Virtual Book Launch Party

Okay, welcome to the book launch party for Reena Vokoun. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Kirsten Jensen. I'm one of your MCs for the night and a publishing consultant for Fuchsia Rose Media. We're here today to celebrate our friend Reena Vokoun and her wonderful book, The Wellness Empowered Woman. Woo! So it's pretty, pretty awesome, this book, and it's pretty amazing, this journey. You can get her book on Amazon, and we're going to be leaving the link in the chat periodically, so please do help yourself to that book. Yeah, we're going to hear from the author herself, have a little interview, Q&A session. She'll even do a reading for us. Please keep in mind we'll be recording, as Reena mentioned, and taking photos of our Zoom as well. So let's, in fact, let's take a quick picture while we're waiting. We'll be taking photos throughout the evening. So this will be our first snapshot together. So everyone say cheese. Cheese. Cheese. Okay, cool. Hopefully we got that. You may want to put yourself on speaker view so that you can see who's speaking. And we're actually going to mute you guys so that we can, we can kind of proceed with the program. If you have questions, you can also put them in the chat bar, so please do feel free to put your questions and messages in the chat bar. We will be paying attention to that as well. We'll get to the questions as we get to the Q&A. Now before I introduce Reena, I want to say a few words about just how big of an accomplishment Oh, before I introduce Reena, I want to say a few words about how big of an accomplishment this is, having written a book. Not everyone does it, but almost everyone wants to. More than 81% of people say that they want to write a book, but less than 0.086% of people actually do. So this is a pretty big accomplishment. And not only that, but Reena has actually hit number 1 hot new release in one of her categories already. So that's a pretty huge deal. Not many people can say that. Woo! Yeah. I'll forgive you for coming off mute for that one. I think we're all feeling that. So yeah. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce Reena. Reena Vokoun is the founder and CEO of PassionFit. She is an entrepreneur, author, TEDx speaker, content creator, media spokesperson, and wellness expert. She is a wife, mom, and first-generation born Indian American and lives in California, as many of you know. She is also just the most amazing person and just fabulous to work with. So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to her. And actually, let's actually take— can we take everyone off mute for just one quick second? And give her a warm welcome, and we'll put everyone back on mute. So Vicki or someone, can we take her off mute? Let's go!

Reena Vokoun!

Thank you very much. Okay, so now we're going to put us back on.

17.

Ooh, I hear lots of good dogs and kids. That's life, right? We love it. All right, well, thank you so much for the warm welcome, Kirsten. I do want to give a shout out to Kirsten and Christy, who is our other emcee who I'll be introducing later, and then Vicki Lynch, who is also going to be helping us behind the scenes tonight, and Polly Latovsky, who I'll be introducing as well. What I love is that I have these connections with each of them in different ways. Kirsten, we realized that she is a fellow Wisconsin Badger alumni, and when I found that out about her, I just knew it was serendipitous and meant to be. To get to work with her on my book. And her husband's also Indian, which is super cool. And then Kristi's husband and I actually went to the same middle school, believe it or not, and we figured that out. So that was just kind of a fun Midwestern connection. And Vicki's from the Midwest. So being a Midwesterner born and raised, it's just nice to find those connections from, you know, how you were raised and how you grew up. And Polly's amazing, and we'll talk about her in a second. But I just want to thank you all for being here tonight. I can't tell you how much it means to me. On the one hand, I would have loved to have done this in person and had a big event, but given the pandemic and just where we've been over the last year, we all thought from the book team that the safest bet, especially in June when we didn't know where things were going to be, would be to do it virtually. And what I realized is that it also allowed me to have more of you join from all over the country, which you may not have had the ability to do otherwise. So it's very special to me that you're all here for this really great event that, again, my team is helping me put on tonight. I could not have done this without the support of this amazing book team, as well as my family and friends and my professional network. So I just want to take a second just to thank everybody