Let Your Culture Inspire Your Plant Based Lifestyle

Welcome to my podcast.

The Red Door, where humans share their stories. Our stories are what bring us together, connect us, and how we feel a little less lonely, giving you the reminder that you are not on this journey by yourself. As a collective, we share emotions and feelings, not the same way, but we each know what anger feels like, frustration, abandonment, insecurity, and what shit is fake or not in alignment with us. It is my mission to provide a platform for you to get vulnerable and share your experiences with the world. There is always at least one person listening who will be transformed by your message. Remember that the next time imposter syndrome pops up and tells you you you aren't ready, or you aren't good enough, or that no one cares. Tell that voice to fuck off and then DM me. I'm here for you now and always, not just to hype you up, but to guide you down a path of mindset shifts so you can do the holy shit, this is hard inner work and create the life you love. If you're ready, Enter here.

Should I like introduce myself or like tell people who I am?

Okay, do all the things.

Awesome. So my name is Valeria Hernandez and I am a plant-based nutrition coach and I help entrepreneurs raise their energy and feel good without having to diet or restrict their food, as well as eating more plant-based and in a way that aligns with their values, whether that is environmentalism or, you know, compassionate, being compassionate towards the earth and the animals, as well as like connecting with your culture. You know, if you're like from a certain culture and infusing that type of food into your health journey. I love it.

Love, love, love. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah, that's like a new added thing that I've noticed is just women of color coming from diverse cultures. Our food is such like a kind of like this part of our identity. And a lot of health coaches don't really address that and they don't take that into account when making like meal plans or recipes. And I just think that it's such a huge factor that needs to be taken into account because like food is not just calories and macros. It's also like our identity and our culture and like social events and ways that we celebrate different festivals or like different parties and in any culture, really.

So I love that and incorporate it because I think that just like you said, I think so often it's more focused on like restraints and like things to take away instead of like how this can add value and like how it can be celebrated. So I love, love, love that. That's like a part of your philosophy and teaching.

Yeah, I saw this. I think it was like a meme or something or a tweet. I don't know what to call them anymore on Instagram where it was like, focus less on what you're taking away and more of what you're adding. Like when it comes to, you know, your health journey, like not sacrificing time, but like adding movement or like not restricting sweets, but like adding vegetables. And that's 100% like my philosophy is like once you're adding more of the things that will benefit you, you'll start to just see that those things that are not benefiting you and are not making you feel great will just slowly kind of like fade into the background and become like an occasional treat rather than like a daily occurrence.

Yeah, I know. That's beautiful. I really love that. And has this become your like main focus or are you still doing your day job right now?

I still have my 9 to 5, so I am a stormwater engineer by day, which is a very challenging job, but I enjoy it. I think that like I think we've talked about this before where like I have a huge passion for sustainability and just like helping the world in general. My day job fulfills this in some aspects where like, you know, stormwater and flooding, climate change has become a huge issue, especially in the US, as you know, a lot of infrastructure is decaying and aging really rapidly. And then the way we eat as population in the US is also having an effect on climate change. And animal products are a huge part of, you know, that contribution to like greenhouse gases, water pollution, stuff like that. So I kind of Sustainability is like my, I don't know what to call it, like general theme of my two jobs is like making the world. Yeah.

And I think too, just like teaching people how they can play their part just like as an individual and then how it trickles into like all of us as a collective. I was just talking to a girl who, which I didn't know this, I'm still learning, but she was talking about like soil and how, like, when soil isn't healthy, then that's like what causes floods. Because if soil was healthy, then it could actually, like, what is that called?

Soak it in, infiltrate.

Yeah. And I was like, what? Like, I had no idea. And so she was kind of talking about her journey with her husband. They decided to start farming and do like sustainable living and growing and like soil stuff, and I was like, oh my gosh, it's a lot to consume, but also I think that there needs to be people talking about it all the time, every day, everywhere, so that we start to like ingest all of that and then learn how we can do our own part. So I love your work and everything that you're doing, and I want you to tell us like your story of how you as an entrepreneur and as a human how you incorporate wellness into your business and your personal life.

