practical stuff too, because we hear don't feel guilt, don't feel XYZ. But I think to really circumvent that you do need the structure so that you can feel really good about where you're putting your time and energy. So I'm thankful that you shared that. You mentioned Food Babe Family. That is your incredible new book as well. I think everyone should pick up that if they've got kids, it's phenomenal. And one thing I really love about it is taking the anxiety out of travel with kids. I definitely have had a lot of that.

I was just in the jungle with Noemi and that was very, very challenging. We could not really get the stuff we were used to and she had an eczema flare up and she hasn't had an eczema flare up for 12 months now. So that was such a, we got on top of it, but it was such a reminder to me of why it's really important that I stick with the routines. It can be very tempting to just relax with it a

little bit. And then I see the consequences. I'm like, no, that doesn't feel good. You know, it's the same thing that happens with my son too. So we have that in common where he'll have an eczema flare up when we're traveling because he'll eat something, you know, I'm like, oh, we're eating this, you know, I'm like, Oh, we're eating this, you know, piece of cake or this bread and you want a little bite and like, it's okay. And like, and then I'm like, Oh, it had milk in it. And it's, you know, I can tell he's a little sensitive to dairy and when he has too much dairy and combined with eggs, he flares up. And so it's like, it's impossible to know all the ingredients that you're eating when you're traveling. And so I have this amazing checklist as part of the book, which is all of these products that I

travel with, like food products that you wouldn't normally think to buy for a child, like olives that are, you know, are packed in a way that you can travel with them. They don't have to be refrigerated, things that are nutritious, that they can eat on the go go that they wouldn't be part of maybe their everyday diet at home, but they're going to like these kind of snacks on the go. And one of the other ones I want to mention is Epic makes these amazing wild salmon sticks and they're just like literally flavored with like one gram of maple syrup and that's it. So they make them a little sweet on the outside and it almost feels like a fruit jerky, but it's salmon. It's wild salmon. Yeah. And oh my goodness, my two-year-old just goes to town on those things. They're chewy, delicious. It's like, you know, they're fun to eat.

And then one of the other things that we absolutely love to travel with are, they're little like dried, just dried fruit. There's fruit roll-ups that we can, you can make from scratch that I actually have the recipe in food, big family, but if you don't have time, I actually had the list of brands that don't use things like citric acid or natural flavors or additional things. And then like one brand that I love is solely has one ingredient, just organic dried mango. I know which one you mean. And peaceful fruits is another one that has a nice fruit leather. That's just like organic ASEI and blueberry or whatever in them. And they have different combinations of fruits, which I love. And then what is one of the other things that I

travel with that I absolutely love? That's not, Oh, rhythm snacks. So rhythm snacks is they make dried vegetables and they're delicious. So they'll make one ingredient, dry, organic carrot sticks. Perfect to take on the go. They're crunchy and they're delicious. And they're like a really fun snack, especially to give on an airplane. And then they make beet chips the same way it's just one ingredient organic beets okay i'm gonna get into this i do have a question too i love chomps you know chomps the organic grass that do you think they're okay for kids or do you think there's too much sodium in them once in a while okay okay um not all the time okay as the sodium yeah okay and then there's some of the additives too in them i don't love yeah some of the things i don't really love i mean there is there's some

debate about the celery powder that they put in there it's considered like a nitrate like a you know it's basically a natural form of nitrate. So I wouldn't make that to them. Like I wouldn't make that like a weekly snack, it'd be like once in a while thing, but the Epic salmon sticks don't use that. So that would be a great option for like a meat on the go. Bars that looks like dried veggies. Have you seen those?

And then the Lesser Evil, like dried veggie kind of chip things. Have you seen those? Yes. So Lesser Evil makes these little bite-sized veggie, what do they call them? Like veggie puffs or something? Yeah, veggie puffs. Yes.

Those are amazing. I don't, the sweet ones though, I feel like they have a strawberry and beet version and they have like another version that's sweet. Those I feel like are like treating, like they're too treaty, you know, like the veggie ones. Like I think those are savory. So that's like a great one for like a savory snack. So I don't like all the flavors,

but I like that flavor. And that flavor doesn't have any, from the last time I checked, you know, people always change the ingredients. The last time I checked, it didn't have any hidden MSG or anything in them. So I I love them thank you for reminding me of this because I really want to buy those before our next trip and then yeah my kids like those little veggie puffs and then what was the other brand that you mentioned tea these like organic teether snacks I'm going to show you

and then teether snacks is that what you said yeah teethers happy baby teethers let me send you a link so you can like scope this out for everyone. And what about tinned sardines? The most amazing food you can give your child. Okay, great. I travel with them everywhere. Yes. So Patagonia makes canned mackerel, canned sardines, canned, they even make wild salmon already cooked in packages. And it's

in a little cardboard box that you can travel with. And it is an amazing fish that you can give to your children, especially one of the first foods you give to your child because of the DHA that is amazing for brain development, not to mention it has vitamin A and like tons of protein. And like, it's so like one of the most nutrient dense foods. So I'm so happy you mentioned that because that's like the most amazing food you can give your children. These teasers, let me look at the ingredients. Yeah. I'm like sending just for anyone listening, I'm sending links behind the scenes of like, yeah, so this, this is like, you know, okay, so this tea there is for everyone listening. It's happy baby organic tea, there's pea and spinach. Now they're putting a dusting of pea and spinach in here, it's not enough to

actually make it like a vegetable, whereas like rhythm actually is using a full vegetable, dehydrating it and putting it in a bag. This is mainly just rice and tapioca starch. So it's like tapioca and rice, and then they're dusting it to make the color. So it's not going to, you know, obviously kill your child or anything like that. But it is probably like a fun to eat food once in a while kind of thing, but it's not one that I would like stock your pantry with. I would rather go with a rhythm snack versus that.

They have cauliflower, they have kale chips, they have all kinds of stuff now. Okay, well, I'm going to stock up. This was such a fun conversation. I'm so grateful to you for being so real as well and sharing the real behind the scenes and the honesty around motherhood. It's so refreshing to you for being so real as well and sharing the real behind the scenes and the honesty around motherhood it's so refreshing to have these conversations where can everyone find you find

your companies find your cookbooks all the things you can come on over to foodbabe.com i have links to everything there follow me on instagram at the food babe and truvani.com. Truvani is now sold in over 6,000 stores. So find your natural food store should be there. We're at Whole Foods now, Sprouts, Vitamin Shop, Wegmans. We just launched in Publix. And so we're hitting it everywhere. So you can hopefully find it where you live. And if not, you can come over to truvani.com or Amazon and get it. Amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you, Natalie. It was so

great to chat.