Episode 274: The Beauty Boost - Wellness for Women with Chris Belin

Hello everyone, this is Rebecca Green for the Winey Palooza podcast, and I am so excited because I have Kris Bolen here with us today. Kris, thank you for taking time out of your crazy busy schedule to meet with me today.

Thank you, I know you're busy too, so I appreciate your time as well.

Oh my God, Kris and I are— were laughing before I pressed record because our children all have locker setup today, so we are going to do this And then we're gonna get back to our crazy kids. But I wanna tell you about Kris cuz she is an amazing lady. She's a married mom of 2 kids and a rescue dog here in Buffalo, New York. She is passionate about all things women, wellness, and entrepreneurship. Kris is the founder of the Buffalo chapter of the Beauty Boost, as well as the creator of a local event called Sip Shop Support. Which takes place every November, and I can't wait to find out what that is. But I want to start with learning a little bit about you. Can you tell us about your background and how that led to being a local driver of women's entrepreneurship, wellness, and community? Like, holy cow, do you do a lot!

Thank you so much. Yeah, I know when you look back it seems like a lot, but of course every single day there were just little baby steps to get me where I am now. And it started when I had my daughter and she just turned 14 on Friday. So, um, 14 years ago I was actually working in banking. So I lived in Buffalo my whole life and I was working for a local bank thinking that I was gonna go out on maternity leave and go back to that job. But I didn't really have any flexibility in that job. In fact, in order to take care of my daughter, I was going to have to work on Saturdays in order to get some time off during the week. So I ended up quitting that job, which was not really planned. I look back now and I say to my husband, you were really flexible with me around that time, but I just didn't, didn't want to leave her and I had no backup plan. So I would not advise that. But I I figured it out pretty quickly, but what I realized is I had this burning desire to do my own thing. And I have to take you back because my friends, 14, 15 years ago, there was nowhere near as many women entrepreneurs as there is now. Now many laid the groundwork for us, but you see so many more opportunities now than you did at the time. And I remember at the time being like, okay, I'm going to do something on my own. And I was literally Googling it. Like, how do I work for myself? I had no idea what to do. Um, so I started my first business, which isn't what I'm doing now, but I will tell you, I was going into people's homes, helping them get organized. So I was able to manage my own schedule a little bit better and have some flexibility that I needed as a mom. And that led me down a journey eventually to where I am now. Um, my organizing led into more personal health coaching because I had none. And so I went on my own health journey and that led me into health coaching, which led me into the Beauty Boost, which led me into running a women's group for networking, for business networking. So it's all sort of like each part was important to get me where I am now, which is to help women in business succeed here in Buffalo.

Well, that sounds amazing. It sounds like the perfect journey to end up where you are today. And I am going to be honest, I don't know what the Beauty Boost is. Can you tell us all what it is?

Yeah, so the Beauty Boost is a women's community to help empower women to feel healthy and beautiful. So right now we're in 26 cities, and I brought it to Buffalo late last year. Um, we have events every single month, so this is a community that, you know, you can invest your time in because there'll be something every single month. If not more. Um, so our events are empowerment workshops, retreats, social hours, and fitness events. So they're all a little bit different every single month, but different ways for you to explore how you can be well, how you can feel your best, and be supported by a like-minded community. Now the other thing that's great about the Beauty Boost is it's growing. And so if you live in a city where there isn't a Beauty Boost, Hang on, because there might be soon. Or you want to be an entrepreneur and you're looking for an avenue, you can, you can start your own too. So that's how I found out about it. My friend was involved in the Nashville chapter and she was like, you should look into this. So here I am. Um, and it's awesome. I love it. It's so much fun. It's so gratifying. Um, the connections that are coming out of that already. So we've had 8 events so far with me as the owner. It's just incredible to watch. I'm really excited about what's ahead for that.

I feel like my face hurts because I'm smiling so big because this is a really great thing for women. So if you have something on like empowerment or fitness, do you have like someone in charge of that event that month who's running it?

