Embrace Abundance with Danette May

Welcome to True Grit and Grace, a podcast designed to empower you to claim your resilience and thrive through life's challenges. I am Amberly Lago, a mindset coach, fitness expert and bestselling author. Each week, I'll dive deep with the world's brightest thought leaders and elite performers to share tangible tools and practical advice to inspire you to keep your eyes on the prize and forge ahead. So get ready to conquer your fears, heal any trauma, lead with your heart, and elevate your life with grit and grace. Hello and welcome back to the True Grit and Grace podcast. Today, y'all, I have such a treat for you. Someone who inspires me that I have been really following their journey, buying their programs and everything she has to offer because I'm so moved by her story and what she does. She is really the definition of resilience. And she went from one of the lowest points in her life to totally transforming her life. And she has created an 8-figure business empire. She's America's leading healthy lifestyle expert, and her teachings and programs have transformed the lives of millions of people, allowing them to love the bodies they live and love the life they live. She's the founder of Mindful Health, and she's built thriving businesses, EarthEcho Foods and Fitrise. She's a sought-after speaker, speaking on stages with people like Tony Robbins. And I think you've done even documentaries with Dr. Dalai Lama. And you've been featured in the Huffington Post. She's been on Access Hollywood, Hallmark, CBS, Women's Health and Self Magazine. She's an amazing mama and wife. And the list really goes on and on. And I'm most excited about her new book. It's called Embrace Abundance. And so we're going to get into that. So y'all get ready to feel the love because she is such a bright light. And get ready to Radically Shift Your Energy. Danette May, welcome to the show. I am so grateful for this opportunity to get to have you here and talk with you. So thank you for being here.

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to be here. And I love you too. Like, you just have such a great energy. I was telling you that before we hit record, but I'm excited to just connect and to connect with whoever's listening and just share openly and vulnerably.

Well, thank you. Your story is just, I mean, when I say the definition of resilience, you really are. You were at one of the lowest points in your life. And I think nowadays, sometimes things look easy on social media. Like everything looks, you know, people post their highlight reels and it looks easy to have a bestselling book. I mean, you had another bestselling book before your new book. And you've built this big business, but you started at a really low point. And I would really love to share how you got started and how you climbed your way out, like literally climbed out of bed and got on a path of transforming not just your business and financially, but spiritually, mentally, physically, in every way. Can you just tell us a little bit about that lowest point and how you climbed out of that?

Yeah. Yeah. You know, I was just sitting here listening to you ask these questions and I'm like, just so grateful for these podcast platforms where people can just be listening maybe in their hot— in their bathtub or like in their car or in their low moments or in their high moments, because this is truly how I started my climb is I didn't have podcasts when I was going through my downfall. And I have to invite everyone into this conversation because this is not my story. This is all of our stories. They all just look a little bit different, but I think people can find their story in my story. There are these beautiful refiners' fires. I think they are, I like the word refiner fire because the fire is what heats up. It is uncomfortable. It is hot. It is fiery. It is uncomfortable. But it is really where we are molded into the truest character of who we can become. We either break or we mold. This is our opportunity and we are all going to be gifted with these refiners' fires, sometimes more times than once in our lifetime. They are truly gifts wrapped up in sandpaper because they can move the trajectory of our lives. So, for me, when I was in my refiner's fire, I had lost my son. I had gone through a really difficult divorce. I was literally unraveling everything of who I thought Jeanette was. You know, I was really built around a paradigm of how I was raised, what I should believe, how I should behave, the kind of parent I should be, the kind of man I should marry. And I really had turned off all of my intuition, which led me to not listen to my intuition of going to the hospital. Therefore— and I'm not going to say it's my fault, I've done a lot of healing around it— but I don't have my son today, and he passed on. I unraveled into this, this really difficult divorce. I had $47 to my name, and I had these 2 young girls to raise solely on my own with that $47.63. So I know the refiner's fire. And my family was kind of questioning who I was during this time because I was pulling away from their paradigms, from their beliefs. And I was trying to figure out who is Danette and what does she believe? So I was just alone and I would turn into like YouTube or anybody that would be inspiring because I had no pennies to rub together, right? So I was just tuning in like people are listening right now to this podcast. So for me, you know, this is a big, long statement. So if you want to stop me, you can. But I mean, it's real. And it's okay.

Yeah, I mean, it— I think I love that you share that it's all of our stories, because we all have been through, especially now, I think we're thankfully coming out of this in California, where we're getting to open up things and maybe take our mask off. And, and but it's been a hard time. There's been a lot of people that have lost their jobs. And I think that losing a child has to be one of the worst things you could ever go through. So I can only imagine what you must have felt like and the blame that you put on yourself, maybe that you had to do some healing around. But the lesson that it taught you, that you listen to your intuition now, you listen to that rather than— And I, I had to learn that because for a long time growing up I really had a strong intuition, but I had, you know, a stepfather who, and parents and stuff that happened that they're like, no, no, no, no, you're wrong. And it taught me not to listen to my intuition. But when we can listen to our intuition and trust ourselves, I think that really is just a powerful way and to start to knowing who we are and what we're capable of. But when you were all alone and you had $47, 2 kids, I've been there with one. I was a single mom and we used to shop at the 99 Cent Store. Um, there must have been some depression that came along with that. The dark— I mean, the darkness that would come along from that and the blame and the guilt or the shame. How did you start to move through those moments mentally?