So like many people in the wellness space, I started my journey because I was very much so unwell in all the aspects. Like I always tell the story of 2017 because I think that was kind of like my rock bottom point where I was like, it was the turning point in my journey where I was like, something has to change, something has to give. I can't keep going at the rate that I'm going. And just to give context, like I was right out of college, so engineering, University is very rigorous. I had developed a lot of unhealthy habits relating to like sleep deprivation, overworking myself, not eating, like skipping meals when I'm stressed, which was 90% of the time. I was really stressed all the time and then like binge drinking to just like relieve, quote unquote, relieve stress, right? Like the partying that goes on in college. We tell ourselves, you know, oh, I'm just having fun, work hard, play hard kind of thing. And it was just really degrading my health. And it all caught up to me when I graduated and I took those unhealthy habits into my post-grad life, into the 9-to-5 setting, and it was just not sustainable. Uh, 'cause I, I now had to wake up at a certain time, whereas, you know, I can skip classes in university, but I can't necessarily skip going into work. My boss would probably not enjoy that. So I was having to wake up at a certain time and, you know, be at work for 8 hours plus a day. I would often do overtime at my job, and there was this time where I fell asleep during a meeting because I was just so drained. Like I wasn't eating well. I was in a new city, so I felt very alone and I didn't really have a lot of friends and I was trying to network and put myself out there, but really emotionally taxing, especially as an— I call myself like an extroverted introvert or like an ambivert where it's like if I don't know anyone in the room, I will just become a recluse. Or, and if I know people, like I'll feed off their energy and like kind of go with the flow that way. But it was just really difficult time and like this huge transition period in my life. And at some point I was just like, I looked in the mirror and couldn't recognize myself. I felt like I had become a shell of myself. I wasn't really like eating healthy. I was a vegan, but I was totally a junk food vegan, like eating, you know, vegan pizza and vegan ice cream and takeout every night and drinking wine and like binging on Netflix until 2 in the morning and then waking up at 6 to like go to my job. So it was just all these things piling up on top of each other. And I was going to therapy because my mental health was also suffering, like just the lifestyle I was leading was not conducive to being like a happy, healthy human. So at one point my therapist said, what's something that you can take ownership of and like have more control over that will help you change things? I was just like, I should probably feed myself way better than I am. So that's kind of when I started looking at like maybe I should hire someone, like get a health coach or nutritionist or a dietitian. At the time, my work didn't have really great like benefits for dietitian, like that wasn't included in my plan. So I was just like scrolling Facebook and I noticed one of my acquaintances from like this vegan Kansas City group that I was in, she was a health coach, so I hired her and she showed me how to really eat more like whole foods plant-based, which I knew was like the healthy vegan way, but I didn't know how to like execute that. Like I didn't know what to actually make and I just felt really overwhelmed by it. But she showed me this is actually pretty simple. Like this is what I do to meal prep and just kind of like hold my hand through the process. I'm gonna felt really supported. And then once I started eating well, I had more energy and I started working out again. And it kind of like snowballed from there. Like the good habits started to pile back in. Like I started eating well, started working out. And then because I was working out, I would get tired at night. So I couldn't stay up till 2 and watch Netflix. Like I would just fall asleep naturally. And then, you know, I didn't feel like absolute shit in the morning when I had to get up for work. And I actually, at the time, I didn't have a car. That's why I got up at 6 AM, which is like so early because I caught the bus and take the bus to work because like #environmentalism, even though it was like painfully inconvenient, I was like, I'm going to be that cool hippie that doesn't have a car. And that did not last through the winter, though, because Kansas City winter is just awful.

Well, isn't it, though, like such a beautiful domino effect when you start taking care of yourself? It almost like— it looks like you have all these problems. You do have all these problems. You're like, like you were saying, you're tired, you're sleepy, like all these things. But then as soon as you start taking care of yourself, it starts to like take care of all of these areas of your life.