Yeah, the great part is I don't run the events, Rebecca. I get local business owners to take charge, which is awesome because it helps them grow their business. So for my fitness event, I have 6 to 8 different fitness instructors from around Buffalo, from different gyms or personal trainers or whatever they are running the event for me. That helps them, it helps me, and it certainly helps the women who come. So it's awesome. It's a great concept.

Win-win-win all around.

Yes, totally.

So what is this? My friend Tayton, my producer, told me about your Sip Shop Support event.

It's a mouthful.

She sounds—

support—

yeah, she sounds excited. Like, tell me what this is.

Okay, so this has a piece of my heart. I love this event. I came up with this over wine with my book club. I wanted a way for women business owners to be able to sell their products to holiday shoppers, giving all proceeds back from the event raised, not the business owners. I wanted the business owners to be able to make money too, to a local charity. And it's grown into something so much bigger now. I'm so proud of this. So the networking group that I co-founded, we run this event as a whole now. And so we, like I said, bring a bunch of business owners in and then we give the money back. So this year we picked Punt. So 100% of the proceeds will go to help raise funds for pediatric cancer. And we have 25 businesses taking part. Santa's coming, a Disney princess is coming. We're gonna have face painting. So it's a great event for families, for people who wanna shop small businesses. And it gives back to charity, which people love to do. So it's a, another win-win across the board, right?

Yes. Now, is this just for your chapter or is this for anyone to come to?

Anybody. We want everybody in Buffalo to come to this event. It's open to the public. So we start selling tickets in November, October, because the event is in November. It's November 18th at Events by Stolat at the Easton House Mall, and it's noon to 4. So anybody can come. I want people to bring their families and spend a couple hours with us and give money back to Punt.

Sounds awesome. Okay. You know, you know, Tayton's going to bring me to that.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, so what do you What do you think the biggest challenge is for women to feel connected to other women in their community? What, like, what is the challenge there? Because I know there is.

There definitely is, which is why I'm so passionate about what I do, because I remember very specifically when I was, like, starting on this entrepreneur journey and I was a new mom when my friends weren't a mom, I was literally like, who are my friends? Like, I had no social life. And I think that that's a really, really important piece of your wellness. Is your social participation and filling that cup. And so you literally just have to start looking. You have to look at what's in your community, whether it's networking, whether it's a mom's group, whether it's something like the Beauty Boost. Um, see what's out there. Grab the Buffalo Spree or go on Instagram and look at hashtags. Go on Eventbrite and look at events. Um, and grab a friend or go alone. Now I know that sounds crazy, but with the Beauty Boost, we specifically have one of our volunteers scope the room to see if somebody's come alone because we know you might have to come alone and we immediately want you to make friends. So we make it our business to help you connect with people. Um, I don't want you to sit at home. There's too many things going on in our awesome city for you to sit at home wondering who your people are. They're out there. You gotta go find them. And if you go to a group and it's not your jam, go again. Go to another one. You know what I mean? You can't stop.

That is such good advice. Sitting home waiting for people to come to us is not what we should do.

It's not gonna happen. Yeah. And it's not, but it's not easy. I understand what I'm saying sounds like it's not easy.

I know that.

Your armpits are gonna be soaked, but you can do it.

I'm going on this journey of trying to learn more about introverts because I don't realize the challenges that they face that I don't face. So I've been learning about that.

Same. Yes, it's a thing. And I think if we have more awareness around that, that not everybody's like us, not everybody's comfortable going out and talking to people, we'll be a better friend to them.

100%. Yes. I wonder how many of my introverted friends think I'm crazy, but that's a whole nother story. So, so if you could talk to all the women out there right now about personal wellness, what would you want to tell them to help them improve that?

