Podcast appearances and mentions of lesley logan

Lesley Logan, a 2nd generation certified Pilates teacher, breathwork, habits and mindset coach, is the founder of OnlinePilatesClasses.com, the first free online catalog of Pilates exercise tutorials, where you can also find weekly Pilates classes and workshops. Teaching Pilates since 2008, she has run multiple studios, has trained hundreds of people to become teachers themselves and has taught thousands of students around the world. When not teaching from her studio in Las Vegas, Lesley she's hosting her podcast Be It Till You See it or traveling the world leading Pilates retreats. Find out more at: https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/

What role does movement play in lowering stress and increasing presence? How does posture influence our energy and confidence? In this episode, I invited movement expert and Pilates educator Lesley Logan, to discuss posture, presence, and movement. From the role of rhythm in your daily routine to the link between confidence and compliments, this episode offers a fresh perspective on what it means to truly care for yourself.You're going to love this conversation, and you're going to want to share it with everyone you care about who also desires to look and feel their best too!About Lesley LoganLesley Logan, NCPT, also a Habits, Mindset, and Breathwork coach, is the co-founder of OnlinePilatesClasses.com the largest catalog of free Pilates tutorials. And the only on-demand platform that helps Pilates lovers of all levels have accountability and community. Lesley has been teaching since 2008 and was trained by one of Joseph Pilates' clients making her a 2nd generation instructor. She has trained thousands of people around the world and hundreds of teachers. Helping women ditch perfection, take messy action and prioritize themselves first so they can do life better.Connect with Lesley:Free Mat accountability challenge: https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/registration/free-mat-accountability-challenge/Website: https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/For more resources related to today's episode, click here for the podcast episode page: https://www.theschoolofradiance.com/podcasts Follow Rachel Varga Official on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelvargaofficial/ —Catch full episodes of The School of Radiance Podcast here on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@RachelVargaOfficial —Subscribe to the YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@RachelVargaOfficial —Follow me here:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelvargaofficial/ Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/rachelvargaofficial/ Website: https://www.theschoolofradiance.com —FREE STUFF: Download my FREE Skincare Checklist, sign up for my FREE 30 minute biohack your way to clear skin and slowing aging training now, and my newsletter for promos and exclusive events just for you! https://www.theschoolofradiance.com/freebiesEveryone gets one FREE call! Book your free 15-minute call with Rachel Varga to see which options will help you achieve your skin radiance goals! https://rachelvarga.as.me/YourPersonalizedRadianceConsultation —Looking for Skincare products, Tutorials, booking YOUR private One-on-One, and the deep dive Radiance Membership?SHOP skincare: https://alwaysradiantskinshop.comBOOK your private One-on-One: https://rachelvarga.as.me/Initialconsultation REGISTER for Tutorials and/or Membership: https://theschoolofradiance.com As a disclaimer, please note that the information shared in this podcast and interview is not to be taken as medical advice, and it's always important to consult with your physician before making any lifestyle changes. Rachel disclaims any responsibility for inaccurate credentials of guests or information used that may cause harm.Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The School of Radiance with Rachel Varga (formerly The Rachel Varga Podcast and The Always Radiant Skin Podcast)!Rachel Vargainfo@theschoolofradiance.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Mind Movement Health Podcast, host Kate Boyle welcomes Lesley Logan, a certified Pilates teacher and founder of OnlinePilatesClasses.com. As part of their celebration of International Pilates Day, they delve into the world of Pilates, discussing how to maintain a consistent and beneficial practice while balancing life commitments. Lesley shares her journey into Pilates, her experiences with teaching and studio management, and offers invaluable insights into building a sustainable business in the Pilates industry. The conversation also touches on the evolution of Pilates, its underrated benefits, and the importance of a personalized practice. Listeners will gain wisdom on the significance of prioritizing personal health through Pilates, tips for avoiding instructor burnout, and the diverse benefits of Pilates beyond aesthetics. With engaging discussions on retreats and the future of Pilates, this episode is a motivating resource for both seasoned instructors and newcomers alike.   Connect with Lesley: Lesley Logan, a 2nd generation certified Pilates teacher, breathwork, habits and mindset coach, is the founder ofOnlinePilatesClasses.com, the first free online catalog of Pilates exercise tutorials, where you can also find weekly Pilates classes and workshops. Teaching Pilates since 2008, she has run multiple studios, has trained hundreds of people to become teachers themselves and has taught thousands of students around the world. When not teaching from her studio in Las Vegas, Lesley is hosting her podcast, Be It Till You See it or traveling the world leading Pilates retreats.   Website: https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/ https://www.instagram.com/opc.pilates/ https://www.instagram.com/be_it_pod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates Podcast: https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/ Threads: https://www.threads.com/@be_it_pod?xmt=AQGzmckACWYeufM5IP4HmBl0n-a1E6lZvstU_XzaLEx5aTQ  Links: https://lesleylogan.co/links/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaffraqEG_W2ou7-KUffvdBIbSCGxV7cx2Zw__J9SWSEYHeFh20swOfAK3qmOQ_aem_HlQoWB6fSkk6cw5OVEq6pg   Ready to escape to Serenity? Then come join our 2025 Pilates Retreat in Thailand! This retreat promises a full week of relaxation, exploration, and rejuvenation tailored for everyone. Get ready for daily Pilates, nourishing food, enriching activities, and meaningful connections with the beautiful backdrop of Thailand. Spaces are limited to only 16 participants so get in now and grab your spot on the link below: https://www.mindmovementhealth.com.au/thailand-retreat/   Connect with Kate: Website: MindMovementHealth.com.au Facebook: facebook.com/MindMovementHealth Instagram: instagram.com/MindMovementHealth Haven't subscribed to the podcast yet? Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review at: Apple Podcasts

In this energetic recap, Lesley and Brad revisit Lesley's roundtable interview with the OPC teachers and reflect on the power of community, inclusive movement, and consistency. They explore how each teacher's unique journey contributes to the magic of OPC and share how the platform was designed to help every body feel seen and supported. Whether you're a teacher or a student, there's space for you here. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why OPC values community as much as consistency.How a curated class format supports movement without overwhelm.What it means to take messy action—and why it works.How diverse life experiences strengthen teaching and student connection.Why movement “snacks” can reframe how you approach exercises.Episode References/Links:Mullet Tour - https://opc.me/ukChat with Us - https://opc.me/chatSummer Tour - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comJoin OPC - https://onlinepilatesclasses.comMindi Westfall - https://instagram.com/bendymindipilatesRachel Piper - https://instagram.com/size_diverse_pilatesChristine Kam-Lynch - https://instagram.com/pilates.boundMegan Lauman - https://instagram.com/megans_pilatesYasmin Scholten - https://instagram.com/purapilates_yasmin If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  A lot of people want to be a teacher on the platform it's because they want to be part of something. And I can tell you right now, even if you're not on the platform teaching it, when you're in the community, you're absolutely part of something. Lesley Logan 0:11  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:53  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the invigorating convo, the chaotic convo, the most amazing, we have the most guests ever, convo with the OPC teachers, minus Tami, but we'll have her on in a couple of weeks. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, you are missing out on some giggles and some fun. And I'm just so glad that Brad, if you guys are watching this on YouTube, I apologize for all the moving, because I asked Brad with my eyes, if we were ready for this. Brad Crowell 1:21  You asked me with your eyes? Lesley Logan 1:22  Yes. And you did a you did an acknowledgement. Brad Crowell 1:25  I'm just making sure you're on the screen. Lesley Logan 1:27  Yeah. And if you are listening to this, just so you know, you will not get motion sickness like everyone else is right now. Okay, he's settled. We're settled. Brad Crowell 1:34  Sunglasses. Lesley Logan 1:37  Okay, now, now we're all just experiencing what ADD and ADHD looks like in the same room. This is a lot. This is confusing. I'm gone, now I've lost track. Okay, let's bring this bus back on the road. So you should listen to the OPC teachers, because they're so fun. We had five of us. Well, I guess me. Brad Crowell 1:56  You count, you're a teacher. Lesley Logan 1:58  I know. So we're. Brad Crowell 1:59  Six out of seven. Lesley Logan 1:59  Six out of seven. We were missing Tami. It's really hard to get all the time zones to work, guys, so I was pretty proud of us to get six, but we'll have Tami on because we actually have really fun thing coming up with her later this year. So, at any rate. Brad Crowell 2:08  Yasmin lives in Germany, you know. Lesley Logan 2:11  I know. And guess whose internet was the one that was fucked up? Ours. So anyways, not that Germany has bad internet, but I'm just saying, like out of all the time zones, I just was having some problems. They were talking without me. They planned a whole trip while I was just, bye, disappered. Brad Crowell 2:23  Yeah, I know you popped back on and they were like, yep, we're just making plans. We're gonna get together. Lesley Logan 2:27  Yeah, they're having an overnight, that's what the OPC teachers do. They love summer parties and anything that brings community together. So you'll just want to listen to that one, but first we'll recap it, and then you can go back and listen. So this is what happens when I take over. I actually know the day, but I'm going to do it anyways, because I know what I wrote. So today is May 1st 2025, and it's Couple Appreciation Day. Brad Crowell 2:47  That's fun. Lesley Logan 2:47  Couple Appreciation Day, just so you know, on May 1st there's 40 other holidays. I had a lot of things I could choose from, but Couple Appreciation Day.Brad Crowell 2:54  Lesley produced, partly produced this episode. Lesley Logan 2:56  I did, I did. It's going to be a mess. So Couple Appreciation Day is celebrated on May 1st whether you've just started dating or you've been married for many years, it's important to appreciate your partner now and then. Celebrating the milestones you've passed and looking to more happy years in the future helps keep the romance alive. Even the smallest of gestures can make an impact. Do the chore so your partner can relax or prepare a nice meal when they come home exhausted from work. Romance doesn't have to be elaborate over the top, unless, of course, that's what a couple is into. But also, today. Brad Crowell 3:25  Can just be a touch on the shoulder or a thank you. Lesley Logan 3:27  You know, do something you're not usually doing without being asked. That's probably the best thing. Brad Crowell 3:32  If you always get flowers. Change it up. Change it up. Lesley Logan 3:34  Yeah, get chocolates or get flowers and chocolates.Brad Crowell 3:37  Or don't give something, but do an act of service or something else. Lesley Logan 3:42  If there's something that your partner complains about doing, maybe try to do it for them. Or if they are tired of driving, maybe today you get them an Uber gift card and they get to have a chauffeur to work. Brad Crowell 3:54  Ooh, that's a fun idea. Lesley Logan 3:57  Also, one of the other holidays today in the Philippines, it's Labor Day. So to our team in the Philippines, we have a lot of people out there. Happy Labor Day to you, by the way, that means it's like May Day, which is a whole historical day that I know about, but surface level. So I'm not going to go into it, but it led to a National Phone-In-Sick Day to make sure that the world knows what happens without your labor. And since we are on the theme of little ways of protesting, if you are an employee somewhere and you have sick days and you haven't been using them, use one. Call in sick. Let people know what it's, let people know what happens if they don't have their team. But just remember, to our team, Happy Labor Day. Have the day off and we love you. So, okay, we are headed to the UK this fall. This is for Pilates teachers and really big in Pilates enthusiasts. We have two locations. We have six workshops. Two are business, Pilates business, and four are Pilates movement related. We've got two classes. The deal on this thing is insanity. If you were to buy each thing one at a time, it was, like, almost $2,000 and we're selling it for, like, I don't know, 550 pounds or something like that. So you'll want to go to opc.me/uk to sign up and snag your spot on the limited spots that we have. Brad Crowell 5:14  Our second person who registered is coming in from Europe, so. Lesley Logan 5:18  Yeah, you can come in from Europe. Brad Crowell 5:20  Yeah, we're going to be in Essex or Leeds, and there's plenty of hotels in the area. Lesley Logan 5:25  And Leeds, the ors. Brad Crowell 5:26  Sorry, yeah, for you, you could pick one of the two. We will be in both. I mean, hell, you want to come to both? Come to both.Lesley Logan 5:33  There's only one workshop that repeats itself, and it's one that you probably want to go to twice, to be completely honest. So it's really amazing. And then this particular Saturday is Pilates Day. It's International Pilates day, the first Saturday of May. And in honor of that, we'll be wrapping up our spring training event. So you, probably too late to join us, to be completely honest, but we'll be doing that. I'm really, really excited. Brad Crowell 5:54  Maybe not. Lesley Logan 5:55  I don't know. Brad Crowell 5:55  If you want to hop in right now. Lesley Logan 5:57  You can. You'll, you'll have a week of replays, still not from today, but I think to the 10th. So you have seven days. So yeah.Brad Crowell 6:03  If you're, if like, you're watching, if you listen to this the day it comes out and you want to figure out what we're talking about, chat to us. Go to opc.me/chat and we'll send you a link to the Spring Training event. There's a few more days. Lesley Logan 6:15  Yeah, it's really, it's been quite a fun week. I'm really thrilled with the whole thing. I mean, it's just really fun to do classes live and like, you get your Pilates habit and routine on, and then you can go back to doing it with Iike, on your own time.Brad Crowell 6:27  I mean, this is kind of a perfect episode to be talking about Spring Training because. Lesley Logan 6:31  It really is. Brad Crowell 6:32  It features all the teachers that you're that you listened to in the last episode.Lesley Logan 6:35  Yeah, if you fell in love with them. Yeah, so they're all part of it. It's really quite amazing. And what's really hilarious is Tami is actually in the house right now, so like when this episode goes out. So she wasn't on that episode, but she's currently in our house filming OPC workouts. At any rate, just the irony of all it. Then this summer, we're actually going on our Summer Tour. And it is cooking, we are getting really, really close to announce the cities and help you snide your tickets, you're going to want them, because West Coast is the location of this tour, which means smaller spaces. It just is, just how it works out. Brad Crowell 7:09  It's true. Lesley Logan 7:09  You know, it's just expensive to have bigger studios in some of these cities. So they'll be smaller spaces, which means you're gonna want to get your tickets. So, opc.me/events, means you're going to get the first updates on the tour and all that stuff. So you'll want to go to opc.me/events. Brad, why don't you chime in? Brad Crowell 7:25  Yeah, if you are taking clients for Pilates and you are trying to figure out how to get more clients, or just how to create stability in this tumultuous time, we're doing a webinar on that. It's called the Growth Accelerator Webinar, and it's free, and I want you to come join me. There's a Q&A option, and I'll be sharing three big secrets that we've learned from coaching 2500 plus businesses just like yours.Lesley Logan 7:51  It's really fun, you guys. It's really amazing. It's like, it's a way for you to understand what Agency is, but also what we believe in the Pilates industry, because there are other people out there, and it's important that you know what the values of the people who are coaching you are, because it needs to align with yours. And we firmly believe in your business working for you. You're not working for it. And so that means that the templates that we use are more formulas versus like and this is how every studio needs to look and this is exactly, this is exactly how your onboarding series goes, and this is how this goes. Brad Crowell 8:21  Yeah, here's the language that you use, no, all that does not work.Lesley Logan 8:23  No, that does not work because you all have different audiences that you want to be talking to, and you're also coming at it from either this is your full time gig, or you want it to be your full time gig, or you have kids and this is your part time gig. Like everyone comes from a different place, so it has to work for you, and that's what we pride ourselves on, is you can really mold what we coach you on to your business. Last up.Brad Crowell 8:42  Last, but not least, my absolute favorite thing in the world to do is to go to Cambodia, and we have a retreat coming up this October, go to crowsnestretreats.com. If you got all to listen to this podcast, you've heard us talk about it a million times. But isn't this the year for you? Isn't this the time? Lesley Logan 8:58  Oh, my goodness, I just wrote a whole email about why you should let us do this and I'm correct. Brad Crowell 9:02  But also like, don't you need a retreat right now? Right now. Do you need a retreat? I do. I'm ready. Lesley Logan 9:08  I actually was looking at our potential flight plans, and one of them would let us go to Vietnam, but it's kind of complicated. We're doing all these other things beforehand, so I want to go to Vietnam, and also kind of want to go to Colombia, which I know is on the other side of the world. So it's different, just different where my head is, but one of the flight plans will let us have a layover, though, to go to Botanical Gardens. Brad Crowell 9:25  Oh, in Korea? Lesley Logan 9:26  In Singapore. Brad Crowell 9:27  Oh, in Singapore. Lesley Logan 9:28  Yeah, we did the Botanical Gardens in Korea. Brad Crowell 9:29  We did do that, yeah.Lesley Logan 9:30  So, but I just pinged you and said hey, there's six hours in the daytime, and so that's an hour. And then we need about. Brad Crowell 9:37  I think we were looking at the Botanical Gardens when we were there last, right? Lesley Logan 9:39  Having dinner, yes, you pointed out, yes, it was closed because we got there close to the eighth. So I think we could do it in four hours. Brad Crowell 9:46  That'd be awesome. Lesley Logan 9:47  Yeah. So anyways, we might skip Vietnam and go there. But here's what I bragged about in my email, what you would get if you were already on our waitlist for this. But I actually wrote about, we're really fucking good at this retreat. We're so good at it. And I say this because a lot of people don't like to brag about things. A lot of people are like, oh, I'm a humble person, no, there are certain things that you do really, really well. Like our friend Vincent unapologetically goes, I make fucking great eggs. I make great eggs. I watched the master class on egg making, and I make great eggs. He's never made us eggs, but I'm just saying he brags about it, right? Like, I'm aware that he makes good eggs, and I've never even had them. What we do really well is create an amazing experience for you. You have nothing to do on this trip but get your plane ticket and let us know when you land, because we will pick you up from the airport. Well, not us, but our driver will pick you up from the airport, and it will bring you to our house. And we have a wonderful schedule that is not going to make you exhausted, but it's also going to make sure you see everything.Brad Crowell 10:38  It includes a lot of free time. You're going to have a chance to chill.Lesley Logan 10:40  Yes, but not so much free time you feel like you didn't do anything so you have to plan something. No, it is a wonderful, the cadence is amazing. I'm telling you, every single person tells us how great the schedule is because we do it well. So if you would like to literally retreat yourself, I promise you, when you are halfway across the world, it's very easy to go, you know what? I could put a pin all that chaos, because I'm over here looking at this beauty, and you can actually, just for the nervous system, it's so freaking good. I could go on forever, but go to crowsnestretreats.com to snag your spot. Brad Crowell 11:10  Yeah, all right. Well, before we get into it, about the teachers, we had a question. Alison Pilates on YouTube asked, hey, I love the 60-minute full Reformer workout. We tried to find the links to the exercises so I could practice and get better at the pace. Where can I find them?Lesley Logan 11:26  Yeah, so you guys on YouTube, we have two full Joseph Pilates ordered workouts. We have the mat one, and we have the Reformer one, and they're both advanced. So I'm just gonna tell you right now, if it's the full order, it's super advanced, right? But at any rate, we have these on there, and it's kind of impossible to link to every single tutorial in the show notes of YouTube. I mean, I guess we can, but you can't click them, and there would be 79 exercises to click to. So actually, what you want to do is download the OPC app. It's free. You don't have to be an OPC member. Can download the app, and then you can go to the tutorials, and you can click on the Reformer, and they're all right there. They're all right there. And that way you can review the exercises you're not so familiar with, so you can learn them. And then when you take this workout again, you can be faster at it, or you can omit exercises not right for your body. That particular workout, I did all the super advanced back bends and headstands and all the things, and what I would just say is, even in my own workout, I don't do all of them. I pick two or three, but I did them all so that there is a place where this workout exists. I'm really excited that you guys are loving it, but, yeah, get the app. That's the best place. Brad Crowell 12:30  Yeah, the other thing you can do is, if you just want a list of links to the order, you can Google onlinepilatesclasses.com reformer order and a blog post will come up. We did make a post that has. Lesley Logan 12:43  That's linked. Brad Crowell 12:44  I don't know if it's exactly the same as the 60-minute YouTube video you were talking about, probably is, but. Lesley Logan 12:50  No, I can confirm. Brad Crowell 12:52  Lesley is confirming it's the same. So just Google onlinepilatesclasses.com reformer order, and you'll find the blog post that actually links directly to each one. Lesley Logan 13:02  So, thank you, Alison Pilates. I hope you enjoy that. And also, by the way, if you want to actually get better at the pace and the exercises, I highly recommend you actually just be I'm an OPC member, because at OPC, we don't do the super advanced exercises. We do more of the all level exercises, but you get to nerd out on a particular exercise and see how it works throughout the Reformer and on the mat, and we work at pace, and it's really fun. And then you can actually send me a video of you doing an exercise and I'll give you feedback on your form. There you go. Okay.Brad Crowell 13:32  Great job. Well, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into this amazing and super fun convo that Lesley had with all the OPC teachers, where actually, I got to know them better than I've ever known them. I didn't know any of these stories, so I'm really looking forward to chatting about it. Stick around. Brad Crowell 13:48  All right. Welcome back. So let's talk about Rachel Piper, Mindi Westfall, Christine Kam-Lynch, Megan Lauman and Yasmin Scholten. Only one missing was Tami-Adrian George, but we have a dedicated episode. Lesley Logan 14:01  Just for her. Brad Crowell 14:01  Just for her. Lesley Logan 14:02  She's got a lot we all talk about. Brad Crowell 14:04  She's got a lot going on. These five incredible women are part of the dedicated teachers at OPC. Each brings something unique to the mat, blending a deep love for learning with personal experiences that show how Pilates can transform your body and your life. Christine balances a full-time tech career while teaching Pilates. Mindi, known as “Bendy Mindi Pilates” on Instagram, continued Pilates after undergoing microdiscectomy, and now helps others find strength in their flexibility. Rachel a proud quote-unquote mat rat with a biotech background.Lesley Logan 14:39  I love that she's a mat rat with a biotech background. Brad Crowell 14:42  I've never even heard that term.Lesley Logan 14:43  I know, but I really think is there just a better animal? Brad Crowell 14:46  All right, well, so she has a biotech background. She still works in science and teams and all the things. She brings her love of themes and creative expression to every single class. Megan, a mother of four, based in Missouri, discover Pilates as a way to heal her body and now teaches from her home studio. And Yasmin, based in Germany, left corporate life to open a home studio in her small town where she grew up. Okay, I just want to put this out there right away, before everybody else asks, how do I become a teacher on onlinepilatesclasses.com? This is what, we get asked this all the time. Here's the truth of it. All five of these women who are on this interview were already OPC members. They were already participating. They were already changing their life with the consistency of their practice and using OPC to do it. And that's how we met them. Like I mean, there's other ways we actually met them, some of them outside of there, but that's how we got to know them. That's how it began to make sense. They were asking all these questions. They were participating, and it was a very organic opportunity, over the years to invite them to teach, because they actually care about the community. That's the thing that matters for us. Lesley Logan 15:52  Yeah, like you said, I've had, I still always have people who ask, and it's like, if you're not in the community participating, then it's really hard for us to get the community to want to take your class. And then the other thing I'll just say is, even if you're coming to join and be part of the community, we're not hiring all the time. So, yes, join because we want you to be a part of it, but join for you, not because of that goal. And then the other thing I want us to be like every single one of these girls has done eLevate, my mentorship program, so that we're all in the same page, so even though we're taking our own experiences and our own bodies and our own way of feeling the exercise in our body, but they all understand how Joseph Pilates created this stuff and gave it to Jay and his teachers taught me and all the stuff. So, are we looking for more teachers? Not this time, because we're really focused on the community and growing the community, but I would love to see you in the community, because I think why a lot of people want to be a teacher on the platform is because they want to be part of something. And I can tell you right now, even if you're not on the platform teaching it, when you're in the community, you're absolutely part of something. And that is something I'm so proud of, our members who share things. People know each other's name, even though they've never met. And people do connect in in-person events that we have, and then they hang out without us. There are eight women who take OPC classes at the same time on Wednesdays, at 8 a.m. and they're not teachers on this platform, but they are teachers. And so I just want to say OPC was never designed just for teachers, it'sdesigned for everybody, but I think that most people just want to, because they want to be part of something. You could be part of something without the commitment of figuring out your lighting and making sure your camera is straight. Brad Crowell 17:32  That is, that's the thing. Lesley Logan 17:33  And that your mic is actually working. Because sometimes you film an entire workout that is unusable. Brad Crowell 17:37  And I love, I think the thing I love the most about OPC is that once a month we do a live mat class, and after the mat class is over, everybody just hangs out and they just talk, and they get to update each other on different things about life, and it's been. Lesley Logan 17:55  We just celebrated, like a couple girls just finished their exams, so that was really fun. We know that from the hangout sessions, and then we know some of us picked up their kids from college and did spring break with them. Like it's kind of fun to know what everyone is doing. Brad Crowell 18:08  It's actually a community of people who care about each other. And we started doing it in COVID, and we just never stopped, because it's rad. Lesley Logan 18:17  Yeah. And also, to be honest, if I could record all of the OPC workouts I have to film with OPC members being there, I would do it. I would so do it. But the reality is, life happens, and we're like, oh, let's, we're moving this around. People will just be so confused. So, at any rate. But let's get into this episode. Brad Crowell 18:34  Yeah, absolutely. Lesley Logan 18:35  So, hold on. Brad Crowell 18:36  Take us away. Lesley Logan 18:37  All right. There's so many things to love, but Christine mentioned something that I really wanted to point out. She said there's something about being on the apparatus, apparatuses, the apparati, anyways, the apparatuses, the equipment that makes me feel connected inside. And I couldn't agree more, like I think it's just a fun way to get to know yourself. I think it's really difficult, because today there's this trend in the industry where everyone is over correcting all the time and cueing a lot, and so you don't always have time in your body, which is why I really appreciate how great our teachers are telling you how many reps, and giving you a rep to be by yourself, and giving you permission to change the exercise if you need to. And I think that allows you to have that connection. Brad Crowell 19:21  But what if you're doing it wrong? Lesley Logan 19:23  Oh my God, you're not gonna die. You're not gonna die. Most of the time, people doing it wrong are just doing choreography, and so they're like, this is too easy. I don't get it. That's most of it like, very rarely are people doing it so wrong they could hurt, no, no, obviously, if you're working with spring. Brad Crowell 19:38  Jay's quote here.Lesley Logan 19:40  Oh, Jay always says, "Ugly Pilates, get used to it. Dangerous Pilates, never." And so of course, we don't want you to do dangerous Pilates, but a lot of times people are doing exercises they're not ready for, that would be dangerous, so you got to be careful. But that's why I love our OPC teachers always reminding people to, that it's brave and courageous to do something else. Also, Christine mentioned that she loves taking from the other teachers, because she she actually gets different cues or different ideas or different connections from the different teachers. Because when I was picking teachers for the platform, I think it's so important, we one day, like, actually put our inseams on a list. Because we're like, well, maybe we should let all the members know what equipment we have, so that they can maybe set their equipment up, our equipment, or whatever. And then, well, should we let them know how tall we are, and then it's like, well, we're tall, but some of us have longer legs, so that we need a measure of everything. So anyways, Christine is one of our fun size teachers, and so it's really fun, because she can understand different things, even for her body, while working with the taller teachers. But I know that our members who are fun size love taking with Christine, because, like, oh, that's how Christine does it. Okay, great. So it's kind of fun. Mindi also said that she loves learning from the other teachers, but she said learning from the other teachers is one of the most important things I can do for myself and also for my own practice, because I learn something new every single time I take someone's class. And I think that that's what is so fun. Because a lot of people are like, oh, use the order. That's boring. No, it's not boring. Because if you're truly doing the workout and not wanting to be entertained, it doesn't even feel like it's something you've done before. It feels like you're having a new exploration. Because your body is different depending on what time of day you work out, depending on what you did the day before. Brad Crowell 21:17  Definitely, day to day it's different. Lesley Logan 21:18  Today, my mat class, I have my own mat workout today, slayed it. Slayed it. I was so strong. I felt so good. It's not how I always felt. So anyways, I just really appreciate that even our teachers. Brad Crowell 21:30  Hey, good job, babe. Lesley Logan 21:31  Thank you. On this Couple Appreciation.Brad Crowell 21:33  We're celebrating the national couple's day. Lesley Logan 21:35  Yes, I won't cook dinner, though, it's okay. I'll go get it. I mean, really, it would just be tater tots. I'm really good at those sweet potato ones, specifically, everyone. I really like that. With those two teachers, both mentioned how much they love learning from the other people, and I think that's what makes it so fun. Because even if you're not a teacher, just imagine how much you're going to learn. What did you love? Brad Crowell 21:57  Well, when Rachel was talking about consistency, okay, here's the thing about what Rachel was talking about that I connected to OPC, and it made me happy. When we were brainstorming OPC, we were trying to figure out, how do we compete with other platforms that have thousands and thousands of videos, and it made me think of Netflix, and it made me realize I never get to watch anything because I spent too much time trying to figure trying to figure out what to watch that by the time I'm ready to watch whatever I picked, I don't have any more time. So we said, well, how could we do that for OPC? We kept the class options small on purpose, and that really lends itself to consistency. Just being able to log in, click play and go. Another thing I thought was really interesting, and Mindi talked about this too, but Rachel only kind of realized that she's hypermobile recently, like in the last couple of years, and that, I think for me, it was blatantly obvious I've been able to bend my body like crazy. Lesley Logan 22:55  I think, but also because a lot of people think that hypermobility, you like, super hyperextend your joints and like, your elbows and your knees, but you can be hypermobile in some joints and not other joints, and it doesn't have to look extreme.Brad Crowell 23:11  Sure, you could just be hyperextending. That's still hypermobility, right, hyperextending. What's really great is that, when Rachel shared her story she was talking about everyone told her, by the time you're in your 40s, you're going to need your knees replaced, and because she was doing Pilates before going to see a doctor, now they said, hey, you've been protecting yourself by doing Pilates all these years, so you don't need a knee replacement. And that's insane. That's amazing. I love that. That's incredible. Lesley Logan 23:38  Did you know that the knee replacements are through the roof with how many people are needing today versus decades ago, and women will need them more than men. And it's actually not because of how we walk, because people in tribes don't need knee replacements. It's because we have a lack of strength balance between our hamstrings and our thighs, quads, outer hips, and so when you don't have that kind of a balance, your joints don't operate in the same way and you're demanding muscles to do support of things that need other help. And so that is why knees are not working the way. Brad Crowell 24:12  Interesting. Lesley Logan 24:12  Yeah, it's a whole thing. Do your hamstring curls on your Reformer, everyone, or if you don't have a Reformer, do your single leg kick with precision.Brad Crowell 24:20  What she said when Megan was sharing, it was really great to listen to her talk about her family, and I got really excited to hear her talk about her partner, and we know.Lesley Logan 24:30  That's because you love him. Brad Crowell 24:31  Well, his name's Adam, he's rad. But it was what I thought was so cool, was that the two are very intentional about tagging each other in tagging each other out. They've four kids, y'all. So you know, there's a lot going on all the time, yet in the chaos of just life, they still are intentional about setting aside time for themselves individually, which is when Megan gets to do her practice. And that's awesome. I think that's really great. One thing that I also really appreciated was she said she was really encouraged about how inclusive OPC is, and we're talking all forms of inclusivity here. The mix of teachers are working full time in another business, all the way to teaching Pilates full time, different sizes, shapes, bodies, color, different areas of the world, different backgrounds. Lesley Logan 25:22  And also, you know, here I am. I don't have children, so it's really easy for me to say. Brad Crowell 25:26  Right, moms know moms.Lesley Logan 25:27  You, it's really easy for me to say, be consistent. But I love that I was able to find people in our community who are also amazing teachers. Megan has four kids. Not just four kids, she's got two kids who are teenagers. And then two, well, I think a third is a teenager, one's about to be, with two special needs. Rachel talked about her son. And then Yasmin has kids. We have a few, and then Tami has a kid who, she got into college. So, like, they're all in different life paths, too. And so I really wanted. Brad Crowell 25:55  Dog moms on their runners. Lesley Logan 25:56  Yeah, single versus married. Like, I really wanted people who join OPC to see themselves in at least one teacher, if not a few teachers, like, oh, I have a full time job too. Christine and Rachel do. Not that the rest of us aren't full time guys, but, like a nine to five. There's a difference within a nine to five. Brad Crowell 26:13  They're also teaching in addition to their full time job. So, you know, so, so you're not alone. Just the diversity of all of that really does make it inclusive. There's an opportunity to see yourself in at least one of the teachers, and so we hope that you also are making that connection and enjoying that. And then when Yasmin was sharing her story, she actually talked about how damaged her body was after a career sitting at a desk, and it was causing a lot of pain for her, and she found Pilates as a, I guess, part, partly as rehab, but, but now today, that's like she's dedicated her entire life to it. She, you know, got certified, and then eventually quit her corporate job. And she said the thing that she loved the most about OPC was that it's a sense of not being alone in her home studio, which, you know, she's inherently alone, and once she can tap into OPC, she can participate in a community that's all over the world and is really supportive and encouraging. And, you know, I just love that. I think that's great. Lesley Logan 27:14  I love that she talked about construction sites. She was referring to, like, you know, we all have struggles in our bodies, and she called them construction sites. And I was like, you know, I just feel like when you learn English as a second language, there's just a better way of saying the things that you are working on it, you're putting something together, you're building something. Brad Crowell 27:30  Yeah, that was pretty cute, that was really cute.Lesley Logan 27:31  Yeah, I can't we're gonna see her in person in September.Brad Crowell 27:33  Oh, I'm very much looking forward to that. Oh, yeah, when we come to the UK. In fact, y'all, the person who is coming from the EU is Yasmin, the teacher. So come meet her. Come meet us. That'd be a lot of fun. Anyway, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into some really juicy Be It Action Items that shared from this plethora of wisdom and knowledge that we have on these OPC teachers platform. So stick around. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 27:58  Welcome back. Let's dig into this bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted Be It Action Items from your convo with all these lovely ladies. I'm gonna jump in first here. Christine mentioned that she treats movement like snacks. And I thought that was brilliant. I thought that was such a great visual, because if you're working and you're hungry, what do you do? You reach in the drawer and you grab a Slim Jim. Maybe not Slim Jim, but you know, you grab a jerky snack.Lesley Logan 28:26  I'd go for Chomps, but they're not sponsoring this, but it's about meat. Brad Crowell 28:28  Yeah or whatever, or you grab, hopefully it's not just pure sugar, but I love the idea of treating movement like a snack. What if you just got up and did a quick lap around the office? What if you?Lesley Logan 28:39  We did a movement snack yesterday. We were kind of like head funk, and we went outside and just walked around one block. And you know what, guys, it felt great. And then you do push ups while you're waiting for your coffee. Brad Crowell 28:50  Push ups with my coffee often, if I feel sluggish, if I feel that afternoon tiredness, I will just go do a handstand against the wall, and I'm not even trying to balance. The whole goal of it is to get blood flow back into my brain. Lesley Logan 29:04  If you're thinking about your heart, it's youth, fountain of youth. Brad Crowell 29:07  Yeah. So I love this idea of thinking of it like a snack. It actually makes it even easier to go do brilliant. So, love that. Great job. Mindi talked about taking messy action. That is something that we've been saying.Lesley Logan 29:19  Something that she didn't say on this podcast, but Mindi has the entire intro memorized of the Be It Pod. So, yeah.Brad Crowell 29:25  Yeah, Mindyi's amazing, but, but taking messy action, right? How often have we talked about that here? And I love that that's something that she lives by and she thinks about all the time, because it kind of takes away the fear of whatever the thing is. It's allowed to be messy. It doesn't have to be perfect. We're not doing brain surgery here. So it doesn't have, necessarily have to be perfect the first time, right? That's not that common. So it's okay to get your feet wet, get started and figure it out as you go for most things. And I love that when it comes to movement, when it comes to Pilates, we can apply that, obviously. So, love that. Great job, Mindi. What's your biggest takeaway?Lesley Logan 30:05  Okay, we had a few. So, Rachel said don't show up for anyone else, but you. And I do love that. And I will say, if you have a hard time being selfish, then think about the problem you are going to be for the people you love, because you won't be able to go up the stairs. And then if that makes you do it, then that's great, because I really do agree with that. And I also think some people have a really hard time showing up for themselves, but I agree we all have to get to that place. You have to love yourself enough to show up for you. Megan said find a way. Find a way to prioritize self-care, movement, even just a, find a way, there's always a way. So, I agree. And then Yasmin said the root of the goal is not to be perfect in this moment and just do your workout practicing with the teacher. And I like that. So it's like, the only thing I have to work on today is being with the teacher, just moving with this class. What if you were not, like, I gotta get this teaser today, you know, so and then to find confidence in your body. And I think that's really, really sweet. And I think, you know, no one is Googling, like, how to have confidence in my body, but I do think a lot of people lack confidence in themselves. They come off very confident, and they come off very self-sufficient, and they come off as they're able to highly function and do all these amazing things, but they actually don't trust how they feel, and they don't have a mind body connection, and that's something we really want to achieve at OPC. And so here's the deal, Pilates Day is a Saturday. There's a reason why this episode is coming out this week. We wanted to celebrate this amazing holiday that's coming up that has given us an amazing career. And truly, we're doing it with the most amazing people doing this. But also we want you to do Pilates with us. A lot of you who listen and you go to an in-person studio, OPC can be the supplement. If you're only doing Reformer Pilates, you can do the mat work with us. Because if you actually want to see what, you're superly capable of. Superly capable of. Brad Crowell 31:45  I was wondering what word that was. Lesley Logan 31:47  I like it. Superly capable of. Brad Crowell 31:48  Superly capable of. Lesley Logan 31:49  It's like now there's a ring to it.Brad Crowell 31:50  Let's all be superbly capable of.Lesley Logan 31:53  Superbly capable of, you know, you need to get on the mat. It is hard, and if it's easy, you're not doing it right, which is why you have to join OPC so we can, actually, can submit a video of you doing an exercise, and I can tell you like, oh, actually, your feet go here, or this goes here. So, you guys, go to onlinepilatesclasses.com and join us. You can join us for 40 days for $40 and you get to take classes from these amazing people, and Tami, and you can be part of this amazing community. You heard him. Brad Crowell 32:20  And Lesley. Lesley Logan 32:21  And me, I'm teaching. I teach 40% of the classes. I'm like, every other week. You don't get away from me. Also, feel like I won't use it. I know me. No, we have accountability. We take classes away so you do show up for you. And you can help, you can find people in the community that will hold you accountable. You go, okay, I'm gonna do it on Tuesday who wants to do it with me? Brad Crowell 32:38  Look, I just want to say we are all doing Pilates, right? But at OPC, we actually have a process, okay, and that process includes our big three. We call them the three C's, consistency, community and connection, right? And we help you follow our process, which helps you maintain that consistency. Lesley Logan 32:59  Well, when we created this, and Brad's like I want to do this, I said, well, I love what people experience when they go take class together. I really love that there's that I've got to show up because the class is at x time and I'm going to see x people. Like, I love that, right? But if you miss that class, then you like, might go a week before you get to take class again. And I hate that. And so it's like, how can I have the accountability of an in-person class and the community of in-person, but the accessibility of a chaotic life. And so that is why every single Tuesday, a new class drops, an old class goes away, and you have access to that new class for two weeks. So there's always a couple to choose from. So if you're like, I didn't really understand that teacher, you don't have to worry about it. There's another teacher's classes up there. So it's really great. And you get to, when you say, I took class, I took Hippy Ki-Yay, people know what you're talking about, because they're all taking Hippy Ki-Yay, no one is like, oh my God, from five years ago. I just want to say this community.Brad Crowell 33:52  That's what makes this community really fun is because when people like, oh, I finally got the roll up when so and so is teaching. You know what they're talking about, because you're taking the same class as them and you're like, oh, yeah, that was the moment. So it really brings people together. And all that was by design, and we're really proud of that, because when people follow the process, they win. You win, and we want that for you. Lesley Logan 34:14  Just go to onlinepilatesclasses.com. Check it out. Sign up for the trial membership and get into the community. Send me a video.Brad Crowell 34:21  Join us for live class. Lesley Logan 34:22  You know, if you love this podcast, you're gonna love the community, I promise you that. And then the OPC app, which is for you, you can listen to this podcast, you can see tutorials, and you can communicate in the community. So Bayon is really excited for you to join us too, if you heard that from the way, way back of this house. And until next time loves, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 34:42  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 34:44  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 35:26  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 35:31  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 35:36  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 35:43  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 35:46  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This community-centered episode features real stories from five OPC teachers who integrate Pilates into their lives while managing careers, parenting, and personal challenges. Lesley Logan is joined by Mindi Westfall, Rachel Piper, Christine Kam-Lynch, Megan Lauman, and Yasmin Scholten to share how Pilates helped them reclaim time, build strength, and stay grounded. Their journeys reveal just how accessible and empowering consistent movement can be. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why OPC was built to be inclusive and community-driven.How each teacher found Pilates and what made them stick with it.The unexpected ways Pilates supports parenting and mental health. Why you don't need a full hour or fancy gear to build your strength.How the OPC teachers show up as both students and leaders.Episode References/Links:Meet the OPC Teachers - https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/teachersOPC on Instagram - https://instagram.com/opc.pilatesMindi Westfall - https://instagram.com/bendymindipilatesRachel Piper - https://instagram.com/size_diverse_pilatesChristine Kam-Lynch - https://instagram.com/pilates.boundMegan Lauman - https://instagram.com/megans_pilatesYasmin Scholten - https://instagram.com/purapilates_yasminGuest Bio:This powerhouse panel of Pilates teachers—Christine Kam-Lynch, Megan Lauman, Mindi Westfall, Rachel Piper, and Yasmin Scholten—brings a vibrant mix of passion, precision, and personality to the practice. Christine, a third-generation teacher and tech program manager, fuses straight-shooting cues with contagious joy. Megan blends classical roots with modern training to inspire confidence and consistency in movement. Mindi draws from her sports and injury recovery background to help others find relief and strength through Pilates. Rachel, founder of Size Diverse Pilates, champions inclusivity and creates welcoming spaces for every body, especially those who've felt unseen. Yasmin, a former economist turned studio owner in Germany, brings a global perspective and an uplifting spirit to her classes. Collectively, they represent the evolving heart of Pilates—meeting people where they are and helping them move with purpose, pride, and playfulness. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Megan Lauman 0:00  I love how inclusive it is. What I mean by inclusive is we're not expecting everybody's body to do the same thing. We're just honest, real and inclusive. It's inviting for everybody.Lesley Logan 0:10  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:53  Hey, Be It babe. You know, you might not know this. You probably hear about OPC all the time, but you probably have never like heard the people who are part of OPC, and so I wanted to take some time to share some of the OPC teachers with you. One, it's an excuse for all of us to get together. And two, more importantly, I think it's really important for us all to hear people who are like us and the journey that they went on. You probably know how important Pilates is to me. It really is how I be it till I see it every single day, like, the time that I am doing in my Pilates practice is how I can tell where I am in my life and how I'm feeling about myself and what's going on. And when I created OPC, it was so you could too. Just so we're on the same page, onlinepilatesclasses.com equals OPC. You'll hear different terms in this interview with the different teachers, and one of those is FFF, Form Feedback Fridays, and that's just us giving feedback to our members. And you'll hear about the live classes that we have, and you'll hear about the accountability in the community that we have. But the goal here is, you could hear a person who's got a job like yours, or similar to yours, or a life like yours. You know, when I created OPC, it was just me, but the goal was not always just me, and as I added teachers from our community, we have something very similar, but also we're very different, whether it was height or age or body type or lifestyle, or where we live in the world, or the journey that we've come on. I could have talked to each one of these teachers for an hour on their own. So, you know, if you like this episode and you have more questions for these teachers, let me know, and I'll bring them back on. We are missing Tami. Our schedules didn't align. It's kind of hard to get seven busy women with, I don't know six different time zones together, but we'll bring Tami on for her own special episode, of course. Together, all seven of us teachers are, there's seven including me, have over 8 or something years of teaching experience. And, so know that you are in good hands, and know that we don't ever expect you to aspire to look like us in any exercise. We only want you to be you. And I couldn't think of a better group of people to talk about being it till you see it, than just these women who had a whole life before they found Pilates, and they're living these busy lives now, and they're prioritizing that. So here is several of the OPC teachers, Mindy, Rachel, Christine, Yasmin and Megan. And I really hope you enjoy this. And if you have friends who've been thinking about Pilates and wanting to try it out or have extra accessibility, I hope that they take a look at OPC. There you go. Lesley Logan 3:42  All right, Be It babe, I am, I've got a party for you. It's an actual, true party. I'm not gonna lie. And we have a lot of different voices on here. So if you're hearing a bunch of women like talk with each other, join us in your car, at your coffee shop, on your walk, just like talk out, talk out loud with us. We'd have the conversation with us. Today, I'm joined by many of the OPC teachers, not all of the OPC teachers, and we thought it'd be really fun. One, we never can get together, all of us with our time zones. And you'll hear we're missing a brilliant voice in this conversation. So I'll have to have Tami on another day, but you'll hear the voices of these different teachers. And so we'll start off. I'm just gonna call people out for their introductions, and they're like freaking out right now, but okay, I'll tell you all who's here. We have Mindi Westfall. We have Yasmin Scholten. We have Rachel Piper. We have Megan Lauman. We have Christine Kam-Lynch and Tami-Adrian is in our hearts and our souls always. These are the amazing OPC teachers. Christine, I'm gonna call on you first. I'm so sorry, but you're, you are probably really good with a PowerPoint and so you probably have a good way of introducing yourself. Can you tell everyone a little bit about who you are, what you rock at, how did you get into Pilates?Christine Kam-Lynch 4:52  Yeah, Hi, I'm Christine Kam-Lynch, and teaching Pilates is actually a second job for me. Surprise, surprise. I am actually a technology program manager working in IT space and security. So really, techy nerd in some ways, or at least working with a lot of people that I work, I bring together. Sorry, LL, I already forgot your question.Lesley Logan 5:15  Just how you got into Pilates, but I love that you, what I'm so excited about, you guys is, if you hear her, she's like a total tech nerd, like one of the big ones. And I also say her last name wrong all the time, it's Kam-Lynch, not Cam-Lynch. So, noted. Okay, how did you get into Pilates, though? Also, I just want to say, if you're not watching the YouTube video of this, Christina is one of our fun size teachers. So I think that's important to bring up because.Christine Kam-Lynch 5:20  I'm standing right now.Lesley Logan 5:43  No, you're not. No, she's not. But maybe, how tall are you and how did you get into Pilates? Christine Kam-Lynch 5:50  I am five feet, and I practiced Pilates to stay at five feet. How did I get into Pilates? You know, when I moved to California from the East Coast, I saw a lot of people doing things, and I don't think you really see that on the East Coast. I think we're, like, all bundled up a lot because it's cold half a year that I don't think I paid attention. And so moving out here, I tried, like, everything, a lot of people do yoga out here and Pilates is just one of those looking into a studio space, like, what are all those toys in there? Like, I want to play on this playground. That's how I discovered it. And there's something about being on the apparatuses that makes me feel connected inside that I would hear words, but I don't understand the words. I'm like, okay, maybe one of these days it'll make sense and something will click. Well, the click happened on the apparatuses. And so that was my journey from like, one day a week to two days a week to three days a week to four days a week. And then my husband was like, oh my God, what is happening? I'm like, all the good things. All the good things has happened. Fast forward, I don't know, maybe 10 years later, the program was set up in a way that I could do teaching. The first part was mat and I finished thinking, I'll just teach mat, because that's about like all I can wrap my head around. And what's funny is that all of my students, my guinea pigs, who all helped me, had asked me, what's that over there in the studio? When do we get to go there? And I'm like, oh, crap, I didn't think that far ahead. I guess, I guess I need to continue the training program and so I did.Lesley Logan 6:14  I love that that's so cool. I love that their curiosity helped you go do more things because you're so good at what you do. We're gonna talk more about you, for sure. But I want to go to the other spectrum. And I can't decide if it's Mindi or Rachel. So Mindi's hair is taller than Rachel's so it will be Mindi first and then Rachel, as far as height goes on our teaching team. Mindi tell everyone who you are and what brought you into Pilates? Mindi Westfall 8:12  Yes, so I'm Mindi Westfall, and if you're out in Instagram world, I'm Bendy Mindi Pilates. So that actually tells a little bit about my Pilates journey, because I am hyper mobile and super bendy. So Pilates has helped me find my strength and my flexibility. But I actually started, oh gosh, I got on my first reformer in like 2005 because my mom was doing Pilates after she retired from teaching PE and she called me and was like, you have to try this. And I was like, well, at the time, I was living in Oregon, working at Nike, and Nike has state of the art facilities, and of course, they had a Pilates studio. So I went in and was like, alright, how do I get on one of those? Christine was like, what's that? You know. So took a couple classes there, and I was like, this is amazing. So after my Nike journey, I went back home to the St Louis area and went to the same studio my mom was going to and just really fell in love all over again. And at the time, I had some back issues, a bulging disc, and so I went through and did Pilates and tried to fix it, and unfortunately, it was only fixable with surgery. So I did a micro dissectomy and fixed the disc, and my orthopedic surgeon went to the same Pilates studio, and so he was like, okay, so you just need to go to Mary and continue your Pilates, and you'll be good to go. And I literally was out of pain and back into strengthening pretty quickly. And so that was just the journey of why Pilates was good for my body. I'm a former athlete. I'm 5'11" so I played volleyball in college. And wear and tear on my body, I really wish I would have had Pilates when I was playing, because I think it would have helped, and maybe I wouldn't have had so many things happening. But from there, I just kept doing Pilates, and then in 2019 I got my certification. So probably 2018 I'm trying to do mat in my head. But for my 40th birthday, my parents bought me Teacher Training Program. Lesley Logan 10:17  What a cool gift. Those are great. But we love your parents anyways, but those are so great. And I agree, like, I think if I got to take a stab at my running career after Pilates, and I got, not only I got five more years out of that career, I actually won races, which I never did pre-Pilates, pre-retirement. And so I thought it was pretty cool that, like, I could come out of retirement and be better than I was. So I do credit. I think everyone should do it if they're doing sports. Okay, so, Rachel Piper, is Mindi taller than you? Are you the same height? What are we?Rachel Piper 10:46  She's taller than I am. I'm 5'9".Lesley Logan 10:51  Oh, we're the same height. You feel taller to me. Okay, well, you feel taller to me. Anyways. Rachel Piper 10:57  Well, I have a presence. Lesley Logan 10:58  That's so true. It's so true. Rachel, how did you get into Pilates? Because you're like Christine, you live a whole other life during the daytime. Rachel Piper 11:07  Yeah, I feel like we, there are so many similarities between all of us. So I'm in biotech, that's my day job, and I was also a three sport athlete in high school and in college, and I'm also hyper mobile, but I didn't actually know that until about two years ago. And that's kind of a big thing for me. I went looking for yoga because my kiddo was about six years old and I was having trouble getting up off the floor. My knees hurt. Everyone I talked to said you're probably going to need new knees by the time you're 40. And let me tell you, with Pilates, now 46, and I do not need new knees. Okay, like that fixed me. But it's that consistency around Pilates that really, really helps. And like I said, it wasn't until maybe 18 months or two years ago that I actually realized that I was hyper mobile, and when I went in, they gave me a list of things like, Oh, this is what you can do for this. And you're also already doing it, so you're already sort of been fixing yourself for all these years, which I think is just a great testament to the entire Pilates method, yeah, but my journey was, I was a complete and total mat rat when I first started Pilates. Lesley Logan 12:25  Yes, but we should all take up space for the mat rats, because now no one wants to be a mat rat. Rachel Piper 12:30  I honestly don't get it, and teaching people how to teach mat is like, one of my favorite things to do. Like, honestly, I'm like, everyone should be on the mat. There are all of these opportunities for props. I know we'll talk about that later, but I was a mat rat. I did the teacher training, and I was like, I think maybe I'm just going to do this for myself, because I'm a nerd, you know, I'm in biotech. Pilates nerd as well. So I think I'm just going to do the mat teacher training and just for me, so that I understand what the heck has been going on and how this has changed my body. And then the next thing I know, I have a Reformer Tower, a Chair, like all the things, and I've made it through training. Lesley Logan 13:11  There's like, the addiction is real, and also, like, totally fine, because some people, they have other, they're like knitters, or they're into Beanie Babies or whatever, right? And we're like, no, I'm just gonna buy a piece of equipment that will last my lifetime, you know, it's a great investment. Christine Kam-Lynch 13:27  And beyond. Lesley Logan 13:28  And beyond, and beyond. It will be here. Right, right. You're totally right, Christine, because one of my girlfriends, unfortunately, her mentor passed, and all of that equipment is now living on 40 years later with other people. So there it is. Okay, more to chat with Rachel, but of course, we're gonna go to Megan, and then we'll go international to Yasmeen. So Megan, tell us everything about you.Megan Lauman 13:48  Everything? Lesley Logan 13:49  No, at least just your Pilates journey. Megan Lauman 13:51  Okay, well, I'm Megan, and I'm in the middle of the United States, in St Louis. I'm a mother of four. And so for me, it was looking for the thing that gives me some time for me so I could be the best mom I could be. And that became running like the minute my first was born. So I've been a runner for 18 years now, and so I ran and ran and ran, and that was like the time that I could breathe. And then suddenly my hips were hurting and my knees were hurting, and I was seeing the chiropractor, and I was seeing a physical therapist, and whatever I could do to feel well. And then I stumbled upon a YouTube video of mat Pilates, and also became a mat rat. So I would, became obsessed with mat, and I was like, there's no reason to go to physical therapy. I'm doing the same things here on the mat that they were having me do, only I loved it, and I felt so good. And so that became another moment for me. So added Pilates to that practice, and I did mat practice for about five years before I even knew that anything else existed. So just mat, loved i, still do, it's my favorite. Yeah. And then, yes, I did that for about five years before I looked into what else there was, and then became a Pilates instructor from there. And now my front room of the house is a Pilates studio, and yes, collect all the things. That's what we do.Lesley Logan 15:19  Sounds about right. Sounds about, you know, my living room and guest bedroom and office has Pilates equipment in now so, you know. All right, we gotta go all the way across the pond, all the way into Germany to talk to Yasmin. Yasmin, tell us who you are.Yasmin Scholten 15:35  Yeah. Hi, I'm Yasmin, and I'm from Germany. This is in Europe, center of Europe, and that's the country Joe Pilates is coming from originally, so, yeah, so, but it's not the country the Pilates is very famous, or was very famous. So I started with 18, with fitness. So I was a group fitness instructor with 18. So this was my teaching beginning, and I financed my Tourism Management study with teaching a lot.Lesley Logan 16:11  You were already in fitness, you were just teaching other fitness, and then you're like, I'm gonna go to school. Yasmin Scholten 16:17  Pilates was not really famous. I teach step aerobics, everything, shaping classes, whatever. Teached everything. And I had wonderful. Lesley Logan 16:28  Yasmin, do you know how to say left, but go right? Do you have that skill? Yasmin Scholten 16:32  Oh, I, yeah, it took a long time to learn, but yeah, I got it one day. Lesley Logan 16:39  That impresses me so much. Yasmin Scholten 16:41  Also with the music, rhythm and the music. So count for four. It took a time, but yeah, I got it. I still love to dance. So I also have this dance aerobic instructor who also introduced me to Pilates. She was also a Pilates instructor, and I asked her what do you think is the future of fitness? And she told me, a small Pilates studio with equipment. She told me I was, I don't know, 20, so it's a long time ago. So I finished my studies, and yeah, and then I tried Pilates because I had a lot of tension in neck and back because of sitting too much in my office job a lot, and I went to my first Pilates class there. I wasn't teaching anymore anything about fitness or anything else, but I went to my first class, and I really felt so good after this mat class, and I had a wonderful teacher there. And, yeah, she recommended me one day. Why not doing a training program? And she also recommended me doing I didn't know anything about classical or contemporary. I didn't know anything about it. I just loved the mat class, and she bought a Reformer one day, and I tried this, and I was totally, I don't know, I fell in love with equipment too, so just a Reformer, but it was wonderful. And then, yeah, I did the training program, and then I started to teach in her studio together with my full time job, yeah, that was hard, but it was so fun teaching. I loved it, really. And then I decided to move to my hometown, so it's a little small town near Munich, and I opened my home studio there, and I quit my job. It was really a good paid job, but I thought, yeah, that's what I want to do. And yeah, everybody told me, oh no, you are crazy. You are crazy. It's a small town. Nobody knows anything about Pilates. Lesley Logan 18:54  But I think that's sometimes the best thing, because then you get to be the one, yeah.Yasmin Scholten 18:58  And I'm still the only one in surrounding so there are no other Pilates studios. So I'm really lucky. The next one is in Munich, and yeah, they are coming and loving the equipment. So I really love the equipment too, but I'm also a mat rat. I don't know this one. Mat rat, I love it.Lesley Logan 19:18  I know I feel like we need to rename the animal, though, you guys, I don't think anybody really, I mean, you know, maybe, the mat rat, or maybe we're just giving rats a better name. I too, like, I only knew the mat for years. I thought the equipment was weird. I was like, who needs to be on that? The mat is so good. Why would we do that? It's also, like, I don't have the money. So I was like, that's so expensive. Why would anyone do that when you could just do the mat work? And then when I moved to L.A., the woman kept putting me on the Reformer, and I did long stretch for the first time, and thought I was gonna fly off the Reformer. I thought I was just gonna get shot up like a cannon. I was like, I don't like this at all. I don't feel safe. I don't think this is good. So, and it took me a really long time to, like, get on board with the equipment. Lesley Logan 20:01  Okay. So we have Mindy, Megan, myself, and Tami, and Yasmin, full time Pilates teachers, and then Rachel and Christine, you guys save the world. And then you teach Pilates on the side. Is that what's going on? Okay. And then, yeah, I like that. I mean, Christine's doing securities and tech, and you're doing biotech. So to me those are the two things that save the world right now. And then we have Yasmin, Rachel, Megan and Tami who've got the kiddos. I think Megan wins with four, because Yasmin, you have two? Yasmin Scholten 20:34  Two, yeah, two boys. Lesley Logan 20:36  Yeah. And then Rachel and Tami each have one, unless I've forgotten a child. Okay, so I just want to say that, because I know people are listening, and it's important to put in context, like, every single one of these people got into Pilates for something that they needed, and they got joy out of it, and also it made them a better person around the people that they love and care about. I mean, Christine's husband was wondering where all this stuff was coming from, but I think he's on board now. Lesley Logan 21:01  Okay, so I want to take a few of you, and you guys can chime in if I don't call you out. But like, what got you wanting to even look at OPC? Because obviously we all fell in love with in-person Pilates. And I think there's a lot of people, like, I just had someone here at the house. I was just teaching in-person. They were visiting from the Ukraine, and they're like, so you teach people on the computer, like, how do you know if they're doing it right? And I was like, well, that's kind of my job to know if you're doing it right. But I can understand that question, you know, if you don't experience online, so I'll go with Mindi, Christine and Rachel on this one. How did you kind of like stumble upon OPC? And what did you think about doing Pilates online?Mindi Westfall 21:37  I'm not the mat rat. I didn't know much about the mat until I started doing my training and then following people on Instagram, following Lesley, and she was doing an in-person class in Denver, and I was like, I'm gonna go to that. Lesley Logan 21:53  Oh, yeah, no, I bug, I like slid into your DMS. Okay, so this is how do you all wanna know how many I met? She commented on something, and it was during the time of the first ever OPC Pop Up Tour, and we were trying to sell out locations. And so I was in the habit of every comment I got I literally stalked them and looked up where they're from, and it said Denver. And so I DMed her, I said, hey, I'm teaching a class in Denver, and you should come. You guys, it was like across town on a Monday night, and she fucking did it. So that's how we met. And it was a mat class, so she had to do mat. Mindi Westfall 22:22  So at that point, I was like, okay, I need this in my life. And you guys were talking about OPC, and I was like, oh, this would be great, because I can have someone else teach me, and I had been following you and all of that. So OPC was just a way for me to get my own workout in while teaching and trying to figure this out. And I mean, I was teaching a lot in the beginning, because that's what we do. And then I was like, okay, I need this time for myself. Plus I just wanted more of your knowledge, because I didn't know a lot at that point. So the mat was really the part that I wanted the access to on OPC, because I didn't have access to that where I was, so. Lesley Logan 23:07  A lot of people don't teach mat. And so the mat at OPC is like a great supplement if you're going to a studio, yeah. Mindi Westfall 23:12  Absolutely, yup. Lesley Logan 23:14  All right, Christine, you're up. How did, how did we, like, we knew each other, though? How do we find each other?Christine Kam-Lynch 23:20  This is gonna sound really odd. Lesley Logan 23:22  How did you get into my life?Christine Kam-Lynch 23:23  I know. So, I wasn't on social media. I'm barely on it now, but my dog is on social media, and somehow you got into his feed through Profitable Pilates. Lesley Logan 23:41  Oh, it wasn't even an ad, by the way. We weren't even paying for ads. No, this is like straight up true algorithm making sure we met, yes. Christine Kam-Lynch 23:47  Yes, which timed well, because I was having my home studio at the time, and I had three questions, and I'm like, where do I go for these questions? And your poster, I don't know, I don't think reels were big back then, that's how old I am, but it was a post, and I was like, oh, she could have my answers for me. And so I slid into your DMs, because I remember asking a friend, like, how do I contact her? And she's like, oh, you DM her. And I'm like, what? So she showed me. And I was like, oh, great, thank you. And so, yeah, I wrote to you, and so you gave OPC as part of our Profitable Pilates agency membership. Lesley Logan 24:39  Oh, so we just forced you into it. Christine Kam-Lynch 24:41  Yes, basically. I was like, this is free? Okay, I would give it a try. And I was like, oh, I love this.Lesley Logan 24:49  I love it. That's so funny. We kind of forced you in, you know what? Sometimes that's the best time. All right, Rachel, how did you find OPC?Rachel Piper 24:57  I feel like it was really, really odd, if I remember correctly. There was someone on Instagram that I was supporting because she made size inclusive clothing with Pilates. Her name's Maria, and she was hosting, like an OPC leader, something. Lesley Logan 25:12  Yeah, oh, okay. That was. Okay, so in 2020, we had like community leaders, because everybody was at home and everyone was stuck, and so we would do pop ups, but live Zoom classes on the mat, but just for that person's people. It was city-based, but obviously not and so it was our first those were our first affiliates. And so she loved us. We love Maria. Shout out to The Movement Shop. And so you, you came to the the Minneapolis, Zoom class. Rachel Piper 25:42  Yeah, I came to the Zoom class. And I think I followed you on Instagram or whatever, but I didn't really know what was going on with Instagram, other than I was trying to support her. So I went, and afterwards, we chatted, and Brad was there, and I was like, oh, these people are fun. And you asked me, like, a whole bunch of questions. And it was, like, really interactive. And then after that, it was just like, we kept commenting on each other's posts and things like that, and the next thing I knew, you were asking me to be a teacher. And I was like, how did this even happen? You know what I mean? It was pretty interesting. But I love the classes, so I did sign up for OPC after that. But we have a ton of mat classes. We had a ton of that classes at my studio, but they were all 50 minutes long, and I was like, I just want a pinch of mat, but also because I could do it on my own, but if I do it on my own, then maybe I'll cheat a little here or there. And I love a good theme. I think we all know I love themes. I love writing descriptions for themes. Christine Kam-Lynch 26:40  Yeah, you have the best names, Rachel, you come up with the best names. Lesley Logan 26:44  At OPC, we know, it was like Katie Donnelly, and it might have been Christine who is like, when you hear OPC does anyone go, yeah, you know me. And we discovered that all of the members are kind of like elder millennial Gen Xers who just really love 90s hip hop. Then we, like, just really got into themes. And Rachel is definitely the go to because some people on the team don't really love naming things and coming up with themes. And it's like Rachel and Christine, the two of them will just come and Megan can just come up with themes. So just give them, give them to Mindi.Rachel Piper 27:14  I do. I send some of them to Mindi. I swear, still my favorite one that I ever came up with, and I still giggle out, is Hippy Ki-Yay Mat and Reformer. Yeah, they're, like, one of my favorite ones. Oh my gosh, we just need to, like, bring that back because. Lesley Logan 27:32  You should bring it back. Rachel Piper 27:33  It was an awesome theme. If anyone remembers the circle bands, we put the circle bands on our thighs, and we never took it off for class. And I was like, maybe don't use, like a heavy band, everyone.Christine Kam-Lynch 27:46  I did. I did not listen to you. I did and I regretted it. It's important.Lesley Logan 27:54  I do recall that. So Megan, I know how she won a year of OPC, if I recall our history together. I think the better question maybe is why did you stick around at OPC? Most people win things, and it's free, and they don't use it, but you used it. So what was it about OPC that made you go, this is my place, that I'm going to use this gift? Megan Lauman 28:18  Yeah, well, kind of similar to Mindi. I mean, when I originally found you was online with YouTube videos like teaching exercises, because I was a teacher in training, and I was like, how do I soak in more knowledge when I'm on a walk? How can I just learn while I'm walking or while I'm driving? I could just listen. And so that's how I found you. Loved the tutorials. And then one free year, I kind of like to go all in. Like, a lot of us Pilates people, we don't, like, we really just do it that's why we all have so much equipment, right? So, yeah, I went all in. I'm like, I'm not missing a class. I'm getting everything out of this that I could possibly get out of this.Lesley Logan 29:00  Like, the value of a year of OPC is, like, 1400 and something dollars. I'm telling you, you guys, Megan was at every live class she took every, now they're 45 minutes, and every 30 minutes, and how I got to know you is because of you asked all these questions and you participated in the community. I was like, yes, I'm so glad this person won, because you were the most deserving to win.Megan Lauman 29:21  The Form Feedback Fridays, I definitely took advantage of that, because the I was a new Pilates instructor, right? And so I'm looking at everyone, but have no one looking at me and so it was just such a huge bonus to have someone able to look at me and give some feedback.Lesley Logan 29:36  That's one of my favorite things that I wish people took advantage of more. And it's really funny, because I've had a couple people go, can I send my clients' videos in? And I'm like, no, because OPC is a safe place for your practice, and your practice the more curious you are, even if your body type is different than your clients, because all the teachers body types are so different, you're going to learn what you need to learn. And so the Form Feedback Fridays, you guys, it's really like, you send a video in if you're an OPC member, if you do an exercise, and then I can give feedback. And my goal is that we get so many of these that I have to hire the OPC teachers to help me. And so people are like, I don't want to take up her time, as if I don't know how to manage it, so take up my time OPC members and send it in, because it's one of the things that no other on demand platform does. No one does. Not a single fitness company out there makes sure, except for they're like, oh, put this suit on, and these little sensors will tell you you're doing it correctly or not. That's not actually how Pilates work. Your body is very different. So Megan, we love that you took full advantage of the favorite parts of OPC and all that you did. Yasmin, you've been with us for a long time, and you've been doing Pilates probably longer than all of us, maybe, maybe, maybe as long as Christine. What's your favorite part about OPC that makes you want to do it, and even wanted to teach about it? Yasmin Scholten 30:50  I would say I found you. You did this Struggle is Real with Andrea Maida and I love this, this Struggle is Real because, yeah, we all have these construction sites, I say, in our bodies, also we as a teacher, and I love to go through this. And this is the same with OPC, I would say. You gain more self-confidence in your body because you're following these teachers who also have these struggles in their bodies. And they give you approach of their method to help you with these struggles. And I really love this about OPC, and also I'm often really overwhelmed and over-stimulated with studio and being mom and family, and I don't want to scroll through hundreds of classes to find this for this day. I don't know what I need. I just want to move. Yeah. Lesley Logan 31:45  Yeah. Well, that was my goal. I used to ask people, why do you not use the membership that you have? And they were like, it's too many. It's like, Netflix. It's like, do you know for the fifth time, Brad and I are watching Schitt's Creek right now, it's not like there's not a new show out there. I know that there's a new season of White Lotus out, and I haven't even switched over because I'm still finishing the fifth round through Schitt's Creek, because you want to know what, I know where it is. I know how to find it, you know, like, so, you know, people were telling me they weren't using it, and I was like, how do I create something that people have accountability for, but also feels like you're at the studio, but doesn't have the distractions or the expenses of the studio, but also all that. So thank you for, thank you for sharing that. And we love, we love Pilates Andrea. Megan, you know, and this goes for, not that Christine and Mindi and I can't talk to what it's like to be busy, you have four kids, and you talked about how running was your thing. How do you prioritize, and you know, if you ask me, and Rachel want to jump in, as a busy mom of kids who need you, your practice, because it would be so easy for you to have an excuse to not.Megan Lauman 32:47  Oh, yeah. I should mention that two of my children have special needs as well, so there's a little bit more time consumed in them. My youngest is 12 and he has autism. He's nonverbal. He functions like an 18 month old, so he does require a lot of attention when he's around. So I do have the best partner in the world. My husband's amazing and we both believe that we need time for ourselves. And so we tag each other in. And of course, we do a lot of the work together, which makes it fun, but we do tag each other into and so having someone that knew what's important to me in making sure that I get that time is just really valuable. Yeah. So it started when my youngest was born and went with running, and it would just be like, maybe it was a nap time, and my husband was working from home, and I could get out for, you know, my first run was a mile and a half. I thought I was gonna die, right? And then I'm thinking back to when they got a little bit older, and I was doing Pilates, and I would just tell them all to work together, and I would turn on a video, and I'd find like a quiet space in the front room, which is now my Pilates studio, and my kids would be in the other room so I could hear what's going on. I knew that they were there, but I had my own space, and the kids would work together and give me, maybe it was 10 minutes, or maybe I got a whole hour that day, but I made it a priority. And you know, I'm thinking back to that time specifically. I would schedule that in in the morning, and they knew at nine o'clock, this is what mom was going to do. We set that expectation. And like I said, sometimes it was shorter than others, but scheduling and making sure I had that time for me.Lesley Logan 34:25  Yeah, thank you for sharing, because I think so many people take on that full responsibility, and maybe they don't have the same amazing partner we know, and we shout out to him. We love him. But also, I think sometimes people aren't asking for help either. We assume people will meet our needs without us verbalizing it as well. So I love that you guys tag in.Megan Lauman 34:46  You can live in this world where you're like, I don't ever get time for myself, and I realize you're not really winning any points for doing that. I have it worse than you isn't winning any points. So let's just make the best of it. And sometimes it's eight o'clock at night before I would get a workout in, but I knew I'd feel better and I'd sleep better if I did it, and sometimes just waking up early or fitting it in there in the day, but figuring out that time for you, I think, is very important. Lesley Logan 35:10  I love that. Rachel or Yasmin, do you have anything to add? Like, on how with kiddos? And I think, Yasmin, your kids are quite young still.Yasmin Scholten 35:20  Yeah, they are eight and 11 and yeah, they need mom a lot. I don't want to lie. It's sometimes hard, really, but they know since, since they are really small, this is a part of my life. So if I don't do Pilates, I get pain, I'm in bad mood, I get a lot of stress, so they know all. So I have also the best partner in the world, and he knows. Often he says, okay, go, go do your workout, and then we will do the rest. So yeah, it is really important to make yourself the priority. It's not easy. With all these we all have so much to do. The day is too short, I guess. So it is important to prioritize, because if not, I get pain, really, I get pain and a bad mood.Lesley Logan 36:17  Yeah, and I don't think people recognize that that pain and bad mood doesn't make you the mom or partner or coworker or friend or sister that you want to be. Then you end up spending time apologizing for being in a bad mood and being in pain and for what you said while you were in a bad mood and in pain, and that just wastes more time that you could spend with yourself. Yasmin Scholten 36:37  Yeah, that's true. Rachel Piper 36:38  The only thing that I have to add is I also have a 12 and a half year old, and he's also autistic, and he's got some other fun flavors going on, like ADHD, which kind of sends him flying off the walls. So finding time to just be in my own space where it's quiet is really, really important. And since I started when he was relatively young, I let him kind of play around with me, or next to me, and then from there, he just understood it's something I do. And now, as he's gotten older, for almost the last year, we've started doing an activity together. So we started taekwondo. If you look at my socials, we did rock climbing yesterday, and that was the first time I'd actually rock climb, but. Lesley Logan 37:21  So cool. Rachel Piper 37:22  He's done it like one other time, and we did it together, and he's very cool about that. He's not quite in the place where he wants to do Pilates with me, but we can do these other things together. And I just want people to know that even if it's 10 minutes or 15 minutes where you can just get on the mat, it helps you do everything else better. There's no way that I could do taekwondo the way that I do it, or just, okay, I'm just gonna scale this wall without training at all, without Pilates. Lesley Logan 37:52  Rachel, I couldn't agree more, because, like, I rock climbed with Brad a couple years ago. I was like, that'll be our hobby together. And to be honest, it's just not close enough to our house for either of us to be able to prioritize it. But, there's no way. There's not a part of me that is a rock climber, except for that I've really long legs, have me pretty strong and has flexibility in my hips. That kind of helps, but nothing else. If it wasn't for Pilates, I wouldn't know how to use my arm and my leg opposite at the same time. Yeah, for sure. But I just have this, are you the only adult in your taekwondo class? Is it all the kids? And like, is it an adult taekwondo class? Is it all the moms?Rachel Piper 38:27  No, it's actually a mix. And it's like the most inclusive place you could find, which is great. There are a ton of neurodivergent people. Lesley Logan 38:36  I love it. Rachel Piper 38:36  And we all take class together. So there are parents of adults, there's adults, there's kids that come on their own, and it's like a super safe place for Alex in this particular dojang, which has made him come out of his shell. So yesterday, he was like, leading me all over the place, like, okay, you do that one and I'll do the one right next to you for rock climbing. It's really helped him come out of his shell. cLesley Logan 38:58  I saw his smile. I saw his smile on something on your post. And I was like, I have not seen that kid smile so big. So it's really cool. Okay, this is, like, not even long enough. We could talk forever. But I want to go into two parts, Be It Action Items. We can't leave an episode without a Be It Action Item. And the thing that makes you actually take class on OPC, because here's the thing, guys, these are all teachers of OPC, except for Tami. We're missing her. They could so easily just film and take the money and run but I also know that they take each other's classes, so I would love to know why they actually do that, like what their favorite part about OPC is. So we'll go with Mindi and then Christine.Mindi Westfall 39:36  So for me, it's constantly learning, right? Learning from other teachers, I think is one of the most important things I can do for myself, teaching my clients, and then also for my own practice, because I learn something new every single time I take someone's class. So that's really important to me. So my Be It Action is actually from Lesley. So, in Agency, the business group, it's take messy action. But I also put that into my own practice, because not every single class, every single exercise, is ever going to be what you want it to be, and you have to take messy action in your own practice and be like, well, that was okay today, but I got to move or whatever it is, like, it doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to feel perfect. Movement is the most important part. And just do it. And no matter what it looks like, what it feels like, at least you're moving your body.Lesley Logan 40:39  I love that. I love how you applied that. Christine, favorite thing and a Be It Action Item. Christine Kam-Lynch 40:44  Similar to Mindi. I think, I think we're all relatively students of life, cannot stop learning. So, I actually love hearing the different cues from different teachers, because sometimes that, like, lands differently depending on the day with me. And sometimes I can actually take that and apply it to, you know, a client of mine, if my words are not working, it's like osmosis or something, that I can be like, oh, how about this? Will this work? That's really fun to try and experiment with. My Be It Action Item is I started treating movement like snacks throughout the day. And I think sometimes we we get tied to a time, like I have to work out 30 minutes, or it doesn't count, or I have to work out for an hour, it doesn't count. No, any amount of minutes that you can sprinkle throughout your day counts. And my mom has really embraced this. My mom, who is a not, not a mover, not an exerciser, she's like, does this count? Like, what are you doing mom?Lesley Logan 41:52  For everyone listening, Christine just lifted her arm and lowered it down. Technically, that would be under the movement category, yes. Is it gonna help her rock climb? Probably not today.Christine Kam-Lynch 42:06  So surprisingly enough, the homework I give my mom, who I didn't think was gonna take it seriously, actually took it seriously, and she does what she can remember for that week, and she just inserts throughout the day is kind of like my new thing, Lesley, like, if I can't get a workout in, just move a little bit here and there throughout the day. You'll feel better.Lesley Logan 42:30  I love it. Yasmin, your favorite thing about OPC, why you stick around, why you take classes and your Be It Action Item? Yasmin Scholten 42:36  I would say I will steal your mantra so we don't have to be perfect. The root is the goal not to be perfect in this moment and just do your workout, practicing with the teacher, and find confidence in your body. Lesley Logan 42:57  I love that Be It Action Item. What's your favorite thing about OPC, though? Yasmin Scholten 43:00  My favorite thing is to be not alone in my studio. So I have a home studio. I'm alone and there's a community for me. I can ask questions. They are wonderful teachers I get to know and I can ask whatever struggle. No question is a bad question or silly question. Lesley Logan 43:23  I love that you brought that up, because I think a lot of people work from home today, and so they're thinking, I need to go out and find something so I'm not in my house all the time, but then they don't have the time for the parking, or they can't afford the membership, or they can't get into classes, and so they could still have a community. Yeah, I thank you for sharing that part. Megan, your OPC favorite thing and Be It Action Item.Megan Lauman 43:45  Yes, definitely love the community. Certainly love learning. That's what brought me there in the first place. But I love how inclusive it is. Sometimes also I just listen to the workouts. Maybe I watch them more than once, but I listen to them while I'm driving a car. And I learn a lot from from everyone, but I what I mean by inclusive is we're not expecting everybody's body to do the same thing. And I think sometimes, if you're just watching an online platform, you're thinking, I have to look like this person who's demonstrating it. I like how all the teachers might say, oh, that rep didn't feel very good. And let's see if it's different this time. Or I felt my hips moved they aren't supposed to move right there, or we're just honest, real and inclusive. And I really do love that. It's inviting for everybody. Be It Item. I'd say, just find a way. Maybe it would be, find a way to do the thing to take a moment for that self-care, whatever that is, if it's five minutes, and maybe it is a mat and it's five minutes on the mat or getting out for a walk around the block or whatever it is, but finding a way. Lesley Logan 44:44  I love that. I love both those things. And thank you for saying that when I set out to create OPC, of course, I always thought of myself as an inclusive person, but I also could see where I alone can't be the whole reason we're inclusive. By the way, that takes the pressure off every single person listening. You alone cannot be for everyone ever, because we all have different life experiences. So we all have blind spots to experiences we don't have. And even if you are super thoughtful and kind and welcoming, it doesn't mean that every single person can see themselves. We just had a new member who was like, I was taking a Reformer class. It was just a little faster and I'm in a larger body, and I'm not sure I'm like, set out for this. And I was like, oh my God, hold on, when is Rachel's next class on the schedule? Okay? And also, I really do mean it when I say, don't do every exercise, you know. So I love that I can refer our new members to different teachers who either have similar body types or schedules or personalities. So yeah, thank you. Rachel, your favorite thing about OPC and Be It Action Item. Rachel Piper 45:56  I actually love it when I have the Work Out With Me list. Oh and I don't even care if just one person shows up to those, but it's just like this little extra community thing in general, because Yasmin said we're very community-oriented, and this is just like another way for us to be able to do it. So I know Megan's done one and we hope to get a few more out there. But everyone's already said kind of what I'm already thinking as well. But I just love hearing what people are doing with their themes. And so sometimes I'll just listen to it, but I'll tell you what, to me there's like nothing better than turning on the camera live as one of the teachers and playing someone else's workout and letting people, if they want to, just sit there and watch me do someone else's workout. Because I will change the workout if I need to. Lesley Logan 46:50  And I love that, because it does give our members, even though we say it and we all say it in a different way, gives people a permission like oh, Lori Watson, who's an honorary teacher of OPC, she has fusions and stenosis, so she changes every workout. But I, guess what, I know that she takes every single OPC workout and she just changes it. And there isn't a workout out there where one of us is going to have to alternate something, because our bodies are so different. So I love those workout, you guys, those are really fun that when she, Rachel, started them and you know that we have OPC members at Wednesdays at 8am Mountain Time, get together every single week, and they all hit play at the same time and take the same class, and then they hang out afterwards. And I just think that our community is so cool. Okay, you have a Be It Action Item. I think I cut you off. Rachel Piper 47:36  So don't show up for anyone else but you and do what you can do and then be happy about it. That's it. Lesley Logan 47:44  The simplest and hardest thing. I think anyone can do yeah, yeah. Lifelong journey. Ladies, okay, real quick. Well, I'll tell everyone you're in, we'll go through Instagram handles so people can find you, follow you, work with you. So Mindi, what's your favorite place on Instagram hangout. Mindi Westfall 48:01  It's Bendy Mindi Pilates. Lesley Logan 48:03  I love it. Rach, with an I, Mindi with an I. Rachel, what's your Instagram handle for people? Rachel Piper 48:11  size_diverse_pilates Lesley Logan 48:15  Love it. Christine, we know you don't like to hang out, but you do, you do have a dog who does. So where can, where can you be found?Christine Kam-Lynch 48:23  No, you can find me at pilates.bound, but if you really want to follow a really cute St. Bernard, it's rammus128.Lesley Logan 48:33  Yeah, yeah, we love Rammy. Megan, your Instagram handle?Megan Lauman 48:37  Instagram is megans_pilates. Lesley Logan 48:40  Megans Pilates. Yasmin?Yasmin Scholten 48:43  It's purapilates_yasmin. Lesley Logan 48:48  Yasmin, wonderful. And you guys, everyone can follow the OPC Instagram so you can follow me, but sometimes I don't talk about Pilates at all, and people like to tell me that I should, but this is my personal it's my personal Instagram, so I'm gonna tell whatever I want, but OPC.Pilates is the Instagram handle for OPC and Tami, we miss you. We'll have you share all your favorite things with the Be It people soon, but I wanted to have everyone on because I think when you think about OPC, it's easy to like think, oh, it's me and these other teachers, but really it's all of us, right? And while I started it, it certainly was never intended to be about me. It was actually a bit more to be about the community. And so every single one of these teachers was in the community first, because I get people all the time are like, how do I teach for your platform? And I'm like, oh, are you a member? Probably not, since I don't know. And so the the teachers were in the community first. And it's about the community and our live monthly classes, our Work Out With Me, the Form Feedback Fridays, all of that is for the community, because we actually grow together. We as teachers, grow because of the questions that our members ask. The members get stronger because our classes are based around their questions, and we all benefit from the accountability and the community that exists. So I hope that if you're all intrigued by any of these ladies and why they got into Pilates and why they do OPC, I hope you join us in our favorite place. And so if you just go to onlinepilatesclasses.com you can, you can join us 40 days for $40. Please share this episode with a friend who's been wanting to do Pilates but they thought it was too expensive. OPC can be part of your Pilates journey that you do at home and you go to a studio. It could be your only way of accessing Pilates, but we always have something for you no matter what you have access to, because you could be a mat rat like most of us. Until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 50:35  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 51:18  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 51:23  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 51:27  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 51:34  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 51:38  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley Logan honors the end of April with meaningful wins from the community and her team. She shares a bold move by Australia addressing toxic masculinity, a powerful reflection from Ainsley Walker on her eLevate journey, and the intention behind launching OPC Spring Training. From global to personal, this episode is a reminder that showing up like the person who already achieved the goal is the real win. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How Australia is addressing toxic masculinity with a new government role.How Ainsley Walker found growth rewatching her eLevate journey.What sunrise Pilates in the Maldives revealed about self-trust.How OPC Spring Training came together with intention and teamwork.Episode References/Links:Tim Richardson - https://beitpod.com/timrichardsonOPC Spring Training - https://opc.me/events If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday.Brad Crowell 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:02  Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:48  Hi, Be It babe. Happy FYF. Happy last Friday of April. Here we are. We did it. We made it. We're here. You did it. I have so many, I have a great win to share with you, and I've got wins of yours to share, and I've got something that's really inspiring, and this blew my mind. Okay, here we go. Lesley Logan 1:02  Last year, this is from hearherstories on Instagram. Last year, Victoria made history by appointing Australia's first parliamentary secretary for men's behavior change, addressing toxic masculinity and its role in rising domestic violence rates. Tim Richardson's role focuses on reshaping boys and men's attitudes towards women and tackling the harmful influence of social media. Should other countries adopt similar roles to combat gender violence and promote equality? Let us know your thoughts. Yes, yes, I'm so, so, I'm so obsessed with this, you know, like we have had some epic guests on this podcast to talk about healthy masculinity and relationships and communication. And I know, everyone listening to this, my few good men, like, you know we're not talking about you, and I just love that a country saw there's a rise in domestic violence and what's happened on social media, and they are, and they're doing something to change it. And it's not gonna change overnight. This is, like, years in the making, but like, we gotta start somewhere educating people that this is not a competition. People of a different gender or different color than you are not your competition. And people who are different than you are not making the world a worse place. They making the world a better place. And so we've gotta get out of this fear-based mindset. And I think that this is just a really cool thing that a country is doing. So way to go, Australia. You win. I wish that was happening here, but maybe it'll happen in other places, and eventually that will help here. Lesley Logan 2:33  So anyways, all right, your wins. There we go. All right, Ainsley Walker. We have a couple wins from her, and I just love I can hear her accent when I read them, so I'm going to read them to you, and this will be our wins for the last Friday in April. So I've been moving through the eLevate replays the last few days, reformer and mat. Took a few days off, enjoyed a family holiday, and I fully took a break. And I'm watching the faces on the screen, and then realize we are no longer them. I see you all move now, and you are not those people. We have grown so much in a year in so many ways, and it makes us so happy, full of gratitude and proud of us. The work we put in last year, the time we invested and continued to I looked at me on the screen and literally wanted to hug me, tell me, it's going to be okay. Better than okay, better than I could imagine. I'm so excited to work my way through these and keep growing. Thank you all, and Lesley, Happy New Year, and incredible people, thank you all for being here and supporting me and each other. I'm also so excited to meet more of you this year in Las Vegas. And she had another win later on, which is I took a full break to the beautiful Maldives, where there was a small, empty gym studio, and I did my own mat practice. Every morning at 6am I did it every day, then walked on the beach, saw the sunrise and then joined the family at breakfast. I saw every sunrise and sunset, and time seemed to be plentiful. It gave me space to reflect on what an incredible year I'd had, and none of it I knew of before. So thank you for Pilates and all it is gifting me. I embrace the rain again, and I now feel ready for this year, and I'm so grateful for this rest without fear and knowing I'm still getting paid. I start back tomorrow teaching. My first class is mat. I'm excited because my daily practice, it's in my body. And I traveled for this year, took me to Las Vegas, Philly, Morocco, Cambodia, Maldives. I completed eLevate. Clients kept coming with full classes. I got stronger, physically and mentally. Relationships mended and evolved by me setting boundaries, talking honestly and unapologetically. It was incredible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Well, Ainsley, thank you. I want to share only yours today, because one, you're such a beautiful writer, but two, I've said this before. I said to people when I talk about Ansley, I love the way she sees the world, and I want her wins to be something that helps you see that you can see the world this way too. Now, of course, obviously you see things that are differently, and you can reflect differently when you're on vacation versus when you're not, but where in your day are you taking time to reflect? When are you actually thinking about who you were a year ago? I love that she went through the replays and was able to go, wow, look how far we've come. Like, when are you doing that in your life or in your business or in a relationship? When are you actually acknowledging, like, just how freaking far you've come? You're different, right? I look at pictures myself when I thought I was like, younger and hotter, and I actually can see, like, actually today, 10 years later, I am much hotter and more confident. You know, even when I'm scared, I'm more confident. And so I think it's so important that we all, like, literally, just go into your phone and pick, like, write in the date on your photos from 10 years from now, and just see where were you? How far have you come? You know. What an epic win. So thank you, Ansley, for inspiring us all. Lesley Logan 5:53  My win. Okay, so this Sunday, we are kicking off spring training, and my win is a team's win. We have, you know, we did surveys more than six months ago. We came up with the idea and tossed it around and percolated on it, and we worked on it. So many people on our team have worked on it, not only the seven OPC teachers, but also, like a good 10 people on the team, because there's people who made the images, and people did the copywriting. People did the value statements, and then I wrote the emails, and then my assistant made sure I had time in my schedule and like so we kick it off on Sunday, and I'm just so proud of the work that we did. Now, in this moment that I'm recording, I don't know if we are surpassing our goals or not. I won't know that until after May 3rd, but in this moment, on this day, when I am celebrating this, like, the team and I, we all worked together as if we had hit this goal. And I share that with you because, you know, I had a coach say on all the goals he's had in the last six years. He's missed most of them, but he's successful because he worked like a person who could meet those goals. And so what does that mean? It means like, let's say you have a goal to run a marathon and have a PR, and let's say you actually, you know, work a training program. You fuel correctly, you sleep correctly, you do all the things, and you run the marathon, but you don't PR, is that a failure? No fucking way, because you actually did the things that would have PR do. Maybe you had a headwind, right? But if you sign up for a marathon, you want a PR, and then you, like, postpone some of the long days, and you didn't do the sprint runs, and then you didn't fuel well, and of course, you didn't hit a PR, well, that would be the failure, because, and not even a failure. Just be feedback. Like, you didn't act like the runner who could PR, you didn't do the things that a runner who would PR would do, right? So what I would just say is like, please notice if you miss a goal by whatever the numbers are, but you did all the things that could have done it. That's a win, always. It's always successful. So I'm so proud of my team and all that we've done and accomplished together, and I'm so excited for the impact that Spring Training is going to make and you can join it, opc.me/events, you know, because there's replays. So it's pretty awesome. Lesley Logan 8:11  All right, your mantra. Just because I feel it, doesn't mean I need to carry it with me. Just because I feel it doesn't mean I need to carry it with me. Just because I feel it doesn't mean I need to carry it with me. What are you gonna let go of right now? You're amazing. Thank you so much. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 8:37  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 9:18  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 9:23  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 9:28  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 9:35  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 9:38  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this recap episode, Lesley and Brad break down Lesley's conversation with intuitive eating coach Sabrina Magnan. They explore how disordered eating habits form, the power of self-awareness, and the role of travel and journaling in identity shifts. Whether you're looking to reconnect with your hunger cues or take small, consistent steps toward your future goals, this recap offers valuable insights and practical takeaways. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:What intuitive eating means and why we lose it over time.The effect of diet culture on how we interpret hunger and fullness.How travel can shift perspectives on food, body image, and lifestyle.Why 80% of your thoughts might be stuck on repeat and how to change them.The power of journaling and visioning your ideal life.How to embody your future self through everyday choices.Episode References/Links:UK Mullet Tour Waitlist - https://opc.me/ukSpring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comFast Like A Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz - https://a.co/d/8DHMdDN If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  What happens is the diet culture and the way things are going, it changes our ability to listen to our body and understand when am I hungry? The fact that people have to tell us sometimes you think you're hungry when you just need a drink of water, the fact we have to be told this because we have become so disconnected from our heads to our bodies about when we are actually hungry, or if you're hungry, your body is saying hi, I don't have enough fuel to do the thing you asked me to do. So I really just thought it was really cool. Lesley Logan 0:26  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:09  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the intentional convo I have with Sabrina Magnan in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that episode, go listen to it and then listen to this one, or stick around and then go listen to that one, because that's just like how podcast apps can work. You guys, today is April 24th 2025 it's World Immunization Week. I feel a pedestal from Brad coming in. World world of music. You guys, we're using our platform how we can. Brad Crowell 1:41  Maybe.Lesley Logan 1:43  World Immunization Week is an annual event observed in the last week of April. Aims to educate the public about why vaccines are necessary for the health of millions of people around the world. For numerous reasons, children and adults miss out on essential vaccines, which increases the risk of contracting various preventable diseases such as polio, measles and smallpox. The purpose of this week is to identify challenges and gain access to vaccines and overcome those barriers for the benefit the global populations. People now realize that unless everyone is safe from disease, no one is truly immune. Well, you guys were really fucking this up. So obviously, if you listen to this, you probably have done all your children's and your MMRs, but please check in if you are eligible for the boosters for measles, because depending on when you got your shots, you might have only gotten one shot, so you may actually need to do additional one depending on how around people you are, because this is like a huge thing. When I was in L.A., there was like a freaking whooping cough outbreak amongst the private school, and my client had been in my studio three times after her kid had whooping cough. Didn't seem to think to tell me, and I was like, you're exposing me to whooping cough. So there's just different things we have to be aware of. Also, if you are of a certain age, you might have to get your shingles vaccine. You don't want to actually get shingles. I promise you, there's like nerve damage that happens. It's very painful. So please educate yourself. If you come at me because you think it's causing things that have scientifically been disproven multiple times, I will not respond to you. I don't need to, but I do think you should go and educate yourself and make decisions that are right for you and those around you. Brad Crowell 3:20  Yeah, in Texas, we have a measles outbreak right now in the United States. There's a whole lot of people trying to figure that out. And the reality is, the people who are getting measles never got vaccine. They never got the vaccine, but because of it now it's one of the most contagious diseases ever, and because of it now it's putting people who may have gotten it 40, 50 years ago at risk because it, meaning the vaccine, 40, 50 years ago, at risk because science has changed over time. Things have changed and shifted and grown. I was listening to a podcast where they interviewed a woman who's, I can't remember, but she was a doctor at the NIH, and she was basically saying that what they found is that before 1968 they recommended to go get a measles booster. From 1968 to 1989 where we were born, Lesley and I were born, it was medicine generally said go get one dose of the vaccine, but you are, now they're saying you should have at least two. So I contacted my mom. Somehow I actually had two doses of the vaccine, right? But, otherwise.Lesley Logan 3:20  Typically, you would have gotten the one at, one as a kid and then one, you're. Brad Crowell 4:01  In the 90s, like 10 years later.Lesley Logan 4:08  Yes and then you would have gotten one when you went to school. That's how it went. Brad Crowell 4:21  That's what it was. So I got one when I was born, and then I got one before I went to elementary school.Lesley Logan 4:35  Yes, so go get your tetanus. When? If you don't remember, it's probably (inaudible). Brad Crowell 4:39  Go get a tetanus shot. You don't want to deal with that.Lesley Logan 4:42  No, they're preventable, you know. Brad Crowell 4:44  And honestly, all the way down to just the flu shot. Lesley Logan 4:47  Well, you know, here's the thing, here's, here's, if you're like, I'm against all these things. So Brad's brother and sister in law, so they had a third baby, and the third baby was born premature, and we were the only ones in the family who got to go see this little cutie pie because we had a flu shot. Like, it's not about you, it's about like premature babies and little kids and people with immune suppressed issues, that's why you get it, because you might survive it, but the person next to you who's dealing with childhood cancer won't. So think about other people. Brad Crowell 5:21  Yep, that's all. Lesley Logan 5:23  Sorry. Well, I guess I joined on the soapbox. Okay, I'm back from Pilates Anytime filming. We had so much fun. Those classes will come out in the fall. If you're not a Pilates Anytime, member, you can use L Logan for a 30-day trial. I have a ton of classes on there. You can just search out all of mine. They're really, really fun. And we have announced and space is filling up like crazy, because it's a very limited amount of people who can join us on the Mullet Tour in the U.K. So yes, we are coming to Leeds and Essex in September, and we are doing a Mullet Tour, which means business in the front, Pilates in the back. So business workshops in the morning, Pilates classes and workshops in the afternoon. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Brad Crowell 6:04  It's gonna be a blast. So go to opc.me/uk to get more information. We're past the waitlist at this point. Go find out the deets, opc.me/uk, and then at the end of the month, we're getting really close here, this is the 24th today, so. Lesley Logan 6:18  Three days, so you're just gonna go to. Brad Crowell 6:21  opc.me/events, opc.me/events Come join us for spring training. Literally, in just a few days, it kicks off. It's going to be 10 events over seven days on all four pieces of equipment. If you have a mat only, there's a mat only ticket. Otherwise, you come get the equipment ticket.Lesley Logan 6:35  It's really inexpensive and they're 30-minute classes with a 30-minute Q&A. So it's not just workouts. It's like, actually hangout sessions. Brad Crowell 6:43  Yeah, community, great questions.Lesley Logan 6:44  Asking the questions, where you actually (inaudible) with. All the OPC teachers and myself, I'm teaching like four of the classes, I think. It's just going to be a ton of fun. And we have team uniforms, guys, like baseball jerseys. We are ready to go. The dog has a uniform. He's a home rough. He's a bat boy, bat dog. He's all the things. Brad got a jersey. It's, yes, it's pink. It looks so cute. Brad Crowell 6:45  It's very pink. Lesley Logan 6:47  So go to opc.me/events to snag your spot before we kick off. There are replays on the classes who can't join live and what else, Brad?Brad Crowell 7:18  Yeah, so come join me for a free webinar. If you are taking clients, taking payments from clients, we want to help you. Want to support you. We want to share with you what we've learned over the last seven years of coaching people, over the last 10 years of doing it ourselves, we've literally had to be in the trenches doing the same exact things you're doing to grow your business, to meet new clients. How do I introduce myself? What am I supposed to say? I get tongue-tied. It's awkward. I feel like a salesperson. All these kinds of things. We were in the same exact position that you were in now. And because we realized that we had to get better at it, was we went out and we learned. We started studying with coaches for, I don't know, six years in a row, we hired coaches to help us with sales, copy, email writing. How do we, you know, say things, what should our website be, do, have? How do we become more known in our community? And we started Agency to share these things with you, right? And then, what that's allowed us to do is to then be alongside more than 2500 businesses just like yours over the past seven years, helping everyone solve these problems, and we can work with you to solve the same things. How do I get new clients? How do I actually fire a client that I hate? I need to fire the teacher for me. I really need help with my admin, all these kinds of things, insurance, etc, etc, etc. Anyway, free webinar. I want you to come join me for it. It's called the growth accelerator. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator. That's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. And then finally. Lesley Logan 7:27  We're going to Cambodia. We want you to come with us. Why haven't you signed up? This is your reminder. Go to crowsnestretreats.com and snag your spot. And let's go. Let's go to Siem Reap. I think it's like another thing I've been thinking about. You might be going why are we going to Cambodia? So if you've heard the town Siem Reap. Brad Crowell 9:05  Siem Reap. Lesley Logan 9:05  Siem Reap, that's where all the temples are.Brad Crowell 9:07  The Temples of Angkor. Angkor, A-N-G-K-O-R. Angkor was the, one of the largest civilizations, landmass wise, it was actually they controlled what we now consider Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and all the way up through parts of Thailand. They would go to war with the Thai. They would go to war with India. They would go to war with all these, these places, right? It was a massive, massive civilization, and they built over 1000 major structures, and they're mostly temples. And then they were eaten by the jungle, and a thousand years later, they were, quote-unquote, rediscovered. And they are stunning, y'all, it's mind-blowingly cool.Lesley Logan 9:46  And if you go on some random cruise, they're gonna take you to three and we're gonna take you to way more than three, and we're gonna do Pilates, we're gonna do a Lotus Farm, and we're gonna go to a water village, and you're just going to learn so much and be so awed, like one in wonderment. Yeah, you'll be in wonderment, and it's gonna help you.Brad Crowell 10:04  You'll just be so odd, it's just gonna be so weird. Lesley Logan 10:06  Yeah, you mean awed. Anyways, come, crowsnestretreats.com.Brad Crowell 10:11  Yeah, if you want to stay an extra day or two, we love to go to a waterfall. We love to go see elephants.Lesley Logan 10:16  The waterfall and the elephants are on the extra day. Brad Crowell 10:18  Yeah, those are extra afterwards, because they're longer day trips and we can't fit them into the full retreat so.Lesley Logan 10:23  They're like full on days. Brad Crowell 10:24  Yeah, so come hang, it's gonna be mind-blowing. Go to crowsnestretreats.com, crowsnestretreats.com. But before we go any further, we did have an audience question this week. EliyaManson-p4k on YouTube says, "Fasting changed my life. It's my superpower! I've noticed that when I fast, the more I move, the better I feel. Plus, my motivation to get up and be active is higher. Does anyone else have a similar effect, or is it different in some way?" It's a very interesting comment.Lesley Logan 10:53  Yeah. So this is on a video we did a live with Noor from Jade Pilates Studio, about, about Ramadan, and so it was like, can you do Pilates during Ramadan? And it was such a really, was a really cool conversation. I've had nothing but great compliments and comments of people being so excited to learn about this. So thank you, Noor. I'm not a fasting expert, expert, and also the way they fast for Ramadan is very different than a fasting program. So Mindy Pelz, P-E-L-Z. Mindy Pelz, if any of you know her email, please help a sister out. Mindy Pelz, she wrote the book Fast Like A Girl, and it is super, super informative about how women specifically can and should fast based on their cycle. So that to Eliya, of course, you're feeling that, especially if you're fasting in the way that benefits your hormone cycle. She has tons and tons and tons and tons of research about fasting, what it can do for us. It's actually incredibly healing. So it doesn't surprise me that you're getting faster at things, you're moving better. Brad Crowell 10:55  But you've also been practicing fasting. Lesley Logan 10:59  Yeah. I mean, I'm gonna, I've kind of stopped. It's Cambodia, it's really hard. Tour was actually not the problem. Tour is easy. Cambodia is hard because you kind of go to bed early, and you wake up early, and then we eat on the schedule. So it's really hard for me to fast when the schedule of the group is different than what mine is. Brad Crowell 12:21  That's fair. Lesley Logan 12:22  But now that we're back, I'm getting back into it. And so by the time you're hearing this, yes, I'm back to fasting. So what I do is, if you look at how she sets it up, where I am in my cycle, Mindy Pelz, depending on where you are in your cycle, if you have one, you don't want to fast too long during a progesterone season, it will stress you out. So 13 hours, 14 hours is kind of the max on those days. But then there's other days of your cycle where you, like, 15 to 17 or 18 hours is really effective and like repair and helping. If you have any pre-diabetic stuff, there's this really great stuff. I don't want to take away her science. Go read her book. It's so good. You can listen to an Audible. It's really great. So I hope that helps Eliya and gives you more information to like even take what you're doing up another level.Brad Crowell 13:09  Love it. Well, stick around. We'll be right back, because we're going to dig into a really interesting conversation about our relationship with food with Sabrina Magnan as soon as we are back. Brad Crowell 13:21  All right, let's talk about Sabrina Magnon. Sabrina is an intuitive eating and food freedom coach who helps women break free from disordered eating, binge eating and food obsession. After struggling with her own body image and restrictive eating, she discovered the power of self-awareness and mindset shifts. Now she's on a mission to help others let go of food rules and build a healthy relationship with their own bodies. And she shared a lot about her story. I think my favorite part of her story is that her life-altering epiphany moment happened due to travel. And I love that. I think it's great.Lesley Logan 13:58  Yeah, that's why we love travel. I think travel teaches you so much about yourself and and really forces you to get a little bit more flexible around things. Brad Crowell 14:07  So if you listen to the episode, her story is that she went to Italy in her teens. And in her teens is when she was literally going down the path of eating disorders, because she had been a really competitive athlete and then stopped, and when she stopped, she was terrified that she was going to put on weight as a teenager, and she went to Italy. And she said, in Italy, nobody went to the gym for incessantly, no one was freaking out counting calories. Lesley Logan 14:34  Remember in 2020, when they were trying to get everyone to stay home. And the Italian, like the Italian leaders, were like, why is everyone so like now training for a marathon? What is going on? There are these running grannies? What are you doing? Because it's like not a thing.Brad Crowell 14:47  What was like the mind-blowing shift for her was seeing another culture and how they approach food, how they treated it, and how they enjoyed food, where she never enjoyed her food, she was like so intense about it all the time, and that changed her world. So I love that. I think it's amazing.Lesley Logan 15:09  Well, I think even, like in Cambodia, my dad gets so mad because they're like, constantly feeding him, and he's like, they're just bringing more food. They just brought more food. I just ate. I just ate. And he would always lose 10 pounds. The reason is, is yes, it's more outdoor lifestyle. So you're like, you move around a bit more, but when you eat there, you're not on your phone, and the portions are not huge. Of course, you can have seconds or thirds if you want to, but you are enjoying the taste. The food is very flavorful. There's also all these different things that you're going to dip in, and you use your hands. And so I think that's what makes it interesting when you're here in the States or other Western cultures, where the media has made women think that the smaller you are, be obsessed with being smaller, because then you're too busy trying to be smaller to realize we're taking your rights away, like that kind of thing, that's very much what it is, or enjoying your food. And so that leads into what I loved is that she said, we're born knowing how to eat intuitively. Brad Crowell 15:23  Right. Lesley Logan 15:23  And we lose this over time. So when you're a little kid, you're like, eating, and then you're like, done. And they're like, no, come finish your food. And actually the kid is full, they like, I'm done here, you know? And so what happens is the diet culture and the way things are going, it changes our ability to listen to our body and understand when am I hungry? The fact that people have to tell us sometimes you think you're hungry when you just need a drink of water. The fact we have to be told this because we have become so disconnected from our heads to our bodies about when we are actually hungry. And so I really enjoyed that she has taken on so much research and learning understanding about trusting our bodies so we're not restricting, we're not calorie-counting, we're not ignoring hunger. If you're hungry, your body is saying, hi, I don't have enough.Brad Crowell 16:44  Fuel.Lesley Logan 16:44  To do the thing you asked me to do. So I really just thought it was really cool and so true. Intuitive eating means blending what your body is telling you along with your emotions and your rational thought.Brad Crowell 16:54  Yeah. I mean, it was really interesting to listen to how her story shaped where she is today. She also shared that you have to be intentional about the life that you want, otherwise you end up repeating the same patterns. And this is definitely something that we've talked about on the pod before. Lesley usually talks about it when it comes to dating, have you to learn from the person you dated. You end up dating the same person over and over and over again until you learn the thing that you're supposed to learn before you can move on to the next person, right? So in line with that, she said, and instead of, hey, just letting life happen to me, I started getting intentional about, okay, what do I actually want to create with my life now that I've had this change in my perspective? She said, most of our thoughts are on repeat. I don't really understand the science, but the two of you had a really funny back and forth about like, how do we know that 80% of our thoughts are the same today as yesterday? How do we know that we have 60,000 thoughts a day? I don't know how to actually measure that.Lesley Logan 17:47  Oh, they already did that, did that, did that, did that, did that, did that. What does a person watch? I don't understand. But anyways. Brad Crowell 17:56  And unfortunately, most of these thoughts are negative, right? Self-deprecation. And it's easy to get stuck in that negativity cycle. She asked herself, hey, if I could create the life that I want, if it had a blank slate, if the rules didn't apply, and I could just, like, start over and be there, what would my life look like? What would it be for me? Right? And she said, this is when she started to journal. She started to pull things to like, write things down. And she said, hey, every day, this is the kind of stuff where you're starting to notice, I want my life to be like this. Add that to the list, right? And then it'll help you see what you actually want to be doing, where you actually want to be going. And she said, living into that vision helped her see small, tangible changes begin to take shape in her life, so that she could be eventually where she wants to be going. And, you know, I love that. I think this is like just another way of saying, you know, the small, tiny habits, small steps forward are going to help you get there. And also, I've heard this 100 times, but what would the decision be if I wanted to be, you know, a successful business owner, laundromat, if I wanted to be a successful laundromat owner and I had a decision to make, what would a successful laundromat owner's decision be? I should make that decision, right? So you're putting yourself in the place that you want to be before you then make the decision, because you're going to look at it through a different lens than you might, your gut might actually say, and so you, this is really helpful. It's a great way to kind of see life through a different perspective.Lesley Logan 19:27  I mean, I just think, first of all, she was super, super sweet. And I also remember she's like, being it until she sees it to be a puppy owner. So I really hope she and her partner, by this time, have gotten a dog. No pressure. Brad Crowell 19:37  Yeah, no pressure. Lesley Logan 19:38  But I think you're ready.Brad Crowell 19:41  No pressure, Sabrina. All right. Well, hey, stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to dig it into some action items the Be It Action Items that she shared, you're not going to want to miss it. Be right back. Brad Crowell 19:52  Welcome back. All right. Let's dig into those Be It Action Items that we got from Sabrina Magnan. What bold, what executable, what intrinsic and what targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Sabrina? She started talking about manifesting, right? And we were just kind of talking about parts of this, like future-casting, how we make decisions as the person that we will want to be one day. This is also the be it till you see it, you know, stuff. She said, hey, you've got to be really clear on what it is that you want. You need to define your goal, right? So whether that's a career milestone, a lifestyle change, or even a pet, that's what she's going after. She said, you have to embody the mindset and actions of the person who's achieved it. She believes that a lot of people think once they hit that goal, then I will feel this thing, but that is so backwards. And I laughed when she said, it's not like your brain changes when you achieve the thing, right? Your brain is going to be the same brain now as it is when you achieve the thing, unless you're intentionally trying to change your brain now. Lesley Logan 20:53  And also, if you haven't really set yourself up, like, if you're someone who has, like, a fear of making decisions, and then you somehow get someone to believe in your laundromat business, and they're like, here are the keys to your laundromat business, but you didn't ready yourself as a person who makes decisions, good fucking luck keeping your laundromat business, because you have to have done that. So you got to change the brain to be ready for the thing you want to have when it comes. Brad Crowell 21:16  You have to be ready to make decisions now before you get those keys right? Instead of waiting for the success to change, you become the version of yourself who attracts it today. Ask yourself, what does this person who already has achieved this thing do every day, and then make space for it now. Start taking those actions and make yourself ready to receive those wins now, you know. What about you? Lesley Logan 21:39  This is really cool, because this is where, if you're like, okay, guys, we've heard that one before. I think you have to hear things multiple times before you make a decision on making a change, right? Brad Crowell 21:47  Like 17? Lesley Logan 21:47  Like, at least. So this one is really unique. We have not heard this one before, which is, take a piece of paper and do two columns. So a left side, you put the old me, and on the right side, you're gonna put the future me. And on the old me, this is where you can list up the thoughts and habits and emotions you want to leave behind. So all that negative self-talk, I'm a failure, I'm not good enough. And then on the right side, all the things that you want to have in the future, the future you like, how you think and emotions you have. And then you could have this ability to interrupt the pattern, because now you get to act like, oh, these are all the things that I want to embody. So this is what I need to be acting as if, participating, going back to her other Be It Action Items. So I really love this, because one of my clients, shout out to Meredith, I said, hey, babe, we were supposed to, she only has a session on Tuesdays, and we're driving back from Colorado, and I was supposed to text her when we're getting back so I could teach her. And we got back a little later than we expected. And so I, like, was like, hey, I, the only time I have this week is 8 a.m. tomorrow, which Meredith doesn't, is not a morning person. And she goes, great, I'll see you then. And I was like, okay, so I saw her a.m., she was on time. She was ready to go. And I said, wow, this is really early for you. She's like, well, I am a healthy person. I'm a person who makes healthy decisions, and a healthy person would work out at 8am so this is why we're here. But I really liked it. It's like she did the old her would never have said yes to that. Brad Crowell 23:14  Never. Lesley Logan 23:15  The old her is doing the 9:15 and that's early. And the new her is like, nope, nope. I'm gonna do it 8 a.m. I'm up. I'm gonna work out. I'm gonna do it. So I just think that this is a really cool thing. Two sides paper really helps you on that goal setting and getting clear on what you want and who you want to be. Sabrina, I can't wait to hear what your dog's name is. Just putting that out there. Lesley Logan 23:34  Y'all, how are you going to use these tips in your life? What was your favorite part or your takeaways? Thank you also to those who've been leaving amazing reviews of the Be It Podcast, I know they don't make it easy to leave reviews. You have to go find how to do it somewhere on your phone, in a tiny print, and all of you are over 40, so you can't read it. I get it, but thank you for going through the efforts of doing it. It means the world to us. I love reading it. My team literally shows me every single review. Brad Crowell 24:00  Every single one, y'all. Lesley Logan 24:01  Not a single one. Brad Crowell 24:02  We celebrate every single one. So thank you for leaving those. Lesley Logan 24:05  And if you haven't, yet. Brad Crowell 24:06  If you haven't. Lesley Logan 24:07  This is your reminder. This is us guilting you, yeah, don't take that joy away from me. Go leave that review. Brad Crowell 24:14  Don't take our wins away from us, okay? Lesley Logan 24:16  Until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 24:18  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 24:20  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 25:03  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 25:08  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 25:12  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 25:19  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 25:22  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this raw and powerful episode, Lesley sits down with food freedom coach Sabrina Magnan to unpack the messy, beautiful work of shifting perfectionism, intuitive eating, and manifesting a life aligned with your values. From a disordered past shaped by competitive sports and diet culture, Sabrina opens up about the turning point that changed everything—her summer in Italy. Immersed in a culture that celebrated food, presence, and connection, she began to release the rigid beliefs she held around food and her body—an inspiring journey that will shift your mindset about diet. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How disordered eating distorted her sense of identity and self-worth.What intuitive eating really means and why it's about more than hunger cues.How journaling and scripting became pivotal tools in her personal growth.What it means to rewire your self-talk with a two-column journaling exercise.Why supporting your nervous system makes mindset shifts feel sustainable.Episode References/Links:Live Unrestricted Podcast - https://sabrinamagnan.comSabrina Magnan Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sabrina.magnan.healthFood Freedom Academy - https://sabrinamagnan.com/ffaGuest Bio:Sabrina Magnan is a food freedom and intuitive eating coach who helps women heal their relationship with food and their bodies. A former synchronized swimmer, Sabrina struggled with perfectionism and disordered eating before discovering intuitive eating and mindset work as tools for true transformation. Her turning point came during a summer in Italy, where she began to let go of food rules and embrace self-trust. Now, through her coaching program and podcast Live Unrestricted, she guides others to release food guilt, rewire negative self-talk, and shift long-held beliefs using practical tools like journaling, scripting, and nervous system support. Her mission is to help women feel safe in their bodies and live with more presence, joy, and freedom. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Sabrina Magnan 0:00  It's really hard to give other people what you don't have for yourself, and so I had a really hard time connecting with people. I had a hard time even knowing who I really am, what my values are, what do I want to do with my life? Because I thought that if I look a certain way, like my entire life revolved around if I can look a certain way, and if I can be perfect around food and perfect around exercise, that I'm finally going to feel like I'm enough. Lesley Logan 0:32  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:15  Hello, Be It babe. Welcome back to another interview for the Be It Till You See It podcast. I'm just loving I get to talk to so many amazing people because you listen to this podcast. So I just want to say thanks, because it's really fun for me. I'm assuming it's fun for you because you're listening. Today, our guest is Sabrina Magnan and she is so fun. We have a really great conversation that kind of goes through how she got to doing what she's doing, which is like focusing on helping others with emotional eating, but also we talk about manifesting, and like how she manifested the person she's with now, and what she's manifesting next, and so it's just a really fun conversation that I think we can all resonate with in different aspects. And also, if emotional eating is something that you are understanding about yourself. I do think that there's going to be some really great points in here that help you feel like you're not alone. And if you're not, then get all the manifestation out of this episode that you want. Here is Sabrina. Lesley Logan 2:13  All right, Be It babe, this is going to be fun because I'm just going to come out from something great. Sabrina and I have already talked today, so if you hear us talk about like we've talked about this morning, it's just because I was already on her podcast. So Sabrina Magnan is our guest today. She is an incredible human and what I can't wait for us to talk about, we're going to get into some self-talk. It's about self-chatter and mindset stuff. But Sabrina, before we get into all that, can you tell everyone who you are and maybe how you started to rock at all of these stuff?Sabrina Magnan 2:39  Yeah, absolutely. So thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here. And like you said, I am Sabrina Magnan, and I'm an intuitive eating and food freedom coach for women who struggle with the relationship with food, disordered eating, binge eating, food obsession, body image, you know, a lifetime of yo-yo dieting. And I help them heal their relationship with food and their bodies, so that they can free their mental space, their energy, their time, to focus on being their authentic selves and creating the life of their dreams. Lesley Logan 3:12  Thank you for even bringing all that up. I think, like, the thing about being it until you see it is like acting as if you're the person that you want to be, right? And a lot of times, what keeps us from being that person is the stuff that we're currently doing that's kind of holding us back, and it's really a distraction in our lives, and it can be really hard. I do want to get into real briefly, because you mentioned intuitive eating, I feel like people, that requires having intuition. So for someone who might not know what that is, can we just kind of go over that briefly? Sabrina Magnan 3:40  Yeah, absolutely. So in the simplest terms, it's the way that we are all born to eat. So if you think about toddlers, they eat when they're hungry. They stop when they're full, they turn their head, they push their plate. They're turned away from the boob when they've had enough food. And as we get older, and we get all these messages around what we should or shouldn't be eating, and how it might affect our weight, and we get all of this fear around food, then that can really start to disconnect us from our bodies. And so we're no longer listening to what our bodies are telling us. We're listening to what other people tell us that we should be doing. We start calorie counting or restricting or not eating when we're hungry and then overeating later. So being an intuitive eater is blending what your body is telling you along with your emotions and your rational thought. Lesley Logan 4:30  I love that, and also like, yeah, when we're kids, we do that already, you know, I was telling somebody that like I started just shortening the window, like I was following, like, Mindy Pelz and kind of shortened the window. And I said, I'm just, I'm dabbling, like, I'm just, I'm dabbling in it. Like, this is not a, I cannot follow anything like to a tee, just gonna dabble in it. And she was like, you know what's so funny is like, our kids go 12 hours, like, they eat dinner at seven, and we don't feed them breakfast till seven. So like, why as an adult, is it so hard? And it's because, like, life and all these things, and we get all these mixed messages, and it can be really crazy. And then there's, you know, the the chatter in between, all the different things we say that are sometimes from us and sometimes from other people. Like, what's your experience with self-talk? And like, the things that we say and how that affects us, from intuitive eating or just like, having, like a healthy relationship with ourselves and body image? Sabrina Magnan 5:25  Yeah, so I think a good way to lead into that conversation is how I got to where I am today, because I was a high level synchronized swimmer when I was younger, so. Lesley Logan 5:36  Were you like the girls? I also saw that, we're getting off topic, but I just recently saw during the Olympics how you get your hair to like, it's like, weird. It's like plastic. It's like weird rubber stuff to get so your hair still looks like hair, but it also is like, anyways, go ahead. Sabrina Magnan 5:53  It's terrible. It's really like, it's that gelatin mix that you make food with, and you mix it in with, like, boiling hot water, and you put that into your hair, and it is a absolute pain to take out of your hair. It takes hours. So, I was a synchronized swimmer for eight years of my life, and it's a sport that is very highly focused on the way that you look. So, you saw the Olympics, they all kind of look the same. Tall, skinny, long legs, and you just inevitably start to compare yourself to others. And there's a lot of, you know, there's girls who don't make certain teams because of the way their bodies look, regardless of their talent level. And so I was never in a quote-unquote bigger body, but I always thought that I was too big, like I have some nice muscular thighs, and I didn't have a thigh gap, and I didn't have a six pack. And so when I retired from the sport at the age of 16, I thought that the worst thing that you could possibly do is to gain weight, because in my world, gaining weight meant you were less worthy, you were less valuable. And so I did what anyone else would do as a 16 year old, I started looking online and what can I cut out and what should I be doing? So counting calories and low carb and 1200 calories, and I look back on that time now, and the way that I treated myself and the way that I spoke to myself was so incredibly abusive and negative, and as a result, we talked about it this morning. It's really hard to give other people what you don't have for yourself, and so I had a really hard time connecting with people. I had a hard time even knowing who I really am, what my values are, what do I want to do with my life? Because I thought that if I look a certain way, like my entire life revolved around if I can look a certain way, and if I can be perfect around food and perfect around exercise, that I'm finally going to feel like I'm enough. I'm finally going to feel like I am worthy, and I'm going to feel confident, and as you know, like that's an internal job. And so I thought that if something outside of me change, that I would feel different internally. And then I remember waking up one day where I was at the deepest, darkest part of my eating disorder, and just thinking, what am I all doing this for? Like I started this because I thought that it would make me feel happy and confident and loved and accepted and healthy, and I am getting further and further and further away from those things. So into that conversation of be it till you see it, I really thought about my future, and I thought about the kind of person, the kind of life that I wanted to live, and I always said, I want to travel, I want to be spontaneous, I want to have adventures. And with my rigid thinking around food, around exercise, around myself, none of that would be possible if I didn't make a radical change in how I operated internally.Lesley Logan 9:24  Yeah, oh my gosh. Like, I've and if you went through your life and you never had your, like, the idea of like, oh, once I'm this, then I'll have that. Like, congratulations, what a life you've lived. But most of us, like, I resonate with that so much. We just get really obsessed. Like, oh, as soon as I get there to this five pounds that no one notices on me, and probably is very helpful for me, we, then I'll be happy. And it really, you're so miserable getting there that you can't even enjoy it once you are there. Yeah. So you go on this journey and you're recognizing, like, who you want to be, and then how you are not that person. How does that, like, what did that take you to next? You know, where's the next step? Sabrina Magnan 10:08  So that was really my rock bottom. And at that time in my life, I had the opportunity to go to Italy for the summer to be an au pair. And that had always been my dream. Like, Italy was my dream country, and I noticed that I didn't want to go. I was anxious about going because I didn't want to gain weight, and I was terrified of being around carbs and pasta and all these foods that I couldn't control myself around, and I noticed that this like anxiety that I was feeling was really holding me back at the age of 21 so what would that look like at the age of 30 and 40 and 50? So I was extremely terrified, and I knew that's why I needed to go. I was so uncomfortable, and that's why I needed to do it. So I went to Italy that summer, and the first thing that the Italian nonna, who I lived with said when she saw me was oh my God, you're so skinny let's get you some food. And immediately I thought, oh my God I made a huge mistake. I've made a huge mistake, and I was really challenged that summer, but I, at the same time, I was forced to see a different perspective on what it's like to have a healthy relationship with food. Because in Italy, they don't talk about calories. They're not counting their points. They're not spending two hours at the gym. It's a culture of, let's enjoy food, right? Let's nourish ourself. Let's connect through it. Let's slow down. Let's be mindful. Let's be present, which is something I was never used to. I really saw like a stark contrast between the way that I was living back home, where everything was about being productive and doing the right thing, whereas here it was, let's slow things down and let's actually be present and intentional with what we do, and that like planted a seed of, oh, there's a different way to live a healthy and a happy lifestyle that doesn't go to those extremes. We talked about this morning how I'm a recovering perfectionist, very high standards. And so I really thought that if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it perfect, I'm going to do it well. And I did that with quote-unquote, clean eating. And so in that summer, I saw it's actually possible to like, have gelato and have bread and have these foods and still feel really good. Feel good physically, feel good mentally, feel good emotionally. I felt even better because I was nourishing myself. So I came home that summer and I really made a decision of, I'm not gonna fall back into what I was doing before, because now I'm back in my environment. I'm back around the same people, the same places. It would be so easy to just get caught up back into that cycle of disordered eating. And it took a few years. It took a few years of like, peeling back the layers, because all of these things that we do, they don't happen in a vacuum. They're all connected. And so I had to unravel like, okay, what are the thoughts that I have around my body? What are the thoughts that I have around the people around me? Like, I had this identity as the healthy friend, I thought that people only loved me because I was so disciplined and because I was so healthy, which, consciously. Lesley Logan 13:46  That's hilarious, Sabrina. There's not a single person out there who goes, you know what? I want to hang out with that really disciplined friend.Sabrina Magnan 13:53  I know. Like, if anything, it made me more unbearable to be around.Lesley Logan 13:56  Like, no, let's not invite Sabrina. She won't eat that anyway. Like, that's what it is, like, that, you know? But I understand, because I was a person with, like, severe stomach issues, and I was like, I'm an annoying friend to hang around like, nobody wants to hang around me. So let me just, like, figure this out. But it's, but it is funny, like you're like, this is how I'm known, though. People know me as the healthy one. I got to be the healthy one. The titles we give ourselves really hold us back. Sabrina Magnan 14:19  Yeah and we develop these beliefs because they served a purpose at some point in your life. And I come from a overachieving family where my dad, you know, never said I love you. He's a phenomenal dad, but he is a boomer dad who never learned to communicate his emotions or how he feels, and we never had any of these kind of conversations. So I always felt like in order to get love and to get attention, because I was the youngest of five kids, I just need to excel. I need to achieve. And so if I'm excelling, if I'm overachieving, then maybe I'll get noticed. And so when I was, you know, working out and losing weight and doing all these things, I felt like I was getting noticed. And so I took that on as an identity of, okay, if you are that, then you are loved. You are accepted. And so even if I, you know, look back on it now, and I wasn't feeling any of those things, it happened so subconsciously. Lesley Logan 15:25  Yeah, yeah, it really does. It's, you know, like it just starts to, you just, you don't even realize it's happening, because it just starts to get warmer and warmer and warmer and, you know, you like, learn to tolerate it. So I think it's what I'm, what I also am hearing is like the awareness, the self-awareness you have is really amazing. I don't know that a lot of people have that self-awareness, at least at that age, but how cool to be in Italy. Like, my friends, I have not been. I need to go. I know, you guys. Sabrina Magnan 15:54  You're missing out.Lesley Logan 15:54  I'm missing out. But y'all, most of you haven't been to Southeast Asia, so I don't, like, you know. So I'll get to the places everyone's been to, you know, eventually, but I've only heard good things, and as someone who can't tolerate gluten, I've also heard I could there. So I'm, like, you have no idea, like, I am ready. But, um, you know, I think to go back into, like, navigating, like, some, like, some of our self-talk, it takes a lot of awareness. Like, how did you even, as you said, like, I started to look at what my self-talk was. Like, what did that, what does that look like? So as the recovering perfectionist, overachiever, I'm like, okay, did you have a journal? Did you like, oh, I've had a thought. Did you write it down? Like, what? Like, how do you evaluate this? How do you be aware of what your self-talk is? Sabrina Magnan 16:38  Yeah, so I actually didn't journal until probably around five to six years ago. And so there was that Italy period, and then I came back, and there was about two years of like, really, like, messiness where I was trying to figure things out, and I was still kind of going back and forth. And then the pandemic hit, and I was in France at the time, I was living in France, and I come back to live at my parents' house because there's so much going on. And I remember I had to do two weeks of quarantine because I was coming back from Europe. And those two weeks when I got back from Europe, I was really, really shaken up, because living in Europe during the beginning of the pandemic was extremely, extremely scary, and I spent those two weeks so angry, angry at the world, angry at my parents, which they were being so lovely letting me come back to live with them, angry at myself, just like pure anger. And I remember there was a Dean Graziosi, like, ad that popped up on my computer, and it was like a two-week happiness challenge. Now at that point, I was like, I had never done personal development before. I had never worked on myself before. And I said what do I have to lose? And so some of it was like these small action items every day, and they were things that I had never done before that made me extremely uncomfortable, like sending a gratitude message to five people in my life. And at the time, I really took this on from my dad. I held everyone at arm's length. I wasn't vulnerable, I wasn't myself. I didn't know who I was. I always just had a wall because it was a way to protect myself. So I was like, I'm gonna go all in and I'm just gonna dedicate myself to doing this, because I feel horrible right now and some of that was. Lesley Logan 18:40  So you're alone for two weeks. What else do you have to do? Like you're. Sabrina Magnan 18:44  I have nothing to lose. Lesley Logan 18:46  It could go really fast or it could go real slow. Sabrina Magnan 18:49  Yeah. So I took out my journal, and I started doing the gratitudes, and, you know, thinking about positive things about myself, and what I noticed is this actually feels really good. It feels good to take these small actions. One of them was I started hugging my parents every morning. My we don't do physical touch in my family, and so when I told them, like, hey, I'm gonna do something for the next month where I'm gonna hug you every morning, they were like, okay, and they started loving it. And so we got so close during that time, and it was through these small, little steps that it was like kind of using like a hammer, and just getting closer and closer to understanding who am I at my core. Like, without all of these learned programs and these things that I've put up in my life in order to protect myself, like, who am I actually? And when I thought about kind of letting go of this identity of the person who's always complaining, very negative, you know, a lot of self-deprecating humor. It made me really uncomfortable to think about becoming a person who is happy and genuine and positive, and when I noticed, like, why am I feeling so uncomfortable at the thought of becoming a like, better, happier version of myself? That goes back to the same thing that happened in Italy. If this is making you uncomfortable, it means that you should go after it.Lesley Logan 20:30  I like that. I think that's really cool. I think that's like, I think we were talking about it this morning, you guys, it's been a day, but yeah, like, it's like, just, you know, what, getting comfortable with discomfort and like, and sometimes discomfort is unfamiliar, but it's also like, oh, I kind of like this. I kind of like, you know, I'm sure those first hugs with your family were weird. Sabrina Magnan 20:53  So weird. Lesley Logan 20:54  And slightly uncomfortable. And you could have just like, okay, I'm not gonna do it tomorrow. It was too weird. But you kind of were like, yeah, but this could make me feel really good, like, I'm gonna try that again, you know. So I think that's really cool. So what a, what a life being in France. We were in Cambodia at the start of pandemic. We came back. Nothing had shut down. Actually, as we flew in, L.A. shut down. So like, so thank goodness for a dog sitter and who went grocery shopping for us while we were flying. I was like, can you please make sure there's food? Like, we're coming back, it shut down. Like, what are we doing? You know, so, but we didn't have to, we quarantined together in our own home. So I understand, like there's so much uncertainty you're coming back, and then it's like, what am I even doing here? This, I can understand being angry, like you were, obviously, living in France for a reason. Like, sounds amazing. How did all of this help, like, make you, did you change your life in a different way? Did you start manifesting, like, what came next? Because, you know, my goodness, it's, it feels like a lot has happened in a short period of time, but also, like, four or five years. So it's also, like a lot, not a long period of time, but decent amount of time. Sabrina Magnan 22:07  Yeah. So, really, what I started doing that year is instead of letting life just happen to me, right, like, be a victim of my consequences, and just like, have all these things come into my life and just be like, I guess, like, things just happen to you, like, bad things happen. I started getting intentional about, okay, what do I want to create? And I really started looking at my life as like a book and just scripting like, okay, what do I want my life to look like? And so I would write it in the present moment, and I would just be like, I'm dating this person. I'm living here. I'm doing this with my business, and I would write them, and I would get my emotions involved, and I would also think, like, how do I want to feel about myself? Because you have to be intentional about the person you want to become, because if you don't, you're just going to keep repeating the same person that you were yesterday. I think science shows that like 80% of your thoughts are the same as the ones that you had yesterday.Lesley Logan 23:07  I know. I still want to know how they figured that out, but I believe it. I mean, like, it's true, but also, like, who sat down into that?Sabrina Magnan 23:15  Who? How? How did you count how many thoughts that we have? Lesley Logan 23:18  Also, we have like, 60,000 thoughts, or something ridiculous, we have a lot of thoughts, and 80% of them are repetitive, yes.Sabrina Magnan 23:26  Yeah. And the vast majority of them are negative, because you're constantly looking out for threats, like we have a negativity bias. And so I really got curious as to, like, okay, if I could literally have a magic wand and create the life that I want, free of limitations, free of what I think is possible, what would that look like? And so I would just write that down every day, and I would start to live in and live into it. And at the time, I had no experience with like manifesting and getting intentional. And what I started noticing is like, oh, these things are actually starting to come into my life, and I'm getting more good things, and I would get evidence that this is possible for you. It's not just something that you're writing down in your journal, like you're writing them down and then you're being intentional about taking those actions, like, it's not just saying I want a red car and then just crossing your fingers that a red car is going to come into your life. I remember about like, two or three years in, I decided, okay, I'm ready to meet my person. I wasn't in a rush to do it. I wasn't like desperate to do it. I actually really liked being single. But every time that I would date someone, and, you know, things wouldn't work out after that, what I would do is I would write down what was it that I liked about them, what did I feel was missing, and what exactly do I want the next person to be like, and, most importantly, like, how do I want to feel with them? It wasn't like they need to have this job and make this amount of money, but it was like, I remember one of the big things is I want to feel like a priority. I want to feel like you feel special to be with me. And I think I dated two or three people before I met my now partner, and I have the paper that I wrote down after the guy that I dated right before Luke. And it's like, it's insane. It's spot on of like, this is, this is exactly who I'm dating now. Lesley Logan 25:43  Yeah, yeah, I actually really like, I like the way you did it, it's like, it's not about, okay, they have to make this much money, and they need to be six feet tall, and they have to be emotionally available and all this stuff that, like, it's like, how do I want to feel in this relationship? You know, how do I want to be treated? Like, how is this? And then that way your brain is actually seeking out, like, knows what to look for. You know, you're like, spotting. You're like, oh, that's that thing I wanted. I wanted that. It's right there. That's, that's a, that's really cool. Okay, we have had manifest people, like, talk about manifestation on the podcast before, but everyone has like a different way of doing it. So even if it's like, new to you, like, what are some, what are some of the ways that you've manifested, and what else have you manifested? Because I think, some people think, oh, manifesting is like the secret. I just proclaim it and it comes. I believe it takes action. It sounds like you do too, because you took some action. So what are some of your other ways of manifesting things?Sabrina Magnan 26:37  Yeah, great question. So I would say that one of the biggest things is just get clear. Obviously, get clear on what you want and to start putting your energy towards it. So for example, Luke and I are manifesting a dog for spring of 2025, and we don't know if we're going to be able to have a dog in our current apartment, and so we just keep, we just keep acting as if it's already happened. And that's the biggest thing, I would say, is act as if you already have it, be the person who already has it. So there's a lot of goals that I'm manifesting in my business, for example. And a lot of people think, okay, once I hit that goal, then I will feel this, this, this, then I will be this, this, this. But it's so backwards, because first you have to be that person. You have to match the frequency of the thing that you want to achieve. So I think, okay, a person who has this revenue goal, this amount of clients, how do they act on a daily basis? What are they doing in their business? Because this is going to help me get clarity on, okay, is that person still taking care of these actions in their business? No, they're delegating. So let me start delegating, making space for it now, and start taking those actions to make myself ready to receive those goals. Lesley Logan 28:10  Yes, yes. That's be it till you see it right there, everyone, that's how you do it. You have to like, you can't like, oh, once I get the promotion, then I'll be a kinder boss or a better leader? No, you have to be the better, you have to act like the better leader now, what would a better leader do? Can't be like once I do this, then I'll have this, or once I, once I get a day off, then I'll, then I'll take time for myself. Go take time for yourself each day, even if it's five minutes like, you won't know what to do with yourself. You won't. It will feel very unfamiliar, and it will feel very uneasy, and it won't give you the confidence you need if you wait, you know you'll feel like an imposter, for sure. Sabrina Magnan 28:45  And the brain that you have leading up to that goal is going to be the exact same brain that you have when you have that goal. It's not just going to switch overnight, like, oh, now I think differently, and now I act differently. Like, everything, all of my problems have been solved.Lesley Logan 29:01  Yeah, that's true. That's very true. What are your favorite ways to kind of like, help your brain be comfortable with some of these changes you make? Because I think that's the hardest thing. Like your brain is like, this feels unsafe. It's unsafe for me to do it that way. I want to do it this way. That isn't helping me, but it's comfortable. Sabrina Magnan 29:19  Oh my God, that's such a good question, because right now I'm like, stepping into a new timeline, stepping into new goals. And I did notice that, and I was talking to my coach about it. When I think about the goal logically, I'm like, It's possible. I want it. But when I noticed and I tapped into my body, I was like, there's some resistance here. And I think that a lot of people actually experience that. They say that they want a goal, but if they actually tap into what's going on in their nervous system and what's going on in their bodies, there's like, there's a disconnect there. And if there's a disconnect, it means that something subconsciously, or some things, multiple things, don't feel safe around that goal. Don't feel safe around chasing that thing. So when I really sat down with it, what I'll typically do is I'll just ask my heart, like, all right, where are you, where are you feeling a block? Like, what feels unsafe about this? And then I'll write it down. And what I'll often notice is that it's not just one thing, like, there's multiple things that come into play. I remember a few years ago, I thought, if I make more money, then my friends are going to, they're not going to be around me, like my friend, my family's not going to want to be around me, which is, it's not necessarily a belief that's based in truth, but we create these beliefs because it just, something about it doesn't feel safe. And so what I like to do is I like to write things down. What are all of these different things that I'm feeling resistance around? And then I start to pick at all of them. All right? Is this true? What about this is true? Is it true 100% of the time, and sometimes you do need to do some nervous system regulation. Like, sometimes what I'll do is I'll say a belief out loud, and I'll take a few deep breaths to make it feel safe to actually hold on to this belief, to really like, the biggest thing is like, I get my body involved, because most of the time my brain's on board, right? Like, most of the time, people are like, I have these goals. I have these ambitions. Your brain is on board, but your nervous system is not necessarily feeling safe around it.Lesley Logan 31:31  Yes, yes, yes. I think so. I agree with that, and I think that's really helpful. It's kind of just like asking those questions and tapping into it. And I think writing is a really good way, even if you can't read your writing, guys, like me, like just writing it out, because we tend to let more information come out. I would do morning pages, which is my if, whenever I journal it's gonna be morning pages, just gonna be a brain dump, because all you're like, whoa I didn't even know that was in there. That was in there. Oh, noted, you know, like, it's, how long has that been sitting there? No wonder I'm feeling anxious. So I think that's really, really important. It's really key. What are you most excited about right now, besides this 2025 puppy?Sabrina Magnan 32:09  Oh, I mean, that's probably at the top of my list, honestly, if I'm I was never a dog person until probably two years ago, when I started dating my boyfriend. And now I am like, I've, everyday, I'm like, okay, so, are you ready? Are you ready to have our dog, yet? So I would say my dog is up there. I've got a bunch of weddings from people that I really care about that are coming up in the next month, which I'm really excited to celebrate and love on. And I have some really awesome projects coming into my business for the next six months to expand, impact more people. So those are the things that I'm really looking forward to. Lesley Logan 32:47  That's so fun. If you want a dog, like a puppy fix, a dog fix and it will be hard, I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but one of the things that we, my husband and I used to do in L.A. is we actually used to walk dogs that were in the shelter, and because we couldn't take them, we had two already, so we were, we were done, but I would just see all these dogs up for adoption, these puppies up for adoption, and you can literally, like, go take them for a walk, and they, when they get out, they're wearing a sign that says, I'm available to be adopted. So you're, like, getting them out to be adopted. You're getting your dog fix. You get to practice what it's like to, like, have a dog out in public, and like, how to handle it and all those things. But also you could just take it back and like, you know. So I, one of my favorite things, you can also read to dogs in the shelter. You can cuddle with them. So like, I highly recommend, like, getting cozy with one. There was one that had a vet that was next to my Pilates studio. And so they would just text me, like, hey, there's a dog that's at the vet today. Can you take him out? Because the veterinarians obviously don't do that kind of stuff. And so I would go and take the dogs for a walk. That was what I did. And I just would love up on them and give them all this love and like, help them like, you know, not feel like they're in the shelter. It was so, it was so fun. And who knows, I'll probably do that again. The other thing you can, like, for, there's this one person who like is training for a marathon. So he would actually run like, 20 different dogs in the shelter every day, and he'd run them for a mile-ish, and so he could get his like he could get different lengths of running in and get the dogs to exercise. So it's just something like you can do, obviously, in the winter in Canada, no, but now it's nice.Sabrina Magnan 34:34  Here's the problem. I know that my boyfriend would never let me go, because he always says, if you go to a shelter, I know that you're coming home with a puppy, like, there's no way, if they have a little sign that says open for adoption.Lesley Logan 34:48  I promise you won't. Here's why. Your apartment won't let you and most shelters need to see the lease that says you have, you can have a dog, so they're not going to let you take the dog home like it is. I promise you, you're in a safe like you, they won't, they won't let you take a dog that they're afraid they're gonna get back. So you will be fine.Sabrina Magnan 35:08  Hilarious. Lesley Logan 35:09  All right, we'll take a brief break and then find out how people can find you, follow you, or work with you.Lesley Logan 35:14  All right. Sabrina, where do you like to hang out? Where can people connect more with you if what you have resonated with them?Sabrina Magnan 35:21  Yeah. So if you like to listen to podcasts, which I'm sure that you do, you can head over to my podcast, which is called the Live Unrestricted podcast, which, Lesley, you're going to be a guest on, which I'm so excited about. And you can also find me on Instagram @sabrinamagnanhealth. I have a coaching program called Food Freedom Academy. So if you are struggling with your relationship with food and your body, reach out, connect. I'd love to talk to you. Lesley Logan 35:47  I love it. That is so fun. Yes, you guys, I was interviewed on her podcast. We talked about habits and breaking them, and I think you'll really like it. So you've given us some great tips already, manifestation, like, self-talk. But for those perfectionist, recovering overachievers, those people who are like, okay, what's next, Sabrina? Those we want some bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us? Sabrina Magnan 36:10  We're talking about actionable things. So I would say, honestly, the first place to start is take out a piece of paper and have two different columns. And one is what I like to write, the old me, and then I'll put down the thoughts, the emotions and the actions that I want to leave behind. And a lot of this we've talked about self-talk. It could be the way that you talk to yourself, right? I'm such a failure. I can never stick to anything. I'm not good enough. Everyone is so much better than me. Get that down on paper and say, okay, that's, I'm bringing my awareness to this. So every time that I notice that that thought starts to pop up, I know we're not doing that anymore. And then on the second side of the paper could be the future me, and that's what you're going to replace those thoughts, those emotions and those actions with. Because what this really does is it helps you pinpoint those things that you want to bring to your conscious awareness. Because, as we said, before, these things happen unconsciously, they are on autopilot. You've been practicing them so many times that you don't have to think about speaking negatively to yourself. You've gone really, really good at it. So we need to interrupt that automatic pattern. We need to bring it up to our conscious awareness and decide we're not doing that anymore, and we are going to take the actions necessary in order to reframe into something different.Lesley Logan 37:40  Yes, I love that. Thank you for that. What a great tip. That's a great thing to do. You guys, how are you going to use these tips in your life? Make sure you tag Sabrina. Tag the Be It Pod. Send this to a friend who needs to hear it. There's always that friend who, like, you know, has been struggling and maybe telling you, like, I'm struggling with this, you know, I'm struggling with just being a perfectionist or like taking the next step or acting as if, if this resonates with you, it'll resonate with them. So send it to a friend and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 38:10  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 38:52  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 38:57  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 39:02  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 39:09  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 39:12  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley Logan kicks off this episode with a tribute to trailblazer Shirley Chisholm, setting the tone for a reflection on choosing your own path—especially when things feel chaotic. From restarting a business in a new country to finishing 15 months of self-growth, Lesley celebrates wins from the community that show the power of persistence. She also shares her own win—making a major business decision from a place of clarity, not pressure. If you've been chasing someone else's timeline, this episode is a gentle nudge to pause and realign with what's right for you. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:How choosing a pause can lead to clarity.Why honoring your own timeline matters.What real success looks like—even when it's messy.The strength in staying consistent and trusting the process.Episode References/Links:Shirley Chisholm Biography - https://beitpod.com/shirleychisholm If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday.Lesley Logan 0:01  Fuck yeah.Lesley Logan 0:02  Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:48  Hi, Be It babe. How are you? How's it going? We're like, midway through this April month, we're cruising right along. There's a lot going on and I love that you are taking time in the chaos to listen to this podcast. It doesn't grow without you. Every time you listen, every time you download, you are helping other people hear this podcast as well. So it's inspiration episode, and I want to highlight this Female Quotient post Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman elected to Congress, the first black woman to run for president, and an example for generations to come. Shirley Chisholm was a force of change in American politics as the first black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and the first woman and first black candidate to seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. She shattered barriers as she fought for racial and gender equality. Even decades later, she continues to inspire others to bring that folding chair to tables that may not save them a seat. Definitely a trailblazer. And I would say, if you haven't ever read about her, she is absolutely, really worthy of listening to something about and just diving in because this woman faced so many obstacles, not just because she was a woman, but she was a black woman, and she made a chair for herself, and she kept doing it and she's an inspiration for everyone, and also not letting people who had weird rules about what she couldn't, can and can't do, stop her from realizing a dream and raising that path. And so I just share that with you, because when there's a lot going on in the world, it can kind of feel like, what does my goal even matter? Why am I even doing this? Does it even matter? And the truth is, is that maybe 50 years down the road, we're gonna be looking back at the things that you did, because you were an impact for people who needed it. And if what you do is going to help others, then you gotta talk about it. You gotta do it. You cannot let people and obstacles and rules hold you back. Cannot. And so anyways, I hope that you know a lot about Shirley, but if you don't go research her, she'll blow your mind. Lesley Logan 2:43  Okay, your wins. So, we have Sonia. She's an eLevate grad and agency member. She wrote, the last six months have been a huge whirlwind of emotions, stress, happiness, physically and mentally exhausting, but also exciting and full of hope and happiness. After moving country, we finally bought a new home. We moved in this week. While there's been a lot of work, it's also super exciting. We're already talking about plans to build a home studio so I can restart my business here. It will take some time and at quite a cost, but in the long run, will be worth it. Oh, and I also scored myself some part time contract to work at a beautiful physio-Pilates studio, teaching just three mornings a week. The setup is similar to a Joe's gym. Everyone has their own program, and I'm there just to queue, adjust, advise. I went to observe one class. It was so nice to be being background equipment and people who love it as much as I do. And since doing eLevate, I was desperate to get in and change things. Haha. Although very aware I need to do this slowly and cautiously. So my win is for an exciting and busy 2025 getting my home and my business up and running. Sonia, it's so fun. I mean, I can't believe how long you've lived in your new country. And you know, I know that finding a home was just taking forever, and it kind of probably felt like you, when were you gonna find something. So, I'm just so happy that you and your family have that. But also, I want to say for everyone listening, you hear a win, and you don't realize all the emotions that went into that win. And so I love that Sonia shared these emotions that go into this win, because it isn't all unicorns and sparkly rainbows. And so you have to really, actually celebrate what is happening and what is in your control, and how that can make the year possible, even if it feels like it started off slow, right? Lesley Logan 4:22  MelissaYNagai, she has been an agency member since day one, and she wrote, 15 months of getting online every Tuesday and Thursday morning for a course is complete. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself now. Probably a good time to do Pilates. Today is my last day of teaching for the holidays. I start back up on January 6. I had my best year ever. So obviously, we're celebrating Melissa four months after her best year ever. But can we just take a moment? Do you ever end a year realizing all that you did do? And I can tell you, because I know Melissa, and we work with her a lot, it wasn't like everything went perfectly this year. She had a lot of ups and downs, and with that, she stayed the course. She was consistent. She had her best year ever, and she did that while she poured into herself and her education. So my loves, where can you pour into yourself and where can you take time to reflect on what you did do? Congratulations, Melissa. You have been working so hard year after year. You always beat yourself, but I love that was your best year ever, and I love how you feel good and that you're taking a break as one should, or that you did take a break as one should, because we all need breaks. Lesley Logan 5:26  And that's my win. Last week, Brad and I took a big break. We had a crazy end of February, beginning of March, lot going on, and I had a big decision to make about one of our products for 2026 and I had told the team that I would make the decision around this time, and I really was like, you cannot pressure me. I need you just to wait. I'll tell you around this date, because I want to make sure that I'm not making the decision based on income. I'm not making the decision based on pressure, based on letting people down, that I'm making the decision based on what is right for me, because what is right for me will be right for the company. And so I'm really celebrating that we took a weekend off, even though we had a million things that we could be doing, and that I made a decision from a pause, because there's power in a pause, and I made a decision based on what was right for me, and then everyone, and not on pressure of what's expected of me, and that's really not easy to do as a recovering perfectionist and overachiever and a firstborn daughter. So help that win inspires you. Take a weekend off, guys, if you want to know, we actually plan one weekend every quarter is off, like it's just like Friday to Monday, it's off. And I prefer it to not be a holiday weekend, because we would get a holiday weekend off anyways. So I want a, I want a different weekend. I want a different weekend. Lesley Logan 6:45  All right, your mantra. My energy gets wasted when I invest in winning anyone's game but my own. My energy gets wasted when I invest in winning anyone's game but my own. My loves, invest in yourself. Thank you for listening to this podcast that goes in the investment bucket of inspiration for you and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 7:11  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 7:53  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 7:58  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 8:03  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 8:10  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 8:13  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jose Acevedo didn't set out to be a storyteller—but life had other plans. In this insightful recap, Lesley and Brad reflect on his deep commitment to community, the unexpected lessons of fatherhood, and how honoring your roots can guide your purpose. Tune in for a powerful reminder that connection is built one story—and one step—at a time. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:What to actually use (or substitute) when starting Pilates at home.Why storytelling is essential for culture and connection.How fatherhood reshaped Jose's mission and mindset.The value of flexible goals and steady routines.How legacy is built through small, meaningful actions.Episode References/Links:April UK Mullet Tour - https://opc.me/ukSpring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comFinding Arizona Website - https://findingarizonapodcast.comFinding Arizona Podcast - https://beitpod.com/findingarizonaFinding Arizona YouTube - https://beitpod.com/findingarizonayoutubeEp. 499 wit Kristen McGuiness - https://beitpod.com/kristenmcguinessEp. 5 with Amy Ledin - https://beitpod.com/amyledin If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  I love, I love big, badass, bodacious goals. But I also think, like, don't get discouraged when you find yourself noodling in on the goal and the deadline gets moved, it doesn't mean you failed, right? Lesley Logan 0:13  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:56  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the inspirational convo I had with Jose Acevedo. I wanted to say, like defining convo, or the journey, a discovery, because, I mean, like that, he's the host of Finding Arizona, and that kind of just makes sense. But anyways, he's so fabulous, and it was such a fun conversation. You were on it? Yeah. We had a great time. Brad Crowell 1:20  No, no, I was on his. Lesley Logan 1:21  Oh, you were on. I was like, how are you recapping? You were there, but anyways, you were on his with me. Got it. I'm here, you guys. I, we had a really good time. So you want to listen to that episode and also listen to episode Brad and I were on with Finding Arizona, but. Brad Crowell 1:37  Which was his episode 435. Why do I know that? Great question, but I do.Lesley Logan 1:43  Wow. That is, I don't know, like 435. So you guys, before we get into Jose's amazingness. Today is April 17th 2025 and it's the International Day of Mastering Conversations That Matter. Okay. Brad Crowell 1:55  That's what it is. Lesley Logan 1:56  Let's all learn this together, folks. International Day of Mastering Conversations That Matter is on April 17th, I just said that, but it's okay. Important conversations are the reason why humanity stands where it is today. The ability to communicate is what separates us from all other species in the world. The advancements in medical science and technology testify to what humans are capable of. All these achievements can be traced back to an idea, an idea that was shared, discussed and debated. Important conversations have helped build empires from scratch, and the lack of them has resulted in their fall. Not just empires, but relationships tend to break apart with poor communication. It is important for the survival of the human race to constantly share ideas and bridge gaps. It is important to learn and discuss things in the past so that we have a better tomorrow. Well.Brad Crowell 2:39  So, I couldn't agree more. International Day of Mastering Conversations That Matter. Lesley Logan 2:44  I know but we, you know what? Whoever invented this day, you better go buy a platform so that the other ideas people might want to control actually can come to the top of an algorithm. That's all I'm going to say about that. Brad Crowell 2:57  No, I'm not. I'm going to say a whole lot more. So I'm frustrated that we stop sharing information as a country, especially when it comes to health and medical research. I'm frustrated that. Lesley Logan 3:08  I was gonna say that our country has done a really good job sharing things they shouldn't share, so. Brad Crowell 3:12  Right. They're fucking texting war plans to reporters, but they're not willing to share information among hospitals so that they can make the right flu vaccine. It's mind blowing to me. And the reality is that when we stop sharing medical information with the rest of the world with an isolationist policy, we are putting ourselves at risk, because the next pandemic, we might not have any forewarning, because since we're not sharing information with them, they're certainly not going to share information with us. Lesley Logan 3:38  People have already just said they, you can't share with us anymore, because you can't trust that we'll do the right thing with it.Brad Crowell 3:43  Well, that's with spy stuff, but like, healthcare stuff, don't we want to know if there's something coming? Don't we want to know these things? And I think that when we wall ourselves off, when we think that we're better than the rest of the world and that we're going to be better off by pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist, we're deluding ourselves. Lesley Logan 3:58  Yeah, I think every Be It listener is like nodding along. I mean, I don't think you listen to this podcast if you think people should be deported who are just here living. Anyway. Brad Crowell 4:07  Well, so, so honestly, how do we fix this? Like, how do we. Lesley Logan 4:10  Okay, do we have steps? Brad Crowell 4:12  Yeah, we do. And the reality is, if you're in the United States with us, we live in a representative republic. We call it democracy. But the reality is, we don't get to vote every day, you and I as normal citizens, we voted for someone to go to the Congress for us, to represent us, to vote for us. And they vote all the time. They vote on things all the time on our behalf, right? And the only way that we have any power right now between the election cycles where we vote those people in or out, such as the president of the United States, or our congressperson or house of representatives person, the only way that we have power today is to call them and to make sure they know what we think. Right? It's the only power that we have until the elections come back around. And that's the best possible thing that you can do, is to make it known to the people who represent us what we care about, right? The more of us that call and contact our reps, the better, because the reality is that.Lesley Logan 5:07  Whether you voted for them or not, they work for you. Brad Crowell 5:10  That's right, whether you voted for them or not, they work for you, and especially if you're in their district or their region, right? If you're in their state, if they're the senator, then they represent the whole state. The house also represents the whole state, but local, there's local governments as well. Lesley Logan 5:22  But you, just because you didn't, if you were like, I think my person's an asshole, you should still be a nail in their, thorn on their side, a thorn on their side, a nail and a thorn on their side the same time. Also, you guys, go to city council meetings like a handful of assholes go, and you can be there to be the person. So I also wanted to say. Brad Crowell 5:39  That's more local, but yes, absolutely. Lesley Logan 5:41  I'm getting this woman on the pod. Just don't you worry, I'm so fucking, I'm a fan girl and a fan girl. She's so smart. I'm not lesbian, but this girl is so smart, if I was, I'd want to learn from her every day. Anyways, her podcast is called Unlearn16: Class is in Session. Her wife, she's got a wife, but I'm not trying to get in on this. But I was listening to her. Lesley Logan 5:59  I don't think any of us were assuming that. Okay. Lesley Logan 6:01  I was listening to her podcast, because it came up and I was like, okay, class is in session. That's how it goes. I was and I would listen to it, and I was like, oh, I kind of know about democracy stuff. No, you guys, you guys. She lays out what is a democracy. She explains it for Canada and the U.S., and she explains what are the pillars that create one? What has to be in there? To me, going on a conversation that matter, I think you have to actually know what a true democracy is, to actually have a conversation with someone who's trying to take things away. And so her episode that came out today, not today, when you're listening, a month ago, but though it's called The One Where I Make Democracy Behind the Scenes. I love her titles. They're all like that. So it's Unlearned16: Class is in Session, fuck yeah, The One Where I Make Democracy Behind the Scenes, I learned a ton, and she's a Canadian High School teacher, so clearly my teachers didn't do great job. But that's okay. I think it goes with the topic. Okay. Brad Crowell 6:53  All right, moving on. Lesley Logan 6:54  Go have a conversation that matters. Brad Crowell 6:55  Thank you for listening. I'm gonna get off my soapbox here. Here's what we've got coming up on our travel schedule. Lesley Logan 7:02  Right now. Brad Crowell 7:03  You're currently, Lesley is currently gone from our house. She's recording from the stars. Lesley Logan 7:08  I know, I'm like living it up in Santa Barbara.Brad Crowell 7:11  She's in Santa Barbara, y'all.Lesley Logan 7:11  I'm at the beach. I'm filming for Pilates Anytime again. Thank you to everyone at Pilates Anytime who loves my stuff. We got a bunch of classes coming at you. I'm really excited for what we have with Pilates Anytime. And when I come back a few days later and it's spring training.Brad Crowell 7:25  Well, yes, if you are in the U. K. or in the E.U., Lesley and I are coming in September, and we want to make sure you know about it. So go to opc.me/uk, opbc.me/uk, we're going to be teaching in the UK. It's just a short flight for those of you who are across the pond there. I mean, the channel, really. Lesley Logan 7:44  Which pond? Brad Crowell 7:45  Yeah, the channel. Lesley Logan 7:46  You know, people on the East Coast to (inaudible) that is the pond. And also, it is so easy for you. We're doing double.Brad Crowell 7:54  Yeah, six hours, but anyway, y'all should come join us. We don't get there very often, and we're really fired up to be coming back. We're going to be in Leeds and in Essex, and it's gonna be awesome. So come join us on the Mullet Tour, opc.me/uk, and then at the end of this month, Spring Training. That's OPC's Spring Training. It's our first ever annual event for Spring Training. And what is Spring Training?Lesley Logan 8:17  So, Spring Training is kind of like how baseball has a couple weeks of playing each other, and it doesn't really matter. So. Brad Crowell 8:23  Preseason, baby. Lesley Logan 8:24  Preseason. So this is like a Pilates week of spring training. And the theme this week for this one is The Push-Up. And so we're planking, and we're talking about it, but all the classes are going to be around building up your push-up, which, by the way, Joe put at the end of the mat order. So,why? You could stand up and walk away from your practice and be really awesome and top. So it's really cool. Everything's going to lead gonna lead to that. You don't have to be a Pilates enthusiast to even join us. There's a mat ticket, so meaning you just go to the mat classes, because that's all you have access to, is some room on your floor. And then there's an all access ticket, which gets you the 10 classes. And that will be mat, reformer, tower, Cadillac, chair. Obviously, if you only have a reformer or mat, you still want the all access that's gonna be at the six, the price is so cheap, you won't, you don't even need to worry that you don't have the other pieces of equipment. Brad Crowell 9:08  But here's what you do want. We're gonna make it even more reasonable if you're on the waitlist so that you can get that really bird discount. So go to opc.me/events, opc.me/events, come join us. It's gonna be a heck of a party. We're doing that this year instead of Summer Camp, okay? Lesley Logan 9:26  Because we're doing summer tours and winter tours, and we needed a different season. Brad Crowell 9:30  Yeah, we wanted a different season. So, if you are a Pilates business owner in any way, meaning you're taking money from anyone for any reason, whether that's in your home or in the park, or you have a studio. If you are the one that's actually taking the money from a client, you're technically a business owner. So come join us for a free webinar where we're gonna help support you with the growth of that business. We're gonna help you understand, how do I get more clients? How do I raise my rates? How does it all work? Like, how do we actually make this happen? This is for brand new people. It's also for people who've had like a studio for 20 years with a major team, because we kind of just stumble our way through this. There wasn't anybody guiding us. And Lesley and I have had the chance over the past seven years to stand alongside more than 2500 business owners, just like you, and go through the mud with them, try to figure out the problems that they're experiencing, problem clients or problem lease holders, or my insurance or my marketing is terrible. I don't have any people coming in. My phone stopped ringing. My website isn't bringing clients. All these kinds of things. We've had the opportunity to be there right alongside people in trenches, and from that, we've pulled three major secrets that we want to share with you. So come join me for this free webinar. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator. That's profit without the O dot B-I-Z slash accelerator. And finally.Lesley Logan 10:50  We're going to Cambodia in October, and we want you to come. Do not pass go. Just go straight to crowsnestretreats.com and snag your spot. Stay at our house, do Pilates with us, go see the temples of Ankor and all the other ones that are surrounding it that most people don't see. They fly all the way there and they don't see it. They just go on by. They don't even see it. We're gonna take you there. And we're gonna go to Lotus Farm and do all these different things.Brad Crowell 11:10  Actually, this upcoming one, y'all, we have a new temple that, that's not new for them, but a new one for Lesley and I. It's a new temple they built last week. Brad Crowell 11:19  New thousand-year-old temple. Brad Crowell 11:21  Lesley and I've never been to this temple, and I was, we were driving by it in our retreat earlier this year, and I asked our tour guide, like, hey, what's the story with this temple? How come we always skip it? And she said, we just run out of time. But let's make this a priority. So in October, this upcoming October, we're going to be adding one more temple to the list that Lesley and I haven't even visited. I'm very excited. I'm like, super, super excited about it. It's gonna be amazing. Go to crowsnestretreats.com crowsnestretreats.com and make your deposit today, right now, to save your spot, because space is limited. Lesley Logan 11:54  Okay, we gotta get into the interview with Jose, but before that, we have an audience question, don't we, Brad? Brad Crowell 11:59  Yes. Ilikecats123BB from YouTube asks, hey, do I need any equipment for the mat Pilates classes on OPC other than the mat?Lesley Logan 12:11  I love this question, because I think it's really easy to think, oh my God, I'm gonna have to have all these different things to get started in Pilates. Most of the props that someone could use in a Pilates mat class you can use from your house. So I even create it for the accessories deck. So technically, no, you can do mat Pilates without anything. Joe created it. So you just need you and your mat. And if you want to invest in your Pilates practice, like the mat is where I'm a, with the OPC episode that's coming out, everyone's like, I'm a mat rat. I'm like, okay, we need to come up with a different animal. I don't want to be a mat rat, but like, we were all like, I'm a mat rat. I only love the mat. So anyway, if that's who you are, you might want to invest eventually in a Contrology mat with handles and a strap, because it does change your practice, especially for the advanced exercises. But if you're never going overhead, you don't need to make that investment. So you technically don't need anything. However, one pound weights, a squishy ball, like a fitness ball, you let the air out of in a magic circle, and a heavy duty TheraBand, those things. Brad Crowell 13:08  How about a block? Lesley Logan 13:10  Ah, no, the squishy ball.Brad Crowell 13:12  Squishy ball instead of block. Lesley Logan 13:13  It's not yoga. Brad Crowell 13:14  Got it. Lesley Logan 13:14  Yeah. No. You use the squishy ball because you'd put the block between your ankles, and it's not gonna be as fun as a squishy ball. They just squish, it would be really great. So. Brad Crowell 13:21  But what if you don't have one pound weights? Lesley Logan 13:23  You can use water bottles. Brad Crowell 13:24  What? Fill it with water? Lesley Logan 13:26  And if you don't have.Brad Crowell 13:27  Or like beans? Lesley Logan 13:29  You can use beans, just make sure the same beans, you know, like.  Brad Crowell 13:31  I got tomato in here, I got apple seeds in here. Lesley Logan 13:32  I had a client using two beers, you know, two cans of beers. And I was like, just put it back in the fridge after you're done. You're not gonna want to open those up. Brad Crowell 13:39  That's brilliant. Lesley Logan 13:39  Yeah, just make sure they're the same product, so that the weight of them is the same. But one pound is what we're going for. If you don't have a TheraBand, you can use an old pair of leggings. If you don't have a squishy ball, you can use a couch cushion or a dog's toy, kid's toy. Your kids probably have a ball that you could let some air out of. You know, a magic circle. That's the harder one. You kind of do have to buy that, but there's so many cheap ones now it's pretty easy to grab one of those. Brad Crowell 14:02  Yeah, totally. Well, awesome. Great question, Ilikecats. Lesley Logan 14:05  By the way, if you go to onlinepilatesclasses.com you can join OPC for 40 days for $40 and guess what? You can experience several weeks of mat classes of ours. You can ask questions. You can send in a video of you doing a mat exercise, and I'll give you feedback on your form.Brad Crowell 14:18  Okay, I just want to take a super quick pause, and I want to call this out. There is no other platform on the Internet where you can submit a specific video of you saying what am I doing here, am I doing it right, and get feedback from certified Pilates instructors. There's no other place online, okay? So OPC has something that is magical that not enough people take advantage of. So come join OPC, and then if you're struggling with an exercise, no problem. We are here to support you. We excludes me. I'm not a certified Pilates instructor. Lesley Logan 14:53  And I give you like other things that you can do. I'm like, oh, go grab this and go do it like this. And so you just have more homework. It's really like having a private session for nothing, you pay nothing. You just be a member.Brad Crowell 15:04  Well, stick around. We're gonna be right back. We're gonna dig into this fantastic convo we had with Jose Acevedo and Finding Arizona. BRB. Brad Crowell 15:13  All right, welcome back. Let's talk about Jose Acevedo. Jose is the host of finding Arizona, a podcast spotlighting entrepreneurs, creators and leaders, shaping Arizona's local landscape. Driven by a genuine love for connection and community, he provides guests with a welcoming platform to share their journeys in their own words. What began as a screen printing passion project ultimately drew Jose into podcasting where he found his true calling, giving people space to tell their stories. Today, he and his wife Britt run the show together, making Finding Arizona a thriving hub for inspiration and local voices. And funny enough, Lesley and I had the opportunity to be interviewed on that podcast, even though we don't live in Arizona, but we actually go to Arizona pretty regularly, a couple times a year, usually. That's where we got a chance to meet them. We were down there speaking at an event. Britt and Jose were also speaking at the same event, and we had a chance to just chit-chat with them off stage. And it was great. And that's how we connected with them. Yeah, Finding Arizona is cool because it's, it really grew organically. And I think. Lesley Logan 16:15  I also think what a great if you're just going to visit Arizona, what a great podcast to go listen to. You can go through the different, they have so many episodes, you can search through it. They're a wealth of knowledge of different local businesses and entrepreneurs and really supportive. And I think that's what makes you want to go to a place. It's like when you can know the insiders spaces to go, the coffee shops, the pizza restaurants, all that kind of stuff, like, who's doing what? Just think it's really, really impressive. I love that our conversation with Jose, I think he's, first of all, the nicest person. I think he might be the softest, but I don't mean soft like he doesn't have about, I just mean like, his energy is soft, his voice is soft, like, he's just endearing. I really enjoy him. So anyways, he talked about storytelling, and he said, like, what it can do for society and culture that has been on this earth for so long and has thrived just from hearing these stories and using that as a religion, and that kind of goes into the day that we're kind of celebrating right now, the conversations that matter, so, good job, Brad. And he talked a little bit about his grandfather, an elder in the Hopi community, so we're First Nation, and he got to, in like that community, from what I understand about people who are native, and like they're grandkids of a native, everyone talks about the storytelling, and they learn so much through storytelling. And so I think it's really cool that Jose learned that from his grandfather and from his culture and from his community, and then is using that for other people. So I really enjoyed, I really enjoyed him talking about the importance of storytelling and (inaudible).Brad Crowell 17:44  He talked about how it shapes religion and culture and society, and how he was really impacted by that. And then. Lesley Logan 17:51  I think that's like, one of the things that I wanted to even have him on is not just, let's talk about Finding Arizona, but how do you get into being this person and like that be it till you see it, and it's like, well, I'm starting with storytelling. I wanted to tell the stories. And I just think that that's like, you know, most of us are wondering, like, what we could do at this point, and you could, you could tell stories about experience that have happened in your life and the lives before you. And that's how we learn, and that's how we keep, that's how we keep repeating the past.Brad Crowell 18:14  Yeah, it's how we remember the past too. I mean, it's how you do everything all the way up to sell. It's how you sell these stories. You know, people are captivated by stories. It's why the movie industry is so powerful and big and huge, and podcasts are, you know, like even happening, right? It's all about storytelling. It's fun to see that his excitement for storytelling shaped who he's become today and what he does today. So I really loved where you started talking about fatherhood. He said fatherhood has changed a lot about how I see the world, how I perceive the world, how I go about the world. He said becoming a father shifted his entire perspective on life and his purpose. He wants his son to grow up seeing a world filled with opportunity, with kindness and meaningful conversations. And he shared a story where he said podcasting has affected his family in the perception of even his son is now like, are you gonna go have a conversation? Are you gonna go have a podcast now? You know, and his son's like, three, and so it's helping him share this concept of storytelling with his son, and his son gets to see how much his dad loves to do this and all this kind of stuff. And Jose's approach to work and life has been influenced by this idea of setting a positive example, right? Because now he's intentionally meeting people he doesn't know. He's asking questions, he's being curious, he's demonstrating all these things. Rather than chasing success for personal gain, he sees his work as a way to build a legacy for his son, and he said he wanted him to know that there are good people out there and there's a community that will back him. Lesley Logan 19:47  I mean, we've talked about this before with other women on this show, like we talked about it with Kristen, the episode, I think 500, 501 it's so good for your kids to see you in the world doing the thing that you love, because it lets them know what's possible, but also, like, they do learn from it, they do pick it up, right? Amy Ledine said in her episode five, actions are caught not taught, and so I think it's just really cool. I love that he picked that up and he shared that with everyone. Brad Crowell 20:13  Yeah, well, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into Be It Action Items that Jose shared and very heartfelt, so we'll be right back. Brad Crowell 20:22  All right. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Jose Acevedo? He said t,ry your best to set a big goal, but also make sure that you're taking those routines that are going to help you achieve that big goal, right? Do small steps forward. Also, you have to allow yourself for your goal to shift over time and move, but along the way, you still have to be taking steps, right? Here's a good example. We set a goal to take our physical products and sell them in another country, right? And at first it was like, oh, we have this opportunity. We should do this right now. We gotta go, go, go, go, go, go, go. You know. And someone on our team was like, hey, wait a minute. We have a lot of other things going on. We probably could pull this off. However, what do we do with these other things? Should we be back burning them? And I was like, oh, wait, wait a minute, you know, is it really necessary for us to go, go, go, go, go right now with this thing, or can we delay that launch of that initiative in a time where the team can handle the workload, the marketing calendar is a little more open, we can have a better conversation about it with our customers, and so it still allows us to go after that big goal, but just in a different way. Lesley Logan 21:38  And also we can adjust the routines to make sure that that goal happens, and then talking about it, we actually got to explore like, well, is there another way to achieve this goal, to test the goal, to even experiment with it. So I love big, badass, bodacious goals. BHAGs. Brad Crowell 21:53  Forgot about those. Lesley Logan 21:54  Forgot about the episode number, but it's a great one. But I also think, like, don't get discouraged when you find yourself noodling in on the goal and the deadline gets moved, it doesn't mean you failed, right? It didn't mean it. So I love that. I love it. Jose mentioned a life responds to effort. He said, if you look back on the little steps you're taking, you'll actually see that you're providing yourself the opportunity to move forward. And so if you're not making an effort, you're not moving anywhere. You're kind of stagnant. But when you make little, tiny steps, even if, for this particular goal that Brad is talking about, some of the steps are like literally doing nothing for a couple of weeks, like a conversation. I'm having a conversation. But as long as we take those little steps, it's like peeling an onion back. We get to another layer of working towards that goal, very different than going, okay, well, I love this goal. It's gonna happen in September, and then not talking about it again for until August, that would be stagnation, and the goal isn't going to move forward in September because we didn't take the little steps along the way. So I really think that's really great. I think whenever I talk about habits, it's always like tiny habits works, and a lot of us are this all or nothing people. If I'm not doing everything toward making this goal happen, then I'm doing nothing. That's not how it goes. So, anyways. Brad Crowell 22:59  That's not how it goes. Lesley Logan 23:00  I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 23:01  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 23:01  Thank you so much for listening today. Thank you, Jose, for being on our episode, our show. You're so wonderful. I hope to run into you in Arizona when we're there for summer tour. You guys, yep, cat's out of the bag. We're gonna, we're probably gonna start our summer tour in Arizona. That's the goal. So, thank you, and you know what to do with this episode. Share this with a friend who needs to hear it. Go listen to a bunch of episodes we just talked about on this one episode. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 23:25  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 23:27  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 24:10  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 24:15  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 24:19  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 24:26  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 24:29  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this heartfelt conversation, Lesley Logan sits down with Jose Acevedo of Finding Arizona to explore how he's spent the last ten years building a podcast rooted in storytelling, culture, and connection—without ever losing sight of the people who matter most. From learning to stay consistent through baby steps to collaborating with his wife and finding deeper meaning through fatherhood, Jose shares the real behind-the-scenes of growing a creative life that feels honest and whole.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:How to stay consistent by breaking goals into small steps.Ways to protect your passion project from burnout.How to balance creative work with parenting and partnership.Why storytelling connects us to purpose and builds legacy.When to wait—and why not rushing your creative dream can keep it joyful.Episode References/Links:Finding Arizona Website - https://findingarizonapodcast.comFinding Arizona Podcast - https://beitpod.com/findingarizonaFinding Arizona YouTube - https://beitpod.com/findingarizonayoutubeBig Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert - https://a.co/d/1ze2Db3Guest Bio:Jose Acevedo is the host and creator of Finding Arizona, a podcast dedicated to spotlighting the people and businesses that make Arizona a vibrant, ever-evolving community. With over a decade of podcasting experience, Jose has interviewed hundreds of local entrepreneurs, creatives, and changemakers, capturing the heart of their stories through authentic, thoughtful conversation. His background in landscape architecture gives him a unique approach to storytelling—one rooted in structure, curiosity, and connection.What began as a solo passion project has since grown into a collaborative family endeavor. Alongside his wife and producer, Brittany Acevedo, Jose has transformed Finding Arizona into a full-fledged media brand. Together, they co-founded The Found House, a creative production studio offering podcast and video services to local businesses and aspiring creators. Whether behind the mic or in the community, Jose's mission is to amplify local voices, support meaningful work, and create a legacy of love and purpose for their son, Atlas. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Jose Acevedo 0:00  My motivation was the podcast. It's like, I love this thing. It makes me feel good. I get passion from, I get creativity from it and that was my motivation. That was it. It's like having the next conversation.Lesley Logan 0:13  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:56  Hi, Be It babe. Okay, this was such a fun interview to do. I had the pleasure of meeting our guest and his wife when Brad and I were at this, we're invited to this thing that I'm gonna not, I'm not gonna lie, we're invited to this thing. You probably heard us talk about it back around the April, May time, and we're like, how do we get invited to do this? Like, what are we doing here? We're not even experts in this area, and we had to Be It Till We See It in that space in the moment, and that's when we met Jose and Britt and they're the podcast hosts of Finding Arizona. Brad and I had the pleasure of being on their podcast. Yes, Brad, that our Brad was on a podcast. You guys, he is a performer, and we hide him behind a camera, but we really shouldn't, because he's so amazing. So anyways, I am super excited for you to hear Jose and I talk about podcasting, about starting something new, so you don't have to, even you don't turn this off if you're like, I never run a podcast. I think it's really cool to hear how people come up with ideas and then see yourself in that story. So we talk about starting a podcast, what it's like to start something that we have no accountability around, we have to create it ourselves. So if you're someone who has a hard time with that, like, hearing the story, and then also, we talk a lot about goal setting and working with your partner and kiddos and what's next. So this is just a really, I feel like you probably are gonna feel like you're having coffee with Jose and I. So here is the host of Finding Arizona, Jose Acevedo. Lesley Logan 2:21  All right, Be It babe. This is fun. It's always fun for me when I get to talk to a fellow podcaster, but it's really fun when I really know that podcaster and we have a great story and we have a great vibe. Jose Acevedo, you are our guest today. You are the host of Finding Arizona. And, you guys, don't worry if you don't know where Arizona is, we're gonna talk more of than just Arizona today. But can you tell us who you are and what you rock at?Jose Acevedo 2:44  Yeah, my name is Jose Acevedo. I am a podcaster, and I'm also, like, a fan of you, Lesley. Thank you so much for having me, and I'm just again, I'm a true cheerleader for the locals here who are doing what they love to do their passion projects, everything in between, from nonprofit to high CEOs in the corporate areas. We want to get to know them, their story and how they come into the world, and how they journey across and make an effort to be a community member here in Arizona. Lesley Logan 3:14  So I feel like you are the greatest cheerleader, like you have curiosity. You're excited about what people are doing, and you want to share their stories, is that something that you went to school for, is that something you've always done? You don't even do in a podcast but everybody else's stuff, like, where did that come from? Jose Acevedo 3:29  Yeah, so I spent a bit of my life on the East Coast, and that's where my father and my mother took me to go really early on in my childhood to really kind of give me an opportunity. A. they wanted to get out of the heat of Arizona, but B. they wanted to move to other places where their children could learn and grow and kind of get a unique sense of the world. And then when I moved again for the second time, and this was a very significant point in my life, I was going away from being an adolescent to a kind of a teenager and into the kind of adulthood. And we moved back to my mom's Indian Reservation, and that is near the four corners here in Arizona. It's the Hopi Reservation, and I knew very little, to almost nothing, about my heritage and my Hopi culture. And so that was a very big, pivotal learning point about who I am as an individual, who I want to be as a man in the future. And the biggest kind of teacher in that was my grandfather, who was an elder in the community, who held a lot of stories, and who also really loved storytelling. And that was really kind of that moment of like, really crux of getting to understand what storytelling meant and what its importance was, what it can do for a society and a culture that has been on this earth for so long and has thrived just from hearing these stories and using that as a religion. And so for me, I had to very much dive deep into, you know, these different types of elements of storytelling, but how they also relate to my own life. And it was hard. It was definitely something very significant where I pushed back on it at points. I definitely had my moments of, like, teen angst and those types of things, but I also learned a lot about who I am and who my people are and what I want to give back into this world and give back into society and culture. So that was a really big point in my life, of like, learning about who I am and who my culture was. Then I came down to Phoenix and went to college, and really kind of stumbled upon podcasting as kind of this new wave of having a dialog and having conversation and actually storytelling to the masses, but also having these intimate conversations with individuals. So really, how it turned out to be what it is today is I was having conversations with business owners about their business through screen printing. I was screen printing T-shirts for these different owners, and I would just have a really fun time having these conversations and really getting to, like, go back and forth with them, getting to know them and what they're about and all these things. And they seem to really enjoy it. I'd get comments like, Oh, I really love this conversation. Thank you for having with me. Thank you for showing interest. Oh, you should be a news reporter, or you should be on the radio. All these types of compliments. And really, it dawned on me, when I was screen printing their shirts and listening to other podcasts that I'm like, really enjoying of like, oh, I should just do this. This has always been fun for me to listen to. I should at least attempt to do these conversations, to record them. So that that kind of snowballed into had to learn how to record, had to learn how to edit, had to learn how to do a website, how to like, upload them and just create this thing that I thought was cool that now has now become a big part of my life and a big part of my family's life. My wife got involved by meeting me, and I had to tell her, can't really go out on dates on weekends, because I'm doing this thing, recording and editing and all these things. And she was like, oh, I love podcasts. Let me listen to it. And so that has now turned into her becoming my producer. And now my son has just been born three years ago during the pandemic, and we were doing a lot of zoom calls, and now he knows that when Dada goes to work, it's like a lot of the times it's podcasting. So he's like, Dada, you go do podcasts? And it's just been really that thing that has affected me on a personal level, but me on a grander scale of legacy.Lesley Logan 7:45  I mean, and you've been doing this for 10 years, Finding Arizona, so like, y'all, we've been only podcasting for about three and a half years at this point. Podcasting has been around for a really long time, but so few people knew how to find the app on their phone and knew what it was and what I just, thank you for sharing the journey, because it's so cool you were already doing something, and then people were like, this is really cool you do this. And so you took it, and I, so many people are like, how did you come with this idea? How did you come with this idea? Y'all listen to what people are saying you're really great at, or complimenting you on, because that's what they think you're great at. And it becomes, it's so easy and natural for you, you don't see it as an opportunity or something that's unique, because it's natural to you. But what a cool gig. I love it. And also, the people are already coming to you. So you're like, what is this shirt for this automobile thing? How did they do it? I love that also, thank you for sharing your show about your grandfather. I think there's a book called Sapiens, and I didn't read the whole thing, you guys, it's really long. I kept it. I haven't given it away because I swear to pick it up. But what they say is that humans actually stayed in existence because of storytelling, and I do think that, you know, the Native Americans have really shown us that storytelling is really how we keep, we understand what happened in our past. We understand we're going to like, we understand things on a bigger level than just us as humans and I think it's so beautiful. So thank you for sharing all of that. Jose Acevedo 9:10  Of course.Lesley Logan 9:10  Okay, you had to learn all these things to be a podcaster. You all who are trying to make something new happen your life, whenever we say podcast and you can insert what you are doing, trying to be. What was it like having the first interview? Because you already were good at it, because you'd ask people question, but then you had to, like, hit record. Were you shaking in your boots? Did it feel easy? Did you re-record it? Tell us about it.Jose Acevedo 9:32  So I think you're absolutely right when it comes to these very, we had this conversation on my podcast and just off air, where I feel sometimes I'm like, I'm so nervous and flustered because I'm such a fan of people who come on our show, because we do research about these people, and we're like, oh, they're so cool. They're like, this and that. And so I get nervous just because I have this excitement about me. So yes, my very first episode where I said to myself, yes, I want to record. I want to do this. I want to make it a thing. I actually did it with my boss, like of the screen printing shop, because I felt like A. we had a great dynamic. We were just really fun and chit-chatty with each other. And B. I felt like all of his stories were so funny and so like, dynamic and filled with all of these intrigue and just the way he said things was just so funny to me. And it was, yeah, it was exciting to me to share what he was about. But again, it was like, so nerve wracking, because I didn't know if this was gonna work, or I didn't know if any of my equipment was done right, or if I was like, I'm just shooting myself in the foot. We might have to record and other things, and I was so nervous, and really I just wanted it to be a fun situation, which it was. It was so much fun, and I really look back on it, and was like, oh my gosh, so he was barely paying attention to he's working on other shirts. And I was like, having this conversation while we're interviewing. He was so great, though, because he could do that, and then still have the conversation and throw in the quits, throw in the bits, throw in the funny. Lesley Logan 11:05  It probably made him feel even more comfortable, because he wasn't like, sitting down and professionally recording.Jose Acevedo 11:10  Yeah, his thing. And it was just me saying, hey, can I record this? And then it turned into, I like the way that this felt. I like the feeling of it. I love, was it so great? That was like, did I think it was going to be this Pulitzer Prize winning interview thing? No, but I love the way it felt. I love the way it turned out. And I was like, maybe let's try it again, but let's sit down with someone who's not so busy. It's like someone who's like, a little bit more attentive and paying attention to me in my conversation with them, and it would just go from one client to the next, and I was like, oh, there's a way to like, then you start to pick out like, oh, there's a way to ask this question, or there's a way to steer them into this one area, or they draw their guard down when after the half hour mark. So I should get more personal questions towards the end there. And so if you really learn the dynamics of a conversation and through so much of doing it repetitively and doing the work over and over again.Lesley Logan 12:13  You, you know, that is true. It's also like you're never going to be 10 years version of you versus one year, like, you can't learn the 100 times experience until you've done it 100 times. Like, it's just got to happen. We have to have grace with ourselves. And also, it is true, the more you do it, the more you realize who are fun people to interview. What are the qualities? That person has a great story, but they're not a really good interview. So if we're having a hard time having a conversation, it's not going to go well. Versus, when do I ask the questions that are more personal, that do take more vulnerability? Some people, you know, when you podcast, a lot like we do, I can get vulnerable on an episode pretty early on, because I know what. I know that I can share. I know how it usually goes. But not everyone's like that. Some people are amazing experts, and they do a few podcasts. And so we have to kind of understand when the best time is to to bring things out. I want to know because you started this on your own, and you were also like, let me see how this goes. So how did you hold yourself accountable to releasing the episodes? Because the thing about anything is you have to be consistent, and especially at the time when podcasting wasn't really big, you know, how did you choose to be consistent with something you didn't know what it would be yet?Jose Acevedo 13:27  So, yeah, I, again, I think it goes back to, I think one of the early s tarts in my beginning was like goal setting, like, how do I want this to be a thing, or how do I want this to come out. And so one of the very first conversations that I had was, do I want this to be a weekly? Do I want this to be monthly? Do I want this to be a series? And, you know, how do I want to put out this series? And so I just really kind of more approached it from, uh, that kind of goal setting. Let's start off slow. Let's do it a monthly or let's, you know, I think it was monthly, in the very first beginning of, like, I'm going to have these deep conversations for more than an hour or an hour long, and really hone in on the individual and have those deep realm conversations. And then once I had a few underneath my belt, I really started to say, okay, I think I can push this even further. And, like, really, after the first year, I was like, okay, let's go to every two weeks, like a biweekly. Then it came to like, oh, I am really getting emails from a lot of places that wanted to be on the show or was showing interest. And I was like, okay, well, now I have a lot of interest. And I also, at that point, I started, you know, having someone follow, do the pictures and help me out a little bit. And so I was like, okay, I can do this. I can make this a weekly thing. And so I pushed myself even further to make it a weekly podcast and have these really fun conversations. And also, then we got to some really fun goal setting there, it was like, there was a month that was just filled with farmers, and when we started to really push the envelope on some of these ideas, and had some fun throughout the years that we've been doing it, what, how does this podcast work? Or how does it look like? What do people find interest in? Or what are some of the things that are really pushing the envelope of like how this community works here in Arizona or here in Phoenix particularly, so, it was really kind of listening to the audience, and also goal setting for myself is really what kept me going. And because I had such an intrigue on not only the people who were coming onto the podcast, but an intrigue in making this a business, I think it was kind of easier to say, okay, these are the goals. This is how I want to approach it. This is how I want it to come out. This is how I want it to be seen. And how do I make sure that I get these? Well, it's baby steps. Okay, first you get the yes from the person, then you schedule them, and then do the conversation, and then you set a date of, like, when they're going to come out. And then you make sure you edit in that time frame. It's those little baby steps that'll move you forward and move the the needle here and there. And so it was just, again, one part my my end of like, goal setting and listening to the audience. But two, make sure that you write down your goals and push yourself to reach those goals and make sure that it comes out. Lesley Logan 13:28  Yeah, I love that you mentioned the baby steps, because I think that's where people get a goal set. Then they don't break it down, the baby actions, and then it just feels overwhelming to do. And then they think they need motivation, which is the biggest lie, because that's inconsistent, so. Jose Acevedo 16:24  Yeah, my motivation was the podcast. I love this thing. It makes me feel good. I get passion from, I get creativity from it. And that was my motivation. That was it. It was like having the next conversation. Lesley Logan 16:55  So, do you podcast full time? This is your job now, or do you have other things to do? Jose Acevedo 16:59  I'll be honest. No, this isn't my full time gig, but it feels like a second job or more, but I'll be honest, I, when the pandemic hit, I was working with a landscape architecture firm, and that's what I went to school for, is landscape architecture, and I had a real choice, because we were getting a lot of intrigue in the podcast. But what happened was Brittany got pregnant, and it was the pandemic. She was actually coming out of a job in the healthcare system, and we were really worried, because she would hear horror stories from the healthcare about the pandemic and about people suffering through this thing. Lesley Logan 17:40  Or our healthcare workers were on the front line, and we didn't really have a lot of support for them. We still don't. That didn't change. Jose Acevedo 17:48  And so for me, I was like, oh man, I'm bringing this new life into the world. I need to figure out a way to make sure that he's healthy. And so I took a job at a bigger firm that would allow me to work from home and be with him, but also give me health insurance. And really, I like to say it's I'm not afraid to let go of that job right now to move into podcasting full time. But for the time being, my son is safe, my family's healthy, and we are still working consistently on this podcast, and I have, it hasn't worn on me. It hasn't made me feel tired. I just love what I do, and if I can do this continuously, the way that we have been, I'm okay with that. We're at that pivotal point too. It's like, which one of us is going to let go of their job to go full time with this podcast? And I don't know, we still have this conversation, and I'll be honest, like, all the time, like, who's going to do it? What are we going to do? And we just kind of look at each other and we're like, it's a good problem to have, yeah, but we're still at a standstill. We're still waiting. I think we have a goal set. I think that we have clientele, and once we reach that number of clientele that will allow us to let go of one of the jobs that we work, then we'll move into more full time. And I think that's a good, again, goal setting. Types of things where it's like baby steps, we have an actual number, and once we hit that, then that'll be the key to unlock the door of full time work. And working that podcast full time. Lesley Logan 19:22  Thank you. And also it's, here's the thing. These are all things we have to think about. It's really funny when people know that I'm on YouTube, they're like, oh, you must make so much on YouTube. I'm like, not everyone's it, a full time YouTuber. The amount of money I spend on the payroll to edit the YouTube is not how much I get paid from YouTube. I get paid. I get paid monthly. And I'm so grateful thank you for watching those views. Keep watching, but we glamorize things, and we think, oh, they're doing this. So it must be doing so. And yes, the ads you have, or content fees, or all the different appearances that could all bring an income, but you and I live currently in a place where healthcare isn't a given, and so unfortunately, someone has to have it. And, two, I'll just be really honest guys, someone has to have a W2 in a relationship, because if you both, like our, Brad and I, and you work for the company, no one wants to give you a loan. Like, the hoops. It took us 18 months to get our mortgage, 18 months we could to pay the bill we're already paying, you know. So I share that because it's frustrating. And if you're in that situation, we see you and we hear you, and it's the other thing that we talked about on your podcast, Finding Arizona, is putting pressure on something before it's ready can actually destroy it. Or Big Magic, have you read the book Big Magic? Jose Acevedo 20:36  No. I'm going to write this down. Lesley Logan 20:37  Oh, put it on your list, Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love girl. So her book, Big Magic, I have read multiple times, and she says, ideas want to be born. So if you have an idea and you don't act on it, someone else will do it, which is why you're like, oh, I had that idea. Like, you didn't do anything about that, right? So there's that. But also, she says, if your idea is artistic, if it's creative and you try to live off of it before it is ready. You will filter, change, correct, make. You might even lower standards or make decisions based on the income you need at the time versus what the art was, the creativity, the vision, the goal was in the first place. So she shares she did not quit her job as a professor, even after she sold Eat, Pray, Love to movies. She really waited until she knew I can live off of me being Elizabeth Gilbert, the writer, and it's really awesome. And I really love that vulnerability, because there is a dream I have where I just get to interview people and go on retreats and, you know, teach my mentorship. But also got a mortgage to pay. I got retirement. Jose Acevedo 20:37  Yeah, you got to work towards it. Lesley Logan 20:37  Yeah. And we got retirement accounts we want to make sure, there's a lot going on. So you have to kind of balance like, am I playing small or am I playing it wise? It's a game of life. Am I making the right decision in this moment for where we want to go? Jose Acevedo 22:08  Yeah, and I feel the exact same way of you bring up this, this idea of baby steps, and I feel like that's where we kind of refocus a lot of the times on and not like we don't want it. It is about putting effort into everyday tasks or everyday things that allow us to move forward and move that needle to the point where we were like, yes, this is everything's pointing to. We can do this now, and we can transition and not feel like again the pressure is come solely on the creative part, the thing that we love doing, and now it has to hold us financially up. It's one of those things where it's like, and I brought this up on our party, it's like, that's what brings me most fears, because I've always loved doing this, and I don't want it to be like this martyr of like, it has to feed me, it has to, you know, pay my bills and all these things where that, when it was in the beginning, was just this fun conversation, this, this fun, light-hearted thing of like, tell me about yourself, tell me why, and to put pressure on it so much to the point where it's like the people ask us, why do you put yourself in a corner by just focusing on Arizona? Well, it's not putting yourself in a corner. It's actually this ever evolving thing that always changes, that always has newcomers, that always has someone. Lesley Logan 23:25  You are never gonna run out of content. Jose Acevedo 23:27  Yeah, never gonna run out of content. And so no, it's not that it's having passion for something that is ever evolving, and wanting to show light on that and give people a chance at the table and give them the mic to recruit for themselves, like advocate for themselves, and have joy for what they created, and all of these things. And I. Lesley Logan 23:45  I mean, you wouldn't run out of content if it was just finding Phoenix like you just wouldn't. And there's like, how many millions of people live in Arizona and then moving to Arizona and leave it like, there's always going to be new options for listeners. And I think don't ever let anyone tell you you niche down too much, because that's not even true. But I think what you guys could challenge yourself is like, what are the fears, and what would it look like if it did work? And then we'll set from there, because that's how, I like to work backwards. When the pandemic hit and we actually had to start from scratch-ish, we already had OPC. It was already in existence, but it wasn't paying our bills. What paid our bills was me touring the world and teaching in real life. So I was like, okay, if this has to pay our bills, how does that look like? What is it? What is it looking to put pressure on this, and how do we do it so we're not making compromises that are not, because what most people want is they want a Netflix option. They want to do Pilates whenever they want to do it. They want to have access to their old class whenever they want. But they don't, because they actually don't use it then. How long have you got whether you don't check one of your streaming accounts? And so there were values that I was like, no, this is hell. I'm going to die on this, because that's what makes us unique. Like you're like, no, we're Finding Arizona. We're not finding the US, like we're, or the southwest, or whatever the Sun Belt is, whatever they like to call us. You're not that. So, you know, I think there's things where like this is for sure never gonna change. We're never gonna do that. But what does that look like if it works? And what does working look like? And sometimes you're afraid to dream big because it is possible. It's so scary. So I don't wanna discount that. Brad and I, the only reason I can say that we lucked out is that we were forced in a pandemic to make it work, because it was like we had to pay our bills. We don't, we don't we work for ourselves. There is no one sending me any money for a paycheck to work from home. We have a great couple that we know, and seeing them thrive today is like really fun. We watched these two people doing the dream like they were performers. They both were headliners on The Strip. They had their dream home, and in the same week, both of their shows closed, and we were like, I'm so sorry, and they said this to us, and there was something that always sticks with me. They're like they were velvet handcuffs. And the idea of me going out and audition again, I just don't even want to do it. I'm most grateful that this happened, and he has, he went back to school. He changed his life. They're having a baby like they both have changed, transformed what their resume is and what they do on this planet. And it's cool how it can change, but it also, when you have a consistent paychecks coming in, it can, it's hard. It's hard. So. Jose Acevedo 24:00  I've heard this one individual. I can't even, I'm bad with names, but I'm always so invested in what people say and what their beliefs are. But it's like, I heard this saying, Do your life the nine to five, so that the five to nine is your, you know.Lesley Logan 26:32  Oh yeah. You work to live, not live to work. So you're like, your nine to five is only there to make sure that your five to nine is super cool.Jose Acevedo 26:39  Yeah and so that's where I'm at right now in life, and it's just really been great. And it's, I cannot tell you that it makes me feel good that A. I still have a passion for it, and B. it's building this legacy, not just for me, but for the little guy. In all honesty, fatherhood has changed a lot about how I see the world, how I perceive the world, and how I, you know, go about the world and it's joy when he says that I have fun doing a podcast is the best thing that I can say about what this means to me now, because it's just again, I want him to know that I'm a good dad, but I also want him to know that I'm a good person as well, because I care enough that I have these conversations with the people, because I don't want to feel like I don't love the world. I don't want to, I don't want him to think that you can't, you, you're, you need to be afraid of everyone. I want him to know that there are good people out there, and there's a community that will back him, and so hopefully down the road, he'll see a couple of the episodes and be like, my dad, I love him. He did a great job doing this.Lesley Logan 27:49  That's so beautiful. That's amazing, and it is interesting. We can see our life through the lens of someone else, because there's a lot of things that can weigh on us that actually have nothing to do with the big picture, but they feel very important. There are certain things that really make sure that they're like, I want to be heard and I want to be seen, that actually are not that big of a deal, and they're not part of the goals. But when the obstacle happens or the mess happens, they can feel like they're priority. And then you have this guy, his name's Atlas, right? Jose Acevedo 28:18  Yeah, his name's Atlas, yeah. Lesley Logan 28:19  Atlas go, did you have fun doing this thing that you love? And it's like, yeah, thank you for bringing me back down to earth and remind me what I do. That's so, it's so fun. It's so cute. Jose Acevedo 28:27  Yeah, it's just something about his joy of the world and life itself, it just brings me back to like, calm and steady. And again, it's like, fatherhood has changed me 100% from this, you know, I always felt like I was like, I'm so selfish. I'm like, I want so much for myself. Then he came into my world, and he's changed so much about me, and I want so much for him, and so much for him to see everything and give him a lot of the things that I didn't have as a child. But I understood, I understand now as an adult, my parents did the best that they could with everything that they had, and that is all I want to do for him. And if that means, you know, keep podcasting because it makes you happy, dad, then I'm going to keep doing that. And you know, there's a lot of things that it's just, again, they're not as important in hindsight right now, because I'm just really so glad that he's given me the opportunity to see the world and through his eyes and through his perspective, and want to just make it the happiest, joyous childhood ever. Lesley Logan 28:51  Oh, my goodness. And also, you're not sacrificing something you love because you think it will make that you're showing your son, you and Britt are both showing your child, like, you can do things that make you happy and you don't have to sacrifice the things you love to do that. I think it's really cool for them to grow up in a household where, like, yes, you have a nine to five, but also this other thing that makes you really happy, and you're dedicated to it, and you see it through. We had a guest on Episode Five, everyone. She said actions are caught, not taught. She's very aware that her kids are watching what she says about herself and what she does. I want to ask we don't have Britt here today, so unfortunately, we'll have to hang out with her another moment. But you work with your spouse on this podcast. Brad and I work together, and I'm sure you guys get all the time,. I don't know, I don't want to assume, but people are like, oh my God, tell me how you and Brad work together because I think I want to work with my partner. I find myself going, maybe don't do it. And I love working with my husband. But also, I'm particularly aware that it's not unicorn and glitter all the time. Jose Acevedo 30:38  Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Lesley Logan 30:39  So tell us how it came to be that Britt started working on the show and like, how do you two each share this incredible podcast together? How do you guys make it work?Jose Acevedo 30:50  Yeah, so we had this conversation too. It's like on my podcast, where it's I told you about how I met her through work and through working in a co-working office, and just again, being intimidated by someone of her stature at the time, she had her own business, and I was just working my first big boy job out of college, and really it was like I was interested in her, and she asked me for my WiFi password. We had these conversations. We were getting to know each other. And then I was like, I want to take you out on a date. I don't think I have the time during the weekend, and I'm kind of worried to tell you why. And she's like, why are you embarrassed? I'm like, I'm embarrassed because I have this podcast that keeps me very busy when I'm not working here on my job and she's like, oh, I love podcasts. So she binged the entirety of all my podcasts that weekend, and she was like, look, I love what you do. I think it's so interesting. Can I help you somehow? Is there some way I can help you take photos or something? I was like, that would be really great. That would be really awesome. And I would thank you so much. And if I pay you, like, let me. She's like, no, no, no. Just let me help you and you can teach me. And so I was like, she was interested in photography at the time. So she was like, okay, let's go do this first episode. And then actually turned into a date. It was really her way of showing interest in me and wanting to do this together. And she took photos the very first time as a date. And we, you know, had, it was luckily, at an ice cream shop, and it was this, like shaved ice. So she took photos. We ate and had dessert afterwards. And then it evolved into dating a lot. And she was being involved. She was helping me produce. She was helping me get clients, get people on the show. And then she came up with ideas on how to actually make this a business. And I took it to heart because she owned her own business. And we had these conversations before about like, how does Finding Arizona become more than just a podcast? How do we approach it in a business aspect? And I very much, I think, what is the best part about our relationship is I'm very open to her having a conversation with me. Communication, I think, is our best ability between the two of us. I think one, her vulnerability and empathetic nature to connect with me and wanting to share her ideas was the biggest part of how we grew together and how we emotionally stayed connected, but also really move forward in hard times, having being communicative and just communicating how we feel, how we think we should go about, you know, moving forward through a struggle or anything like that. I think that is the best way that we kind of came together and said, okay, this is how the business work. I showed her everything. I was like, this is how I do everything. Where do I go from here? Like, how do I go and move this forward? How do I make this a business? How do I, you know, do my taxes through this and all these things. And so she sat down with me. We've had this conversations on more than one occasion of these are the things that you need to have this business thrive. And so she was kind of teaching me and being my coach. And now we're, I'd like to say we're on the same page a lot of the times when it comes to what we should be providing. What we should be doing next. What are should be the next goal, baby step forward and communication. I think having those points in our relationship to A. talk about ourselves and talk about how we feel about each other, but B. talk about the business. So typically, we'll have, and this is kind of looking into the our relationship, at the end of the year, we'll have kind of this business conversation, but throughout the year we'll have personal conversations, go on dates, really try our best to talk about leave the business side and talk about A. our goals as parents and our goals as a couple, and really put that towards our date life, and then leave the business aspect for, you know, the quarterly stuff, the quarterly meetings and having those really hard conversations, like, how are we going to make money off of this? Or, how are we going to, you know, move forward into the next quarter of like business and how we, what events are we going to go to? Who are we connecting with? How are we even teaching ourselves new things so that we can add it to our repertoire of things that we provide for the podcast? So I think having a point of conversation with your significant other, and making sure you also separate some of those things, because it can get really murky if you bring in and she's trying to have a conversation about relationships, but you're trying to talk about the business. It's really separating those two entities, and I like to say Church and State sort of thing. But you know that sort of idea of like, we really try our best to have those date nights throughout the year and talk about our relationship, talk about who we are, talk about things that aren't, don't do anything with the podcast or business, and then leaving scheduled appointment dates of businessy talk and things like that. So it can be however you want to retrofit that, whether, if you want to talk more about the business, you know you want to have more dates, whatever it may be, but I think having those scheduled items is very vital to checking in, not only for yourself, but for your significant other, if you are working with them and making sure that you're what we say on the same page and moving forward together.Lesley Logan 36:46  Yeah, I think that's really, I love that you prioritize the relationship. Because I think if we prioritize the business goals, then it's really easy to forget why you're doing it and what it's for. And if you are someone who works for yourself, the business has to work for you, and otherwise you just created yourself a boss that's very demanding. So when we bought this house in Vegas, we sat down in April of 2020, we're like, well, what do we want for our lives? Forget the business. What do we want for our lives? Where do we want to live? Where do we want to work? What does our schedule look like? How much money do we make? How much does it cost to live the life we want to live? And then we went to the business and go, okay, the business has to support this life, as opposed to us supporting the business. And I think that that's really important. And so, yeah, you're right. However you want to retrofit that y'all is up to you, but make sure your personal goals are the priority. Because whether you work for yourself or you have a job, the job is there because it's helping. It gives you access to the things that you want. You know, there's this amazing book that I read so many years ago, and it's called, I want to say it's called sunny, it's like, not sunny side up, but it was like something like that. And it was not about whether you saw the glass half full or the glass half empty. You saw something in the glass. But one of the things that she said in there was about parking or driving away. The story was like, she's at brunch, and it was outdoors, and a car drove up, and the car was idling. It was pulled up to park, but it didn't turn off. It just idled, and over, she watched how, she stopped her conversation, and then how the whole area of the brunch stopped their conversation to look at like, what is this car doing? Because it makes everyone uneasy. What is this, what does this car do? Is it gonna go? Is it gonna stay? What's going on? And so the idea was, like, you need to park or drive away. And then she went into a story about a person who didn't love their job. It wasn't awesome when they actually looked for other jobs that they realized was, well, this job allows me to pay for the private school my kids are in. I get off work at a time that lets me spend time with them, lets me do this. And so she reframed the job that she had to this job may not be my dream job, but it provides me with the dream life I have. And we can get a little confused, and so I just want to go back to know what your goals are for your relationship or for your family or for yourself, if you're by yourself, and then the business goals have to reflect that.Jose Acevedo 39:05  I think I look back on the early part of our relationship, and I say to myself, I was embarrassed at the time because of the podcast just taking up so much time in my life. I look back at it now, I'm like, I was sort of embarrassed too, and I didn't address this personally because I didn't want it to take over her life as well, because I really wanted this thing to really be something, but I also didn't want it to take over her life and be, but she has shown me that it can provide us with an opportunity to, like, you, said, live the life that we want, and share so much of our own world of like she's made up these things of like the blog wouldn't be what it is today without her. The vlog is a combination of all of our videos, but it's like this way of sharing our family life with our fans, but also it's like this other thing, of like, it's home movies for our family who live far away from us that don't get a chance to see us a lot. So it's like this beautiful thing of sharing that with them, but also with our fans as well, and she's shown so much of how much she cares about this podcast and how much she cares about others that I'm still amazed by her. I'm still intimidated by her on so many of those factors. Because without her being in my corner, I don't think that I would be the person that I am today, but I also don't think the business would be where it's at today. And I thank her all the time, and I hope she knows this, but I think she is the cornerstone of what makes this podcast have a heart, and I think she's the best part of me. She's the best part of our family, and she's really, truly, this entity that I cannot describe any more than she is the heart of this business. Lesley Logan 41:07  Oh my gosh. Well, we have to let Britt, when she listens to this, have a moment to enjoy that lovely speech for her. So wanna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out how people can find you and Finding Arizona, and all the things that you guys are doing together. Lesley Logan 41:19  Okay, Jose, you are like one of the most beautiful humans in the world. And I think everyone is hoping that their husband is telling someone that exact same speech that you just said about them, Finding Arizona, they can find it anywhere that they're listening to this podcast. But do they have to live in Arizona? Is this something they can enjoy if they're visiting Arizona? And also, what else do you and Britt have for our listeners?Jose Acevedo 41:41  Yeah. So this is available on all podcast platforms, of course, but we also have now video format to a lot of these episodes that we provide on YouTube. And on top of that, like I was discussing earlier in the podcast, we have a vlog that's a little bit of this family life. And what we do for the business, we go to events as well, meeting new people, networking, and we share that along with on the YouTube, we have a website that is available for a blog that gets a little bit more of what we've learned and found through the community and what we're passionate about, what we're intrigued by, that's a little bit more of the inside of our minds being put out into this, like, blog form, so that Britt puts that together. But it's, again, it's all of these things could be found at our website, findingarizonapodcast.com but also on our YouTube page, Finding Arizona podcast, you'll just search it, and you'll find us. You'll see us. We're big smiley people, and we always try our best to make sure that it's routinely updated and that you're constantly getting new items every week. And on top of that, I mean other events that we're going to on a very routine basis. You can catch us a lot of the community events throughout Phoenix. And we are also trying to do a little bit more of in-person 101 classes, teaching the kind of 101 of podcasting, Britt has done an event where she's speaking about it at a Phoenix Design Week. There are a couple of other events that I don't have it in front of me, but I wish I could give you some more information on, and I will actually send an email to you so you can provide that to the individuals. But there are a lot more events that we're going to be in-person for that you can catch us at, say hi and get a little bit more one-to-one action with us. And you will get to see Atlas, too. Atlas loves going on these little adventure excursions, and you'll see him in his little Finding Arizona shirt, and he's always down the clown, and he's a fun time.Lesley Logan 43:34  Oh my gosh, so fun. Yes, you guys should absolutely be teaching people about podcast and getting started, because you've been doing it for 10 years.Jose Acevedo 43:42  Yes and on top of all of those things that we do in person and all that, we actually just started this. And this is something of the service arm of what we provide in video production, audio production. We're calling it The Found House. And you can find it under our web page, The Found House over at findingarizonapodcast.com where you can actually, if you want to work with us, one-to-one and start your own podcast, we provide that option as well.Lesley Logan 44:08  Awesome. That is what we need. Thank you for doing that. Jose Acevedo 44:11  Yes, absolutely. Lesley Logan 44:12  Okay. You guys, all those links are, of course, in the show notes. And if you are wondering about how Finding Arizona podcast is, I was on it with Brad. Brad made an appearance. Holy moly, it's rare. So go listen. You get to hear the inside of his brain on all the things. Jose Acevedo 44:28  I love Brad, by the way. Lesley Logan 44:29  We love Brad. You know what? Here's the thing, everyone loves Brad. And whenever I go anywhere without Brad, they're just like, where's Brad? Where's Brad? So that's why he's not actually allowed to not be there. Because I'm like, am I chopped liver? So. Jose Acevedo 44:41  He's right over there. Go look. And that's sometimes how I feel about Britt and this is the crux of having parenthood be a part of what we do is should some of these events are late at night, and Atlas can't go to those. So one of us has to stay behind to do bedtime story time, and one of us has to go. And then it's if one of us goes, like, where's the other person? Lesley Logan 45:02  Yeah, where are they? What's going on? Well, I love that. It's like, okay, hi, but I'm right here. So you know, you have been such a gem already, but we love to end the episode with, Be It Action Items. Bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us? Jose Acevedo 45:17  I think it goes back to what we were talking about those baby goal routines set for yourselves. I think you should always try your best to set a big goal, but also make sure that you're taking those routine steps, or those small steps forward to allow yourself and your what your goal is to move to approach that. Take those tiny steps that you know are digestible, edible that you can do and make sure that you're reaching closer and closer, because if you look back on those little steps, you will actually see that you were providing yourself the opportunity to move forward. And one of the big things that I keep going back to, or at least what in our conversations, like life responds to effort. That's something that I heard, is life responds to effort. And you're not making an effort, you're not moving anywhere, you're stagnant. You have to make an effort. And whatever, it's those little things that matter and those little things that count to your goals. Lesley Logan 45:18  Oh, my God. Mic drop on that. That is brilliant. That is, rewind everyone, listen to that last, that was freaking amazing. Jose, Finding Arizona. Thank you for being you. Thank you for sharing your story. Give Britt some love from us. We're hopefully gonna see you guys, when we're in person in Arizona soon. Y'all, how are you gonna use these tips in your life? Tag Finding Arizona. Tag the Be It Pod. Share this with a friend. Share this with an Arizonian but also share this with someone who needs to hear that 10 years ago, it was baby steps and just showing up and being consistent, like we all need these inspirations in our lives and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 46:52  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 47:35  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 47:40  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 47:44  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 47:51  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 47:55  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley Logan reveals how a small but consistent shift in her nighttime routine helped her reclaim deep rest—without sacrificing joy. This inspiring Fuck Yeah Friday reminds us that progress doesn't come from doing more, but from honoring what we truly need. Tune in for a refreshing perspective on mindfulness, routines, and the unexpected power of rest. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:A compassionate approach to ethical consumer choices and boycotting.Why confidence is a gateway to new opportunities.The underestimated power of refining your systems.How Lesley's meditation practice transformed her sleep and stress.Why sustainable routines require experimentation—not perfection.Episode References/Links:Introduction - 00:47Ethical boycotting insight - 01:06Confidence after eLevate – 04:27Owning business growth – 05:18 Lesley's sleep breakthrough - 06:20This week's mantra - 08:11 If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Brad Crowell 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:02  Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:47  Hello, Be It babe. How are you? Welcome to your Fuck Yeah Friday, where we are celebrating awesome things that people are doing, including yourself and myself and a mantra, and we're doing it short and sweet, so we can enter this weekend with some inspiration, like, what is possible in this life. It's not all bad, right? There's got to be some good stuff. So this inspired me. I thought I wanted to share it with you. I'm recording these in February, and so obviously a lot of people right now are talking about a lot of different boycotts that they're doing. So just want you to know if I mentioned any businesses that may have changed their ways, like, that's a delay, but do your research, okay? But what I wish someone told me before I started boycotting, and I want you to know I wanted to share this with you, because I think it can be really tricky. I'll share my wins, what's going on. So the first post that they said is, disclaimer, boycotting is a labor of love. Oh, and this post is a labor of love from an ex mega, M-E-G-A consumer, not telling anyone how to live. Just sharing what I've learned along this journey of redirecting resources. So she said, starting out, pace yourself, start with one area and give yourself grace. So the truth is, our consumption habits were carefully engineered over generations, so unlearning takes time. And by the way, this is from jnaydaily, jnaydaily. So if you are feeling the urge to boycott or maybe you thought about that two months ago, and here we are in April, and you still haven't figured it out, it's okay give yourself grace and pace yourself. And she says to start with one area, okay? Making choices, when facing a purchase, ask yourself, can I borrow this? Can I find it secondhand? Is there a local option? Can I DIY or use what I have, what's within my current capacity? So move through options based on your energy and circumstances. And I really love that, because can I be really honest, asking to borrow anything from anyone, it kind of makes me go. I don't know, but Brad borrows all the time, right? So, but can I find it secondhand? That's where you could search online to see if somebody is selling it used, right? Or is there a local option you could use? Because when you invest in local stores, it actually goes back into the community in a big way. So, can I make it myself? And then, obviously, making it yourself might not be something you can do, you know? So we currently have some lawn furniture that Brad was trying to, like DIY it, and, you know, it might get to the place where we have to use a local option. So capacity formula. So some of your boycott choices, best is to do local, ethical, DIY, secondhand. So anytime you're avoiding buying something, the best thing you could do is go local, ethical, DIY, secondhand. Better: Alternatives closer to home; Good: more mindful, mainstream choices; Basic: What's accessible right now. So, think net positive, not perfection. Every redirect matters. It gets easy with practice. And then food freedom. So, simplifying food and sourcing, so obviously you have to buy food. So I love this that she added this in here, because it's really easy to like, okay, I can buy a secondhand chair, but I can't just make an orange. So, focus on whole foods and seasonal produce. Explore international and local markets. Join a CSA and support local farmers in exchange for produce. You can go to localharvest.org for that. Find community gardens. You can go to communitygarden.org for that. Look for state-made products and learn how to make a few staples and trade with friends and neighbors. Is this not the coolest thing? I'm going to make sure that the team puts this post in the show notes. But I was inspired by this because at our house, we are working on the boycotts on some brands. And, you know, look, it's not that we'll never buy from them again, it's that we want them to be better. We want them to do better for us. We want them to do better for everyone, right? Want them to do better for their employees. So here we are in April. If there are still brands that you're like, hey, I want them to know that I vote with my dollars. You know, this is how you can start that out. So I hope that that was helpful. Lesley Logan 4:27  Okay, now for your wins. Nancy Lawrence, she's been to Cambodia with us. Oh my God. It's been so fun to see what she's been celebrating after an amazing Cambodia experience where she manifested all this stuff and she's an eLevate grad. She wrote, I have gotten hired at a Latina-owned Pilates studio in Arlington, Texas, Aris Pilates. I'm so excited to work with the Latino community and possibly teach in Espanol. Miranda, her daughter, will also be teaching there. They are thrilled to have me, and I'm so excited to get started. The confidence I have today as an eLevate alumni has opened so many doors for me, including the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and into new studios, because I know I have the appropriate training, which makes me a good teacher. I mean, girl like you were made for this, you know. And I think it is so cool that these women will get to learn amazing Pilates from you, and I'm glad that you have the confidence to go put yourself out there, because they need you. You're the only person who can do what you do the way that you do it. Lesley Logan 5:18  Katelyn Elser has a win for us. She is an Agency member. I'm really proud of this woman. She actually recently quit her full time gig to run her own home business, and she's looking at some other possibilities and growing really fast, because she just is believing in herself and she's doing the work. And so her win is, I launched small group classes, three to four per session at the beginning of January, and they have been a huge hit, with six sessions per week and seven new clients. Way to go, Katelyn. You know, here's the thing, do you hear how these wins are? They don't have to be huge. Katelyn's not something I've helped 600 people, no six to seven people. It's important that you hear that, because I'm not trying to make Katelyn's win small by any stretch of the imagination. What I'm trying to get you to understand is wins, we have to celebrate the things that we do. We have to actually acknowledge what we did. There's a lot of shit going on. And so if all you're focusing is all the things that are not going well, you are not going to have a happy life. And it's not that I'm talking about having a happy life like, oh, you know, I don't see the pain in the world. No, it's I can see that I'm doing these things to make an impact on this world in my way that I can. And so I love that, Katelyn, thank you so much for sharing it. Lesley Logan 6:20  All right, a win of mine. I have a solid morning routine. You know this about me. That's, you know, not an issue. But I have been reading a book with Brad that I absolutely love. We're in a big series, and if you know, you know. And one, the fourth and fifth book aren't going to come out for a long time, so I've been slowing down our roll on the third because once they're done, then we have to wait probably a year for the fourth book, right? But I have been having problems with it, because the book kind of stresses me out a little bit. I'm someone who kind of will Google the end so that I know what's coming up and I can have some certainty. And so one, I haven't done that, so there's a win. But two, I started getting nightmares when we finished the second book. I was the main character and Brad was the other main character, and I couldn't save him. Anyways, it was a whole thing. So I have been like, okay, we can only do one or two chapters. I've been ending things I don't let it go close to bed. So like, great. That was a win, just not letting us listen to it close to bedtime. But the other thing is, I was still having some of the stress dreams, and so I was like, oh, I just don't know what to do. I'm gonna need some sort of sleep. No, actually, I know what to do. I need to meditate before I go to bed. I need a palette cleanser, and it can't be the news. And so what I'm saying is, this week, every single night, I have made sure I've done some sort of meditative practice, and it is helping. It is helping. I'm not dreaming about the book in a stressful way. I somehow did dream about Schitt's Creek in a slightly stressful way, but my sleep scores are still amazing, and my readiness scores are still amazing. So the point is that it's working, and it's not about perfection. It's about being in process and trying to figure out, right now I'm in experimentation mode, like, what meditation do I need to go to bed with that actually gives the best sleep. And so I share that with you, because a morning routine is amazing, but a nighttime routine is also epically amazing. And so your win doesn't have to be like, you know, I hit 17 goals in my business today. Can be like I went to bed on time and I gave myself a meditation to help me have the best sleep in my life. You know, being it till you see it doesn't come from doing all the time. Sometimes it comes from not doing, right? Lesley Logan 8:11  All right. Your mantra for the day. Life is meant to be shared. Life is meant to be shared. Oh, it really is. So thank you everyone who sends your wins in because life is meant to be shared. Thank you for those who share this podcast because life is meant to be shared, and every single person who listens, when I hear your feedback, we're sharing this experience together, and it's kind of amazing. So thank you for bringing you. Thank you for listening to this podcast. Thanks for sharing it, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 8:45  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 9:28  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 9:33  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 9:37  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 9:43  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 9:47  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