Yeah. And that's what one of my clients, she was considering joining my membership, she was like, I just feel really overwhelmed. I feel like I need a total lifestyle overhaul. And I was like, I totally feel you because that's where I was at. And let me tell you, like, it's not going to happen overnight. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's going to start with like this one step that you take and doing that consistently and then adding on more things. So I always preach to like my clients, it's the daily small actions, habits that you build, and then you look back a month from now, 2 months from now, and you'll see like you've come such a long way to where you were before when you weren't taking those actions towards being healthier and you were just feeling stuck. So it's all about like taking that one little baby step to get unstuck.

Yeah, absolutely. I just came across this reminder the other day because I'd heard it before, but I'd forgotten. And there was this girl talking about trusting ourselves. And if you set your alarm for 5:00 AM because you're going to go work out and say that you do this like 3 or 4 times a week and every time that alarm goes off, you're like, eh, no thanks. And you snooze. It, you're essentially like lying to yourself and you, you start to like not trust yourself because you are kind of setting yourself up for failure. And so she was talking about how trusting ourselves needs to be like our number one priority and like following through. So which I think is beautiful to add to this is like creating those habits, you have to follow through. Then you learn how to trust yourself, and then you can develop those habits. Because what is it, like 21 days, I think, of like doing something consistently is like building your habit. And really, if you think about it, 21 days, like that is not long. I know when you're like on day 3, you're like, "Oh God, how much longer?" But in the grand scheme of things, you know, like you said, after a month, you're like, "Oh my God, like I'm seeing change right now," which is the most important, I think. Weren't you like, isn't that feeling of being like, oh my God, were you able to look in the mirror and be like, OK, here I am?

Like, yeah, it's, it's crazy because like I didn't hire my health coach to lose weight per se, although I did feel really bloated and like I didn't like how my body looked and there was a lot of like shame around that. But I have just— sorry, someone was looking at me. I got self-conscious. I knew that like because I've seen my aunts and my cousins go through like the whole yo-yo dieting and like the binge restrict and like all these fad diets. And I was just very— I was always very averse to that because to me it was just like I saw the yo-yo aspect of it and the start and stop, and I knew that wasn't like a sustainable thing. So I didn't come to my health coach being like, I have to lose these 10 pounds I gained right now. Like, I was more interested in feeling better and like feeling energized and getting up in the morning and not like hating my life. That sounds dramatic, but like when you're, when you're in this groggy state where you feel like weighed down and you, and there's this like brain fog and just like everything is just 10 times harder than it needs to be. It just gets very frustrating and you're like, I need to function better as a human.

Part of the Domino Effect too is when you do start like working out moving your body, like enjoying what you're eating, enjoying what you're doing. Then when you look in the mirror, I even went, God, like months without like moving my body, like intentionally, you know, like where I was actually trying to like move. I mean, I would move, obviously I was like walking across my house.

Yeah.

Like going to a class or anything. And I remember like I went to my first class and then like after a week, like I'm like looking in the mirror and you just like feel better and you're like, yes, like I am It's just like the confidence that comes with it. And oh my gosh, I'm just like totally like melting into what you're describing because I think even if you're a woman, a man, no matter how you identify, like you have felt this, you have felt this feeling of like being exhausted and drained and like depleted. And then when you learn how to rejuvenate, it's like a whole new person and you feel like invigorated.

It's like you feel more alive. You feel like more in your body where I think like, you know, embodiment is such a like buzzword nowadays. And I think that that's part of embodiment is like feeling in your body because a lot of times like all these negative emotions is like we feel detached from ourselves. And I think like moving your body in a way that you're able to or even like just loving up on yourself, like practicing that self-care, whatever that means to you, whether it's like meditating or taking a bubble bath or like making a fresh cooked meal. It just helps us to like reconnect with our own selves.

