S1 E5: Take Control of Your Health: Dr. Amanda Swan, Swan Integrative Health

Welcome to the well off podcast, Health, wealth and live in Top Shelf.

I'm Dr. Tara.

I'm Gina Sim, and we are your podcast hosts.

I'm a psychotherapist and CEO.

I'm a marketing executive. I'm married and I am happily single. I'm a mom and I'm the cool auntie.

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Hell yeah, I am. Let's get this party started. Hey, listeners, welcome back.

This is Dr. Tara and I'm Gina Sim. And we have a very exciting guest today talking about a very important topic.

Tara, and one that is very close to my heart. Me too.

And today we have Amanda Swan, aprn, who is the founder and owner of Swann Integrative Health and Wellness. She's going to talk to us about how to take control of our health. But part of taking control of your health is finding time for you and creating a wellness routine. So, Tara, tell me, what do you do for your wellness routine?

I mean, I think that everything I do is kind of couched with that mindset of trying to live to my highest health and to be mindful of what I'm putting in my body, what I'm listening to, what I'm reading, who I'm surrounding myself with. But my. My daily practices are really important to me. So every morning I start with drinking a lot of water and then doing some sort of physical movement. But I either do yoga or I walk or I lift weights. Sometimes I dance. I turn on my playlist and no one's looking and I just dance except my dogs for about 20 to 30 minutes and just anything like that. So, I mean, that's how I start my day. But I'm also very spiritual. I pray, I meditate, I'm an angel card reader. So I do my own reading every morning before I leave the house. So, you know, those are just some of the things that I do to jumpstart my day. But I mean, all in all, I look at the big picture and try to make everything that I do, even my conversations, to be mindful and to be good and kind and thoughtful.

So I love it. I'm definitely taking a few pages out of your book.

Yeah. And how about you?

So I'd say my number one wellness routine. Honestly, I have a plethora of girlfriends and they have all gotten me through everything in life and a few of them have taught me. I say in the last year and a half, my biggest wellness routine is my workouts. So my friend Nicole got me into bar. She was a bar instructor. So when I moved to Connecticut, I joined a bar studio, shout out to Hot 11 Yoga in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. So I go to bar. I do that like three, four times a week and then also weightlifting. My sister in law goes to a 5:30am class at Energy Zone in Cromwell and she's like, you got to come. And I'm like, absolutely not. I'm not getting up at 5am and sure enough, here I am, six months later, I am a 5am workout girl. So who would have known? And then I'd say as a part of like my wellness, my health, you know, being a breast cancer survivor, you know, kind of being a little bit of a hypochondriac, I need to be proactive and I need to make sure that everything is in check. And this actually leads us up to our next guest. She is a lifelong friend of mine. We've been friends in the womb. Our mothers were pregnant at the same time.

I love that.

And she is a very successful nurse practitioner. So welcome, Amanda.

Thank you. I'm really thrilled to be here. This is my very first podcast. Oh my God. So I'm a little nervous, admittedly.

Oh, no, no, no.

But also love that I'm breaking the podcast ice with my best friend of really lifetime and a soon to be friend. I'm quite sure.

Yes, Tara and you will be fast friends.

Yeah, I can already feel we speak the same language. I'm so excited that you're here.

One of my sort of goals for 2024 was to get more uncomfortable, step out of my comfort zone, and really try to work on my own confidence. And being here is a perfect way to get that rocking and rolling.

So we love that.

Very grateful.

Yay. Well, we're so excited. So a little bit about Mandy. She went to Bates College and then went to Yale School of Nursing, got her master's in the science of nursing, and then she had a fellowship in HIV care in Brooklyn, New York. And so she worked with HIV and hepatitis C and substance abuse. And then you became a mom and then started Swan Integrative in 2016. And the rest is history.

Yeah, if only it was that simple. Yeah.

So tell us about what you do at Swan Integrated care.