because it takes a village. Publishing a book, I have to say, has been probably the most challenging but yet rewarding thing that I've done to date in my career. And so I just want to tell these people that I'm so grateful for their support, their expertise, and their encouragement. There were days where it was really hard, especially writing through a pandemic, and to have their encouragement and support means so much to me. So I want to start with Kirsten Trinevassen, who has been the publishing consultant, my right-hand woman, just helping me with all of the publishing steps and the process of how to do this. I've never done this before. I'm a first-time author, so it was a huge learning curve, and she just made it all the more smooth and special. So thank you, Kirsten. Thank you, Polly Latovsky, who is the— she's been basically our publishing advisor, and she is the founder and CEO of the publishing consulting firm that has been working with me. Donna Mazzitelli, Reena Vokoun is my amazing editor. She was the first person to read my entire manuscript and gave me such great feedback. She was there on those days where I just, you know, didn't believe in myself certain days as an author, and I was afraid to put myself out there. I share some personal stories in the book, which is not always easy to do, and she gave me the confidence and the courage that I needed to do that. Victoria Wolfe, she is the very talented book cover designer who designed this beautiful book and just did such a great job. She really took my vision and helped me bring it to life, which has been awesome. Jennifer Jazz, who is the proofreader who just made sure that all the i's were dotted and the t's were crossed, literally and figuratively. Christy Dosh, who was an advanced reader of my book. She's an MC tonight. I'll be introducing her more. And she has been an amazing support system for me, not only for this book, but with PassionFit over the last 4 years in marketing, media, just running a business. She's amazing. Vicki Lynch, who is also helping out tonight. She works on Christy's team and she has a great background in the publishing industry as well. And so she has been awesome in helping just kind of get this whole party going. Who else? We have Michael Locklear, Caitlin Hamilton, Heidi Olson from Christy's team as well, helping with the marketing and the media. Alex Johnson, who has been my photographer since I started PassionFit. Literally the very first photo that was ever taken for my company was taken by him. And he is my neighbor for, or was my neighbor from across the street back in Mountain Mountain View, and he is the one who took this photo. So he also helped bring my vision to life for the book cover. I'm actually wearing the dress that I wore for the photo shoot for the book. I actually have only worn it that one time. And so I thought it would be only appropriate and fitting to wear it tonight. Who else? Claire Collier, who has been my lawyer for PassionFit for almost 7 years, and she was great with all the copyright and trademark parts of this process. Deb Wise and Vondra Drovina are my web developers who've been with me for years, and they helped to develop the book landing page and integrate everything with my website. Cheryl Elov, I just want to thank. She had me on her podcast and she is the one that introduced me to the lovely Polly and Kirsten and the whole group that I have been working with. She is a fellow author in the health and wellness industry and she is just awesome as well. I just thank her for introducing me to this team. Who else? Then, my advanced readers, Jen Dulski, Bonita Stewart, Lexi Reese, Meredith Momoda, Mary Oleksi, Meredith Bodgast, and then again, Christy Daasch, who who is also an advanced reader. These are all— I think I've shared all of their bios with you. These are all women who I've worked for over the last— worked for or with over the last 15 years of my career. And I am just so thankful that they got to be some of the first to read the book and to give their feedback. And then I just, you know, can't not thank all of my amazing family, my husband, both my sons, my parents, my brothers, my sister, all of my in-laws, my late grandparents, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, my friends, everybody in my professional Network that is here tonight and of course, the entire PassionFit Community, which this book was inspired by them. So, I know that was kind of a long thank you, but I just want to thank all of you for being here and for your support. So, with that, I am going to turn it over to Polly Litovsky, who is an amazing— she is the first— this is a pretty awesome stat, you guys. She is the first woman to walk around the world. Check it out. Look her up on YouTube. She is just an amazing woman and she wanted to say a few words tonight.

