The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast - How To Change Your Body, Heal Yourself, & Take Charge Ft. Pvolve CEO - Rachel Katzman
Episode Date: April 5, 2024#682: Today we're sitting down with Rachel Katzman, Co-Founder & CEO of Pvolve. Pvolve PWT is different from traditional weightlifting because it blends functional movements with weight training. They... focus on taking your joints through their full range of motion and use the resistance of their equipment to activate every muscle, so you gain strength, mobility, and stability. Today, we sit down for a conversation about functional training, why Jennifer Aniston reached out to her team and started working with Pvolve, and why you should incorporate more functional lifts into your routine. We also dive into the topics of birth control, building a company with your partner, and struggling with Lyme disease.  To connect with Rachel Katzman click HERE  To connect with pvolve click HERE  To connect with Lauryn Evarts Bosstick click HERE To connect with Michael Bosstick click HERE Read More on The Skinny Confidential HERE To Watch the Show click HERE For Detailed Show Notes visit TSCPODCAST.COM To Call the Him & Her Hotline call: 1-833-SKINNYS (754-6697) This episode is brought to you by The Skinny Confidential & Pvolve  Use code SKINNY at pvolve.com to receive 20% off.  Produced by Dear MediaÂ
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The following podcast is a Dear Media production.
She's a lifestyle blogger extraordinaire.
Fantastic.
And he's a serial entrepreneur.
A very smart cookie.
And now Lauren Everts and Michael Bostic are bringing you along for the ride.
Get ready for some major realness.
Welcome to The Skinny Confidential, him and her.
Back then, I feel like we didn't, or our parents, right, like didn't have enough information.
Like nobody talked about any of this stuff.
But what I did in my teenage years or my early 20s, what that kind of long-term effect is going to have on my health.
This notion of like, it's 2024. There are so many other solutions and there's so many
other healthier ways to live to still achieve those goals, but maybe by not causing so much
damage to your body in those early years, I feel like we're so much more educated.
We're live. We're talking about Jennifer Aniston and you got an email out of nowhere from her.
I did.
Tell me about that.
I was really late at night.
It was like August 2022.
And I get an email from somebody from her team that's like, hey, she's a big fan.
Do you guys offer like in-home personal training sessions?
She's been streaming at home.
Can we set something up?
And I'm like, who the fuck is punking me?
This is so cruel.
Like who would do this?
This isn't real.
And then we have someone call and they're like,
no, I think this is real.
I think it really is her.
And so we sent a trainer there
and it turned out to really be Jennifer Aniston.
She had all of our equipment at her in-home gym,
was streaming at home, fell in love with the method and was like, how do more people, to really be Jennifer Aniston. She had all of our equipment at her in-home gym,
was streaming at home, fell in love with the method and was like, how do more people like how I need more people to know about this. This method is incredible. I want to come on. I want
to be a part of this. Like, how do we make this happen? Wait. So here's my question. I have a
couple. She's very to me as seeing P-Volv evolve, she reminds me of a P-Volv girl.
But how did she even discover it?
Her friend was doing P-Volv, found P-Volv during COVID.
They see each other.
Oh my God, you look amazing.
What are you doing?
P-Volv, what's that?
Ordered all the equipment, started doing it at home and fell in love with it.
That's what's so cool about online business.
Like you never know.
You never know.
You never know.
No. So when you figure out that she's a fan in your business mind, what are your steps?
Like, do you immediately want her as an investor?
Like, were you like, I need her to be an ambassador?
Or was it just like, let's get her a trainer?
I think none of that even crossed my mind.
It was so like an out-of-body experience.
I still didn't believe it.
And I like, Danny, our trainer, called me after. I'm like, it's not really her. No, it's her. And I'm like,
no, there's no way. She's like the end-all be-all. And then we get an email from her team that's
like, we need to meet. Can you come to LA? she wants to get involved like who are you guys like who are you what's P-Vol like we're so tiny are you leaving your
sanctuary of where you live of course next day go let's you know okay and so what's the meeting like
he just said like this doesn't happen we don't call brands brands call us but she's like absolutely
in love with this it has changed her
life and her body and the way she thinks about fitness and what can we do and how many days a
week was she doing it you know i'm gonna ask every she works out around three to four times a week
okay and you know a combination of in person and then streaming at home but i think what's really
amazing is her story of why she fell
in love with this method is very similar to my story of why I started this company. And, you
know, my body was broken down from high intensity workouts. She has a lot of sensitivities and she's
broken her body down doing high intensity workouts, but we still want to feel strong. We still want to do a workout that
you feel, oh my God, my arms like shaking. My ass is going to fall off. I can feel all those
muscles, but I don't feel depleted. I feel energized. I feel alive and taller and longer
and sculpted, but I feel better. I look amazing, but I feel 10 times better. And she's even said,
I wish I knew about this in my 20s. And I don't want to see people break down their bodies to
try to get these crazy results. And you actually can kind of have that perfect combination of both.
Well, I fell in love with P-Vol for exactly that reason. I am very sensitive to bright lights.
And my daughter says it's because we have blue eyes.
Whenever Michael turns the lights on.
I've heard that.
She goes, we have blue eyes, dad.
So it's true.
But people with blue eyes have stronger light sensitivity.
So I'm sensitive to light.
So I don't need like strobe lights in my face when I'm working out.
And I'm also sensitive to sounds.
And I don't want to be yelled at.
I have a very chaotic life already with my work that I don't want to be yelled at no i have a very not chaotic life already with my work that
i don't want to be yelled at of what to do and i also don't want you know gangster rap like
blasting through the speakers or techno music like i'm in a club one works out to like spanish guitar
yeah i want to send me the playlist spanish guitar classic on spotify i'll text the place love it so i like i initially
actually liked p-volve myself because i felt like it was an exercise that paid attention to the
nervous system do you find that i think the nervous system is going to become really hot for 2025. I think that's like the word.
