The Bossticks - How To Change Your Body, Heal Yourself, & Take Charge Ft. Pvolve CEO - Rachel Katzman

Episode Date: April 5, 2024

#682: Today we're sitting down with Rachel Katzman, Co-Founder & CEO of Pvolve. Pvolve PWT is different from traditional weightlifting because it blends functional movements with weight training. They focus on taking your joints through their full range of motion and use the resistance of their equipment to activate every muscle, so you gain strength, mobility, and stability. Today, we sit down for a conversation about functional training, why Jennifer Aniston reached out to her team and started working with Pvolve, and why you should incorporate more functional lifts into your routine. We also dive into the topics of birth control, building a company with your partner, and struggling with Lyme disease.   To connect with Rachel Katzman click HERE   To connect with pvolve click HERE   To connect with Lauryn Evarts Bosstick click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE To Watch the Show click HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential & Pvolve   Use code SKINNY at pvolve.com to receive 20% off.   Produced by Dear Media 

The following podcast is a dear media production. She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. Fantastic. And he's a serial entrepreneur. A very smart cookie. And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride. Get ready for some major realness. Welcome to the skinny confidential, him and her.

Back then, I feel like we didn't, or our parents, right, like didn't have enough information. Like nobody talked about any of this stuff. that what I did in my teenage years or in my early 20s, what that kind of long-term effect is going to have on my health. This notion of like it's 2024. There are so many other solutions and there's so many other healthier ways to live to still achieve those goals, but maybe by not causing so much damage to your body in those early years,

I feel like we're so much more educated. We're live. We're talking about Jennifer Aniston, And you got an email out of nowhere from her. I did. Tell me about that. I was really late at night. It was like August, 2022.

And I get an email from somebody from her team that's like, hey, she'd be a fan. Do you guys offer like in-home personal training sessions? She's been streaming at home. Can we set something up? And I'm like, who the fuck is punky me? This is so cruel. Like, who would do this? This isn't real.

And then we have someone call and they're like, no, I think this is real. I think it really is her. And so we sent a trainer there and it turned out to really be Jennifer Aniston. She had all of our equipment at her in-home gym. Was streaming at home, fell in love with the method and was like how to more people like how I need more people to know about this. This method's incredible. I want to come on. I want to be a part of this. Like how do we make this happen? Wait. So here's my question. I have a couple. She's very. to me as seeing P-Volve evolve. She reminds me of a P-Volve girl. But how did she even discover it? Her friend was doing P-Volve, found P-Volve during COVID. They see each other, oh, my God, you look amazing. What are you doing? P-Volve, what's that? Ordered all the equipment, started doing it at home and found love with it. That's what's so cool about online business. Like, you never know.

You never know. You never know. No. So when you figure out that she's a fan in your business mind, what are your steps? Like, do you immediately want her as an investor? Like, were you like, I need her to be an ambassador? Or was it just like, let's get her a trainer? I think none of that even crossed my mind. It was so like an out of body experience. I still didn't believe it. And I, like, Danny, our trainer called me after. I'm like, it's not really her. No, it's her. And I'm like, no, there's no way. Like, it's so, you know, she's like the end all be all. And, then we get an email from her team that's like we need to meet can you come to L.A. She wants to get involved like who are you guys like who are you what's P-Volve like we're so tiny. Are you leaving

your sanctuary of where you live? Of course next day go let's you know. Okay and so what's the meeting like he just said like this doesn't happen we don't call brands brands call us but she's like absolutely in love with this. It has changed her life and her body and the way she thinks about fitness. And what can we do? And how many days a week was she doing it? You know, I'm going to ask every thing. She works out around three to four times a week. Okay. And, you know, a combination of in person and then streaming at home. But I think what's really amazing is her story of why she fell in love with this method is very similar to my story of why I started this company. And, you know, my body was broken down. And, from high intensity workouts. She has a lot of sensitivities and she's broken her body down doing

high intensity workouts, but we still want to feel strong. We still want to do a workout that you feel, oh my God, my arms like shaking. My ass is going to fall off. I can feel all those muscles, but I don't feel depleted. I feel energized. I feel alive and, you know, taller and longer and sculpted, but I feel better. I look amazing, but I feel 10 times. better. And, you know, she's even said, I wish I knew about this in my 20s. And I don't want to see people break down their bodies to try to get these crazy results. And you actually can kind of have that perfect combination of both. Well, I fell in love with Pval for exactly that reason. I am very sensitive to bright lights. And my daughter says it's because we have blue eyes.

Whenever Michael turns the lights on. I've heard that. She goes, we have blue eyes, dad. So it's true. But people with blue eyes have stronger light sense. So I'm sensitive to light. So I don't need like strobe lights in my face when I'm working out. And I'm also sensitive to sounds. And I don't want to be yelled at. No. I have a very, not chaotic life already with my work that I don't want to be yelled at of what to do.

And I also don't want, you know, gangster rap, like blasting through the speakers or techno music like I'm in a club. One works out to like Spanish guitar. Yeah. I want to send me the playlist. Yeah. Spanish guitar classic on Spotify. I'll text please. Love it. So I initially actually liked P-Volve myself because I felt like it was an exercise that paid attention to the nervous system.