Yeah. So I love how you brought up intuition because you The original question you asked was, how did I climb out? Because people see me today and I actually am a woman who's embracing abundance. I am a woman who's taking these, what we would call setbacks or nos or failures and looking and flipping them on their heads as opportunities. And that's what I really want to teach people because it was in this downfall that I became who I am today. And if I wouldn't have had the loss of my son, this horrific divorce, financial ruin, I really don't think I'd be sitting here talking and really sharing to the depth that I get to share. And so I do want to encourage everyone to really look at this refiner's fire as a really potent gift, a potent— and I know you can relate to this big time. So when you were just asking about, you know, some of these steps to get out of this muck and mud of a life, I remember the depression hit really hard when I was in college. And I used to go and teach the people that were going to get on food stamps. I was a nutritionist, right? So I would go and talk to these women and men that were getting government assistance and talk to them about picking better foods with using their stamps, right?

Oh my gosh, I remember using food stamps. I was one of those people that used food stamps and putting them together to get to go in. But it was exciting that I had food stamps to use. So—

Well, my depression was with the food stamps because I used to teach about it and then Here I am now with 2 children. My life has been flipped up on its head.

Wow.

And I am now going, I think I need some assistance. And I used to kind of judge people that needed assistance. I, I was the judger. And here I was now in the situation of the things I used to judge. And that was so good for me. And so that— I was thinking about my depression at that time. I was depressed with the loss of my son, but I was also depressed Because there were so many stories in my head of not being a good mother, being a financial ruin, creating this mess. Because when you start to do the work, which I'm going to explain in this call, there comes this point where you have to take radical— and then you always take radical responsibility— radical responsibility that you got yourself there. And with that radical responsibility, there's kind of a moment where you get a little depressed because you're like, Dang, I created this. Dang, I didn't handle things the way I could have handled them. And just having a reckoning. And there is a beautiful gift in that reckoning, but there is a little bit of depression before you get transformation happening. So, I just want to encourage everyone, if you are feeling that, it is totally normal.

And you know what? Thank you. You have said it a few times and it is really hitting me. There is a gift in those hard times. And I like how you used it. It is like, it is a gift wrapped in kind of like sandpaper. Paper. And it kind of sucks for a while. And it's really hard to see it as a gift. But it is a gift. And there are opportunities that are going to come if you decide, if you take radical acceptance to where you are on your journey. And that is hard. I think that was one of the hardest things for me is to really be in acceptance. And it was really hard for me to ask for help. But when I asked for help is when it changed my life. I used to think I had to do it all my own. And if I asked for help, then people would know that I was weak, or they would see my vulnerability. And I didn't realize that those vulnerabilities actually led me to my strengths. But it is hard getting through that depression. One of the things that was the hardest for me was asking for help. Was that hard for you?

Yeah, I thought that was interesting you said that, because I had so much pride that I had gotten myself there. And I was embarrassed. And I didn't want people to know my situation. I didn't, I was really in that embarrassment and that pride around it. And so it was very difficult to ask. That's why some people are like, you know, the Danette today would be like, hey, I'm down and out. Yeah. Me too. Can you help me out? But at that moment in my life, I just wasn't like that. I was just really thinking I had to do it all on my own. And And there is, there is a beauty in buckling in and getting gritty. And I really believe that's why I love the title of your podcast, because grit is honestly meshed in all of this. So I do believe that part. You don't want to just ask for everything, but it's okay to say, hey, I'm going through this. Just be vulnerable. You are not alone. Everyone goes through their refiner's fire for sure.

Yeah. And I think that's important to share. You're not alone because when you're in it, it, I felt like nobody understands what I'm going through. There's no way anybody can understand the pain that I'm feeling. But there is, there are a lot of people going through something similar. And I think that when you can share your story and just your experience with somebody, and especially somebody that's already gotten through the other side of it, that's when you get hope. And I think that's what you really do is you give so many people hope that they can turn their lives around. So How old were you when you got into fitness?