I think what's so amazing about this method is that you really can scale it down or you can
scale it all the way up. Like it stands for personal evolution. And what you need is different
to what I need, different to what Michael needs. And yes, because of, you know, it's low impact,
it's functional fitness. There is this element
that you're not spiking your cortisol. It isn't this go, go, go, go, go like 20 reps, do it till
your arm falls off. But it's this balance of, you know, what do you need for your body that day?
And I think, you know, over these past six and a half years, personally, I've gone through so much
of getting off birth control, my hormones being crazy, getting diagnosed with Lyme disease,
and actually not being able to get out of bed or move my body, freezing my eggs.
As a woman, you go through so many different chapters of your life.
And movement can be medicine, should be medicine, and can be a part of that, each one of those
chapters.
And it should be able to evolve with you kind of what you need, depending on what you're
going through, if that makes sense.
And I think for so long, exercise fitness was designed for a man.
Sorry, Michael.
And the woman was supposed to follow that.
But really, we design it for women. It's for women by women with that lens. We go through so many
different things and really your fitness should be able to adapt with you while you're going
through those things. And it shouldn't be, I think this concept of longevity and that your
fitness should do so much more for you than just make you look good.
If we're working out, yes, I want toned arms and defined abs and that.
But me putting in that time, there should be so many other benefits than just looking good.
The last time we talked to you was 2019.
People should go back and listen to this.
Go back and listen.
It was a long time ago.
A lot's happened.
You had your hair care line, which you sold, but I want
to go back to your first chapter, which is why you decided to create P-Volv. Take us there. And
then I want to talk about the birth control and the Lyme disease and all these things that you've
gone through. So take us back to why you created it in the first place. Yeah. I mean, I was in my
early twenties living in New York city. And I just remember like waking up one day, looking in the
mirror and I'm like, who is that? Like, I don't recognize myself. I don't like the body I'm in.
And I started on my fitness journey and I was going to all the different boutique studios,
doing all the high intensity workouts and just found myself physically not seeing what I wanted.
And more importantly, in so much pain. I go to the doctor, I found out I have scoliosis and I
was like, well, I don't like how I look. So I don't really give a shit about my pain. I'm going
to push through that and just, you know, try to achieve these results like so many people do
and did more damage than good and walked into a studio and they were training in this functional
fitness world. And I'm like, what's that? I've never heard of that before. But very quickly, I physically started to see what I wanted to see. But more importantly,
my back pain went away. I felt open. I felt energized. I felt like I had my confidence back.
And I actually liked working out. I looked forward to going to those classes.
And I felt like no matter who I talked to, how old you were, like my age,
my mom's friends, like it was always, I can't work out because I'm injured. I stopped going
to that gym because I got injured or I don't see results. And I'm over here like my body looks
amazing, but I feel 10 times better and started doing my own research. I want functional fitnesses.
And if you really think about it, most workouts train you for training, but with functional fitness, it trains you for
everyday life. When you wake up in the morning, from the time you wake up to the time you go to
sleep, you're bending, you're reaching, you're rotating, your body's moving in 3D, you're moving
in all planes of motion. And the way you exercise should really be mimicking that so that you're enhancing your
everyday life. And how is your ex-husband, Steven, involved in this evolution? Because
I want to say he was like doing something with exercise at the time as well. Yeah. So he was
my trainer at the time and he was at this gym and a bunch of trainers were teaching in this world.
And so me and him kind of set out to start this. And I think I had
such a profound experience and my whole life changed with this type of movement that that
kind of passion and hunger and drive to create something really big and to spread this and to
help so many people just took over me. And so we really set out, we got a small gym and got other
trainers and just really like down and
dirty, just kind of launch this and see if other people were interested and wanted to reach a
bigger audience than just in New York. And you guys were getting like Victoria's Secret models
like early on. I went to one of your first gyms. I feel like your office was upstairs.
That dirty gym, yes. Remember, he brought me up before the session and i like i first met you yeah and then we went
down and worked out it was like very early on i think or yes like like 2017 i think i feel like
like i remember when you did that because i was with you like i'm going to this thing it feels
like it was just yesterday but not to age all of us no i know right it feels so long ago but it
feels like it was yesterday yeah even when we when you know i had like i'm surprised we haven't talked in five years i was like oh she's probably been on the show like the last like two
years or so i'm like oh shit it does feel like two years yeah so you know what i want to say
something real quick though so i know this is mostly speaking to women but to give the bros
a little bit of credit i think and i've said it on this show it is not i think we've bros yeah the
bros the gym bros because that's you know i think I think the gym bros get a lot of shit, but I think many of them have also been tuned
on to stuff for a long time.
I see a lot more women now talking about creatine and building muscle and doing functional fitness.
And yes, the bros can be out there, but I call them the bros, the gym bros.
But I was saying on a podcast one time, we've accepted as normal to be in your 20s and 30s,
even 40s with back pain. And that's not normal, right? It's just like people like,
oh, I'm getting older. I have back pain. You shouldn't have that. It's mostly because of a
lack of foundational and functional fitness and muscle building. And I think a lot of people,
if they do what you're talking about or work out like you've built here, a lot of that back pain and some of the stuff that condition, something where your body just gives
out that's out of your control, or you're not going to take care of yourself and you're going
to age and then your body's going to give out. And it's like, that shouldn't happen. You shouldn't
be doing these detrimental things when you're younger, when your body can take it, that are going to lead to such things that are going to make you age not gracefully. Or if you are going
through something that is out of your control, you might think there isn't a solution. I can't
move my body. I can't feel strong. But that is my mission to make sure that there is a solution for
you if you are going through something or that you aren't doing this long-term damage when you're young so that you can live younger, longer.