Do you find that? I think the nervous system is going to become really hot for 2025. I think that's like the word. I think what's so amazing about this method is that you really can scale it down or you can scale it all. the way up. It stands for personal evolution. And what you need is different to what I need, different to what Michael needs. And yes, because of, you know, it's low impact. It's functional fitness. There is this element that you're not spiking your cortisol. It isn't this go, go, go, go, go, like 20 reps, do it until your arm falls off. But it's this balance of, you know, what do you need

for your body that day? And I think, you know, over these past six and a half years, like, Personally, I've gone through so much of getting off birth control, my hormones being crazy, getting diagnosed with Lyme disease, and actually not being able to get out of bed or move my body, freezing my eggs. Like as a woman, you go through so many different chapters of your life. And movement can be medicine, should be medicine, and can be a part of that, each one of those chapters. And it should be able to evolve with you kind of what you need depending on what you're going

through if that makes sense. And I think for so long, exercise, fitness was designed for a man. Sorry, Michael. And the woman was supposed to follow that. But really, what we like, we design it for women. You know, it's for women by women with that lens. We go through so many different things. And really, you know, your fitness should be able to adapt with you kind of while you're going through those things and it shouldn't be, I think this concept of longevity and that your fitness should do so much more for you than just make you look good. Like, if we're working out, yes, I want toned arms and defined abs and that. But I, me putting in that time, there should be so many other benefits than just looking good. The last time we talked to was 2019. People should go back

and listen to them. Go back and listen. It was a long time ago. A lot happened. You had your hair care line, which you sold. But I want to go back to your first chapter, which is walking. you decided to create P-Volve. Take us there and then I want to talk about the birth control and the Lyme's disease and all these things that you've gone through. So take us back to why you created it in the first place. Yeah, I mean, I was in my early 20s living in New York City and I just remember like waking up one day looking in the mirror and I'm like, who is that? Like I don't recognize myself. I don't like the body I'm in and I started on my fitness journey and I was going to all the different boutique studios doing all the high intensity workouts and just found myself.

physically not seeing what I wanted, and more importantly, like, in so much pain. I go to the doctor. I found out I have scoliosis, and I was like, well, I don't like how I look. So I don't really give a shit about my pain. I'm going to push through that and just, you know, try to achieve these results like so many people do. And did more damage than good and walked into a studio and they were training in this functional fitness world. And I'm like, what's that? I've never heard of that before. But very quickly, I physically started to see what I wanted to see. but more importantly, my back pain went away. I felt open.

I felt energized. I felt like I had my confidence back, and I actually liked working out. I looked forward to going to those classes. And I felt like no matter who I talked to, how old you were, like my age, my mom's friends. Like it was always, I can't work out because I'm injured. I stopped going to that gym because I got injured or I don't see results. And I'm over here like my body looks amazing. but I feel 10 times better and started doing my own research.

I want functional fitnesses. And if you really think about it, most workouts train you for training. But with functional fitness, it trains you for everyday life. But when you wake up in the morning, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep, you're bending, you're reaching, you're rotating, your body's moving in 3D. You're moving in all planes of motion. And the way you exercise should really be mimicking that so that you're enhancing your everyday life.

And how is your ex-husband, Stephen, involved in this evolution? Because is he, I want to say he was like doing something with exercise at the time as well. Yeah. So he was my trainer at the time. And he was at this gym and a bunch of trainers were teaching in this world. And so me and him kind of set out to start this. And I think I had such a profound experience and my whole life changed, you know, with this type of movement that that kind of passion and hunger and drive to create something really big. and to spread this and to help so many people just took over me. And so we really set out. We got a small

gym and got other trainers and just really like down and dirty just kind of launched this and see if other people were interested and wanted to reach a bigger audience than just in New York. And you guys were getting like Victoria's Secret models like early on. I went to one of your first gyms. I feel like your your office was upstairs. That dirty gym. Yes. Remember he brought me up before the session and I like I first met you? Yeah. And then we went down and worked out. It was like very early on, I think. Or yes, like, like, like, 2017, I think. Doesn't it feel like, like, I remember when you did that because I was with you,

like, I'm going to this thing. It feels like it was just yesterday. Not to age all of us. No, I know, right? It feels so long ago, but it feels like it was yesterday. Yeah, even when we, you know, I'm surprised we haven't talked in five years. I was like, oh, she's probably been on the show like the last like two years or so. I'm like, oh, shit. It does feel like two years. Yeah.

So, you know, I want to say something real quick, though. So I know this is mostly speaking to women, but, but, I'm, but, you're probably speaking to women, but to give the bros a little bit of credit, I think, and I've said it on this show, it is not, I think we've, yeah, the bros, the gym bros, the gym bros, because that's what, you know, I think, you know, the gym bros get a lot of shit, but I think many of them have also been tuned on to stuff for a long time. Like, you know, like I see a lot more women now talking about creatine and building muscle and doing functional fitness. And yes, the bros can be out there, but, and I call them the bros, the gym bros. But I was saying on a podcast one time, like, we've accepted as normal to be

in your 20s and 30s even 40s with back pain. Yep. And that's not normal, right? It's just like, people like, oh, I'm getting older. I'm back pain. You shouldn't have that. 100%. It's mostly because of a lack of, you know, foundational and functional fitness and

muscle building. Yeah. You know, I think a lot of people, if they do what you're talking about or work out like you've built here, like a lot of that back pain and some of the stuff that they're having structurally will just go away. It's not normal to be in that kind of pain. 100%. And I think it's really like two things are going to have.

happen to you in your lifetime. Either one, something out of your control, you're going to get injured, an accident, some type of autoimmune condition, something where your body just gives out that's out of your control, or you're not going to take care of yourself and you're going to age, and then your body's going to give out. And it's like, that shouldn't happen. You know, that shouldn't happen. Like, if you shouldn't be doing these detrimental things when you're younger, when your body can take it that are going to lead to such, you know, things that are going to make you age, you know, not gracefully. Or if you are going through something that is out of your control, you might think there isn't a solution. I can't move my body. I can't feel strong.

