Episode 189: Finding Personal Success and Wellness: A Conversation with Melissa Coulier

 Join  Co-Host Melissa Fradenburg, CDFA®️, AIF®  for an enlightening conversation with Melissa Coulier, author, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Living Well with Mel. We dive into her journey navigating through her partner's fame, and how she defined her own success while building a thriving career. Melissa bares her soul, discussing her struggles and triumphs, from her successful career in commercial and editorial photography to her experiences in a relationship where her partner was already well established. It's a raw and refreshing discussion about the power dynamics and complex challenges faced by ambitious women. We take a deeper look into Melissa's personal journey with lupus and how that pushed her into the world of wellness and movement. Her approach is all about listening to your body and making nutrition choices that fuel and nourish your body, rather than depriving it. The conversation carries a personal touch and invaluable wisdom about entrepreneurship, holistic wellness, and the importance of balance in all aspects of life. 

Resources:

·         Learn more about Living Well with Mel and Mel.

·         Follow Melissa Coulier on Instagram

·         Learn More about Moving Well with Mel. 

·         Learn more about Pearl Planning. 

·         Register for our Year-End Planning Webinar. 

 
Links are being provided for information purposes only. The information herein is general and educational in nature and should not be considered legal or tax advice. Tax laws and regulations are complex and subject to change, which can materially impact investment results. Pearl Planning cannot guarantee that the information herein is accurate, complete, or timely. Pearl Planning makes no warranties with regard to such information or results obtained by its use and disclaims any liability arising out of your use of, or any tax position taken in reliance on, such information. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation. Please note, changes in tax laws or regulations may occur at any time and could substantially impact your situation. Pearl Planning financial advisors do not render advice on tax matters. You should discuss any tax matters with the appropriate professional.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:05

Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and founder of Pearl Planning. I'm Melissa Freidenberg, financial advisor. We dive deep into topics like work-life balance, financial planning, personal growth and the intricacies of the sandwich generation. Tune in for money conversations that every woman needs to have. Hello and welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. This is Melissa Freidenberg, and our guest today is Melissa Couillier. You may know her as the wife of actor and comedian D Couillier. However, melissa had an accomplished career as a commercial and editorial photographer. She also is an author and entrepreneur, co-owner of Living Well with Mel and Mel and owner of Moving Well with Mel, and we are so grateful to have her here today with us. Welcome to the podcast, melissa.

Speaker 2: 1:01

Thank you, Melissa. I appreciate being here. I'm so excited to talk with you.

Speaker 1: 1:06

I'm excited to have you on Melissa and Melissa and I love it. My partner, melissa and Dexter. There can never be too many Melissa's. Do you go by Mel ever? I don't. People used to try to go by Missy when I was in elementary school and I hated that. I was never a Missy, but no, I think I always stood by, like I'll be, melissa, you can go by something. That's hilarious.

Speaker 2: 1:28

My mom loves the full Melissa. She's like I named you Melissa for a reason, but everyone has like the nicknames you know. So it's always either Mel my sister's saying Missy I have friends that call me Mel-Mao Okay, I'm like it rings all over the place.

Speaker 1: 1:47

All right, but you answered any of the above, anything, I love it. Or demographic If you're listening to this podcast, you probably know a few Melissa's. If you're not a Melissa, yeah, you may even be Melissa as well. We'd love to hear from you if you are. But thank you so much. I met Melissa at a class, the corner studio here in Gross Point, called Full Body Reset, and if you know me, you know I don't love to exercise, but I actually loved her class and just your whole mindset and philosophy. So I started following you on social media and I had no idea who you were married to. I just thought you were cool.

Speaker 2: 2:26

And so I made the law. I love when someone had the genuine connection or, you know, knowing that I'm an association with Dave.