It's 2024. I think it really is all about longevity. I mean, if we think about all the
other things that we do in all of our aspects of life to make ourselves live younger, longer,
and to feel good and to feel better. And I think think finally maybe we were a little ahead of our time but when it comes to fitness
it can and it should do so much more than just make you physically look good
to make you like make you function better at the end of the day what's so interesting to me about
you too and I don't think that you have talked about this enough is that you are really business minded. Like, I think that
there was like a big part of of you moving this business forward has been you steering the ship.
How did you know how to do that? Is that an eight? Is it natural?
I am a very big visionary, big thinker. Definitely. I also just think
what I personally go through helps steers the ship I
mean I come from a very entrepreneurial family watching my dad and my brother and different
things so I think that like when you light a fire under me it's kind of hard to put it out but I
like once I get going and watch out so I guess it's always kind of been there but it wasn't
really until I think this it took over me because I'm just so passionate about it.
Well, you're very good at it.
Birth control.
You decided to get off birth control.
Why?
Yeah.
Early 20s.
I got married.
I wanted to get off it.
I just didn't like the way that I felt on it.
And I think coming off of it, just hormones and everything my body was experiencing, I never
had that prior. I think so many other women, it's not talked about enough. Like finally,
we are talking about hormones and what all these kind of outside factors that we're taking at a
young age can do to you as you get older. But coming off of it, I mean, it's like I could eat
certain things that have a
different reaction once I was off it. Doing certain workouts had a different reaction when
I came off it. So I think really trying to find that good rhythm of working out, not spiking my
cortisol, how I could try to rebalance everything and make sure my stress was to a minimum.
When you have a company, I feel like you're
already at high stress. So what other things that you can do to kind of bring that down and not keep
everything so high? Having a perspective with birth control at the age I am now and having a
daughter, it is fucking wild. I remember the first time that I got on birth control, I was 16 years
old, maybe even 15. We drove to Planned Parenthood, me and my girlfriends, and time that I got on birth control, I was 16 years old, maybe even 15.
We drove to Planned Parenthood, me and my girlfriends, and we all four got on it at the
same time. And the problem is, is like, yes, it does protect you. You have safe sex. But it's
crazy to me that the woman predominantly has to put it in her hands. Like the guy doesn't want
to wear a condom, right? We've all heard that. Yeah. And they old,
you throw,
you guys never,
none of you guys want to wear a fucking condom.
Like,
let's just call a spade a spade.
You guys are all smiling in here.
Like you don't want to wear a condom.
So the brunt of the shit becomes on us.
So we take this pill at a young age and we have no idea the repercussions.
No.
Then it has on your hormones and your moods and your weight gain,
gain 20 pounds,
skin, all of it
it's wild even it gives you hyperpigmentation like there was no talk about this and it it gives me
a little bit of anxiety to know that you know my daughter's four years old and that in 10 or 11
years that she could be like walking into a planned parenthood and just getting it without
really understanding the big picture when i got off of it, I remember telling the woman that waxes my
brows, shout out to Lindsay at Brow Teak. I said, I'm going to go on spirulina lactate right when I
get off because I was manipulated. I remember into thinking that birth control actually helped
you not have acne. Because there's-
I remember thinking that too.
Remember, there's like a thing in it called spironolactin.
So I thought when I got off of it,
I was all nervous that I was going to get pimples and stuff.
And I got off of it and I'm like,
I'm just going to let my body adjust.
I didn't get pimples.
That didn't happen.
But if I had just gotten on spironolactin
because I had been manipulated into thinking that,
it would have probably been not a great road.
Yeah.
When you decided to get off, why is this something that you are passionate about
talking about? Because it's something that you brought up. Did something happen out of it?
I think it's also like back then, I feel like we didn't or our parents didn't have enough
information. Nobody talked about any of this stuff, but what I did in my teenage years or my early twenties, what that kind of long-term
effect is going to have on my health. So I feel like our generation, I mean, I I'm going to be
32 and there's so many girls, my age and a little bit younger that are all coming off of it. That
all have all these like insane skin issues. And I feel, I'm not a doctor, but I feel it's because of all the stuff that we
did to our bodies when we were a teenager in our younger 20s. So I think it's this notion of like,
it's 2024. There are so many other solutions and there's so many other healthier ways to live,
just still achieve those goals, but maybe by not causing
so much damage to your body in those early years. So I think call it birth control, call it the way
you move your body. To me, it all kind of feeds into the same thing of that. I know you're terrified
for your daughter, but I almost feel like, and I don't have kids, but I would be too, but I feel
like we're so much more educated we
had to go through you know like yes like we're so much more educated I can't wait to hear your
opinion because you're we can't wait to hear your well we're ahead wearing a condom is like
doing push-ups with a bag over your head so that's my oh that's your contribution thank you
I'm not going to comment so you just did directly on women and using birth control, what I will comment on as a greater society is
we are really good as a society at looking at something and seeing the short-term benefits
and disregarding any notion that there could be long-term detrimental effects.
You can look at vaccines.
You can look at hormone therapy.
You can look at what's going on with Ozemp therapy. You can look at what's going on with
ozempic. You can look at what's going on with birth control. We are really good at discounting
all of the potential stuff that could harm us as a culture, the way we eat, everything,
and really good at doing confirmation bias and saying, well, in this moment, I need these very
specific things. And I think the big takeaway from there is that people have to start thinking as
long-term thinkers. Like there
is no such thing as a free lunch in any area of life. Like you can't in business and a relationship,
anything like that. Everything comes with certain sacrifices and certain costs and people have to
get better at weighing the pros versus the cons, right? Like if you want to do something like a
birth control or you want to take, you of pill or vaccine or you want to,
whatever it's going to be, you can't just think about, oh, in the short term, this is the good
thing. You have to also think like, what are the potential risks down the line? And that's in
everything, like business, everything. And we're just not good as a culture at doing that.
You mentioned Lyme disease. First, I want to know how you knew you had it,
but then I also want to know if you remember when you got it after you found out you had it. Yeah. I'm very lucky in that regard. There's a lot of people who get bit,
don't know, 10 years later, they have all these symptoms. This was 2021.