Sure. So our practice really, maybe talking about the word integrative is a good place to start. So integrative medicine has many of its own definitions. It really is a true integration of conventional Western medicine. The stuff that everybody's sort of used to when you go to see your regular primary care provider or to the emergency room, using medications to help people feel better. But we really integrate all that important knowledge with other approaches, things that are more holistic, things that are more complementary or alternative. We have lots of different words for these other approaches. So it's really meeting people where they want to be in between these two worlds. And there really is a place for both at the table. Many people have an issue that requires them to change their diet and maybe do some supplementation, but a medicine might really help them to feel better while they're working on those things. So we really try to bridge the two and recognize the power of both sides of the equation. I think integrative medicine also, it's a way to see the body as truly integrated. Our healthcare system now is very much a silo system. So when you have a skin problem, you go to a dermatologist, and when you have a belly problem, you go to gi. In my eyes, if someone came to me with a skin concern, the last thing I would do is give them a cream. I mean, I might give them one to help them feel better in the meantime. But I'd be thinking about their gut, I'd be thinking about their stress and their hormones and really seeing how all those things intersect to cause the symptoms that they're having. So integrative medicine really pulls all the systems together. It's really systems based approach to health.

Yeah, that's so important.

I am a big believer. And just for our listener's sake, and you'll get this. When I was 40, I was having heart palpitations. And so what did I do? I went to my primary care doctor who did an ekg. It was abnormal. Sent me to a cardiologist, and I refused medication. But that's the route they wanted to go. But it wasn't until 10 years later that I realized it was perimenopause. And thank God I refused because I would have been on the hamster wheel of traditional Western medicine. Not that we're throwing shade at Western Medicine because I actually started my career and still have a license as an rn.

Oh, wow.

In New Jersey. Yes. Yes. So it's very much a part of who I am. But your practice focuses on women's health, correct? We do, yes.

We do have. We do have some men in the practice.

Okay. We allow them in some.

Yeah, we do, we do.

Just sometimes.

But as we move forward and sort of work on our mission, we really are focused on integrative women's health. It's just what me and my colleagues love to do. It's where we are all at in our own journeys and where we have a specialization in terms of our training. And it's really fun. It's really fun. I think women really need each other as we get older and go through the bumps of life like Gina referred to earlier. And so we're working on ways to bring women together in groups and just helping us all to support one another as we kind of are on this wild journey of health and life.

And, you know, because I've shared with you that I take bioidentical hormones, which changed my life, I am on a crusade when I meet middle aged women to really open the dialogue about menopause. Because one of the things that I'm finding because I'm approaching 52 years on this earth, that it's so different for everyone. Just like when we're adolescents, some girls are developing and have their periods and some don't. And it's very similar for middle aged women. Some are still actively menstruating, some are in full blown menopause. So it's kind of hard to relate at times, but we need to know, like we need to know what's going on in our bodies.

We do, we do. And we need, I think, just the awareness, you know, somebody could be 41 and having really subtle symptoms of perimenopause and just not even know that that was an option.

Right, right.

And so they're seek care for their anxiety or their weight gain and nobody's telling them, listen, this is part of a normal process and we can support you through it. You don't need to just think that you are losing your mind or losing control of your body. Just that awareness and knowledge is really empowering.

I know. And I mean, personally, I'm in forced menopause because of my breast cancer treatments. So like Tara was saying, there's all different levels of what you're doing in hormone therapy, non hormone therapy, anti hormone therapy, all of the things. And being Proactive and preventative. So, you know, when you and I were talking, I don't know, one of the million times, you talk a lot about how, you know, right now we treat the problem. When you get sick or when something's wrong, you treat the problem, but we don't prevent the problem. So preventative medicine is so important. Tell me a little bit about your steps to preventative medicine and how it's helped your patients.

Sure. I think that nutrition is an area that really gets brushed over and doesn't get enough attention in conventional nursing and medical schools. So although it's the foundation of all health, really, we're not taught how to talk to people about nutrition, and we're not given time to have those conversations in a regular medical office. So we really use nutrition as the heart of what we do, and we have conversations with all of our patients about what they're eating and how that's impacting them, how that can help them down the road. And I think just opening the door to those conversations goes a long way and just lets patients know that it's okay to have these conversations here and that we're gonna hold space for them to talk about their challenges with nutrition. If you can get your nutrition right, you can really prevent a lot of things from happening and a lot of symptoms that are really bothersome that lead to other medicines or other issues.

