The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - Cleanse The Right Way, Manage Weight, Super Foods, Nutrients, & Wellness Practices Ft. Lisa Odenweller

Episode Date: January 12, 2023

On today's episode we are joined by Lisa Odenweller. Lisa is a serial entreprenuer and the founder Kroma Wellness. Today Lisa joins the show to discuss how we can cleanse the right way, manage weight ...and live our best lives. We also discuss how superfoods can be used in our every day diet to enhance our performance and perserve our well being. This episode is jam packed with all things heal and wellness.    To connect with Lisa Odenweller click HERE To connect with Kroma Wellness click HERE To connect with Lauryn Evarts click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential 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 This episode is brought to you by See's Candies Order by February 6th on sees.com to make sure your See’s Valentine’s Day gifts gets there in time for Valentine’s Day. Go to sees.com to shop their Valentine's Day treats and gifts, or visit your nearest See's Candies to shop in person. This episode is brought to you by Alo Moves Alo Moves has always been inspired by a single goal: to empower people to live healthier, more fulfilled lives. Alo Moves is the streaming on-demand platform with yoga, fitness, and meditation classes. Go to Alomoves.com and get 30 days free & 60% off of your annual membership with code SKINNY30. This episode is brought to you by Zoc Doc Zocdoc is the only FREE app that lets you find AND book doctors who are patient-reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them and treat almost every condition under the sun. Go to zocdoc.com/skinny to download the app & book with a top-rated doctor today. This episode is brought to you by Fashionpass FashionPass is a clothing rental service where you can get unlimited designer rentals for one flat price. Go to fahsionpass.com and use code SKINNY at checkout to get $60 off your first month. This episode is brought to you by Ritual Ritual knows it’s basically impossible to get all the nutrients you need from your diet 100% of the time, so they made a multivitamin that helps you focus on what’s important. Like filling key nutrient gaps to support foundational health. Go to ritual.com/skinny to receive 10% off your first 3 months. This episode is brought to you by Perfect Snacks Made with freshly-ground nut butter, organic honey and 20 organic superfoods, Perfect Bar has a variety of products that are good to eat and good for you. Go to perfectsnacks.com/skinny to learn how you can receive a perfect bar for free. Produced by Dear Media  

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Starting point is 00:00:00 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. I would watch my friends party from Thursday to Sunday and then juice fast from Monday to Wednesday.
Starting point is 00:00:31 And I thought, I'm not a doctor, but this cannot be good for you. I went to New York and I went to a like week hair spa and I went to every spa I could go to to really understand this concept of cleansing. I brought in great chefs and lived in the kitchen with soup and salads and snacks. And there was elixirs and like real food that you would want every day. Welcome back to the Skinny Confidential Him and Her Show. That clip was from our guest of the show today, Lisa Odenweller. And she is going to tell us all about cleansing, how to cleanse, what to do when we need to cleanse, all the cleansing tips. And she's also going to tell her story. Her story is incredible. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. This episode is
Starting point is 00:01:18 full of all the feels. You're going to just walk away learning so much about cleansing and superfoods, but also hearing her story, you're going to be obsessed. Okay, so her cleanse is called Chroma Wellness. It is the most beautiful cleanse I have ever seen. So much so that Gwyneth Paltrow is an investor, Amy Schumer, and Kristin Cavallari. I actually heard about Chroma Wellness through Kristin Cavallari. She was raving about doing this cleanse on her Instagram stories. And Kristen is someone who is very thoughtful and purposeful about what she puts in her mouth. So I knew that she had really done her research on this five-day
Starting point is 00:01:59 reset. So immediately, I had to try it. They have this cookie butter. It's like OMG cookie butter, and it has goji berries in it. It is like chewy deliciousness full of superfoods. Lisa also has in her Chroma Wellness Cleanse, this cranberry hydration powder that I've been putting in my water every single day. It's full of electrolytes. And then they have one of the best matchas I've ever had in my life. Lisa, who we're talking to in this episode, is the CEO of Chroma Wellness. And she is so thoughtful about each ingredient, which we'll get into. This is the cleanse. If you're doing a cleanse where you're feeling starving or hungry or grumpy all the time, throw it in the trash and try Kermel Wellness.
Starting point is 00:02:49 I have been trying and testing all of their things. I'm harassing Lisa over text. I'm sending her pictures of Zaza eating the oatmeal. The whole cleanse is so beautiful. It's white. It's aesthetically pleasing. But it also has 50 delicious nutrient-packed foods and beverages. Also, you get the cookie butter, just so you know, that are in it that you can just eat,
Starting point is 00:03:11 even if you want to just eat it on the go. I took a bunch to LA when I was there. I'm telling you, this cleanse is going to be the biggest cleanse in the world. I literally think so. And after interviewing Lisa and hearing her story, I cannot wait to share it with you. She's a visionary serial entrepreneur, a wellness expert, and she used to own Beaming Wellness, which is a superfood cafe that was in LA and San Diego. And now, like I said, she is the CEO of Chroma Wellness. You are going to learn so much in this episode. I hope you love it. I loved it so much. I invited her back on to talk more about cleansing.
Starting point is 00:03:50 This is the Skinny Confidential, him and her. The cookie butter is so good. It's staring at me. What is in this cookie butter? It's so good. It's almond butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, a special plant protein from Ecuador, hemp seeds, goji berries, and a little bit of coconut sugar. How are you so ahead of the curve? I want to go back to how you even got into wellness. When do you remember your first moment that you sort of fell in love with it? So I think for me, it's been a part of my life my whole life. I mean, I grew up in a healthy family.
Starting point is 00:04:28 My parents were always exercising every day. We were eating healthy food. My grandfather did 1,000 push-ups and sit-ups a day until he was 90. So it was in my DNA, you know, and then just sort of grew up with it. And then in high school, I was making superfood smoothies before it was a thing. I mean, we're talking like a long – I don't even know what the Vitamix existed. So I don't even know how I was making them. I was making healthy chocolate chip cookies. So sort of all of that was in me. And then probably 15 years ago, well, there's a whole bunch of other story that
Starting point is 00:04:57 goes with this, but 15 years ago, superfood specifically became interesting because I read an article in Oprah magazine and it was talking about maca and goji berries and spirulina and all these things and mushrooms, things that were not on the map yet. And I will never forget the article and I freaked out and geeked out and I was like, what are these? I need to know everything about them. So all of those things were sort of pebbles along the way. And then I geeked out on superfoods and I've been doing that for 13 years. So go back before you had children. What were you doing that was wellness-y before kids? Were you doing, besides you said making cookies, you said that you were reading about them.
Starting point is 00:05:37 What were you doing that you can remember and put your finger on that you were like right before you had kids? So honestly, nothing outside of just taking care of myself and always being obsessed with health and like wanting to feel empowered with my health. So, but I didn't take a career track with that actually. Well, here's the irony. So my first job out of college was with Nestle and I was selling chili and cheese sauce and country sausage gravy and corned beef hash. And I was horrified because I somehow didn't know that that's what I was going to be I somehow didn't know that that's what
Starting point is 00:06:05 I was going to be doing. I thought I was going to be planning parties or something. It's kind of ironic to think back to like, that's how I started, but that was so not my DNA. But what was funny about that experience is that I found these sauces that they had, these salad dressing sauces. I was like, oh, I'm going to turn these into like the most incredible like pasta salads and salads. And I'm going to make Nestle healthy. And I created a cookbook that I then took to the biggest salad bar chain in the country and sold them the sauces. So for me, that was like redeeming myself since I was selling such junk food.
Starting point is 00:06:37 So I think, again, it was like all these things led me to where I am now. But like many people, I had a lot of other twists and turns along the way. I mean, from there, I went into Oracle for many years. So I went into the software side of things, became a business development. I worked in the e-commerce world for a long time. And then as it got to a point, my daughter was four. We were living in the Bay Area. I hit that point of like, okay, we want to have more kids. This is a crazy lifestyle. I'm living on an airplane. Let's slow me down and let's move to San Diego. And is your husband with you with the business side or is he doing his own thing? So I'm not married anymore, but at the time he
Starting point is 00:07:16 and I moved to San Diego, we had two more kids. We moved to Santa Luz and then had two more kids there. And as soon as I got there, I was like, okay, the entrepreneurial bug was in me. And I'm like, okay, I got to do something. What can I do to make the most amount of money with the least amount of time and be with my kids and be creative? So I started a window coverings business and interior design company. And so I did that for like six or seven years and it served its purpose. I got to be creative and made great money and was with there for my kids. But there was always this inner burning, like I have a bigger purpose. I got to be creative and made great money and was there for my kids. But there was always this inner burning, like I have a bigger purpose. There's something I'm supposed to do that's so much bigger, that's supposed to make an impact in the world. And I just felt like that anxiety, but I didn't know what it was. So fast forward,
Starting point is 00:07:59 and this is sort of like how that I got hit over the head with just like, this is what I'm going to go do. I was 38. I went to go see the gynecologist for a regular checkup. And I said, you know, I just don't feel right. I'm losing my hair. I have no energy. I'm gaining weight. I feel inflamed. My workouts aren't the same. Now, mind you, I was healthy. Like people always came to me to say, what should I eat and how should I exercise? And when you say healthy, like is it because you had your diet under control? Were you doing, your fitness was under control? Yeah. I mean, I exercised every day since I was like three, you know?