That's a big risk over there in the Hamptons and a place like nantucket with the tall grass huh mm-hmm 2000 was 2000 no 2020 um i was out in the hamptons and my cat got outside got away from me
i went chasing for him whatever a couple days later he's itching itching itching and then i'm
like oh my god i had a scab on me what was that and then i found like, oh my God, I had a scab on me. What was that? And then I found like three ticks on me.
And literally like within probably three months,
like I went down like overnight.
So sick.
What do you mean?
Because it's so, I feel like the problem with Lyme disease
is it's hard.
It seems like it's hard to pinpoint.
What is, I went down.
So literally woke up and was drenched,
like dripping sweat, whole body, just insane muscle fatigue, like hurt to walk.
Couldn't think, couldn't remember anything, like brain fog, just nauseous.
Every like almost like flu symptom, but like times 10 overnight.
And this is carried by these ticks.
And when you say you found them on you, what do you just like see them like?
I mean, they're so tiny.
Yeah.
You know, I didn't, it looked like a scab.
Do you pick them off or burn them?
No, I picked it off.
Because you don't know what it is.
I was by myself in a house.
I got ass naked.
I'm like, oh my God.
What are you supposed to do?
How are you supposed to burn them off?
You're supposed to burn them off.
What?
Because I didn't know anything that you know.
They get their claws in you or like their things.
It's sick.
And if you pick them off. I thought that was like their things. And if you pick them off.
I thought that was leeches.
No, if you pick them off the things, people are going to correct me on the internet.
The things stay in.
So maybe is my question while you're telling the story is, is maybe one of the reasons
you can get Lyme disease because the things stay in you.
I think not all ticks carry it.
And, you know, I think looking back at the whole, now this is what,
four years later, looking back at the whole situation, if I look at where I was at that time
when I got bit, it was the height of COVID. I was getting divorced from my co-founder.
My business was exploding. I was trying to run a business, being remote.
Things were changing day to day. I mean, the stress around me was at probably an all-time
high of what I've ever experienced and trying to show up every day and be positive and smile and get the team going. And I think I also am somebody who can put on a brave face and never
deal with the shit because I just like to do what's easy and just keep my head down and focus
on the work. And everything's fine. Everything's fine. Everything's fine when clearly it wasn't.
And I think my body was at such a compromised state emotionally that when I got bit,
I just, I didn't have anything to fight it off. I also think too, like if you are like a Louise
Hay fan, like things like that seem to like happen when you're, like you'll stub your toe
when you're really stressed, right? And it's not necessarily that you like stepped into something it's that you're so stressed and frenetic and like chaotic that
like you end up stubbing your toe like with something like this it's like you were there's
so much stress that it makes sense that that happened when it happened 100% and I just didn't
have anything to fight it off and I think it's also like looking back, I'm almost happy in
a way because I think I needed to make a lot of changes in my life and I needed like your body
gives you signals. I'm hungry. I'm tired, you know, but if you don't listen to it, it's going
to do something to make you listen to it. And for me, that's kind of what that was. And I think,
you know, I got diagnosed, I spent the next probably eight
months like healing, but at like a very surface level. What do you do to manage it? You can do,
there's so many different ways. Is there medication? There's medication. They'll put
you sometimes on antibiotics, which I did that destroyed my stomach. I went off that. Then I
did more like alternative functional and different IVs and different therapies and high dose NAD and ozone therapy and high dose vitamin C.
Did you do the NAD intravenous?
Mm-hmm.
Like, you know, like intense.
And a lot of that really helped me.
But for me, and everybody's journey is very different, but I found until I actually started dealing with more of the emotional shit,
I didn't start to feel better.
First of all, I don't think if you don't work with your significant other,
how people maybe don't understand how complex it is to be married
and to be working with someone and building a business.
What's the secret?
People always ask and I always say, I'll let you know when we figure it out. We just got in a fight in the car a business. What's the secret? People always ask, and I always say,
I'll let you know when we figure it out.
We just got in a fight in the car.
Yeah.
That's the truth.
The secret is, I don't know, quick recovery.
But I would love to hear how you made that work at first.
It was all very quick, so fast.
I mean, it was meeting somebody, falling in love with somebody,
getting engaged with somebody, starting a business with somebody,
all within like six months.
It's a lot.
I'm sure daddy loved that.
That's a lot.
Yeah.
I didn't realize it was that quick.
Yeah.
And I mean, I was so young.
Well, because I'm saying that from a perspective,
like if my daughter came home, like,
but they were doing this six, I'd be like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Yes, yes, slow down.
But I mean, I was so young.
I was like 24. And just that's six. I'd be like, whoa, whoa. Yes. Yeah. Slow down. But I mean, I was so young. I was like 24.
And just that's what felt right for me at the time.
And I think we knew each other.
We didn't really know each other.
And I think it was all just so new and exciting.
And I just had this, come on, we're going to do this.
And we can do this.
And I see it.
And I've seen people build these big businesses.
And I know that we can do it together.
And I think it wasn't maybe so real. It was kind of just like in the moment you're going,
you're going. And it was great at the beginning. And then I think once we started building and
then things started actually getting really real, at the end of the day, we are just fundamentally
two completely different people.
We want two different things out of life, both personally, professionally, the way we work,
the way we want to live. There was no common ground. It really was just night and day.
And I think we are very much happier now than we were then. And like I was saying earlier, I can keep my head down
and just work and I'm great. I'm great. I'm great. And I just remember thinking one day,
I'm building my dream company. I get to work with my dream people, bringing this amazing method to
so many others and changing people's lives, but I'm fucking miserable. And like, I deserve to be happy too.
And if I'm not happy, then this company won't kind of propel forward. And I kind of, you know,
also had to go through, I think the, the motion of eliminating as my mom likes to call it, like
the what ifs, like, well, what if I tried that? And what if I tried this? And what if I did that?