Yeah, I really just wanted to say, because it's not my, um, my role tonight, but just working with Reena a little bit here and there through the book process, because Kirsten really ran the project, but a little bit with marketing, and we learned from you, Reena. That's what I really wanted to say. We learned from you about persistence and passion and direction, and you had it all, and you never let that vision go. So I, I mean, you had the A-team on this between Donna Mazzitelli, the editor, and Kirsten and your marketing team. I just wanted to say that I was amazed working with you in the times that I did about your drive and your Type A personality, and that we learned from you. And congratulations, it's a very big moment in your life. And we saw it. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Polly. Thank you for being a part of it, and I— you're going to make me tear up. Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate it. And with that, I'm going to introduce Kristy, who is our other MC for this evening. Kristy is a publicist who founded a boutique agency called Guide My Brand to work with entrepreneurs and nonfiction authors to establish themselves as experts experts in their niches. Christy is her own best case study, beginning her career as a corporate attorney and used a combination of blogging, social media, public speaking, and media appearances to become a nationally recognized expert on the business of sports. She left the corporate world to work for such outlets as Forbes and ESPN, and today she works with busy entrepreneurs and nonfiction authors who want to become experts themselves and step into the spotlight so they can grow their businesses. So without further ado, here is Christy Dosch.

Thank you so much, Reena. I am just so honored to be part of this. Reena became my client, I think, 4 years ago now. You know, she's someone that came into my group program and started learning how to pitch herself for things like TV interviews and podcast interviews. And you have so many people that come into a program like that and then do nothing with it, which is super frustrating. You know, it's the whole idea of leading a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. And Kirsten said earlier, you know, Reena Reena is that rare person who, out of all the people who want to write a book, actually sat down and wrote the book. And I remember when the book was just an idea, and when we started talking about what a nonfiction book proposal looks like and sort of how you get started down this path. And I have started a lot of authors down this path. I'm an author myself, and I have worked with a lot of nonfiction authors. And I can count on one hand the number who have had a book on the other side, because it is a lot of work. And I'm sure those of you who know Reena surprised to find out that she put in the work. I think she's one of those people that when she decides to do something, not only is she gonna do it, but she's gonna be really successful at it when she does it. And I know that part of that is because she has such an incredible network around her. So thank you to all of you for being here. I have been a part of a lot of book launch events during the pandemic that have been virtual like this, and I have seen a lot of really disappointed authors who didn't have a community that showed up for them the way that you guys have. So, you know, I'm gonna give you you guys my own little round of applause because you're such amazing friends and family to Reena Vokoun, and I think she couldn't be so successful if she didn't have all of you behind her. So thank you for coming tonight. We're so excited to be part of this. And we've got, we've got some gifts for you all for showing up. We've got a little raffle we're going to get involved with here. So just for showing up, you get a raffle entry already. So you're all entered to win. However, we're going to give you a chance to win some bonus entries into this raffle. And at the end of the raffle, we are going to— towards the end of the call, we are going to choose 3 winners. You will be able to choose between these awesome t-shirts, which I have to tell you, we were all talking before we went live about how soft these t-shirts are. It's like the softest t-shirt I've ever owned. I could just live in this shirt. So that's my sales pitch for the shirt. But I'll also have to hold it up to the camera because I'm getting really whited out. I live on the East Coast, so it's It's nighttime here, but we've also got these Wellness Empowered Woman mugs that you'll be able to choose from. So I know you guys are going to want to get in on the trivia, which is what we're going to do here next. This is how it's going to work. OK, hopefully you've all found the chat. I know some of you have already been posting in it already and sending your congratulations to Reena. Please keep doing that because we're going to be able to save this chat and give it to Reena afterwards. So feel free to post your comments over there and also feel free to post questions over there because I'm going to come back on towards the end. And Kirsten and I both have some questions we want to ask Reena about the book and about her life. And we're going to let you all ask her questions as well. So you can enter those in the chat at any time up until we get to that portion towards the end. The chat is also where we are going to do the trivia questions. So I've got some questions. You'll see me cheating. I've got a second screen over here so that I can keep an eye on all of you and also keep an eye on my questions over here. So I'm going— I will read the question and then the first person to put the correct answer in the chat is the person who's going to get credit and get that bonus entry into the raffle. Vicki from my team is going to be watching and looking out for the person who gets it, gets the first correct answer, and we'll get your bonus entry put in. And then towards the end of the event, we will be drawing our 3 winners and you'll be able to choose between a shirt or a mug. So, okay, everybody got their typing fingers ready? These are all true/false questions. So, you know, I don't know if you want to like load them up and delete one of them, do whatever strategy you want to use. And we will accept— let's type out the whole word. Let's not just do T or F. We got to type the whole word. Okay. So the first person to get the correct answer, type in the full word for true or false, that's the person who's going to get credit for the right answer. All right. Everybody ready? Typing fingers ready?

All right.

First question. True or false? 30% of women do not exercise. Man, those came fast.

Okay.

I saw some true and some false answers. The answer is false. 60% of women don't exercise. I have been through some of those periods myself. I am not going to lie. All right. Question number 2, true or false? Social support of friends and family is tied to regular physical activity. You guys are so fast. I think what I am going to do, too, to help Vicki, I am going to put it, I am going to type in the box as soon as I do number 3 so that anybody's late answers from the last one don't make it in. OK. All right. I am putting the number 3. All right. So cleared out. Question number 3, true or false? There is no link between exercise and success at work. I know I did a bad job. I didn't tell you guys the answer to the last one. Number 2 about social support of friends and family being tied to regular physical activity. That was true. I realized how fast the chat was moving and that we needed to kind of have a cutoff in the chat so we make sure Vicki grabs the first right answer. OK, so number 3. Number 3 was there is no link between exercise and success at work. That is false. All right, let me put my number 4 in the chat here. Question 4, the biggest reason that women do not exercise is fear of being judged at the gym. All right, we have got some answers in. That is true. How many of you ladies don't go to the gym because you don't want to be judged at the gym for what you are wearing or how you are lifting something or whatever? I know I've totally been there before. My husband's a competitive powerlifter, so I'm always afraid he's going to be the one judging me now. OK, question number 5. Let me put my 5 in the chat here. Number 5, true or false, mental training and meditation can treat depression. Oh, you got everyone. I think everyone's getting that one right. True. All right. Our final question. So the final chance to get a bonus entry. True or false? The benefits of exercise are purely physical. You guys are so fast. You really did either preload these in there or you guys are the fastest typers I have ever been around. That is false. Exercise can improve your sleep, boost your mood, and help deal with anxiety and depression. You guys were awesome. Thank you for participating in that. We will let Vicki tally up our results for our first right answer on each of those questions, you'll get bonus entries into the raffle that we're going to be doing here later on. Okay, just going back to my little schedule here to make sure we keep on track. I am going to invite Reena to come back in now and share with us an excerpt from the book. And I love this because she had to ask her boys for permission to share this excerpt. And so thank you to the boys for letting your mom read this excerpt because I think it's something that a lot of moms out there are going to connect with. I'm not a mom and I still, still connected with it. And I know y'all, you all are going to enjoy hearing Reena read directly from her book. So Reena, you are up.