Well, I always was into it. So I was raised with 4 brothers. I loved everything movement, anything fitness, anything movement. So I started in college learning about nutrition, pre-med. And I, right out of the gate, I started training people. So I really always loved watching bodies transform. I always felt like I was like Michelangelo. I was like, I can take any body and transform it through foods, through thoughts, through movement. I always loved it and it evolved through the different hard things that I went through. I recognized how the mind plays a role in our body and our health, how there are certain trends and fads that get publicized through media that are just simply not true. I learned a lot through that journey. So, I have always been into it. It has just always been a journey. But it is interesting when you go through these hardships, it turns the dial up of what is my purpose? And for me, I was like, I wanted to really create things that would make it simpler for people, like 5-ingredient cooking, 10-minute workouts, 3-minute meditations, and doing it in a way that you didn't feel like if that it has to be certain way or I'm failing. And so that was really where this all spawned from, is I started waking up to brain fog, to feeling more energized. I started looking younger. I was like, I want millions of people to have access to this. I know what it can do. And also there's a lot of programs out there geared towards men, but it's really messing up women's hormones. And I just really wanted people to have the legs underneath them and feel like completion in their whole being, not just their health, but like their spiritual health. So that's where it all came from, is really my mess became my message. And I was like, okay, let's just share it to the world as much as possible. Yeah.

Well, you know what I have to say? You guys have to get on her newsletter. I get your newsletters and I love them because every single— you're actually the only person that I know that I've subscribed to their newsletter that every single newsletter is something of value. So it's either an exercise that you can do or a great recipe or— and your YouTube videos. I mean, you're constantly providing this value, so much so. that, look, I've been in the fitness industry for 25 years. And because I kept getting your newsletter, I bought like one of your challenges or something, your workouts. And I'm like, I'm going to do this with her. And then it was great when COVID came. You know, you could not find any exercise equipment in the store. So who did I go to? Danette May. And I ordered your bands. So I got those in the mail. And I mean, so You have got it from every angle, from the eating healthy to the moving your body. But the one thing that I really love that you share is so much about the mindset.

Hmm.

And I actually got myself into trouble in a support group for CRPS because I have a nerve disease called complex regional pain syndrome. And I was on the doctor's TV. And of course, they edit the clips a little bit. And it made it look Like I hadn't done anything else except for use my mindset to get through pain. And we all know you don't just use your mind. It's mind, spirit.

Take action.

Yeah. Action. It's so much what you put in your body, what you think. But it's so much about your mindset. And it's so— how do you, when you're in a place, if there's somebody struggling that's listening right now and they're like, yeah, well, I want to think positive and I really want to get out of this funk. But But how do I switch my mindset? What's something that you could share to help somebody kind of shift their mindset from thinking about the negative and being in that dark spot to seeing that there is, you know, a great opportunity out or a blessing out of the hard time that they're going through right now?

Yeah. You know, it's interesting when you're in your downfall or you're in your refiner's fire, it's really hard when someone's like, hey, just be positive. Just pray a little more. You're like, ah, I can't. Like for me, I was like, I don't I don't even have food on my table, but I'm here to say, regardless, I know it's hard to hear the thoughts you think, what you focus on expands. So this is a fundamental truth. There's been tons of brain scans. There's been a ton of brain studies and any human can literally change their neurological pathways through the way they think. And when you change these neurological pathways, it literally changes the direction of your life. So anyone, they can take anyone and literally hook them up, study them, retrain their brain, and they can become a whole new being. Now, if we know this, then we need to understand, okay, if this is true and what I focus on expands, just, just practice it. If you don't agree with it, you can think about, you can actually even test it onto, I did this with grains of Rice. So you just take grains of rice. If you want to test this phenomenon and you need physical proof, just do 3 different ones. The same grains of rice, same lighting, same container, same place in your house. One is going to be a negative one, one's going to be a positive, and one's going to be ignore. Get everyone on family on board. Literally talk beautiful things to the beautiful one, very mean things to the negative one, and ignore the other one. Don't say anything. just pass by, you will start to see within as little as 7 days to 14 days, brown spots, mold growing on the negative one.

No.

Literally that fast. And we—

No way. You take rice, dried rice?

Yeah.

You're kidding.

Well, I think I might've put some water in it because water, which all food, everything contains water. Water is life, right? So we're consumed, we're composed of about 70% water. So I think I might've put water, but I think you can actually Do it without water because there's water in the rice. I'm trying to remember if I did rock water or just regular.

Probably doesn't matter. Yeah. I want to try this with my daughter because I've heard doing that—

I've never tried it.

Yeah. I want to try that because my daughter, kidding around, we have a 3-pound dog that's losing its fur and she's just, bless her heart, she's just kind of pitiful looking. And my daughter will say like jokingly but not so nice things to our little dog. And I'm like, don't say that to her. And I'm like, She understands that. She goes, she doesn't understand that. I'm just kidding around. And I'm like, she does understand that. She's a dog. She— so I'm doing this with the rice. And then what does the one that you say nice things to, what, what does that end up looking like?