And I, I felt like I was out of those,
that I could kind of walk away from that and there were no more what ifs and that's the right
decision for me. You know what the secret is as you're talking? The secret is to working and being
in a marriage. I think you really have to be crystal clear and have the same vision because
if someone's in Timbuktu and you're over here like
it's it's when someone wants to and I'm making this up but like relax on the beach and that and
be on a computer and the other person wants to be in a high rise it's mismatched and I think
I do think what works with you and I is that we both are very clear on how we want our life to
roll out and we're on the same page.
And a lot of people are reading different books. And I think that's really hard in marriage,
but it's even harder in business.
It's funny. I was talking to somebody today and I said, Lauren and I have told,
they're asking what stories I want to tell. This is completely unrelated, not to go on a tangent.
But I said, they've heard that we've known each other since 12 and we've been together and we've done and it's fine like i'm we could keep saying it and
rehashing it but like it's kind of like been told but what i always caveat to people especially our
personal friends when they're getting into new relationships lauren and i got we've known each
other since we were 12 and then we got back together when we were 20 that's after eight
years almost a decade of knowing each other and now now we've been together for 16, 17 years.
And so it's just like,
there's so much time of getting to know someone.
And in that time,
there's a lot of time spent on like,
what do you want?
What do I want?
What is like your overall vision?
And I always joke like,
there's the couple that wants to go build the pie shop.
One person's vision is like,
I want to build a mom and pop store
and like take the kids to the beach,
you know, on a half day and like relax. And on the weekends go on a picnic. And the other person's like, I want to build a mom and pop store and take the kids to the beach on a half day and relax and on the weekends go on a picnic. And the other person's like,
I want to build a thousand pie shops all over the world and never stop and go, go, go.
You want to do the same thing, but the scale is different. And if one person is here and the other
person's up here, it's just you're mismatched. And you have to be consistent. When you're
communicating, this is what I want. I think the consistency and if it's going to change,
then you have to be able to vocalize that and be able to communicate that.
Yeah.
It's just difficult when people ask relationship advice and it's like,
Hey,
I've been with someone for a year and a half or two years and now we're doing
this and we're going to,
it's not that there's anything like that's how people meet,
but I'm just careful because everybody's circumstances are different.
Yeah.
I think my first advice to people as a couple is don't work together.
Yeah.
I would say, like, do not work together.
Do not start a business together.
Do not join a company together.
Marriage is fucking hard.
And then you want to add that on top of it.
Unless you, like, absolutely cannot not do it together.
Like, that's where we got to.
And, yeah, to your point, your point like raising kids being married is way
easier for us than figuring out how to manage the businesses like i just want everyone to
understand that like all the difficulties we don't even work together every day yeah but
the difficulties that come with raising children super impossible difficulties that come being in
a marriage super hard like the business stuff has been way harder so for couples like i think i'm
gonna do this i just understand it's way harder than all the other stuff 100 how did you manage all the
the business stuff with what you were going through with with lyme's disease and divorce
like how do you how do you i guess i'm wondering like what you use in like your resilience toolbox
like what are the things that really helped you was it cold plunging was it dirt Like what are the things that really helped you? Was it cold plunging? Was it dirt? Like what are the things that you went to? I think once I was actually honest with my team,
that was like the biggest, I think for so long, like I didn't want to tell anybody what I was
going through. You know, I was like, I'm fine again. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine.
And finally I was just like, you know what, this is what I'm going through. And like,
I need some grace. Like I will try to be on every call I might not make it and it was like once I actually was honest that almost was just like the I can breathe like the
weight off my shoulder and like I really kind of relied on my team like my business partner Julie
talked to her every day and every night because I couldn't be on the calls every day I mean I'd
literally fall asleep at like 11 in the morning on the floor so tired I couldn't be on the calls every day. I mean, I'd literally fall asleep at like 11 in the morning on the floor.
I was so tired.
I couldn't function.
And then once I got stronger
and I started to get better,
I would come back.
But that's really when it was,
again, during COVID,
I went out, I stayed in the Hamptons,
and I just really focused on me
and myself and my healing.
And what changes of my schedule
did I have to make?
I used to be able to sit
at that fucking computer from after my workout, from from nine till I didn't give a shit what
time I'll sit here all night on the phone. I don't have kids. I can do, let's keep going. No,
we got to finish this. You're not going like, and then it was very like, if I have two hours,
maybe at that time, then I want 30 minutes of break. And I couldn't like for me, I couldn't just sit there
at a computer screen all day anymore. Like what blocks I need to go to acupuncture. I have to go
to my IV and really prioritizing me and my health before I could get 100 percent kind of back in
and really relying on my team to pick up, you know, some of what I was doing. It's so interesting
with building a business because what I've what I've observed from very successful people is that what gets you from A to B doesn't necessarily
get you from B to C. And what I mean by that is I was the same way when I first started out. It was
like seven days a week. I didn't give a shit how late I got home. I was posting that blog post. I
was returning 600 emails. I was up till two in the morning. He's like, get the fuck off the computer.
It was like, I was like, I was like a maniac. You're like, get out of my fucking way.
Get out of my way. Like I'm doing this. But then that stops serving you and you have to pivot
within the evolution. And that's a really big mindfuck.
Like I started to realize the same, like, okay, I can take this call and take a walk
at the same time.
Or I can take two hours and go to the foot spa and sit and return emails for two hours.
I don't need to be on every single call micromanaging.
It's just interesting how what gets you there doesn't take you to the next level.
I get nervous though with this topic too, because I think,
okay, since we've all last met, all of us are in different stages.
You've been running your business now.
How long have you been doing this?
Six and a half years.
Okay.
And we've been, Lauren's been doing this for a long time,
but the podcast, eight years and Dear Media, six, like all these things.
