[0.9] The following podcast is a deer media production.
[4.4] Welcome back to another episode of Conversations with Cam,
[8.1] a fun little bonus episode that I'm so excited to share with you all
[12.1] because it is the co-founder and co-CEO of one of my favorite brands,
[17.7] parallel, and her name is Alex Taylor.
[20.0] We honestly share a lot in common of our origin stories of leaving
[26.6] the corporate world to start something of our own.
[29.6] And even though we went different paths
[31.3] of what that's something is that we started,
[33.7] there are a lot of similarities between our stories
[36.3] and then also our passions and the focus of our work.
[40.0] And I think this conversation really ties all of that
[44.0] in the sense of we talk a ton about motherhood.
[46.1] We talk a ton about the birth of a mother,
[48.2] which is parallels new campaign that I am so honored
[50.5] to be a part of.
[51.5] We talk about the highs and the lows
[53.5] and her experience running a company as a mom.
[56.3] We cover a lot.
[57.9] And if you are not familiar, parallel is the first and only OBGYN founded vitamin
[62.8] company offering clean targeted nutrition for each distinct stage of a woman's
[67.3] hormonal journey, which I find so important because those of us who are prenatal
[72.5] or in our first trimester do not need the same exact supplements as those of us
[76.9] who are postpartum and parallel really takes that into account and created a
[82.1] vitamin pack for all of the different stages.
[84.6] Each formula is meticulously developed by team of OB-GYNs and women's health experts
[89.6] so you know you're getting exactly what your body needs when it needs it.
[92.9] I also am a huge fan of their triple support protein powder that I put in my smoothie every
[97.9] single morning and I'm honored to be a part of their birth of a mother campaign and also
[102.6] I just hosted this wonderful brunch with them this past week to celebrate Mother's Day.
[107.2] Truly like I am just obsessed with this brand.
[109.9] If you want to check them out, you can go to parallelhealth.com.
[113.5] That's P-E-R-E-L-E-L-HELF.com and use code camera nut check out for 20% off your first purchase.
[148.6] So I feel like we have very similar stories in aspect.
[152.8] Like they're very parallel, if you will, but they really are.
[157.2] They have a lot of similarities in our health journeys and how we got to this side of the
[162.5] business.
[163.5] And what we're doing.
[164.5] Yes.
[165.5] So I kind of want to kick it off there.
[167.5] It's like, what is your health journey that eventually obviously led you to fail parallel?
[173.3] But take us back to like your mid-twenties.
[176.2] Completely.
[177.2] Well, first of all, I think it's so wild that everyone has a health journey.
[181.9] Yeah.
[182.9] It's whether or not we've shared it or whether or not it's reared its head in our lives.
[187.7] But for me, it became very pronounced when I was in my mid-twenties.
[191.9] I was a young executive.
[193.9] I had held executive roles at different organizations.
[197.7] Went from Google and was, you know,
[200.1] employee number 20 at who went where
[201.9] and really helped build that company over five years
[204.7] and became the president.
[206.6] Running a large media organization.
[208.1] And I scaled that company across three continents.
[211.4] It was a lot for a 20 something.
[213.6] That's a lot.
[214.4] I did a lot of coaching to put some proverbial rings
[216.5] on my tree because I also suffered from crazy imposter syndrome
[220.1] and we can get into that.
[221.7] But at any rate, I was living that girl boss life
[225.9] with a 5 30 a.m.
[227.6] Do my soul cycle drink, my lemon water, high intensity workouts
[231.4] all day long.
[232.3] That coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee coffee.
[235.4] And I started feeling pretty bad.
[238.7] Physically, and I didn't pay attention.
[240.9] I just pushed through it.
[243.0] And of course, life has a way of forcing you to slow down.
[248.1] I was being honored on the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
[250.9] And I was in.
[251.8] Oh, girl.
[252.9] I was in there to grow a boss in their 20s.
[255.0] I, yeah, I mean, it was what it was.
[257.5] It was, yeah, it is.
[260.0] So at any rate, I was like the total archetype.
[262.3] Yeah.
[263.1] And I was in Israel actually because they were doing a big ceremony
[266.7] and trip there to honor the people.
[269.5] And I broke out in shingles.
[272.2] So did I.
[273.1] And this is where I really mean to you.
[274.5] What are you?
[275.4] Yeah.
[276.2] Yeah, my goodness.
[277.1] Where were yours?
[277.9] My remrapped around my torso on my one side, of course.
[280.7] just tell Taylor sign you as well back on my neck.
[283.1] Oh my God.
[284.2] Like the grossest thing I've ever seen.
[286.7] Oh, I look at the pictures that's so sorry.
[288.6] It was awful.
[289.7] So painful.
[290.7] I think God we didn't get in our eyes.
[292.6] I mean, for that can go real self.
[294.9] And so that really set me off in my journey to understand what is happening in my body.
[299.3] I'm so suddenly lethargic.
[302.1] I wasn't me and I knew it.
[304.2] And then this was a very pronounced way of saying, hey, you need to slow down.
[307.7] I think that's really interesting is that our bodies are so smart and sometimes our brain
[312.3] can override it until our body just says, slams on the brakes and that was the moment for
[316.9] me.
[317.9] So after seeing numerous doctors, over nine months of seeing, I think I saw over seven
[324.5] different doctors.
[326.3] I finally got a diagnosis that I had an autoimmune disease and that my thyroid was compromised
[331.5] and all these different things.
[333.8] And it really opened my eyes.
[335.4] One to the fact that, wait a minute.
[337.5] I am very fortunate.
[340.0] I am a white woman who lives on the West Side in LA,
[343.9] and I am fully aware of that privilege
[345.9] and also the access that I have to great medicine.
[348.4] And that is not something that I take that for granted.
[352.0] But the fact that even me, it took that long
[354.9] to get an answer to what was happening in my body,
[357.7] made me acutely aware of the fact that this isn't just my story.
[362.2] As I started to share what I was going through,
[364.0] I learned that so many other people suffer
[366.9] without answers for years.
[369.0] You know, endometriosis can take up to 10 years to get to diagnosis.
[372.0] You're having a hell of a lot more painful than what I was dealing with.
[375.4] And so at any rate, it really opened up my eyes to how little we know about our bodies
[379.8] and how little the medical community knows about women's bodies.
[384.3] You know, so literally it's insane.
[386.1] You know, not so long ago, we, women of childbearing potential, so hi, that's us,
[394.2] were omitted from clinical trials for the better part of over 20 years, dating back to
[398.7] the 1970s through the 90s.
[401.5] And it wasn't until 2016 that the National Institutes of Health actually recognized that
[408.7] sex should be of biological variable and that we are not in fact small men and that we
[413.9] do metabolize things differently.
[415.6] And that disease is disproportionately affected us differently and show up differently.
[420.9] even as recently as you know, last year, funding patterns still disproportionately favor male diseases.
[428.9] And we're left to shoulder these repercussions of years of misdiagnosis and lack of clarity and support.
[434.9] It's really wild because I feel like this to any degree, like obviously there's a spectrum,
[441.5] but there are so many people in my life, in my DMs that have this mid-20s, late 20s, early 30s,
[448.9] weird health shit. Everything's going haywire. No one can get a diagnosis. Like for me,
[455.3] I had chingos tell me about you. I was working in sales and trading. So very intense.
[461.1] Like same thing, girl boss. Like yeah, I was in the 5 30 a.m. berries. Like it was crazy.
[467.5] Very different life. Everything was fast paced. And I was done with a ton of anxiety and
[473.2] digestive health issues. And I remember one day feeling something on my neck and being like,
[477.7] I was like, fuck, by like did it.
[479.1] It was over the summer.
[479.9] So I thought like, oh, we got fed at the beach.
[481.9] And then I had my coworker like,
[483.6] take a picture of it.
[484.7] I was like, is it a pimple?
[485.7] And what is this?
[486.6] Yeah.
[487.4] And then I have photos on my phone of it,
[488.6] just like getting progressively worse every day.
[491.1] And I go to a doctor because eventually I'm like,
[493.2] I need to, like something's happening here.
[494.9] Yes.
[495.5] And the doctor's like, you have shingles.
[497.7] And I remember telling my boss and he's like, okay.
[500.7] And I was like, what?
[501.5] I don't know if it was a bee here.
[503.0] And I don't think this is normal for some of my age.
[505.4] I think you're fine.
[506.7] And I was like, okay, no, no, no, no.
[508.2] I straight up went, stop.