But like that is my mission to make sure that there is a solution for you if you are going through something or that you aren't doing this long-term damage when you're young so that you can live younger longer. Like it's 2024. I think it really. is all about longevity. I mean, if we think about all the other things that we do and all of our aspects of life to make ourselves live younger, longer, and to feel good and to feel better. And I think finally, maybe we were a little ahead of our time. But when it comes to fitness, it can and it should do so much more than just make you physically look good to make you, like make you function better at the end of the day. What's so interesting to me about you, too,

and I don't think that you have talked about this enough, is that you are really. really business-minded. Like, I think that there was, like, a big part of, of you moving this business forward has been you steering the ship. How did you know how to do that? Is that an eight? Is it natural? I'm a very big visionary, big thinker, definitely. I also just think what I personally go through helps steers the ship. I mean, I come from a very entrepreneurial family, watching my dad and my brother and different things. So I think that like when you light a fire under me, it's kind of hard to put it out.

But like once I get going, watch out. So I guess it's always kind of been there. But it wasn't really until I think this, it took over me because I'm just so passionate about it. Well, you're very good at it. Birth control. You decided to get off birth control.

Why? Yeah. Early 20s, you know, I got married. I wanted to get off it. I just didn't like the way that I just didn't like the way that I felt on it. And I think coming off of it, just hormones and everything my body was experiencing, I never had that prior. I think so many other women, it's not talked about enough. Like, finally, we are talking about hormones and what all these kind of outside factors that we're taking at a young

age can do to you as you get older. But coming off of it, I mean, it's like I could eat certain things that have a different reaction once I was off at doing certain workouts, had a different reaction when I came off it. So I think really trying to find, you know, that good rhythm of working out, not spiking my cortisol, how I could try to rebalance everything and make sure my stress was to a minimum. When you have a company, I feel like you're already at high stress. So what other things that you can do to kind of bring that down and not keep everything so high? Having a perspective with birth control at the age I am now and having a daughter.

Yeah. It is fucking wild. I remember the first time that I got on birth control, I was 16 years old, maybe even 15. We drove to Planned Parenthood, me and my girlfriends, and we all four got on it at the same time. And the problem is, is like, yes, it does protect you. You have safe sex, but it's crazy to me that the woman predominantly has to put it in her hands. Like the guy doesn't want to wear a condom, right? We've all heard that. And the old, you throw, like, you guys, never, none of you guys want to wear a fucking condom. Like, you guys, none of you guys want to wear a fucking condom. Like, let's just call a spade a spade. You guys are all smiling in here. Like, you don't want to wear a car. So the brunt of the shit becomes on us. So we take this pill at a young age and we have no idea the repercussions. No. Then it has on your hormones and your moods and your weight gain 20 pounds. Skin, all of it. It's wild. Even it gives you hyperpigmentation. Like there was no talk about this. And it gives me a little bit of anxiety to know that, you know, my daughter's four years old. and that in 10 or 11 years that she could be like walking into a Planned Parenthood and just getting it without really understanding the big picture. When I got off of it, I remember telling the woman that waxes my brows.

Shout out to Lindsay at Browtique. I said, I'm going to go on spirulina lactin right when I get off because I was manipulated, I remember, into thinking that birth control actually helped you not have acne. I remember thinking that too. there's like a thing in it called spirulina lactin. So I thought when I got off of it, I was all nervous that I was going to get pimples and stuff. And I got off of it and I'm like, I'm just going to let my body adjust. I didn't get pimples. That didn't happen. But if I had just gotten on spirulina lactin because I had been manipulated into thinking that it would have probably been not a great road. When you decided to get off, why is this something that you are passionate about talking about? Because it's something that you brought up. Did something happen out of it? I think it's also like back then I feel like we didn't or our parents right like didn't have enough information like nobody talked about any of this stuff that what I did in my teenage years or my early 20s what that kind of long term effect is going to have on my health so I feel like our generation I mean I'm going to be 32 and there's so many girls my age and a little bit younger that are all coming off of it that all

have all these like insane skin issues. And I feel my doctor, but I feel it's because of all the stuff that we did to our bodies when we were a teenager in our younger 20s. So I think it's this notion of like it's 2024. There are so many other solutions and there's so many other healthier ways to live to still achieve those goals, but maybe by not causing so much damage to your body in those early years. So I think call it birth control, call it the way you move your body. To me, it all. It, all kind of feeds into the same thing of that. I know you're terrified for your daughter, but I almost feel like,

and I don't have kids, but I would be too, but I feel like we're so much more educated. We had to go through this to get to the other side. Yeah, like we're so much more educated than our parents was. I can't wait to hear your opinion. We can't wait to hear your opinion.

Well, wearing a condom is like doing push-ups with a bag over your head. So that's my, oh, that's your contribution. No, no, thank you.

I'm not going to comment so directly on. Hold on. On women and using birth control, what I will comment on as a greater society is we are really good as a society at looking at something and seeing the short-term benefits and disregarding any notion that there could be long-term detrimental effects. You can look at vaccines. You can look at hormone therapy. You can look at what's going on with Ozempic. You can look at what's going on with birth control. We are really good at discounting all of the potential stuff that could harm us as a culture, the way we eat, everything. and really good at doing confirmation bias and saying, well, like, in this moment, I need these very specific things. And I think the big takeaway from there is that people have to start thinking as long-term thinkers. Like, there is no such thing as a free lunch in any area of life. Like you can't in business and a relationship, anything. Everything comes with certain sacrifices and certain costs.