And the things that it took to kind of get to this place,
I remember it was like we were working other jobs. We were it down we were driving in the middle of the night sometimes we
were getting no sleep we were it was just like grind grind grind no work-life balance you know
sitting at a computer like all these things and i want to make it very clear to people like that
was absolutely necessary to get to these places and sometimes now when i when I talk, a lot of what the life looks
like now is we have to spend a lot of time making smart decisions and being thoughtful.
Because now there's a-
Space. Yeah. Clarity.
There's entity. But I get nervous because I think sometimes people want to be like,
oh, I want to jump to that part. It's like, no. If you want to live an extraordinary life and
have an extraordinary business that you control on your time, that you are the direct benefit of,
it is going to require an immense sacrifice and a ton of work. There's no such thing as
like clocking in, clocking out. No. I mean, I always say like I started a wellness company
and I was never so unwell. Huh? What do you mean? Explain that.
Just you put yourself last. You're doing every job. You're working all hours. I don't give a
shit about my sleep. Oh, have I eaten today?
I don't know.
I'm not worrying about that.
You're just, there's this like excitement
and that, you know, that like hunger at the beginning
that like we're saying, you just,
you will do whatever it takes to get it off the ground.
And like, holy shit, it's hot.
Okay, how do we keep it going?
We got to make it hotter.
Keep pouring gasoline on it.
Okay, say yes to this. Say yes to that. We got to fly here. We got to fly. You're just figuring
it out as you go. And you have to do that at the beginning. But then as the business matures,
as you hire more people, as you mature, I think then the next stage is like, well, what do I need to be happy to successfully run this business?
Yeah. Well, it's like you also, my vision of my life is the tortoise and the hare.
Like you can get there quick. Yeah. Like we've all seen people blow up overnight,
but the tortoise is, it takes a little longer and I'm okay with that. I'm okay with being
incredibly patient to build something that is a house of bricks as opposed to a house of straw. The tortoise is, it takes a little longer and I'm okay with that. I'm okay with being incredibly
patient to build something that is a house of bricks as opposed to a house of straw.
I think you have to choose what you want to build.
Yeah.
But whenever people like, okay, what is work-life balance? And then you say like,
you're not going to have any balance in the beginning. It's going to be all work. You're
going to have no time for friends. Your life's going to be in shambles. Your health is probably
going to be diminished. A lot of people can't stomach that. We've got stuck on this thing where it's like,
well, I want work-life balance. That's fine. But in certain instances, again, if you want to build,
how many companies fail that you never hear of? There's way more than the ones that succeed.
And what I always try to tell people is the ones that make it are most, it could be luck,
could be right time for place, but it's most likely somebody that is completely out of balance
in the beginning
and just dedicating all their time.
But I think even how many companies
you hear about
and you're like,
oh my God,
they've been around for 15 years.
I thought they just launched a year ago.
I know that happens all the time.
Wait, they've been around for 12 years?
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
I thought they just launched.
There's no overnight success.
You don't,
because it's like, right. It takes that
long. And then something happens and they're hot. And I think for so many people, it's like,
I'm just going to be hot overnight without kind of understanding that whole grind it takes to get
it going. What are your hot moments? What are things that have happened that are like huge? I
mean, to a lot of people, it will look like you guys just blew up. But like you said, it's been
six and a half years. So what are some moments that you have along this journey
that have been like pinch me moments?
Well, and even the Jennifer Aniston stuff,
it sounds like it was years before that phone call happened.
Yeah, I mean, we were around five years.
I mean, then that happened.
God, so many.
I mean, I think launching or opening our New York and Chicago studio.
And then even like what I get really
excited about is we started franchising in 2019. And like we own New York, Chicago, LA, that's it.
All the rest of the locations are all franchised on. But like to see people who've been streamers
for four years or five years or just women who like quit their jobs and they want to open a p-volve studio like
and bring it to their community i just had dinner with one in la the other night and i'm just like
that's so cool you want to like you own a p-volve suit like it's crazy wait it's so crazy how can
someone become a franchisee if they're listening and they want to quit their job and just say i'm
gonna fucking do this p-volve.com go go to the franchise page, schedule a call, learn more. I mean, we've sold about 47
to date. Wow. Have you done any in Austin? We do. We have three coming to Austin. We do.
I heard the rumor. I will be going to one. And it's just, to me, it's so incredible because
the community, yes, digital, you can work out online, but the
community aspect of being in person and getting to interact with your members on a day-to-day basis,
because from this workout, yes, you're going to hear all about, my body's changed this,
but it's all the and benefits of how this truly transforms people's lives. And
that community feel, you can't fully replicate that online.
What do you do with your personal wellness and fitness? Like how many days a week are you doing
this? Are you mixing in other workouts? No, you're just doing this. How many days a week? Honestly.
Honestly, I have only done this workout for probably almost eight years. I do nothing else.
That's it. That's it. And how many days a week? Like I wish I actually was this workout for probably almost eight years. I do nothing else. That's it?
That's it.
And how many days a week?
Like, I wish I actually was wearing workout pants because, like, my butt.
That's, like, my thing.
Oh, you want to show your butt on the… I mean, not…
Carson, calm down over there.
They're kind of baggy.
They're kind of baggy.
I work out six to seven days a week, but not every day is like an intense hour.
So give us like the whole schedule. You need the schedule.
Okay. Depending on my work schedule, depending on my mood, I'd say probably four of those days.
Now I'm living in LA currently, so I go to the studio. So I'd say four of those days are like
an hour class and that's mix of strength and sculpt, so sculpting classes and weight training classes.
If you told me that I'd be lifting heavy weights
in my early 20s,
I probably would have said,
you're fucking crazy.
I will never do that.
Now I'm obsessed with it.
I thought that I would get bulky.
See, the gym bros are right.
I'm telling you.
Gym bros are right.
And now don't think that at all.
I actually feel so strong and powerful
and lean from doing that.
So I incorporate that probably two days a week.