Thank you, Christi. And yes, thank you to my boys for giving me permission and you'll understand why shortly. So this particular excerpt that I'm going to read is from chapter 8 in the book and it's called Expect the Unexpected. Unexpected and Get Ready to Fire on All Cylinders. So that's basically what the chapter is about. It's a productivity chapter, but as we all know, whether you're a parent or not, unexpected things happen that can throw you off course. And I'm gonna share kind of a funny story about how that happened to me many years ago. And what you're gonna find is that this book is filled with these stories. Some are more emotional and serious, some are more lighthearted and funny, and then there's practical tips and tools and research that comes along with it. As well. So here we go. I have a funny story about how my productivity and the flow of my morning were completely thrown off several years ago. It wasn't funny at the time, but at least I can laugh about it and share it with you now. My husband was out of town traveling for work, and I was solo with our 2 boys and busy with work, which had become a common scenario at that time. Our older son was 5 years old and in kindergarten, and our younger son was 2 years old and in preschool. On this particular morning, I had a big presentation to give at work for several executive clients who were flying in from out of town. I knew I had a lot on my plate. However, I initially felt like I was firing on all cylinders. I was well prepared for my presentation, got up early so I could shower and get myself ready with ample time left to get my kids dressed, fed, and ready for school. Everything was going according to plan, and I was even operating ahead of schedule. Or so I thought. Unfortunately, soon after, soon after, my older son came into the bathroom while I was putting on my makeup and said, "Mommy, come with me. You have to see this." I nervously said, "Okay," and he grabbed my hand and led me to the hallway. When I saw the sight in front of me, I didn't know whether to cry or shriek in shock and horror. My younger son, who we were starting to potty train, didn't tell me he had to go to the bathroom and didn't make it in time by himself. He was running around without his pants or pull-ups and had proceeded to go number 2 all over the carpet in the hallway and somehow had managed to smear it all over himself and several toys in his room. He said, "I sorry, Mommy." I couldn't believe it. I told him it was okay, but thought to myself, is this really happening? I was frozen in panic, but then I looked at my watch and realized if I didn't move fast, I would be late dropping off the kids to school and getting to my work meeting. I scrambled and started running a bath, picked up my younger son and put him in the bathtub. As I was giving him a quick bath, I tried my best to hold it together, but tears started to run down my cheeks. My older son, who felt bad for me, began to rub my back and said, "It's okay, Mommy. It's okay." It was impossible not to notice how sweet and helpful he was acting and how my little one was trying his best to be helpful too. After finishing up the bath and getting my younger son dressed again, I grabbed a big stack of baby wipes wipes, picked up the mess on the carpet, and threw it all in the Diaper Genie. I then washed all the toys with soap and hot water, sprayed the carpet with carpet cleaner, and tried to get the stains out with a sponge. That was the best I could do in the moment, and I figured I would do a deeper cleaning in the evening after work. After that, I washed my hands very thoroughly. Once the kids and I were ready to go, I realized I no longer had enough time to drop off both kids and make it to work on time. I asked one of my best friends and neighbors if she could— who's here tonight— if she could make it to my— if she could take my 5-year-old to school with her son who was the same age, so I only had to drive my younger son to preschool before I drove to the office. I made it to work in the nick of time, and when a few of my fellow working mom friends saw me, they asked if I was ready for my big presentation. I looked at them and my eyes started to fill up with tears again. I felt like a mess and told them about my morning. Because they could completely understand and relate to what had happened, they immediately gave me huge hugs and shared their own similar stories with me. They gave me a quick pep talk, told me I would still do well in my presentation, and encouraged me to get out there and do my best. I was so incredibly thankful for them in that moment and still to this day. Working moms are a force. They gave me the gift of empathy and confidence, which gave me the strength I needed to nail my presentation. The moral of the story is you never know what's going to happen each day. Distractions, chaos, and many other unexpected events will undoubtedly occur. However, to stay productive and engaged, you have to expect the unexpected, deal with it, and help from friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers is always a blessing, and then keep on going. Don't let the chaos completely throw you off course. I know it's easier said than done, but if you stay strong and continue to move forward, before you know it, you'll be firing on all cylinders once again. Additionally, it helps to have solid productivity tools to rely on so you can keep moving forward with your day even if unexpected Unexpected events occur. Here are 5 of my favorites you can apply to your personal and professional life. And then it gets into those, those 5 tips. So that's just a little tiny story from the book that I thought a lot of people can relate to, and especially if you're a working mom. So, and with that, I think I'm turning it back over to Kirsten, right?

Yeah, that's an amazing excerpt, Reena Vokoun. Very powerful and relatable, and we've all had those crappy days. Literally, but you got through it and you're able to come through it with a story that actually helps other people. So that's pretty cool.

Thank you for suggesting it, Kirsten. She's the one who suggested that I read that story.

And you don't have to be a mom to appreciate that story. I think, you know, we've all had those days where it's like you have to reach out for other people and find ways to power through. So it's very cool. Yeah, so next up we've got our Q&A section. So if you've got questions, please do put them in the chat because now we're gonna, we're gonna start to do those. Kristi and I are gonna kick them off with some questions and then we're gonna start with yours. So I've got 3, but we'll kind of tag team back and forth. So my first question for you, Reena, is about your insightful questions at the end of each chapter. I found them to be really, really interesting, and they inspired me to do a lot of soul searching. And I was kind of curious, like, if you had a lot of soul searching behind those questions as well that kind of set those off. Can you tell us about that process? And they're just amazing questions. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Yeah, thank you, Kirsten. Yeah, I mean, I have to say, writing this book was cathartic for me as well. I mean, there— like I said, I share a lot of personal stories stories as well. It's not a memoir, but I do try to weave in stories, also anonymous stories that are inspired by the women that I work with. And I think the reflection questions at the end are meant for people to be able to really dig deep. Nobody has to see this. This is an exercise that you can do after each chapter yourself. So in the beginning of the book, I say to grab a journal and be ready to, you know, write some answers to those questions, because a lot of the work that I do with my clients is starting and meeting them where they are, but then looking at where it is that they want to go and what are the things we need to do to get them there from point A to point B. Part of that process, if you want to make change or transformation in your life, is to examine maybe, you know, those harder questions, those deeper questions that maybe you just don't have the time or maybe you are afraid to, you know, open up that can of worms and address them. But true change and transformation does come with getting to that deeper, harder soul-searching stuff, as Kirsten mentioned. Being that I have a certification in behavior change coaching, that is also part of the work that we do is to really get people to think about those things in their past, things that have held them back, fears or anxieties that they have had, past events that have happened in their lives. You know, if you ask those questions to yourself and answer them on Honestly, it is going to help you to move forward and heal from whatever it was that you went through that might be holding you back to making that change or transformation in your life. So, that is really the, the reasoning behind those questions, and it has come from questions that I have asked myself, absolutely, questions that I have asked my Clients, and just things that I know are important if you want to, again, make a change or transformation.

