Ep #95: Style Your Mind and Body with Danielle Perrodin

Welcome to More than Mindset. The only podcast that bridges the gap between spirituality and success. Go beyond the mind with clarity and confidence coach Kim Guillory and learn how to integrate your passion, to serve with your skills and experience to create a business you love. Let’s get started.

Hey there and welcome back to the show. I have a fabulous guest for you today, her name is Danielle Perrodin. Danielle’s been a client of mine for the last couple of years. She’s been through the Integrative Coaching Program. And I just returned from a retreat with Danielle, she was hosting in New Orleans for pharmacists and health and wellness practitioners. And I had the pleasure of attending. And I was kind of blown away with the impact that she’s making in the world.

Danielle is an integrative style and image coach. She helps women in healthcare who are creating their holistic or functional practice. Danielle has a unique approach to styling the mind and body. Her program Be Her Now helps you fully embody your image personally and your brand professionally. Danielle helps rising leaders in functional healthcare. Guys, she’s got it going on, I’ve got to tell you. We have a fun friendly chat of what’s new in her world and what her clients are doing.

And really I just wanted to – I’m so stinking proud, excited to be a part of this. I feel like we are all in it together, this integrative approach, this understanding that it is really about more than medicine. It is about more than mindset, it is holistic integrative approach to whole body wellness. And we’ve all been kind of playing around this for the last couple of years. So what I’m seeing now is fully embodying and becoming.

And so having Danielle really play this part in the world of medicine and help them step into the confidence so that they can contribute in the way that they feel purposeful and passionate about doing is I’m just so inspired. Alright, hope you enjoy the show.

                                                                                                                   

I have another special guest, it is Danielle Perrodin, if you guys remember she was back early on in the podcast, Danielle came on. And it has been so fun watching her really blow up her business, expand in her – personally I would say Danielle, and business wise, and perception and just kind of everything has shifted a bit, your family life, right?

Danielle: Everything.

Kim: Even your business goals, your everything.

Danielle: Physical health, I mean I feel like everything has shifted since that first episode which I love so much. I’ll have to go back and listen to it just to kind of hear where I was. But yeah, that was the beginning of my launching of this style side of my business. And so I need to go back and listen to it because I know it’s incredible. You cried so that was awesome.

Kim: I forgot about that.

Danielle: That was so awesome, but yeah, and I think then I was still in the disbelief. I knew that I had a proven concept that I could help people in this way, so style and image coaching. I feel like the clothes, it’s people’s mind, body and spirit, so the whole integrative approaches that I use and it’s proven from the beginning. And so I feel like now I’m in the sweet spot where I’m able to market it and people are finding it and reaching out to me. And they’re getting some amazing transformations, so yeah.

Kim: From then to now, if it’s more of just a deeper embodiment that you’ve experienced through continuing the personal work yourself, would you say?

Danielle: I think it’s gone full cycle. So part of my even design is that I’m the hermit and so I feel like I had to, after that episode and after the prism concept I did have a moment where I had to go back within and just did some self-discovery. And then once I knew it just was the thing and I just went running. And it was just amazing. And as soon as I tapped back into that passion of the style. And I think really the pivotal moment for me I think was in August when I decided I needed to focus, because as you know I have a love for functional medicine.

And I had invested in expanding my knowledge for functional medicine. I had an investment and I was at the place where I had to choose to either go all in on functional medicine because it was a very time consuming course. Or I was going to have to lose about $1200 and go all in, in my passion. And I’ve gotten really good at listening to my calling and listening to my intuition. And it said, “Danielle, you’ve got to go the style route. This is what people want, this is what they need. And you have to get focused if you want to make your goals at the end of the year.”

The functional medicine course can always come back around another time if I decide to do that. But yeah, as soon as I made that decision, and they always say that. You have to say no to say yes to something else. And so I think that was where I committed to myself. And I had to lose that money to say, “I’m all in.”

Kim: This reminds me of like with Malerie and Kayla and I were talking about which were the last couple of episodes. And it’s that here’s the beauty, you are still helping the same people because you’re helping that holistic, integrative, functional practitioner become more of themselves and share their magic with the world. That is your role. That is how you help the civilians or the people who need the help. Can you see that now?

Danielle: Exactly, a 100%. I just knew that that was the way that I was going to lift up the profession and also to raise the awareness of functional medicine and this different approach to getting people well again. I just knew that, so yes, I have a pharmacy background and I could take that route. But I knew that I had something that – I was just seeing the evidence of how I can help people, how I can help entrepreneurs. And how I can help healthcare professionals that want a more holistic approach to get their patients well.

And those entrepreneurs, they need to get their faces on their brands and market themselves. And people are dying out there, especially right now with Covid, the mental illness that’s going on right now. I think they need this. I mean I see the people in my community, in my state, so I know all around the country and around the world they need this. And so I am just there to help them lift up themselves, lift up their business and go and save those people.

Kim: I had to go through this experience myself because as offering the integrative healing approach, and really first of all it’s to expose it. “Hey guys, there’s something new and different. This is a way that we haven’t thought before.” And it’s really simple and practical, so there was an exposure phase.