Yeah, that's absolutely correct. I want you to talk about like we— I mean, we all know that you are this incredible human promoting like sustainability and eco-friendly stuff. And I want you to talk about like all the activism work you do because I know that you show up in that space and you've done a lot of work for women of color. And I want you to talk about the summit that you did. Yeah. And everything like, let's tell me kind of what that process looked like and why you were like, what role you played in it.

Great question. Thank you so much for asking that. So just to give, you know, whoever's listening context, the summit that Kris is referring to is called Together Thriving. And me and my business partner, Sarah Osman, we start— we co-founded this summit. Last year was our first year. And essentially the inspiration for this was that we were two wellness coaches, women of color wellness coaches, and we just saw this need in the industry to uplift other women of color and femmes of color in the wellness space because wellness in general, whether it's spiritual wellness, physical, like exercise and nutrition, or even mental health, a lot of the prominent voices that are showcased in the media tend to be white folks. And a lot of these wellness practices, for example, golden milk, or like smudging your space with sage or yoga, or there's so many, like, I can't even think because my brain's racing with all the examples, but like there's so many practices that originally come from cultures of color and they've been kind of appropriated by white folks and it's been stripped from its meaning. So really getting back to the core of these practices and like uplifting those women of color voices was like the true inspiration for our summit. So that is— it was a— I've heard the term FUBU, for us by us, which I really love. It's kind of one of those where, you know, it was created for women of color by women of color for women of color. And it was just such an amazing experience. We really had no— I didn't have any experience and Sarah didn't have any experience in putting together a summit, but we did have some amazing mentors that helped us along the way. And we're really excited to do this year our second annual wellness summit. And we're still brainstorming brainstorming on, on all the different topics that we want to cover, but we will be releasing a podcast. So that's exciting. Yeah, because we, we're both very like talkative people and like anytime someone is looking for podcast speakers, I'm like, sign me up. I want to talk like, yes. So yeah, that's very exciting.

What exactly like during the summit, do you guys have like guest speakers? Are you looking for like Is it just more of like a connection where everybody just like comes on and like connects and collabs? Like, what does that look like?

So last year, and we plan on doing like a similar approach this year where we put a call out to speakers and we posted in several different Facebook groups that we knew would have like women and femmes of color in the wellness industry. So we put out a call for speakers and we had whoever was interested could just apply and submit their— we asked for like, you know, their presentation topic and sample video of like what they would be talking about and just to get a feel for like their vibe and, and how comfortable they are on camera. And then we chose out of the speakers that applied, we chose 15 and kind of arranged it into different topics such as like decolonization or food and movement, or there's a spirituality one, mindset, life, parenting. Someone talked about decolonizing parenting, which was really interesting. So just like a wide variety of topics. And then from there, we hosted it on Hey Summit. Which is a platform specifically designed for summits, which was so helpful. Like if you're listening to this and considering doing a summit, highly recommend Hey Summit. It's an amazing platform. But yeah, that's, that was the main focal point. And then in addition to the summit talks, which were about like 30-minute presentations, we had a happy hour every night. So it was a 3-day summit and we had a happy hour every night where speakers and like the presenters the attendees— trying to think of the word— the attendees could connect in real time and like ask questions and just like chit-chat with their drink of choice. And that was really fun. The happy hours were honestly like my favorite part of the summit because especially during COVID like that face-to-face, like in real time connection was just so great. And like getting women of color in a space together where we feel safe to like share our unfiltered thoughts is also super, super powerful because a lot of times we have these shared experiences that we don't really get to talk about a lot because it might make someone else feel comfortable. And so it was really nice to have like a safe space where we could just collectively heal and like really feel validated and seen and heard. And then another part that I really loved about the summit was our workshops. So these were like Facebook Lives that we did in our Facebook group, which every attendee got access to, and that was like more hands-on. So for example, I did a cooking demo. Sarah did a mindset workshop where She walked through like different prompts and then we had someone that makes journals. She did a journaling workshop. So that was really fun and like more hands-on instead of just like sitting and watching someone talk. So this year we're really excited to be doing like live presentations instead of prerecorded because last year in order to avoid like technical difficulties and we were kind of nervous because it was our first year, we did prerecorded. So that's like a new element that'll be fun to figure out. But that's kind of the whole summit spiel. It was a lot of work, but it was definitely worth it. We had so much fun.