Hmm. That is such a personal thing. You know, we all practice wellness differently. When I first started coaching, I thought it was the same for everybody. The eat, the sleep, the stress, the water, the exercise, right? But there, there are pieces that are more important to me than are to you. And it's about truly exploring that. And it's similar to going out and finding your people. It's like trying different things to see what makes a difference for you and sticking with that and giving up all the rest. And you really have to be kind of mindful around it. So whether that's like having a journal to kind of track the things you're doing, um, or using like an app or smartphone app or whatever. That, that is your journey to figure out what things help you. Like for me, sleep is a massive priority. Like I am so much better as a human if I sleep. I don't need to worry about some of the other aspects of wellness as much as I do sleep. It's a top priority for me. But that's not everybody. I know some people who operate on 5 hours of sleep. I need 9. Right? So it's about figuring out what's best for you. And I know that some people want that like magic bullet answer. It's just not a thing.

No, I think that's the perfect answer. And I had no idea what you were going to say. And I love that. And as somebody who needs a lot of sleep, I'm curious, what time do you aim to go to bed? Ah, no, I really want to know. I want to know because I go to bed too late and And I get up too early and it does, and I need sleep. I'm like you, I need my sleep.

I'm a night owl and I always have been, so I really struggle. I come alive at night and so I have to put myself to bed. So I reverse engineer based on what time I have to wake up. So I want to be up till midnight, but during the school year, I need to be in bed by 11. So I actually have an alarm that goes off on my phone that says, go to bed.

Oh, my goodness. I'm always so perplexed by the women who tell me that they come alive at night because by 9:00, I'm like, don't talk to me. I'm done. I'm checking out for the day.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I need 2 to 3 business hours to wake up. So that's a running joke in my family. So mornings are hard for me. And so You know, like this time of day to like 11, I'm like the best, the most energized. It's so silly, but the world was not built for, for this kind of person. So I have to, you know, change my ways.

Oh gosh. And, and you and I know school is starting, so I don't even want to talk about what time I have to get up soon.

So, oh my gosh, I know.

I don't want to think about it. Okay, let's talk about building their networks. What can women do to help build, build their networks?

Yeah, I am somebody who have— I have definitely gone down that journey. Like I told you, I didn't know who my friends were 14 years ago, and now I have an amazing network. I feel like anybody I need for this particular thing, I either have somebody in my network that does it or knows how to do it or knows someone who does, which is such a cool thing. It really starts by just like getting yourself in front of more people, even little opportunities like your kids' friends' birthday parties. Like, I make it my job to be where my feet are, and if I'm at my kids' friends' birthday party, I talk to their parents, I mingle with people, um, because I— you don't know who's in that room. You don't know who— like, and those are opportunities that I think are often missed, not just like actual networking events. But little opportunities too. So, um, and while we're there, like, the people I've met through my kids are amazing, and they're people I rely on a lot now. Um, so that's a big part of it. Going to events around town too throughout the years, whether it's wellness things, business networking things, um, volunteer opportunities, things you're passionate about. Like, if you like to hike, find a hiking group. right? And then network with those people. So, um, it just depends, like, if you're looking for, um, things that are maybe self-care related that fill your bucket, like I said, volunteering or things you like to do, or just wanting to meet people in general, just looking at all the possibilities to do that.

So you use all of your opportunities.

Yeah, but I'm an extrovert.

Okay.

So this is how I do it. And I get energy from talking to people.

Yeah.

So now if you're the opposite of me, you're an introvert and you, that drains you a little. You have to, and you already know this if you're an introvert, know that like you need to maybe rest a little bit before you go out. You're going to have great conversations, but then maybe you need to limit your time. And say, I'm only going to stay until 8:30, and then you need to go home because then you're drained and you need to recover a little bit. So just knowing who you are and how that will work for you too is important as well.

That is an excellent point that I need to remember. As we discussed already, I, I go to stuff and I talk to people and I get energy. I'm that person. I'm like, yeah, but I know everybody isn't like that. And I would love to know What has the Beauty Boost done for you?