What if your success was hiding your stress? Lesley and Brad break down the signs of high-functioning depression and how Dr. Judith's Five Vs can help you reclaim your joy. From burnout to anhedonia, this conversation offers real tools to track what actually makes you happy. It's a powerful reminder that joy is personal—and redefining happiness starts from the inside out. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:How to recognize overlooked symptoms of high-functioning depression.Ways to measure and increase your personal joy points.The contagious nature of joy—and how to spread it.Daily practices that help you feel more present, centered, and fulfilled.Why reconnecting with your “I am” can ground you in who you truly are.Episode References/Links:April UK Mullet Tour - https://opc.me/ukSpring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comContrology Reformer - https://opc.me/reformerContrology Mat - https://opc.me/foldingmatDr. Judith Joseph Website - https://drjudithjoseph.comHigh Functioning Book by Dr. Judith Joseph - https://a.co/d/9sFHkQWAnhedonia Quiz - https://drjudithjoseph.com/anhedoniaquiz If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Brad Crowell 0:00  We have this idea, this preconceived idea, of what depression is, and that's not necessarily like the only way that depression looks, right?Lesley Logan 0:09  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:51  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig in to this validating convo I had in the last episode with Dr. Judith Joseph. Brad Crowell 0:59  Dr. Judith Joseph. Lesley Logan 1:00  So good. I clearly decided to start while Brad is still getting ready, and we're not going to worry about that because he has ADD, I have ADHD. We're just going with it. Okay? This is how two people making it work. Guys, how are you? I cannot believe this is episode 509, on the day that we're recording this, I'm gonna actually post and celebrate the episode 500 that like just happened. It came, it went. Life was going on. Because, you know, life, life's fucking life, guys. Lesley Logan 1:26  So today is April 10th and it's Consumer Awareness Week. Consumer Awareness Week takes place from April 10th to 16th this year. Oh, thank you. Brad Crowell 1:37  Ready to get started now, guys. Okay, here we go.Lesley Logan 1:37  This day aims to educate buyers and consumers about their basic rights. This includes access to information regarding the goods and products they are purchasing. The sellers are enforced by law to reveal the ingredients they are using in their products, and they also have to follow certain guidelines regarding quality and standard of the product of being sold. If any of the above stated rules are broken, the seller's answerable to the court of law. Yes, consumers are powerful and many laws have been passed to protect them from being exploited. Are you aware of all of your rights? If not, celebrate the week and find out all there is to know. So here's the deal, actually, really, really important. Depending on what state you live in, those who are in the States, you have different consumer buyer laws, depending which country you live in, like there's these different things. So definitely, if you don't know, you should absolutely do some research and do some Googling. But I also just want to say, like, we're recording this after several different weeks and days and months of like, exercising our consumers and power, and it is working. Like, have you seen how much it's working? Like, I don't shop at Target, but I've been part of the not shopping at Target. Like, you know, there's a couple things we need, I was like, not getting it there. My poor assistant was like, so where are we getting these things? And I'm like, oh, here's an art store you can go get them at, and they're $1 more, and it's gonna be fine. So Target's less, like, $15 billion the last time I checked, $15 billion, $15 billion, you guys, this is great news. I don't want anyone to lose their jobs, none of that kind of stuff. But also, like, we have to tell these people who is in charge here, so. Brad Crowell 3:04  Yeah, it's actually really difficult right now, especially in the States, with people taking a wrecking ball to the things that that actually hold companies accountable, such as the FTC and their Consumer Protection Bureau. So there are literally laws that are supposed to protect us, and right now, there are people in power who are trying to give companies back the power to do anything that they choose, and that is going to eventually affect every single person, not just in the United States, but if you're buying products that were made in the United States and you're overseas, they might not be made with the same kind of qualities that, you know, they need to be, so. Lesley Logan 3:45  So here's the thing, even if you feel like you have no rights or voice, your dollar has power wherever you live in this world. And so where you spend that money does matter. And I get it like we have been in places in the States where I'm like, okay, so this is the only place we can shop right now. This is the only place to go. So, you know, don't, please, don't starve. Please don't, like, go without, but like, if you can spend an extra dollar and go to a different store, go support small businesses. Go support women-owned businesses. Go support people of color businesses. Like, I promise you, you'll feel so much freaking better. You'll just feel better. Like, it felt good to be like, oh, we're gonna, look at this place over here that has exactly what we need.Brad Crowell 4:18  I mean, slash or I'm just buying less stuff because I'm like, oh, I need to buy that thing and what would be my normal thing would be, go to Amazon and just order the thing. Lesley Logan 4:26  You know, in one of the FYFs, I actually told people how they can boycott like in a way that like helps them. So if you haven't ever listened to FYFs, I'm adding like things in it that inspire me, plus your wins, plus my wins, and they're still under 15 minutes. And I actually did do it. It's really fun. Okay. Brad Crowell 4:41  Cool. Cut me off. So what I was actually gonna finish saying there is that, you know, I'm actually buying less stuff because my natural inclination is to just go to Amazon and then to just order it, right? But now I'm like, okay, well, if I'm not ordering from Amazon, or if I'm not ordering from Target, or if I'm not ordering from Walmart, you know, then where am I going to get this? And now there's more effort to go figure that out, and probably requires a trip to the store, which I don't really have the time and the schedule to just go do that. So the convenience is, is definitely something that we're trading. But also my pocketbook thanks me, because did I really need to buy that thing. Chances are it's 50-50.Lesley Logan 5:23  Yeah, yeah. Well, in the FYF episode, I actually explained it, you could also borrow it if you need to, like, if you really need it, but you don't need it forever, you could just borrow it, right? So anyways, we have to keep going. So know your rights. Consumers all around the world do some research. This will actually make you it'll make the companies that you work with even better because of it. Brad Crowell 5:40  Yep. Lesley Logan 5:41  Okay, we just literally wrapped up the eLevate retreat. So that's a retreat at our house for those who graduated the eLevate program. And we also had just wrapped the reformer weekend for eLevate round five, which is super, super fun. If you're interested as a teacher in eLevate, you can apply for 2026's program, and then that way you could come to 2027's retreat, because the retreat is for the grads, and it's really special. I guess, don't you love it? I love it. I love having the people here. I love having all the different years of grads here. I love being able to see them in person. So it was absolutely fabulous.Brad Crowell 6:14  It's a good time. It's a good time. People are amazing, and it's, what's been really fun is to see the incredible sense of community created even across different groups of grads. So year one, year two, year three, etc, etc, where, where they're intentionally building community, and they're part of this really amazing group. So it's been fun to see that from our perspective, for sure. Lesley Logan 6:38  Yeah. And then also, last week, we actually opened up the registration for the UK tour, the Mullet Tour. Brad Crowell 6:41  The Mullet Tour. Lesley Logan 6:41  So, you guys, if you are in Europe or the UK, or you want to fly there, we're going to be there this September. Brad Crowell 6:52  Yeah, we're going to be there in September. And what is a Mullet Tour, Les? Lesley Logan 6:55  Business in the morning, Pilates in the evening. That's how it goes. Business in the front, party in the back, business in the morning, Pilates in the back, in the evening. No? Brad Crowell 7:05  Well, sort of. You just mixed a whole bunch of things, but it's business in the front, Pilates in the back.Lesley Logan 7:12  Right, but it's in the morning and then the Pilates is in the evening. Brad Crowell 7:15  Yeah, okay, we're gonna go with that. Lesley Logan 7:17  Well, that's what the Mullet Tour is. It's our second event. It's not annual, because we skipped a couple years. So I don't know the next time we'll be in the UK. I'll be really honest. We're already booking 2026 stuff, and 2027 we just got booked for something potentially so like this might be it, UK, for a couple, for a little bit, so. Brad Crowell 7:35  For a bunch of years. Lesley Logan 7:37  Yeah. So get in. Brad Crowell 7:38  Do it. Make sure you're paying attention. Lesley Logan 7:41  If you understand how the UK works, the studios are quite small, so space is limited, opc.me/uk is where you can get that information. You can come to workshops. You can come to classes. Obviously, the deal is in there. If you get all the good stuff for the Mullet, the whole Mullet, you need the whole Mullet to get the deal. Also coming up. Brad Crowell 7:57  You need to show up with a mullet or you can't come. Just kidding. Don't do that.Lesley Logan 8:02  (inaudible) on a lot of people. So don't do it. All right. April and this month that we're in right now, towards the very end, it is Spring Training. What is Spring Training? Well, there's the baseball people's doing spring training, and it's our version, and it's a week of Pilates classes with the OPC teachers and myself, mat classes, reformer classes, chair classes, tower classes. You can get the mat only ticket, or you can get the full spring training pass. It's a freaking great deal. If you go to opc.me/events, you'll hear about it as an early bird, which means you'll get a better price than anyone else. Brad Crowell 8:35  Yeah, get yourself on the wait list. Lesley Logan 8:36  You don't have to be a teacher. You can be someone who's just been doing Pilates. You can also be someone who's like, pie-curious, and you're like, I don't know. Maybe this is time. It's gonna be a lot of fun. I'm just gonna say we have uniforms. The dog has a uniform, everything. Brad Crowell 8:37  It's gonna be great. In fact, there's a theme to this one. It's all about the push ups. Lesley Logan 8:54  Oh yes. Brad Crowell 8:55  So this is our first annual spring training. We do want to do this every single year, but that will depend on you, gotta show up. Lesley Logan 9:03  We wouldn't do push ups next year. And also, if you would, ah, push ups, it means you have to sign up.Brad Crowell 9:08  That's right. Lesley Logan 9:08  It means you have to sign up. Brad Crowell 9:09  It's intentional. All right, cool. So that kicks off at the end of April. So go to opc.me/events right now, so you can get on the waitlist where you're actually gonna get that early bird offer. Only the people on the waitlist get the early bird offer. If you are a Pilates business owner in any way, meaning you are taking clients and getting paid by anybody, then I want you to come to my free Pilates business webinar. It's called the Growth Accelerator, and it's going to help you, whether you have a studio or home studio, or you're taking clients in the park. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator. That's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator, and we're going to be talking about the three biggest secrets that Lesley and I have learned over the past 2500 clients we've coached. We're going to share those things with you, and it is awesome, actually. It's really been a great experience so far, doing this on a consistent basis, and we want you to join us. Lastly. Lesley Logan 10:01  Lastly, we're going to Cambodia this fall. Brad Crowell 10:05  Yep, October. Lesley Logan 10:06  Yeah and people are like, oh, I want the 2026 dates. And I have to say, we have a tentative date, but we are waiting on some news. Brad Crowell 10:11  We are waiting on a couple of other things to fall into place before we can confirm the 2026 dates. But here's what we can tell you, we're only going once in 2026, this year '25, we were able to go twice, next year because we're traveling to Europe at the beginning part of the year, we can only go to Cambodia one time. Lesley Logan 10:27  And so we want you to come this time. Brad Crowell 10:29  Don't wait, like, a year and a half from now to do this. Lesley Logan 10:31  No, I mean, like, things will just be, your life is not going to get less busy. Brad Crowell 10:35  It's true. It's very true. Lesley Logan 10:37  Like, just like, when does that ever happen? So, so you're going to go to crowsnestretreats.com and snag your spot. Brad Crowell 10:43  Yep, crowsnestretreats. Lesley Logan 10:45  Only a few spots. Go grab yours. Okay. Brad Crowell 10:48  crowsnestretreats.comLesley Logan 10:50  Yes, do that. Okay, we have to talk about Dr. Judith Joseph, but first we have a few audience member questions. Audience questions to answer. Brad Crowell 10:58  We do. This is interesting. We've had a bunch of questions come in recently about types of equipment and models and brands and all those kinds of things. So I'm just gonna quickly zip down them, @JohnLanningQ7B on YouTube, asks, hey, my wife is looking for a machine currently. What brand model is yours, Specifically? He was referencing a reformer video, @Finaloadonell3419 on YouTube asks, where can I buy a mat like you're using? And @marilynhighness4234 on YouTube also asks, hello, thanks for this great workout. May I ask where can I get this Pilates mat with handles and a strap? Thank you so much. Lesley Logan 11:35  Yes. Okay, so John, my reformer is a Contrology Reformer. I like the 80-inch. It's really amazing. Prefer it to anything longer, unless your wife is over six-four, that's what I would get. And I like calling a machine myself as well. I think it's really cool. Also, it makes it feel like that's why it's expensive. It's a machine. I buy it. So that's what I use. Brad Crowell 11:57  You can go to opc.me/reformer and you can literally get a link to the one that Lesley uses. Lesley Logan 12:03  There's a little discount on it too. Then for my mat lovers, I use the Contrology Mat. That's the mat with the handles. I prefer the Contrology Mat to all the other brands out there. Yes, I've tried most of them all, and the rest are too squishy, way too squishy. And after just teaching the reformer weekend and then having the mat weekend eLevators, every single different teacher who was on my equipment was able to be like, oh, this, this is what is happening, right? Like, this is what, like, this is why I'm not connecting when I think I'm connected, because most people are on too squishy of apparatus. And so if you're a tight person, the squish, kind of like fills in the gaps, and if you're a hyper mobile person. you kind of like, fold into the squish. So you want to get the Contrology Mat and. Brad Crowell 12:47  Just fold in the squish. Lesley Logan 12:48  You fold in the squish. Brad Crowell 12:49  Just fold it in. Lesley Logan 12:50  Just fold it in. Brad Crowell 12:50  Fold it in. Lesley Logan 12:51  Yeah. So opc.me/mat gets you the discount link for the mat, if those for whatever reason, don't show a discount at checkout, then just hit me up and with your email and I will connect you to a person. So that was all the questions, right? I answered them. Brad Crowell 13:05  Yeah, you got all three. Lesley Logan 13:06  Yeah. I'm a cool, I'm a Contrology demo center. So I think it's really important that you know I'm freaking biased. However, that being said, my bias does not come from me not having explored all the equipment or having other brands. I have actually just sold them because I prefer the Contrology I really think that they have a great thing going on there, and their customer service is really helpful if anything goes wrong. So I, not that that does happen. But you know, like, shippers, things like, you gotta just, you want to have build up relationship. And I really love Balanced Body, and Jay worked with them closely on the Contrology line and you know how much I love Jay, by the way, the day that we're recording, this is his birthday. Brad Crowell 13:40  What? Lesley Logan 13:41  It's his birthday today. Brad Crowell 13:42  Come on, I didn't know that. Lesley Logan 13:43  Yeah, we did. Last year, we actually celebrated his birthday with him.Brad Crowell 13:48  Well, I didn't, yeah, okay, cool. I'm not remembering last March 25th.Lesley Logan 13:52  Happy Birthday, Jay. And he hates it. Brad Crowell 13:55  Happy Birthday, Jay. Lesley Logan 13:55  He hates right now that we're doing any of this. Okay, well, now go get your Contrology stuff, and if you have questions about any of it, you can just DM me. I will happily answer. I love talking about equipment and making sure you get the right stuff for you and what your practice is. And you know, somebody else was like, hey, I'm thinking of getting a folding reformer instead of a mat and spine corrector. And I was actually able to talk about, like, why there is a classical reformer that folds. I have not personally experienced it. It is not cheaper than a regular reformer. It just happens to fold up. And when I'm in Chicago this fall, I'll get to kind of explore it with someone who is in my program who has access to a Contrology Reformer, and that one so I can give you more comparisons, but like, it doesn't become cheaper, it just becomes foldable. Anyways. Brad Crowell 14:38  I just want to give you guys a quick update. The actual link for the mat is opc.me/foldingmat, folding mat. Lesley Logan 14:45  Folding mat. Brad Crowell 14:47  Folding mat. Because you're gonna fold in the mat.Lesley Logan 14:49  Fold in the mat. All right. The wheels have come off this bus. We have to take a brief break, and then we're gonna come back and talk about Dr. Judith Joseph.Brad Crowell 14:56  Stick around. Brad Crowell 14:59  Welcome back. All right, let's talk about Dr. Judith Joseph. Dr. Judith Joseph, MD, MBA is a board certified psychiatrist, researcher and passionate mental health advocate, recognized in the 2023 Congress Proclamation Award, with that award. She's dedicated to making mental health conversations more accessible through groundbreaking research and social media. In her book, High Functioning: Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy, Dr. Joseph helps readers identify hidden depression and discover the unique science behind their own happiness. And I'm really excited to dig in, because there's a ton to learn in last episode. Lesley Logan 15:37  I learned so much. I mean, this was like I got turned on to this guest because we have a different guest. We had on about anahandria. And I was like, okay, this is the first time I've heard this word. I'm very interested. And so then a friend of mine who listens to the pod. Brad Crowell 15:52  What it? What is it? Lesley Logan 15:53  Anahandria.Brad Crowell 15:54  No, anhedonia. Lesley Logan 15:56  Anhedonia. Brad Crowell 15:58  Yeah. Lesley Logan 15:58  Anhedonia. Brad Crowell 15:59  Anhedonia, A-N-H-E-D-O-N-I-A anhedonia. Lesley Logan 16:03  Yeah, guys, I'm a little dyslexic. Anyways, so, but I had been turned on to this person, and I did some research. I like, went down the rabbit hole of her, and I was like, oh, I really love that we have another person's voice on this. And also, like, a book that's coming, that's out on this. And so first of all, there's so much in the episode, you must go back and listen to it. Also you have to grab her book, ladies, I think it's gonna be amazing for you to give to your friend. But she said, there's a, there are tons of people out there who have the symptoms of a depression but are still functioning and over-functioning because they are the rock and I think a lot of people listening, I mean, if you didn't feel so seen and so heard during this episode, like you, there's not a time for you to be depressed. Brad Crowell 16:46  Yeah, who's, who's the rock, like, you know the person who keeps the family together, or the person who, you know, you could be the breadwinner, or. Lesley Logan 16:55  You might not even be the breadwinner, but you're, you're the like, you might bring money to the family, but like, you're the person who gets them on the bus. You're the person who gets every like, if you take a day off, there's no groceries for dinner, like you're the rock, like you're the. Brad Crowell 17:09  Teacher, doctor, boss person, you know, whatever. Lesley Logan 17:11  But also, like you could be working at a place, and especially now with everything's going on, you could feel like, if you stop, they'll just replace you, and then you have nothing to go back to, and that's gonna even be more depressing and more so you are just like over. Brad Crowell 17:26  You're not allowed to stop, you're not allowed to fall apart, no way. Lesley Logan 17:28  So you keep it all together, but you're actually like, not happy, and the things that used to make you happy don't make you happy anymore.Brad Crowell 17:35  We have this idea, this preconceived idea, of what depression is, and that's not necessarily like, the only way that depression looks, right? Depression certainly can look like that, but also it, we might not realize that we're depressed because we think, well, I'm out there kicking ass and taking names everyday.Lesley Logan 17:53  I get up, I got, I've showered, I wash my hair, so I can't be depressed because I got dressed and I'm actually doing great at work.Brad Crowell 18:00  Yeah, and, and, you know, I think, I think there's something specific that you said about it, that you said, I'm going through the motions. There's no joy in it, you know. And I think she really responded to that. She, like, lit up. She's like, yes, that's exactly, that's exactly it like, you know, it's absolutely possible to still be doing all the things, but when there's no joy in any of it, that's like, can also be depression, right? Lesley Logan 18:29  Yeah. And I just want to add, before, I want to say, like, she said, not only over time does it wear on you, but it can feel like you don't have anywhere to turn to. Because if you go to the regular medical world, they're gonna be like, here, you look fine, right now, you know so, and my girlfriend is a social worker, and she was trained that people would be coming and looking for medication. So, like, she's like, Lesley, people probably needed it, but they're like, they looked clean. They looked like they got, they got them, like, all the things there. And so I think, like, it's just important to know that these different things are out there, and you might be experiencing them, and you might actually have to be advocating for yourself around these things. So I don't know, I just, this blew my mind.Brad Crowell 19:10  Yeah, and, you know the joy, the element of joy missing, I thought that was intriguing, but, but the other thing that I that like, really blew me away was it seems quite logical to me that we say my biology is different than your biology, so the food that I need is different than the food that you need. I know that they custom-make nutrition plans for the astronauts, they all have a different custom nutrition plan because their bodies function differently. Here's what I never took that to the next step and realized happiness doesn't look the same for everybody either, right? So we have this concept of like, well, do this thing to be happy. Well, that might make you happy, but it doesn't necessarily make me happy. And now that I'm saying it out loud, it sounds very logical, but I never thought about it. And when Dr. Judith said that, she said your happiness is not the same as my happiness. There's a lot of people out there trying all these different things, but it's not working for them. That's because they're basing it off of the science of somebody else's happiness. And she mentioned that, this was also, I found really interesting, so the definition of anhedonia was that, basically you're missing the joy, right? And there's more to it, but I'm forgetting it off the top of my head. But she said it's actually contagious, right? So if you work in a high stress environment, I'm putting that in air quotes, right, I used to work in a place like this, where it was stressful for no fucking reason, right? It was stressful. Why? Because the boss, that's how he felt like a good company's run, right? And so he would make arbitrary deadlines that had literally no reason. This has to be done by tomorrow. Why? Why? What's happening tomorrow? We just have to get it done by tomorrow, right? And it was like this manufactured stress, and it created this, like, high, this frenzy, this high, high, strong atmosphere, right? And that is contagious. And she said, but guess what? So is joy. Joy is also contagious, right? And I thought this is really interesting, because I've, I operated in this high stress environment for like, six years, and you know, people would come in and they would say, how do you do this? And I'd say, I don't know. I just do it, right, but it's probably because I was conditioned to do it. Well, interestingly enough, I think we can also flip that and condition ourselves to find joy, to be in joy, you know? And she said, when you start to shift inside, people are going to notice it in you. You have something that they want, and they're going to start gravitating towards you. Yeah, I, I really appreciated all this. And she said, she said, how do you know what happiness is for you? She said, there's a lot of science under it. Well, first off, she has a quiz about anhedonia, right? And I think that's, that's like a great. Lesley Logan 21:59  I love that quiz. Brad Crowell 22:00  It's a great jumping off point. We're gonna put the quiz in the show notes. The link to the quiz in the show notes.Lesley Logan 22:05  It's only 17 questions, and it takes two minutes. Brad Crowell 22:08  Yeah, it's a self-assessment tool for self-reflection, right, and it allows you to understand, like, yeah, am I finding the joy, you know, in my life? And then from there, she's got tons of resources. She obviously is the reason that the timing is really great here, because her book is just coming out right now, and she has a book called, it's called High Functioning: Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy. Lesley Logan 22:36  You guys, you can pre-order it today and if it's available by the time, but, here's the thing, if you, like, I think this is the type of book that needs to be on the New York Times bestseller list, because we, the more people know about this, the more we can change the contagion. Brad Crowell 22:51  Yeah, so HFD is what it's about, right? High Functioning Depression. And she says, hey, look, it's not like an official diagnosis. You couldn't go to the doctor and get diagnosed as HFD. But I think that that's like comma yet, because her research is started, is effectively what she's trying to understand is, you know, like, you know, can this be something that can be diagnosed? Because people are experiencing these, these feelings, and they are, they are experiencing depression, even though they're, you know, high functioning. So, very interesting research. Lesley Logan 23:27  And also, I recently got added to the DSM at some point, because this, I was in high school, and the DSM was like a three so, like, we find things out and we add it in. So I. Brad Crowell 23:35  I don't know what a DSM is. Lesley Logan 23:37  Oh, it's this, it's like an encyclopedia for mental health stuff. So, like, it's where every doctor goes when it comes to, like, like your.Brad Crowell 23:44  Diagnosis of Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.Lesley Logan 23:47  Yes, yes. So when I was in high school, I remember it being, like, three, maybe, maybe it was a four already. But I remember being, I remember my teacher specifically saying, do you see how there's a three? It means there was a two and a one, and that means that like, as they, as we learn more, we add more and like, I think the more, I think it's really, not that we should label everything, but I do think when you have a label for what you're going through, you feel less alone, and you have an understanding of, like, how to operate, to get back to where you want to be. I just think that's how, that's how it works.Brad Crowell 24:23  Yeah. And I, you know, I do want to say, obviously, Lesley and I are not psychiatrists, but Dr. Judith is, so, you know, that's, that's a really great place to get started.Lesley Logan 24:32  If this is your first episode, and you were thinking you were listening to two psychiatrists. I'm so sorry to disappoint you. We are two people who talk to a lot of smart people.Brad Crowell 24:40  All right, well, stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to dig into those, Be It Action Items that you covered with Dr. Judith Joseph and they're pretty, they're pretty fire y'all. We're gonna dig into the Five Vs. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 24:53  All right. Welcome back. Let's get into these Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Dr. Judith, Joseph? I'm gonna go first here. She talked about practicing the Five Vs to reconnect yourself. And this, I had to go back and listen to this, like, two or three times, because she also talked about, like a overlapping Venn Diagram, and then, and then, like, the conversation just went a different direction. And we never finished that thought. And I was like, where is it? But we did cover the Five Vs. So the Five Vs, and she writes about them in depth in her new book, are Validation, Venting, Values, Vitals and Vision. She said they can really help you understand the science of your happiness and increasing those little points of joy every day. And what she means by that is, when you're doing research, you often create points, right? You like, like, if this happens, you get this many points. If that happens, you get this many points. If this happens, you lose points, whatever. They're points. It's a point-based system. And she said, so her tools help you evaluate your happiness in a, in a scientific way, you know, so and she uses these Five Vs to reconnect with herself. So what I was saying, I would start with her quiz. I'm sure part of the quiz is going to be going through these Five Vs, or at least that's in her book, and that'll help you start to figure out, like, you know, where are you on this? You know, are you? Are you? Do you have HFD, right? The High Functioning Depression. She says, Start with one or two. Don't, don't start with all five. Lesley Logan 26:24  Be It babes, you do not get to start with all five. You just start with one or two. That's what the doctor said.Brad Crowell 26:29  Okay, so pick one or two, tap into it. Don't overwhelm yourself. Validation and venting are great places to start. And so check in daily, and track your joy. So check in daily, and track your validation and venting and then she has the Anhedonia Scale to measure whether or not you are getting points of joy in life. So that Anhedonia Scale, we're going to link to that in the show notes as well, so that you have a quick link to go find this information. But, but this is great. I mean for, especially, for those of you who are a one woo person like me, having a systematic approach to measuring something as amorphous as happiness is very helpful. It helps, clarify things. So what about you?Lesley Logan 27:22  Well, I was just thinking about how the longer life is going the way it's going where we are, I might become a two woo. I might just go all in on the second woo. That doesn't mean I'm I'm not, I'm not for Dr. Judith. I'm just, just saying it right now, if you hear me say I'm a two woo girl, you know why.Brad Crowell 27:39  Heard it here first, people.Lesley Logan 27:40  Heard it here first. So the other part of her Be It Action Items that I really love was she said she was talking about Deepak Chopra meditation and like, how we can get caught up in, like, I'm a Pilates instructor, I'm a mom, I am this. And like, when you even say your name, your name can represent a lot of different things that you're known for, or what people think you are known for, or whatever it is. And so she suggested you do what he said, which is like, lose your name and just say I am, I am, and you can repeat I am. And what it does is it really helps you become present in just being a human, in your experience that day. And that is like just being right, like we forget to just kind of be in our bodies, which is really, really cool, and you get to have that self-reflection. So, and I think it's easy to forget who we are or like or think of ourselves as, like, having all these different compartments, and then forgetting, like, why are we doing all the things we're doing? What is all this for? You know, and I really like when I lead a breath work session. I'll ask the people, like in agency, I'll ask them, like, okay, like, if you need more energy from others, put your palms up. And if you need more energy, if you want to actually keep the energy you have, you don't want any more from anyone else, put your palms down. And I actually, like, sit there and I ask myself, like, I notice I ask myself the same question, like, do I need more from others? Do I need this? So, like, being able to be present is really helpful and understanding like what we need and who we are and where the joy is coming from. So you guys, I was blown away. I'm blown away by Dr. Judith Joseph, and I am so grateful that she was on the pod. We get to say we knew her when this book goes on the bestseller list and the HFD becomes something that we all can actually like, you know, find easily if we need it. And so go, go check her out, go get her book. And I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 28:10  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 29:28  Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for being part of 509 episodes. Brad Crowell 29:33  What? Lesley Logan 29:34  What? When I say we can't do it without you, it is actually not just written down. It's like, truly, truly, if you don't listen, we can't make these. It's not cheap. It's free for you, not for us. So we, we truly are so grateful that you share these episodes, that you come, you tell us what your favorite ones are, that you tell us what your feedback is, like, it really means a lot to us. So please share this with a friend who needs it. Share this with a friend who you might think has HFD so that they can, like, go listen and take the quiz themselves, because remember, joy is contagious. Brad Crowell 30:02  Joy is contagious. Lesley Logan 30:03  Until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 30:05  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 30:07  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 30:49  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 30:54  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 30:59  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 31:06  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 31:09  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Send us a textIn this inspiring episode, Turo sits down with Pilates coach and mindset mentor Lesley Logan to explore how movement, mindset, and self-awareness can reshape our relationship with fitness and our bodies.Lesley shares her journey from discovering Pilates in 2005 to becoming a global instructor and founder of OnlinePilatesClasses.com. Together, they debunk common myths about Pilates, dive into the power of combining mobility and strength, and discuss why fitness isn't about chasing perfection—but about progress, presence, and purpose.Topics covered in this episode:The true origins of Pilates (and why it's not just for women)Why combining strength training and Pilates is a game-changerHow to overcome all-or-nothing thinking and perfectionismBuilding healthy habits through small wins and mindset shiftsBody image, emotional blocks, and redefining what “healthy” meansLesley also opens up about her own mindset journey, how Pilates helped her move from body dysmorphia to body confidence, and why she encourages celebrating small, consistent actions over rigid routines.If you're looking for a holistic, empowering, and real take on fitness—this episode is for you.Book Recommendation: The Big Leap by Gay HendricksFind Lesley online: OnlinePilatesClasses.comConnect on Instagram: @lesley.logan

