Reena Vokoun discusses her new book, The Wellness-Evolved Woman, written while navigating 10 years of entrepreneurship, a 20-year marriage, and teenage children heading to college. She cites an 82% McKinsey statistic on Americans prioritizing wellness and argues that women often neglect their own emotional health while caring for others, which affects their physical health, careers, and relationships.
Thanks for staying with us, and if you're just joining us, you are in time for an important conversation with Reena Vokoun. She's celebrating her brand new book. Let's dig in. This segment is sponsored by PassionFit. Well, Reena, it is finally here, The Wellness Evolved Woman. This is your second book. Congratulations.
Thank you so much, Ashley. I'm so excited to be here to talk about it.
Well, I am so excited to dive into the contents as well because studies show that wellness is top of for so many people.
Yes, according to McKinsey and Company, 82% of Americans feel that wellness is a top priority or an important priority in their lives. I think the key though is once we recognize its importance, how do we keep it going as we evolve and change through different stages of our lives? And that's really the heart of what this book is about.
So you are going to help us do that by taking us along on your own journey in a way as well. As you were penning this book, you were going through a lot of life changes.
Yes, definitely. It's an interesting time in my life. I've been an entrepreneur now for 10 years. My husband and I have been married for over 20. Our kids are teenagers now, with our older son applying to college. So I'm having to really put the practices in this book into place myself with remembering to have perspective, remembering not to get so stressed out about these life changes and embrace them and take care of your well-being, your sleep, your movement, how you're eating, and being, you know, not afraid to talk about it with your loved ones if you are experiencing some challenges with those changes in your life.
Something I loved about your first book was the way that it was organized. I mean, you could pick it up and read what you could when you could, and it would still make sense as a whole. This one is organized so nicely. The chapters are really important, and there's some great reflection questions.
Yes, and I really wanted— I did that in the first book, and I wanted to bring that back for the second book because it is part of a women's wellness book series, and it's really to allow the reader to take what they've learned and apply it to their own life. Throughout the book, I not only share some of my own life experiences, but I share anonymous experiences from my clients that I work with. I share some, you know, celebrity inspiring people's stories as well. And I want the reader to take those learnings and then think about their own life, do a little self-reflection, self-assessment, and then answer those questions because then it not only helps them in the moment, but it's something they can refer back to later as well and see what they wrote and see if that can help them if they're going through different changes and challenges.
And I think you are launching it at the perfect time of year. November, people will be getting ready to give gifts for the holiday season, or maybe just balance life and deal with wellness as we all approach the holidays. What are you thinking people are gonna take away from this?
Yeah, so some of the key takeaways, I mean, I think first and foremost, self-love and really embracing and understanding your own authenticity. The first book covered a lot about self-care, and I think ultimately in order for us to really get to that place of ongoing self-care, we have to take a look at ourselves and develop that own self-love relationship with ourselves, right? And I think that comes from understanding, you know, where you came from, where you grew up, your ethnicity, your talent, skills, and interests, your core values, all of those things. So we kind of take a step back and look at where you were, where you are today, and where you're going. And when you have that understanding of yourself, you're more likely to prioritize your own health and well-being and self-care.
And of course, through PassionFit, you do work with both men and women, but why do you think women especially need these kind of books? Why are we so willing to let ourselves go or put ourselves on the back burner to take care of those around us?
Yeah, that's a really great question, and I think, you know, and I don't want to generalize because everyone is different, but women innately, we are caretakers. I don't know if it's society, if it's cultural influences, or just how we grew up, but we do have a tendency to want to take care of our families, our employer, our communities, all the different people the people that we serve in our lives, and often it is to our own detriment. So with this book, I really wanted to focus on emotional and mental health. Again, not just for women, but anybody who picks up this book, and everybody is welcome to read it. Um, but I think when you have your mental and emotional health in place, you're more likely to then have more positive physical health. It impacts your career and your relationships with others more positively, and you'll be in a better place to serve others when you can serve yourself first.
Thank you for your time, and congratulations once again. Where can people get their copy?
Yes, people can find book. It is going to be on sale now on Amazon and Barnes Noble, and you can go to my author site at reenavokoun.com for more details.
Wonderful, thank you and congratulations.
Thank you, Ashley.
This segment is sponsored by PassionFit.