The other days I work out at home,
maybe 20, 30 minutes,
a mix of other sculpting classes or just stretching.
But I do this now because how open and energized I feel.
Like my back is open.
My hips are open.
My body just,
it fucking feels good. Like, yes, I'm doing it because I want to keep up how I physically look,
but more importantly, it truly is because of how I feel. And when I don't do it,
it just feels like I'm not starting my day off the right foot, you know, on the right foot. Like
I just, my posture is amazing. My, I just, it's all those
things of why I do it probably every day. Yeah. I think this is universal man, woman, whatever.
In the beginning, a lot of the workouts and things people do are like for vain reasons,
right? You want to look good. But then I think as you start to age, like for me,
I just want to be able to pick up all these kids strollers and all this shit without breaking my
back. And it's funny because I've always traditionally done weightlifting but now i'm like drawn to different things like pilates
which is strange like a strain for me to say you would love this no that's what i was gonna say as
you're talking i was like i'm gonna try this too because i think a lot of the men that listening
are having the reverse problem which you can't go any like i think if you go too far down the
weight step too you also can get out of balance and now i'm like okay how do i get structurally
sound and work on smaller muscles and do things that you wouldn't typically
think that would be good for me you know for sure i mean it's it's so important to have just like a
functioning healthy body you know to have to be able to like externally rotate internally rotate
i mean you're picking up your kids you have to to bend. What a novel thought being able to turn. You have to reach. You have to, you know,
your body goes through all these planes of motion
the whole day.
And so why aren't you training that way in your class?
And then by adding the resistance equipment
or the weights, it's like,
it's that just extra added layer, you know,
with all, that's really the secret sauce.
Let's do one of these together, Lauren.
We will. I have to see you squeeze the ball between your balls. Yeah sauce let's do one of these together born we will
i have to see you squeeze the ball between your balls i could do it all it takes is one ball
michael just takes one i'm in okay so how heavy is the weight that you're lifting in class is it
like really heavy is it light like what is it we ray i mean ranges from maybe like five to 15s. Again, it's up to you what you want for your body.
Yeah.
I probably go like fives and eights.
If it's lower body, I might go a little heavier.
If it's upper body, maybe not so much,
but it's about progressing.
So maybe you work with fives for a couple of months
and then you're like, you know what?
Actually, I'm not hitting that muscle failure.
Let me go up to eights and like,
oh, okay, now I'm really feeling it. And we'll, depending on the move or if we're standing or on
the mat, the trainer will say, okay, grab a heavier set or grab a lighter set. Really depends
on what they want to focus on. But I'm like obsessed with it. Actually, since we rolled it
out, it's a newer class we launched like almost two years ago. Scorching. All the girls, doesn't
matter the age,
they are obsessed with it.
That's the one that I need to do next time I'm in LA.
Like imagine you have that ball on
and you're stepping out and then you have the weights
and then you're squeezing with the heavy weights.
So you still have like the P-volve feeling,
you know, you have the ankle band, you have the glider
and you have like some of those very controlled, like sculpting sections of the class but then you have the weights and
then you're really focusing on that everyone needs to know what your favorite workout is
on the streaming app and also what jennifer aniston's is so we have a row that's called
jen's pics and they're all her favorite jen's picks we have
something also really exciting launching i don't know if i can say this but fuck it i'm gonna say
it launching with her at the beginning of may so new stuff to come there that you'll find out more
of her faves but yes jen's picks all her recommendations a lot of weight training classes in there too she's a big fan
my favorite workout in the library definitely one with the p-ball and danny coleman it's like a 30
minute um lower body burn there's a 15 minute p-band with mave that just like so these are
quick yeah and like sometimes i'll stack them like i'll do 30 minute lower body because i think that
makes it go by faster too yeah than just doing a full 50 minute video but then we also have live
classes through zoom so if like the trainer can see me i can see the trainer and they're like
rachel push your knee back oh my god so like if you're streaming at home my phone rings i can like
you know the doorbell rings and i go away but when it's live and I have the camera on I'm like fuck she can see me like I gotta be here sometimes I'll do like a workout and I'll
put on a podcast and just lower the volume yeah so I can like at least like get some education
while I'm working out to like habit stack it yeah that's what I like sometimes about streaming it's
nice you can like do two things at once kind of. Yeah, for sure.
And then your kids come in and sit on you
and you can't do anything, but you try.
You know what I mean?
Listen, as long as you showed up, that's it.
And for me, it's less about the time.
It's just being consistent.
Like I always tell people if they're starting,
like, you know what?
Start two days.
Maybe it's 10 minutes, 15 minutes.
And like with this, your body's going to crave it. What are some wellness and like with this your body's gonna crave it what
are some wellness and beauty things that you're doing some some secrets that you're doing your
skin's super glowy really yeah well i just heard you talk about something that i want to go try
the sam what is it oh god the semen the salmon semen salmon semen yeah i want to try how long
are you here for i'm leaving tonight but do they have in la
my salmon semen girl books up like literally two months in advance but she salmon semen girl books
up okay you can get salmon semen is it actually salmon semen or is it derived from something
amazon or it's truly salmon semen yeah it's exosomes. I do those injections.
Okay.
So that's why I've done them and they've really made a big difference for me.
So when I heard you talking about it, I was like, I think I should try it for the face.
I bet you could find it in LA.
For sure.
People thought I was nuts.
And then Brian Johnson came on and he's like, oh yeah, salmon semen.
And I'm like, oh my God.
Yeah.
And then people thought you were really nuts.
No, because when he, his stamp of approval,
he knows his shit.
Yeah, he does know his shit.
What else?
Beauty, makeup, wellness, weird things you're doing.
I mean, like I love the sauna.
I maybe don't love the cold as much.
Cold shower.
But I mean, really, I cook most of my own food.
You told me that last time.
Yeah.
Go off on that. I just super clean. Like, no, I don't do dairy. I don't do gluten. You told me that last time. Yeah. Go off on that. Super clean. I just super clean.