Psychiatrist and author Dr. Judith Joseph joins Lesley to unpack "high-functioning depression," a hidden struggle affecting many high achievers who seem successful externally yet feel emotionally exhausted inside. Discover why driven individuals often overlook signs of burnout, the surprising prevalence of anhedonia (lack of joy), and Dr. Joseph's practical framework—the Five Vs—for understanding and enhancing your personal happiness. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How to spot signs of high-functioning depression and overcome anhedonia.Why your emotions, including joy and anhedonia, directly influence those around you.The role of trauma, people-pleasing, and over-functioning in our mental health.Dr. Judith's biopsychosocial model for understanding your own unique path to happiness.Easy ways to reduce burnout by shifting from constant "doing" to mindful "being."Episode References/Links:Dr. Judith Joseph Website - https://drjudithjoseph.comDr. Judith Joseph Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/drjudithjosephHigh Functioning Book by Dr. Judith Joseph - https://a.co/d/9sFHkQWAnhedonia Assessment Quiz - https://drjudithjoseph.com/anhedoniaquizGuided Meditation by Deepak Chopra - https://beitpod.com/deepakchopraGuest Bio:Judith Joseph MD, MBA, is a board-certified psychiatrist, researcher, and award winning content creator who specializes in mental health and trauma. She is chair of the women in medicine initiative at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, clinical assistant professor in child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Chief Investigator at Manhattan Behavioral Medicine, New York City's Premier Clinical Research Site. Dr. Judith was awarded by the US House of Representatives with a 2023 Congress Proclamation Award for her social media advocacy and mental health research. In 2024 she was named a top 6 NAACP Mental Health Champion and a VeryWell Mind top 25 Thought leader. In 2024 She taught a Workplace Mental Health Course to The Executive Office Of The President of The United States of America. In addition to being a notable public speaker at prestigious institutions, Dr. Judith is a sought after on-air expert who has been featured on Oprah Daily's The Life You Want Series, Good Morning America, The Wendy Williams Show, Tamron Hall, Today Show, CNN News With Anderson Cooper, The Mel Robbins Podcast, and more. She recently received a 2020 and 2023 Share Care Award for her MedCircle series on PTSD and a Good Morning America investigative special on ADHD. Social media's favorite psychiatrist, Dr. Judith boasts more than 880,000 followers across platforms, a 30% increase in less than a year. Her Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube videos receive more than 15 million views per month. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Dr. Judith Joseph 0:00  I think the more you practice this, the more exposure you get to this, not only do you change, but the people around you change. I always say Anhedonia is contagious, but joy is contagious too.Lesley Logan 0:13  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:55  Ladies, and the few good men who listen, hi. This is amazing. This is exactly an episode I wanted to have since last fall. We had a whole topic on Anhedonia, and I got so many of you reaching , going oh my God, tell me more. So, I found an expert. Get your notebooks out. If you're driving, you'll hit, you'll, just listen, because you want to listen again, you're going to take some notes, and also you're going to want to get this book. So Dr Joseph's book is going to be out April 8th, and so you, normally, I don't preview that. I let you fall in love with her and then tell you, but I'm already in love. I'm going to make sure I get my hands on a copy of this book. So definitely check it out, but here, for you to get the help that you deserve and some amazing validation of who you are and what you're going through, here is Dr. Judith Joseph. Lesley Logan 1:40  All right, Be It babe. I am honored, truly. I heard about our guest today through one of my favorite people in this world, Amy Lavell, and so Dr. Judith Joseph is our guest today. She has a story to tell us, and also has done so much research, and I wanted her on the show because my high-functioning peeps, I see you, we keep talking about not being a perfectionist, not over committing, not do all this stuff, but I thought we'd have an expert come in and talk about the journey of what that does to us and how we can get out of it. So Dr. Judith Joseph, thanks for being here. Can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at? Dr. Judith Joseph 2:12  Thank you so much, Lesley. I'm a board certified psychiatrist. I am based in New York City, and I am high-functioning. AF. All of my followers know it. I do a gazillion things on top of being a single mom. I run a lab, content creation, podcaster, author of my book High-Functioning, conducting the first ever study in the world on high-functioning depression, which is something that you know is not really recognized at all in medical literature. But I don't think the depression of our days is our grandma's depression. I think there's a whole new beast out there, and many of us don't even know that we're walking around with it. So I'm trying to demystify that and to bring useful tools to heal.Lesley Logan 2:56  Yeah, that's why I was so intrigued by you. Because what I hear all the time is like, well, I'm not depressed because I get up every day. I do 17 other things, but there's no joy in it. And so can we maybe, maybe take a step back and figure out, like, what is high-functioning depression, and what are the maybe some of the signs that we might be having it?Dr. Judith Joseph 3:15  Well, you said two really great things. You said, listen, we're still getting up. We're doing our stuff. It doesn't look like anything's wrong. And you also said something that's really key, that there's just no joy in it. And actually, the two are connected. So when you go to a doctor or therapist, they're going to pull out this bible of psychiatry called the DSM, and they're going to go through checklists. And according to the DSM, the bible of psychiatry, Diagnostic Statistical Manual, if you don't meet criteria for a lack of functioning or significant distress, but you have all these symptoms of depression, like sometimes you have poor concentration, poor sleep, feeling on edge. That's what we call psychomotor agitation or restlessness, low mood, anhedonia, which is a lack of joy and interest and pleasure in things that once used to light us up, but you don't meet that box of lack of functioning or significant distress. They're going to be like, well, you know, come back and see me when things are really falling apart. The problem with that is that there are tons of people out there who have these symptoms of depression but are still functioning and over functioning because they're the rock, right? They're the mom, they're the boss, they're the teacher, you know, they're the doctor, the nurse, that people depend on, so you can't fall apart. So how do they cope? They busy themselves. They people-please and, eventually, something's going to give either they physically burn out, they mentally burn out, they have a major depressive disorder where they actually do stop functioning. They medicate with substances or with alcohol or self-soothe by shopping too much and going broke, right? Something's gonna give. So why are we waiting for people to lose functioning to do something about this? Why aren't we preventing it? And that's where the research comes in.Lesley Logan 4:56  Oh my gosh. I think first of all, a bunch of people just were like, uh, I have all these things. That's me. I meet a lot of women who are doing all these things, and yet they don't have that joy, that anhedonia that you mentioned, and they try to get help, and the help is either medications that they don't need right now because they're not fully depressed, or they're being told to come back later, and that's so frustrating to not feel heard, and then you just keep doing because you're like, okay, well, maybe I need to do this other seven things. Maybe these things will be the thing that makes me feel better. So I know that people feel so seen, and also I really hope that this becomes the thing people can get diagnosed with, because in that bible, because it does feel like, as you said, this the depression we're having now is not from grandma, because it's true, I don't have children, but if I just were to take off for a week, my team could do a lot, but at some point I need to, like, show up, like the wheels don't spin without, you know, so , it does, it can feel like there's extra pressure on the women who are going through this. How did you get involved in this topic? Were you just seeing it as a bunch of people coming through, or is it something that you went through? Like, can you tell us a little about how you got intrigued by this? Dr. Judith Joseph 6:06  Yeah, actually, it was during 2020, I was given this talk from the same desk that I'm talking from right now, and it was a large hospital system, and it was April, and people didn't know what the pandemic was going to do. They, I mean, we didn't know anything then, and I was called in to really give people the tools to get through a tough time. And halfway through the talk, I realized, I think I'm depressed, but here I am at my desk with my gazillion degrees behind me, instructing doctors and nurses and healthcare professionals on how to heal. And I didn't even realize that I was depressed because I was a doer, you know, and I had this saying, are you a human doing, or are you a human being, right? And I think a lot of us, that's our coping mechanism, at least for me. I'm an immigrant. I come from scarcity. It was never an option of giving up. You had to, you know, if times are tough, you work harder. If you go through something like a breakup, then you just got to take on more tasks at work, you know. And a lot of us cope with our pain by busying ourselves by doing versus just being and feeling and over time that wears on you. And I found myself at that moment in time during this Zoom talk, having that epiphany, and then led me to wonder, how many people on the other side of the Zoom feel like me, because there are a lot of nurses, a lot of doctors in healthcare. Then I started looking into, you know, some I'm in Manhattan, so a lot of my clients are performers, and they went through a really hard time during the pandemic, being out of work, and then the strikes and all that. And many of them, even though they were feeling depressed, they couldn't show it. They had to mask it, because they have to perform. They have to light up a room. So I just started looking at all these different industries, moms, you know, who have to do so many things. They have to go to work, they have to take care of their jobs. They have to take care of their kids. All these people masking these symptoms and just not slowing down and doing instead of feeling and healing. And I just thought, I'm onto something. So I created a reel on socials in 2022 and it went viral. It's been seen over 10 million times around the world. And I had people reaching out to me from different countries saying, I have that. I have anhedonia. This is me. How did you know? Like people were joking, do you have a camera in my home? That's me. Lesley Logan 8:23  Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean, I like, as we're sitting here talking, we're two weeks into the new year, so the before, you're, you know, we're taking a few months before everyone's hearing this. And I have friends who are in LA. I lived in LA for 14 years, and, you know, I checked on my friends where I live, where I lived, is still there, because it's kind of in the total middle. And so they're still going to work. Their jobs still expect them to do the thing that they're supposed to do. So they're showing up and doing all the things, and I'm showing up doing all the things, and I'm kind of like, so do we, this is how we just, like handle everything now. We just like keep doing and I think part of it is like it feels normal. And a lot of times we, when there's tough times, we want to do the thing that feels normal, because we we don't want to experience the other thing. But I also think not a lot of us have the privilege in life to not keep doing when stuff is going on, so then you're kind of stuck. You have to keep going, because the world like you are, that's how you get paid, that's how you make a living, that's how all these, that's what people expect of you. And also, you know, there's this underlying currently you can't really deal with so it feels like what you're onto is something that will continue to be happening, but we need to be able to recognize it, so we can label it, so that we can actually go and address it, right? Because we can't just keep living like high functioning, you know, we can't just keep doing that depression. Dr. Judith Joseph 9:42  Yeah, you're absolutely right. I saw this meme, hilarious meme, where it was like, I told my mom I was depressed, and she said, boy, we broke. We don't got time for that, you know. And I thought it was so funny, because you're right when you go through hard times and you don't have the privilege to slow down or others depend on you even if you are economically sound, but others depend on you. You just don't feel like you have that privilege to slow down. You feel like, well, let me just do because that's what I've always done, but you're absolutely spot on, something's gonna give either your body breaks down. And I think that's why a lot of women have these autoimmune conditions, because women, particularly are like they just have so much on their plate. There's so much expected of them. They're not allowed to seem deflated because someone else is going to take your position. Someone's going to say you're on your period, or you're going through menopause. You know, there's just so much on our plates that we don't feel like we can slow down and certain under represented groups, same way, they're just happy to be in the room. Certain industries, doctors, like, if a doctor says that they are experiencing depression in certain hospital systems, they have to report it to the state. I mean, like, there are certain industries that you just can't even say that you're struggling. So I think that if we allow ourselves to process pain, it's not saying that we have to stop everything, because that's like the worst nightmare for someone who's had function AF. It's about teaching them how to get back into their body, how to process their trauma, so that once you start to feel the pain, then you can also feel the joy. But if you continue to numb and you keep on doing you're not going to be able to feel the pain, but you're also not gonna be able to feel the joys in life that we are all, you know, built to enjoy.Lesley Logan 11:28  That's so, thank you for sharing that. I think , like it's, to feel, I have a yoga teacher who is like, you cannot have one thing without the other. Like in the world, we want balance, you cannot have love in this world and not have hate. If you get rid of the hate, you get rid of the love. If you want to only have peace, there is war. Otherwise, you wouldn't know what you're in. And so if you want to have joy in your life, you do have to also feel your pain. And I think also not many of us were really raised on how to feel our pain. If I cried in public, it's like, hey, don't do that like you learn to mask it or bury it. And you brought up women with autoimmune issues. It is insane. How many women I know with multiple autoimmune issues, and you start to go, okay, what is going on here is either that we actually are testing for it, or the life that we're living now is causing us to harm our bodies in ways that are not visible, and not even things we would choose to do, but because we just keep shoving and not getting the help we need, or even if you're trying to get help, not being heard to get help. It's causing a lot of issues I feel like cannot be reversed, and we're missing out on a lot of life, you know. And you mentioned something about getting into your body that I love, because I'm a Pilates instructor, and I believe if you get into your body, you know so much about yourself. For the people listening, what are ways that you help people get in their body? What are the ways, the tools that you've used? Dr. Judith Joseph 12:49  Well, I love this Venn diagram called the biopsychosocial model, and I teach my patients. I teach my clients. It's three bubbles, if you can imagine them overlapping, but those three bubbles are a nice representation of each of us, and I always say your happiness is not the same as my happiness. Know the science of your happiness because a lot of people out there, they're trying all these different things, and it doesn't work for them, but that's because they're basing it off of the science of someone else's happiness. But there is only ever going to be one you. There's only ever going to be one Lesley, ever. I mean, when I think about that, I get chills, because it's like you're so unique. So understand what your makeup is. Understand your bio, which is basically your past history, in terms of your family history, your current medical conditions, what are the medicines you take? What are the supplements you take? You know? You have a very unique biology. Understand your psychology. That's the psycho part of the biopsychosocial you have traumas that are different than my traumas, right? You have resilience factors that are different than my resilience factors. You have a different attachment style, possibly to mine, right? Or different strengths or weaknesses psychologically. And then, the social aspect, we're just saying, I live in New York, you live in Vegas, there are different environmental factors there, right? You probably eat different foods than me, or we have different movement routines. You may have a different work environment than me, right? Understand your relationships. Those are all the social things. So we all have unique factors. And if we were taught to understand these overlapping diagrams, we would understand the science of our own happiness, and we wouldn't be chasing after someone else's happiness. That's number one. And knowing about the uniqueness of your happiness, if you're someone who tends to have a lot of pent up trauma in your body, then I could tell you to eat as much kale as possible, but that's not going to treat your trauma, right? So in that case, I'm going to focus on the psychology bubble of that Venn diagram, and I'm going to say, let's try and process that trauma. We may have to do some 5-4-3-2-1, exercises with you, or some more trauma-focused work, like EMDR work or trauma-focused therapy, making you feel safe again, because that's something that trauma survivors, you know, really grapple with that sense of safety and psychological safety, right? But if you're someone who, on the biological end of things, has an autoimmune condition, has headaches and really intolerable physiological symptoms, I'm not going to be like, well, let's put you in a trauma workshop, right? I'm going to say, let's work with your nutritionist, let's work with your movement specialist, let's work with your autoimmune doctor, and let's see if we can bring down the levels of inflammation, right? If the social issue is the problem, let's say you're in a toxic work environment, where every time you walk into work, you're triggered. Your heart is racing. You have broken self-esteem because people are like, not kind to you, and this is your job that you depend on for your livelihood. I'm not going to say, well, you know, let's have you go see your cardiologist. I'm going, to fix that fight or flight sensation in your chest, I'm going to say, it's your work environment. Let's see if we get you more support at work or get you out of that environment. So everyone has different factors going on, and I think that makes us really unique and special, but it also complicates things a bit further. So I wanted to democratize this tool that is taught in all of medicine and let everyone have access to it so they can understand their unique workup and areas that they should really focus on first and their step to understanding the science of their own happiness. Lesley Logan 16:24  I love that and I do see that there's a challenge there, because we are kind of trained that if you ask the question, you should get an answer, and that answer should help you. But it is true. You know, we all have different needs, especially, and at different times. And I love the idea of the three bubbles, because you can evaluate for yourself, oh, it is more of the psychos. That's where I need to go get help. It is more of this. But I do love like defining our own happiness, which is not easy if you never explored that, if that wasn't something that we were invited to do or even feel. And so I think that where I feel my listeners struggle, where I get a lot of questions, is almost like, how do they know if they're happy? How do they know? Because they're so busy doing and they might even feel like the pain of stuff that's going on, but they're having a really hard time feeling what's happy also, because I think as women, specifically, we sometimes feel bad if I'm happy and they're going through something, I should put things around so people can't see that I'm happy. I should bring my happiness. I should come down. So, I mean, is there tips on how to know what makes you happy? Dr. Judith Joseph 17:30  Yes, and that is why I have a happiness lab in New York City. And a lot of people don't know this, but happiness researchers, we very rarely use that word happy. People are like mind-boggled when they hear that, because a patientwho will come in to see me for private practice will say, all I want to do is be happy. And so I wear two hats. I wear the research hat and then the private practice hat, where I do traditional therapy and medication, but the research hat is really trying to understand whether or not this person's getting happy or worse, and we use points in research. And so I developed this scale, the Anhedonia Rating Scale. Anhedonia means a lack of joy and pleasure. So basically, you want to know how many points you're getting in these basic pleasures in life. If you have like, high anhedonia and you're not enjoying things, then that's a problem. I love to use these quantitative ways because unlike, you know, let's say diabetes, right? If you go on for diabetes tests, you know where your glucose is, you know where your hemoglobin A1C is. But with mental health, it's kind of harder, like you don't have a test where you can look at and say, oh, I'm getting happier, right? But these quantitative measures, these tests, are really helpful. So you can go on my website, take the Anhedonia Quiz and see if you're getting points of joy. Lesley Logan 18:44  You have a quiz? Dr. Judith Joseph 18:45  Yes, I have an Anhedonia Quiz on my website, and you can see whether or not you're getting points of joy in life. And then what I ask is that people practice the five V's, because that's based on the science of your happiness. So the five v's are, number one is validation. A lot of us with high functioning we're always pushing down our feelings if they're negative. We only talk about the good. We don't like to talk about the bad. Someone says, how you're doing, oh, I'm great, and your house could literally be burning down, and you're saying, great, you know? So I want people to start learning how to accept their emotions, whether they be negative or positive, and there are many tools that I give in my book on how to validate, because people have a hard time with validation. Number two is venting. How do you express your emotions? And there are ways to do healthy venting, but there are ways to engage in unhealthy venting. I do a lot of content on, you know, narcissistic parents, and a lot of us had parents who trauma dumped on us when it was not appropriate. So I talk about how to vent in an appropriate way and the different creative ways to vent. You mentioned crying. You know, crying is something that a lot of people don't engage in because they think from childhood they were told to stop crying, you know, like you're a cry baby. But crying is actually a very healthy way to express emotions. And when you cry and you let a good cry, your body calms down, you feel relaxed, you feel more connected to you. The third V is values. And I say that values are things that don't have price tags. They are things that are priceless. So tap into things that, you know what and when you think at the end of the day, your last minutes of life, you're not going to be like, I wish I had that Gucci bag. You're going to be like, I wish I had five minutes with my loved ones, or I wish I had 10 minutes to do something that I always wanted to do, you know? So tap into those values. Try to get part of those values once a day. For me, it's learning and sharing my knowledge with my daughter, so, like, I love to learn black history and science, and I teach her because she wants to be a scientist. That makes me feel great, or when I volunteer and I offer my expertise to underprivileged youth, because that was me at one point in life that makes me feel good, that, you know, that's a value that I'm going to be like, wow, I wish I could do. I wish I did more good in life, you know. And then the fourth is vital. So we only get one body and brain. We have to take care of it. And so, you know, that's probably a lot where you come in, in terms of understanding how to honor the mind-body connection, eating foods that decrease inflammation that are not processed, drinking enough water, getting sleep, you know, like putting that phone away and getting really rich sleep, getting movement that actually helps your longevity and makes you feel happier, and understanding how relationships can be very toxic. And I wish that this was taught in school when I was growing up, but a lot of people don't understand how negative relationships can really drain your life force, and then having that healthy work life balance that's all in the vitals. And then the fifth V is vision. How do you plan for joy in the future? And when I say a future, I don't mean like, 10 years from now. I mean like, as in an hour from now. So for example, after this podcast, I'm gonna have a nice dinner, probably curry or sushi, and I'm gonna eat it, not in front of a screen. I might watch a little bit of Emily in Paris, because that's my guilty pleasure. You know, like these are little points of joy that I'm gonna plan, to treat myself, because today I helped people. I talked with you, these are all things that I need to celebrate, but we don't celebrate but we don't celebrate that. We're like, well, we're supposed to be doing these things, you know, no, every time I get my daughter to school on time, I pat myself on the back, and I sit and I drink my coffee, my oat milk latte, and I take my time. I don't go straight to work. I go home. Take my time. It, 5, 10 minutes, and just say I did a good job. I got her to work. I got her to school on time today. These are all things that we can savor in life, but we rush, we're busy. We don't take the time. We don't treat ourselves like human beings. You know, how many times have you eaten in front of a screen and they're like, you can't even taste the food, you know, and you love the food, but you're like, did you enjoy that meal? Not really. I just needed to get rid of that hunger pain. So the five Vs can really help you to understand the science of your happiness. Once you do that Venn diagram, and then you apply the five Vs to your life, it can really make a difference and increase those little points of joy every day. Lesley Logan 23:11  I really love each one of those in a different way, also what I'm getting. I love that you introduced yourself as high functioning AF, because I do think that a lot of the people like myself and the people who listen to this podcast, we start to think like, maybe I should do less. If I just do less, then I'll be happier. But then we are not happier doing less, because we are people who want to do things, and we are high-functioning people we and so I loved that it's not necessarily about not doing stuff, it's about how you do stuff and how you acknowledge what you're doing. And I think that that's really special, because it's sort of going, going, going, it's like, yeah, pat, I got my kid, my daughter at school on time today. Way to go. Yes. We have an episode on Fridays here. It's called Fuck Yeah Friday. And just this year I changed it so, like, I share a story from Instagram or the internet that, like, inspired me, some woman who inspired me whatever she did. But then it's about sharing the wins from the listeners. So they send in a win, and sometimes they send in these wins, like I finally did, blah, blah, blah. And my favorite wins are, like, I actually made dinner for myself and I went to bed on time, and I'm like, yes, that's a win. That's a huge win. You know, we have to give ourselves credit for that, because, just because it's what you think you're supposed to be doing you not celebrating it is not going to help you enjoy doing it in the future, and it's not going to help you do it in the future. So I, those are my favorites, and so that's what the episode is about. It's about celebrating the things we did do, as opposed to like these achievements that we're waiting to celebrate until a certain time comes. I think that that is, it's hard to do. Most people can't see a win in something or a celebration in something that they're supposed to do. So thank you for highlighting that. Your book. You wrote a book. I think anyone who writes a book to get their word out into the world is amazing, because it's not the easiest thing to write a book. Who is the book for and what are you hoping they get from it?Dr. Judith Joseph 24:55  I'm glad you said that people who are high-functioning AF want to do everything, because five Vs is a lot. And I can personally say, and I say this in the book, pick one or two, because the rule of twos says you really shouldn't be working on more than one or two things at a time. But I like one and two. I like validation, because it's something we can all do. And I like venting a lot, like, sometimes I'll just be so exhausted, and I'm like, why am I so tired? I'm like, wait a second, I'm not practicing the five Vs. I validate, I acknowledge, actually, I am tired. I had a long day. And then I vent. Sometimes I say it out loud. Or I'll tell my partner, listen, I had a really busy day. Or I'll tell my daughter, I was like, oh, mommy, had a busy day, you know? Like, I then I really try. Or I'll, like, put something on Canva, on IG, and say I've had a rough day, or something like that, but I'm venting. I'm expressing. And the other things, you know, the values, I try to tap into at least something a little a day, you know, for my values, vitals, that's hard to get to. I don't work out every day. I try to, but it doesn't happen. But at least if I'm not going to work out, well, I'm going to eat well. And if I'm not going to eat well, I'm gonna sleep better or drink more water or limit my screen time. So, there's a temptation to want to do it all, but pick one or two and tap into it, and then score yourself and see if the anhedonia is getting better. And I really do believe that once you start to do these things that are not expensive, like these, are all things within your capacity, right, to democratize mental health, you can do these things, and your life will be happier. But this book is for that family member who never acknowledges how they're feeling when they struggle because they're the rock. The book is for that entrepreneur who really is afraid of bankruptcy, doesn't ever want to be in that position again, and overworks and overextends and doesn't enjoy their wins. It's for that mom out there who puts everyone before herself, who feels depleted but can't slow down because she feels empty and restless when she sits still she doesn't even know what makes her happy anymore. You know, it's for that immigrant student who feels as if everyone's dreams are on their back and they can't fail, they can't tell anyone that they're struggling, it really is for those people who wear a mask, like the educator, the teacher who spends all their money getting their students supplies, but doesn't even eat lunch, you know like you are seeing you matter, so take care of yourself, because there's no one else like you, and you're worthy of it.Lesley Logan 27:27  That is so beautiful, and I love that you can be in a different walk of life and this book is still for you, because there is, we all have these dreams and aspirations, and sometimes those are other people's dreams and aspirations on top of that, and it can just be a lot. I'm assuming the five Vs are in this book. If people want to, like, read and score and write notes, I do want to attach that I love, that you put values in there. It's something I really in this house, like, we like to all filter things through my, our values. And I'm like, that's a no, because it's not hitting one of these things, and I can't take on more than that. So I love that. And if it can fit one of these things, I could do it, but doesn't. But I never thought about, like, how to make sure I'm acting with that as a way of finding some joy. Because, yeah, that's really, really cool. And yes, I love that if you're not moving well, then eat well. And if you're not going to eat well, then you got to sleep well. You got to do something. You got to do something for your body. Yes. For you, you practice those five Vs because so in 2020 you felt like, okay, I must have this, like, high-functioning depression thing. Obviously, you worked your way through and this is where you're at, is this something that, as a high-functioning person, you might dip in and out of or you can start to recognize it. And the goal is, like you recognize it faster, so you don't go into the depression for too long before you get yourself out. Like, I guess what I'm asking is for my perfectionist is like, is this a light switch once we get over our shit, can we feel really awesome and we never have to go back? Or is this something that we gotta just monitor?Dr. Judith Joseph 28:55  I'm glad you said that, because one of the risk factors for this is something called people-pleasing. But people don't realize that people-pleasing is actually a watered down version of masochism. So before the term masochistic personality disorder was removed from the DSM, the bible of psychiatry, it was really a caricature of someone who sacrifices their own happiness for someone else's happiness, or who's constantly in a position of giving and not getting. And when people think of masochism, they think of sex. But it's not that type of masochism. It's the personality traits that makes people bend over backwards when they shouldn't be but they feel as if that's the only way right? These are doers. They do, do do but what ends up happening is that the takers, they don't, like, thank you. They're resentful of you. They're like, well, do everything because you wanted something, or did you think I wasn't capable? So it actually backfires. So falling into these traits of being a doer is a pattern. It's a way of life for so long but yeah, you're going to work on yourself, but there's going to be a time when you fall back, and I'm guilty of that too. I'm constantly oscillating. But when I start to practice the five Vs and I'm like, let me, like I just demonstrated, let me validate that I went through a hard day, let me acknowledge these feelings, it's easier for me to snap out of that downward spiral because I'm practicing these skills. And so I always explain happiness as when we think of happiness, we think of this picture in the future, like I finally got the job, or I finally got the clout, or I finally got the thing that I wanted, the person that I wanted, the home that I wanted. And then what research shows us is that when we get these things, we're still unhappy. We're on to the next right? So my philosophy has shifted to finding happiness in the now. So when I get into that slump where I'm like, looking around me and I'm like, oh, so and so is doing that, and I'm starting to feel low, and maybe I should be doing more, it's easier for me to snap back into my values, right? I acknowledge how I feel, I validate, I vent it, but then I also tap into my values. And I'm like, wait, but I don't value what they value. My values are different, and I'm pretty good right here, where I am, I'm pleased in what I value right now. So that allows me to slow down. And so I think the more you practice this, the more exposure you get to this. Not only do you change, but the people around you change. I always say anhedonia is contagious, but joy is contagious, too. If you've ever had a boss that was a micromanager who was doing everything and you all were like, oh my gosh, we're so busy, we're all burnt out. And if that something good happened to that boss, let's say they finally dated someone, or they finally got validation in life, or something happened and or maybe even they got ill and they realized this is not important. When that boss shifts, the organization shifts, right? An organization is only as good as its CEO. So I think that anhedonia is contagious, but so is joy. So when you start to shift inside, people are going to notice it. They're going to come towards you and be like something's different. I want what you have, and you may not be more successful, you may not have more money, you may not be more beautiful, but you have something that they want, and they're going to gravitate towards you, but you have to get it for yourself. They can't have what you have. And I really do think that people will start to cultivate joy within themselves by understanding the science of your happiness and applying your five Vs to your life. Lesley Logan 28:55  Oh my gosh. I feel like every woman has to get this book for their best friend, just even as preventative, even if your friend isn't going through this yet, it's true that anhedonia is contagious, and also so can that high function like the doing can be contagious too. So I really appreciate you. I feel like we could learn so much. Now I might have to just binge out on every video you make, but I can't wait to read the book when it comes out, and probably send it to 17 of my friends. So we're gonna take a brief break, though, and then find out where people can find you, follow you, work with you, get your book and then your Be It Action Items. Lesley Logan 32:58  All right, Dr. Judith, you truly have given us a wealth of knowledge. Where can people connect with you, get your book. Where do you like to hang out? Dr. Judith Joseph 33:06  So they can buy my book at drjudithjoseph.com or follow me on IG, Dr. Judith Joseph and all the socials they could find my book there. And if you order before the pub date, you get preorder bonuses, and I have courses on the science of your happiness and ways to take you through the five Vs. Lesley Logan 33:27  Oh my goodness. Thank you so much for bringing you. You really have given us a lot, the five Vs is amazing. So if that ends up being part of this Be It Action Items, that's totally fine with me, but something that caused this podcast to exist is I would be drawn to someone and love what they said, and then going, okay, like, what is my first next step, though, you know? And so the bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us? Dr. Judith Joseph 33:51  I just recently did this guided meditation with Deepak Chopra, and he said something that I thought was profound. He just kept saying, lose your name and just say I am. And it's really like a part of the just be, you know, what is it to just be? And if you could just take five minutes a day just to feel your being, just to get to know yourself again, I think many of us have forgotten who we are. So if you could just be, you know, I say, be a human being, not a human doing, you could learn so much about yourself. That self-reflection time, you could practice the five V's during that time, you could just practice one, validation, right, and just be. It sounds simple, but I think it's very difficult for a lot of us to just be. Lesley Logan 34:40  To sit for five minutes is very difficult. And you guys, like, what I found is like, 30 minutes is only 2% of your day, so five minutes is, like, not even a half a percent. So I don't do math well, so don't correct me. But if we cannot take five minutes for our day, we really do have to re evaluate what we're doing and who we're doing it for, because that is not the easiest thing to just be for five minutes, but ooh, I sit in a cold plunge every morning for four minutes, four minutes. And here's why, my tub is not big enough for my whole body. So three minutes with like, shoulders, hips, stomach, ankles, and then a minute for the knees to go in. And what I can say is I don't want to do it before I get in. I step in and I'm like, why am I doing this? I get in, I'm like, the air is sucked out, and then within a few seconds, you kind of settle in, and you're like, I just have to be here for four minutes. This is all I have to do. And it really is something that I'm so grateful that I do every day, because it does let me, like, set to go okay, today is today. Here I am today. I'm not even thinking about the schedule. It's just kind of like this moment and just being in this moment, where am I feeling this and how am I doing? And I highly recommend it. You don't have to get a plunge, but it just sits still for five minutes and see how you're doing. I highly recommend. I love that Be It Action Item. I think it'll be a challenge for a lot of people, unfortunately, but also I hope it's one that they take on, because I do love that. Dr. Judith, you are fabulous. I hope to one day, run into you and see what you're doing changing this world, because I do think this, your book and what you're saying are really what people are needing to hear right now. And I also just want to highlight one more time, everything you said in those five Vs is not actually going to cost a lot of money. It's like things you can just do by evaluating and addressing. So I appreciate tips like that. So thank you being you. Lesley Logan 36:18  Y'all, how are you gonna use these tips in your life? Make sure you tag Dr. Judith, you tag the Be It Pod, share this with a friend, but this is a friend who needs to hear it, you know, sometimes we feel like we have to help everyone, and sometimes we can help them by sending Dr. Judith's words to them so that she can help them and you can go back to taking care of you. So thank you so much. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 36:39  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 37:21  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 37:27  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 37:31  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 37:37  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 37:42  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to celebrate your wins, Be It babe! In this Fuck Yeah Friday episode, Lesley shares an inspiring story of resilience from librarians saving books, uplifting wins from the eLevate community, and a personal self-care journey that's bringing unexpected joy. Whether it's investing in your Pilates practice, embracing new routines, or simply learning to indulge in self-care, this episode is your reminder that now is the time to prioritize yourself. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How librarians used creativity to save books.A Pilates instructor's exciting new investment in her home practice.The power of videotaping your workouts for self-awareness.Lesley's personal self-care journey and why it's making such a difference.The overall rewarding experience of her nighttime routine.Episode References/Links:Librarian Vibes Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/p/DFqRH11yxZuEp. 337 Ashley Black - https://beitpod.com/ep337 If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Brad Crowell 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:02  Get ready for some wins. Lesley Logan 0:05  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.All right, Be It babe, hello. How are you? Happy Friday. So this is where I share a little bit of inspo that I got from the internet, a little bit of inspo from you, and a little bit of inspo from me, and then a little mantra. It's the Fuck Yeah Friday. If you're new to our podcast, this is our short episode. It's really a lot of fun. You never know what you're gonna get. But also, I might share one of your wins, so send them in. Literally, send your wins in. Please, come on. It's so much fun. So this inspired me when I was on Instagram, and it comes from librarian.vibes, and it says, librarians create fake library card to save thousands of books. I know. Isn't this amazing? So this librarian said there's nothing more sacred to a librarian than a library card. But when a town in Florida decided to burn all the books that hadn't been taken out in a while, local librarians made a fake card for one Chuck Finley, Chuck, who doesn't exist, checked out 2,361 books to keep them from being Fahrenheit 451.So I truly love this. I love a little bit of resistance to like things that just aren't making any sense. And so may I just suggest that if you are afraid of amazing books being banned or not being able like one of the ways you can do it. I saw this other girl on Instagram every month just going and buying some of the books on the banned list, just going and buying them while they're still around where she's at, so that they stay in existence, right? So this inspired me, very inspired by it. So anyways, I hope that inspires you. Isn't that kind of cool? 2,361 books don't get burned because Chuck Finley doesn't exist. Check them out. Love that. Love that for them. Okay, so your wins that came through, honestly, I've spent a lot of time with my eLevators, so I'm gonna share some of theirs. So this one is from Lisa Osoteo, dear eLevator family, I'm so excited to introduce to you Esme, my Wunda chair, short for Esmeralda, in honor of her beautiful grotto, teal green color and Violet, my sumptuous Spine Corrector. I chose the colors sight unseen, just computer swatches, and when I got Violet, she lived up to her name, though, truth be told, she also gives off a Barney and Grimace vibe. So despite her proper sounding given name, she's also Biolet Barney Grimace or VBG. If she's wanting to be posh, she'll also answer to Violet Bader Ginsburg, her name when she helps me inhabit a spine of steel. I did my first chair workout yesterday on Esme, and she kicked my butt. I haven't yet to be broken in by VBG. This dynamic duo put me through my paces. Kidding aside, I'm celebrating that. One, eLevators taught me the value of a personal practice. And two, that my practice warrants investing in my own classical Pilates equipment. And three, that I have the knowledge to know which equipment I need to support an essential home practice. And finally, four, that I have this community who share Pilates equipment birth announcements. It's a thing, Esme and Violet. February 4th 2025 I mean, so fun. I wish I could post you the picture. It's just adorable and amazing, and the colors are beautiful. And now I need to get my own violet version of something for my studio. I have a grotto, and it is stunning. It is a color is worth repeating. So thank you, Lisa, for letting us celebrate the births of Esme and VBG. This next one is Christine Ivy, and she is one of my new eLevators, and she wrote. I videotaped myself doing the mat so I could watch and see where I am in my practice, especially in terms of stable shoulder girdle connection and back extension. It was really helpful to see evidence of where I am and what I need to work on, humbling and helpful. And I wanted to share that with you guys as a win, because here's the deal, my loves. We've all heard feelings are not facts, you know what I mean? Like, like feelings are not facts. And in our bodies, it's really easy for us to feel like we are in extension when really we're just like a PEZ dispenser with our neck, or feel like we're tall when really we're leaning forward. So I don't like mirrors in a studio, although obviously they have to exist in a little bit. But I don't love people just looking at themselves all the time. I kind of like people moving their bodies and then film something. And so at OPC, we actually let our members film themselves doing an exercise or two and send them in. And I can give feedback, because it may be that they just need to move their feet a little bit further to the right, or they need to actually reach down through their heels more, like sometimes, just need someone else's eyes to tell you what you're feeling, yes, but also here it is, and then you can find it better, and you can find it faster. And I just love that we do that. So thanks, Christine, for sharing that win because it's not easy to look at yourself and go, okay, oh, I see, I feel like I'm doing like this, but really, I'm cheating myself out of this. So thanks for sharing that. I can't wait to see how your practice continues to grow inside of eLevate. All right, a win of mine. So you guys, I gotta be honest, I think I've shared this part of this as a win earlier this year, but here we are in April, and this is about a year ago when, like, my lashes grew in and I could, like, finally doing it with them, but I am sharing that I have truly, absolutely loved, having fun getting to do a self-care routine that is for my face. When I had fake lashes, you can't really wash your face, you can't rub your eyes. You couldn't do that right? And so I'm obsessed with washing my face and then putting this moisturizing rinse on my eyes in the shower and gua sha-ing my skin. And I actually have learned how to gua sha with just my fingers as well, because there's ways you can do that for your lymphatic drainage. I know you're like how is this a win? It is a win because one, I absolutely love doing my makeup. I think it's really a lot of fun. I don't go off to go do my makeup. I also go out without my makeup all the time, but I am actually having so much fun getting to know myself and my look and who I am. But more importantly is the removal of the makeup and having access to my whole face and then the self care that I can do. And if you're like, wow, she's really indulging herself. Yes, I am, and I hope it inspires you, because, my goodness, we all need to be a little more indulgent about how our bodies feel. And I say this, my mean, like massaging my face. Because, my goodness, if you we talked about this with Ashley Black, the fascia person you know, spending 20 minutes like fascia-blasting your body, what that does for you. And so here I am in April, truly loving all the things I can do for myself. And I, you know, some of us like, oh, I gotta go gua sha. I've gotta go wash my face. Gotta go brush my teeth. Honestly, there's something so rewarding about cherishing all the things that I do as a nighttime routine, not only do they help me sleep, but also they really do make me feel good inside and out. So I hope that this win of me having a habit of gua sha-ing my face and loving taking my makeup off gives you some inspiration on like where you can have some gratitude, and also where you can be a little more indulgent, right? All right, a mantra for you. Here we go. We gotta leave you with something to think about. Now is the time. Now is the time. My loves, whatever you're thinking about doing, and when am I gonna do it? Now is the time. Here's your sign. Thank you so much for letting me share all this stuff with you. It's really a lot of fun to do solo episodes, celebrating your wins, celebrating something in my life, celebrating something that was pretty cool, that someone did. And a mantra, if you have any wins you want me to share, please send them in, because you might need to hear them today. Wouldn't it be amazing if you were having a rough day and then you heard about something you did for yourself? Bet you it would change your day. All right, loves, you know what to do. Until next time, Be It Till You See It. That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 8:48  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 8:53  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 8:57  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 9:04  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 9:08  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Recapping Lesley's powerful conversation with Monique Rhodes, a globally recognized happiness strategist, this episode explores how small, intentional shifts—like practicing gratitude, creating a “bubble of influence,” and embracing discomfort—can lead to greater joy and emotional strength. Tune in for Monique's actionable steps for managing negativity and reclaiming your peace and purpose.  If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How the "bubble of influence" creates joy for yourself and others.Our societal obsession with comfort and why embrace discomfort.How gratitude reframes your mindset and increases happiness.The danger of toxic positivity—and why feeling all emotions matters.The “Sixes Method” for letting go of stress and gaining perspective.Episode References/Links:April UK Mullet Tour Waitlist - https://opc.me/ukApril Spring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comMonique Rhodes Website - https://moniquerhodes.comMonique Rhodes Happiness Activation System - https://iintendtobehappy.comTara Schuster's Book: Buy Yourself the Fucking Lilies - https://a.co/d/etSRpDr If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  Complimenting other people actually makes them feel good, and it also reinforces your positive mindset, because it shows that you're looking for things to compliment people on, or do things for people. Lesley Logan 0:10  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:53  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the gratifying convo I had with Monique Rhodes in our last episode. I was also a happy episode. It was like a happy convo. Brad Crowell 1:04  It was awesome. Lesley Logan 1:04  It was so, I'm obsessed with this woman. Gotta figure out how to get on a retreat with her. Anyways, you have to listen to that one. I don't care when you listen to it, but it's a must. Brad Crowell 1:14  It's a directive. We're telling you, you gotta go listen to the last episode. Lesley Logan 1:18  I really enjoyed. It was just so great. Brad Crowell 1:19  She's very inspiring, very compelling. Lesley Logan 1:21  Yeah. But also I found myself going, oh crap, I have to stop the episode. Like, I have to stop interviewing her, because it's time. Brad Crowell 1:29  Oh, you mean it just kept going. You were like keep going. Lesley Logan 1:31  I just kept going. I was just like, I'm just gonna keep talking. I like, love this woman. Anyways, before we get into Monique Rhodes, today is April 3rd 2025 and it's Weed Out Hate Day. It's a day that speaks of the importance of being kind and thoughtful towards others. This holiday is much needed in today's world, especially in today's world so where selfishness reigns supreme and assholes do, too. I inserted that myself. Marc Daniels came up with the holiday in honor of his grandfather, Ross Daniels, the inventor of the Ross Root Feeder. This revolutionary irrigation tool allowed nutrients to get to the deepest roots and trees of our plants, thus helping them achieve peak health and more bountiful harvest. The main goal of Weed Out Hate Day is connect gardeners and kindergarteners with the natural world while improving society in the process. Weed Out Hate Day removes the roadblocks that prevent children from achieving their full potential. Those who participate in the ceremony learn to kick out any negative influences in their lives and bring in more positive aspects. I think that's cool. I think somehow they took they're like, we take out weeds, and we are gonna help children take out the weeds in their lives. Brad Crowell 2:40  Yeah, they're gonna inspire kids. I think that was really great. Lesley Logan 2:42  I think so too. I think I love it so much. Brad Crowell 2:44  That's a heck of a marketing team. Lesley Logan 2:46  It really, really is Ross. Ross the rooter. Brad Crowell 2:52  Marc came up with it. Lesley Logan 2:53  I know, but his dad was, grandfather was Ross the rooter. Anyways. Well, I mean, there are certain people in this world that I think are freaking worthy of all the hate in the world. There are individual people with names we all know. But that being said, unfortunately, we live in a world where they're like just people are hating on entire groups of people, or trying to inspire hate on all groups of people. And I think we can all understand that everyone just wants love and to feel seen, and it actually is a lot easier to love strangers, than hate them. It's really freaking hard. But also, if you're like, I don't have the time to think about other people in this world, Lesley. That's fine. Remove the haters in your life. Block and bless. Goodbye. Lesley Logan 3:30  Okay, we are getting really, really close to a couple April things that you need to know about, and one of them is when we go to the UK this fall. If you are in the UK or the EU and you want to join the workshops that we're doing, at two different cities, you're going to want to go to opc.me/uk to get on the waitlist, because those on the waitlist will get the early bird price, and these events can sell out pretty quickly, because they sold out last time we were there. Space is small, so we're only gonna have so many. So not only would you get the best price, but you would also get the option to actually attend, because it will only go public if there are rooms, there are spots left. So, opc.me/uk. Also happening in April. It's going.Brad Crowell 4:10  Meaning get on the waitlist, because if it sells out on the waitlist, then we're not even going to announce it. Lesley Logan 4:15  Right, right. You'll just hear that we're going, and you'll have missed out. Brad Crowell 4:18  Yep. So, opc.me/uk. Lesley Logan 4:21  And we're not doing the UK in 2026 I'm going to tell you right now. So the next one, I don't know when that is. April 27th through May 3rd is going to be the. Brad Crowell 4:30  Spring Training. Lesley Logan 4:31  Spring Training. You guys, I just picked out the uniforms for the teachers.Brad Crowell 4:35  Oh, you did.Lesley Logan 4:35  Yeah. Brad Crowell 4:36  Nice. Lesley Logan 4:37  Yeah. It's like an actual baseball tee. Brad Crowell 4:38  Oh, cool. Lesley Logan 4:39  It's so cool. It's so cute. But now, because August is the bat dog, I feel like we need to get, like, a costume for him. I just gotta, I gotta find it out. Anyways, it's going to be April 27th through May 3rd. If you're an OPC member, it's free. If you're not an OPC member, you're going to want to go to opc.me/events to get on the waitlist, because those on the waitlist will save money on the ticket to your Spring Training. And the theme is the Pilates Push Up, and if you hate it, then this is for you. And if you love it, then we'll see you there. But if you hate it, you have to come, because whatever you hate you gotta do twice. We got not 10 classes. So there you go, plenty of opportunities to discover some love for it. Brad Crowell 5:15  Opc.me/events, oh, side note, it actually wraps up on the International Pilates Day, which is May 3rd. So, how fun is that? Lesley Logan 5:23  Is that possible because are we ending on a Saturday? Brad Crowell 5:25  Yeah. Lesley Logan 5:26  Oh, then it is on International Pilates Day. Some, in my brain we were ending on a Sunday. And I'm like, okay, somehow we got that wrong. But no, and you know what, guys? Call your friend. Yeah. Okay. Up next, Brad has something very special for the Pilates teachers and studio owners in this world. Brad Crowell 5:42  Yeah, that's right. If you're feeling stuck in your Pilates business and you're trying to figure out, how do I grow, or how do I make more money, or how to get new clients, I want you to join me. Come to a free webinar where I'm talking about growth, growth for your Pilates business, whether you have a studio, whether you have a home studio, or you're taking clients and renting from someone else, it's all applicable. Lesley Logan 6:04  This is all really important. It's important you know the growth that you want, and that's very, that's really important to me because a lot of companies that coach Pilates businesses, they all have one way to coach you, and it is to grow you to a place that might not be where you want to go, might mean not how you want to teach. And I just had someone DM me today that they're like, quitting teaching because they're exhausted from the model that they've been doing. She's like, yeah, I'm gonna get another job. I just can't do it anymore. And I was like, well, that's really sad. It's sad for you. It's sad for the people who could be taught by you. And if you are feeling like you're in burnout, if it keeps going the way it's going, then you actually need our help. The world can't lose you because you're the only person who can do what you do the way that you do it. So go to prfit.biz/accelerator to hear more about all that goodness, and then.Brad Crowell 6:49  Profit without the O, prfit.biz/accelerator.Lesley Logan 6:52  And then, you guys gotta come to Cambodia. I want to spend, I get to spend a week with you. It was so funny when people were leaving, I was like, oh, they're gone. There was a space missing on Friday morning. And we're like, oh, everyone has left the space for Sarah, because she had to leave on the Thursday night, well it's almost like Friday morning, so she got to all the things but the last class. And we're like, oh, Sarah's gone. And then we said goodbye to everyone, because they were leaving. And so we went off to do something, and we're like, oh, it's just the four of us now. And then the next day we say goodbye to that, last year, we're like, oh, we're alone. We're alone by now. Like, you just think, I'm a family, and it's so fun. So you want. Brad Crowell 7:33  It was amazing. We had an incredible group in February. Lesley Logan 7:35  Well, we already have a great group coming this October. We have people who have come before, so they're doing that second one. Brad Crowell 7:40  That's right, coming a second time and bringing somebody new. A couple of OPC members are coming. Agency members are coming. Do we have eLevators yet on this one? Regardless. Lesley Logan 7:50  One of the repeaters is an eLevator. Brad Crowell 7:52  Oh, eLevators. Yeah. Lesley Logan 7:53  You don't have to be any of those things. You can just come and then we can hang out and you can see if you want to do more things with us, or you can say that was fabulous. Thank you for my lovely vacation. Bye. Just really awesome. So go to crowsnestretreats.com to snag your spot for this October. In 2026, we're only offering the retreat one time, and so you don't want to wait two years. I'm just saying. You don't want to wait two years. Okay, we have to get to Monique, because I really want to talk about Monique, but first we have an audience question. Brad Crowell 8:25  Okay. Sierra Pilates in Prague on the IG says, Hey, regarding the 100, what are your favorite cues when teaching it to beginners? Lesley Logan 8:28  So everyone's obsessed with cues. I think we've talked about cues before on this podcast. There are no favorite cues for beginners. Beginners just need to do the best that they can, and it needs to be simple. So no straightening your legs across the room like a mermaid tail. That's not it. Like, honestly, it's curl your head and chest up, pump your arms up and down. Okay. Are you breathing? Breathe in, breathe out, and then give them a break, and then do it again.Brad Crowell 8:54  Especially for beginners, like, I'm a beginner, okay? I don't even know how the damn exercise works when the cues get complicated, I'm thinking more about the analogy or the complication than I am about the thing I'm supposed to be doing.Lesley Logan 9:09  And then when I say, do the 100 the next time you're like, what exercise is that? Because there was so many cues coming at you that you couldn't actually remember the name of the exercise, but the movement of the exercise to do the exercise so you can get corrections, which is, to me, what people mean when they mean cues. I think they mean like a correction or a direction.Brad Crowell 9:27  And I actually think that when you get to the point where somebody understands, you say the 100, and they're still doing it wrong, or they need to improve on something, the cue then that you are making it's personal to the body in front of you. Lesley Logan 9:42  Way to go, babe. That's exactly it. You can't just, there could be 75,000 things you could say.Brad Crowell 9:49  You might end up with half a dozen different ones that you regularly use, because you see that many clients, and you see a similar problem. But honestly, it's not a one size fits all. It's literally, it's not possible for that to be the thing. Lesley Logan 10:01  So I would just say, like, I actually don't necessarily have beginners lift their legs up for the 100. I also, we've talked about this before, I don't teach them in tabletop either. I just leave their legs down and I see if they can actually do the head and chest curl and without using their neck. And if they can, then when they come down, I'm like, okay, this time we're gonna lift your legs up and then, and if that goes like crap. Guess what, this time, put your legs down, pump your arms. That's what I would just say. So no cues, because they gotta know what they exercise. Thank you for that question. Send your questions and I love answering them. They're so much fun for me. Okay, now we gotta get into Monique Rhodes. Brad Crowell 10:34  Yes, stick around. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 10:36  All right, welcome back. Let's talk about Monique Rhodes. Monique is a globally recognized happiness strategist and expert in mental resilience, mindfulness and purposeful living. She teaches practical methods to help individuals shift perspectives, build emotional resilience and cultivate a fulfilling life. Her work is featured in over 70 colleges and universities worldwide, which I didn't know that, that's insane, and she collaborates with leading corporations to enhance well being and productivity through her programs, retreats and speaking engagements. Monique empowers thousands to live with more ease and intention. What an inspiring conversation. Lesley Logan 11:15  So inspired. I was so inspired. I've actually talked about this little thing I'm about to talk about right now, almost daily, because I just really love it. She said everywhere we go, we've got all these things that are showing us there's loads of reasons to be miserable. Like, literally, every time you open up your phone, anytime you talk to a friend, they're like, here are 70 ways to be miserable. Or if you even, hey, oh my God, this is going on, someone else goes oh, but this is happening over here. People just want to bring us down all the time, because there's a fuck ton of shit going on in this world. But you know what, you can also be happy, and there can be a fuck ton of shit going on this world. Not that you're like, the shit makes you happy, but like, you have a life that's happy and there's this going on. So anyways, she said, instead of absorbing stress and chaos, you can create a little bubble of influence that is our small ways you can create joy daily. And she talked about the bubble of influence is like us doing nice things for other people. That brings us joy, because we did something nice for other people, and it makes other people also have joy as well. And so it was really quite cool. She said there are so many small ways that we can influence our lives that we don't even think about. We can sit every day and say to ourselves, what am I grateful for?Brad Crowell 12:19  I feel like this is the episode that people are going to save. Favorite it, not this one, but the one before, the interview, and they're going to listen to it again and again, because I don't even remember her saying that, and I recently listened to it, right? There's so many things in this episode. I also think that in the section, she was talking about chaos and politics and all this stuff. And she said, we don't have any control over that. We don't have any control over that. My argument would be, we can participate by voting, and we can participate by. Lesley Logan 12:50  Calling our congressman. But once you've done all that, that's really it. You can vote with your dollars all those things. So that's what you can do. But beyond that, I can't make the people that I voted for do the thing that I asked them to do. I can't make them so I can only do what I can do. So I can't just go, oh, I'm gonna stress around what they didn't do today. Instead, I can actually go, what am I grateful for, though? And here's what's really, gonna add to this. I'm reading another book. Buy Yourself the Fucking Lilies or something like that. Anyways, I thought it was new. It's not. It's been around for a while, but I'm gonna try to get her on the pod. I'm gonna DM her, since it's not a new book, she clearly is not busy promoting the book, but she said do a daily 10 gratitudes in your journal, so if you don't know what to journal, yeah. Tara Schuster, hi, Tara, if you're listening, I want you on the pod. Okay, that would be amazing. So buy yourself the Fucking Lilies, and I got a signed copy, by the way. I know. I just bought it off a shelf, and there it was. So anyways, she suggested in your journal just write down 10 things you're grateful for. It can be like, I'm really grateful that I painted my walls white and not the orange color that they were before. I don't know. You can come up with 10 things you're grateful for, because it does change how you feel about your day, which will change the happiness that you are experiencing in your life. Brad Crowell 14:04  I also like the bubble of influence, this idea that we can separate ourselves from the fear, the chaos that is bringing us down. I thought that was really cool.Lesley Logan 14:14  So we talked, the bubble of influence was like a simple compliment to a someone's smile. I love your smile. And I talked about this in the pod, like, my mom has this way of like, she doesn't let a person go by without giving them a compliment. Oh my God, those shoes are so good on you. Like, this person is just walking by, but you do it too. You just did it at the airport. He does it at the airport. He's, I like your jacket. The person didn't notice. So he's like, hey, I like your jacket. And this other guy goes, who me? And Brad said, no.Brad Crowell 14:40  I said no. And he goes, I didn't think so as he looks down his jacket, that's not awesome. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't like complimentary. It was funny. Lesley Logan 14:48  Complimenting other people actually makes them feel good, and it also reinforces your positive mindset, because it shows that you're looking for things to compliment people on or do things for people. So anyways, it's just really great. Go on, Brad. You say yours. Brad Crowell 15:00  Okay, all right, all right, all right. So I really loved when she was clarifying toxic positivity, right? Because people who are happy all the time, they must just be ignoring what isn't beneficial or happy to them, like they're suppressing it somehow. And she said, whatever emotions you suppress means that you're suppressing emotions across the spectrum, right? So you can't just suppress negative emotions. If you're suppressing emotions, you're suppressing emotions everywhere, right? The way that I took this too, is like, I guess it's not possible to suppress the negative emotions and still feel the positive emotions. Is what that really meant to me. Lesley Logan 15:37  Yeah, I mean, our yoga teacher, he talked about, you can't have love without hate, right? Like you can't actually experience love without having experienced hate. You cannot actually experience being healthy without experiencing sickness. So I love that her to talk about, if you suppress negative emotions, you're suppressing the emotions around that across the spectrum, so you're just starting, and then you're not going to feel anything at all, which is like, not, that's not a joyful life, either. Brad Crowell 16:06  Yeah. Well, she mentioned that we are stuck on this idea that we have to be comfortable all the time. And this really resonated with me. Lesley Logan 16:15  This was such a fun part of the conversation. Brad Crowell 16:17  Yeah, it was, just listening, like, first off, y'all, she decided to just move to India and motorcycled around India for four years. It wasn't like I did a trip for a month, no, four fucking years. That's insane. I loved it. I think that's amazing. And she said she intentionally picked these tiny little guest houses. And she said, life was kind of crazy, and you survived on the people being generous around you, and that just she obviously is not from India, right? So she stands out, but she was able to do it, and loved it. And she said it was an absolutely incredible experience. But she said, it's not comfortable. It's literally not comfortable.Lesley Logan 16:56  I actually really like this. And this is going to be another shout out to the retreat, if you want to experience a little discomfort, but you would like it to be comfortable, the retreat is really great for that, because. Brad Crowell 17:06  We don't have an infinity pool. Lesley Logan 17:07  We don't. We have curated an amazing schedule, but we can't control the weather. And on this trip, it was 94 degrees Fahrenheit, with 50% humidity, and you would be out, and we're like, wow, but you would also be taking in all this amazing stuff going on, and so you were uncomfortable, but also enjoying yourself. And it was just so cool to watch people who like, that's not how they would choose to live. That's not how their life is. But it also shows you what you're capable of, like, I'm capable of going out sweating like a crazy person and still having a good time. Brad Crowell 17:40  We do have air conditioning in the room. Lesley Logan 17:41  We do. Also, the beds are extremely comfortable. I really like them. Brad Crowell 17:45  Yeah. But this idea of being obsessed with comfort, and that's our society, especially in the United States, we are obsessed with comfort. We feel like we have to make things luxurious for ourselves at all times. And she said, what if you ate dinner sitting on the floor, like, you could do that in your house, where you have all the luxuries. Lesley Logan 18:03  Yeah, we were in line for security, you and me in Singapore, and in Asian airports, you guys, they don't have one security system that everybody goes through. And then you're on the other side of security. You actually have to have a ticket to get into the airport, but you can go get coffee, you have a nice meal, and go shopping all the things, and then you go to your gate, and that's where there's a security thing, right? Brad Crowell 18:24  So you don't do security until you're about to board. Lesley Logan 18:27  So there's literally, which is so nice, because sometimes you come into the airport with something, you're drinking. So you can do that at these airports and come in with some of what your drinking. So anyways, they only have, like, four bins, and this woman, who's five people behind us, so Brad and I have our bins, we are putting our stuff in our bin. And this woman, and she was an American, and she's like, walks up to the lady who's so nice and like, getting people their bins and giving it to them and answering questions, like, we don't have enough bins back here. And she said it so loud. Brad Crowell 18:59  She takes one of the bins, and clearly isn't looking, clearly doesn't actually pay attention at all. Lesley Logan 19:04  So now there's less bins for the people in front of her. Brad Crowell 19:07  Right, because there's only four or five in the entire security line, and they're being sent back to her on a little conveyor belt, and she snags one out of it, and the the lady that's working it like looked at her and kind of went, okay. Lesley Logan 19:20  I did an audible, I looked her in the eyes and kind of rolled my eyes at her, because that was like me going, that was dramatic. That was like unacceptable behavior. And I'm now Canadian, if you're from the States, because we're not the same person. She could not be uncomfortable standing in line waiting for her turn. And so I'm just going to say, lady, if you're listening, hi, you were seen. And this podcast is for you. Learn to be uncomfortable, because you'll have, we, it was such a happy experience, I know.Brad Crowell 19:51  So here's, here's where we go with this, right? She said, if you're uncomfortable like that, she said, instead of letting emotions take over, which this woman clearly did, she suggests observing them without judgment. If you're feeling angry, sit with that anger. Where is it in your body? Wow, this anger is in my this is inside of me right now. It's making my shoulders tight. It's making my stomach feel a little sick. It's making me feel warm. But I'm just going to sit here and I'm going to observe it. Lesley Logan 20:16  Right, because then you actually feel your feelings. You're not suppressing them, and you're also not letting them control you. You get all the benefits of all of the things, which I think is just what we all need. So anyways, you guys, next time you're uncomfortable, take Monique's and think about it. What was it? What are you feeling? Anyways, we could talk about Monique forever, but really you could just go listen to her, but before, we have to talk about her Be It Action Items. Brad Crowell 20:39  Yes. So stick around. We will be right back. Brad Crowell 20:43  All right, let's talk about those, Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Monique Rhodes? She said, hey, to avoid holding on to negativity or stress, assess what's worth your energy. And she said, there's the sixes method, which I thought was really interesting. She said, if this thing that is bending you out of shape, will it matter in six minutes, six hours, six days, six weeks or six months from now? If the answer is six months from now, this is going to be a problem, then you can then focus on it. But if it's not, then she says, I literally say to myself, let it go. Let it go. Right? And she said you can build resilience by stepping into discomfort daily. And it's a practice, just like happiness is a practice. She suggested small daily challenges for 90 days, like trying a new recipe or taking on a different route to work. Lesley Logan 21:39  Yeah, that's uncomfortable when you don't know if it's going to work or not, if it's going to make you late. I think these are.Brad Crowell 21:43  Yeah, it's simple and it's small. Lesley Logan 21:44  You want to know what your daily discomfort challenge is. You got to tag the Be It Pod. You got to send it to us. I want to know. Brad Crowell 21:50  Yeah, and what about you? Lesley Logan 21:51  She said, get to know you, which I think is very bold, because I think it requires us to, like, take some time to just get to know ourselves. Know how you can do that? Get uncomfortable. You'll start to learn a lot about yourself, and then you can see how you can calm yourself down, where you're feeling things. But another way you can do it is, she talked about, like, having a three minute meditation practice where you are literally sitting still quietly, and when you do just three minutes, you start to, like, learn a lot about yourself, because like, thoughts come in. Meditation is not about like, I have no thoughts. You're actually noticing the thoughts that you have, and that's going to help you get to know yourself. So I think that that is a really cool thing to do. If you're like, well, how do you like your eggs? Do you like a window seat or aisle seat? Know, the things you like? Because then you can advocate for yourself, and you can also have better experiences that are also uncomfortable, but just you can just enjoy yourself more. I just thought, what an interesting conversation, because when I said she was a, so she was a happiness strategist, I was like, okay, let's do this because, like, episode three was a happiness strategist, right? Or a happiness expert, but this was nothing like I expected. I learned so much about how to have a joy-filled life without it being like I have a joy-filled life. Here's my halo. Brad Crowell 22:59  Here's how joyful I am. Lesley Logan 23:00  Oh, why? Nothing bothers me. No, she lives a really awesome life. It's and, like. Brad Crowell 23:05  She challenges herself a lot. You know, she talked about being a musician, and she said you could put together a set list to go out and play, where you know the songs, and it's going to be a solid set list, she said, or you can put that song in there that's going to make you stretch for the high note, and then you can go out on stage and you can rock it. Lesley Logan 23:24  Yeah. And I just think often we think happiness means having no unhappiness. But after listening to her, it's actually just having a happy life is actually really just noticing what is going on in your life, and where do you feel it, and then also, how are you giving joy to others? So go tell someone they have a beautiful smile. Go get uncomfortable. And until next time, Be It Till You See It.Brad Crowell 23:52  Bye for now.Lesley Logan 23:54  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 24:37  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 24:42  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 24:46  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 24:53  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 24:56  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

 What if happiness wasn't something you had to chase but something you could create daily? In this transformative episode, happiness strategist Monique Rhodes shares how to train your mind to find joy regardless of external circumstances. She and Lesley Logan discuss the power of gratitude, overcoming toxic positivity, and breaking free from the mental habits that keep us stuck in stress and negativity. Monique also dives into her personal journey—from struggling with depression to mastering happiness—and how you can build emotional resilience and confidence in small, daily ways. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co.And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How Monique went from struggling with depression to becoming a happiness expert.The difference between true happiness and toxic positivity.Why gratitude can rewire your brain and shift your emotions instantly.The 90-second rule to process emotions without getting stuck.The power of daily courage challenges to break out of your comfort zone.How social connection and community are essential for mental well-being.Episode References/Links:Monique Rhodes Website - https://moniquerhodes.comMonique Rhodes Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/monique.rhodesMonique Rhodes Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/moniquerhodesofficialGuest Bio:Monique Rhodes is a happiness strategist whose programs on mental resilience, mindfulness, and well-being are featured in colleges and universities around the globe. She hosts the popular podcast In Your Right Mind, sharing insights on how to rewire mental habits for a more purposeful and fulfilling life. After overcoming significant adversity in her youth, Monique traveled extensively to master practical methods that reduce stress and deepen self-awareness. Today, she teaches thousands of individuals—from corporate teams to online communities—proven strategies for achieving lasting happiness, leading immersive retreats in Costa Rica, and infusing her global experiences and creativity into every aspect of her work. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/ Resources:·        Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Lesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/·        Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/·        Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQ·        Profitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:·        Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/·        The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-g·        Facebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilates·        LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/·        The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Monique Rhodes 0:00  I have gone from being my own worst enemy, almost critic, to being my own biggest cheerleader. So I don't actually need anybody else to bump me up or keep me going or help me. Within myself I'm able to. Don't get me wrong, I've got amazing friends, and I love them, and there are times I need to discuss things, but day to day, I've got it all here because I'm my cheerleader.Lesley Logan 0:26  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:08  All right, babes, get ready. Just sit back and just really, just, this is something I want you just to, like, try not to be trying to do 17 things at once. For this one, I want you to enjoy every word out of our guest's mouth. I am obsessed with her already. I'm gonna figure out how I can stalk her and make her a friend of my life. She is a happiness strategist, and if you think you know what that is, I promise you that you don't. And if you think you know what she's gonna say, I promise you that you don't. This is a great conversation. You're gonna wanna listen to it multiple times. So here is Monique Rhodes. Lesley Logan 1:36  All right, Be It babe, this is going to be a fabulous conversation. I can tell you that, because I've spoken to this amazing guest before, and it was hard to keep it contained to 15 minutes. So I'm excited that we have a longer format for conversation today. Monique Rhodes, you know what, you had me at Happiness Strategist, so can you just tell everyone who you are and how you rock at that? Monique Rhodes 1:54  I love that. Lesley, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having our second date together. So basically, I specialize in teaching people how to master their happiness. And I've done this over the past, really, three decades, and it's all from personal experience. So everything that I teach is what I've done to turn my own life around. So I love it. I love helping people. One of my programs is in so many colleges and universities around the world. I work with a lot of corporations, and I teach thousands of people all over the world. So I love it, and I love being here to talk to you about exactly what you do so well, which is get people excited about their lives. Lesley Logan 1:59  Thank you so much. I mean, here's why I'm so attracted to this, because I think today's world, it's really hard to be happy in, as soon as you open up your phone, there are text messages from somebody who's trying to make sure you know that someone's having a crappy day somewhere. There's demands from all around us all of the time. And so sometimes I do wonder, is it even possible to be actually happy? If you are happy, do you feel guilty all the time because other people aren't happy? Like I have so many questions.Monique Rhodes 3:06  I love it. Look, it's a really interesting point. So your point is that everywhere we go, we've got all these things that are showing us, there's loads of reason to be miserable, and that's the way that the mind works. So the mind automatically latches onto the negativity. But I really believe that you can create a little bubble of influence. It's just your bubble. We hear about the circle of influence, but literally, live in your bubble of influence. You can't do anything about what is happening in the politics in the world. You can't do anything about the natural disasters that are happening around the world, but I tell you what you can do. You can walk down the street and you can see someone that you've never met and smile and say hi to them, or go to the cashier at the supermarket and say, wow, you look so beautiful today. Well, how's your day going? There are so many small ways that we can influence our lives that we don't even think about. We can sit every day and say to ourselves, what am I grateful for? I mean, I can sit here right in this moment and just say to myself, What am I grateful? I'm grateful that next to me there's a glass of water, because there are so many people in the world that don't even have access to fresh water. I'm so grateful that you and I get to meet here, and we get to have this conversation. Because of the advent of the Internet, we have the ability to meet this way. I'm so grateful that I woke up this morning and I'm not in a war zone, because so many people in the world are so when we start to think about it, when we start to look at it and see being alive is one of the most unbelievable miracles, and what we do is we get ourselves caught in this kind of they call it hedonic adaptation, where we actually miss it. We've got so much stuff that we have that brings us comfort and happiness that we don't even see it anymore. And so what our brain latches onto is the novelty. And the novelty is often the negative. Oh, that person's going through this or this is happening. Oh my God. Look at the news. Oh my God. So getting ourselves into a place where we see that the novelty is actually all around us all the time is a really powerful way to lift down happiness levels. Lesley Logan 5:24  Oh my gosh. Okay, so many little takeaways there. First of all, anytime someone reminds me about being grateful, I am reminded that judgment and gratitude can't live in the same space, and so it's just starting to be grateful. And I love that you brought up like I'm grateful for this water, like I'm grateful if I have windows right now, in this moment, it is raining, and I love sunshine, but I'm so grateful that it's raining, because I live in the desert and we haven't had rain in 225 days. You know, finding because it's so easy to go, oh no, it's raining. I can't take the dog like you can always find those. So I find that that gratitude just starts to uplift. But I do love how you talked about the bubble of influence, because I think you're correct. Like, we start to go, oh my gosh, all this bad stuff is happening, and I can't do anything. And how is this affecting me? And how you start to do that? But my mom is one of those people who, when we go out, she finds a way to compliment strangers, every stranger walking past them at a hotel. She's oh, my gosh, I love those pants on you. And I'm like, I was in the middle of a conversation. And she just does that and so naturally. But I think because so few people do that, how they can touch someone's life in a way that they feel so seen, and we don't know who they are and how that could affect the rest of the world if we each hit our bubble, I imagine that there's a domino effect, that it gets bigger and bigger together.Monique Rhodes 6:36  You know, when I was a kid, my best friend's mother was very, very beautiful. She was a model when she was younger, and whenever you walked in the door at her house, she would look at you, and she would say to you, darling, you look absolutely gorgeous. And I remember as a kid that didn't come from a very good background, I would just melt into that. And sometimes I would show up, literally, looking as though I just rolled out of bed, but I knew that deep inside of her, she saw me, or I believed that she saw me. It was such an incredible gift that she gave, and it's something that I really focus on is giving that gift back, because we know when someone says it, I ran into a woman the other day. I haven't seen for a year. I only met her briefly once, and she saw me and she said, You look fantastic. And I walked away and went, ah, look at that. I mean, how good does that feel? There was no payback in her for saying it. She just said it, and how beautiful it is when we're on the receiving end of it. So whatever it is that we want in our life, we have to give it. If we want more love in our life, we have to give it. If we want the joy and the beauty of life, we have to show each other what it is that's how we lift our happiness levels. Don't wait for everybody else to make the world better. You know, there's stuff going on. There will always be stuff going on in the world until the day we die. But it's not about what's happening. It's about how we're responding to it. And we can always see the light. We always can see the light. And Lesley, I'm not saying that we bypass stuff in the last few months. You know, two of my friends have died, and it's not like, oh, I go, whoa my friends have died, and I'm still really happy. I am still really well, and I grieve and I feel it, but I don't let it control me. I allow the grief or I allow the difficulties and the challenges to be there. But my resilience is really strong because I also, alongside it, allow myself, even when there are difficult things happening, to see the beauty of my life and the world at the same time.Lesley Logan 8:55  You know, I'm so glad you brought that up, and I want to get more into happiness with you. But what I fear people take away is that toxic positivity? I'm sure you've heard of it. I lived in LA for 15 years, and living four hours away and watching the city of my memories burn, you know? And there are people who are like, ready to go, but now they'll get to rebuild back better and all this stuff. It's like, yes, is it too? What is the difference between happiness and seeing what is possible and toxic positivity?Monique Rhodes 9:22  Well, I think there's something really interesting that it's absolutely vital that we understand, is that whatever emotions you suppress means that you're suppressing emotions across the spectrum. So if I'm someone who says, whoa, I'm just positive all the time, and I don't look at the negative stuff. You actually don't really feel good all the time. So it's really important for us to understand if we want to experience joy and happiness and wellness, we have to be comfortable with experiencing discomfort. I mean, that's it. Otherwise we're just bypassing the whole thing. So I'm a really big teacher of take all your emotions and experience them and feel them. You don't have to act out on them. If you feel angry, sit with the anger. But where is it in my body? So this is the key, Lesley, is that to not run with the story. If I'm angry, to sit and go, wow, this is really interesting. I'm going to look at my anger and to shut down that story that says because he did this, and da, da, da, da, to sit there and go, oh, this is anger in my body, and it's making my shoulders tight and it's making my stomach feel a little sick and it feels warm in my body, and I'm just going to sit and observe it that is allowing the emotion. I don't know if you've ever watched the very famous TED Talk by Jill Bolte Taylor called My Stroke of Insight. It's really phenomenal. So Jill Bolte Taylor was a neuroscientist, and she had a stroke, and she watched herself have the stroke. It's really extraordinary, really worth watching. But one of the things that she discovered was that an emotion has a 90-second shelf life. Any emotion has a 90-second shelf life. So this becomes really interesting, because what we can then understand is if I do feel anger, and I have anger come up and rise up, and there it is. If I'm able just to sit with it for 90 seconds and allow it and observe it and let the story go in 90 seconds, it's going to be over. What is the only thing that keeps it going is this. I'll give you an example. I'm driving to work, and some idiot in their Range Rover cuts me off, right? And all of a sudden I feel this rage because I've got a fright, and I'm like, oh my God, that idiot in his Range Rover. And then I'm driving along, and I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about it. Then I get to work, and I walk in the door and I say, you'll never believe what happened. And all of that fear and anger is boiling up again in my body because my mind doesn't know the difference between the experience it's remembering and the experience it had. So those emotions are still exactly the same. And then my partner calls me, and I say to him, oh my God, you would not believe what happened, right? Instead, I could have the experience. Allow it to happen for 90 seconds. Feel the anger, feel the fear, calm myself down. Let it go. Let it go.Lesley Logan 12:38  Oh, what a different day you'd have. Your work day would start off in a different space. I'm loving this. I can see my husband and I just setting a timer for each other, like, oh, okay, here's 90 seconds are on the clock. I'll come back.Monique Rhodes 12:55  You're at 93 seconds. Shut it down. It's really interesting, because when you do this, Lesley, what you start to understand is that you go through your day so often feeding negativity, and you start telling stories. Oh, you wouldn't believe what happened to this person and all of that. So if we can actually learn to shut up and just be very mindful about our conversations and say, Well, I can have those conversations if they're constructively looking at how I can solve a challenge. But so much of our conversation is around this happened, and you wouldn't believe it, and that happened, and our brain is creating imagery inside itself and reliving these experiences. We literally create so much of our stress and anxiety for ourselves. It's not even happening out there. It's happening in here.Lesley Logan 13:53  And also the person who cut you off doesn't even remember doing it. They've moved on.Monique Rhodes 13:59  No, it's interesting. I have a really good strategy that I use, which is this, when something happens that I have a relatively strong emotional reaction to, I ask myself the question of sixes. I can't remember where I first heard this. It might have been Brené Brown that first spoke about it, but I say to myself, will this matter in six minutes, in six hours, in six days, in six weeks, in six months? If it's six months or more, I say to myself, I need to pay attention. If it's less than six months, I literally say to myself, let it go, if there's nothing that I can practically do to work with it, if it's nothing that needs to be solved, or maybe I've done something that was wrong and I need to look at that, that's fine. Then I go away, I take responsibility, whatever it is, and I do the work on myself and otherwise it is a let it go. Do not waste your energy on it.Lesley Logan 15:05  Mind blown. And I love this so much because so as a recovering perfectionist, I'm someone who like, some days when I make a mistake, I can let it go, and some days I almost keep playing it in my head over and over because I'm upset at myself for the mistake that I made, or not seeing that that could have happened or been taken a certain way. And so I replay it, and I replay and then I get angry about their responses, and I get angry that I'm angry, and I do the whole thing, but I can imagine if I had just run through like, is it gonna matter in six minutes? Matter in six days, six weeks, six months? I bet I probably would've get to most of it not mattering at six months, I bet you it wouldn't, and so then I would probably not have to suffer. I could probably enjoy the yoga class I was taking while I was running through all that in my head.Monique Rhodes 15:52  But I might even have an added bonus for you, Lesley, is that your perfectionism served a purpose. You learned when you were a child that if you were perfect, you received love for it. And so that is where this behavior comes from. I keep doing this because I learned as a child that if I was perfect, I had to be perfect to be loved. I call it the Love Contract. And so one of the most powerful things you can do in those moments is not only say, does this matter? No, it doesn't. I'm enough as I am, and to love yourself in that moment, in your imperfection, and to know that your being perfect is not a direct line to being loved. Does that makes sense? Lesley Logan 16:42  It makes so much sense. And I feel like every listener who is a perfectionist recovering, we attract a lot of them here is like, kind of mind blown, because I do think that their perfectionism is what's keeping them from being happy. I'm sure you have plenty to say on that. And I think that in their desire to not be a perfectionist, I don't think that they're approaching it, because I know I'm not with just saying I am, I'm worthy of love like I'm enough right now, I don't think that's how we're approaching it. I think people who are trying not to be perfect are judging how much they let their perfectionism get them for the day. So I feel that that is such a good takeaway to, one, appreciate what you did as a child, because it was a survival thing to feel loved. And we all need to feel loved, to grow and get to where we are, and then to not judge ourselves for that, but instead welcome and have gratitude for who we are today and that we are enough in the moment that we are. I think what a great action step people can take that changes the emotions in their body. Monique Rhodes 17:37  Yeah, and to know that everyone does it. So every single one of us has learned one powerful strategy to get loved, and it could be I'm going to really excel at school, or I'm going to take care of people. You know, there's so many ways that this particular thing plays out, so that every single one of us, not just perfectionists, all of us, have something that we learn as a child will elicit love for us, and it's a really powerful thing. And then to look at that and go, does this still work? Actually, being a perfectionist is causing me all sorts of problems. I want to do really well in my life, but I've got to understand it's not that I need to be perfect, it's that I need to be loved, and we all need to be loved. So then we've got to go to the root of the tree and see how can I be loved without relying on being perfect to get it? Lesley Logan 18:31  Oh, everyone, write that in your journal. That's the next thing. Okay, I feel like I got so excited about all the things you have to say. I'm just like, obsessed with how much you know on this. But how did you get here? Like, how did you get to be, you know, the expert in this area, what was the journey? Monique Rhodes 18:46  Yeah, well, one of the beautiful and painful things about this journey of it was mine, Lesley. So I grew up, I was adopted at 10 days old, and I grew up in a very, very difficult situation in my family life. There were lots of really, really bad things that happened. And when I was 19, I ended up in a hospital having tried to take my own life. And I remember sitting there and saying to myself, this is going to go one way or the other. Either I have to give up or I have to do everything to heal myself. But I didn't really know what healing myself meant, because I saw, it appeared that everybody else was really happy, and I seemed to be the one who was broken and struggling. So I made a deal with myself that I was going to do everything that I could to try and heal this and myself. So went on a mission, and a little bit like an Olympian would, I did everything I did every therapy under the sun. I tried every technique. I traveled all over the world, really looking and seeing myself, but trying all sorts of methodologies to see what I could find. And probably the most powerful thing that I learned that encompassed a lot of what I teach is that happiness is not outside of me. Of course, there's lots of wonderful things. You know, I'm sitting here looking out at the ocean. I live here in Costa Rica in the jungle, and it's awesome. But actually, what is happening in my mind is the dictator of whether I'm happy or whether I'm suffering. And that was such a light bulb moment for me. And so then the focus came on, okay, so if it is about my mind, then what can I do to train and tame and optimize my mind so that I can live a really happy life? And the end result is that sometimes I think I'm annoyingly happy, you know, and it's like, I can't actually believe that this kind of happiness that I experience is possible, but it is, and now I have the incredible honor of teaching other people how to do exactly the same thing. Because for me, there was no path. There was no one saying, you do this, this and this. And so for me now I'm able to create that path for other people so that they can change their lives as well. And that makes me even happier, you know, because that's one of the things about happiness, is when you're in service to others, you know, taking care of other people to some degree, not at the expense of yourself, but to some degree, is one of the things that adds to your happiness. So I don't know, I just have this really amazing, amazing life.Lesley Logan 21:24  Wow. I think so many people could look back at part of your story and then feel sorry, but also how much of that took for you to be where you are and to share that with all of us. You know what I mean? If you didn't have that hard of a life and you didn't have that experience, would you have had the drive to figure that out, you know?Monique Rhodes 21:42  And I would just be teaching a theory, I would just be saying, well, you can do this, whereas I can tell you with 100% certainty, because I've seen it with so many of my students, that what I did with myself is something that can be replicated. And so when you go from being in a hospital at 19 in absolute despair, to waking up every day excited about the day, feeling like, oh my God. Does it get better than this? I know that those two states are possible by working with my mind. That's it. Lesley Logan 22:18  I'm really obsessed with this because I find, like most of my day, I do things that make me feel good, the way I wake up in the morning. I'm really, I'm so intentional about my morning routines, I might drive people crazy when I travel, because I'm like, no, you can't walk with me. I have to go for my walk. I need the sunshine. I need to do these things. But I know that, like, those things that I do are actually helping me get into my mind, find the happiness, get present. I have ADHD, and also an Aquarian, so I'm just like, air sign in my head. So I like, need all this, and so I'm obsessed with the different things that you've talked about, because there's so many of these things we can do that are free. And out of all the people that I've interviewed, at some point, you're like, paying for something. And obviously you probably have amazing tools we could all buy, but also giving a compliment to someone doesn't cost you anything.Monique Rhodes 23:04  And also, that means that happiness is available to everybody. It's not something that is only available to people with loads of money, but the media teaches us that it is because it's always trying to get us to buy something. So the truth is, is that there is no difference between me and a beggar in the slums of India, where I've spent a lot of time. There's no difference. You know, I remember the first time I really started to realize that the story wasn't as simple as I thought was the first time that I went to Thailand. It was my first time in a third world country, and I remember going through these canals in Bangkok, and I remember seeing a guy, and he had four bamboo posts and a tarpaulin over the top. And I remember him sitting there with this big smile on his face, and he had a little bag of belongings beside him. I remember thinking, I think that's the happiest guy I've ever seen in my life. And I didn't get it. I was young, you know? I didn't get it because everything I'd been led to believe was money, success, fame, power, that's where happiness lay. But what we actually see is that so many of the people that have fame, success, money and power, are freaking miserable. They're some of the most miserable people. And yet, I've spent a lot of time in India. So I traveled through India for four years on a motorcycle as part of my journey by myself.Lesley Logan 24:30  That is so cool. Monique Rhodes 24:31  Right? And one of the things that I found was that, my God, the Indian people, some of the poorest people, so generous, so loving, so kind, would literally give you the shirt off their back, so much happier than the people in the West. I remember when I went to India, and the first time I came back and someone said to me, I don't think I could go to India. And I was like, why is that? And they said, because I couldn't handle the poverty. I said, you know, what I realized from living in India for so long is that the mental poverty of the West is way more painful than the physical poverty of places like India. We live with so much comfort, particularly in the United States, completely comfort-obsessed and the levels of stress, anxiety and depression are through the roof.Lesley Logan 25:24  Yeah. I mean, we go to Cambodia, we have a helm there, and I am always amazed by the smile on the faces of people who sleep on the floor, and the generosity, because they so want to show you their life, and the generosity of them feeding you with the food that they really can't afford to have, but also it would take away from their joy and their happiness to not do that. So it's very interesting thing, and it makes you go, I'm judging them, but they're actually happy. They're actually happy. And I'm the one who's so concerned and so worried about all these different things, and that's from the Western mentality of growing up. And I'm a Pilates instructor as well. And the amount of people that cannot handle discomfort in their body, they're like, oh, that really hurts my ankles. And I'm like, pain, like, we're gonna break them, or just uncomfortable. And it's most of the time it is just uncomfortable. And I'm like, so this is a workout, and we have to be uncomfortable to change the body, otherwise, you stay the way you were and you came here for something different. So, you know, I think it's really interesting how many of us cannot handle discomfort in so many different ways, not just in the way we travel, but the way we move our body, the way we want our day to go. We don't like when anything gets out of the way, because then it's going to affect things. But also, even if everything went perfectly. They're not happy anyways.Monique Rhodes 26:41  Think about the culture of the United States as an example. Right? Whenever I go to the States now I think about it. You have very comfortable cars. You have very comfortable wide roads. You have the comfort of going to all these shopping malls everywhere. You have the comfort of being able to order anything up to your house if you can't even be bothered walking out the door. You know the thing is, is that when you live in a third world country, like I live in Costa Rica, which is like a poorer country, and it's so beautiful, the other day, I was down at the beach and I got a flat tire, and I needed to go home and get something to change the tire. Because I do want you to know that I can change my own tire, even though I've got a big truck, because I live somewhere where you need four wheel drive. Anyway, I needed to go home, and I didn't have my phone with me because I was at the beach, and there was just this guy at the beach, and he had a little stand, and he just packed his stand up, got me in the car and drove me home. And I was like, I loved it. I loved it. Like it really put him out, and it was for no reason but the kindness. And what happens is that when we live in a world that doesn't have all of the comforts, people rely on each other more. When you get into a first world country, people are relying on each other less. They wake up in the morning in their little bubble, and then they get into their little bubble, and they drive to their little bubble, and they do their work in their little bubble, and then they go home and they watch TV for the rest of the day, you know? And it's like, actually, what we need is connection. We need community. We need belonging. We need to be with each other and interact with each other and get off our phones and actually see people, because that is what brings the nervous system down. That's what makes us well. So we kind of look at the West as this ideological state of, wow, look at all the stuff we've got, but all of it actually is taking away so much from the things that actually make us happy. Lesley Logan 28:41  It is, oh my gosh, it really is. As we're recording this, in two days, I get to go to Cambodia, and I'm so excited because I just needed to be too hot, too humid, and I need, I need to be freaked out a little bit about making a left hand turn into oncoming traffic, like I need. There's something about getting out of all the comfort that we have here to remind ourselves, what do I truly need anyways? And what I love about it is because there is so much less distraction. It's every sunrise and every sunset is beautiful. Every rooster that wakes you up is the coolest thing. The wedding that goes until three in the morning, you're like, who's getting married right now? Because you don't have these other distractions. There's something you can see the beauty in all of these things. And so I do think it's a challenge, though, because so many people are afraid of letting go of their comfort. I guess I'm wondering, do you have like, baby steps for getting uncomfortable?Monique Rhodes 29:36  I want to point out that the Pilates lady is more than likely uncomfortable in lots of ways. So she will avoid discomfort all over the place. She will not tell her husband that she's unhappy in her marriage. She will let her kid rule her rather than tell her kid off. There'll be a series of things that she does. It's really important we can handle discomfort. So one of the first things that I'm going to encourage people to do is to travel. Traveling is incredible, and I have traveled all over the world. And I'm going to say this just I'm going to tell you this truth for fun, I've slept in the slums in India, and I have spent weeks in a castle in Switzerland, and the truth is, is that it's all the same at the end of the day. There's nothing about the castle in Switzerland that was any better than the slums in India. So get yourself into places where you go somewhere like maybe go to Mexico or something. Don't stay at a fancy resort, stay at a little guest house. That's what I did through India for four years. I just stayed at little guest house like I literally lived on about $500 a month. That's what I lived on. Ate simply, lived simply because. Why? Because it made me strong. Made me stronger. If I can handle physical discomfort, I can handle emotional discomfort. So that's the first thing is to start to look and see maybe I can travel differently, or maybe I can think about, what are all the things that I have in my house that create comfort? What if tonight I sit on the floor, or what if tonight I give up something? You know, that's a really powerful thing, is to say to yourself, What could I give up for a week? Maybe I'm going to give up the dishwasher for a week, which, to me, is funny, because I don't have a dishwasher here. Maybe I could give up TV for a week. Maybe I could give up driving for a week. I don't know, choose something that's manageable, and give it up for a week, and then you start to appreciate it, because all of a sudden you don't have it. And that's a really powerful way so that when it comes back, you all of a sudden, are like, wow, I have this whole new appreciation for this thing, and to really make that correlation between discomfort and the ability to handle it equals strength. So you might even have a little journal for yourself where you say, every single day, I'm going to do something that makes me uncomfortable. I'm going to make that phone call that I don't want to make. I'm going to compliment someone in the street. Whatever it is, it's a muscle. It's literally, the muscle is courage and if you can build that muscle of courage, then you can handle any discomfort. You can literally put me anywhere with anybody, and I can handle it. And I know it from so many years of traveling solo around the world, but that wasn't just oh, it's just because it's who I am. It's because I've built the muscle of courage, and I consistently look for ways that I can flex it. If there's something that I'm afraid of, then I'll go, oh, here we go. Okay, I live in a country that has a lot of spiders, and I don't like spiders. I can actually handle a tarantula in my kitchen these days. I mean, how amazing is that? I don't even know how to, I don't know how to do that because it's just courage to tell a different story. It's all it is. That's it, Lesley, it's just a story. What story do I tell? Do I say to myself, I'm going to break my ankles in the Pilates class or do I say to myself, I'm strengthening them? Do I see someone in the street and think to myself, I'm too scared to tell them how beautiful they are? Or do I think to myself, this isn't about me. This person is going to feel amazing when they hear this. So, so much is the stories that we tell ourselves. You get to choose the story you tell yourself, but always flex that muscle of courage like your life depends on it, because it may.Lesley Logan 33:54  I mean, I feel like courage is to be happy, and this life is courageous because it goes against the grain of what everyone is telling us, we should be we should be suffering, we should want for more, we, we don't have enough. And what I'm hearing you say, because I was really excited about this conversation, because I do wonder, like, can you truly be happy? And is happiness like being in the clouds? Like, do you know what I mean? Like, you have to ignore everything just to be happy. And what I'm loving from you is it's actually being in it all. In fact, go being the thing that makes you scared or makes you nervous or feels uncomfortable, and what can you become grateful for? Because that's where you're going to become happy. Monique Rhodes 34:35  And also, think about it, Lesley, whenever you do something that you were afraid of and you managed to do it. There are very few better feelings in the whole world than that. So what the other side of fear there is often a feeling of incredible, sometimes exhilaration, but deep joy and happiness in yourself, because you start to see what am I capable of, and we're always so much more capable than we ever give ourselves credit for, or that anybody ever told us we were. Whenever I'm with my friends' kids, because I don't have kids myself, my sole goal is to show them that they are way more beautiful, wonderful, intelligent and capable, then they may see themselves at the moment. My only job is their honorary auntie. That's it. Is to show them possibility. Who's going to show you possibility? Well, you can show yourself possibility. Well, okay, so how do I do that? Well, every day, because this is the key is that happiness is a habit, so you've got to do habitual stuff. So every day you sit down, you set yourself a little challenge. You say to yourself, Okay, for 90 days, I'm going to sit down every morning, and I'm going to challenge myself to one, one thing. For 90 days. I'm going to do a courage challenge for 90 days. Discomfort courage challenge, or I might call it a possibility challenge. Okay, well, I'd like to learn how to change a tire. I'm like, oh, I'm going to do it. Go onto YouTube. So easy, right? If you don't know how to do it I'll make you a video, because I love changing tires because that's what you learn as a young New Zealander growing up, your dad always teaches you, so you never get yourself in trouble how to change the tire, right, or it might be, oh, there's something on my computer that I don't know how to do. You know that I'm struggling with. Okay. So learn it. Learn it. Move yourself out of this discomfort. So I'm often giving my students 90 day challenges. That's what I love doing. Give them a challenge for 90 days and say, let's work at this. I'm working with one of my students now who literally is working with discomfort so she can build that muscle. She's a friggin CEO of a company, big company, but she shies away from a lot of that discomfort and kind of manages things. So now it's who am I if I step into it, does it matter if I can't do it? Because that's the fear, because she's super capable. What if I can't do it? If I can't do it, I bypass it, I shy away. So now we're stepping her into 90 days of things that she can't do, and she is just loving it, because there's a whole other element of herself that's coming out and is so powerful. Imagine for 90 days doing every day, doing one little thing, one little thing. Tonight, I'm going to make a new recipe for dinner, or today I'm going to go to a different Pilates class, or I'm going to go a different way to work just those little things that take you out of your habitual comfort ways all of a sudden, without even realizing it, your confidence starts to grow because you're moving yourself in directions that you didn't actually realize. You didn't realize you were caught in a little box. Lesley Logan 37:59  Yeah, it's a muscle we all need. It's often what's keeping people like, we call this, be it till you see it. It's the confidence. And I'm like, well, how are you gonna get confidence unless you do the thing you know, like you're born with confidence. I don't think so. I think you could have parents or people around you who remind you that you're doing things that are hard and amazing, that you're confident. But I find that the things that I do that are not things I was trying to do. I do them scared, and I know a few things about myself. I don't quit. I will figure out an answer, and if I don't like it at the other side of it, then I don't have to keep doing it. But right? But like, I'm gonna give it a go. I'm gonna give it the best shot. And then you get a confidence in the area, and it covers you into other areas you feel like you're not going to be confident, because you have evidence that you can do things that are hard, you can do things that are scary, you can do things that are uncomfortable. And that's part of the happiness. You know? Monique Rhodes 38:49  But there's a payoff to it. It's really interesting because before I started teaching this, I was a singer, and I toured all over the world. When you go out on stage, and I've been on stage where the, you know, there's been 10,000 people and just me and my guitar. You go out on the stage and you've got two choices, and it's a hard choice. One, I can do a really good, solid set. I can do a good, solid set where I know all the notes that I'm going to sing and it's going to be safe, and that's what life is like. You can go through your life and you can say, I'm going to do a really solid set with my life. It's not going to be amazing, it's going to be good, but I might feel a bit meh, it's going to be good. Or you can go out on that stage and you can say to yourself, I'm going to go for it. I am going to go for the phenomenal, for the extraordinary, which is what I chose. I said to myself, when I got out of that hospital, I said, I want an extraordinary life. That's what I wanted, and that is what I've had, and that is what I live and I have to be comfortable with falling flat on my face. I have to be and the truth is, is that the weird thing is, is that I so rarely do. That's the weird thing, is that it's the times that I fall down are so much less than I ever would have I would have thought it'd be 50-50, it's not. It's probably about 1% of the time that I've flat on my face. And I'm really comfortable with it. I'm really good with it. Because the payoff is, is that I'm hitting the high notes. I am hitting the high notes, and I'm having this life that is awesome and fascinating and interesting, and I thrive in it. And so we've got to understand that it's a choice. So we've got to get comfortable with discomfort so that we can go for the high notes. If we're not comfortable with discomfort, we're always going to shy away and go for the comfort.Lesley Logan 40:40  Oh yeah, Monique, I could talk to you for hours, but I've learned so much. I'm reminded of things that I've always wanted to do, or I used to do, and I feel like this is just such a solid, I feel like everyone's getting something from this. We're gonna take a brief break and find out where people can find you, follow you, work with you. Lesley Logan 40:56  All right, Monique Rhodes, where do you hang out? And we know you're in Costa Rica, but can people connect with you online? Can they work with you? Where's all the good stuff?Monique Rhodes 41:03  Yeah, absolutely. You can come to Costa Rica. I do retreats down here because I live the dream life Lesley, one of the most amazing retreat centers in the world, is five minutes from where I live. It's called Blue Spirit down here in Nosara in Costa Rica. So I host retreats here every year. But also the easiest way to come and find me is I have a website called I Intend To Be Happy, and that's the place that you can come and find me and start working with me. And I just love nothing more than helping people shift their happiness and really understand it. Listen, Lesley, if I can do it, anyone can, I'm no genius, I'm no superstar. I'm just a 19-year-old kid that wanted to change her life and managed to do it.Lesley Logan 41:47  Oh yeah, everyone, please go and you know, let me know how it goes. I'm also going to look at your retreats, because I've been itching to get to Costa Rica, and I feel like this is a sign. Okay, you've given us so much already, and so feel free to remind us what you've already told us, or any bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What you have for us?Monique Rhodes 42:06  I just think that it's really important to get to know you, to know that we live in a world that will consistently distract you from getting to know you. And one of the most powerful gifts that you can give yourself is to say, listen, there's a lot of noise out there. Let me, and you might have to do it gently, slowly but surely. Let me take time where I'm not running away from me. And I think that's one of the most powerful things, because the more you get to know you, and I know sometimes we think, by get to know me, I'll be afraid of me, but you won't be and to really just every day, take a little bit, take three minutes and just sit quietly or learn a meditation practice, just to get to know you. If you do that, it will change your life. I know myself so well. I have gone from being my own worst enemy, almost critic to being my own biggest cheerleader. So I don't actually need anybody else to bump me up or keep me going or help me like within myself, I'm able to, don't get me wrong, I've got amazing friends, and I love them, and there are times I need to discuss things, but day to day, I've got it all here because I'm my cheerleader. I'm the one that knows me best, and I'm the one that can help me along the path. And I think it's a really, really important thing for each of us to understand. Don't fall into all the distractions of the world. They're literally taking over your mind. Take your mind back. Take your power back. That's where it lies, right, right here.Lesley Logan 43:43  Obsessed with you. Love you already, and you don't even need my compliment, because you are already happy without that. Everything about this is fabulous. You guys. How are going to use these tips in your life? I want to know. Monique wants to know. Please share this with a friend who needs to hear it. Honestly, especially those friends you care about, who you sometimes feel like you're avoiding because they are a downer on your day. They probably need to hear this the most, and then you all can have a bubble of influence. I'm just, yes, thank you, Monique, for this and everyone, until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 44:14  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod. Brad Crowell 44:56  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 45:01  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 45:06  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 45:13  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 45:16  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

BUY THE SLOW LIVING BOOK HERE! Today, we're talking about Pilates—but not just the workout. We're diving into how Pilates trains both your body and mind, helping you build strength, focus, and resilience. If you've ever felt like you were just going through the motions in a workout (or in life), this episode is for you.Pilates isn't about getting it perfect—it's about tuning into your body, noticing what's happening, and showing up for yourself. Joe Pilates, the founder of Pilates, believed in training the body to come back each day, not to chase perfection, but to compare your progress to your own yesterday. The more you practice, the more possible it becomes. And yes, that also means it can get harder—but in the best way.Lesley Logan, founder of onlinepilatesclasses.com and the Be It Till You See It Podcast, is here to help you experience this firsthand. She uses her podcast separate from Pilates to talk to people who are experts in other areas, to really allow people to tap into different areas, and help achieve other goals that they may have. Not only does she learn from this podcast, but other people can too. Sometimes, stepping into a new version of yourself starts with a single action—so what's stopping you? Let's talk about it.Connect with Lesley Logan: Website: Lesley LoganBook: Profitable Pilates: Everything But the Exercises Online Pilates Classes: OnlinePilatesClasses.comInstagram: @lesley.logan and @be_it_pod Youtube: Be It Till You See ItFacebook: Lesley Logan CrowellApple Podcast: Be It Till You See ItSpotify Podcast: Be It Till You See It