And people have to get better at weighing the pros versus the cons, right? Like if you want to do something like a birth controller, you want to take, you know, some kind of. of, you know, pill or vaccine or you want to, whatever it's going to be, you can't just think about, oh, this is going to, in the short term, this is the good thing. You have to also think, like, what are the potential risks down on? And that's in everything, like business, everything. And we're just not good as a culture of doing that. You mentioned Lyme disease. First, I want to know how you knew you had it, but then I also want to know if you remember when you got it after you found out you had it. Yeah. I'm very lucky in that regard. There's a lot of people who get bit,

don't know 10 years later. They, you know, have all these symptoms. This was 2021. That's a big risk over there in the Hamptons and a place like Nantucket with the tall grass, huh? Mm-hmm. 2000, no, 2020. I was out in the Hamptons and my cat got outside, got away from me, I went chasing for him, whatever. A couple of days later, he's itching, itching, itching. And then I, I'm like, oh my God, I had a scab on me. What was that? And then I found like three ticks on me. And literally like within probably three months, like I went down like overnight. So what do you mean? Because it's so I feel like the problem with Lyme disease is it's hard. It seems like it's hard to pinpoint. What is I went down? So literally woke up and was French like dripping sweat, whole body just insane muscle fatigue like hurt to walk.

couldn't think, couldn't remember anything, like brain fog, just nauseous. Every like, almost like flu symptom, but like times 10 overnight. And this is carried by these ticks. And when you found them on you, what do you just like see them like? I mean, they're so tiny. Yeah. You know, I didn't, it like looked like a scab. Do you pick them off or burn them?

No, I picked it off. Because you don't know what it is. I was by myself in a house. I got ass naked. I'm like, oh, my God. How are you supposed to burn them off? I guess. You're supposed to burn them off.

because I didn't know anything that you know. They get their claws in you or like their things. And if you pick them off. I thought that was leeches. No, if you pick them off the things, people are going to correct me on the internet. The things stay in. So maybe is my question while you're telling the story is is maybe one of the reasons you can get Lyme disease because the things stay in you? I think not all ticks carry it.

And, you know, I think looking back at the whole. now, this is what, four years later, like looking back at the whole situation, if I look at where I was at that time when I got bit, it was the height of COVID. I was getting divorced from my co-founder. My business was exploding. I was trying to run a business, you know, being remote. Things were changing day to day. I mean, the stress around me was at probably an all-time high of what I've ever experienced and trying to show up every day and be positive and smile and, you know, get the team going. And I think I also am somebody who can put on a brave face and never deal with the shit because I just like to do what's easy and just keep my head down and focus on the

work. And everything's fine. Everything's fine. Everything's fine. When clearly it wasn't. And I think my body was at such a compromise state emotionally. that when I got bit, I just, I didn't have anything to fight it off. I also think, too, like, if you are, like, a Louise Hay fan, like, things like that seem to, like, happen when you're, when you're, like, you'll stub your toe when you're really stressed, right? And it's not necessarily that you, like, stepped into something. It's that you're so stressed and frenetic and, like, chaotic that, like, you end up stubbing your toe. Like, with something like this, it's like you were, there's so much stress that it makes. sense that that happened when it happened?

100%. And I just didn't have anything to fight it off. And I think it's also like looking back, I'm almost happy in a way because I think I needed to make a lot of changes in my life. And I needed like your body gives you signals. I'm hungry. I'm tired. You know, but if you don't listen to it, it's going to do something to make you listen to it. And for me, that's kind of what that was. And I think, you know, I got diagnosed. I spent the next probably eight months, like healing, but at like a very surface level. What do you do to manage it? You can do.

There's so many different ways. Is there medication? There's medication. They'll put you sometimes on antibiotics, which I did that destroyed my stomach. I went off that. Then I did more like alternative functional and different IVs and different therapies and high dose NAD and ozone therapy and high dose vitamin C. Did you do the NAD intravenient?

Mm-hmm. Like, you know, like intense. So, and that a lot of that really. helped me. But for me, and everybody's journey is very different, but I found until I've actually started dealing with more of the emotional shit,

I didn't start to feel better. First of all, I don't think if you don't work with your significant other, how people maybe don't understand how complex it is to be married and to be working with someone and building

a business. What's the secret? People always ask, and I always say, You know when we figured out. We just got a fight in the car. Yeah. So that's the truth. The secret is like, I don't know, quick recovery. But I would love to hear how you made that work at first.

It was all very quick so fast. I mean, it was meeting somebody, falling in love with somebody, getting engaged with somebody, starting business with somebody all within like six months, you know? I'm sure Daddy loved that. Yeah. That's a lot. Yeah. I didn't realize it was that.

Yeah. And I mean, I was so young. I'm saying that from a perspective, like if my daughter came home, like, they were doing this. I'd be like, whoa, whoa. Yes. Yeah, slow down. But I mean, I was so young. I was like 24. And just that's what felt right for me at the time. And I think we knew each other. We didn't really know each other. And I think it was all just so new and exciting. And I just had this, come on, we're going to do this. And we can do this. And I see it. And like, I've seen people build these big businesses. And I know that we can do it together. And I know that we can do it. And I think it was, you know, it wasn't maybe so real. It was kind of just like in the moment you're going, you're going. And it was great at the beginning. And then I think once we started building and then things started actually getting really real, at the end of the day, we are just fundamentally two completely different people. We want two different things out of life, both personally, professionally, the way we work, the way we want to live. It just was all, there was no common ground. it really was just night and day. And I think we are very much happier now than we were then. And, you know, like I was saying earlier, like I can keep my head down and just work. And I'm great. I'm great. I'm great. And I just remember thinking one day, like, I'm building my dream company. I get to work with my dream people bringing this amazing method and to so many others and changing people's lives. But I'm fucking miserable. And like, I deserve to be happy to.