Yeah.

So nutrition is key. The things that you guys mentioned in the beginning, you know, exercise, having an important morning routine, having a spiritual practice, having a network of people, having a community, you know, those are the basic, basic foundations of health, and they're very simple. But you'd be surprised at how difficult they are for people to actually implement. You know, we're in the society where everybody is on the go looking for a quick fix, not making time for the things that really matter. And if we could all just step back and take better care of ourselves at the foundation, our whole culture would be very, very different from a health perspective. So we try to start at the ground floor with folks and teach them the basics, teach them how to sleep, how to eat, how to relax. And from there, so much gets better. So much.

So in addition to nutrition, Amanda, what else do you do differently in your practice that maybe your patients don't find in a traditional medical practice?

Yeah. I think something we do really well is we listen. And I'm not throwing shade at any of my colleagues. I know that anyone that enters the medical or nursing world wants to help people and wants to listen and wants to hear people's stories, But. But then we get out into practice, and we're not given the time to do that. So we've created a model where we can actually spend more time listening. And that is a huge gift that I think our patients really benefit from. From there, we're able to actually see what their challenges are, and we can take a deeper dive. Right. So, again, if they're having skin problems, we'll use that example. We start to think about all the different body systems that can impact the skin, and we dive in. There's special testing that we can do. There's dietary changes we can recommend. We often refer to specialists to help us, so we have some more people at the table. But I say we do a much deeper dive and look much more comprehensively than our colleagues. And part of that is because we make the time for it. And it's just the way that our brains work. It's the way that we have been trained, because we've sought different training than what we got in our conventional trainings in nursing school.

And I can kind of be a firsthand testimony to this way of practice. I mean, you know, I would just go to a regular pcp, and they'd be like, okay, yep, everything's good. Whatever. You know, you're good to go. Whereas when I started seeing Amanda, there was. She's like, okay, we got to do a full blood panel, and you have to go get a calcium scan. And, you know, knowing my full history, getting to know my full history, I feel, you know, a lot of times your doctors don't really kind of dive. I mean, they know it, but. But they come in and they look at your chart, and they're just like, oh, yeah, yeah, you're the. And then they might even have it wrong sometimes. So tell me about how important it is for, you know, to do full blood panels. How often should we do them? And what is a calcium scan?

Hmm. Great questions. I think a full blood panel is a great idea. At least once a year for most people. And a quote, unquote, full blood panel could mean a lot of different things to us. We always are running a metabolic panel that looks at blood sugar and liver and kidney function, electrolytes, red and white blood cells. We dive deeply into the thyroid because it's such a problem area for many women. We do a really, really comprehensive cholesterol panel that looks not only at your standard markers, but also inflammatory markers, particle sizes, et cetera. We like to look at nutrient levels, vitamin D, vitamin B12, iron, really, really important. We Uncover tons of deficiencies that would have been overlooked otherwise. If people have particular concerns, we might dive into other areas, like gut health. We have some really cool stool tests that we can run to look at microbiome and inflammatory markers in the gut. So that kind of thing once a year. Hormone panels, when they're indicated, you know, I could go on and on and on, sort of patient specific. And then sometimes other tests are warranted. The calcium scan that Gina's referring to is a CAT scan of the coronary arteries that allows us to see if there's calcium buildup in those arteries. And it's just another piece of the puzzle when we're thinking about cardiovascular health. It might not be something that everybody needs, but based on family history, personal risk, cholesterol numbers, chemotherapy, chemotherapy, 100%. It's been really eye opening to see who has calcium in their coronary arteries and who might not. And it just provides another piece of the puzzle. Right. We want to get as much data as we can. Data is really important whether you're in conventional or integrative medicine. And the more data we can collect, the better care we can give. We're fortunate that we live in a time where there's lots of ways to get lots of great data. And most of it is covered by insurance. That's great. Most of it is. There's special tests that sometimes have a price tag attached. And we try to be really careful about what we recommend because we're careful of people's budgets. We take insurance on our practice and we try to do what's going to be covered by first. Because we know that, you know, healthcare is expensive and life is expensive and buying organic vegetables is expensive.