[509.5] This is a different time.
[510.8] I went from the desk to the hospital
[512.9] to get my appendix taken out.
[514.0] No, you didn't.
[514.9] I left the desk at one home, attacked back.
[518.4] I walked over to my sister's apartment
[520.2] who lived in my building.
[521.3] I knocked on her door and I said,
[522.3] I think I need to go to the hospital.
[523.7] Can you take me?
[524.9] I mean, I went to the hospital.
[526.2] My appendix up before midnight.
[527.3] I have so many questions.
[528.4] A, like, how do we not create environments
[530.3] for people today where that is normalized?
[532.7] And secondly, I mean, I'm so sorry.
[536.0] I mean, it's a fun thing.
[536.8] It is what it is.
[538.0] I like, you know, it's a good character, I guess.
[541.6] And I think it taught me how to navigate certain things
[545.5] as a manager, as an employee, whatever it might be.
[548.2] But same to you, I was then seeing so many doctors
[552.5] under the sun getting put on antibiotic
[554.9] after antibiotic after antibiotics, because I had SIBO.
[557.5] No one could figure out what was going on.
[559.0] Finally, I saw functional medicine practitioner
[562.5] and I had mercury poisoning.
[564.4] And they were like, I think this is the culprit
[567.6] of everything you're experiencing
[569.3] because it's allowing for this bacterial growth.
[571.5] It's allowing for the shingles to be present in your body.
[574.7] Wow.
[575.7] So I did this whole collision therapy.
[577.5] Like it's honestly crazy when I think back
[579.3] on the time of my life.
[580.1] That's my way.
[580.9] I have a friend who also got a Mercury poison,
[582.9] and it's crazy.
[583.7] It's a similar story, but also how long it took her
[586.7] to get that answer.
[587.4] And it was a fun,
[588.1] a medicine physician that ultimately helped her
[590.9] connect all the dots.
[592.4] our medical system is very silent in terms of how we look at
[595.6] the whole body support.
[597.2] And it's so silent.
[598.4] And I think then we add in the woman's health specifically
[602.8] like reproductive health.
[604.1] Like I've been on this journey of PMDD and really intense periods
[609.1] and throwing up my cramps or so bad and trying to figure out.
[612.7] And I go to my OB and she's like,
[614.2] all right, I want to put you on an IUD.
[615.5] And I'm like, but isn't, aren't there maybe other things
[618.0] we should be doing first tests or like my heart goes
[622.2] out to all of these physicians because there's two challenges for them.
[627.8] One, there's the systemic challenge of how much time they have for patient care.
[631.9] And the way our whole insurance system has a chokehold essentially on the type of care
[636.6] that you receive.
[638.2] And then secondly, not to the fault of the physician, but the fact that they have so little
[643.0] information even work with it.
[644.7] They're not being taught it.
[645.7] Well, they're not being taught it.
[646.9] You know, it goes back to medical school.
[649.4] Even then it's because these medical schools just don't even have the information to teach.
[654.0] They just don't know.
[655.3] And so you just start to peel the proverbial onion and see how complicated this whole issue is.
[660.4] And then, and this is how it manifests.
[662.3] Yeah.
[663.3] Where does it start though?
[664.3] I don't want to fix it right here.
[665.3] But like, is it research?
[666.5] Like, is that what we need more of?
[668.5] I kind of believe that where I have approached it because I've decided to dedicate my life
[674.1] in my center of gravity to pushing up this mountain and creating change is that the bottom
[679.7] of the pyramid is only when we have that foundational knowledge of what is happening in our
[684.7] bodies. Can we therein teach others how to support it and also create therapies and solutions
[690.0] to support us there. And so the way that I see it is yes, it is very much rooted in research.
[696.9] And there are some other inputs that obviously impact that one is equipping researchers with
[702.4] with the ability to prove things
[703.7] so that they can even get meaningful grants.
[705.7] I mean, there's a lot of kind of education
[707.2] on the research and medical community
[709.8] just to get to the point where they can get the funding.
[712.9] But to me, it's very much about funding research
[716.0] that supports our understanding
[717.4] of how women's bodies work
[719.2] so that we can therein educate the next generation
[721.7] of not only researchers, but physicians
[724.7] and people that we're getting care from
[727.1] in all modalities, not just Western medicine,
[729.5] but functional medicine practitioners,
[731.1] dieticians everyone.
[732.9] So they can actually bring that into high touch patient care
[735.5] and give us support and diagnosis faster.
[738.5] I mean, women are diagnosed later than men
[741.5] for over 700 diseases,
[743.1] including Alzheimer's, which is extremely risky.
[746.2] And women today will live 25% more of their life
[749.2] in poor health compared to men,
[751.5] which adds up to 75 million years of life lost per year.
[755.5] Holy shit.
[756.4] I mean, I believe it when I just talk to my girlfriends,
[758.6] how everyone has something going on.
[760.2] I also feel like this conversation can get so murky in a sense because you don't want to, and I don't
[768.9] want to err on the side of like, well, I don't believe doctors because of the political climate
[773.4] right now can go a little wellness and then suddenly we're like on the far right. But I think there's
[781.2] a world where these two things can coexist together. Absolutely. I am so grateful for modern medicine.
[787.2] And I think we need to improve the way that we are treating reproductive health.
[792.0] Completely.
[792.9] And in general, the knowledge around how a female's body works.
[798.3] And by the way, there is a wealth of knowledge that we do have.
[801.7] Yeah.
[802.0] And a lot of physicians do take that into practice.
[804.5] And there are requirements for those that are board certified to do continuing education in
[809.3] the like, but we can push harder.
[810.9] Mm-hmm.
[811.4] And I think a lot of that obviously was put into tumult in terms of
[815.7] of our understanding, respect all those things
[818.8] with what happened over the past five years.
[821.5] But I agree, I think two things can be true.
[823.9] And that's the opportunity we have ahead of us.
[826.5] Is how do we fund this research?
[828.0] How do we equip this next generation of physicians,
[830.7] the knowledge that they need to take care of us better?
[833.3] But also, we can't do anything unless we all know
[836.1] that this is an issue.
[837.2] And everyone's walking around wondering,
[839.1] why am I not getting a diagnosis?
[840.5] Well, let me tell you, it's because we don't know.
[842.6] Right.
[843.5] It's pretty simple.
[845.2] And we need to fund it.
[846.4] And that is very much something that is being dismantled
[849.7] currently, but the hope is that it's also going to be rebuilt.
[853.1] And how do we ensure that women's health is prioritized
[855.3] in that conversation?
[856.4] You know?
[857.2] Yeah.
[857.7] Well, I was just going to say, take us back so you have shingles.
[860.5] Yes.
[861.3] How do you then end up leaving?
[864.2] Were you still working in the corporate world at this time?
[866.9] I was, yes, yes.
[868.2] And it set me.
[869.4] I had no idea that that lovely case of shingles
[872.5] were changed by life actually for the better.
[875.1] changed my life for the better. I had another job opportunity at the time that was incredibly
[881.2] amazing dream job I had always dreamt about decided not to pursue it and really thought to myself,
[887.7] what do I need to do? And when I dug in and connected with all my different,
[893.2] you know, my care team, my healers, you know, but I had like a, you know, endocrinologist. I had a
[899.0] functional medicine doctor. Again, I was very lucky to have a care team, but they told me I need to
[903.6] to do three things immediately if I wanted to take care of myself.
[907.2] And I'm so grateful that I listened to their advice.
[910.3] One was they asked me to cut gluten, easy peasy.
[913.6] I live in LA.
[914.8] What was me?
[915.6] That was so simple to do.
[917.2] Secondly, they put me on a synthetic thyroid hormone,
[920.5] which I took for a long time.
[922.8] I actually am now in remission because of all my lifestyle
[925.2] changes.
[926.3] And then third, I changed my life.
[930.5] I reduced my stress to look at me at that time and say,
[934.9] you need to reduce your stress.
[936.4] I was like, first of all, how insulting?
[939.9] It's not that easy.
[941.6] Like, you do not understand the weight that I carry every day.
[945.5] And again, I will be the first to admit, so self-imposed.
[949.4] Yeah, but it's, but you're regardless.
[951.3] But in a way, they're like slow down.
[952.5] I'm like, fuck you. I can't slow down.
[953.8] I can't slow down.
[954.5] But be less stressed.
[956.5] It's not that easy.
[958.1] But I really locked into that because I did.
[960.7] I had to change.
[962.0] I was so rigid.