And if I'm not happy, then this company won't kind of propel forward. And I kind of, you know, also had to go through, I think, the motion of eliminating, as my mom likes to call it, like the what ifs. Like, well, what if I tried that? And what if I tried this? And what if I did that? And I felt like I was out of those that I could kind of walk away from that. And there was no more what ifs. And that's the right decision for me.

You know what the secret is as you're talking? the secret is to working and being in a marriage, I think. You really have to be crystal clear and have the same vision. Because if someone's in Timbuktu and you're over here, it's when someone wants to end up making this up, like relax on the beach and be on a computer and the other person wants to be in a high rise, it's mismatched. And I think, I do think what works with you and I

is that we both are very clear on how we want our life to roll out and we're on the same page. And a lot of people are reading different books. And I think that's really hard in marriage, but it's even harder in business. I, I always, you know, it's funny. I was talking to somebody today and I said, Lauren and I have like told, they're asking like what stories I want to tell. This is completely unrelated, not to go on a tangent. But I said, you know, like, they've heard that we've known each other since 12. We've been together and we've done and it. And it's fine. Like, we could keep saying it and rehashing it. But like, it's kind of like been told. But what I always caveat to people, especially our personal friends, when they're,

getting into new relationships. Lauren and I got, we've known each other since we're 12. And then we got back together when we were 20. That's after eight years, almost a decade of knowing each other. And now we've been together for 16, 17 years. And so it's just like there's so much time of getting to know someone. And in that time, there's a lot of time spent on like, what do you want? What do I want?

What is like your overall vision? And I always joke like, there's the couple that wants to go build the pie shop, one person's vision is like, I want to build a mom and pop store and take the kids at the beach, you know, on a half day and like relax and on the weekends go on a picnic. And the other person's like, I want to build a thousand pie shops all over the world and never stop and go, go, go. Like, you want to do the same thing. But the scale is different. And if one person is here and the other person's up here, like it's just you're mismatched. And you have to be like consistent. You know, when you're communicating and this is what I want, I think the consistency. And if it's

going to change, then you have to be able to vocalize that and be able to communicate that. Yeah, it's just difficult though. When people ask relationship advice and it's like, hey, I've been with someone for a year and a half or two years and now we're doing this and we're going to, it's not that there's anything, like, that's how people meet. But I'm just careful because everybody's circumstances are different. Yeah. I think my first advice to people as a couple is don't work together. Yeah. I would say like, do not work together. Do not start a business together. Do not join a company. Marriage is fucking hard. And then you want to add that on top of it. Unless you like absolutely cannot not do it together. Like that's where we got to. And yeah, to your point. And,

to your point, like, raising kids being married is way easier for us than figuring out how to manage the businesses. Like, I just want everyone to understand that. Like all the difficulties that come. And we don't even work together all every day. Yeah. But the difficulties that come with raising children impossible. Difficulties that come being in a marriage, super hard. Like the business stuff has been way harder. So for couples like, I think I'm going to do this. Like just understand it's way harder than all the other stuff. 100%. How did you manage all the business stuff with what you were going through with Lyme's disease and divorce. Like, how do you, how do you, I guess I'm wondering, like, what you use in, like, your resilience toolbox? Like, what are the things that really helped

you? Was it cold plunging? Was it dirt? Like, what are the things that you went to? I think once I was actually honest with my team, that was like the biggest, I think for so long, like, I didn't want to tell anybody what I was going through. You know, I was like, I'm fine. Again, I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine. And finally, I was just like, you know what? This is what I'm going through and like I need some grace. Like I will try to be on every call. I might not make it. And it was like once I actually was honest, that almost was just like the I can breathe, like the weight off my shoulder. And like I really kind of relied on my team. Like my business partner, Julie, talked to her every day and every night because I couldn't be on the calls every day. I mean,

I'd literally fall asleep at like 11 in the morning on the floor. I was so tired. I couldn't function. And then once I got stronger and I started to get better. I would come back. But, you know, that's really when it was, again, during COVID, like, I went out, I stayed in the Hamptons, and I just really focused on me and myself and my healing. And, like, what changes of my schedule did I have to make? I used to be able to sit at that fucking computer from, you know, after my workout from nine till I didn't give a shit what time. I'll sit here all night on the phone. I don't have kids. I can do let's keep going. No, you, we got to finish this. You're not going. And then it was very like, if I have two hours maybe, that's,

time, then I want 30 minutes of a break. And I couldn't, like, for me, I couldn't just sit there at a computer screen all day anymore. Like, what blocks? I need to go to acupuncture. I have to go to my IV and really prioritizing me and my health before I could get 100% kind of back in and really relying on my team to pick up, you know, some of what I was doing. It's so interesting with building a business because what I've, what I've observed from very successful people is that, But what gets you to from A to B doesn't necessarily get you from B to C. And what I mean by that is I was the same way when I first started out. It was like seven days a week.

I didn't give a shit how late I got home. I was posting that blog post. I was returning 600 emails. I was up till 2 in the morning. He's like, get the fuck off the computer. It was like, I was like a maniac. You're like, get out of my fucking way. Yeah, get out of my way.

Like, I'm doing this. But then that stops serving you. and you have to pivot within the evolution. And that's a really big mind fuck. Like I started to realize the same. Like, okay, I can take this call and take a walk at the same time. Or I can take two hours and go to the foot spa and sit and return emails for two hours. I don't need to be on every single call micromanaging.