Starting point is 00:08:32 So this was like, I'm not one of the people that say I don't have time. Like I will always make time for that. And we just ate healthy. Like I was mindful of it. Now, nothing like where we are today, where we talk about gluten-free and dairy-free and organic. So this is, you know, call it 13, 14 years ago. So I'm at the doctor and I'm saying all these things that I'm feeling.
Starting point is 00:08:51 And she looked at me and laughed and she said, oh, honey, welcome to getting older. And I was like, F that. Like, I'm 38. That is not an acceptable answer. And that was sort of a moment of truth for me that I'm like, I'm going to figure this out. There's no way that this is just like, it's all downhill from here, especially at 38.
Starting point is 00:09:11 So that was one. The other was that my daughter was 11 at the time, I believe, and she had been on ADD medication for two years. And it was one of those things I'd seen five doctors. All five doctors said, sorry, there's no other option. She has to be on medication. Otherwise, it's going to be really bad. And I just intuitively knew that that was wrong, but I didn't know what to do. And so I, between my moment of truth at 38, between what happened with my daughter, I just decided I was going to take all of this into my own hands. And I started to understand food as medicine. And I read every book I could.
Starting point is 00:09:48 And I went to IIN, the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. And I started to understand the power of food. And so through that, I started making simple changes in my diet, my family's diet. Like what? Give us specifics. So, you know, at the time, we just, again, we weren't as educated. So things like removing gluten, using all organic, using really pure meats and fresh fish and no processed foods. And we can laugh at this now, but 13 years ago, we thought whole grain goldfish were good for you. No, no.
Starting point is 00:10:19 I always talk about this on the show. That span of the 90s to the early 2000s there like there was not a lot of healthy alternatives in the stores at least not at all and it was i mean we've made so much progress but we have so much farther to go and the accessibility i mean the nice thing is now like target and walmart and costco you can get organic right so huge progress since then but you know wheat thins we thought were healthy for you. I mean, Michael's mom was putting Windex in his Cheerios. So, yeah. No, but I think about like, you know, I think I was always similar to you.
Starting point is 00:10:52 Like, you know, I always took care of myself. But when it came to diet, like I think a lot of our parents and a lot of people that were, you know, bringing in the food at that time. I remember when they started talking about organic, there was like specialty stores for that. There wasn't a lot of stores that carried organic anything. It was crazy expensive. Yep.
Starting point is 00:11:09 And there was the whole argument, is organic really that much different? Do you remember that whole battle? And like, does it really make a difference? So again, we've come a long way,
Starting point is 00:11:18 but at that time, just starting to be more aware of like, and you know, let's be real. Kids love pasta, pizza, you know, all things bread and gluten. What's the food pyramid? Think about like the, what we're taught, the food pyramid is like total bullshit, you know? Exactly. And even that still hasn't changed. So it was like, oh wait, gluten actually is an inflammatory and it causes inflammation in
Starting point is 00:11:41 the body and the brain. What if I take it out of my child's diet? What if I take it out of my diet? And even though I was using really good bread, it still is gluten. Right. And so, and it just was, and then even the, you know, all the snacks and things that kids eat,
Starting point is 00:11:56 which is really hard to avoid, eating more vegetables, having really clean, you know, plant, or not just plants, but also, you know, meats and fishes. And just by making those simple know, meats and fishes. And just by making those simple changes, my health transformed. And I did a game with my daughter. I said, let's for two weeks, just see what would happen if we remove, you know, if we put all these things out
Starting point is 00:12:15 and we just do lots of fruits and vegetables and we do, you know, really yummy meats and stuff. And so she's like, okay, mom. And in in two weeks her brain was completely fine and she did not need to be on medication anymore and that was a moment of truth what do you how do you mean her brain was completely fine she was thinking fine she was acting fine her behavior was fine like she could her she was not hyper anymore well because she could read a book and retain it and like yellow whatever and all this all the this weird shit and all the food no but that was i remember i remember being a kid in elementary school in san diego and like listen granted i was a problem child and i was bouncing off the walls but like the answer was always like
Starting point is 00:12:56 put this guy on that kind of medicine and my dad like he had the same kind of intuition he's like no i don't think so because and again during that period of time like that was the answer from a lot of people. It's like, oh, they need medicine. They need medicine. They wouldn't think about change the diet, change the ingredients. It was never a part of the conversation. Not one doctor ever said that. And I remember running with Kim Kelly, one of the girls in a boot camp, and she was talking about her daughter having migraines. And they put the daughter on medication. And I was like, will you just try removing gluten? And sure enough, she had a gluten allergy. She didn't need to be on medication for a migraine. And so all of these things were happening. I mean, obviously the transformation with my
Starting point is 00:13:36 daughter was massive. And for me and as a mom, I was like pissed. I was like, this is fucking bullshit. Why did I have to go figure this out on my own? Thank God I did and took it into my hands. But now I needed to go tell the world. And how am I going to do that? And so that really became the precursor to my last brand, Beaming, which was how can I help people feel and experience how good you feel when you just make simple shifts in your diet?
Starting point is 00:14:02 And it isn't about making it perfect, but it's just like little steps that lead to better health. And by doing that and creating all these healthy, delicious, I made healthy taste amazing is what I did. Amazing, you guys, because I'm from San Diego and it was amazing and it was so avant-garde. It really was. We were ahead of our time for sure. But I and, but I've always been a foodie. And so I'm like, if I'm going to eat this, it better taste really good. And so it had to be really delicious salads and wraps and smoothies. And we scattered our own almond milk and we were using all of these superfoods that I had found in the Oprah magazine that no one had heard of.
Starting point is 00:14:41 Like maca wasn't a thing then and mushrooms, you know, using reishi and cordyceps and shaga. So, it really was me just obsessing because I wanted this
Starting point is 00:14:52 for myself. And the other thing that was also, I think, timely for that is that was during the juice fasting days. Remember those days?
Starting point is 00:14:59 Yeah, those were big days. Oh, yeah. Roll, I roll, please. Three-day cleanse.
Starting point is 00:15:03 I remember that. Remember the juicers, three-day cleanse. Yeah, the juicers three day cleanse? Yeah. The juicers. That's where you can go on my blog in 2011. And look at that. Well, you see, that was still like in my courting phase.
Starting point is 00:15:16 And I was trying to lock Lauren down. And she showed up with these like jugs of juice. I was like, you got to do these for three days. I was like, oh, I don't know. People were miserable because you were drinking like beets and carrots for one whole day. I'm like, talk about a sugar crash, right? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:28 And so I was watching this craziness happen. Of course, I did some of it too. So then I was like, I'm going to go figure out this cleansing thing because I would watch my friend's party from Thursday to Sunday and then juice fast from that freaking juice bar from Monday to Wednesday.
Starting point is 00:15:44 And I thought, I'm not a doctor, but this cannot be good for you. And then juice fast from that freaking juice bar from Monday to Wednesday. And I thought, I'm not a doctor, but this cannot be good for you. And so I went to New York and I went to like We Care Spa and I went to every spa I could go to to really understand this concept of cleansing. And, you know, going back to the juice fasting days, there's like 220 grams of sugar a day in those things. So like the max you should have in any day is like 50 grams of sugar and that's high, but that's like, I mean, most people have like 150. There's 220 grams of sugar in most of those, which is good.
Starting point is 00:16:16 No protein, no fiber, no fat, nothing to fuel your brain. Not to mention the juice was just sitting in jugs for days. I mean, they were dead by the time you drink them. So, I don't even know if it was organic. I know it wasn't because I went in his kitchen.
Starting point is 00:16:32 I actually went back in his kitchen because I was snooping. It was not organic at all. What the fuck, Lauren? What did you make me do? There's different seasons, Michael.