Nothing happens to it. And you can honestly keep it out for 30 days. Nothing will happen to that rice that you're talking positive to. It's just still in its content, like its perfect form. The negative one will start to grow mold over up to 30 days. Mold will start to grow, and even the ignore one, it doesn't grow mold as quick, but it will eventually. So we need to understand, whether you believe in spirits, whether you believe in— if you're a very scientific-based person, you now understand the power of energy, the power of words being directed at anything that's living. This is a plant, this is food, this is humans, animals. And this is the power that you have in your life to literally change your life, is the words you speak, is the energy you are putting out. So, always first thing in the morning, make sure you are listening to something positive. If you are someone who likes uplifting music or Christian, I mean, I am just saying names because I don't know what everybody's jam is, but like sometimes '80s music, maybe listening to that, maybe turn on something inspirational. Literally go to YouTube and Type of inspiration. Yeah.

Christian music is very inspirational though.

It can be. Yeah, it can be. It depends on what floats everyone's boat. But you have to take charge of the positivity coming into your life. There are so many humans that literally walk out of their bedroom, turn on the news, and have it for background noise. News is primarily negative, and you are wiring your mind for negativity in your life. Do this one simple thing: take away social media first thing in the morning, take away news blasting, anything negative. Like maybe it's even hard metal rock and roll music can have a negative effect on plants. So removing any heavy metal music and finding things that are positive, that's the first thing you do in the morning. Doing a gratitude list, thinking, listing the things that you're grateful for. We talk about this, people hear this concept, but we need to understand if grains and rice are just totally sustained through positivity, you as an individual will be completely sustained as well as thrive. You will become what you talk to yourself about. You will become what you focus on. You will become what you're thinking about. So this is a practice that I do all the time. I don't, ever take it lightly. And then also just check your friend group. Check who you are spending your average of the most 5 people you spend your most time with. This would be family members. This would be friends and really checking what are the conversations that we are having? What are, what is the energy they are holding? Are they positive? Do they talk about and complain about things? And if this, you are finding this, you don't necessarily, you can be the lightkeeper and you can try to change the subject. If that doesn't work, I suggest looking for new friends. You don't have to be rude or disconnect from people completely, but really try to cultivate these positive people in your life when you are changing. You guys, I was so radical about this that I was going to this one lady to get my hair done. Everybody that is blonde knows, and blonde long hair, that if you find a good person, you are going to stay with them, right?

Yes, you will go drive 2 hours away to go find that person if need be.

Yes. So this is how committed I was to this radical responsibility of positivity and goodness only in my life. I literally made sure I removed anything. So I was going to this one lady and her and her coworkers would gossip about people in the town and it was always negative. And I was like, even though I'm only coming here for maybe 1 to 2 hours every 6 weeks, it is still affecting me. And I moved hairdressers. This is how committed I was to this practice. And I'm telling you, these were the stages when no one knew my name. This is when I wasn't known for anything. I hadn't built anything that anyone's consuming, and I was just so radical. And so I just want to encourage everyone to like look at that and step into those practices.

I, I, I couldn't agree more. And there are mornings where, of course, I want to wake up and pop open my email or my social media, check out Instagram. And I force myself to not do that. I mean, most of the mornings I don't, but there are some mornings where I'm like, oh, I want to check, check out social media. I got to get a post up. I got to do this. But I actually have an accountability partner. So every morning we text each other our gratitude list.

Oh, that's so cool.

And we take a picture of something that we've read in like a daily reflections book or a spiritual book. And we You know, highlight a few things that we read and we text that to each other because it helps keep me accountable, her accountable. And then when we can express gratitude to each other, it really shifts your perspective for the day. Because there's a lot of days where I'm telling you, my first thought is, oh my gosh, I have so much to do. What am I going to, you know? And I switch that to, I get to do so many things because for a long time I was stuck in a hospital bed for a long time. So I'm so grateful that I get to do. these things. And it's so much about your mindset. But I actually wrote down this rice test. I'm doing this with my daughter. And you should see right now, this morning I came into my office. I'll show you. She's got— okay, she's really in— she's got a whole terrarium there. Can you see the caterpillars?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

She's got— I just noticed there's, there's caterpillars in here. She's got a new fish aquarium. Now I'm gonna have little bowls of rice, one in the closet, one out here.

Because it doesn't need to last more than 14 days. I could just—

Um, well, I, I love how you started to use your mindset, and you've got fitness and a spiritual practice, and I see all that you share on social media, and I'm always inspired. I've heard you speak at events. And I am blown away, like you've shared, been on huge stages. And you are a voice, a powerful voice for women especially, because I feel like we need more women like you to get on those stages. Because for a long time, and I feel like it's starting to shift a little bit, it's been primarily, you know, male motivational speakers. So every time I see your face on the stage with these men, I'm like, yes, you go, girl. Girl, you— so I love seeing you get to that point. One of the things, when I was training my client this morning, I was telling her how excited I was to get to talk to you. And I was suggesting your Cacao Bliss to her because she's been craving sweets at night. And just, I was telling her how amazing you are and how you have built this empire. And the first question she had was, Well, how did she do that? How did she start to get people to try her products? That was the first question that my client had. Not, well, what does it taste like? Or any, any of that. How did she do that? And how did you start to— because I had a, I had a company approach me to start doing my own label of products, and it was overwhelming. I was like, Whoa. That's like, if I just did that, maybe I could do it. But it's a lot. And I know that you've been, you know, since you were young in school, younger, I should say younger, in school, like a youngster, this has been your passion, food and fitness and mindset and spirituality. But how did you launch this business? I hear your stuff advertised on other podcasts.