Speaker 1: 2:35

Well, and then I remember seeing a picture of you and I was like, hey, is that the guy from Full Body Just on your social media? And I asked somebody and they mentioned, oh yeah, they moved back to Michigan. That's her, that's him, yeah. But I do like the fact that I was just drawn to kind of your brand and your the health journey and then your whole philosophy on that. So I wanted to have you on the podcast, obviously, to talk about that, because I think our listeners would enjoy that. And in talking a little bit more, I think an interesting dynamic would be sort of your journey to success, both when you first met Dave and then again when you relocated back here to Michigan, because it was women were always reinventing ourselves. So true, yeah, and I just think that's like the coolest part of your story. So tell me a little bit about your background in photography and what led you to that career.

Speaker 2: 3:32

Yeah, so my background in photography all started at age 11. I received a camera from my grandmother for my birthday and then I just never looked back. They just like became an additional appendage. Right, it was just a part of me. I loved photography so much. I studied photography, knowing that I wanted to go into that industry. I would sit in the magazine aisles at Albertsons and Livingston, montana, and look through all of the different imagery and wonder, like, how do I get there? How can I become a photographer that's shooting this type of work rather than the standard weddings and senior portraits, which is all anybody knew about having a career in photography at that time.

Speaker 1: 4:25

Yeah. And so at a young age 11, you knew this is what I want to do, and you just kind of continued to build on that, yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:33

So I kind of just made it my goal to not knowing anyone or how to get into the industry whatsoever. I started shooting senior portraits and weddings when I was in high school. I took photography classes. I took courses outside of school for 4-H.

Speaker 2: 4:51

My parents were speaking to a couple at church one day and they found out that their friends knew a successful photographer who worked for National Geographic, and so they set up an opportunity for me to speak to him and that was like really my only introduction to someone that was in a career outside of senior and wedding photography. So I spoke to him. He went to a community college in Stoke and Washington, so then I applied and then went to college in Stoke and then studied abroad in Florence, italy, for my last semester, and that's where I really found these different avenues and connections of the type of photography I wanted to do. I knew I had to move to LA or junior year, so after graduating moved back to Montana for a short amount of time to save money in order to do that, working as a waitress and a bartender and hustling.

Speaker 1: 5:52

I worked at a bagel shop in New Jersey, so I know after graduating. There's nothing. I think everybody should have to do that. I don't know how it's, just to try and figure out like what's going on Exactly so.

Speaker 2: 6:02

then I was working in walks Dave to my life. He was on a boys trip in Bosnia, montana. He came into the restaurant that I was working at and, very long story short, I walked by and we hit him with my pencil as I was going to sign out of my shift. We kind of like bantered a little bit. I walked back by. He trips me as the payoff for hitting him in my pen and just like any third grade romance story you know that was the beginning, that was the end.

Speaker 1: 6:35

Yeah, so he tricks you and I just love it for strip. Basically I fell for him. Oh well, so cute.

Speaker 2: 6:42

I love that story.

Speaker 1: 6:43

You guys meet and keep in touch after.

Speaker 2: 6:45

Yeah, I keep in touch and I knew that I was either, you know going to be moving to New York, and it kind of made the decision oh, yes, yeah, it absolutely did. So six months later, I find myself in LA and working at a digital capture company as a producer and equipment manager that I can only work my way up through the company, and, many years after working there, I left to freelance on my own after gaining experience and knowledge from the individuals that I did.

Speaker 2: 7:18

And then that's kind of where then you you learn how to like hustle again, because you're not under that like cushy salary anymore. When you're working for yourself, it's a matter of, like, you know, really pushing it.

Speaker 2: 7:30

So that entrepreneurial spirit really comes in and you had to hustle and build and took on a lot of other jobs as well and you know, like just to feed I always say it's like feeding the beast, like if you want to feed the beast, you have to find a way to do that. So I took other aspects of my life, that of things I love to do, things that I was capable of doing, like event planning and, you know, being a producer, and different things, in order to support that, that end goal of being an editorial, commercial and advertising photography in LA.