Starting point is 00:16:41 But that was the thing. That's what everyone was doing. It was so, it was just bad name. So anyway, that was just like typical for me what everyone was doing. It was just baddening. So anyway, that was just typical for me. I was like, I'm going to change this. I'm going to approach cleansing differently, and we're going to do it with food. With the idea, so building beaming started with this beta cleanse that I came out with, which was a completely new concept in the country of like, we're going to eat food, but we're going to cleanse with food, but we're going to get really freaking good. I brought in one of the top cleansing
Starting point is 00:17:08 experts in the country, Adina Nimaral. I brought in great chefs and lived in the kitchen to go create the first beaming cleanse with soup and salads and snacks. And there was a juice, but it wasn't like six or seven juices a day. And there was elixirs and like real food that you would want every day. Novel concept. Was the idea behind the cleanse, it was just to clean out the system and get healthy? Or was it like a weight loss cleanse? Great question. So let's be real. Everyone wants weight loss. That's what people buy. So call us beta spade. But I was always looking at it like, you're going to get the weight loss. What I really want is the awakening. Like I want you to, when you put this food in your body and one, it's good. So you're not punishing yourself. You actually enjoy it. And then you feel the
Starting point is 00:17:55 difference and you're, cause that's how we're going to best learn. And so as people were feeling the difference and all of a sudden, yes, they got the weight loss. The inflammation went away. Sleep got better. Brain got clearer, all of the things that we want. And it was so easy. And that was really what I was going after is if I can make this so enjoyable, would you want these foods all the time? And so that beaming cleanse that I launched, but you didn't, you guys didn't, weren't part of the beta, were you? I think that I tried products that were on the cleanse but not i didn't do the cleanse before we launched or after we launched after you launched okay so before we launched we did a year of these these beta cleanses and like a thousand people went through
Starting point is 00:18:35 this and we were like creating this out of oh you mean before you even had the stores before i even opened the stores okay so this was this whole concept of leading to food is medicine how can i how can i share this with the world and do it in a way that's never been done before? And the concept for beaming was in my head, but I had to go prove it first. So I launched this cleanse, this food-based cleanse. It became a cult followed in San Diego. And like a thousand people went through it. And we were producing it out of a cupcake kitchen, mind you. And I was like calling my friends, having them deliver these cleanses to people
Starting point is 00:19:09 all over San Diego. My children were labeling bottles and packing teas. It was like madness, but it was also a really beautiful time because it was working. Like people would call me and freak out on day four. Like I can't stop. I feel better than I felt my entire life. I want this all the time. I find those moments in business the most memorable moments though, right? Like when things are kind of going like smooth or, I mean, obviously you work towards the smooth and the, you know, the wind when it comes to, you know, growing the business. But I think like what you remember are those moments.
Starting point is 00:19:41 Absolutely. I mean, those are such magical moments. They were hard, really hard i was going through divorce i had no money and this was like like literally out of the garage kind of thing wait you're going through a divorce as you're doing all this so that must have been really hard with three children three little kids yeah no and was your ex-husband supportive of what you were doing or was he like i mean he and i had a very amicable separation but i don't think he actually believed that i was going to pull this off like it wasn't like he was like go lisa go
Starting point is 00:20:10 okay i want when you tell the rest of the story you have to tell us what happened when it did take off what his energy was but go on so we're so this was super successful so the people who did the beta some of them ended ended up funding and helping raise money to open the first cafe in Del Mar. You essentially kind of, you crowdfunded a bit like by involving people and having them be a part of the experience. It's very smart. Proof of concept.
Starting point is 00:20:38 Very smart. And so that worked. And so got the first money. And actually, this is a cool story because since you were at that first beaming in del mar do you remember there's like 10 juice bars before then that it all like bombed in the place that beaming was in the place that beaming was yes and i only remember beaming though isn't that funny well because it was the only one that was right because what's there right now the i think it's earth bar now because earth bar bought okay yeah it is it is yeah but but all of these juice bars had failed and this was just a fun kind of store.
Starting point is 00:21:08 And I remember I was looking for a location, looking for a location, couldn't find one. I was standing outside of where Beaming ended up being, the first one. And I started crying. I was like, I just want to open this store. Like, this is crazy. I want that location. And so I walked in, and I asked for the the owner randomly and she's like, that's me. And I said, I know this is a crazy question, but any chance you would want to sell? And she's like,
Starting point is 00:21:33 oh my God, did you just hear my conversation with my husband? Like I just told him I want to get out, you know, sell the business. And I was like, me, I'm in, I'm done. How much much and that day I bought them out of their lease and I took over that space for for beaming Del Mar whoa now was Del Mar kids just like a little off story was Del Mar kids next to next Del Mar kids was right next door all right yeah that's vintage this is vintage guys we are going way back no we're going way back okay so you open beaming and beaming is wildly successful it was it successful. It was, you guys, it was like something, it was like Erewhon energy. It was like a very shocking, surprising thing in San Diego. But you always had a huge line.
Starting point is 00:22:15 We had a line at the door from the day we opened. Now, I had built all this momentum through the beta, right? So there was, but there was no social media at the time. It wasn't like we launched on Instagram or like, hello, we're open. So it was all word of mouth. And the crazy thing, it was 900 square feet. Our kitchen was maybe 50 square feet, 100 square feet. Yeah, it's a small space.
Starting point is 00:22:35 I just keep thinking about it now. It's a very small space. And we were producing so much food. You couldn't even fit in the kitchen because there was boxes of produce everywhere. And we were juicing all our own stuff and making our own milk. I mean, it was total mayhem. But somehow we were pulling it off and people were obsessed. And it ended up becoming the most successful concept in the country in its time, which is what's important to mention there, too, that we were talking about earlier.
Starting point is 00:23:03 December 2012, San Diego only had Jamba Juice. So there was no like organic juice bar, healthy grab and go, nowhere in San Diego. And so I introduced this very high end, up-leveled experience with 10, $12 smoothies, $14 acai bowls, and people just became obsessed. And one of the things that I just am most proud of is that the kids became obsessed. And if you remember, it's tucked behind McDonald's. There was no street signage.
Starting point is 00:23:34 I worked at McDonald's. Even better. I worked there. Of course you did. Yeah, yeah. So when it takes off like this, what is your ex-husband supporting this no no he really was not involved with the process at all but was he was he like go like was he like go lisa or was it
Starting point is 00:23:53 like no no he was not and the reason i asked this is because i think there's a lot of women that are listening that's to be blunt are pressed down by men like if they're married they're like a lot of a lot of women that i talk to in my DMs, the men try to keep them small. Oh, can you be quiet for a second? I'm just... Shut the fuck up, dick. I was like,
Starting point is 00:24:13 that doesn't seem to be a problem for you, mom. I love you too. No, but like, I feel like a lot of men like press women down and make them smaller so they can feel big and powerful.
Starting point is 00:24:22 So that's why I asked that question. So I didn't have that, but he certainly wasn't cheerleading me. I to this day he's never said wow lisa what you've done is amazing oh he's listening i don't i don't i listen there are i'll defend men a little because i'm the only man on the show i i do think there are men for sure that do that but i think that there's a lot of men that are just especially nowadays are struggling with the dynamic of like that traditional patriarchy may not be the same anymore like that the woman stays home and the guy goes well i'm struggling with the dynamic that we've had to carry children for the last billion years that's not fun like a
Starting point is 00:24:52 lot of people that kind of especially probably people in your husband's generation like the example i was like that you know the mom stayed home the dad went to work it's like they struggle when like the woman starts to become the breadwinner or starts to maybe overtake them or become the option i'm just saying like a little empathy. I think that's a that's certainly a real thing. I wasn't experiencing it, but it did hurt me that he wasn't like cheering me on because we still had a very amicable, you know, divorce and it wasn't like there was no like encouragement. He sort of just rolled his eyes and was like, let's see if she really pulls this off. Oh, she pulled it off. She pulled it off and something else. So you're in Beaming.
Starting point is 00:25:28 Are you working with partners at this point? So I raised money. And then because we were so successful, people were flying in from all over the country to see what we had done. And our kitchen, we outgrew it the day we opened. So I immediately needed to raise more money. So that became the next round of money. And I raised all through Angels, which were basically all customers, which was an amazing thing to do. What I didn't know in doing that is that I had never raised money before. I'd never had a business plan. So both times I raised money was pretty naive. And so a couple, you know, I just sort of took money from
Starting point is 00:25:59 anyone. And, you know, people would buy a seat on the board. This very famous woman came in and she offered me a million dollars. And at the time I thought, well, that's amazing. I'm raising three. So there's a third of it. And she said, but I want a seat on the board. And I gave her a seat on the board and she was like 85 years old and completely irrelevant. She would argue with me about why we were spending money on social media and we should advertise in newspapers. Oh, Christ. Yeah. So I had, I mean, my stories with that were absolutely bonkers because it was some really hard lessons around, like, be careful who you go to business with.