All right, my turn. I want to hear a little bit about what your favorite self-care practices are, because I think all adults, but probably particularly parents, are bad about not making that time for self-care. And my sort of part B of that is, how do you make that time for self-care and enjoy your self-care and not feel guilty for it? Because I don't even have children. And when I— somebody asked me what I did, you know, on Sunday, and I say that I went and had a massage, I feel like I feel like guilty that I like can afford to have a massage or that I took the time to have it. I don't even have children. So I'm curious what some of your favorite self-care practices are and then how do you avoid that guilt?

Yeah, that's a great question. I would say probably one of my favorites, it's actually very simple. I love to take hot showers and we have a Google Home Hub in our bathroom that my husband installed and it plays music. So I will literally have my favorite playlist playlist going. A lot of times because I'm teaching fitness classes in the morning and doing conference calls and running around all day, a lot of times I, I take my showers at night. And so I find that listening to music, sometimes it's a more calming playlist if that's the mood I'm in. Sometimes it's like my favorite dance playlist that I kind of dance and jam out to in the shower. But I just find it really relaxing and, you know, it's only going to be 10 or 15 minutes of my time. So that definitely helps with the guilt part of it. But I will say with guilt, I have definitely had a lot of guilt when it comes to self-care and, you know, the whole working mom guilt thing. I've experienced it for many years. I think, you know, my mom, who's on tonight, is just such an amazing caretaker, and she has spent her entire life taking care of the kids and the grandkids and my dad. And, and that was my model. And, and I, I've always had to tell her, Mom, you've got to take care of yourself too, you know, and she tells me that. And so I think just remembering that, you know, we all need to recharge our batteries. And I find that when I do take that time, I'm better for it. And I'm better for all the people that I love and the people that I serve in my life. And I think this pandemic has, you know, really taught us how important self-care is because most of us didn't get it because we were in our house under the same roof with our kids and spouses and family members. For 15 months straight, right? And so I think then you really start to realize the importance of self-care when you absolutely can't have it. And then you realize when you do get a little bit, whether it's a walk with a friend or, as you said, Christy, getting a massage, just how much better you feel. So I think it's just good to remind yourself of the outcome of what will happen if you do take the time for self-care, and also the reverse, if you don't, just how depleted you're you're going to feel and how resentful you're going to feel. And, you know, the rest of your family is probably going to suffer for it. And I want to give a shout out to my husband because he is really good about recognizing when I need a break. And he's really good about telling me to go take a break and saying, I've got the kids, just go do what you need to do because you're burnt out. And we try to do that for each other. So, so thank you.

Great answer. Way to go, Matt.

Good job.

Yeah, and my second question: can you tell us about your dedication and the inspiration behind it, Reena?

Yeah, the dedication, um, should I read it so that people know what it is?

Yeah, yeah, I think so.

Okay, so the dedication, I mean, it makes a lot of sense when you think about what the book is about, but it says, "To all the women across generations and around the around the world who aspire to transform their lives and make a positive impact. This book is for you as we unite in friendship, sisterhood, and wellness. And to me, it was kind of a no-brainer to have this dedication be to all these women because one, you know, my friends, the women in my family, the PassionFit Community were the inspiration for this book. And I think, you know, regardless of where you live, where you live, what your age is, what generation you're from, I think we can all relate to one another as women just trying to do our best in life. And I wanted to break barriers and cross cultural borders and geographic borders and, you know, age borders and just unite us all together because we're better together. We can lift each other up and empower one another. And that's really what the heart of this book is about. And, and I think it's important to think about the woman woman as a whole person. So who she is not only as an individual, but to her family and to her employer or to her own business and to her community that she serves. And so I want to celebrate those women and help lift them up so that they can go out and make an impact in their world. And if we can all do that, just imagine, you know, what a huge impact we can make across the world. So that was the inspiration behind the dedication.

All right, my next one is, uh, what is one thing that you hope your children learn learn from you about pursuing their passions?