Lesley Logan shares how setting boundaries and streamlining her time allows her to focus on what truly matters. After a year of planning, she's finally implementing a major shift in her workflow—proving that progress happens on your own timeline. She also highlights a listener's journey of refining systems that fit their unique needs and the power of small shifts that lead to big wins. Tune in for a reminder that celebrating each step forward fuels the path to balance and success.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why embracing boundaries can create more time for what matters most.Lesley's long-awaited shift to a new workflow and the power of follow-through.Listener's inspiring journey of refining systems and owning what works for them.How small, intentional changes can lead to greater balance and efficiency.Episode References/Links:Female Invest Instagram - https://beitpod.com/goodall If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/ Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Brad Crowell 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:05  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:48  Hi, Be It babe. How are you? How's it going? Today is your Fuck Yeah Friday. It's the last one of March. Forgive me, on the start of March, I should have been like we're celebrating women, and I really did without even knowing that, because, you know, it's a women's month when it gets close, right? But like, I'm recording in January. And then we started this month celebrating a woman who people were tearing down based on her personal choices, and she had so many accolades. And then we honored two other amazing women. One was just a really great reminder to us all about courage and confidence, and the other was a beautiful child who is autistic, who wanted to have a celebration for her uniqueness. And today, I think is a great FYF to have with who's going to inspire us. Lesley Logan 1:31  This lady's, this is amazing. I almost like want a poster of this in my office, not even a lie. From Jane Goodall, and she said, "It actually doesn't take much to be considered a difficult woman. That's why there are so many of us." Right? Right? So I just thought that that was just a wonderful little thing that we could all just giggle about, because don't we like change how we do things, or change the pleasantries on things, just that we aren't considered difficult, right? We do this all the time. So anyways, thank you, Jane, thank you for that. Thank you for reminding us that it doesn't take much to be considered difficult, because that's why there's so many of us, right? So anyways, if that resonates with you, just remember, you're not difficult. You actually have very amazing, I think the opposite, the, if a male will be difficult, he'd be someone who knows what he wants, right? So I just think that you're not difficult, that you're someone who is clear on your boundaries and know what you want. That's amazing. So, thank you, thank you for that, Jane. Lesley Logan 2:27  Okay, your wins. This is where we're going. Your wins. So I'm going to read from Kelly Nyhan, and this is from the fall, and we got a lot of wins in here, so here we go. First win. I got through all of my emails. I love reading all the newsletters from LL, truly, and one, had my win listed, which is about updating my logo, and I'm feeling so proud. Yeah, that's why you send them in. We celebrate you, and then you get to see them, right? Number two, I'm a bit on the ADHD side, and I have such troubles getting focused and making a plan of where to put everything, notes, ideas, tasks. Anyways, I ordered a planner that I think could help me, and I'm 99% committed to reviewing it each morning and evening. I like digital first sessions and appointments, but I need a place to handwrite everything else. I also took time to visualize how and what. It's really the most debilitating thing for me. It was never a problem, and now after menopause, it's literally ridiculous. Three, finally woke up at my desired time of 5:30 am and did a brain dump of anything and everything. I got to get on paper somewhere and out of my head. I feel a little embarrassed to admit all of this, but happy that it's all in a safe place. I also evaluated my night rituals. Thanks, LL's newsletter, geez, these really helped me think about things. Thanks. And so true, I love getting up early, cheat the day, but for some time now hitting snooze. I think it's because I didn't have a morning routine that I was excited about and felt like it's too many tasks burning me. Well, now I have a handle on them, and today I got up with enthusiasm. Number four, I got a new person in my Mindful Mover Zoom class. It's very much an invite only. Basically, it's referral. So this is so great. And one of my students is coming with a friend for duet, starting November, weekly. And I'm thinking that in the spring, just because it's too cold for snow for the 70 plus age group to drive here, but in the spring, a small group of Pilates group circuit, where they really know the names the exercises thanks to eLevate. Last but not least, sent all of my remaining payment reminders for 2024. Yes, I'm getting a better system to send them before the second to the last and recruit day and requiring payment on a specific day, I take checks and sell only, so I still have to do it manually. It's fine for me for now. Kelly, there's so many great wins in here, and I just want to highlight a couple of them. You do not have to go I've been on the ADHD side. Having ADHD is a superpower. Knowing how you move and operate is actually superpower, right? So it's not the ADHD that's the superpower. It's like knowing how you learn, how you operate, how you do things. That's the superpower. So celebrate that. And also, I love that you're not being perfectionist about checking the thing 99% a way to go, way to be honest with yourself. I love that. I also love that you figured out how to wake up at your desired time. I think we overwhelm ourselves with all the things we have to do, and so then we just go, I don't want to do any of it. Well, you actually have to figure out a way positively to welcome in those things that you want to do. That's how habits are truly made. So congratulations. And I also am grateful that you know that there's little tidbits that you get from the newsletters, that's why you read them, because they help you, right? And what you don't need to do and what you are getting so much better, it's like overwhelming so with all of the things, so way to celebrate that, and I also just want to celebrate like, way to figure out a system for taking your payments and also owning that like, manual that works for you right now. If that's what works, that's what works, right? Just because there are technologies and systems and if this, then that things that are out there, it doesn't mean that it's easier for you to use them. For example, I love to write, so yes, there's chatGPT. There's even a bot on profitablepilates.com there is a bot that's trained of 10 million of my words from podcasts, from courses, coaching calls, seven years of coaching calls and Slack, 10 million of my words. I certainly could say to my own bot, write me a post about this, and I don't, because even though that would be, in quotes, easier, it takes away the joy that I get from doing it. And there's certain things, even doing something like sending payment reminders, there's something in that that's bringing you joy, and that's why you do it a different way, and that's okay. So thank you for letting us all learn from you and be on your journey with you. It's really beautiful. Lesley Logan 6:17  My win. Last April, I heard about a way that my assistant could take over my inbox. I think it was April or May. And I even have the book, and I have all the things, and I just hadn't taken the time to figure it out. We had so much other things going on, and while it would have saved me time to do that, it would have taken more time to do it. So I was just like, no, I'm going to read this book at the end of the year, beginning of the new year, and I will implement it in Q1. So, I can proudly say that here we are the end of Q1 and my assistant and I are implementing this where I am not in my inbox everyday, I actually get to go in there and just read the things that she needs me to respond to and it's not because I don't want to hear from you. First of all, none of you email me. You all DM me, or if you're a member, we talk in our community places. So it's not about putting a barrier up to other people. The reality is, is that an inbox it's like I'm giving away my feelings of the day and how my day will go to random people who are asking for different things that have nothing to do with each other, all at the same time. There's so many different things in an inbox that can take over the day, right? Whereas, if I have my assistant go through my inbox each day and either respond, delete, or put in a folder for me to respond to, it can be more on my timeline, a.k.a boundaries. So while, by the time this is placed, it's been more than a year that I've thought about doing this, that's not the point. The point is, and the win is that I gave myself a deadline, gave myself a timeline to do it, and got my team on board to do it, and now it's being implemented, and it will take some time. You know, it takes some time to build a new system. I'm not really good with details, so we'll see how this goes. But I really am excited to have more time to be creative and to be in my communities that I've built, because that's where I want to play. I want to play in my communities. I don't want to read an email from a random person who bought my email off a list, who's trying to sell me on why someone should be against my podcast. I want things filtered so I can look at those at the time that I want to look at those, so I can spend the time for the people that I do this for, which is you. So anyways, that is my win, implementing something I wanted to do around the time that I wanted to do it. Boom. We did it. Lesley Logan 8:38  All right. Here we go. Let's see, what are we taking away? What are we taking into this weekend? What's our poem, mantra, affirmation, thing to think about? My well-being hinges on being able to hold what hurts, love what's being neglected, and enthusiastically work with what I've got. Well, that's pretty cool. My well-being hinges on being able to hold what hurts, so not hold on, hold what hurts, love what's being neglected and enthusiastically work with what I've got. Here's to not waiting for everything to be perfect and working with what we got. You are amazing. I adore you. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 9:19  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 10:02  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 10:06  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 10:11  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 10:18  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 10:21  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Are your eating habits supporting the life you want to live? Lesley Logan and Brad Crowell break down key takeaways from Lisa Salisbury's interview, focusing on mindful eating, food habits, and breaking free from unconscious patterns. Learn how to assess your hunger, build a better relationship with food, and take control without guilt or restriction.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co .And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The emotional connection to food and why it matters.How childhood conditioning impacts your eating habits.How to break free from the Clean Your Plate Club mindset.The importance of avoiding extreme hunger or fullness.A simple two-bite challenge to help you check in with your hunger.Episode References/Links:eLevate Retreat - https://lesleylogan.co/elevateMullet Tour - https://opc.me/ukSpring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorCambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comLadder Barrel Exercises - https://beitpod.com/barrelexercisesLisa Salisbury Website - https://wellwithlisa.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/well_with_lisaFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/wellwithlisaIf you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey Be a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  Are you actually connecting to the food that you're eating, and do you know why you eat the way that you eat? I think these are really interesting questions to ask yourself, because if it is getting in the way from you having the life you want to live, or it's becoming a crutch of some kind, it's worth evaluating. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to discuss the liberating convo I had with Lisa Salisbury in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, you should listen to it at some point, because it's so good. Before, during after, go back and forth between the two. You do you, you. There's like different ways of doing everything. And this is episode 503. Brad Crowell 1:19  503 Lesley Logan 1:20  And we just said a big thank you before we hit record with you guys, to our amazing production team, because we've had the same producers this whole time. There's podcasts I listen to of people that I really admire, and every other year they're with another company. And I'm like, you know what? Why are you with so many different companies? What? Brad Crowell 1:38  That's weird. Lesley Logan 1:38  Now, if it's because I read that you scored $170 million you do you, no jealousy, no judgment, no curious. I see it, not announcing, if they're not paying you to be there, why are you switching? What's going on? Anyways, just go out of your minds. Today is March 27th 2025 and it is Scribble Day. Yep, Scribble Day is observed on March 27th annually, and it's all about celebrating the creativity and the art associated with scribbling, which anyone can do, regardless of their artistic abilities. So the last time you scribbled aimlessly to relieve boredom, you might have probably not known that there's actually a day to celebrate the stress releasing act of scribbling.Brad Crowell 2:18  Yes, our production team is gonna go, Brad, why did you adjust Lesley's microphone while she was talking? So that was me, my fault, and I don't think they're gonna be able to edit it out. Lesley Logan 2:27  No. And guess what? Brad Crowell 2:28  100% they won't. Lesley Logan 2:29  I just didn't want it, I didn't want to stop. I was I hadn't made a mistake, I hadn't made a mistake on any of the sentences. And I wanted to keep going. Brad Crowell 2:36  Well, you nailed it. You slayed that. Lesley Logan 2:37  Also, I really appreciate that they mentioned that, like, it's regardless of your artistic abilities, because, I often am disappointed in my, here's the thing, this is the recovering perfectionist in me who is letting it go that you put your hand in front of the camera to pick the mic. I don't think my scribbling is good. Brad Crowell 2:55  But it's a scribble, it's not supposed to be good. Lesley Logan 2:57  I know, but I want it to look pretty. There's people who are like. Brad Crowell 3:00  Is scribbling pretty? Lesley Logan 3:02  No, but people can draw like, really pretty hearts and stuff. My hearts are like, my star, I look, I just look like a seven year old still scribbles. Brad Crowell 3:10  Fortunately, there's a day for that. Lesley Logan 3:11  There's a day for it, and actually it, there's no, because it's just, it's relieving boredom, and I think it's great. So anyways, also, if you are bored in today's day and age, we want to hear you on the be it pod, because we need all your tips.Brad Crowell 3:26  No, I think it just means that they don't have a smartphone.Lesley Logan 3:30  Yeah, they don't have their friends, literally. Brad Crowell 3:33  They don't have the easiest-to-distract-yourself device in the history of our world. Lesley Logan 3:38  I know. You know what, on a podcast I listen to, they talk about, apparently, your phone can tell you how many times you pick up your phone. This one guy, he picked it up 273 times in a day. 273 times in a day. How many minutes are in a day?Brad Crowell 3:50  All right, so we're gonna figure this out literally right now. So we're gonna go right now. Okay, go to Settings. Go to screen time. So just search for screen time. If you all want to join us on this, if you have an iPhone, go to your settings and go to screen time you're gonna look at.Lesley Logan 4:05  Today, I've only had 67 pickups. Oh, I went. Brad Crowell 4:08  See all app and website activity? Okay. And then go to day.Lesley Logan 4:16  Yeah, pickups, yesterday, I only did 109.Brad Crowell 4:19  Oh, mine is 109 also. What the? Mine's today, though.Lesley Logan 4:24  Okay, but mine today, I've only had 67.Brad Crowell 4:26  Oh yeah, yesterday I did 136.Lesley Logan 4:28  Okay, so here's the deal. I think that's a lot. I don't know, but if there's 24 hours in a day, not that we only pick it up once in an hour, but kind of like, maybe we should try to get it under 100. Let's try. Next time we get to a topic that has to do with boredom, we'll let you know. We'll update you. Anyways.Brad Crowell 4:45  My screen time yesterday was almost 10 hours. Lesley Logan 4:49  Yeah, but we can't judge we were on a plane, you guys, playing video games for 15 hours. So I don't think that. Brad Crowell 4:54  That is true. Lesley Logan 4:55  But okay, anyways, just going back to the boredom thing. So figure it out, because I actually heard one host was like, I have 88 and he was surprised by 88 and to me, like 60, because we work on our phones, I don't think it should actually be nothing. Brad Crowell 5:08  It's a little hard when I'm like, on an hour long zoom call on my phone.Lesley Logan 5:12  Yeah, but maybe we could figure out a day off. Maybe we should find a day off average and then take our weekday average and try to get it just a little bit more than a day off average. Okay. Brad Crowell 5:22  We'll see. Lesley Logan 5:22  That has nothing to do with today's guest or Scribble Day. Hey, we're back from P.O.T. Denver and about to kick off our annual eLevate retreat. You guys, oh my God, it's like, literally, in three days. They're like, coming here soon. I'm so excited. We, I have so many prizes for them. We have a special guest for them. We have, I mean, I can't even wait. So anyways, I'm stoked to see them, we have 17 eLevate grads coming. If you want to come to an eLevate retreat, you have to be an eLevator. If you want to know how to be an eLevator, you need to go to lesleylogan.co/elevate. Okay, Brad's not happy with the mic still. I'm talking right at it. I don't know what else to do. Okay. Also, you guys coming up very soon, in April, we're going to be announcing our second Mullet Tour. It's that UK tour we did where we do business in the morning and Pilates in the evening.Brad Crowell 6:09  It's business in the front, Pilates in the back that's why it's the Mullet Tour. Lesley Logan 6:15  And we're doing two cities for this tour, and it's going to be this fall. So you want to go to opc.me/uk to be on the wait list, because those on the waitlist are going to get invited to the early bird. And you know what? It could sell out on early bird. So you want to go to opc.me/uk to get on the waitlist. So you get the early bird special. Brad Crowell 6:31  Spots are definitely gonna be limited, because we're, you know, we're doing it in some studio. Lesley Logan 6:36  It's when we do our (inaudible). It's like they're just small spaces, and we're only doing two days, I think one day in each city. I'm pretty sure it's of almost. Brad Crowell 6:43  Two days in each city, pretty sure. Lesley Logan 6:45  I don't know. I feel like it's a tight squeeze. Just get on the waitlist and you'll find out. If you're in Europe, you should come, just fly over. Brad Crowell 6:52  Go to opc.me/uk for anyone, anywhere. Coming up at the end of April, we've got our spring training. This is the first time we've ever done this before, and we're focusing on drum roll, please. The Pilates push up. Lesley Logan 7:08  The Pilates push up. So if you hate them, this is for you. If you love them, this is for you. We're gonna have 10 classes over the course of one week, all to help you get the most out of your push ups, either to make them more accessible or more possible, or help you realize, like, how freaking strong you already are. Don't worry if you don't have the equipment, we have a mat ticket as well. So go to opc.me/events, because that's going to get you on the waitlist. And those on the waitlist are going to be invited early, and those invited earlier are going to get a better price, than those who are not on the waitlist. So if you're an OPC member, you get the best price. It's called free.Brad Crowell 7:42  So if you want it for free, join OPC. If you want it for free, join OPC.Lesley Logan 7:48  Yeah, yeah, okay. But that's going to be in April, and it will end on International Pilates Day weekend, which we're very excited about. Brad Crowell 7:56  Yeah, go to opc.me/events and then, if you are a Pilates business owner and are taking clients in any way, shape or form, whether that's in the park or at your house, in a studio, and you're booking and taking payments from your clients. I want you to join me on the next upcoming Studio Growth Accelerator and what we're going to do is talk about the three massive secrets that Lesley and I have figured out after coaching more than 2500 businesses just like yours on all the things over the past, geez, seven plus years now, we've boiled it down to three major things that you need to understand in order to grow your income as a business owner, it's totally free. I want you to join me by going to prfit.biz/accelerator. That is profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. You'll find out when the next webinar is, and come join me. Finally.Lesley Logan 8:49  What we just, like, when we're recording this. We're literally 24 hours back from Cambodia, but we want to invite you to the next time we're going to Cambodia for our Pilates retreat. There we have classes, we have breath work workshops. We have workshops that will help you love your life and have a lot of fun. We go on Temple tours. We have the most amazing schedule, I'm just gonna say, literally during the retreat, multiple times, multiple people said, I just really love the schedule of this retreat. It's so nice. Brad Crowell 9:16  Yeah, the flow of the events. Lesley Logan 9:18  The flow of it. It is. Brad Crowell 9:19  If you've ever been on a retreat and they had events lined up from six in the morning till like midnight, and you just completely fried. And the things were good, but it was just too much. We don't do that. If you've been to other retreats where they're like, we're so happy that you're here, you've got an entire day to yourself. Yeah, we don't do that either. It's a great balance, right in the middle. Lesley Logan 9:39  Like the little, most perfect schedule. Brad Crowell 9:40  Y'all, we've done like, a dozen of these, so it's been a lot of making adjustments. And in fact, every single time we do a retreat, we evaluate it and we say, did we do it the way we liked it? How did it go? And we're at the point now, y'all where, literally, we have the timeline of events completely dialed in, and what we just did three days ago was we sat down with peach, who is part of our group over there, and she is part of the team that helps take care of us, and we said, hey, we want to rearrange the temple tour visits and see if we can't add in yet another temple in there. And we figured out a way to do it. So we're really excited. It's the temple that Lesley and I haven't even visited yet it's exciting, so. Lesley Logan 10:21  Yeah it's really, really cool. And so just we want you to come. And I have had so many people say the next one, the next one. I've told someone like you said the next one three times. I know we have so many things coming up, so I want you to know something's always going to come up. There's many fires all the time. So go to crowsnestretreats.com because we want you to come on this next one, which is in October. And I'm telling you, we had two people sign up very last minute. We had someone who signed up five months in advance, which I guess is not last minute. We had someone sign up two months in advance, so you can sign up. And we've also had people, most of them are people with children who've come on their own because they deserve a week where we fill their cup for them. So come to crowsnestretreats.com to snag your spot. All right, we have so much to talk about Lisa, but we have an audience question to answer? Brad Crowell 11:08  We do. Ashley Crosby from Instagram says, hi, Lesley, I'm back with another DIY question. Do you have any good recommendations on a DIY video to make a Ladder Barrel rung cover? I've been taught to use a blue knee pad to support our feet, but I have tiny feet and the pad makes me feel less secure. Do you have any suggestions? Lesley Logan 11:28  Yeah. So in this question afterwards, they sent me a bunch of other information about why this blue knee pad situation is happening. So first of all, if you are a Pilates person and you've used a Ladder Barrel before, this is what we're talking about. We're talking about in the ladder barrel there are rungs on the ladder, and you have to put your feet on these rungs. And a lot of people are taught to hook their feet on the rung. So if, like, you're watching on YouTube, it's like that hard flex, kind of like you do at the gym, to, like, stick your feet underneath a bar, to kind of hook in, to do sit ups, because your feet keep coming off the ground. That's kind of what we're talking about here. That being said, that's not actually how you're supposed to put your feet. You're supposed to. Brad Crowell 12:02  Oh for Pilates Ladder Barrel you don't, you're not supposed to hook your feet. Lesley Logan 12:05  No, you shouldn't hook your feet. Brad Crowell 12:07  Wait, sorry. So I don't, I don't even understand where this blue knee pad would go. It's supposed to go between your foot and the foot bars to hurt, to protect your foot? Lesley Logan 12:14  Yes, so your foot's not pulling up against like wood, so the pad's there.Brad Crowell 12:19  So you're not even supposed to hook your feet. So this entire purpose is this blue knee pad is irrelevant?Lesley Logan 12:23  Yes, but they're doing it because they think that hooking the foot is safe, and then people complained about the wood hurting their feet, so they're like, let's put a pad here. Brad Crowell 12:32  And then it's still unsafe. Lesley Logan 12:34  Well, and it's unsafe for this person, but also it's not helping you get the connections you need. So when you're doing short box on the Ladder Barrel, which is when this would happen, you're actually supposed to stand on the feet. So you want to put your feet on not the top top rung, but the second rung, or you can even go lower. This is in my flashcard. This is in all my tutorials free. Put the arch of your feet on there, like you're doing bird on a perch during footwork. And then you push, not so much that you're straightened, but kind of like if you were, like, doing a wall squat, you know how like you, like, are pushing into the floor, but you're stuck in a wall squat, you want to push in them so your butt turns on. And if you hook with your feet, it's really hard to get your butt to turn on, and then it's unfortunately, going to help turn on your hip flexors when you're coming up and down, versus keeping your butt on. So Ashley, here's the deal, if you have to do these things because it's rules of studio, pay attention to the rules. But if you have the ability to do it the way that it's meant to be done, then your tiny feet are not an issue, because this, that whatever part of your arch can go on the bar is what you need. It's all you need. Brad Crowell 13:41  It's all you need. Lesley Logan 13:42  And if you want to go to onlinepilatesclasses.com/ladderbarrelexercises. Brad Crowell 13:48  No, it's slash ladder dash barrel dash exercises. Lesley Logan 13:52  Correct. I was going to say with a hyphen in between all the words. Brad Crowell 13:55  Yeah. onlinepilatesclasses.com/ladder-barrel-exercisesLesley Logan 13:59  Yeah, you can see all of our exercise. You'll see how my foot setup is. And know you, so don't, you don't need.Brad Crowell 14:05  They're all the videos that you would need. They're all the DIY videos. Well, they're not DIY videos for making a Ladder Barrel rung cover, because you don't need a ladder barrel rung cover at all. Lesley Logan 14:14  Some people have created one that is made out of like a sheep's skin or sheep fur, whatever, because that's like, antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti whatever. At any rate, some people have made this, I find that they're quite slippery. And again, you don't need it. Why are we buying things we don't need when you can just use your muscles. So full permission to use your muscles. Brad is trying to look up different things, you guys, they're like, legit. So they're like, they're like. Brad Crowell 14:43  50 bucks for a little piece of cloth that wraps around your barrel.Lesley Logan 14:47  Yeah, yep, yep. Oh, you know what you could get? The cover that I use to do back squats, the cover that you use to do back squats, I bet would work. I bet it would fit, because it's Velcro. And that was, like, $12 or $25 online. So I guess if you are like Lesley, I'm adamant I have to hook my feet, you don't know what you're talking about, then you can do that. You could probably use a back squat rung cover. Anyways, there's just so many different changes that people have made to the practice, and it's not about classical versus contemporary. It's just like people changing exercises because someone complained about things. And it's like, maybe you're not doing it right, or you might not be ready for it yet, and that's a different story. So hopefully this saved you money on a pad you don't need. Send your questions in and we'll answer them. Brad Crowell 15:33  All right, stick around. We're going to be talking about Lisa Salisbury and her tips on food and how we treat food in our lives. Okay, welcome back now. Let's talk about Lisa Salisbury. Lisa is a certified Health, Life, and Weight Loss Coach, holds a BS in Health and Human Performance and is the host of the podcast Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well. Lisa is passionate about helping people build a healthier relationship with food and regaining control of their eating habits. Whether weight loss is the goal or not, she focuses on self awareness and creating sustainable strategies to foster a sense of balance and well being. Lesley Logan 16:10  Yeah, I thought that she was very fascinating. There's so many different ways that you can address this topic, and I just really appreciated her like enthusiasm and love and kindness and grace around it. And she said, food is connection. It always has been, even in our hunter-gatherer days, they ate together. For her, every meal should be enjoyable and delicious, not just thought of as fuel. And I kind of like this, because a lot of times the way to break your emotional connection to food is to go food is fuel. Food is fuel. And it's not your comfort food. But for her, she was like, no, no. I mean, it's fuel, but every meal should be delicious and it should be enjoyable. And something since we just got back from Cambodia that this makes me think about is we set the table for every meal, right? In Cambodia, we put placements out, and we put the silverware out, and we put napkins out, and every meal had colorful fruit and we had this beautiful ambiance. It's really interesting how on a retreat, every meal was kind of an event. And of course, the food was delicious, and we all ate together. And like, we sat there and we ate together, we talked. And like, we have an hour for food because we take a good half an hour because we're just all chit-chatting and like, talking about things and getting to know each other more. And no one's on their phones, because we're all eating a meal together, right? And so she emphasizes that value of family traditions to create meaningful meal time moments, meaningful meal time moments. Brad Crowell 17:32  The Triple M threat. Lesley Logan 17:34  Yeah, she sets a table properly, and you sit at the dining room table, and she believes that the act of eating together is more important than what we're eating. And I thought that's so cool, because we've had different guests on before who were like, do you ever just sit and eat your meal, or are you like on your phone while you're eating your meal? And one of the things that I think is causing people to overeat or be hungry all day long is that they're actually not eating the food that they're eating when they're eating it, they're kind of just doing other things, and they're not paying attention to it. But there's something about we slow we slow down, we chew our food. We like taste the food when we're having a meal with people, and it creates connection. And I think a lot of people are just missing connection these days. And I think you could do this, even if you're single. You can also, oh my God, for my single people here's what you can do, you can set a place for two, because the other place could be little you creating space for a partner, and you could be going through the act of taking the time to put a placement out for that, like, whatever you want to do, but like, you could do that, and then you could sit there, and you could enjoy the food, and you can have beautiful music playing, or maybe beautiful flowers to look at, and just actually enjoy your food.Brad Crowell 18:42  I think it's great. I mean, I love the intention as well. Of the two placemats, you know, you're setting it for the future person. That's really cool. I know you used to do that with coffee. Lesley Logan 18:50  For you. Brad Crowell 18:51  For me, yeah.Lesley Logan 18:52  I mean, you, it wasn't for you first. It was just for the person who's going to be here. But then you took the coffee so, you know, anyways, what did you love?Brad Crowell 19:01  Well, actually, I wanted to just comment. She said a couple things about how we were trained with food that I didn't see in my notes. So the idea that when we were kids, if we were causing chaos, maybe our parents were like, here, eat a fruit, roll up and shut up. Or, hey, you did a great job. For example, my parents, when we scored a goal in the soccer game, we went and bought Domino's Pizza. Lesley Logan 19:27  That's, yeah, that's what everyone does. That's the problem. Like, there's a reward for.Brad Crowell 19:32  That's the thing, is like for our parents what it was was we don't go out to eat. We will go out to eat when you score a goal. But what's also happening there is food is becoming the reward, even though that wasn't actually the intention. Yeah, the intention was, we're gonna splurge, and we'll splurge.Lesley Logan 19:51  And also that's the same thing, like, you have a bad day at school, and someone said something you're bullied to, and then the parents, let's go get ice cream, instead of feeling the feelings of what it's like to have been bullied at school.Brad Crowell 20:01  Yeah, or celebrating a moment such as square goal. But it made me wonder, this is the first time I ever thought about that. It made me wonder, has that affected my eating habits? I do think it is real, the Clean Your Plate Club situation that she talked about that blew my fucking mind. I was like, oh my God, this is crazy. I don't know why my parents said there are starving kids in Africa. I didn't know why, until that podcast, when she said we used to ship the food to Africa in the 80s. I was like, what, we did?Lesley Logan 20:30  Right. My parents are the same thing, and we did ship it. We didn't ship the food that was on your table, though, but it caused me to feel like I have to eat everything on the plate. And now, you don't, I mean, don't be wasteful. Brad Crowell 20:42  But the idea was, because we were intentionally shipping food around to share the food with the world, we should be eating all of ours. And, you know, it was just an interesting idea. It comes from the World War One and World War Two, the Clean Your Plate Club, and they literally rationed food in the United States, and so that was a thing. And it's funny. To me, it's like the leftover hoarding is like a big thing from the Great Depression, because people wanted for everything. They had nothing and so they. Lesley Logan 21:13  And you might need it, you would never get rid of it, because you might not be able to get it. Yeah, and I do think that some of these things have been passed down without us knowing why. And here's the deal, obviously, don't be wasteful with food, but also like, you know, you start to learn like, oh we don't need to make that much food.Brad Crowell 21:27  Oh, I've got to eat everything on my plate. Fascinating that this is like a generational, passed on, generational thing, and today the meaning of it is completely disconnected with the intention of it originally, and so now it's just clean your plate, because that's what you're supposed to do, you know. And so we get into this habit of eating that isn't necessarily healthy from either a mental or a physical perspective. Lesley Logan 21:51  It's not helpful whether it's healthy or not, because maybe you're, maybe you're. Brad Crowell 21:55  It could be healthy if you're doing small portion sizes, but because in the United States, portion sizes are so huge, it might not be normal.Lesley Logan 22:02  I know. I was thinking about our dinner in Singapore, and I was, we're like, oh, these is like Vegas prices for this meal. When the food came out, I was like, this is not a Vegas plate. So Vegas prices, but we got, like.Brad Crowell 22:13  Smaller portions.Lesley Logan 22:15  But it was also enough. It was also enough. So I think that that's really true. I just all of this is not to say, like, what's healthy, what's not healthy. It's like, are you actually connecting to the food that you're eating, and do you know why you eat the way that you eat? I think these are really interesting questions to ask yourself, because if it is getting in the way from you having the life you want to live, or it's becoming a crutch of some kind, it's worth evaluating.Brad Crowell 22:38  Yeah. I mean, the why, it's the why are you eating? And you know, she said it could be because you're bored or sad or frustrated or happy celebrating. She highlighted that for many it's not about weight loss, but it's about feeling like they're the ones making the decision, and not the food making the decision for them, I think we need to put that in context. It's about feeling like they're the ones making the decisions, so probably like I'm deciding to eat now, it's not that the food is making decisions for them, but it's just about control.Lesley Logan 23:08  The habits that we create for ourselves, there's no such thing as a good or bad habit. There's also no good or bad foods, right? There's just is how you are eating and how is it affecting your life, in the way that makes you available to do the things you want to do. And so if you are someone who, like, literally is craving sugar and it's distracting you from the things you want to do, so much that you actually are, like, going out and hunting for sugar, which is like an actual thing, because it's an actual food addiction, because your gut starts to crave sugar and tells you this, and you cannot stop thinking about it. And so then you can't actually write the email to the person want to pitch an idea to, because you're like, I just need to get that. Well, that's affecting your life negatively. And these kinks can be a distraction from what makes us have the energy to want to work out our gut literally tells us a lot, like, our gut microbiome tells us a lot, and what you eat trains your microbiome. So it's a whole other thing. I just thought it was really cool.Brad Crowell 24:00  Stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to talk about those, be it action items, and we're going to dig into the hunger scale, which is pretty cool. All right, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Lisa Salisbury, she mentioned she teaches the hunger scale to her clients, and it goes from negative 10 all the way to positive 10. And she said, negative 10 is like starving yourself. Positive 10 is gorging, where you're very, very full. Negative 10 very, very hungry all the way to very, very full. And she said they're equal distance from zero, which is neutral.Lesley Logan 24:37  Which I loved. I loved a neutral, instead of it being like a one to a 10 or a zero to a 10, five is the place to be. I love that. She was like, no, I'm gonna be make this as a neutral.Brad Crowell 24:48  Yeah. And she said negative 10 and plus 10 are equally uncomfortable. Right? Well, first off, the purpose of it is to build awareness of your hunger and your fullness level throughout the day, right? So she actually charts it. She tells her clients, especially if you've been measuring your macros and you're used to tracking all the stuff and weighing things and whatever. Instead of tracking all that stuff, track your fullness level. And here's how to do it, before each male pause to assess your hunger on this scale, she says, start eating when you're feeling like a negative three, right? When you're just mildly hungry, that's the nicest time to start eating. Stop eating when you're at a plus three, which she describes as you're not really feeling any pressure, you're not wishing you had stretchy pants. You're just comfortable. And she mentioned there's a moment when the body takes a pause, and it's this organic thing where you're like, you know, I'm starting to feel satiated, right? She said, avoid eating when you're overly hungry, negative seven or below, or if you're too full plus seven or above. And you know, obviously, to avoid eating at negative seven, that means you have to have eaten sooner. If you're at a negative seven, you probably should be eating.Lesley Logan 26:00  But maybe, like, have a little snack before you like, sit down for a full meal. Brad Crowell 26:03  I found that interesting too. She had a whole comment on that. She said, why are we snacking? If we're hungry, we should eat a meal.Lesley Logan 26:10  Well, that is actually also interesting. I agree. I have a friend who has a bunch of kids, and she and her husband, they make meals for the family, right? And so one of our kids came home from school and was like, you know, hey, I'm hungry. Can I have this to eat? And so the dinner is at six. If you think that that's going to hold you over till six, then yes, but if you think that you're going to be hungry between that and six, then I want you to think about what would make you satiated till six. And they were like, oh, oh, this isn't gonna be enough. And they actually, like, made half a sandwich so that they were enjoying it. So anyways, I thought that was a cool way of looking at what are you snacking on? Do you need a snack or do you really need to eat? So my biggest takeaway, she advised on eating the amount that's right for your body, paying no attention to food scales, paying no attention to the scale in your kitchen. You can do this by just experimenting with bites. And she talked about the two bite challenge. So we have another challenge for you. Leave two bites at your plate at every meal and see how you feel looking at that food on your plate. Reflect on the experience. Do you feel satisfied or still hungry? Experiment and check in with your hunger afterwards. Remember that this isn't about wasting food forever. It's about learning what you need and putting yourself in charge of your portions. And I think this is also this is also just really cool, because we all need different things at different times in our life. So how you ate at 20 is gonna be different than what you need at 30, it's gonna be different what you need at 40, it's gonna be different during a crazy work schedule versus summer time, you know, vacation time. So I think it's just about connecting with your body and noticing, am I hungry? Really? Am I just bored? There's two bites on my plate. Am I full or am I hungry? Oh, I'm hungry. Okay, I'm not giving myself the portion sizes that I needed so that I would not be a negative seven when I wake up. So it's all just important information for you, so that you're not distracted by your tummy when you're trying to make things happen in this world. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 27:58  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 27:59  Thank you so much for joining us today. I hope this is a really amazing I hope this got you thinking about you and what you're eating and how you eat it and enjoy it. If you have questions about it, feel free to let us know. If you want to send this to a friend, that would be amazing. We're working really hard and going from a 1.5% podcast to a 1% podcast. We can only do that if you download it. So share this with a friend and until next time, Be It Till You See It.Brad Crowell 28:19  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 28:21  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod. Brad Crowell 29:03  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 29:08  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 29:13  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 29:20  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 29:23  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Today's guest is allll about starting now, starting messy. I know you will love this conversation! In this episode of 'Habits You Love', Kayla is joined by Lesley Logan, —a powerhouse in the fitness, coaching, and entrepreneurial space. She's the founder of Profitable Pilates and Online Pilates Classes, the host of the Be It Till You See It podcast, and a world traveler leading fitness retreats. In this episode, we're diving into the power of habits, the connection between mental health and movement, and how to build consistency in both fitness and life. Leslie shares her journey in building a successful Pilates business and emphasizes the importance of being true to oneself and embracing the process of growth. They also explore effective strategies for forming habits that stick, highlighting the importance of kindness to oneself and celebrating small victories. takeaways Everyone has a unique purpose that should guide their habits. Boundaries are essential for maintaining focus and achieving goals. Self-doubt often prevents individuals from taking necessary actions. Understanding emotional rewards can help in replacing unwanted habits. Taking messy action is a key to overcoming perfectionism. Personal growth often involves recognizing what you don't want. Incorporating Pilates can enhance other fitness routines. Start small when forming new habits to avoid overwhelm. Celebrate every small victory to reinforce habit formation. Be kind to yourself during the habit-building process. Your fitness journey can evolve with your life changes. Embrace imperfection and focus on personal growth. keywords habits, self-identity, boundaries, self-doubt, emotional responses, messy action, Pilates business, personal growth, fitness coaching, entrepreneurial journey, Pilates, reformer, mat work, fitness, habits, personal growth, wellness, exercise, longevity, self-care Learn more about Lesley and her offers HERE Follow her HERE -- This episode is sponsored by Green Chef! Go to www.GreenChef.com/HabitsFree and use code HABITSFREE to get TWO months of FREE salads and 50% OFF! This episode is also sponsored by Air Doctor! Go to www.airdoctorpro.com and use code HABITS to get up to $384 OFF the BEST air purifier for your space! --- If you're loving these episodes, please subscribe and leave a review! Let's Connect: @kaylafite @habitsyoulove *Kayla is not a mental health professionals. Kayla and Habits You Love is not a substitute or meant to be intended to diagnose, treat, or make medical claims. All content is for informational purposes only backed by Kayla's own research. This podcast is brought to you by Cloud10 and iHeart Radio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are your eating habits helping or hurting your lifestyle? In this episode, Lesley Logan sits down with Lisa Salisbury, a health and weight loss coach, to discuss how we can redefine our relationship with food. Lisa shares insights into disordered eating, the history of the "clean plate club," and how to listen to your body's hunger signals without obsessing over diets. Tune in for practical, mindset-shifting strategies to enjoy food while making choices that truly serve you.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Lisa's own journey from chronic dieting to mindful eating.Dieting for weight loss versus having a healthy relationship with food.How food connects people and why eating should be about enjoyment.The surprising history behind the "clean plate club" and its lasting effects.The signs of disordered eating and how to shift towards intuitive eating.How to identify hunger cues and stop eating before feeling overfull.The two-bite challenge: recognizing fullness without food guilt.Episode References/Links:Lisa Salisbury Website - https://wellwithlisa.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/well_with_lisaFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/wellwithlisaLesley on Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well Podcast - https://beitpod.com/ep104Guest Bio:Lisa Salisbury is a former chronic dieter on a mission to help women stop obsessing about everything they eat and feel confident in their ability to lose weight without a diet app. She teaches them to stop counting and calculating all their food and check in with their body. Most of all, she helps women make their lives amazing so food doesn't have the job of comforter, compensator and celebrator. She hosts the top 100 podcast Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well. She is a certified Health, Life and Weight Loss Coach, with a BS in Health and Human Performance. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lisa Salisbury 0:00  Food has always brought people together, because you cook in big batches, and it's just kind of the way humans evolved to eat together. And so there is connection with food. And if we try to pretend that there isn't, I think it's just a losing battle.Lesley Logan 0:16  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:59  All right, loves, I'm gonna tell you right now that I am pleasantly surprised, amazed, like, excited for this episode that you're about to listen to. I'm gonna let you in a little secret. I do my very best not to have, like, a weight loss as a topic for being it till you see it, because there's just a lot around that, and it's complicated. And also, I don't want anyone out there thinking that weight loss or their weight is actually the thing that's keeping them from being it till they see it. But there are things around our health and wellness and how we eat that can be. And so today's episode, I really hope that you do listen to it and you're not turned off by if their weight loss was in the title, or anything like that, that you actually take a listen because, especially if you are around my age or a little bit older, our relationship with food and how food was used can be complicated, even if we think we have a great one. And today's guest is Lisa Salisbury, and she's an incredible podcast host. I was able to be on her podcast, and the thing that I really love the most about this is it's not about weight loss at all. She actually, multiple times encourage people to eat more, and I think her story will resonate with a lot of you as well. What this is is about how we can and it's not also about like thinking food is just this boring cardboard. It's about how we choose to eat and how we eat, and how we can really make our lives more full in a good way, and not through, like over full through food. So I'm just gonna stop talking, because her words are so beautiful, and she's so thoughtful, and she's incredibly well researched in what she is doing, and I got a whole history lesson in here, so I'm just gonna say freaking great, super awesome, super informative. And I hope this gives you the permission that you might need when it comes to, hey, sit down with your meals, or if you sit down with your meals, or if you needed to be reminded to eat more, or if you just needed permission, like my husband gave me, to just leave some food on the plate. So here is Lisa Salisbury. Lesley Logan 2:59  All right, Be It babe, I'm so excited to have this conversation. It's one we haven't had on the podcast before, and I think it's a really important one as a child from the 80s who was told to clean her plate because there's people starving in other places. It's interesting how that can affect how you how your whole life ends up being. And so I have Lisa Salisbury here. She is the host of Eat Well, Think Well, Be Well. And, nope, it's Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well. Let's get it right, Lesley. Anyways, we'll make sure that link is in the notes so it's just easy for you to find her amazing podcast. I was a guest on it, and I'm and so you can always start off with that episode. Lisa, thank you so much for being here. Can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at? Lisa Salisbury 3:39  Yeah, great. Thanks for having me, Lesley. I, like you said, my name is Lisa Salisbury. I'm a health coach and weight loss coach and podcaster. I was a chronic dieter, as many, many of you, and like you said, people from the 80s. So, started dieting in high school, started having babies, then in my 20s, and so my weight was just on an absolute roller coaster. And it's really quite a long story, as it is, for a lot of people, of how they get into the health and fitness space, health world, any kind of that sort of influence, and it's just usually through your own experiences, which was the same for me. So I just realized, hey, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't want to diet anymore. And I got my health coaching certification. And even through that, I thought I wasn't dieting. I thought that my last ditch effort to quote-unquote lose all of that baby weight was macro counting. And so I thought I wasn't dieting because I thought, oh, this is okay, because I can eat whatever I want as long as it fits your macros. That's like their tagline, right?Lesley Logan 4:41  It's kind of the same thing with Weight Watchers. It's kind of like you can eat whatever you want as long as it's in your points. So it's kind of like that, yeah.Lisa Salisbury 4:46  Right. Yeah, totally. And so my acute study partner that I had during that health coaching course, she gently, so gently, during the eating disorder, we said, oh, is there anything that you're noticing about yourself here? When we were talking about orthorexia, and she was really sweet, and really just opened my eyes to the fact that I was so anxious about meeting my macros that it was really affecting the way I showed up in the world. And so the first time that I sat down and ate lunch without weighing my portions was kind of like mind blowing for me to be like, oh, I'll just let my body decide when I've had enough. There was actually a big increase in anxiety. But then over time, of course, as I let that go, I saw, you know, just a change in my health as far as mental health around food. And then I went on to start coaching, and realized that most of my clients needed help around not so much about what to eat, you know, give them a food plan, but why they were eating when they didn't really want to be eating. Why they were eating when they were bored, frustrated, sad, confused. Why they were eating when they weren't hungry. And so that's when I went and got my life coaching certification, and I really helped them figure out that emotional eating piece which can or cannot have anything to do with weight loss. I have several clients come to me that are just like, I just want to be healthier around my relationship with food. And so whether they lose weight or not is neither here nor there, because they just want to feel like they're the ones making the decisions, and not the food making the decisions for them. Lesley Logan 4:46  I love that you shared that last part about it's not necessarily about the weight loss for most people, it's like the relationship with food. My grandmother was a chronic dieter. Like, up 100 pounds down 100 pounds up, 100 pounds down. She was so pissed when they took Fin-Phen away from her. Like, she was like, this is the thing that worked. And I'm like, so it's killing people. They and they know it. Lisa Salisbury 6:29  Small detail.Lesley Logan 6:47  Yeah. And so, like, I grew up around that, that is what the word diet actually means. When it's, what diet actually means, it's like, how you eat, not just like that you're on a diet, we're, every any which way you eat is a diet, guys, it's just that it's like some but we are trained that that word means, you're on a diet, you're trying to lose weight. And so then, there's people who are like, well, I just want to love the body that I'm in, and you can but if food is dictating how you are doing your life, and when you do things in your life, that can be a problem in allowing you to live the best life that you want to live. I want to just go back to something really quickly, and then I have, okay, orthorexia for the people who don't know what that word is, can you share what that is? Lisa Salisbury 7:29  Yeah, that's kind of the obsession with eating healthy. So it's a fairly new eating disorder. In fact, I have to say, I'm not even sure if it's in the DSM yet, but it is being recognized as a real issue. So a lot of times, this is what we call just disordered eating. When you look at someone's nutrition, when they're like, here's what I ate today, and it's clearly, you know, from a list of 10 foods that are approved in their brains. That's orthorexia, having a lot of anxiety around, for example, I called a restaurant, I remember this particular time, they were a small restaurant, so they didn't have their nutritional information available to me, wasn't like a big chain, you know? And they're like, oh, if you email us, we can send it to you. And they didn't, and I called them several times to get it. That's orthorexia, right, to be so anxious that I need to put my macros in and hit it plus or minus five every single day. And some people think that's a great game. Some people are like, that's my favorite game with Tetris to play. Great. That's fine. You can absolutely count off macros and not have orthorexia, totally. That didn't work for me. My brain, I was like, I have to do this. And if I didn't, what was weird is I went to a lot of times, I would be like, well, I can't. And so now it's a cheat day. Now it's a eat whatever I want sort of day which is also disordered. Lesley Logan 8:56  Yeah, I feel like there's more people with disordered eating than maybe they recognize. You mentioned a few signs of orthorexia, and some of those equal disordered eating. Is there any other signs of disordered eating? And mostly because what I'm hoping for today is I've always tried to make sure that everyone feels super loved on this show, that every listener knows even if I'm a Pilates instructor, I'm not here to make anyone change their body. I'm here about moving people, because I know movement heals and it's mental health and it's all this stuff, but I also know that there are things that we do out of habits and especially around food, that can be affecting us, having an amazing mental health life, or having fun in our life, or actually focusing on other things in our life. So if you can talk about like, some of the signs of disordered eating that people might not necessarily recognize.Lisa Salisbury 9:42  I think having just a really small list of foods that you are able to consume. So if you're like, I only eat chicken and these two kinds of fish or so if your list is really small, if you're excluding foods that are considered whole foods. So if you're excluding things, especially entire groups of food, like all carbohydrates, or if you're like a potato, which is grown in the ground, is somehow bad for you, obviously barring allergy or, you know, insensitivity, that kind of thing. But if you've excluded several whole foods, that would be concerning. If you're excluding ultra-processed foods, that's great. Let's do that. Lesley Logan 9:58  You're fine, everyone. Lisa Salisbury 10:33  Yeah. But if we're like, hey, we're going to exclude all kinds of different whole foods, then that would be kind of a hallmark if you are eating on the clock. So if you are like, I cannot, should not, not supposed to those types of words, eat before my alarm goes off at 1 pm there's a difference between intermittent fasting and being starving and gritting your teeth until 1 pm until 2 pm, until that moment, right? So you have to really look and check in with yourself is, am I doing this because I really, actually feel amazing, or am I doing this because if I don't, anxiety will skyrocket, because if I don't, I will have somehow lost control. Or if I, does that make sense?Lesley Logan 11:19  It totally makes sense. Also, it makes sense because I've been listening to Mindy Pelz on her fast like a girl thing, which is, yeah. And I would listen to her thing in the way she describes how you should feel on the fast. And then she's also very careful to qualify, like, if you have somewhat disordered eating, you should be doing this as a professional, and not on your own. And what's interesting is, as I was doing the fast like a girl thing, I was very consciously aware, like, okay, how am I going to do this? So I don't have control issues around it, because having grown up with the history of my grandma being on a diet, off the diet, so then, of course, I was, I'm the girl who was pulling out the magazine articles on all the exercises and putting them in a binder to do all of them, and then totally eliminating whole food groups most of high school and college. So I'm just really aware that it's easy for me to go, oh, this is like, something like, it's healthy to do it, so I'm gonna do it like this, and then get controlled about it. So, like, okay, I'm just gonna interestingly pretend to do it and see how I feel. And she had these tools. If you do get hungry, but you're not famished and you just need, you can do a cup of coffee. And so I was trying it out, and I could tell the difference between being like, I am really, actually hungry right now and I need to eat something, versus I'm actually just bored right now because I normally eat at eight. Lisa Salisbury 11:19  Right, right, yeah. Lesley Logan 11:29  Which is a really fascinating thing, because it's like, okay, well, I could do other I could do other things, then, why am I choosing to eat at eight o'clock, versus like, so it's just a really interesting thing, because you can't, I can see how someone could over control the healthy intermittent fasting process and make it an unhealthy thing for them. So thank you for sharing that. I want to just like, pick your brain a little bit, because you have so much information around this. You know, so many people are raised where food is a reward for, like, getting good grades or you're feeling bad. So then there's food, and then we have to eat. Can we talk a little bit about relationship with food? And like, are we supposed to just be agnostic? How do we what are we supposed to feel with food? Because I think it's really interesting, right? It's like a fun thing. Like, I want to get some ice cream right now. Like, how are we supposed to think about food in our lives? Lisa Salisbury 13:21  It's such an interesting topic, because you'll find you know coaches who have trained at the same exact schools that I have will give you wildly different answers. Some people are like, food is fuel. That is it. You only eat it for fuel. And I have never, I tried that for a little while, and I never could get on board. I never could get on board with food as fuel, because the truth is, food is connection, and it always has been. Even in hunter-gatherer days, they ate together, right? I mean, I don't know, maybe the documentaries are incorrect. I wasn't there, but I think most tribal groups still ate together. Food has always brought people together, because you cook in big batches, and it's just kind of the way humans evolved to eat together. And so there is connection with food. And if we try to pretend that there isn't, I think it's just a losing battle. And so I have decided every time I eat I want it to be delicious, and when I think about food being fuel, that sounds like cardboard to me, right? Like, just hook me up to an IV, there's like. Lesley Logan 14:28  No one's ever been excited to go get filled. I mean, like, no one is excited to fill up their gas tank, right? If you think about it, how many of us are waiting until, like, I've got one mile left, I better go, You know what I mean? So it's not exciting, and not the food has to be exciting. But I do love that you brought up connection because I think so many of us lack that in our daily lives. So much stuff is like, I mean, we're here on Zoom, right? So much stuff is digital and virtual, and so there's not that space. But I also think how much we've lost the connection around the eating as well. People eat alone at work, they eat at their desk, you know what I mean, or they're at home, working remote. They're by themselves. And so that would be an interesting maybe goal. It's like, how many meals can you actually have sitting down with someone that you love or care about or want to spend time with?Lisa Salisbury 15:12  It's actually a huge point that I make with my clients, because when we're talking about waiting until we're hungry to eat, because that's the nicest time to eat, by the way, is when you're hungry, when you're just mildly hungry, that's the nicest time to start eating. And so we talk about, okay, what does your lifestyle look like? What time do you eat with a family? Do you eat with a spouse? And what time is that? And we adjust the rest of their day and the rest of their eating if need be around that piece, because the relationships come first. And so I think that's kind of another thing about food, is that we want to focus on, I actually want to have dinner with my family regardless of what we're eating. The important piece is that we, and I still insist on this, because I'm neurotic. We set the table placements and everything. And like my kids know how, every one of them knows how to set a proper table, like where the fork goes and the cup and everything, because we sit and have dinner as a family. And so because that is important to me, it's far more important than what we're eating. And so I want food to be enjoyable, but it's not just about the food and when you're eating, and it's only about the food, and it's only about how good the food tastes. That's when you overeat, that's when you take in too much, that's when you feel yuck afterwards. That's when you're like, because the truth is, it doesn't matter if you're trying to lose weight or if you're not trying to lose weight, even if you're trying to gain weight, like, if you're trying to gain muscle or whatever, overeating actually feels terrible. We pretend that it doesn't. We pretend that it's so fun. We pretend like, oh, this was like, amazing, and, oh, I'm stuffed. And we pretend to have a happy face. But inside, let's think about how your body feels. It's not good. Lesley Logan 16:15  It's not good. You don't even feel great the next morning, sometimes. Everyone loves Thanksgiving. I have to be so honest, I'm so grateful that my family is like, there's only four of us. It's not worth buying anything. Let's go to a restaurant. We have no leftovers. I love that, because there's a whole pressure around some of those holiday meals, like overeat. But it's true, and maybe we get this a good time to ask you, I don't actually people know when full is. Do you know what I mean? Like, I was listening to something about how, in Japan, they teach kids from the age of five how to eat until they're 80% full, how to know what that feels like. They, also, they take a bite of one thing, and they take a bite of a different thing and take a bite of a different thing, and so they're putting their fork down. They're enjoying the bite. They're enjoying the food. I don't eat, like that, I'm gonna eat all the salad, and then I'm gonna eat all the meat. I think that it has taken me, as a 41-year-old, oh, I'm full now, and to, like, stop eating no matter how delicious it is. And I think that's a really difficult thing. Like, where does that come from? Are we just so lacking and delicious food that we just keep going? Or, like, is it a learned behavior that we have?Lisa Salisbury 17:59  I definitely think it's learned behavior because if you watch a toddler eat, first of all, they're usually far too busy playing to eat. And then if you're like, Hey, come on, come on, you could drill them to the table when they're done, they're done, you cannot get that last bite of macaroni and cheese in them if they do not want to eat it. That's just it. When you're two, you actually are really good at hunger and fullness cues. I mean, really, babies, they don't stop nursing because the milk is out. They, the milk runs out because they've stopped nursing and trained, they train the mother, right? You, if you have been a nursing mother, or been associated or seen your sister, or whatever, their milk supply adjusts not immediately. I mean, I could have nursed triplets when I first had a baby, but eventually, it adjusts based on the child. And so we teach our children that you should eat past full a couple of ways. Number one, we offer them food and snacks to cure boredom and as rewards and to fix their owies, right? So we teach them that food is the answer to a lot of their emotional problems. I did this, too. I have four kids. I did it. I, no judgment, no shame. This is just what you do as a parent, because it works. It's fine, it's normal. Lesley Logan 18:00  Yeah, I have no judgment, because I have seen a crying kid sometimes, like on an airplane, like, how do we stop? Yeah.Lisa Salisbury 19:27  Yeah. Like, please give that kid some goldfish. So I think that's the first thing that we do as parents. And then the other thing that we do to keep our kids from paying attention and letting them go by their own physical fullness cues is the clean your plate. You've got to clean your plate. You have to eat this if you want dessert. No more potatoes, if you don't eat the broccoli and that sort of thing. And so it really kind of messes with because they're like, well, I want the ice cream. And so they force down whatever is on their plate. And then, put ice cream on top of that. And so they're like, well, the right thing is to feel this way, because this is how it feels when I get to eat what I want to eat, the ice cream. And so the, you know, cleaning your plate is, well, it's a tricky topic. Do you want me to get into that as well? Lesley Logan 20:17  I want because here's why, and this is for anyone listening, I think if you raised your kids this way, you shouldn't shame yourself about it, but I think it's good information, because it does, I swear it's ugly how when you're an adult, my husband, when we were first dating, I was like, I'm so full, and I would like, take another bite. And he's like, what are you doing? And I was like, well, I don't wanna waste the food. And he goes, you can just put it in a Tupperware. And I just started laughing. I was like, oh my God, I hear my parents, and my mom listens to this, so please don't get mad, but like, children are starving in Africa. You better eat your food. The young me didn't understand that the food on my plate is not going to any starving child. So like, it doesn't actually it's not being wasted at all. And so as an adult, I had to learn that because I was getting sick every night trying to finish the plate, and it really did affect my moods at night, my sleep at night. And those are the things, you guys, that if your sleep is affected, if your digestion system is not going well, that affects you from reaching the goals you have, because it becomes, your life starts to revolve around how you're feeling out of that one heavy or two heavy meals. And again, this is not a weight loss thing. This is a just a getting you, getting us a relationship around food that can allow us to live the life we want to live. So, I love to get into details of it. Lisa Salisbury 21:26  Yeah. The thing about your mom saying that, is that, isn't it crazy how many people just nodded their heads, and I just already know this, because we all use the same phrase. Why? This is what I was like. Why do we all use this phrase? Where did this come from? So I started to just like Google a little bit, and right at the very top of Google, you can Google it yourself. The Clean Plate Club was an actual club in World War One. It was a government program and was started up again in World War Two, and the reason for this, so Clean Plate Clubs were established in elementary schools. So your grandmother was likely exposed to that phrase as a government program as an elementary school student, because that's back when her eyes are like, getting so big.Lesley Logan 22:17  This is like that. I'm sure, I'm sure there's a reason that had to do with the war, but keep going. Lisa Salisbury 22:22  Yes, so okay, that's when, like, lunch ladies were actual, like making lunch back there, right? In actual kitchens. They weren't just serving up packaged foods like we get today. So they're making actual lunch. They're dishing up actual food. It's not that kids today don't get actual food, but I just mean, like dishing up a portion of meatloaf, right? And the idea was, the child would say, this is how much I want. And then when they would finish their plate and be part of the Clean Plate Club that indicated, I took the right amount for me. And there were rations. We were trying to conserve food, because for them, there were starving children in Europe. There was war-torn countries that we were trying to help, and we were shipping food to Europe. So the less that we could waste here really did help the European nations at that time, but as time went on, we weren't sending food to those nations, and we have more abundance in this country. And we do have the ability to send food in the 80s to Africa or to the other, you know, China, I got that one a lot, too, and still, we can waste a few bites of our food without that affecting it, because we're not on rations anymore. There were true rations in World War Two. Like, my grandma told me, they came around and asked, how much do you have of this and that and the other? And it's a story that sticks in my head, because she said, when they came around and they asked me how much sugar I had, I said I didn't have any, because I took all the sugar on my shelf, and I made sugar syrup, and I canned it so that I would have sugar syrup to can my peaches when it was time. And then I got my full ration of sugar so I could also make a jam. Poor woman, she was trying to, like, conserve food and do all her canning, and try and do that with, on sugar rations. But that's why I know they came around and asked, because. So there really were rations at that time. Lesley Logan 24:21  So they were trying to keep, make sure that you're not, like, saying, I need a cup, and you only used a quarter. And it's like, well, we're in a, you don't need another because you're not using your.Lisa Salisbury 24:21  Right. Lesley Logan 24:29  So this is very fascinating. This is interesting because they were actually like, kind of teaching people, I want this much meatloaf, and then I ate that much meatloaf. So I didn't waste anything, but I didn't ask for more than I needed, which is very different than how it you know, just like everything, it's like the game of telephone. How it translated to, which is, we aren't on rations anymore, but you should still clean your plate, because I always clean my plate, and we are not teaching kids how to pick a portion that they can then eat. Lisa Salisbury 25:00  Well, portions, too, are such a mess, which I want to get into in a second, but I will say we do a lot of these things. This is one of my favorite jokes. I'm pretty sure I read it in the Reader's Digest when I was a kid. They're having a big family dinner, and the granddaughter is the one who's hosting. She's an adult, and she had cut off the edges of the ham, and her mom said, Why'd you cut off the edges of the ham? And she goes, I don't know, because you always did it. And the mom goes, well, I did it because my mom did it. And Grandma was, like, I only did it because it didn't fit in the pan, right? Like, we need to stop doing things because the ham didn't fit in the pan for our grandmothers, right? The problem is, in the 80s, a bagel was about three inches across. And in 2016 there was a big study done, and they called this portion distortion. So, in 2016, bagels averaged six inches across. We still consider that a portion. A bagel is a portion, right? So when you're like, well, we've got to teach kids what portions are. They don't even know what portions are appropriate for their bodies, because they go to a fast food restaurant and they're like, here is a portion of fries. But if you look at the nutrition label for what they are serving you as a portion of fries, it might be considered two or even three servings, right? So a serving size is much different than what we consider a portion. If you ever looked at the serving size of cold cereal, no, no teenage boy eats a serving size for cereal. Lesley Logan 26:26  And here's why, here's what I noticed, guys, because in my 20s, trying to lose the Freshman 25 that I gained. I was like, I was doing the portion control situation. And I was like, let's say, a three-fourths of a cup. That was like, that's mostly what it is for cereal. And I'm like, how do you even measure that? You have a cup, a half a cup, a quarter. I do two measuring cups, and then I get this little itty-bitty, like, you couldn't fill up on that if you wanted to. Lisa Salisbury 26:52  No, no. So we have all this portion distortion. And so we go to restaurants, and they're like, here's a portion. They never once asked how hungry I was. And if my husband and I ordered the same thing, our plates look exactly the same, even though he's six-five and, you know, 215, I am not that size. I do not need the same size portion, serving size that he does. And also, if I haven't eaten all day and he just ate lunch, maybe I am going to eat more than him. So there's just so many factors about what you're going to eat at that meal, and the restaurant never asks you. They just bring out the portion, right? So we have to learn to, like your husband said, put it in a Tupperware, put it in a to-go box. Or if it's a salad and it's dressed, or it's salmon, or it's not going to keep we have to be okay with leaving it behind. And it wasn't our job, wasn't our fault. If you asked for a half portion, would the restaurant even do it? I don't know. Maybe. You're still going to pay the same. It's not about the money you're paying for the experience, which goes back to food being as a positive part of relationship and connection. My husband and I went out to dinner last Friday for a date night. It didn't matter that we ate two different things. It didn't matter that I didn't finish mine and brought some home and he didn't finish his, but he decided not to bring it home. That's not what we were paying for. We were paying to not do the dishes. I was paying to not have the mental work of thinking of what to make and then making it and then cleaning it up. I'm the primary cook and cleaner in our house. Like it's fine, that's, he does other things. I'm not mad about it, but that's mental load. You're paying for all of that when you go out, you're not paying for three or four or 10 ounces of French fries? Lesley Logan 28:45  Yeah, I am obsessed with this conversation, because I love the permission that you're giving every single person here. And this is like, it's an interesting way. It's just such an interesting way to think about all the different things that we do, and why do we do it. And I feel like that's like, kind of your way that you work with your clients. It's like, it's not about the diet and it's not about the weight loss, it's about understanding the choices that you're making and why you're making them, so that they're your choices and you're not being controlled by your choices. Am I correct? Lisa Salisbury 29:14  Totally. Yeah. Lesley Logan 29:14  Yeah. I guess the next question I have is, and maybe this is something you just work with people on is, how do we understand, in a sense it's going to sound so stupid, but only because I feel like someone's listening like, going, okay, that's me. What is the before feeling full feel like? Do you know what I mean? Because if we know that it takes forever, many minutes, to get from my mouth to my stomach, what are those signs? Because my friends used to make fun of me, because in college, I would pull out my napkin and put the death blanket on the meal, because I was trying to teach myself I'm getting full, and so I'm going to put the death blanket on. Maybe people are wondering what those signs are, what's their body telling them so that they can start to think about, do I need this other bite? Or can I take this home? Or can I just leave it here? Lisa Salisbury 29:54  Yeah, totally. So I teach this as what I call a hunger scale. If you were to Google that you'll see lots of different versions of them. Most go from one to 10. I use a hunger scale that goes from negative 10 through zero to positive 10. And the reason is because negative 10 is very, very hungry and positive 10 is very, very full. They are equal distant from zero, which is neutral, because they're equally uncomfortable, right? Like I said before, positive 10, being super full seems like it's fun. It seems like it's fun to be like, roll me out of this restaurant. But it's uncomfortable when we're focusing just on how we feel in our bodies and not how we're beating ourselves up in our brains about it. That's a whole nother thing. But when we just focus on our bodies, they're equally uncomfortable. And then as we get closer to that neutral, that zero, where we're neither full nor hungry, we don't feel food in the stomach. We're not feeling like pressure, but we're also not hungry at all. That's zero. We want to spend most of the time at that point, right? So you want to wait until you're at a, what I call negative three to eat. So this is true signs of physical hunger. We're like, oh, feeling really light. Very first startings of your stomach, like turning a little bit, oh, I'm empty here. The reason this is the nicest time to start eating is because if you wait and get really hungry, when you wait and you're like, at a negative seven or eight, and you're cramped up. You put food in that cramped up stomach, and it cramps worse. And then it's, do you know what I'm talking about? Lesley Logan 31:25  I do know, sorry about when you're like, yes, and also, then you're more uncomfortable, because you're almost like, you're eating faster, I don't know, like, it's like, oh my God, I just need to get this in me because I'm so famished. And then you, you don't even really, you don't even feel zero happen. You just get past it real quick. And then you're uncomfortable the other way. That's how, that's my experience.Lisa Salisbury 31:45  Totally. And so if we can catch it at just a negative three, and then we want to eat until we're at a positive three. So this is really not technical. I call this a meal. The reason I make a joke of that is because in every diet community out there, they're like, here's what to do if you're hungry, and they suggest this 100 calorie snack, 100 calorie snack packs. I mean, you get on Pinterest and you're like, snacks for weight loss. It's like, why? Why do we need a snack? If you're hungry, then we want to sit down and eat a meal. If you, if you get to the end of the day and you're like, gosh, I just was hungry all day. Look back. Did you just snack all day or did you ever wait for hunger, sit down, get out a place mat, get out a napkin, actually eat a meal until you are comfortable, and then get up and move on with your day. I guarantee, the solution for hunger and for being hungry all day is to eat a meal. Okay.Lesley Logan 32:46  Yeah, I love, I love this. I also love, I love it's like, like, not pomp and circumstance, but I really love that you're like, put a placement down, sit down, have a meal. My husband and I have lunch at not always together, but we eat our lunch at the dining room table in our house. We work from home, and we don't eat it at our desks. We eat it as much as possible at the table, with like the placemat and with the things, because it is, it's an event, and it's a pause, and it's a time to focus on that. And the next goal would be to put the phone down. That'd be great. But you know, like we're getting there, we're getting there, and I think that's an important thing. But I love that you're bringing up those, those snacks, because also, you guys, just eating a meal, or eating like half a sandwich, like making half the sandwich, you are gonna give your body exactly what it needs. It's not a distraction. Again, we're being it till we see it. If we're feeling hungry all day long, that is taking up space in your brain from other things.Lisa Salisbury 33:42  Totally. Yeah. So when you get to that positive three, here's some of the ways you're going to know it. Number one, you're going to feel like kind of a there's called a sigh. You're going to feel your body take a breath. Watch for that. That's often the time where things are shifting around. You're getting too satisfied. When you're at a positive three. You're not using the words full, stuffed. You're not feeling pressure, a lot of discomfort. You don't have to unbutton your pants. You're not wishing for stretchy pants. Okay, it's before that. So if you get to that point, you're like, oh, okay, this is, this is not a positive three. I'll try again tomorrow. It's no big deal. Experiment with this. When I assign this to my clients, when I give them the hunger scale, and I'm like, I want to see hunger scale numbers on your food journal, where they just like, write it down, you know, I was at a negative two and positive five or whatever, if they come back to me and every single meal says negative three, positive three. I'm like, I'm sorry you did not do the assignment, because the assignment is to experiment with it, which means you're going to take two bites less. You're going to leave two bites on your plate and see how that feels, and then in an hour, if you're like, yeah, actually, I really am still hungry. That wasn't quite enough. Fine. Eat more. But you can't know what your positive three is if you've been over-eating consistently, you can't really know what it is until you gradually get down to it. Yeah, the first couple days, you might overshoot, and then you might undershoot, and that's okay, because we live in a world where there is food on every corner. Right. There's no more scarcity. We don't live in caves and tribes anymore, but our brains, unfortunately, have not caught up with that and so we have to teach them that food's always available. Lesley Logan 35:30  I love your permission to experiment and be curious, because I do think it is going to require, it's part of just being curious in our bodies, and that's something I'm like, really big, and that's why I love my Pilates because it's a way for me to be curious in my body. This is about being curious, not being perfect. This is about kind of understanding, and especially if you've never figured out what portions of food are going to put you in that positive three when you come at a negative three, versus what portions of food are you going to need if you're coming to negative five, these are good information to know, because then when you go out and you pick the meal, you can actually make that decision for yourself, and you can enjoy the company you're with, as opposed to being so focused on how many bites you're having or the macros like, my God, I could never. I couldn't. My friend is a macro coach, and I try, I literally try. I lasted one day, and I'm spending more time thinking about my food than I am anything else. And no offense to people who love their macros. Again, if it's working for you, that's great. But I think that what I truly love about what you're saying here and what your mission is is really to help people go back to food being part of the connection that they're trying to make in this world, and also really understanding what their needs are and meeting their body's needs.Lisa Salisbury 36:38  Yeah, totally. And when we appreciate food for what it is and for the relationships that we're forming when we eat together, we just don't require the need of food to be our comforter, compensator, celebrator, all the things that we use food for, we can drop all of that and still enjoy food at mealtime. Still be like this food is delicious, and still, sometimes, you know, we can eat the cookie or the breads or whatever you've previously said is off limits when we are eating these things in the right portions for our body. So most of the time, you feel gross when you eat those chocolate chip cookies, not because you had one, because you had four or five.Lesley Logan 37:24  Yeah, on a full stomach, because you finished your plate. Lisa Salisbury 37:27  Yeah, yeah. Right? So we're like, oh yeah, sweets, they make me feel sick. Do they? Or did you just not leave room in your hunger scale for them? Like, if you stop, if you're like, oh hey, it's a dessert night, because, for whatever reason, you know, you made dessert or, I mean, I had fresh plums coming out my ears. We have this tree that reaches across our yard, and I swear, we get more plums than the neighbor does that actually grows the tree. And so, you know, I make a plum, a plum cobbler, so it's a dessert night. I keep that in mind when I'm eating dinner, because I'm like, I want to enjoy the plum cobbler, and so I include it as part of my hunger scale with that whole meal. Lesley Logan 38:07  Lisa, thank you for opening our eyes up, because there's a lot that we have all learned here today. It's been permission-giving and also fun and a way to be curious. And I love your hunger scale. So you've given us so much, we'll take a brief break and then find out how people can find you, follow you and work with you. Lesley Logan 38:24  All right, Lisa, where do you hang out? Where can people connect with you more?Lisa Salisbury 38:27  So mostly, I'm on Instagram that's Well_With_Lisa, well with Lisa with those spaces in there and a lot of Instagram links you back to my podcast. I share a lot of the podcast content on Instagram, and that's Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well on any of your favorite podcast platforms. Lesley Logan 38:46  Awesome. Okay, you've given us a lot. Actually, you've given us some amazing stuff. I know my overachiever perfectionists are already writing down the hunger scale, but bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it, what are some of those that you have for us? Lisa Salisbury 39:01  Okay, so I'm just all about eating the amount that's right for your body, paying no attention to food scales, paying no attention, like, to your the scale in your kitchen. So I think you can do this by just experimenting with bites. Leave two bites behind at every meal this week, and experiment with being the person who is allowed to waste food, because that's very tricky sometimes, and so one or two bites is not going to make a difference much on your hunger, but it's kind of like being it till you see it, meaning you're like, not quite using the hunger scale, but you're experimenting with it. And so that's one of my favorite challenges for my clients, is the two bite challenge. We leave two bites at dinner, every meal if you want, primarily just dinner and see how you feel, looking at that food on your plate, and then also checking in with your hunger. Maybe next week you're going to dish up two bites less. I don't know. Maybe you actually needed more food, so next week you're going to dish up two bites more. But just experiment with it and allow yourself to leave food behind and just really check in and see how that feels. Lesley Logan 40:16  I love this. I really do. I think the easy, wonderful challenge that's not going to be easy for some people, but it's going to be possible. I should say, that's going to be possible for people, it's not enough to go buy out, to go buy anything. It's something that you're already doing. And I also think how cool that once you start to figure out what you need, and each day may be different, like you might need more, might need less. It's not like you're wasting food forever. You're actually going to start to learn what you need, and so you're giving people so much permission and power and putting it back in their hands. So thank you so much, Lisa, for being here. Thank you for all of your tips. I think this is going to be really helpful. Also, I think, for parents who have kids, what a wonderful way to help them understand, you know, their own figuring out, like, how hungry are you? I had a girlfriend whose kids would come and go, hey, I'm hungry. Can I have a snack? And she's like, okay, dinner is going to be in two hours. So whatever snack you choose, make sure it's going to sustain you for two hours. Shouldn't say ruin dinner. She always would say, like, let's make sure it's going to sustain you for two hours, so we're not going to need another snack before then. And she really helped them learn, like, which choice should I have? Should I have the grapes or should I have the beef jerky? She helped them figure that out. So I think that this is really fun information that people can use in their own lives first and then also with the people around them. So thank you, Lisa. Lesley Logan 41:26  You guys, how are you going to use these tips in your life? Make sure you let Lisa know. Let the Be It Pod know. Share this with a friend who needs to have, you know that friend who, like, is annoying to go to restaurants with, that one that will only go to one restaurant because that's one that she can eat at. You can share this with her, and she won't find out till right now why you did that. So, all right, loves, until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 41:50  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 42:31  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 42:37  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 42:42  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 42:48  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 42:52  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this Fuck Yeah Friday episode, Lesley Logan highlights an inspiring story of a young girl who turned her autism diagnosis into a celebration, reminding us all to embrace what makes us unique. She also shares incredible wins from the community, from finalizing a studio purchase to unexpected career opportunities that reinforced confidence. Tune in for a powerful reminder that outside validation can reinforce inner growth, and that celebrating your wins—big or small—fuels the path forward.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:A young girl's inspiring autism celebration and why embracing differences matters.The power of celebrating personal milestones, from final payments to career breakthroughs.How small steps create big shifts in confidence and opportunity.Lesley's journey to sustained energy—and the habits that made a difference.Why external validation can confirm the work we're already doing.Episode References/Links:Life on the Spectrum Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEGIy48ThBN If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Lesley Logan 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:05  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:47  Hello, Be It babe. How are we doing? Happy March 21st 2025. I'm practicing saying that because we are still recording these in January, because we've got stuff in February and things like that, that are going to get me out of town. I know I'm already back in town, but I'm getting ready to go out of town. That, such is the life we live. And so we must honor the time that we have. Lesley Logan 1:05  All right. So this episode is the time where we share something that's inspiring, that I saw online, that I'm like this just should inspire us all. We should all be so, like, this is amazing, very interesting to take note of. A win of yours, a win of mine, and a mantra. Really quick and simple. Lesley Logan 1:18  Okay, so this one came from @lifeotspectrum. I'm not really sure if it was like, oh, Life On The Spectrum. Duh, Lesley, get it together. OT. You know, usually they don't, usually put the T in the acronym, but there we go. So it says, point of view, your daughter is diagnosed with level two autism and asked for a party to tell her friends why she feels different. And I just think that's great. I think that's amazing. How beautiful is this child. She's like, oh, okay, I'm autistic. I'm gonna have a party so my friends can celebrate the differences in me. Brilliant, brilliant. You know, we should all have a party to celebrate our differences. Wouldn't that be so cool? So way to go. I believe her name is Ayla, and they said in the captions from Life On The Spectrum, like, slay queen, yes. And you know what's really funny? I don't think I would have thought of that, right? But it reminds me of I was getting my hair done, and I, finally, after six years, got a car, and it's a car I've wanted for a really long time. It's a really special car to me. It's a car that I've dreamed about. And I really, truly haven't had a vehicle. We have had the van, but I haven't had a car that can fit into a parking garage or, like, be valet or anything, for six years, and it hasn't gotten in the way, but it has. There's always a way around. There's like, another place to go to, but you have to go out of your way, right? And so when I showed her my car, she's like, you have to have a party for your car. And I was like, are you crazy? But actually she's not, because if I had been like Ayla, I could be like, I'm gonna do this. So Ayla, thank you so much for showing us that we can celebrate our uniquenesses with a party. And so maybe we should all do that. That's what we should all be doing. Lesley Logan 2:49  Okay, let's get to what your wins because it's so fun for you to hear your own win later on, after you've had it, in case you're having a day, and you're like, oh my goodness. And then you hear this, and you're like, oh, I had a win before. Yes, and also, and also for you listener, if you didn't send it in to see, like, what is possibly a win and how you might have had that in your life, right? So Melissa Capitano, on Wednesday, sent off my final payment to officially buy the studio from the previous owner. Still have some loans to pay off related to buying it, but I don't owe the seller anymore. Fuck yeah, that's amazing. It's so amazing to, like, make a final payment on something. You really have to celebrate that. How many of you have made a final payment on a credit card or on a student loan or on something and with red you know, one of these money coaches I listened to was just like, oh no, whenever you're paying a bill, you should do it from the highest light, from the highest place. So, Melissa, thank you for reminding us to do that. Lesley Logan 3:42  Kristin Salmans wrote, Contrology contacted me to write an article on the Spine Corrector and then emailed me again, asking to collaborate on a reel because of the ones I've done and tagged them in have been their best performing. Shocking on so many levels, and feeling honored and encouraged to keep doing what I'm doing. Didn't think any of that was in my strengths, but it's helped me to feel confident in areas I doubted myself. Also, Kim Young, as a motivator, using my Spine Corrector daily, wins all around. Isn't it so fun to get caught trying, just doing the thing, and then you get caught trying, and people see something in you, and it's, oh my God. Sometimes we have to have other people see something in us for us to go, I'm killing it. I'm doing a great job. So can't wait for your Contrology article to go out, Kristin, and I'm so happy you're loving your Contrology Spine Corrector. I love mine. It's one of my favorite things to be on. It's really, really beautiful. Lesley Logan 4:28  Okay, so a win of mine. I really want to highlight something, I think I mentioned it on a podcast that it's already come out, but I don't think I've celebrated it as a win with you guys. So on the last day of the tour. I mean, I guess I'd celebrate it with you. I talked about it on the podcast, but I just want to say I didn't actually celebrate it as a win, and I want to celebrate it as a win, because that's the message I preach. So on the last day of the tour, I had someone come up to me on the last event and and say, like, how do you have so much energy? And I have to say, a year before the winter tour, I did not end the year with a ton of energy, end of the year, not resentful or upset or like negative or not wanting to do what I do, nothing like that, but just kind of exhausted, a little whelmed, not overwhelmed or underwhelmed. Just okay, it's done, right? And her noticing that I had high energy at the end of a day, at the end of a long tour, after living out of a van for 36 days, there was a woman in me who was dancing with joy inside, because I was like, yes, you did it. And I will say that energy that she saw came from several wins compiled together. One of those is advocating for myself and finding some help with my hormones, which help with my sleep. Another is just years of continually keeping my practice up, and also boundaries, pretty strong ones that can annoy people sometimes. And I share this as a win because I knew I was doing all those things, and I even celebrated those ones along the way. You heard many of them, but it was really nice for someone outside to who it doesn't know me to see those things in me. And I was like, yes, because it's easy for us to get off of our own trains and off of our own dedications, and right before we could have had the outside validation to match the inside validation. Of course, the inside validation should be the only thing. But honestly, in a world of a lot of -ish, sometimes you need the outside validation to remind you that your inner validations is working. So I hope that makes sense. Anyways, essentially, my win is someone saw that I had the energy I've been working on getting and maintaining for a year ago, and it just made my day. Just made my day. And isn't that fun for something to make your day? It is for me. Lesley Logan 6:49  So, all right, let's pull a mantra. It's not even a mantra. This is, it's called The Deck and I actually have never, I know what I'm gonna pull. So, oh, this one's a, this one's a long, theirs are not mantras, because these are long. So here it is, and you can journal to it, right? We put the show notes of these podcasts out. You can journal to it. So, I embrace the mess my heart makes. It chooses to love. It chooses to feel. It chooses to wander far beyond the bounds of what seems like a logical decision. It risks being broken in order to stretch. It risks rejection in order to know the rush of being honest. It risks being wrong to see what might be right. So the mantra is, I embrace the mess my heart makes. And the journey to that is it chooses to love, it chooses to feel, it chooses to wander far beyond the balance of what seems like a logical decision. It risks being broken in order to stretch. It risks rejection in order to know the rush of being honest. It risks being wrong to see what might be right. What a beautiful poem. That's a poem for us today. Lesley Logan 7:55  All right, loves, Happy Friday. Send your wins in. I want to celebrate you. All right. Send them in just, to the Be It Pod, DM me, whatever. Let me know I can use it. I want to celebrate your win so you can hear them back and be reminded of the things that you're doing that are so great. Have an amazing day and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 8:13  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 8:54  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 8:59  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 9:03  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 9:10  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 9:14  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Making time for creativity and personal passions can feel impossible amid life's demands, but it doesn't have to be. In this episode, Lesley and Brad reflect on key insights from their conversation with Kristen McGuiness, including how she protects her creative energy while balancing work and family. Tune in for actionable tips on reclaiming your time and honoring your dreams.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How to establish and enforce boundaries that protect your personal goals.Why honoring your intuition leads to better decision-making and less regret.The value of intentional time for creativity and deep work.How to overcome guilt around prioritizing your personal passions.Why waiting for life to slow down before pursuing your dreams is a mistake.Episode References/Links:Cambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comOPC Spring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorPilates Flashcards - https://opc.me/flashcardsRise Literary Website - https://riseliterary.comRise Literary Instagram - https://instagram.com/riseliteraryKristen McGuiness Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kristenmcguiness If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  Even if we call it a boundary, just so you know, you also don't have to explain why your boundaries exist. Brad Crowell 0:04  You don't. Lesley Logan 0:04  And if you need help with that, the holistic psychologist constantly reminds you that you actually do not have to explain why a boundary is a boundary that is.Brad Crowell 0:12  It just is. Lesley Logan 0:13  It just is. Lesley Logan 0:14  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:57  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the groundbreaking convo I had with Kristen McGuiness in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause us now, go back and listen to that one and then come back and join us.Brad Crowell 1:12  No hard feelings. We'll still be here. Lesley Logan 1:14  She's a great. Brad Crowell 1:15  Oh yeah. Lesley Logan 1:16  I have actually shared her. Brad Crowell 1:18  Okay, so hold on. Did she write the book that you read, that you told me? Lesley Logan 1:22  Different book. But. Brad Crowell 1:23  Oh, really? Lesley Logan 1:23  Yes, I know. Brad Crowell 1:25  Okay, okay, okay. Lesley Logan 1:26  I know, yes, yeah, no, different book, but same topic. At any rate, it's in my TBRs still, Kristen, I'm so sorry.Brad Crowell 1:33  What's a TBR? Lesley Logan 1:34  To be read. Yeah, this is a TBR. There's no, you know, I anyways, it's, I'm really excited because I really, so, I have actually talked about her multiple times to multiple people, because this woman, when I interviewed her, she was on her monthly like, three days in a hotel to get her shit written, like to get things done. And I just love that this woman was okay. I'm not gonna get anything done. I'm not gonna even try. I'm just going to keep the wheels on the bus, and then every month, I get several days at a hotel uninterrupted. I'm like, I want, I don't even have kids, and I want that. Anyways, before we talk about that, let's talk about how it's March 20th 2025 and it's International Day of Happiness. If you're happy and you know it, celebrate it on International Day of Happiness on March 20th. Brad Crowell 2:21  I thought you were going to clap your hands. Right. Lesley Logan 2:24  Anyways, when I was a kid, my mom would always sing that all the time, so. Brad Crowell 2:27  That's so fun. Lesley Logan 2:28  Other than being in a neutral state, happy is how we should mostly be. Okay. Brad Crowell 2:35  Yeah. Don't fuck it up.Lesley Logan 2:36  Unfortunately, emotions, just feel like that's a lot of pressure. Unfortunately, emotions like anger and sadness are increasingly becoming a default way to be for a lot of us. So here's a day to cheer up and appreciate the good things and silver linings in life. So as you listen to Pharrell Williams's ‘Happy' on repeat, also take a minute this March 20th to consider what truly makes you happy, and how you can pursue it. Well, I can get down with that part of the holiday. Why don't you really take some time to journal what makes me happy, and how can I pursue that more? Brad Crowell 2:43  All right. Lesley Logan 2:54  That's the only part of the song you know. Because I'm happy.Brad Crowell 3:13  That's the best part of the song. Lesley Logan 3:23  Okay. Well, anyways. Brad Crowell 3:24  Good job. Nailing it. Lesley Logan 3:25  We are back from Pilates On Tour. We are home for a little bit, and we are in the middle of the Accessories Flashcard presale. And I promised Brad I was not going to talk about it, but he clearly is sneaking into the show notes. So I'm just going to say, if you know, you know. Brad Crowell 3:41  If you know, you know.Lesley Logan 3:42  And that's how it's gonna be. If you know, you know. Brad Crowell 3:45  And if you don't know, and you're like, what? Lesley Logan 3:46  Go listen to the other recap episode and get the link. But I'm.Brad Crowell 3:49  DM us. Lesley Logan 3:50  But I'm I want you to take or I want you to take action steps sooner. Okay, all right. So what's coming up next that you need to know about is our Spring Training. It is April 27th through May 3rd. It's going to be virtual. There'll be live events and there is replays. So don't worry about it if you are like, oh my God, it's the busiest week of my life, I promise you, you'll be able to attend the things on replay. You want to go to opc.me/events. Pretty soon, I'll tell you what the theme is going to be about this Spring Training. But all the OPC teachers and myself are teaching multiple classes over the week on different pieces of apparatus for different levels of bodies, so that every Pilates lover of any level can have access to moving with accountability, Q&A to get feedback on their form and potentially seeing what OPC is all about. Brad Crowell 4:37  What is it about? Lesley Logan 4:39  Opc.me/events plural to get on the waitlist, which means you get the discount. What's next, Brad? Brad Crowell 4:44  All right. All right. Pilates business owners. Calling all Pilates business owners, go to prfit.biz/accelerator for a free webinar where we're going to dig into the biggest three secrets that Lesley and I have learned after coaching 2500 businesses just like yours, whether you are teaching someone at home, whether you're renting space with someone, or whether you've got a big team in a brick and mortar studio, these three secrets all apply to you, and it's all about how do we make more money? How do we make our businesses actually profitable? And that's what we do at Profitable Pilates. So come join me. It is free, prfit.biz/accelerator. That is profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. And then finally, what is the last note? Lesley Logan 5:28  Well, you guys have to come to Cambodia with us on a Pilates retreat. Brad Crowell 5:30  Obviously. Lesley Logan 5:31  And some breath work and some visualization and some tips and tools and workshops on how to actually make your life the way you want to live it. Plus you get to see incredible temples that are a thousand years old or older. Brad Crowell 5:43  Mind blowing. Lesley Logan 5:43  You get to go on a beautiful water cruise, and it is incredible because you actually get to see how a city can thrive on the water, and the community they work in.Brad Crowell 5:52  They literally live on boats. Lesley Logan 5:53  Yeah and the community they work in. And this is not some sort of like weird tourism thing. We actually get permission by a community to go into the water. You can see how the city is built. And you actually get to attend one of these amazing shops, where you get to see how women can work remotely, making beautiful pieces of things you can buy, and you can support the village in an incredible way. It's so fun. It's so relaxing. It's really nice, because after all the breath work you'll have done that day, you just go out and just be in peace and not taking in, like, overwhelming information. And then also, we go to a lotus farm, and you can just see how this one guy's company uses every single piece of a lotus flower to not only create beautiful things you want to buy, but also energy in remote places. It's quite amazing. Brad Crowell 6:40  It is astounding. Lesley Logan 6:40  It's astound, I mean, it's like, this, it's this guy's like, how can I, like, change the world? And he is doing it and we get to go show you that. So it's in October. You want to go to crowsnestretreats.com to snag your spot. If you're like, I'm gonna do the next one. We haven't planned it yet. Brad Crowell 6:53  We haven't planned it yet. Lesley Logan 6:55  And that is because this is your next time. This is the time.Brad Crowell 6:57  This is your next time.Lesley Logan 6:58  So come.Brad Crowell 6:59  Yeah. So join us at the end of this year, in October, looking forward to it. Lesley Logan 7:03  It's a great time. It's before all the chaos of the end of the year. So it's a really good time, because. Brad Crowell 7:07  It really is. Lesley Logan 7:08  You can reset before the chaos of the holidays, and then you'll have all these tools and things that we'll have done in the workshops and the Pilates to help set you up for 2026.Brad Crowell 7:17  Some breath work, some mindset. Go to crowsnestretreats.com crowsnestretreats.com. Okay, we have an audience question before we dig into this awesome conversation with Kristen McGuiness.Lesley Logan 7:28  That was August. That earthquake, you guys, if you're watching on YouTube, was her, it's earthquake August. Brad Crowell 7:33  Earthquake August. Okay, love_Danielle on IG asks, when will your flashcards be available again on Amazon and is there a discount code available?Lesley Logan 7:44  So the time this comes out, we should be back stocked on Amazon. We were selling out all of our OG Matt decks, and we had to completely sell out of that deck on Amazon before the new mat deck could come up. So that's now available on Amazon. Our Reformer Deck is our bestselling deck.Brad Crowell 8:02  It's hard to keep in stock, not a lot. Lesley Logan 8:04  It's hard to keep in stock. Brad Crowell 8:05  Thank you for supporting us. Lesley Logan 8:06  So thank you. We love that you love it. And at the time that you were asking this question, we did have some in stock on our website, but not on Amazon. So what we'll say is we should be stocked on Amazon. We do not have discount codes available for any of our decks, and it's mostly because actually, we're really a small business, guys, and these decks are really a lot of work to put together, and they actually cost a lot of money to print out. And so while we would love to just give the discounts around everywhere, we do have to make sure that they continue to pay for themselves. We continue hitting print on them. And so you can buy them on Amazon. You could also buy them from us, and if you buy them from us, we obviously can make more money to support more Pilates adventures that are out there. We do.Brad Crowell 8:47  We love Amazon, but they take a whole lot. We have a love-hate relationship with Amazon. Lesley Logan 8:51  At the moment, if you are the people trying to do your best to boycott places like Amazon and Target and things like that, we fully support you. And what you can do in your targeting of boycotts is be very intentional about who you're shopping from. So if you are going to shop on Amazon, shopping from people like us is a great thing. Small businesses, because it really does affect us in a positive way, Amazon allows people to find our products who don't know us, and so that's why we are there. It's not because we're like pro everything that they do, we actually need to be found. Brad Crowell 9:22  We intentionally sell on our website.Lesley Logan 9:24  Yeah. So if you buy from our website, it's better for all of us. And then the people that you're not enjoying and want, not wanting them to make money, don't. So you can buy from us, and then we get it all. Brad Crowell 9:33  Yeah. So go to opc.me/flashcards. Lesley Logan 9:36  So in case you're wondering why we're on there, if you don't own a business with products, you need to understand that the way the world works, we, unfortunately, as product based businesses, have to be where people already are. And so that exposes them to OPC, and then hopefully they come over to our side, and then they find all of our amazing stuff. But I don't judge any of the people who shop on there, because we do, too. It's convenient. So anyways, all this to say, yes, they're there. They should be back in stock, and you can also buy from us. Brad Crowell 10:07  Awesome. Well, stick around. We'll be right back, because we're going to talk with Kristen McGuiness, who is an author. And she talks about how does she escape the chaos of being an entrepreneur and being a mom to be able to write books. So, pretty cool stuff. Great conversation. She sounds amazing. Stick around. We'll be right back.Brad Crowell 10:27  Okay, now, let's talk about Kristen McGuiness. Kristen is a bestselling author, book publisher and a book coach with a deep passion for storytelling and empowering others to find their own voice. With years of experience, Kristen has helped countless others bring their ideas to life. Her own writing journey includes her novel, Live Through This, a compelling and thought-provoking exploration of resilience and activism. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Kristen is a mother, an entrepreneur who believes in creating space for creativity and living a life aligned with purpose. Lesley Logan 11:00  I mean, thank you Roxy Menzies, who introduced us. Because I just. Brad Crowell 11:04  I was wondering how the dots got connected there. Lesley Logan 11:06  Yeah, yeah. I really enjoyed this intro. I feel like, if we lived in Ohio, Santa Barbara, we would all be friends. We'd be, you know, doing life in the daytime, and then I would figure out when she's gonna be at that hotel, and I would get another room, and then we could have drinks at the end of the day, going, what did you fucking create? Like, this is what I dreamed of, Kristen. Anyways, I just think she'd be cool, but I also appreciated her vulnerability and honesty. I feel sometimes a lot of moms have to, like, show us all the hats that they can wear in a day. And Kristen was pretty honest about how, no. So she said, I think my creative fuel tank is the same place where I draw my maternal energy from. They are both creative forces. When I'm in my mom mode, I'm running off of that creative fuel in the same way I would be if I was writing or editing. But she highlighted the importance of taking time for herself, and she said, at the end of the day, I've got nothing left. I mean, I could do an Excel spreadsheet, but I'm not going to come with a masterpiece. And I actually, really love that. She is actually not putting pressure on herself to write something amazing. On the same day, she just ran a household, and I found that to be cool. Brad Crowell 11:06  It's amazing permission. Lesley Logan 11:06  Yeah, amazing permission. I do. I think that, well, it takes a lot because you're like, oh, but you got this thing that you want to write, this thing you want to do, and a creative is like, I've got to birth this thing. And I really think it's cool that she gives herself permission to be where she's at and do what she's doing, wherever that is. So if she's at the hotel writing her work or her masterpiece, she's not mom and the children. She and her partner have set things up so that she can do that. And I have a lot of girlfriends who have children, and I find even more together, they're not as present as I love them to be, because that boundary isn't there yet. And I think that what's so cool is Kristen gives herself permission to, I have a boundary for my work when I'm with my kids, and I have a boundary for my family when I'm doing this work. And I just think we all could take, even if you don't have kids, you could take permission for that. Go to, I want to go to a hotel this month just by myself.Brad Crowell 13:03  Me too. Lesley Logan 13:04  Well, maybe not march. This is a, this is a heck of a month, but April, I'm doing it in April.Brad Crowell 13:09  Okay, okay. I have a couple things. She said one thing that I thought was really interesting, she commented on being a grown ass woman still having to tell her parents that she's going to a conference when she just rented a fucking hotel room for herself because of the generational assumption of work hard, play hard. Okay, this was like a super side note. Nothing to do with writing, but I thought it was such an interesting observation. It made me think about it as I was listening to the interview. You know, she said her parents' generation is actually sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice until you get retired and then y'all can go, you know, take a long walk. The rest of my life is for me. I'm never doing anything for anybody ever again, as opposed to the way that she's doing her life, which I think is very generational, because I'm more associated with her. My parents very much are in the way that her parents are. But she's like how can I enjoy some of my life now and not have to wait till I'm 65 and retired to in quote-unquote, enjoy my life, and also this idea of just like 1,000% self sacrifice until that time, maybe there's a happy medium in there that I think we can have. So anyway, that is not what we had written down here for me to chat about today, but I just thought it was so powerful that I wanted to reiterate that. Lesley Logan 14:29  Also, just in case anyone feels guilty about a fib like that, that is, don't, sometimes people in our lives are just not going to understand why we do what we do. We don't need their permission. We don't actually need them to understand. So just tell them what they need to hear so you can go do the thing you want to do. Brad Crowell 14:47  Well, actually, instead of encouraging people to lie, that's not what we're encouraging here, what I think is a better through line is it's another boundary. She created a boundary between, you know, she heard her mom for this specific experience, so that she doesn't have to go through this emotional roller coaster and then justify all the thing and the expense and the la, la, la, you know, and then be judged. And you know, all that.Lesley Logan 14:48  When you also speak, even if we call it boundary, just so you know, you also don't have to explain why your boundaries exist. Brad Crowell 15:20  You don't. Lesley Logan 15:20  And if you need help with that, the holistic psychologist constantly reminds you that you actually do not have to explain why a boundary is a boundary that. Brad Crowell 15:28  It just is. Lesley Logan 15:28  It just is. Brad Crowell 15:29  Yep, that being said, she was talking about control, right? And she said hey, we clearly can't control things around us. The only thing that we can control are the choices that we make when the things around us are happening. What she was talking about was she's an entrepreneur. Her husband is an entrepreneur. They run different businesses. They also have children. And she's a writer. She said she was reflecting on finding agency in the midst of chaos. And, you know, obviously the most glaring example would be COVID. Like you already mentioned, you could set everything up, but then kablam COVID comes around. She said you need to flip the way you're looking at it, instead of like this shit is happening to me. She said you get to create your own pathway through whatever it is that you're navigating, and that's an opportunity that you have more control over, instead of it's happening to me. So she acknowledged life's unpredictability and emphasized it's just this thing of at a certain point you didn't hit that first domino, and you just have to sometimes be okay, we're in the pressure cooker right now, but relief is always on the way, right? And she shared she had a mantra. I actually thought it was great, because she clearly knows our audience. She said, I'm gonna write my way through this chaos. I'm gonna write my way through it because she's a writer. She said, maybe for you guys, you're gonna have to Pilates your way through the chaos. You know what I mean, wherever is your safe zone.Lesley Logan 16:51  I agree, whether you write or do Pilates, there has to be something that you're doing for yourself to process what you're going through. When I found out that Jay had passed away, it was on a Tuesday, and I still showed up for my session on Wednesday. And it's because moving through the grief made it actually easier to grieve. Or when there's a lot going on, you might just want to, like, keep watching the news and just watch them repeat that shit over and over again to keep you there until the next ad break. Or you can go move your body and get CliffsNotes later, because we have to, or you can go write, or you can go journal, or whatever it is, we have to have some way of processing what we're going through so that we can go back to the beginning, whatever the next step is, and keep going. I find that in today's chaos, a lot of people are waiting for things to be better before they take the first next step, and sometimes you just have to take it. So, you can use whatever that creative energy is to use that to go through whatever is going on.Brad Crowell 16:51  Yeah, well, listen, stick around. We'll be right back, because we're going to dig into some really juicy be it action items that we had. Lesley Logan 17:07  It's such a good, such a robust episode.Brad Crowell 17:58  With Kristen McGuiness. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 18:01  Welcome back. All right, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted action items can we take away from your conversation with Kristen McGuiness? She said if I care about my creative careers, whatever that thing is that I love to do or that you love to do, you've got to create a boundary around it and hold that sacred, okay? So this is, again, the through line here of today's episode is boundaries. She shared that if you truly care about something, whether it is a creative project, a personal passion, personal passion, or even self-care, you must be intentional about carving out time to do it. Right? There's no question about it. Setting clear boundaries allows you to dedicate energy towards what it is that actually fulfills you, even when life gets demanding. And I think that's the hardest part. She said it's about creating those pockets of freedom, the pockets of concentration and the pockets of creativity. So we've got the POFs.Lesley Logan 18:58  The POFs, POC and POC again. Brad Crowell 19:01  Yeah, POF. We'll call them POFs, Pockets Of Freedom. And I think that's another argument for taking time to the hotel like she did. Lesley Logan 19:09  Those all fall under gemstone time. Brad Crowell 19:12  That's right. Lesley Logan 19:13  So, if you come on my retreat, or you've ever heard me talk about how to create an ideal schedule, your gemstone time is time you have to protect. Brad Crowell 19:21  Gotta protect it. Lesley Logan 19:21  And it is the time where you do things that you need to concentrate and be creative on. So, you know, the things that can propel your life and your dreams forward.Brad Crowell 19:30  Yeah, actually moving things forward. So, what about you? Lesley Logan 19:33  Never lose sight of your dreams no matter what. She said this and I think one of the authors that Oprah quoteed was Gertrude Lyons who said, "The only times I've ever made mistakes in life is when I've chosen to ignore that voice." So that voice being your intuition, the thing that you want to do. And I think that's so true. I think we can all look back and look at things we regret, and it's like, oh, I didn't turn left when I knew I should have, I turned right or I should have done this. And she said, as long as you're listening to the small, quiet voice inside you, you will lways end up where you need to go. And this is actually just one of the truest things. I mean, just like us sitting here in this house, this was like a small voice going kitchen both now, think you should go now, think, you know what I mean, and not letting all the things. Brad Crowell 20:13  I think you should go now. I think you should go now. Lesley Logan 20:19  What if we made a meditation, which is like, I think you should go now. Brad Crowell 20:22  Today is the day that you should go.Lesley Logan 20:29  Create a boundary. Brad Crowell 20:31  Going is what today is for. Lesley Logan 20:34  Boundaries are kind.Lesley Logan 20:36  Anyways, I hope that you take some time to listen to Kristen's episode a couple of times. And really, ladies, especially my ladies, I know there's a few good men who listen, but ladies, I hope you realize this person, she's not perfect. She's not claiming to be perfect. She is really, truly honoring what is possible and when it's possible, and making sure that she doesn't ever stop focusing on what her dreams are, even if it means they're in pockets of freedom and pockets of concentration. So. Brad Crowell 21:01  Tell us about your POFs. Lesley Logan 21:02  We want to know. Brad Crowell 21:03  Yeah. Lesley Logan 21:04  Yeah. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 21:05  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 21:06  Thank you so much for listening to this episode, and every episode you listen. This is episode 500. Brad Crowell 21:10  Five hundo.Lesley Logan 21:11  Cue the balloons. Nope. You don't have it on your thing. I would. I just, if you're, okay, well, if you, I think you did, it's okay. It's beyond. It's past now. If you're listening, they don't even know, but we're trying to do balloons. There we go, confetti, on the, on the YouTube. You can see it on the YouTube. We love you. You're amazing. And we couldn't have gotten to 500 episodes without you listening and you writing in and you sending your questions in, and you sending your you got to make it more of a heart, babe if you're going to do it, and and then you've got to send in your win so we can shout them out on the FYFs because we want to constantly support you. That's what this podcast is about. So thank you for your love, for your sharing, all of that and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 21:58  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 22:00  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 22:43  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 22:48  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 22:52  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 22:59  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 23:02  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley Logan speaks with author and publisher Kristen McGuiness about balancing motherhood, entrepreneurship, and creative pursuits. Kristen shares her journey in publishing, how she makes time for writing, and the inspiration behind her novel Live Through This. She also discusses activism, navigating personal challenges, and the importance of following your inner voice.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How Kristen transitioned from editor to author while working in the publishing industry.The realities of balancing motherhood and a creative career.Why creating boundaries around personal time is essential for productivity.The inspiration behind Live Through This and its connection to real-world issues.Different forms of activism and how storytelling can drive change.The importance of trusting your intuition and taking action despite uncertainty.Episode References/Links:Rise Literary Website - https://riseliterary.comRise Literary Instagram - https://instagram.com/riseliteraryKristen McGuiness Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kristenmcguiness/Guest Bio:Kristen McGuiness is the bestselling author of 51/50: The Magical Adventures of a Single Life, which was optioned by Original Films/CBS Cable with Alison Brie attached to star, and her new novel, Live Through This, which was released from Rise Books on October 10, 2023. She has over twenty years' experience in book publishing, as an author, editor, and book publisher, with such houses as St. Martin's Press, Simon & Schuster, and Harper Collins. Kristen is the publisher of Rise Books, launching in 2023, which publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry of radical inspiration, and also runs the book coaching company, Rise Writers, which provides book coaching and management for emerging and established authors. Kristen has appeared on the “TODAY Show,” in USA Today, and in Marie Claire, and has written for numerous publications, including Rolling Stone, Marie Claire, Shondaland, Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Psychology Today, Salon, and The Fix. She lives in Ojai, CA with her husband, two children, and a dog named Peter. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Kristen McGuiness 0:00  I'm a mom who prioritizes being a mom, but I also don't want to lose myself in that activity, and I don't think that is healthy for my children either.Lesley Logan 0:10  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Be It babe, oh my gosh. Okay, I felt like I just met a dear friend who I've never known. But it's kind of shocking how we didn't know each other before, because I felt like our paths would have crossed. She's an author, she's a publisher, she's a mom, she's an honest, vulnerable human being who I think is going to inspire the heck out of you to lean into who you are and how you do things. And I just really, truly love this conversation. We are going to talk a lot about how Kristen McGuiness got into books, what her world is in books, how she does it and writes especially with kiddos. You're gonna hear some great ideas I hope you use. I love her quotes at the end. I will just say that we do get into talking a little bit about mass shootings and school shootings because of her fiction book. So just protect your heart if that is something raw for you in this moment. But I hope you listen, because I actually can't wait to read her book, and so I'm gonna read it before I do the recap, because it just sounds really cool, and I'm really inspired in this moment. And so I'm saying this after I interviewed her, so I know that you'll be inspired as soon as you're done listening to this. So here is Kristen McGuiness. All right, Be It babe. This is going to be fabulous. I already know it. I just met Kristen McGuiness a minute ago, but I can tell by who she is and what she's been up to that you are going to love this person, because, like you, they wear many hats. So Kristen, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?Kristen McGuiness 2:11  Absolutely and thank you for having me on I'm so glad we were finally able to do this. And it always ends up being perfect timing when you get to do these things and the day and moment you get to do them, when it, you know, made sense at the other time. But, yeah, I'm Kristen McGuiness and I'm a book lady. I mean, I think that's the or a book bitch, depending on the moment. But I've been doing books my whole life, you know, since I was a kid, I always say they're my first addiction. I ended up gathering more than that, less healthy addictions, but I started with books. And just, you know, the places and imagination that we get to escape to when we're reading. And it's no wonder that that became my profession. I continued to love books, you know, try to write books. I ended up starting my career in book publishing at St. Martin's Press and Simon & Schuster and then later Harper Collins. I worked as a book scout in Hollywood for a brief bit, like reading books to develop into movies for Warner Brothers. And then I became a book publisher and a book coach and a bestselling author myself. So it's just, it's all books all the time. That's what I do, and a big and amazing part of that has been helping other people write their books. Lesley Logan 3:21  Okay. That is so fun. That's so cool. I imagine you as like a girl, little girl, like reading all the time, and then you get to just read all the time. Like, how fun is that? Okay. I think where I'd want to start is, it sounds like you were in books, but then you wrote a book. So what was it like to go from reading other people's work and, like, not picking it apart but going, oh, this would be great for this, or this is great for this, and then to writing your own? Was it an easy transition? Were you nervous? Were you excited? Like, what was going on?Kristen McGuiness 3:49  You know, there's some editors that are happy to be editors, and they know that's like, what they love to do. I was always an editor who wanted to be a writer, and so that's just a different dynamic. And I still love editing. I mean, I can simultaneously be editing a book and writing a book at the same time and enjoy both processes. And I mean, honestly, sometimes the editing is more fun because, you know, the stakes aren't as high, right? Like, and it's not on me. I mean, it's on me to help it be good, but I'm not the source of the goodness. Whereas when you were the author, it's really hard to be like, I'm a shitty editor. It's really easy to be like, I'm a shitty writer. So I really enjoy getting to do both. But I was definitely always someone who wanted to do both. I mean, I ended up leaving book publishing, and that's how I wrote my first book. I went into the world of nonprofits, and that became like a secondary career to books during a period of my life just because I moved out to California and there was no, I mean, now there's more opportunities in that field, but at that time, there was, like, no book publishing in Southern California, and I preferred I wanted the weather. So I chose weather over books.Lesley Logan 4:55  Wow, you really wanted the weather.Kristen McGuiness 4:59  I do. I really like the sun. Lesley Logan 5:00  Oh my God. Well, and you have some sun going on you. And also, I understand that, as someone who's California born and raised, I can visit a city, and I'm like, I could do two weeks in this weather, but I gotta go back.Kristen McGuiness 5:12  Yeah, no, I very romantically lived in Paris for one year, and my friends all joke about, like, how much Kristen hates Paris. And I'm like, I don't hate Paris. It was just that it was gray every day, and I ended up with seasonal affective disorder. Like it wasn't, I mean, it was like nothing I could control. I was just horrifically depressed and wanted to throw myself into the sun every day. But I'm like, it really wasn't Paris's fault. I just need sunshine. Lesley Logan 5:36  It's just like the location of Paris is just not ideal.Kristen McGuiness 5:41  If I could pick it up and move it somewhere else, that'd be fantastic. So I, you know, I ended up moving out to California and ended up in nonprofits, and that's when I did write my first book. And I think I did have to remove myself from the book publishing industry in order to write a book. And I don't think that's true anymore. I'm doing both very simultaneously right now, but in that period of my life, I did so that I could just really have that fuel tank of creative energy just for me. Lesley Logan 6:10  Yeah, yeah. I understand that. I I think, like even just to not have distractions or especially with something new, even though books weren't new to you, but writing your own is a new thing. You kind of have to, like, kind of immerse yourself so you can really get into it. You know, I know your mom, and I think having all of these hats and then having kids, I know, like, for our listeners, there's always people going, how do they balance it? And I don't have children. So when I say, I don't think balance is real. People nod, but don't really listen to me, because like, but I don't I think that there's a blend. And I think that, you know, my yoga teacher says balance is the art of not falling, and that just means that you're kind of tilting over here, and then you're tilting over here and you're trying not to fall either way. And that resonates with me. But can we talk a little about what it's like to be curating this amazing career that you have, you know, being in books, of writing books and being a publisher and doing that while, you know, parenting and bringing kids into this world. What was it like? Kristen McGuiness 7:06  Well, that's why I'm in a hotel room right now. So, you were like, so how do you, I'm like, I literally go to a hotel room two nights a month. That's what I do. And I joke, again, I'm a former addict, so it's like a drug vendor. I'm like a Hunter Biden, but with books. So I just, like, pull myself up in a hotel room for like, 48 hours, and I just write like a wild Banshee with caffeine and Red Bull. I mean, I find, though, whatever that looks like for people, I do think it's about creating the pockets of freedom and the pockets of concentration and the pockets of creativity, because, I mean, I'm also just somebody, like, I always eat one thing at a time. I'm not good at, like, fully integrating. So I can't be in the middle of parenting and then be like, give me five kids. I'm gonna go edit a book. My brain doesn't work that way. And I do think, speaking of the creative fuel tank, I think, at least for me, my creative fuel tank is the same place where I draw my maternal energy from, not surprisingly, because they're both creative forces. And so when I'm in my mom mode and I'm really with my kids, I am running off that creative fuel in the same way I would be if I was writing or editing. So I think it is really hard to be a creative and a mom, because if I've been momming all day long, like I, at the end of the day, I've got nothing left. I mean, I could, like, do an Excel spreadsheet. I can put the dishes in the dishwasher, but I'm not going to come up with a masterpiece. And so I've really learned how to pull this time out. Hence, I mean, I wrote a screenplay in the last 12 hours, that's what I have done here today. So I came here yesterday at 3pm and I was like, we're writing a screenplay before I got that podcast tomorrow, and I literally finished it right before we began. But that's how I've learned to like, if I'm if I care about my creative career, which is not even a career that pays my bills. I mean, that's still, you know? I mean, it's still, like a speculative career, if I care about that, whatever that thing is that you love to do, like, I've got to really create a boundary for myself to make that something that I hold sacred.Lesley Logan 9:14  I am obsessed with this. I love this so much. I really do. I, first of all, my friends make fun of me because I'm like, oh, you're going there. This is my favorite hotel. Because I love a hotel. I find I get so much done. I wasn't even in a hotel on Monday, but I was at a friend's house, it kind of felt like a hotel. And I was like, oh, I got all my work done in three hours. Okay. And I was like, that is so funny, because when you're at home, there's so many distractions. Like, before we're on this podcast, we have an older dog. By the time this episode comes out, it's probably passed at this point, but, you know, it's hard. It's how you're like, oh, okay, so we're gonna be late on that call because I got this thing, and then I gotta do some laundry. And you just can't be that creative person. You have to kind of remove yourself. But I also just love that you highlight, like, I have pockets of this, and I think protecting those pockets, like a pocket of this type of thing I'm going to focus on this here. It allows you to kind of show up and be their best version of yourself in that moment, and not kind of stress about all the things you thought you'd fill in those two hours. Kristen McGuiness 10:08  Yeah, yeah, I've learned. I mean, I've, I mean, look, I think most moms struggle with self sacrifice because motherhood really demands it. I mean, it is hard you constantly or be laboring like, how do I, I don't want to put myself ahead of my kids. I mean, I want to, you know, I mean, they are in and I have young children. I have a five year old and a nine year old. I mean, the nine year is obviously more independent, but they're still school-aged children. I don't have teenagers at home, and so there is a lot of caregiving, physical, emotional, psychological that is taking place. And I want to prioritize that I am a mom who prioritizes being a mom, but I also don't want to lose myself in that activity, and I don't think that is healthy for my children either. And when I do lose myself, that's when I am my worst mom, that's when I'm angry, that's when I'm quick to temper. It's when I don't feel like I'm getting to take care of me. And so I've just really learned that, you know, I come, you know, my mom's, like, a boomer, we're actually in a fight right now, so it's really interesting. And we're, and it's a fight about exactly these things like these intergenerational dynamics of like, I have to, like, still lie to my parents and tell them that I'm here doing a business meeting. Because they'd be like, why are you spending money on a hotel to work on a screenplay that you're not getting paid to do? And I'm like, because I will go insane, otherwise, it is so valuable for me to stay sane and creative and whole and human. My mom came from a generation, although she's incredibly makes very selfish choices now, like it was all about, like, you sacrifice all the way up until retirement, and then you just get to be selfish every minute of the day. And I'm like, that doesn't look I mean, I think we've seen by the gross impacts of your generation's choices, that probably wasn't a good idea. But also I don't think that makes it like a well-lived life. I want to feel like I'm getting to show up for others and getting to show up for me in some level of consistency. And I absolutely agree, like balance is just not falling down. And also, sometimes I think balance is falling down because that's also part of it. You're like, oh, fuck. You know, like, I'm off. But I do think creating that integration between we take care of others, but we still take care of ourselves and our dreams and who we are, and not losing that identity that exists before, during and long after our children are grown.Lesley Logan 12:22  Yeah, and also, I just think it's really cool for your young kids to see that you do protect the things that you love. You protect your time with them, but also they're seeing you go and protect the time for who, like, whether or not you get paid for the screenplay. Like, it's not about that, because the screenplay could lead to something else, into something else, but, like, it makes you feel whole, and it makes you feel alive, just as much as parenting would, but it's a different part of you. And so I think it's cool they get to see that, because then they get to, when they get older, know that there's an option for them, you know, like, there's, there's possibilities, and there's ways they get to see it an example. Kristen McGuiness 12:57  Yeah, no, I, and I think it's really about like showing. It's, I mean, again, I've just written, like, literally, I'm just coming off of writing the screenplay, and there's a whole like, scene in the screenplay where one of the characters say, we can't control what happens around us, right? The only thing we can control are the choices we make in that, you know? I mean, I'm an entrepreneur. My husband is also an entrepreneur, which is just, I mean, the level of insanity that that brings, and especially in the last couple of years where, like, the global economics have been far out of our control, so we've been terribly impacted by sort of the larger financial environment. And I'm like, but you know what? We get to make choices within that. And that doesn't mean that all of them are happy, some of them are hard. But just to feel like I have no choice, and that this, well, this is just the way it is, right? And it's like, no, I mean, we get to create our own pathway through whatever we're navigating. To me, you know, I always say to myself, it's like my little mantra, like, I'm going to write my way through this, whatever is going on, I'm going to write my way through this. And that's just, you know, for others might be, I'm going to Pilates my way through this, right? Like, whatever the thing is that's your source of healing. And also the thing that helps you to understand how and why life happens. That's what you have to tap into. And without that, I mean, then I think you are just on the floor, right? Then you can't even, then there's no balance, because you can't even, like, you don't even have a foundation underneath you.Lesley Logan 14:16  Yeah, yeah, it's so true. There's a million things that go on in a day. I was just recording the podcast drops that we call FYFs, Fuck Yeah Friday, and it's just a short episode where I share listeners wins, and I share one of mine. And I was like, there's 17 things that have gone wrong today, like 17, and they're all out of the control. None of them were things like, I knocked the first domino forward on that. So you have to just go, okay, what are those do I need to deal with? Can I just put that over here? Or what can I do? What is possible in this moment for me to handle so that I can keep moving the ball forward? Because, like you, my husband and I are both entrepreneurs. We work together, which is this own level of insanity. Kristen McGuiness 14:53  I love you both. Lesley Logan 14:55  I know everyone's like, so how do you do it? And I was like, I'm just gonna tell you right now. We're still figuring that out, and I think communication is really key, and sometimes we suck at it, but you try and you just go, okay, didn't handle that so good. Next time, I'll handle that better. But I think it's really there's honesty about it, and I love that you said you write your way through it. Some people will Pilates their way through it, or journal their way through it, or take a long bathrobe. But like, you, there's got to be a process for which you reflect and learn and integrate what's going on in your life.Kristen McGuiness 15:26  No, absolutely, and yeah, again. God bless you for being an entrepreneur with your husband. I try to, sometimes I have to help my husband with his business, and I'm like, I would quit this job in like five minutes, but he owns a restaurant, which is, like, I think the worst business you could open, honestly, I'm like, oh my God, every time I go to eat now at a restaurant, I have so much grace and gratitude for what happens. Our pediatrician once said, no one knows how expensive the cheat meal is. And I was like, so true. Like, you have no idea what people do to sell you food in a restaurant.Lesley Logan 16:01  Oh, you're, bless your husband and all the restaurateurs out there, but that's, I don't like the margins, but I would say books are very similar. So I feel.Kristen McGuiness 16:11  You realize that, thank you. We kind of realized that a little late. We're working our way through that. We did not know that. We thought, we knew that books were a slim profit margin. We naively thought the restaurant business wasn't. Then we discovered both were at the same time. We were like, you know, there's a great Macklemore song where he says, if I had done it for the money, I would have been a fucking lawyer. And I'm like, that's like, my bumper sticker I got in the back of my car. We're truly here for love and fun, and the belief in, apparently, pizza and books, but pizza is important. I will never deny that. But, yeah, no. I mean, we have learned. I mean, we are in a very high stress, double entrepreneurial situation, and also have an aging dog, and we are also in the end zone of what's to come on that. And it's just, it's so brutal, and yes, and it's the same thing where, like, there are days where we do not do it well, certainly. And then, like, recently, I've just, you know, been realizing that there is so much about this that you have to take your hands off the wheel, you know. And I've joked, like, I know, if you have seen the other the little gif at some point, I think everybody has. It's like, the end of Thelma and Louise. We're like, Thelma and Louise grab hands, and then the car flies off the Grand Canyon and like a hubcap falls off. And I've been using that gift is like, I just send it to everybody I work with, because I'm like, this is my business strategy. And last night, when my friends was like, you can't tell people that. And I was like, no, but it is because there is something about living your dreams that is just like a hope, a prayer and floor the fucking car, and, like, off you go, and you got to know that you're going to land. It might be a terrifying drop, but you're going to land. I mean, obviously, hopefully not in fire and death, but that's not going to happen, right? Like, no business ends like that. And so it is just this thing of, like, at a certain point you can work really hard, you can do all the strategies, right? But like, ultimately you didn't hit the first domino. And you just have to sometimes be like, Mercury is in retrograde, and we're just gonna wait until August 28 rolls around. Everything goes direct, or whatever it is, the thing that you know is, like, this is just, we're in the pressure cooker right now, but like, relief is always on the way. Lesley Logan 18:22  Oh, my God, this retrograde? We are feeling in every possible way of tech. I'm like, Okay, well, okay, we'll just redo that. We're like, I have a astrologist that I listen to who's always like, if it's put an argument in front of it, and that's the best thing, refine, reorganize, read, we're redoing. We're just gonna but I agree, you do have to take the action. You do have to put the pedal to the metal, but then you also have to, like, release and go, you know, it's gonna end somewhere. And some of the best things that ever happened in my business were the ones that felt that kind of happened for me, or to me or without, without the control, and I just have, it's not the right place at the right time, because I did the work to get there. But also, couldn't have happened without some just like magical or universal or divine appointment that happened along the way. And then you just have to ride that. You just have to enjoy that. And I also think it is crazy that I work with my husband. I also am so grateful because it's really fun to work with him. And I don't know that a lot of people can put up with my creative energy. There's not a lot of people who would be like, we love that idea. Lesley, we're gonna put that over here. You know, like a partner can go, yeah, later, until later. It's really refreshing and also just really nice to hear like, you know, you don't have everything figured out. Not everything happens the exact way it's supposed to. You didn't just turn a light switch on, and things worked. So thank you for sharing that. I want to get into, like, your latest book, is it Live Through This, and I just, can you tell us maybe, like, what was the drive like, why did you have to, like, why was it something you wanted to, like, get out of you, and what are you hoping that people get from it? Kristen McGuiness 19:52  Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I really lived through this. That nine-year-old was, at the time, only one years old. So it was in 2016, and it is not a spoiler alert, because it happens in chapter two. There's actually a mass shooting that sort of is the impetus for the whole story that kind of explodes across the rest of the pages, quite literally. And I was really moved to write it because, I mean, obviously we are a nation that deals with mass shootings all the time, but as we know, it's almost like a season, like there are these moments where it just feels like it's every day, you know, you're just like, oh my God, another one. Oh my God, another one. And 2016 felt that way. There were a lot of them, sort of back to back, and they had actually happened in places where I knew or was just felt like really emotionally connected to, actually, the shooting that happened in Paris, the Bataclan attack in November of 2015 I think that was, was in the neighborhood where we used to live in Paris. Someone was actually shot on our street corner. And then there was a shooting in San Bernardino at the regional center, which was 40 minutes from where I was working at that time at a nonprofit, also in a government building. So we began to get trained in our offices about what to do in the event of a mass shooting. And then the night of the Paul shooting was really the impetus where I was just like, oh my God, enough. My husband and I were about to go to a live concert a couple weeks after that shooting, and I began to get really scared. And I'm just not somebody who has, like, I have no agoraphobia. I'll go anywhere. I don't have a lot of just those kinds of fears. Or I'm really adventurous. I love to be out and about. And it was like a band we love and personally know, and a really fun night. And I actually began to get scared to go. And so it sort of led to this, you know, as a lot of books I think come out, oh, it was like, what would happen if, right? And I was like, what would happen if there was a shooting that night? And out of that began this story. And so it is about a shooting at a nightclub and a concert, and the main character loses her spouse, which, again, it happens in chapter two. So it, you know, it's kind of silly to hide it. And she begins to navigate what happens, not just after you lose someone, but also what happens after you go sort of like accidentally viral and suddenly and I started writing this long before Parkland, but it is the Parkland journey of what happened with a lot of those kids who've experienced significant trauma, not just from the event, but from the activism afterwards, because obviously they wanted to be part of activism, but the, and in the same with the Sandy Hook families and everything that happened with Alex Jones is that they're just dragged through the mud, and it's just so horrible what happens to them, and death threats, and, you know, it's like it was bad enough they went through the shooting, but now they have to go through this. And so she's navigating all of that, but it's 2016, it's on the eve of what ended up being a really shocking election that has dictated the last eight years of our lives. My God. oh my God, please let it end. And so this character isn't just deciding, hey, am I going to be an activist about what just happened to me? But also the story kind of stands on the pinnacle of art, what became our modern times. You know, how am I going to show up in this world as a person? And it's also about, really, her finding her voice, and she's coming out of a very complicated and hard marriage, and she grieves them, and she also has relief from what was a hard marriage. And so it's also about that, you know, I, I had that experience when my own father died, when my husband is completely alive and taking care of our kids, but, but when my father died, I really, you know, I really depicted it more about that relationship, because I had a very complicated relationship with my father, and when he passed away, I had a therapist who said to me, you know, you can have any reaction you want to this, and that includes relief, and it was such a freeing thing, because, you know, it's always like when someone dies, we're supposed to be sad. And it wasn't that I wasn't sad, but also I didn't have the complexity and the trauma of that relationship in my life. And so she's navigating that she has a young child, so she's also navigating being a single mom and all these different pieces. So it's interesting because it's set, now, it's almost like historical fiction, right? Oh, those sweet and gentle times of 2016 the days of yore, so, but it is also a lot about marriage and parenthood and sacrificing your dreams to show up and be a stable you know, I'm going to take care of the family and I'm going to do what I need to do, and she's in a nine-to-five job, and she sacrificed her dreams to just try to be like a normal person, only to discover that there's no such thing as normal, especially in modern America. And so we called it like a modern, suburban Western, because it is about that, and she has to become her own version of a gunslinger in the end.Lesley Logan 24:28  I do love that it's now historical fiction, because I too long for those days sometimes my husband and I sometimes I'm like, I just want to not know the house representative for, like, a state I've never been to. I just want to not know who that person is, but also like, how naive and how unique a time that was as well. Thank you for sharing the story. Now I feel like we need a Be It Till You See It book club, you guys, I want to hear all of your thoughts on reading it. I find fiction fascinating because I actually love it. I grew up on like Judy Blume, which is like fiction but not, you know what I mean. It's like, always based on something that happens, and then it's like, the story of it, your daughter, your it was your nine-year-old just one. Excuse me. Yeah, so with your, was there a part of you that was, like, writing it because also to be a parent of a time when, like, yeah, it's, I don't know how parents in their school, kids school, my mom's a school teacher. She's a first grade school teacher, and the thing she's telling me that she's have to prepare for, I'm like, you should not have a gun. I'm just gonna tell you right now, you know, I grew up with the earthquake drills. Now it's very different. And so was it partly just, it was even therapeutic, or just like, ways for you to kind of understand what you're going into as a parent at a time when this is such a scary thing going on?Kristen McGuiness 25:40  Yeah, no. I mean, that was definitely a driving force. I mean, it's a driving force every day, I think. I mean, especially now that I do have school aged children, and I mean, I make sure I kiss them every morning, just God forbid, I will not let them go to school without hugging them and kissing them. Because I remember one of the Parkland fathers, actually one of them who became quite active. I forget his name now, but he always said that the morning that his daughter left for school, they were really busy, and he didn't hug her and say goodbye, and he never knew he would never not see her again. And I just can't even fathom that pain, especially under the conditions that those murders take place. And so, yeah, I mean, I definitely wrote it for that. I mean, there's a as one of the my blurb authors, Gina Frangello, who's amazing, gave me this great blurb that's saying, like, it's a call to action, and the book really is. I mean, there's a moment in the book where the main character, I discovered, long after writing it, that there's actually a genre called autofiction, which is what I wrote. I just didn't know, you know, my own genre's name, until, like, six months ago, where it's like, it's totally my life, like anybody who reads the book, like, my husband's name is Terry, and my friends all call it the book where Terry dies and like, it freaks them out, because they're like, wait, he's still, he's still alive, like, I just saw him yesterday, but like, it's like the book where Terry dies, and I did. I mean, I did use our lives, because at the time, I had considered writing a memoir, but we're not that exciting of a couple. We don't drink, we don't smoke, we don't cheat on each other. I joke, it would just be like 100 pages of people arguing about finance and ADHD.Lesley Logan 27:08  There's, there's a, there's a group of people who would read that, you know?Kristen McGuiness 27:12  I mean, they still can, because they because the couple still argues about finance and ADHD in the book. But we just, we raised the stakes. They need a little more plot, a little more plot. So I gave it a lot of plot. But I mean, there's a scene in the book where the main character ends up having a meeting with the President of the time prior to Trump. And I didn't like, use Obama's name, but it's clearly him, because Obama would meet with people after those shootings, and she ends up with a one-on-one meeting, because she ends up kind of getting a little fame under her belt, and in that meeting, she flat out asked for an executive order banning assault weapons, because it's just and that's why, I mean, ultimately, I say like that is what? If you ask me what the book is about? Yeah, it's about marriage and single motherhood and mass shootings, but it's really about the need for, excuse me, an executive order banning assault weapons. One point, I'd actually worked on building a whole campaign around that, and an activism campaign, and then with everything that happened with the Biden administration, it didn't make sense. But I was just talking to one of my colleagues the other day, and I was like, look, if Trump makes it into office, we can just say goodbye, but if I'm like, truly, like, see you later, buddy.Lesley Logan 28:14  I know, especially after the most recent Supreme Court situation on that. I was like, What are we doing? Kristen McGuiness 28:18  I know. See on the flip side. Yeah, my husband and I like a boat, a boat sounds good. But if Kamala makes it into the office, there are some real changes that the Democrats have failed to make, multiple times over, with multiple opportunities, with control of the Senate, control of the House, and I would hope that she will take this enthusiasm and momentum, although obviously it will wane, because it is what it is. But I do think that people have returned to the fold in a way that's like, okay, let's just fucking do this. But once she, you know, presumably, gets to do it, she has to do something, because we just can't have somebody else show up again and not take control of the situation. Lesley Logan 28:59  Yeah, I love that. You said that what I'm thinking of is we live in a world where we do all have to be activists of some kind, but not every one of us is someone who wants to stand on a line and protest. That's not everyone's way of being an activist, but there are unique ways where we can be activating in people. And for some, you're barely keeping your head above water. And so your activism is telling your friends to vote, and you voting and doing the research, you know, like that could be your form of activism these days. Because, my goodness, if you don't know the US's voting records, or people are just don't do it. I've been to Australia. They're like, I don't understand. Like, we make it a holiday and everyone does it. It would be so weird to not do it. Kristen McGuiness 29:37  Well, it makes so much sense, wouldn't it? Lesley Logan 29:38  Yeah. And they're like, and you guys are just only this many people. I'm like, I don't really, I don't want to tell you. So for some of you, it might be an activating thing to go do that, but I love that you took this desire, this drive, this passion, and you put it in a form for people who want to have a really good read can be inspired by and also go, oh hold on, wait a minute. There are things that we can do, and there are things that can be done. And from our lips to their ears, my fucking goodness, if they do not hit the ground running, if they get what they need, like, I don't know what we're going to do. Want them to act with a little, just a little bit of urgency would be great, yeah, just that fucking tiny bit. And all this to say, the administration we have currently has done a lot with what they've had, but there was a two year mark where we could have just done a whole lot more, just saying, but I think like you're showing I hope that what everyone here is hearing this is like, you can have different ways of being an activist and different ways of inspiring people to think about what is possible and what can be done and keeping things in the forefront, because you're right, it goes in waves. That's not that we haven't had mass shootings. Unfortunately, they happen every day, and our media doesn't talk about it anymore. And then there'll be one, so then they'll talk about a few, and then they'll keep going, and then it becomes something else. And our media has talked about ADHD. They have a whole different acronym of what their attention span is. And so I appreciate your book, and I also appreciate this is a different way we can all figure out how we can take what we love and still use it to inspire others to take different actions. And I think that's really cool.Kristen McGuiness 31:14  Yeah. And I think, you know, going back sort of full circle on and, I mean, I think everybody has their the thing they used to get through life, right? Like I said, I write my way through this. So for me, my political activism, it makes sense for me to write it. That's the space in which I'm comfortable, you know. And everybody has their space in which they're comfortable. It's about to me, I think the most important thing is, as long as you keep paying attention, because the minute we stop paying attention, and that's the biggest thing too, is whatever way in which you can help other people to pay attention. You know, not just because you post on Instagram, although I don't not recognize how important that is, too. You know, the more that we are sharing information with each other, the more that we are talking, the more that we are activating each other into just awareness, hopefully, the better our world will be and the more we will demand the people in power to make certain decisions. And it does kind of go back into that idea, it's like, you know, we can, we can't control what the President does, but we can make choices every day to be part of that conversation in whatever way feels right and good and aligned with who we are. And so, you know, I've always been a political person, but I do believe that we all have our path through just navigating life and impacts those big systems have on all of us, no matter who we are.Lesley Logan 32:31  Yeah, you're so right. My husband, people wouldn't know, but his second hobby is like political podcast, the amount of research he does, and he's also the type of person who phone banks. So whenever they're like, are you volunteering? Like, only one person in the household can do it. Some of us have to keep the wheels on the bus right here. Kristen McGuiness 32:47  Like, phone banking's over here.Lesley Logan 32:48  He's phone banking, but he, I watch him all the time in his way of activating and activism, he's not afraid of a conversation with someone who disagrees. And he's like, oh, have you heard this podcast? And he'll just use a podcast episode that will explain to someone he's like, just think, just listen to it. There are ways of doing it. He's not on socials. Lucky him. You know. But like we each can have our way of being part of this society and making change. And it can be loud or it can be writing a book. It can be writing a play. It could also be how you teach a class. It can be the types of music that you're using to help and inspire people and have people ask questions. Or it can be like, Brad is like, oh, to our friend who had a flag up, we're like, it's interesting. I wouldn't have expected that from that person, and he just went with quiet curiosity and was like, oh, you should listen to this episode right here. And the guy did, that's where you make really big impact, is on those small relationships. It doesn't feel big in the moment, but it's big over time. And so you're just freaking cool. You're so cool, we're all gonna go read your book. What are you most excited about right now?Kristen McGuiness 33:50  I mean, I just wrote a screenplay in 12 hours, I'm very excited about that.Lesley Logan 33:55  Yeah. What did you guys do listening? She wrote a screenplay in 12 hours. I forgot my laundry in the wash machine. Kristen McGuiness 34:00  That's not what I do every day of my life, folks. So, by no means, there are a lot of days that are just laundry and lifting up a 80 pound dog who can't stand by himself. I take care of a lot of people, no, but I did get to do that. But the exciting part of that, the reason why I just cracked that out, is that Live Through This is actually going to a very big actress in the next week, and I wanted to have some sample writing to go with it. So that was the motivation to be like, I'm having dinner with the producer tonight. And I was like, I'm going to crack out that screenplay. She's a dear friend of mine. I'm going to give her a draft of it tonight, and hopefully next week we can turn around fast enough so that this book and this screenplay that I just wrote that is similar in that it's about, I mean, my poor husband has become a very unfortunate muse, but we just went on a two week trip to Greece that I said was like an odd DC and adventure. It was like, people like, how was your vacation? And I'm like, how do I respond to that? I'm far too honest to be like, it was fun. I'm like, it was not like two weeks laying around Hilton Head. It was a fucking life changing adventure, in good ways and bad. So I decided, you know what, I'm gonna write a screenplay about that experience, except for it includes, you know, talking cats and the goddess Artemis. And it's like, it's super funky and fun, and that's just what I did. And the beauty of it is that I am also a book publisher, and I'm a book coach. I have a book coaching company, Rise Writers, and a book publishing house, Rise Books. So, so much of my time when I am not parenting, I actually am not a writer. That's not what pays the bills, right? So I have this other really big creative job, but it's so much of my time and energy goes into other people's creative projects. So when I just finished that screenplay, I was like, who knows what's gonna happen with this crazy thing I just wrote. But the fact is, I got to just do that for me and the catharsis and excitement. I mean, I'll watch anything with a talking animal. So, I mean, I just figured if nobody else ever wants to see this movie, I'd watch it just for a talking cat named Gordon. Lesley Logan 35:57  Oh, don't you love a pet with, a pet with a human name. I screwed up. We named all of our animals like something important, and the next round is going to be like, Bob and Jonathan.Kristen McGuiness 36:09  My dog's name is Peter. It's actually like, it's so funny, because there are a lot of dogs with human names, but that wouldn't, for that reason. And he also looks like a human so he actually confuses people. When people look at my dog, they're like, oh Peter. And you see, there's a moment where they go, is that a person or a dog? Lesley Logan 36:26  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand. I understand. Oh my god. I adore you. I'm so excited to see where this goes. And I just so appreciate your vulnerability and honesty about how you do life, because I think that, for everyone listening, there's something to pick up there. We're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out how people can find you, follow you, read all of your goodness. All right, Kristen, tell us where people can read your amazing book, or find out if Gordon ever makes it on the big screen. Kristen McGuiness 36:51  Yeah, let's say if ever there was a cat who deserved the big screen. No, you can find me at Kristen McGinnis on Instagram or @RiseLiterary, but my website is riseliterary.com where you can learn more about me and the book publishing house, Rise Books, as well as all of our book coaching programs. If you are writing a book and are interested in finding out how you do that, we offer lots of ways to find your path to publishing, which is like our trademarkable motto. But also you can find Live Through This anywhere it's sold. It's distributed by Simon & Schuster. So we are everywhere, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, I guess I will flash the book, yeah. So wherever books are sold. So yeah, but otherwise, just come and check us out and hope to connect with some of y'all listening soon.Lesley Logan 37:40  All right, before I let you go, bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?Kristen McGuiness 37:48  All right. This is, when I read the email beforehand. I was like, yikes.Lesley Logan 37:55  I know you know what though, you're brilliant. It'll, every like, it's gonna be brilliant, whatever you say, so don't be yikes.Kristen McGuiness 38:02  No. I mean, I think if I could just show the gift from the end of Thelma and Louise, that would be it. But, I mean, I do think it is it, you know. I mean, I think it's about never lose sight of the dream, no matter what, and no matter what gets in the way, you know, no matter what life shows up, no matter what children you have, no matter where your marriage goes, or whether you get married or not, or whether you have kids, no matter whether the dog passes away or you get a kitten, you know, no matter what comes there's this great I think it's an Emmy Lou Harris song that says all that you have is your soul. And I think that that's really true. We are always there underneath it all, and as long as we connect back into that, and I'll actually end on an Oprah quote, one of my authors put this in a book that she just, we're publishing in May, called Rewrite the Mother Code. I will also honor her, Dr Gertrude Lyons, she's writing it, and she puts this Oprah quote in there that said, I've learned, and I'm going to not say the quote perfectly, but like I've learned over time that there is always a small, quiet voice inside me that's leading me where I'm supposed to go. And the only times I've ever made mistakes in life is when I've chosen to ignore that voice. And I think that, to me, is the biggest step is like, as long as you're listening to the small, quiet voice inside you, you will always end up where you need to go, so you don't need to grip the wheels so tightly. Let go and get the gas and enjoy the view. Lesley Logan 39:30  Oh, Kristen, I'm obsessed. You're amazing. Y'all, how are you going to use these tips in your life? Let Kristen know. Let us know at the Be It Pod. Share this with a friend. Sometimes it's like the thing that someone needs to help them listen to that voice inside and, you know, write their way through it, or Pilates their way through it, or whatever it is, because we all have something we can do in this world. Thank you so much. And until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It. That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 40:37  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 40:42  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 40:47  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 40:54  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 40:57  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