Starting point is 00:26:39 This episode is brought to you by See's Candy. See's Candy is so nostalgic. I just remember being at the mall with my mom and we would walk by their beautiful, crisp white store and I would beg her to go in to get one of those caramel lollipops. If you're an OG See's lover, which I'm sure you are, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Every time that I see a Seas, I like want to stop and show Zaza. They have the cutest little heart boxes, which are so amazing for Valentine's Day. We're going to get to that. But just all of their candy is timeless. It's classic. It's unique. It's a great gift. So here's the deal. They have all these different cute gift options for kids romantic
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Starting point is 00:28:05 and gifts online now or shop the full assortment at your local C's Candy in shops tomorrow. Do you want self-care, mindfulness, bar, Pilates, cardio, HIIT, and yoga? Well, let me introduce you to Alo Moves. It's a one-stop shop for everything wellness. This is such an incredible way to start 2023. I mean, they have 3,000 plus classes and they have them for every level. And also you should know that 100 new classes every month are added. So you always have a fresh content. And you guys, they have a sale. And let me tell you, it's a half off sale. How about 60% off sale? I've been using Hello Moves to help me incorporate more feel good movement and mindfulness into my day. And honestly, it's a game changer. Just to give you a little background,
Starting point is 00:28:57 Hello Moves is the streaming on-demand platform with yoga, fitness, and meditation classes from one of my favorite brands, Alo Yoga, so you know that you're getting quality studio-style sessions. This time of year is always a time to reflect on personal goals and changes, and using Alo Moves can absolutely help you with that. Right now, all Skinny Confidential Hem and her listeners get 30 days free. You guys, 30 days free. All you have to do is use code SKINNY30. And if you love it like I do, you can take 60% off your first year. Get started now with 30 days for free with code skinny 30. Join me. You're going to go to alomooves.com and get 30 days free only when you use code skinny 30. Then if you're loving it like I am, you get 60% off your annual membership all with code skinny 30. Do not miss
Starting point is 00:29:43 their biggest sale ever. You're going to go to allomoves.com and get started today. If there is any silver lining over the last two years, it's that so many people are really, really paying attention for the first time to the best ways to take care of themselves, which is why we love ZocDoc so much for our audience. ZocDoc is the only free app that lets you find and book doctors who are patient reviewed, take your insurance, are available when you need them, and treat almost every condition under the sun. When Lauren and I moved from California to Texas, we had to go through the exercise of
Starting point is 00:30:14 finding a whole new medical team. ZocDoc is incredible for this because it helps you find and then choose from thousands of patient reviewed doctors and specialists, browse doctor profiles, upload and verify your insurance information. For many of the millennial listeners out there, remember when you're a kid and you just got stuck with the same doctor because that happened to the person that somebody knew that was in your area and you never really shopped around. It was just the same guy, same girl, and you really didn't understand why. You had no real relationship. You just showed up in an office and here's a lollipop kid and good luck. Those days are long gone. I love this platform so much because I think medical attention needs to be personal. I think you actually need to
Starting point is 00:30:49 have a relationship with the medical practitioner that is going to be looking at you, checking your information, deciding what is best for you after learning more about you personally, which is why this platform is so incredible, especially if you need specialists in other areas. So again, ZocDoc is one of our best recommendations for anyone seeking medical care. So to check it out, go to ZocDoc.com slash skinny and download the ZocDoc app for free. Then find and book a top rated doctor today. Many are available within 24 hours. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C.com slash skinny. ZocDoc.com slash skinny. If you're looking back at yourself, would you tell yourself not to give someone a seat at the board? What are the things that you would tell yourself looking back? So when you go through what I went through,
Starting point is 00:31:36 which we can get to, but you have to pause and go, okay, how did I get here and how do I never end up here again? I built this amazing brand. You want to like be surrounded by people who support you are excited that are like, and cause the shit's going to hit the fan too. So not only the cheerleading and supporting in the good times, but really in the bad times. And I didn't have that. And I think when, if you're raising money, I mean, the first thing people want is like, well, who's on the board. And I'll tell you raising money for my new company, Chroma, we specifically, we only invited one person. So it's my business partner and I and one other person on the board. So there's only three of us and we maintain control. And I think that's a
Starting point is 00:32:15 really important part. That's not always going to be the case as we get bigger and bigger. But for now in this early stage, I mean, having the freedom, the autonomy to make decisions, to make mistakes, and not have people breathing down your neck and have people ultimately that have influence that could destroy the business. And that's what actually happened, you know, for Beaming, sadly. Tell me what happened and tell me when you started to notice that something was going astray. So we were on fire and we're two years in and I raised a bunch of this money. And so we're going to go expand. We couldn't find any more locations in San Diego. And I just didn't think San Diego was ready for us yet. I was looking on Orange County in LA and we ended up opening
Starting point is 00:32:55 three locations in LA in three months, Santa Monica, Brentwood and West Hollywood. So, which was a crazy time because I had, I didn't have a life in LA. Like I had no idea. And mind you, again, I'm still a single mom with three kids. So I'm trying to open all these stores in LA. My daughter who had been working with me since she was 13, came up to LA with me. She was 15, 16 at the time and opened all these stores with me. And we just sort of had to build a life in LA because I had to entrench myself. And it took off and all the celebrities came and people were obsessed with it. And it did what it did in San Diego. And so that got more and more followership and people got
Starting point is 00:33:37 really excited. And then we ended up ultimately building it to 10 locations. We partnered with Equinox in a couple of locations. We actually even opened at the Southwest Terminal at LAX. So we really became a real brand and we were in every magazine and had a lot of incredible attention. But I think as I, probably four years in, things are really tough. I mean, owning bricks and mortar is not an easy business, especially perishables, very complex. Opening in a new market is not easy. And we were struggling with just some of the different economics of it, I guess. And without going into the boring details, it ended up in a situation where I was very much in conflict with my board. And I really wanted us to not only take the good of what the stores were doing, but how do we focus on non-perishables, build the business online. We had to go online. We had to have a better economy to scale, better margins, reach more people. That was always my
Starting point is 00:34:36 vision. And the board really felt like you can't do both things. You can only choose one. And I'm like, okay, since I'm a little girl, I don't like no. So no, it does not work for me. I'm like, why can't we? And so it was very much handcuffed. And because they look at other businesses that couldn't, so they just assumed. And none of these people had any experience in the industry. So I was surrounded by people who did not add value, sadly. And then I just eventually it became a very painful process because this beautiful brand who is changing lives, people were obsessed, had such a great vision for it. And I had the wrong people. And it was very painful because ultimately I ended up having to walk away because I was so misunderstood. And what we were building was so misunderstood. And it eventually was sold off to Earth Bar. The great thing about
Starting point is 00:35:19 what Beaming is, is people still stop me on the street and tell me how much they love it and what their favorite product was. Very proud of the brand that we built. And I got to learn some incredible lessons. And that became sort of my launchpad for my next creations. So did you leave beaming knowing that you were going to create something else? Or did you take a beat, take a step back and think about what that was? I think a lot of people have this question because I noticed a lot of people will quit their job and then they feel like right away they need to do something. Yeah, great question. So I mean, I'm a creator and so I always have ideas. I will tell you that coming off of that, I thought I would just go off and create again.
Starting point is 00:35:59 And I was going to create these healthy cocktails. And before healthy cocktails became a thing. What I found was I knew I had to do the deep work to understand I've built this amazing company, but I've made some mistakes. And I really had to do some accountability checks. Like, how did I get here? How do I never get here again? I went to Hoffman. Everybody talks about that. Oh my God, you got to go off on that for a minute.
Starting point is 00:36:22 Talk about Hoffman. I'll riff on Hoffman. All my business partners swear by that. Katy Perry did it. Hoffman. I'll riff on Hoffman. One of my business partners swears by that. Katy Perry did it, Justin Bieber. I did it before all the Hollywood people did it. Yeah, I'm a greedy, no, I'm a greedy, Jen Adkins, go on. You have to, okay, tell us about that.
Starting point is 00:36:33 So, I mean, it was something that I knew there was some deeper work for me. And to expand on that a little bit more, it was like, you just, in business, there's other things that influence outcomes, right? Like it's like you can be the smartest person in the world. You can have your MBA, all those things. But there's other things that are blind spots.
Starting point is 00:36:51 And for me, I was aware that there was maybe some underlying blind spots within my own upbringing, if you will, that may have prevented the outcome I wanted. What do you mean? Can you elaborate on that? Okay. So for me, what I found out was sort of on my own, I was like, okay, what happened here? How did I build such an amazing brand and have to walk away? And one of the things I realized, and this is maybe going to sound really weird, but I realized
Starting point is 00:37:17 that I said I had hired my parents as my board, which for me meant nothing I did was good enough. That's how I felt as a little girl with my parents. My parents are amazing, but that was my experience growing up was I just felt like I was very judged. And being with this board, it was like the same, I'd recreated the same dynamic. Whoa. Yeah. That's deep shit. That's some deep shit. That's deep shit. You literally recreated your childhood within the business. Oh, yeah. We do that. That's not an uncommon thing.
Starting point is 00:37:48 Oh, I know. We like the chaos of it. I mean, we do it in relationships. You end up marrying your dad or something. No, he's married his dad. He's married your dad. I don't know if I can look at you the same way now. So you realize that there was parallels between your childhood and the board.
Starting point is 00:38:02 Okay. And also, I mean, if you really want me to go into it, it's like I had this thing of like never feeling like I belonged, right? Well, guess what? Like I, you know, ended up having to leave my brand. So, you know, like all of these underlying things and I'm such a, I'm very introspective and I've always been like very much into like reading, you know, I call it self-help, but whatever things that would continue to enhance and help me evolve. So when I went through that, you know, lost all my money,
Starting point is 00:38:29 didn't have anything literally and really hit bottom, I had to climb out. And so Hoffman was part of that journey. And, you know, for people who do or don't know about it, I mean, Hoffman is a seven day intense program. It's an incredibly transformative program. And people, men, women go, and I think you don't come out the same. I can't say much about it outside of the fact that it's, I think, something everyone should do. You have no phone, no technology, right? No phone, no technology, full immersion. I think there's 35, 45 people. And it's eight to 10 every day.
Starting point is 00:39:08 And it's quiet, right? It's super quiet. And what I loved about it is you're not sitting around talking about, and then my dad did this, and then my mom did that. It's a very internal experience. So people aren't there trying to star fuck. Yeah. Meaning if they see a celebrity, they're not trying to network with the celebrity. i hope not i mean there was no celebrity there when i was there but i i think that it's a pretty safe place no but i you know like i said one of my business partners
Starting point is 00:39:32 swears by it and he says it like changed his life and i think men especially men always go when they're either going through a breakup or know they need to go through a breakup that's that's and you when we go through the divorce, I'll connect you to Lisa. You'll sign up for Hoffman. I'm already on the waiting list. I think it's like a one-year waiting list now, so you might want to start. I got them on speed dial, don't worry.