Yeah, you know, I think it's been really— I think one silver lining of this pandemic is that my sons basically got a front row seat into what I do and what my husband does. And it was really cool to see them take interest in what each of us do for a living. You know, my husband is an executive at Google. I used to work at Google as well. And then when I transitioned to being an entrepreneur, you know, I think they're seeing that it's hard work, that nothing comes easily. I think on social media and in my newsletters, I share, you know, a lot of wins and things like that. But I just, you know, I want you to know, and I want them to know, and I think they've seen it firsthand, it has not been easy. There have been some really, really tough times in running my own business and in writing this book. And my older son will often say he has The first time actually the book arrived in the mail, I stood with my husband and my kids and just had a private moment and I opened it up. And he said, "I still remember some of those days when you were, you know, you had writer's block." And he said, "Mommy, I remember you were sitting like this at your computer." And, you know, he saw that and saw how I was able to pull through that. You know, they saw the stress that I had. They saw the rejections that I had when I was proposing this book out to the publishing industry. And how hard that was. So I think it's been great for them to see the ups and downs and get the real picture. But I just want them to know that if you truly believe in what you're doing, if it gives you joy and purpose and it can make an impact on the world and help other people, then by all means pursue that. And I think both of my boys, they're natural STEM kids coming from Silicon Valley. They love math and they love science. And they've always said, "Oh, reading and writing is boring." So my husband loves that they're into STEM. For me, I said, "Hey, you know, the reading and writing, that's who mommy is. That's what I do for a living." So I really try to instill their love of reading and writing and even speaking, and it's been cool to see that they have taken an interest. My son recently was selected to give a speech at his 8th grade graduation, and he did a phenomenal job. He wrote the entire speech himself. He wants to write for his school newspaper, potentially in high school. My son has taken an interest, my younger one, also in reading and writing. And so it's just fun to see them broaden their horizons and open up their eyes to different possibilities of things they can pursue later on. And that's just what I want to teach them, that it takes hard work and you can't give up, and there are going to be really hard days. It's not easy. Things don't just magically happen. You have to put in the work. But I think they see that, and I see that in their work ethic, and I'm just so proud of both of them.

So you're such a great example. They're lucky to have you.

Thank you.

Uh, Kristy, in the interest of time, why don't we jump right into our reader questions?

Yes, I have been keeping track of them over here so I don't miss any ones. Um, the first one I have is, uh, kind of a two-part question. What was the best part about writing the book, and what was the hardest part of the process?

Um, gosh, that's a good question. So I would say It kind of splits for each thing, right? Because the book is kind of broken out to— there's a lot of stories. So naturally writing the stories was fun and I enjoy that, especially some of the funny memories and things like that. There were also more emotional stories, which then made it hard to write because it was emotional, but then it was cathartic after writing it. On the other end, there's a lot of the kind of how-to tips and advice, which, you know, included a lot of research. And on the one end, I love that, especially when it's like health and wellness related or, you know, business related. I nerd out on that stuff. And so I loved doing the research and, and I do write for a lot of other publications in that style of writing. But then there were those days where I was just, you know, writing through a pandemic definitely had its ups and downs. And there were days where I was stressed and worried about everything else happening in the world. And so it was hard to sit down and focus and concentrate. Concentrate. So I would say in either of those, one was more hard because of the concentration and just, you know, putting in the discipline, and then the other one was hard and enjoyable because of the emotions involved in writing the stories.

All right, the next question is, what do you know now about wellness that you wish you had known when you first started out?

Wow, I would say that it needs to be a very important foundation in your life and don't let it, don't let it go. Don't let it slide. And if you do let it slide, because it happens to all of us because we're all human and life can get busy, don't let it slide for too long because that's when you can fall into burnout and health issues and other things. And I think for me, it was surprising that as much as I have always loved health and fitness, I mean, I've been teaching fitness classes since I was 18 years old, so well over over half of my life. I've been trained in it. It's something— practicing meditation and yoga and eating healthy, I mean, they've always been a part of who I am. And even I lost sight of it. And that's what I talk about in my introduction of the book. And some of my dear friends who are here tonight, they saw me go through it. They experienced it with me when I went through that kind of tough time where I was at a crossroads, even in my career. And so I would just say, keep it at the forefront. And I said this in my TEDx talk that I gave in November, without our health and well-being, we have nothing. But with our health and well-being intact, we have everything, and anything is possible. I truly believe that. And I think this pandemic has also taught us that health is something that's very fragile, and it can be taken away from us like that. And so the more we can do things preventatively to prevent things from getting worse, the better. Some people know this, not everyone knows, I was actually pre-med when I first went to college, and I realized that I'm not good with blood and, you know, all of that. And I thought, okay, I'm better suited for business. But that love for health and well-being never left me. And I think what I realized is that I wanted to focus more on preventative health versus treating it after the problem has already happened. And so I just feel so strongly about that, and that would be the thing that I, you know, I knew it, but I lost sight of it. And I just hope that other people, not just women, but anybody doesn't ever lose sight of that.

You guys have sent in awesome questions here. I love this one too. How do you nurture your amazing dance skills, and do you plan to teach more dance-based fitness programs?