Speaker 1: 8:03

And you were quite successful. Like I mean, success is, I don't know, hardly defined, but you had a billboard, Was that like kind of yeah?

Speaker 2: 8:14

so it's so funny and I think we've had this conversation before where it's weird looking back on it now, because I'm looking at it like wow, I had so many beautiful successful moments of my first billboard, my first movie poster, my first like in magazine editorial and during that time I was so wrapped up into that in success. Like what does that in success look like? So all of these things were just stepping stones, but I was really caught off mentally of like oh, I haven't made it yet, I haven't made it yet and I was missing all of those moments. And now I look back on it and I have stacks of magazines in my house where my work is displayed on, like give yourself some credit.

Speaker 1: 8:56

Yes, you work successful, but still trying to chase that elusive success.

Speaker 2: 9:00

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:01

And now, at this time, where you're starting a business and having these successes, even if you didn't see them as that at the time, where was Dave at his career?

Speaker 2: 9:12

Yeah. So I think that's a big part of where put myself in this like shadow, unintentionally. Dave had a very successful career already, as did many of his friends. I walked into his life when he was, you know, already maturely, developed this career. I had this expectation of like, oh, I need to be at X place in my career to be perfectly aligned and matched, equally successful couple, and where that even stemmed from, I don't know. That was never put on me by anyone in my life. It was definitely not put on me by Dave anyway. He was only ever so supportive of all of the moves I made or wanted to make, and a lot of it was. I wanted to do it on my own, without any help, in the sense of like, I didn't want anybody's ever looking at me and being like, oh well, of course she has that. You know. Dave probably helped her do that, or Dave probably gave her that opportunity.

Speaker 2: 10:11

And that was something that we kind of established early on. I really want to be able to have this career and build it on my own, but in that same breath I thought I should have it built tomorrow and I never gave myself the opportunity to take those years. Building something great takes a long time, yeah, and that's okay and it should be celebrated, because if you're gonna perfect a craft, it can't be done overnight, and I really tried to always be matching this like success from an outside perspective, but then also like financially. You know, I wanted to be able to bring in loads of money and support him and support our family and do lavish things with it. And again, when you're building, that's not necessarily a reality for some short.

Speaker 1: 11:03

I relate to that so much. I mean for those listeners. Jay, my husband is not famous but, having stepped out of my career to take care of our children when they were younger, I restarted a career and I remember feeling like I need to want to open up my own bank account just so I can see if I'm getting paid right, because there's just such a big difference in what he's bringing in financially, but also struggling with feeling selfish or wanting you know my own career. Why can't I just be happy for him and support him? When I went back to work there were things that didn't get done or that maybe I could do for us if I weren't working, and that was a struggle to kind of define my own success outside of his. It wasn't related to the money, so I can only imagine with an added layer of fame, I don't know, probably just the rerun rights of like full house working so much that it felt like you were treading water, trying to create success for yourself.

Speaker 2: 12:05

Yeah, very much. So I think I said it wasn't ever an expectation put on by anyone else, but for sure something that I really had to just like step through Instead of over and around it. I really had to work through it of like, okay, why am I putting these expectations on myself? What is it that I'm really trying to do and accomplish, and how to turn inward and figure out okay, is this something that I even want? Is the money something I want? Or is this an expectation of putting on myself in order to provide the right look or situation to society or others around me?

Speaker 1: 12:46

Maybe so that others wouldn't judge you.

Speaker 2: 12:48

In a way, I was like I kind of thought like, oh, if I'm with someone of such huge success, I then should have that in order to be worthy to be with him.

Speaker 1: 12:58

Oh, that's so sad. I mean I get that, I totally get that. I feel that others probably relate to that. But yeah, that's kind of interesting, looking back, one to not recognize your success at the time that you were having all these big wins, but also that that might be kind of the driver behind it Obviously work through it, so, but you're here.

Speaker 2: 13:21

Well, actually, like I said, I've always had a very supportive partner supportive family and network.