Starting point is 00:39:54 So anyway, so I did a lot of this personal work. And I think what became really important for me, and that's maybe the message here was, I thought I could snap my fingers and be like, okay, we're back. Let's go create again. And I realized through that experience, there was some deep, like healing that needed to happen. One was just the loss of the business. Right. And that was really intense. And, you know, I had big dreams with that company. And so that was, that was a painful experience.
Starting point is 00:40:21 And then just again, like my own healing. And it wasn't like you go, okay, you wake up one day and you're like, okay, I don't want to hurt anymore. We're good. Let's go. It took me a good year and a half to really create again. And, you know, there was times I had all this self-doubt. I thought maybe I'm a one hit wonder, you know, maybe that was it. Like maybe, maybe I'm not as, you know, creative and, you know, know how to bring things to life as well as I thought. Sure enough, through time, and then slowly but surely, as I started to get my creative back, I decided I had to create momentum because I knew I was going to stay in health and wellness.
Starting point is 00:40:55 I knew that this is my passion. This is my mission. I'm here to really change lives and make a difference. And so I started to just play with the superfoods again. And actually what happened is I'm obsessed with matcha. So matcha changed my life. I came off of coffee. You do the ceremony and everything.
Starting point is 00:41:13 I do the organic ceremonial grade. That's what I was doing at the time. But when I was coming off of coffee, going to matcha, I was like, this is really gross. It tastes like grass. It tastes like dirt. Like I know it's better for me, but like there's gotta be a better way. And so doing what I normally do, I became obsessed with
Starting point is 00:41:27 it. Started tasting a million different matchas, found the best ones. And I was like, oh, what if I add all my superfoods to it? What if I add collagen and turmeric and ginger and mushrooms and like really super enhanced this matcha? And because I go back and forth to LA, I was carrying 10 superfoods with me and mixing it at my friend's house or at the hotel and like of course the light bulb goes on I'm like what if I turn this into a product and so that's actually how really chroma became sort of started was I'll just create these adaptogen super lattes using all the superfoods that I love in this powder-based form I want the world to drink matcha because I really think it's so incredibly good for you.
Starting point is 00:42:08 And that became sort of the momentum I needed to ultimately bring the new brand Chroma to life. But it took time. Do you decide that you want strategic investors this time that are celebrities or well-known people? Or was that something that you just fell into? Was there thought and process behind that? So what was the thought and process? Did you go panhandle at Hoffman? I know, go to Hoffman and get your investor. I should have. Yeah, bad timing. That's efficient. Really bad timing. You miss Katy Perry. So a couple of things happened. So as we fast forward this, so it's like I'm creating these products. I've got this momentum.
Starting point is 00:42:46 I'm getting my zhuzh back. And I end up meeting this guy who became my business partner because I needed a partner. So one of the things that I didn't have at Beaming that really cost us is I didn't have an operational partner. Can you talk about that for a minute? Because I think it's a big, like the more we kind of like delve into business and entrepreneurs on this show, I think it's really important to kind of like delve into business and entrepreneurs on, on this show, I,
Starting point is 00:43:09 I think it's really important to kind of like define lanes in some cases. Cause I think a lot of people get in trouble. They try to take everything on. And like the dynamic of Lauren and I, for example, is there's probably like left, right brand, like one's very,
Starting point is 00:43:17 very creative. One's more analytical. One's more operations. One's more like design branding. And I'm not saying we kind of don't bounce back and forth between both, but like, I think that's been one of the things that's at least worked for us is like, we, we, I couldn't do what she did. It's necessary. Yes. Absolutely. And that banter and that interaction, because you do have different skill sets. And I think any entrepreneur who tries to do it all, it's just not possible. And I know I'm not a great operator. I'm not one that's going to go create a, you know, a
Starting point is 00:43:43 performa or financial model. And I needed that partner and I want the dashboard. I'm not one that's going to go create a, you know, a performa or financial model. And I needed that partner. And I want the dashboard. I want the, I want the data to make decisions from, but I'm not going to be the person that does that. Nor do I want to be the person that figures out how we're going to create all the products. I'll go create the recipes. Somebody else go figure out how we're going to produce them. And how do you find this partner that you're looking for is that you just put the word out so there was that and then i did this is so random i was at what's the music festival in san diego i can't make this shit up crossed no the one that was at the fairgrounds i know what you're talking oh i know um not ours no no was it what kind of music was it well it's like any like it could have been
Starting point is 00:44:21 munford and sons like it would only last for like two years it was a music festival in san diego and i'm totally blanking on the name i know what you're talking about the racetrack fairgrounds the racetrack yeah and so i'm at this music festival there's this guy standing next to me and he he picks up my glasses from the from the ground and hands them to me i can't i literally can't make this shit up and he and i become friends and that ultimately ended up leading to him being my business partner because as we were i learned he was a vc guy he had gone to booth he had like really understood numbers and i was like hey you want to help me with my financial model and as that happened so you it was just one of those random but absolutely we were supposed
Starting point is 00:45:03 to meet moments, like divine kind of moments. He handed you your glasses. At a music festival listening to Mumford and Sons. Look out for the four guys handing you stuff at home. And he was really cute. Like he had this really sweet energy. So yeah, through that, he and I became business partners.
Starting point is 00:45:17 And what was so, thank God for this. So imagine this is September 2019. And I've been doing that entrepreneurship's lonely right you're really fucking lonely yeah and so i'm in and to wake up every day and motivate yourself is really hard so thank god i get this guy who says you can never complain to anyone about it because everyone just says well lucky you look what you're doing right you just do whatever you want but it's not brutal and thank god i had amazing friends and advisors that were like, Lisa, you got this. You can do this. You can do this. I'm like, are you sure? Maybe it's a bad idea. All the stuff, the chatter in the head. So this guy
Starting point is 00:45:53 leaves his venture group and is like, I'll do this with you. And slowly but surely, he and I start creating the whole business model together. And the idea for this five-day reset sort of came through this process of me going, I'm not trying to create a latte company. I actually want to create much like I did with Beaming. I just want to recreate Beaming, but in a way that can transform lives. Like how can I give you an opportunity to feel how good you feel when you put really good food in your body, do it in this non-perishable way so you can travel with it. It can be in your pantry. You can make it work for you. You can reach people everywhere. And that became sort of just now getting in the kitchen and creating more and more and more and more products. I didn't have any money yet. Hadn't raised any money yet. He and I create the business model.
Starting point is 00:46:40 We create the business plan. It's beautiful. I'm ready to tell the world. And the day we finished it was the day the world shut down with COVID. I'm getting back to your question about investors. COVID, I mean, there was opportunity there though, because you do this at home. Yes. And so mind you, I needed money, right? Not the best raising environment, Lauren. Not the best. I mean, we were trying to figure out how to get toilet paper and groceries, right? And so I can't ask people for money. So like, all right, shift in plans.
Starting point is 00:47:13 What do I do? So then my daughter and I started creating the beta program for the five-day reset for Chroma. And we'd get in the kitchen and we're like making all the little things. We're like, all right, let's just go do what we did with beaming and put it out there and see what happens. And that became viral. And once again, I had this incredible program. People became obsessed with the products. They lost weight. They felt great. They were like, I want the, you know, the matcha. I want the spicy passion. I want the broth. I want the cookie butter. I want all the things. And so
Starting point is 00:47:43 those people ended up becoming investors. Now, going back to your question, I had learned some hard lessons from Beaming. So I knew I wasn't going to raise money the same way. And I was going to choose who these investors were. And I had a vision on a couple of things. One, what if I could raise, what if I could have mostly female investors? That was one. What if we could have some really, like maybe we have some
Starting point is 00:48:06 celebrities, that would be really cool. And what I really wanted was I want people who love what we do so much, they want to help me tell the world. And that was the goal. And then the right people with the right energy would show up. So fast forward, there's actually some really good juicy stuff here. So everyone's telling me no i'm talking to vcs there's no no no no no no so anyone that's raised what was the main reasons for the nose just out of perfect get proof of concept love the idea your products are amazing they've been burned too many times from you know they invested in these startups that didn't have any revenue and they're like we love what you're doing, but you're too early.
Starting point is 00:48:45 And so, but that's hard too when you're raising money because you're like, fuck, like your baby's ugly, basically what they're telling you. And so you have to keep like standing up and you get your nose and your nose and your nose. And finally, so I get to this point and I'm gonna get my first investor and he comes in and he's an angel investor
Starting point is 00:49:03 and he's gonna give us $3 million. And he's like promising me the world. He's crying to me, telling me how this program changed his life. That's love bombing, but go on. Okay. Well, it wasn't love bombing me, but he was a billionaire. Let me just also make this note because this is a really important thing. And he is just telling me how this chroma is going to change the world. I meet the family. And this is like, and something in me said, this isn't good. Something's wrong.