Well, so my, my— before the Beauty Boost, I was— I'm a certified health coach and I was doing a lot of coaching because what was happening before the Beauty Boost? COVID. So in the really hard parts of COVID where we were home a lot, I was the busiest I've ever been because people had more time to put into their personal health journey. So I was coaching a lot. And I, I'm not going to call it burnt out, but I was craving in-person time with women. And so what this has given me is time, not only for them and for me to fulfill that part professionally, but personally, um, to practice my own health with other women who get me and support me. It's just been an absolute joy. People are so happy at these. They're excited for what's ahead, and to be able to bring that to them is really awesome. So I'm fulfilled in many ways. I'm nervous all the time. Am I doing the right thing for them? Am I enough? Are these fun? Right? But that just means I care. And it keeps me on my toes. So I'm, I'm going to keep making the Beauty Boost better and better for the women who come and spend their time with us.

We can always do better. I'm sure you're fabulous. I'm sure what you're doing is fabulous, but I know we can always do better. So women need relationships. They need face to face. You and I know that. Why do you think that the relationships are so important to women?

Um, because we get each other. Um, you know, when I'm here with my husband and my kids, sometimes I'm like, oh, am I the only one who thinks about these things that have to happen? Like the locker setup, he needs the magnets and he needs the pictures and he needs the wallpaper. If I go and I hang out with you and 3 other gals, you get me.

Yeah.

And I remember when I started hanging out with women after I had my kids, I was like, all the crazy things that I think are happening are happening to her too. And I just felt so validated, seen, and I don't know, there's nothing like it.

I agree. My, my wonderful son decided to just come in here and look for his football clothes. Let me shut this door. It's hard to carve out. You can see it's hard for me to carve out even 30 minutes for myself.

It's not possible. So we just roll with the punches. We do the best we can. It is what it is.

Oh my God. I'm just going to go with it.

Yes.

So there's a— let's say that there's a woman who's anxious about joining. She wants to come. She's anxious. Can you give her some advice?

Yeah. We got your back. I wish people who are afraid to come and know they might be alone would reach out to me so I can— I'm happy to cultivate a relationship one-on-one with her before she even steps foot in. And then when she comes, I'll look out for her. Um, or try to bring a friend so you don't feel like you have to come alone. But we want women to come who are looking for their place and think this is their place. So whatever it takes, we're here for you, um, and we're your people.

Sounds amazing. Well, and you and I know that I can't even tell you how many women tell me they're suffering from depression, they're suffering from anxiety. It's usually one or the other or both. So what, what do you think is important to help these women that we haven't discussed? How can we help them improve their depression or their anxiety?

Oh man. Well, as somebody who suffered from both, I actually felt better knowing I wasn't the only one suffering when I started to talk about it. And I know it's deeply personal.

Yeah.

But if you can find somebody that you can talk to and confide in, um, it— I, I think it helps to talk about it. Um, there was such a stigma, and I feel like it's getting better. I feel like we're, we're heading in the right direction so that we can really best support each other in our mental health journey. My concern is that women who need help right now can't get it because there aren't enough therapists available. And so we have to lean on each other better. And so I just ask you, if you are suffering, that you be brave enough to tell somebody.

Oh, that's such good advice.

Just anybody. Tell somebody so you can, you can get some support, even if it's just a friend.

And we get quiet. I think a lot of us, I find that when I'm struggling with something, I tend to get quiet and I notice my friends do the same thing. So I will reach out to them and be like, you've been awfully quiet. What is going on? Because I do the same thing. So yeah.

So then maybe the other piece of it is if it's not you, make sure you're checking on your friends who are quiet.

Yeah. Well, you give a ton of advice. You get a ton of advice. What is something you can share with us that was the best advice that you've given or gotten?

Oh my God. We make fun of her for this, but my mom has been given this advice for about 40 years and it's a, it's a humdinger and it's the best one. It's kill people with kindness. So if you're dealing with somebody that is not being nice to you or is difficult to work with or is nasty or whatever, fill in the blank, you're going to kill them with kindness. You don't know what that person's going through.

I know.

You don't know if, you know, this relationship can rebound. You don't know. So you kill them with kindness. Complain behind their back, complain to your spouse, whatever. But to their face, you're going to be kind to them because you don't know what they're going through. And I love that advice because so often when you're upset with somebody, you just want to fly off the handle. That's not helping anybody. It's really not helping you. It's not helping them. It's not going to make the relationship better. So I just love that advice so much.