My guest today asks, Are you ready to BE IT in health, fitness, business, love, personal goals, travel and more? Lesley Logan is a 2nd generation certified Pilates teacher, breath-work, habits, and mindset coach, and the founder of OnlinePilatesClasses.com – the first free online catalogue of Pilates exercise tutorials. She's been teaching since 2008, has run multiple studios, trained hundreds of ... READ MORE The post Lesley Logan, The Power of Pilates and How To Show Up For Yourself Through Movement. appeared first on Healthification.

In this week's Fuck Yeah Friday, Lesley Logan celebrates wins—big and small—from the community and her own journey. Inspired by Reese Witherspoon's advice on confidence, she highlights the power of simply starting, rather than waiting to feel ready. She also shares community wins, including a successful holiday event, attracting the right clients, and making big business decisions. Plus, she opens up about her personal journey of letting go of pressure and embracing self-kindness.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:A community member's win in hosting a memorable holiday event.How simplifying processes helped attract new clients.Facing big transitions and trusting the next step.Letting go of pressure and embracing self-kindness.A powerful mantra to reconnect with your wild sideEpisode References/Links:Her Midlife Empowerment - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCc6wU-IUy8 If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday.Lesley Logan 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:02  Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:48  Hi, Be It babe. How are you happy? March 14th 2025. Whoa. This year is flying. I'm really excited that you're here. I'm excited you're listening. I love this episode of each week. It has a special place in my heart because I get to celebrate things that you did, and I get to give you some inspiration, and I get to give you a mantra, and it kind of just makes me feel like I get to be in your ears, supporting you, hopefully, support you, and remind you you're doing amazing things. You're doing a really good job. Lesley Logan 1:14  So, the person who inspired me on the internet, this is really cool. I came from Her Midlife Empowerment and it's a Reese Witherspoon video, so I'm sure she's just reusing it. But basically, Reese was asked how she has the courage and confidence to do a job and all that stuff and to know that they're confident in it. And Reese was basically like, you don't wait to have confidence that you can do it. You actually just need to have the confidence to start. Because when you start, yes, you'll make mistakes, but you'll get better at it, and the more you do it, the more confidence you'll get. So you don't have to have confidence that you're going to be a great nurse. You just have the confidence to start to be a nurse. You don't have to have the confidence to be an entrepreneur. You just have the confidence to start the business you think. We just have to get started. The courage to get started needs to be celebrated. And I really love this. I'll make sure the link is in the show notes. But I just really thought it was so brilliant because one of the reasons this podcast exists is everyone thinks you're so confident in everything you do, you're so, you're so good. I'm scared to death, but I have enough confidence and courage to start the thing and then trust that I'll get pulled along the journey, and as it's going I get better. For example, I don't even know what number this is when it comes out. When I started, I did not think I was confident as a podcast host, but I was definitely confident I could start to be a podcast host. And so the first episodes probably are a little bit weird. I'm still working on things out, but I've gotten so much better, and now I'm very confident in being on anyone's podcast, or having any guest on the show, like I'm very confident. Having my favorite guest on Episode 400 didn't scare me, because I was really ready for them, right? So thanks, Reese for that amazing reminder that we don't need to have the confidence to be something. We have to have the confidence to start to do the thing. Lesley Logan 2:55  So now, a win of yours. This one is from Stephanie Eder, also an eLevate grad and an agency member. I threw a kick ass holiday party charity drive for my clients this week. Music suites, table, photo booth with the Grinch appearing. I love that. Pilates, trivia prizes from local businesses and Korean beauty facials. I'm selling the product at my studio starting in January, so it gave me early exposure. So I don't think it would have been as good without the help of LL. We discussed the party on my quarterly call. She helped with the little details like the goodie bag and approaching businesses. She had the ideas of doing all the things, for-your-feet goodie bag, a branded rally towel, marbles, pencil and thick rubber band. She made sure I thought of all the elements to make it a success. So many thank yous for my clients and great event to create community. My husband was a trooper and jack of all trades helper last night, and made a comment that it was such a nice group of people. I really felt that last night, and felt very lucky to have all these people in my life. So Stephanie, it was so fun to plan your holiday party for your business with you. It's one of my favorite things to think about. I think it's still been fabulous, because I definitely didn't think about the Grinch with the photo booth. That's great. And you had to go and do all those things, right? So thank you for having the call and asking me that question so we could just brainstorm and dream up, because there's no bad idea in a brainstorm. And I'm so happy that they loved it so much. I mean, really, I wish I could be there. I wish I could have been there. I would have loved to have taken a picture of the Grinch, and I would love to meet everyone, but you attract amazing people. You really do. I have been able to meet them, and you really do. So I want to highlight these wins, because the win for Stephanie is the event of it all, as opposed to, sometimes we're like, okay, into the holiday party, then get me 17 other things. No, it's the actual, a party itself. You threw this party. Many people don't, or if they do, they half ass it, but you were intentional about it, and celebrating your intentionality is so worthwhile. It's so amazing. Lesley Logan 4:44  All right, I'm going to give you one more win from you guys today. It's from Mary Dellanina. Mary's went on retreats with us and on Agency, and she wrote, wins the past few months. So, great coaching call with Rachel Piper, who gave me the words to move on from my current studio. A new student stated that my onboarding process was the easiest he's worked with. I was the fifth Pilates studio who tried to get an appointment with they need LL. Yes, Mary, they do. My gosh. Also, let's just shout out. What a win. This guy kept trying different places, and you were number five. That's amazing. Number three, I've had two sessions, my first professional athlete, a professional baseball player. He's so easy to work with as each movement matters. He's loving how each movement is challenging him. He shows me how the movements work with him and how he has to bat, which is very fun and interesting. Fourth, my December is extremely busy. I'm happy about this. And I'm headed to bike in Chile, and then a hike in Patagonia in January. Oh my God. Fifth, this is my last quarter on my home studio. I'm afraid, excited and sad. I've lived in the same area for 37 years and grown this business for the past 10 years. But I know my move will be a win for my spirit. It really is going to be exciting, Mary. Number six, wishing you all a blessed holiday season and a 2025 that feels right for you. And number seven, I'll be hosting my first retreat, which people will travel to in 29 Palms California. I'm excited to be in the desert and share it with others. We absolutely love the Palm Springs area. It's so fun. We were there in January as well, Mary, and these wins are just beautiful. I love that you collected them, and I love that you have a variety and just got to see how all these different things you're doing, you're making big challenges, like changing a studio space can be so scary, and yet it served its purpose, and now it's time to go to another purpose, go to another space. You know, we've all, never want to overstay our welcome at a party, right? So thank you for sharing that. Lesley Logan 6:34  Okay, a win of mine. So my win is that I have been working really hard at giving myself permission that what I did was enough. And this is not easy, and I actually do not think that I'm great at this yet, but I don't like to drive at night like a thing, like I just really don't, and it really stresses me out. And I was feeling really overwhelmed by it, and I was feeling like I would let our household down if I didn't drive through the night. And I gave myself permission to check in with myself at the halfway point, not the halfway but almost half, more than halfway point. And then I could stay if I needed to, and sleep, and then I could go. And I know this sounds like oh, Lesley, don't drive if you're tired, but I wanted to be someone who could get all the way to where we're going, but I also felt pressure doing that. At any rate, this was my first challenge for myself for the year. I was driving our new-to-us car, used car, but a new-to-us car home from Tempe at night, and I did it, and I was so proud of myself, but also, when we got to our stopping point, I even allowed myself to go you can stay here if you want. What you've done is enough. And having a little self-talk, little self-chatter was really helpful. Having a little self-talk and a little self-chatter was really helpful, not only to get all the way home, but to realize I was doing a great job, and I actually was awake and I wasn't tired. And I share that with you, because I think we all have these conversations with ourselves, and we always when we wonder, like, did I do enough? Self-evaluating or judging, even today, something happened in my text messages, and I was like, oh my God, did I do the wrong thing? And then I was, hold on, I did all the things right. I don't know what's going on, but I can't control that, so I'm gonna let that go. It's a daily conversation. It's really annoying. My Be It loves, like, this daily conversation of talking to yourself about what's real, what are we making up? What is possible, what are we doing? But in doing that so far this year, like I'm having a much better year and having a more confident year, and there's a lot more kindness in it. So essentially, basically, to sum it up, my win is that I did a thing. I didn't force myself to do more than I could. I was able to do more than I thought. And it wasn't because I pushed myself, it's because I could do it, and that's great. So if you can take anything from it, just ask yourself, if this is all I can do today, okay, great. I did it. That's what I needed to do, and celebrate that. It's going to help. It's going to make your life so much easier. Lesley Logan 9:02  So your mantra is from the Deck of Plenty. I break bread with all priestesses of pleasure, and I co-create with those who adore the wild within me. I break bread with all priestesses of pleasure, and I co-create with those who adore the wild within me. Ooh, that's fun. That's a fun one. That one means you gotta get excited, gotta find the wild in you. She will have it. Lesley Logan 9:27  Thank you guys for being amazing listeners. Thank you for being you. We couldn't do this podcast without you. And so I hope that you send in wins of yours, send in people that inspire you, so we can celebrate them and until next time, Be It Till You See It.Lesley Logan 9:27  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 10:23  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 10:28  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 10:33  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 10:40  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 10:43  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley Logan and Brad Crowell break down key insights from Lesley's conversation with Sam Mandel, CEO and co-founder of Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles, one of the first ketamine clinics in the country. They explore how ketamine therapy can help reframe trauma, unlock new mental pathways, and provide clarity for lasting change. In this recap episode, they discuss the power of perspective shifts, breaking free from limiting beliefs, and why taking action—despite fear or perfectionism—is the key to growth. If you've ever felt stuck in your past, this conversation will give you a fresh way to move forward.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How ketamine therapy helps reframe past experiences and shift perspectives on trauma.The role of ketamine in rewiring the brain and breaking old thought patterns.Why a structured clinical environment ensures the best results with ketamine therapy.The importance of normalizing alternative mental health treatments and breaking the stigma.How perfectionism holds you back and why taking “messy action” leads to real growth.Episode References/Links:Cambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com Spring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorAccessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlistKetamine Clinics LA Website: https://Ketamineclinics.com Sam Mandel's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesammandel If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Brad Crowell 0:00  The past is the past, but our story about it can change at any given moment. So the event still happened, but the story we tell ourselves about that event that is something that we can change. And he said the ketamine really helps you dig in, because, well, first off, he said the most challenging aspect of trauma is that we feel like it can define us, and ketamine helps you see the traumatic events with a new perspective, detaching from the overwhelming emotions and allowing for more objective processing. Lesley Logan 0:31  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:10  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the eye-opening convo I had with Sam Mandel in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause this now go back and listen to that one or you can listen to this one and then listen to that one. You can listen, too, in whatever order you want. I found it to be really fascinating.Brad Crowell 1:35  Yeah, actually, I always find it funny that people tell us we've clearly said this almost 300 times now, or 250 times now saying you could pick if you want to watch one, listen to one first or the other, or watch and. Lesley Logan 1:48  People need permission. Brad Crowell 1:49  But then when people meet us, they say, oh, I'm really enjoying your recap. So I listen to them first and then go back. Or other people are like, I don't know. I have to listen to this first versus the I can't listen (inaudible).Lesley Logan 1:59  They want to guess. They want to know if their takeaway is what we're going to talk about, which I think is really fascinating. I think it's also what a great personality test.Brad Crowell 2:08  Yeah. I don't know what conclusions we're drawing from it but yes. Lesley Logan 2:11  Here's what I would say. I listen to a couple true crime shows, and I cannot listen to the talking about the show until I've listened to the show, because I like the anticipation of, like, did he do it? What's going on? Like, I like that. And then I like listening to. Brad Crowell 2:26  What are you talking about you skip to the end? Lesley Logan 2:30  Well, when we watched The Crown, yes, I Google. I Google, like, if it is true. Well, sometimes the anxiety makes me want to know.Brad Crowell 2:37  This is the Lesley thing. We start a thing, there's some kind of stress, which is, in every TV show, it's on purpose. And then she pulls out her phone, Google's the resolution for the entire show. And then I'm always like, don't tell me. I don't want to know. I literally don't want to know. I want to enjoy the show the way they made it. Lesley Logan 2:54  I am not your friend to support you not finding out if you're having a boy or girl, even though I completely support whether or not they identify as that, I like to know. Brad Crowell 3:06  You're not going to do the Moira Rose, I don't know if you trust me with that secret. Lesley Logan 3:13  No, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't want to be I don't want to hold a secret. No, that's not true. I can't hold a secret. Brad Crowell 3:20  Hilarious. All right. Well, today is March 13th 2025 and it's a day for two specials things here. Lesley Logan 3:26  Oh, okay. So here we go. First up, it's International Every Girl Wins Day. This holiday helps bring attention to women's rights worldwide, especially to young girls. The celebrations involve talks, lectures and conferences on women's empowerment in every country, the goal is to achieve long-term systemic change that addresses women's rights to equity. The day also inspires young girls to take pride in their most essential assets. They're encouraged to support each other and be ambassador of the female empowerment movement, not just beneficiaries of it. The Ever Girl Wins Institute introduced this holiday. That's so cool. Brad Crowell 3:59  Yeah, pretty cool. Lesley Logan 4:00  What a fun day. Okay, well, that's so fun, we have to figure out how to celebrate that more. Let's participate next year. I don't know. Lex, if you're listening, let's talk about it.Brad Crowell 4:08  Yeah. Second up, it's National Open An Umbrella Indoors Day. Lesley Logan 4:13  What? Brad Crowell 4:13  Right? I was like, okay, I need to include this. So it's a day to test the popular superstition that opening an umbrella inside will bring bad luck. So I didn't know that was a thing. I didn't realize it. I've heard of walking under a ladder, something about black cats. I don't actually know. Lesley Logan 4:29  I have always heard that opening the umbrella inside is bad luck, but I've never participated in it, because where else are you supposed to open the umbrella, outside in the rain? Not everythin has a.Brad Crowell 4:39  You always open it indoor first, and then go outside with it.Lesley Logan 4:42  Oh, I kind of want to, if I can push the door open, I want to open the umbrella as I'm going outside, because. Brad Crowell 4:48  Yeah, as you're going outside.Lesley Logan 4:49  If there's not a, most buildings don't have a porch, like a, what do you call it? It's not a porch. It's not what you're staying on, it's, it's overhang. Most of them don't have the overhang. And I just think it's annoying, because then you're wet under your umbrella.Brad Crowell 4:49  Yes, yes.Lesley Logan 4:55  Okay, well, tell us more about this day. Brad Crowell 5:03  Apparently, superstitions are baseless beliefs held by people that influence their behavior. So, shame on you, apparently. There are irrational beliefs that performing or not performing particular acts will lead to either bad luck or good luck. National Open An Umbrella Day, Indoors Day, allows you to try your luck and see how your day goes. So if you're willing to risk it. Lesley Logan 5:27  I just think that this person is kind of an ass. It's baseless. Your superstitions are baseless beliefs. There are so much studies on where you have attention, that's where things go, and that's why manifesting works. So I would just say, focus on the good things. You don't bring in the bad. I wouldn't go wrong going, oh my God, this happened because I opened an umbrella inside, but maybe you do. And so this day is for you. Lesley Logan 5:47  Okay, so we are at P.O.T. Denver. It actually starts Friday, but we are on our way. And so if you're there, make sure you come and say hi. If you're an OPC agency or eLevate member, we are having a little happy hour, so make sure you come over and find us. We want to talk about it. We want to hug you. Then get this, guess what, guys, March 18th to the 24th the Accessories Deck is on presale.Brad Crowell 6:09  So that's less than one week, y'all. Lesley Logan 6:11  Yes, so if you go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist, this is your last chance, because next week's podcast, we won't even be talking about it, because if you're not on the waitlist, you can't get the discount. So you must go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist to get that 30% off. Brad Crowell 6:27  I think we'll still talk about it this week. Lesley Logan 6:29  No, no. Urgency, people. Get on it.Brad Crowell 6:30  Get on it right now, opc.me/flashcardwaitlist. Lesley Logan 6:34  Hey, look, in case our things fuck up, and even though you get on the waitlist, you don't hear about it. Brad Crowell 6:38  It's possible. Lesley Logan 6:38  Also, because this is the last flashcard deck. Is there a waitlist anymore? Brad Crowell 6:43  Yeah, what are we going to do with this waitlist? We're going to have to email y'all and be like, hey, this waitlist is now closed. Do you want to go over to other waitlists and we'll, we'll let you know what we got.Lesley Logan 6:52  Yeah, we'll have to, someone, whoever was on the team listening, please assign me that task. Okay.Brad Crowell 6:56  Okay. Lesley Logan 6:57  April. Brad Crowell 6:58  Coming up hard. Coming up fast. Lesley Logan 7:00  April is coming up fast, and Spring Training is going to be April 27th through May 3rd, and those who are on the waitlist are going to get the early bird special. And this is a different waitlist than the flashcard waitlist. Brad Crowell 7:12  True. They're not the same waitlist. Lesley Logan 7:13  No, they're not. And so if you go to opc.me/events you are going to be entered.Brad Crowell 7:19  That is plural, opc.me/eventsLesley Logan 7:21  Plural. That's where you go to make sure you get the early bird opportunity, because we will open up the early bird sign-ups a few days before regular sign-ups, and only those on the waitlist are going to get the discounted rate. Up next, Brad, what do you got for them? Brad Crowell 7:35  Okay, we've got the Profitable Pilates Accelerator free webinar, if you are taking any clients on your own anywhere, whether that is at your house or in the park or your friend is, I don't know, buying you lunch. Technically, you are getting paid to teach, and that means you have your own business. And I'm sure you're aware, Lesley and I have been working with business owners just like you, just like us, where we were and where we are, coaching them through all the hard questions. How do you get new clients? How do I make this a living? Whatever the question might be, but I have a free webinar for you, specifically on increasing your income. Okay. So, come join me. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator that is profit without the O dot B-I-Z slash accelerator and join me for this free webinar. I can't wait to dig into the three biggest secrets that Lesley and I have learned after coaching more than 2500 small business owners just like you. And then finally, we've got October of this year. Lesley Logan 8:40  Cambodia.Brad Crowell 8:41  Cambodia. We literally just got back. Lesley Logan 8:43  We just got back and it was kind of a quick trip for us. We were only there. Brad Crowell 8:47  Two and a half weeks. Yeah, we were traveling for two and a half weeks. Lesley Logan 8:50  Yeah, we had a couple of days in Singapore, so not really two full weeks in Cambodia, but we loved it, and we're jonesing to go back already. And we have some epic people who already signed up. I'm really excited. Some of these people have been on the next time I'm gonna go next time for years, and now they're coming. Brad Crowell 8:50  It's true. Lesley Logan 8:55  And we have some repeat offenders. Brad Crowell 9:09  We have someone else signing up this weekend. It's definitely starting to get full. October is a very popular time for our community. The weather is lovely. It's quite beautiful. If that's something of interest to you, make sure you reach out to us as soon as possible, and we'll get you all the information that you need to make the decision. But it's going to be October 12th through the 18th, 2025 so, come hang out in our favorite place in the world. Lesley Logan 9:33  Yes. Brad Crowell 9:33  Where do you go? Crownestretreats.com crowsnestretreats.com okay.Lesley Logan 9:39  Okay, so we're gonna get into the amazing Sam Mandel, and we're gonna learn all about ketamine and talk about it. Before we do that, we have a question from the audience. Brad Crowell 9:48  We sure do. Okay. Eva de Brune from Instagram, states and asks, I know you enjoy lifting weights. Is the reformer, like the Contrology reformer and mat and Wunda chair, etc., is that enough? Or do you recommend adding weights to the workout routine? I get asked a lot, is mat enough? Yoga, you are using your body weight. What is your take on this? So a couple of things. So I think the way that this is written, I'm not sure if she's asking if she should go to the gym and be lifting weights, or if she's asking if she'd be adding weights to your Pilates practice. Lesley Logan 10:21  I think it's go, I think it's the first, which is going to the gym and lifting weights in addition to your Pilates and your yoga. So here's the deal. Unfortunately, many of the studies that have been done on Pilates implies resistance has been done with Pilates isn't how I teach. Scientific studies cost a fuck ton of money. I actually, I've postponed a particular call with a group that does these studies multiple times, because it's tens of thousands of dollars. And the reality is, it's not even the best way of testing, because the more Pilates you do, the more muscles you bring in. So then who should we be testing? You know, there's just a lot of things. So what I can tell you is, my Contrology equipment has the heavy springs, obviously, that is resistance. That is absolutely resistance. Is it the same resistance training as heavy weights? I don't think we can say that it is. And so what I'm going to say is, I know you're very busy. I know you've got a lot going on. I would love to be able to say Pilates is all you need. I don't think it's true. Brad Crowell 10:21  It's all you need. Lesley Logan 10:21  I don't think it's true, but here's what I would say, pick a couple of days to do some heavy kettlebells. Pick a couple of days to do some barbell training. You don't have to hit. I'm not actually a big fan of hit for women over a certain age, it's can be really cortisol-inducing, but I would do some or do some heavy weightlifting. I would, also, because it's cool, because it's really cool to see what you can lift. It's really fun. The mat alone is epic and amazing for mobility and strength training. But even Joe realized that people needed more, and that's why he brought the springs in. And it's not that they need more because the mat isn't enough. It's because they need support to teach the body parts that don't have the access yet. So I actually use my weight training as information on where I have work to do, like my Pilates practice could support my weight training. I recognize like I have a balance issue when I do my single leg dead lifts. And so I use my Pilates Cadillac and my reformer to help train the things that I need so I can weight-train better. So to me, Pilates is actually so I can do my life. I'm sure there's a yogi out there who's gonna get pissed if I say yoga is not an not enough, but I'm gonna be really honest, depending on what your bone density is doing, body weight exercises alone are not necessarily enough, because you need to stress the muscles. So that is where I do think heavy springs can be compared to lifting weights, but they're just different things. Brad Crowell 12:40  Stress the bones. Lesley Logan 12:41  Stress the bones, yeah, you stress the muscles, which pull in the bones, which creates good stress on the bones, which creates good bone density. So, the other thing I would just say is your body is you got one, and the longer we wait to challenge it, the harder it is to support it. And so if you went in my routine, I do Pilates five to six days a week. I lift three to four days a week. I do yoga twice a week. I walk every day. And I do these things because I actually want to be 100 years old and still be able to travel and hike and be independent. So it's just like, what do you want in your future? And then how does your fitness regimen actually support what you want? Where are you at in your age group? Notice I didn't mention any cardio in there, because my Pilates practice has bouts of cardio in it. When I'm doing some of my yoga stuff, my heart rate goes up. When I do some of my lifting stuff, my heart rate goes up. So I'm challenging my heart in multiple ways. I don't need to spend time doing that, but I would, I would lift some weights, babe. And yes, your mat practice is essential. It's amazing. It's great for mobility and longevity. But I do not have a study in front of me that says it's enough.Brad Crowell 13:46  Right. Well, great question, Eva, thanks for asking. Lesley Logan 13:49  Yeah. You know, here's the deal. If someone wants me to do a study, I would love to do it. You have no idea how much money you actually need to do it, and you need people who know the method. I would want to have people who are beginners, people who are advanced. I want to have women, men, but then, you need to know the women's cycle and where they're at. There's so much information. And I think that until we have that, you got to do it all. Brad Crowell 14:10  You got to do it all. All right, well, stick around we'll be right back, because we're about to dig in to a really interesting conversation with a doctor, Dr. Sam Mandel. We're going to talk about. Lesley Logan 14:20  Ketamine. Brad Crowell 14:21  Ketamine. Special K, all the drug paraphernalia names. It's all the same stuff, y'all, it's just actually how you use it. And he went way deep on that, so I thought it was really interesting. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 14:33  Okay, welcome back. Let's talk about Sam Mandel. Sam Mandel is the co-founder and CEO of Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles, Sam and his father, who's also a doctor, opened KCLA in 2014 making it one of the first ketamine clinics in the entire country. Sam's passion for this innovative treatment stems from the profound and lasting positive impacts it has on people's lives. He believes ketamine therapy offers individuals the oportunity to rewrite their stories, overcome deeply ingrained mental patterns and step into a life filled with hope, resilience and joy.Lesley Logan 15:09  Okay, so when I got to talk to Sam, I was like, okay, I'm very interested, because we've had Dr. Kelly Bender on. Brad Crowell 15:15  Yes. Lesley Logan 15:15  She's a dear friend of mine, and I know that she does ketamine therapy and treatment, and we have a personal friend who we know has done ketamine treatments. She tried to do them on her own and. Brad Crowell 15:26  Yes, I mean, she was prescribed it, but she did them at home alone, which I thought, I didn't realize that was an option.Lesley Logan 15:32  And also, we have another friend where his wife has gone to the clinic like Sam's, and then he did on his own. And so anyways, so I just was very interested, because also, I think there's a lot of misinformation out there, and then when you have a death of someone who is abusing it with other things, then people get scared of something. And so I was really intrigued, because I think a lot of ways that people are affected of being it till they see it is they have past traumas or things going on in their brain that keep them from having the ability to be it till they see it. They have all the ideas. They've been listening this podcast. They have all this support, but then they have this stuff that's keeping them in their way. And so I really want to have Sam on because if ketamine can help them, then they need it to be it till they see it, right? So here's one thing I learned, ketamine is actually a psychedelic. I guess I didn't know that. I don't know what I thought ketamine was, so I thought that was really interesting. And it's really the only legally available psychedelic in the United States. It has the ability to dissolve these barriers that get in our way and help people get out of their own way. And so obviously, traditional talk therapy is really great. It can be helpful, but it says limitations. It's because our conscious mind gets in the way and makes it difficult to confront those deep seated issues. But ketamine acts in a different part of the brain than antidepressants can, and it allows these breakthroughs that aren't necessarily possible with other methods. And I think that's really cool, because we've heard of great stories of how ketamine can help people, like vets and different things, and like. Brad Crowell 16:57  PTSD.Lesley Logan 16:58  Oh yes, and it also like just kind of helps you take a different look at what the thing is. And I think in our own brains, we can judge ourselves for our actions we took or we didn't take in that situation, because it can be difficult to kind of forgive yourself about how you participated in an event that's affecting you, or how long it's, you just get in your head about it. And the way that ketamine can actually, when prescribed correctly and when done at a I think it's so cool that there's a clinic that you can go so, you know, you're safe, you know, I mean, first of all, it is safe. Brad Crowell 17:30  It's a controlled environment. Oh, yeah. Lesley Logan 17:31  It's a controlled environment, yes.Brad Crowell 17:32  I think that's half the reason why I stayed away from drugs was I didn't know what was going to happen, and if I knew something was going to happen to me and I was going to be impaired. Am I in a place where I'm going to be safe, right? So.Lesley Logan 17:45  Right. When I finally tried doing a little like micro dosing of mushrooms, it has to be at the house. There can be nothing going on. Brad Crowell 17:53  I can't have any obligations, no expectations from anybody else.Lesley Logan 17:59  Yeah, all these things we didn't even need to do that we could have just gone to Sam's clinic, and it's all set up in his clinic. Brad Crowell 18:05  Sam's clinic. Lesley Logan 18:05  Sam's clinic. It's called, not Sam's clinic. It's called, Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles, KCLA. So anyways, I just think that it's important for me to bring to everyone's attention here, that this is something that exists, and there are places that you can do it in a controlled way to actually get the true benefits from it. And because I've had so many people tell me that they have good benefits, I just didn't want negative stuff to keep people from doing it in the right way. Brad Crowell 18:32  Well, let's talk about why you might want to participate. Why would you be signing up to do a psychedelic? What I really enjoyed about Sam was him breaking it down from the perspective of a doctor, of what it actually is doing, how it's affected his patients. They've been around since 2014 so they're 10 years. So, they've done like, 30,000 treatments or something, you know, amazing. So he said ketamine helps people to craft the story around the trauma that they have. He said what happened is fixed, meaning the past. Whatever traumatic event happened, it's fixed, and it can never be changed. The past is the past, but our story about it can change at any given moment. So the event still happened, but the story we tell ourselves about that event that is something that we can change. And he said that ketamine really helps you dig in, because, well, first off, he said the most challenging aspect of trauma is that we feel like it can define us, and ketamine helps you see the traumatic events with a new perspective, detaching from the overwhelming emotions and allowing for more objective processing. The potential for ketamine to promote neuroplasticity, meaning your brain is creating new pathways, right? So, you know the expression, old dog can't be taught new tricks, right? Well, the whole idea there is that you're in a rut. You're in a groove, and it's really hard to jump out of that groove and create a new way of thinking, because we just default to what is easiest, and what is easiest is what we already know. So if we've defined for ourselves years ago that this thing equals pain, this thing equals fear, this equals whatever the thing is the story we tell ourselves, it is actually really hard to rewrite that story, and ketamine can help allow your brain to create those new storylines, those new pathways, so it helps bump out of that rut, which I thought was pretty cool. He said ketamine provides this kind of objective clarity. It can be extremely healing and transformational for people. Lesley Logan 18:51  Yeah, it kind of makes you go, should we all just go and do a ketamine treatment? Like, can it just be, like, the jump start you need? I don't know. It feels, I just, I feel like maybe it would help me get the all the journaling in the world that I've been doing, I might be able to speed up the process if I just did a treatment around the thing that keeps coming up.Brad Crowell 20:55  I think that's the idea. And I think also, even just the concept of that, it still feels taboo. It still feels like this scary thing that, great we've put it in a controlled environment, but I actually think it would benefit society if we normalized it. Lesley Logan 21:12  Yeah, well, we have to, first of all, we got to normalize mental health and that we all have different ways.Brad Crowell 21:17  Yes, same exact stigma as any kind of therapy, or any of that. This is a different form of therapy than talk therapy, than. Lesley Logan 21:25  I don't know. Maybe this is because we actually did do 14, 15 years in LA, and I knew people who were doing these things and doing controlled micro dosing of other things. And because my friend studies it, I know the benefits. And so to me, it doesn't feel taboo. Also, maybe we all could use a little bit of like, when you lived in LA, everyone had a therapist, and it was not unheard of for people to go, yeah, I'm gonna go get some ketamine therapy. We need to normalize all that for the rest of the country. Therapy is real. Do it. And also, if you can't get to, LA, do your research. But I would definitely use Sam's website for what you're looking at, as far as what the standard should be.Brad Crowell 22:07  Like the standard, which organization's the gold standard, you know, go look up Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles, and then compare that to a local clinic. Lesley Logan 22:14  Or and or go to LA. Brad Crowell 22:16  Yeah, or reach out to them and talk to them and ask them, you know, what they recommend. Lesley Logan 22:19  Yeah, they had some great stuff. So anyways, I think it's great. I think I could see where this could be really useful. And obviously it's not what you go do every Thursday. But if you've got -ish holding you back, what are you waiting for? Brad Crowell 22:33  Yeah, let's splash that -ish.Lesley Logan 22:35  I don't think that's what Sam wants.Brad Crowell 22:42  All right, stick around. We'll be right back with those Be It Action Items from Dr. Sam Mandel. Brad Crowell 22:47  All right. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Sam Mandel? Borrowing Nike slogan, he said take action. Just do it. Honestly, planning and strategizing is important, thinking things through, figuring out who you are, what you want, and putting together a plan that actually matters. So, the just do it part could start with the planning, but I think it's so easy for us to have analysis paralysis. I was just having this conversation with someone over the weekend of yeah, I started to do the thing, and then I ran into a speed bump, and I had to make a choice. But to make the choice, I had to learn a whole lot of stuff, and to learn a whole lot of stuff, it was going to take me a lot of time. And then what did I do? Nothing, right? So sometimes maybe we can phone a friend and shortcut that maybe we can, I don't know, join a coaching group and shortcut that maybe we can call a doctor and shortcut that when it comes to the planning and whatever, but I think just getting out there and taking messy action, we talk about that all the time. Lesley Logan 23:43  And also, if you haven't yet listened to the interview, go listen to it, because you actually hear about how he and his father started the clinic, which was like just doing it. It was like a freaking closet with a tiny desk and everything. But I think as we plan different things, there's part of me that loves how I do things. I just go for it. And then sometimes you and the team have too many questions, and I'm like, I don't have the answer for that. I think we're gonna figure it out when we get there. And it doesn't always work that way. So I would say, if you are someone who has to know every single thing before you get started this Be It Action Item is for you.Brad Crowell 24:14  Yeah, there's just too many unknowns. So planning can stop you in your track. Lesley Logan 24:18  We've coached so many people who have made sure they have all their plans to a tee, and then something out of everyone's control comes in and fucks it all up. I've had friends who've literally planned exactly what they want their business do, and then literally, two months later, after they did everything to a tee, perfectly, exactly how they wanted, they spend the budget the right way, everything, then COVID happened, fucked it all up. Didn't matter. So, you know, I think there's a healthy balance. Brad Crowell 24:44  Yep. What about you? Lesley Logan 24:45  Okay, he talked about it's too easy to let perfection keep us from taking the steps that we need to take to get done who we want to be, so. Brad Crowell 24:51  Wait, say that one more time. Lesley Logan 24:53  It's too easy to let perfectionist keep, perfectionism keep us from taking the steps we need to take to get done who we want to be. So like. Brad Crowell 24:53  I think it would be better to say to become who we want to be. Lesley Logan 25:03  To become who we want to be, probably. So I couldn't agree more. And he said you're going to make mistakes, and it's really the only way you actually succeed in life. And he said, if you're dealing with mental health condition, he encourages you to call and so a lot of times perfectionism shows up as a sign of imposter syndrome that you're dealing with, but it could also be a way of you controlling things, which can be part of a mental health situation. And so.Brad Crowell 25:26  I mean, it's the same exact, here's a perfect example. If he's the gold standard and you don't live in Los Angeles, then you won't take any action, because you can't get to the best one, right? That is perfectionism. What you could do is take messy action, give them a call and say hey, I don't live there, but.Lesley Logan 25:44  What are my options? Brad Crowell 25:45  What am I, what should, what should we be talking about here and just see if there is a path or some kind of alternate option for you, wherever it is that you live. So. Lesley Logan 25:52  Yeah, I mean, we talk about perfectionism here a lot, and I would just say, don't get mad at the perfectionist tendencies that you have. Use them as a highlighter of where you have work to do, whether that is doing a controlled ketamine treatment to get over this perfectionist issue that you have, or it's how can I get a friend over here who I just envy that they just go for things to help me take a look at this thing that I want to do, because I can borrow a little bit of their imperfection and go-getterness and help you. You know what I mean? Brad Crowell 26:23  It's like a barrier. Perfectionism is a barrier that we throw up to keep ourselves from failure. Lesley Logan 26:33  It is a great excuse for not getting shit done. You are correct, sir. Like, I know a lot of people who will say, oh, it's because I'm perfectionist. That's why I haven't done it. And it's a really good excuse that people will just go, oh, well, that's true.Brad Crowell 26:45  For me, I think it's the other extreme of the concept of, oh, I don't set any goals, because then I can't be let down. If you heard someone say that, you would go, well, that's not how I want to live. Well, the irony is that perfectionism is just the flip side of that coin. We are inadvertently putting roadblocks in the way. We've got to make sure everything's good, because if we don't, then it's going to fail, right? Then I'm going to be let down. Lesley Logan 27:09  I really enjoyed him sharing his stories of how he built everything, because they had to be (inaudible). Even if everything they did around how they controlled the environment for ketamine was exactly to a tee, the way they had to open the business, grow the business, put things together, you know, they had to do it, trying to figure it out, because it didn't exist before. And so a lot of you who are listening have ideas. Brad Crowell 27:30  He said he went to a Radio Shack and bought a burner phone so that they could make sure they had some kind of a (inaudible).Lesley Logan 27:36  I think it was the Radio Shack that, like, is on Santa Monica Boulevard. Brad Crowell 27:36  No it's the other one. That one, you brought up, though. Lesley Logan 27:42  Yeah. I was like, but even if you just listen to this episode to learn from Sam, just getting started with what you have access to that helps you get going, we have to stop allowing ourselves to be like, well, I don't have enough information. I don't have enough of this. I don't have enough this to start, it's affecting your gifts from being enjoyed by the people who it's for. Imagine if Sam and his dad hadn't started in an office because it's not sexy enough, right? So anyways, just do it. That's what he said.Brad Crowell 28:09  Just do it.Lesley Logan 28:10  Yeah, I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 28:11  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 28:12  Thank you so much for listening to our episode today. How are you going to use these tips in your life? Are you going to go to KCLA? Please let us know. Tag Sam Mandel. Tag the Be It Pod. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 28:23  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 28:25  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 29:07  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 29:12  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 29:17  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 29:24  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 29:27  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley Logan sits down with Sam Mandel, co-founder of Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles, to discuss the transformative potential of ketamine therapy for mental health. They debunk common misconceptions, explore its impact on PTSD, anxiety, and depression, and highlight how it empowers individuals to reshape their personal narratives.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:What ketamine therapy is and how it differs from traditional treatments.How ketamine enhances neuroplasticity and helps reframe traumaThe science behind ketamine's impact on depression, anxiety, and PTSD.The difference between medical ketamine use and recreational misuse.What to expect during a ketamine therapy session.How ketamine therapy can help individuals reconnect with themselves and regain motivation.Episode References/Links:Ketamine Clinics LA Website - https://Ketamineclinics.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/ketamineclinicslaFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/KetamineClinicsLASam Mandel Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesammandelGuest Bio:Co-founder & CEO of Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles (KCLA), Sam Mandel, is a tour-de-force of compassion and innovation in mental health care. From volunteering at a teen-to-teen suicide prevention hotline at twelve to pioneering one of the world's foremost Ketamine Infusion Therapy clinics in 2014 alongside his father, Dr. Steven L. Mandel, Sam has channeled his lifelong passion for healthcare advocacy into transforming lives for the better. Sam was featured in Entrepreneur's list of Top 10 Inspiring Healthcare Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2023 and acknowledged by MSN as an Entrepreneur Leading the Business Frontier in 2024. Numerous media outlets have interviewed Sam for his expertise in Ketamine Infusion Therapy, and he is a frequent speaker at medical conferences and events. Under his leadership, KCLA has provided over 30,000 infusions to over 6,000 patients with an 83% treatment success rate, establishing the field's gold standard treatment protocols and patient satisfaction. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Sam Mandel 0:00  When you look at trauma, for example, ketamine is extremely helpful for depression and anxiety, but also for PTSD and a lot of people have some trauma that is at the root of one of those issues, and ketamine helps people to recraft the story around that trauma. Lesley Logan 0:16  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:59  Okay, Be It babe. This is going to be a different kind of episode, but in the best way. I have Sam Mandel, who is a founder of Ketamine Clinics in LA and I was really intrigued by what I know about ketamine from my friends' holistic doctors. And when he came up as someone I could interview, I was like, oh, we need to do this, because there is a lot of misinformation about ketamine and what ketamine can be used for, and I'm on a mission to help you be it till you see it. And I really want you to understand all the different ways that you can have support in feeling more like yourself and not letting things get in your way. And so that is why we're going to talk about ketamine today. And if you think you know what it is, I strongly encourage you to just stay and listen, because I thought I knew and I learned so much. And then on top of all of that, I really enjoy Sam's story of how he started these clinics and what he and his dad did. And so there's just a lot of beautiful information in this episode, and I can't wait for you to hear it. So here is Sam Mandel. Lesley Logan 2:00  All right, Be It babe. I am really excited. I can tell you for a fact, we've never talked about this on the Be It Pod. And only is it quite timely, I think it's actually extremely imperative that we have this discussion so we have Sam Mandel here on the show. We're gonna talk about ketamine and all things about it, ketamine therapy. Sam, can you tell everyone who you are and probably why you rock at ketamine therapy?Sam Mandel 2:25  Yes, yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Lesley. So, I am Sam Mandel. I'm the co-founder and CEO of Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles. We're one of the first ketamine clinics in the country, established in 2014 and we specialize in IV infusions of ketamine for mental health, but we also offer several other innovative therapeutics for mental health. Lesley Logan 2:45  I love that mental health is something more people are talking about, and there's like more awareness around it, but also that there can be clinics that are working on different ways of helping, supporting mental health, including these infusions. For people who have heard about ketamine, and maybe not the positive ways, can we kind of, can we just dive in and ease their nerves about what we're talking about here?Sam Mandel 3:07  Let's do it. Some of your listeners are definitely like, ketamine what? And there's five different people saying that it's five different things, and all of them are correct. So that's one of the interesting things about ketamine. It is, first and foremost, an FDA-approved anesthetic for humans. It was FDA-approved in 1970. This is an old medicine. It's also commonly used in veterinary medicine. So a lot of people know of it as a horse tranquilizer or a cat tranquilizer. In some circles, it's more commonly known as that than as a drug for humans. But there's a lot of medications that we use for humans, that we also use in veterinary medicine. And it's also a drug of abuse, or something that people use recreationally or self-medicate with, depending on how you want to look at it, known as Special K. Same drug. It's used as an analgesic, as a pain reliever, in emergency room departments and crisis situations, trauma situations, when someone's in a terrible accident, they're in pain, they need sedation, or someone goes in and they need their shoulder reset, they commonly will use ketamine for conscious sedation. So it is a ubiquitous drug. It has a lot of different uses and applications, and one of its most recent, or probably its most recent, addition to that list of its identities, if you will, is as a mental health treatment. And in the last 25 years, there's been a growing body of clinical research proving ketamine to really be among the fastest, if not the fastest-acting, safest, most effective depression treatments available today.Lesley Logan 4:36  I mean, it's kind of amazing that it can be all these different things, also not, right? Like there's so many things, I feel like there's a lot of untapped medicines out there that we're already using, and we don't realize it could be done for other things. Can we talk about how it helps? Because I'll say my family's understanding of mental health treatment is when you sit on a couch and you talk to a therapist and you go weekly if you're depressed, you can take a pill that will kind of help with some hormonal imbalances. But that's not what this is. Sam Mandel 5:01  Yes, that is not what this is. And by the way, talk therapy is great. I go to therapy every week, you know, even when I'm in a good place and I don't necessarily feel like I have a lot to talk about, it's like going to the gym. I just go. I show up every week no matter what. And I think that's really good and healthy, especially if you have a therapist who you think cares about you and is invested in you, and you can just talk about, you know, life. And I'll tell you, sometimes when I go and I don't have anything bothering me or an agenda is when I do the most important work in those sessions, sometimes, so you just never know. But talk therapy is great, but it can only go so far. The conscious mind really gets in the way. Finding someone who cares is difficult the right credentialed person is expensive. A lot of the best people typically don't take insurance. It's not true for all of them. There's wonderful people out there who do, but a lot of the really good ones don't, and so it's a tough thing, but it has its limitations, like with anything. Ketamine and other psychedelic medicines, because ketamine, for all intended purposes, really is a psychedelic, and it's really the only legally available psychedelic in the United States, has the ability to really dissolve these barriers that get in our way. It helps people to get out of their own way and with exponential growth in ways that really are not possible and haven't been seen in any other treatment or modality. And the way it does that is really two primary mechanisms of action. The first is the neuro chemical effects and what's going on in the brain and how ketamine is impacting the brain and our neurochemistry in ways that really nothing else does. And the other is the experiential component, psychologically, what is going on during the experience or the trip that people have when they're receiving this medicine. And both of those are profound and really create lasting impact. On the neuro-chemical level, there's a neurotransmitter called glutamate. It's the most abundant neurotransmitter in the brain. It's present in 85% of the brain. All the other neurotransmitters combined comprise only 15% but for some reason, we've been disproportionately focused on them with mental health treatment. Those are the common ones you know of. Serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, you know, the most common class of antidepressant medications are SSRIs. Those are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and those are targeting serotonin. They're a tool. They help some people. They really don't help a lot of people, too, and the people they do help, they really cause a lot of negative side effects and weight gain, sexual dysfunction, dried mouth, blurred vision, even increased suicidality, and the list goes on and on, really terrible side effects that are really debilitating for a lot of people. Even when those side effects are not as debilitating, the quality of relief is typically not very good. So people will say, oh, well, I definitely am not as depressed, but I don't feel happy either. I'm just kind of existing. They have the spectrum of life and of the human experience narrowed, so the lows are not as low, but they're not really thriving either. Not a nice place to be. Is it better than being in bed all day? Absolutely. But that's not the goal. That's not my goal for my life. That's not my goal for other people's lives and for the patients who come to our clinic. We want people to really thrive. Ketamine has the ability to help people to truly thrive. It restores compassion for self and others. It is enhanced energy and motivation for most people. It's a genuine reconnection of self. One of the things that happens with this, with the glutamatergic system and other processes that are occurring in the brain with IV infusions of ketamine, is it causes and promotes neurogenesis, enhanced neuroplasticity, actual new pathways, new connections forming in the brain. This helps people to form new habits, new patterns, new ways of thinking and being that can be very, very positive by disrupting a lot of the automatic responses and reactions we have in our day to day life that get so deeply enmeshed in us that they become a part of our personality, and ketamine can kind of push the reset button on that so that we have the opportunity to consciously choose who we want to be and how we want to be, and helps us call into question the things that we've accepted as just that's the way that I am, or that's the way that it is, and that's not the case most of the time. You look at trauma, for example, ketamine is extremely helpful for depression and anxiety, but also for PTSD, and a lot of people have some trauma that is at the root of one of those issues, and ketamine helps people to recraft the story around that trauma. So what happened is fixed and can never change. The past is the past, but our stories about it can change at any given moment, who we are and who we were and the other people and our role in it, and their role in it, and what happened and what didn't happen, and ketamine provides this kind of objective clarity on that that can be extremely healing and transformational for people.Lesley Logan 9:50  Yeah, this is fascinating. What I've known about ketamine, and I have friends who, I have a holistic doctor friend who offers it as a treatment, and I've heard of these amazing effects that can happen, but I never understood on the brain level, like what's going on and why it's different than the antidepressants that people are on, and how it could, so if someone comes in, first of all, what are some of the reasons why they're coming in for treatment, and then what is the, what are the expectations? Are they coming in one time for an IV infusion? Is this a weekly thing? And how long can the effects last? Can it be forever? Do they have to keep coming back? Can I get the lowdown on that? Sam Mandel 10:25  Yeah, you're asking all the right questions. So what treatment looks like is typically a series of six infusions over two to three weeks after that process I just explained where people are cleared for treatment. They come in, we have them fill out some paperwork, do a brief physical exam, and they come back to a private room. We help them to become comfortable in a recliner with noise canceling headphones, a sleep mask, unlimited selection of relaxing music, pillows, blankets, and we start an IV, and then we infuse the ketamine for 50 to 55 minutes. And it's a slow, gradual, steady state of infusion. People are conscious and awake the entire time. There's a level of dissociation where we don't want them to go so far that they don't know what's happening, but we want them to go into it far enough that they can kind of have a little bit of that quieting of the noise and chatter in their minds, and get a little bit of that clarity that I was describing earlier, and this separation really from themselves in a healthy way to take a look at things that can be really therapeutic, and doing that inner work. We monitor them the whole time. We use hospital-grade monitoring equipment. So that's like pulse, oxygen, EKG, blood pressure, continuous monitoring. I mean, it's a very safe medicine when it's used responsibly in a clinical setting like Ketamine Clinics Los Angeles. We still do all the proper monitoring just to make sure that people are comfortable and safe. And yeah, it's, that's pretty much the, you know, summary of the experience.Lesley Logan 11:53  Yeah, no. Thank you for sharing that, because I think, I don't think anyone's ever explained that, and I'm trying to think about people listening. It's like, well, what does it look like, you know, because let's just talk about what, we have heard about ketamine in the news lately, and it will continue to be in the news as people are going on trial, like when we hear Matthew Perry pass away from not the best use of ketamine, I think people are like, well, then how do you, what does it look like? Am I doing this myself? And I love that you have a wonderful protocol that allows people to be safe and use it in the best way that gets them the best results. But can we talk about the dark sides of ketamine, and what are some signs that people might not be in the safest situations using ketamine?Sam Mandel 12:30  Yeah, well, I'll definitely answer that with your reference to Matthew Perry, which is obviously a really sad situation. He was taken advantage of by people he trusted. He was a addict. He had a really, he's really struggled with addiction. He was very public about that, and not with ketamine specifically, but with really any substance that he could get his hands on. And was in a lot of pain, obviously, and it's a terrible situation. I think it's really important that people understand, though, that that has nothing to do with ketamine therapy. And the media created a lot of confusion for people saying that he had had ketamine therapy a few weeks ago and but that wasn't really a part, a factor in his death. But by the way, he had that and, you know, saying that he died from the acute effects of ketamine, that's just it was really, really distorted. He took more than 10 times the dose of ketamine that we give in the clinic by himself, in combination with buprenorphine, which is essentially an opioid, and Lorazepam, a benzodiazepine, which is another sedative. So he's combined three powerful sedatives, one of them in really absurd doses, by himself in a hot tub. And of course, what happens? He becomes incapacitated and he drowns. This is not, this is such a departure from what we do when we use ketamine in a therapeutic context. There's no correlation, but the way that it's been reported on, and what the average person hears is, oh, ketamine is a bad, dangerous drug, and that's it. That's the takeaway, and that's really a sad thing for people to to get from it. What they should get is that addiction is a serious illness. What they should get is taking lots of sedatives in combination is dangerous. Taking drugs unsupervised, alone in a hot tub is dangerous. These are the takeaways. There was even medical doctors involved in supplying it to him, but they were part of an illicit, underground, illegal drug ring. You know, this is not like mental health care, you know?Lesley Logan 14:25  I know. It's so sad because, well, first of all, the whole situation is sad. It's sad that someone was taken advantage of. It's sad that someone died from combining too many things, but also because they had doctors doing it, like all of that is sad, and, but, really, what I find, and one of the reasons I wanted to talk with you is, so this podcast is called Be It Till You See It, and one of the things that I am always on a search for is like, what can keep us from being it until we see it, what's holding us back in our life, or what can help us more? And the facts of what ketamine therapy that you do that is supervised, and you have pre-screened people to make sure that this is the right therapy for them, the benefits can actually change people's lives, like you said at the beginning, to choose what they want, and that allows them to step into the person that they want to be, like to me, this can be an amazing option for people who they know what they want, but they are just stuck, and they've got other things going on that with their mental health that the talk therapy hasn't helped with, or antidepressants haven't helped with. And so I really wanted to, like, clear the air and go, this can be an option for the right person.Sam Mandel 15:30  Absolutely and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to speak with you and for you creating a platform to have conversations like this, because people deserve to know the truth. And you know, you talk about talk therapy. I mean, a number of patients have literally said that was like 20 years of therapy in an hour. I mean, it really is that exponentially transformational. And it's not instead of therapy, but in addition to, right? When you can do a treatment like this and then work through the material and the learnings that come up for you with someone who understands mental health, who you trust, that's where a lot of even more growth can happen, and you can implement those learnings into your day to day life in the weeks to come. That process is usually referred to as integration, and it can look a lot of different ways, but then you have your experience. How do you integrate it into your life and actually make lasting change? Ketamine really does produce transformation for most people. In the almost 11 years that we've been doing this, we have done over 30,000 infusions. We have an 83% success rate, and we're typically not seeing people who are just wanting to have growth because they're stuck. We're seeing people who have treatment resistant depression, complex PTSD, severe anxiety, suicidality. I mean, there are definitely more moderate cases, but we see a lot of people have really just they've tried a lot, and some of them tried everything, and they haven't benefited. And this really works for them, because it works on under a completely different mechanism of action than the conventional treatments like antidepressant pills or even ECT or talk therapy, or really anything else out there. Lesley Logan 17:04  Yeah, when I think about PTSD, we obviously a lot of things about vets. People have been in the military, but there are people with PTSD who have had other traumas. It doesn't have to be that you've been to war. You could have been in a bad car accident, you could have been assaulted. Can you kind of explain and maybe it's redundant, but just how does ketamine help with PTSD, and then what does someone's life look like? What with one, do you have a case that a person who you can talk about, like, who had PTSD and like, what their life was like after the ketamine treatment? Sam Mandel 17:29  I'm glad you bring that up, because while a lot of us do think of military and war, there's actually many more cases of PTSD among the civilian population in the examples that you mentioned with violence, assault, accidents, etc. So it's super common, unfortunately. I believe there's around 16 million Americans suffering from PTSD who are at least diagnosed. There's many more, I'm sure, who are undiagnosed. And ketamine really does help with the neurochemistry in the brain and helping to rewire the brain, and it also really helps with the perception that we have of ourselves, of the event. People who have trauma are able to go back and revisit the trauma without being as emotionally triggered by it. And so sometimes, when I've talked about this with you know, friends, they say, yeah, you can revisit your trauma and work through it, and it's so great. And they're like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Why would I want to revisit my trauma? What are you talking about? I'm going to go and spend time and money to go there? No, thank you. I spent time and money avoiding my trauma, not going to visit it. But it isn't like that. You know? There's this ability to work through it without having the kind of pain of going there that is so often keeping people from addressing it head on in talk therapy and in life. We avoid, naturally, what's painful, but it isn't painful for most people in this context, they're able to have this detachment that is healthy in this way, to revisit it and to understand who we are, who we were, what our role was, what It was and etc, and to get clarity on that. And it can be really healing. It can really provide closure for a lot of people. And just with the whole cascade of different chemicals going on in the brain, it gives people generally a better mood and more positive outlook and demeanor, and enhanced feelings of compassion towards oneself and towards others and energy and motivation and just all around wellness, it's an elevator in that way which can just be really motivating for people to be able to do the things that most of us know we need to do and just struggle with in terms of our lifestyle, like fitness and eating healthy and sleeping well and talk therapy and having healthy relationships with people, getting outdoors and getting some sun and some fresh air, doing things we enjoy, all that stuff is absolutely critical for longevity, and for someone who's really severely depressed or anxious or dealing with real trauma, they can also feel like it's almost impossible to do a lot of those things. Lesley Logan 20:00  Yeah, yeah. You know, it's really interesting. If you're not someone who has PTSD, or you haven't had, like, severe depression, it can be hard to understand that it becomes all encompassing, you know? But if you think about it, like, when you've had an injury, you've been sick for a few days and you can't leave the bed, that's the the domino effect of what happens to your strength, and then what happens to your ability to, like, feel like you can reach out and that you can connect with people because you've been sick for a week. It's an easy way to see like, oh, if that's my life all the time, you know, it's not easy to go outside, and it doesn't feel easy to connect with people. And so it becomes part of their whole life. And so it's really cool to hear that with ketamine treatments over a couple of weeks that they could have a new lease on life and enjoy it. And I love that you brought up longevity, because I think we forget that how we treat our bodies now is what dictates how long will you get to have them? Hopefully, there won't be anything that stops us from living the life that we're supposed to but if you don't see like a lease on life there, what longevity do you have, you know, so it must be really amazing to get to do what you do every day. You really help so many people.Sam Mandel 21:01  I love it. It's the most gratifying thing ever, you know. When I tell people a lot of my job, the reality of what I do on a day to day basis, I have to do a lot of things I don't like to do, I don't want to do. I'm the CEO of my company. I get the worst, toughest problems that no one else can deal with. I get the fires to put out, the problems, the issues that got escalated to me, and all the weight and pressure and responsibility of it, and there's a lot of stuff, this is not fun, frankly, but I do it because of the, for the patients and for my team, and the work that we're doing, the impact that we're having. It's hugely motivating and gratifying. And when I see patient who I pass in the hallway in the clinic, and they just, can I just give you a hug, or I just want to say thank you so much, or we get a new Yelp review, and someone goes through and lists, you know, half my team by name and how amazing each one of them is, and how life-changing this has been for them. That's what gets me up in the morning, and that's what helps me to keep going every day. I just love it. The transformations are very abundant. And, you know, like I said, 83% it's not magic. It doesn't work for every person every time. It's not perfect, but it is a really incredible treatment.Lesley Logan 22:04  Yeah, yeah, I do understand that. I mean, my husband and I run our own businesses, and sometimes you can forget what you do while you're doing it, because you're doing all the fires, yeah? But then you do get stopped by someone who's been helped by it, or their life has changed, and you're like, oh, that's why I do this. Obviously, you know, it's been a journey to get to do this. Can you take us back how you figured out how to create a space where people could have ketamine therapy? You know, you are the first in the country. So, like, there wasn't really a model to go off of. So I feel like there's a be it till you see it story in there.Sam Mandel 22:36  Oh yeah. Started with me building the website with GoDaddy website builder, drag and drop modules, not knowing a lick of code, never built a website or anything of the sort, not even the most tech savvy guy, and literally just dragging and dropping and, you know, doing research on articles and clinical research, and conferring with my father, who I co-founded the practice with. He's a physician, and I'm talking about, what do you think about this? I'm just trying to make sense of it all in a way that I could understand it well enough to then be able to put it into layman's terms and explain it to other people. What is this? How does it work? And just putting it together, and then going to Radio Shack and getting a motorLesley Logan 23:17  That's how long ago this is because I don't even think they're around anymore.Sam Mandel 23:20  They're not, They went bankrupt. Lesley Logan 23:22  Was it the Radio Shack on Santa Monica Boulevard underneath the yoga place? Because that was my favorite. Sam Mandel 23:27  It was the Radio Shack in Marina Del Rey by the CVS and little strip mall off of Max Stella or something. Anyways, I got a Motorola flip phone prepaid, and I said to my father, you ready to launch the site? We're going to make it live. And made it live, and started taking calls on this cell phone. We were renting space in another doctor's office that was literally this closet. No kidding, they used it as a utility closet before we rented it, and once we moved out and got our own space. They went back to just keeping boxes in there. That's how tiny this room was, no kidding, and it was just really a trip. We had a operating room, recovery area, recovery room for an OR right outside of that little closet that we were in, which, by the way, we were sitting at literally just two folding chairs, a folding table with two laptops, and that was it, no kidding. And we use this recovery area to see patients. And we saw our first few patients, and their transformations were so incredible. We went, this is just too special. We have to do whatever it takes to do more of this. And my father was working as an anesthesiologist. He also has a master's degree in psychology. He was chief of anesthesia in this plastic surgery suite where we were. And so it started out with, well, he's already there, doing anesthesia for the surgery. Maybe we see a couple patients here or there, see how it goes. And next thing we knew, we just started getting busier and busier. The word got out. This was such a radical thing that a lot of people were very incredulous, very suspicious. A lot of people were very critical, but we were like, it doesn't matter. I mean, this is just too special. And it got to the point where my father had to choose between doing our cases or doing ketamine infusions for patients. And I, I remember that quite vividly, where I said, it's really gotta pick. We can't continue to do both. And it was a big risk, you know, it was a really big risk. So I have a lot of respect, you know, for him, for that and that we both just said, let's be all in on this. And, you know, we bootstrapped it. We put everything on credit cards. We had no investors, no financing, no loans, nothing. It's just a little bit of cash, credit cards. And really, just brick by brick, built it up, and now we have 15 employees, 5000 square feet, a really beautiful purpose-built office. I still have, well after the falling table, I had a custom desk built because of maximizing every inch of that space. So I had, there was a little nook between two pillars in that room, under a window, where they made this skinny little desk that was probably literally eight inches wide by three and a half feet long or something. Just stick it in this little nook so I could sit at a proper desk, and I still have that here in our suite now, and so that's kind of fun, but, yeah, it's just truly been an incredible journey.Lesley Logan 26:12  I thank you for taking this back, because we do have a lot of people who are entrepreneurs, and I think that they need to hear that like even a ketamine clinic, the first of its kind, starts in a utility closet. You know, people don't realize, because if you, one, you have to know if people want the thing. You knew it was great. You knew it could be amazing. But you have to get people to buy in, and especially on something that long ago, where people might not know all the amazing things that it can do. And even today, now, even with a beautiful space that can attract people in and make them feel super safe, doing something that changes lives, but also going up against where misconceptions, misinterpretations, and also the people who are misusing it can affect the majority getting the help that they need. I love hearing the stories of how things come to be. And also that is pretty amazing that your dad was like, yeah, I'm gonna quit my safe job. There's always gonna be surgeries, you know. So that's so, so, so cool, and it's really amazing. Is there anything about ketamine therapy that I haven't asked you, that you want to make sure people know? Is there anything else that we can help people understand why this would be something they might need to use, or might use so that they can have the life they want to have?Sam Mandel 27:19  Yeah, I do want to mention, you know, I was talking about how, you know, Matthew Perry was misusing it, and how different that situation is from what we do. And ketamine is still something that people do use recreationally or abuse or misuse. It's not as common, I think, as sometimes it's portrayed, but it definitely can happen, but it's also not in the same category as most other substances, because ketamine is not addictive in the way that most others are. And what I mean by that is you don't develop a physical dependence on it if, for example, like nicotine or opioids or alcohol or benzodiazepines, all you can get to the point where you actually need it to not feel sick. I mean, you have physical symptoms of feeling like nausea, headaches, wanting to throw up. Even with benzos, you can actually, if you abruptly stop taking high doses, you can literally have seizures and die. And you know, you can have symptoms from abrupt cessation of alcohol if you're a heavy alcoholic. That doesn't happen with ketamine. So some people can use it in the way that they're using it as a means to escape, but that's not really that different as far as the psychological dependence in the way that someone can use ice cream or chocolate or, you know, sour candies or sex or any of these other video games as a means of escape or avoiding or to self-soothe. So I think it's important that people understand that. It also has a very, very high therapeutic index. There's actually no known lethal dose of ketamine, so you can obviously be in a bad, unsafe environment, where, if you take a bunch and get into a car, that's not a not such a great outcome for you, or in a jacuzzi, but the medicine itself is unlikely to hurt you on its own. Most of the issues are people in bad situations, or they're combining it with other drugs. Virtually, almost all of the fatalities that are related to ketamine were one of those two, either in combination with other drugs and or in a situation like behind the wheel of a car. So I just want people to know that it's not to say that there aren't people who have an issue with misusing ketamine, because there are, but it really is distinct from most other substances that people are misusing or abusing.Lesley Logan 29:20  Thank you for saying that, because I do think, as a child of the night, you know, I grew up in the 80s, so it's, like, always just say no to drugs. Sam Mandel 29:25  The cocaine epidemic. Lesley Logan 29:28  Yeah, so I know they really that didn't really help them, did it? But, like, they thought it would. But I, like, grew up, so it's really funny when I have friends who, like, talk about doing some sort, some psychedelics, or do I have this innate like, I don't, I don't know, I don't know if I could do that. I'm afraid to try. I'm like, I'll be addicted on the first dose. Sam Mandel 29:45  Right, right, right. Lesley Logan 29:47  This is my fear, which is why I drink, right? That's what people do. And so they said no to drugs, but then they drink. But I really appreciate because it's nice to know that if I were to do a ketamine therapy, I'm not going to be dependent on coming to ketamine therapy every single week or I'll be using it at home, like, it's nice to know that it's a non-addictive thing that people can use to get the benefits. And I think that can make a lot of people feel more comfortable, you know. Sam Mandel 30:08  Yeah, because people are afraid of that, they think, God, well, if I go and do this, even if it's in a therapeutic way, am I going to become a ketamine addict? You know? I'm going to go and then be looking to score some on the street the next day. It's really a sad perception that some people might have due to the media or for whatever reason or they know somebody who misuse ketamine or the DARE program, like you said, or the 80s. A lot of baloney. Lesley Logan 30:28  Oh, and by the way, the DARE program was a lot of baloney. I just heard a whole podcast about it, and I was like, ah. So, but it, but it does put in people's minds, and also good for good reason. Like, I don't want people going out there doing other drugs we do know our addictive and like, hoping that they are fine out there the first time, but I am on this mission of helping people figure out how to get out of their own way and live their best life, and sometimes our own way are things that are really outside of our control, the PTSD, the depressions, the mental health, the suicide like I think it's important that people have access to forms of therapy out there that they may not know about or they may have misconceptions. Because we do know that the media does like to click bait things into headlines that get people to look at them, but don't actually give all the information. So I'm just so grateful that you were here to just really explain all this and the benefits of it.Sam Mandel 31:22  Absolutely, yeah, no, I appreciate the opportunity. Yeah, there are drugs that you can do once or twice and develop a real serious problem with pretty fast, methamphetamine, probably not one that you need to ever try. You know, if you're curious about trying drugs, I'd say take that one off the list. Heroin, probably not a good idea. Pretty easy to die, pretty easy to get addicted to that one, right? Opioids, crack, cocaine. These are some that maybe you don't need to, you don't need to check out, but maybe there's some others that if you really want to with the right mindset in the right context, if you're going to be safe or responsible, maybe you'd be okay with. And by the way, I'm not advocating for you to go do illicit drugs illegally either. But there are some that you can have, even in a controlled environment, such as ours, where you don't need to be afraid of them. I'll tell you what are the most dangerous, though, is the prescription legitimate drugs. As a matter of fact, prescriptions are more commonly abused than any of the other illicit drugs. You look at your stimulants like Adderall, your benzodiazepines, like Xanax, opioids, I mean, these are drugs that are a lot of people are really hooked on and that are killing a lot of people, especially the opioids, but because they're from big pharma, they're not all that bad. I mean, people are finally starting to scrutinize the opioids, but the others are still kind of under the radar, and they're really widely abused, but the focus is on the big, bad, illegal ones. Lesley Logan 32:39  I know of a client who's a social worker, and she used to work in a hospital, and we're talking about pain meds, and she's like Lesley, I watched a 14 year old kid come in super healthy, just had a broken arm. They had to have surgery, but within the three days they were there, they were extra tapping the pain meds. And she's like, we create addicts with these pharmaceutical drugs quickly, but we don't think of it like that, because they had a prescription written. And so it's important for us to educate ourselves, to be informed and to be able to advocate for ourselves or advocate for others when we have this information we can. So, thank you so much. I'm not gonna let you go. We actually are gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out Be It Action Items from you. Lesley Logan 33:19  All right, Sam, where can people find you, follow you, connect with you. If they want to know more about ketamine therapies, if they want to come to your clinics, how can they connect with you best?Sam Mandel 33:28  Yeah, so ketamineclinics.com. That's K-E-T-A-M-I-N-E-C-L-I-N-I-C-S dot com. Lots of great information on there. People are more than welcome to call us, 310-270-0625. Consultations are free. We're always happy to chat see how we can help you. We do offer other treatments we really didn't talk about today, TMS, General Psychiatry, medication management, we take 12 of the biggest insurance networks in California, including Medicare, so there's a lot more that we can cover with you. Whether or not ketamine is the right fit if you are dealing with a mental health condition, I would encourage you to call and see if there's anything we can do to help. And we're on social it's ketamineclinicsLA on all socials and my personal is theSamMandel on all socials. And just really happy to connect with people and hear their stories, answer questions and help in any way that we can. Lesley Logan 34:23  I love it. Thank you. And that's also so cool, because we mentioned, like, it can be really hard to find a therapist these days because they don't always take insurance. So to hear that you do. It's really nice. Okay, we always ask people bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps they can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?Sam Mandel 34:41  Oh, I wasn't ready for that one. I would say action. Take action. Just do it. Take Nike slogan. I mean, honestly, planning and strategizing is important, and thinking things through and figuring out who you are. What you want, what you like, what you don't like, putting together a plan matters. But I think most of us, or almost all of us, spend too much time on that, and there's just too many unknowns and too many things that you really can't solve for until you're in it and doing it, and it's too easy to let perfectionism keep us from taking the steps that we need to take to get done what we want, become, who we want to be, and who what our potential is. And I personally struggle with this too. So I say that from, you know, my own experience, and I really strive, and I want to encourage other people to really strive, to just get out there and do it, and you're going to make mistakes, and that's okay, but it's really the only way to succeed in life. You have to be on the fields, on the court, in it, and behind the scenes, thinking, planning, strategizing is only going to get you so far.Lesley Logan 35:58  Yeah, yeah. Oh, thank you for that. And also, I can tell you, practice what you just preached, because it's true. You started with a utility closet and some folding chairs and a Motorola phone, I mean. But also, you're correct. People do spend too much time in the planning, or they're waiting for it to be perfect, or they're waiting for the perfect decoration, and then they have the perfect branding and all the things. And if you guys had done that, you wouldn't have been able to help the thousands of people that you have today. So thank you so much, Sam for being here, for educating us, for informing us. Lesley Logan 36:29  And, you guys, how are you gonna use these tips in your life? Please share this episode with a friend as you hear conversations come up about the misuse of ketamine, and now you know you could share this with them to educate them, and also, if you have friends and family or yourself who needs this, please contact Sam and his team, because there's help out there for you. Until next time, Be It Till You See It.Lesley Logan 36:50  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 37:33  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 37:38  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 37:42  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 37:49  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 37:53  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This week, Lesley Logan reflects on the power of letting go, whether it's decluttering your space, releasing limiting beliefs, or celebrating personal wins. She highlights inspiring stories, shares listener wins, and offers a simple yet powerful mantra to create space for growth. Tune in for a boost of motivation and a reminder to recognize your own progress.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The impact of recognizing and celebrating wins, big or small.How decluttering can create space for new opportunities.The inspiring career journey of LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley.Overcoming resistance and taking action on long-standing tasks.Finding ways to give back through donations and mindful decluttering.A powerful mantra to help release what holds you back.Episode References/Links:Hear Her Stories - https://www.instagram.com/p/DErNWbmN9Qj If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Brad Crowell 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:05  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.All right, hello Be It babe. Happy Friday. It is FYF. If this is your first episode with us, hello. This is when we celebrate your wins and my wins and some things that inspired me on the internet. And I should just say that we're recording these early so some of these wins happened a while back when you're listening to this, but so did yours. And what I love is that when I get to, whenever you listen to this and you get to listen to your wins, you get to be reminded of the accomplishments you've had in the past. So I think that's really fun. Also, the whole point of this episode is to really encourage us to notice what we can celebrate. There's a lot of things to celebrate. We have an episode coming out in episode coming out in April, all about high functioning depression, and one of those things is like celebrating the things you did do. So that's a sneak peek on that with Dr. Judith Joseph. But first I've started this year with the FYF having an inspiration from something I saw on the internet. And when this came up was in January, during the fires in LA and I kept getting really irritated about just how people were treating a woman who runs the fire department in Los Angeles, and I wanted to just honor her, because I think, here's what I think, I know as women, we are above and beyond qualified for most of the jobs that we're doing. We're more than qualified. Studies already have proven that women won't apply for something unless they have a 10 out of 10 of the things that people want, where males will apply with six out of 10. So I just want to highlight this amazing person. This is from the account Hear Her Stories. A little bio for the 24-year veteran fire chief of Los Angeles conservatives are calling a DEI hire. Kristin Crowley was a paramedic, engineer, fire inspector, captain, battalion chief, assistant chief, fire marshal and deputy chief. When she took the firefighter exam, she ranked among the top 50 out of 16,000 applicants. She became the city's first openly LGBTQ+ Fire Chief in 2022 and it says, "Congratulations! You have earned it!" She has so earned it. And I wanted to honor her and celebrate her, because it doesn't really matter any other things that she identifies as like this woman has achieved so much, top 50 out of 16,000 applicants. Are you kidding me? Way to go, Kristin. You inspire me. You are amazing. And thank you for the work that you have done and the service you've done for other people of LA. So, you inspired me. That is who I am highlighting today in our FYF episode. And I think that irked me, because I have been more than qualified for things that I've been doing, and then people go, who are you to do this? And it just is, like, how about you go get qualified for your own thing? Like, why can't we just celebrate what someone is doing? And it doesn't mean that they're perfect, doesn't mean that we can't make mistakes. But also, like, people are hired because they are qualified. We have to trust that in a lot of cases. And I really trusted in Kristin. So, anyways, that is my little bee in my bonnet moment. So let me celebrate. I wanted to celebrate her because I just really, I was impressed with that. Listen, I'm so impressed with that. Okay, an FYF from you is Lisa Osoteo. I was going to post this in random, but then, on second thought, it's definitely a win wrapped into other wins. I sold my Allegro 1 Tower of Power. It's been on my mind to do for a year, but my resistant brain would shut down when I would think of the tediousness of it. I'll need to take pictures, clean it up, post it, let go of my sweet first reformer tower. When every time I would use her, I would resent that she wasn't a Contrology reformer, not her fault. She saw me through my Pilates journey when I was learning how to teach, and she saw me through eLevate when I was learning and still learning the repertoire. When I finally told my friend Mandy I wanted to sell her, she put a fire in my butt by matching me up with someone in the area who was looking exactly for what I was selling. I needed all the things I was resisting. I took the pictures, cleaned it up, posted the post and yes, talked to and negotiated with some random strangers. I posted on Sunday, got an offer on Monday, agreed on a price, Tuesday, and today, Wednesday, we saw her off to her new and rightful owner. I learned a lot in this process that when my brain shuts down, it's because I get overwhelmed by too many steps. Two, once I got started with the help, sometimes with good friends, the work itself is manageable. Three, selling can be a win-win for everyone involved. Four, letting go of things that no longer serve you is liberating. Five, I can detail Pilates equipment like no one's business, plus drops of oil do wonders on pins. Thank you. Balanced Body garage. Six, the Pilates community at large are pretty awesome. And seven, I get to buy a Contrology Wunda chair and spine corrector for 2025. So that's my win. Way to go, Lisa. Way to go. I love that. I love Lisa so much. She is just a fabulous person. She's an eLevate grad. She's been on a retreat to us Cambodia. It was just like a fabulous week I got to spend with her. But I love to look at the world through her eyes. And the thing is, is that some of the things were on our to-do list to let go of and get rid of are really going to be the thing that someone else is looking for. And in the world where there's so much stuff, you know, there's so much stuff, and we're like, oh, I want this thing, but I already kind of have a thing. Well, if you can have the thing that you want, and you're just not getting that because you are already stuck with something else, the thing that you have someone else might want, so you can get the thing that you want. And everyone wins. So I love that it's a win-win. So your win is a win-win. Thank you, Liza. Okay, I'm gonna do a win of mine, which actually happens be on the same thing. So around the beginning of the year, I feel like there's just too much stuff. Maybe it's because I've been in a van for a month. Maybe it's because we give a lot of stuff, we get a lot of stuff. And so Brad and I used to live in a really small apartment, and in Los Angeles, in the west side, and so we could not acquire very much because there was no place to put it. And now we have a house, and I'm like, literally looking at stuff that's in a bag in a corner right now, if you're watching on Zoom, I'm like, looking at this. Where did this come from? So we came home from the tour, and I listened to Mom and Me Astrology, and I did not clean on New Year's Day. Well, I wasn't home for New Year's Day, so that was not hard. When I came back, I legitimately went through my closet. I was like, okay, we're not wearing a lot of this stuff. And I went through and I just was like, pretty harsh about the cuts. I was just, let's go. It's time. I honestly, I could do another harsh at it, but we'll wait for that for another day. I also went through all of our towels. They're useful towels. I don't want to throw them away. I don't want to waste and put things in the garbage. So I, like Lisa, I was like, okay, I've got all these clothes, who needs them? I've got all these towels and sheets, who needs them? I get sent a lot of skincare and makeup care and all this stuff that I'm not going to use. And so it's brand new. It's in the box. Who can I get this to? Well, here's the funny thing. This is the win. I opened up Instagram, and I saw that the butcher in town is actually taking clothes to people who lost everything in the fires. Boom, that's gone. Then my friend's store is collecting makeup and clothes for another charity that's in Las Vegas who needs it. And I was like, oh, boom, there's all that. And then someone suggested, oh, contact the pet place. They always need these things. So I contacted the Nevada SPCA, and I said, do you guys want, like, used towels and stuff? Like, we always want used sheets, used, towels, used whatever. Here's when you can drop them off. So my win is, normally, I clean things up and put them in a bag and then they just sit in bags somewhere forever, or I just give them off to a friend, but I really wanted to give it to people who needed it, and here we are. I gotta say, win, checked that off the list, I got to get rid of things I'm no longer using and give them to people who truly need it. And I feel good. It feels good to do that. So I would just say a simple win you like have on your to-do list is to clean out your closet or clean out a junk drawer, just know that there's probably a charity and who's looking for the things you're getting rid of, and it makes the task that you have on your list feel even better to do. And so that is my win of the week. Now for your fabulous mantra, let's see, this one was going to come from the Deck of Plenty. The Deck of Plenty says, I release what keeps me sheltered from my life. Oh, this is so timely for this episode. Don't you love that? I just drew this one. So, I release what keeps me sheltered from life, I create space for what encourages my growth, and I rejoice in the ways that life emboldens my best to come forth always.ed I release what keeps me shelter from life, I create space for what encourages my growth, and I rejoice in the ways that life emboldens my best to come forth always. Well that is brilliant and beautiful and wonderful. You guys, thank you so much for listening to the FYFs, another short, another sweet. I know sometimes you're like, what am I gonna learn from these episodes? But these are episodes that I really think are important for us high-doers to recognize that in all the ish that's going on, there can be something that is worth celebrating, and we have to celebrate, otherwise we are just doing stuff, too much stuff. So, thank you. Thank you. And if you have someone, something that has inspired you that you want to send in that I can highlight on episode, please feel free to DM me. If you have a win you want us to celebrate, please send it in. You are amazing, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 10:13  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 10:18  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 10:23  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 10:30  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 10:33  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Life's toughest moments often push us toward our greatest transformations. In this episode, Lesley and Brad dive into Lesley's insightful conversation with Stephan Neff, a doctor, author, and podcast host who shares his personal journey through trauma, addiction, and self-discovery. Learn how challenges can reveal your purpose, why taking messy action is key to growth, and how a simple self-hug can shift your mindset.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How trauma and adversity can push you toward personal transformationThe importance of taking action even when it feels hardStephan's journey of loss, grief, and self-discoveryThe power of daily practices like journaling and gratitudeHow a simple self-hug can create a sense of self-acceptance and healingEpisode References/Links:Cambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com Spring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorAccessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlistStephan Neff Website - https://www.neffinspiration.comSteps to Sobriety by Stephan Neff - https://a.co/d/hHY4w9PDepression Lied To Me by Stephan Neff - https://a.co/d/7s6Ddg0Neff Inspiration Podcast - https://stephanneff.podbean.comStephan Neff YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@neffinspirationStephan Neff Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/neffinspirationStephan Neff Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/neffinspirationStephan Neff LinkedIn - https://beitpod.com/neffonlinkedinEpisode 167: Alan Stein Jr. - https://beitpod.com/ep167 If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  By going through trauma and being forced to change, you get outside of your comfort zone. You get to experience fear. And he was sharing that he had a successful life at the Big House, the wife and kids, and on the inside, he was just not a happy person. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the evolving convo I have with Stephan Neff in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, make sure you do after you listen to this one, because it's great. Stephan is really cool, and he's got that New Zealand accent, which is, you know, if you're in the Western world, it's kind of nice. I guess that's the Western world as well. If you're in the United States, an accent is nice. It's, you know, it's different than mine. So anyways, today is March 6th 2025 and it's the Day of the Dude. Brad Crowell 1:26  The Day of the Dude. Lesley Logan 1:27  The Day of the Dude is celebrated on March 6th every year to commemorate the North American release of the movie The Big Lebowski in 1998. The movie portrays a protagonist with a laid back attitude to life, who chooses simplicity, peace and happiness. The idea is to enjoy life's little moments, such as bowling or drinking with some friends. The holiday looks to promote ease and simplicity in society. Being able to easily let things go and go with the flow is big part of the lifestyle. The lifestyle portrayed in the movie inspired the birth of the religion philosophy, known as “Dudeism.” Brad Crowell 2:03  Dudeism.Lesley Logan 2:04  And so you know what, guys, I think we all need to just sit back, go bowl, drink with some friends, and just have a day where you just relax a little bit. I didn't really get the movie. I think that's because I can't relax very well. So I think maybe this is my Day of the Dude. It's Jeff Bridges. And who doesn't love John Goodman?Brad Crowell 2:22  And Steve Buscemi. I mean, it's amazing. Lesley Logan 2:24  Julianne Moore, Sam Elliott, John Turturro. Huge cast, amazing cast. Brad Crowell 2:30  Pretty fantastic. Lesley Logan 2:31  You know. So I think we saw this at the cemetery. We saw The Big Lebowski at the cemetery. Brad Crowell 2:35  Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the cemetery.Lesley Logan 2:36  The one and only time I've ever seen The Big Lebowski. But anyways, my loves part of being it until you see it is resting and relaxing. If you cannot, just have some moments where you go with the flow. Take the Day of the Dude as a reminder to, you know, find some simple ways to enjoy life. Brad Crowell 2:52  So hey, we just got back from Cambodia. Lesley Logan 2:54  We did. A couple days ago. Brad Crowell 2:56  It was an amazing trip. We got a chance to hang with some friends who we basically consider family at this point. Take a bunch of people around to see some of our favorite spots, literally in the world, and we want you to join us on our next trip. Come this October 2025 to see our house and see the life that we've built over there, that we welcome you to stay at our place and tour the temples, do some Pilates, meet some elephants. All the things. Go to crowsnestretreats.com crowsnestretreats.com and in a couple ofweeks.Lesley Logan 3:28  Not even a couple of weeks, I think we're, like, about a week-ish, oh, from this coming out, we're on the, we're probably in Denver at this point. Brad Crowell 3:36  Actually, we may be at P.O.T. Lesley Logan 3:38  We're definitely supposed to be rolling in tonight. Brad Crowell 3:41  Yeah. We're driving.Lesley Logan 3:41  So we're in the Aurora area with the van to see our Balanced Body peeps and our P.O.T. attendee people are here to have some fun. Brad Crowell 3:48  No dogs in this trip. Lesley Logan 3:49  No dogs. We're leaving them at home, mostly because.Brad Crowell 3:52  We're gonna be gone for like eight hours, 10 hours a day. It's tough.Lesley Logan 3:54  Yeah, also, easy, if we took one, not so easy if we take two. So no dogs, but we'll be there. Come say hi to us. March 18th to the 24th, the Accessories Flash Card Deck, the final deck, this is it, guys. It's the last one. It's being presaled. I guess that's now a burp on March 18th to the 24th it's going on presale, which means it'll be 30% off its original price. Doesn't mean it will ship to you the next day. It means you get to wait until it ships, but you get to get the best price. It, we do not do this discount again, and so we really, truly hope that you take advantage of it. So go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist because only those on the waitlist will get the invite to get the discount. You will not see this on Instagram. You will not hear about here again. This is it. Then in April 27th through May 3rd, we have a week long spring training. Yes, our own version of a baseball event, but it's with Pilates, and it's with all the OPC teachers and myself. We've got 10 classes planned over seven days, all different time zone. Yes, there's a limited replay. Yes, it's going to be super affordable. And if you go to opc.me/events and get on the waitlist, you will get invited to the early bird price, which is basically stealing this, this amazing event. And if you're OPC member, it's free, but opc.me/events is the wait list for the early bird price. Brad Crowell 5:11  Yeah. And if you are taking money from a client at all in any way, shape or form, that makes you a business owner, congratulations. Even if you don't see yourself as that, you know, even if it's like a side hobby kind of a thing. Technically, you still are a business owner, and I have a free webinar for you that's called the Accelerator webinar. Come join me at prfit.biz/accelerator, where I'm going to be revealing the three biggest secrets that Lesley and I've learned from coaching more than 2500 businesses just like yours over the past seven years through Agency, our coaching program. So join me at prfit.biz/accelerator. That's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. Lesley Logan 5:49  Doesn't that word just make you want to go because it's accelerator. Before we get into Stephan Neff's interview, we have an audience question. Brad Crowell 5:58  Yes, we do. Kara Dowd says, hey, I listened to the podcast. I'm hoping for nuggets of wisdom here, as I am an instructor, wondering the big question of whether I should make the transition to a studio owner. Either way, it's a great podcast. Well, I hope so. What if we told you no, okay, I would still be a good podcast. I'm teasing. Well, thank you for saying that. It's very kind, and we are really glad that you listen. And this is a great question that is really tough for us to answer, because there's a lot of factors involved. That's actually, literally why I host this webinar that we were just talking about. So if you haven't done it yet, Kara, you totally should join me on the Accelerator, where we're talking about, how do we create the right plan for you with your business, because Kara, you have your own goals and your own dreams, and you, choosing to open a studio, it's not like there is one path that you have to take in this career. Every single business owner that we work with has their own desires, their own vision for their business, and we help you sculpt and create that path that allows you to enjoy your business. Because what if you didn't want to open a studio and have the stress of paying rent, and maybe you even have a team and all that's like, what if you're like, why am I doing this? I just want to teach out of my house. You don't need to go open a studio, but you also could, if that was what you wanted to do. Lesley Logan 7:18  But also you could have a studio in an office building, like where the rent is something you could pay in a week of teaching, and so you have the other three weeks for profit and taxes. And because it's in an office building, it's really safe. You don't need anyone else. If you can get the systems in place, you can run it by yourself, like I had a studio by myself. And then our goals changed, and so that studio had to change. My teacher, who I take from, he is solo. So he went from being a renter to actually just open up his own space and doing it himself. So the big transition is, how big is it? It depends. We already have all this equipment. So if we were to transition to a brick and mortar, the big expense is really going to be the building. What do we have to do there? Are we going to buy it? Are we going to just curate it? Are we just going to paint the wall? What are we going to do? So what I would say is actually ask yourself, okay, I have a studio. What does it look like? And make sure you're not picturing someone else's studio. What does your studio look like right now? Like, if I'm picturing, like, what's in our future studio? Like I told Brad, if we're gonna do this again, I really want to have those garage door window doors, for whatever reason I like the idea of an old mechanic shop or some sort of, like old building that looks like it was something else, but now it's this, and I want the higher ceilings. I didn't have high ceilings before. So picture that, and then ask yourself, Is this a studio you are doing by yourself? By the way, you guys, we help people all the time, work by themselves with their own studio, making the money they want to make, and having no extra teacher help. Or do you want to have a big class? Do you like leading people? Do you like managing people? So we can't answer this question on here because we don't know enough about you and what your goals are. And as coaches, one of the things that we're so proud of at Agency is that we actually coach you based on your goals. So we've coached thousands of studios and teachers around the world. And yes, some of the studios have a similar business model, but they all have different goals, and so how they approach what they're doing next depends on that. And so we can't give you a specific answer to your question, but I hope that helps you manifest what you got and then come to the Accelerator event so you can get to know us more and see if we can support you.Brad Crowell 9:19  Yeah, absolutely. Well, stick around. We'll be right back, because we're going to dig in some amazing action items from Stephan Neff. We'll be right back. All right. Now, let's talk about Stephan Neff. He actually says his name, Stefan with the S-C-H-T. Stephan, and I was like, that's really cool. So Stephan Neff is an anesthetist. He's the author of My Steps to Sobriety. He's a speaker, and he's the host of the Neff Inspiration podcast and YouTube channel. With expertise as a functional medicine specialist, a life coach and yoga instructor, Stephan combines his personal journey with professional insights to help others heal from trauma and addiction. Through radical compassion, mindfulness and proven clinical strategies, he empowers people to build emotional resilience and embrace lifelong wellbeing. Lesley Logan 10:10  But he's just so vulnerable. Brad Crowell 10:12  Yes, he really was. Lesley Logan 10:13  And not in like a vulnerable trauma dumping way, like a vulnerable here's what I did, here's how I fucked up, and here's what I learned from it, and here's how I'm changing my life, and here's how you can.Brad Crowell 10:23  Don't be a trauma dumper. Lesley Logan 10:24  People. Well, you know what? Brene Brown in her book talked about vulnerability and shame, right? And she said vulnerability is not like telling everyone, like, all this stuff until they run away from you. So some people. Brad Crowell 10:34  Yeah, then it becomes like a defense mechanism. Lesley Logan 10:37  Lay their stuff on you and see if you run away. His was like, I found myself going, oh my God. How did you get out of that? Oh my God.Brad Crowell 10:43  Yeah, because I think it was within the last three years that. Lesley Logan 10:46  His whole life changed. Brad Crowell 10:47  Yeah, he crashed. Lesley Logan 10:48  I think it's been longer than that, but he's had more changes since then. And so anyways, he said by going through trauma and being forced to change, you get outside of your comfort zone. You get to experience fear. And he was sharing that he had a successful life with a big house, a wife and kids, and on the inside, he was just not a happy person, and he had these unresolved needs, especially in relationships, and he had unhappiness. And then he said, because you are searching for this purpose in your life, you have not yet found and so he basically talked about, when you have these things happen to you, it forces you to actually go figure out your purpose, because you haven't found it yet, until you're kind of in the wrong place. And you know, we've talked about this before on the podcast, taking away someone else's rock bottom is like a terrible thing to do, because they often need it, you know, they need a lesson, or they need the thing so that they can step into the next iteration of themselves. Brad Crowell 11:38  You know, a reflection point. Lesley Logan 11:39  Not that I'm saying that every bad thing that happens to you just go with it, because it's going to be not like the dude, it sucks when these things happen, but also that hardship and pain you go through, you can learn from it. You can discover what you're here to do on this planet from that information and take it on. And it doesn't have to become your story. It becomes part of the story that you're leading.Brad Crowell 11:59  Yeah, it was an intriguing conversation, because definitely, he's very willing to share the experience that he's gone through. He also has written a whole bunch of books, which is pretty cool too. I mean, the dude's a doctor, right? So he likes to write, apparently. The Day of the Dude. We're just gonna see how (inaudible)The Dude is the doctor.Lesley Logan 12:15  The Dude and everything is The Dude. Brad Crowell 12:18  Well, look, this dude really loved what Stephan said. He said, you have to take action in order to live your life, and the harder it gets, the more action you have to take, which we could not agree with more. When you take messy action, it gives you clarity. It helps create that path that we were talking about. He shared when he lost his wife of 27 years, he never allowed himself to feel loss and grief. He didn't allow himself to feel it. And that was not a win. That was like, he was like, oh, wow, okay. And he just kind of bottled it up. And then he said, actually, the thing that triggered it, that tripped it for him, was a song. And he said, suddenly he was like overwhelmed and overcome by the loss and grief that he experienced, and it really was powerful. He said, despite taking many of the right actions, he had neglected to address those deep emotions. And then with that song, he said it was so beautiful to cry, it was so beautiful to feel whole again because, yes, I can feel whole again even after that loss. I can definitely understand that. Thinking back through my divorce, I remember doubting myself thinking, oh, well, I had my shot. I fucked it up. I guess that was it. He's arguing. No, I can feel whole again. Despite this, he also shared many daily practices of journaling. He said those things that I took for granted, you know, they become my wins. They become my wins list. And this is something we've talked about in the past all the way back at the very beginning of this podcast, where we think it is so important to keep a log of the things that are a win in your life, because it's so easy for us to just focus on beating ourselves up and holding these things. I did this. I did that. I hate myself for this and all this stuff, but we never pull out that card and go but despite all these negative emotions that I have that I'm telling myself, all of these other positive things have happened in my life, so it's so helpful to have a journal of those wins. Lesley Logan 14:16  Yeah, I hope people do it. I just want, we want to. I just want wins to happen all the time. Brad Crowell 14:21  You never know when you're gonna need to read that. Lesley and I, we have been encouraging our clients to post their wins. People feel when they first come into our coaching group, they always feel awkward about it, because it feels like you're bragging, right, and you're sharing it to a bunch of people who you don't know. So are you bragging? Right? But the reality is, it has become the most popular channel in our entire group, because you go there and you just feel that things are possible when you read about this amazing things that have happened for other people in other people's life, because they're taking messy action, because they're trying to figure their way through and then amazing things are happening. It's just so inspiring. So you can even inspire yourself. Lesley Logan 15:05  All the way back to Episode Five. We had someone who was talking about how she, like, kept track at the end of her day about her wins. And then we had Alan Stein Jr. somewhere around episode 100-something, and he talked about how at the end of every day he asked himself, what were his wins for the day, and so this podcast celebrates him on Friday. But, my goodness, can you figure out a way to celebrate every day? What did you do? Like, I washed my hair today. Brad Crowell 15:29  That's a win. Lesley Logan 15:29  That's a win. I'm telling you. I have been putting it off for three days. Brad Crowell 15:33  I did mine last night. Lesley Logan 15:34  Yeah, you look so good. You know what? Stop making it difficult to achieve a win in your life, because otherwise, life is already just hard.Brad Crowell 15:42  Yeah, graduating from college, that's definitely a win, no question about it. But it takes years to get to that point when you can finally say, I graduated, right? There are smaller wins along the way that you can definitely take note of.Lesley Logan 15:53  My senior year, one of the counselors used to have a dry erase board that they showed out their window and how I had to walk to class I don't pass this thing. Brad Crowell 16:00  They put a message on it? Lesley Logan 16:01  They put a message on it, and one day it said, every class, every day. And that was like our mantra, to show up to every class every day. We're like, we can do it. Every class, every day. And every day that we went to every class, we're like, oh, let's go get a latte we did it. So Brad, did you know I cut class? I knew exactly how many classes I could miss in a school year to still graduate with my honor. So I was like, I can miss this third period because I haven't missed it in a while, and I can. So anyways, figure out what the wins can be and make them small and achievable so that you actually start to give yourself the confidence. And I love that Stephan shared that with us, because I think we need that reminder. Brad Crowell 16:38  Yeah, all right, so finally, let's talk about those, Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your conversation with Stephan Neff? He explained, for many, gratitude does not come naturally. He said it's a practice, so it's a privilege to be here, be grateful, and practice that. It's a privilege. Then he said the most important bit is to finally stop for a moment and actually try to figure out who you want to be when you grow up. Lesley Logan 17:06  I know, and we're all still growing up, but we're 42 I know someone who's 62 and I was like, oh, that's I have so much time between now and then. Who do I want to be by then? I think it's cool. Brad Crowell 17:15  He said, create that dream in your mind who you actually want to be when you grow up. Change your dream to a vision by becoming very, very, very, very clear. Once you've nailed it down, go to that next feature until your dream has become a very clear vision. Lesley Logan 17:28  I can still hear his lovely accent saying, he's saying that he's so passionate about each of these Be It Action Items. He was so like into this whole section. Brad Crowell 17:35  I know you said New Zealand. I swear I thought he was from Germany. Lesley Logan 17:38  No, he's New Zealand. Brad Crowell 17:39  He's in New Zealand. He mentioned Germany. Lesley Logan 17:42  I know. I'm quite positive because of the time difference. It was like a whole different day. Brad Crowell 17:48  Okay, well, oh yeah, you know what, you mentioned, I think he was traveling to Gisborne. You did mention Gisborne. Lesley Logan 17:57  Gisborne. Brad Crowell 17:58  Gisborne, I don't know how to say it. Lesley Logan 18:00  Gisborne. I don't think the R is as emphasized as we do it. Brad Crowell 18:06  Emphasized.Lesley Logan 18:06  So anyways, emphasized. Brad Crowell 18:07  Yes, it's the place that they have the first light of the day every day. What about you? Let's get back to our Be It Action Items here. Lesley Logan 18:15  My biggest takeaway was give yourself a hug and spend 15 seconds with yourself after. So, let's do that.Brad Crowell 18:23  Yeah, let's do it right now. Lesley Logan 18:24  Close your eyes.Brad Crowell 18:25  So his hug was like, pretend you can bear hug yourself. So the biggest wrap around your shoulders that you could possibly do, and we're closing our eyes and we're going to do 15 seconds here. Lesley Logan 18:35  Squeeze hard as you can and tell yourself I love you. So, ready? Squeeze. I love you. I love you. 1001, 1002, 1003, do we hug? Do we stop hugging after 15 seconds? Or do we hug and then we spend 15 seconds?Brad Crowell 18:49  Just hug yourself. Lesley Logan 18:50  Okay, well, I'm trying to. Brad Crowell 18:51  Just hug. Just hug. Two, one, awesome. He said he's super good. He's known for giving bear hugs to his friends, but he realized he never gives a bear hug to himself, and I just got chills. I literally just got chills right now. Lesley Logan 19:08  I feel so good. I feel like I could end the day. It feels amazing. So. Brad Crowell 19:12  He said accept who you are, squeeze as hard as you can and tell yourself I love you.Lesley Logan 19:16  Okay, everyone, let us know if you gave yourself a hug. Make sure to tag Stephan. Tag the Be It Pod. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 19:22  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 19:23  Thank you so much for listening to us today. Thank you so much for sharing our podcast with your friends. Thank you for your reviews. They really mean the world to us. And make sure that you share your wins with us. You can start celebrating your wins by sending it to us. Brad Crowell 19:36  Yeah, text us. Lesley Logan 19:37  Yeah, that's exactly, or DM us or whatever, you know how to do it. We'll figure it out. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 19:43  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 19:45  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 20:28  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 20:33  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 20:37  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 20:44  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 20:47  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time. Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Are you truly aware of the addictions shaping your daily life? Dr. Stephan Neff joins Lesley Logan to explore the hidden addictions we all face, from social media scrolling to workaholism, and how they impact our emotions, identity, and self-worth. In this raw and insightful conversation, Stephan shares his personal journey of addiction recovery, trauma healing, and radical self-compassion. Learn practical steps to regulate emotions, embrace grief, and redefine your identity beyond societal labels.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The hidden addictions we all face and their impact on emotional well-being.The challenges of identity loss after major life changes and the journey to rediscovering self-worth.The importance of grief, how it manifests beyond loss, and why allowing yourself to feel is essential for healing.Practical self-compassion techniques to reframe negative thoughts.How taking intentional action and creating a clear vision can transform challenges into opportunities for growth. Episode References/Links:Stephan Neff Website - https://www.neffinspiration.comSteps to Sobriety by Stephan Neff - https://a.co/d/hHY4w9PDepression Lied To Me by Stephan Neff - https://a.co/d/7s6Ddg0Neff Inspiration Podcast - https://stephanneff.podbean.comStephan Neff YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@neffinspirationStephan Neff Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/neffinspirationStephan Neff Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/neffinspirationStephan Neff LinkedIn - https://beitpod.com/neffonlinkedinEsmee The Mindful Mouse - https://neffinspiration.com/booksGuest Bio:Stephan Neff is an anaesthetist, bestselling author, speaker and show host. After studying medicine in Heidelberg, Germany he travelled and worked in Europe and Australia before settling down with his family in beautiful New Zealand. As a pain physician, he developed a specific insight into human psychology. As a man trying to drown his sorrows, he found out the hard way that the critters can swim. But over the last ten years, he made every day a little bit better than yesterday. When he became intrigued about epigenetics, he started training in functional medicine. Once he experienced the power of breathwork he became a breath coach. Not willing to accept getting stiffer with age he became a flexibility coach. His desire to impact humans led him to become a life coach and hypnotherapist. He strongly believes that the past does not equal the future. By taking action in a consistent way, we can experience transformations beyond our wildest dreams. He shares this passion through his podcast and YouTube channel, and through social media (Stephan Neff / Neff Inspiration) There is so much more to Stephan than sobriety. Nevertheless, in his book “Steps to Sobriety” he shares the lessons he has learned as a doctor and as a man. Every addict can turn his life around, one little decision at a time. His books and his show explain how to do it. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Stephan Neff 0:00  One in three people have got chemical addictions. One in three. How many people are scrolling for hours on their social media? These are all dopamine quick hits, your likes, your, whatever you post out there. Oh, look at me, I'm looking so good. That's all a heap of B.S. because ultimately, it's nothing else than a form of addiction.Lesley Logan 0:24  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:07  All right, loves, I'm so excited for today's episode. We had so much to talk about, so I'm gonna make this intro super quick and grab a pen, paper, because there are so many little nuggets of like, oh, I need to do that. Oh, I need to do that. And I think you'll really like it. So Stephan Neff is our guest toda. We are going to talk about all the ups and downs, trials, tribulations of losing a job, losing a marriage, changing your life, and then also, I just love when I ask people what they're excited about right now, because they can learn so much more, and truly, so many, be it action items in here for you. There's something for everyone. So, here you go. Lesley Logan 1:39  All right, Be It babe. I'm really excited that I get to have another conversation with our guest today. I've been on his amazing podcast, and now he's going to be here on mine. Stephan Neff, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at? Stephan Neff 1:49  Oh, thank you very much, Lesley, for giving me the privilege and the honor to be a guest on your show. I'm Stephan, I'm anesthetist. I'm a functional medicine specialist. I'm also a life coach. I'm a yoga instructor. I've got all kind of hats, like hypnotherapy and I've studied that. So I am addicted to becoming the best version of myself, and I've had many opportunities in my life to make choices that were not so great with hindsight, so I had more trauma than I would wish on my worst enemy, and in turn, I have investigated the effects of alcohol, of renzodiazepines, of sex, of a lot of coping mechanisms, food, for that matter. So workaholics, see, the moment I start talking, the more holics are coming to my mind. Because it's not just one escape mechanism. It's not just one thing that you try, you so dabble in many things. I was lucky because being in Germany, England, New Zealand, I was not exposed to various epidemics the United States have seen, and I was never really tempted by harder drugs that whatever, whoever is guiding here this game, they guided me away from those things. And for that, I need to be really, really grateful. However, I became a master escape artist with all the other things. And unfortunately, yes, they work for a little while, because they take away your pain, but ultimately they catch up with you and these demons, they are riding you deep inside. And again, I have been in situations which allowed me to grow so in other words, about 1011, years ago, I ended up in rehab that stopped my alcohol, and that was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Now, at the time, I was certainly not agreeing with that statement, but nowadays, I strongly believe every 18-year-old needed to be in rehab for a month. I think I would make that mandatory on actually, even before you go into college, even before, a 15-year-old, that's probably a better time to actually just learn about your emotions, learn about your feelings, learn about.Lesley Logan 4:24  What if there's a summer camp for emotions like, what if that's what everyone had to do at 15? I'm in. I think so, too, because it's true. I think most of the different addictions that we have are because we are unsure how to regulate or understand the emotions we're feeling, or we were not allowed to feel them, and so we don't know how to feel them, and so we figure out a different way to not feel. Workaholics get away with that addiction because, you know, except that they're annoying to their family, and their family's never to see them. It doesn't seem to be harmful. In air quotes. So unfortunately, the people who have. The addictions to alcohol and drugs, we look down on that like, oh, my God, how could they have let themselves get involved in those things? Stephan Neff 5:06  Which is ludicrous, Lesley, if you think about it, one in three people have got chemical addictions. One in three. How many people are scrolling for hours on their social media? These are all dopamine quick hits, your likes, your whatever you post out there. Oh, look at me. I'm looking so good. That's all a heap of B.S. because ultimately, it's nothing else than a form of addiction. Lesley Logan 5:33  Well, and it's also so hard because everything out there, there are lots of people who are helping your addiction along. So, you know, I mean, in the States, recently, we've heard about who was arrested in the Matthew Perry loss. And yes, he is addicted, and yes, he's the person who's like, doing the drugs and having been to multiple rehabs, and all these things, but the people around him that facilitated that addiction to continue, you know, and I'm not saying that if you'd switch people like that wouldn't happen with other people, but with your social media scrolling, they make sure you stay on. There's all these different things. And so I love the idea of a 15-year-old or an 18-year-old. My goodness, every so many years it's like we have to go do a CPR test every two years. Maybe you also have to just do a little check in on how are you regulating your emotions? Are you doing that? Because there's going to be times in your life where it's not going to go well, and you could be the best regulator in the world that need help. Stephan Neff 6:30  And but that is a privilege, and that is a something. I mean, gratitude is nowadays playing so much a role in my life due to the many traumas and the lessons I had to learn the hard way, and I'm very grateful for them nowadays, and you're so right, things don't end up in all peachy sort of Hollywood ending. It does not. I'm 58. Now, physically, emotionally, spiritually. I'm stronger than I have ever been in the last 30 years, probably emotionally, spiritually than ever in my life. Now, in reality, I have lost my job as an anesthetist. I'm going through a not nice divorce. My children have moved on in their own lives, and they are now overseas, far away, so I'm not getting the good old center support that maybe I deserve, want, need, and so there is a hard time here. But if there's one thing that I have had to learn, that I had the privilege to learn, is that there is a sense behind that suffering, and Viktor Frankl and many other far more clever people than me, before me have expressed that, and it is so hard, it sounds like a cliche. It sounds like something weird, but ultimately, it is a skill, just as much as you have a skill of maybe playing an instrument or going to the gym, being able to lift a certain amount of weight in a certain style, these are all skills that you have acquired. Now, I have acquired many of these skills, but also I have had to acquire some very powerful skills that allow me to regulate my emotions in a beautiful way. Indeed, going through the divorce and losing my job, losing my identity. I mean, I, who are you? I'm Dr. Neff von Stephan. I'm an anesthetist in blah, blah, there and there, well, take all that away. Who are you left with? And many men don't know that answer. They never ask themselves these answers until maybe trauma, physical trauma, stops them being the master carpenter or the mechanic or whatever they identify themselves. I've had so many soldiers on my show who were top alpha predators, and then were on the receiving end of a machine gun. And then, surprise, surprise, their body was no longer alpha. Theirs was not even omega. It was a heap of minced meat. And then, who are they? Lesley Logan 9:16  Who are you? Yeah. Stephan Neff 9:17  And so many men and women suffer from that, and I had the privilege of repeated traumas that forced me to ask those questions and come up with answers, solutions and the right steps forward.Lesley Logan 9:32  Yeah, many years ago, someone said you can't take someone's rock bottom away, right? And because you're trying to help people, and sometimes we're trying to help people. Of course, we should all be helpful, but sometimes people go into their own detriment trying to help someone, trying to make someone better, or see the light or take something away, and it's like some of those rock bottoms are exactly the thing they need to go through so they can learn who they are, so they can handle the next thing. Because I'm sorry to hear about all of those things. It sounds like there is like one and then a space between, and then another. And it sounds like because of one, you might be able to actually handle the next one. Like the divorce is awful, but because you learned how to regulate and feel your emotions and talk about who you are and go through those things, was that helpful when the divorce happened? Or am I, were they all at one time?Stephan Neff 10:22  No, sometimes you wonder if the gods out there in the pantheon are just sitting there and thinking, Stephan, he's doing far too well. What shall we throw at him? And then everyone pikes up. Ah, monkey pox. No, no, no. Divorce. Around with the children. They say, you know what we do, all of them at the same time. Yeah, see how it copes.Lesley Logan 10:43  Oh, my God. Are you watching, I don't know if you have it in New Zealand, there is a show on Netflix called Chaos. It's about the gods. If you can get it, it is worthwhile, because that is exactly what they're doing.Stephan Neff 11:01  I'm sure some writer had a dream about me, and thought, oh, I we're gonna make that show. I want some royalties here. Lesley Logan 11:09  Yeah, yeah.Stephan Neff 11:10  But there's this, shit will happen, and I ended up in quite a dark space over the end of last year and start of this year, and when I did some courses which forced me to live with my emotions, some radical compassion courses, things like that, where I had to learn how to really live with my emotions, not just run away from them, but actually be there, feel them, pour oil onto the fire and be there, feel it, and then afterwards, learn how to calm down and learn how to nurture myself. It was so beautiful. It was one of the hardest courses I've ever done, but that was what allowed me to be here and speak to you today. Many a times, when I thought, well, is my life really worthwhile? I'm fat, ugly, I'm a failure. You know, all these kind of I ams that are coming up, these voices? Now, fact is, we all have got about 80,000 thereabouts thoughts every day. Of these 80,000 about 80% are negative, and mine had a volume cranked up to max. Now we all have them, and that is a problem, because this is all a heap of B.S. that your body is telling you, either focusing far too much onto the history which is gone. You should learn from your mistakes. You should learn from history to prevent making the same mistakes again. You could talk now into politics big time in your country, but we won't go there. Stephan Neff 11:11  Stephan, trust me, every day, I'm like these people need to fucking read a history book. What is happening here? But here's the deal. Then we have talked about education in this country, and that's another mountain to climb, so.Stephan Neff 12:59  Exactly. I think the same applies for us as human beings. Never forget where you came from. Never forget the lessons from the past, but do not relive the hardships or the sadness, unless you need a relief valve. I, oh my God, end of last year, I went to a counselor, just because, you know, that's really the clever thing to do, because these people sort of can see what you're saying, can listen to you, and can also listen to what you're not saying.Lesley Logan 13:41  Yeah, they're talented. So great.Stephan Neff 13:46  So I had this wonderful woman, which I knew. So I said, like, you know that's what I'm going through. And she said, wow, okay, so how is your loss and grief? I said, which loss and grief? I didn't lose anyone? And she just looked at me, you just lost your wife of 27 years. I thought, huh, okay. And so there was a loss and grief, but I never allowed myself to feel that, and it was interesting for me that a song recently triggered me, and that was absolutely amazing, because that song allowed me suddenly to cry, to really sob, snot, tears, you know, you name it, it came out, but it took me the better part of what, eight months, what is it now? September. That was only really in August. So we're talking 10 months, really, in which I was the stoic survivor, in which I did what I had to do. And that's one of the key things. You have to take action in order to live your life. And the harder it gets, the more action you have to take. So I did all the right things, but I neglected that one emotion, and when it finally came out, it was so beautiful. It was so beautiful to cry. It was so beautiful to feel whole again, because, yes, I can journal every day and write down the things that give me the highest anxiety, and take them off immediately, those things that I take for granted that becomes my win list. So I'm actually writing down pretty minuscule things, but these are all things that maybe previously I would have procrastinated about, etc. And here, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, and I write win, little wins next to it. And if I achieve something really big, which I didn't think big win. So I do all that. Yet, whilst I took the right action, there was still so many things that needed to be addressed, and there was this emotion, and it was there. It's beautiful. Lesley Logan 15:57  I think I love that you're sharing, because it's so easy. I got my tools, I'm doing my things, I'm doing the work, I'm, whatever the work is for you, but I'm not surprised that grief was an emotion you weren't letting yourself feel because it's not an emotion any of us are taught how to deal with. We don't handle grief well, and there's not a model for it, right? If you don't lose someone or have grief when you're a child and it's not modeled correctly, we don't really know. We don't really see how to do that. And then if you see a parent or person who handles grief terribly, they get angry, they bottle it up, they don't process it, then you learn you can't even, you can't express it. And then most people, what do they say? Oh, you'll feel better in time. There's not a lot of great examples of feeling grief, and we also think grief only comes if we lose like a family member. We are not realizing, you lose your job, that's grief, Stephan, because you're grieving what the future that you thought about was, what did you think that was? Like, we moved to Las Vegas, and that was a beautiful, exciting goal that we had, but also it came so suddenly and when it happened during the pandemic that I remember working with my therapist about grieving my L.A. life, not because I wasn't happy in Vegas, but just the day to day that made me feel like me was gone and I had to start over. And your brain, the way grief works, expecting this thing. Oh, I went for a run to the next, Oh, there's no Starbucks here. Even though that sounds silly, that was, part of my day was saying hi to the same five people, seen running with my best friend. There's a grief there. And I think we don't allow ourselves to grieve what could have been when situations don't go well, and we think it makes us something weak, or makes us feel like we're stuck on the path. And really it's giving that space, and going back to the Greeks, like letting that float down the river, like giving it a celebration, right? I think that that is a huge step. It's something that I'm really, and I'm really, I don't know, I'm really stuck on this in this moment.Stephan Neff 17:52  And I guess there's a message there for you, because obviously I've triggered you. And hopefully after the show, you can reflect on that, and can actually see, ah, okay, what's waiting now to be released, what opening is coming up for me to learn something new about me, because that's really the chance that we have got every single day, and we squander so many of these chances we take our life for granted. Two years ago, my life well, from the outside, I was at a pinnacle. You know, I was I made an very, very beautiful income. I had a big house, I had a pool, I had a wife, I had two kids. From outside, hey, you know, on the inside, I was not a happy man, but it was so grumbling and so chronic that I didn't see how unsatisfied my needs were as a man in my marriage, and the same is probably to be said for my wife, her needs were not met and we were unable to express our respective love languages we wouldn't have known them if they would have bitten us in the ass. It is those kind of things, you know. It is those kind of things that ultimately make you unhappy, make you unsatisfied. You're searching for this mission, you're certain, searching for this purpose in your life that you have not yet found. And I think by going through trauma and being forced to change, you get outside of your comfort zone, you experience fear. And if you look at any successful, truly successful person who's got their shit together, then you will see that they have gone through tremendous amounts of trauma, through tremendous amounts of heartbreak, that in their business, they have failed and were sometimes completely, how do you call it in America where everything is taken away from you? You lose your house, you lose your.Lesley Logan 20:01  Bankruptcy, yes, yes, yes. Stephan Neff 20:03  Yes, exactly. Ultimately, many men and women have gone through such scenarios, but those who are successful are those people who have learned and are willing to learn from such trauma. I call it trauma. Trauma is sometimes a word that is. Lesley Logan 20:21  I think there's little T and there's big T, and I also think it's fine they've gone through some sort of like life experience that has flipped them things upside down. Look at Oprah. We forget what her life was like. We forget who she was before she was Oprah. And so you're completely right. And I guess our life is always evolving. And I think your life is a perfect example of it's not like life's a roller coaster, but it's like an ebb and flow. There's like, these highs, these lows, and what we do with the lows to get to the highs really matters. And how we, actually, it sounds like you educate yourself in a low so that you can, like you go through these highs. But now, with this new life change, like, how do you find yourself being it till you see it to the person you want to be on the other side of all this, what are the tools you're using, or what are the or how are you figuring it out as we go?Stephan Neff 21:06  Righty-ho, so over the next three hours where let's talk about. No, no. I give you, I show you one tool, actually, that I've used very, very frequently in the recent months. And it is actually very easy to do. It comes in various versions, but I use my right hand and put it on the dead shoulder. That hand onto that shoulder. I squeeze as hard as I can and say, Stephan, I love you. You're a good man. You're going through shit. I absolutely love you to bits. You are strong. You are a good man. Shit is happening, but you're a good man. Don't forget that. And I do that for 15, 20 seconds, and I'm renowned for my bear hugs to those people who I love, and you never show this love that you show others to yourself. You're a mean bastard to yourself. You speak to yourself in a way that you wouldn't speak to your worst enemy. And I force myself to actually love myself. Warts and all. And I think that sometimes gives me that hug, gives me that release, gives me that reassurance, where I am getting stronger and I feel the panic and the anxiety running away. We already spoke about writing things down. What I shared with you was the win list, because we always look at our failures. We never look at our wins. And I want to celebrate every win. In order to do so, I need to celebrate every chance I get. In order to do that, I need to celebrate being here. I need to be celebrating that I'm here in this moment. I'm not distracting myself, I'm not escaping. I'm living this moment and I live it with joy. I live it I'm here with you, 100% intentional, and I enjoy every second have I had in the past a fear of public speaking? Hell, yes. Are we talking about some quite, you know, not things that I'm not so happy and proud about, and now I'm sharing it with a few thousand, 10,000 million viewers. Well, okay, talk about that. Do you think me showing up is a win? Well, 80% of success is showing up. Me, actually, jumping over my fear and actually just being here, exposing myself to my fear of public, speaking of whatever it is, and suddenly realizing, actually, you know, I'm not eaten up by some magic force or some saber tooth tiger has killed me, although my body inside and all the responses of fight and flight coming onto this show, but now it is those kind of things, so the gratitude and the realization that this is a privilege that you are living. Yes, it's a shitty day here. Look outside. It's raining. Damn. Many of my friends are no longer here, but due to disease or trauma or violent deaths, well, you know, it's a privilege to be here, so be grateful and practice that. And you need to just, you actually need to do that. Practice it, because it doesn't come naturally to many of us. Lesley Logan 24:47  Right, right. Stephan Neff 24:48  So practice those things. And then the most important bit is finally stop for a moment and actually try to figure out who you want to be when you grow up. Create that dream in your mind, and dream means leery, flary things that are going on in your head. So if you say, okay, I am 58 now, and I haven't found true love in my life. So if I say, okay, I want to find true love. Well, that's nice. You can think of Valentine hearts, or you can say, what does that actually look like? Okay, there is, there needs to be a partner. This partner probably needs to understand my needs. Or for that, I need to be able to learn how to communicate my needs, but then I need to understand what are my needs? There's a bit of work waiting here to actually figure out what is your dream. Now, that dream, it's nebulous. Please change your dream to a vision by becoming very, very, very clear. So I want to have this dream partner. Okay, how does she need to look like? Well, maybe not the best question that you want to ask, because she might come in a very different package, but it has, it's everything that you need. So maybe a different question might be, which features should she have, which emotions, which style, what makes her burst into laughter and in turn infect you with joy? And then you have to figure out, okay, what affects you or infects you with joy. So what is your joy? So it's those kind of things. So once you've nailed it down, go to the next feature, to the next feature, until you dream that nebulism something has become a very clear vision. And now you need to take action. And that is the cool thing, but not action on that. Don't take someone and try to somehow mold that someone. No, take action on the input and say, okay, I want this loving relationship. So what would I do now? Right now? What ideas, five ideas that would make this relationship with this person a better thing. What input can I put there? What does she need? She needs to be supported. Okay. And how does that work? She needs to know that I will not run away. Well, fair call. Let's do something on that. Or she always feels alone that she is doing all the work in the house. Fine. Let me put that rubbish out, let me paint that corner, let me fix that part of the house, whatever it is. I can control the input. I can't control the output. I can't control the end result, but I can show up and do my best, and that is a beautiful skill. Lesley Logan 27:44  I really love your way of being it till you see it. It's like we always work backwards here. We love that, so that's great. But I also loved how it turned into like, the things you're looking for, you have to know more about yourself so that you can spot it when you got it, because people can't read your mind, and you could say, I want a supportive partner, and then you meet someone whose idea of supporting is financial, but what you really meant was emotional. Well, it doesn't matter. I need to be supportive. I am supporting you, and it's because words matter and we need to be specific. So I think that there's just so many different ways. We just had a coaching call with our group, and this girl wants to open a studio. She's like, where do I start? And I was like, well, what kind of studio do you want? What does that look like? What's happening in the studio? How busy is it? Is our teachers there, like, I can't tell you how to open a studio if I don't know what we're opening because then it's like, you go get a building, you get a lawyer. First of all, it's not inspiring. Second of all, what order of those steps is going to change based on all the things you have to know, what it is that you're wanting to open for us to go with the first action step. So I really, really think that that is so cool. What are you most excited about right now? Stephan Neff 28:57  Well, my house is going on the market, and this house, this town, has a lot of memories, many of them beautiful, many of them not so. So, by all I know, in four days time the house is sold, and then what will happen? And I've got a Toyota Estima, sort of a gray people-mover, kind of soccer mom kind of thing. I've turned that into a Batmobile. So I've ripped out the interior. I've turned that into a stealth camper, into basically an RV. Lesley Logan 29:30  So cool.Stephan Neff 29:32  That was quite a cool thing, something, you know, I'm 58 and I'm a doctor, for crying out loud. I focused my skills on a very different skill set by my experience in different skill sets, not necessarily DIY, not necessarily building. So I had to learn auto electronics and how the car works on the inside, etc. So I did that. So that was cool. I was really enjoying finding things that give me joy. And it was a surprising journey, because. You, those things that gave me joy in the past were no longer as beautiful, and I found new ways of creativity, new ways of looking forward to projects that maybe will increase my wealth again. Any divorce is hugely detrimental to anything. So there's a good reason that I changed my house to a car to actually just recover financially, but that is all part and parcel. So here we are. There are those people who have forever dreamt of the RV lifestyle, of downsizing, of those kind of things. I'm forced to do it, but I choose not to look at it as being forced, but I choose it as an opportunity to see that beautiful New Zealand and actually build up my private practice in functional medicine and. Lesley Logan 30:50  Have you been to Gisborne? Stephan Neff 30:52  Yes, I have. Yes. Lesley Logan 30:53  So that's the first light of day. I feel like you have to go there in your RV. If you do, we have a lovely friend there who likes to serve.Stephan Neff 31:02  Like Gisborne, Napier, there are so many beautiful places here. So I'm looking forward to doing that and in the process of finding myself, of finding out more about me, focusing more on one thing. This, the journey of divorce and getting rid of a house is incredibly disruptive to all your creative things. I was lucky because I was putting all my creativity in designing a very tiny home, and it was beautiful. But now it's time to bring that creativity to the next project. May it be, well, part of it probably will be somewhere, a rundown house that I will renovate and bring up just to a really lovely standard. Lesley Logan 31:46  You know, when you live in it, because we, we live in our van from time to time, and we lived in a tiny apartment before our house. Our van is not finished by any stretch of the imagination. I'm glad we didn't, because we would have made changes. And so what I think is really fun for you is the next house you get, even if it's small, you will, based on what you like and don't like in your RV life, you will make changes so that your home has the things you want at the home versus what you have. So then you'll have two homes, and you'll have one you can travel like it's mobile, and then you'll have one that's a sanctuary. I think it's so cool. Yeah. Stephan Neff 32:09  So, so, instead of saying I've lost my house now, I've lost my life, I have gained freedom. I have gained a new way of life that probably injects quite a bit of you back into me. I have the opportunity to explore new things. For example, I love juggling. I love spitting fires, so I studied circus arts when I was a younger man. Lesley Logan 32:46  That's so funny. That's not what I thought you were gonna say.Stephan Neff 32:49  But I know that there's a group of jugglers around New Zealand. They meet, typically on the full moon, on the beach somewhere, and have fire and juggle and things like that. And I always thought, oh, wouldn't that be cool? Then it was always the I need to work next day, and I'm busy and there's all that. Well now I have got that freedom to actually do that. Get back into it. Well, I haven't juggled for quarter of a century. I'm sure I will find it again, and I'm sure I will find new ways of finding joy. In finding those new ways, it is likely that I come across people who really infuse me. And who knows, there might be true love waiting there, true love in whatever form and shape it comes. These are all gifts that have come out of trauma, just as much as I have become the phoenix rising out of the ashes again and again over my lifetime. I just didn't expect it that I'll do it with 58 again. But hey, you do what. A man has got to do what a man has got to do. But I take it as a challenge. I take it as an opportunity as, I take it as a positive thing, and that is the only thing, the only true thing that works when it comes to the challenges in life, that you are able to find the meaning, a purpose, a sense in your suffering, that you accept what is happening, that you practice radical self-compassion, that you take ownership when it is due, that you learn to analyze when someone maybe was gaslighting you or was bullshitting you, or the whole kind of messages subliminal that you had been fed, maybe throughout your life, that you're actually able to start analyzing them and say, well, that's actually a heap of B.S. but that is actually not true. I'm not a failure. You know, for 50 something years, I thought I'm a failure. That's my rundown. Now, it helped me to focus and work harder. But to actually say, actually, no, I'm not a failure. I'm resilient, I'm resourceful, I am a survivor, I'm a thriver. I am lovable, I am worthy to learn. I wrote on my website, I wrote an article about the Power of I Am, and it's so important that we use that power, because it's the shortcut to your subconscious. So instead of being the bearded lady in the circus, why don't you start becoming the ring master and actually decide what is happening in your show, in your circus. Okay, you can actually control your thoughts. You can be far more mindful as far as what is happening up there, and that will make you stronger, that will make you a better human. And in turn, you will attract better humans. Inadvertently, or maybe on purpose, you will seek out a different group of people, not the naysayers, those people who give you good advice, for example, about finances when they are themselves, run down and have nothing. Lesley Logan 36:05  Yes, there's a lot of those around. Yeah.Stephan Neff 36:09  Isn't it? But you're an example, Lesley, you are out there. You have gone through your own trials and tribulation, but you haven't given up. And you keep going. And you keep showing up. You keep showing up on your show. And you're there to help others. You bring others on to infuse you. You open yourself up, in this case, by being very honest, and I was triggering you here on the show. So therefore I know you will grow, like it or lump it, by you showing up and making yourself vulnerable, you grow, and you will become a better version of Lesley than when the show started. How cool is that? I think we all can learn from that, isn't it? Lesley Logan 36:54  Yeah, yeah, oh my gosh. We could keep talking forever, but we're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out where people can listen to your show and read your books and all the amazing stuff. Lesley Logan 37:05  All right, Stephan, where do you like to hang out? Where can we send everyone if they have been inspired by what you've got? Stephan Neff 37:11  Please head over to neffinspiration.com. Neff, N-E-F-F, it's my surname, inspiration dot com, it's my website. From there, you have got links to my YouTube show. We are close now to 500 guests, and Lesley is one of them. You had some fantastic pearls of wisdom there. It's beautiful. So I'm growing through that show. I have in my creativity, written quite a few books, some of them no longer in print because I felt it's probably not so good. I've recently lost 30 kilogram and some of my books were dangerously good German cheesecakes. So that's a bit inappropriate. I still have that out there. I Lesley Logan 37:59  I mean, it's probably okay if people are addicted to cheesecake.Stephan Neff 38:03  I was always joking that because you bake them for such a long time that you bake all the calories out of them. I don't think that's true. I need to write a new recipe book.Lesley Logan 38:16  Okay, if our listeners hit you up for that cheesecake recipe, you have to give it to them.Stephan Neff 38:21  I can live with that. It's a baked German cheesecake. So it's great quality. It's a great taste. It's a little bit more work. I love it. The free books that can give you the most bang for the buck and the most value, I guess, is Steps to Sobriety. That is a book I've written. It's now coming out next month in its third edition. It is a memoir slash recipe book, How to look at recovery from addiction in a step wise, logical approach, and give you step by step way forward. The steps are essentially the 12 steps from AA, but I've taken the god out. I've taken many of those things out that maybe are a bit more difficult to swallow, and I've put it into a modern language, and have explained why these steps are actually a very good system. How to approach a failing business, for example, and I go into details there. So if you were to help a friend who is in trouble, like you are helping other Pilates teachers to create or maybe become better in their systems, well that's exactly you would actually do exactly the same steps as a 12-step program offers. So I'm using that approach. But then there are so many, so many other things that are typically happening, the trauma, the very predictable things, the depression, the mental health problems that will affect one in three of us. So you might as well learn something about it. When you drive a car, you learn how to change a tire, because sooner or later, you have to. But not one of us ever learns the signs and symptoms of depression or how, what is, what help is out there. So, Steps to S,obriety is really a beautiful mental health book in an overall, over encompassing kind of way. I've had another book out, Depression Lied To Me, in which I had the honor of having 14 female storytellers who were sharing their stories about how depression lied to them. And it's wonderful, because depression, as many other mental health problems, they come in all shapes and forms. They come in all disguises. Yet there are common themes, and yet there are the same kind of bullshit lies that these mental health problems tell us. Let there be addiction, let there be depression, etc. To hear 14 different women talk about their experience has been a very enriching insight for me. And last but not least, I will republish Esmee The Mindful Mouse, because I believe that if we start earlier on in life, if we start creating strong, little humans, it's much easier than repair broken adults. So therefore, why should we not start teaching mindfulness at an early stage? And I've written a beautiful, written and photographed and produced with a friend, a beautiful book about this little mouse who lives in our beautiful redwood forest here, and who is vivacious, but with her vivaciousness also sometimes makes her friends angry, and she needs to find out the difference between, am I a bad mouse, or have I done something bad that has angered someone else? Again coming back to the power of I am and, needless to say, her friends love her for who she is, but she needs to learn that lesson, and you will find links to all those books and more a neffinspiration.com so check it out, guys, but first, please press the like and subscribe button on Lesley's show, because that's so bloody important, because we all grow with algorithms on YouTube and other places, and if you've heard something cool today, hopefully it will enrich your life, but also send it to someone else, and send a link to Lesley show so that they can get better insights and we grow and start becoming this community of growing people.Lesley Logan 42:37  Thank you for that. Please do all of those things everyone. You've given us a bunch already. I feel like, so feel free to repeat something you've said, because I feel like you did. But there are so many gems of like, how we could be it till you see it, but bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps, the action someone can take, if they're like, yes, okay, what can they do next? What would you like them to do?Stephan Neff 42:57  Immediately now, I want you to give yourself a hug. I want you to actually give yourself a hug and spend 15 seconds with yourself just after the show is finished, immediately, 15 seconds, if it is safe to do so if you're driving, maybe not, okay? Maybe pull over, okay? But I want you to close your eyes and be with yourself and whatever is happening with you, whatever goes through your mind, whatever is happening, I want you to give yourself a big bear hug and just accept you for who you are, that beautiful human being who is probably going through some shit, because otherwise you wouldn't listen to a show like this. You would be distracted with living this most beautiful, suckering, sweet Coca Cola advertisement life, which, yeah, how about that? Okay, no, I want you to be real, and I want you to show compassion to yourself, because it all starts with that, yeah, just to tell that inner child of you, to tell that that right now, big child that is sitting there or standing there, whoever is around you, just give yourself that big hug, squeeze as hard as you can, and tell yourself, I love you. Lesley Logan 44:17  That's beautiful. Thank you so much. You guys, go give yourself a hug, and then please make sure that you share this with a friend. And if you have takeaways, please tag Stephan. Tag the Be It Pod. We want to hear them. We want to celebrate what you're doing. Y'all, you heard him say wins all the time. We actually have a wins episode that comes out on Fridays where we love to celebrate your wins. You can actually send them in and we read them out loud, so that sometimes when you hear your own win, it's on a day you really need a reminder that you had a win recently, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 44:50  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 45:33  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 45:38  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 45:42  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 45:49  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 45:53  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