Ooh, that's a great question. Yeah, in the pandemic, you know, it's been interesting. I am missing dance more than you know. Dance is like, you know, something that I feel very passionate about. I put my heart and soul into choreography and And I've been dancing again also since I was, what, 7 years old. And in the pandemic, it was hard because dance classes don't translate as well over livestream. So I would survey the PassionFit community multiple times throughout the last 15 months, and we would try different formats. But it seemed like at this time, people were more needing the fitness and the mindfulness and yoga classes. So that's kind of what I focused on more. But I miss the dance, and I absolutely plan to continue to teach dance and do new choreographies and things like that. It's just a matter of how I can translate it into livestream. And then eventually, now here in San Diego, I'm looking to build a new community, an additional community to the one I built in the Bay Area. And I do hope to teach dance again very soon because I think it is a stress reliever. I think it is something that can be uplifting. It really elevates my mood and allows me to release stress and tension and just kind of change my whole mental state. So I highly recommend dance, and I will be bringing more to that with PassionFit in the future. So thank you for that question. Oh, and Christina, I miss dancing with you too. We had a whole crew of dance people in the Bay Area and I miss them all.

Oh, um, okay. In chapter 13, Fail, Flourish, and Fly, you write about reframing failure and letting it empower you rather than hinder you. What has been your favorite failure or mistake and how did that hard moment help empower or help you grow?

Oh boy.

People are getting deep. I love it.

Oh my goodness. I've had a lot of failures. It's a matter of which one do I pick. Oh my goodness. I would say, and I talk about this in the book, in the beginning, like when I first launched PassionFit and I having left Google and my corporate career, the beginning was really hard. And I, you know, I had a recurring dream that I was back at Google.. And it'd be so real that I would wake up and feel like I was back there. So I went through a lot of self-doubt and I did feel like I failed in the sense that I left, you know, at that time, what, 16, 17 years of a career that I had built. And, you know, my dad who's on the Zoom, he's very funny, you know, typical immigrant dad who, you know, has worked really hard to provide for our family. And he said, wait, so you're going to leave your corporate career and your job at Google to become a fitness instructor? And I said, no, it's going to be, you know, a brand and there's going to be all these products and services and content and it's going to help impact people professionally and personally. Like I had the whole vision, but he said, I want to see a business plan before you leave Google. So I put one together and, you know, I think, but there was that period where I had that self-doubt and I felt like, what did I do? Did I completely screw up my career by walking away from this amazing job and this amazing company? To build something where I had no idea. I knew what I wanted. I had the vision, but I didn't know if it was going to work. And so then I was interviewing again. I actually went back and I was interviewing at Google and I was talking to Amazon, all these tech companies, and I was back in that world again. And I think the blessing in that is that it taught me, you know what, you've changed since you've left and now you are a full-fledged entrepreneur and you're already way too deep in this and you have too many goals and dreams and people that you want to help. You can't walk away from this. You can't turn back. And so I didn't. And I kind of focused on the next phase of what PassionFit was going to be. And, you know, it's 7 years and counting, and I haven't looked back since. But it did take that period of fear and self-doubt and even a little bit of regret or buyer's remorse, if you will. I had to get through that in order to keep going on this entrepreneurial journey that I am on.

Just so you feel better, we all go through that on the entrepreneurial journey. That is part of the like hazing process. I will ask you one last one. I know there is probably a couple we are not going to end up getting to, but I want to respect everybody's time tonight. One of the last ones we had that came in is, as we age and experience injuries or illness, how do we maintain our fitness?

Yeah, that is, that is a good question because obviously our ability change if we have had illness and as we've aged. But, you know, I've always been a believer that, you know, you don't, you don't want to let age or, you know, past health issues stop you from at least getting to whatever level you can for your health and fitness and wellbeing. So even if that means that you have to do more low-impact exercises, or maybe it's just simply walking or doing some light yoga, I think starting somewhere and slowly kind of getting your body into a place where it can be more nimble and more mobile is important because that is going to help with your longevity and your health in the future. So I would say you don't want to let what's happened to you in the past completely hinder you from being able to think about how you can improve your health and what steps you need to take to get to a level where you can maybe even, you know, outweigh your expectations of what you could do. And I've seen that happen with clients. You know, they maybe had back issues or knee injuries or other health issues like breast cancer and things like that, and they've been able to come back and sometimes even be stronger than they were before. So I think it starts with the mindset and just knowing that, you know, where you are and where you go from here does not have to be dictated by where you were. And epigenetics epigenetics. There is a whole chapter on epigenetics, and I really believe in the power of that because it allows us to see that we are not victims of our pre-genetic dispositions and, you know, health issues that, you know, generations before us had. I mean, yes, there are some things that have been passed down to us, but we have the power and the control to change the outcome of it by our lifestyle choices and how we run our life, how we manage our stress, how we eat, how we move, you know, all of that. And so I think that those are things that we can control to the best of our ability. And so that's what I would say for that. Don't let it hinder you from where you go in the future. And if you have to take things slow, that's okay.

Thank you for that. I am going to kick it back to Kirsten because Vicki and I are gonna pull the raffle winners. So I'm gonna kick it to Kirsten while we do that, and then I will be back to give you the winners of the raffle.

Yeah, and maybe we can save some of those questions that didn't get answered and we can answer them at a later time in some kind of a— after the launch.

Yes, we do still have a few great ones.