It's just interesting how what gets you gets you there doesn't take you to the next level. I get nervous, though, with this topic too, because I think, okay, since we've all last met, all of us are in different stages. You've been running your business now. How long we've been doing this? Six and a half years. Okay. And we've been, Lauren's been doing this for long time, but the podcast, eight years and Dear Media, six years, like all these things. And the things that it took to kind of get to this place, like I remember it was like we were working other jobs. We were burning it down. We were driving in the middle of the night sometimes. We were getting no sleep. We were, it was just like grind, grind, grind, no work life balance, you know, sitting at a computer,

like all these things. And I want to make it very clear to people like, that was out. absolutely necessary to get to these places. And sometimes now when I talk, like a lot of what the life looks like now is like, we have to spend a lot of time making smart decisions and being thoughtful. Because now there's a space. Yeah. And there's entity. But I get nervous because I think sometimes people want to be like, oh, I want to jump to that part. Like, no, they're like if you want to live an extraordinary life and have an extraordinary business that you control on your time, that you are the direct benefit of, it is going to require an immense sacrifice and a ton of work. There's, there's no such thing as like clocking and clocking out. I mean, I always say like I started a wellness

company and I was never so unwell. Huh. What do you mean? Explain that. Just you're you put yourself last. Like you are, you're doing every job. You're working all hours. There is, I don't give a shit about my sleep. Oh, I have I eaten today? I don't know. I'm not worrying about that. You're just, there's this like excitement and that, you know, that like hunger at the beginning that like we're saying, You just, you will do whatever it takes to get it off the ground and like, holy shit, it's hot. Okay, how do we keep it going? We got to make it hotter. Keep pouring gasoline on it.

Okay, say yes to this. Say yes to that. We got to fly here. We got to fly. You're just figuring it out as you go. And you have to do that at the beginning, you know? But then as as the business matures, as you hire more people, as you mature, I think then the next stage is like, well, what do I need to be happy to success. run this business.

Yeah. Well, it's like, it's like you also, my vision of my life is the tortoise in the hair. Like, you can get there quick. Yeah. Like, we've all seen people blow up overnight. But the tortoise is, it takes a little longer. And I'm okay with that. I'm okay with being incredibly patient to build something that is a house of bricks as

opposed to a house of straw. I think you have to choose what you want to build. Yeah. But whenever people like, okay, what is work life balance? And then you say, like, you're not going to have any balance in the beginning. It's going to be all work. You're going to have no time for friends. Your life's going to be in shambles.

Your health is probably going to be diminished. Like, a lot of people can't stomach that. They're like, we've got stuck on this thing. It's like, well, I want work-life balance. Like, that's fine. But in certain instances, again, if you want to build, like, how many companies fail that, you know, you never hear of? There's way more than the ones that succeed.

And what I always try to tell me is, like, the ones that make it are most, it could be luck, could be right time for place. but it's most likely somebody that is completely out of balance in the beginning and just dedicating all the time. But I think even how many companies you hear about and you're like, oh my God, they've been around for 15 years. I thought they just launched a year ago. I know that happens all the time. Wait, they've been around for 12 years. Really? Yeah. There's no overnight success. You don't because it's like, right, it takes that long. And then something happens and they're hot. And I think for so many people, it's like,

I'm just going to be hot overnight without kind of understanding that. whole grind it takes to get it going. What are your hot moments? What are things that have happened that are like huge? I mean, to a lot of people, it will look like you guys just blew up. But like you said, it's been six and a half years. So what are some moments that you have long this journey that have been like pinch me moments? Well, and even the Jennifer Anderson stuff, it sounds like it was years before that even like that phone call happened. Yeah. I mean, that we were around five years. I mean, then that happened. God, so many. I mean, I think launching or opening our New York in Chicago Studio and then even like what I get really excited about is we started franchising in 2019.

And like, we own New York, Chicago, L.A., that's it. All the rest of the locations are all franchised on. But like to see people who've been streamers for four years or five years or just women who like quit their jobs and they want to open a P-Volve studio like and bring it to their community, I just had dinner with one in L.A. the other night. I'm just like. That's so cool. You want to, like, you own a P-Volve student. Like, it's crazy. Wait, how can someone become a franchisee if they're listening and they want to quit their

job and just say, I'm going to fucking do this? Pvolve.com, go to the franchise page, schedule a call, learn more. I mean, we've sold about 47 to date. Wow. You've done any in Austin? We do. We do. We have three coming to Austin. We do.

I heard the rumor. Yep. I will be going to one. And it's just, to me, that's, it's so incredible because, like, the community. community, yes, digital, you can work out online, but like the community aspect of being in person and getting to interact with your members on a day to day basis, because, you know, from this workout, yes, you're going to hear all about my body's changed this, but it's all the like and benefits of how this truly transforms people's lives. And that community feel like

you can't fully replicate that online. What do you do with your personal wellness and fitness? Like how many days a week are you doing this? Are you, mixing in other workouts. No, you're just doing this. How many days a week? Honestly, honestly, I have only done this workout for probably almost eight years. I do nothing else. That's it. That's it. And how many days a week? Like, I wish I actually was wearing workout pants because like my butt. That's like my thing. Oh, well, you want to show your butt on the, I mean, not, like, Carson, they're kind of baggy. They're kind of baggy. I work out six to seven days a week. But not every day is like an intense hour.

So give us like the whole schedule. You need the schedule. Okay. Depending on my work schedule, depending on my mood, I'd say probably four of those days. Now I'm living in L.A. currently. So I go to the studio. So I'd say four of those days are like an hour class. And that's a mix of strength and sculpts,

so sculpting classes and weight training classes. If you told me that I'd be lifting heavy weights in my early 20s, I probably would have said you're fucking crazy. I will never do that. Now I'm obsessed with it. I thought that I would, you know, get bulky and see, the gym bros are right. I'm telling you. Jim bros are right. And now don't think that at all. Like I actually feel so strong and powerful and lean from doing that. So I incorporate that probably two days a week. The other days I work out at home, maybe 20, 30 minutes, a mix of other sculpting classes or just

stretching. But I do this now because how open and energized I feel. Like my back is open. my hips are open, my body just, it fucking feels good. Like, yes, I'm doing it because I want to keep up how I physically look, but more importantly, it truly is because of how I feel. And when I don't do it, it just feels like I'm not starting my day off the right foot, you know, on the right foot. Like, I just, my posture is amazing. I just, it's all those things of why I do it probably every day.