That is awesome. And you are so right. I find out— I want you to know, my neighbor came to me and told me what was going on with her. I had no idea. We do not know what people are dealing with. And if they snap at us or they seem withdrawn or aloof, I have started to learn not to take it personally because they're struggling with something for sure.

And we have no idea. They could be sick. They could, they could have just lost their dog. They could have lost their job. We have no idea. And so there's real power in walking away from those kinds of situations instead of flipping out. Right.

Great advice. Great advice. So tell us how we can get involved with the Beauty Boost. Tell us what we need to do.

So we have, uh, some events coming up for the fall. So our September event is called Women in Wellness. We're gonna have a panel of women entrepreneurs who are in the wellness space, and then we're gonna have experience stations around the room. Um, permanent jewelry. We're gonna actually have Great Lakes Cancer Collaborative there talking about cancer screenings. Um, October is Hocus Pocus. It's a Halloween social. It's gonna be so fun. So we're gonna have a costume contest. Um, and then our Fitness Sampler is November 5th. Big, big event for us. Lots of different types of fitness. You can pick and choose the little workouts you want to do. They're about a half an hour each. Um, come to an event. That's how you get involved. Come to an event and check it out, see if it's for you. If it is, you can become a member. You pay one price and you get all of the events included, so you save money. We're also looking for people who want to be brand ambassadors, which is basically sharing the Beauty Boost with their friends, sharing on social, they get a deep discount on their membership. And then if you have a business that you want to promote through the Beauty Boost, we want to partner with you and have you at our events as well. So lots of ways to get involved, but start with coming to an event.

I love it. I mean, I've asked you so many questions. Is there anything that you want to share that I didn't get to? Yeah.

You know, the other, the other group I mentioned a little bit talking to is called Wink Buffalo. So if you are interested in professional networking, um, I'm part of a group that does that too. We have, uh, meetings every month and we do a couple of networking events twice a year. In fact, one is coming up September 20th called Five Degrees to Success. You know, the whole like we're all separated by 5 degrees. We believe Buffalo is one degree away. So we have a networking event and, um, that's a great one too. So if you're like really wanting to network your business, that's a good one to join too. So you can come meet me at that as well.

So that's a separate one that you, that you go to?

Yeah, yeah, it's called WINC, W-I-N-C, which stands for Women Inspired Through Networking and Collaboration. And that's a Buffalo thing too.

Yes, yes, my girlfriend joined it and told me about it. Oh my gosh, yes, yes, she's, um, a dog breeder. So Liz Karcher? Yeah, I love her. Yes, she's wonderful. I've known her since I was 14. I love her. Um, but she told me about Wink. She loves it. Yeah, yeah, good.

You see?

So, so I guess I need to have, um, Wink people on next, huh?

Oh, absolutely. Whoever you need, I got.

That's awesome. Well, tell everyone where to find you.

Um, The Beauty Boost Buffalo is on Instagram. Chris Belin is on Instagram. Um, you can go to my website too, chrisbelin.com. Or just come on over. I live right off Transit Road in Williamsville.

That's awesome. So we're really close to each other. It's very rare that I talk to people in the same time zone who live close to me. So this is nice.

Nice.

Well, I want to give you and I some high praise today for carving out 30 minutes for this because you and I know it wasn't easy.

No, it was not.

So I'm going to let you get back to your kids, but I want to thank you so much for spending time with me today.

Thanks for having me. Uh, your questions are really insightful, and so you're doing a great job because people need to hear these types of things. So keep going. Thank you for having me, Rebecca. I really appreciate it.

Thank you so much. This is Rebecca Green. Reminding everyone to spend every day laughing, learning, and loving. Thank you for tuning in to the Winey Palooza podcast. If you like what you heard, please be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. While you are there, leave a review. I love to hear your feedback. Thank you so much for listening. Until next time. This show has been produced by Market Domination LLC. To discover how you can have your own show completely done for you, and turn it into a real published book and become the authority in your marketplace, go to www.marketdominationllc.com/podcastoffer.

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