Yes.

So, yeah.

And I think sometimes people shy away from integrative medicine because of cost. But even the out of pocket cost that may or may not come up is small. When you think about what illness could cost you down the line.

Absolutely. That goes along with the preventive side of this.

Yeah. So if you could give our listeners the top three hacks, if they do these three things or maybe something they shouldn't do. What do you think that recipe is to really promote good health, physical and even mental health?

Sure. I think we all need to eat more vegetables.

Oh, my God. If she tells me that one more.

Time, I swear to God it's really true. It's really, really true. There are beautiful colors and textures and flavors out there that the earth provides us, and it is medicine for ourselves. If you can learn to love vegetables, your life will be 10 times better. Your health will.

Me, too. I don't eat meat, so that's one of my health hacks. Yeah.

Wait. I just have to say, like, you know, Mandy and I have had many conversations about health, and after some of my recent tests, I was like, okay, so what do you think? And she's like, well, I know you love cheese so, so much. But, like, maybe if we just pull back a little bit on the cheese. And I'm like, oh, my God.

Or sprinkle it on some broccoli.

Yes. You know, Okay. I have been doing that. I've been so much better.

Proud of you.

Be proud. Yes. Okay, Sorry. So next.

Yes. So eating lots of vegetables doesn't mean you have to only eat vegetables. I'm very neutral when it comes to what diet. We should all eat. We should all find what works for us. But I think all science, all approaches agree that vegetables should be the main event. So that's number one. Sleep is number two. And as someone who really has always needed a lot of sleep and am now 45 and struggling to get the sleep that I need because my hormones are changing. I'm experiencing firsthand what it feels like to be sleep deprived even when you're putting in your best effort. There's lots of great and scary data about what happens to our bodies when we don't get enough sleep. And so much of the sleep that we don't get is sleep that we could be getting.

Right.

Because we're staying up late on our devices, or we're just not making time to be in bed to get the sleep that we need, or we have racing thoughts because we're not taking care of our mental health. Doing whatever we can to get enough sleep is also really a secret to longevity and good health. And I think the third thing is having a good community around you. People that support you, people that love you. We know that isolation is really bad for our health, and it doesn't need to be a whole gaggle of people, just a couple people in your circle that you can reach out to when you need support. We don't. We don't recognize how valuable that is for us physically, but it really is.

There's a lot of research being done now, and I know Rutgers University has focused on this about loneliness and how it should be a diagnosis.

Yes.

And how it really contributes to morbidity and illness and, of course, mental health. And it's really serious, and it really exacerbated during COVID More so in young people. Actually, studies found that in older people like the Golden Girls, for instance, my favorite, your girls, that they were really not as impacted because their lives are pretty solitary to begin with. So the pandemic didn't really change things much. But there's so many parallels, Amanda, in what you're saying and what I also practice in my psychotherapy practice because we look at the big picture and you mentioned the social piece and something that I tell my clients is that your social circle should be a dime versus a nickel smaller, but worth more.

Oh, that's beautiful.

Right?

I love that.

Instead of the nickel, which is bigger, but it's half the value. So that's really important. And I think that who we surround ourselves with is just as important as what you put in your mouth.

And it is. Yeah, it is. And I think the younger generations, they think they're surrounded by people because they have all these virtual connections.

Right.

But it's different than the one on one in person time that you spend with somebody that really fills your soul. And I'm worried about what that might translate into down the road because I think there's a lot of loneliness in our teens and 20 somethings that they're just sort of masking by having a lot of followers on their social media. And that's concerning.

And you two shared that you've been best friends for life. For life, literally for five years.

Yes.

I have a friend shout out to Lele that has been my lifelong best friend. But nowadays it's more about groups. And again, it's the nickel. Like you have these friend groups, but do you have a ride or die?

Right.

Yeah.

Right?

Mm, absolutely. When I moved Mandy and her husband and her friend, it's like right there, like moving me in.

Yeah, yeah. What we do. Yeah, it's.