Speaker 1: 13:27

And so if somebody is listening and they're kind of feeling this living in the shadow of a partner who is either older, so has had more time to be in a different stage in their career, or just in a different career than maybe is earning more, Reluctant. Yeah, exactly what would be your number one piece of advice.

Speaker 2: 13:44

Yeah, that's such a great question. I mean, at the end of day you are left with what drives you and makes you happy, so really just actively listening to that inner voice, and then you're got feeling of like I are you doing what you're doing and if that is your pure joy and purpose, allowing that to kind of like guide you and illuminate your path, rather than the voice and outside perceptions or comparison and the outside noise.

Speaker 1: 14:18

Yeah, comparison, that's a key word that I always talk to people about, and it's hard to not compare yourself to others. I struggle with it every day. But, yeah, that's so true. So I want to touch a little bit on while you're doing this, so you have this successful career, that you start your own business in this line of work, all while kind of in the shadow of a partner who has a very successful element of fame and career around him and you're also struggling with health issues. You found out you had blueprints.

Speaker 2: 14:53

Yeah, so year one into moving into living with Dave, I was diagnosed with lupus. I was experiencing a lot of joint pain, fatigue, mouth ulcers like facial rashes and, to just list a few, there was like many things. I was like migraines and overall the chronic pain was probably the worst for me. I went to multiple doctors to try and figure out okay, how can I?

Speaker 1: 15:20

now manage it.

Speaker 2: 15:21

I was on four to seven different types of medication for the majority of the time before I took a holistic approach to my health and I would be on the steroid packs. I would have fluid drained from my joints a couple of times a month, the pain that I was managing through medication. The medication started to have side effects. The steroids kind of started to like mess with my mental health and different things like that.

Speaker 1: 15:49

So those are some pretty serious drugs to be on.

Speaker 2: 15:53

Yeah. So then cut to years after navigating medication and living in this like kind of fast paced, competitive lifestyle, I met my business partner, Melanie Samuels, who is the co-owner of Living Well with Mel and Mel. Melanie, not Melissa, but since she goes by Mel, it'll just well when it's live, and so she was actually in production at the time, working on the set of Fuller House. Dave had met her and was like, oh my gosh, you're gonna love this girl, mel you guys are gonna go along so great.

Speaker 2: 16:30

So he was absolutely right, totally set up a friend date for us and we became fast friends and I was kind of venting to her a little bit just about my health struggles. She brought to my attention that she was looking to leave the industry and go into holistic nutrition. I became her first client because she was like look what if we can get you off all medication and help manage your pain through diet and lifestyle? At the time I was so tired, feeling sick and tired, and it was just I had reached that breaking point. And then there were certain things where she was like okay, we're gonna, you know, stop drinking alcohol, you're gonna stop eating gluten, you're gonna stop doing all this stuff. And at the time I was like there's no way, there's no way I'm doing all of this.

Speaker 1: 17:16

There's absolutely not Did you think it was gonna help? Were you like hopeful or just like, okay, fine, I'll try it?

Speaker 2: 17:22

Yeah, I definitely trusted her and I was willing to do anything right. And then I also had to realize, like you have to be patient with your body now, because at this point I have been eating whatever I want, drinking whatever I wanted, pumping my system full of medication, so now I have to detox a lifetime of toxins and inflammation drivers. You know, the great thing that Melanie showed me is just starting really small. She very much showed me that it doesn't need to be this all or nothing mentality, which is what I was so used to in the past of like, oh, if we go on a diet it's all in, and then if you're off, we'll forget it, it's not gonna work. So now I'll just eat whatever I want, drink whatever I want. She really made it more approachable, like starting from like an 80, 20 points, so 80% of the time eating whole natural foods, 20% of that time indulging in things and then just focusing on things, like if it doesn't serve your body, then that's okay, that's just not what your body needs.