Yeah, I think this is universal, man, woman, whatever. In the beginning, a lot of the workouts and things people do are like for vain reasons, right? You want to look good. But then I think as you start to age, like for me, I just want to be able to pick up all these kids' strollers and all the shit without breaking my back. And it's funny because I've always traditionally done weightlifting, but now I'm like drawn to different things like Pilates, which is strange for me to say that. You would love this. No, that's what I was going to say. As you're talking, I was like, oh, I'm going to try this too because I think a lot of the men that are having the reverse problem.

You can't go any, like I think if you go too far down the weight stuff, you're. step two you also can get out of balance. And now I'm like, okay, how do I get structurally sound and work on smaller muscles and do things that you wouldn't typically think that would be good for me? You know what I mean? For sure. I mean, it's so important to have just like a functioning healthy body, you know, to have, to be able to like externally rotate, internally rotate, internally rotate.

I mean, you're picking up your kids. You have to bend. What a novel thought being able to turn. You have to reach. You have to, you know, your body goes through all these planes of motion the whole day. And so why aren't you training? that way in your class. And then by adding the resistance equipment or the weights, it's like it's that just extra added layer, you know, with all, that's really the secret sauce.

Let's do one of these. The other one. We will. I have to see you squeeze the ball between your balls. Yeah, I can do it. I can do it. All it takes is one ball, Michael. Just takes one. I'm in. Okay. So how heavy is the weight that you're lifting in class? Is it like really heavy? Is it light? Like, what is it? We range, I mean, ranges from, maybe like five to 15s. Again, it's up to you what you want for your body. Yeah. I probably go like fives and eights.

If it's lower body, I might go a little heavier. If it's upper body, maybe not so much. But it's about progressing. So maybe you work with fives for a couple months. And then you're like, you know what? Actually, I'm not hitting that muscle failure. Let me go up to eights. And like, okay, now I'm really feeling it.

And we'll, depending on the move or if we're standing or on the mat, the trainer will say, okay, grab a heavier set. or grab a lighter set, really depends on what they want to focus on. But I'm, like, obsessed with it. It actually, since we rolled it out, it's a newer class. We launched, like, almost two years ago. Scorching. All the girls, doesn't matter the age, they are obsessed with it.

That's the one that I need to do next time I'm in L.A. Like, imagine you have that ball on, and you're stepping out, and then you have the weights, and then you're squeezing with the heavy weights. So you still have, like, the P-Vol feeling. You know, you have the ankle band, you have the glider, and you have like some of those very controlled, small, like, sculpting sections of the class. But then you have the weights and then you're really focusing on that. Everyone needs to know what your favorite workout is on the streaming app and also what Jennifer Aniston's is. So we have a row that's called Jen's Picks and they're all her favorite.

Jen's Picks. We have something also really exciting launching. I don't know if I can say this, but fuck it. I'm going to say it. Launching with her at the beginning of May. So new stuff to come there that you'll find out more of her faves. But yes, Jen's picks, all her recommendations. A lot of weight training classes in there, too.

She's a big fan. My favorite workout in the library. Definitely one with the P-ball and Danny Coleman. It's like a 30-minute lower-body burn. There's a 15-minute P-band with Mave that just like, So these are quick. Yeah. And like sometimes I'll stack them.

Like I'll do 30 minute lower body because I think that makes it go by faster too. Yeah. Than just doing a full 50 minute video. But then we also have live classes through Zoom. So if like the trainer can see me, I can see the trainer. And they're like, Rachel, push your knee back. Oh my God. So like if you're streaming at home, my phone rings, I can like, you know, the doorbell rings and I go away.

But when it's live and I have the camera on, I'm like, fuck, she can see me. Like I got to be here. Sometimes I'll do like a workout and I'll put on a podcast and just lower the volume. Yeah. So I can like at least like get some education in while I'm working out to like habit stack it. Yeah. That's what I like sometimes about streaming. It's nice. You can like do two things at once kind of. Yeah, for sure. And then your kids come in and sit on sit on you and you can't do anything, but you try. You know what I mean? Listen, as long as you showed up, that's it. And for me, it's less about the time. It's just being consistent. Like I always tell people if they're starting. Like, you know what, start two days. Maybe it's 10 minutes, 15 minutes. And like, with this, your body's going to crave it. What are some wellness and beauty things that you're doing? Some secrets that you're doing. Your skin's super glowy. Really? Yeah. Well, I just heard you talk

about something that I want to go try the saman. What is it? The semen, the salmon semen? Yeah, I want to try. How long are you here for? I'm leaving tonight, but does they have in L.A.? My salmon semen girl books up like literally two months in advance. Fuck. But she-s-a-common-a-girl books up. Okay. You can get salmon semen. Is it actually salmon semen or is it derived from something?

It's truly salmon semen. Yeah. It's exosomes. I do those injections. Okay. So ask them next time for you. That's why I've done them and they've really made a big difference for me. So when I heard you talking about it, I was like, I think I should try it for the face.

I bet you could find it in L.A. For sure. People thought I was nuts. And then Brian Johnson came on and he's like, oh, yeah, salmon, Steven. And I'm like, oh, my God, yeah, Brian. And then people thought you were really nuts. No, because when he is, his stamp of approval, he knows his shit. Yeah, he does know shit.