Yeah.

It's amazing. It's everywhere.

Wow. I love talking about this stuff because I love business. I really do. And I always say like I'm a mobile ministry disguised as a business. And I really, okay. So I'm going to, you want to hear about this?

I do. I want to know because I think it's amazing.

Yeah. So I talk a lot about my journey and how I've embraced abundance in all the areas of my life because I really believe abundance is our birthright. So if you, whoever's listening, really want to grow a business, like you have something beating in your heart, right? So I'm not talking about any business because I don't really even have advice on just growing any business. If you have a dream in your heart, thing that you want to do for the planet, for the impact of the world, to help people out, that's who I'm talking to. Because it all has to start in your heart. It has to start with, I know this is what I should be doing. I feel this is a soul's call. And it can look like a million things, right? So I'm going to talk to you because I know you're there, Amberly, for sure. And anyone listening, that's the first step is really listening to it. It doesn't have to make sense. It doesn't have to make sense to anyone else, especially because it might not. And I'm telling you, you guys—

Thank you for that. I'm so glad you shared that. Yes.

Because I, that's part of intuition is a lot of the things that would come to me didn't make a lot of sense. So for example, so I'm going to back up just a little bit because there's so much to share with growing a business, growing empire. And I've actually, we've created 2 8-figure businesses. And I say that unapologetically because I know where I've come from. I came from $47. And I only had, I didn't have connections. I never got a loan. I never got anything. I really literally built this from $47 and all of my grit and truly harnessing energy that comes from a universal force. When you have something in your heart, you are backed by a universal force. And I want to tell people that you are not going to be doing this alone. If you will tap into it, which I share all of it in my book, you tap into this energy because a lot of people go, how did you do this, Danette? Like how do you have multiple companies 7 different physical, like, products plus 7 digital products plus this email list that goes out. We do 360 emails a year. Every single day, there's an email that goes out with content. You talked about this earlier. Giving, giving, giving before you ever ask. This is what happens. So the very beginning when I was eating beans and weenies, rubbing pennies together, when we were trying to build the email list and it was like whatever, maybe 1,000. And now it's like 1.8 million. But like 1,000, I remember, and this is where my legs were standing on, it was that we had different, you'll have affiliates or different people that'll be like, hey, will you mail this offer? And I remember it was for some type of like fat loss pill or something. And they were like, it converts so well. You're going to grow your email list. You're going to make some money today. And I needed money. Mm-hmm. And I remember having a moment for myself because I was like, I know what I see for my vision. Right now, I'm like not eating a lot. I am broke as a joke. And I'm being offered this opportunity to one, grow my email list and to make some good money. But at the same time, I didn't believe in the product.

Hmm.

And I made a decision with my partner at the time. And then now the whole team knows this. I will not promote Anything that I can't personally take or I would recommend to my closest loved ones, I will not do it for any dollar amount.

I am the same way. Thank you for saying that because I get offers all the time to do things and I will not promote it unless I 100%— it works for me. I take it, I would back it. I'm the same way. And I think it's important to have your values in place and your integrity Because that's what people— I don't promote a bunch of stuff because I don't want to make people think that I just am selling out.

Right. And it just slowly, you may make that money. And I remember this other affiliate saying, Danette, there are some good ingredients in it. But I was like, but there's a couple not. And he was like, can you just spin your mind a little bit? Because in the end, you're on the back end, you're going to be able to help a lot more people, but you can't help them until you get them. They were trying to spin the narrative. So you have to be very, very, very careful and very committed to the vision in your heart. And I'm telling you, that decision at that time paved the way for the rest of the decisions, right? So now it's easy for me. But that trust that started forming between me and my email list is what literally when I launched my first physical product, it went off like gangbusters. It was a huge launch in the eyes of people that do products because I had built this email list of people that knew I wasn't going to sell something, especially create something that wasn't of the highest standards and the highest quality. And so that's really where it all starts if you really want that. Some people play the short game. There are a lot of marketers out there that are playing the short game. They don't even care. They churn and burn clients. They churn and burn emails. I'm just, I really believe that at the end of the day, I want to be able to sleep at night. At the end of the day, I want to know I made impact. At the end of the day, I want to know that I treated every person like family. And to me, that feels good inside my system. And I do believe it's backed by massive success because those churn and burners, I wouldn't say have the same success as we do today. They did have more than me at the time. But that's a big message right away to share with people.