Speaker 2: 18:29

And then when I took that approach to the mindset of like, oh yeah, alcohol does not serve my body, gluten does not serve my body, sugar does not like. Sugar gives me instant migraine. So I know that one was always kind of like a little easier for me to avoid, unless it was in the form of alcohol. Then I was like I'd always make some sort of excuse for it, you know, in order to partake or, you know, indulge. And now it's just a matter of like. After three years of our work together, I was off all medication. I had never known my body to be in a place of no pain. I had never known my body to not have constant migraines or inflammation, chronic pain, like it seemed. I was like you're a miracle worker. I have no idea what happened to me, but I need to share this with other people because if I was in this position of like, absolute hopelessness like this is awakening.

Speaker 1: 19:33

Yeah, and that's so interesting. So you take an individual approach, like what works for your body. I have to imagine, though, that those things you hit on, like gluten and sugar and alcohol, those, I mean, everybody feels better when they're not on those. I show this from experience. But how do you determine what your triggers are? Just yeah, so what?

Speaker 2: 19:55

we did. We started with a 30 day elimination and that was like a pretty big elimination of all things except for whole foods in their whole state and then from there adding things back into the diet, so noticing things like digestion, how are you feeling the following morning? How are you feeling when you're eating, just really actively, listening to your body and which just work, and I'm not gonna like say it's not work, but it's either. But it was also a lot of work to feel bad.

Speaker 1: 20:26

So how long after you went through this process, did you and Mella and me kind of start your brand or business?

Speaker 2: 20:34

Yeah. So Mella and I, after working together for like three years on my health, we started working together on a business. During COVID, we started working on this project that we're currently in production on still, but we really worked on the fact of like, how can we build a community that promotes bio-individuality and taking that approach to help other women get out of this. Like diet culture Because, yes, thank you, it's the biggest thing is like diet culture is a multi-billion dollar company and yet we still have rising rates of obesity, rising rates of heart failure and joint pain and inflammation. So what's happening?

Speaker 2: 21:31

Obviously, it's not working right. So, taking this bio-individual approach, but while celebrating others because the whole idea around a diet is community you wanna do something that your friends are doing, so you're not doing it alone, creating this path and this area of celebrating you. While you're doing what's right for you, I'm doing what's right for me. We're here for each other, high-five and help one another, but without copying and doing the same thing, because your body's just never gonna process this exact same food that someone else is having right.

Speaker 1: 22:08

Yeah. So it's not like a cookie cutter, like here's for breakfast, here's for lunch for everybody in the group, but really what works for you? Yeah, and then I think that the reason that a lot of these, this diet culture stuff isn't working is because, to your point before, with the all or nothing. I love that approach where it's like, because I, how many times have I started a diet and then like, ah, it's burnt them and eat this burnt baked cake and then well, I'm done with my diet, I'm just gonna have another glass of wine because the diet's over. Right, that yo-yoing of like being on a diet for a period of time, then say forget it, I'm totally off the diet. I love that idea of 80% of the time you're following guidelines.

Speaker 2: 22:47

You're following what's right for your body, right? You're eating whole foods that are serving you and, like, some whole foods don't serve you. Like for for me nightshades, tomatoes, eggplant, like it inflames me. That's just something. Even though it's a whole food, it's something that I've noticed doesn't necessarily sit with my system. Well, so then I just adjust accordingly, right, yeah, and exactly for like on my birthday, while I indulge in having sugar in like a cake.

Speaker 1: 23:16

It's probably gluten-free cake for sure, but I let's set the. I was like, oh great, I'm gonna go eat sugar.

Speaker 2: 23:21

Yeah, but sugar. And then you know, when I was out of the country, I pasta and bread in Italy and I felt fine after. It's prepping your body to do what's right for it the majority of the time. But then, when you are indulging, do it in a really positive mindset so that your system can break it down better, right? Yeah, our digestion starts in the brain and so when we eat in a healthy, positive mindset, parasympathetic state, very calm sense of state, our digestion system is working. It's like processing, breaking down that food in order for you to digest properly.