Starting point is 00:49:28 Something's wrong. And I would wake up in the middle of the night and I'd be like, something's wrong. And I would tell Alex, my business partner, he's like, Lisa,
Starting point is 00:49:33 just take the fucking money. I was like, no, something's wrong. I don't trust him. And I tried to Google him. There was no information. And yes,
Starting point is 00:49:40 he's a billionaire. I did know that, but like very hidden billionaire. Yeah. All those guys scraped the internet. And so, yeah, they actually would. They have know that, but like very hidden billionaire. Yeah. All those guys scraped the internet. And so, yeah,
Starting point is 00:49:47 they actually would. They have firms that actually scrape. 1000%. So anyway, we go forward, we get the deal on paper. The day he's supposed to fund,
Starting point is 00:49:58 he disappears. We never hear from him again. Now, mind you, I've emptied my 401k. I don't have a dollar to my name. i can't even pay rent and like buy food again i'm not gonna be homeless was he a real billionaire was he just
Starting point is 00:50:11 did he just go no he's a real freaking billionaire but he was playing us yeah he just goes okay wait why would he play you i don't get the point of that that sounds like a waste of time who the fuck knows i don't know i mean i that people do this like trying to tell you like what it was his motive i tell this story and people are like oh trying to tell you like what what was his motive tell this story and people are like oh that happens all the time wait what but i'm like what if you're an actual billionaire yeah why would he string you along to the end like what is in it for him i don't understand ego yeah actually i think ego absolutely just wanting to feel like and also i think it didn't really matter to him he He's like, yes, $3 million, whatever.
Starting point is 00:50:45 Not thinking like, here's this girl who's like risked everything and her 401k. It was just like, eh, no big deal. Let me just go back to my other deals. So I have a lot of black, nude, white, gray clothes. And in Cabo, I wanted to spice it up and add some neons. I just wanted to switch it up, but I didn't want to shell out a bunch of money. So what I did is I went to Fashion Pass. Fashion Pass is a clothing rental service where you can get unlimited rentals for one flat price. But here's the deal. And this is why I like it. They carry the best brands.
Starting point is 00:51:24 So they have like for love and lemons, free people. I got something from show me your muumuu. They really have so many brands that are on the polls. And what you can do is you can swap out your items as many times a month as you want. So basically you're just like getting new clothes every single week. It's amazing. And this is so great if you go on a trip and you want to like mix it up. Maybe you're going out of the country and you want to do something that you like wouldn't do normally. I know I wanted to do a lot of lilacs and hot pinks in Cabo, but honestly, I just don't wear hot pink and lilac normally. So to be able to go on there, get my clothes, it ships so fast. And my favorite part, they take care of dry cleaning.
Starting point is 00:52:06 So you literally just send it back. They sent me like this pre-labeled bag and you can just send it back when you're done. It literally could not be easier. Okay. So we have a special discount for you today. If you go to fashionpass.com and use code skinny at checkout, you get $60 off your first month. So you can try it literally for $29. That's unlimited rentals for just $29 with code skinny. I'm telling you, go stalk their site. You won't be sorry. Recently, I did an Instagram story breakdown on my supplements, my minerals, and my vitamins. And first on that list, as always, is my Ritual Multivitamin. So here's the deal. I've been taking this multivitamin for the last three years. I took it for getting pregnant. When I wanted to get pregnant, I took it. Then I took
Starting point is 00:52:59 it during my pregnancy. And then I took the postpartum one after my pregnancy. And now I'm just back to rituals essential for women, 18 plus. So this is a multivitamin that's clinically backed. It has traceable key ingredients. So you know where it's coming from. Like literally you can go on their website and see where everything comes from, which is incredible. It's also soy-free, gluten-free, vegan-friendly and formulated without GMOs. I was having trouble swallowing a multivitamin, but this one has like this minty essence. So it's very easy to swallow. I take this every single day. I tell all my friends and family about it. I just think it is the best multivitamin on the market. Ritual knows it's basically impossible to get all the nutrients you need from your diet
Starting point is 00:53:47 100% of the time. So this vitamin helps you focus on what's important. So they're filling in key nutrient gaps to support your foundational health. Instead of striving for perfect health, aim for supporting foundational health. And great news, Ritual is offering all our listeners 10% off during your first three months. You're going to visit ritual.com slash skinny to start Ritual or add Essential for Women 18 plus to your subscription today. If you watch my Instagram stories, you know that I just did a fridge makeover. I got so serious
Starting point is 00:54:22 about it. I got like an egg organizer. I organized my cheeses. I even got like a soda holder to hold my sparkling water. And you know what else I got? I got acrylic holders for my snacks. And one of those snacks, the main snacks, is Perfect Bar. Okay, so first of all, this snack has six grams of protein. So you can just grab it and you feel like you've gotten a treat, but you've also gotten protein, if you know what I mean. So our fridge is like stocked. In one acrylic holder, we have dark chocolate chip peanut butter with sea salt. And then in the other acrylic holder, we have coconut peanut butter and cookie dough. I like to keep mine in the fridge. They also recommend it in the fridge. And if you need something after a workout or a quick bite or a snack.
Starting point is 00:55:06 So if you're looking for something quick after a workout or just a snack, they got you. They're non-GMO, they're gluten-free, soy-free, kosher, and low GI. Perfect Bar knows it will be love at first bite. So you guys, for a limited time, they're offering you a chance to try the refrigerated protein bars for free. So here's how it works. You're going to sign up for email or text and upload a picture of your receipt from your local grocery store.
Starting point is 00:55:28 And then they'll reimburse you for the cost of one bar directly into your Venmo or PayPal account. I mean, this is pretty cool, right? So all you have to do is go to perfectsnacks.com slash skinny to get a free perfect bar today. That's perfectsnacks.com slash skinny to get a free perfect bar today. Happy snacking. I think when what you were feeling of the intuition of what something's wrong here is when someone tries to get close to you too quick and they like tell you everything you're saying,
Starting point is 00:55:59 you're meeting the family too quick. I feel like my antenna goes up with that. Like you have to like court a person and get to know them before you just shove it in all the way. Well, yes. No pun intended. Yes, that's true too. So I think, yeah, I think that's a really important one. The bigger one I would actually say is like your gut instinct is always fucking right. And that is my biggest takeaway was I knew it. Thank God he disappeared. Thank God. And actually, I'll come back to the story. But when we launched Chroma, there was an article that came out in Forbes. And it was a picture of me, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Seinfeld, and Amy Schumer, all of which who had invested in the company. And it was incredible. It's one of those
Starting point is 00:56:43 articles that come out and you scream. You're like, holy shit. And this article comes out and the first thing I did, maybe not the first, but one of the first things I did is I sent it to him and I said, thank you. Thank you for being an asshole and disappearing. And that was my moment of truth.
Starting point is 00:56:58 Did he ever respond? Because none of that would have ever happened had I done a deal. I probably would have lost the company if I had done that deal. And the reason why that's such an important thing is sometimes we doubt ourselves, but I knew that this wasn't the right thing. And so I was able to go build an incredible group of investors, get 90% funded by women, absolutely the most incredible investor, like cap table on
Starting point is 00:57:21 a pre-revenue, pre-lalaunch company ever and i didn't know any of them it wasn't like i was friends with gwyneth or amy or any of these people i just met them along the way and they fell in love with my product so the fact that that guy disappeared was the best thing that could ever happen and i think sometimes we forget it's like when things don't go right i promise there's something better yeah in every area dating relationships everything friendships it applies to every aspect of life. So after this $3 million situation happened, what was your next step? And how did you start to meet all these people along the way?
Starting point is 00:57:54 Like walk us through that. Yeah. So my first, so you dial for dollars, right? So I was like on LinkedIn, reaching out to anyone and everyone. I'm asking my friends, can you make introductions? And it takes the first yes. That's the hardest one, right? And my first check was from the former CEO of Twitter, Dick Costello. And he made an introduction. So he was the first check, which was a good first check. Again, I didn't know him. And he made an introduction to a guy
Starting point is 00:58:20 named John Callahan, who was the first check in Peloton. And he said, I see the same thing in you as I do in the founder of Peloton, which was a nice compliment. And then the third person was the former CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee. So I started with three really great people. And then those people made introductions. And that just sort of webbed out. And then there was just kind of kept going and kept going. And then there reached a point where we'd reached half the money. And so my first check was November 3rd, 2020. And it was February, 2021. And I had raised half the money. And I woke up on a Sunday morning exhausted.
Starting point is 00:58:58 I was like, God, this is so hard. Like, I just want to get this off the ground. And people don't realize if you haven't done it, how hard, and it sounds glamorous, but raising capital and doing all those pitch meetings and going back and forth and dealing with term sheets, it is miserable. It's miserable because you're every day just like you're a puppet. And you're trying to run and start the business at the same time. And life is still going on.