Yeah. And I love that. And for me, when I wrote my book, I had a year I had no social media. I mean, I was like a few hundred people. I didn't have— and I had no email list. And I had a year to build my brand because my publisher was like, well, we don't do any marketing for you. If you want to get your book out there, it's up to you to sell it. So I had a year of just giving, giving, giving, giving, giving, and building trust and rapport and connections until the day that I launched the book. And so some people think that a book launch or anything like that is like overnight, whoo, you're a bestseller. And it's a lot of behind the scenes. And I thought that once you push send and sent that book to the publisher, that was it. Whew, your job's done. And it's just the beginning of, okay, now you got to market it. And I love that you have— And we'll go back to the products because I want to ask you about that a little bit more. But I love how you— my next book launch, I, I want to do what you've done. You've created such a beautiful gift for people who pre-order your book, and you're giving. You're still giving. You're so— you're always giving people so much that they want to like, oh, what is she doing next? Well, that's how I am with you. Anything you're doing next, as soon as I found out about your book, I was like, okay, I'm buying that. And I'm like, oh, I get to come to a free event that she's doing. I mean, it's amazing. And so yeah, I think it's important to build that trust, build your email list. In the meantime, were you building social media platforms? I mean, when— how long ago did you start your Instagram, let's say?

Actually, I was late to the game on Instagram. We were not interested in Instagram at all. And our company isn't really interested in social media at all. Like social media is like this red, big flashy girl with no backend. If we want to be really real.

Yeah.

So for me, you know, I'm trying to create a legacy. We're creating wealth because we really give a lot back to the environment. We're really big on helping Mother Earth. We tout her as our CEO. Everything we do, we consult with Mother Earth. What would she have us do? What kind of packaging? What kind of things? So for us, You know, we're trying to generate a lot of wealth to give back to Mother Earth. How can we plant more trees? How can we help with the plastic situation? So we have a bigger why, which is really helping drive all of that. But I forgot what I was just going to ask you.

Well, I just love that you are even, your CEO is Mother Earth, that you're giving back to Mother Earth. And then about social media.

Oh, social media.

But you have a You have millions of followers and you're huge on Facebook. And I was very late to the game on Facebook. And I feel like I'm—

Were you later onto the game for Facebook than Instagram?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm much later.

I was opposite.

Yes. I'm just, and I still feel like I don't know all the ropes of Facebook. I feel like I'm still figuring it out. And I think that, you know, when I started, I started a little bit on Facebook. With my business page. And I started my Instagram, but I got the most traction on my Instagram. And what I loved about Instagram, and it drove my husband crazy because he just thought I was like messing around on it. I'm like, no, no, this is, I'm doing this for my business. Instagram alone was how I sold out at every bookstore across the country was all because of Instagram. So I love it because I've been able to build these amazing relationships and meet people in person that I've only known online. So I love it, but I'm still trying to figure out Facebook. Um, so do you think you use your email list more than you do social media for like your products?

How we look at business is we look at social to funnel to an email list only. Okay, so the reason Facebook is so big for me, I think we have like 1.5 million on Facebook, is because—

Oh, you're huge. You're like superstar.

Well, well, what happened is I was very limited number of people, but we start— I started doing lives where I would share live about something I would be giving away, and then I would talk about one of my programs And what happened is the first live I ever did, I had over 8 million views on that live. This was back when Facebook Live came very first and I got that hit because I do soul writing in the morning and I literally got the inspiration to run ads to a live. The first live I did, I literally was making a smoothie. I was giving away a smoothie. I talked about my 30-day challenge. That one got 8 million views. They're not the same anymore but Facebook still is way more potent than Instagram right now. And if it's used right, which with ads. So now what we do is I'll do a live. I do, I create video and then I run ads to it. So I've hired an ad agency. What happened is people that saw those ads or saw the lives started liking my page, right? We never paid for likes. I don't even know how people pay for likes. But I know—

Yeah. I don't know how you pay for likes on Facebook. But I have seen that there has to be a way that people have done that, which I think is ridiculous because then you don't, your numbers are off. There's no way.

It's just, yeah, it is what it is. But so that's how we did it. We literally did ads to lives and lives still are doing well. If you have the right ad agency and you have the right offer, your live on Facebook will feed to that email list. Everything gets captured on the backend. So it's, everything's about your email list. Email list is still the gold of all golds when it comes to business. That's where you have control. That's where you can control the narrative. This big tech of Instagram, Facebook is fickle. And even I know that it's a game that could end at any time. I'm still utilizing it. I still utilize Google. I still utilize YouTube ads. You want to diversify your net reach of how you're reaching people.

But— Now, are you on LinkedIn?

Yeah. But I don't, I don't even know. Maybe my team has put me on LinkedIn, but I don't do LinkedIn. Yeah.