What else? Beauty, makeup, wellness, weird things you're doing. I mean, like, I love the sauna. And maybe don't love the cold as much. Cold shower. But, I mean, really, I cook most my own food. You told me that last time. Yeah.

Super clean. I just super clean. Like, no, I don't do dairy. I don't do gluten. I really don't eat grains. And for me, it's just like that's what my body feels good on. Meat? Yep.

I do a lot. I've been doing a lot more meat recently. And you cook at home. Yep. Cook everything myself. Like, I like going out to dinner for the experience with friends, whatever, like, I truly don't like going out to dinner. I'm much more like 5 o'clock eat in my pajamas.

Crazy bun on my hat. I don't wear makeup usually. and like house fives go to sleep, wake up. See, I keep trying to tell. Lauren told me we're going to a dinner. I'm like, I'm like, I'm actually of a leisurely lunch type.

I like a long leisurely lunch on like a Saturday. She's like, I like that. See, I like that. I like that. I don't like a Sunday because if I'm going to drink alcohol, I don't want it to go into my Monday.

I like Saturday. Yeah. I like a lunch better than a dinner because then I get messes my sleep. I will, I love a 5 p.m. It's the best. Yeah, yeah,

we'll bring people out of town. We have dinner and like what time like 5 p.m. can go to sleep by nine. And you're not hung over the next day. No. Yeah, I like a 5 p.m. dinner. And also I want to eat early because I think that's a skinny tip. I can't like eat and then go to sleep on it.

My dad's like I have to go to bed on a full stomach. I think that's most sickeny thing. No, Michael, like, never. No, Michael, like, no, no, no. Come on. Digest, no. I'm not going to say no to my husband. I'm not going to say no to him.

But like, it's like, let me like digest the same. It's my way of training because we've had so many people say, hey, stop eating three hours before beds. I'm like, if we eat at five, go to bed at eight, you're good. If you eat it like... I do like my piece of small cinnamon raisin toast in the bed. Disaster. That I crunch next to him every night.

I love that. I come home and her and my daughter will like, I don't know what you guys are game. She does it too. There's just crumbs everywhere. It's Dave's killer bread raisin. It's a small piece. It's not a big piece of bread, which is nice. And then you do grass fed butter on it.

Oh, yeah. With a little bit of flirty soul salt. But why do you have to do it like right before bread? There's something, let me just, I have to go off on this. When you're sitting in bed at the end of the day, and for me, like, I try to do my all, like my hardest work I can possibly do every day. When I sit down with my Kindle and I have my small piece of toast that I want that I craved all day and I can just sit and read my Kindle, there's something that's like, ah. Yeah, yeah. And I get it. But so it's like a light snack. You know, it's not a huge meal. I get it. You want like a little crunch before about something sweet. Okay, so we have a giveaway. I'll let you say what the giveaway is, but it's a good one. So let's, I know we said one, but I feel like we should give away two. Very nice. Two total transformation bundles that come with all 13 pieces of equipment. They also come with a year of streaming. Let's do that. Also, it comes with a complementary consultation with the trainer. They can help set you up with a very personalized plan. And then we have a code.

We have a code, code skinny. And what's the percent? 20 percent. That's very generous. Yes. 20% off to win the giveaway. All you guys have to do is follow at P-Volve on Instagram. And tell us your favorite takeaway of this episode with Rachel on my latest post at Lauren Bostic. I think it would be fun too for me to pick my favorite exercise and tell you guys what it is. Maybe I don't know if that's possible.

Yeah, let's do it. Okay. I will definitely pick my favorite and maybe I can take a picture of you. I'm going to try it. I'm going to do it. Michael's going to have the ball on. Yeah, I'm going to do it. Yeah. Here's the thing because Rani came on their day.

I was like, okay, let's see if you do Pilates. And so now I'm like, okay, I'm going to do the Pilates. You did do Pilates. Okay, I want to tell the audience this, that you guys rebranded your ball. And did you rebrand everything? Oh, they, yeah. Okay, everything. And it is not that it wasn't chic before, but it's so chic now.

It's like, it's like a kind of like a legs. Like an ivory. Yeah, like a bone. A bone. A bone white. And then it's just chic and it's pretty. And it's something that I wouldn't mind to being out in my house. because it doesn't cause me chaos.

Yeah, exactly. Bone white reminds me of American Psycho. You know, when he's doing the business card, he's like bone white. We just needed to evolve it a little bit, elevated it a little bit. Rachel, where can everyone find you? Where can they work out with in person? Like, give us all the details. You can find me on Instagram at R Katzman, but I'm very boring.

I don't really post anything. Follow P-Vol. That's probably more exciting. And you can go to P-Volv.com. And you can either check out where. all of our locations are. If there's a studio in your city, when one's coming to your city,

and then you can sign up for streaming and get started right there. And if someone wants to do a franchise, maybe you could do it in San Diego. We have two in San Diego. Where in San Diego? Carl's Bad and UTC Mall. And we have two more opening in San Diego.

Where? I will find out for you right after the. San Diego is hot. UTC's the old stomping ground. Delmar would be crushed. Wait, no, I think that's where the next one's coming. Delmar. In August, I'm pretty sure.

Maybe downtown or La Jolla. I have the address. I will give it to you right after this. You guys, if you want a franchise, go check them out too. At Pvolve on Instagram, Rachel, thank you for coming on. Go listen to her other episode that she was on six years, five years ago. January of 2019. We'll do it another five years. And also, I want you to come on the blog so you can share your workouts so people can easily access them.

I will post that on the skinny confidential.com. Rachel, thank you for coming on. Thank you. The old episode was number 162. That's a long time ago. Damn.