Oh my gosh, it really sounds incredible. And I liked that you touched on— I don't know what you called it. I'm still learning and I'm still— so I've been listening to Rachel Ricketts' book, Do Better. I don't know if you've heard of Rachel Ricketts, but she, she is fucking incredible. She is She talks about activism and spiritual activism and doing like the inner work. And I just got done with this chapter. She talked about, you know, like FYI, and she was like, fuck your intentions, you know, and impact your intentions. And she was really breaking it down. And she— it's really hard for me to describe like her approach, but she really talks about white supremacy, how it's in everything, how it's been like ingrained, talks about, you know, as cis white women, like how we can be better, how we can show up. And like, but it also by her being like, it's not my job to fucking teach you. Like you need to learn and you need to like show up fully in your space. And like, you will make mistakes and you will offend people. And like, you should never stop. Like it's a continuous like learning and trying to like do your part. And so it's been really amazing to listen to because she actually reads the audiobook, which I love because it's like, It's super, and you can just feel her heart. But she was talking about that, like, stuff that white women have taken, white culture has taken and turned it into— I don't even know how to describe it. Like, white people—

Like a trend.

Yeah.

They whitewash it and then commodify it. Right. Like, crystals are another one, which I don't know. What culture that originates from actually. I need to, like, I'm still learning too.

Yeah, she talks about crystals and how a lot of the crystals that we have and find and buy are actually mined by like slaves or people who are like forced to work. And so she was like, if crystals are all about like healing and energy and vibes and like their healing power, where the source from where we get them is like not coming from— like it's coming from like a restrictive source and place.

And so she's like super low vibe, which is like the opposite effect of what it's supposed to be. Yeah.

Or like Palo Santo, how like it's actually endangered, right? Or like it's going— I don't know how to—

Yes, it's an endangered species. So it's been like that tree has been cut down unsustainably because because the demand had risen so much in a short period of time.

Right. And so I'm just like, I think there's things, especially as a white woman, that I'm like, okay, there are so many things in my life that I have been ignorant to that I now— like, my eyes are wide open and there's like no turning back, which is great. But now comes the, like, action part. Like, there's no letting it sit. Like, now there's educating and talking about it all the time. And it's very powerful. So I love that you have like so much passion for using your voice and like bringing people together. And like you said, like, having a community, a safe space, like you're providing a safe space for women to come and to share everything. And there's no, there's no like boundary. And I love that because I think that it's So needed. And I love, love, love, love that. And I'm so excited to see like what you guys build this year.

Thank you.

Yeah.

And for anyone that's listening, that's interested in like keeping up with everything, because we do also monthly community calls that are totally free. We're on Instagram @togetherthrivingwoc. So go ahead and follow us there. And last month we did a creativity cocktails where we just like colored and painted for an hour and just like chit-chatted and it was super fun and like relaxing because I literally would not have like sat down and colored if it wasn't for that event. I'm like so busy all the time, but it's important to like take those moments to reconnect.

Yeah, 100%. I know that we talked about— you wanted to talk about something.

What else was it?

I can't remember.