It's all about supporting each other. And we. You mentioned the Golden Girls. And not to go back to the Golden Girls, but talk to me about how, like back then, like in the 80s and 90s, 50 was like 70, and nowadays 50 year old women, like, I mean, if you look at Tara, you'd be like, you're not 50. There's no way. And obviously Mandy and I don't look 45 either. Absolutely not. So I see that meme of Blanche Devereaux versus J. Lo. It's like 50 in 1985 and then 50 in 2020 and she's swinging on a pole. You know, how have you seen that with your clients? Do you see because they're taking better care of themselves early on, that their lives are extending and better quality?

I think so, yeah, I think there's something to that. I think we have more resources than our previous generations did. We have more knowledge. We know that smoking is bad.

Right, Right, Yes.

Whereas a generation ago, women smoked through their pregnancies because nobody told them not to.

Right.

So, yeah, I think we have more knowledge, more resources. I mean, Botox might help a little bit. I'm just saying.

Well, we were talking about that this morning.

I think so.

And I was like, amanda does my Botox and she does. You use dysport, right?

Yeah.

And I was like, okay, what's the difference? And why do you choose dysport over Botox?

Yeah. Well, first of all, people are usually surprised when they hear that A. I use it myself and then I give it to people in my office because they think that if I'm an integrative practitioner, I probably just poo poo anything that has to do with beauty or vanity or chemicals. And I like to stay pretty neutral on most things in life. And. And I love to look good, and I like to help my patients look good. And there's nothing wrong with using a little something to soften the wrinkles on our faces. I also really enjoy it from, like, a clinical standpoint. A lot of what I do in the office every day involves a lot of talking and thinking and strategizing and educating, and the results take a long time. Right. If you're going to change your diet in order to improve your gut health, it's going to take some time. But I can take a little needle and put it in somebody's forehead, and in two weeks, they are, like, super happy because they love how their face looks. I love the procedural aspect of it. I've always been very tactical, and I'm a knitter, and in another life, I think I'll be a surgeon. So I really like that I can spend five minutes with some little needles and do some procedures and get some quick results. It's very satisfying to me from very clinical standpoint.

Okay, so ladies out there that are listening now, you heard it. You can be healthy, integrative, and get your wrinkles taken care.

There is no shame in that game, ladies. No shame. I have some men that come see. Come see me for that as well.

So, yes, very cool.

Botox, they call it.

Oh, my God.

Wow.

How did we not make that up or know, right?

Seriously, so many things that come out, and I'm like, how did I not think of that? So segueing a little bit over to, like, the business side. So, you know, you started your practice in 2016 and you had to market and brand yourself, build up your client base. Tell me about the process of building a business and how you've grown over the course of time.

Wow. Yeah. So in the beginning, I was very lucky that my business really grew through word of mouth. It was patients telling their friends and family members and it was very organic. I really didn't do any marketing at all. I didn't have a marketing team. I was on social media, kind of sorta, but not really. And that all worked for a long time. And most recently, as we've been growing and we've needed to sort of expand our reach, we have been tapping in more to marketing resources. We have a content creator on board now who's really been doing a great job getting us more active on social media. Tomorrow, actually, we're having a brand photography session with a local photographer, which we're really excited about. So we have some updated photos that are a little bit more in line with sort of what our mission is and where we're headed. So this is all very new, all this sort of visible digital stuff. But it's exciting and I am seeing how it's impacting and increasing the reach that we have, and that's really cool. See our numbers go up, see more patients find us, and see that our marketing efforts are really fruitful.

Awesome.

So what would you say to a listener that perhaps has a profession, a brand, something that may be not totally mainstream, and they're hesitating to move forward with what would you tell them that.

They just have to try. You never want to look back and say, I should have just given it a shot.

Right.