Starting point is 00:59:20 Like other stuff, you're still mom and all these other things while you're like, showtime for your next pitch. Right. And most of the time people are telling you no. And for people that don't like hearing no, it's like nails on a chalkboard because you mostly get no's. It's really painful. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:59:34 So I wake up this Sunday morning and I'm like, I'm so tired. This has to happen. And I get a text from one of our investors, Melody McCloskey, who's the CEO of Style Seat. Amazing woman. And she texts me. She goes, go check your email. And I was like, okay. And there's an email from Gwyneth Paltrow that says,
Starting point is 00:59:53 hey, Lisa, you know, I've been a big fan of yours, which, no, I did not. But she was a huge fan of beaming. And she reached out and she said, I heard you have a new wellness brand and I'd love to hear about it. And that was obviously a massive turning point. which I think what's also important in that story is there's just, you can't, I couldn't chart that. Like I, did I know in my heart, like someday
Starting point is 01:00:17 maybe Gwyneth would be involved? Yes. Did I think I was going to wake up to an email from her? No. And just like all those moments where you're in doubt or it's just like, it's just that kind of that moment where you're like, can I keep doing this? There's just, there's always something that kind of gives you that sign that says, keep going. Well, and also if you didn't have your first brand, she probably maybe wouldn't have reached out for this brand because like that's what- She would not have. Yeah. Because she fell in love with the first thing. So even the thing that you said you had to walk away from, like that was the thing that you said you had to walk away from, that was the thing that...
Starting point is 01:00:45 I had a really good reputation from that brand, for sure. And that absolutely helped me here. So to your point, as much as it didn't play out the way I'd wanted, it's been an incredible catalyst for me to attract the people that I did, for sure. So you get Gwyneth Paltrow. Is she involved in product tasting? Is she involved in the process? How does someone like her get involved as product tasting? Is she involved in the process? How does someone like her get involved
Starting point is 01:01:05 as an investor? I mean, she's actually very, I mean, all of my investors are pretty passive. I mean, what they are is they'll make a mention in a magazine. They're celebrities, I should say. You know, they'll make a mention in a magazine or they'll do a post. I don't ask for anything. I really let them do it. It's all organic. I get them excited about it. They're excited about the product. They love it. They want to tell the world. And that was my vision from the beginning is can I have a group of investors, whether it's a celebrity or the mom in the community that tells everybody what she's doing and everyone in between, that's what I wanted. And that's what we got. And how have you seen it take off since you got that email?
Starting point is 01:01:43 Has it just like the trajectory been crazy? So that certainly adds a lot of credibility. And through that, we were able to raise all the money, certainly. And Jessica Seinfeld came in and Amy Schumer. And we just continue to have such great investors. But what I really appreciate about all of them is just their passion and support. And just everyone, if I send an email or I kind of just give a little nudge, they're excited. They're very passionate.
Starting point is 01:02:11 They believe in the mission. They believe in me, which is huge. So what is your vision for this? Because I will say it's really good. I mean, it's good, you guys. And that cookie butter is staring at me in the face. It is really, really good. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:02:32 So what's like your overall vision? Is it just to continue to get this to every single person possible? So it's, we launched July 22nd last year. So we're 15 months old. We launched with 14 products and our five-day reset. Not something I recommend for any entrepreneur trying to launch a product. Maybe start with one. But because I had this business partner who was really freaking good, he was able to manage the complexity of five co-packers and 200 ingredients and all the craziness and this very elaborate packaging system. Well, for what you're doing, it kind of all, it plays together. It all plays together. I mean, I want you, the reason why this box is what it is. And by the way, I don't, you guys may not know this. There's 45 different sachets, all different colors. It's a wheel.
Starting point is 01:03:13 It was like designed after the Kodak color wheel, like really dating myself. And on the back, there's a message that I wrote of inspiration or education on every single sachet that was like a little surprise and delight. So for me, so for me, everything about this is like, I want wellness to be something that you look forward to. I want it to be when that package arrives on the door. It's like an Apple experience. Like you, the unboxing is like, I get to do this. I get to take care of myself. And that's really how we envision this. What I think makes this so really so unique, and this was the same approach with Beaming, is I care more about
Starting point is 01:03:52 lifestyle. I care about making those simple changes in your everyday life. And how can we support that? So when you do the five-day, which is our hero product, first of all, they love it. They feel great. They lose weight, but they didn't starve themselves. And that you get broths and porridge and cookie butter and a matcha latte in the morning. And it's a very lifestyle base. And then they fall in love with stuff and then they want it all the time. And so for me, how many times have you done a cleanse or a reset or detox? One, you're miserable usually. And so it was like suffered for three, four or five days. That doesn't happen here. But the other is like, then you're like, okay, great. I lost a couple pounds. Now what? And to me, it's the after that matters the most because that's where real transformation happens.
Starting point is 01:04:33 That's where you're like, okay, I'm inspired. I got this. I feel great. I look really good. And I love the matcha and the porridge and the cookie butter and the broth. And I'm going to keep using those every day. And they travel with me. And so those baby steps keep building on themselves. So you're integrating the products into your day-to-day as opposed to just stopping and like binging on chips and salsa. Yeah, you're like. And you can still do that, honestly.
Starting point is 01:04:56 And that's part of what we like. We're not about perfection. Like I just went on our photo shoot this week. I ate Cheetos and Oreos. Like I don't ever do that but you know like Cheetos are so good can you invent a healthy Cheeto and put them together so and I never eat but like I don't like I don't beat myself up for it I'm like okay you know it's a stressful shoot Cheetos really hit the spot and and that's a really big part of what we're doing
Starting point is 01:05:18 in fact what's I'm going to add on to that. We just launched our Cleanse with Chocolate campaign, which is the whole concept. You do get chocolate. You're not eating chocolate for five days, but you get a piece of chocolate every day. And the whole idea is enjoy the pleasures of life. Have that bite of chocolate and just savor it. And it's so amazing when you're doing a program like this. One, it's a total surprise. You get this little square. It's a beautiful, we have a chocolatier that made it for us. It's a pure, pure, pure chocolate.
Starting point is 01:05:52 And then you get to savor it and you're like, oh, I didn't need the whole chocolate bar. Just the one bite was so special. And so much of what we're teaching is just about intuitive eating. The ingredients that you have in this are very high quality ingredients. How do you source all of these incredible ingredients? So that was a big part of the process because much, you know, again, with beaming, I go not only create the recipes with my daughter, but we also source and find everything. So everything from the ginger to the maple sugar to testing a hundred organic ceremonial grade matchas, finding a plant protein that was non
Starting point is 01:06:34 lectin, non isolate, not highly processed, was not easy to do. And I was on a mission because most people use pea protein and it's highly processed. And for a lot of people, it's actually really hard to digest. And so I found this incredible plant protein in Ecuador called Chocho. And so a big part of this creation was finding the best of the best. And I've never skimped on anything. And I'm very particular about flavor. And that's why I personally create the products with my daughter is so that we can get it
Starting point is 01:07:06 exactly the way we want. I mean, our bone broth comes from Australia. It's made with a refractionated process. Like it's- Is that what I'm drinking right here? This is really good. You're drinking the veggie bone broth. What?
Starting point is 01:07:15 Oh, you've got the beef. Oh, the beef. Yeah, yeah. I'm drinking the veggie bone broth. No, our broths are insane. And so it's just like everything has been thought about both from a nutritional standpoint, as well as your flavor, your experience and packaging, you know, just the vibrancy of it,
Starting point is 01:07:31 all of it. And who should do this cleanse? Could it be anyone? Could you do it for 10 days? Can you do it for a month? Do you need to be gluten free? Like who can do this? So it's all gluten free, dairy free. What's really cool is it's customizable so this is also a really unique thing is really cool and that's cool yeah because everyone's body's different everyone's goals are different you know somebody might be an elite athlete and they need more they're going to want to maybe add more protein and nuts or bananas or whatever they want because it's really about again that, that intuitive eating. So maybe you've got a big event coming up and you need to lose a couple pounds, right? And you just need a cleanup or you came off a huge vacation and it's like cleanup time.
Starting point is 01:08:13 Right. So it's really designed that you make it work for you. And because you're eating, I mean, anyone can do this. It's like you're not starving yourself. In fact, what people tell us, cause you get 10 things a day, they're like, they almost get mad. They're like, it's too much food. And that's actually the point is then don't eat at all. Right? Like actually you get to decide. You're retraining your brain. Like I, maybe I don't need that smoothie or that afternoon latte, or maybe I don't even need the broth at night. Or you know what? I had a really hard workout today. Cause yes, you can exercise on this. That's also, or maybe I don't even need the broth at night. Or you know what? I had a really hard workout today because yes, you can exercise on this. That's also very unique. I don't want you to slow down. There's another program out there that you literally
Starting point is 01:08:51 can't get out of bed and you're miserable and it's very famous. A lot of people do it. That's five olives every day. That's your food. I mean, I don't know. You guys do know. That sounds very strange to me. Some programmers, they have to sit around and not be active. that's your food but that would that's I mean I don't know like you guys would know you guys do know like that sounds very strange to me some programmers they have to sit around and not be active like what
Starting point is 01:09:08 no you're not only not active but you're a waiting bitch like you're so miserable you can't like the family usually leaves the home Lauren were you
Starting point is 01:09:15 doing that this morning you never know and there's a place for it but it's just not the philosophy that I followed I am much more about lifestyle
Starting point is 01:09:23 and do I think that there's certain cleansing out there that's like very liver or gut specific? Absolutely. And that's where you involve a functional doctor. But what we're doing is we're just cleaning up. Like we're getting off the stuff that wreaks havoc. Maybe it's drinking too much alcohol. We're gonna come off the holidays.
