In this live interview, host Sheryl Plouffe invites energy‑consultant Charissa Sims to discuss how entrepreneurs can boost their home‑office performance through holistic "energy" management. Charissa defines energy as a blend of self‑care practices—morning hydration, meditation, visualisation, and clearing negative emotions. She outlines telltale signs of depleted energy such as fatigue, slouching, dry mouth, and mood swings, linking them to poor nutrition, dehydration, sleep, and screen exposure. The conversation moves to concrete workplace ergonomics: keeping frequently used items within easy reach, setting the monitor slightly below head level at arm’s length, and maximizing natural light while avoiding glare. Charissa stresses that water alone isn’t enough; she recommends electrolytes and raw foods (citrus, watermelon, carrots, celery) to improve cellular hydration. She explains how these habits translate into higher productivity—fresh starts after meditation, space‑clearing rituals (including sage), and a mindset of "filling your cup first." The interview closes with Charissa sharing her website (carissazimms.com) for a free 15‑minute consultation and reflecting positively on the interview’s energy.
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So much time in our home offices, I thought of no one better than Carissa Sims to come in and talk to us today about energy, energy in our home offices. I know I'm the video person. I'm gonna be the person who tells you where to put the light and where to put the computer and where to position the camera, but Carissa's here to talk to us about energy. So great to have you here on Cash In On Camera Live. I think you have a lot to offer. You've been working with Fortune 100 companies for like 17 years.
Right?
Mm-hmm. Consulting and things like that, Krissa. So tell us about energy. Why do we need to be concerned about the energy in our home offices?
Well, energy can mean so many things. And basically to me is your energy is how you're taking care of yourself, your self-care. What are you doing in the morning to set the stage so that your day will be more productive? So for me, I, I like to splash my face with water and I kind of, I like to cleanse the energy. I do a meditation and I visualize how my day is going to go. So that can kind of also let go of what's no longer serving you. Maybe if you had a bad day yesterday, you can let go of that. Or if somebody's clinging on to you, that can affect your energy too, because that can get in your space. So there, there's so many things that can affect your energy and you want to cleanse the space, clear your workspace, get everything set up at the proper height so that you're more productive and then you can start your day. So that's, that's what I mean by energy, really how you're feeling inside and what is attached to you.
What are the telltale signs that our energy is off or that it isn't where it needs to be?
Yeah, so there are so many things that affect energy. I mean, it's nutrition, dehydration, maybe you haven't had enough sleep. And, um, so some of the signs might just be fatigue, or, um, you, you might be slouching a little bit more and not even realizing it. And wanting to take a nap maybe in the afternoon, just not even, even able to handle it. You know, a lot of people are— don't realize it, but they're affected by the screen, by the blue light, and also just the monitor in general and Wi-Fi and their cell phone. So there's so many things that can bring your energy down, so it's important to clear that. And some other things might be just dry mouth, or emotions, negative emotions might come up, anger, sadness, things like that, that, that is a sign that you might be having negative energy.
Water. I have really tried to drink more water. It's amazing how a whole day could go by and I would not have had any water. I mean, it sounds ridiculous, but when you're going and you're building a business and you're doing this and you're interviewing people, or you're, you know, in my case, interviewing people, creating content, doing calls, whatever, it's amazing how, so having this nearby and making sure it's full and just having it here reminds me, oh, I look at it and I go, oh, remember to drink water. Simple things like that have really helped me. And it's funny how there was a period of time when I wasn't doing that. So I don't know, I just was just surviving on coffee, but I think a lot of us can relate to that. What are some other things that we need to have nearby so that we can really hone in on the positive energy around our workspace?
Well, so for me, I, I'm going to talk a little bit about ergonomics, if that's okay, because that's what I do when I help corporations. So keeping things within a near reach. So basically you don't wanna block your energy by reaching forward because you can block it here in the upper back and neck, right? So you wanna keep things nice and close and also your neck and your posture. So you can increase the blood flow and circulation by having the monitor at the right height. So you wanna have the monitor slightly lower than the top of your head and about arm's length distance. Also lighting, having some natural light coming in, but not directly on your eyes or, the monitor, that can really help. And then just finding time to clean the space so that you only have the items that you need at your desk. So that's what I would recommend. And you touched on water, which is really great. And then sometimes I'll just have to say water is not enough. You need electrolytes and you need raw food like citrus fruit or watermelon. You need a salad. You need to— your body sometimes can't absorb that water. So you need to have some raw food to absorb that hydration in your cells.
So things like what, like carrots, celery, those type of things?
Yeah, carrots, celery, yeah, having some raw food. You'd be amazed at how that can increase your energy, sometimes even more than water. Sometimes water just won't cut it. And it's so important, obviously, drink 8 glasses, yeah, everybody says that. But you do need to do a little bit more and have some more electrolytes throughout your day.
And electrolytes, I get those little bottles of flavoring that you add to water. And then there's one of them, it's called Mio or something like that. And it has electrolytes. Is that what you mean? Or is it something special?
Yeah. No, no, that's great. Yeah, that's great. Anything like that, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, like just a little bit more, even having honey so you can make your own electrolyte drink. With lemon and honey and like shake it up. And that's like a natural Gatorade. And I give that to my kids too. And it's actually better for sports than like all that sugar of Gatorade.
When it comes to energy in our space, whether it be our morning routine, as you've touched on, or in our physical environment here, or having raw foods or water nearby, what are some other ramifications of that? I guess maybe positive— it's not even ramification, but result from having all of those things around you from a productivity perspective. Do we actually work better when we are aligned to a more positive energy around us?
Yeah, definitely. I think especially for me, it's starting with a meditation and actually clearing everything from the day before because you don't hold on to, okay, maybe I had a bad day yesterday, maybe Oh, some things didn't happen. I wasn't as productive. You start off fresh and you feel energized and revived and you're just like, okay, today is a new day. And you always have another chance to start fresh. And so that's what I like to do is to meditate, clear the space. I also have a feather. There's a sage you can use to clear the space and the energy. And, and also just cleaning it in general.
Which it sounds like it's easier said than done because I think so many of us internalize all of the events that are going on in our lives week, day after day, week after week when we're building a business because we're typically solopreneurs, you know, are doing it all, wearing all of the hats. So those are awesome things. And I think that a lot of our audience could probably benefit from connecting with you, Carissa, to learn more about how we can actually implement those things. So how do people get in touch with you?
Yeah, you can go to my website. I offer a free 15-minute consultation, carissazimms.com, and I can see how I could help you further. So it's been really great being here and talking with you about energy in the office.
I understand this was your— is this your first Facebook Live?
I've done Facebook Lives, but not being interviewed by someone else, just by myself doing the Facebook Live.
So good, good. Well, we're using Restream today, so we're going in Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, all at the same time. So it's awesome because now your message will reach more people. And I'm excited that you were here to share that with us today. What did you think about the energy of this interview?
Oh, I liked it. I love your energy. You're, you're very interested and excited to share all this information. So I loved it and it was short and sweet, to the point with some great tips for entrepreneurs. And I just wanted to say to everybody, fill your cup first before you fill others.
I love that. That's a great parting thought. Thank you so much, Carissa, for being here. I appreciate you being here and sharing that. Um, look forward to connecting with you again. Thank you.