Yeah, there's some really fun ones that can maybe be sent out to the email newsletter, which you should sign up for on Reena's website. Speaking of which, while we wait for the raffle results, I would like to talk about how you can help Reena. So one of the best ways to do that is to go on Amazon right now and order a copy if you haven't already. But also stop and think about where the women in your life that you know that could really benefit from this book, and maybe buy a copy for them too. Do you know anyone who's got a birthday coming up? You know, that could be a great present. So another thing you can do is leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads and visit visit passionfit.com and join her newsletter for her author website as well, if you haven't already. Consider The Wellness Empowered Woman for your book club. Have Reena come speak to your group. And one last thing I'm going to remind you guys about is please leave a congratulatory message for Reena in the chat. So take a moment to send her a message of love and congratulations. So that's another nice thing you can do for Reena today. But yeah, definitely keep that love coming, help get that message out into the world about her story and her book. We want to really help support her, and one of the best things you can do is write a good review, so if you like the book. So thanks. Kristi, do we have a winner? Oh, you're still muted.

Sorry. Yes, I've got them over here on my other screen. Our first winner is Lisa Collins. Is Lisa still here? Is she still here?

I am!

Oh wow!

That's fantastic. I'm on the Entrepreneurship Advisory Board at the University of Wisconsin and I work with Lisa and she is just a ray of sunshine and so fun. So I'm excited. Oh, so am I!

Thank you.

What a surprise.

I think Reena, you're going to get with the raffle winners afterwards to make their choice and get their address and everything, correct?

Exactly. So yeah, Lisa, I will email you and you can think about if you want a t-shirt or a coffee mug and I'll get your address and all that stuff.

Sounds good. Thank you.

Thank you.

Winner number 2, I'm very afraid I'm going to butcher your last name, but Camille, I'm guessing there's probably only one Camille here.

Only one Camille in my life.

I'm Camille Van Den Brock. That was going to be my guess, but best just for me not to butcher it.

Oh, so fun. And Camille is— she's one of the Working Moms Are a Force people that I talk about in the book. She was an inspiration, as is Sylvia, who is here as well. They were part of my crew, so I'm very excited that you won too, Camille.

Yay!

Thank you, Reena. So I'll also email you and we'll get your choice and all that stuff, and I already have your address, so perfect. Amazing. Congratulations again. Thank you. Thanks for being here.

Our third and last winner is Andrea Jones. Is Andrea still here? Is she here?

Hi!

She is.

Where are you? And I'm looking for you in all the faces.

I know. Sorry.

Hi! It's great that you have so many people here. There's so many files, it's hard to find people. Congratulations.

This is wonderful.

Thank you. And Andrea is the best third grade teacher ever. She was my younger son's teacher, and she's a mom at our school, and she's awesome. And I'm so happy that you won, Andrea.

And her boys are both fantastic writers and readers too, besides being great at math.

Thank you.

Yes, we've got a teacher at their school to vouch for them. I wasn't just saying that as a proud mom. Thank you.

Thank you. We're so proud of you.

Thank you so much for being here.

Reena, I'm going to let you give everybody some, some final remarks. And I just want to say, too, thank you again to everyone for coming. Like I said earlier, really, I represent a lot of authors and I've done a lot of these. I think this is officially the best virtual attendance we've had at any launch that I've done over the past year. So I'm telling you, Reena, you know, a huge— she would be successful at anything she tries. But I think a big part of that is you such an amazing community, Reena. I am really impressed.

Oh, thank you, Christy, and thank you to all of you. She is right. I couldn't do this without the support of all of you, and you guys are all awesome. You have touched my life in so many ways at different stages, and I am somebody who I don't like to say goodbye. My friends and family know that. So, if you are in my life, I will not let you go, and I will find a way to stay in touch with you, and I think it is indicative of the people that are on on this call tonight from various stages of my life, and I intend to keep you all there. So thank you for being a part of this, and I hope that you, if you do choose to buy the book, I hope that you enjoy it. I hope it positively helps your life or those around you, and that's the intent. This is to help others, and that's what I hope comes out of it. So thank you again from the bottom of my heart. I love you all, and I'm so grateful and so thankful.

Yeah, and I'd like to take another screenshot if we could all real quick. So Vicki, if you could take a screenshot of everybody, let's all say cheese one more time. Cheese! Cheese! Yep, and in closing, I'd like to say just how proud we are of you, Reena. You really are amazing. You've written a wonderful book that's really insightful and it's going to help a lot of women with their careers, health, and family, and lives, and just everything. The Wellness Empowered Woman is not just a book about surviving what life throws at you. It is really a book about making the most out of life, which is really powerful. As we wind down, let's actually take everybody off of mute and let's give Reena a big warm congratulations.

Congratulations.

Congratulations.

Congratulations, Reena. Congratulations, Reena.

Congratulations, Reena.

Go, girl.

Thank you so much, everybody. And I want to read the comments, so I know we're gonna— thank you for all the comments too. Thank you for being here.

Yay! Okay, let's wave it out.

Hi everyone!

Hi Reena!

Thank you so much. I'm gonna go ahead and stop our recording.

Thank you.

Bye, Annie! Bye, Reena!

Great job, great book! Hi, Kayla! Oh, I like your giraffe. Oh, hi guys!

Hi guys!

I hope to see you soon.

Congratulations!