I really feel like we are all put here for a very special purpose and we don't always know what that is right away. We certainly don't know what it is. When we're 18 and having to make big decisions about our lives and as we get older and have more opportunities and can do some looking inward and working on our own selves, if we do it right, I think we do find our purpose. And if you ignore that purpose for your whole life and do what somebody else told you you should do, or what's going to make you lots of money or whatever, I think that leads to a lot of sadness and boredom and depression and regret. And so I really encourage people to find that passion, find that purpose, and then take a risk. You can take a risk without losing everything. Right. When I started my practice, I was seeing patients one day a week because I had to keep my Day job. I was a single mom and going out on the slim, and I was fortunate that my employer at the time said, that's fine. You can back off a day here. And I was able to sort of keep one foot in one practice and start my own and then build from there. And so every couple months, I was able to take on some more patients and take on another day and pull back from the other side. And so sometimes you have to be real strategic about it, because the reality is we do have bills to pay and mouths to feed, but it's possible. And if you don't give it a shot, then you'll never know what you're missing.

There's a saying, the shot that you miss is the one you don't take.

Yes. Tara, that is such a great quote. I believe that's Wayne Gretzky, one of my all time idols, and he says you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Yes. Wayne Gretzky. Amanda is a huge hockey fan.

And in my world of mental health, I do meet so many people that are dissatisfied. And when you think about how much time you spend at work and if you're miserable, the impact that that has on you is really tremendous.

Yeah. Physically as well. You know, I think that a lot of discontent and sadness manifests physically, whether it's in autoimmune diseases or chronic pain or chronic fatigue. And I wish sometimes I could just tell somebody, I think you need to leave your marriage and find a job that you love, and you're gonna be 95% better. Yeah.

Yeah.

It's crazy how mental health. You know, speaking of mental health, you know, you mentioned you're a single mom. How do you balance it all with this practice and, you know, all of that?

Yeah, yeah. Well, balance is just not a real thing. I think that it's a word that we use a lot. But balance means that things are equal on both sides. And I think for most women, we're always tilted in one direction more than the other. If you think about a scale or a seesaw, one side is always down a little bit higher, a little bit lower than the other. And that's just the reality of life. And if we can accept that that is how our lives are, it's okay. It's okay. There are days when my life is really devoted to what's happening in the office, and I have to delegate some things at home to other people in my life and vice versa. So having good people around you, having a good team at home, I'm Lucky to be remarried to a wonderful man who's really involved in the practice from a sort of support standpoint. He loves hearing about what's happening. He helps me to strategize. He's really involved in the life of my son, but he considers him his son as well. My parents are great supporters, and my son also. He gets it. He's seen me build this business from the ground up, and he's proud of me. I know that he's 12. He's able to verbalize those things now. And so he understands that sometimes I have to step out to do something or I'm going to show up a little late to hockey practice because I have to see a patient late, and it's okay.

I love that. And so, keeping in the theme of why we're sitting here today, you've touched on so many amazing points. But what does well off mean to you?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think I already answered this. It's really finding that purpose.

Okay.

I really, you know, I've been thinking about this a lot, and if we can find that purpose that we are here for, everything comes together and it's a long journey. We don't always find it when we think that we have and we really have to work at it. Some people are blessed, I think, and just stumble into the right thing and they're fulfilled and happy. And, you know, that's wonderful. But I think for others, it's really a windy road.

It's never linear.

It's never linear. And perhaps, perhaps we're never there, but we always should be striving to get there. I'm reading a book right now called Mastery. I'm forgetting the author's name, which is really sad, but that's what happens when you're 45 and not getting a lot of stuff.

It's all downhill after 40, and we.

Can just search it and have it tonight.

But it's about this concept, and it's really wonderful. It's really opening my eyes to this and making me think about where am I in this journey? Am I there yet? I don't think I'm there yet. Although I have this wonderful practice. I think I'm in the right space and in the right industry and using my talents the right way, but I'm not quite. My purpose is still yet to be determined, and I'm kind of excited to see how that pans out. And Maybe I'll be 70 by the time I really feel like, ah, this is it.

Yeah.

But the journey.

70 is the new 50 so then you'll have even more time.

Maybe you'll be swinging on a pole. No, not in that way.

But there'll be golf club clubs involved. Yeah.