Just like prioritizing your health as a business owner. And I know you mentioned mental health, which is like super important as well and something I'm still learning about, but I was I was talking more on the physical health. And I think, I mean, they're all connected, right? Like when you are eating nourishing foods and when you're moving your body and giving yourself time and space to heal and process your emotions, those, all those things are interconnected. Like I've always noticed that when I have really bad mental health days, it's when I've been eating a little too much at restaurants, when I've been drinking a little too much coffee. And different things that I notice. You know, everyone's different, everyone's body is different. And so it's important to like bring that awareness and intentionality into like, okay, I feel really bad. What did I eat? Have I been moving my body? Have I been sleeping? Have I been drinking my water? Like, again, like I saw this quote on Instagram. It was like, humans are just really complicated houseplants. Like we need sun and we need water and we need food. Like the plants make their own, which is really convenient. Like I wish I could just photo synthesize, but unfortunately I need to. I mean, it's a blessing and a curse, like having to cook for yourself. It's an outlet for creativity, but some people really feel like it's chores. So thinking of ways like, how can I make this more fun? Just with, you know, business, it's like there's things that I hate doing in my business. Answering emails, answering DMs, sometimes creating content feels like a huge chore. And it's like, okay, how can I make this more fun? Can I buy myself my favorite flavor of kombucha and like put on some fun jams and just like power through my DMs and my inbox or pour myself a glass of wine and like just do it. Voice message everyone back that has been like waiting to hear back from me. It's really, you know, there's things that in life we kind of just like have to do to survive. And eating is definitely one of those. I recently had a client who like hates cooking and hates eating. Like it feels like it's a chore. And I totally understand because like I've been there as well. Like in college, that was my, that was kind of my mindset of like, like, why do I even need to eat? Being a human is such a scam. Like, why do I have to feed myself? Like, takes so much money and so much effort. It's just bullshit. But it's all about, you know, reframing that. And as entrepreneurs, as business owners, like, our energy is such an asset. Our brains are such an asset. And when you're underfeeding yourself, which is a huge trend I see among all entrepreneurs I talk to, it's like skipping meals to take a client call or skipping breakfast because you're trying to intermittent fast, but you're not really sure how to intermittent fast and you're just using that as an excuse. It's like, it's okay. I've, I've done it too. We've all been there. No shame. But yeah, it's like you're, you're underfeeding your biggest asset, which is your brain. Like, that's where all your creativity comes from. That's where all your income comes from is like the origins of all the money you're making is up here. And when you're underfeeding your main moneymaker, it's like, are you really tapping into your true potential? And not to have it come from like a capitalist place, you know, of course there's other things in life that are like more important than money, but like we do need it to survive.

Right, right. I love that. And I like that you said intention because I think that that's like the root of it all is intentionally doing everything in life, like intentionally choosing to eat well, right? And intentionally like taking breaks throughout the day to to recharge. I saw this thing too where it related technology to humans, kind of saying that technology will never be able to take over the true human form because unlike technology, we need to unplug to recharge instead of technology, which is always plugged in, right? And I was like, "Oh, I guess I never really thought about it." It's such a simple concept, but so true. And as an entrepreneur, just like what you were saying There are some days I'm like, that I haven't eaten. So I grabbed like this protein thing and I'm like, it's not, it's not the same as actually like unplugging, shutting my laptop, going to the kitchen, like cutting up a salad, like truly being present and like intentionally taking a break to like recharge, reset, you know, clear my energy before I have another client call. Because ultimately taking that time is going to be in my best interest, in my client's best interest, like everybody. Involved. And so I like that you said that it's all about intentionally doing these things.

So, right. Yeah, everyone benefits in that situation. And even if you don't have like 30 minutes to like freshly cook and eat your thing, like I always tell my clients, like meet yourself where you're at. You know, if you know that you don't have that time, maybe like watch, like be on a call while you're preparing your meal and then like unplug while you're eating. Because if you're going to be like super present and intentional about like any phase of like the food to mouth, like timeline, it's like when you're actually ingesting the food, I think that's the most important time to be present. So, I mean, I've done it before where I like, I'll be like listening in on Clubhouse as I like chop up some veggies and then I'll just like leave the room as I'm eating. Cause I just want to be like fully present with my food. So yeah, it's like little things like that. And there's so many meals that you can prepare in like 15 minutes. Minutes that are super easy to whip up. It's like that conundrum where you're ordering DoorDash and it takes like an hour to get there. And it's like, by that time you could have like cooked a whole meal and like not spent, you know, $50 for like a $10 meal. Like we've all been there. Yeah. So yeah, little things like that where it's like, okay, is this truly, is it really that I don't have the time or is like, I'm not prioritizing I'm like, how can I make this work?