As February wraps up, Lesley shares an inspiring story about a supportive community standing in for those without affirming family members, celebrates a powerful win from a Cambodia retreat attendee, and reflects on her own transformative experience. Tune in for a reminder to embrace life's adventures and boldly step into what's next.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The heartwarming initiative by Zombie Dan to stand in for those without affirming family support.The power of investing in yourself and making space for transformative experiences.Ainsley's journey from attending her first Cambodia retreat to embracing personal growth in her second experience.The joy of connecting with like-minded individuals and creating deep, meaningful friendships.How movement, reflection, and intention-setting shape a more fulfilled life.Lesley's realization that playing small isn't an option and her renewed commitment to big goals.Episode References/Links:The Zombie Dan - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCza8QXua8q/ If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Lesley Logan 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:05  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:47  Hello, Be It babe. Welcome to the last Friday episode of February. How are you? How was February for you? Are you freaking out? It's like time flying by. Is it happening? My goodness, please be kind to yourself. Okay? You got to. If you're not kind to you, how are you going to get other people to be kind to you? Like how are we going to do that? It's an actual question. I'd love for you to tell me. So okay, I'm looking up my thing that inspired me, and I'm super excited about this. So there was this person, his name is Zombie Dan on Instagram. And I don't know a ton about Zombie Dan. I'm sorry I didn't do a ton of research, but I was obsessed with this reel when it came upon my feed. And so this person was like, my family didn't celebrate me when I got engaged to my girlfriend. And so obviously it's like a LGBTQ relationship, and she's not being supported. And Zombie Dan shares like, Hi, I'm Zombie Dan. I and this other group of people, we are going to be, we can be the father that walks you down the aisle. We can be the older brother. We can be the mother. We can go to dress shoppings with you. We can do these things. And they stand in the gap. They stand in place of anyone who's not affirming in your family. I'm obsessed with this. I think it is so cool. So the link to if you are someone who's I need someone to stand in place of a family member who's unaffirming of my life, I highly recommend checking out what Zombie Dan is doing. So it's the_zombie_dan and we'll put the link in the bio. I don't know who Zombie Dan is. We've never met, but I just am, I think people are so cool. And what I love about this so much is that people like him are so full of love, and they're like, how can I share this love that we have for others? Wasn't that cool? Isn't that amazing? I know you're like, oh, but it's not, people might be like, well, it's not their dad. It's not about that. It's about them having people surrounding them who appreciate and affirm who they are and whom they love, right? That's what it's about, that's about being surrounded by those people and not being alone at those significant times in your life. And so thank you, Zombie Dan, for what you created and for the people that you've brought together for this. I think it's so freaking cool, and it just blew my mind. Aren't people amazing? They are amazing. So that just truly inspired me. Lesley Logan 2:59  All right. So now your win. Okay, so I chose a win from Ainsley. We've heard wins from her before, but I chose her win because it actually is from when she was flying home from the Cambodian retreat. And she has done our Cambodian retreat two times. And I thought, like, her win is so beautiful. This is coming out on the day that I'm ending my Cambodian retreat in the February one. And so I just wanted to relive her wins, but also share what is possible when you take a week for yourself. So Ainsley Walker, she wrote, I'm at the end of LL and Brad's stunning Cambodia retreat. I'm sitting at the Bangkok airport, letting all that's happened the past few days absorb and oh my goodness, so, so many wins. So here's a few, and I'll try to keep it brief. I gifted myself this trip for my birthday. I made it happen. I deliberately accepted the extra clients, knowing they were my way in. When they came, I felt even more excited to see them. This is my second time to Cambodia with LL and Brad. That's a massive win, right there. I got so much more out of it the second time. I'm in a much better place. The first time was wonderful, but the second time pure joy for me. I have absolutely loved the consistency of moving daily and found group energy so motivating. I'm committed to keep it up. Each and every person on the trip made it special. It was beautiful, hanging out with my gorgeous eLevate peeps, chatting and having fun. I loved in the last day, my body allowed me to take it into rocking. It showed me how much stretch and connection it has made in the last year, and allowed me to lift my leg in a leg pool front, I've been working on these all year. And after a lovely chat with Lisa, I'm inspired to find a new one-to-one classical teacher to keep progressing. Another amazing chat with Mandy, and we will move together and join her moving group when possible. This week, I fully realized how all my hard work and investment on myself, my goals, has paid off. I felt like a different person this year, calm and confident, happy, so happy. It took work commitment, but I am inspired to keep investing in myself, sitting under the waterfall where Lesley and I squealed and screamed out loud, but you could not hear as the rush of water was so loud, has to be one of the highlights, and so liberating, but so many more to list. Standing out in the warm rain with my gorgeous eLevate friend Nancy, we laughed so hard. My cup feels full to overflowing. I'm re-energized, excited, feeling strong, and also nourished with amazing fresh food and so many good memories. I'm now ready to get back to my family and clients and implement all the great workshop takeaways I have. Thank you, LL and Brad for taking me on this amazing trip. And then she finishes this up with, so I'm 10 days back from Cambodia, and jet lag has finally subsided. Not sure why it felt like it took so long. Since Cambodia, I've moved every day with self-practice at 6:30 am. I am taking time to implement everything that came up in our workshops. It's feeling so positive. I booked an hour with myself this weekend to look at all I wrote down to keep it in my life. One client who came to me for balance issues after a stroke was doing moves this week that I had in mind on their first session. This week, we celebrated him doing them, knowing we have far more to go. He left so tall and strong compared to when I met him. By Saturday and Thursday, my classes are full, and I will work on the spaces in the other couple. I've moved with the Wednesday eLevate group this week, too. I mean, my goodness, Ainsley, these wins, these wins. I love the follow up to this win with the 10 days later, because, you know, we come back from things and we're like, I'm going to do this and this, when I get home, I'm going to keep going with this. I'm going to do this. And then life happens. Things get real busy, and then we don't. We lose the momentum, or we lose this stamina, we forget we wrote down, and I love that she re-followed up with it, and she was so intentional, and her intentionality is why she is doing what she's doing. I mean, I saw her and Nancy standing under the rain in Cambodia just laughing. They were just like, loving it, and it was so beautiful to watch. I was like, I'll stand in the rain filming them, just because it's so fun to watch. And I just share all this with you, because every time I do a retreat in Cambodia, I am more grounded than I ever could and I'm so inspired by those that come. Lesley Logan 7:01  This particular Cambodia retreat, so my win, was one of our smaller ones. We just started doing the February retreats again. And you know, it's not always the time of year that people think about traveling, but my goodness, I hope you do. You can actually sign up for our October one, but if February is a better time for you to travel, I hope you join us. So it's a smaller group, and so I got to really connect with some of our amazing people. So half the group I didn't know, and the other half the group I've known for a long time, either they've been OPC member for a long time, or agency, eLevate member for a long time. So it was really cool to connect people I've known for a long time to people I've never met, and spend a week just together. And when you're an adult, you don't often get to meet strangers, let alone get to know them in a deep level. And it was just so fun to get to spend a week with these amazing women and get to know them on a deep level, support them and hold space for them, because they are doing powerful things for so many people, and also because I'm someone who likes to observe myself and others as things are going on. Like I learned so much more about who I am and what I want out of this next year and this next life. And don't really celebrate or create new year's resolutions, I'm just like, here are my intentions for the year. And the thing that I missed, I didn't realize how much I missed it, is we used to go to Cambodia in Q1 all the time, and it was a great time for me to really see, like, did the intention I set for this year, does it feel like it sticks, or does it need some changes? And being able to go back and have that time to go, oh yeah, no, the intentions for this year are exactly what I wanted, and also I can tweak them and make them better. I can make them bigger. Sometimes we're afraid we'll fail, so we set the bar a little lower for ourselves, and that is not going to be this year. No way. I got things to do and people to support and lives to change, and can't do that playing small. So my win is just being able to absorb love and generosity and kindness and community of this last week on this retreat, and seeing, seeing this beautiful world through the eyes of those who have not been there before, and it was just really freaking fun. So anyways, I'll be back. I'll be back from Cambodia next time you hear me. Lesley Logan 9:07  So, oh my God, what a mantra to pull. I just drew this. I pulled it out of a pile. And it says your mantra for the week. On to the next adventure. Ah, on to the next adventure. On to the next adventure. I hope you are on to your next adventure, and you can be right now in this moment to state that. You can actually start the day all over. On to the next adventure. Well, that's me, and that's you, too, because my loves, this episode has come to an end, and we are on to the next adventure. Until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 9:40  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 10:22  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 10:27  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 10:32  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 10:39  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 10:42  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tap into your inner wisdom with Christina Deering, a shaman, healer, and intuitive business coach. In this episode, Lesley and Brad break down Christina's insights on aligning with your highest self, overcoming limiting beliefs, and using intuitive tools like pendulums and tapping. Discover how to embrace daydreaming as a manifestation technique and reprogram your mindset for success.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Understanding your highest self as an extension of your soul.Breaking free from limiting beliefs and societal conditioning.Using intuitive tools like pendulums and tapping for clarity.The power of daydreaming as a manifestation tool.Aligning your energy with your goals for greater success.Recognizing and shifting emotional vibrations for better decision-making.Episode References/Links:Cambodia October 2025 Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com Spring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorAccessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlistChristina Deering Website: https://www.christinadeering.comChristina's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/iamchristinadeeringFree Gift - 5 Min Energy Reset - https://beitpod.com/energyreset If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy WebinarResources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Brad Crowell 0:00  I think, also, to giving yourself permission to know that that was a possibility.Lesley Logan 0:05  It's not a waste of time. Brad Crowell 0:06  Well, it's not a waste of time to daydream, letting yourself daydream, let yourself visualize, give yourself the spaciousness to connect with the things that feel exciting. But also, I think it's the counterbalance to this internal monolog that we have, that everything's gonna crash around us. It's all coming to an end.Lesley Logan 0:24  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the intuitive convo I have with Christina Deering in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause us now and go back and listen, or stay here and then listen later. You can do both, because she's an intuitive so you're going to want to do both.Today is February 27th 2025 and it's Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day, a significant day. Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day is marked annually at the end of February during engineering week. This year, it takes place on February 27th. This day was founded by the National Society of Professional Engineers (N.S.P.E.) in 1951. According to N.S.P.E., didn't you love that? I like to discover things as we're.Brad Crowell 1:52  That's news to me.Lesley Logan 1:53  I like, learn this as you're learning it, everyone.Brad Crowell 1:56  She clearly previews all the work that goes into these show notes.Lesley Logan 2:03  Oh my God. Engineering Week aims to ensure a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers. I just want to say.Brad Crowell 2:14  That was written by an engineer.Lesley Logan 2:16  Totally wise and you can't say engineering week and describe it as a like a definition, and then use engineering in the definition of what the week is. You gotta, I don't actually think I know what engineering is so. Did you know since the origins of STEM fields in the 18th century (the Age of Enlightenment) have remained predominantly male? Yeah, we knew this. It's a burgeoning issue calling for an urgent redress. One of the main ways that this is being done is through the creation of scholarships for women. So I think that's so cool. There was a model who had like, coder weeks. Is coding engineering?Brad Crowell 2:56  Yeah, we can, it's a form of engineering. Yeah. Lesley Logan 2:58  Is engineering anything to do with computers? Brad Crowell 3:00  Well, there are software engineers. But, yes, engineers could be structural engineers or mechanical engineers or, you know, aviation has engineering.  Lesley Logan 3:11  So this is not a niche week. Brad Crowell 3:13  No, I think it's general. You could have software engineers who are developers. Sure.Lesley Logan 3:17  Here's the thing. Clearly, I wasn't introduced to engineering during Engineering Week when I was a child, even though it was started in 1951 so we have lots of work to do and.Brad Crowell 3:26  I wonder if architects are considered engineers, or how does that work? Do they work together? I mean, you know, they're building. An engineer would build a bridge.Lesley Logan 3:35  Yeah, yeah, right, exactly. So then maybe Meridith's partner is an engineer. So we know engineers.Brad Crowell 3:42  Well, he is, he's a mechanical, no, he's a structural engineer. Can't remember. Yeah, we know engineers.Lesley Logan 3:47  We love you. There's one in our family. We should know.So anyways, I just thought this was a really cool holiday. When Brad was showing me the holidays, I thought it was a cool holiday because, obviously, when we expose people to different jobs that they could do, we actually bring in really cool experiences into those jobs. And engineers are, obviously, have a vast amount of things that they could work in and that are necessary. And so life experiences that are different than others are really important. And so here's to Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day. I too was just introduced. So there we go. All right, so as you listen to this, we are in Cambodia.Brad Crowell 4:26  Right now, as you are listening. We are so excited.Lesley Logan 4:29  Oh my gosh. And also, the people who are coming, I'm just excited for this week that we're having with them. So anyways, you guys have to join us in October. Seriously, I know that you've got a lot on your plate. You got a lot going on. October feels like, a far way away, but we, actually, it's not. And it's the perfect time to just have something in your Q4 to look forward to. So go to crowsnestretreats.com and join us, because we want to spend a week with you. We want to retreat from the chaos of this world and just sweat and do Pilates and breath work and see temples. And Lotus farms and eat good food.Brad Crowell 5:03  Yeah, it's, I mean, elephants, friends, make friends. It's, you know, explore a city.Lesley Logan 5:08  You don't have to come with a friend. You can come by yourself, because we, we'll provide the friends.Brad Crowell 5:13  Yeah, we do. You're guaranteed a friend.Lesley Logan 5:17  You are. You've got a friend in me.Brad Crowell 5:21  Well, in March, a month from now, we will be a P.O.T. in Denver, Colorado. P.O.T is Pilates on Tour, if you're not familiar, although I. Lesley Logan 5:30  It's sold out. Brad Crowell 5:31  I think it's sold out.Lesley Logan 5:32  Yeah, it's sold out. Can't come. Well, last time we checked, we were, I think they had a couple spots on Sunday, which we'll be there for. I'm teaching every single day. I'm keynoting.Brad Crowell 5:42  I know. Keynote speaker, Lesley.Lesley Logan 5:46  Oh my God. So anyways, you'll come if you can, and if there's spots, if not, we'll see you in Chicago. But also in March, Brad doesn't know this yet, March 18th through the 24th is the Accessories Flash Dard presale. See, Meridith and I just scheduled it right now.Brad Crowell 6:04  What?Lesley Logan 6:06  Yes and so the date has been set. Only those on the waitlist are going to get the invite. So you need to go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist, opc.me/flashcardwaitlist, and that is going to get you the opportunity to get this, the latest and last deck, 30% off. And by the way, the Accessory Deck is for all the bodies, everybody. And we're going to have a lot of fun celebrating who got the cards, Meridith and I have a bunch of tricks and things planned up our sleeve, but you have to be on the waitlist to hear about it. So sorry. So opc.me/flashcardwaitlist.Brad Crowell 6:40  Yeah, but you get the hook up by being on it. So do it. Get yourself over there. All right, next up in April. Guess what, y'all? OPC is gonna be doing a spring training in April. This is gonna be April 27th through May. 3rd. Ten events across a week. You're gonna be able to join us virtually no matter where you are, whether you're watching them live or watching replays.Lesley Logan 7:03  You don't have to have Pilates experience to join us. You don't have to have equipment. There's going to be options for a mat only track, and then equipment plus mat track and Meridith and I did the math. Well, Meridith did the math. I'll just, why am I taking credit? It's like $6 per class if you have the mat ticket or something like that. So, you know, it's such a steal. Anyways, so opc.me/events gets you on to the waitlist, because those on the waitlist will get the early bird price. Those not on the waitlist will get to pay the full price, which is still a good deal, but on the waitlist, it's a great price.Brad Crowell 7:37  Yeah, it's a steal. It's a steal for the early bird. It's still an amazing deal.Lesley Logan 7:41  OPC members. Will get it for free. So if you want it for free, be an OPC member.Brad Crowell 7:46  Yeah, but to get on the waitlist for all that go to opc.me/events or just put it in your calendar right now, April 27th through May 3rd, just mark it off and be like OPC Spring Training. It's going to be super fun. We're doing spring training this year instead of summer camp. Okay? To be honest, people, I, we were getting confused between summer tour and summer camp. So we said this is dumb. Why don't we not make it a summer thing?Lesley Logan 8:11  We have a spring, summer, winter, and then, I guess, retreat in the fall. But it's not fall weather in Cambodia.Brad Crowell 8:19  So technically.Lesley Logan 8:20  But it's in the fall but it's not a fall event, so we're only doing three events.Brad Crowell 8:25  It's going to be amazing. It's going to be amazing. Anyway, go to opc.me/events. Okay, finally, if you are taking money from a client and teaching them Pilates or yoga or whatever, if you are a fitness business owner in that way, I want you to come join me for a free webinar. Lesley and I have been teaching, coaching fitness business owners just like you, for more than seven years now. I can't believe Agency is seven years old. I'm doing a free webinar called Studio Growth Accelerator. So if you want to learn the three biggest secrets that we have learned from coaching more than 2500 people, come join me. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator. That's profit without the O, dot biz slash accelerator and come join me for free.All right, before we move on, here, we have an audience question from Jennifer Carbone. She asks does the Arkantos Pilates chair, Split-pedal stability combo chair with handles, does it work for your workouts?Lesley Logan 9:28  Here's what I appreciate. I appreciate how specific she told me.Brad Crowell 9:32  I think she copied the names off the website.Lesley Logan 9:34  I mean, clearly, I think so too. So I think that for anyone listening who's just like, what did he just say? Do split-pedal combo chairs work for my workout? Brad Crowell 9:44  Is this one or two pieces of equipment?Lesley Logan 9:46  Well, it's, well, it's two. So most.Arkantos Pilates chair is different from the split-pedal stability combo chair?No, no, it's that chair. And then nope, that's not her chair. That's our chair. So it's like that, but it's a combo chair with handles. They're just using all the SEO terms to make the name of the thing. It's just, it's a bunch of marketing. So at any rate, yes.Brad Crowell 10:06  Oh yeah, she copied it straight off from Amazon. Lesley Logan 10:08  So yeah, she did. Okay. So, wow, this is a very cheap price. Okay, guys, you're getting, like, real time. Oh my god, the marketing on it just grosses me out. So here's the deal. Brad Crowell 10:19  Look, it does use springs. Lesley Logan 10:21  No, no, it's fine. So here's the thing, if you have a combo chair, a high chair, Wunda chair combo that has the handles, take the handles off. So I don't really care about the brand, take the handles off. We won't use them on a Wunda chair class. But then you can use the chair as a Wunda chair. And I can tell from this split-pedal that it can be locked. So it's a single pedal, so just lock it in place. And then the thing about Wunda chair exercises is that the spring tensions, like this one has four springs, so I'm imagining it has a light and a heavy. Yeah, that has a little lock, so it has a light and a heavy. So what I'm going to say is I don't know why they call them gears on this guy, someone is copying a reformer and making a Wunda chair. So okay, ignore the gears on this chair, but I'm just gonna talk about Wunda chairs in general. If there's not a classical Wunda chair, if it has a split pedal, if it has handles, ditch the handles. Make sure you don't split the pedal. So it's a single pedal. And then you pick the spring that tension that actually supports your body. So meaning, if I say it's a top bottom spring for me, but your fun size, it might be a middle bottom. Or if you're heavier, it might be a little higher. So you always have to choose the right spring tension for you in a Wunda chair class. But my teachers at OPC and I always give suggestions that you can start moving with. And if you have, you're an OPC member, you can also take a video of you doing an exercise on your chair, and go, am I doing this right? And we can go, oh, you don't look like you have enough spring tension. Oh, it looks like you have too much. Oh, you might need a block to make the floor rise up. So we will give you personalized feedback. But in general, anything that's an actual Wunda chair will work. So if it's combo chair, knock the handles off. That is.Brad Crowell 12:00  Just knock them off. Lesley Logan 12:01  Yeah, if they don't come off.Brad Crowell 12:03  No, they will. I'm sure they'll come off. Lesley Logan 12:05  They look like they remove. Brad Crowell 12:06  Yeah, they remove, yeah, they can just unscrew it to take them out.Lesley Logan 12:09  Yeah. I had someone correct me, not correct me, but give me more information, because I have a video about how I don't like folding reformers. And I said, I don't like them because all these different things. And people go, well, this company has a $900 one that folds, and it has all the things you want. And I looked at it, and it does. It uses springs. It has a foot bar that lowers down. It still has ropes with high I don't like that. And the thing that gets me concerned when things are made folding, that you're actually they will have springs and you're gonna stand on, is I get concerned about weight restrictions. I get concerned of when the person made this, did they actually know all the Pilates exercises are going to go on it? Because sometimes they don't. A lot of people, engineers will just.Brad Crowell 12:51  Engineers Lesley Logan 12:52  Engineers will. Hey.Brad Crowell 12:54  Hey. Lesley Logan 12:55  And this is not an offense to them. But they'll go, oh, we can make this cheaper by using this and this instead, and this instead. And all of a sudden, you take a piece of equipment that is heavy for a reason, because the moves you're going to do are rolling on it and moving on it and lifting your legs. And you need the piece of equipment to be durable enough, heavy enough to support your body moving around on top of it. So I cannot attest to any folding reformer that isn't going to come from a company that I've already worked with. I got to try things on because I don't want to get hurt. I also don't want you to spend $1,000 on something that might not be the thing you need, or might restrict you from exercises you really want to do. Brad Crowell 13:33  Or it just might not be the same quality.Lesley Logan 13:35  Right. If the reformer isn't high enough off the floor, you cannot do pull straps, you know what I mean? So there's just exercise you get limited. If it's too high off the ground, it can affect things. So I get, like, equipment's expensive. We just place an order and we're just like, whoo, okay. But please, please, please, please, please, just consider what you're letting go of and do your research or save up for the thing that you need. That's what I would say. So anyways, I hope you take class with us. That's a great chair. We'll see. Here we go.Brad Crowell 14:01  Awesome. All right. Well, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into this amazing conversation you have with Christina Deering.Okay, now let's talk about Christina Deering. A shaman, healer, a business intuitive and the host of You Unlimited podcast, Christina is dedicated to helping spiritual entrepreneurs confidently grow their businesses. A former marketing professional for 15 years, she explores modalities like breath work and Reiki, which led her to discover her true calling in shamanism. Today, she blends deep healing practices with practical strategies, enabling clients to overcome imposter syndrome and step into their full potential. On her podcast, You Unlimited, Christina delves into personal growth and the transformative power of intuitive guidance.Lesley Logan 14:45  Yeah. So I think she was just so sweet. I just really liked her. Yeah. I was on her podcast, and so that was a lot of fun. We had a great conversation there. And I was like, well, I want to hear more about over here. We got to give away one of her masterminds on tour. She's just such a generous person.Brad Crowell 14:58  Oh yes, connecting the dots. Lesley Logan 14:59  So I really love when she talked about turning into your soul's alignment. She said our highest self, based on what we channeled, that's our soul. So we are tapping into our soul. So what does your soul desire most to do? And she shared like, our goal is to live in alignment with our soul. And I actually think that this is so hard.Brad Crowell 15:16  This is the one you were talking about, like, what is the highest self? What does that even mean? And I thought it was good to help define that, because I really appreciated Christina's pragmatic approach to calling herself a shaman. Because I'm like, uh, the hell is a shaman?Lesley Logan 15:31  There are some shamans. And I'm like, are you a shaman? You know.Brad Crowell 15:35  Well, you know she was talking about at the beginning. She was like, yeah. So when I was suggested that I look into becoming a shaman, because I'm being called into being a shaman, she was like, let me Google what is a shaman? And I was laughing because I was like, I was Googling what is a shaman. That was pretty funny. So when she's talking about her, anyway, I appreciated her sincerity there. But you know, she's talking about what is the highest self, and she says, that's like, tapping into your soul.Lesley Logan 16:00  Yeah. So when people say, like, thinking about your higher self, or what would your higher self want to do? What is it you do here? That's what your soul is. And I think that's kind of a cool way to think about it. I never thought of my highest self and my soul being the same thing. And now that I say it out loud, it sounds pretty obvious. So, you know. I don't know. I just, you know, you just think of them as two separate things. I have a higher self. I guess I think of the highest self as my future. I've got my shit together self and my soul is like this deep, like, burning magic.Brad Crowell 16:33  Your higher self is like, who you hope you'll end up being one day? That's kind of how I've always thought of it, too.Lesley Logan 16:38  Yeah. But when she describes it like this, it's, oh, well, if my. It's like, what's happening now.Brad Crowell 16:42  It's like, what's happening now. Lesley Logan 16:42  Yeah, well, if it's my higher self is my soul, then I actually don't have another thing I've got to figure out how to be. I could just actually tap into my soul and then I get to be my highest self.Brad Crowell 16:51  Because I am that right now. Lesley Logan 16:52  Yeah, this is. Brad Crowell 16:55  I think we just broke the world. Lesley Logan 16:57  I think, I think. Brad Crowell 16:58  We just, we just solved the riddle of the meaning of life.  Lesley Logan 17:00  I feel I've, you know, I, It's really great. So anyways, she advised tap into your soul by using tools like pendulums or intuition exercises. And we actually got to talk about like the pendulums and intuitive exercises. And I find just sitting down for me and for my red light can really help me and just breathe, can really help me get myself calm enough to actually go into thinking about a pendulum or an intuitive exercise, like you kind of have to calm down first and then use some tools. But I think that there's a lot of different tools that one can use. I also think I get the best ideas in the shower or on a morning walk, you know, like the sun is rising. So there's, I think maybe the thing that you all can do from this is, like, figure out, like, when do you feel like you're the closest to tapping into your soul or your higher self? And can you practice that so you can always use it as a tool when you need it.Brad Crowell 17:50  Yeah, she was talking a lot about spiritual-led entrepreneurialism, the distinction she talked about with your brain versus your higher self, I thought was interesting in that she said, often our brain starts us down these, what if problems or these I got to figure this out problem, or this problem, problem, problem, we're like creating all this unnecessary stuff that we have to think through. And she said, the mind is meant to serve the heart and soul. It's not there to create unnecessary problems, but we let ourselves go down that path. So I just thought it was interesting and but also she was talking about the pendulum thing, you know, holding the pendulum and asking questions. And I didn't quite follow that entire exercise.Lesley Logan 18:29  Okay, guess what? E-Squared. She has a, in the book E-Squared, we talked about many, many moons ago on this podcast, but she talks about taking a wire hanger and you twist it so it's at an angle, and then you're just supposed to hold it, and you can ask questions, and it will turn one way to answer yes or no. It's kind of crazy. So the pendulum is like that wire hanger. It's like something that is connected to the energy of your body, and it kind of will answer the question over your head. It's like, what you want. It's, okay, I know we just really got somewhere weird. I will pull the book out Brad, and we can look at the chapter.Brad Crowell 19:06  Hey, look, we're like a 1.75 woo here.Lesley Logan 19:09  I know (inaudible), I, but it's a really interesting thing. I even looked this practice up on because I was like, What is she saying? I don't think I'm understanding how to make this wire hanger, and also, who has wire hanger? So I didn't want to screw it up. I had one wire hanger, and I Googled on YouTube, and this woman did it on camera. She's just holding this thing, and then she's holding it away that her fingers cannot manipulate the wire so, like she's holding it, and the wire hanger is just like moving to, yeah, it's really strange. So we'll do it. We'll do it.Brad Crowell 19:39  Okay, I'm in. One thing I really loved was she talked about breaking through self-imposed limitations. Actually, now that I say that, I don't think they're necessarily self-imposed, it could be like societal limitations, parental, you know, limitations or friends or expectations that are just placed on us by our surroundings, environment, like the things that we're doing. And she said, when we are trying to pursue, you know, and connect with our higher self, our soul, it may be that we're bumping into these barriers, that this box that we put ourselves in, that's tough, you know. It's tough because, first off, it's hard to identify that you're bumping into these walls if you don't even realize that they're there. But also, how do we identify them? And how do we change that programming? You know, how do we walk away from something that has been ingrained in us for our whole lives? Whatever that might be, that could be a religious faith, or it could be, I don't know, just something where you're feeling trapped.Lesley Logan 20:37  It's interesting because you had said self-imposed, and you're like, actually, it's all these things. I think we impose things on ourselves based on what we've picked up is the right, in air quotes, the right thing to do, or the expected thing to do. And so you kind of learn like, oh, I get in trouble in class when I make this noise, so I'm not going to make that noise anymore. You tap your foot a lot teachers today, one of the girls we work out with, she has kids who need to dance while they're doing the work, so she has them in the back of the room so they can do their work. And they literally dance and do their work. And as long as they are in the back of the room, not distracting people, it's not a problem. But back when you were in school, they would be like in trouble for tapping. And that means that, first of all, you (inaudible).Brad Crowell 21:19  I bet I would have been considered a dancer, because I was not, I was flipping around in my chair.Lesley Logan 21:24  But the point is, is that when you're a kid, you learn, oh, I get in trouble. It's bad to do these things. And so then you start to change who you are. And then if you don't have anyone who gives you permission to be who you are when you're younger, it becomes this thing you take all the way to your adulthood, and you don't realize, oh, I've been posing all these rules and stories on myself, that didn't come from you in the first place.Brad Crowell 21:45  Brad Crowell 21:45   it's actually, yeah, yeah, or, that's right, or it's a learned behavior. One of the things we talk about all the time, and I just couldn't come up with the example a few minutes ago, was the way we see money.Lesley Logan 21:56  Oh, yeah. Brad Crowell 21:56  Our money mindset is how we like to say, but the money mindset, the way that we are coming into that conversation, we are bringing with us a bunch of baggage that most likely we don't even know where it came from, you know, and we really have to truly sift back through our inner thoughts and childhood to understand, why do we act the way we act around money, or have this relationship with it. So it's interesting and it's challenging to identify these walls. So anyway, I thought that was really great. I think it's really important. When you start to ask yourself, why, I think, actually, that's a great way to start to identify, why do I hold why do I see this, the way that I see this? Why?Lesley Logan 22:34  Gay Hendricks would say, he would go, hmm.Brad Crowell 22:38  Hmm, I like that.Lesley Logan 22:39  I wonder why. And that's what he would always say. He always says, I wonder, I wonder. I don't even think I can see it, I wonder.Brad Crowell 22:46  He's got a tattoo that says it on her hand.Lesley Logan 22:48  But he says, the important thing is the hum, hmm, I wonder why. And he said, the hmm does something to the brain. I forgot. Gay, I'm sorry I forgot what it does, but it does something to the brain that turns on this part of where you think about things, and then the I wonder opens up curiosity versus, why do I do this? It's like, I wonder. You can't be mad, you cannot be angry with the wonder word, you have to, like, go I wonder. Brad Crowell 23:15  I wonder.Lesley Logan 23:15  I wonder. Brad Crowell 23:16  I wonder. All right, well, stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna talk about those Be It Action Items that we got from your conversation with Christina Deering.All right, so finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. Say it with me. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your conversation with Christina Deering? Christina explained that daydreaming is not just idle imagination. It's a way of tapping into future possibilities. She said, hey, when we can visualize it, we're actually tapping into future timelines.Lesley Logan 23:50  She is not wrong. I just learned a little bit about how to manifest in a different time, and so.Brad Crowell 23:58  We're like, multiversing it over here.Lesley Logan 23:59  Yes, she said this and I was like, okay, I get that. And then I heard someone else talk about it, and I'm like, oh, I get it. So when she talks about this, you're, the more specific you get, the more you live in the future with that idea, in that moment of that daydream, then you come back into your regular day life where you are in this time, but you have that in the future, and you've manifested it, and you've made it, and as long as you are taking actions that would be like, yes, that's gonna happen, even when things are saying no, it's not.Brad Crowell 24:29  Well, I think also, to giving yourself permission to know that that is a possibility. Lesley Logan 24:34  It's not a waste of time. Brad Crowell 24:36  Well, it's not a waste of time to daydream, letting yourself daydream, let yourself visualize, give yourself the spaciousness to connect with the things that feel exciting. But also, I think it's the counterbalance to this internal monolog that we have that everything's gonna crash around us. It's all coming to an end. The other shoe is gonna fall. We have the self talk that is like, give it three months and everything's gonna explode, but we can have a counter argument to that, and that's this is the Daydream. I think it's valuable. I think it's super helpful, and it helps you operate from a better place. Instead of operating from fear, you're operating from a place of expectation, hope, joy, excitement. So what about you? Lesley Logan 25:15  So we got more into manifesting, and Christina highlighted the importance of aligning your energy to match your goals.Brad Crowell 25:21  Okay. Lesley Logan 25:22  And she referenced David R. Hawkins' Map of Consciousness.Brad Crowell 25:25  I thought this was really curious. I'm not familiar with David R. Hawkins' Map of Consciousness.Lesley Logan 25:29  No, I feel like I need to put it on my TBR. I also know what a TBR is. So I'm super, I'm super on it. Brad Crowell 25:36  Way to be so hip. Lesley Logan 25:37  I'm on the book talks.Brad Crowell 25:38  What's a TBR, oh, to be read.Lesley Logan 25:41  To be read. I'm not on TikTok though. I'm just on the Instagram of book talks. So I wonder, if they call that the Insta book, what are they? Anyways, we were talking about the energy of the things you're manifesting, and so she asked you for your be it action items, she said, when you think about what you're manifesting, what would you feel when you're manifesting that thing? So she explained if you'll probably feel love or you'll feel peace, and she said that you want to make sure that you are in that vibration of the manifesting that you're wanting, because if you're in a lower vibration, like guilt or shame, it's going to indicate misalignment. And so you can actually make sure you're manifesting things you really do want based on if you feel that love or peace or that high vibration, if you feel low vibration feelings, then you might be manifesting something that it's not right for you based on what you think people think you should have, or what a friend or partner is putting on you. It's really quite cool, just to pay attention to the feelings that you're having in the manifestation of the thing that you want. It should be in a high vibration. Should feel really good to think about it.Brad Crowell 26:40  It's interesting. I was just looking at this map, and it helps you basically associate emotions with a level and an energetic number, like an energetic log. They have it. And so wherever your emotional state is, it connects with a specific number, and then that allows you to start connecting the way you're feeling like, oh, I'm feeling like a 20, or I'm feeling like a 700 or whatever.Lesley Logan 27:05  So a 20, just so you guys know, that's shame, and the predominant emotional state is humiliation. The view of life is miserable. The God view is despising, and the process is elimination. I don't know those last two really well, but I think we can all understand, shame feels really low, and if you're feeling guilt or shame, guilt is only above shame by a little bit. If you're feeling that in your manifestations or around manifesting, there's something misaligned. She also suggested use tools like tapping. We've had tapping come up a few times on this podcast.Brad Crowell 27:35  Many times, EFT, Emotional Freedom Tapping, is that right? Emotional Freedom Technique, Emotional Freedom Technique.Lesley Logan 27:42  And like you can tap along your collarbones. Brad Crowell 27:45  Your forehead. Lesley Logan 27:46  Yes, yes, it's really it's, oh, look here we got Emotional Freedom Techniques. You could tap the top of your head, the side of your eye, the inner edge of your eyebrow, underneath your eye, underneath your nose, under lip, above the chin, sides of the center of the collarbone, under the arm, side of the hand, beneath your pinky, so all these different places you can tap on yourself. And I think, I think it's a great, even if you have no idea what we said about vibrations, you can tap.Brad Crowell 28:12  So, like, yeah, what EFT can do is create a sense of calm, and basically when you're daydreaming and forecasting and allowing yourself to believe what could be for you, and you're associating that with this sense of calm that you're gaining by tapping you're effectively reprogramming yourself, you know.Lesley Logan 28:31  Yeah. How cool. How powerful is that? Brad Crowell 28:33  It's pretty powerful. Lesley Logan 28:34  I loved it. So Christina Deering is really cool. And what she's been doing out there, she's really special. We talked about money mindset. She's really amazing as a coach and a shaman for people who are in the intuitive space, as either a life coach or yoga instructor or things like that. And so if you are struggling to shout out from the rooftops that you're amazing, you should talk with her. She's pretty great. I'm Lesley Logan.Brad Crowell 28:57  And I'm Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 28:58  Thank you so much for being here today. We are so grateful to have you as a listener. Holy moly, this podcast has grown so much so quickly. It's compounding because of you.Brad Crowell 29:07  I mean, we're almost at 500 episodes.Lesley Logan 29:09  I know, it's really not and we're in the top 1.5% I checked again yesterday just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and it's not. Thank you. It's not a fluke. It's pretty amazing. So thank you for being you. Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it. Also on Fridays, we celebrate your wins, and we want you to send your wins in. It's like you think that your win isn't good enough for me to shout out to other people, and that makes me sad, because actually, the smaller wins are the best thing. So please send them in. You can DM to us on Instagram on the Be It Pod or to me, and just tell me, this is for the wins, for the FYFs, and we will shout them out because you might need to hear your win on the day it comes out, because you might be having a day that's not so awesome. So anyways, have an amazing day until next time, Be It Till You See It.Brad Crowell 29:51  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 29:53  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 30:35  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 30:40  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 30:45  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 30:52  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 30:55  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this transformative episode, Lesley Logan sits down with Christina Deering, a shaman and business intuitive, to explore how to connect with your highest self, break through money blocks, and align with your soul's purpose. Discover powerful tools like EFT tapping, pendulums, and energy-shifting techniques to help you step into abundance, stop self-sabotage, and confidently charge what you're worth.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How to identify and clear subconscious money blocks.The importance of aligning pricing with your soul's highest good.Using EFT tapping to normalize financial success in your body.How pendulums can help you make intuitive business decisions.Recognizing physical signs from the body that indicate misalignment.The power of shifting energy rather than pushing through resistance.How to remove, delegate, or shift draining tasks.Episode References/Links:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamchristinadeering/Website: www.christinadeering.comFree Gift - 5 Min Energy Reset: https://beitpod.com/energyresetGuest Bio:Christina Deering is a Shaman Healer and Business Intuitive who helps spiritual entrepreneurs scale to 6 figures and beyond!  She's best known for clearing more limiting beliefs and trauma in 1 healing session than decades worth of therapy - opening her clients up to receive manifestations in the form of quantum leaps. Host of the top 10% podcast worldwide: You Unlimited, she's a trailblazer on all things wealth energetics, emotional mastery and unlocking your spiritual gifts for financial success. She's been featured in Forbes and Goss Manifest Magazine, and is an international speaker on creating impact and legacy in alignment with your soul! If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Christina Deering 0:00  Sometimes we get really caught up when we're in our mind, when we're doing something new, and it feels really scary. So when we can start to really tap into our soul by using even like little tools outside of ourselves, this can help us, like a pendulum, or like you were just saying, using your body, it starts to actually allow us to get the validation that we already know.Lesley Logan 0:18  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:01  All right, Be It babe, get yourself a cozy space to sit in and listen to this. And if you can't, because you're driving or you're working or you're doing a lot of things, that's okay. You're going to want to save this episode, because I am so grateful for our guest today, Christina Deering. I was on her podcast, You Unlimited, and she's just a beautiful soul, and she's such a generous person, like, just generous in everything that she is offering and sharing the knowledge that she has. And in today's episode, I have a notepad of like, notes that I wrote down, either on a book I want to read or on a thing I want to try, on a reminder of a way to do something or a different way of doing something I've already heard about, like chock full of information to help us show up as our best versions of ourselves as a person we want to be of what our soul desires to be. And I know when people say soul or highest self, it's like, ah, this is a little woo for me. It is not. This is your episode, especially for my perfectionist, my overachievers, my people-pleasers. Here is Christina Deering. Lesley Logan 2:00  All right, Be It babe. This is going to be a lot of fun, because I've already had an amazing conversation with our guest today, Christina Deering, and once I had that one on her podcast, I was like, well, you have to come over to mine, because we're not done having an amazing time chatting. So Christina, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?Christina Deering 2:16  Absolutely. Lesley, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to just deepen into this conversation that we had over on You Unlimited. It was so much fun on that podcast. So I'm Christina Deering. I am a shaman and a business intuitive. So I help people scale to six figures and beyond, doing what they love for a living. Lesley Logan 2:33  So fun, but also for the people who have like, what? How do you become a shaman and do all this? Can you take us back a little bit. Where did this get started? Is this something you've always wanted to do? Is this something you fell into?Christina Deering 2:46  Yeah, you know, I joke. I'm like, the sorority girl turned shaman. Like, it makes no sense to me, too. Honestly, if someone had told me that five years ago, 10 years ago, I would have laughed and been like, I don't understand what that means. So essentially, what happened was I worked in marketing for 15 years, and I just kept climbing the corporate ladder and feeling more and more empty. And I recognized that there was just a huge part of me missing. I'm like I want to do something I love. Why don't I love this? I mean, I keep getting more money, promotions, but it doesn't feel good in my body. And so I recognized was there had to be something more. So I ended up kind of starting to follow the breadcrumbs. Like the first breadcrumb was like, what if you were a life coach? You've always been interested in that. What if you just started to work with a life coach and saw what that looked like? And so that was my first step. Was like, oh, working with a life coach that was really supportive. So then I became one and started learning the trade of actually, you know, holding really powerful coaching sessions. And then there was a year of just learning, where it just all these modalities just kept flying my way, where, like, breath work. Let's get certified in that. Reiki is actually a form of Japanese shamanism. So a lot of people are familiar with Reiki, and that is a form of shamanism. And so I was following all these breadcrumbs. And then one of my healers, she's a shaman, and she's like, you're being called into shamanism. How does that feel? And I was like, it feels good in my body, but I have no idea what that means. I don't know. So let's do it. But let me Google that. What is a shaman? And so there's so many different forms of shamanism. You know, you hear of the shamans that use plant medicine. You, you know, essentially, the way that I use and tap into shamanism is I'm just helping people connect to their highest self, connect to their soul. And so I do that through deep healing modalities, through sup porting people and unlocking their intuition and using their body as a tool to better understand what's in alignment with them. So lots of channeling that I do as well, which is like, I can channel your highest self, you know, channel your angels and guides, things like that. So that's the form of shamanism that I play in the most which is just so much fun because there's so much guidance that's available to us. We just have to know how to tune into it. Lesley Logan 4:53  Yeah, it sounds like as a shaman, you can actually help people be it till they see it, because you are unlocking the things that are keeping them from being who they truly are.Christina Deering 5:00  Absolutely. Yeah. And we just need that clarity and that guidance, because for most of us, myself included, I was checking everyone else's boxes, and then I got there, and I'm like, why doesn't this feel good? This was supposed to be, like, the ultimate like, I checked them all what happened? And so it really is about tuning back into like, what do I want? What do I see who do I want to become, and then, oh, how do I get there? And a big part of that is heal what's in the way of what you want. Lesley Logan 5:01  Oh, okay, okay, we have to tap into that. I completely understand. I think a lot of people listening can understand, like, checking all the boxes, climbing the ladder. I had to quit a job before they promoted me again, because I, like, could not stop taking the promotions. You know? Christina Deering 5:42  For sure. Hard to say no. Lesley Logan 5:43  I did two jobs in a row, and I was like, oh yeah. And I like to be helpful. I needed more money, so the promotion meant I could be helpful and get paid more. And then they were like, oh, but I have less time for myself. I'm not happier. I can pay my bills now, but I'm not happier. So this isn't helpful. So I totally understand that. Can you talk about heal what stops us? What are some things that you see are getting in the way of people unlocking their true potential?Christina Deering 6:06  You know, imposter syndrome. They're like, who am I to go after that? Am I allowed to have these big dreams? It's just a dream I can't actually have that. A lot of that negative self-talk that gets in the way of actually going for the thing that they want, because when we can visualize it, we're actually tapping into future timelines. I think people are like, oh, I'm just daydreaming, and it's no, you're tapping into a future timeline. Do you like that? If you do start moving towards it, follow the breadcrumbs and also heal what's in the way. Because the way that I see it is, when we have that visualization, we're tuning into what we want, we see beyond that barrier we've been living in. And then we're like, oh, I want that. We come back in the box we've been living in that barrier, and then we go to go after it, and we hit the wall. We haven't even noticed that we've been living in this self-imposed wall of all the stories we've been collecting from parents, friends, society on what it is that we're allowed to do or not allowed to do, and so from there, it's a lot of what is your unique wall that's here, and where did that come from? And let's start to actually break that down. Sometimes it's from childhood. Some of these codes that we receive from people that we just start operating from. You can either get paid to do something you hate, or you can be a starving artist. That was what I received when I was younger. Sure you can be a singer if you want to be on the streets, you know? And I'm like, well, wait, what? Or you can just get a desk job and be safe. And I had to really start to pull apart that programming. And a lot of it's generational. It's passed down, or, if you believe in past lives, it's even further beyond that. So there's just a lot there, and it's unique to every single person. But ultimately, I think a lot of it is imposter syndrome, and people have a lot of blocks around money, it's like a charged topic. And so I love teaching on wealth energetics for that reason, because I feel like as a collective, we've kind of gotten it wrong about money, and when we think about it as energy, it changes the whole game.Lesley Logan 7:55  Yes, oh my gosh. So all the Pilates instructors that work with us, I coach them on as like, if you under-charge because you think it's going to help you have more clients, you will burn out because you're actually giving the same energy like you're giving your value to them. The only way they can actually give you that energy back is through money. That's the only way. They can't teach you that's not who they are. And when you under-charge, they are paying back 70% of what your energy was. So by the end of the day, of course, you feel exhausted doing the thing that you love, because you set it up where they can't even replace, they cannot repay the energy that you put out like it's not possible because you set it up that way. Yeah.Christina Deering 8:33  Yes, yeah. That's such a potent way to look at it, you know. And I always think about it too, where the price point is an invitation for both of you, where it's an invitation for the other person who's saying yes to it to expand into. Because if the price point is totally neutral, I usually say that room is too small for you, like, if it's just like, oh, whatever, sure, I'll do it. Find a bigger room. As a consumer, you want to step into a portal that's going to expand you and help you evolve. So I, this price point should feel a little bit stretchy for you, because on the other side is a brand new version of you that I feel like we're all trying to get to. So it's really empowering for the person to say, like, actually, let me stretch into that. Let me step into something that's going to expand me versus keep me the same. Right? And then, as the person like you were just saying, as the person who's providing the service, you want to be able to show up with both feet in it. And if we're stretched thin and we're doing 50 different things, we can't serve the way that we know that we're meant to. So this is a way that allows us to really step in with both feet and fully serve the way that we desire to. Lesley Logan 9:35  Yeah, yeah, it's true. I mean, like, I think a lot of people really have a money mindset, because people my age, their grandparents probably were in the Great Depression. So unless they were the rich ones, like my grandfather, wouldn't even wear jeans, because that's what poor people wore. When he was a kid, you're poor, so you wore jeans. So he, as a retired person, wore slacks every day in his house. These stories like money isn't growing on trees or oh, when people get rich, they become terrible people, all these different things that keep us playing really small. And there's actual studies that show that when women make money, specifically, the actual community thrives, because women put the money back into the community. They support other women's businesses. They support small businesses. They give money to people who have it. And so in order for us to have bigger impact. We have to make more money. And then also, like you said, it forces a step into, oh my gosh, if I'm going to charge something that scares me a little bit for that thing that I have to show up even bigger, I'm going to show up even more. I'm not going to just, like, phone it in.Christina Deering 10:34  Absolutely, yeah, and I love talking about that process of expanding your price point and how to actually normalize that in your body, because we have to get our body on board with new price points, and the second our body's on board, I call it normalized success in your body. Everything changes. Lesley Logan 10:49  Okay. Can we talk about, can we dive into that? Because I think people are probably listening and like, in their body, hold on. Because you can talk about, you could write it down a bunch of times, but to say it like your throat kind of closes and you get sweaty palms like that, it's going to come out the wrong way to the person who's hearing it. Christina Deering 11:05  100% because people buy based on energy. So if they feel your energy on the other end of the screen, or in person where you're, like, clenching your butt while you're giving the price point, they're like, I don't know, something feels off. And so what we have to do is it's a two-step process. First, we really have to find the value that we bring into every room we walk into, start to really connect to the value that you bring to life. Like at the end of the day, start journaling. What am I proud of myself for? You know, all the different things that we do every single day. What are the client testimonials? We have to really connect to the value of what we're offering. That's first. Second, this is like number one, the second you decide you want to expand your price point, we have to normalize that in the body. And what I do is I use EFT tapping. So I will tap while I visualize that thing going well, or I will say it out loud. So I'm witnessing this person coming on the call, and we're diving into what it is that she's desiring. And then at the end the call, I share the price point, and I'm tapping the entire time. I'm tapping on my body as I'm visualizing this happening, and what I'm telling my body is it's safe for this visualization to happen. Lesley Logan 12:08  And are you tapping, like, on your your brows? What parts of your body do you tap? Christina Deering 12:12  Yeah. So there's different parts of the body. You could literally go on YouTube and type in Emotional Freedom Technique, or just type in tapping, and you're going to be tapping on your eyebrow, the inside, the outside, under the eye, under the nose. So there's different spots that we're tapping on the body. These are energy meridians that when they're tapped, it brings a calming sensation in the body. So now what I'm doing is I'm coupling a calming sensation with the thing that I'm stretching into. So now I'm telling my body it's safe to do that thing. It's normal. I've already done it in my mind's eye. It's already happened. So when you do make the sale, it feels more like deja vu than it does like, oh God, I just said the price outside of my body, and I'm scared. It's not that. Now you're like, of course, of course. So when someone pays you, it feels like and of course, this has already happened. I do this with every single one of my clients, and it completely changes the game for them.Lesley Logan 13:02  I love that you brought up the value, we have to know what our values we bring into a room. We have to acknowledge that. Because I think a lot of people, when they are figuring out what they charge for their services, or what or their products, whatever they're gonna do, they're thinking, like, what will people pay for this? And then they go, oh, well, in the area that I'm at, this is what people charge for these things. You know, like, I have flashcards, right? And on Amazon, we are very expensive for flashcards. If you look at there's like, stretchy, there's no Pilates flashcards, there's like, stretching flashcards. There's other kinds of things. And they're all like, $25 and ours are $65 to $115 and I have people go, can you maybe we should make a cheaper deck that doesn't have all this stuff. We could just take the picture and the QR code. We could put on a smaller card. We could put on thinner card, like all these different things to do it so we can fit into what the going rate on Amazon for flash cards is. And I was like, you know, I want people to save then for the cards that I have, because the value that my cards bring is more than what we're charging, and it's going to do X, Y and Z thing. So that's what I know, and I'm going to stick with that. But I think if I wasn't sure of the value, if I wasn't clear on what it does, it would be so easy for me to get swept up in that, and then I'd have this product that I'm not excited about, and that energy around is not gonna be great. I'm not gonna put energy behind it to sell it. I'm gonna hope it just does well. When people Google exercise flash cards, you know? Like, it's just gonna be this generic thing.Christina Deering 14:23  I love that, yeah, holding the value, and then it feels like a luxury experience too. Like, when someone's getting the flash cards, they're not just flimsy. They're like, these are really nice. Like, it's like an experience when they're using them, versus, like, let me make it as cheap as possible, so that someone can get it.Lesley Logan 14:38  And then not use it. Christina Deering 14:39  Kind of like, devaluing the whole experience you have with the cards, you know what I mean? Lesley Logan 14:42  Yeah, yeah. And then not use it, because they didn't have to expand to buy it, like you said before. So, okay, so value, tapping and visualizing, and then it feels like deja vu, okay, was it always easy for you to look at money, or did you have to go through this? Did you have to find this block as well? With the money.Christina Deering 15:00  I had to find the block for sure. We grew up where there was an envelope of money that was available for us for the whole week, and that included groceries and anything else that we need bills, and it was like we have $200 this week for the whole family. So be really specific about what you need from the grocery store. You know what I mean? So I just remember that was a big memory that I had to clear was like, the grocery store always felt like a no or like a yeah, you can have it, but now I'm gonna be passive aggressive to you for the remainder of the week, you know. And it was like, This just doesn't feel good, you know. So it didn't feel good to receive, it didn't feel good to ask. There was a lot of energy around that whole experience. So I had to do a lot of clearing around, making money, receiving money, feeling safe with it. And what I think is really actually very fun too, that I like to do for price points is I like to actually connect to my highest self on how to price. So that's something as well that I think one of my favorite things to do is to actually say, like, how does my soul want to price this? You seem really tuned in. You're like, my soul wants to price this deck of cards as XYZ. But for someone who's tuning in, that's, I don't know how to price it. I'm going off of the market. It might be a little bit low. What I always do when I'm thinking about expanding my price or changing my price, which you'll know, the energy will feel a little heavy. If your price point is too low, you'll be like, I don't really want to serve it feels a little bit like resenting doing all this stuff during the day. That's when you know you need to raise your price. I actually use a pendulum to better understand how to price my offers, and I'm happy to dig into that even more.Lesley Logan 16:29  This is so fun. Let's do it. Christina Deering 16:31  Okay, let's do it. So what I do, you can use your body as a pendulum, or you can use an actual pendulum. And I will use the pendulum, and I will ask it two questions that I already know the answer to. So the first question I ask it is, my name is Christina, and then I see how the pendulum moves. So my pendulum will move in a circle. So now I'm acclimated to my pendulum when it's in alignment, to say, yes, is going to move in a circle? Okay, great. So now I'm going to ask it a no question that I know the answer to. So I say I live in New York City, and I don't, I live in Dallas, Texas. So then I see what my pendulum does. My pendulum moves back and forth, and I'm like, okay, now I know what my soul is telling me is a yes or no energetically with my pendulum. So then what I do is I will say, right before I'm going to ask a question, I will say it is for my highest good, and the highest good of all those connected to me, and of the highest vibration to price my offer between $5000 and $10,000. I start with a range and then you see if your pendulum says yes or no. And the reason we start the question that way is because we want it to be the highest good, of course, for everyone involved. But we also want it to be highest vibration too, because sometimes highest good feels like a slap across the face. It's like someone gets sick, but they needed to get sick to remember their health and remember the vitality. And it's kind of that slap across face. So it's like, okay, no, I want it to be both. I want it to be highest good and of the highest vibration. And then you'll just get closer and closer and closer into that price point. Then you'll lock into the price point. Maybe it's $7,777. Great. I've got my price, now I'm going to normalize that in my body, because my highest self wants to price it at that. My body is a little scared. My humanness is a little scared. Then I'm going to do the EFT tapping, normalize that price point in my body. Visualize it going well, and then there you go. Lesley Logan 18:19  Okay, now I have to go buy a pendulum right after this call. I'm really excited about this. I love, so, I actually, if you take your non-dominant hand and you put the thumb and ring finger together and you ask it is my name Lesley Logan and it goes through on you, because that's not your name, it's because that's my name, right? So you have to, and you also have to be very specific. I can't say, like, is Christina here? Because you are on zoom with me, that would be confusing, but is Christina in Las Vegas? No comes right through. So you ask it a series of yes, nos, and you, that you know the answer to, same thing, and then you can actually go, my doctor taught me this because I could go, because I didn't live near her. And I was like, okay, do I need to be taking x supplement? And it will go yes or no, and then okay, so I can stop these today. I need these today. And it is crazy. I could ask myself, like, do I have H. pylori?And it will go no, like, it's, your body knows. So I love this pendulum. And you can use your body as a pendulum, too. It can do the yes, no in that same way. And I like that because you're going off of that. I think a lot of times you get a little heady. So we get out of our soul. We get out of our highest self. I do think we should dive into what highest self is, because I think it's a term that gets thrown around in the woo world. And it can be in the woo it can be in this planet too. We don't get distracted by the stories, because it's like something we feel so deeply called to do. Okay, when you say highest self, what are you thinking?Christina Deering 19:38  Our highest self, based on what I've channeled, that's our soul. So we are tapping into our soul. What does our soul desire most to do? And our goal is to live in alignment with our soul, like our mind is meant to be a humble servant to the soul, to the heart. Let the mind be the humble servant to the heart, to the soul. And so it's like when we come up with the idea, instead of having the brain create all these problems that it needs to solve, instead, let's use the brain to create something with it. Let's use it to create versus destroy. And so I think sometimes we get really caught up when we're in our mind, when we're doing something new, and it feels really scary. So when we can start to really tap into our soul by using even like little tools outside of ourself, this can help us, like a pendulum, or like you were just saying, using your body, it starts to actually allow us to get the validation that we already know. Another way that I talk about intuition is like, it's as simple as flipping a coin and then saying, okay, if it lands on heads, this, if it lands on tails, it's this. When you flip it and it lands, what's your gut response to the actual coin. It's not what the coin is saying. It's a ah, now I have to do that thing. Well, now you have your answer. You don't want to do the thing, right? But if it lands on the thing and you're like, yes, that's your answer. We're just looking for ways to validate what we already know. Lesley Logan 20:56  Yeah, that's a wonderful, wonderful thing. It's kind of figuring out, oh, if you like, have an instant reaction, like, ah, that sucks. It landed on that. That means you didn't want to do it, so now you have your answer. Love it. Christina Deering 21:06  You just need permission sometimes, yeah. Lesley Logan 21:08  And to the perfectionist, just because you said you would do it if it land on tails doesn't mean you have to.Christina Deering 21:13  Right, exactly, right. Yes. It does not mean you have to actually follow your soul, because ultimately, we're placing our order with the universe. every time we say yes. We're like, when I say yes, I want more of this, and then if I say no, I want less of this. But if I'm saying yes to something I don't really like, the universe is like, cool. Let's send her more of it. We have to get really clear on what do we actually want, because the universe will send us more of it when we say yes.Lesley Logan 21:38  Yeah, I, it's really, it's really true. We hate, I hate admitting that, because you start to realize, oh, I have this calling and all that crap that I was going through. (inaudible) yeah, yeah. Oh, can we talk to the perfectionist who are listening? Because we have a lot of those, and they have a hard time. Like, if they told someone yes, they would do something, if they said they would, it's really hard for them to change course. What can we give them to kind of release some of that? My husband had to teach me, it's okay. We told someone to go to that party. They're having the party whether we're there or not. It's okay if we say sorry, something came up, and I'm like, oh my God, what am I gonna, how am I gonna break this to them like I had a hard time, and now, thankfully, we've been married for a long enough time that I'm like, okay, yeah, we gotta change those plans. Let's invite them to dinner on different night. So how can perfectionists let go of that stuff that's keeping them from being their highest self? Because maybe I'm wrong, but I have to imagine, if you are being in perfectionist tendencies, you're probably not in alignment with your soul all the time. Right?Christina Deering 22:32  For sure, absolutely. And recovering perfectionist over here, too. So I would say a couple different things. One, get ahead of the decision next time, be proactive. Tap into your soul. Use your pendulum. Do I really want to go on this trip with friends? Don't really want to go to this dinner and be in connection with your future self? Because sometimes we'll make a decision based on someone else's energy, like we're like, oh my god, they're excited about it. So I'm just going to say yes, even though I don't really want to do it. What would you want to do it in five minutes when you're saying yes to something. Would you want to do it today? Would that feel good to do today? Or is there a party that's like, oh, I actually wouldn't want to do it today or tomorrow? Start to tune in ahead of time. But let's say you've already made the plans. You start to recognize you're just not feeling good, or it's something you just simply don't want to do, the people that are meant to be in your life will understand that. This is what I've come to know is I've now surrounded myself with people where I can say I'm just not feeling good energetically, like I'm tired. I love you so much. Is there any way we can do a rain check? I just want the best of me to be in the space and just share that with that person, the people that are meant to be in your life will absolutely understand that, right? And those that don't have their own work to do around releasing things, letting things go, and sometimes we have to create boundaries around people that are holding us to an impossible standard to uphold. Yeah, right. And so I think that's important too, of just recognizing who's starting to siphon away your energy versus fuel your energy. And you want the people that you're hanging out with to really have it feel like they're fueling your energy. You have vitality when you hang out with them and when you leave, versus you're doing the thing and you feel depleted, and you feel even more depleted afterwards. That's feedback from your soul on what's in alignment and what's not Lesley Logan 22:32  Yeah, yeah. It's really true. I love the idea of getting ahead of things. I think if you have to write them in a note, like of all the different ways, you can buy yourself time until you can get to a place where you can sit down and really, because sometimes we're busy, we got to get back, we feel like we have to get back to people, so we respond quicker, and we're not buying ourselves time. So you can have notes of things you can copy and paste into a text and it buys you some time. I said on the podcast before, we all know that we all have our calendars on our phone. We all know that you and I both that and I still say, oh, that could be really great. Let me check my calendar, because it does take some time to look at the whole calendar. Let me look what's happening before that, what's happening after that, how much is happening in that day. You know, my assistant's job is to make sure I'm not on camera seven hours of a day because that's too much, that's too much of me looking at a green dot. It's more draining than if I was with people for seven hours. I could teach in person seven hours beyond, it's a little bit different. So you've got to have that time. And so you have to buy yourself the time to sit down look at it. How excited are you an hour later when you do look at that? Oh no, actually, that all the efforting to do it doesn't sit well with me. I think that it's really important. And also you're right. You said about the people that were around if they can't understand that maybe they're not the right people, and we have to release ourselves on our job to teach them how to be okay with that. Christina Deering 25:29  100% yeah, I love that and I always think about my to do list. I actually did this for a little while where I felt like I just had way too much to do. I actually created a document that said, okay, write down your task and rate it from one to 10, 10 being total flow state, one being you would rather just do anything, but this task, jump off a building, anything. And so I started recognizing the things that felt in total flow state. And then I recognized the things that were really low on the scale, whereas, like anything five or below, I did one of three things. I would either one, I would trash it, throw it away. Like, sometimes we have a to-do that we just habitually do, but we don't actually have to do it. Do I really need to do that today? Do people die if I don't do this? So sometimes you can easily just trash that to-do if you can't do that, maybe the next is, can you delegate it? Do you have a team member? Can you give it to your partner? Can your kids do it? Can you ask another parent to come up to the school and do the thing? Delegate it. And then the third is, if I can't trash it and I can't delegate it, change the energy in which I'm doing it. So for instance, for me, when I was first starting out my business, contracts, bookkeeping, things like that did not excite me. So what I recognized was, at that moment in time, I couldn't trash it. I couldn't delegate it at that moment in time, so I had to actually change the energy in which I was doing it. So what I did is I would take myself to a coffee shop, I would get matcha latte, and I would sit down, and I would listen to high vibrational music, and I'd be like, okay, I've got an hour here. I can knock this out. This is easy. And then I started training my mind and my body and my spirit like this feels good. This process feels good. So now when I do my bookkeeping and I do my contracts, I don't have to take myself to a coffee shop to do it. I'm like, This feels good. Feels good to be organized. It feels good to get it done. Let's just knock it out. And so that's a good way too, of just starting to kind of train yourself to if you can't throw it away and you can't give it away, start to change the energy in it. Because it's true, our day and the energy that we spend in our day-to-day matters. Let's honor it and let's kind of take a look at what we're doing right now to see how we can honor it even more.Lesley Logan 27:32  I really love that and people know I love it. We have one of our dearest friends, one of my best friends and coaches. When I first met her, the thing that she taught me was like a joy and drain list, and you have to write down everything you have to do. Everything you think you're responsible for in your life. That's personal, professional, all of it. You put it down, and you write on a scale of one to 10, similar thing, and you rate it. And then she's like, okay, if it's under a three, one, two and three, you either have to delete it or delegate it, or we have to figure out what it is. And when you do that, you start to realize, oh, some of the things I was putting as a four or five are really a two, but I just liked a little bit better than this thing over here. I love the idea of changing the energy around it. If you can't get rid of it yet, you can play fun music while you do it. You can change your scene. Like you said, I think that's really cool. It does make it easier. And I had another person I talked to, and I'm like, okay, let's talk about these millionaires. Are they doing the dishes? What's going on? He's like, everyone still has to at least pick up their law. Like, there's still things you got to do in life you don't like to do, but you can change your energy around it. You can change the approach, like, how does this allow you to do X, Y and Z thing? If you don't like contracts, well, contracts actually allow you to show up in your highest light when you go to work with clients and protect you so you're not resentful of the past self that said yes to the thing so you can change your approach around it. I think that's a really brilliant, brilliant tool. I love that. What are you most excited about right now? What are you working on or what are you excited about your life? What can we celebrate with you?Christina Deering 29:01  Yeah, so I just launched a mastermind called Transcendence, which is amazing. This has been on my heart, and it just was one of these intuitive hits where it was like, just go. Because I had a coach that was like, wait for three weeks. I want to guide you into it. And I'm like, my body is telling me you have to go now. Don't ask questions, just go for it. There's people here that you need to support, that are desiring to step into a portal, that they can make six figures and beyond in their business, just go for it. You don't have to ask for permission from anyone. So it was a very beautiful, intuitive process of launching Transcendence. There's so many incredible women who have stepped into the portal itself. And I'm so excited and grateful for these incredible coaches that are in the space and entrepreneurs that are in the space. It's a beautiful mix of entrepreneurs that are looking to scale. But what I really loved about this launch is I actually ended up doing it totally differently as well, where anything that felt heavy, I just put it down. So emails for me, I was like, it's 9 pm at night. I don't want to send out a bunch of emails, so I'm just not going to, and this was one of the best launches I've ever had in my entire business, because everything about it was in alignment. I wasn't pushing, I wasn't forcing. It was just like, what feels good? Follow the energy. Because there's a reason why it feels good. Your soul is giving you a ping to follow it. And so I just kept following the pings, and then it just was, like, creating itself and magnetizing in the women that are in the space. So I'm so excited to serve in that container. The women are incredible. And it just blows my mind that we launched two weeks ago and there's already, like, over 10 women in the space, and it's like, okay, let's go. Lesley Logan 30:37  That's amazing. Christina Deering 30:38  Yeah, it's really powerful. Lesley Logan 30:40  What you've brought up a couple of times, and I think there's a push and a pull right? Like you can push, and sometimes we have to push, but really whenever we're pushing, it's all effort and it's just a lot. And when you're pulling, guess if you're pulling at the gym, you're like Lesley, that's a row. But actually the energy is pulling with you, like you're drawing things in with another way of thinking about the word pull. And so it's what you are doing is, is not doing the things that felt heavy so you could do the things you're being pulled to do, and that was drawing more people into that energy and that space. And I can attest, like, whenever I've done a lot of pushing in the business, some of the people that we attract are the people that let us push them into it and not necessarily pull them into it.Christina Deering 30:40  Yeah, absolutely, yeah, you're attracting a different client when you're pushing versus when you're just pulling, just letting it magnetize in, and then it just feels so good on all sides. Lesley Logan 31:28  Yeah, I have one more question for you that just came up as you were talking. You know, for people who are, they're hearing us, they're like, yes, I want to be with my highest self. I want to be in my soul's alignment. But also that can feel far and away. They spent a lot of time kind of out of alignment, years even. And they've got kids or other responsibilities. Their parents are that they have to take care of them. Can you talk about some signs in the body that might be evidence that they are needing to get more in alignment? What are they might be feeling? Because sometimes we don't know what we want, but we can know how we don't want to feel, and we can address what they might be feeling that they're, there probably is evidence that they need to be moving towards themselves some more.Christina Deering 32:10  Oh, yeah. So the body is telling the story of the soul. So anytime we get pain, illness, anything that we're experiencing sensations inside of the body. Louise Hay has this incredible book Heal Your Body From A to Z. It's a good jumping off point of kind of connecting to what are the emotional reasons for the physical ailments that I'm experiencing. So, like, if you have an upper respiratory infection, you take the book, you open it, you see, like, oh, where am I not speaking my truth? Sore throat, where am I not speaking my truth? Interesting. Like, our body is trying to tell us things and the body is a really powerful tool, because it's loud. We listen when we're in pain, we listen when we're experiencing illness, right? It's making us slow down. So we're not doing 900 things a day. We're being called to lay in bed so that we can start to get into deeper alignment. So usually when the body is speaking really loudly, It's just simply telling us there's something that's out of alignment here energetically. So that book is actually a really great jumping off point of just kind of being like, you know, why don't I just see what nosebleeds mean? Or, why don't I just see what a sore ankle means? What does that look like? And does what's listed here resonate with me? If so, where is that from? And where can I start to shift that? Right? It's very interesting when she talks about that. So that, I think, is a great jumping off point of starting to tune in and say, like, okay, body, what are you trying to tell me? And sometimes, if it's not in the book, I'll just place my hands over the area of the body and just be like, okay, chest, what message do you have for me? And I just kind of tune in and just see if, like, an image pops up, like dad, or the argument I had with like spouse or and then I'm like, oh, it must be related. Let me start to forgive myself for tha, or forgive him for that. And then you'll start to notice physical sensations will actually begin to move the second we recognize that it's just wisdom, but we have to move the energy that's trying to get our attention that's in the way, there's always wisdom underneath the physical ailment, and all we have to do is move that energy through healing or just recognition or awareness, and then the wisdom comes to the surface, and then it can dissipate. Does that make sense?Lesley Logan 34:14  It does. It really does. I love both of those options. Thank you. Very helpful. Very, very helpful. Lesley Logan 34:21  All right, we're gonna take a brief break and then find out how people can find you, follow you, work with you. Lesley Logan 34:27  All right. Christina, tell us where you like to hang out. Where can they stalk you in the best way? Where can they, if they're like, hold on, this woman spoke to me so much. I feel her in my, well, how can they work with you?Christina Deering 34:38  I love it. Amazing. So you can find me on Instagram. My handle is I am Christina Deering, so it's C-H for the Christina, and then Deering is D-E-E-R-I-N-G. You can find me there. You can also find me on the You Unlimited podcast where we had Lesley on just recently. I mean, people absolutely loved that episode. The feedback I got from it was just like so many DMS from all the magic and wisdom that you brought into that space. So, You Unlimited, it's one of my favorite places to play, because incredible people are magnetized into that space, and my intention for it is that you receive the exact medicine your soul is desiring. So when you tune into it, just let your intuition guide you. Which one feels most exciting or juicy to listen to? There's medicine in there for you. Click that one. Listen to that one. Lesley Logan 34:38  Oh, I love that. I love that. It's so brilliant. And what a great way to practice listening to what feels good, what you're drawing to. Yeah, you've given us so much already, actually, but we can't let you get away without the bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us? Christina Deering 35:40  Hmm, you know, I covered a little bit of that today. Again, our daydreams are just us looking into our future timelines. So let yourself daydream. Let yourself visualize. Give yourself the spaciousness to connect to the thing that feels exciting, and start thinking about it like it's a future timeline, instead of thinking, oh, it's just a dream, there's no way, or who am I to. Let yourself dream for a little bit, because it's going to start to get you into a higher vibrational state as you move towards it. The other thing that's really tactical that I love to do, that always really supports me when I'm going after what I want, is David R. Hawkins has this Map of Consciousness. So you could literally Google David R. Hawkins, Map of Consciousness. And what it does is it basically says, what is the vibrational level of emotions? So like, when I'm in a state of like, when you think about what you're manifesting, what would you feel when you're manifesting that thing? You probably feel love. You'd feel peace. If you want to manifest in a six-figure business, you're going to feel peace. You're going to feel love. So when you look at that chart, it actually is operating at a 600 on a vibrational frequency scale, right? So that's where I get to be more often, so that I'm in energetic alignment to the thing I'm calling in. So it kind of gives you, like an actual mental picture or an idea of what that means to be a vibrational match for something. Because when people would be like, be a vibrational match, I'm like, that is so conceptual. What does that even mean? That's subjective. I don't know what to do with that, but the second I stumbled upon David R. Hawkins' Map of Consciousness, I realized, okay, if peace and love is operating at a 600 and that's what my manifestation is operating at, then now I'm feeling shame for the thing that I just did, or guilt for the thing that I just did. What's the vibrational frequency of that? Thirty. Okay what this map is literally telling me is I'm out of alignment with the thing that I want. So what I always ask myself is, is my need to be right about this thing more important than what I'm manifesting, and if it's not change the energy in it, because so often we're like, I'm right, my husband's wrong, or my kid is wrong, or, you know, we just want to hold we want to be right so badly. But what we're not recognizing is it's keeping our frequency low, so it's blocking our manifestations. So the second we can start to actually see that on a scale and say, like, wow, I am in a lower vibrational state, so I am blocking my manifestations is my need to be right more important than what I'm manifesting, which is a six-figure business where I feel peace and joy? No, my need to be right is not more important than that, because this is going to deeply impact the planet, and I can give my husband a break and myself a break. So that's a very tangible and tactical way to start to think about vibration, to start to be t, till you can actually become it. You know what I mean? So this idea of like, your frequency matters, the energy that we're in matters, our emotions matter. So acknowledge them, let them be okay, but also choose to shift them into a higher frequency emotion. Does that make sense? Lesley Logan 38:36  It makes so much sense. And I think what a great way to take a pause and get realigned. Go, oh, I'm so focused on this over here. I'm not. I'm way away from what I want to be on. Like, I think that's really excellent, excellent advice. Christina, you're so fun, and you guys do have to go listen to the You Unlimited podcast. It's so freaking great. It's so wonderful. You have such amazing guests and I love all the things you gave us today. I feel like I could take a workshop on each one of these individually. And yeah, you gave me some new readings. I'm so great. So thank you so much for being here. Lesley Logan 39:10  Be It babe, thank you for listening. Please share this with a friend who needs to hear it. Maybe you need to have a few of your friends you can hold yourselves accountable on, you know, buying yourself time for your future self to decide what it wants to do, or figuring out what you're gonna get rid of or delegate or change your energy around. And please let Christina know. Tag her. Tag the Be It Ppod with your takeaways and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 39:32  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 40:14  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 40:19  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 40:24  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 40:31  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 40:34  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this Fuck Yeah Friday episode, Lesley shares an inspiring story about Japan's Café of Mistaken Orders, a big win from a member's Pilates business, and how she turned a long layover into an exciting adventure. Tune in for a dose of motivation and a reminder to ask yourself: Why not?If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How one woman's vision is reshaping dementia care in JapanA Pilates instructor's win that proves consistency pays offHow Lesley turned an inconvenient layover into an exciting adventureA simple but powerful mindset shift: Why not?Episode References/Links:Cafe of Mistaken Orders - https://www.instagram.com/aijamayrock/reel/DBEII-6POmL/ If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday.Brad Crowell 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:05  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:48  Hello. Be It babe. Oh my goodness. Hi. It is your FYF. It is time for us to celebrate some wins and be inspired by people's wins and what is possible in this world and with each other. And I'm just so excited to share with you what I've just discovered. So there's this place in Japan, and it's called the Cafe of Mistaken Orders. Okay, have you heard of this? So, a woman named Akiko created a cafe where her father, with his dementia, could work. And so the place has people who have dementia. You have to have dementia to work there, and then there's some volunteers, and you work two hours a day, and you maybe bring the correct order to someone, maybe you never bring an order, maybe you sit down and talk to people instead. But at any rate, the goal of the cafe is to help people with dementia stay connected to society, which has proven to slow down dementia. And because Japan is this aging country like they have a lot of elderly people, they've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to keep the people with dementia connected. They have a lot of dementia cases, and now they have 8000 dementia cafes in Japan. So there's 8000 places where people with dementia are working, and it's just really freaking cool. So, thank you. Asia may rock on Instagram for highlighting Akiko and the Mistaken Order cafe and what this is doing, because I really like it. And I don't know if you've heard, but one in six Americans will have dementia, and if you're a woman, your rates go up, I guess, estrogen stuff, blah, blah, blah. At any rate, I think this is really amazing, and I'm really impressed with people on the things that they can do on this planet with not a lot. What a great idea. You know, sometimes we're like, how do I change the world? Well, how do you change a person's life that you know, and you'd be surprised how that's a domino effect of changing the world, like she's changing a country with this. I'm obsessed. Thank you so much. Lesley Logan 2:36  Okay, so now a win. We gotta celebrate more wins. So Akiko is winning in Japan with that. Kelly Nyhan out of Chicago, who actually, I have, the reason I picked her win is because I'm actually about to see her in a couple of days in Cambodia. So here it is. After two years of working with two different clients, they have finally decided to commit to a permanent day and time per week with the expectation to reschedule when they miss. I highly encourage versus enforced, but I think that my elevated teaching of the work and my intention at around working with them, perhaps has made the difference. I also am a high touch type of communicator, educating, motivating and celebrating along the way in the studio, but also through email, PocketSuite, her scheduling tool, and on social media. So yay. I'm feeling really great about it, and now I can count on the income each week. I also have a boundary, mostly in my head, that I don't work with people unless their intention is to commit to one time per week, no here and there, two times per month, et cetera. Just no. That sounds like a better fit for class for them. Kelly, I love your win. I love that it's kind of a unspoken rule. I love that you have these people who, now, after listening to you all this time, finally feel the importance. You did that. And also, you didn't stop reminding them of this possibility, right? Like you just kept doing it. You've just kept putting yourself out there. You kept being yourself more importantly, and that is so beautiful. So thank you so much for sharing that with us, and what an amazing win. And yes, now you can count on that income, and I'm so excited to celebrate in Cambodia with you. Lesley Logan 4:01  So, my win. Well, Brad and my win. So, okay. Traveling to Cambodia is not always the easiest thing. There's not always a lot of options for us. And I have some airlines I love and some airlines I refuse to fly on. So at any rate, we had the option of having like, six hour layovers in the middle of the night in Singapore. So shorter travel, but like, $300 more a person, okay? Or we could take this really weird flight option, which would have given us 13 hours overnight in Singapore each way. And I decided, not only does that, not to save the money, but I did like the price. I was like, yes, finally, we're under $1,000 to fly to Cambodia, yes. But really, I've always wanted to see the Singapore skyline. I've just always wanted to see it. Just so excited to see it. And so I chose that one because now both Brad and I have an evening to go on a date in Singapore on the way to Cambodia and all the way home. And I share that with you because I think sometimes we don't travel or we don't do things. We're like, oh the time commitment, oh the thing. But what if you could find a silver lining in what is going on with that oh-thing and take advantage of it. So I am totally taking advantage of these ridiculous layovers where I get to leave the airport and see Singapore. I get to see it. I'm so, so excited. So it's just gonna be it's gonna be beautiful. I'm gonna post pictures. I'm calling this a win. 13-hour layover. That's a win. It's not funny. So maybe you can also have a 13-hour layover. Where would you lay over for 13 hours? I want to know. Lesley Logan 5:38  All right, your mantra. Why not? Why not? How timely I just threw this from. How timely. Why not? 13 hours in Singapore. Why not? Why not? Why not start a book club? Why not go to dinner by yourself? Why not? Why not? What is your why not that you're going to use this mantra on this weekend. I want to know. Please share your wins with me. I love sharing them in. Send your questions into the Be It Pod, we answer them on the recap episodes. Share our interviews or our recap episodes, or this with a friend who needs it, needs inspiration. Now also, by the way, I've got to figure out how to go to Japan, because I do want to go to the dementia cafe. I mean, I looked at the menu. I can't have anything on it, but the tea. And I really love tea, but, you know, they probably won't even bring it to me anyway, so it doesn't really matter. I just want to experience what this cafe, the Cafe of Mistaken Orders. Like, how perfectly imperfect is that? Beautiful. All right, loves, take care of yourself out there. Okay? You are the only person who could do it to do the way that you do it. You're it. And you're probably working yourself really, really hard. So what breaks can you take? What things can you do to support yourself? Yeah, and ask yourself, why not? All right, until next time loves, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 6:51  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 7:21  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 7:27  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 7:31  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 7:38  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 7:43  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley and Brad dive into an inspiring conversation with midlife health and fitness expert Heike Yates. They explore how to reignite your passions, overcome self-imposed limitations, and take action toward a fulfilling life. Learn how to stop over-researching and start doing, embrace change, and reclaim control over your future.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why midlife is the perfect time to rediscover what truly excites you.The importance of taking action instead of over-researching new interests.How to recognize and break free from limiting beliefs that hold you back.Using journaling as a tool to uncover your true desires and goals.How embracing failure can actually be the key to success.The power of surrounding yourself with the right people to support your growth.Why dimming your light for others is holding you back from your full potential.Episode References/Links:Ep. 472: Traci Peterson - https://beitpod.com/tracipetersonOne Voice L.A. - https://onevoice-la.orgIndivisible - https://indivisible.orgCambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com Spring Pilates Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorAccessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlist If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  We start to go, I'm gonna research these different hobbies. I'm gonna try. And then we get overwhelmed in the researching of things, and not the doing of things. You're not gonna know if you like something. Just go do it. So just go, just jump in and go do it. Lesley Logan 0:13  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:55  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the revitalizing convo I had with Heike Yates in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened tothis interview, you should pause. Go listen to that one, or listen to this one, then listen to that one. Binge listen. They're so fun to listen to. Brad Crowell 1:11  Binge in.Lesley Logan 1:11  Yeah. Today is February 20th 2025 and it's World Day of Social Justice. World Day of Social Justice is observed annually on February 20th. Internationally, the world is plagued with unfortunate issues that prohibit millions of individuals from living a fair life. Many of the world's population, through no fault of their own, are deprived of basic facilities, such as homes, jobs, healthcare, education, nutrition, and more. It must be the responsibility of the privileged to ensure that we can create a just world where social justice is a norm. How can we contribute to a social justice around the world from where we live? So you know what loves? I think that if you listen to this podcast, you're similar to me and Brad, and you are aware of all the shit that is going on. And there's.Brad Crowell 1:53  Lots of it. Lesley Logan 1:54  Fuck ton of it. And it can feel overwhelming, and it could be hard not to know what to do. And then it can feel like, if you're championing one thing, that you're leaving other people behind. And I think it's one really important to note that it's absolutely okay if you care about one thing, and you can still have feeling and sadness and wish for something different somewhere else, but you can also make a massive change on one area and if you don't have the money to donate to the help of that, then your education and your expertise can also be donated. Your time can be donated. You can leverage the networks that you have, maybe work for a company, and you can ask them to do their next donation drive for something that you care about. There's change you can make. There is, gosh, one of my clients today was telling me that there's a charity organizational website where you can actually see what different charities are doing and see how they rank, as far as like, where their money goes. Brad Crowell 2:49  That's cool. Lesley Logan 2:49  And that is a great way to, if you don't have a lot of money to give to in justices to make sure that what you have can go the furthest. We, Brad and I, did a fundraiser for those who lost their jobs due to the wildfires in Los Angeles. And I know that's not the world and justice, but it's something that's pretty terrible for those people going through it. And the charity that we worked with, One Voice LA, 100% of your donations go to those who need it. You can actually go to onevoice-la I'm sure it's dot org. Brad Crowell 3:18  onevoice-la.orgLesley Logan 3:20  Yeah. So you can go there, but there's definitely websites that you can use to research charities you're thinking of donating to, your time to, money to or leverage. And so I highly recommend that, because I also know that you have a whole life to live, and we can't save people without making sure that you are also taking care of you.Brad Crowell 3:41  I just pulled up two organizations that help measure charities. (inaudible) One is called Charity Navigator. Lesley Logan 3:46  That's exactly what my artist is talking about. Shout out to Meredith Bender. Hi, babe. Brad Crowell 3:49  The other one is called up Metrics, where you can measure and maximize your nonprofits impact. So I think this one's actually not this one might be like the business itself is trying to measure its own impact, whereas Charity Navigator, it sounds like we assess the direct impact of a charity's program relative to the cost required to run it to help donors identify high impact charities. So, you know, like the age-old story of, oh, you get these things in the mail every year for the annual Turkey drive, and then you write them a check for 50 bucks, and they take 45 of it to run the company and get $5 to the thing. Hopefully there are no organizations that do that, but obviously there are. So, Charity Navigator. Interesting. Lesley Logan 4:27  So use that on this World Day of Social Justice. And also please remember that it is really hard to herd kittens and so there's a lot going on. Educate yourself. Stay educated, stay informed. But also give yourself permission to focus on one thing that you want to change. And also, call your congress person if you live in the United States. Brad Crowell 4:31  It's not only about money. It's not only about donating to charity. Social justice is also political, and it's about championing those who can't champion themselves, right? I mean to me, literally, goes all the way back to what my parents taught me about the kids in the playground. Why are people picking on other kids? Because they feel like they can for some reason, and standing up against bullies is one of the best possible ways to advocate on behalf of others. And we obviously have a lot of bullies happening in politics in the United States. Lesley Logan 5:20  There's bullies all over the world. Brad Crowell 5:22  And all over the world. Lesley Logan 5:23  And they only have the room to grow because we let them. So call your congress person. You can call them every day. Did you know that? Brad Crowell 5:31  You can call them every day. Lesley Logan 5:32  People do. Also get involved in your local things, because apparently not many people go to like local city council meetings. And so the loud assholes, the bullies win because there's no one else there. Indivisible.org. They send a lot of emails, not gonna lie. Brad Crowell 5:47  Indivisible.org. Lesley Logan 5:47  Yeah, indivisible. And you can find the city near you, and then they will help you see all the different groups you can join that are about the causes that you care about.Brad Crowell 5:56  I just signed up for their newsletter about my zip code. Lesley Logan 5:58  Yeah, oh. Brad Crowell 6:00  indivisible.orgLesley Logan 6:00  That's great. I didn't find that option, and now I'm just getting a lot of emails. Brad Crowell 6:04  Right on the homepage. Lesley Logan 6:05  So there you go. So this is why we need Brad. Okay, let's go through this really quick. We are, while you're listening to this, we are in Cambodia, and you can join us in October, because it's for sure too late now, we're already here.Brad Crowell 6:17  It's for sure too late, unless you live in Cambodia. Then come on over. Lesley Logan 6:20  Yeah, come on over. Come say hi. So go to crowsnestretreats.com to sign up for our October retreat. We really want you there. It's beautiful. It's amazing. We spend a week together at our home and it's a true retreat. Really special. Brad Crowell 6:32  Yeah. It's magic. Lesley Logan 6:33  When we come back, we'll be heading over to POT in Denver. Brad Crowell 6:36  Yeah, we're gonna drive through Utah, Arizona and Colorado to get there. Not sure about Arizona. We might go the north part. Lesley Logan 6:42  Yeah, we're not doing any pop ups, don't, so we're on vacation. Brad Crowell 6:45  Yeah, no pop ups but we are, we're gonna drive and we're going to be there in the area for the whole event. We're excited about it. It's gonna be awesome. Lesley Logan 6:52  I've got some great workshops at it. So you can definitely still sign up. Brad Crowell 6:55  I'll be hanging out the merch booth. Lesley Logan 6:56  I know that they were almost sold out the last time I got a numbers count. So don't wait. Brad Crowell 7:00  Crazy, right?Lesley Logan 7:01  Then in April 27th through May 3rd, we have spring training, spring Pilates training, you guys. Brad Crowell 7:07  That's right from OPC. Go to opc.me/events. That will put you on the waitlist to find out about spring training. What is it going to be? Really quick. Go.Lesley Logan 7:16  Oh, it's all the OPC teachers and me teaching mat, reformer, a tower and a Wunda chair. You'll be able to buy a mat only ticket or an equipment plus mat ticket. So if you don't have access to the equipment, there'll be plenty of classes for you on just the mat. There are going to be all different levels, all different body types. And we're focused on one theme, and to find out what that theme is you got to go to opc.me/events and sign up, because I got to break the news to them first. Can't, that's worth, that's what we said. Brad Crowell 7:40  All right, if you are taking money to teach a client, if you are personally getting paid by the client, then you run your own business. Congratulations. Or if you have a home studio or a brick and mortar, I want you to come join me for a free webinar called the growth accelerator. We're gonna cover three big secrets that Lesley and I have put together after coaching more than 2500 businesses just like yours over the past seven years with our agency coaching program. Come join me for this webinar, prfit.biz/accelerator. That's prfit.biz or profit without the O slash accelerator, and join me for free. Finally, last up, we have the Accessories Deck, the Accessories Flash Card Deck with OPC. It is the sixth and final deck. We are so close to being done. I know that the first draft is done. It's being reviewed right now. Lesley Logan 8:27  This is the first Cambodia trip in years that I'm not writing a flash card on. Brad Crowell 8:31  That's so crazy. Lesley Logan 8:32  I know. What am I doing with my time? You guys. Brad Crowell 8:35  Oh, we're gonna do other things with your time. Lesley Logan 8:36  I have other things to write. I have blogs to write. I have a bot to edit. There's plenty for me to do.Brad Crowell 8:43  There's plenty to do but that's not what we're talking about. For the Accessories Deck. You know, we already did the photo shoot. It's looking really good. Lesley and I literally got a chance to meet the people who produce our flash cards when we were on tour. Lesley Logan 8:55  That was so cool. Brad Crowell 8:56  It was really lovely. We didn't actually get a chance to film anything because the entire place was closed for the holidays. So next time, I don't know if we'll ever be there when we're not there for the holidays, but one day, I would like to actually go see the operations. Let their team show us all these crazy machines that they use to make these flash cards. I'm fascinated by the process. Anyway, we're stoked to produce the sixth deck with them as well. We'll be dropping the presale really soon. So go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist opc.me/flashcardwaitlist. Get yourself on the wait list. You will be the only people getting a 30% off offer on this final deck. So don't wait on that. Before we move on. We had a question.Lesley Logan 9:37  From YouTube. Brad Crowell 9:38  Okay, jasminesaif183 says hi, Lesley, would you say you teach classical Pilates, and if we wanted to learn the real Pilates, is there a playlist we can follow on your channel?Lesley Logan 9:52  Yeah, so I do teach classical Pilates. That's what I would consider I teach, and anything on my channel is classical. So there's no need to make a playlist, because everything is what I will learn from Jay Grimes, who studied with Joe Pilates, what I learned from the Taylor sisters who studied with Romana. So I am a classical teacher, and so you're good to go with anything there. We do have playlists that are like the mat or by equipment, but I'm not gonna create a playlist that's just because that would be the whole YouTube channel. Brad Crowell 10:24  Yeah, yeah. So. Lesley Logan 10:26  I also just want to say, in case, because she wrote real Pilates in here.Brad Crowell 10:29  I was gonna ask you to address that. Lesley Logan 10:31  I refuse to get involved in a conversation about what's real Pilates and what's not real Pilates. I won't do that because.Brad Crowell 10:38  Unless it's not Pilates in the least. Lesley Logan 10:40  Unless it's not Pilates in the least. Like a Megaformer. There might be some moves that are Pilates esque, but you I can't from their website 10 years ago. I cannot teach Pilates moves on a Megaformer and they cannot teach their moves on a regular reformer. It was from. Brad Crowell 10:53  That's clearly not Pilates. Lesley Logan 10:55  Yeah. So, so that being said, they might be telling people that's what they're doing. They might be telling their teachers or their trainers that's what they're doing. And I don't ever want to be the person who busts anyone's bubbles. So here's the deal. There's a lot of different Pilates styles out there, and most of them are all real Pilates. Now I teach what Joseph Pilates created with his intentions. Brad Crowell 11:14  From the book that he wrote. Lesley Logan 11:15  Yeah, from his book and from his teachings of his client, and I do the best I can to uphold what that purpose is. And if you were trained in a different way and you want to learn what I'm doing, great if you're training a different way and you don't want to learn the way I'm doing it, great. This world is a place where you get to. Brad Crowell 11:32  You do you, baby.Lesley Logan 11:33  You do you and you don't even have to explain it to me. I have no judgment, but I think it's really important to not get bogged down by the semantics of it, but there are styles, just like in yoga, there's yoga styles, and so if you find a style you like, keep going. Brad Crowell 11:48  Yeah, I agree. All right, y'all. Stick around we'll be right back. We're gonna dig into this fantastic convo that Lesley had with Heike Yates. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 11:57  Okay, welcome back. Now, let's talk about Heike Yates. Heike Yates is a midlife health and fitness expert with over 35 years of experience, and she's the host of the pursue your spark podcast with a rich background as a seasoned Pilates coach and former Ironman triathlete, Heike is dedicated to helping women in midlife build strength, confidence in health. Through her podcast and coaching, she empowers women to embrace new possibilities, overcome challenges and lead vibrant, fulfilling lives, and she's working on a book and everything. It was really fascinating to listen to her share her story about how she was not raised in a society that intentionally worked out, meaning, I'm gonna block off one hour and go work out. Because where she was raised in Germany, your life was a workout. You were walking everywhere. You were hiking up and down mountains. You were doing all this stuff, because that's she you did. And then she said, when she got pregnant, her body obviously went through a dramatic change, and she gained 50 pounds, and then had no idea how to lose that. And so that is what took her down this path. And I feel like there's a generational thing there, too, for sure, she got into all the different things, and she went down all these different modalities over the decades, which I thought was really amazing.Lesley Logan 13:13  Yeah, I also like that she's really inspired to help women find their spark again. So it's not just about the movement of it, which I think for women in midlife, I don't know why it feels old. It feels like we're making it worse. Brad Crowell 13:25  Well, I think the reason. Lesley Logan 13:26  Because I'm 42. I'm not at midlife, when's midlife?Brad Crowell 13:29  Well, I think the reason that she's not saying pre post menopause is because it pigeon holes her into talking only about menopause. And you know, when she was talking about her book, she said, yes, some of the publishers were coming to me and saying, like, great, you're a menopause author, and she's like, but I'm not, you know, so I think she's using midlife to encompass a little bit of a wider audience there.Lesley Logan 13:30  Yeah. So I really was drawn to more what she was talking about women in midlife and having lost touch with their true desires. I also think because, again, you brought up generations, I think that my friends today have had more people tell them to know what their goals are and what they want outside of being a parent. And I think 10 plus years women older than us, like it was, you're a mom, that's what you did, and it was really weird if you were more than that, if you did anything else. So I do think that it's necessary to talk with those women about how to figure out that it's because also our desires change, and so you might have known what they were before, but then life happens. You go through and the things that brought you joy don't bring your joy the same way they do, and you have to have new desires, right? So I really want to say that she encouraged listeners to look not at what you can't do, but what possibilities are there. Focus on what is possible. You know, we talk about that all the time at OPC, so you know, I'm gonna love that Brad Crowell 13:50  Sure. Lesley Logan 13:52  She also said, if you don't try anything, you will never find what it is that lights you up. Brad Crowell 14:38  So take messy action. Lesley Logan 14:45  Yeah and I thought that was fun, because I think we start to go, I gotta research these different hobbies. I'm gonna try. And then we get overwhelmed in the researching of things, and not the doing of things. You're not gonna know if you like something. Let's just go do it. So just go, just jump in and go do it.Brad Crowell 15:00  Yeah. And one thing I found like a through line, and she didn't explicitly say this, but she did explicitly say, when you're trying to understand your goals, don't listen to what other people tell you that your goals should be. You need to find your goals yourself. And she kind of said it and then brought it back up again later on in the conversation. And so, you know, she encouraged honesty about our own desires, saying, when we look at ourselves, we've got to be honest about what we want, right? And then you asked, hey, what if you don't know what you want? Because you were talking about the retreat in Cambodia where you're like, hey, what does a year from now look like? And then people got they found that as a roadblock. They couldn't do the exercise because, like, I don't know what I want to be in a year, right? And so you asked her, What happens if you hit that hurdle yourself? And she said, You need to start journaling and paying attention to the desires that you have during your journaling. But ultimately, that still lends itself directly back to knowing your goals, your desires, not letting other people define your goals for you. I thought that was really important. I also think it's hard. I think it's really hard, especially when we feel boxed in by the life that we have today. Maybe your goal was something that is just literally not even possible because you have a job that keeps you in one place all the time, and you can't travel, you can't leave, or, I don't know, you have young kids that demand a lot of time, and now you have to wait to accomplish your goal. So I think that it's hard to decide what our goals can be, that we're willing to let ourselves pursue without knowing that it will fail because of the boxes that we live in, right?Lesley Logan 16:38  Yeah. I also think that we if we fail, then it wasn't worth doing, or we weren't deserving of it, or whatever and it's like.Brad Crowell 16:43  Then we feel guilty because we let ourselves down or something. Lesley Logan 16:46  I mean, how many times did someone fill the light bulb? A lot. And now if we fucking stop, we wouldn't have had light as soon as we did. So.Brad Crowell 16:55  Yeah and she did talk about failure, too. She said it's not failure. It's just, you know, it's the next step. It's the next baby step. She pointed out that many women feel stuck. They're either waiting for an answer to appear from the universe, or they're scared to fail, right? And her advice was, don't sit there frozen. Take action. Don't wait. It's okay to fail because we never actually do. It's something. We try something, we might not like it and then it's okay to change and shift your goal and reclaim control of your life. So she said, take action, and that's going to be the thing that moves you forward. And you know how much we're all about messy action. So, yeah. I think she's just also very kind. Lesley Logan 17:34  Yeah, she's got spunk to her. I really like it. Brad Crowell 17:37  Yeah, I think as a coach, she's just very warm, you know, all around as good vibes. All right, well stick around, because we do have some,Be It Action Items from Heike. We're going to find out about those in just a second. Brad Crowell 17:49  All right, so finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Heike Yates? To find what lights you up, start journaling. I did briefly mention this before. She said write down your thoughts. Start thinking about the things that maybe you're envying your friends for which I thought that's interesting. Normally, I was raised where, like, don't be jealous, don't feel envy. And she's actually saying not that you should tap into that and lean into that, but understand what's happening. Notice that. What is it that you're feeling that about? Write it down and then say, I want what she has, whatever that is, and give yourself the permission to say, to be honest, I want that. Look around for inspiration. Ask yourself, what are my friends doing? What do they do? Try activities that they enjoy or explore something new for yourself. She said, even if you don't know what you want, trying anything helps you discover what lights you up and what you don't like, which helps you narrow down what you do. Yeah.Lesley Logan 18:47  Yeah. I love she had so many great Be It Action Items, and so I also want to highlight that she said stop dimming your light and move on and enjoy life. And I love this, because often, as women, we were raised, you're too loud, you're too bossy, you're too this. We talked about this with Tracy Peterson, like you're too bossy, you're too this, you're too, like, all these things that actually people telling you that it's like a little thing where they're saying, turn your light down. It's too much. And actually, Heike is saying it's bold to keep your light on, move on and enjoy your life. And I think that that is the best thing we can do, because we're not going to keep everyone with us all the time. We're just not. And so dimming your light to stay in the box that other people want you in, it'd be a real shame, and that is not what you're trying to do when you're trying to be it till you see it. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 19:32  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 19:33  Please make sure you share your takeaways with Heike, the Be It Pod. Share this with a friend who needs to hear it. Share this with one of your midlife friends who needs to hear someone kind telling them things that might feel very familiar to them, and helping them enjoy their life more and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 19:46  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 19:48  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 20:30  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 20:35  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 20:40  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 20:47  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 20:50  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Midlife is not a time to slow down. It's an opportunity to redefine what's possible! In this empowering episode, Lesley Logan sits down with fitness and lifestyle coach, Heike Yates to discuss how women can embrace aging with confidence, take bold action toward their goals, and stop dimming their light. Heike shares her personal fitness journey, the importance of mindset shifts, and practical steps for staying active and strong at every stage of life.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How societal expectations impact women's confidence as they age.The mindset shifts needed to embrace midlife with strength and joy.Why taking messy action, no matter how small, leads to transformation.The power of community and accountability in achieving personal goals.How to reconnect with your past dreams and take steps toward them.Practical fitness and self-care tips for midlife and beyond.Episode References/Links:Heike Yates Website - https://heikeyates.comHeike Yates Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pursueyourspark Heike Yates LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/heike-yatesHeike Yates Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/heikeyatesGuest Bio:Heike Yates is a Midlife Health and Fitness Expert with over 35 years of experience. She makes wellness and fitness simple for midlife women, turning midlife challenges into easy, actionable steps that help them truly thrive. Heike's approach goes beyond just fitness and nutrition; she focuses on helping women get out of feeling stuck or in a rut, guiding them to get stronger, develop a resilient mindset, eat better, and boost their energy. As the founder of ‘Pursue Your Spark,' Heike also hosts a popular podcast reflecting her mission. Outside of coaching, she's an avid triathlete and adventurer, always seeking new challenges in the great outdoors. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Heike Yates 0:00  When I look around and I see us in midlife where we feel so defeated by what we used to be able to do. Oh, I used to play tennis and now I can't. Women feel so defeated and so sad about what they're no longer able to do that it's time that we, or I, step up to the plate and say listen, it is not that bad. There are choices, but it comes down to the choices that you need to make and you need to see yourself in a different light.Lesley Logan 0:34  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:17  Hey, Be It babe. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast. I've got a great interview for you. This is going to be a fun, uplifting, inspiring, take action, but all for you. And I'm excited for our guest today, Heike Yates, because she is you. Maybe she might be older than some of you, she might be the same age as some of you, but she is you. She is us. It's really nice and refreshing to talk with someone who has had all the obstacles. She's been through all the things, and is on the side where she's able to look at life in a way that allows her to live the life that she wants to have and really have fun with it. And so I'm excited for you to get to hear her and be inspired by her. And also I think you're gonna have some fun little one-liners to write yourself, write down and remind yourself that you freaking rock and that we're gonna talk about not dimming your light. So here is Heike Yates.Lesley Logan 2:11  All right, Be It babe. This is gonna be fun, ladies. I have been actively searching for guests that specifically speak to the age group that is pretty much listening to this podcast. And so I'm really excited, because our guest here today is an expert at that. So, Heike Yates, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?Heike Yates 2:30  Hey, I'm Heike Yates, and I have been a coach for 40 years and a Pilates coach for 20 of those, and I work specifically with women in midlife, and I hope you really feel better about yourself, feel stronger, healthier, more confident in your body, and not feel like you were held back. I want you to feel like you're thriving and not listen to all the other things you hear on social media that's are wrong with you. I want you to feel right in your body and right about the things that you think about yourself. In a nutshell, that's what I do. Lesley Logan 3:07  I mean, isn't that what we all want? But why is it so hard?Heike Yates 3:10  Because we're told something is wrong with us. You look around in social media, everybody tells us that we're not skinny enough that we're not lean enough, that we're not pretty enough, that we should use all these products to make ourselves better in life, and so we start doubting ourselves.Lesley Logan 3:33  But I feel like that probably starts when we're very young. So by the time we're midlife, it's been years of doubt of ourselves.Heike Yates 3:39  And it's also, I think, particularly through perimenopause and menopause, as we're going through the shift, things are getting worse because our bodies are changing and life is beyond our control. You think about sleepless nights. How many women can relate to not being able to sleep, not even because of the night sweats, just because we can't. And you wake up in the morning and you're whooped and you're barely functioning. And so menopause is a big dip, in my opinion, when it comes to these doubts, even getting deeper and stronger, and we feel like we're stuck.Lesley Logan 4:21  So how did you get to where you wanted to focus on helping women with this? And how did you get to be this expert? Let's go on your journey for a moment. What led you to this? Heike Yates 4:30  I'm a mom of two adult children now, and when I was pregnant with my first one, I had gained a lot of weight, namely 50 pounds, and at that point, I did not know what exercise means or can mean to a woman's body, or how to actually do it. I grew up in Germany and exercise is part of what you do. You walk to the butcher, you walk to the grocery store, you bicycle to the beer gardens because I'm from the south of Germany, in Munich area, and so exercise is part of your life. When I was pregnant and I gained 50 pounds, I had really no clue how to lose the weight and feel comfortable again in my skin. I mean, I love my son, I love my husband, but I felt out of shape. I felt yucky. And a friend of mine said, come on, let's go to the YMCA where we can take dance classes, because most women love to dance, and I'm no exclusion. We took this class, and it was so much fun. We did some dancer-cise, as it was called back. Then we did weights, and we did core work, and there was this group of women, and you can just picture this, we're in the basement of a church where you show up with your boom box and a yoga mat rolled up, and you had to bring your own weights into the room. Everybody, of course, had their little spot, so you had to make sure, as a newbie, that you didn't take their spot. And then the instructor hit play, and back then, we still had the tapes to pop the tape in, hit the go, and off we went, and the routines were pre choreographed. So as I learned later, over the period of time, you learned a routineLesley Logan 6:09  Like a Zumba class, kind of. Heike Yates 6:11  Like Zumba, exactly, but it was called dancer-cise, and that's how I got started, and I really loved it. And I was asked to become a teacher for the YMCA and their programs, and I wasn't sure if I could actually do this. Me, who's never exercised, hop around in front of all these people. I was like my husband encouraged me, no, no, you can do this. I think in the back of his mind he was just thinking, get her out of the house, get her away from the baby and the husband, and I started learning how to do these classes, and as I started to learn the routines, I felt really confident. I felt proud of myself. And I started to get to the point where I had to audition, because you just couldn't teach, you had to audition. Lesley Logan 7:01  Right, right, right. You gotta get someone to say, like, yeah, you actually do know what you're doing before we let you do it for other people. Yeah. Heike Yates 7:08  So I auditioned and I bombed, and I had no idea why I bombed. And she said, You know, I can't let you teach you don't hear the beat. And I said, What the heck are you talking about? I'm perfectly. Lesley Logan 7:21  I've been doing it. Heike Yates 7:22  I've been doing it. And she said, every now and then, you hit the beat. I had no idea what she was talking about. And she said okay, here's what I'm talking about. And I still didn't get it. Now she didn't know, and most people don't know, I'm deaf on one ear, and that affects my perception of sound. And so she took my hand and she put it on the speaker, and she said now, feel the beat. It was like a light bulb went off. That was the beat. And so I practiced my routine with the hand on the speaker, first to feel the beat, and then tried to remember where the beat was. And over time, I trained my one good ear to find where the beat was, and I passed the test. I was so, so proud of myself. And you know, it's a disability that is not visible, and it can relate to people with hearing problems. As we get older, we don't hear well. So with that said, once I passed that test, there was like no stopping me, Lesley. I just went for everything, pre post-natal classes, step aerobics, if anybody knows about step aerobics, then slide came along. We did slide, and then kickboxing, Tai Bo. So I did all of these classes and became a personal trainer, and then eventually started teaching yoga for three years, and then I discovered Pilates and fell in love with Pilates.Lesley Logan 8:48  I mean, we love Pilates around here.Heike Yates 8:51  We sure do. Who does not love Pilates? And so all of this was my career path, but along the way, I used everything I've learned, and I became a bodybuilder. So I was on stage with those big muscles, building muscles, and competing in body building competitions to running ultra marathons. So my longest distance is a 50-miler, JFK 50-miler here in in the area. And then I became an Iron Man triathlete.Lesley Logan 9:18  That is amazing. You do all these things and this is all part of the journey in kind of getting to where you are today, right? So you did Iron Man, those I can't do because I can't get in the water. I'll be real. I can swim, you guys. Open water swimming is not my thing. I can understand that. I just don't like when I can't, whatever's touching me, I can't see it. It's my own problem. You know, we all have our own fears. That's fine. So then what? How old is your kid at this point? Where are you at in creating your thing that helps women in midlife?Heike Yates 9:53  You know when you think about that as we get older, so now my kids are 32, one's 35 and I'm a grandma of almost three year old, so I want to stay fit for her as well. But in the meantime, it's midlife, past menopause, past all the hormone changes, so I'm postmenopausal, but what do I get? Arthritis in my knee. I have a bad knee. I have a bad shoulder, so I have to stop running because of that, I have some arthritis in my neck, and Pilates, of course, is perfect for all of this to help me strengthen my body and function. So now I'm looking for different things to do physically and so I can swim. I learned to swim just because I wanted to be an Iron Man. I'm not comfortable in the water. I'm a super slow swimmer, but I can do it. So I can, you know, do Aqua bikes. So I bike a lot. I do a lot of strength training, low impact exercises, and that helps when I look around and I see us in midlife where we feel so defeated by what we used to be able to do. Oh, I used to play tennis, and now I can't. Women feel so defeated and so sad about what they no longer able to do that it's time that we, or I, step up to the plate and say, listen, it is not that bad. There are choices, but it comes down to the choices that you need to make, and you need to see yourself in a different light.Lesley Logan 11:28  Okay, I agree. So how do we actually go about seeing ourselves in a different light? Because, for example, I have a client that I was teaching yesterday, I know we've been working on her strength, because she's had a bad foot that's been going on, we worked on her strength, and I was able to say oh, look, that's gotten so much better. And she's like, really? And I was like, yeah. We see ourselves every day and so we don't always see the changes that we're making. I feel like it'd be so hard to see ourselves in different light. How do you think we should go about doing that? Or how do you coach people on doing that? Heike Yates 11:57  I tell them to take a really good look at what they really want, not what somebody else tells them they want. (inaudible) as somebody else tells them they should be, but what they really want. And really get clear on, you know, I know it sounds so cliche, but the why? Where do I want to be in where I am right now in my life? Look at this. Look at not what you can't do, but look at what possibilities are there. Lesley Logan 12:26  Yeah, so I just got back from the retreat in Cambodia, and we did some breath work, and I had them visualize a year from the day of the retreat. And I was like, what do you want your life to look like? And Heike, the question of what do they want stumped half the women. They don't know what they want. They haven't been allowed to want things they have been raised or over time had to make so many compromises of themselves and what they want so to just even dream of what they want, you can't even get past the first question, then it goes to the spiral of, I don't even know what I want. What do you tell people to think about if they don't know what they want? What if they're just stuck on that one question? Heike Yates 13:09  You know, I think that's a good time to start journaling. Start writing down your thoughts. Maybe you're envying your friend. Write it down. I want, what she has, whatever that is, if you can't think of it yourself, look around you, and I always say, oh, what exercise should I do? I'm like, what does your friend do? Do what they do. Try it out. Or if you go on an Insta and you see a cool workout, I did a cool workout the other day. I did a bungee workout. I've been wanting to do that bungee workout forever, and I finally signed up for it, and I took that class and say okay, taking action, no matter how messy the action is. Even if you don't know what you want, but if you don't try anything, you will never find what it is that lights you up. Lesley Logan 14:02  Yeah, no, I agree. Like, even figuring out what you, trying things out and figuring you like, I don't want that, is actually very helpful. Helpful for getting closer to what you want and what you like and what you need and getting to know yourself. Okay, so we should change how we look at ourselves, and what was the other part of it? Heike Yates 14:18  When we look at ourselves, we gotta be really honest with what we want, or, like you said, which is also a good way to look at it, is what we don't want. I'm like, try things, go places, but do take action. And don't sit there and wait. And I find so many women don't take action. They sit there all frozen and do nothing and hope that the universe will provide some answer. It's okay to, air quotes, fail because we never fail. We try something. We may not like it, we may not be good at it, but it doesn't matter. We need to take action to move forward in life, and especially in midlife where, as you pointed out, we've been imprinted with these thoughts and feelings and habits that we should have and should behave.Lesley Logan 15:12  I'm thinking about some of the amazing women who listen to this show, who are action takers. If they're listening to this podcast, they're clearly ready to soak up information to make changes in their life. No one would listen this podcast unless they wanted to. We're literally saying be it till you see it so you have to take action. And I also know, because I get to meet a lot of our listeners, you can take action and then there is an obstacle, especially for the women of this age group. Their parents are getting older, and their kids are growing up, so they're that sandwich generation where they're taking care of two different groups of people. And so it can be, if they have five minutes of themselves, sometimes that's all they have. And so sometimes it can just feel almost like they're actually failing, because they're they set up these things, and they took two steps forward, and then something happens that takes them out of it. Something happens medically, with their partners or with their parents or with their kids, and then it can just feel like you're being selfish. Just, you know what I mean? We probably agree at the same thing. Self-care isn't selfish care, but when there is an emergency, when there is these obstacles, it is hard to do that. What are the habits or the things that you lean on in those moments, because it can just sometimes feel like things are crashing around you? Heike Yates 16:24  Have an accountability partner. Seriously, my clients that I see in person, they come in and say Heike, you're the only hour this week I allow myself to do what I want to do. And of course, they unpack all the other stuff that comes with it, like the aging parents and the teenage kids. You basically mentioned these two groups, which happened to me this week after I got back from vacation. It was like a tsunami of information, but it's the only time that they said no, you're there for me, you're waiting for me, and you make me feel important. You make me feel that I don't have to be feeling guilty taking the time. I don't have to fear the fear of repercussions, because I was selfish and took care of myself, and afterwards, they're like, I feel so much better. I'm so glad I came. Lesley Logan 17:23  Yeah, no, I agree. Like, accountability can be so key. It's also just part of like, feeling like you're in community and you're not alone. You are past perimenopause and all that, looking back, because I think that's when we get to connect all the dots. How can more women in midlife really enjoy embracing that change? Heike Yates 17:41  Again, it goes back, be honest with yourself. Start finding what your dreams are and your wildest dreams, I know it sounds so simple or difficult, however you want to look at it, I don't know what I want to dream of, but we all have dreams. We all have secrets that we don't tell anybody, because we feel that they're ludicrous. Why me? I shouldn't be wanting this. Keep that dream alive. I know when we started, before menopause, before the kids, before the marriage, the divorce, the whole mess that comes in the middle is we had a dream. My dream was always to travel the world and all through these years, and I've been where you just came from, your retreat in Cambodia. And I love, love, loved it. Angkor Wat was amazing. And I just came back from Japan. Lesley Logan 18:37  Japan is a wonderful place too. I like it. Heike Yates 18:40  Oh, my God, never been, so my dream from before all of this, when I was 23 was to travel the world. I took a little hiatus with being a mom, with building my career, with building my businesses, with doing all of that. But as the kids got older, also, the more I learned about how to care for my parents, we live both in Germany, and how to deal with that side of parents aging, I felt that it is really important to look back at that dream. It's like, what was it? And you'll figure out a way to do it. And the way I always think about is when you have a dream, I'm not going to tell your listeners, okay, pack your bags, go to Japan tomorrow. It takes baby steps to plan it all. I mean, it took me now two years to plan this trip. Even we had COVID, and we had all that, but I planned this trip with my husband, and I told my parents where we were, and my kids don't care, because they're all grown and but it's that dream that we have, and I know everybody has a dream, whether it's starting a knitting club or gardening the hearts out of your garden. It's not about the big audacious goals that we hear like, oh, she went to Japan. Look at her. No, it's about what it is that lights you up?Lesley Logan 20:10  Yeah, I think it's really, thank you for sharing that it took two years, because I think we can sometimes struggle with how quickly something should happen, and we can get hard on ourselves that the timeline isn't going as quickly as we think it should, or it probably should, giving ourselves permission to take three years to do something that usually takes some people a year, just because you've got other things going on. And that's where that accountability partner can come in handy, too. Heike Yates 20:37  Yeah. And when you think about this, it's baby steps with everything, your body changes through menopause. Well, you can lose weight if that's your desire, which, personally, I don't like to talk about weight loss a lot, because that's like the number one thing on social media. Everybody wants you to do, is lose weight, but feel better, feel stronger, you know, be able to walk further, to do the 100 without stopping. It's like the little things that we can do. And it takes time. It takes time. Lesley Logan 21:07  How do you get your mindset wrapped around the transformation that you're going to be taking? Because I do think that it can be, let's just say someone also had the dream of traveling the world, and they did take a break of travel because they were a mom. Now they're trying to do it again. How do they get out of the shame and judgment of I didn't use travel in any of these years, and I've got to start up again. And it can feel overwhelming, because to become the traveler again, be someone who can pack their bags, if you're not used to it, it's not the easiest thing to do. My mom traveled to Cambodia, maybe been 10 times or 12 times at this point, but my mom came for her first time. It was her first international trip. I got to watch what it was like to be a first time international traveler, because I do it all the time. I travel the world all the time. It's easy for me, but for someone, it's their first time, or they're just getting into it. I was like, wow, there's a lot more to think about for that. So how do we embrace that mindset, of that transformation that we're going to do?Heike Yates 22:01  I think a lot of times we hold ourselves back by saying that I'm not deserving of it. I think that's really the root of like, my mom just came to visit. She's 82 and she's really bad knees and a bad back. And I said, you know, come visit me here in the States. You haven't been to my new house, and she's not a world traveler by all means. Her travel is sort of like going on the bus tour. And we laid out a plan. She was so nervous. She's like, oh my god, do I have to sit there for eight hours? No, no, you have an aisle seat. So this goes into the how do I get out of? Plan it. We got an aisle seat. I said, you just tell the flight attendant that you need to get up every now and again, and then you walk around a little bit. And then at the airport, we made sure that she had wheelchair access, which she was adamantly not wanting to have, because she's strong and she's only 82 and she can do all this. And I said, Mom, imagine you have to schlep your suitcase. There's somebody that helps you, and they drive you around. And then she finally agreed to it. So she arrives in Washington, DC, with the biggest smile on her face while this dude is pushing her in the wheelchair, schlepping her suitcase. And she says, this is really great.Lesley Logan 23:22  I love that. I love that. Heike Yates 23:26  So it's planning. You are allowed to have the things you want to. Then start planning. Start planning. Again, baby steps. What is the list that the thing that I need the right now that gets me to where I want to go. And I have another little story on that. I ran the marathon in the Antarctica. Lesley Logan 23:47  Cool. Heike Yates 23:48  It's a. Lesley Logan 23:49  Okay, but hold on, don't forget your story. Is there a view, or is it the same for 26 miles? Do you know what I mean? Like, like, does the scenery change? Because that would be a, really, is it just penguins the whole time?Heike Yates 24:00  It's basically nothing. And the race is like from one research station to the next. We basically ran from Russia to China and back. Lesley Logan 24:13  Okay. Heike Yates 24:14  I don't know how many, how many times it was the most boring part of the race, really.Lesley Logan 24:21  All right, anyway, because I'm just like, wow. And then it's like, hold on, it's just ice, right?Heike Yates 24:27  There's nothing there. It's ice and gravel and snow. And you see a penguin every now and again. And that's, that's, that was the race (inaudible).Lesley Logan 24:33  That would be the hardest marathon. Because at least when I ran like, LA Marathon, at least every part of LA changes. I was like, oh, now I'm in Chinatown. Now I'm in Koreatown. Now I'm here.Heike Yates 24:44  Nope, nope, nope. Most boring marathon ever, and we're so glad we were done. But the package around it was super cool, because it was a whole trip. But the trip is very expensive, and when I told my husband that I wanted to do this he's like, we can't afford it. So I said, here's the deal, so for three years, I put away money every month that I comfortably could put aside towards the trip. Three years. And after three years, they said, here, sign up, pay the first down payment. And I had the money for the first down payment. I had the money, actually, for the second payment that was due a little while later, and then we chipped in the rest. And my husband's like, you have all this money? I said, "I planned." This is really what I wanted. So when you're thinking of I want to get out of the rut. I'm stuck in here and I want to follow my dreams. It's like, plan for it, and then follow through. Put your money where your mouth is. Yeah, you know, I saved my money and I said, we got there, and it was a trip of a lifetime. It was on freaking believable. Lesley Logan 25:54  That's really cool. I mean, that's, I think I'm worried about the marathon, but I'm sure, like, the whole thing sounds even better than all of that, what are you the most excited about right now?Heike Yates 26:04  I am the most excited about on publishing my first book. Lesley Logan 26:08  Cool. Heike Yates 26:09  I wrote my first draft. I'm in the moment trying to find a publisher or somebody who can help me edit my book and get everything together. And I, just before this interview, I talked to another publisher, and I'm trying to make a decision of who I'm going to go with that helps me publish my book.Lesley Logan 26:25  Oh, cool. Are you self-publishing, hybrid publishing? Looking for an agent? Heike Yates 26:28  I'm checking out all possibilities. And today was the agent that does a lot for the book, but it's also I talked to somebody today finally that understood what my book is about and could relate to the content. I'm trying to publish, again, a book for women in midlife. The book is all about getting out of the cages that hold us back and out of the rut and feel like ourselves again and tell us to do that. And not everybody gets that. I've talked to publishers who are like, oh, yeah, this is a menopause book for women. No. So even I, you know, like everybody else, I look around I see what's there. So that's what I'm most excited about right now. Lesley Logan 27:13  Yeah, we had a guest on a couple years ago, maybe it's a year and a half ago. Anyways, she went through 100 rejections on her book before it got published, but it was published in multiple languages when it was published, and it was the best publisher, but she had to find an agent and a publisher who understood what she was trying to say, and thank you for sharing that story, because I think a lot of times we can have an idea, and if you put it in front of the wrong audience. That wrong audience, it could be a family member, or one of your best friends, but they're not the audience for that idea or for that thing, and they could still love you, and they could still be an awesome person, and they could still say something shitty that makes you go, oh, but we have to be, I loved your response, it's like, no, that's actually not it, because we have to be able to be discerning and like, actually, you're not hearing what I'm saying, and that's okay. I'm going to move on to someone else who's going to hear what I'm saying and celebrate that. Heike, we're going to take a brief break, and then we're going to find out how people can find you, follow you, or work with you. Lesley Logan 28:11  All right, so if people want to follow the journey of this book, if they want to pursue their spark with you, where can they get more of you? Heike Yates 28:19  Literally, Google my name. Heike Yates, H-E-I-K-E Y-A-T-E-S. You'll find me everywhere and anywhere on social media, or Pursue Your Spark, either way, you'll find me everywhere on social media. Super simple to get in touch with me. Lesley Logan 28:34  That's awesome. Well, you know what? You have a name that no one else has, I think. I'm sharing my name, like my exact spelling and my exact name, with a lot of different people, and it's a little I'm like, how did that happen? I spell it differently than everyone else, but there was a travel author in the UK when I was a child that has my name, and I know, so very jealous. Okay, well, you've given us really, actually, some great little tips and takeaways, to be honest, people, if you're listening to this, you're probably like writing these things down. But because we cannot skip the Be It Action Items, bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted, steps people can take to be it till they see it, what do you have for us? Heike Yates 29:11  Okay, as I said already, dream big, bold dreams. Take action with small, I like to call them baby steps. Break down those baby steps even into smaller steps, and connect to your why, to your core, to where you were before life happened, before things changed for you. What do you want to do and stop, which is what I love to say, stop dimming your light and move on and enjoy life. Lesley Logan 29:47  Yeah, we don't have to dim our light. There's a lot of people out there trying to play with the dimmer as it is. Don't need to help anyone. Oh, gosh, Heike, this is such a pleasure, so fun, such an uplifting conversation. I am excited to hear how everyone else, what their takeaways are and how they use these tips in their life. Please let us know. Let Heike know. Let the Be It Pod know. Send this to a friend who maybe needs to hear these words, because sometimes, maybe we want someone to be our accountability partner or we want to be their accountability partner, but they may need a reminder first, and so I think maybe sometimes it's often easier to give your friend the advice through a podcast. And then, yes, they'll get to the end and they'll hear this, and they'll hear that we told you to share it to them, and then they're gonna know what the jig is. But you know what, they'll thank you for it, because they'll have stopped dimming their light because of this. So let us know. Share this with a friend until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 30:37  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 31:20  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 31:25  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 31:29  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 31:36  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 31:39  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this episode, Lisa is joined by Lesley Logan, a pilates instructor, to discuss the transformative impact of pilates on body image, functional fitness, and the mind-body connection. It emphasizes the importance of self-awareness, inclusivity, and the role of pilates in healing trauma and promoting empowerment. Topics Include: Mind-Body Connection Self-Awareness Functional Fitness Healing Trauma through Movement[2:06] Lisa starts this episode by asking Lesley to introduce herself. Lesley shares her first experience with pilates and how she fell in love with it after one class and thought everyone should try it. She discusses how she became an instructor and eventually quit her retail job to teach full-time.   [5:30] Lesley discusses her early experiences with body image, influenced by societal standards and family dieting culture. She highlights the struggle of seeing the body as an ornament and the journey to viewing it as an instrument. Lisa and Lesley discuss the importance of functional fitness for aging well, emphasizing the need for strength and mobility to perform everyday tasks and travel comfortably.[18:00] Lesley discusses personal experiences with body image issues, health challenges, and the pressure of maintaining a certain appearance in the fitness industry. She emphasizes the importance of focusing on health metrics like vitamin levels rather than weight. Lesley explains how pilates can serve as a moving meditation, helping individuals connect with their bodies and improve mental focus. [28:05] Lisa relates pilates to healing trauma and overcoming dissociation by strengthening the mind-body connection. Lisa emphasizes the importance of feeling safe in one's body and how mindful movement can aid in trauma recovery. Lesley shares experiences of bringing diverse groups together through pilates, fostering a sense of community and shared experience, even among people who might not typically interact.[34:53] Lesley provides guidance for beginners in pilates, suggesting they look for comprehensively trained instructors and be mindful of class types and equipment. Lesley suggests practicing pilates 3-4 times a week, emphasizing that sessions can be as short as 15 minutes. [45:49] Lisa and Lesley discuss how the primary intention of pilates is to achieve a balance of strength and flexibility, focusing on posture and muscular strength. Lesley explains that it is designed to be a low-impact exercise that is accessible to many people. Lisa and Lesley discuss how pilates helps individuals become the authority on their own bodies, promoting a sense of safety and embodiment. Lesley also discusses how pilates encourages self-care and empowers individuals to take control of their health. [57:58] Lisa and Lesley conclude this episode by encouraging curiosity and self-kindness in one's pilates practice, highlighting that self-care is essential for overall well-being. They also discuss how listeners can find Lesley online: Website | Free 4-Week Challenge | Instagram | Facebook*The views of podcast guests do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of Lisa Schlosberg or Out of the Cave, LLC.⁠Purchase the OOTC book of 50 Journal Prompts⁠⁠Leave Questions and Feedback for Lisa via OOTC Pod Feedback Form ⁠Email Lisa: ⁠lisa@lisaschlosberg.com⁠⁠Out of the Cave Merch⁠ - For 10% off use code SCHLOS10Lisa's Socials⁠Instagram⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠ ⁠YouTube⁠Reclaiming Peace With Food Retreat at the Omega Institute - September 7-12, 2025 