[963.7] I was so wound up.
[965.3] I was like, I was telling my team, I'm like, do you want to be the tree or the water?
[969.8] The tree when it gets blown with wind will snap and break.
[974.2] But water will flow around it.
[975.8] So how do you be like water?
[977.2] And that, through my coaching and everything that I was doing at the time, it made me recognize,
[982.0] okay, I do have to change.
[983.6] That's when I started meditating.
[984.6] It's when I started changing the way that I take care of my body, not doing soul cycle
[989.0] every morning, but I'm really helped.
[992.2] I really prioritized that.
[993.7] And then I also thought about the work environment I was in.
[996.6] It's like, I'm pretty sure I probably only get one go around.
[1000.7] Is this what I want to be doing?
[1002.2] Do I want my life to be rooted in this culture?
[1005.1] And I really thought about what my next move needed to be.
[1007.3] And I did make a career change after that, a big one.
[1009.9] And that ultimately set me on my way to make it clear that, you know what?
[1013.9] I feel a lot of brands and companies for other people.
[1017.9] What happens if I do that myself?
[1020.5] And that there was a lot of therapy before that
[1022.4] because I didn't think that was worthy.
[1023.9] Again, the imposter syndrome, rear to toe,
[1026.4] but ultimately it led me to founding my business parallel.
[1030.2] And I look back and while that was a challenging path
[1033.7] and road and as I was in the thick of it,
[1036.5] it was like how is this all making sense?
[1039.6] It snapped into focus the second that I keyed in
[1042.1] on what I needed to do.
[1043.3] and that would start this business.
[1045.0] I mean, as I said, I deeply resonate with the story
[1048.4] because I got all the same things from the dot minus
[1050.7] the thyroid hormone, but like slow down.
[1054.3] Need to meditate, you need to turn all.
[1056.6] And at the time I was like, I hate you.
[1059.0] And now it's what I tell everyone else to do.
[1060.7] And I'm like, I'm that annoying thing.
[1062.7] Same, same.
[1064.0] It really did change.
[1065.7] I mean, I still have so much to work on.
[1067.8] And I teeter between going back to some of my old antics
[1071.4] because it's where I feel the most comfortable
[1073.2] I'm like, I thrive in chaos.
[1075.0] So like trying to slow myself down to be comfortable
[1077.5] with stillness is really difficult.
[1079.9] It's so hard.
[1080.9] But I make such a difference.
[1082.2] It does.
[1083.0] And I think there's something actually really interesting
[1084.9] about people like us that have a hard time being still.
[1090.1] A couple of weeks ago with spring break,
[1092.0] I was home with my kids.
[1094.5] And my husband said, why don't you just sit down?
[1097.2] And I was like, fuck, I have so much to do.
[1100.0] Do you not understand?
[1101.1] Like, I have to do this.
[1102.4] I have to book that.
[1103.4] I had, he's like, just sit.
[1105.3] And he's like, it says so much more about you that you can't sit.
[1110.2] Like why can't you be still?
[1111.8] You're worthy of it.
[1112.8] You can be still.
[1113.8] And I think it's because our generation was raised with the fact that women were finally
[1117.6] in the workplace.
[1118.6] Women finally got credit cards.
[1120.4] My mom built an incredible career for herself.
[1123.1] She bought a house by herself.
[1124.4] Like, she did so much.
[1126.5] And so I think, at least for me, it might be looking at that and saying, like, look what
[1131.4] we did, I want to live up to that. I want to do more. I want to keep moving because look
[1135.7] out much progress we have. But again, we've all taken it too far at the cost of our own
[1141.4] health.
[1142.4] We also were very much in the girl boss era of our 20s. How old are you? 30, I'll be 38
[1148.5] next month.
[1149.5] Okay, so we're like the same age-ish. I feel like so much of our age growing up in our
[1155.2] 20s was like you have to go hard in the gym. You have to go hard. You have to go hard at
[1160.0] night, like no sleep. And that's what we were sold as like we were supposed to be doing that.
[1166.0] And that was the narrative we showed on social media. Totally. Constantly busy. Constantly
[1170.9] done. I joke about this. I said this on social media. And like so many people resonated. But
[1176.2] I oftentimes say I wish I could live inside my husband's brain because it's just like,
[1180.6] I think and peaceful. So peaceful. And the other night, he I came as heirs and I was like,
[1186.1] Oh, what are you watching?
[1187.1] He was like, I don't know.
[1188.1] And I was like, what do you mean?
[1189.9] And he's like, I don't know.
[1191.1] And he's like, are you watching it?
[1192.5] You're not on your phone.
[1193.6] And he's like, yeah.
[1194.4] And I was like, but what is it?
[1195.6] And he's like, I don't know.
[1196.8] And I was like, well, did you put it on?
[1199.1] He's like, yeah.
[1200.0] I'm like, how did we get here?
[1202.0] He's like, I opened Netflix and like,
[1203.9] it was just the top movies.
[1205.6] So I just clicked it.
[1206.9] And I was like, I am so jealous
[1211.9] and want so badly to live in a brain that can just
[1216.1] not care and show and just throw something on like in my head.
[1220.5] I'm like, but you're wasting time.
[1224.1] Don't you have a list of things that you want to watch?
[1225.9] Yes.
[1226.9] And if you have this time to watch something,
[1227.9] aren't you like trying to fight?
[1228.9] Like I for trying to make sure that this little time you have that is the most thing you should possibly watch.
[1233.2] It's the way to work on with my therapist all the time of like constantly obsessed with efficiency.
[1238.1] And I think it's really easy to relate to if you understand and really easy to be like,
[1243.0] what are you talking about?
[1243.8] Yeah.
[1244.8] If you are also obsessed with efficiency, it's hard to rewire your brain to allow yourself
[1251.6] to just be.
[1252.6] To just be.
[1253.6] It's so, I mean, that's why meditation for me has been so powerful.
[1257.8] Yeah.
[1258.8] But I have to do it in the morning.
[1259.8] Same.
[1260.8] I actually did a Vedic meditation retreat.
[1263.3] Was that two years ago?
[1265.2] Interesting.
[1266.2] Why?
[1267.2] It's really based on this premise that you have to sit and meditate twice a day.
[1271.3] It doesn't even.
[1272.3] What?
[1273.3] What was the program?
[1274.6] It was through actually someone who sits on our parallel panel
[1277.1] or needs a paddy,
[1278.0] and Tara, she's incredible.
[1279.9] Wow.
[1280.7] So I did it with her.
[1281.9] It was incredible, but also it made me realize,
[1284.4] this is not for this chapter of my life.
[1286.6] I can't sit twice a day, have to do it in the morning.
[1289.8] Yeah.
[1290.3] But it completely recalibrates my energy for the day.
[1293.4] Do you find that with you?
[1294.1] I know you're a journal.
[1295.2] I do.
[1296.1] I journal.
[1296.9] I used to meditate two times a day for 20 minutes.
[1301.1] Not in the same picture of my life.
[1303.6] Yeah, it's for the same thing.
[1305.3] But now I'm really trying to re-implement 10 minutes
[1308.9] in the morning.
[1310.0] And just the past, I mean, you're continuing on day two.
[1313.1] I'm on a good, no scrolling.
[1315.1] Good for you.
[1316.0] Wait, what does that look like?
[1317.1] Tell me more.
[1317.9] If I open the app, it's only to go to my page to upload,
[1321.1] to respond to comments, to be in my DMs.
[1323.4] I don't know.
[1324.2] I have to look at other people's stuff.
[1325.2] I love this.
[1326.0] I'm doing it for one week to reset my brain.
[1328.4] Because for me, my job is so tied to my social media.
[1331.3] So I open my phone to do something.
[1332.8] but with ADHD and the addictiveness of social media,
[1335.6] I end up in a black hole.
[1337.8] And I don't know how I got somewhere.
[1338.9] I get it.
[1339.7] And then I'm being flooded with other people's information
[1341.7] other people's days.
[1343.5] Dope, I mean, hit ever, dober, mean, hit.
[1345.2] Feeling less than because it's also my job.
[1347.5] So I'm like comparing to other people.
[1349.4] There are also normal things to feel,
[1351.1] especially with someone living your life online.
[1353.4] That's tough.
[1354.2] So I've been doing that, but also now that it's nice out,
[1357.4] I'm starting my mornings.
[1358.8] I wake up before the kids and I swear by that for myself.
[1361.7] I love starting my mornings walking my dog,
[1363.7] which has been my husband's job.
[1364.8] The best.
[1365.8] Historically.
[1367.0] But just being outside,
[1369.1] that changes everything for me.
[1370.6] And I really believe, and that's why I like to
[1373.4] wake up before the kids,
[1374.4] is to have that story of my day
[1376.6] because I do believe it's the truth.
[1378.0] Yes. Otherwise you're playing dodgeball all day.
[1380.3] You know, your kids are coming out.
[1381.6] You have to, your employees,
[1382.4] whatever you're doing.
[1383.7] Right.
[1384.5] And you need something where it can be you
[1385.6] for setting the tone, setting the energy.
[1388.0] Yeah.
[1388.8] Actually, sometimes find that walking my dog
[1390.0] is a very meditative experience.
[1391.7] I agree.
[1392.5] Sometimes.
[1393.5] Learn.
[1394.5] He's very leaf-reactive.
[1395.5] So oftentimes it's like, I want to scream.
[1398.6] Same as I'm a student.
[1399.9] They'll dogs out at 6 AM.
[1401.4] That's exactly.
[1402.1] That's right.
[1402.8] But yeah, I know it's like finding those moments
[1405.2] though where you can be really mindful whether it's
[1406.9] journaling or meditation or walking your dog
[1409.3] or something where you're not being reactive
[1411.8] is such a place of power to start your day from.
[1414.2] Huge.
[1415.0] So when you decided to go on this journey,
[1417.8] How did that then lead to you founding parallel?
[1421.0] Yes.
[1421.8] So it wasn't so binary.
[1424.0] I had taken on a role with urban, running, free people,
[1428.5] all the beauty, wellness, active work division.
[1431.4] I was working by Coastole, which was not ideal
[1434.5] as a pregnant and later a new mom.
[1436.9] Yeah, no.
[1437.9] Not great.
[1438.8] But I didn't erase.
[1439.5] So I knew I needed to start something.
[1442.4] As I mentioned, I did a lot of therapy
[1444.2] and finally realized, like, no, I've got to do this.
[1446.5] I have a very unique background, unique experience.
[1448.8] I have a strong perspective.
[1449.8] I love to build brands that people crave.
[1453.1] And I felt there was a gap.
[1456.2] I was this new millennial mom and felt failed
[1459.2] by all the brands in the market.
[1460.6] All the most of the mom brands that I saw
[1462.8] had access to treated motherhood
[1465.6] as this kind of like pink wash,
[1467.1] raw raw mama sorority vibe.
[1470.1] And I was like, that's not it.
[1471.6] Like I'm still, I'm a grown ass woman.
[1474.3] I am a mother,
[1475.2] but there is still so much more of me.
[1477.6] Just because I am a mom, does it mean I'm only a mom?
[1480.5] Although I love being a mom.
[1482.5] Two things could be true.
[1483.6] You know, I'm not getting like the mom haircut,
[1485.6] getting the mom car.
[1486.7] You know, I think our generation has changed.
[1488.6] We've pushed back on that.
[1490.0] It's like, where are these brands that are talking to me?
[1493.3] With me at the center.
[1495.4] You know, I think that's really important.
[1497.0] You know, make a brand for my kid,
[1498.6] but yeah, make it about them.
[1499.6] But when you're making a brand for me,
[1501.8] there needs to be in service of me as a mother.
[1504.5] And so it was really like to me as like,
[1506.4] that's what we've got to solve first.
[1509.1] I'm loving right now, like specifically the past few years.
[1513.7] I mean, now that I'm a mom,
[1514.9] I obviously my eyes are open to it
[1516.7] and especially with the work I do,
[1517.8] I'm in conversation with many,
[1519.7] but I feel like they're finally brands that are like,
[1521.8] let's show them a real motherhood.
[1524.1] Yes, let's be real.
[1525.1] Let's be real.
[1526.0] Let's be real. Oh my God.
[1526.8] It's not pretty.
[1527.8] Yes, it's great.
[1528.6] And it's ugly.
[1529.5] Yes. And it's messy.
[1530.8] But two things can be true.
[1532.3] Yeah. And I think previous generations
[1533.9] We're so scared to tell us of the realities.
[1536.6] I think of the-
[1538.2] They were shamed.
[1539.0] The grand mothers around me, they were shamed.
[1540.5] They couldn't admit the realities of what they were going through.
[1543.2] And I think that again, we can say that motherhood is so hard.
[1547.5] And it is so messy, but also it is so beautiful.
[1551.4] And it has brought in my aperture on life.
[1554.8] It has allowed me to see things with more depth, more clarity.
[1558.7] And everything important snaps into focus.
[1561.2] And everything that's not important, phase into the background.
[1563.2] And there's nothing like that perspective you get when you become a mom.
[1567.6] And that is a superpower.
[1568.6] It really is.
[1570.0] And I think it's beautiful that so many brands see this now and are honoring that and
[1573.7] creating space again for these two truths.
[1576.5] Yeah.
[1577.5] And I do love you talk about this how you just said, like immediately put things in perspective.
[1582.2] You're immediately aware of what's important and what's not important and how you spend
[1586.5] your time and what matters to you and who you spend your time with.
[1589.3] Yes.
[1590.3] And that's why I love parallels campaign and forth of a mother.
[1592.8] you become a new human.
[1594.6] Yes, yes.
[1596.1] And it's wild to me because, again,
[1598.8] we're out here celebrating the day, you know,
[1600.7] Mother's Day, but what is Mother's Day?
[1603.2] And right.
[1604.0] To me, it's honoring that chapter of Mattressants.
[1606.5] Have you ever heard the chapter?
[1607.3] Yeah, we do have a episode on it.
[1608.3] Okay, great.
[1609.3] So you know that Mattressants is the emotional,
[1611.4] psychological, physical, and hormonal shift
[1614.0] from being a woman to becoming a mother.
[1616.7] Yes.
[1617.5] And it is a side-snakes shift.
[1619.3] You know, coined by what Dana Raphael in the 1970s
[1622.6] which I think is just so cool.
[1624.6] But at any rate, it's about honoring the shift
[1627.3] and the fact that you don't just become a mom.
[1631.9] Your identity shifts fully.
[1634.0] And let's honor the birth of a mother.
[1636.3] The second your first child is born, you are delivered too.
[1640.8] And it sets off this quiet and very seismic shift
[1644.1] in who you are and your identity.
[1646.1] It cracks you open in a way that you never thought was possible.
[1649.6] I mean, the love that I have for my children.
[1652.2] I remember when I was pregnant with my second,
[1655.1] the whole pregnancy I wore it.
[1656.3] I'm like, I'm just terrified.
[1657.3] I'm gonna love this baby.
[1658.6] I did fall in the sky.
[1660.0] I was crying about it every day.
[1661.2] Yes, same.
[1662.2] I was so worried that I couldn't love my second
[1665.0] as much as I love my first, I guess what?
[1668.4] Love them both.
[1669.7] Both the same.
[1670.7] But it is just such a beautiful moment in a woman's life.
[1673.4] So we created this campaign to honor the birth of a mother,
[1676.4] the unfolding of you, that moment in time
[1679.4] where you were cracked open, maybe literally,
[1682.5] but to become a mother and how that shift occurs
[1685.4] in all of us.
[1686.2] And it's so beautiful.
[1688.0] It really is such a beautiful transformation.
[1690.0] And I think so many people are so focused on the baby,
[1692.7] the baby, you're a mom because you have a baby.
[1695.5] You're a mother because you went through this experience.
[1698.0] And because your perspective is broadened
[1700.3] and because you have not just carrying the world in your arms,
[1704.4] but you're carrying it in your heart now.
[1706.0] And that's a big response from me too.
[1708.0] And I love the lingo to rent it because I talk about this a lot in terms of postpartum.
[1712.3] You know, we care about the birthing person the whole pregnancy.
[1716.2] It's like, how are you?
[1717.3] How can we help you?
[1718.3] Take my Cs when we want your door.
[1720.7] And then you birth the baby and it's like, how is the baby?
[1723.6] Yes.
[1724.6] And you're talking about an option.
[1725.6] Yes.
[1726.6] Go to the doctor in six weeks.
[1727.6] Yeah.
[1728.6] So you never.
[1729.6] But like, baby, we need to see you in two days and then again in another week and then maybe
[1732.6] again in two weeks.
[1734.2] It's wild.
[1735.5] The transition that happens instantaneously
[1738.9] by the outside world and from the inside world.
[1741.1] Yes.
[1741.9] And so I talk about this in terms of if you have a postpartum
[1744.8] person in your life, check in on that.
[1746.8] Yes. Oh, my God.
[1748.4] Don't constantly ask for baby.
[1749.7] The baby's fine.
[1750.8] The baby's fine.
[1751.8] Probably fine.
[1752.7] The baby is fine.
[1753.7] Mom needs help.
[1754.8] Mom needs so much more help.
[1756.3] Yes.
[1757.2] And I think in terms of birth of a mother,
[1759.9] yes, the matresence exists mainly in that first
[1764.2] But I felt like I was born reborn,
[1768.2] whatever you wanna call it,
[1769.2] as a new mom the second time around.
[1773.2] I don't know if you resonate with this.
[1775.2] What do you mean by that?
[1776.2] Like I feel like you went deeper.
[1778.2] Yeah.
[1779.2] And I'm a different mom.
[1780.2] Yes.
[1781.2] With my first, I was so anxious, so controlling,
[1786.2] so anal about everything,
[1790.2] because I was terrified.
[1792.2] Yes.
[1793.2] Yes.
[1794.2] And then I feel when I had my second, I was like, oh, well, this isn't forever.
[1800.2] Completely.
[1801.2] Completely.
[1802.2] Completely.
[1803.2] Yes.
[1804.2] It's fun.
[1805.2] I think there's also something about again, lived experience.
[1806.2] It's been two tracks.
[1807.2] Yeah.
[1808.2] lived experience.
[1809.2] One, you're assimilating to caring for someone else's life every single second at a
[1813.9] magnitude that you can't even really express to someone until you're in it.
[1817.1] And then secondly, you're adapting to this new identity of I am a mom.
[1820.3] I'm a caretaker. My whole anger in this world and compass has been shifted and like who am I?
[1825.5] What do I think? What do I wear? What do I wear? What do I wear? I'm like, do moms wear this?
[1829.7] Like I remember.
[1831.9] The way I show up to school is comical sometimes.
[1834.5] Same. Zero F's given. That's what I'll say. But at any rate, I think what's really interesting,
[1840.2] though, is that, in regards to how many children you have, I think what is so powerful is time.
[1846.1] more time goes by we relax into the life.
[1850.1] We relax into the role and it unfolds and it shows us.
[1854.1] It builds our confidence.
[1856.1] It shows us where we do need to maybe put a little bit more focus on emphasis or maybe we're not to.
[1862.1] So I think also just the power of time and that experience of becoming a mother is so profound.
[1867.1] And to me, the birth of a mother, I'm still being birthed.
[1870.1] I've had two children.
[1872.1] I think I'm having any more.
[1873.1] But for me, it's like, I'm still in full day.
[1876.4] Like the mother I am now is only going to grow
[1878.9] and evolve and develop as my kids become, you know,
[1881.9] 10 and 12 and teenagers.
[1883.7] And then young adults, like, it's so beautiful how
[1886.8] there isn't quite stasis.
[1888.1] Like you're constantly going to evolve.
[1890.0] It's really interesting.
[1891.0] I was just talking about this with someone this morning
[1892.6] because it was like, well, we're all experiencing it
[1895.7] for the first time.
[1897.2] Like this is my first time parenting.
[1899.7] Yes.
[1900.0] And almost four-year-old.
[1901.0] It will be my first time parenting.
[1902.8] a 13 year old. Yeah. You know? And see, I think about this even when I give my mom Grace,
[1907.5] I'm like, bullets are her first time parenting. Yeah. A child who has kids. But isn't that also the
[1912.7] beauty and the kicker? Because I think back to like my parents are so wonderful. But also like,
[1918.8] I gave them such a hard time. And now I give them such grace. And I have even a deeper love for them.
[1925.4] Yeah. Because now I understand what they were going through. They didn't know. They don't have a
[1930.0] the guy book. No, my friend the other day was asking me about death.
[1934.5] And he was mine too. Almost four. And I like, you're too young for this conversation.
[1939.5] My dad happened to be sitting with me and I turned to my dad and I'm like, and shows like
[1945.5] this, my husband was there with us. And afterwards he was like, that was such a like, you
[1949.5] reverted to a kid. And I'm like, but I don't know what to do. And we need me realize my
[1955.8] parents didn't know what to do. Like no, it has a guidebook.
[1958.5] No one really knows.
[1959.7] And I also think about this, like when my mom and I would battle a bit after I had the
[1965.2] first grandchild on both sides, which was such a blessing and a lot.
[1969.2] But it too.
[1970.2] A blessing.
[1971.2] A lot.
[1972.2] At the end.
[1973.2] And you know, navigating boundaries.
[1974.2] Oh, my mom.
[1975.2] You know, I know a lot of people experience it with their mother-in-law.
[1977.6] My mom was with my mom.
[1978.6] Okay.
[1979.6] And it was like, okay, I love you.
[1981.8] I need your help.
[1982.9] Yes.
[1983.9] And I kind of need it to be on my turn.
[1985.7] Completely.
[1986.7] Completely.
[1987.7] This is how we have to operate now.
[1990.1] Yes. And how did you tackle that?
[1991.9] Did you tackle it head on and just have a conversation?
[1994.3] Very, very open relationship.
[1997.2] We can say anything to each other.
[1998.9] Yeah. A little too much.
[2000.6] We're sometimes I'm like, I could be nicer,
[2002.6] but we have a full episode on it.
[2004.0] I just just clarity. I mean, yeah.
[2005.5] Talking straight. Some people have a full episode on it where we talk about it.
[2008.0] And like, my mom is the most.
[2010.9] How do I like,
[2013.3] moldable isn't the right word because that like adaptable.
[2016.7] Like she really takes feedback and tries to change.
[2021.1] So when I say certain things, she does listen.
[2025.4] Like there are certain things that
[2026.5] she takes it in heart.
[2027.3] Don't have that impact.
[2028.7] And then other things where like she really does try to change.
[2032.2] And I really respect that about her and like appreciate.
[2035.2] And so when it came to boundaries
[2036.9] and being a grandparent, I also had to remember like,
[2038.8] well, this is her first time in a grandparent.
[2041.7] Yeah, they don't know.
[2042.5] Like she's also being born as a new version of a mom,
[2045.9] You know, the relationship is completely different too.
[2048.2] I was just reading an article, I believe it was in the Atlantic
[2051.1] about how the relationship for grandparents with grandchildren
[2055.1] is quite different than what our parents were raised with.
[2057.5] You know, grandparents now have a more active role
[2060.1] in child rearing and participation in daily life
[2063.3] in a way that was so different than just having fun time
[2067.0] with grandma and grandpa and seeing them for a little bit
[2068.9] of time.
[2069.9] And obviously that's cultural and specific to the United States.
[2073.4] Obviously very different in other cultures and what have you,
[2075.6] but you're regardless, like there isn't a model
[2078.7] for what being a grandparent looks like today.
[2080.6] And I think even for them it's tough.
[2082.1] You know, they have to set their boundaries
[2083.6] because how much care do they want to provide?
[2086.2] What do they want to be known for?
[2087.3] And like that's something I'm gonna be babysitter.
[2089.2] Or my babysitter or my business will tell us.
[2091.9] Yeah, so there's all these really interesting dynamics.
[2094.5] And again, you take a step back,
[2096.0] you're like a circle of life is wild.
[2097.8] Like no one really knows what they're doing.
[2099.5] No, we're all just doing our best.
[2101.4] That's what we have.
[2102.4] Being the parent and the child at the same time
[2105.8] is a wild ride of trying to navigate it.
[2109.8] And then it's interesting what I find fascinating.
[2112.2] And my sister's and I always say this.
[2114.0] I love watching my mom with her sisters in her mom.
[2117.0] Because they just like revert to us.
[2118.8] Yes.
[2119.7] Like when her and her sisters are together,
[2121.2] if you're like thickering or fighting,
[2122.7] you're like, see something.
[2123.5] I'm like, oh, there are eyes.
[2126.3] Or like when she's just itching about her mom.
[2128.4] I'm like, oh.
[2129.5] Yes.
[2130.1] Like I observed her and her sister
[2131.6] is being like, can you believe, mom, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love,
[2134.3] they do this too.
[2135.3] Yeah, yeah.
[2136.3] It's all, it's all circle.
[2138.3] I mean, there's also, it's also interesting to me too,
[2140.9] because a lot of us are having children later in life,
[2143.3] our parents are older.
[2144.5] Yeah.
[2145.3] There is also not saying it's harder for our generation,
[2148.2] but it might be a little trickier.
[2150.2] It's like we're also the sandwich generation.
[2152.3] Yeah.
[2153.2] We're dealing with aging parents.
[2154.1] My mother's turning 70 this year,
[2156.0] which hit me like a ton of bricks, you know,
[2158.3] knowing when my grandmother passed,
[2160.0] And again, this existential question of like,
[2163.0] oh my God, life goes to talk about this a lot this year.
[2166.2] And it's the fact that my parents are aging
[2169.8] and I'm going to be there to support them
[2172.2] and navigate that.
[2173.0] I watched my mom navigate that with her parents
[2175.5] and then also having young children.
[2177.5] It's just hard.
[2178.3] It's really hard.
[2179.7] We have taught a lot about this my husband and I this year
[2183.7] because of a variety of reasons.
[2185.9] And it freaks me out so intensely.
[2189.9] Same from a, it's like debilitating emotional way because I can't
[2194.0] fathom.
[2194.6] Same.
[2195.3] And then the layer of a selfish way because I'm like, we, but I need
[2198.3] you.
[2198.9] Oh, absolutely.
[2199.6] I mean, I just had an empty yard session because I was so
[2202.3] triggered about, I mean, I've had a lot of sudden loss in my
[2205.7] life.
[2205.9] Sorry.
[2207.2] You know, such is life.
[2208.7] And it's about understanding that tension, like you have to
[2212.3] have that tension to appreciate the noun, the beauty of it.
[2215.6] So I kind of come back there.
[2216.9] But yeah, it's wild.
[2218.6] I think a lot of people are starting to go through this.
[2220.8] And even over the next 10 years,
[2222.1] it's gonna be more pronounced for all of us in our late 30s.
[2225.5] Yeah. And I also think my mom and I were talking about this
[2228.0] where we were just with them in Florida.
[2230.6] And I was, we were on the beach and I was watching my dad
[2234.1] and my mom and my two boys stand by the ocean.
[2236.9] And I started crying because I was like,
[2239.1] what a sweet moment.
[2240.1] What a sweet moment.
[2241.1] And wouldn't it be so wonderful one day?
[2244.3] I get to have that relationship with my boys' kids.
[2247.0] And it just felt like very bad.
[2248.7] I know I was filming on the beach
[2250.1] and I walked down to my husband.
[2251.2] He was like, are you good?
[2252.4] And I had that.
[2254.5] And so I was telling my mom that.
[2256.1] And I was like, it's such a gift,
[2258.0] such a gift that they are so close both of us
[2261.1] are sets of parents or so close with our children.
[2263.3] Truly.
[2264.1] And I said, isn't it wild?
[2266.5] If you think about it, like,
[2267.3] nana knows my kids.
[2268.8] One day you could move their kids.
[2270.3] Yes.
[2271.2] And she made the unfortunate realization
[2274.1] that I think is kind of what we're talking about.
[2275.6] But as our generations have grown, we're having kids later.
[2281.5] And so I think we are this generation
[2283.3] that's navigating aging parents
[2285.7] because they had us a little older
[2287.7] and young kids because we had our kids a little later.
[2290.4] There's no playbook.
[2291.2] There's no playbook.
[2292.1] And it's really confusing.
[2293.4] And I know a lot of my community is going through that
[2296.5] as well in terms of motherhood.
[2301.3] How do you navigate being an entrepreneur
[2304.5] and like wearing that business hat.
[2307.3] I'm the boss, like co-CEO co-founder.
[2311.2] And I'm a mom to these two young kids
[2314.3] who like need a lot of me.
[2317.5] So hard, yeah.
[2319.6] Some days it sucks.
[2321.3] And I'm like, why did I do this?
[2323.1] Another day is I'm like, thank God,
[2325.5] I'm so grateful.
[2326.4] It's incredible.
[2327.4] Yeah.
[2328.4] You know, it's just hard is what it is.
[2330.6] It's hard and again, going back to this old adage
[2333.2] of two things can be true.
[2334.3] like I love having my business.
[2336.7] I'm so inspired by what we're doing
[2338.6] and really making a difference
[2340.2] beyond even the products just in women's lives.
[2342.7] Yep.
[2344.4] And I love my family.
[2345.9] I want to prioritize as much time with them.
[2348.1] I want to pour myself in fully and be totally present.
[2351.5] And what I think about often is this old
[2355.9] adage about the juggling balls,
[2357.7] I'm sure you've heard of it, the plastic, the glass.
[2360.5] But I am so ruthless in my prioritization.
[2362.8] that goes back to the power of snapping into focus,
[2365.2] what is a priority and what isn't.
[2367.4] And that guides me through my day.
[2369.2] There are moments where I cannot drop the ball with my kiddos.
[2372.2] I gotta be there, I gotta be fully present,
[2374.7] no if Sans or butts about it.
[2376.3] And then there's times where I have to prioritize my business.
[2379.0] And I always look at things as for just right now
[2383.8] when I was in baby group,
[2384.9] I had this amazing baby group leader with my first, of course.
[2387.9] And she would remind us that every stage was for right now.
[2392.4] great. Sorry. What is baby group?
[2393.8] Like a mom's group? It was a mom's group.
[2395.8] Okay. So essentially it was for new moms.
[2398.0] You're put in a group of about 10, eight to 10 other women that had babies within
[2402.9] four to six weeks of you. And you meet weekly and there's a facilitator like what's
[2407.0] going on? You can all share like, okay, what's working with not it was so tremendously
[2411.6] helpful to first of all to have that. That's great.
[2414.2] That's just launched these for our parallel subscribers, which is awesome. And they're led
[2417.8] by Erica Chitty who you might know she's the founder of Loom.
[2421.5] at any rate, it was such a special pace, but the facilitator would remind us, you know, when
[2427.5] you're in the depths of like a baby, not sleeping or having a challenging, you know, feeding
[2432.3] experience, whatever it might be, you know, like it's, and what's it's never gonna end.
[2435.9] They're never gonna, they're never gonna eat.
[2437.9] I'm never gonna get my life back.
[2440.4] And I always remember what she said.
[2441.7] It's for right now.
[2442.7] Yeah.
[2443.7] And so when I find myself in these moments where work might be eating up a lot of my mental
[2448.8] an emotional bandwidth for a couple of weeks.
[2450.3] I'm like, this is for right now.
[2451.7] It's not always going to be this way.
[2453.8] And I do a good job of recalibrating.
[2456.6] And I have strong boundaries.
[2458.6] You know, of course, if there's something that's mission critical that needs to be done
[2461.4] on off hours, I'm there.
[2463.1] Business people's livelihoods rely on us.
[2465.5] So that's a big responsibility.
[2467.9] But also, when I'm with my kids and present, I, like you, have been trying to reduce
[2473.1] my scrolling or time on Instagram, which really, you know, my husband told me that the average
[2477.9] American spends five hours a day on their phone.
[2481.6] I would think more.
[2482.9] And I think most people it's more, especially
[2484.8] might as well.
[2485.6] That's the average.
[2486.6] So if you know what I'm thinking about,
[2487.5] it's something like that is.
[2489.0] And I think he said it adds up to 75 days a year on your phone.
[2495.3] And he said this to me like three nights ago.
[2496.8] And it stopped me at my tracks.
[2497.9] And I was like, that's 75 days.
[2500.2] I could pour into my family.
[2501.9] 75 days that I could pour into taking care of myself,
[2505.1] nurturing my relationships.
[2506.4] I also will just say a lot of that is work.
[2509.7] It is work and that's what my bark back was.
[2511.6] You kind of have to, I'm just gonna,
[2513.8] I'm not gonna,
[2514.6] we work a lot on our phone.
[2515.5] We just credit it.
[2516.3] Yes.
[2517.2] But yes.
[2518.0] Like yeah, I mean, think about it.
[2519.1] If you were like, we spend so much of our lives working.
[2521.1] What if we didn't do that?
[2521.9] Like, well, you can't.
[2522.8] Yeah, exactly.
[2523.9] I think we can all be on our phones less.
[2525.8] And I think it's kind of a little bit like that.
[2528.4] Well, if you stopped getting your latte every day,
[2530.0] you'd be a millionaire.
[2530.8] Exactly.
[2531.6] So you got to find the middle right?
[2532.5] It wouldn't agree more.
[2533.3] Yeah.
[2534.2] It wouldn't agree more.
[2535.0] It reminded me that there is a large portion of that time on my phone that is spent doing
[2540.3] things that are not necessarily productive.
[2542.1] We're not necessarily.
[2543.1] No.
[2544.1] So I got, have you ever heard of a brick?
[2546.8] Explain it because I want to say so, but now I'm not sure.
[2549.6] Is it a separate phone?
[2551.0] No.
[2552.0] Okay.
[2553.0] Because I was actually thinking of getting that light phone.
[2554.0] Yeah.
[2555.0] Do I get this?
[2556.0] Can I go analog?
[2557.0] No, I can't.
[2558.0] I need my camera.
[2559.0] I need my camera.
[2560.0] I like taking pictures of my kids all day.
[2561.6] That's what I do.
[2562.6] I take pictures and then I look at them at night.
[2564.1] And when I want my space, I'm looking at pictures of them again.
[2566.6] So that's another kind of worm.
[2568.3] But so there's this thing called a brick.
[2570.7] And essentially, you have to scan yourself
[2573.8] in and out of accessing specific apps on your phone.
[2577.0] So I decided on the weekend, I will scan my phone to it.
[2582.3] And it's like a physical thing.
[2583.3] It's a physical thing.
[2584.2] So the only way to get back into your apps
[2586.5] is you have to go back to wherever it is.
[2587.9] So let's say I have it on my refrigerator.
[2590.2] Got it.
[2590.9] I scan myself out of Instagram, and let's say
[2593.2] like, sub stack or whatever else.
[2594.7] And trying to like not do, I don't know.
[2596.3] I like sub stack.
[2597.2] I feel like it.
[2598.0] It's not pictures.
[2599.0] It's not pictures.
[2599.8] It's like more substantive.
[2600.8] It's like threads.
[2601.8] I like threads.
[2602.8] It's something there.
[2603.8] I gotta get on threads.
[2604.8] I'm gonna do a thing for me.
[2605.8] And I'm gonna do it.
[2606.8] Oh God, that's not gonna be a dabble.
[2608.7] Yeah.
[2609.7] But at any rate, you select the apps that you want to be locked out of.
[2612.7] You scan out.
[2613.7] And then if you're out through the day and you wanna try and get an Instagram, cause your
[2616.5] thumb can't help itself.
[2617.9] Right.
[2618.9] You're locked out.
[2619.9] And it's actually what was interesting for me is I started to get a little bit of a
[2622.9] started doing it over winter break.
[2625.6] Because I wanted to be more present with my kids
[2627.7] and things were a little slower with work.
[2629.8] And I was like, oh great, this is my opportunity
[2631.4] to really focus on my presence.
[2633.6] And it was like Pavlov's dog.
[2635.9] Like I retrained myself.
[2637.4] And now I don't even use the brick.
[2638.8] I just have this new boundary and muscle belt
[2641.6] to resist.
[2643.0] It's amazing.
[2643.9] I'll share mine if someone wants to borrow it.
[2645.3] Like you only need it for like a couple weeks
[2646.8] to retrain yourself.
[2647.8] Because I've used focus lock, which is like
[2650.0] the same thing, but now I'm gonna have to write it.
[2652.1] And then you over and at it, you can't get out your stuck until you literally drive your butt home to wherever you're getting it.
[2659.1] Okay. I want to chat about the company parallel because I mean we've gone over everything else, but obviously I'm a fan of the brand. Thank you. Love it.
[2668.6] I like I saw like a reel where you're using our protein powder. I was like every morning. So it's so good.
[2673.6] morning. Like I do these like morning
[2675.8] dogs. I want to fill up for
[2677.5] recording really depends. No, I
[2678.8] love them. Every single one you
[2680.5] see me making this big ass
[2681.7] movie. I don't always put
[2683.1] a parallel on that. Thank you.
[2684.4] And it's funny because I was
[2686.3] yes, the Purdue had our
[2687.5] incredible. Yes. What I
[2689.9] almost love more because I
[2692.7] think it really sets you
[2693.7] guys up more is in terms of
[2696.1] the vitamin packs. Yes. How
[2698.5] there are different packs for
[2701.4] different stages. Yeah.
[2702.4] because I think twofold one,
[2704.7] it's the bio individuality of it all.
[2706.4] It's like, it's not one-size-fits-all.
[2708.2] We don't need the same vitamins postpartum as we do
[2710.8] in our first trimester of pregnancy.
[2712.7] Exactly.
[2713.5] So incredible.
[2714.4] And B, I was actually having this conversation
[2716.8] with a friend of mine where,
[2719.3] and I think I talked about this,
[2720.8] I'm like a sponsored set of stories that we did together.
[2724.1] But it was true because I've had this conversation with many.
[2726.1] All like sometimes look at my supplements
[2728.4] and be like, I know I should take you.
[2730.8] I'm just not going to.
[2732.2] I don't know why I do it.
[2733.4] Well, it's annoying.
[2734.3] I don't know why I do it.
[2735.1] I don't know why I do it.
[2736.1] But the fact that, and my husband has this little supplement kit.
[2740.2] And he's on Sundays, organized his days.
[2744.2] So he basically creates his own packs.
[2746.3] Yeah, pretty much what I used to do.
[2747.7] And I noticed that he's taking his every night.
[2750.1] And I'm like, is it because that's just easier?
[2752.3] Yeah.
[2752.7] Because then I'm not opening all my different bottles of my
[2755.8] sirturling, my whatever it is.
[2758.8] And so I love that you do that legwork.
[2761.9] Thank you for having me.
[2762.9] Thank you.
[2763.9] Well, that was it.
[2764.9] We're too busy.
[2765.9] Too busy.
[2766.9] We don't have time to be pill sorting.
[2768.9] Also, I don't have time to be the amount of time that my co-founders and I spent researching
[2774.4] going on rabbit holes.
[2775.4] Okay, I'm going to take this.
[2776.4] Can I take that?
[2777.4] Does it all vibe together?
[2778.4] Am I going to hurt my liver?
[2779.4] What do I need for this stage?
[2780.4] It's like, okay, we have Uber.
[2783.0] We have everything at our fingertips.
[2785.0] Why is taking care of ourselves so difficult?
[2788.6] And to us, it was not only creating a superior product, but a better experience.
[2791.6] experience experience that meets the needs of our busy lives. And that was the only
[2796.2] salt. We're like, because she needs to be able to grab it and go do whatever the heck she needs to
[2800.9] do, whether it's like she remembers to take it with her lunch or take it before bed. Like
[2804.8] this little thing is there. And it's kind of like fun to like rip it open and take it and easy and
[2809.1] simple. So yeah, the experience was a big part of us when we were thinking about how do we solve
[2813.7] this? How do we a create a product that is targeted and acknowledges the fact that our bodies are not
[2818.6] in a static place, their cons,
[2821.8] our hormones are constantly shifting,
[2823.6] our health goals might be different.
[2825.0] So how do you optimize your health
[2827.1] and your nutrients for that?
[2828.6] And so of course, when we had the light bulb moment,
[2831.7] it was very much a humbling moment as well,
[2835.2] because my co-founder Tori and I sat there
[2837.4] and looked at each other and kind of chuckled
[2839.0] because she's also a mom and a businesswoman.
[2841.9] I'm like, well, what do we know?
[2843.0] We're not doctors.
[2844.3] Like we have great care teams, but we don't know anything.
[2847.6] Like this is, someone probably has already done this.
[2850.9] No one did it.
[2852.1] And as we started to ask around,
[2853.8] we went to a very prominent physician here in the US.
[2856.8] She's at one of the top medical schools,
[2859.0] one of the top hospitals here in New York.
[2861.9] And we said, we have this idea.
[2864.2] What if we created targeted vitamin routines
[2866.3] for different hormonal life stages for women?
[2868.6] But all of you doctors did it.
[2870.3] Like this is your idea, go do it.
[2871.9] Like, no, no, no, you need to do it.
[2874.7] And that was a wild moment.
[2876.1] and we looked at each other and we're like, okay, game on.
[2879.3] So we brought on a doctor as our co-founder
[2881.6] and brought on a whole team of various physicians
[2885.3] and researchers from different disciplines.
[2887.1] Like we have a reproductive inter-chronologist.
[2889.4] She weighs in on the mental health aspects
[2892.0] of what women need throughout these different stages.
[2894.3] We have maternal fetal medicine doctors,
[2896.5] reproductive inter-chronologist, functional medicine doctors,
[2899.7] doula's even, and they all come together
[2902.7] and they create a routine they can all agree on,
[2904.9] which is hard.
[2906.1] Hard. Very sure.
[2907.5] And there, but ultimately we have some key principles
[2910.1] about how much research and clinicals everything needs
[2912.5] behind every ingredients.
[2914.5] Also we take into account their clinical experience.
[2917.9] All these doctors are actively practicing
[2920.2] and seeing patients every day,
[2921.4] which is actually a really important nuance
[2923.3] because you want something that's created by them
[2925.6] because they're seeing patients
[2926.8] and they see the implications of what happens.
[2928.7] So for example, they're in the weeds.
[2930.4] They're in the weeds, but they notice things
[2932.6] that other brands and other players in the category don't see.
[2938.9] I'll give you an example.
[2940.7] So because they're seeing patients every day, they notice that, oh, we've noticed that
[2945.6] our patients that are taking high volumes of biotin are leading to misleading labs.
[2952.4] Interesting.
[2953.4] Might be misleading such that it might misdiagnose a thyroid condition or something else
[2959.2] of that nature.
[2960.6] So what do we do? We don't put by it in any of our pre needles because that is a common
[2964.2] occurrence that our physicians see in their clinical work. So there's all these little
[2968.2] nuances that we've noticed and been able to pull from with our panel. We call them the
[2972.7] parallel panel. And they bring that into the formulation process. So it's not only just
[2977.0] the latest research, but it's also their clinical insights.
[2980.8] Amazing.
[2981.8] Now how do we create a product that's truly tolerable? Yeah, we could put the max amount
[2986.0] of this nutrient in there, but A,
[2989.4] our customer is already eating healthy for the most part.
[2992.2] So like she should be getting some nutrients
[2993.8] from her food, like supplementation is just that supplement.
[2997.3] And then secondly, she couldn't even tolerate
[2999.8] that nutrient if we put it in there at the full amount.
[3001.6] She'd be, you know, bowing to the porcelain gods all day.
[3004.6] So like, you know, it's really fascinating
[3006.9] but we were able to glean from having these
[3010.4] physicians that are working with patients every day
[3014.2] and bring that in the formulation.
[3015.6] So we created these packs.
[3017.6] My co-founder, Tore and I run the business day to day.
[3020.4] And it's just been tremendous.
[3022.3] I think people really saw that they wanted a more
[3024.2] comprehensive product that really acknowledges
[3026.8] the complexities of who we are.
[3028.9] And also just normalizes the experience of living
[3032.1] in this body.
[3033.3] We created a product specifically for pregnancy loss.
[3036.4] That didn't exist.
[3037.9] And I don't know if you've ever experienced this.
[3040.0] But many, my friends have.
[3041.1] But it is a wildly isolating experience.
[3044.8] And there's something to be said about seeing a product
[3046.7] on the shelf that acknowledges and normalizes
[3048.8] what you're going through.
[3049.6] Even if it's PCOS, what have you?
[3051.6] We've created all these solutions
[3053.2] for these very specific email body experiences.
[3057.9] And that's important.
[3059.3] And also those people very much need that care.
[3064.4] Completely.
[3065.3] So not only are they not seeing it,
[3066.6] but they're not being met with the care that they need.
[3069.2] Or education.
[3070.2] I think that was a big thing.
[3071.5] when my co-founder and I were having our first babies,
[3075.3] there was a lot, first of all,
[3076.7] everyone on social media is an armchair expert.
[3078.7] How do you trust anything?
[3080.9] Even now, it's really tough.
[3082.9] You start to dig in and realize,
[3084.5] oh, this doctor that's trying to tell me about PCOS
[3087.6] is an ER doctor that might not even have the background
[3090.3] on your product.
[3091.2] It's like, yeah, it's a kind of right word.
[3092.8] What's happening here, literally.
[3094.9] And so we thought with this team of doctors
[3097.4] that do our formulation, can you guys all share what you know?
[3101.2] like just share it for free on our blog.
[3104.4] Like give us the information because at the time
[3106.2] when we were having babies and researching,
[3108.3] I would end up on a baby center forum
[3110.8] where like anyone from anywhere
[3112.2] was telling me how much, you know,
[3113.5] coke you tend and fully to be taking
[3115.2] when I was trying to conceive.
[3116.4] And I was like, this is bonkers.
[3118.2] Dude, I have this a full spreadsheet.
[3120.3] I, this is sending me back to my first pregnancy.
[3122.9] I just brought a full spreadsheet
[3124.2] of because that's how my brain operates.
[3126.4] Of like all of the top brands out there
[3130.6] for pre needles and then I had a column
[3132.8] for every single thing.
[3134.2] And I was like inputting what they had measuring.
[3136.7] You're our girl cause I have the same thing
[3138.4] to be like which one should I take?
[3140.4] Like exhausting the mental load of it all.
[3143.1] It is.
[3143.9] Where do you see parallel going?
[3145.3] Like what are your dreams for the brand?
[3146.8] Are there products that you wanna create
[3148.4] that aren't out there yet?
[3149.7] You can share like what is next alongside
[3153.0] of like building what you already have?
[3154.9] So we started out in pre needles.
[3156.8] So we have a pre pre needle,
[3159.9] which is our conception support pack for anyone who's thinking about or actively trying to get pregnant.
[3164.2] Then we have packs for each individual trimester of pregnancy, a postpartum pack,
[3168.7] and we've also created packs that are for anyone that's not in the motherhood track. So we actually
[3174.1] have a pack called our cycle support pack. They're literally vitamins that sink with your menstrual
[3178.5] cycle and adjust and optimize based on where you are in your cycle. So cycle sinking.
[3183.6] We have a product for that one. I didn't know that I'd agree. If you have PMM,
[3186.9] I mean, I feel like pronounced PMF.
[3188.9] Oh, then like yeah.
[3189.9] I mean, this product doesn't do like supplements.
[3193.0] I'm going so yeah.
[3194.0] I'll send you a cup if you'd like to try it.
[3196.5] We also have a product for Perry Menopause.
[3198.9] We have a general women's product that you can take if you're not again, building a family.
[3203.5] What have you?
[3204.5] We have packs and products that are for other kind of more specific means like pregnancy
[3208.1] loss or those that are dealing with PCOS.
[3211.9] And so for us, it was really first about laying the foundation for a brand that could support
[3216.1] women through every hormonal shift of their lives. And we've done a good job of establishing
[3220.8] those products. I think where do we go next? We continue digging deeper into our advocacy
[3225.5] work. You know, we've been hyper involved in closing the Women's Health Research Gap and
[3229.2] also making high quality nutrition more accessible in the US. We've donated over $3.5 million
[3234.8] worth of products to women here in the United States to support their pregnancies as well
[3239.6] as research grants. And you know, how do we scale this onto a global scale? How do we create
[3244.8] of movement where women aren't empowered and feel good in their bodies and know how to support
[3250.5] themselves.
[3251.5] Our mission is to create a world with more healthy supported women.
[3254.3] So the next stop is how do we go beyond our own borders and reach out to support others beyond
[3259.8] incredible US.
[3260.8] Well thank you for everything you're doing.
[3262.9] Thank you for coming on here.
[3264.4] Thank you for having me.
[3265.4] Of course.
[3266.4] We're so people.
[3267.4] Best support you, the brand, all of the things.
[3270.3] Absolutely.
[3271.3] We're parallel, we spell it in our own way.
[3273.9] P-E-R-E-L-E-L.
[3275.9] So we're at parallelhealth.com, same on Instagram.
[3279.3] I'm it's Alex Taylor on Instagram.
[3281.6] All right, you can see me posting about my kids
[3283.3] and women's health advocacy.
[3284.9] So everything that I've shown up and code Cameron
[3287.8] will get you 20% off your first purchase.
[3290.2] Yes.
[3291.0] So thank you for being on here.
[3291.9] Thank you for having me.
[3294.8] Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode
[3296.9] of Conversations with Camp.
[3298.2] Your support means the world to me.
[3300.2] If this episode resonated with you,
[3301.7] Please consider taking the time to read and review it wherever you listen to your podcast.
[3306.0] Since word of mouth is the best way to continue to grow the show, please also consider sharing
[3310.2] it with a friend who you think may enjoy it.
[3311.8] To make sure you are staying up to date with new episodes, be sure to subscribe to the
[3315.3] show and follow me on social at Cameron O'Chroggers.
[3318.5] See you next week.
[3323.9] Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products
[3327.8] and services.
[3329.3] Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services
[3334.0] referred to in this episode.