Yeah, I'm just— there's so much to do. And are you on TikTok?

Okay, so yeah, there's so much to do. So you want to pick one area, right? Like start with one area. That's why I say we're late to the game on Instagram. I do Instagram. Yes, it generates revenue, but really small. To other people, maybe they think it's great. Maybe, you know, whatever, that revenue is probably really good to some people. But to me, I'm thinking I'm wanting really massive wealth to make a big, big impact. So the email list is going to do more than that for you than any social can.

I don't know how you monetize TikTok. I only got on TikTok because my daughter told me I was too old for it. And I was like, oh, really? Watch this. And I did a tap dance.

I have to say, I think TikTok is going to grow. And I'm— I got on it. I don't do anything with it. I say, get on TikTok. I do think as a business mind, it is going to be Like if we were to say you were the first timer on Instagram, you're inevitably going to grow. If you're a first timer on TikTok, inevitably going to grow. You can monetize TikTok all over the place. If you have a physical product, you can put product placement because there's a lot of TikTok famous people that have no income. But so they're willing to get paid a little bit to put product placement. So there's so many ways to monetize TikTok. And we actually hired a team to help monetize using our products on with these TikTok influencers. I personally don't hang out there, but yeah, I mean, I can't monetize using it.

I remember now, I do remember seeing your, your first TikTok video.

Oh, did I? I probably did one with my daughter.

You did one with your daughter or your family, and I think you had shared it on Instagram, and that's how I saw it. But I think it's so smart that you're doing influencers, getting them to use your product on TikTok. Because I was at the store with my daughter. We were at Sephora. And she found this little makeup thing. And we took it up to the counter. And the lady said, where'd you find that? She said, oh, it was just right here. She goes, we sold out of that in the first 30 minutes. I can't believe you found one. She said, anytime an influencer on TikTok does a post about a product, we sell out at all our stores within minutes. And I was like, Wow. And so I was like, okay, I got to use that, utilize that TikTok a little more. But yeah, it's crazy because the first, I think the first TikTok I did got 600,000 views.

That's insane.

And I'm like, I have to do so much on Instagram to get that many views. And so yeah, I think you do. But you brought up something really important, your team. I think it's important to have a good team. And hire— what I do is I hire my weaknesses and I work on my strengths. So, so much you've shared. I'm like, okay, do lives on Facebook. Got to start doing that. Run ads on those lives.

Keep building. See how they convert first. Just do slow steps because you don't want to lose money on it either. And you can.

Yeah. That can add up really quick.

Yeah.

And so there's so much you've shared to start building that business. But I think You are just constantly giving, giving, giving so much, so much information in your newsletters, whether it's movement or mindset stuff, or talking about things that are important, like surrender. There's just so much that you share. But I want to ask a question, and I'm so glad you're writing this book about abundance because so many of us, I feel like, get caught up in, well, I want to be humble and I don't want to be greedy. And I'm okay. I'm in my comfort zone and I've had this conversation with my husband not long ago where, you know, he's like, I said, oh, well, I'm going to go test drive this car. And he's like, you can't afford that. You're not getting it. And I was like, oh, now I'm really going to go test drive it and I'm going to go buy it. You know? Because why not? I grew up in a family where we didn't have much money. We did have food stamps. We didn't know, there were times when we weren't going to get to have Christmas. I think it was somebody from our church left money on our front doorstep. And my mom worked hard. Sometimes she had 3 jobs at one time, but there were a lot of kids. And so I grew up in a family where if you can just work 9 to 5 and work really, really, really hard and maybe retire and have a little bit of money to live on, but everything was about a mindset of fear of we're going to run out of money and it was never enough. And I'm like, no, I want a mindset of abundance, of I want to go on vacations with my family and not worry that I'm breaking the bank or all that. So I want to know a little bit more about your book. And does it talk about that kind of mindset? Like, yeah?

Absolutely. You know, I, when Hay House approached me to write this book because—

Which is huge. Can we just acknowledge how freaking amazing that is? Hay House approached me. Yeah, that's a dream come true, girl. Congratulations.

And let me just tell you, that dream of Hay House is in the book because I talk about how I use— so this book was set up in like really small sections in all the 360-degree abundance. So I believe that abundance is 360. It's not just money, it's your health, it's your relationships, it's your connections, it's your fun times. It's your giveback, legacy, all that, right? So I write about all those gamuts. And you can read a section and you can literally take a story, a nugget, an action item that's really simple of exactly what I've done to be able to attract a publisher like Hay House.

That's amazing.

What are these mindset things? What did I actually do to create that? How did I grow the business? What were some of these action steps? And it really is so much simpler than people think. It's really about how do you set up your day? What are certain specific things you set up your day? It's about conversations, communication style, the love you have for yourself. I'm telling you, abundance, the secret sauce to attraction, to manifesting, literally the, the whole underbelly is self-love and self-worth. And so I really dive into practices around that because if you can harness that, you become this magnet to more abundance in all the areas of your life. So I lay it all out, but it really—

I can't wait to read it. Yeah.