So do you really ask yourself, provide for your clients like what you hired your coach to help you do? Kind of like break down steps, make it more— okay, so do you have like some sort of program membership? What does that look like? Like if somebody wants to work with you?

Yeah, thank you for asking. So right now I am enrolling for my intensives. I call them Empowered Eating Intensive, and it's really— we do a deep dive into like where you're at with your nutrition, where you want to be. And like, I help you kind of envision the path and like illustrate the path on like how to get from A to B and what that looks like in a sustainable way where you're not going to be like super restricted on what you're eating and there's not going to be any cutting out of any food groups. And you're doing it in a way that like actually fits with your lifestyle because I see a lot of people start these diets that like they're super busy people and these diets that are like super intense and like you're setting yourself up for failure. In that point because you have a lifestyle that does not support this diet. So it's like one, one of those things is going to have to give and we shouldn't have to construct our lives around how we eat. Should just be like our eating supports our lives and helps us like live to the fullest. So it's a 90-minute Zoom call and like one week of one-on-one messaging with me to help implement. Implementation, implementation is where like the true magic happens, as I'm sure you know, with anything. And then next month I will be opening back up enrollment for my membership. So that's more of like a community-based month to month where we have community calls and I help guide my clients on, you know, taking that like daily baby step action. And we have a Slack thread where we check in daily. It's like, how is everyone doing? Like, do we need more help with eating veggies or like, do we need more help with water? And like, how can I support you? So I'm constantly in there replying to everyone's messages and like really making sure that everyone's feeling supported. It gives me so much joy because I just love seeing these women and femmes of color show up for themselves and their health, especially where we talk— we talked earlier about white supremacy and how it shows up in all the ways. Food oppression is real and white supremacy shows up in food as well, not just in food deserts, but also just thinking about all the subsidies that the US government gives to certain food companies that are not beneficial for our health. And just like how the food industry is set up to where it makes us sick and puts a lot of money in the pockets of the pharmaceutical industry. So really, like, helping women and femmes of color is my way of like beating, giving like the big middle finger to like that food oppression because disproportionately like communities of color suffer from diabetes and cancer and like all these really awful diseases that can be preventable if if we just fine-tune like the nutrition and lifestyle and like different, you know, exercise and all those things that a lot of time that comes from a place of like lacking education and lacking support. So that's my whole little rant on how to work with me. I always come back to like my purpose and my values.

But yes, you provide so much support and love and safe space for people. And it's truly inspiring. Like, I love it. I love everything about you and your platform. And I'm so excited for people to listen to this episode because I think so much value, so, so, so, so much value within this. Stoked to hear your podcast. And thank you. Is there anything else you want to share before we wrap up?

Yeah, just one snippet that I always like to leave people with is like, your your body and the earth are your two homes in this lifetime and eating plant-based or like taking those small steps to improve your health are ways that you can take care of both of your two homes. So, you know, you can be a multi-bajillionaire and if you don't have your health, it's like, are you going to enjoy that?

Yeah.

So it's really like for people that have not prioritized their health in the past, give yourself some grace because like it's hard, but also know that, like, it starts with the one baby step. So I encourage you to take that one baby step today. And if you need ideas on what, what that step is, feel free to DM me or reach out.

Heck yeah, Vale can support you in all the ways. I'm so, so glad. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk about all the things. It was so great to connect.

Yeah, thank you for having me on the podcast.

I want you to let me know your biggest takeaway from today's episode, whether that's you sharing it on social or emailing me, DMing me, whatever that looks like to you.

Please let me know. I want this to be a place where you come to learn and grow, feel connection, build relationships.

So please reach out I can't wait to connect with you soon.