This has really been amazing. And I just, you know, from a personal standpoint, you are making a difference not only in my life, but all of the women and men that you treat and help. Because with this new, no pun intended, integrative approach, you know, you're really making a difference and people are getting ahead of it. And the more people I tell about my journey and the things that I'm doing to, you know, better myself and my health, they listen and they're like, well, does she take out of state patients? Is the first question. You know, and then if they're in Connecticut, they're like, okay, I'm gonna go see her. You know, so it's really important to have these people in your life and surround yourself with people that are looking out for each other. Like, they say that, you know, having a woman clap for you and stand up, you know, and not judge you and criticize you. And we're all here to support each other and, you know, especially from a health standpoint, because, you know, the other night I was talking to my brother and, you know, we said, what's your number one priority? Like, what is your number one priority? And immediately he said, you know, my kids and my family, my wife. And then he said, my health. And then we looked at each other and I was like, but if you don't have your health, how are you going to care for your kids and your family? So a lot of people, they get so caught up in the day to day and all their responsibilities and all the people that depend on them, and they don't look out for number one.

Right, right. I think women especially fall prey to that, where we put our families first. But we have to take care of ourselves, not just to be a good caretaker for the people that we love, but so that we can be who we are meant to be. Right. There's no shame in saying, I want to be fabulous woman and feel good and pursue my dreams. That we need to own that. Yes. And set that example for the people around us. And then that enables us to take better care of the people around us.

Yes.

Yeah.

And that's why, you know, even though we're really, we're looking here at the whole life spectrum, our work and social life, health is primary because without it, health is wealth. And you touched on so many amazing points today. But we always ask every guest, what does your Top shelf look like.

I would love to travel more with my family. I would love to be in a place in my business where I can step away a little bit more. And I'm getting there. I have wonderful people on my team and we're growing and kind of solidifying our structure. Having more time for creativity is important to me.

Yes.

Knitting. She made her prom dress.

I did.

Wow.

Just saying.

Wow.

At like 17 years old, she freaking made her prom dress.

So, yeah, like pretty in pink.

Molly R. It was yellow. I remember it was yellow.

It was yellow.

Yep.

Not like daffodil yellow. It was like a soft, pretty pastel yellow. And I love to knit and I love to shop. I would shop all day if I could.

It's my favorite sport.

It's.

Yes. Yep.

I love that. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for coming here and sharing your story, sharing info about your business and what really is important to be well off in life, especially with your health. We couldn't be more grateful for your expertise.

Yes, thank you so much for educating our listeners and really showing us what preventative medicine can look like and how we can have more longevity so that we can have more wealth and live that top shelf life.

So for our well off listeners, we are doing a giveaway with Amanda. So she's going to tell us what she's going to give away and it's going to be on Instagram. So you have to keep following our social media post about it and then if you share, we're going to send this to you. So Amanda, what are you going to send them?

Yeah, I'm super excited about this. We have put together a curated meal plan specifically for well off podcast listeners that is a seven day guide to eating for healthy hormones. So in this plan you get seven days worth of recipes, a shopping list, all the nutritional information for all the recipes. The recipes, I promise, are easy. I am not a chef. I don't expect people to learn how to be a chef, to take care of themselves. It's simple, it's easy, it's delicious and it's free.

I mean, who doesn't love free and who doesn't love easy? Because I'm not about to cook like a seven course meal. It's just not happening. I know there's going to be lots of vegetables, so be prepared. Ladies and gentlemen, you have hormones too.

And we will be including all of your contact information in our show notes so people can hopefully reach out and acquire your services. So thank you so much.

Thank you guys. It's been amazing.

Amanda Swan from Swan Integrative. This episode was sponsored by Female Forward Alliance. Next week on the well Off Podcast, we close out International Women's Month with Kim Guadano, who is the first Lieutenant Governor for the State of New Jersey. Kim is now the Executive director for a nonprofit in Asbury Park, New Jersey called the Mercy Center. We get to talk to Kim about life as a politician while raising a family and how she made the move from politics to the nonprofit world. Tune in as we talk to this very impressive woman on March 27th. Thanks for listening to this episode of the well Off Podcast. Don't forget to follow us and subscribe on all channels and visit our website@welloffpodcast.com visit us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and now tick Tock at the well Off Podcast. Are you interested in sponsoring an episode of the well Off Podcast? Shoot us an email at talk well off podcast.com until next time. Thanks for listening.