Starting point is 01:09:39 We just did, right? Like maybe I overindulged or I had just too much food and I just need to reset. And that's what it does without all the restriction. Can someone just go on the site and try one of the products so they can see if they like it? Yep, absolutely. So everything that's in the reset is actually available in an individual form. Go try the cookie butter.
Starting point is 01:10:03 Go try the cookie butter. And also I'm obsessed with this cranberry hydration elixir mix this is is that what we're drinking here yeah and isn't it so yummy and that little spicy kick at the end it's so good i swear it's like so high yeah it has the coconut water in it and the cranberry and the cayenne pepper i'm actually going to give some of this to my two-year-old oh yeah. Because I want her to have electrolytes. And maybe just dilute it
Starting point is 01:10:26 a little bit. Yeah. Instead of like orange juice, just give her this. Oh, man. So much better. This is a selfish question. We have to go on a flight
Starting point is 01:10:31 tomorrow at like four in the morning and then go for like quick and back. What would you bring here? So I'm going to make sure you have all sorts of goodies. The porridge.
Starting point is 01:10:39 Okay. I would bring the broths for sure. I always travel with those because it's so easy on the plane. Yeah. Because all you need is hot water. Because I never accept the food on the plane. I always travel with those because it's so easy on the plane. Yeah. Because all you need is hot water.
Starting point is 01:10:45 Because I never accept the food on the plane. I just don't trust it. And I mean, all you need is hot water. So you'll have your chroma mugs. And then, I mean, I, of course, the greens powder would be great just because you're going to get that fuel and all the greens, especially traveling. The cranberry elixir would be great. And for a latte i mean i'm again i'm obsessed with our matcha it's a i think it's insane how much caffeine is in it because i like caffeine i like a kick so it's at least double normal i mean i load it because i want it too i'm coming off you know i came off a coffee put a little cocaine in there so maybe not
Starting point is 01:11:21 a little little surprise but the but the caffeine is double the caffeine it's double the caffeine there's at least 60 milligrams and but it's you know the thing about matcha and you guys know this is like it doesn't have that same zing that coffee does and i am not coffee bashing at all it's just the benefits of matcha are real. And like you actually, it's a mood enhancer. It's like an amazing, actually, if like you've drank too much, it's like incredible for a hangover cure. It's so good for just balancing energy. So you don't have that crash. And then of course, we've loaded it with collagen and turmeric and ginger and all sorts of other mushrooms. I know there's like turmeric root, maple sugar.
Starting point is 01:12:04 But we've got one gram of sugar. So we keep everything really, really low, but still has enough sweet. No, honestly, like this is my vibe. Because you want like brands either add too much sugar or too little. You want like slightly sweet, but not like overpowering. And it's really hard to do that, by the way. It's a balance. It either tastes like turpentine or it's like a pure sugar bulb. It's pure sugar. I don't care if it. And it's really hard to do that, by the way. Yes, it's a balance. It either tastes like turpentine
Starting point is 01:12:25 or it's like a pure sugar bulb. It's pure sugar. And I don't care if it's like a, it's no sugar. There's that fake sugar taste that's so foul. Yes. And it's really hard to create that balance. And so like even just the way we played with maple sugar, like I used that instead of coconut sugar
Starting point is 01:12:39 because you can just use a tiny bit and then use a little bit of fresh monk fruit. So the balance of all those things, I think is something that we do really, really well. And so it does give you just enough sweet, but not so much that I'm going to make you sugar addicted. And the porridge, I love how you guys have eight grams of protein.
Starting point is 01:12:56 And like you said, you have that healthy fat in there and you have flaxseed. I mean, this is like, I'm giving this to my daughter. It's so good. Kids love it. Just put some berries on it. And kids love it. And they also love the cookie butter. I think what I love
Starting point is 01:13:10 about the super porridge. She's going to say cookie butter, cookie butter, cookie butter. I want to hear her do that on camera. But I think with the porridge, it's just nuts and seeds. And so this perfect little breakfast ignites your metabolism. It tastes delicious. You're not hungry for hours. And that's the other thing that I think was really important with the reset was, I just want you to fight. If you normally eat bagels or you skip breakfast or you're sick of eggs, it's just an alternative, but it's so healthy for you and it's nourishing your brain. This is really, really smart too. I'm always looking for things to give my toddler.
Starting point is 01:13:43 And what's annoying sometimes I feel like is you're making your toddler this like a certain kind of food and then you're making yourself something like very different because they won't eat it but with this I feel like you can do it both at once and you can eat something and your toddler can eat it at the same time if that makes sense absolutely and they love the broth too okay so good I'm gonna do a lot of tricking yeah a lot of tricking with that i mean i've always approached this like how can we do something for the family and so that's really beaming did that all the kids came there after soccer practice or you know in between instead of mcdonald's
Starting point is 01:14:14 and so i got really excited about that as a mom yeah and so the products are designed you know many of them so that kids could have them too what is is really cute about this, you guys, is it's this huge white box. You have to go on their site and check it out. It's like gold details. And then they have a gold frother, which I love a frother. It's a good frother too. This is a great frother.
Starting point is 01:14:35 And then they have this little cup, which I actually, the way that I found out about Chromo was through Kristen Cavallari. She was drinking this cup on her Instagram stories. And it's this mug. And so basically everything that you have in here, you can put in the mug, her Instagram stories and it's this mug and so basically everything that you have in here
Starting point is 01:14:46 you can put in the mug, right? No, it's perfect. It's the perfect size. It's an elemental mug. I'm obsessed with these mugs because it's cute. It's ceramic. It's really nice.
Starting point is 01:14:55 Don't try to steal my mug. He's already, this is what he does. I pray I have one for you, Michael. Yeah, don't. I already see what you're doing. Don't worry, I'll steal it if I have to.
Starting point is 01:15:02 Tomorrow he's going to wake up with his mug and his bone brother. I already can see. You guys are going to be fighting over it. I promise I'll give you you're doing. Don't worry, I'll steal them if I have to. Tomorrow he's going to wake up with his mug and his bone broth. I already can see. You guys are going to be fighting over it. I promise I'll give you plenty to take. He's going to want a mug. But then you also get this little hemp bag. Cute.
Starting point is 01:15:12 Which is so cute. And then you can throw your little frother and your sachets in there. Again, it's just this little on the go. Lisa, you're a genius. Can we do a code for our audience and a giveaway for one of these? Absolutely. So we're going to do 20%. Ooh%, which is really cool, especially in January. I'm at skinny20. Skinny20, you guys. I'm going to use my own code on this. I think what you're doing is absolutely incredible. I'm sitting here looking at all the ingredients and trying it,
Starting point is 01:15:41 and I'm obsessed, and we're going to do a giveaway. All you have to do is follow. What's your Instagram? It's chromo wellness. Chromo wellness with a K. With a K. K-R-O-M-A and follow them on Instagram and then tell us your favorite part of this episode with Lisa on my latest Instagram at Lauren Bostick. Lisa, come back anytime. Where can everyone shop? Had a whole brief and didn't even need to use it we didn't even need to use it you're a pro on the mic you're a pro on the mic this is so fun
Starting point is 01:16:07 we could have gone so many different directions where can everyone find this cookie butter so chromawellness.com with Kay and it's as good as she's saying
Starting point is 01:16:16 you guys I'm obsessed we're going to link it all out too I'm going to go stuff a big spoonful in my mouth the second we're done let me ask you a real question actually what is the serving size
Starting point is 01:16:24 do you eat the whole jar or do you? So Lauren might. And I've had that happen on the reset before. They're like, oh, I wasn't supposed to eat it all in one day. As long as you enjoyed it. Because I might too. That's why I asked what is the recommended. What's the serving size?
Starting point is 01:16:38 I mean, it's like one or two. Oh, it's a spoonful. But you know what's amazing? Okay. Is take that and whether it's gluten-free or a beautiful sourdough bread, put that on it, put a little slice of banana and like a drizzle of honey. Oh, sold. So good.
Starting point is 01:16:51 We started making this at Costa Palmas down in the Four Seasons and that's where we created this recipe and then they became obsessed and put it on the menu. Sold. I'm going to do that. I want to do this like every single month so I can just give this to Zaza. There's so many good ideas for Zaza. Yeah. No, really good.
Starting point is 01:17:05 We were just talking about this too. We're like, oh, we got to like, we want to like enhance her diet because now she has a, you know, she's almost three. She's got a different, like her palate's like changing. And so she can't just keep doing the same thing.
Starting point is 01:17:14 Thank you so much for coming on. This was so much fun, you guys. Thanks for having me. Cheers. Wait, don't go. Do you want to win Chroma's signature five-day reset? I want to win.
Starting point is 01:17:23 I'm going to enter. I'm telling you, you're going to die when you see this. All you have to do is follow at Chroma Wellness on Instagram, and then tell us your favorite part of this episode with Lisa on my latest Instagram at Lauren Bostick. Make sure you're following along on TikTok. I'm posting there every single day at Lauren Bostick. And on that note, we'll see you on Monday.

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