Like, no, I don't do dairy.
I don't do gluten.
I really don't eat grains.
And for me, it's just like that's what my body feels good on.
Meat?
Yep.
I do a lot.
I've been doing a lot more meat recently.
So red meat.
You cook at home?
Yep.
Cook everything myself.
Like, I like going out to dinner for the experience with friends whatever
like i truly don't like going out to dinner i'm much more like five o'clock eat in my pajamas
crazy bun on my head i don't wear makeup usually and like house fives go to sleep wake up see i
keep trying to tell lauren told me we're going to a dinner this week i'm like i don't know
i'm more actually of a leisurely lunch type I like a long leisurely lunch on like a Saturday
I like that
see I like that
I don't like a Sunday
because if I'm gonna
drink alcohol
I don't want it to go
into my Monday
I like a Saturday
I like a lunch better
than a dinner
because then I get
messed with my sleep
I love a 5pm dinner
it's the best
yeah we'll bring people
in from out of town
and be like we have dinner
and like what time
like 5pm
because you still can
go to sleep by 9
and you're not hungover
the next day no yeah I like a 5pm dinner and also I want like we have dinner and like what time like 5 p.m. Because you still can go to sleep by 9. And you're not hungover the next day. No.
Yeah I like a 5 p.m. dinner and also
I want to eat early because I think that's
a skinny tip. I can't like eat and then
go to sleep on it. My dad's like I have to go to
bed on a full stomach. I'm like that's the most sickening
thing I've ever heard of ever. No Michael like tries to like hook up with me
after I eat a steak. I'm like can I
digest now.
I'm not going to say no to my husband.
I'm not going to say no to him but like
it's like like let me like digest it's my way of retraining because we've had so many people say
hey stop eating three hours before bed so i'm like if we eat at five go to bed at eight you're
good if you eat it like i do like my piece of small cinnamon raisin toast in the bed that i
crunch next to him every night at night i come home and her and my daughter will like i don't know what
she does it there's just crumbs everywhere dave's killer bread raisin it's a small piece it's not a
big piece of bread which is nice and then you do grass-fed butter on it oh yeah with a little bit
of yeah but why do you have to do it soul salt but why do you have to do it like right before
there's something let me just i have to go off on this when you're sitting in bed at the end of the day and for me like i try to do my all like my hardest work i can possibly do every day
when i sit down with my kindle and i have my small piece of toast that i want that i craved all day
and i can just sit and read my kindle there's something that's like yeah yeah and i get it but
so it's like a light snack.
You know, it's not a huge meal.
I get it.
You want a little crunch before bed or something sweet.
Okay, so we have a giveaway.
I'll let you say what the giveaway is, but it's a good one.
So let's, I know we said one, but I feel like we should give away two.
Very nice.
Two total transformation bundles that come with all 13 pieces of equipment.
They also come with the year of streaming.
Let's do that.
Also, it comes with a complimentary consultation with the trainer.
They can help set you up with a very personalized plan.
And then we have a code.
We have a code.
Code skinny.
And what's the percent?
20%.
That's very generous.
Yes.
20% off to win the giveaway.
All you guys have to do is follow at P-Volv on Instagram.
And tell us your favorite takeaway of this episode
with Rachel on my latest post at Lauren Bostic.
I think it would be fun too for me to pick my favorite exercise
and tell you guys what it is.
Maybe, I don't know if that's possible.
Yeah, let's do it.
Okay, I will definitely pick my favorite
and maybe I can take a picture of you.
I'm going to try. I'm going to do it. Michael's going to have the ball on. Yeah, I'm going to do it okay i will definitely pick my favorite and maybe i can take a picture of you i'm gonna try i'm gonna do it michael's gonna have the ball on yeah i'm gonna do it yeah here's the
thing because ronnie came on the day i was like okay let's see if you do pilates and so now i'm
like okay i'm gonna do the he did do pilates okay i want to tell the audience this the you guys
rebranded your ball and did you rebrand everything all the yep okay everything and it is not that it
wasn't chic before but it's so chic now. It's so chic.
It's like kind of like a- Legs.
Like an ivory.
Yeah, like a bone.
A bone, excuse me, a bone white.
And then it's just chic and it's pretty.
And it's something that I wouldn't mind
being out in my house
because it doesn't cause me chaos.
Yeah, exactly.
Bone white reminds me of American Psycho.
You know, when he's doing the business card,
he's like bone white.
We just needed to evolve it a little bit. I love it. rachel where can everyone find you where can they work out with in person like give us all the details you can find
me on instagram at r katzman but i'm very boring i don't really post anything um follow p-volve
that's probably more exciting and you can go to pvol.com
and you can either
check out
where all of our locations are
if there's a studio
in your city
when one's coming
to your city
and then you can sign up
for streaming
and get started right there
and if someone wants
to do a franchise
maybe you could do it
in San Diego
because we're also
we have two in San Diego
where in San Diego
Carlsbad
and UTC Mall
and we have two more
opening in San Diego where I will find out for you right after this San Diego is hot San Diego. Where in San Diego? Carlsbad and UTC Mall. And we have two more opening in San Diego.
Where?
I will find out for you
right after this.
San Diego is hot.
San Diego is hot.
UTC is the old stomping ground.
Del Mar would be crushed.
Wait, no.
I think that's where
the next one's coming.
Del Mar.
In August, I'm pretty sure.
Maybe downtown or La Jolla.
I have the address.
I will give it to you
right after this.
You guys, if you want a franchise,
go check them out too
at P-Volv on Instagram.
Rachel, thank you for coming on. Go listen to her other episode that she was on six years five years five years
ago january of 2019 we'll do it another five years and also i want you to come on the blog
so you can share your workouts so people can easily access them i will post that on
the skinnyconfidential.com rachel thank you for coming on thank you the old episode was number
162 a long time ago. Damn.