It's Fuck Yeah Friday and Lesley Logan is celebrating wins, self-love, and the power of consistency. Whether you're single or in a relationship, loving yourself is key. Plus, hear inspiring wins from the community, including a marathoner defying limits and an author achieving her dream. Tune in for motivation to stay consistent, embrace the journey, and celebrate your own progress!If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why self-love is the foundation of confidence and success.The inspiring story of Hannah Gavios and redefining limits.How networking can be easy with the right mindset.The importance of sticking with your goals even when progress feels slow.A powerful reminder: Don't judge your beginnings harshly.Episode References/Links:Hannah Gavios' Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hannahgavios If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Brad Crowell 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:02  Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Hello, Be It babe. Happy FYF. Oh my God, it's on the Valentine's Day, which, you know, we don't really celebrate around here, because it's just a day. But in case no one has asked you, would you be my Valentine? Do you want to be my Valentine? Oh my God, we're all Galentines around here. I know I think it's just important that it you are kind to yourself and you have love for you. That is my message for you today. Because I think when I was growing up, it was like, oh, do you have a Valentine's Day date? Do you have this date? No, I never did. No, I did not. And now that I'm married, my husband is wonderful, and he's lovely, and we really don't do anything about this holiday. Hopefully don't need a holiday to celebrate your love. But if you are alone and you are single, please focus on what you love yourself, because that, I promise you, is gonna be the sexiest thing about you. And you also don't need someone to be awesome, because you are awesome already. So I start these FYFs now with someone who's or something that's like, caught my eye or inspired me. Hopefully it'll inspire you. So this girl, Hannah Gavios, she, seven years ago, fell off a cliff. You'll have to go to her account on Instagram (inaudible) surname Hannah Gavios. She fell off a cliff in Thailand and she has a spinal cord injury, and so she is on crutches, and appears she can stand on her legs, but can't really use them. At any rate, she used to be a marathon runner, half marathon runner, before she had the spinal cord injury, and now she uses her crutches to do marathons, and they take like 11 hours. And now she's, at least from the last one I saw, she got them down to like nine hours, but nine hours doing a marathon, crutching her way on crutches, right? And I just love this because, to me, a spinal cord injury would just feel like my entire life would change forever. Because, I mean, I use my whole body all of the time, but seeing someone like her, who used to run these marathons, continue to do it with her crutches, she's not on five, at least, according to this last post, and do it in her own way, in her own time, and she travels and she does yoga. Guys like, how cool is that? How freaking cool. So Hannah, thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for being you, and thank you for allowing us to see what is so possible even with a spinal cord injury. I mean, it's pretty phenomenal. And I think too often we let ourselves get put in a box and a label on things, and we go, well, that's the life I'm gonna live. And my goodness, you are showing that there's no box around your spinal cord injury whatsoever. So thank you for that. Okay, a win of yours. Let's go with Melissa Capitano from Chicago, eLevate grad, Agency member, networking win. I had a coaching call with Brad and he gave me a networking pep talk. I walked into a neighborhood business and saw a woman that I had previously talked to at a networking event. She said she still wants to come in some time. Do I have any beginner things coming up? I said, I will send you an email, and I pulled out my contacts, clicked the plus button on the phone and told her to add in her info. She said, perfect. And did it. Bonus. I couldn't remember her name, and didn't even have to ask, because she put it in my phone. Yes, Melissa, oh my God, I love this so much. I love this so much. One more win, because I'm excited today. It's also just a day of love. So let's just like, love up on all these people. Okay, but before I go to the next one, I just want to highlight like. So what she's saying she did, you guys, is she and this is what Brad does all the time, and it's really helpful. You don't have to know that person's name. You just take your phone and open up the Contacts app, and you can just hand it to someone. So we have a new neighbor on the street, and the person introduced themselves, and they're like, oh yeah, that's amazing. We should definitely connect. And Brad just like, pulls his phone out, hands it to the guy with the contacts thing open, and the guy puts his first name in, last name in, phone number, what everyone puts in there. And then Brad can, like, add notes, like, neighbor down the street with great dane. And so it's really great, because we can search for him if we need to. And also, if you don't remember the person's name, no, you can't. Another fun fact that we like to do is we like to then take a picture of ourselves with the person. We learned this from someone else at another network. Maybe we take a pictures of ourselves with the person right then, and then we text it to them, so now they have our contact, phone number at least, so we can give them more if we want to. So thank you, Melissa, for letting us share all of that, and hopefully someone got a little tidbit on something they can use later. Okay, so Natalia from Germany, she wrote, I held my book, just coming out next week, in my hands for the first time today, and saw it live. I still can't believe it. If someone had told me the beginning of the year what was happening, I would have called them crazy. I've always wanted to write a book about Pilates, and I remember the agency webinar last year on this topic. And this year, a big publisher even approached me, and now I'm publishing my book about Wall Pilates. There's a lot of interest in media, and I really hope that the people out there like it too. Keep your fingers crossed, please. Okay, Natalia, I have your book now. This one is from a bit ago. I have your beautiful book. It is so cute, it's so fun, it's so special. You are adorable. And it's in German. So I have, I have not a lot to read there, but I could follow along the pictures, and you thank us at the end. I'm so pleased and honored, and I'm so, so grateful. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for that. And congratulations on your book. And it's so cool when you get to see it in real life. And isn't that fun? I know we're in February, but like we're in the first quarter of the year, and we have no idea what's about to come up the rest of this year? We have no idea. In February, a year ago, Natalia had no idea she was gonna write a book, and then within a few months, she heard she's writing a book, and now she's holding a book, all within a year. So you don't know what surprises around the corner that are for you that is so cool. All right, so now we have a win, a win of mine. Okay, so here's the deal, Brad and I have been working extremely hard behind the scenes on a lot of stuff, and something we were talking with a friend about was like, when you start a business, you were like, I love this thing that I'm doing, so I'm gonna, I'm gonna start this business, and then I get to do the thing that I love all of the time. And then no one tells you wrong. That's not true. You'll do a lot of paperwork. You have a lot of paperwork to do, and then there's some more paperwork. And then did you know that there's this other paperwork you can do? And did you know that there's this other thing that you could do? And so in the last year, we've been working behind the scenes on just certifying our company and getting these things taken care of, so that in these certifications are just like, so that we're like women-owned, and honoring our ADHD-ness that we have and all this stuff. So we have been working really, really hard behind the scenes. And I'm the type of person that when I get working over here in this kind of category of things, I can get a little distracted from the other things that, you know, just hard for me to like, balance it all. So at any rate, I'm sitting here today. We've been home for more than a month, and we have really stayed on track with some of the things we wanted to do. In the last year, we have made changes into some programs, and we've announced those changes, and we've followed through with the access like, we've just stayed consistent. And if I can offer anything to any of you who are working for yourselves and you're tired of the paperwork, consistency is the thing that I promise you will grow your business. Just being consistent. Being consistent is why this podcast is so successful. Being consistent is why OPC is so successful. Being consistent. So if you are feeling like, completely overwhelmed with all the paperwork, there is an end in sight. I'm feeling that end for a lot of the things we've been doing paperwork for for over a year. I'm feeling that end. It's here. But also, if you can just stay consistent and not try to be like, let me do this 17 new ideas. Stay consistent. Things will grow. And then when you're done with the things that feel like they're bogging you down, you're done with the things that are bogging you down, you can get back to those ideas you have. You can get back to the ideas parking lot. You can. All right, so that's just my little tidbit, and my win. It's not really like a win that we could all mark, or, I can't say on this date we finished this, not yet, but we are close. We are so close. And my win is that with all of these distractions, of all the stuff we have to do to just have some things, let's not even just have something. There's actually a bunch of windows and doors that open once these things are done, but it can feel like you can lose sight of why you're doing something like this when you're just filling the paperwork all the fucking time. So be consistent in what you love, and have an ideas parking lot board for those ideas that come up that you can't take action on yet. Do the paperwork, whatever the obstacle is, and then I promise you, you can get back to those ideas. Okay, your mantra is don't judge your beginnings harshly. Don't judge your beginnings harshly. Don't judge your beginnings harshly. Please, don't ever do that. Oh my gosh, during the recaps of last December, you absolutely heard episode number one, and our audio equipment wasn't awesome, but that episode was great, and if we had stopped then and rejudged our beginnings so harshly, then we wouldn't be here today with this amazing episode for you. So my love, you're amazing. Take care of yourself, and you know what to do until next time, Be It Till You See It. That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. Brad Crowell 10:16  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 10:21  It is produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co. Brad Crowell 10:25  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 10:32  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Lesley Logan 10:34  and Semana Velazquez for our transcriptions.Brad Crowell 10:38  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Building strong relationships requires intentional communication, but many couples struggle to connect emotionally. In this episode, Lesley and Brad explore the insightful conversation with Kristal DeSantis, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who shares powerful tools to improve relationships. Learn about the Heartbeat Exercise, the four positions of conversation, and how redefining masculinity can help partners understand and support each other better. Whether you're looking to enhance your current relationship or prepare for a future one, this episode offers valuable strategies to deepen your connections.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How the Heartbeat Exercise strengthens communication and emotional intimacy.Why the way men and women are socialized affects relationship dynamics.The four positions of conversation and how to navigate them effectively.How redefining masculinity can lead to healthier relationships.Why collaboration is more powerful than compromise in building strong partnerships.Episode References/Links:Cambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com Pilates Spring Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorAccessories Flashcard Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlistStrong: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man - https://a.co/d/4tiDC0B If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Brad Crowell 0:00  Imagine it as a heartbeat, the ups, the downs and the points where you connect. How it works, point of pride, ask your partner what they are proud of, and then validate it. Point of pain, hold space for their struggles without fixing. Point of pleasure, celebrate moments of joy or connection. Lesley Logan 0:19  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:02  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the eye-opening convo I had with our guest, Kristal DeSantis in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that one, you should, especially if you're married or wanting to be married to a dude, because I think it was just a really, but if you want to be married to a woman, you know, also there's stuff in there. (inaudible) Communication is universal and I think we all can. Brad Crowell 1:28  I feel like it's also like a social commentary on how we value ourselves, (inaudible) you know, or the stories that we've been told. How about that? Lesley Logan 1:36  Oh, the stories we've been told, the stories we've been raised with. And, you know, we're all taught different things, and so you might be dating someone who's taught something different than you, and so you gotta get on the same page. Brad Crowell 1:46  Yeah, honestly, I was a little concerned when I read the topic. I was like, oh, there's a doctor female who's coaching men. That just seems weird, but I really appreciated her approach to the conversation and the high level on both sides of the conversation about, you know, we're like, almost like two ships passing in the night from the way that we were raised. Anyway, I'm doing a lot of hinting at, you should go back and listen to the last episode if you didn't already.Lesley Logan 2:14  Also, she wrote a great book, so we are to give it out on our tours (inaudible) people. I feel like it's really great and I, too, was a bit concerned. I was like a woman coaching on what it means to be a loving man, but she wasn't condescending in any way. And it wasn't like they're wrong or you're wrong. It felt really welcoming. I just really enjoyed it.Brad Crowell 2:19  I am curious. I didn't read the book yet, but I'm curious because the conversation, at least, was more about the consternation that has been created by the shift in female empowerment, and then the messaging not being. Lesley Logan 2:53  Delivered. Brad Crowell 2:54  Yeah, I'm just trying to pick the right words here, because the messaging for women has been A but the messaging for men has not changed or been impacted or shifted, and so now there is a disconnect happening. Lesley Logan 3:09  And well, let's just get into it in a second. Brad Crowell 3:11  We're gonna get into it, y'all. We're gonna get into it.Lesley Logan 3:11  Because I have some other thoughts to say on that. So, okay, today is February 13th. It's happy almost Valentine's Day, and it's Self-Love Day. You know what? There's a really awesome sweatshirt that I'm not gonna buy, but it's about like Cupid was in a pissed off mood. I feel like that's where everyone is in 2025 right now. And that was just a dark satire, and I loved it. But anyways, it's Self-Love Day. And you should love yourself before you can love other people, just kind of how it goes. Because if you've been in a crappy relationship, you probably could tell that you weren't really loving yourself very much. That's what the therapist would probably say. So, at any rate, Self-Love Day is an annual celebration to preach and understand the importance of self-love. I feel like that's using the word in a definition, but we're gonna let that go. Brad Crowell 3:53  Well, I decided to remedy that. So keep going. Lesley Logan 3:55  Self-Love is one of the most powerful forms of love. It is something that we have coded inside us. Proponents of self-love believe that it could strengthen a person's feeling of being loved. Is there an opponent to self-love? Who is telling people not to love themselves? Brad Crowell 4:13  Oh, maybe it's like the people who are like serve others. You're always last. Lesley Logan 4:17  Oh, yeah, yeah, uh-huh. Brad Crowell 4:19  They probably would argue that they're not arguing against self-love, but yeah. Lesley Logan 4:23  Yeah. The date coincides with Valentine's week, and is celebrated so that people can be strong enough to love themselves by the next day and not need a romantic partner on February 14th. Brad Crowell 4:33  It happens in a day, y'all. Just one day, you're good to go. Lesley Logan 4:35  So Brad wanted just fill us in (inaudible) yeah, Brad wanted to fill us in on what self-love is exactly. Thank you, Brad, why don't you step in here? Brad Crowell 4:44  That was a terrible question. Read it like a question. Lesley Logan 4:47  Hey, Brad. Brad Crowell 4:47  Hey. Lesley Logan 4:48  Want to fill us in on what self-love is exactly? Brad Crowell 4:51  Yes, I would be so excited about that. Self-love is the practice of valuing, caring for and respecting your self. It involves recognizing your worth and treating yourself with kindness, compassion and forgiveness. Self-love is not selfish or narcissistic. Rather, it is about fostering a healthy relationship with yourself which can positively impact your mental, emotional and physical well-being. Now. Lesley Logan 5:18  I have some key aspects of self-love. Brad Crowell 5:20  Yeah, I was gonna say, how do you practice self-love? Lesley Logan 5:23  So, one, is acceptance. Embracing who you are, including your strengths, flaws and imperfections. Brad Crowell 5:30  Yeah. Another is self-care. And I know we talk about this often on the pod, prioritizing yourself, physical, emotional, mental health, with activities like anything that actually lights you up. Could be sleeping an extra hour. It could be eating right. It could be getting your nails done. Lesley Logan 5:46  Also, setting boundaries is a key aspect of self-love. Protecting your energy and time by saying no to things that don't align with your values or well-being. Brad Crowell 5:53  Yeah, could be positive self-talk, replacing self-criticism with encouraging or kind thoughts. That's really hard to identify when you're berating yourself sometimes in the moment, but if you can catch yourself, great. Lesley Logan 6:03  Forgiveness, letting go of past mistakes and treating yourself with understanding. Brad Crowell 6:07  Yeah, that's a hard one. That's a hard one, especially with our generations of guilt that you just like slathered on children, and then we carry that into the rest of our lives. Forgiveness. Or if you did something in your past that you're shocked that you did. I have instances in my memory like that that I can't let go of, and that forgiveness has been hard to be like I made that decision. It wasn't a decision that I like or agree with today, and I'm moving past it. I am not that person now, but yeah, that forgiveness, that's tough. Lesley Logan 6:39  And gratitude, appreciating, oh, I skipped one. Brad Crowell 6:42  Yeah, growth. Being open to learning, improving or pursuing personal goals. We're all about that, of course. And then finally. Lesley Logan 6:47  Gratitude, appreciating your journey and the unique qualities that make you who you are. Practicing self-love allows you to build resilience, maintain healthy relationships and live in a more fulfilling life. It's an ongoing journey rather than destination. Brad Crowell 7:00  Yeah. Lesley Logan 7:01  So let us know how you're loving up on yourself today and every day. Brad Crowell 7:04  Yeah. How do you practice self-love? Lesley Logan 7:05  Yeah. We want to know. Send it to Be It Pod so we can share them with people who need ideas other than these brilliant ones. (inaudible) Brad Crowell 7:09  Yeah, and maybe it'll be on the wins.Lesley Logan 7:11  Yeah, we'd love that. Let's do that. We are almost to Cambodia again. So when this comes out, we're leaving, I think the Monday after this, so. Brad Crowell 7:11  It will be a couple of days, yes. Lesley Logan 7:13  Yeah, we're gonna go. So you should come with us on October, because it's kind of too late for you to come with us now, I'm just gonna be honest. Lesley Logan 7:22  Well, look, you are welcome to fly straight to Cambodia. Lesley Logan 7:31  Yeah, Brad will figure it out.Brad Crowell 7:32  (inaudible) We will make it work. However. Lesley Logan 7:34  October is great. Brad Crowell 7:35  More realistic. October this year, October 12th to 17th, we're gonna be back in Cambodia at our place. And by the way, we have been able to continue to work on our place, our property, the rooms, make it nicer, cooler, just more amazing. We've got some incredible partners. We have made some incredible adjustments to the trip that I can't be more excited about. We just got a new boat ride and the Lotus Garden. Lesley Logan 8:00  Oh my God, I saw a reel of the Lotus garden. And I was like, that's so beautiful. And I was like, oh wait, we do that every time. Oh, my God, but it's so funny, because I'm like, look how beautiful that is. I'm like, wait, that's where we go. That's what we do. Brad Crowell 8:11  Yeah, so we want you to come join us. Go to crowsnestretreats.com, crowsnestretreats.com. Lesley Logan 8:17  In March, we'll be home for just a little bit, and then we get to go to Denver. Brad and I gonna drive into the POT in Denver, and you can come. It's a great for Pilates instructors to get CECs and connect with other Pilates instructors. It's really, really a lot of fun. We'll have a booth there. Brad Crowell 8:32  Yeah, we'll be hanging out. Lesley will actually be teaching. I will be manning the booth and generally just kicking it. Yeah, that's gonna be super fun. We're really excited to be heading back to the Denver area. And then in April, mark your calendars y'all, April 27th to May 3rd, April 27th to May 3rd, we are doing. Lesley Logan 8:51  Spring training. Brad Crowell 8:52  Spring training. Lesley Logan 8:53  Pilates spring training. Who knew? Brad Crowell 8:54  What is that? Lesley Logan 8:55  So it's a play on baseball spring training, but nothing to do with it. We're not doing anything with baseball. Brad Crowell 9:03  It's gonna be a home run derby. Lesley Logan 9:04  Yeah, assuming something like that. So basically, years ago, everyone loved that week long Control Your Balance challenge, and so this is kind of like that, but something for everyone. So there's myself and the six other OPC teachers doing live classes on the mat reformer. There'll be a tower and a Wunda Chair class during the whole week around the same theme. So there'll be different levels, there's gonna be several classes at different time zones. So no matter where you live, you'll be able to attend live. And if you can't attend live, there'll be access to the replays for a limited time. It's essentially so you can experience OPC without having to commit to OPC just yet. So you get to experience what it's like to learn from different teachers on the same theme. You need to be on different pieces of equipment. You get to have that community aspect and that Q & A without you having to go into the app. So we're basically like bringing the experience to you.Brad Crowell 9:57  Awesome. I love that. If you are a Pilates business owner. That's anyone, if you are taking your own clients and getting paid by them directly, that will be small business owners, medium, even large business owners with multiple locations. I want you to come join me for a free webinar that I've been hosting called the Sudio Growth Accelerator. Don't be thrown off by that. If you don't have a brick and mortar, it's okay. I want you to come join me. It's the growth accelerator. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator. That's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator, and we're going to be covering three big secrets that Lesley and I have learned over the last seven years of coaching more than 2500 businesses just like yours. We've boiled it down to these three big things, and then we get a chance to talk and Q & A and do all sorts of fun stuff. Because these concepts, we didn't know them when we were getting started, we just kind of had to figure them out. And then over time, having had thousands of conversations with people just like you, it's really helped us create a path that you can take. And I want to share all that with you. So come join me, prfit.biz/accelerator. And then finally.Lesley Logan 11:06  The last and final deck of the flashcard series is the Accessories Deck. And this is something that anyone can have, because more than 70% of it is things you can use around the house or make yourself. And so if you want to get this deck at 30% off, you have to be on the waitlist, because that's where the presale price is going to be, soon. Brad Crowell 11:26  And only, only there, we do not publicly post it. Lesley Logan 11:30  And so if you are on our regular email list, you are not going to hear about the presale there. If you are on the opc.me/events for spring training, you will not hear about the presale there. You have to be on the specific, you raised your hand. Brad Crowell 11:45  You did. Lesley Logan 11:45  For this waitlist. So, opc.me/flashcardwaitlist. That's we're you're going to get the updates when that presale happens. As of right now, of this recording, we don't have a date picked, but I feel like we're going to be able to do March. The team is working really swiftly, so we're already on the editing stage as we speak, and so we're past the longest part of it. So, it's coming up, it's coming up quick. Brad Crowell 12:08  It's gonna be good. Lesley Logan 12:09  Okay. Before we get into Kristal's episode, we have an audience question. Lesley Logan 12:13  Yeah, we sure do @goaltech_ontheroad asks on IG, hey, regarding the short box series on the reformer, should the legs touch the carrier or not? What differs? Lesley Logan 12:26  When we were on tour, Brad, when we're at Virginia Beach, we did a post about the short box and how to use your legs and all that stuff there, and so this question came through there, and I thought that was really interesting, because for the teachers and Pilates-lovers listening, we have to stop thinking that things are so black and white, like, should the legs touch or not touch? I don't know. How tall are you? What box are you on? What reformer are you using? Where is the strap connecting on the equipment to? All these things matter, because if you're on a really tall box and you're a really short person, chances are your legs are going to touch, right? If you are a really tall person on a short box, like me, my calves touch carriage. They just do. Now, do my feet touch the frame? No, but depending on the equipment the box, if the strap is on top of the frame versus underneath, there's so many different things. I can't answer that for you, because it's going to depend. And the difference is. Brad Crowell 12:26  It depends on the body. Lesley Logan 13:09  Depends on the body. And so. Brad Crowell 13:21  Depends on the box. Lesley Logan 13:23  What I would just say is, are you connected to your center? Are your legs connected to your center? Or are you working in halves? Are you sliding around a lot when you're doing the exercise? That tells me you're not set up correctly. So if you feel like when you round back you slouch, you are. If you round back and your legs go with you, you're sliding. If you come up and your legs go forward, you're sliding. So the legs should be still on all the short box exercises. When you round back and up, or flat back and up, they should be still and they you should feel the hamstrings, the glutes, inner thighs, the outer hips. And so I would focus on that. Then what's touching what. Brad Crowell 13:56  Yeah, I think it's good. That workshop, I remember it. And I think you're also, I think we were down in Huntington when you were talking about the. Lesley Logan 14:03  Huntsville. Brad Crowell 14:03  Huntsville, I mean, where the boxes were, like, people had them in the wrong position, and they were a little unbalanced. And then, the bodies were shorter and longer, and you were just talking about the general idea, the concept of it. Because, yeah, I mean, (inaudible). Lesley Logan 14:16  We actually did a YouTube, we actually just did a YouTube video about where does the box go? It was a week ago, Sunday. Well, now that this is airing, no, it was months ago, but, it was a month ago. But if you're subscribed to our YouTube channel, that's where I answer questions about Pilates-inspired, I go way deeper into them. Unless you're an OPC member, then we get to go deeper on you and your practice on what you need. So thank you for this question. I hope that that helps. And.Brad Crowell 14:40  Yeah, subscribe to our YouTube channel and stay in the loop on all that stuff, and stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into Kristal DeSantis and her book and all the things. It's gonna be great. Brad Crowell 14:52  Okay, now let's talk about Kristal DeSantis. Kristal DeSantis is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based out of Austin, Texas. She specializes in men's mental health, trauma recovery and sex therapy. She is the author of Strong: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man, a groundbreaking resource aimed at bridging the gap in relationship dynamics by redefining healthy masculinity. With a passion for helping individuals and couples create deeper, more meaningful connections, Kristal brings a fresh, compassionate perspective into modern relationships. Lesley Logan 15:25  Yeah, picking up a (inaudible) conversation, you were clearly raised in a household where your mom was like, anything they can do I can do better, like, that's how your mom was raised. So you were, your mom was on the men's soccer team or whatever. So, you were raised in a household where your masculinity wasn't based off of you being better than your partner, and I think that makes a big difference where, in some households, what they're modeled is not that women can be independent and have their own things and have their own dreams and be in collaboration with their husband. I'm not saying every other male is like that. I'm saying I think a lot of males are raised like that, and I also know that there are a lot of women raised to be timid flowers that can break at any moment. So I think all these different things can be true, and we live in this really weird world where we get to see how you were raised made you an adult human being. And then also, I just want to give credit to there's a lot of parents out there who did the best they can, and their son still turned out to be some part of, dickhead, or their daughters turned out to be an asshole. So you could also do the best you can, and it didn't work out. But to what Kristal was saying that I really loved, in the podcast, she mentioned, it's not compromise, it's collaboration. And I thought her example, this is about marriage, I thought her, in relationships, I thought her example was actually really cool. She said, when artists, two artists come together to collaborate on a project or a song, they're always creating something better than when they were alone, because they're working together. So when Lady Gaga worked with that really famous blues person or soul whatever, I'm forgetting the name, and they're super famous, so don't attack, Brad's already looking it up, but people were like, oh my God, she's gonna ruin the music. Tony Bennett. She's gonna ruin the music. No, the music is amazing, and Tony Bennett's amazing, but what they created together was more amazing what the two of them could do by themselves. And so that's what a relationship is.Brad Crowell 17:11  Yeah. I think specifically with this point you were talking about how do you make a suggestion that somebody needs to go to therapy without it coming across as insensitive and commanding. She's clearly been through all of the conversations with people, and what she said is, like, how do you portray it in a way that doesn't sound like you're in trouble or you're going to see, you know, go sit in the corner. So I thought that was really good. And the way that she was talking about approaching it was, hey, together, we can do even bigger and better things. It's not a compromise, this is a collaboration. This isn't like an ultimatum or else kind of a thing, but I think that we will both be better if. Lesley Logan 17:48  Yeah, she also mentioned in the relationship thing, she said, it's multiplication, not addition. So be a whole person, do your work, and then find someone who's also whole, so you can create a whole, healthy relationship. And I thought that that was really cool, because my dad was really big on, like, no one completes you. You're not finding another half. You're a whole, right? Your life should be amazing, and then they just add to it. But I like how she takes it a step further, where it's, like, it's multiplication, actually it's compounding. When you're a whole person and they're a whole person, you compound, like, together, it's a compounding effect. And I thought that's really cool. Brad Crowell 18:21  Yeah, I dig that. I always said one plus one equals one, which isn't logical, you know, it's not a half plus a half equals one. It's one plus one equals one, you know? Lesley Logan 18:28  I'm glad it worked for you. Brad Crowell 18:30  Maybe it should have just been better if I did multiplication, because one times one is one. Lesley Logan 18:34  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Brad Crowell 18:36  How about that? Lesley Logan 18:37  Yeah. But also, like. Brad Crowell 18:38  So, it's not addition, it's multiplication. Lesley Logan 18:40  Yes, yes. Brad Crowell 18:41  I love that. That's a better way to say it. Lesley Logan 18:43  And we all need to stop watching the movie where he's like, you complete me. That is the.Brad Crowell 18:47  Yeah, yeah, I know you. You mentioned that in the episode. What connected with me a lot was when the two of you were talking about, and this is what I was alluding to at the beginning of this pod, when you are raised as an empowered women, the stories of how we were raised, what we were raised to go after and accomplish, or how we are told to get purpose, they're now two different paths, right? I'm a strong, empowered woman. I can do everything myself. I don't necessarily need a man, whereas the storyline for men has always been she had three P's, and I can't remember what it was, provide, protect and procreate. Those are the three P's that she said. It is possible for those provide, protect and procreate to still happen with the storyline of the strong, empowered woman, but the expectation is what's shifted, right, of like, how do I provide, what she must be in need in order for me to provide, how do I protect? She's got to be weak for me to be strong. How I procreate, well, you know, that better be a collaboration. Lesley Logan 19:50  But I also, that better be, I also do think that like, it requires both people to redefine what those definitions are. Brad Crowell 19:57  Yeah, when she started to talk about that, she's. Like, hey, look, women, Butespecially women who have been raised with this new philosophy, we still have to understand that there's now a disconnect in the language and in the mentality, and so that's where I thought it was good to have empathy and also to redefine for men, I think she's right on the money, you know?Lesley Logan 20:20  Yeah, I really, I really liked it because it wasn't about us as empowered women compromising and going, oh, okay, I'll do these things so that they can feel empowered. No, it's actually if provide isn't them making more money than you, can provide be that they actually make the meals and they take care of the household, they take care of the kids. Can that be providing? Brad Crowell 20:39  Yeah, or she her, example was creating a safe, emotional space to thrive. I think it also comes down to, y'all didn't talk about this, but there's a ego with like, machoism with men, and I feel like that's where things get confused, because you can still be going after the three P's, that protect, the provide, the procreate, and not have the machismo that goes along with that. Lesley Logan 20:39  Yeah. And also machis, I feel like that is where everyone is getting it wrong, like. Brad Crowell 21:12  Somehow that's become the definition of a man. Lesley Logan 21:14  It is. Brad Crowell 21:14  I disagree with that. Lesley Logan 21:15  It's so weird, because it's not how you are. It's not how any of the male friends you have in your life. Brad Crowell 21:19  There's nothing alpha about that. Lesley Logan 21:21  No, oh, no. Also, if you have to say you're alpha, you're not, just so we're clear. But then I follow several really amazing dudes online who are very healthy forms of masculinity to me. It's just really interesting, because I'm like, what is going on with this disconnect? And it's just, it's actually very sad. It's almost like people are, they're afraid if the world changes, then they won't have a place. So if there's not dangerous men out there, then there's no one for them to protect us from. Is what's going on on social media, right? And it's like, actually, we can get rid of dangerous men who can still protect us from scammers, like you, my husband, makes sure I have a VPN on wherever I go, I can translate that as protection, right? Like, it doesn't have to be that you beat someone up at a bar for looking at me the wrong way. You know what I mean? Like you can actually protect by just making sure your partner's passwords are all created on a way that can't be taken. There's so many different ways we can translate this, and I feel like people are unwilling to be creative, but also maybe they were never raised enough, way that there was a spectrum or a possibility. Yeah. And so really, how do we re-educate an entire generation of people? I don't know. But I think what we can do, as everyone listening to Kristal, is go, okay, who's in my world? Can I have this honest conversation with, with just like one person. I can't change neighbors. I don't know, but I can, you know, we can certainly talk to people in our life around (inaudible). Brad Crowell 22:47  Yeah, I was gonna suggest her book is maybe beginning to the education of a entire generation, both men and women. Lesley Logan 22:54  Yeah, let's get it in libraries, let's get it in Boy Scouts. Brad Crowell 22:57  Yeah, all right. Stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into those, be it action items we got with Kristal. Brad Crowell 23:04  All right, welcome back. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Kristal DeSantis? She talked about something called the Heartbeat Exercise, which it was for emotional connection. She also mentioned that people have done this when they're dating. She explained, it's three points. It's a point of this is a conversation that you would be having with someone, but it's three points, a point of pride, a point of pain and a point of pleasure. Imagine it as a heartbeat, the ups, the downs, and the points where you connect. How it works. Point of pride, ask your partner what they are proud of, and then validate it. A point of pain, hold space for their struggles without fixing. Point of pleasure, celebrate moments of joy or connection. Lesley Logan 23:49  I like this. Brad Crowell 23:50  Yeah, I think it's pretty cool. The Heartbeat Exercise. She said we normalize talking about pain, checking in about it, and also about pleasure. Like, did you discover something new during our last walk or experience together? So, you know, it helps with communication, it helps with talking about feelings, it helps with going deeper. So it's kind of cool little exercise. I think it's neat. Lesley Logan 24:11  Yeah, so I loved the four positions of conversation. Brad Crowell 24:15  Oh, yeah, this is neat. This is kind of cool.Lesley Logan 24:16  Yeah. So this is to improve communication. So there's four positions. Position one is listening. Brad Crowell 24:21  Yeah, this was the four positions of conversation. Lesley Logan 24:23  Yeah, yeah. So position one is listening. Brad Crowell 24:26  Okay. Lesley Logan 24:27  Position two is offering empathy. Brad Crowell 24:29  Okay. Lesley Logan 24:30  Position three is fixing. Brad Crowell 24:32  Okay, listening, offering empathy, fixing. Lesley Logan 24:35  Position four is debating. Brad Crowell 24:37  Debating. Lesley Logan 24:38  So the way you use this is, first of all, you both need to know what these positions are. And second, she said, even put it like on the fridge, where you can see it. And then whenever you feel like you're not in the same conversation, you can say, can I ask you to move to position one, which is, just listen to me. Brad Crowell 24:53  Yeah, I think one thing to point out, just to help, because people can't see this right now, she said traditionally, it's been understood that women are focused more on positions one and two, which are listening and offering empathy, while men are focused more on three and four, which are fixing and debating. She said, so we often are passing each other in this because we're on the wrong communication track or position. So, one and two, listening, offering empathy. Three and four are fixing and debating, yeah, and, and, bless you. Hey, if you could just shift back to position one instead of sneezing. That'd be great. No more position four. Lesley Logan 25:32  You've been too much in the position three right now. So I'm gonna ask you to offer some position two (inaudible).Brad Crowell 25:38  Okay, okay. So that's actually exactly how you use it. Lesley Logan 25:46  That's exactly, we just did it. We're excellent. I really like this because I think here's what ends up happening in a relationship, someone says to calm down, which is mistake number one, never tell someone to calm down unless you want to be murdered. It's like, the most annoying thing, just calm down. You can't tell someone you don't want them to do. You have to tell people what to do. Like, that's just the way that it works. It's like that in Pilates, by the way. So if you can get each person on the page of what these positions are, and you can say, hey, I feel like you're really in a position three, and I just really need to be in position one, and if you can just take a beat and then the other person can understand that you're not correcting them, you're asking for your needs to be met. Brad Crowell 26:27  Yeah, I feel like we need, like, live action stick figure body symbols for this. Like, what if position one was like, okay. Lesley Logan 26:33  Oh, you want to do it like, the baseball team? Brad Crowell 26:35  You are in a position. Lesley Logan 26:37  No.Brad Crowell 26:37  And I need you in a position. Lesley Logan 26:40  I think, I think, at best, hand signals, but maybe magnets. I don't know. Brad Crowell 26:45  If there's ever a reason to watch YouTube that would have been it. Lesley Logan 26:47  That would have been it, that they missed it. I'm Lesley Logan. Brad Crowell 26:50  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 26:51  Get Kristal DeSantis' book. It's great for both men and women to read, and then also check her out, because she and her husband actually do like couples retreats, and really do an amazing job working with couples. I also think it's important to state that you don't have to be in a state of need to go in and develop yourself as a couple. Brad Crowell 27:10  Sure.Lesley Logan 27:10  You can also do this when you're on upswing, there's always more to learn from each other, because we're always growing, right? So how are you gonna use these tips in your life? We want to know. Brad Crowell 27:17  We do. Lesley Logan 27:17  Tag the Be It Pod. Tag Kristal DeSantis. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 27:21  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 27:24  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Lesley Logan 28:01  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 28:03  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 28:04  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 28:10  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 28:16  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley Logan sits down with marriage and family therapist Kristal DeSantis, author of Strong: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man, to discuss healthy masculinity, relationship communication, and how to create strong, lasting partnerships. Whether you're single, in a relationship, or married, this episode offers actionable insights into understanding and improving connections with the men in your life.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why men and women often struggle to communicate effectively in relationships.The impact of societal messaging on men's mental health and self-worth.The difference between needing vs. wanting a partner and why it matters.How women can invite—not force—men into self-growth and therapy.The 4 communication styles and how they impact relationships.The 3 P's of traditional masculinity (Protector, Provider, Procreator) and how they shape men's identity.The power of collaboration vs. compromise in a partnership.Practical steps to create emotional safety and trust in a relationship.Episode References/Links:Strong: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man - https://beitpod.com/strongKristal's Website: https://www.strong.loveInstagram: https://instagram.com/atxtherapistFacebook: https://facebook.com/strongloveatxLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristal-desantis/Guest Bio:Kristal DeSantis is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Austin, Texas, specializing in men's mental health, trauma work, and sex therapy. She is the author of STRONG: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man, which offers practical guidance on building healthy relationships. Kristal's expertise lies in helping both men and women navigate the complexities of modern relationships, with a focus on intentional partnerships, emotional resilience, and balancing traditional masculinity with emotional sensitivity. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Kristal DeSantis 0:00  It's not I'm half a person out here searching for my other half, and then, oh, you complete me. We're soul mates. No, be a whole person, do your work, and then find the person that also is a whole person that does his work, so that together you can have a whole, healthy relationship.Lesley Logan 0:16  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:59  All right, Be It babe. I can't wait for you to hear today's episode. When I met with today's guest Kristal DeSantis, I was like, okay, this is an interesting topic. And I asked her some questions, and I was like, oh my God, I love you. I really love what you're saying. So she is actually a marriage and family therapist. She is the author of Strong: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man. And I was like, well, most of my listeners are women, so what about this is something you can take away. And ladies, here's the deal, we talk about this in the episode. We have been given so much messaging on how we can be strong, independent, amazing, do things, and unfortunately, our male counterparts did not receive that same messaging growing up, and so there's some miscommunication going on. And I really love her approach. We do not have to play small. We do not have to make ourselves smaller. We don't have to change or compromise. It's actually a really great invitation for us to have better relationships with our partners. And so I really think this is an excellent episode. I think you're gonna really love it. I hope you do. And this is for you, whether you're single or married or have a great marriage, but have sons or daughters like I really found this to be very fascinating. And her book is Strong: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man. Here is Kristal DeSantis. Lesley Logan 2:17  All right, Be It babe. I am really, really excited for today's conversation. When I met our guest today, I was like, this is a topic we haven't touched on and, I think, impacts us all in so many ways. Kristal DeSantis is our guest today. Crystal, can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?Kristal DeSantis 2:35  Sure. I am a marriage and family therapist and author. I specialize in men's mental health and trauma and sex therapy, and I wrote a book for men. And, yeah, I'm really passionate about relationships, healthy relationships. Lesley Logan 2:51  I can tell you're passionate about it. And I actually, I think people are like, what? Lesley, but I'm a woman, and listens to this podcast, and I was like, yeah, but something that you touch on as a marriage counselor is really helping us understand what is going on with the men in our lives. And I think that that can be heated topic depending on like, where we are in this planet and what your life experience is. But as much as we want them to understand us, I think especially as the understanding of mental health with them is happening, and more and more people are diving into that, and also the topic of masculinity, we've had people come on and talk about what healthy masculinity looks like, I think us being able to understand a different perspective can be really helpful. Am I on the right track with what you want to do?Kristal DeSantis 3:31  Totally, totally. And I really specialize in healthy masculinity in the context of a healthy relationship, right? So I always want to say, like, you know, I'm not here to tell men how to be men. I am here to talk about what that looks like in a healthy partnership, how to be a strong, powerful, empowered adult in a healthy relationship. Lesley Logan 3:52  How did you get into this? Is this something that you thought you were going to school for? Is this something that you just kept finding couples and you started to go, wow, I'm the only one talking about this. What was the journey? Kristal DeSantis 4:03  Yeah, so it actually is really interesting is I had no interest in dating or relationships when I was growing up, like my parents, they had a very traditional marriage, and my mom was a stay-at-home mom, and my dad was the breadwinner, and it was just this very traditional setup. I have a lot of siblings, so you know, my mom was very much a stay-at-home wife and mother, and I, you know, was like, I don't think that's for me. I wanted to grow up and be a woman about the world, a career woman, boss babe and jetting off here and there. And I was like, who has time for a man and all of that, right? And so I was just focused on being a strong woman, just myself. So I went to college. I went to an all women's college. I was surrounded by these, like, fabulous, strong women. And so I was like, boys, come on. Like, the last thing on my list, I have no time for them. And then, as I started to, you know, go out in the world, my younger sister ended up getting married, and she married this really lovely man, and it started to make me realize, like, oh. Huh? Well, I haven't even thought about this. And also, you know, in my culture, my mom is Asian, and so in Asian culture, like the oldest daughter gets married before the next one, and then there's, like, a, you know, a rule to follow here. So I think that's also where I was like, well, shoot, I guess I should probably start to think about this. So I just kind of did what, you know, most women would do, I just went and put myself on a dating app, and it was a horrific and terrible experience, like it was, you know. Lesley Logan 5:29  Sounds about right. Kristal DeSantis 5:30  Yeah, exactly. It was like, wow, this is awful. I don't want to do this at all, but then I ended up in a relationship that it was just, it highlighted so much, how I did not have any relational skills, and it started to make me think that, you know, in the back of my mind somewhere, I guess I thought maybe just buying into the narrative, a little bit like you're a woman, you know, at some point when you decide you want to get married, it'll happen. And again, it wasn't that I was looking for marriage, even dating. I didn't know how to do this. I didn't know what I was looking for. I had a relationship. We couldn't communicate. And so I was like, oh, maybe I actually need to work on this a little bit. And then I met my husband on a dating app, and then it was like, okay, here's somebody that you're actually really interested in having a relationship with, and you know, you want to get your act together, girl. So I took my butt to therapy, I worked and I found a marriage and family therapist, and that's when I realized, like, oh, there's this whole field of learning about marriage and family therapy and relationship skills, and these are things you can learn. So yeah, so I went to therapy myself, and then I started going to school, and then eventually, 10 years later, here I am.Lesley Logan 6:40  Oh my God. (inaudible) What a journey. Okay, so here's what comes to my mind, though. When we think about working on ourselves, we work on ourselves, and we hope that our partner, our future partners, are working on themselves. But then there's also the marriage, right? And the relationship skills that you brought up. And I think it's really easy as women for us to think we have to do all the work to work on the relationship, but actually, it takes two people to work on a relationship.Kristal DeSantis 7:05  Absolutely, yeah, and that's part of what I realized when I met my husband is he had already been divorced, and so he did a lot of therapy at the end of his relationship. And so that's what really showed up for me, is that here is this man who was ahead of me in the relational skill game, and I was the one who had to catch up. And so that also really kind of showed me that, oh, wow, you know, what is it like for men to go to therapy? And it made me curious about his experiences, and that's really where then, when I started to go to school to be a therapist, I realized a lot of people talk about women's therapy needs and what women need. And like you said, the women doing all the work of the relationship. And I was like, well, what about the men out there that want to do the work? Who's speaking to them?Lesley Logan 7:50  Yeah, I mean, and is anyone speaking to them? Because, you know, I have a lot of single friends, and it is tough out there. Obviously I'm only hearing one side of the story, but what I'm hearing I'm like, oh yeah, you should run from that. But also, if there are people out there with good intentions, there does need to be a, not a give and, I don't like the idea of a give and take or a compromise, because I think that it's really easy for one side to compromise more or to give more, but there does need to be an understanding of, how do we actually move forward together as a we without losing the me that is part of it. Kristal DeSantis 8:26  Exactly. And that's why I always want to talk about collaboration, right? It's like when you hear about two artists coming together to collaborate on a project or on a song, it's always about they're creating something better because they're working together. It's not, okay, this is going to be worse material that we're hearing from both of them, right? It's not compromise, it's collaboration. So I always like to think about that (inaudible).Lesley Logan 8:48  Kristal, that's brilliant.Kristal DeSantis 8:51  Like, a strong woman needs a strong man, right? And a strong, healthy man needs a strong partner by his side so they can have strong relationship. I put it in the book. It's multiplication. It's not addition. It's not I'm half a person out here searching for my other half, and then, oh, you complete me. We're soul mates. It's like, no, be a whole person, do your work, and then find the person that also is a whole person that does his work so that together you can have a whole, healthy relationship. Lesley Logan 9:17  Oh, I love it. I love it so much. Because I really hated Jerry Maguire. I hated the whole sentence, everything about that. I was raised by parents who are like, you're not looking for your other half. You need to have a whole life. And they add to your life. They don't take away from your life. They're just really, really big on that, which I'm really grateful for, because I think I could have ended up in a really lousy relationship and divorced at a young age. Had I thought I needed to be completed in my life. But I love the idea of multiplication. I love the idea, the visual of like, we should be making better art together. Yeah, that's super cool. Okay, you wrote an amazing book. What made you want to write this book? Who is this book for? Can you tell us a little bit about it?Kristal DeSantis 9:55  Absolutely. And so I wrote the book for men, because what I otniced is, again, there's this gap in the field when it comes to self-help, messaging and therapy, messaging and self-improvement and trauma healing and all of that. It really does tend to skew really heavily towards women (inaudible). Lesley Logan 10:12  We have the most work to do. That's what it feels like. We have the most work to do, and they have nothing to do, which is not true. Kristal DeSantis 10:20  But also I saw like a huge resource imbalance, because even what you just said about the message that you got as a young girl is a message that young girls have been getting since feminism is, hey, you can do anything, you can be anything, you can have a whole life. Don't fall for a guy that just wants to make you a part of his. Right?Lesley Logan 10:40  You're right. And they didn't get. Kristal DeSantis 10:42  They did not, men are not getting that message. They're still getting the message that look for someone who needs you, because that's your job. Lesley Logan 10:50  Kristal, this is what's going on in the world. This is the problem. Yes, they're all wanting someone who needs them, and these women don't, and they're like, hey, (inaudible) I don't need you. Isn't that cool? And they're like, but I'm supposed to be needed. That's the love language. Okay, I'm getting it now. Kristal DeSantis 11:05  Yeah. I mean, that was really, like, the first quote that I put in my book is one that I found because I was on Twitter and I was seeing this pattern in couples where I'm like, you know, the women are working really hard and the guys just are not getting it. But I'm not getting this sense from these men that they don't want to get it. They want to get it really bad. But there's something that's like, hugely missed in translation here. And this quote that I found on Twitter, it was, everybody's out here empowering women, but who's preparing men for these empowered women? And that's really what it is, is that the guys are hearing, we don't need you anymore. And they're like, well, then what are we? Chopped liver? And then they're getting all angry and spun up.Lesley Logan 11:47  Well, and that's, so that's the thing. As I have tried to listen to some decent male masculinity experts, and I will say decent, because they're not the ones that are like, telling terrible things about women. But even then, I left confused, going, I don't understand how we're not on the same page. And you just nailed it. The women are empowered and are excited to meet someone who wants them to be empowered, but also wants someone who is at the level of them, like they're looking for that. And unfortunately, the people who are there to be there for these men who are looking for research and looking for help, are actually making it worse. I feel like they're making the division worse. They're making it seem like masculinity is this, like, tough, hard thing, and it's really, it's really sad, and I see that because I have a brother, I have friends with younger brothers, and I'm listening to them talk about women, and I'm like,who raised you? You weren't even raised in that house. So you wrote this book for men, is this something that women can read or gift to a male in their life? Is this something that they give to a son or a brother or husband?Kristal DeSantis 12:47  Yeah, I would hope so. And I've heard, you know, from my clients, that reading it together as a couple has been really enlightening, because part of what I talk about in here, which, again, what I was seeing, is the disconnect, is women are saying, like, how do you guys don't get it, because women don't realize that the messages that we've been getting the men haven't been getting. Right? And so for us, it's just common sense. Of course, everybody should be independent and self-sufficient and all of that, and look for somebody to improve your life. So how come you guys are so behind? And so I think hopefully if women read this book, they can also start to understand some of the messages that men get about what it means to be a man because in the prologue, I talk about how, for so many generations of men, their worth was tied to what I talk about as the three P's, you're a protector, you're a provider, and you're a procreator. If you can't do one of these things. You're useless as a man. You can't protect, you can't provide, you can't give your wife babies if she wants them, you suck.Lesley Logan 13:48  This is really, really fascinating, because it's true. I think the single women who are listening and in my friendships are like, why wouldn't they want someone like me who is independent, who wants to be a partner, and not as someone who needs them or as a drain on them. And yeah, it's because of the messaging, and they're still getting that. And so for my married women listening, I think that there can be friction or miscommunication. What is your advice for them to or for us? I should just, I should include myself there, to understand our husbands. I will say, I'm like, you, my husband was divorced when I met him, and I was like, oh, I love the work you've done on yourself, and I love what you know that you don't like. And I also love that she was a little crazier than me, so I got a long runway. But like, what can we, and I say this, I really want to say this intentionally, I'm not saying that we back off from our independence or we, but I want to say, like, what can we be doing to understand, again, this is gonna sound terrible, how to make them feel that they're worthy in their relationship, too? I guess this is without making ourselves smaller. Kristal DeSantis 14:50  Yeah, well, and I think this is an important piece of the puzzle as well, is that a lot of women also grew up with internalized messaging about what men should be and what men should provide. The kind of internalized expectations that, you know, sometimes we don't even realize we have because we don't want to have them. For example, we don't need a man who's a provider, like, I have my own job, I have my own money. But then, if he doesn't have a job, do we look at him as less of a man, right? Or if he chooses a job with less income, do we also then get a little bit frustrated that he's not, quote-unquote, on our level? And so, this is part of what I talk about in my book of like, how can we start to encourage that men can still be protectors, they can still be providers, they can still be procreators, but let's make it more adaptive to what the modern relationship actually wants, right? So maybe a man is not the primary financial provider anymore, and maybe women need to start looking at okay, so then what else does he provide? Maybe he provides a sense of emotional safety. Maybe he provides a place where I can be vulnerable. Maybe he provides emotional support and a vision for our family that helps me just feel alive and supported and all of that. And the same thing with protection. Well, do I really need a guy who's gonna be the biggest six foot football player type otherwise I see him as less of a man, which, again, that's also something that women kind of also kind of objectify men in that way, right? Lesley Logan 16:15  Yeah. Oh, every woman wants a six foot tall man who's super vulnerable but ambitious. They want all those things.Kristal DeSantis 16:22  Yeah. And so this is also where I can hear from the men, they're getting so frustrated. They're like, you want us, you're saying that looks don't matter, and you want us to be people. And then you have these TikToks that are like, I want a six, five guy in finance. Which one is it? So I think that's also where the women, us, women can do our own work of is it really true that we would value personality, that we do value a man who is able to protect us emotionally, even though he's not the biggest, strongest guy that could fight every guy on the block? And so those kinds of things are really important for us to also come to a reckoning with. Same thing with the procreator. Can we be with somebody who wants to prioritize being a parent? I've seen sometimes with this in relationships, where, you know, women are frustrated that their husband is not being an equal parent. But then when I actually look at, well, where is there room for him to be a parent? Because if it's your vision of what you want your parenting style to look like, and there's no room for him, well he's kind of stuck in a rock and a hard place here.Lesley Logan 17:19  Yeah, you're (inaudible) like, I'm not perfect everyone, which you should know that already. And I can even say in my own marriage, when Brad came on to the team, my business, I had to really learn how to say we instead of I, because I'm so used to being my business. I'm doing X, I'm doing Y, and I still fuck it up. Like, I still say I don't want to spend on that, and it's hold on, if I want him to be the CEO of the company, and I believe he is the better CEO versus me because I'm the visionary and I do all these things, then there has to be a we and I also have to let him be him. And so it's not about making myself small. It's about going, okay, going back to what you say, where is there room, and what are the strengths that he brings to that, that I can go, okay, that's actually more beautiful than what I could have done by myself and then communicating that. And I think that's the hard part.Kristal DeSantis 18:09  Yeah, and this is again, where maybe we focus on women don't need men, but we need to start thinking about where do we want them? If you don't need someone, that's fine, but he's got to feel wanted, at least. I want your input. I value your vision. I value what you bring to the table. That's always something I want to encourage is like, you know, we don't have to be co-dependent on each other, but you do have to have some sense that you're desired here. You know?Lesley Logan 18:33  Yeah, I think that's a really important distinction, because when Brad and I first started dating, he was like, I don't want to do everything together all the time. And I was like, yeah, so that would be a no for me, too. I need my private time because what he has seen, and I don't think my in-laws listen, but as they hang, they're always together. They're, they do everything together. They are on sports teams together. They're on all these things that I am like, oh, I'm gonna get people are surprised that I get an Uber and leave a party all the time, and that's like, no, I'm done now. So we had to do a lot of what does that look like? What does a relationship together look like? What we're still, what are we sharing with each other, and what aren't we sharing with each other? And I think communication up front is really can be difficult, because some people are afraid they'll say the wrong thing, or they'll offend the person, or the person will feel not needed, and it's like we have to also probably be able to let people explain things and then maybe follow up with questions. If we are, like, hold on, where am I in that that sentence, it feels like you said, this is that what you said. And I think we're not taught those communication skills Kristal DeSantis 19:35  Absolutely. I mean, that is such a huge thing that has shown up. I realized for myself as like, oh, I don't know how to do this. I think there's some magical thinking going on when it comes to relationships that, like, when you find the right person, it'll just happen. Love conquers all. You'll get this, like, magical like, no, you don't. You don't get the the download of relationship skills the minute you fall in love. And so, like you said, just like recognizing, where could I be more curious? This, where could I be less sure that okay, they're doing it because they're a jerk, and instead start to maybe look at if we're working together here, how do I ask about this differently? How do I invite them into this conversation? Rather than start with an accusation. Lesley Logan 20:15  Let's talk about the invitation, because I'm also thinking about the women like I'm doing this work, ladies, I am trying this, and my partner isn't participating in this conversation. It feels like I'm doing the work on the relationship, and they're not. How should they be setting the conversation up or what should they be doing? Should they be inviting you into it? What does that look like, if the woman listening is wanting to flesh all this out so that everyone's on the same page about how they're valued and how they want to be valued?Kristal DeSantis 20:38  Yeah. And that's where I would say, you know, part of the reason I wrote this book for men as a woman is also giving them insight into what, typically women are looking for when it comes to a strong man, right? And so again, just redefining what strong means. A lot of men think that it still means, like, strong, physically, strong financially. And really, what I'm saying is, no, I break it down into the first S of strong it stands for safety. Women look to feel safe in a relationship. That's kind of that in sometimes where women are like, I would love to feel safer and more secure in this relationship. Here's how I found this book that really resonated with me about ways that I could feel safer and more secure, because that would help me trust and respect you more, right? Or that could help us with our intimacy, that would help us feel more connected, help me feel more connected to you. You know, that's what I want, and so inviting it not as a here's a book on how you're screwing up and all men suck. And I was like, that's probably not going to go over very well, but really an invitation to I want our marriage to be the best. I don't want to just phone it in. I don't want to have, you know, what, maybe my parents or my neighbors, or, you know, these people that are just like, I think, the old trope of the boomer, miserable ball and chain thing, like, I want us to have a relationship that we can be proud of, that we can really look forward to coming home to. I want to have that. So will you work on that with me? And often for men too, it's like the conversation can be so high stakes for men, because often, again, with the idea that if you're a real man, you're supposed to be good at everything, you're never supposed to need help. You're never supposed to ask questions. This idea that for a man, you're just supposed to know, and so for a lot of men having this conversation, really come from a place of, I think we're great, and I would like us to be even better. Or I've noticed that we started out great, and here's a place where maybe I've noticed we started to fall off, like maybe our intimacy has not been as fulfilling as we'd like, or I don't. I noticed that we don't connect the way we used to. I'd like that kind of strength-based approach. Lesley Logan 22:47  Yeah, yeah, not the we need to talk approach which, oh, no one, no, by the way, you guys. I say this to people who have employees like, never say we need to talk. Tell people what it is so that, like, ease in, because you're gonna put people on defensive as opposed to an invitation to have a conversation. I really like all of that advice. I think that is helpful. You know what? You, and forgive me if you hate this comparison, but when I broke up with my ex, I read Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, which you have to take some of the advice, and not all the advice, everybody. And one piece of advice that I took out of the whole book. It was like, he needs to feel needed. We know you can pick up the box. We'd like to pick up the box for you. And I was like, okay, so when my husband, we weren't together yet, we actually had a little bit of a we weren't dating, but we broke up anyways, he broke up with me, just further clarification, but he texted me. He's like, hey, I'm on my way. We had this mutual thing that we both knew we're going to and I was too stubborn to not go. And he's like, hey, I picked up some sparkling water and some hummus and carrots. I know you're gluten-free, is there anything else? And I was like, this is my opportunity to need something. So even if I don't really want him to get me anything, I should try this out. And that was that opened up an invitation for us to actually hang out at this thing and not to have something in between us. And it was, that was a fun piece of advice. But I feel like your book, written for men by a woman and a married woman, is really cool, because it gives them advice from the perspective of the gender of their spouse. And I think that that is, you know, kind of we can, we could all learn from the other person's perspective in a different way. I don't know if you, that's (inaudible), you know, and that and the (inaudible) into you. Like, I read that, and I was like, okay, that was really helpful. Thanks, guys, for the advice on what you want.Kristal DeSantis 24:38  Absolutely. And again, like, the distinction between needed and wanted is, I think that's where sometimes people get really hung up. But it's like, you know, I didn't need something for the store, but I know you'd want to feel useful, so I'll throw out a want. Can you just grab a, I don't know, chocolate almonds or something, same thing, like, could I open the jar by myself? Absolutely. If it was me and this jar on an island, I could do it. But do I want to just hand it to my husband to help him feel like, yeah, she might not need me, but she sure wants me, because I feel like I play a role to improving her life. And that's really the thing that I noticed is, of course, there are men that have no interest in contributing to relationships, but they've totally phoned it in, and they don't want to improve. They don't want to do any of that. But again, maybe that's not the best relationship to be in, but there are lot more men that are like, I desperately want to make my wife happy. I just don't know how. And again, I'm not saying like, oh man, they just don't know anything. I'm saying that a lot of times they aren't getting the messages, because society hasn't started to tell them those messages yet. It's kind of been the message of, you should just know. And they're like, I sure don't. You know? Lesley Logan 25:48  Yeah. Because I see some of the that my my clients are like, oh my gosh, Lesley, look what they wrote to me in a DM on this dating app. And I was like, okay, I really appreciate the people know what they want. But maybe not the second line that you say. You know? But also, what messaging are they getting? They're getting, like, women know what they want now, well, this is what I want. So I think it is true. There is a lack of information and support. We have plenty. And I even think about my friend Vincent. He became a first time parent, and he was looking for support for dads and he's like, there is nothing. There's nothing out here for me. There's no, I'm gonna have an infant daughter, and I have no idea what to do. So he had to create the stuff to guide dads. And there are, of course, dads who want to phone it in. There just are people who want to phone life in, I don't get those people either and we can't help people who don't want to help it, but there is a huge fraction of people who are like, hold on, educate me, and there's a lack of education. And so I do love that you provided this with this book, but also I think this is a really amazing opportunity for all of us as women to go, okay, hold on, where have we been so supported? And they haven't. I think it's really important we don't have to be the ones that fix them or educate them, because that's not what they want. That's your job. That is your job. So for the woman whose husband or partner is going through some sort of crisis, maybe they lost their job, or their mental health is having an issue, what is the best thing that they can do to support that person? Because it's not that they have to fix them. Kristal DeSantis 27:14  No. That's the thing, is that I do see that pattern of women then work too hard to try to fix, to try to solve, or they're like, I've called five different doctors and I'm setting up his appointments, and then they're resentful, because then it's like, well, now it's that parent-child dynamic, which is, ick, right, not that sexy at all. And so that's again, is coming at it from a place of concern, like, I've noticed that you've been kind of depressed lately, or your drinking has kind of escalated. I'm concerned. And as your partner, who cares about you, I'm concerned for you. Like, how can we get past this? What do you need to feel supported? And that's really where, again, a lot of men, and I know it sounds maybe a little bit ridiculous, but even the idea that they would call somebody doesn't quite enter their mind until it's been presented. Do you think you might want to talk to somebody? I'm noticing that you're pretty depressed or that your drinking has been escalated, or that you're having a really hard time finding a job. Do you want to do something about that? Would you like my help? Or do you think you got it? And that's really where sometimes the conversations can be just slightly different than if it's fine, you're useless. I got it. Where then a lot of women end up in that over-functional role that then ends up burning them out and then leads to a lot of resentment against the men that they're with. Lesley Logan 28:28  Yeah. That approach leads me to this question, and maybe it's the same answer, but if she's listening, and she's like, oh my gosh, actually, you know what, Kristal, or a marriage therapist like Kristal is the best thing, what is the best approach to making sure it feels like an invitation and not like you have to go to marriage counseling?Kristal DeSantis 28:46  Yeah. You know, it is kind of a tricky one, because, for unfortunate reasons, right, going to therapy can sometimes just already be seen as, like, the stigma of like you're being sent to the principal's office. And that's part of why I wrote this book is that men can actually do research on me before even coming to see me, so that they can, you know, be like, all right, I checked her out, I looked at her stuff. I feel like I know what I'm going to get walking in there. Because that's always why, I mean, that's why I said this book is for men. Is because so many men are worried that when they go into therapy, they're going to be one down that, you know, the wife and the therapists are both women. They know all this, like, jargon about therapy and there, I'm just going to be sitting there, like, being told I'm an asshole. I'm like, you know, and I'm going to pay for it. That doesn't sound like a good time. And so really showing them that, like, no, there are therapists and coaches out there that specifically work on helping men feel more empowered in their role, in their relationships, as husbands, as fathers, and the more you can kind of have it be like, no, this is about helping you activate your strengths, right? As opposed to we're going because I'm pissed at you, and this is the last straw, and so that's always where I would always say, you know, go proactively, frame it as a this is an additive for our relationship. It's like, I talk about this, like going to the emotional gym, you know? It's like, how do you invite your partner to go to the gym with you? You do have to talk about it as like, this is for our health, because I want to have a long life with you, you know? And that's exactly the same. I'm asking you to come to therapy with me, because I think that maybe there are some things that we could be healthier on, and I want us to be doing it together. Will you come with me?Lesley Logan 30:29  Yeah, that's so good. This is really great. I do love it, of course. Like when you say it, Kristal, it sounds like, oh, duh. That sounds like, that's how I want someone to invite me. But when you're in it, when you're in something with your partner and you're feeling like it's not going the way you want. Sometimes you just get defensive. So you guys, we transcribe every podcast so you can actually just copy from the website, memorize it and say it. You know?Kristal DeSantis 30:54  Yeah. Invitations versus accusations. That's (inaudible) all day. Turn it around. Lesley Logan 31:02  I love it. What are you most excited about right now? Kristal DeSantis 31:05  So in the new year, my husband and I are going to be teaming up to run some couples retreats, but we're doing it, again, because one of the things that a whole therapy thing, it feels really heavy, and sometimes it is, and that's really important to go do the hard work, but what I also see is couples don't have a lot of fun together these days, right? It's like the fun happens when you're dating, and then you start getting married, and then suddenly you're talking about bills and kids and logistics and diapers and in-laws, and you lose the fun. And that's often where I see couples just be so drained, is they don't have that bank of, you know, playful, pleasurable experiences that can get them through the hard times. So we're doing little bonding boot camps, where it's just a weekend, and we help couples work through some bonding skills, communication exercises, but in a fun and playful way. So it's not, you know, sitting in a conference room. We're big outdoorsy people, so, (inaudible). Lesley Logan 31:58  That's cool. That's so fun. I love that. I really do. I think it is needed. And, you are correct, especially if you're listening and you work with your husband like I do, you know, one of the things I had to do this year, well, for 2024 I told my assistant, I said you have to go through our calendars, and you have to find a weekend every quarter and block off Friday to Monday. And we're not going to plan anything. It's just blocked off. So we can have a trip, even if we just go two hours away, we've got to do something. Because, you know, you buy the house, you got these things, there's all these deadlines, and Friday can bleed into Saturday, and then you feel like you're together all the time, but you're actually not together as a partnership, yeah. So what a great invitation. And also, when I think about my parents' relationship conferences. It was in a conference room. And, like, we went to a hotel, sat in lectures all the time, and. Kristal DeSantis 32:46  Yeah, yeah. And then also it, what I noticed with my husband and I is we both had very busy jobs, and then we would look forward to the once a year big vacation that we would take. But I was like, I am dying in the meantime. And so, like you said, just these little tiny bursts of gosh, we can look forward to the one weekend, one weekend a month, that is just gonna be us. We maybe not even go far. We go an hour away, but like our little mini staycation vacation, where we get to re, pretend like we're on vacation, even though we're at Buc-ee's or something. Lesley Logan 33:17  Yeah, no, I think it's so creative. And also, if people don't want their parents' marriage, then they don't want their parents' marriage counseling retreat either. Kristal DeSantis 33:28  Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.Lesley Logan 33:32  All right, we're (inaudible). Yeah, I agree. I love it so much. Okay, we're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out how people can work with you, get your book, and more. Lesley Logan 33:39  All right, Kristal, where do you hang out? Where can people do marriage counseling with you via Zoom? Do they have to live where you are? Like, how do people work with you and where to get your book?Kristal DeSantis 33:46  If you are in Texas, I can work with you as a therapist. But if you are not in Texas and you just want to work with me, I have some courses, and then I do some coaching through the coursework, through my website, strong.love and then my book is on Amazon and on Audible, Strong: A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man. And then, of course, I'm on Instagram @atxtherapist. Lesley Logan 34:12  Atxtherapist. Oh, you're in Austin. Kristal DeSantis 34:14  Uh huh, yeah. Lesley Logan 34:15  We're gonna be in Austin, you guys, it's too late once you hear this, because, but I'm gonna be there on January 4th, I think. Yeah, all right, we'll talk offline about that. Okay, so you actually, I feel like you've given us so much already, but it's a segment people love, because it's where they can take some action, bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?Kristal DeSantis 34:35  I have two. They're from my book. The exercises. One is, if you want to have more emotional connection with your partner, what I do is called the heartbeat exercise, and I honestly, I've seen people use it when they're dating. It's just as a way to kind of get beyond some of these surface-level conversations. So it's three points. It's a point of pride, a point of pain and a point of pleasure. So I like to imagine it as a heartbeat of the ups, the downs, and then the points that you can connect with. So asking your partner, you know, what is a point of pride, and then validating them, and then a point of pain, and then being practicing just holding space for that, and then offering care and then pleasure. Because even, again, with the dating period, is starting from the very beginning of normalizing, checking in about these three points will allow you to then set up in your relationship that we normalize talking about pain. We normalize checking in about pain. We normalize checking in about pleasure, and we check in with did you discover anything more pleasurable about our last sexual encounter? Or, you know, when you went on a walk today, did something special happen and you saw the first butterfly of the season, whatever. And so just normalizing some of these deeper points of connection.Lesley Logan 35:44  I love that. That's a great, that's a great one. That's so great. Kristal DeSantis 35:48  Yeah, and then the other one, if we have time for another one. Lesley Logan 35:50  Yeah, we totally do. Kristal DeSantis 35:52  The differences between the way that men and women have been socialized to communicate. This is one of the things that I think a lot of people just makes so much sense when they work with me, or they do read my book, there are four positions of conversation. So position one and two are typically the way women are socialized to communicate with each other. Positions three and four are typically the way men are socialized to communicate with each other. And when we get you know one of each in a relationship, this is where I so often see people clash when it comes to communication. So position one is just listening. Position two is joining, offering empathy. Position three is fixing, and then position four is debating. So you can see how so many women are like, I just want him to listen and then empathize. And he's like, well, I'm fixing and I'm offering you a reframe. Come on. And so I think one of the big things, if you want to take an actionable step, is in my book, or there's the four positions of conversation, you can download it from my website as well and just put it on your fridge. And anytime you feel like you and your partner are like, not in the same conversation, just point it out. Like, can I ask you to move into position one for a second? Or I need position one and two before I'm going to be ready for position three. Lesley Logan 37:06  Okay, Kristal, you are amazing. You're so great. All the Texans are so lucky to have you, and then those of us who aren't are just going to have to get your course, because, like, I learned so much, and these feel like common sense, but also no one, no one talks. And it's true, you hear so often, like, I don't want you to fix this. I just want you to listen. But that's if you're not trained to do that. If that's not the conversation skills you have, it's not that they're trying to do anything against you. That's what they think, that we're supposed to. Yeah. Kristal DeSantis 37:34  You're trying so hard, and it's just not landing. So you know, again, this is where people can work together to help each other out. I love that you're offering a fix. What I'm really looking for is some empathy and listening right now. Lesley Logan 37:44  Yeah, you are so fabulous. Thank you so much. I hope this was really helpful to all my listeners. I really thought it'd be an excellent way, because, also, if you want to be married for a long time to your partner, things are going to evolve. There's gonna be ups and downs on both sides, and the more we can understand the other person's perspective, the easier it is for us to be a partner without being a parent or being resentful, and we can grow together. So thank you, Kristal, for letting us have this amazing conversation. You guys. Go get her book. Strong:Kristal DeSantis 38:15  A Relationship Field Guide for the Modern Man Lesley Logan 38:17  Perfect. Get her book. You can read it. Give it to your partner, and also for the parents out there, I think this can be a really great conversation, and for understanding like, how are you parenting, both if you have daughters and sons, and what does that look like? Because it is true, I think we can be doing a better job of helping everybody, so we can have these partnerships that really last and they're supportive, and everyone can be stronger together. So thank you so much, Kristal. Lesley Logan 38:41  You guys, share this with a friend who needs it and tag Kristal. Tag the Be It Pod with your takeaways and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 38:50  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 39:32  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 39:37  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 39:42  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 39:49  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 39:52  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this inspiring Fuck Yeah Friday episode, Lesley Logan dives into the importance of celebrating wins, handling setbacks with grace, and planning ahead for success. From an uplifting client story to lessons learned from unexpected challenges, this episode is your reminder that there is always a way to overcome obstacles.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:MacKenzie Scott's inspiring response to criticism.Celebrating Christine Bowen's story of transforming her client's outlook through Pilates.The power of re-prioritizing when unexpected challenges arise.How to adjust your planning process to accommodate unforeseen setbacks.The importance of grace and self-compassion in times of adversity. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Lesley Logan 0:01  Fuck yeah. Lesley Logan 0:02  Get ready for some wins. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:46  Hello, Be It babe. Hello, welcome to the FYF. Welcome to the Fuck Yeah Friday where we celebrate wins you had, wins you might have had, a mantra, we celebrate someone who's inspired us. So I came across this article about how Elon Musk said that the donations, the hundreds of millions of dollars that MacKenzie Scott, I hate this part, they say like Jeff Bezos' ex-wife. So MacKenzie Scott is her own person, and she has lots of money, and she has been donating hundreds of millions of dollars a year to charities that are devoted to women services and women's health. And he said that that hundreds of millions of dollars is destroying Western civilization. That's literally his quote. And her response was that she doubled her donations. And I just love that. I love that. I freaking love that she did that. I hate that she is getting attacked for the generosity that she has because, holy frickin molly, are we kidding? What are we doing here? Come on. I love that that was her clap back. And I think more and more, those of us who come across someone who's just trying to tear you down because you make them look bad, clap back in a really elegant freaking way like that. We should call that a MacKenzie Scott. So anyways, MacKenzie Scott, love you, obsessed with you. Someday I want to meet you, because I would love to learn your ways, but also you are inspiring me, and you just put a smile on my face on a really busy day. And I just so appreciate you for that. Lesley Logan 2:18  All right, now we do one of your wins. And this one is from Christine Bowen. She hasn't been an Agency member for many, many years, and she lives in Ireland, and she here's how it goes. So a lovely new client started with me this morning and just purchased a five-pack. He's had a lot to deal with the last year with multiple surgeries related to cancer. So he sent this message to me, and this is why I teach. So this is from him. Thank you for this morning sessions. It exceeded my expectations and gives me a real sense of excitement that physically things are going to improve myself in the not-too-distant future. So Christine goes on to say it makes the challenges of running your small business worthwhile when teaching people Pilates can help people feel that there is hope and they can help themselves to feel good in their body and get out of pain. Right, Christine, that is beautiful. What a great way to like start your day, but also what a wonderful human that you guys get to do this life together. It's so amazing what you teach him, but also that energy that's gonna come back to you. I mean, it's just so wonderful. So thank you for sharing that win, because it's your win, it's his win. We all get to win because of it. Lesley Logan 3:22  All right, a win of mine. So I'm recording this obviously from the past, from the very past before we went on tour. So one of the wins that I have had this week, just back in the past, is we are way behind on recording because I had a cough and I thought I should (inaudible) because, like, maybe I'll just push through and we'll just, like, stop recording whenever I cough. That just was not an option. Even on, like, in the beginning of the week, I couldn't get a sentence out without coughing, so we just bumped everything. And as I sit here with behind on filming a bunch of things for our YouTube channel, I decided I was like, I can't even stress about it, because, to be honest, what is the most important thing that has to get done this week, this week, this instant, what has to get done? Okay, this is what has to get done. If that gets done, yes, it is important for how our business goes, and how our YouTube video's released, and all those different things. But when it comes to priority number one, two and three, is it this? And to be honest, no, making sure people are, get all their stuff for the tour, making sure that the van is packed with everything that is, making sure that I am healthy to be on this tour is the best thing that I could do. Those are the top three priorities. And you can't have more than three because then you don't even know how to take actions. So, hopefully, there'll be YouTube videos for you all in January and February. And if there's not, it's not personal. It's not personal at all. I got a cold, and we had to make some changes and make some adjustments. And here's what I will tell you, that I like to do whenever something comes up that I can't control, and it causes something negative, in air quotes, to happen. I go, okay, how could we prevent this in the future? So in the future, I can't turn back time and not get this cough, right? So what could we have done? Well, honestly, maybe we should have actually been recording January and February's content in October and November, and not end of November. So what does that mean? It means my team will have to have the stuff ready for me to record early, so they'll have to work a little earlier on things. So how does that look? Well, that means making those adjustments today, because they're already working on the two months after that. So now they're going to have to start like not doubling up on their work, but like making some tweaks that they're even a little bit more in advance. And so what used to be good enough with two months in advance is no longer good enough. I think we have to be more like three months in advance and or on the end of Q2, early Q3, recording for Q1 already, so that we don't have this rush at the end. Now, some things can't be helped. We cannot batch more podcasts than we do, like we can't do that. So I recognize that this rule won't affect everything, but it can affect some things. And so I share that with you, because if you are sitting here listening to this, behind on stuff already and going, how am I already behind? It's the beginning of the year. It's only the first Friday of February. Stop, pause, get that thought out of your head. Ask yourself, what would I need to do so that I wouldn't be so rushed that I'm having this issue right now? Right? So that's the changes that I made, and I'm really proud of that, and I'm proud, I'm just like, I'm not gonna get mad about it. I'm not being harsh on myself. I'm not even gonna waste another minute thinking about, oh, maybe I should have done it on Saturday instead of doing x, y, z. No. No. Other things had to get done. And so this will get done. And obviously running a business can't be on like the whims of my cough, but there are things we can do to plan in advance so that there can be time if someone gets sick, and that is the most important thing. Lesley Logan 7:01  So y'all, I hope that this little, little bit of like, badassery, amazing win and musings on how to do your schedule so you're not rushing around if you have a cough, helps you with this Friday. Now, I must leave you with a mantra, how about that? Okay, well, get this wow, I just picked this one up. I did not plan this one in advance. And it says there is always a way. There is always a way. So at the time that I'm recording this, maybe we figured out a way to record those episodes, I don't know. But guess what? We're not going to stress about it, we're not gonna be mad at ourselves, because there is always a way. If there's something you want in this world, there's always a way. Always a way. And if you can just remind yourself of that, there's always a way, there's always a way, there's always a way. I bet you, I bet you my love that that way will reveal itself, and it might come from a place that you weren't even thinking about. So thank you so much. You are amazing. You are wonderful. You being a listener. Please share this with a friend who needs it, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 8:01  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 8:43  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 8:48  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 8:53  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 9:00  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 9:03  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley and Brad dive into a powerful conversation with seasoned investor Steve Selengut, who shares his best advice for building a portfolio that generates consistent income. With 45 years of experience, Steve breaks down complex financial concepts into easy-to-understand insights that will empower you to take control of your wealth. Whether you're new to investing or looking to refine your approach, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways on how to make smarter financial choices.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Why most people don't talk about money—and why you should.How Steve's 45+ years of experience shaped his investment philosophy.The importance of diversifying your financial portfolio. How to generate consistent income from your investments.Why market downturns can present great buying opportunities.Understanding the 4%–5% rule for living off investment income.Episode References/Links:Cambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.comSpring Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorAccessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlistLove Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It - https://a.co/d/dhpZ3LjRetirement Money Secrets by Steve Selengut - https://a.co/d/caqcgnTEp. 352 with Tess Waresmith - https://beitpod.com/ep352Ramit Sethi Interview - https://beitpod.com/ramitsethi If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  People don't talk about money in their own households and their own marriages and their own relationships. They don't talk about money. And the truth is, if you don't talk about money with someone in your life, you better be talking about it with yourself. Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the influential convo I have with Steve Selengut in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that one, go back and listen to that one, then listen to this one, or listen to this one and then listen to that one. Look, we're talking money. Brad Crowell 1:09  We're talking money, money. Lesley Logan 1:10  Investments and over here at the Be It Pod, we want to make sure that you are wealthy in your health and in your finances because then you can be as generous as you want to be in this world. And let's just be real, like you got to have something to fall back on these days. So I'm really excited for you to learn from Steve, because he, he had some really good advice. I understood it and when it comes to, like, the stock market and investments and portfolios, sometimes I'm like.Brad Crowell 1:36  Yeah, fascinating conversation from a career investor, 45 years. Lesley Logan 1:40  45 years. Brad Crowell 1:41  Of investing for people, and then now he's a coach. He guides people through the process. So pretty interesting, really, really enjoyable. Lesley Logan 1:48  We're gonna dig into our takeaways in a moment. But first, today is February 6th 2025. It is Pay a Compliment Day. About this day, nothing tears a person up quite like hearing someone say something nice about you. It's time to return the favor on Pay a Compliment Day. And although we shouldn't need a special day to show our appreciation, most of us need a little nudge right? We've often walked away from interactions wishing we had said what was in our hearts. “Will I embarrass myself?” “Is it appropriate?” All questions that plague what should be a simple articulation of the heart. Let's redeem ourselves on Pay a Compliment Day. Wanna give a shout out to my mom. We were in Nevada at our annual little (inaudible) moment and. Brad Crowell 2:25  That would be Arizona. Lesley Logan 2:26  Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, that was in Arizona. You guys were, I'm getting there today. My tummy is like on some antibiotics, and we're getting there, so I'm gonna make more mistakes. Thanks, Brad for being here to catch. Brad Crowell 2:37  Got you covered. Lesley Logan 2:38  So what (inaudible) with my mom is people just walked by, and my mom just gave, every random person got a compliment. Oh, I love your bangs. Oh, your sunglasses are so beautiful on you. That's a great sweater. Oh, that looks so soft. Like, like, every single person got a fucking compliment. And I was just like, how is she able to notice something nice to say to every single person? Also, anytime she would say, like, oh, you look like so and so, it was never an ugly actor or actress. It was always a beautiful person. And I just like, so you know what? She's a first grade teacher who has to, like, do everything on her own all the time. If she can pay a compliment to random people, you too can do that today. So just give it a try. Give it a try telling someone like, oh, I really like your shoes. And just walk away. You don't have to have a conversation. Just walk away. Brad Crowell 3:25  Yeah, you can just walk away. What's one of my favorite things to do? It is give people a quick little compliment and keep going, because then they go, oh, feels so good. Lesley Logan 3:33  Yeah, feels so good. So okay, go do that and let us know how it goes. Today is inching even closer to us going to Cambodia. I think we're like a week away, a little over a week away. Brad Crowell 3:42  From us leaving. Lesley Logan 3:43  We go to our February retreat. Brad Crowell 3:47  It will be February 23 is when things kick off over there. Lesley Logan 3:50  Yeah. It's pretty late for you to add yourself to that one. Brad Crowell 3:53  I mean like, you are more than welcome to make it happen, if you can. We'd love to have you. Lesley Logan 3:56  Yeah, but we're not going to stress out about it, because you can come on October. Brad Crowell 3:59  That's right. We have an October trip that we are lining up and, well, it's already lined up, so go check it out. The dates are on the website crowsnestretreats.com, crowsnestretreats.com. Come join us in October. Why? You ask.Lesley Logan 4:14  Because it's amazing. Brad Crowell 4:16  It is absolutely amazing.Lesley Logan 4:17  You get to do Pilates with us. You get to go to the temples with us. You get to go to a lotus farm with us. You get to go on a boat ride with us. You get to be in another place in this world where someone has already planned the entire thing out all you have to do is just show up. Show up to the airport. We'll pick you up from the airport. Like that is pretty freaking cool. You know? It's really, really cool. So. Brad Crowell 4:36  Your name on a sign. The whole nine. Lesley Logan 4:37  Yeah, oh yeah. You get a name on the sign. Oh yeah, you do. So go to crowsnestretreats.com to snag your spot. We already have people signed up. April, we're gonna have spring training, which is for our Pilates lovers, so about a week long of Pilates events for those of you. And we're gonna nerd out upon a subject. More details will be to come. We might have also released them, and you would know if you were on the email list for the events. So opc.me/events, is where you can get deets on spring training. We're going to keep having some fun with Pilates stuff, and this is gonna be the only thing that we're doing on a virtual setup for public Pilates stuff outside of OPC. Brad Crowell 5:11  Yeah, no summer camp this year, we're doing spring training instead. That'll be the end of April. So make sure you get on that events waitlist. Next up, if you are at all taking money from clients, then you run your own business, believe it or not. So whether that is small and you've got four clients or a full blown studio or home studio, or you're renting from someone, I want you to come join me for a free webinar. We're going to talk about money. We're going to talk about how do you get new clients. We're going to talk about how do you connect with those new clients that you're going to go get. These are three big secrets Lesley and I have learned after coaching more than 2500 business owners, just like you, just like us, and it's allowed us to pass along this experience, this knowledge that we have. And I want you to join me for this free webinar. Go to prfit.biz/accelerator that is profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. Come join me live. And finally, we have. Lesley Logan 6:07  The final Pilates flash card exercise deck is almost ready. I know. So at the time that you're hearing this, we are done with the edits. I'm almost pretty sure. That's the goal. Our deadline was about this week.Brad Crowell 6:21  Photo shoot is done. First draft of the cards are done. They're probably putting them onto the. Lesley Logan 6:26  They're already on. Brad Crowell 6:27  They're already on the (inaudible) digital cards. That's how the edits are happening. Lesley Logan 6:31  How much Brad's a part of the whole process. Brad Crowell 6:33  We are darn close. We're darn close. But if you want the hookup, you gotta be on the waitlist. So, where are they going? Lesley Logan 6:43  opc.me/flashcardwaitlist Brad Crowell 6:45  There you go. Lesley Logan 6:45  Yeah, it's the slash and flash that's the problem. So it's the opc.me/flashcardwaitlist. That's where you're gonna go, because if you're not on that list, you won't hear about the presale and the presale's the best price it's ever gonna be. Brad Crowell 6:57  Yep, yep, yep. All right, so this week, we had an audience question for one of our tour attendees in Phoenix, Arizona. Lesley Logan 7:05  The last stop. Brad Crowell 7:06  The last stop. What an epic tour it was, by the way, my gosh. I mean, over 600 attendees. We did 8000 miles. We had an opportunity to see states we've never been to before. It was just lovely.Lesley Logan 7:20  Yeah, I loved it. I really enjoyed all of it. I had so much fun. And so when I got this question after the last public workshop on the last day of the tour, I was like, I was so impressed with myself, actually.Brad Crowell 7:35  Here's the question. She asked, "How do you keep your energy up after doing all of these events?" I think it was like 45 events, or something like that, over 34 days.Lesley Logan 7:45  And also, somehow, my team approved a class and two workshops after my bedtime. Truly, truly, if you guys are in my calendar, it says done for the day at 4pm so, and these things were at like 4:00 and 5:30 and six-something. And I was like, who did this? And my sister-in-law said. Brad Crowell 8:05  She's pretty sure it was my fault. Lesley Logan 8:06  Yeah. She said that would be your husband. That's exactly how she said it. That'd be your husband. Brad Crowell 8:10  That'd be your husband. Lesley Logan 8:11  Yeah. And I was like, no, ever, never, ever, ever, ever. So anyways, how do I keep my energy up? There's not one answer, okay? And like, also, I think you can take parts of this and apply it to your life, where you are and what you have access to. Okay, so first of all, last week, we talked about FemGevity a lot, and that's because part of the energy that I have is due to actually having someone really evaluate my health and make sure that what I eat is really good for my body, my hormone levels are really good for my body. That right there. If you're eating foods that inflame you you're going to be tired because your body's inflamed. So please, please, please, if you haven't called them, call them or work with a professional who is going to listen to you and make sure that what you're eating and how your hormone levels are appropriate for where you are in your life. Second, my Pilates practice is a priority, priority number one. So when I'm at home, I do it five to six days a week, sometimes seven, and I'm sitting here sore, just like getting back into it, because on tour, I don't get to do 30 full minutes, or even 15 full minutes. Sometimes I get like 10, but my Pilates practice is a priority. So when I'm on tour, every day is like, where are we going when I get my movement in, my movement practice is what allows me to have energy for you. It allows me to have stamina for you. It's allows me to not resent that you get to move and I don't get to move. So my personal practice is priority. I get almost 14,000 steps in a day, and all of that helps with my energy levels, that I can gift to you, that I can pour in to the people that I'm teaching. And then lastly, I've been really focused on sleep for the last couple of years, where this is the year we're really focusing on it. We're currently working with like a sleep situation that makes me hot or makes me cold, or whatever it needs to do, and that is a focus. And if you can get your hormones and food right, you can get your movement right and get your sleep right, I promise you you have energy for things you don't even want to do. You will. You just will. So did I miss anything? Brad Crowell 10:03  I think, like you said, it's been a combo of all the things. I think you're also relatively consistent with your schedule, and I think boundaries are really important part of that.Lesley Logan 10:12  You remind me of something I wanted to say. Thank you so much. That was a key word. That's why you're here, babe. Brad Crowell 10:17  Take it away. Lesley Logan 10:17  Okay, so there is a book called Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It, and I think we ordered it, or at least put it in my cart. At any rate, I haven't read it yet, but somebody said this about boundaries, and I am as what Brad said, I am a stickler for my schedule, and that is because then I can break the rules, right? But if I don't have a schedule, I don't have boundaries, and I'm gonna be tired all the time because I'm gonna be reassessing my boundaries and all that stuff. So my boundaries are really key. But in this book, Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It, it says. Brad Crowell 10:45  By Kamal Ravikant. Lesley Logan 10:47  Yes. If you are burning out, it is because you don't love yourself enough, because if you loved yourself fully, you would love yourself so much you would say no to things, because you know that it's actually a terrible thing for you to say yes to it. And so, like, to me, I was like, so proud of myself. I was like, oh, this self-love journey is working because I am not burning out.Brad Crowell 11:13  Well, even on the tour, and that's the thing, the environment completely changed. The morning routine completely changed. So there still had to be, even though everything was chaos, there still had to be boundaries, and it took us, this is our seventh tour, y'all, so how do we scale it up to be 34, 35 days long? Well, we've had a lot of practice, and we've got a lot of trial and error, and what we realized is that we don't want to teach more than six days in a row. Right? In fact, three or four days is even better, and then at least one day off, so that we can rest. We can enjoy some enjoy ourselves and like, help hit that reset button each time because we are go, go, go, go, go when we're on the road. Lesley Logan 11:55  And also to boundaries, like, your boundaries can change, might have to change depending on your environment. When I'm at home, I have one set of boundaries of how I work and how late I'll work till or how many days in a row. I don't work six days a week when I'm at home. But on the tour, we have different boundaries, right? My only responsibility when on tour is to do the tour, to do the social posts and to keep up with the team and our members. That's it. I know that sounds like a lot, but like, when I'm at home, I'm writing newsletters, I'm writing blog posts, I'm making videos, I'm making classes, I'm doing podcasts. Like we have so many other hats we wear, none of that happens, so that we don't burn out when there is chaos. So we have boundaries. So I think boundaries would be, of those four things that I said, sleep, hormones and digestion, and personal self-care and boundaries, right? If you take one thing away, pick one of those things that you go, you know, I really that is where I'm like, it's like, seepage. Is that what it's called seepage? Like, when you're like, losing there's like, a technical term in the world of, like, money or business, but like, you're losing energy, and it's going out faster than being put in. Look at those four areas and see which one you need to, like, plug a little hole, and that might be able to change your energy. So don't try to change all four at once. That's impossible. It's really, really hard. But change one, yeah. Brad Crowell 13:14  All right. Well, that was a great question. Lesley Logan 13:16  I loved it. Brad Crowell 13:17  If you have a question, you can ask them. You can text us at 310-905-5534 and just say hey question for the pod, or you can ping us on Instagram or leave a comment on YouTube, generally, just reach out. And stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into this fantastic convo with a professional investor who breaks it down for us non-professional investors in just a minute, so we'll be right back. All right. Now, let's talk about Steve Selengut. Steve is a seasoned expert with over 45 years of experience as a professional investment manager. He managed over $110 million in assets for more than 130 families, focusing on helping clients achieve income independence through smart investment strategies. He is now an income coach, and he no longer manages money for other people. I think he was very happy to retire. He told us on the pod he's about to turn 80 years old. Lesley Logan 14:13  Insane. Brad Crowell 14:14  Which is amazing. Lesley Logan 14:15  And he's like cruising, and he's like doing all this, because he likes to help people with this. He's got all this information, and it can really help you make money on your own. Brad Crowell 14:23  Well, Steve teaches individuals how to manage their portfolios to generate consistent income, and he shares insights from his book, Retirement Money Secrets. Lesley Logan 14:31  Get the book. It's really informative and really easy to read. You know, we were out visiting some friends, and she and I were talking about getting help with our portfolios, because if you don't start when you're younger, at any age, where you feel like you can have some flexibility in trying things out, it can get scarier, and then you're limited on what your options are. So here's what I loved. He said a portfolio is really all your investment accounts. That's all part of your investment portfolio. You can have multiple things. I'm gonna use a bunch of acronyms right now. You can have your IRAs, your Roth IRAs, your 401(k)s, your portfolios got to be, you hear the word diversified, you got to have these different things in it.Brad Crowell 15:08  Yeah, it's stocks, it's bonds, it's insurance, all those things. Lesley Logan 15:10  If you're like, nodding along. Brad Crowell 15:11  Investment properties. Lesley Logan 15:12  Yeah, if you're nodding along and you're like, uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Okay, but here's a really cool way he described it. He likened a portfolio to merchandise on the shelves at the department store, okay? And then at the department store, I set a target price and a target markup, and I sell that merchandise because I know I can replace it. He said, when the market downturns, it's like putting things on sale. And this is where people get really nervous, and they actually start selling when the market downturns. But he actually wants, actually said, like, actually, when they're down, you shoot their bargains, just like anything that's at a department store that's on sale, it's a bargain, right? Brad Crowell 15:45  That's when you should be buying. Lesley Logan 15:46  That's when you should be buying. And so the same goes for the stock market. And I really like that because I have no idea what's going on in the stock market when this episode comes out, but we just had a meeting with our wealth managers a couple weeks ago, and I had not looked at the stock market, and it was like, very down. And I was like, okay, you know? And I was like, and we just gave you some money, and so you bought it on a bad day, which means we're getting a really good deal on some good stuff, and it's gonna go up. This is how during the Great Depression, that's when all these people got super rich. They bought all this stuff, and people freaked out, sold all their things, and these other people just scooped it up really cheap. And you don't have to, you can be like them. You, too, can buy your stock on a bargain in a department store and have some fun in your portfolio.Brad Crowell 16:22  I love it. Well, he also gave four practical principles of risk minimization, which are right out of his book. Okay? So, it's quality, diversification, income focus, and number four is avoiding emotional decisions. So let's talk about those. So, quality. What is quality? He said focus on companies that are profitable, well-established, and they pay dividends. You need to research how long has it been in business? Is this a profitable business? Are they paying out dividends to their shareholders? Okay? That's the game he likes to play. He focuses on only those kinds of companies. Diversification, number two. Avoid over-concentrating in a single sector or trend. When you dive into investment, you can start to realize, oh, I'm in the tech sector or I'm in the this sector, I'm in the that sector, the medical, the, all the stuff. And he said be diversified. Avoid over-concentrating. Don't put all of your investments into rapidly growing industries such as AI. Sure, have some industry AI stuff, but don't have everything in the AI basket. Third, income focus. Invest in securities that generate consistent income. Lesley Logan 17:29  This was a really interesting part of the interview, which, like, we don't have to go into because you can go listen to it. But there are ways of getting paid more regularly than just gathering up wealth.Brad Crowell 17:39  Yeah. Okay, so securities are, generally, they're understood as stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other financial instruments, but stocks and bonds, right? So when he's saying securities, generally, that's what he's referring to. He said many people make the mistake of automatically reinvesting their income into the same securities over and over again. It's a big mistake. So he didn't explain why it's a big mistake, but he alluded to it, and then I'm assuming he talks about it in-depth in his book. Number four, avoiding emotional decisions. He said stay objective and avoid falling in love with stocks that perform well temporarily. He said always prepare for market corrections. I think he talked about it in a way that was pretty funny. Basically, he's like, yeah, these guys are all working for me. Their company goes up and then I sell, I might buy them back again later, but I'm not stuck with these people for the long haul. He said that's not how I'm doing it. There's definitely different kinds of strategies for investing. It does take more focus. It wasn't quite a set it and forget it. He did talk about that a little bit, but it sounds to me like he's paying a lot of attention. Lesley Logan 18:40  He's different. Like, if you're like, Lesley, how is this different than Tess? He specifically said, I heard your interview with Tess, I do things differently, and so I wanted to bring him on, because I think it's important to have different ways of doing things. Tess really empowered us in a great way. And her course, was really great on, like, not a set and forget it, but kind of like, here's these things and watch these things. And like, don't stress so much, which is great when you're busy, got other things. And Steve is, like, here's how you can actually have an approach. It's a little bit more you're into it, and you can also have an income coming from it. You can sell, you can buy it back, and so it's a little bit more hands on. But I also think if that interests you, like, if you're looking for a hobby, why not try this? I don't know, our friend's husband, this is his hobby, and he.Brad Crowell 19:24  Yeah, so test this episode was 352, by the way, Tess Waresmith,. Lesley Logan 19:27  Yeah. So I was really intrigued with it, by the differences and what's possible. And I think we get scared of these things. I was listening to a pod you and I.Brad Crowell 19:35  (inaudible) overwhelming. Lesley Logan 19:36  Well, you sent me a podcast with (inaudible). And he was like, no, people don't talk about money in their own households, and their own marriages and their own relationships, they don't talk about money. And the truth is, if you don't talk about money with someone in your life, you better be talking about it with yourself. I think that if your partner won't want, doesn't want to talk about these things and like, you need to educate yourself, and you need to figure out a way to create a portfolio for yourself. You need to have these things. Because the reality is, is I really, truly want to make sure that anyone listening to this podcast is secure financially in case something happens. And Steve's book and Steve's interview, to me, gave really great insight on how you can make the market work for you and have income that isn't produced by you, necessarily, it's by you diversifying and making different decisions and checking in with things, and then also you need to practice being not emotional about things. I'm gonna let that go. I'll come back later. You know, I thought it was really informative, and I got really excited about it. Brad Crowell 20:32  Yeah and the podcast I shared to you was from the Smart Passive Income Podcast. He interviewed Ramit Sethi. He coaches people on building wealth and generally navigating money conversations between couples, and I thought it was a really interesting episode. We'll include the link to that in the show notes here as well. Lesley Logan 20:49  And because you're unlikely to get any coaching with for me, what's cool about Steve is that his book, he'll coach you through it, and that's really cool. Brad Crowell 20:57  Yeah, yeah. Stick around. We'll be right back. We're gonna dig into those Be It Action Items that you covered with Steve. All right. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Steve Selengut. He said hey, take a look at your portfolios. This is like the number one thing he suggested to do. Oh, actually, I'm gonna let that be to you, Lesley, the number one thing. This is the number two thing. Take a look at your portfolios. Look at the actual income production, where it says, dividends received this year. Dividends received this year. Okay? So you get a statement, the statement has a line item that says how much did you get this year? Dividends received. Or an amount what can you expect to receive over the next 12 months? Because they actually do give you a forecast, and you want to see what that is as a percentage of your portfolio that will then go into (inaudible).Lesley Logan 21:50  My takeaway. So your portfolio's income production, and that should say between four and 5%. So if you're working with your investor to adjust investments to generate steady income that's in the four to 5% range. And you know, people might hear a person who's like that, go, that's not very huge. Y'all, no one gets rich overnight. It really doesn't happen. Everything is like little steady changes here and there. So work with your investor to adjust investments that generate steady income in the four to 5% range. This range, here's why it's important, this range is critical for covering living expenses, especially in retirement. So the goal is consistent financial stability, regardless of what's happening in the market. So like, the market could be going up and down, but you are getting consistent things that you can live off of these investments, so you can be in retirement.Brad Crowell 22:35  Yeah, so a couple things to consider here, and this is what he was talking about why he ended up with the four or 5%. If you look at the market over the history of the market, it's like raising up an average 8% a year. So obviously, you want to be doing everything you can but the market is not necessarily your entire investment portfolio, right? The market is only one piece of the investment portfolio. So even though they say you want to be able to make that in the market, but then there are these other things. When you hire a financial advisor, you're also paying them a percentage. You're paying them fees in some manner. And so the number one thing is to make sure that they're making more than the fees that they're taking. But the second thing that they need to be making is money on top of that, because here's what the average person does when they retire, when you are no longer generating an income, your six-figure salary from your job, and you're ready to hang it up and enjoy retirement, let's just hypothetically say, you have a million dollars in the bank. If we said a million dollars, what are the (inaudible) times .4%, .04, that's $40,000. So the question is, if you have $40,000 can you live on $3,333 a month? And so he said, on average, people are living on the four to 5% of the money that's in their retirement portfolio when they retire where they're literally drawing that out, and that's what they use to pay for life, right? So if you have a million dollars in your portfolio, and you're living on four to 5% you're bringing in 40 grand. If you have $2 million you get to double that, right? So that's the goal here, is to understand how much money do you want in retirement, and then you can work backwards from that understanding, okay, I need to have X in the portfolio in order for me to live this lifestyle that I have for myself, have built for myself, right? So that's where he's coming from. He's clearly also had a lot of other success around that. But these are general investments tips, so. Lesley Logan 24:35  I really love when someone comes to the show that has had decades of experience in one thing, and is like willing to share so much information with us. Brad Crowell 24:43  Yeah, especially since we're not experts in that, that's pretty amazing. Lesley Logan 24:46  No, we're not. And he was really cool to me. He's like, you gotta read this book. Read my book because it's, everything I'm gonna say is in this book. And so I just really think that if you are someone who this is overwhelming, read his book, because it's, sometimes, reading the words is different than hearing the words, and then in the more you hear it, the more it starts to make sense. I know when we work with our wealth managers, I'm just like, okay, I actually understand what you said. You said words. I've heard those words 10 times. You've explained it seven, and now I know. So don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to reach out to experts. But please don't put your head in the sand and not talk about your money, even with yourself, you got to be honest with yourself, because you'll need it someday. You really will. So, I'm Lesley Logan.Brad Crowell 25:26  And I'm Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 25:27  Thank you so much for listening to our podcast, or being part of our audience, for coming up and telling us you listen like it really does mean the world to us. When we're on tour we get to meet so many of you, like, I did this from the podcast. I have (inaudible) because of the podcast. Like, all these different things, and so, we are so, so grateful for you, and the show goes on because of you. So thank you, and make sure you share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it. These money ones are really good ones to share, because someone in your life is like struggling with this right now and needs some help and needs some advice, and you don't have to be that person. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 25:58  Bye for now. Lesley Logan 26:00  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 26:43  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 26:48  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 26:52  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 26:59  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 27:02  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