I'm excited for the world to read it. My first book with Hay House, I was like scared to death to have anybody read it. I was almost grateful if they didn't. And this book, I'm like, I want everyone to understand their power. I want everyone to understand if you were to implement these things, I know that in the end of a year, 6 months to a year, if they implement these things in this book, Their life will look radically different, no matter what level you think you're on. So—

And I love that you hit it on every different level because it is. It's not just— I mean, you can have a lot of money, but your health can suck, and then you can't enjoy the good things because your health isn't— you don't have abundant health. So I love that you hit on all, all of those topics. And I love that you say that it starts with your self-love and self-worth. So I know we've got to run, our time's running out, but can you just give us a couple of things for anybody who's listening? And because I definitely struggled with learning to love myself again, especially after my motorcycle accident, um, can you give somebody a few tips that they can start doing right now today to start feeling more worthy, to start loving their self a little bit more?

Yeah, you know, I think I hit it on, on the call. And I wouldn't take this information lightly. Literally starting your day with positivity, with uplifting music, uplifting words, writing out gratitude, maybe even writing out the things that you did great the day before. What— just taking inventory. Maybe it was just that you were present with your kid. Maybe it was just that you made that call or had that difficult conversation. These, like, disciplined actions build self-love. These— just this time of intuition, this time of gratitude builds self-love. Obviously there's more, but start there. Just start with these simple things in the morning and it will start to slowly shift the bigger things. I always say small hinges move big doors, you know, and that's just take 3 small hinges, 3 small things you can start doing each day, stay committed to it, make them a non-negotiable, and your big door to your dreams is going to open up.

Oh, that is powerful. And I love that you use the word discipline because some people don't like that word discipline. I love it because discipline is what actually gives me the freedom to do the things that I love. If I can just be a little more disciplined with my day, start it off with some actions every single day. So I— oh my gosh, you share such nuggets of wisdom. And y'all, she She has the most amazing products. I actually had my daughter listen to an episode on a podcast that I heard you on, and you were talking about sugar. And so you guys have to listen to her YouTube. She's got workout. I mean, you don't even have to have a gym membership. You can go to her YouTube and do workouts. I've watched your workout videos. You've got so many programs where you teach people. You give people so much information about nutrition. And when I heard you say something about sugar is, sugar's like the devil and it really ages you, I was like, okay, that's it. No more sugar. But y'all check her out. She's got products. Can you give us before we go some of your top products that, I mean, I want to try the cacao. I have not tried that yet. And I want to also try your turmeric.

Okay, good. I'm gonna send you it, but just go to Earth Echo Foods, and we'll put it all in the show notes for everybody. But earthechofoods.com, and then for the book, go to embraceabundancebook.com. And when you get the book, especially if you preorder the book because it lands September 14th in all major bookstores, I'm gonna give you a ticket to a live event with me. So I want to give back. I want to do a live event. I want to talk juicy. I want to transform with a bunch. of thousands of women around the world, and it's going to happen for free if you preorder the book.

And where is that live event? Is it going to be virtual or—

Yeah, it's going to be virtual because there's already so many people around the globe registered. So—

Oh my. Well, I'm, I'm already preordered and I'm like excited about this live event. And so all of these links, if you're out for a run or you're at the gym and you're listening to this, you can see the links in the show notes. They'll be there. They'll be on the YouTube as well. Down you can find in the section. Just go down, scroll down. You can find all the links to her book, to her products because they're only made with the finest ingredients from, I think you get your ingredients like from Peru or something, right?

Yeah. Yep, yep, yep.

Yeah. And I've been anxious to try it, especially for inflammation. And we have a lot of listeners here with a lot of chronic illness, disease, inflammation. So I think they're really going to enjoy the products with the turmeric for the inflammation. And I can't wait to read your book. And I highly suggest if you really want some value, y'all get on her email list. And how do they reach you to get on the email list again?

Is that just— Yeah, go to danettmay.com and there'll be— you can put in your email and then you're on the email list.

Yeah, I read every single one of your emails. I look— you're such an inspiration to me as far as like the emails that go out and all of that. So, and y'all can check out her behind the scenes at Instagram. And I love watching your videos of your family too. So thank you so much for for being here. You're oh you're amazing.

For everybody listening, and I hope to see you on the back end of just the emails and social or wherever. So thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Have a great day.

You too. Thanks so much for joining us this week on True Grit and Grace Podcast. If you like it, please rate it or share it with your friends. That would help too. If you're not yet on the newsletter list, come over to amberlylago.com and jump on it. While you're there, you can grab a free downloadable gratitude journal, and you might just want to check out my book or even check out my monthly motivational Thanks again for tuning in, and we'll see you next week.