Speaker 1: 24:01

As opposed to just shoving stuff in your face.

Speaker 2: 24:03

Yeah, so David when I first told David's concept, he was like great, so can we have pizza as long as we're dancing around the room? And I was like, yes, that is exactly the whole whole point. It's like, yeah, it's like you're stressed and having a terrible day and there's X amount of responsibility on your plate and you're running through a fast food establishment.

Speaker 1: 24:27

Food establishment. You're the Vicky D's line of amelisa because you're driving kids from sports and I asked if I am.

Speaker 2: 24:35

I am in that line.

Speaker 1: 24:36

It might be Taco Bell, if it's a good day, it might be Starbucks, but I'm 100 percent in those lines. So, yeah, so, living well with Mel and Mel. There's some great resources on the website. You have recipes, you have a community that you can join, and one on one coaching as well. Yeah, so you can hire Mel and I for one on one coaching.

Speaker 2: 24:56

I do all of the movement portion because the Arbic believers in moving your body well, and then Mel takes on all of the nutrition and we really customize a program that's right for you because every individual is so different, as I said. So really making it all about how to meet your personal health goals.

Speaker 1: 25:21

I will link everything for living well with Mel and Mel, If anyone's listening and interested in kind of looking at this community and maybe some coaching options or just trying to figure a little bit more about what this holistic approach to nutrition would be and to movement. And again, you can also find this Mel here, Melissa, at the corner studio full body reset. You may actually spot me there because I try to get there but sometimes the timing doesn't work for me. But I do want to talk a little bit about how you went from successful editorial and commercial photography to this sort of holistic movement, nutrition, new business. What brought you there?

Speaker 2: 26:05

So what brought me to the business I'm in now with health and wellness from advertising photography was my husband and I moved back to Michigan. His brother and father at the time needed some little extra care and attention and everything is kind of aligned to be the right timing for us in order to make our departure from Los Angeles.

Speaker 1: 26:32

So from Los Angeles to Eastern Michigan. That is a culture shock. But yes.

Speaker 2: 26:39

so Dave grew up here and he always wanted to build a house on Lake Sinclair, and so part of it is following a little boydream, which I love. It was such a great feeling to be able to do that. With that said, it was very hard to leave my community that I was in the midst of building right.

Speaker 1: 26:59

So so you started kind of toying with this idea or coming up with a business idea with Mel at the same time as fulfilling Dave's childhood dreams of building house on Lake Sinclair. And then also Dave's father was not doing well, need a little extra care.

Speaker 2: 27:22

As we were moving and transitioning, I would travel a little bit here and there, going back to LA for work, but the majority of the time I didn't have commercial photography work here in Detroit and I started caring for Dave's dad, making sure that he had meals and healthy meals and and he had taken a couple of falls, and all of this really opened my eyes to the older community and movement, how important it is for our elders to be able to have flexibility and mobility so that not only are they able to have longevity and stay with us a little longer, but they can also care for themselves in a better way with movement. And it kind of was the beginning to my curiosity of movement. At the same time as that was happening, covid is all during this time right.

Speaker 2: 28:30

So this is like pandemic and everything's nuts and I feel like all of us, if you get to come out of the pandemic having an a-ha moment or like a rebirth, like yes, during the pandemic, my older sister who teaches fitness she's a kettlebell instructor, personal trainer, where she owns a gym, a kettlebell gym in Portland Oregon she, we were working out with one another twice a week and I started working with her after over conditioning my body. I would be going to these boot camps. I'd need like a two hour nap.

Speaker 1: 29:06

I was feeling horrible.

Speaker 2: 29:07

I'd go to hot yoga. I would like my joints would be sore for days from like the inflammation from it. Nothing was like really keeping my body happy. But I love movement and I love to work out and it's a huge part of like my mental health and state and happiness. And I'm a hiker and I love being outdoors and rock climbing and all these things where I found that my body was very happy.

Speaker 2: 29:34

In this slow down, functional movement state that my sister was doing with me, not only did my body like transform on the inside of my inner health in addition to the work with Mel, but then my exterior, like I used to tell her it was so funny I've never had defined arms ever. And then all of a sudden I like I was like my arms look like a French baguette, so happy, what is happening? I was like I love that and so I was like, okay, at the same time, doing this like breath work to manage stress and anxiety, I was also doing a lot of work like research and breath work about how it can help keep your immune system strong, lower inflammation in the body, and so I was like, okay, all of this together, like the movement, of doing functional movement slowing it down, making it very intentional, pairing it with your breath and then adding a mindful component, which is why I always end up in my classes of meditation.

Speaker 1: 30:39

That's my favorite part. But to your point, though, about how you felt tired after some of these classes. I have tried classes. It's not like I'm trying, but sometimes it sets me back because I'm so exhausted I need a nap and I need like 1200 calories the second I get out of the class, whereas your class I was sore like in places I didn't even know I had muscles which is good I was like okay, but I wasn't exhausted.

Speaker 1: 31:05

And then the mindfulness at the end, where you just kind of set the tone for the day like I need that. I need to go into the day feeling refreshed and positive versus like exhausted. So I love that concept. There's definitely something to it.

Speaker 2: 31:18

Oh, thank you. I'm so happy to hear you say that and I love that you were able to have that full body reset. Yes, because it is so valuable and I think we put so much expectation on ourselves for this exterior appearance, this exterior standard of what we should look like, shouldn't look like making sure we, you know, we don't need wrinkles in our forehead, so we'll just bone talk. We don't need this happening. But if we just like look at ourselves, Do you like bone, talk stuff.

Speaker 1: 31:53

Is there a holistic approach to the wrinkles that you've discovered or no? All right those are that part of the 20%, that's Thursday, and then a hydration of water, water, water. All right, so the 80% is holistic and then the other 20% we can throw the facts into that.

Speaker 2: 32:10

We'll get a little couple of these in that 20. And I I've definitely done talks before, so not you know, I'm no purist, by any means. But yes, it is about that like 80, 20 lifestyle, not being unrealistic with yourself, but but also you should be moving in a way that brings you joy. Yeah, you know it puts a smile on your face. Like you said, I'm leading a class and feeling like you worked your body, but not feeling like it was so hard that you can't go back to your point.

Speaker 1: 32:39

I've never I've heard people exercise. People say that it's good for their mental health and they feel so good, but my experience with exercise was not that. It was like I don't know, maybe it's just me that I don't feel good after exercise, but it's because I you can't go from a state of complete lethargy to like a boot camp. We just can't do that. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 33:01

I don't think. Yeah, I wanted to make an inclusive class that was a reset for those individuals that are hardcore or working out nonstop but need that restorative breath in there, into the muscle, into the bloodstream. And if you are new or getting back into fitness, I wanted to create a class that felt like this is I can accomplish this. This is something that I know that I can do again, because what keeps us going is that confidence of being able to do something. Yeah, you are going to move today for your body. You're going to breathe to your exercise, your timing of your exercise. It's all individual judgment, free like, feel free to smile, have fun with it, like it's it wouldn't be torture moving your body, you're breathing, so you actually can smile.

Speaker 1: 33:51

Yeah, right, that's always a good thing. Yeah, I absolutely love your class. Some of our listeners are to your gross point. Maybe you'll come to your class, but if not, you also have a website just geared towards moving. Yeah, moving while with mouth Just one mouth, but on there you offer. If they're listeners that are outside of this area, they would like to find out more about this type of movement and moving.

Speaker 2: 34:16

So on my website you're able to contact me and we can either do private sessions, private group classes, which I have multiple private group classes around the area. I also offer movement as an alternative, like get together classes for like girls and I eat so different things, where you're actually having some sort of movement.

Speaker 1: 34:37

Like an activity that doesn't involve eating or drinking.

Speaker 2: 34:39

Yes, and so with people you love and enjoy while moving your body. I mean, it helps in so many ways and it just has been scientifically proven that by moving your body and enjoyable ways with people that you love actually does extend your life span.

Speaker 1: 34:57

So I absolutely am going to do so. If you're listening and you want to come to my girls night with Melissa, let me know, because I am absolutely doing this. My friends and I have struggled with this. The older we get, the less alcohol is appealing and the earlier I want to go to bed. So back in the day, we used to put the kids to bed or get a sitter and we would like go through bottles of wine and I somehow would still get up with my kids the next day.

Speaker 1: 35:23

Well, now, at 43, if I go to a drinking heavy event, I cannot function for days, so I miss my friends. But we don't always have to get together with the idea that we're going to just eat a ton of cheese, dip and wine and ray. So we've been looking for activities to do that don't involve those things, and this is perfect. I love the idea. So if people want to find out more about that, they can go to your website. Join well with the mouthnet. That is fantastic, and I just want to say I am so impressed that not only did you sort of start your career because of where you were at when you met them, your first career, the one that you are in set out to achieve when you were 11 years old.

Speaker 1: 36:08

But then you kind of reinvented yourself over the pandemic and created a whole nother business. You and Mel have a full coming out.

Speaker 2: 36:18

Yeah, so we wrote a book. There's no release date yet, but I will keep you posted. You'll be the first. Yeah, we will.

Speaker 1: 36:25

Our listeners will know because we will link it after the back of the show notes. But road trip to wellness, yeah, so we will keep you posted on that. Any final thoughts Is you're kind of reflecting here on reinventing yourself twice. If there's a listener out there who's just thinking, you know, I kind of feel stuck. I have all these ideas for things that I want to do. Or maybe they're feeling intimidated by you know the success of their partner and not sure if it's worth it to start a business or go run with their idea. What is the final piece of advice that you would leave them?

Speaker 2: 37:03

The biggest piece of advice I have for someone that is just starting, doesn't know if they should, shouldn't is like just putting down all the shoulds. Look at your life two years from now. The time is passing no matter what. So in two years from now, are you going to have that degree or certification that gets you one step closer? Or are you going to be at the same spot thinking and dreaming of that new business, that process and just like and just taking that action, even if it's one thing a day? You know, it's one email that's one action closer. It's one page of literature that's one step closer.

Speaker 1: 37:46

Yeah, I love that. What am I having two years from now? Because sometimes we get so lost with like the next week or two that it's just putting one foot in front of the other. And I always ask people when sitting down for financial planning you know, what do you want to be, have and do five, 10, 15 years? So really kind of questioning that. And if it is a business or nonprofit or maybe just a career advancement in your current career or something you did pre kids, two years from now, what would success?

Speaker 2: 38:16

be like Right, yeah, to your point too. It's like good things take time. Like we said earlier, we can't just like have this company like birth a successful company. It's a matter of like going through all of those stages and so, looking at that and I think even to your point of like financial I mean, you know that interest builds over time, Things improve over time, and I think that's the same as any business is like small steps still make great change and great successes, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 38:51

So just start right, just put one foot in front of the other and start moving, whether it's finances and if you need a little help you know where to find me, or if it's starting a successful business. You don't have to start successfully, just start. Thank you so much. This has been so fun. Lisa Kouye, we are so grateful for her to be here. I will link everything in the show notes and we hope to have you back again on the women's money list and projects.

Speaker 2: 39:17

I would love to be back. Thank you so much for having me and everyone listening. Thank you for your time and tuning into this episode. I appreciate you.

Speaker 1: 39:41

Thank you for listening to the women's money wisdom podcast. If you found value in our conversations, please take a moment to like, follow and subscribe wherever you're tuning in from. It helps us continue to bring these valuable insights every week. Head over to women'smoneywisdomcom. There you'll find tools, tips and a supportive community to help you gain financial confidence.