There's nothing more powerful than an in-person event in terms of building trust with people. Lesley Logan is one of the world's leading experts, if not the world's leading expert, on Pilates and how Pilates changes your life. She's the Chief Pilates Officer at OnlinePilatesClasses.com, has taught thousands of students, and trained hundreds of Pilates teachers. She's led dozens of workshops at global conferences, been featured in magazines, and been on Fox, CBS, and KTLA. Lesley has certifications in trauma-informed breathwork, mindset, habits coaching, and several other things related to physical health and mental health. She's on the show today, however, to share a piece of her business model that involves doing live event tours and it just so happens to be something we haven't talked a lot about on the podcast. Join the conversation as Lesley shares insights into the big strategy behind live event tours, how to find a location, their business goal with live event tours, and so much more! Our goal is to inspire listeners with ideas on how to put themselves out there, without waiting for an invitation to step onto someone else's stage. Enjoy!

Lesley Logan dives into financial independence with Steve Selengut. Discover actionable insights on managing your portfolio, minimizing risks, and building income-producing investments. Steve shares decades of expertise to help you achieve financial security and freedom.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The meaning of income independence and why it matters.Breaking down portfolio basics for beginners.How to use diversification to minimize financial risks.The value of income-producing investments like dividends and bonds.Why emotional decision-making can hinder financial growth.How to vet financial advisors and ensure alignment with your goals. Episode References/Links:Steve Selengut's Website - https://theincomecoach.netRetirement Money Secrets by Steve Selengut - https://a.co/d/caqcgnTVetting An Investment Advisor - https://beitpod.com/articleGuest Bio:Steve Selengut is a 40+ year professional investment manager, advisor, RIA, and IAR who now coaches both individuals and fellow advisors on creating what he calls “income independence.” He wrote Retirement Money Secrets, his second book, which uses a conversation-style narrative to guide readers from chasing market value to building sustainable portfolio income. A former private investment manager for 44 years, Selengut personally oversaw around 325 individual portfolios in the U.S. and abroad. Drawing on a “department store” metaphor, he treats each portfolio asset like “merchandise on a shelf,” taking strategic profits while reinvesting for consistent growth. Selengut retired from day-to-day portfolio management in 2022, devoting himself to a coaching practice that frees investors from market-driven stress and uncertainty. He remains one of the few investment authors who have directly managed other people's money. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox.DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSoxBe in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Steve Selengut 0:01  It doesn't matter what the stock market is doing. It doesn't matter what interest rates are doing. It won't impact your income, your ability to live your life the way you want to financially. Lesley Logan 0:14  Welcome to the be it till you see it. Podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained 1000s of people around the world, and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity, and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and be it till you see it. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:52  All right, Be It babe. Here's the deal. We're gonna talk money. I say it straight up on the interview. It's good stuff. Don't be scared. He is going to say words you may not know or you've only heard of, and you usually nod along when you hear about it, but he doesn't talk nearly as fast as I do, so he's gonna absolutely inform you in the best way about how to manage your retirement, how to not even to your retirement, how to manage your portfolio so that you can retire. This is a whole different conversation than what I've had in the past about money investment. That's a new way of looking at it. Honestly. I've never heard of it before, so I have a lot of, I have, like, notes that I'm like, okay, I gotta go research this. Gotta research this. I already have committed to doing the Be It Action Item. And the reality is, it's like, I want you to have whatever you want in this world, and money isn't a bad thing, right? Shitty people with money can be a bad thing, but you're an amazing person who listens to this podcast. You deserve to have portfolios that support you, so that you can support the people that you love, because I know how generous you are. You know, they actually have proven that when women have money, they actually put it back into the community. They support other people. And so I want you to have as much as you want and more than that, so you can continue to do that and be the amazing person you are and have the impact you want to make on this world. But first, let's educate ourselves. So here is Steve Selengut. Lesley Logan 2:15  All right, Be It babe, we're gonna talk money, and I think I'm just gonna stay it right there. Do not fast-forward, skip this episode. I know no one like money, but we have to talk about money and being it till you see it. If you've ever been like, I just want to be good with money. I'm so excited for our guest today. His name is Steve Selengut and he is actually going to help us, really, he's going to demystify all this stuff that you hear. I mean, we hear negative stuff about the economy, we hear negative stuff about the stock market. And I'm really excited because Steve's going to help us understand not all bad things are bad, and how they can be good, and also how we can really take a charge of our money and our retirements the way he has for so many. So Steve, will you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at?Steve Selengut 2:53  Sure. Thank you. Good to be on your program. My name is Steve Selengut, like you said, and I guess I'll leave it with what I was for about 45 years. I was professional investment manager where I made all the investment decisions for about 135-145 families, and ran about $110 million for them. Our objectives were always to put them in a position where they were, what we used to call it, income independent, that their portfolios generated all the income they needed to get their lives done, whatever that happened to be, whatever they wanted to do, you know, depending on themselves. Now I'm an income coach. I sold my business last May 23. Lesley Logan 3:45  Wow. Steve Selengut 3:45  A little more than a year ago, and started a coaching business. So now I teach people had to do that. I can't actually do it for them anymore, which is fine for me. Fine with me. I look at their portfolios and I try to put them on a path to what I call income independence. And it's something, it doesn't matter what the stock market is doing, it doesn't matter what interest rates are doing, it won't impact your income, your ability to live your life the way you want to financially. Okay? So that, I think that's a big thing. I mean, I've enjoyed being in that situation for a long time, and I know a lot of people are also there, but I also know there are hundreds of people out there that are really, you know, coming towards the end of their career, and they're saying, you know, I don't think I can replace my six figure income from my investment portfolio?Lesley Logan 4:44  Yeah, yeah, no. I mean, that's one of the reasons I like to talk about this. Is because, first of all, so many people aren't taught about investment portfolio. I think the word portfolio might even need to be deconstructed for some of our listeners. And by the way, if that's you, don't be embarrassed. This is not taught in schools. They don't teach this. And I happened to when I was working for a high-end fitness company as a Pilates instructor, my trainer was like, oh, did you get on the 401(k)? And I was like, we have a 401(k)? And he's like, you have to get on there and you should just ask, like, they'll match the max. Just do that. And I was like, okay, that was my money advice in my 20s, was with my trainer at work. And then when I did reach out to someone who could help me, because someone said, oh, this person's helping with me with my portfolio, I was like, okay. I found out after six years of them doing it, that they had me as if I was an 80-year-old. There was no aggressiveness. A snail is more aggressive than what they were with my, so then I got really frustrated, because I'm like, I don't know enough to know that someone's screwing up with my money. And so I think we all would love to be income-independent. But also some people, especially after the pandemic, even though we're several years out now, some people had to rely on their retirement, so they're kind of starting over. So can you, first of all, break down what a portfolio is and then also kind of talk about, if you're someone who's where the income in (inaudible) is so far away, what are some things you need to know or should be thinking about?Steve Selengut 6:11  I can try. A portfolio is really all your investment accounts, your IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401(k)s, speaking of 401(k)s, you'd be surprised how many people don't even realize they're investing in the stock market. 401(k). They just think it's a 401(k) is the investment. But all of those things put together your personal accounts, if you set aside money for your kids already and education stuff like that. That's all part of your investment portfolio. Lesley Logan 6:41  Okay. Steve Selengut 6:41  Doesn't include your fancy jewelry and your cars and your stuff like that. Lesley Logan 6:46  Okay. Steve Selengut 6:46  So there's two types of securities, two general classes of assets that would be in a portfolio, and those are equity-based, where you own an interest in a company that would be a stock. You know? Anytime you want to share a stock, you are an owner of that company. They may not treat you like an owner, but you are. And then there's the other class of securities or securities you're in, mainly because they produce income, and those can also be dividend stocks, which produce some income. Some funds do as well, but what's inside is usually bonds, preferred stocks, mortgages, things of that nature, that are really, they're there. Your main purpose is to get income from them. So the combination of the two, like you alluded to, was, you know, when you're younger, it's okay to have more of an exposure to the ownership side of things, stocks, than when you get to be, you mentioned, those people that are 80, well, I'm only a few, six months away from that. Lesley Logan 7:57  No way. Stop. You guys have to be watching YouTube right now. No way.Steve Selengut 8:01  But, you know, you, at my age, my account still contains 35% in the stock market, but mainly because the kind, the way I invest in the stock market is also in income-producing securities that just happen to be invested in stocks, and the type of securities that I use are not very well known. You'll never find any in your selection universe for a 401(k), for example, but a lot of people have discovered their use in IRAs and things like that, because they're actually managed to produce income and to give it to their shareholders. Whereas stocks, the company's management is there to make a lot of money and to grow its influence and size, not to give a lot of money back to its shareholders. Mutual funds are there to gain market value. That's their primary objective, because people feel good when their bottom line is high. And the same with ETFs, their focus is on growing the market value. The dilemma, as you again, you mentioned the crisis around COVID, when the market really crashed for a couple of months, fortunately or unfortunately, when we get done with this conversation, you will agree with me that if it stayed down longer, it would have been better. You know? So, you know, so that kind of thing happens, but when you're focused totally on market value, that becomes very painful and very scary, because when the market value goes down, you know, that's what you're, what you're all about, whereas in my eyes, when the market value goes down, I recognize that the securities I have are going to pay the same income, irrespective where the market or interest rates are going. So I see it as an opportunity to add to those securities at a lower price, therefore increasing my income percentage.Steve Selengut 8:34  That makes sense to me. Like, you know, someone we work with, they're like, okay, it's an election year. Here's what you can expect. It's gonna go down. It always does. Doesn't matter who's in office, of go down, and then that's when we can invest more, because you can get it for a lower and I was like, oh, okay. Steve Selengut 10:23  Okay, that's, that person has the right mindset, a similar mindset to the one I have as an income investor as so that's what a portfolio is. That's what its content is. And everybody says they talk on radio shows and stuff, but all the uncertainty is way up here. It's so high.Steve Selengut 10:44  Is there ever certainty? Lesley Logan 10:45  I know. Steve Selengut 10:46  There's never, ever certainty. Lesley Logan 10:49  There isn't. I know. And everyone's out there like pretending like the past has certainty in it. If we all looked back at how we're feeling, it was pretty uncertain. I've heard you talk about how a portfolio is a department store or like, a shopping center. Is that what you mean we have these different area, like, different types of things that can go in the portfolio. Is that what you mean by a department store or a shopping center? Steve Selengut 11:13  You're good. Exactly, exactly. You have to, my mindset, I, and I guess we have to realize there are thousands of different types of stocks, all different sectors, healthcare, every different imaginable sector, then there is international. We are, regardless of what anybody tells you, a global economy. You know, we rely on China, even though they're angry at us all the time, and we're the same with them. It's a global economy, and you have to position yourself with this portfolio so that you own a little bit of everything. You have a presence in each place. It's difficult to do if you're just doing individual stocks, because it requires a lot of money to have all those different things, right? But when you use income-focused funds that I use, which are called closed end funds, and we can get into more with what they are, but you can get them in all shapes and sizes, all sectors, all focuses, income or equity. So that's what I use. And like you said, I think of them as merchandise on the shelves in my department store, you know, and I set a target markup which I'm comfortable with that profit, and I'll sell that merchandise because I know I have this unlimited supply of others to replace it with on my shelves. And that's exactly how I do it. I say, okay, I got a 5% markup. That would be nice if you had that in department stores, by the way, instead of 15, a 30% markup, 5% markup, somebody wants to buy it for a 5% profit, I'll take the profit and I'll add something else, and I just do that over and over and over, and I just replace them all, because once you are experienced enough to judge their quality, their amount of risk involved in different types of securities. You get comfortable with this. I call it a selection universe. Lesley Logan 13:10  Yeah.Steve Selengut 13:11  Comfortable to the extent that it doesn't matter which one you use, which product you put back on your shelf.Lesley Logan 13:17  Yeah. And I like the visualization of it, because I think, and you know, you guys, it's okay to hit pause, look something up, you know, and come back to this, because it can be overwhelming. But also, if we think about a department store or a shopping center, no one actually goes to a shopping center that has five shoe departments. They want a shopping center that has, oh, it's got the shoe department, it's got the pro, I'm going there because I can get the grocery, I can get groceries, I can get gas, I can get these things, and so more people are attracted to that. It can do really well, because, in case you don't need shoes, you're still going to the shopping center. There's still going to be something doing well. Am I describing your analogy correctly? Steve Selengut 13:50  Yeah, yeah. And what is the biggest thing that brings you to a shopping center or an individual store? What brings you there? Lesley Logan 13:59  Something you need or. Steve Selengut 14:00  Yeah, but, sale. The sale.Lesley Logan 14:04  The sale. Yes.Steve Selengut 14:05  There's another part of this analogy, when prices are down their bargains, the same stock market. When the price of Microsoft goes down as short a time as that thing's been in business, unlike Exxon or some of the other healthcare companies, every time it's gone down in price, it's always been an opportunity to buy it and then to be able to sell it. Most people don't sell. Lesley Logan 14:30  Yeah. We can get into that. So you mentioned risk, and I think, like one of the things that makes it difficult for some people, some listeners, to kind of get involved in their portfolios more is like the idea that you don't know enough to know what you're doing. Steve Selengut 14:48  Right. Lesley Logan 14:48  And also to kind of learn, you said, you should get experience with the risk of it, the experience could cost you money. And I think some of us, going back to certainty, were like, ah, I have this money, though. So I would just rather hold on to this than "lose" because if we go off of what you've said, if we actually stick with what is known is that the longer you're in there, it always ends up up guys. So it's almost feels like you're learning on your own dime, and you can lose a lot of money. And I think people get scared.Steve Selengut 15:17  That's the way. That's true of most people's entry into the marketplace, and when they get started, and that's a lot of what eventually leads them to a financial advisor to help them with that, especially when the size of their investment gets bigger, and it's scarier if you were to lose it, like, you know, oh my God, as you get older, how am I going to rebuild if I get these losses. In the book that I wrote after I sold my business, it's called Retirement Money Secrets, it spends a lot of time on six principles of investing, and four of them are risk minimization tools. When you're looking at a security, it doesn't matter if it's one of those regular stocks in the New York Stock Exchange or on any of the markets. You're looking at any security, you want to judge its quality. You want to come up with a way of determining what its quality is. And what I look at is things like, how long it's been in business. Is it profitable? Does it pay me a dividend as an owner? I mean, the chief executives getting $12 million a year. If I'm not getting the dividend, that doesn't seem right to me. I'm an owner. Lesley Logan 16:30  Yeah. Steve Selengut 16:30  I'm paying his salary, theoretically. Lesley Logan 16:33  Yeah. Steve Selengut 16:33  So that type of thing. So there are things you can look at to determine the quality. How long it's been in business is a big one. Then the next one is diversification. When I set up a portfolio, even if AI is crazy hot right now, you don't want a portfolio that's all in AI. I mean, Buggy Whips used to be the biggest thing, you know, years ago. So, you know, you just, so you have to diversify. Yeah, I have AI, but I also have everything else. So diversification is a second way to minimize your risk. The third way is to make sure everything you own pays you income. There's two reasons for that. First, you deserve it, and secondly, it's a clear way of knowing if there's something wrong with the company. No corporation wants to cut their dividend, that's why they're so reluctant to start paying dividends in the first place. But what if something happens? They have to cut it. It's a sure sign that they're in trouble. So that's why we want to have something that pays a dividend, because we want to know when they get in trouble. And if they cut their dividend, they can't keep it from us. And it's the same with bonds and things like that. They have to pay that regular interest every six months, and if they don't, everybody's going to sue them and they're going to be gone. So income is a very important thing for that and for the fact that you then have the wherewithal to take advantage of opportunities in the market, because you have income coming in, many people make the mistake of automatically reinvesting their income into the same securities. It's a big mistake, because then they don't have that luxury of having money that they can put back into Microsoft when it goes down, or put back into Exxon when it goes down, that type of thing, or pay a bill, buy Christmas presents, whatever. Those are the big three. And then the fourth one, and this is where most people fail miserably. It's a function of emotions. They fall in love with securities that go up in price. They just totally fall in love. They get convinced, I'm just going to keep adding to this one and adding to this, always goes up. It's wonderful. It's so green on my whole portfolio looks beautiful because this one security, or these three securities, are up so much. But then they go down. Then you have a COVID, then you have a dotcom bubble. Were you?Lesley Logan 19:05  Oh, I was around. I wasn't investing. I was alive. But I do remember, I do remember the year where the Super Bowl commercials were all dotcom commercials, and they were terrible. They were awful. And then when they and then they collapsed, and everyone was pissed, yes.Steve Selengut 19:21  Well, I remember the first Super Bowls when Green Bay was, the very first ones.Lesley Logan 19:27  Oh, the very first Super Bowls. There was no ad.Steve Selengut 19:29  My first, my first market correction, big one, was the crash of '87th. You know, it's interesting about the crash of '87 because it wasn't AI and it wasn't high-tech, but it was the first time when they started using computers in the stock exchanges. In the very, very old days, you never had a day where, where a million shares were traded in one day. The Dow was, I don't even know, was at 1000 back in '87 you know? But what happened was they started to put in these programs where people could trade on like a signal would come off, you know, this one went down that triggers a cell. And to me, I was pretty certain little I knew about automation, but it was just a computer loop, because if you you say, okay, you're going to sell, it goes to this level, and everybody sells. And then the mob hears about it, and they start to sell. It goes to the next level, the next level, next level. Lesley Logan 20:29  Right. Steve Selengut 20:30  And it was across the board. Everything was down. It wasn't just tech, it wasn't just this everything. Lesley Logan 20:36  It was just that, you know how the birds, like, they take off, they all fly together. It's kind of like everyone kind of goes, oh shoot. I must, everyone freaks out the same time, because somebody like. Steve Selengut 20:46  Everybody freaks out the same time. And that's how the stock market, everybody does freak out at the same time. Lesley Logan 20:51  Well, that's how the depression was. Everyone went to the banks to take somebody out at the same time.Steve Selengut 20:56  Run on the bank, right? Yeah, those days there was no protection. Lesley Logan 21:00  Yes. Steve Selengut 21:00  You didn't have all those controls and protections that we have now in our bank accounts and our.Lesley Logan 21:06  I just listened to an episode about Sam Bankman-Fried of how did he do what he did? And like, people lost their life savings. And whenever I hear of them, I'm like, you put all of your life savings in one thing? Like, not that you're deserving. No one is deserving of that. But also, I'm just like you put your life savings in one thing? And what's interesting is, whoever took over, they've actually been able to replenish and pay people back, which I think is amazing that they're very lucky. But I love that you brought up these different risk minimizers, because it does mean, like, things can go up and things can go down, and you're gonna be okay. But there's a part of my brain, and that is like the listener in here, going, how much time does this take every day? Because, how much time do I have? Because if I have a job and I've got, like, if someone wants to be it until they see it and be in charge of all these things, how much time do they need to spend on looking at their portfolios, or do you suggest they don't?Steve Selengut 22:01  Oh yeah, no, absolutely. If you're going to run your own portfolio, you better be there to, you can, well, there's two ways of looking at it. There's two streams of income that you can have in investments. The one is the regular distributions, bonds, stocks, whatever pay. And you get that on a regular basis, and maybe once a month, you see how much your cash position is, and you decide what to reinvest it in. So you can be pretty passive with it. And that's one stream of income. And right now in closed-end funds, I mean, even in those that are invested in the stock market, this is what I'm talking about, the spreadsheet with all these things on it. There's 100 of them that I look at and that I own that are yielding over 99% and they've all been tested for, like, quality diversification income, and I do the profit-taking myself. But if you could have a diverse portfolio like this made up of diverse portfolios themselves, you can be very passive, if you choose to. And you know, the income is going to come in at 9% and let's say you've got a million dollars. So that's what 90 grand a year you're going to make. Is that going to be enough for you? You make that decision, you know? So if it is, yeah, you can be as passive as you want to be, but then you have somebody like me who hasn't quite seen all of the world yet, and I'm determined that, while I can still walk, I'm going to see the world, the whole world. So I need more than just that base income is what I call as base income. Yeah, I need more than that, and I know how to get that, because I'm looking, I know how the market works, but I don't know when things are going to happen, because nobody does, but it's a cyclical beast, right? I mean, if you think back and you look at a chart, you can see that it goes up and down and up? Lesley Logan 24:01  Yeah. Steve Selengut 24:02  Highs and lows are not predictable, but you can tell if you're at a higher level or at a lower level, right? You can just look where you are. So depending on where you are, how I do my decision making, I buy less of things if the market is high, I buy more of them if the market is low. Lesley Logan 24:22  Got it. Steve Selengut 24:22  I'm looking to sell more when the market is high. I'm looking to buy more when the market, so all those things go into my thinking. Lesley Logan 24:30  I like that you pointed out based on what you want to make from your investments, can determine the level of your participation in it? Steve Selengut 24:42  Yes, exactly. So with me, I want I set these targets on my profits, just like my store, if it's just looking at the income, you're more like a bank with a very high level of earnings on the savings in the bank. You got this diversified portfolio spitting out all this income. You you don't need to do much except reinvest it selectively. But I want more than that. So what I want to do is I'm going to look at my prices, and if I have somebody comes into the store and I get my 5% markup, or even a 2% you know, when prices are down, I'll take it, and that builds up my capital every time I make a couple bucks. That way I can also reinvest it, add new securities, add to existing securities, and increase my level of income. Lesley Logan 25:34  Yeah. Steve Selengut 25:34  So for example, like right now, when you have an account statement like a fidelity or Schwab, they give you every month they tell you your estimated income for the next 12 months is this, so I know how much mine is for the next 12 months, but I also know that so far as of today, I've made nearly five months additional income by trading the securities in my account. So that tells me, Sandie, if you want to go to Japan next year, yeah, no problem.Lesley Logan 26:08  Yeah. I know, Sandie is your partner. And also, have you seen you can go on a two-year long around the world cruise? I already looked. It has internet, so you could totally do what you're doing. You can see the whole world. My husband and I did the math, because I was like, well, how much does this, I heard the price, which can sound like a lot, but I was like, well, just divide it by. Steve Selengut 26:28  200,000 something like that. Lesley Logan 26:30  Yeah, yeah. So then you divide it by like, 24 months, or whatever it is, and you're like, it wasn't much more than my mortgage.Steve Selengut 26:37  It's a whole lot cheaper than doing it the way I have, by individual trips. You know, a week in Southeast Asia, two weeks in Australia and in separate times. You know, when you're going here, if we added up all that we'd spent, going to all these places we better be a whole lot more than that.Lesley Logan 26:53  I know. I told them. I said, okay, I don't know if we'll ever not have dogs, because I don't know if I could leave my pet for two years. But if we ever got to a place where we had no pets, even if I've seen the place already, what a cool way to spend two years of your life. I hope you do that. I guess my next question for you is just, if someone's feeling overwhelmed, they're with you. They're like, okay, this guy, Steve, he gets it. I understand most of the words he's saying. I'm sure most people don't realize that they're like, stocks could just like income-produce for them on top of what they're already doing, where do they start? How do we take the overwhelm off?Steve Selengut 27:26  Okay. Well, you know how they say there's an app for that? Lesley Logan 27:30  Yes. Steve Selengut 27:30  There's a book for that. Lesley Logan 27:31  Okay. Steve Selengut 27:32  And that's why I wrote the book. It's a conversation between, really, my wife and I and this couple we meet on one of our trips in Amsterdam, and they've come into this trip by selling a chunk of their assets to fund the trip and we've come into it by paying a couple months income to do it. And we talked about how we got from A to B, and how they can get from where they are to where we are without really changing anything, because most people have the same securities in their model portfolios or their funds, or whatever they have in their 401(k)s, and these closed in funds that I have that deal in equities pretty much own the same things. It's just the focus of the managers of the fund are in line with my interest. My interests are income production. So I have these guys, hundreds of them, working directly for me, right? Because they're running these portfolios and they're giving me income, and then I am selling their poor souls every now and then for profits, but, you know, I buy them right back again soon, not immediately, but eventually. So that's the thing. You got to educate yourself. Like you said, in this country, most people come out of high school, they can't even balance a checkbook. They come out of college, and they don't have a clue unless they're majors, right? But there are certainly many books that you can read. I know the textbooks that I read in college, and I did take business courses, so yeah, I knew a little bit. You can learn about what stocks and bonds are. I mean, some of the people that are listening to you and I talk today don't know the difference between one and the other, or what they mean, what you know they're and that's unfortunate. You got to know that. You really need to know that before you can say to somebody, I'm going to trust you to manage my money. You don't know what he's doing. You've got to know and you've got to give him some direction. You've got to tell him, I'm not particularly concerned if you buy a stock that goes up and makes me a lot of money, unless you actually capitalize on that, because when it goes down, you don't look so smart anymore, you know? Lesley Logan 29:49  Yeah, I find it fascinating the idea of doing it myself, and also like I'm not in that place of my life where I'm there yet. So I've educated myself to a place where I ask questions of my person and they have to know them. And. I've been really impressed with this person I've worked with recently because no stuttering, definitely had it, got me the information, did better than the things that I asked. And the more I educate myself, the more questions I have. So every meeting we have, and he'll meet with me as much as I want, I'm like, okay, I have more questions that you're still securing your job, because I'm learning more. And so until I am able to do it myself, and that day will come, I just have a lot going on my own business, and I want to make sure that something is happening. But it is true, we have to educate ourselves, and we can't be scared of it. And I love that your book is like a conversation, because I think that that takes the overwhelm off. I read The Psychology of Money a couple years ago, and that was really helpful information from that guy, because he was just like, hey, the type of person you have to be to make a lot of money is not so good at keeping it. And he explained that. I was like, oh, that's very fascinating information. You know? Steve Selengut 30:55  Interesting. That's interesting. The education, the learning what you do, the amount of time you spend again will depend on back to where we were. How much money you really want to make. If you could be happy with this amount of money. Fine. Otherwise, you have to do other things. You have to take charge and trade those things to make really significant. And I mean, really significant.Lesley Logan 31:16  Yeah, I'm really excited for what you're doing, your book and stuff like that, because I do think that people need to hear what's possible. I also worry about people who are just relying on their 401(k) or their IRA. I think it's nice and it's important, but also it might not be enough, especially because we're living longer, thankfully, we're living longer and hopefully healthy. But that doesn't always mean so. Things happen all the time. There are disasters that are outside of your control, and so I do kind of worry about people. So I think educating people like you do, having you on it, is really important, because being it until you see it, you could have all these dreams of being this amazing boss who owns this awesome company, but at the same time, there's money behind everything comes back to that money. It's the energy that fuels things, and so having an understanding of how it works and different ways you can work it, I think it's so cool. I've never heard of something. I've never heard of it. I've never dove deep on the idea of the income producing, like getting those dividends, and using that as a measuring stick in that way. I mean, it's obvious once you said it, but it's not something I thought abou because I just thought, well, I want to be aggressive. I want the money to grow. I want these things. But also, like, how cool that you coach on that income-producing investment. Steve Selengut 32:32  What would you say your income is in your portfolio?Lesley Logan 32:36  Right now? (inaudible) What's it produced in the last month? Or what's it valued at right now? Steve Selengut 32:43  No, no. Market value doesn't matter. Lesley Logan 32:45  Okay, then I don't know that answer today. I have a meeting next week. Steve Selengut 32:48  Right. Most people don't ask that, and most people who have advisory people, and normally an advisor is getting about 1.5% not him personally, but the company that he works for. So when I used to tell people when I was managing their money, I was telling them that I would make it a point to make more in profits each year than they were paying me in fees. That was the objective as far as that goes. I'm taking care of the fees by making you actual more capital to replace it. I wrote an article recently about vetting an investment advisor. Lesley Logan 33:29  Cool. Steve Selengut 33:30  And that was one of the things that I said, you know? Number one is look at his portfolio first and if what he's got you in is not in his personal portfolio, find out why. I mean, your objectives may be different, but if your stuff sounds more speculative than his stuff, you don't want to take advice from somebody who doesn't have as much money as you do. Lesley Logan 33:52  Yeah. Steve Selengut 33:52  So the young guy just getting started, he's not the one you want as your financial advisor. And I learned that quick when I started, because I had my first two clients to get started with. I don't think I got another client for six or eight months, you know. So there are things to do when you're with your advisor, and one of the things is, take a look at his portfolio, make him assure you that he will take at least enough profits to pay his fees, and that he will produce at least 4% in income on your portfolio. And why do I say 4% because if you ask for advisors as you approach retirement, the key number is you'll have to use 4% of your market value each year to pay your expenses in retirement, unless you're like you and I, where we're going to make enough money while we're working that it's going to provide more than the amount we were making when we were working. Lesley Logan 33:52  Yeah, yeah. Steve Selengut 33:53  That's our objective. Lesley Logan 33:54  Yeah. Steve Selengut 33:54  But normally, people are going to spend about 4% of their market value. So since you're telling me that that's what's going to happen, I want you to make me at least 4% so that means you're going to make me 4% plus one and a half percent every year in income. You can grow the portfolio with the rest of the portfolio all you want, but that's the income I want you to start producing now.Lesley Logan 35:22  I like this, okay, that article you wrote, I would love to link to it, or you can, you know, put it behind a lead magnet. I think it's such a cool way for people to be armed with that because they don't have that information.Steve Selengut 35:34  It's on LinkedIn. Lesley Logan 35:35  It's on LinkedIn. Steve Selengut 35:36  It's on my profile or my articles. Lesley Logan 35:38  Okay, cool, cool. Steve Selengut 35:39  It's the last article I wrote. Lesley Logan 35:41  We will link to your LinkedIn for sure. We're going to take a brief break, and then we're going to find out where people can find you, follow you, work with you and your Be It Action Items. Lesley Logan 35:49  All right, Steve, where do you hang out? LinkedIn, sounds like and you said you advise people or you coach them. How can people connect with you? Steve Selengut 35:56  Theincomecoach.net I have two Facebook groups. One is called The Retirement Income Independence Coach and the other one is called Closed End Funds for Retirement Income and Equity Trading.Steve Selengut 36:05  Cool. You are busy for someone who is retired. Steve Selengut 36:14  Yeah, right. I get that a lot. I'm busier now schedule-wise than I was when I was managing money, because that was a, you know, couple hours in the morning, couple hours in the evening. Now it's all day long, with podcasts, writing a book, coaching, meetings and so on. Lesley Logan 36:33  And speaking of your book, Retirement Money Secrets, where can people order that? Can they get it wherever books are sold? Can they get it at your website? Where should they (inaudible)? Steve Selengut 36:33  Wherever books are sold, they can get it. The audiobook is only available on Amazon. All the other forms can be gotten anywhere. Lesley Logan 36:39  Yeah, well, you guys, it's money. You should probably read it instead of listen to it, because you want to be able to highlight, research, all that stuff. Amazing. Okay, you've given us a ton of amazing stuff already. But for the person who is ready to take some action, bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us? Steve Selengut 37:06  Bold execution things is the one that I just asked you to do. Take a look at your portfolios and look at the actual income production, where it says dividends received this year or amount you can expect to receive this year with the portfolio just as it is, and see what that is as a percentage of your portfolio. And then the second action thing is, either yourself or your advisor approach them and say, I want that number to be about between four and 5%.Lesley Logan 37:06  I love it. I'm gonna take you up on that before I even do this recap, because I have a meeting with my advisor. So already scheduled. It's to go over, it's to go over my rest of my year. And am I supposed to be spending a little bit of money? Am I supposed to be investing in a certain way? How can I make that tax write off a little bit different? So I got a big meeting. I'm going to add this to it. I know that, especially for those of you who are over 40, you've got a lot going on. It can be just really overwhelming. But honestly, the more you educate yourself, the more these terms and words don't seem so crazy. And you can start with where you're at. And if you're going to start with an advisor, you can read Steve's article on how to vet them, and you can demand that they do that. And you know what? That's kind of why they have a job. So they can certainly rise to the occasion if they can't go find someone else. Until you want to be like Steven, do it yourself, which is impressive and amazing. Thank you so much. Until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 38:43  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 39:26  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 39:31  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 39:35  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 39:42  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 39:45  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

In this final FYF of January, Lesley Logan continues her spotlight on trailblazing women—plus listener wins that highlight the impact of perseverance. From an inspiring $30 million investment in women's sports to personal triumphs shared by Stacy and Melissa, each story emphasizes that every step forward is worth celebrating. Lesley reflects on her own month of journaling and wraps up with a timely mantra, reminding you that no beginning is too small to honor.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:Spotlight on a historic $30 million women's soccer donationReal-life wins from community members Stacy and MelissaHow minor steps like part-time roles can relieve stress while building dreamsLesley's personal journaling practice for self-awareness and calmA new mantra on releasing harsh judgments and embracing growthOvercoming external pressures by focusing on daily winsEpisode References/Links:Melissa Kang - https://www.instagram.com/p/DCjul3bRMwG/ If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  It's Fuck Yeah Friday. Lesley Logan 0:01  Fuck yeah.Lesley Logan 0:05  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:49  Hello, Be I babe. We made it. We made it to the end of January. You did it. You're in. You're one month in. And if that makes you freak out, you should probably listen to this episode more often. You should listen to Be It Pod more often. I am calling in more ease in my year. I'm really, truly trying to do that. I am calling in more joy and also not letting things outside of my control steal my joy. I mean, good fucking look up for me. But that is what I'm doing, one of the things that I want in this year. And we started a new segment around here in the FYF where we celebrate some women who've just inspired the fuck out of me, and I hope they inspire you, because I think we need a little more of that. So Michele Kang pledges historic $30 million to US Soccer for women and girls soccer programs. The investment from Kang will scale competitive opportunities for youth players, expand and improve talent identification, and fuel professional development for women players, coaches and referees. You guys, this is so cool. This woman donated $30 million and it's for women and girls soccer programs. Because sometimes we're so focused on the professionals, and we're like, they're not making enough. We're not paying women equal. And you know what? If we can focus more, we should do all of that, and someone will do that. But we can also as a group, or as listeners, or as people who love something or have a passion for them, like, how can I support the youth in that? How can I create foundations so that there's something to stand on? So when we get, we should have more equal pay, but as we have that, we have people coming in to continue to take those spaces and enjoy the fruits of that labor. So way to go, Michele. So Kang's $30 million donation over the next five years is the largest philanthropic investment in U.S. soccer's women's and girls programs, and the most generous donation ever made to U.S. Soccer by a woman. Brilliant. Way to go, Michele. So cool as there's a lot of women out there who do some amazing donations, and there is proof that when we make money, the communities that they live in benefit. When women make money, they actually put it back into the communities more than men. And to the few good men who are listening, this is not like a nag on you, but it's just like, what studies show, okay? So don't come at me, like, I do a ton of stuff. I'm sure you do. Thank you. Keep doing it. And maybe get your friends to do it too, you know. So, thank you, Michele. I don't even play soccer. I don't even watch soccer, but that got me super excited. Do you see how you can see wins in things that have nothing to do with you, they affect you in zero way. Lesley Logan 3:10  Okay, so Stacey Extence is one of our Agency members, and she said one of her wins is having a great conversation on the phone with Kim Young, another member, today, comparing notes and discussing our Pilates pass. We also agreed to meet regularly. moving forward. Doing contract work for the studio I rent from. We are moving I'm in transition phase until 2025 and could use the income and they want to help with marketing things. I got a part time job, 20 hours a week that offers me a set schedule, great for building my Pilates business more and health insurance. Love it. Made a connection with a breast cancer nonprofit offering them a sample class to their team, so that they will encourage folks to come to see me for lessons. I will also fundraise for them each fall. I had melanoma removed from my knee recently, was told that they got all of it, so I am cancer-free. Stacey, your wins are so cool. And I just want to highlight something. A lot of times people think that they have to make their main thing the main thing right away, and it is okay you guys to take a beat and get like a part time job, make sure that the hours work with when you don't want to be teaching, you don't want to be doing something that you're trying to build, so that you can have just some consistent income and, for Stacey, health insurance so that when she's not doing that, she could focus on building her business. And so when her business can't support her, then she could let go of that. I think sometimes we put a lot of pressure on things to happen sooner than they're ready, and then we freak out, and then we make decisions that are in freak out. No one benefits from that. And you end up making decisions that actually won't affect you in a kind way. It just happens that way. Lesley Logan 4:37  All right. So then we have our wonderful Melissa Nagai from Canada. I had a retired Pilates teacher contact me this week to start lessons. He says that he practices daily, but he hadn't had his own teacher for a few years. I'm excited to meet him. I'm restructuring my teacher training. I'm happy with the work I've got done on this. My apprentice is slowly teaching more and more. She's doing great. We're going to start having her work with a couple private clients. Way to go. Melissa, I love this win because you have, a long time ago, needed to get some teachers in your studio. Your studio is so busy and it's not easy to build someone up for your clients to enjoy, and you have done that even while being busy, and the reputation that you've put out into this world is getting out there because now a teacher wants to work with you, and you are truly someone, I hope you're listening, who is so consistent, just consistently work on things, and that is why you have these amazing wins. And I love that you celebrate them when they're small. We're not waiting for the apprentice to be done with all of her hours before we celebrate how great she's doing. So thank you so much for letting us have that. Lesley Logan 5:41  Okay, a win of mine. We haven't been home quite a month, and we're gonna be leaving soon, but I started journaling. Found another journal. I love to do a journal, and I got away from my morning pages for a little bit. I do them different times. I started using Mont affirmation cards and pulling them to journal towards. But I got this new journal for this year, and it's really fun, because it lets me explore the moon and where it's at in the day that I'm journaling, and so I can really, truly understand, like, what is happening outside of my control that could make me feeling the way that I'm feeling, not that the moon is, like making me an angry person or anything like that, but my moon is cancer, and cancer is the moon, so I'm affected by it a lot, and I love to look at it. I think it's so fun. And I have had this desire to have more ease. And for years, I thought, what would it be like if I tried to make my work and my goals align with when the moon is getting bigger and when the moon is getting smaller, and what would that be like? And I did that years ago with my cycle. And so I'm just like, my win is that I've just been journaling in this journal and noticing the moon and where it's at and what's going on with the stars, and just going, okay, not gonna wait to do things, but I'm also not gonna push so hard either. There's a difference between pushing and being pulled. And there's an energy out there that wants to support me in everything I wanna do, and there's an energy that wants to support you in everything you wanna do. And sometimes we actually are trying to shove things through, when, really, if we just took a beat, someone would come right up and pick it up and take it for you. So my win is this new journal. I've been loving it. I've done it for 31 days. Really proud of myself, really loving it. Do you have a journal you love? I would love to hear it. And if you do journal every day, you should be celebrating that win, because not everyone does. A lots of people want to and you are doing something a lot of people want to do, meanwhile not giving yourself credit for doing something that's not easy. So I want to hear you celebrate your journaling. I want to hear all of that. Lesley Logan 7:31  All right, let's pull out a mantra affirmation. This one says don't judge your beginnings harshly. Don't judge your beginnings harshly. Don't judge your beginnings harshly. Lesley Logan 7:44  You are amazing my loves. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. I hope these wins inspire you. Notice how this whole entire month not a single one of mine has been taking a lot of action on anything, and that is because we don't need to wait to celebrate the things we did. We can actually talk about and focus on what we did do, which might have been just actually getting your dreams on a calendar. So thank you, and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 8:08  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 8:50  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 8:56  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 9:00  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 9:06  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 9:10  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Lesley Logan and Brad Crowell recap a thought-provoking conversation with Kristin Mallon, co-founder of FemGevity. They explore the importance of prioritizing women's health, redefining challenges, and flowing with life's changes. Discover actionable insights on embracing wellness and taking control of your health journey.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The importance of rephrasing challenges for a mindset shift.How women can better prioritize their health and well-being.The value of integrating medical and holistic approaches to health.Viewing life as a river: learning to flow rather than resist.Actionable tips for overcoming self-doubt and embracing personal growth.Episode References/Links:Cambodia October 2025 Retreat Waitlist - https://crowsnestretreats.com Spring Training - https://opc.me/eventsPilates Studio Growth Accelerator - https://prfit.biz/acceleratorAccessories Flashcards Waitlist - https://opc.me/flashcardwaitlistFemGevity - https://beitpod.com/femgevity If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  You gotta be in tune with things. So you have to have your goals and have your visions and have your dreams, and then also make sure that you're doing little check-ins with how it's going so you can go with it. Lesley Logan 0:10  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 0:51  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, Brad, and I are going to dig into the enriching convo I had with Kristin Mallon in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that interview, feel free to pause us now and go back and listen to that one, or listen to this one, then listen to that one. It's really okay. I know people don't like spoilers, but there's no spoilers here. It's just sometimes hearing things twice really helps you. And also I really wanted to have her on to talk medicine and health, and at the end, I really, we like went a whole different direction that changed my whole day. It changed my whole mood. I'm really into it. Brad Crowell 1:23  Yeah, it was a really fun conversation. And also, I was surprised having the other partner from FemGevity, I don't know, a hundred episodes ago? And then I didn't realize that Kristin was in the lineup too. So that's really cool. Lesley Logan 1:35  Yeah. Well, we're obsessed with FemGevity and this is not the ad that will run later, but you guys seriously, seriously, may this be the year that you take care of your health. Please. Come on. Lesley Logan 1:44  So today is January 30th 2025 and it's National Draw a Dinosaur Day. Brad Crowell 1:49  Oh, that's right. Say it one more time. Lesley Logan 1:50  It's National Draw a Dinosaur Day. Brad Crowell 1:52  Yeah, you heard that, right. Lesley Logan 1:53  Shout out to your nephew, our nephew, I guess, right? It's our nephew. We call him Ace. He calls himself Bubba. He got, like, a dinosaur, I don't know, shark, kind of hoodie, and he just walk around the house going, roar, right? And I just thought it was the freaking cutest thing. He's like, not even three. I was like, that is adorable. But do you want to know something? I have a journal that's like, doodle. What your doodle something here today? And I was like, how do I even doodle anymore? Like, I don't even have a pen anymore to doodle with, so I thought it'd be fun. And I think it's kind of in alignment with Kristin, because she had such a wonderful idea of like so what? Go draw a dinosaur, see what comes out, and throw it away if you don't like it. But National Draw a Dinosaur Day celebrates the mysticism and magic that surrounds these magnificent animals that once roamed the world eons ago. On this day, kids and adults paint and sketch all types of dinosaurs, cute, scary, jovial, wicked, etc, and have fun while doing it. So get creative. Have so much fun. By the way, this reel came across my Instagram that people are finding dinosaur bones all the time. They're finding them all the time, like you can just find them they're around. Brad Crowell 3:00  That's crazy. Lesley Logan 3:00  I know. I think that's really insane. People said to him, I don't find him. He's like, well, are you looking for them like you're not just gonna stumble, like you're just not gonna walk across. Brad Crowell 3:07  I don't find them. I don't find them. Where's my dinosaur from? Lesley Logan 3:11  Where's my dinosaur? Where's the fucking entitlement some people's comments online. I just want to go, what? Who raised you, what? And then I don't even want to blame their parents, because, anyways, whatever. Go draw a dinosaur. Lesley Logan 3:24  All right, upcoming, we are two weeks away from leaving for Cambodia for our February retreat, which means our October retreat is on the countdown, and you need to sign up for our October retreat and join us at crowsnestretreats.com. We're going in October. And if you keep saying, oh, next time, next time. This is your next time. Brad Crowell 3:41  This is your next time. You should totally join us. You know, we love this place. The experience continues to get better. We even have a few opportunities to join us before and after the retreat for some extracurricular activities. So if you are, like, super adventurous and a big hiker, hit us up, because we may be planning some things that we usually don't get to include in the retreat just because there isn't enough time, but we still like to go do them ourselves, and you might (inaudible) Lesley Logan 4:09  Smaller groups, but you know, we want to have a big group, because it's a big family, so come and then stay a little longer and have some fun with this. Brad Crowell 4:15  Yeah, what's coming up in April? Lesley Logan 4:17  So we have a spring training guys, and this is not baseball, but think baseball. So we're gonna do a really fun spring training in April, because it's all about Pilates. And spring training is, like, a couple weeks long in Arizona, and we're gonna do it online in a week, and it's gonna be for any Pilates lover of any level. We're bringing all the OPC teachers in on this. It's gonna be a lot of fun. So we'll have more details for you, but if you go to opc.me/events, you won't miss out on any of those details, and you'll be sure to hear about things first, in case there's anything special you could sign up for ahead of time. Brad Crowell 4:46  All right, for those of you who run a Pilates business, okay, that is a studio owner or a home studio owner, or if you are renting space for someone, if you are taking money from your own clients, technically, you run a Pilates business, and we are here to help you. Profitable Pilates, Lesley and I have been coaching businesses just like yours, just like ours, for more than seven years now. We literally have coached more than 2500 business owners just like you. And I am running a free webinar. We want to invite you to it, go to prfit.biz/accelerator where you're going to learn the three biggest secrets that we have uncovered after having been asked countless questions, creating so much content and creating so many courses and coach so many different people just like you. So come to this webinar. Come join us. You'll be able to put these into practice in your own business and move things forward. So go to prfit.biz/accelerator that's profit without the O dot biz slash accelerator. All right, finally. Lesley Logan 5:46  Finally, we have the last and final deck. It's getting closer and closer to the pre sale. And so if you want to nerd out on the accessories, and by the way, this deck is as universal as the mat deck is. Yes, there's a guillotine and a Ped-o-Pull in there, and don't let those words scare you. But most of the deck are things you can make from things at home or use household items or the props are not very expensive to purchase. And if you go to, where do they go, Brad, for this actually? Brad Crowell 6:15  Yeah, go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist. Lesley Logan 6:17  Oh yeah, that's why I blocked it from my mind, because my list (inaudible) stuff doesn't like flashcard waitlist. It doesn't like that combo. So go to opc.me/flashcardwaitlist to get on it. So you get the amazing presale price when that happens, and it's going to be in the next couple of months. So it's all around the corner. Lesley Logan 6:38  All right, we are going to get into Kristin's amazingness, but first we have a question from the audience. Brad Crowell 6:43  Yeah, we do, YouTube here, @etain.pilates asks, "Is it better to put the box over the shoulder blocks over gearing out the carriage if it has that option?" So obviously, we're talking about the short box on the reformer. Lesley Logan 6:59  Yeah, this actually came from a question on a question. So we actually did a live. We go live every Sunday on 9 am Pacific Time, you guys, on YouTube. So for my people who are listening to this podcast for Pilates, then Sundays at 9 am you want to join us for our live, where we answer your questions, unless you're an OPC member, then we answer them in the community, of course. Answered a question about, like, where the box goes for short box, because honestly, on the tour, I kept seeing people put the box in the wrong spot for their height. Brad Crowell 7:27  Yes. Lesley Logan 7:27  So here is the deal, my loves, I don't care what style of Pilates you're teaching, I don't care what reformer you are on, the box placement matters. It actually needs to help you have long, strong legs while doing the short box. And so if you were on the shorter side, you put the box in front of the shoulder blocks. If you're on the taller side, it's gonna go over the shoulder blocks. Usually there is a peg, a peg sent a little Canadian. There a peg and a shoulder block. There's like a peg. Brad Crowell 7:52  Oh a peg. I did not understand that. Lesley Logan 7:53  There's a peg. Can't say it peg and shoulder block. And there's space in there for the box. Please be kind to the box. Put it there. What etain is asking is because in that video, I talked about how you could also gear out to create more space for the legs. And so she's asking, is it better to gear out versus put the box over the shoulder blocks? And what I will say is, it's better to go over the shoulder blocks, if you can. Now, if for whatever reason, your box would be uneven or unsteady or unsafe, then obviously gearing out is fine, but ideally it is much faster just with a box over the shoulder blocks than it is to gear the carriage out. Remember, in Pilates, no matter what your style is, you're trying to actually allow for each exercise to flow into the next. You don't want that much time in between setting your equipment up because you lose your connections. All right? I hope that answers it. Send your questions in to us, and we'll answer them. Here, you can send personal questions, then you can send Pilates questions, and you can send whatever you want. We'll answer them. Brad Crowell 8:52  Yeah, stick around. We'll be right back. We're going to dig into this awesome convo that Lesley had with Kristin Mallon, the co-founder of FemGevity. We'll be right back. Brad Crowell 9:00  Okay, welcome back. Now, let's talk about Kristin Mallon. Kristin is a certified nurse midwife and certified obstetrical nurse, and she's passionate about advancing women's health and well-being. She's the co-founder of FemGevity. She focuses on providing personalized healthcare solutions that address the unique needs of women throughout different stages in life. With over 20 years of experience, Kristin combines medical expertise with integrative approaches to empower women in optimizing their health and longevity. Lesley Logan 9:32  Yeah, talk about integrative. First of all, the first thing that I say that I love is we talked about a shared mindset and practice of redefining situations and challenges. So she said specifically to watch your definitions. For example, instead of saying it's hard to do X, she said, use phrases like, I'm working on doing X. I'm getting better at doing X or improving my X. It's a different definition than it's hard. What a great way to catch yourself. And you can actually include people in your family about this. You can say, if you ever hear me say, I can't, or it's not possible, or it's hard, then stop me so I can say, I'm working on, I'm getting better at, I'm improving. And see how that changes your brain waves and your energy. Brad Crowell 10:15  Yeah, it was, like you said at the beginning here, she is a wealth of medical knowledge, especially around female health, you kicked off the whole conversation going through a whole bunch of stuff that she's very excited about, and also a whole bunch of things that she sees industry-wide that are still, you know, needing to come up to speed. But then pretty quickly, the conversation shifted over to like mentality and philosophy, your approach to life, and her approach to life, and then her approach to being in a business having a partner, I just thought it was really fun. It was a great convo to dig into how she sees things while coaching people all around the country through her company. One thing I love that she said was she was talking about being in the moment, and how do you embrace the things that you are struggling with, whether that is your health or I can't remember a specific example, but she said, you know, when she finds herself getting frustrated, she has to remind herself the circumstances around the event don't matter. What matters is that the thing happened right? The state of being matters. So circumstances don't matter. Only the state of being matters. And what she means is that when you look at it that way, the state of being makes your circumstances. You view them differently. It's not what happens, it's what you do with what happens. Right? Things are going to happen, especially things that we don't have any control over, and it's what we do with those things that changes our perspective, our mental output. It even like, affects our body. Lesley Logan 11:41  Absolutely affects our body, but also, like, you know, you hear about these things all the time, like somebody was like, something bad happened to them, and then they created this big company that makes sure that no one else goes for that. I think, you know, if we can, not in a toxic positivity way, not that at all, but just in recognizing that this happened. Okay, take your grief, do your things, and then what are you gonna do about that and having that positive reframing around it so that you can change other people's lives, even. Brad Crowell 12:12  Yeah, she talked about how she views life is like being in a river, going with the flow of the river, versus trying to paddle in a specific pattern, like, if I only paddle in this way, I know I'm gonna get there, whatever there is, but we still don't have control over the river, and the river is gonna take us where we're going. So instead of head down and completely ignoring everything around us, get excited about the things that you're excited about and understand where the flow of life is taking you. My buddy said it to me 15 years ago when we were talking about music. I really, really wanted to get signed by a record label. And he's like, hey, man, each of these projects that we do, it's like a wave, and you just have to ride the wave. And I was like, I don't surf, you know, but obviously missed the point there. And the way that Kris is talking about it here is it's a river. We don't have control over the shape of the river. We are in the river, right? And what we can do is go with the flow. Lesley Logan 13:06  Yeah, yeah. I think that the ride in the wave, Brad, is just because, like, if you got get signed before the wave peaks, then you might miss it all together. If you are too late, then you get tumbled and crap. Like, there's a whole, there's a bunch of different things (inaudible) Brad Crowell 13:19  Or you could bail out of the wave before the wave crests, and then you might not have taken it as far as it could go. So. Lesley Logan 13:26  Yeah, you got to be in tune with things. So you have to, like, have your goals and have your visions and have your dreams, and then also make sure that you're doing little check-ins with how it's going so you can go with it. I think it's brilliant. I think it's very difficult. And so if you're like, ooh, I want to do this, just so you know, you're gonna fail many times at trying, and that's okay, because you are improving on flowing with the river. You are, what is it? You are working on flowing with the river, and you are getting better at flowing with the river. Brad Crowell 13:26  Yeah and look, if the river is at a standstill, then you better start paddling, you know? Lesley Logan 13:59  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a time and a place for all of it. I just adored her and I appreciated her honesty and thoughtfulness around women's health. I like that she was very specific. And also, here's where things can improve, and here's where things are really great, and there is access. You know? Now more than ever, there's access. Now we just have to go do it. And that can be hard for the women listening. It can be hard to prioritize your health and make sure that you are scheduling these appointments, and for you, you are actually making this a priority versus oh, I've got to do this thing in the house. I've got to call this person. Oh, we've got to do this. We got to do this staycation. I'll do it after. I'll do it when I get back. I'll do it next year. As a Pilates instructor, I can say, there are certain things that the sooner you come to Pilates, the easier it is for us to mitigate the things that you're wanting to mitigate. There's ways to improve your posture before it is not so changeable. The same goes for your health. Some of these things, the longer you wait, it's harder to get them back to where they're supposed to be. So, take advantage. Lesley Logan 15:01  All right, we have some, Be It Action Items, don't we, Brad? Brad Crowell 15:03  We sure do. So stick around. We'll be right back for those Be It Action Items. Brad Crowell 15:07  All right, welcome back. So finally, let's talk about those Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo with Kristin Mallon. She said, hey, the best thing you could do right now is figure out your gut health by taking a gut test. And she said they're still figuring out the industry-wide standard but, generally speaking, she said, if you go in and talk to your doctor and you ask for a GI-MAP test, they will understand what that is, and they will know what you're asking for. Okay, so a GI-MAP test. She said it's really comprehensive. It gives you a clear picture of what's actually happening in your gut health, and it should allow you then draw conclusions. If the conclusions that are being drawn aren't making sense to you, you can take that GI-MAP test to somebody else, such as FemGevity and they should be able to help out. She said, GI-MAP and GI effects are the standard gut tests. So GI-MAP and GI effects. GI-MAP is by Diagnostic Solutions. GI effects is by Genova Diagnostics. So she said, generally, avoid the over the counter gut tests. They're not comprehensive enough. She also said that, you know, the tests about, what was it? What with the generational ancestry mapping or something? Lesley Logan 16:21  Oh yeah, ancestry.com, that kind of. Brad Crowell 16:22  It was the other one. I can't remember, but anyway, she said, you know, that's like the most basic of basic.Lesley Logan 16:28  Like 23andMe? Brad Crowell 16:29  Yes, yeah, I think it was 23andMe. She said choose licensed medical providers to get accurate information as they use PCR testing, which covers a wide range of pathogens, including yeast parasites and dysbiosis. So I'm sure you all remember PCR from COVID years. That's the first time I ever even understood what that was. And apparently it's just the medical thing that's always been around for other things, too. Lesley Logan 16:52  Other things. Brad Crowell 16:52  How about that? Lesley Logan 16:53  And also, like, I really want to emphasize, like, choose licensed medical providers. There's a lot of people out there who are able to do lots of things, but they're not using all of these amazing tests, and that can create confusion. So make sure you're using people like FemGevity who can really make sure that you're getting the full map. I am currently on a round of stuff because of my GI-MAP test that I did with them. We did a second one to make sure everything was good. And whoo, this is not the most fun experience, but that's not their fault. We're getting rid of some shit, and not specifically shit. We're actually getting rid of bacteria. Bacteria in my gut. At any rate, I've been trying to get rid of this for years, and this is the first time I've been able to get someone who can.Brad Crowell 17:37  Identify and understand what's going on. Lesley Logan 17:38  Identify it and give me the appropriate medications to let go of it. So yeah. Brad Crowell 17:42  And this is not the first time that you've had like, a revelatory conclusion drawn by them, and then. Lesley Logan 17:47  No, because the reason this exists. Brad Crowell 17:47  Because you've been with them for what, like almost a year now? Lesley Logan 17:51  Almost a year, almost a year, we're at, like, eight months, nine months, this particular thing was just because we actually did a second test to make sure we got everything, and this little bugger is stuck around, so we get to do it again, and that's not fun. But you know what? I'm super grateful I have them to do this test, because now I know it's not something new, it's something old that's just hanging on. Brad Crowell 18:13  Yep. Lesley Logan 18:13  We're working on improving it. Brad Crowell 18:14  Yeah. Well, what was your biggest takeaway? Lesley Logan 18:16  Okay, this is the coolest thing. This is definitely for my people who are struggling to make a decision, whenever in doubt, follow your highest excitement in any given situation. So there's no insistence or assumption to the outcome, but use it as a bread crumb trail that will lead you to your biggest and best self. So when you're in doubt of like, what to do? Where is the excitement coming from and follow that. And I think that that's really cool, and I also think that that's probably the uncertainty choice, but it's the one that you're most excited about. And when you're excited about something, you'll do it. Trust us. Brad and I have a project that he's going to work on this weekend with the laundry and four and a half years later, so clearly not excited about it, but now we're going to get excited.Brad Crowell 19:00  Now we're excited. Lesley Logan 19:00  Now we're excited. We're getting excited. Brad Crowell 19:02  I got excited, took action, and it's all happening. Lesley Logan 19:04  Yes, yes. But you know, that's what happens when you follow the other thing. So follow your highest excitement. I adored her. I want to be friends with her. I want to be friends with her and Michele. I want to hang out. I just think that they're the greatest and what a cool partnership that they are. And I was just, really wanted to start the year off with her. So you guys, you know what to do. You have to share, send a review, give us to a friend. Let Kristin and the Be It Pod know your favorite takeaways. We want to know them. They're really, really fun for us. Brad Crowell 19:31  Yeah. Tag FemGevity. Tag Lesley. Tag Be It Pod. Lesley Logan 19:35  Yeah, yep. If you have no idea how to tag, then just do what you know how to do to get the compliment out there. It's really, really great. Lesley Logan 19:41  Also, we have a special link for FemGevity. Lesley Logan 19:44  Yes, beitpod.com/femgevity. And if you tell them we sent you, then you are going to also get 20% off your first month, I believe. So there you go. Brad Crowell 19:56  Yeah. So we'll put that link in the show notes as well. Lesley Logan 19:58  Yeah, until next time, Be It Till You See It. Brad Crowell 20:01  Yeah. Bye for now.Lesley Logan 20:02  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 20:45  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 20:50  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 20:54  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 21:01  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 21:04  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Board-Certified Nurse Midwife Kristin Mallon joins Lesley Logan to illuminate how to bridge the gap between “normal” lab results and genuine wellness by harnessing hormone insights, gut health strategies, longevity medicine, and integrative care. From understanding the nuanced roles of midwives and doulas to exploring advanced testing for a deeper picture of health, Kristin reveals how following your intuition and seeking daily excitement can fuel a truly fulfilling life at any age.If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:The difference between midwives, doulas, and OB GYNs.Turning to personal intuition when seeking healthcare solutions.Why standard labs often miss suboptimal hormone levels.How deeper gut testing supports lasting energy and vitality.Using advanced integrative approaches for longevity medicine.Episode References/Links:FemGevity - https://beitpod.com/femgevityFemGevity on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/FemGevity/FemGevity on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/femgevity/FemGevity on Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@femgevityFemGevity on X - https://x.com/FemGevityFemGevity on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/femgevityhealth/FemGevity on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@femgevityGuest Bio:Kristin Mallon is a health tech entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in the industry. As the co-founder and CEO of FemGevity, she is passionate about improving women's health through innovative solutions. Under her leadership, FemGevity has grown into a successful company that provides essential support to women who need it most.Prior to founding FemGevity, Kristin launched Vibrant Beginning, a high-end supplement line of prenatal vitamins. She is committed to making a significant impact in the healthcare industry and enhancing the lives of women around the world. Kristin advocates for transforming the healthcare narrative from solely providing "sickcare" to developing and offering platforms that support optimal health planning. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS!Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramThe Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channelFacebookLinkedInThe OPC YouTube Channel Episode Transcript:Kristin Mallon 0:00  There's this huge gap between optimal health and chronic care and crisis care and sick care that needs to be filled. You know, which is like what we're doing, and there's so much to be done. There's so much and then obviously it gets into the whole prevention of chronic care and crisis care in the long term. Lesley Logan 0:19  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started.Lesley Logan 1:03  All right, Be It babe, I have a great human for you to hear from today. So I have been on a mission to help educate women on how to be it till they see it and part of that is you feeling like you have the health and the body and the strength and the stamina and the hormones that take you to where you want to go. And so today's guest is Kristin Mallon. She is part of the FemGevity team. You definitely have to listen to Michele Wispelwey's episode from last year, if you haven't, because the two combined are just absolutely wonderful. I have never had so much hope about women's health since I met them, and now I just feel educated, informed, supported. And so the first part of this episode is gonna feel medical-heavy, ladies, you gotta listen. Those of you, no matter where you are, what's going on, it's really good information. You can share it with a friend. And then, we have a really great, she blew my mind. I'm not kidding. What I expected her to answer and what she answered, wouldn't have guessed it in a multiple choice. And now that I know her, I would always, her tips and some of these things that she does for her life, have me wanting to reevaluate what I want to do in my year and what I want to call in more of. So this is just a chock-full episode. Thank you, Kristin Mallon from FemGevity for being here. And y'all make sure you let us know how this episode helped you. Share this with a friend. Here's the thing, we all have to educate each other and ourselves and support each other and to the few good men listening. Thank you so much. You should know this about women's health. Send it to your friend, your sister or your cousin, because this is how we all get stronger together. Lesley Logan 2:36  All right, Be It babe, this is going to be just so much fun. I have been sharing the reels that this woman has been putting out on Instagram multiple times. I'm like, I'm gonna share this one. I'm gonna share this one. We have Kristin Mallon in the house. She's a co-founder of FemGevity, and I love her. Love Michele. If you listened to the podcast I had with Michele Wispelwey, you know what they are. If you follow me at all, you know I'm obsessed with them and all that they're doing. So Kristin, can you tell everyone who you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at? Kristin Mallon 3:04  Yeah, I'm Kristin Mallon. I'm a certified nurse midwife, and I've been doing women's health for over 20 years, and really focusing on, obviously, being a midwife, the blend of medicine, but also ancient wisdom. Lesley Logan 3:17  Okay, I have a couple of things I wanna just chat with. Is like, first of all, I think midwives feel like, to me, they're becoming more and more popular and more and more accessible. Is that true? And then for the people who don't know what a midwife is, can you kind of break that down? Kristin Mallon 3:30  So, yes and no. I think there's pockets of the country where they're becoming popular and pockets of the country where they're becoming unpopular. There's a big, I think, problem in general, with the, you know, or challenge, I don't always like to say problem with, a big challenge with reimbursements across the board for all people that practice any type of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and so we're not really educating and training enough midwives. I think the desire is there and the demand is there, but then the burnout is high, and there's the business aspect, because most midwives are really altruistic, and they really kind of go into this type of work, because it's their passion. So that needs a little bit more support and needs a little bit more, you know, kind of hand-holding. Midwives are confusing, because people think midwives are doulas, people think midwives are doctors, and then kind of everything in between. So I am a board certified nurse midwife. So that's kind of like the highest level of midwifery training and education that you can get. I have a nursing degree. I have a master's degree in nursing and then I took a board certification that I maintain. You know, every year, there's a certain level of requirement that I have to attain. I deliver all of my births in a hospital, and I do assist on surgeries, and I do minor gynecological surgeries, and I really do everything that an obstetrician does, not really a gynecologist. So someone who's delivering babies working with babies, that's what I do. There's other types of midwives, so there's certified midwives who are midwives that are not nurses. There's lay midwives, which are midwives that are trained in a variety of different ways, usually kind of more culturally-trained. And then there's professional midwives, and their certification is a little bit different. And then all states have different governing boards about how they allow them to practice and not practice. But pretty much, if you're going to have a home birth, you're having a midwife. I know like one OB GYN in my whole career, and I know thousands of people in the birth space that he is a physician that does home births, but 96-ish, 95% of midwives are doing their births in a hospital setting so it's kind of confusing. They really are a nurse and an OB GYN had a baby and that's a midwife.Lesley Logan 5:41  Okay, I love that. Thank you for explaining it, because I think I definitely was one of the oh, it's like a doula. And I have a friend who's a doula, so I know clearly my friend is now finding out I didn't know what she did. Okay.Kristin Mallon 5:53  Well, and doulas are really, I always like to make this distinction and like the opportunity to educate people, because doulas have no medical training, no medical background, no medical certification, no licensing, they have to maintain and they can't perform any medical procedures. Whereas a midwife can do pretty much everything an obstetrician can do, except they can't be a primary surgeon on a surgical case.Lesley Logan 6:13  Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Okay, so then you have been, so my other thing with what you've been rocking at is that you've been in, like, women's health medical field for 20 years, and I wonder, what have you seen change for the better, and what still needs changing that we can, you know, make sure we're aware of. I'm 42. This is coming out when I'm 42. I love that people are like, wow, you don't look 42. That's great. I would love to stay looking young as long as possible. That's wonderful. But I don't want to feel, I would like to feel young, too. So I'm just really excited about what you do and what you know about women's health.Kristin Mallon 6:49  Yeah, so we've come so far. So in the last 20 years, I think we've made remarkable strides in miscarriage care, in contraception and fertility care, in reproductive care, in breast health, just kind of an awareness, a lot of mental health awareness, a lot of cancer awareness, cardiovascular awareness. I think the areas where we need to improve on is definitely access. Not all women have access to the types of care they want. There's just not enough OB GYNs. And, unfortunately, there's not enough OB GYNs, there's not enough midwives. We're not graduating enough to replace the ones that are leaving the workforce on a year-to-year basis. It's kind of a big problem. And then, of course, which is what FemGevity is all about, is I know everybody can relate so well to this. You go to the doctor, you don't feel right, and they tell you, your labs are normal, but something's still wrong. And that's really where FemGevity was born, or birthed, so to speak, is from that sensation, because I dealt with that for 20 years. I was like, something's still, like, labs are normal, something's still wrong. Okay, let me look, let me dig, let me keep going. Let me pull from functional medicine. Let me pull from integrative medicine. Let me pull from longevity medicine. And let's figure that out. And a lot of that has to do with how women change decade to decade. So men kind of have this big change at puberty, and then they kind of peak, and then they kind of slowly evolve and change really gradually. And women are so different decade to decade. And once I kind of really started to unravel that and pull that back, it was easy to apply that to all the different things, including menopause care and endometriosis care, PCOS care, fertility care, reproductive care, women's health in general, from head to toe. And you know, a big thing that we do at FemGevity is a lot of gut health, like the gut is such a big overlooked thing. People think oh, I'm tired. I need to check for anemia, I need to check my thyroid. But we're like, no, you need to check your gut. We need to check micronutrient levels. We need to look deeper. So that's where I think we still have a long way to go and a long way to come, and that's what we're doing at FemGevity.Lesley Logan 8:50  Yeah, I think every woman listening is nodding their head when you're like, I went to the doctor and like, everything is normal. I actually had a female doctor in the, I forget what department it was, but it was like in these extreme diseases. And the woman, I got sent to her and she's like, do you feel supported by your doctor? And I'm, no, why am I here? This is the scariest place I could be. I am now very scared. Do I have AIDS? What is going on? And she's like, okay, I think we need to find, it was like a gut doctor who sent me there and because he couldn't figure what's going on, because I kept insisting, I'm not right, something's not right, and so I just got passed off. And, you know, a lot of people have, like, experienced a lot of family or in the holidays or birthdays, and you hear someone going, oh, it's what I ate yesterday. It's what I ate yesterday. I'm like, is it though, or is it something from a week ago? Or is it something? Because the gut is such a complicated, to me, it's complicated, place like it's not necessarily what you ate in the last meal. It could be from another meal that you don't remember.Kristin Mallon 8:51  Yeah, absolutely. And I think what you're talking about is it's really not doctors' faults, because the way that the healthcare system is set up, at least in the United States, is it's really crisis care, sick care, catastrophic care, cancer care, you know, the big C's of care. And if you don't have a chronic condition, you're really going to your doctor and you're saying do I have a chronic condition? And your doctor is telling you truthfully, no, you don't have something like diabetes or high blood pressure or cardiac disease, liver disease, kidney disease, etc. And so there's this huge gap between optimal health and chronic care and crisis care and sick care that needs to be filled, which is like what we're doing, and there's so much to be done. There's so much and then obviously it gets into the whole prevention of chronic care and crisis care in the long term. That's where my passion lies. That's what I'm really just I want for myself, I want for my family, I want for my friends. And I'm just like, so excited to let other women know, and men too, that there's an option. There's someone that can help you. There is a medically trained, licensed professional that can help navigate you through that. Well, everything's fine here, but you still don't feel right.Lesley Logan 10:58  Yeah, thank you for explaining that, because it is true that if you're not one of those big C's, you kind of feel like you're in this abyss. And it is amazing that FemGevity's kind of hope is like trying to fill that gap, which is really great. But I think I wonder, I obviously worry, if you don't get someone like you, eventually you end up in a few C's. The thing that's been bothering you that they haven't figured out, because it's not glaringly obvious, it's going to lead you that way. So let's just say most of the women here are over 40. What are some of the things that they need to make sure that they're checking as they're planning their annuals for this year and things like that, I guess, preventative wise, and then also just so that they're aware and they could be watching things as their body changes.Kristin Mallon 11:34  Well, one of the things that I really noticed working with women for so long is that women are really intuitive, and they tend, you know, some women are born and blessed with this great sense of intuition at the age of six, but most women grow and evolve into their intuition. And so there's so many different things women can focus on in their 40s. And I think a lot of times they know, they know, like, should I be focusing on hormone health? Should I be focusing on gut health? Should I be focusing on exercise, diet, nutrition, sleep? You know, the list goes on. And so what I like to do is, I like to, whenever I meet with a woman, is I kind of like to tease that out of her and try to get a sense from what she's already thinking herself, and really encourage her to go along that path and that trajectory like, you know, well, I've been thinking I should work on my sleep. And I've been thinking I should get a sleep tracker. And I'm like, yes, let's do that. What are your symptoms? Okay, I encourage her and say, I can see how that could be related to sleep, or I can see how that could be related to gut, or that could be related to diet. So I think in your 40s, it's really like you already know, and it's just kind of giving yourself the confidence to be like, okay, I know I need to find someone that's an expert in X that can help me unravel what could this possibly be, and then heading down that path. Lesley Logan 12:49  That's really beautiful. How nice Kristin, we could just listen to the intuition instead of like, sometimes people are trying to get you not to listen to it. It's like, focus on this over here. Focus on this over here. I think that's really wonderful and supportive. Kristin Mallon 13:03  Yeah, I mean, I think if you don't know where to start, sometimes, I think women can also have periods of less intuition, which I think is sometimes, like a leveling up, sometimes a stock will go down before it shoots up. And so maybe if you're caught in that place where you're like, you know, I don't know where to start, my mom says this. My sister says this. My friend said this. Usually it's hormones and gut just start with hormones. Get those checked by someone like myself, who's a hormone expert, who can read between the lines of what a normal lab, because a normal lab is saying, okay, you don't have Addison's disease, you don't have Cushing's disease, you don't have diabetes, you don't have hypothyroidism, but yeah, do you have subclinical fatigue related, a low T3? Do you have not enough conversion of the hormone T3 to T4 which any normal endocrinologist is going to be like, that doesn't matter. You don't have Hashimoto's, you don't have autoimmune disease, but you do have something that's affecting you. So hormones is a really good place to start. And then gut health. I mean, we do so many gut tests every day, and we rarely find someone that has like, a perfectly optimal, normal functioning gut. You know, I would say like, 99% of the time there's room for improvement in the gut.Lesley Logan 14:06  That is so funny. As we are recording this, I'm awaiting like, an update on a gut test, because y'all found a parasite the first time. And I was like, oh, well, that.Kristin Mallon 14:15  Oh, fun. Lesley Logan 14:16  I know. I was like, well, that's, you know, and people are like, oh, which country do you think you got it? I'm like you can get it from sushi, guys. It's not like I have to leave the country for this. Who knows? So I'm excited to see if it's gone. And also I had some dysbiosis, and I am excited, because I can tell when my gut health is strong. I have so much more energy. I feel like a more confident person. I feel more unstoppable. My sleep is absolutely amazing. It's not a surprise to me that, like, I had a little gut situation while I was traveling, and my sleep is off. I'm like, something's maybe something's going on there. So I really love that. If they're not working with you at FemGevity, what are they asking for? Because I know when I try to ask my female general practitioner for a hormone test, she specifically said, oh, you can't test those. They change all the time. And I was just like, I'm paying for this. I don't really know what you're worried about. So what should they be asking for or looking at when it comes to getting those things tested?Kristin Mallon 15:10  Yeah, so hormone health. So really, you kind of just want to get all your sex steroid hormones, which include sex hormone binding globulin, estradiol. If you really want to go deeper, you can get your estrone level done and your estriol level done, which you know maybe might not necessarily be necessary, progesterone, testosterone, free and total thyroid, insulin, cortisol. We do a lot of also functional medicine testing within that so usually, like hemoglobin A1C, homocysteine, CBC, looking at lipid panels, chemistry, liver function, kidney function. That's the general census of like, where you kind of want to go down. Prolactin levels are there too. I can even give you a list, because I'm rattling these off the top of my head, if you want to include it in your show notes, of the hormones I recommend getting. Lesley Logan 15:58  Yeah, we love that. Also, we'll transcribe this guys, so you can just go to the show notes and just take a screenshot. Kristin says.Kristin Mallon 16:05  Yeah, and I want to make sure I didn't forget any there too. Lesley Logan 16:07  Yeah, yeah, we'll love that. Kristin Mallon 16:08  For gut health, so there's really two companies that do, I think, so, you know, my business partner, Michele Wispelwey, her whole background was in the diagnostic lab space, so she is like a lab guru and knows everything. And also myself, like working with women and working with labs gone through so many renditions of labs over time, and labs that closed, and labs that were new and startup labs and labs that merged. And so I think there's a pretty standard gut test called a GI-MAP test, and there's another standard gut test called GI Effects. So GI-MAP is by Diagnostic Solutions, and GI Effects is by Genova Diagnostics. And so you can ask for a GI-MAP that's pretty, most really with it, longevity, functional medicine, integrative medicine, doctors are going to know what a GI-MAP test is, and that's kind of your standard gut test. I always caution women about, this is, like, a really classic thing that I saw with the advent so we do a lot of genomics, and we do a lot of genetic testing too. And so 23andMe came on the scene, and everybody was getting this direct to consumer test, and they were giving it to me, and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so basic compared to what you can get from a licensed physician. And the same thing is true with like, over the counter gut tests. You can get an over the counter gut test that's probably going to cost you a similar amount of money when you go to a licensed medical provider, and it's just not going to tell you anywhere near as much like GI-MAP does, like 88 different pathogens and microbes. You're looking at yeast, parasites, you're looking for H. pylori, you're looking for dysbiosis, commensal bacteria. So good gut bacteria, bad gut bacteria, so many different things. You're getting virulence levels. So you're getting the actual amount. They're what are called PCR tests, which is like the kind of highest standard of care. So this was, like a big thing in COVID, was your COVID test, RNA, or DNA or PCR testing, and the PCR tests were the best tests. So you're just getting so much more when you go with those two companies. Lesley Logan 18:01  Yeah. So how often should we be doing this? We're getting our hormone test every year. Should we be doing a gut test annually? Is this something you have to do more often? How much is too much?Kristin Mallon 18:12  So I think once a year is probably the minimum, because you will be able to track yourself over time and be able to have data on yourself to look back at and say, okay, when I was 36 or when I was 46 or 56 my hormone levels were this and I felt this way. Some people check them every day. There's a, I just said don't do over the counter. But there is an over the counter test called Miracare, which is kind of like a fertility tracking device, where you can pee on a stick, and it will tell you what your daily progesterone and estrogen levels are. It tells you LH and FSH too, but that's not as important to the overall daily hormone picture. So you can do kind of anything but, once a year. The other thing about hormone testing is that it's important to know, like women get so much confusing information, do I need hormone testing? Do I not need hormone testing? Someone's giving me birth control without hormones or giving HRT without having my hormones tested. Like, why do I need it? Or why do I not need it? And so the gold standard hasn't been set yet. We haven't really come to a consensus as a medical community about how often should this be done. You know, we know in diabetes testing that someone should get a hemoglobin A1C like, every three to six months. We know in when someone's being put on a thyroid medication for the first time, we should check their thyroid every four to six weeks until it's managed and at a normal level. So this hasn't been set, which is why you have so many different clinicians with so many different conflicting views, including you don't need it or you do need it. The way we really use labs at FemGevity is once you've been looking at labs like I have for 20 years, you start to notice patterns. And even though these patterns aren't written down in a protocol by the American College of Obstetrician and Gynecologists, I'm just observationally matching it up with women have been telling me x and here's what the lab data is showing me. And so I'm using my clinical judgment. To kind of make those decisions. Also, it is true that your hormones can change so much, so when we look at an estrogen level, let's say you could be 33 in one blood draw and then in another blood draw with just a couple months apart, you could be like 133 but the main thing is is you're not zero, or you're not almost close to zero, and you're not 400 so you're kind of looking at it like a range versus an exact number. We do a lot of hormone balancing, and we do prescribe HRT and hormone replacement therapy. And so women will start on a hormone and their levels will actually go down. And so they're really confused. Well, I'm taking this extra hormone, but my levels are going down. And so it could just be exactly to what you said, like where we caught them in their cycle when we tested the first time, and then where we're catching them in their cycle and we test the second time. And if they don't have a menstrual cycle and are having a period anymore, they're still having ebbs and flows. Hormones are pulsatile. They pulse even like any hormone, like thyroid or insulin, insulin is a hormone, too. You can think about it, it just pulses into the bloodstream. And so are you catching it up on a trop or on a bow? And that's why we need to know. You know, let's say we give someone testosterone, for example, are you coming back with a male level in your bloodstream? Okay, that's too high. We need to cut down. So we're not waiting for symptoms to come up, symptoms of too much testosterone. We're checking the labs to make sure that we're in a ballpark. It's not so specific, and I think that can help women to interpret their labs and also to understand the big discrepancy. Well, this practitioner says this, and this practitioner says this, and neither of them are probably wrong.Lesley Logan 21:34  Yeah, first of all, I love that you have so much experience. As a Pilates instructor, right, when I was a new teacher, I'm like, okay, I don't know what that is. And then, as I've been teaching for almost 20 years, it's okay most people, when I see that, they have a hard time with this. So let's do this exercise over here, because you start to understand the patterns that are happening, and it makes an art to the science, I think. And also I appreciate you explaining that there isn't a gold standard yet, and that's unfortunate, because they just haven't been testing enough. There just hasn't been we lost a lot of time back when they thought HRT was the worst thing that could happen. I feel like we've we're trying to catch up with I feel like they're in the maybe it's just because now I'm 42 and that's what my algorithm shows. But I do feel like there's a lot more people researching this and coming up and testing things out, so we can have more people explore, and then we can learn more things. So that makes me happy. Okay, you and Michele started this amazing company together. Obviously, you're an incredible doctor. You know so much. What has been the funnest thing about starting a business, and what is the hardest thing that you're that you're like you are trying to because here's why I'm coming at this. I feel like I'm looking at, oh, my God, she is a doctor. She probably has her sleep under control, her hormones under control, all these things. Has it been easy to keep a balance in your own life doing this business and what's been the funnest part about what you guys do?Kristin Mallon 23:00  Yeah, so I would say that the funnest part is really getting to work together. Like, we really like each other, and we really get along, and we really have a lot of fun together. And so when we get to work together, it's like you get to work with your best friend. Like every day. It's really a really fun thing. I think, from the challenge perspective, I personally am a really big believer in like vibration attracts like vibration. And so as long as I'm kind of keeping my vibration in check and keeping my self clean, and I'm looking to reflect that reality outside of me, then everything kind of usually everything works out for me, and everything kind of falls into place. It's just kind of been my experience in life. So the challenge is, is that when things get off track, I usually have to remember to look in the mirror and be like, okay, what is it about me that is like, what thoughts or what influences am I allowing to come into my sphere and my energetic field that aren't in alignment with me, because that's being reflected in my outside world. So that's probably the big challenge, I would say. Lesley Logan 24:08  I so understand that, I really do, because it's not at the plate, and ladies, it's not, oh, everything is our fault. It's the, hold on, what did I bring to this energy that is causing this? Because, you know, there are people who just have force of natures, but I find that if I'm feeling a little nervous, if I'm feeling a little frenetic, if I'm feeling like I don't have control over things, and then I go into the business, the way that I ask for something comes from frenetic, non-controlled, not necessarily a specific place, and then it's a domino effect of the communication is off, and it's hold on, you know? So we do have to kind of take a step back and ask ourselves that, and that's the hardest thing to do in the moment. It's so hard in the moment to go. Hold on. Let me take a pause. How's my vibration? What am I bringing to this? Kristin Mallon 24:52  Yeah, it's hard if you say it's hard (inaudible). I always use a quote that I drilled into my mind, which is, like circumstances don't matter. Only state of being matters. And it's the state of being that makes your circumstances. It's not what happens, it's what I do with what happens. And I can usually, almost always have anything that happens be to my benefit and be to my good. It's kind of like going with the flow and being in the river versus trying to, like, paddle in a specific pattern. You don't know where all the rocks are, and you don't know where all the bumps are, and so if you kind of let the river take you, you usually can, you know, it doesn't look straight, and it always you're like, Hmm, I don't know if I would like go all the way over to the right, but then you realize that, oh, there was dead current in the middle of the river, and you needed to get to the side to get to the fast current. So I kind of try to think of that as much as possible. You know, it's not, I don't always win, but I'm winning most of the time, I hope. Lesley Logan 25:48  Kristin, that is so cool. That is amazing. We're clipping that and I'm gonna put that on my wall, because it is, I, especially, most of the women listening to this, they are caring for young children. They have older parents or family members in their life. They have. Kristin Mallon 26:08  Yeah, they're the in betweens. Lesley Logan 26:09  Yes, they have and they have jobs that they have to do. And then it can feel like the circumstances around you are just hard. And so what you just gave us, is such an amazing gift. Is like the state of being, like, how can I focus on that? So do you have tools? Or is it like a mantra that you say, is it that just that the mantra helps or like?Kristin Mallon 26:30  Oh my favorite mantra, I can give you my favorite mantra that works so well. Two words. So what? So what? Whatever it is like, so what? I mean, it works for 99.9% of things. If you're like this, that I'm going to be late, I didn't put the sandwich in the lunch bag, and I didn't do the permission slip, and I forgot to put these slides in a presentation. So what, you know? And I think that's something that's always really helped me to kind of see the forest through the trees. Lesley Logan 27:03  Yeah, I can see that because I am someone who's like, we're going to be late. And unless it's the plane, probably going to be most things are fine, (inaudible) catches the flight (inaudible).Kristin Mallon 27:16  Even if it is the plane being late might have your benefit, might be to your highest good, because maybe you met someone that now you're sitting on a different flight, or you ended up being able to not miss a phone call that was coming through. So, as long as I allow that type of vibration into my field, I usually end up having those results. The other thing that I think is super helpful, that I also kind of like encourage people to do, is, if you just do it a little bit, it kind of becomes second nature, which is to watch your definitions, watch how you define things. Because even like saying, oh, it's hard to do X, yeah, if you say, I'm working on doing X, or I'm getting better at doing X, or I'm improving my X, it's a much different definition than it's hard. And it's so fun for me. Like, when I first started doing this practice a couple years ago, it was so fun to change the definitions of things and just be like, oh, this happened. Well, that happened because it was so funny. My bra was showing or, I don't know, something happened where I didn't get the job I wanted to get, or I didn't get the client I wanted to get. And instead of it being like a failure, it was a learning experience, or instead of it being a mess up, it was an opportunity for growth or development or internal reflection, or for me to get this thing that I'm talking to you about right now, which is that I can choose how I define things. Lesley Logan 28:38  I really like that, because I do think it's fun. I'm going to keep working on catching myself. But one of the ones that sticks with me, because I was raised in a household that doesn't have a lot of money, and so they'd always say we don't have any money. There's no money for that. No you can't have it. There's no money for that. Kristin Mallon 28:50  I was, too.Lesley Logan 28:51  And I was, so was my husband, and we have been really conscious. I can always tell when one of us is in a bad state, because the words we'll say we can't afford that, which is like a not, like a non-sentence in this house, because the better phrase is, we are choosing not to invest in that right now. Oh, you know what? That's great. I'm not investing in that right now. Or that's actually not something we're spending money on today. So it's not that you don't have the money, it's not that you can't afford it. It's just not a priority in this moment. Kristin Mallon 29:20  That's a perfect example of the definitions. That sentiment. So, do you know the book by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich?Lesley Logan 29:27  Yes, I love it. I listened to the old tape or whatever. I maybe I should do that again as the year starts.Kristin Mallon 29:33  Yeah. Well, that's the epitome of what you just said. That's one of the big lessons that he talks about in that book. And that book influenced The Secret. So that's (inaudible).Lesley Logan 29:42  And everyone you can go to the original source, it's still out there. Do you remember the part? Because you're, I don't know if you maybe it didn't stick with you, but he mentioned the woman who would always put her hand on her left breast and go oh, I'm gonna get cancer. I just know I'm gonna die from cancer. And she'd always say that, and then she died of breast cancer. She like, literally, she kept putting her hand on herself saying she's gonna get it. It's like not saying that anyone who gets cancer did that to themselves. That's not it at all. But it's just like we, our words, have so much power, and we really do. I love that redefining. You guys, how are you going, like, I wonder you guys have to send in to the Be It Pod and to FemGevity which words you're redefining. I think that'd be really fun for us all to see as an experiment. Kristin, what are you most excited about right now? This is out in 2025. What are you excited that's coming up, that you guys are doing? What's going on? Kristin Mallon 30:30  I'm really excited that this concept of, so I think over the years, we've kind of defined it as functional medicine, and then we defined it as integrative medicine, and now we're defining it as longevity medicine, and I'm just so excited to be a part of that ecosystem and the effects that it has. I mean, I work with women primarily, so the effects that it has on women and the aha moments they have, and that feeling that, I think, that liberation that they've been looking for for so long that they're not just like, going down, down, down, down, down, but that they're actually going up, up, up and getting better is like, so rewarding and so fun that I'm just like, so passionate and excited about sharing that with women as much as possible. Anybody who wants to hear me talk about it, I'm like, do you want to hear me talk about optimization of health? Like, I'm totally down.Lesley Logan 31:20  I also like that it's changed to longevity medicine because the other ones were a bit vague and hard for I feel like this is what people want. It's not when you're like, oh yeah, I want a functional medicine. I guess that makes sense, but it doesn't sound sexy. I want a long life where I have longevity. I don't want to just be old. I want to have be strong and energized when I'm older, you know, I want all those things. So I think that's really cool. Since you love to talk about optimal health, is there anything else about optimizing our health that we didn't talk about that we should know about, that we should check on? Kristin Mallon 31:51  I always say don't give up on yourself, because I think women, so many times have been told no, or they go to the wrong doctor, or they hit dead ends and they think there's no hope. And if you don't give up on yourself, and you hear a podcast like this, and you're like, okay, I need to find a longevity medicine doctor. I need to find a hormone balancing expert. Or they can come over to FemGevity if they're in the United States, we can usually work with them in some way. There is a path to not just feeling better, but feeling like fantastic and great and energized. And I know there's people listening that are like, yeah, this girl's crazy. There's no way I'm so chronically fatigued. My kids are little, my parents are dying or sick. There is, there really, really, really, is just keep going on yourself and don't give up until you find the right person and the right practitioner to help you. It's worth it. So worth it.Lesley Logan 32:41  Oh, I love that. Thank you for that gift. That's a good one. We're gonna take a brief break, and then we're gonna find out where people can find you, follow you, work with you and your Be It Action Items. Lesley Logan 32:51  All right, Kristin, where can people find you? I'm gonna give you the link right now. You can go to beitpod.com/femgevity, because you guys can go and get a call and see how they can help you. But where else on the internet are y'all at?Kristin Mallon 33:04  So our website, femgevityhealth.com and all social media channels @femgevity. So we're on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn.Lesley Logan 33:15  It's probably really fun to be doctors and researchers that have to then learn social media and all the hacks. And I also love that I've got my captions to actually spell FemGevity out correctly. They can't spell my name, they can't spell my dog's name, but they can spell FemGevity. So that's the way to go, ladies. Yeah, okay, you've given us a lot of great stuff already, but for our action takers who are listening, bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted, steps people can take to be it till they see it. What do you have for us?Kristin Mallon 33:48  So my best advice is, whenever in doubt, follow your highest excitement in any given situation. It's a breadcrumb trail that kind of leads you to your biggest and best self. So follow your highest excitement to the best of your ability with no insistence or assumption on the outcome, and it always leads you to the best location, place, time for you.Lesley Logan 34:09  Oh my gosh, you're so cool. Kristin Mallon 34:14  Yeah, you too.Lesley Logan 34:15  Well, thank you, but, yeah, like, what a great tip. That's so fun, because most people say, like, follow your gut. And I've got these people going my gut's off something's wrong. But highest excitement, oh. Kristin Mallon 34:28  It's easy to do, because even if you think about it, you're like, and as soon as we get off this call, right, there's going to be a whole bunch of things you could do. You could check your email, you could take your dog for a walk, you could stretch, you could do Pilates. But if you just tune into like, which one is most exciting, more than any of the others. It'll lead you down a really thrilling and rewarding path.Lesley Logan 34:47  Oh yes, yes, it will, oh yeah, the doctor has ordered that I have to follow my highest excitement. I'm going to do that as soon as I hang up. Y'all please, if you, if this at all has you intrigued, contact FemGevity. It's really nice to have doctors who actually want to look at things and look at patterns, and, you know, don't want to just tell you, it's all good, yep, that problem. I don't know. It's really nice if someone listened to you, and I will just shout out, I was traveling for almost a month, and I got an email from your team going okay, you have to do your call. And I'm like, oh, my God, a doctor that wants me to come for my appointment. They not that other doctors don't. I'm sure I have doctors listening, but you can wait in the waiting room for 45 minutes. You guys make sure. Made sure I made my call, and I'm so glad I did, because I needed that call, and it's just really nice to have someone to look out for my optimal health. So thank you so much for all you do at FemGevity. Lesley Logan 35:40  You guys, how are you going to use these tips in your life? Make sure you tag FemGevity. Tag the Be It Pod. And share this with a girlfriend who, like is frustrated with their health and they're feeling stuck and feeling going in circles. You know, it's kind of nice to be reminded to not give up on yourself. So thank you, Kristin, for that. And until next time everyone, Be It Till You See It. Lesley Logan 35:59  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 36:41  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 36:46  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 36:51  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 36:58  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 37:01  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy