Episode 136: From Courtroom to Kitchen | Kristin Rowell | Founder & CEO of Energetically Efficient
Kristin Rowell went from high-performing trial lawyer to functional nutritional therapist, helping entrepreneurs and executives fuel their bodies for peak performance. Her own health crisis - breaking her leg in 10 places during a frigid Minnesota winter - became the catalyst for a complete career and lifestyle pivot. Kristin shares how she rebuilt her health, the science behind sustainable energy, and why the universe keeps sending the same lessons until you act. She breaks down simple, powerful food and lifestyle changes that boost focus, strength, and resilience without overwhelm. Her story is proof that listening to your body can change the trajectory of your life and business.
“Energy is momentum. When you give more you get more.”
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Stats on Earning & Fitness Levels:
Option 1: Earning 9% More
Option 2: Earning $25K More
Big Magic book by Elizabeth Gilbert
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
00:00 – From Lawyer to Functional Nutritional Therapist
04:00 – Breaking Her Leg and Breaking Old Patterns
09:29 – The Day Everything Changed in -25°F Weather
10:58 – When “Doing Everything Right” Still Fails You
14:00 – Recognizing the Universe’s Persistent Nudges
18:00 – How to Build Sustainable Energy Every Day
22:00 – The Food Choices That Boost Focus and Performance
28:00 – Why High Performers Need Simple Health Systems
33:00 – Navigating Divorce, Career Change, and Reinvention
38:00 – Becoming a Professional Bodybuilder
42:00 – Minimalism, Mindset, and Living with Intention
47:00 – Favorite Books and Influences That Shaped Her Path
52:00 – Advice for Anyone Ready to Pivot Their Life
I started to research a lot about nutrition to heal myself as quickly as possible. I got back in the gym a week and a half after surgery and started strength training again. Mm-hmm. And I ended up healing in record time, but it was a physical therapist who I was seeing at that time, and chiropractic care who had opened my eyes sort of to this ketogenic diet.
That's Kristen Raul, and this is The Powerful Ladies Podcast.
Hey guys, I'm your host, Kara Duffy, and in this episode I am so excited to introduce you to the dynamic and passionate Kristin Raul. Her energy is contagious, such that just by listening to this episode, you're going to be motivated to take new actions in your life. She was a high performing lawyer, went through a series of events, she pivoted and launched her own business, helping others tackle their food and health for good.
We talk about her pivoting journey, how the universe is so persistent, especially when you're not listening, and why choosing smart food choices is so important and way easier than we think it is. Yes, you can have it all. Before we jump into this episode, I want to invite you to come and join my group coaching membership called Thrive.
In Thrive. There are all the tools for you to start transforming your business right now. It includes monthly workshops, tools and resources, an entire community of global entrepreneurs, plus twice a week group coaching calls with me. So a private coach just for you to answer questions that you have in that moment, plus hear all the question and answers from everyone else involved.
This membership is built for entrepreneurs who know that the best way to ensure you live your dream life and have your dream business is to make sure that you have a coach and community who have your back and help you get there. If you want results, like all the people you get to meet on this podcast, join today and jump into our twice weekly group coaching sessions.
Your business can be more simple while being more successful, and actually way more fun.
Well, welcome to the Powerful Ladies podcast. Thank you so much. I'm so happy to be here. I am really excited to talk to you. I looked at the roster of who I have on the scheduled today for recordings, and I was so excited that you were there. Um, obviously I'm excited because you're one of my amazing star clients, but also because you have an amazing, incredible story that this audience needs to hear.
Awesome. I would love to share it.
So let's begin. Please tell everybody your name, where you are in the world, and what you're up to.
So I'm Kristen Raul. I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was born and raised in Minnesota, left the Midwest to go to college out east. Came back for law school and I've been living basically in Minneapolis proper for the last more than 20 years, which is crazy.
So I am a functional nutritional therapist. So I'm coaching and serving clients largely now, of course, over Zoom. Um, both here and then around the country, and frankly, now have clients all over the world, which is really cool.
And to go from being in Minneapolis to being on the east coast for school, then law school, and now to end up in nutrition.
That's a big journey. Um, I was excited that we had Boston in common 'cause you went to bc So let's just start there. How did you end up at bc?
Yeah, great question. So why does a random girl from Grand Rapids, Minnesota end up at Boston College? I had known I wanted to go to law school, so my whole thing was setting my sights on being a lawyer.
And I don't have parents who are lawyers. My father's a dentist and my mom stayed home with us. I didn't have grandparents that were lawyers, but I have a godmother who's like distantly related to me, who is a lawyer and she went to Boston College Law School. So you know, when you're 17, 18, figuring all that stuff out.
That just seemed to make sense. But I was also always intrigued by the city of Boston. Mm-hmm. I had heard that it's like got an average age of basically under 30. 'cause there's so many universities and so many colleges within the city limits of Boston alone. And then if you spread that out to the whole state of Massachusetts, it's just a super young place.
Mm-hmm. So. I was intrigued by it. I actually started at St. Ben's in Minnesota and then decided I really wanted to transfer and spread my wings. So I went out there. I think my parents were probably a little afraid they were going to lose me to the East coast, which is what they, they thought at the time.
But when I was trying to decide on law schools, I originally thought, okay, I came out here for undergrad. Now I want to go to Boston College Law School. And at the time, what's funny is University of Minnesota, which is public school, back in my home state, was ranked 17th in the country while Boston College was ranked 27th.
So I could come home, go to a top 20 school, all of those things. And that's why I chose to come home. They say that you're supposed to attend law school ultimately in a state where you want to practice. Mm-hmm. Because you're gonna learn about that state law, those state's laws. And I knew at that point that I wanted to come back to the Midwest.
Yeah. Very cool. And what made you wanna be a lawyer?
I loved debate when I was in middle school and high school, and I just knew I, I wouldn't say that I knew all that much about it other than I really had this strong drive to be a, what I called a professional, which meant going to school for some degree beyond college.
And it was largely spurred a part in part by the fact that I just respected my father so much, and as a dentist I would, I would, you know, be in our small town as a child and then as a teenager and growing up and just was very, um, aware of the amount of respect that professionals commanded in a small community like that.
And for whatever reason, that was attractive to me. So I thought, I want to go beyond college and law school seems like I didn't wanna look in people's mouths all day is really the truth. And so, um, being a lawyer was also three years, not residency in medical school and everything else. So I decided to, to go that route.
Yeah. And. Did you enjoy law or law school and then being a lawyer? Like, was that I loved it. All your dreams built. I loved it.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. I loved it. I think my personality was very well suited for law. I, um, really wanted to be a lawyer that was the kind of lawyer that's in court. So a lot of people that don't practice law don't realize there are lawyers that go to court and then there are lawyers that never see the inside of a courtroom.
And I knew if I was going to do it, I wanted to do the, what I'll call the performance aspect of law, which is the courtroom stuff, which is to me the fun stuff. Yeah. But I also knew that I didn't wanna practice criminal law because I didn't wanna either be defending criminals or prosecuting criminals all day long.
Only because I thought emotionally that would be a really hard path to go in law school. Yeah. So I was lucky enough to get an internship after a second year at a litigation, a business litigation boutique firm, which essentially means you are, there are disputes involving all sorts of complex legal issues from contracts to employment, to partnership fights to everything else.
And so we were. A small boutique that did only, excuse me, only that we didn't have any, um, attorneys that would just write contracts. We didn't have any of that. So it was a really high, powerful place to be. Mm-hmm. And I thrived in that and loved it, loved it for the number of years that I did it.
Oh, well, yeah.
If I, like law school's always been something that's on my maybe one day list, because I just love the black and white element of it. And I like the, I don't know, the justice part. Like I'm such a Libra where I'm like, no. Like things should be fair and correct.
Right, right. Well, I will tell you that after doing it for 17 years, because I ultimately evolved out of it, we can obviously talk about my transition.
Mm-hmm. But I became increasingly frustrated with the. For lack of a better term, I'll just say the humanness that would creep into the process. Mm-hmm. Now, judges of course, take an oath that they're gonna be neutral, but they're also humans, right? Yeah. And so you would, every once in a while, come upon this case where you had either a frustrating interaction with a judge or a decision from a judge that literally made no sense to you or any of your partners.
Mm-hmm. And so then it would be extremely frustrating to try to then explain that to a client who's thinking, wait a second, doesn't the system just work to have the good guy win? Well, not, not always. Mm-hmm. Unfortunately. And so what I was observing over the course of time is that there would be some cases that would take extraordinary amounts of money that shouldn't have to take that long because of mistakes that judges have made.
And you'd have to go to the court of Appeals, you'd have to go to the Supreme Court. And of course, that's something the client's all paying for. And even if you would, at the end, it's like, wow, what did I win when I spent all this money and all this time? Mm-hmm. And all this energy to get to this quote, just result.
Yeah. Because the process is designed to ultimately get to the truth. But judges are humans and there is no, um, no denying that they make mistakes too, just like all of us do.
Mm-hmm. Every time that I get something in the mail about jury duty, I'm an instant Yes. 'cause I'm like, oh, this is the best part. I think the only one that gets excited about jury duty, but I'm like, no.
It's like, it's one of the most American things we can do is to show up and being a jury. 'cause we don't realize, I think the everyday person forgets how powerful the jury actually is.
They're very powerful. It's so true.
It, it's the deciding factor. Like the, honestly, every case I've been on, the judge sits there and he's like the teacher in the room making sure everything happens the way it's supposed to.
And that's it. Like, you know, a judge ultimately does like the sentencing in most, at least in California, but doesn't decide anything. Once you decide, they decide the sentence, but that's it. And so it was last time I was on a jury, it was just before COVID. And it was so heartwarming to see all these different people in my community, like having conversations and like doing the right thing together.
Like that's what I want more on the news. Yes. Because we were so diverse and so different, but everyone put so much heart and energy into really deciding this person's fate and it made me feel good about humanity.
It's totally true. I feel like juries have such an important responsible job. So wait a second.
Did I just hear, have you been on a jury more than once?
Yes.
You have. Okay. You realize there are people that have like in their seventies who have never been called to jury duty, so that's fascinating. Interesting.
Yeah, I think they know that I'm like a yes. And plus the fact that I'm self-employed makes me like, I think a red flag because they don't have to deal with somebody like I can't get out of it.
Right. I have no excuse unless I was literally traveling. Like
Yeah. It is fascinating to me how many people want to get out of jury duty. Mm-hmm. I've never been called to jury duty. Actually. I would probably get, um, kicked off because I'm a lawyer. They don't like to have lawyers on ju but I do think it would be fascinating to sit on that other side of the table.
I think that'd be great.
Yeah. Yeah. Well, of course we're here to talk about your new business and you made a huge pivot in your life going from law to nutrition. How did that even start and what has that process been like for you?
It's so funny, Kara, 'cause when I think about how did it start, I can now of course look back with hindsight and say, oh, it was this little thing and this little thing and this little thing.
I had no concept at the time. Of course. Yeah. That I was being catapulted into a new career. But if I really go back to when all of this started, I would say it was in December of 2013 when I was on a work trip. In Williston, North Dakota. Yes, I used to go to very sexy places for work. Um, but I did a lot of real estate litigation.
So at the time we were still coming off of this huge oil boom in North Dakota, so there was now a lot of litigation fighting over disputes that had happened as a result of the oil boom. So in any event, I was leaving after having been out there for a few days for work. It was 25 below zero. This was December of 2013.
If anyone in the Midwest is listening and remembers that winter, it literally was one of the coldest winters we've ever had. So 25 below zero, and I ended up slipping on ice in front of the Williston airport and I fell and broke my right leg in 10 places. No. Yes. So I broke my tib fib, which is the big bone.
So the huge bone that connects between your knee and your ankle is called your tibia. You also have this smaller bone next to it called your fibula, which not, doesn't really actually serve much of a purpose anymore, but it broke in 10 places. So I was not airlifted because they had to bring me just to the Williston Hospital.
But the ambulance came, I was rising in pain. I knew I broke my leg. It was a horrible circumstance. Stayed overnight in the Williston Hospital. I was then flown back to Minneapolis the next day and a week later they put, they, um, put me under and I had surgery on my leg, and I had 22 pieces of metal put in my leg.
So there were 20 screws and two plates. Holding all those 20 screws in. Mm-hmm. Well, I was, I mean there's a, there's obviously a, a whole lengthy story that happened after that, but the short version is I got really interested in how can I heal my body as fast as possible, and. By the way, how could I, at the time I was someone who had been strength training for many years.
I was very strong. I had a probably already run almost 20 marathons, and I was very confused at how I could break my bones so badly. Mm-hmm. I started to wonder, do I have some latent osteoporosis that I don't know about? How is it that I could have done this when I seemingly do everything? Right? Right. So I started to research a lot about nutrition to heal myself as quickly as possible.
I got back in the gym a week or week and a half after surgery and started strength training again for all of my other muscles in my body. 'cause of course, only my right leg was broken. Mm-hmm. And I ended up healing in record time, but it was. A physical therapist who I was seeing at that time and chiropractic care who had opened my eyes sort of to this ketogenic diet.
Mm-hmm. And this lower carb way of living for lowering inflammation. And he was an ultra runner. And we just started to talk about it when I would be at these appointments and I really started to then explore in 2014, wait a second, there's a whole different world out there. I came from the, you run a marathon, you have to carbo load, you have to eat all this pasta, you have to constantly eat all these goos when you're running.
And I completely transitioned my whole life in 2014 away from that.
Yeah. And so I don't wanna step over the fact that you're a high powered, full-time lawyer who's also strengths training all the time and running marathons. Like did, did your circle of friends look at you and say like, you're a superwoman?
Like how did, how are you doing all of that and like making it work?
Um, a little bit. Yes, yes. So they've teased me about that over the years. They also just think I'm a little nuts, I think. Mm-hmm. And I would say I am one of these people who understands that energy is momentum, and when you have more, you get more.
And I love to just really dive into life. Mm-hmm. So I ran my first marathon during my very first semester of law school. And some people would say, that is absolutely insane. That's the craziest time of your entire life. And let me be honest, it really was, it was very crazy. You literally don't know how you're gonna keep up with all of this work.
Mm-hmm. And then at some point it just clicks and you start to understand. But I chose to sign up for a marathon at that time to actually make sure that I, I was. Um, scheduling in self-care time, time for exercise, really me time. And so it just became a priority. Once I did that in law school, it was something that continued thereafter.
Mm-hmm. And so I ran 25 marathons. I became a professional bodybuilder, um, sometime after I broke my leg. And so I was able to achieve some of these, what I'll call personal successes outside of the practice of law because I was determined to really focus on my health and fitness while I was practicing law.
Yeah. I saw a lot of lawyers, um, for lack of a better term, just sort of give up to the demands of work and not prioritize their health and fitness. Now, I would say litigators who are in trial and who are basically their performance attorneys, that's less true. Mm-hmm. We were the ones of anyone who I would say are more, um, interested in.
Making sure that we're taking care of ourselves because we have to perform and be in front of juries and be on display and those kinds of things. And, and you need to have a lot of energy for that. So you need to be physically fit, in my opinion. Yeah. I always considered it part of my job, but yes, I get that it's not normal.
When you think of that career and then kind of what I did with my extracurriculars.
Well, and I, I think it speaks to a couple of things, right? Because if, as the, as a litigator, you, you know, whether we like it or not, as a culture, what you look like determines how people are gonna listen to you. It's true.
And so you have to look your best so that you can represent your clients the best, because if you show up looking sloppy, they're gonna think that the client's
sloppy. It's one of my first things that I say to my clients now in this business. Mm-hmm. When, because really now the people that I work with are lawyers, doctors, dentists, executives, business owners.
Yeah. They're high power, successful people who, for one reason to another, another, whether it be COVID, having kids. Whatever, went through a divorce, got a new relationship for one reason or another as they would describe it. Sort of let themselves go. Yeah. And here now this extra weight has crept on, or these bad habits have crept in and they kind of don't know how to get themselves up from under it, which is why they hire a professional to help them.
And what I always say to them in the first call is, look, it's my opinion that it is part of your job to be fit and healthy. Mm-hmm. And to be lean and to make yourself as attractive, frankly, as possible. Because there's a ton of research around the fact that people believe people who are more attractive.
They just do. They just do. You're more believable, you're more trustworthy. It's the way that we are biologically wired. Mm-hmm. And so in my opinion, everyone could set themselves themself up for success in their own business if they really focus on taking care of themselves first.
And I'm curious, now my head goes into the statistics of it, of like what is the percentage bump you you get if you are.
Shape and looking healthy versus not, because healthy is not the same as like what you weigh. Right? So, but I'm curious like what that percentage changes, right? Like I know having a coach gives you an 80% more chance of succeeding than you would've had otherwise, which is a huge percentage. Huge. So I'm, I'm gonna go do the research to figure out this bump because I think it's more significant than people think it is.
Um,
yeah, I love that because I don't know the answer to that, but it would be interesting for me to know for sure as I build this business. Yeah. Simply because, and, and it's set aside even the whole, you're gonna have clients who, whoever the, let's say you're talking about one of my clients whose name is Joe, let's say Joe.
Joe is gonna have more success if I can help Joe get to Joe's best self. Yes. As healthy as he can be, as fit as he can be. And so people are gonna trust him more, rely on him more. Mm-hmm. Wanna work with him more, et cetera. But it's beyond how he looks or feels. Yeah. It's, it's how much more energy he has, how much more he can show up for his clients, and he can show up for his family.
That makes such a difference too.
Well, we know that, that it's that brain, um, you know, mental health and physical health and the food and everything is so interconnected that just to have, not have brain fog, like it changes how you enjoy your day and if you're able to perform better and feel better, like it really is this snowball effect that we don't give enough credit to, but we feel the snowball effect the other way.
Right. It's so true. The people who call you and I who are like drowning and overwhelmed and freaking out and about to give up, like that's, that's the other impact of the snowball. Mm-hmm.
It's very true. Yes. Because it is the like snowball rolling down the hill. Yeah. Like the freight train. So I always say, I think coaching, and I would say this about my hiring you or anyone hiring me.
Mm-hmm. If I was about to like go learn French, for example, I don't speak French at all. I could Sure buy Rosetta Stone, probably do it on my own. I am going to take so much longer. Mm-hmm. And be so much more frustrated doing it that way. As opposed to if I hired a French instructor Yes. Who held me accountable, who I had appointments with, who was like the, this is your homework.
This is what I want you to do before next time we meet. And now it's someone that it's like, oh gosh, it's not just me. I'm beholden to, it's this other person. Mm-hmm. And it makes such a difference. So I've hired coaches basically for everything that I've done. Marathons, I hire coaches. Mm-hmm. When I did my first bodybuilding show, I hired a nutrition coach for that.
I hired opposing coach in my law practice. When I wanted to really book build my book of business, I hired a coach. Mm-hmm. So I think it's a huge, huge asset in terms of anything that you're doing to really get you to that next level. And. For me, it's been, it's been all the difference in the world.
Well, I think that's one of the secrets that people don't talk enough about who are super successful.
Like if you want to be a high performer, you have to follow other high performers. And, you know, Olympians are a great example. And any professional athlete, any Olympian as a slew of people that they have, they have a massage therapist, they have a, a, um, you know, someone doing their food, someone doing their training programs, their weight versus their sport.
Um, even people just helping run their life. You know, like it goes back into the time management of automate, delegate, delete. Like you think Tom Brady's doing half of his to-do list? Of course not.
Of course not. And I, I'm laughing at, you even gave this example of professional athletes because my partners used to tease me and I would always say, look, I know I'm like a professional athlete because.
I had my physical therapist, my chiropractor, my energy healer, my actual therapist, my, I mean, literally a team of professionals around me. Yeah. And they would make fun of me. And I would say, guys, I'm just treating myself like I'm a professional athlete. 'cause this is all very important to my success in every facet of my life.
And then of course, when I came, prof became a professional bodybuilder. I laughed and I was like, see, it was all worth it. And now I can excuse it all away. It's funny.
Did you want to be a professional bodybuilder, or that just happened on accident?
Happened on accident. I literally, people have asked me for years just because I'm a mesomorph and I've started, I started strength training when I was 14 years old.
So I've always been pretty muscular. Mm-hmm. And so people ask me for years if I competed, do you compete? Do you do CrossFit? I said, no, no, no. I don't do any of that. I just, it's just fun for me on the side. And I used to. I think it was weird and would judge people who would stand on stage and do the little bikini thing.
And I was like, that's so weird. And then I turned 40 and I was like, okay, I think I'm gonna try this. And I just, and I had come off of that, um, leg break. And after I healed from the leg break, one of the things that happened to me is I got even more muscular because I couldn't run for so many months.
Mm-hmm. Now I did start running again, which was awesome. But when I, when I was only lifting, it was fascinating to see how much more muscle I could put on. I thought I actually might be good at this competition thing. Mm-hmm. So I, I ended up winning a bunch of stuff in my first show and then a year later did a show where I became professional, which is pretty fun.
That's amazing.
Yeah. Yeah.
So all this is happening. You break your leg, you're learning about keto, you're learning about, you know, changing your food and nutrition to heal as fast as possible, which doesn't surprise me. 'cause everything in your life is as fast as possible. And then when did it become like, oh, this should be my career.
When was that? I would say that I started to get whispers of it in 2018. Mm-hmm. Where it seemed like there were just more signs that were coming into my energy field. And then in 2019 is when I actually left the practice of law. So the, the. Sort of short story on how all of that came to be was in the fall of 2017.
I had finally, again, back to our conversation about coaches decide to hire a meditation coach. Mm-hmm. I had been hearing for years that meditation was one of the things that all of these successful people were doing, but not really talking about. And so I was like, okay, I've gotta give this a try. I'm so crazy busy.
I feel like I'm just going a thousand miles an hour every single day, and maybe I really need to do this meditation thing. And keep in mind, that was already four years after I had fallen and broken my leg in 10 places. So that was one sort of knock from the universe. Mm-hmm. And I was starting to get these nudges from the universe, like, you really need to become more of a human being and not be such a human doing.
Yeah. 'cause I was human doing, human doing, human doing. Especially because, and this is, I'm sure you won't think this. This fun fact is coincidental at all. In 2012 was when I got divorced. Mm-hmm. So, of course, part of my coping mechanism through my divorce was, well, I'll just be more busy. Yeah. Be more busy.
Do more things. Do more things. So here I was going literally a thousand miles an hour. So fast that a year and a half later I fell and broke my leg in 10 places. Mm-hmm. It really was a wake up call for me about how I really needed to start looking at life differently. Mm-hmm. So in 2017, I finally hired this meditation coach, and I thought, if I hire this person, then I'll learn how to meditate, which actually happened.
So I met with her about once a week. I was doing meditation on my own morning and night, just 10 minutes. Mm-hmm. And I really started to notice substantial benefits from it. I would be a lot more relaxed. My central nervous system was more calm. Mm-hmm. Answers seemed to just come to me more. More easily.
And then in the spring of 2018, my meditation coach, who you also know who I love, I took her eight week course. Mm-hmm. Which is called Activate. And it was during that course that I started to realize, oh my God, I might be able to do this nutrition thing as a business. Mm-hmm. So it was a realization at that time, but nothing, nothing more than like, oh, maybe someday I didn't, in any, any stretch of the imagination think that a year, just over a year later, I'd be like, telling the practice of blah, hi, I'm leaving.
I never thought that at the time.
Well, and it's, it's speaks to so many entrepreneur stories where we hear these whispers and they get louder. They get louder. And when we ignore them, they often do something drastic, such as, cause a leg break or cause a layoff, or, you know, and I'm, there's things like, I really believe that the universe wants us to be in our best place.
When we're not listening, it's like, fine, I'm gonna have to take Jurassic action. I didn't wanna to. Yes.
Yes. So have you heard this saying, and I talk about this all the time. First you get hit with a feather, then you get hit with a brick. Then you get hit with a truck. So I don't know what feather was, but I'll tell you that my brick was in September of 2013.
November. I broke my leg in December of 2013. In September of 2013, I was in Kauai because one of my girlfriends got married and I was in her wedding and I went out on a paddleboard thinking I'm gonna be all tough and try to surf. I end up getting this horrible accident and literally sliced my right leg, same leg that I broke, same leg.
It was so black and blue over my whole hamstring and, but like it was horrible. I couldn't walk for a few days. I end up, because of course I'm still a human doing at that point, three weeks later, still pushing through the Twin Cities marathon. 'cause heaven forbid I could take a break. And so I think that was my brick and the universe was like, okay.
We really need to get your attention now. Yeah. So then I had that major fall later and it is just in hindsight, I'm like, duh, how stupid. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. And so what, what did it look like for you to transition from being a lawyer to launching this business? Like did you start coaching people on the side? Did you start doing it for free for friends?
Like what does that bridge look like?
So my bridge looked like this. I left the practice of law in June of 2019. Mm-hmm. And at the same time that earlier that year, like kind of throughout that whole spring, I was, I had enrolled myself in nutritional therapy school. So I was doing that at night. On the weekends, while I was still practicing law, I was really focused on my law practice.
So I was kind of setting school aside, not really focused on it, thinking there's no way I can do this. Mm-hmm. And then it was interesting as the universe wanted me to open up to, no, I really, really want you to do this for career. All of a sudden things started to open up on my calendar. Like this arbitration that I was supposed to have in April or May got way postponed to August.
Mm-hmm. These depositions that I was supposed to take got postponed. I got done with certain depositions in another state, and then I came home and I'm like, oh my God. It was literally the first time in nearly 17 years of practice where I saw white space on my calendar and thought. Oh my God, I actually could leave.
Mm-hmm. Like I actually could do this. So I was doing the schoolwork while I was still practicing. Mm-hmm. But it wasn't until I left the practice that I started to actually do stuff for clients. I would say that in that last year, when people would ask me for help, I would meet them and I would do stuff.
So that's true. I probably was doing a little bit of on the side, not as a business, I wasn't being paid for mm-hmm. Or anything like that. But, um, now that I look back at that, it all in a way feels a little crunchy to me now. You know what I mean? Where it's, I, and I think that's what entrepreneurship is.
It's not this clean break. Yeah. This is day one, then this is day one of the next thing. It's, it's much more fluid and crunchy and you just navigate through it. Kind of like you're walking through mud for a little while.
Yeah. And, and I think that's where people get so hard on themselves. 'cause they're like, you know, this should be a linear process.
It should be, I do this than this, than this. And I'm like, no, it's, you know, I, I have a diagram right now that's like a spiral. 'cause you keep having to like. Clean up your product, clean up your pricing, clean up your marketing, clean up your, like, you keep having to like clean things up as you expand. And I, I, the other day had the epiphany that it shouldn't be one spiral, it should be like the spiral graphs and you draw as a kid where it keeps circling, but it's so moving forward.
Yes, like the momentum behind that. But it's not messy. It's not, it's not crystal clear. I mean it gets easier when you have support and coaches, but when you're bearing it by yourself, it's like, what am I supposed to do next? And I really think the people who do have the advantage that I've seen, people who are meditating, people who are very attuned to themselves, I can like be, get clear on yes or nos or left or rights faster.
It's easier for them people who are not have health and wellness and good practices where they're connected to themselves in place. It's a lot more squirrely and that that's when it starts to feel like drowning versus being just walking through mud.
Yeah. In fact, I had a woman reach out to me recently who is also gonna be leaving the practice of law and she's gonna go into like a health and wellness type space, which is excellent.
And she wanted to kind of coordinate saying there's different referral stuff we could have for each other, which would be amazing. And she also said, and I also might need you. Mm-hmm. Um, in terms of my nutrition, just to get myself in tiptop shape because I need to have integrity and be legitimized. In my new business, and I said absolutely.
So from a timing perspective, that would be excellent. Yeah. Um, so I, I think all of the things obviously come together as they're supposed to, but I'm a big, big, big believer ever since I became a meditator about really paying attention to the signs. Mm-hmm. And I could share that example that I gave to you Kara, the other day.
Yeah, please. Um, a recent woman who hired me, which this is to me just proof positive that the universe is always working for us. Like I started this business because I really, really wanted to help people and I really wanna help people become their best selves. I'm, I'm, that's not a line of bullshit.
That's not like me wanting to make money. I genuinely am here because I help people be better humans, 1000%. So every time I have the opportunity to do that, I think it's so much fun. So this woman reached out to me. We had had a discovery call. I had sent her a proposal. She was hemming and hi about which one she wanted to do.
I was answering her questions during the course of the week and. It was so, this is so funny. So she had sent me an email, um, the other night and she said, funny story, this evening after I put the kids to bed, I left the house to run a quick appointment. And on my way I was thinking about your email and the investment.
Should I do it? Can I do it? So, and I'm sure you have clients like this all the time, that self-worth stuff comes up for people like, yes, oh my gosh, am I really worth it? Can I spend this money on a coach? Can I do the answer to anyone listening is yes, by the way, yes, you are worth it and you can. And the second you say yes to the universe and you spend that money and it leaves your bank account, the universe is like, oh, thank you.
You trust us and now you'll get more clients. Trust me, I've seen it work. After I hired Kara, I think I made up the money I spent on her in the first time. Within, what, 48 hours? Mm-hmm. The first time I said, and it was so, so valuable. So in any event, going back to this email, this woman says, I reached my destination and sat down for my turn and I could have sworn you walked in the door.
Did you happen to be at Go Glow in Edina around 9:00 PM tonight? If not, your doppelganger was totally there. And it confirmed my decision, which is amazing because it was me and I did walk into this business and one of my girlfriends owns this sun spray tanning place, and I was going there. I go there every once in a while and I go there at night, just before bed.
So I had walked in and she said she's literally only been there two times in her whole life. And so she took it as a sign, okay, obviously I'm supposed to work with Kristen. So it's those kinds of things that I pay attention to all the time to help guide me, like, do I wanna hire this person? Do I wanna work with this person?
Do I want to take on this client? Should I. Um, start this new course, should I not? There are signs from the universe all of the time, and if you don't get still in something like meditation, you're never gonna see them. So that is, that has been a huge tool for me in this new business is really staying still with myself and paying attention to the signs from the universe, which are always there.
Yeah. And, and you see the impact because, um, you know, in the Elizabeth Gilbert book, big Magic, it talks about how the universe wants to play. Right? If you're a yes, even if you don't, it doesn't make sense right away. You don't know how you're gonna do it. Like, some people get stopped 'cause they're like, I wanna do X and I have no idea how to do it, so I guess I won't do it.
And it's like, no. Like you don't need to know how. Yes. There's so many other people in the world that know how, you just need to know that you're a yes and the rest of it will show up. 'cause chances are like you are, and my business both run 90% on referrals. And that's because the people in your network know someone who knows someone.
And if you need an answer, chances are someone you already know has it. Yep. And the truth is you don't need to go far away to figure it out.
Yes. And the truth is, when I was lawyering, it was the same way our business was based. My, my whole practice was based on referrals. Mm-hmm. So I'm building this business the exact same way, which is I have these awesome clients who really have, have, I've earned their trust, they've had great results, and now they're telling all their friends about it.
And so then all of a sudden they'll come to me, which is so rewarding. Yeah. I love that. And the other thing I was gonna share, right when you were sharing that about, um, you just need to be a yes. Mm-hmm. This was a YouTube video that a friend had sent me a few years ago. I don't know if you've heard of, but they do that.
Mindvalley conference. Yes. And I'm thinking this is for sure before COVID, where there's a lot of spiritual healers and speakers that attend Mindvalley. So this woman, I think she's from Australia, New Zealand, and I'm saying that because of her accent, but I think her name is Regan Gyer. She's got this YouTube video.
And I loved listening to her explanation of it. 'cause I've used this a lot in my own work. 'cause it's very, very true. So she had, before her transition into her speaking and coaching business, she was an architect or an architect school. So she always makes the analogy of architects, which is so, so valuable.
So she's like, I want you guys to picture that. Literally the universe is this whole entire construction crew. They're the general contractor. They've got the whole team, okay. Waiting to work and build you this big home or this big building, or this big mansion or whatever it is that you want your life to be.
Mm-hmm. And you're the architect and all you have to do is hand over the plans. Yeah. And the second you hand over the plans simply by saying yes, you don't have to know how they're gonna build it. You do not have to know. Yeah. You just have to say, here's what I want. Yeah. This is what it looks like, so can you help me build it?
And then the universe is like, okay, thank you. Yes. Now we can get there.
Yeah, like I, I have goosebumps. You got brought tears in my eyes. Like my whole body reacted to that story. That's amazing. I'm so glad. That's awesome. Well, I wanna jump into the juicy stuff of what you do because there are tons of people listening right now who know that they are out of integrity with their food, like fitness as well.
But we're, you know, with your space, I'm gonna talk about food when, what are the things like if you could say the top five things that people are doing wrong right now or that they are undervaluing, where do you start with people? And I know so much of its mindset, but like where do you start with people to be like, okay guys, like please stop doing this right now.
Yeah, please start doing this right now.
Okay. If I could summarize it into, let's say five things. Mm-hmm. I could summarize it into five things. And I'll say, before I give you those five things, Kara, one thing that I'd share is if someone hires me mm-hmm. To make this transition easier because people are so overwhelmed with decision fatigue when it comes to health and fitness, nutrition, workouts, blah, blah, blah.
I make it very easy for them and I give them a plan. Mm-hmm. So I'm literally like, you're gonna eat this at this time, then you're gonna eat this, then you're gonna eat this. And my whole purpose in doing that is to help them lose weight and get fit and have more energy and get over their autoimmune condition or whatever it is.
And while they are doing that, I always call it experiential learning. So they're learning a new language. 'cause they're like, oh, I never thought of putting those two things together for a meal, or, I didn't realize when I eat this, it really makes me feel good, or I have more energy. Or I'm not yawning at my two o'clock meeting in the afternoon.
Right. So I'm making it very easy for people because I want them to learn as they go, but we're gonna get right into the mix of it. So I would say the five things that I see people making the biggest mistakes are, are people are just period eating way too many carbohydrates to start. Mm-hmm. So I tell everyone, if you can really focus on getting your carbohydrates to come largely from vegetables and some fruits, that's huge.
So number one would be carbohydrates. Mm-hmm. A related point to that is I see way too many people drinking their carbohydrates. Yeah. So the number of clients that when they hand over their food and mood journal to me, and they're drinking lattes with oat milk. No oat milk guys, no oat milk. Like I wish oat milk was illegal.
I hate it. And I see that because anything that is a carbohydrate in its natural state has fiber. So that's how it slows the digestive process so that you can eat it. Oat oatmeal isn't bad. Oat milk is because it's now all of those oats constituted into a liquid with no fiber, and then that's what's gonna cause problems for you.
Blood SugarWise. So eating less carbohydrates, not drinking your carbohydrates, obviously. Number three, my most important thing as far as exercise goes, I wish I could get the entire planet to start strength training. Mm-hmm. So that is, if you're like, I don't have a lot of time to exercise, I don't know what to do.
The number one most important thing you can do for weight management, creating insulin sensitivity, feeling good in your body, looking good naked, having more energy. Making sure that you can live independently into your 90th year is to strength train. It's the most important thing you can do. I get all of my clients doing it.
Now, to be clear, I'm not a personal trainer. I don't tell my clients, here's how many bicep curls you do. I have no idea how to do that. But I will send you to particular strength training facilities in your loca, in your area, or do virtual workouts with my trainers who I think are excellent. Mm-hmm. So that would be third, fourth, I would say.
I see too many people still being prideful about the fact that they can sleep when they're dead. And I say it that way because I said that for years as a lawyer thinking that was really cool. We used to reward in this society. I only got four hours of sleep and I was so productive. I was up working until one, then I was up at four.
It's like, that's actually not cool. And you sound pathetic because it's so, well, it's so bad for you. And so I always say sleep is a foundation. You can have the best exercise regimen in the world and the best nutrition plan in the world. And if you're not sleeping, you might as well be eating McDonald's and sitting on the couch all day because it's gonna do such harm to your metabolic health.
Mm-hmm. Um, and then the other thing I think I would say lastly, which may surprise you but it's so important to me, is I want people spending way more time in nature than they're doing. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I'm in nature outside every single day. Now. I have two gorgeous golden retrievers who demand that I've got them in the backyard right now.
So they don't bother me during this podcast, but I already took them around for like a three and a half mile walk. It's so there, there's a thousand reasons I want you in nature, but just a few are we want to orientate orient our eyes with the sun. During the course of the day to help our circadian rhythm biology.
Mm-hmm. So your eyes register with your brain, oh, it must be one o'clock. I have to start producing melatonin, which is the hormone to help with sleep. Your brain then gets to register all of that hormone cascade. Also, we know from research that being in nature more really makes you have a more diverse gut microbiome.
So you get more good bacteria in your microbiome, which is huge for your mood, for having energy, for your digestion, all sorts of things. Those are just a couple, but also it's just really calming on your central nervous system. Mm-hmm. So in terms of being a human doing, you know, which is what I was for so long, it really got me to be more of a human being when I was spending more time in nature and not just out there slogging away 20 mile runs to get ready for a marathon.
I'm doing a lot more walking now. I'm a lot more gentle with my body, which is fun. Yes.
Well, and and I think the straightforward part to come back to that briefly, 'cause people think that means going to the gym for an hour and a half. And you told me a story once that you became a professional bodybuilder doing like 20 minutes a day or something insanely short.
Oh, it's even less than that. I work out and strength train 30 minutes twice a week. Mm-hmm. And people think that's absolutely crazy. But for anyone listening, you guys can go check out my gym that I've been strength training at since 2007. It's called Discover strength.com. They do virtual training so you don't have to live in the Twin Cities of Minnesota in order to take advantage of their services.
Every time I travel, I do their workouts. I did in between a birthday party I was at in Mexico and a wedding I was going into in the Dominican, I did a discover strength, half an hour workout in the Atlanta airport. Yeah, in between with no equipment. And it was an excellent workout and it was in the middle of COVID and I just did it in a corner of the airport.
I had a trainer training me over Zoom. Mm-hmm. Or Google Meet, which is excellent. And you can do those workouts anywhere, but 30 minutes, twice a week is all you need. So no one, no one can look at me with a straight face and tell me they don't have that time. And I train some of the most busy, busy professionals around.
Everyone has time for that. Especially. 'cause you could do it from five 30 to 6:00 AM and then get on with your day.
Well, and I, I think that's something that people step over so often is we look at our current life and that we don't want, 'cause this is not working for whatever reason, and we say there's no room for something.
And I always am coming back to you and being like, well this is where we have to delete. Because you are doing things that you don't care about. You don't want, you don't need. And if we really look at our time, like you mentioned earlier, training for the marathon, your first semester of law school. I was a college athlete.
When I was in season, in the fall, I had no time and I got the best grades and had everything work because I couldn't fuck around. Like everything had to just like only what I wanted could fit only what I needed, could fit. Everything else had to go. And you don't realize how many extra hours there are in a day, you know, like, um, how much time, like if for if you swapped one hour of TV out, what could you get done?
Exactly, exactly. Just
one.
Yep. Just one. Mm-hmm. I tell people that all the time. If you, I mean, you've heard this saying, I'm sure if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. Yes. They'll get it done for you. And it's so true. It's so true. And definitely for those of us who tend towards taking on everything and having our plates so full, it's why I have to do things like carve out the walks in nature with the dog.
Mm-hmm. Have the time with a meditation coach, do things like that for myself, schedule and my strength training. But you know, I'm gonna be at the gym tomorrow morning from five 30 to 6:00 AM getting my strength training done. So imagine how effective and efficient I'm going to be in my day, and then I'll make sure I get to bed at a really decent time.
Mm-hmm. Tomorrow night, so that I can do it all over again the next day.
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. So I know that you have ridiculous success with your clients. What are some of your favorite client transformations?
Oh, I would say, well, there's one in particular that comes to mind. She wouldn't care if I used her name.
She has the same name as you, but she pronounces it differently. It's Cara. Um, she hired me, I would say it was probably now the summer fall of 2020. And she got to this point in her life. She's in her mid thirties. Mm-hmm. And almost 40. And got to this point where she said, I'm just sick and tired of being sick and tired and not feeling good.
I have been basically carrying my post-college life of drinking too much on the weekends, eating crappy food on Sunday. Kind of trying to get back on a good behavior regimen on Monday, falling off the wagon by Wednesday. And that was really her life over and over. Mm-hmm. And I see that with a lot of people and they frankly just literally don't know how to get out of it.
So she hired me, I started planning all of her food. I got her strength training. She actually wasn't even willing to start the strength training in the beginning. And I said, that's fine. I'll meet you where you're at. We made so many dramatic changes with her in terms of food. She lost like 10% body fat by the, it was sometime in January, I believe, and we've probably started working together in September.
Mm-hmm. Or October. And then the, my most favorite part about her transformation is she's made this a lifestyle. Yeah. So she's also in my membership and she just on her own after we weren't working together for a while, was losing even more weight and incorporating all the principles that I taught her.
Mm-hmm. She's done my detox course a couple times now. Um, she looks and feels better now than she has. At any point in her whole entire life so far. So it's been really cool just to watch her blossom and transform so much so that I could see her doing this sometime on the side because she's had so much success.
Yeah. And she sent me so many cool clients. So that would be one of 'em. And I would say, um, I have so many. Another one is, um, a friend of mine, Stacy, who was one of my very first clients, I actually worked with her and her husband for six months and she was so transformed in our six months together that she decided to go to nutritional therapy school to do what I do, which is so cool.
So, and she's one of these other ones who's in my membership and who's just continued to employ the principals. She now, because she has three children, feeds her kids things like really healthy protein shakes. She makes electrolyte popsicles in the summer. Mm-hmm. The kids all in the neighborhood come over and want these electrolyte popsicles, which don't have a boatload of sugar.
So I'm like, we haven't even, trans not only transformed her, but also her children and all these other kids in the neighborhood. So they're all eating healthier. It's so cool.
And, and that's the best part. 'cause you know, you and I, uh, share that we're doing this for other people to be their best. And when we see the ripple effect that is, it's so amazing to know that we're not just helping 20 clients, we're helping 20 communities and 20 families and 20 business.
Like whatever the thing is that our people are a part of, because there's no way that allowing someone to step into their greatness doesn't impact everyone else around them.
Absolutely. And that's really what I believe we're all here to do, which is to just be our best version of ourselves and help others and serve and help them be better in whatever we came here to do in terms of our gifts.
You know, I couldn't have known 10 years ago that I'd be doing this in 2021 that I'd be coaching and literally living my passion, testing out different recipes, trying different foods. I mean, one thing that I've heard that, and this is as you know, with my friend and meditation coach has said like.
Everyone's goal in life should be to figure out how to get paid to just be themselves. Yes. That's really what it is. Yes. And I feel like that's what I'm doing now. This is the stuff I'd be doing if the door was shut. I wasn't on social media. I didn't know anyone. I was a hermit. I'd be doing the same shit all day long.
I'd be making recipes, testing 'em out, creating meal plans, playing around with macros. Mm-hmm. Listening to podcasts about all sorts of crazy biohacking shit. That very few other people care about, but I love, and then I can share it with people, which is so fun. So really getting paid to be you. And I feel like because we're upon the great resignation and we're in such a transition planetarily in terms of our energy, like literally for any of your listeners, for anyone who is quite questioning whether this is something they should do, like the answer is yes.
Yeah. And literally the answer is yes. Like it's not, maybe it's like, fuck yes it is. Yeah. 'cause that's literally the transition that we're in on the planet right now. And if I look back to my own transition and I, I, I really reflect on a few sort of moments of discomfort I had in that year before I finally decided to leave the practice of law.
I realize now, and I probably, if I'm honest, realize at the time those were all serious nudges from the universe. Trying to push me out of the practice, they thought, okay, this woman loves this practice, she loves being a lawyer. Yeah. We've gotta start to make it a little uncomfortable for her. Mm-hmm. So that she doesn't love it as much, so we can get her to serve and help other humans in this way.
Right? Mm-hmm. So as hard as those transitions can be, and I actually coach some people and clients now through those same kinds of transitions mm-hmm. Because they reach out to me because of that, those uncomfortable situations, those things that feel like, oh my God, I'm failing, or Oh my god, what's going on here?
Mm-hmm. Those are for you. Those are literally for you to wake you up, to push you in a different direction. And so accept that that's the new direction and, and move forward.
Yep. There's, um, I used to do an exercise with people in, in January where we would reflect on last year and have a, a column of everything we loved about last year, and then we'd have a column for every lesson, and then I would ask people to move all the lessons into the love column.
And we got all the resistance would show up. Right. Which I would coach people through, but it's true. It's like even the most horrible thing that can happen to you. Like there is a benefit to you in there somewhere. There really is. And it can be really hard to find that sometimes. And it's truly horrific.
And if nothing else, for people who are like, how the hell are you saying that right now? If nothing else, if you survive something horrific, you now have access to talk to other people who have as well. Yes, exactly. If you haven't gone through it, you don't get it. So if nothing else, you now are able to be a communicator with other people and really understand things.
But usually, you know, when we talk about Big T or little t traumas in the, in the therapy space, there's so many other things that we go through in a year and a day in a, in a month that we don't like. And we have to really look at, well hold on. Like how can this help me? How can I pivot this and, and use it?
To either surrender and let go or, or go. You know, one of my favorite quotes is, you must be willing to let go of the life you had planned to have the life that is waiting for you.
Ah,
and we get so hung up on like doing it the way we imagined it. When, if we do trust, if we do have faith, that we are willing to play that game with the architects, as the architects, with the, the GCs you were talking about earlier.
Um, usually the life that that's waiting for us is so much more amazing than the one that we would build by ourselves.
Exactly, exactly. It's so true. I actually, so I don't watch any tv. I don't have cable, but I do have Netflix and I had been interested in this. Documentary called Minimalism. Yep. About this guy who became minimalist.
So I had gotten a book and then I thought, well, maybe I wanna watch this. So I actually just started watching it a little while ago and it's really caused me to pause and reflect on how much stuff I now want to get rid of. Yes. So it also connects me to this podcast I'd listened to a couple years ago.
From this gentleman and I was listening to his podcast in particular because he also happened to have a former life as a big firm lawyer and then left to go do this coaching and speaking business. But he had said, you know what I watch? And he said, and I was in this world is you graduate from law school, you're, you get all this money as you start being a lawyer and then you work really hard and you can buy all this cool stuff.
And he was in New York, so he was on Wall Street. Mm-hmm. So he was using the example with, and then you get further in the practice and then to get out of this crazy grind in the city, 'cause you're working all the time. Then you go buy the house in the Hamptons. Well now you have to stay at your crazy job that pays you so much money to be able to afford the house in the Hamptons to get out of your crazy life.
And it's just this crazy like Uhhuh, you know, hamster wheel of golden handcuffs. Yes. And I thought that's so true. And I would say that I was caught in that for a while. Lawyering. And now that my life has changed so dramatically and I have all of this stuff, I'm like, how can I really minimize and get rid of so much of my stuff?
Because you and I have talked about this too, the clutter around you. Yes. And in your space can create energetic blocks in terms of creativity. Mm-hmm. In terms of just your energy. So that's a really gonna be a focus of mine for the rest of 2021, is how can I minimize what I have in my home and really start to get rid of stuff and not accumulate?
Well, I have an amazing client who is I, you have to meet anyway 'cause she's fabulous. And you're fabulous. But that's what she does. Oh, you're kidding. Nope. So I'll connect you guys. Um, but I really think that a lot of what you and I do is we're con marrying people's lives. Like I don't, I take out more of people's businesses than I put in.
Like I usually, I'm like, Nope, remove that.
Nope. Get rid of that. Nope, this is dumb. Like in fact, Kira, I think in one of our first meetings I had showed you my kind of master to-do list and you're like, yeah, okay. Literally 60% or more of that you don't even need to have on your list. Like why is that even on your list?
And you were right by the way. And just even having those things on the list created energetic blocks for me that was keeping me stuck on a variety of levels that I didn't even appreciate at the time. Mm-hmm. So even giving myself permission to move those things off of a list is like, ha, this whole like bright light opens up and then all of a sudden more clients can come in.
It's just, it's really magical how it works. Yes. And I've, I've seen it obviously in since I've been working with you so
well, and I imagine you see with your clients, right, where we, we think there isn't time. We think that there is no solution to a fast, healthy meal. We think there's no way to eat at restaurants anymore.
Like there's all these fears we have of. This is how life's supposed to be. This is how I'm operating now, and then this is the life I want. And we don't think it's possible to merge them all together. We don't think it's possible to be social and be healthy. We don't think it's possible to, you know, have a full life.
And because people think, oh, I'm gonna need three hours a day to do health and fitness. And I'm like, do you like.
Absolutely not, right? Yeah. And so you're spot on. I meet with that. I meet that resistance a lot. Mm-hmm. When clients are thinking about hiring me, they have this scary vision in their head about spending 10 hours a day in the kitchen and three hours a day in the gym.
And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what we're gonna do. And yes, you can still go to restaurants and yes, if you like alcohol, you can still drink alcohol. We may just not be doing it for a period of time. Mm-hmm. I'm trying to get you back to health. And then slowly but surely, they start to transform and then they actually make the decisions for themselves weird.
I don't wanna drink a whole bottle of wine on Friday night anymore, or I don't wanna go and, and I help them understand that's really just a form of escapism. Yes. That's all you're doing and it's okay. There's literally no judgment around it. And I, I've, I've been guilty of it before. I understand it. And my job as your coach and accountability partner is to just help you see it for what it really is.
And to help you understand that if we just change a couple of these habits, yeah, you are going to feel so much better that you are gonna make the decision to, to make this healthier choice going forward. I'm not doing it for you. You're going to want to.
Well, and we, and we don't know, or most people don't know, that the bacteria in our gut is controlling our brain.
Like we don't want the cupcake, like the carb obsessed bi bacteria in our stomach is like cupcakes. Like just like the things from Toy Story, right? Like, yes. So we don't realize that we are being completely controlled by what's in our stomach or in our gut and not what we actually want. Like our brain.
If we're focused on brain health only, it would never choose a cupcake. Course not, it wouldn't do anything for it.
Right, right. So I work, I I love that you gave that example because there was an article in The Atlantic in 2014. Mm-hmm. That's titled My Gut Bacteria Told me to Eat a Cupcake. Literally. And I, I use it in my clients.
I use it in with my clients all the time to help them understand. This has been around for nearly a decade. I think we're on the precipice of understanding how important our gut health is now. There's a ton of books about gut health. There is a ton of research that's come out about it. And I still think we're on the verge of figuring out how real, really important it is.
Um, 95% of our serotonin to your point, are serotonin, which, okay, anyone who takes depression medication, like that's what you're elevating with. Depression medication is your serotonin. 95% of that is made in your gut. So if you can get the balance of bacteria in your small and large intestine, back to balance, and we get more good than bad, guess what?
Your moods improve. Mm-hmm. Your depression alleviates. I see it with my clients all the time. I cannot interfere with any of their pharmaceuticals. And I have a lot of clients who on their own, decide to wean themselves off of those kinds of medications in consultation with their doctor because the only reason they were suffering from depression and anxiety is because they had so many nutritional deficiencies.
Yeah. And the second I get real food back in them, and they might start taking some. You know, quality supplements for a period of time or whatever it is. Mm-hmm. All of a sudden they start feeling better and they're like, oh my God, I'm not depressed anymore. Mm-hmm. Or I don't have anxiety. And that, that is probably the most rewarding part of my work.
Yeah. Well, it, it's, we, there's, there's a gap in having clarity on how humans operate in a, on a physiological level. You know, like there's so much disconnect, like for women in particular of like cycle health and, and all of that is like ancient wisdom out the window. We don't even know. Most people have no idea.
Yes. And same with with, with what we put in our body and like, just how we have to remember that we are a machine, uh, like we're an organic machine, but we're still a machine. So like, you have to, like, there's only, it's math, it's not magic. Like we, we have forgotten that because whatever, everything that we're distracted with and everything else that we do know, which is usually awesome stuff.
Sometimes it's a bunch of wasted time that we're distracted with, but. We're losing that. So I'm glad there's people like you who are bringing people back to like, this is just how it works. It's not, it's not a trend, it's not a fad. This is just how our bodies physiologically work. And we can't continue to ignore that because it's, we think it's hard or difficult, or.
You know, we don't know it, so it must be strange.
Right? The input literally creates the output. Mm-hmm. I mean, your body is made up of cells. If you remember seventh, eighth grade, biology guys, cells make up tissues. Tissues make up organs. Organs make up systems. Systems make up a body. Mm-hmm. So when you're putting things into your digestive system, right?
Yeah. It's being absorbed by organs. To then put it into tissues and cells, and that's literally how you're created. So if you are recycling millions and millions of cells on a periodic basis in months, what you put into your body literally creates what you look like and feel like on the outside. It's so true.
And I always say to your analogy about the fact that we are machines, I always say, I don't wanna put unleaded fuel in a Bugatti. Yeah. So that's always the analogy I give. I'm like, seriously, you guys, you wouldn't do that. So let's be really intentional about what it is. Every single time you open your mouth to put food in it, you are making a choice.
Is this something that's gonna contribute to my health or is it something that's going to take away from my health? And you get that choice every single time you eat or don't eat. Yeah.
Yeah. Well, I, you and I could talk for hours, so we'll have to have you back on again. Uh, but let's do some rapid fire questions.
We can get you outta here on time. Perfect. The first question, when you hear the words powerful and ladies separately, what do they mean to you and when they're combined, do they change?
Ah, when I hear the word powerful, I think of, I guess I think of men and women. So I do think of humans. I think of people who are driven, motivated, really tackling a lot of tough problems and who are really contributing to society in some magical way.
Ladies, and this is probably because I'm getting ready for this retreat that I'm hosting relatively soon, I think of the power, the power of the divine feminine. Mm-hmm. And of how much female power, for lack of a better term, is really on the rise in our world right now. And that femininity is. Stronger than I think people have understood for decades.
And I think we're about to see how much stronger it's, so when I combine the world Words powerful ladies, I almost think I've sort of already answered the question. But, um, it really is this feminine energy that I see making such a massive, um, awakening in the world right now. And I feel like it's, it's the new frontier.
Mm-hmm. So we are literally leaving a masculine paradigm where men controlled much of the world and now as women, not in the sense of a me too movement, not in the sense of a, anything other, uh, you know, anything in the sense of a movement. I'm talking about energy. Yeah. And just the fact that female energy is really becoming more powerful on the planet.
Powerful ladies is an awesome, awesome term for it.
Well, and then where would you put yourself in the powerful lady scale? If zero is average everyday human and 10 is the most powerful lady possible, where would you put yourself today and on average?
Oh, today? Um, okay. Tell me again the scale. So five is average and 10 is the most
powerful woman.
Zero is the average human, and 10 is the most powerful lady you could imagine.
Okay. So I'd say I'd put myself somewhere around like eight or nine. Yeah. And I say that because I really feel inspired and motivated every single day to get up and to serve. And I feel like that's really the definition of a powerful lady, someone who is serving her community in her gift, fulfilling her purpose.
I had a client say to me recently, it is very clear that this is your absolute calling in life. Yeah. And so I'd say that I always have room for improvement, which is why I'm not saying 10. So I'll give it an eight or nine. I love it.
Uh, so for everyone who wants to work with you, hire you, collaborate, where can they go?
Where can they find you?
My email is kristen@energeticallyefficient.com, and Kristen is spelled K-R-I-S-T-I-N. My website is energetically efficient.com. My handle on Instagram, which is probably the social media channel I use the most is MN Golden Girl. But then the other one I use pretty regularly now is LinkedIn.
Mm-hmm. And so I'm Kristen Rael. My last name is Rael, R-O-W-E-L-L, and they can find me at any of those places.
I love it. And we, our community is so powerful and as people all around the world, so I always encourage guests, is there anything you need and any requests you wanna make, so this community could give you back one of those easy connections.
Well, I think the one that you already highlighted for me is this whole minimalism thing. Yeah. I mean, I'm really into this right now, so if you have a connection in that space, I would absolutely love it. Because part of the reason I haven't started it yet is it feels overwhelming. Yeah. So just like we've talked about, I tend to hire a coach to get me over that hump when something feels overwhelming and then I can learn how to do it on my.
Perfect. Okay. I'll connect you guys right after this call. Well, it has been such a pleasure for you to be here. Thank you for being a yes to me and powerful ladies. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to coach you via a contribution to you. Uh, you are truly one of my rock stars, and I enjoy working with you, and I'm so excited to hear what all of our listeners have to say about this episode.
Thank you so much for having me, Kira. I really appreciate it. And thank you to everyone for listening and hanging with us the whole episode.
Thank you for listening to today's episode. All the links to Necker Kristen Earner. Show notes@thepowerfulladies.com slash podcast. There. You can also leave comments and ask questions about this episode. If you want more powerful ladies, come and join us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies, where you can also find some free downloads to start being powerful today.
Subscribe to this podcast and help us connect with more listeners by leaving us a five star rating and review. If you're looking to connect directly with me, please visit kara duffy.com or come follow me on Instagram at Kara Duffy. I'd like to thank our producer, composer, and audio engineer Jordan Duffy.
Without her, this wouldn't be possible. Please follow her at Jordan K. Duffy. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Until then, and we're taking on being powerful in your life, life, go be awesome and up to something you love.
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Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