And experiencing, I saw those, you know, the way that that was playing in. And then the way my brain functions is I kept wanting to go back to being the person that helps, I wanted to stay in that role, not realizing that the clients who were coming to me were actually saying, “I want to know your approach, I want to know your technique. Wait, I want to do what you’re doing.” And it’s almost like we have to go through the experience to really look back and see. I was fighting it and I’m sure it was some sort of scarcity, or limiting belief, that I kept.

And I actually had a mentor and she kept saying, “Kim, you’re not going to be the person on the ground level. You’re not going to be that person. You’re actually the person to help the leaders take the role.” But I couldn’t see it because I’ve always been the service provider. And what it took for me is exactly what we just talked about which was I am helping those people by helping more people become the person who helps.

Danielle: Exactly, that’s exactly how I feel. I just feel like I’m going to be the one that lifts them up and then I’m going to help. I’m just going to have so much more of an impact. So I’m not going to be impacting only my personal clients, I’m going to be impacting their personal clients.

Kim: Exactly. Exactly.

Danielle: And that’s our profession.

Kim: Role models in our human design, guys, we love human design, gene keys, all this fun stuff.

Danielle: Right. And that’s what a 100% helped me to step into this role as well. So number one, human design helped me to forgive myself when I did go and hide and have to go within myself, which was totally natural to me. But I used to resist it and judge myself. But now I’m celebrating it because I’m like that’s just what I do, that’s part of the journey for me. And then the other part is you’re supposed to be helping a lot more people and what is the fastest, easiest, best way to do that? And doing it, I wanted to make sure that I’m doing it in a way that is fun and easy for me.

And most importantly, fun, I want to do something that’s tapped into my passion because I truly believe that’s how you can help the most people is if that you’re doing something that you love.

Kim: Yeah, agree. And helping the rising leaders, the empowered practitioners, it’s kind of like a limiting belief because it was like this backward or this distant voice of you can’t do that. Having to serve more people or be dirtier, it’s like you need to be in all of that stuff. And I was like, “Actually I’m way more effective in my design. I’m way more effective helping the practitioners, helping you guys.”

Danielle: Yeah. So for me all I can think of, okay, how many hours I’m going to have to go study this, and apply it, and learn it. I’m like, this I already know how to do. I already have this, it’s a gift, it’s a talent that I have. It’s something that I love. I don’t have to think about it. I can get on a call with a stranger and help them with this issue that they’re having without having to go get a certification, without having to go and research tons of things and be afraid that I’m doing the wrong thing. I just know that I can help them in this manner.

And I know because I’ve been there, I’ve been the one who didn’t want to step up and be the face of my brand. I’m the one who was terrified to get on camera, or terrified to show pictures of myself. And I was full of judgment and comparison and just not doing it enough. And then realizing how important it is because to build that no love trust, to get your clients. Because you can’t help your clients if they can’t find you or if they don’t trust you enough to hand you money to solve their problem.

Kim: It’s so interesting because I was sitting on the other side. And I wanted to jump through the screen and pull you up and make you, I was in such urgency. I was like these people need help. We have to do this in numbers in order to create impact and in order, you know, we’re trying to educate, and expose. And I need more people to come and help me and saying the same thing that I’m saying. So I had an attachment to how fast my clients were doing it and getting it and that urgency pulling it in. It was like whoa.

And I think that backing off and really helping my clients dial in to exactly who they already were, we’re going to hold the belief, we’re going to hold the belief. And just kind of babysitting the belief, can you relate to that part?

Danielle: Yeah, absolutely. It is definitely growing pains. My brain was all over the place. I wanted to take all of the things all the time. I wanted to play in the dreamland where it’s fun. That was more difficult for me. So I’d always like, “I’m going to go do this thing.” And then I was like, “I’m going to go do this thing.” This sounds fun, I see someone else doing that and that looks amazing so I’m going to go do that thing.

Kim: I remember.

Danielle: I wanted to do all the things.

Kim: I remember.

Danielle: And so now, and so also my human design helps me with this as well, because now I realized that so I do get emotionally excited about new opportunities. But I have to allow the wave to come through. So I’m going to have a really high, a really big high and then I’m going to have a low. And then I want to become neutral then I can decide what is it that I really want and stay the course.

And so now that I have the big picture and I know where I’m going with my business. I can more easily say or no to opportunities that come because I find, especially whenever you get your face out there a lot of opportunities come your way, so many of them. And so now I have this mature response now. And so typically when someone sends me an opportunity I’m like, “That’s very nice and I’m so happy to support you with that, but I’m actually doing my own thing and it’s very badass and you need to come support this.”

Kim: We need to be in celebration of this because that was the biggest thing. It was like you actually are that person. You are the role model of this. You are the leader. You already are, you already have it. You already have the experience. You already have the trainings. It was that darned stepping into it with confidence because there was clarity. But then when the other things would come in, and this is for all you entrepreneurs out there. We start thinking what if I’m missing it, or what if I’m supposed to be doing that, or what if this person recognizes it. No, we have to recognize it in ourself.

Danielle: Exactly. And then it’s trusting that you know.

Kim: And then we are [inaudible].

Danielle: Yeah, trusting yourself, trusting that you know what it is that your calling is, why it is that you’re doing it. And then when you’re so sold on that on yourself then of course those other offers are not as appetizing.

Kim: But the brain’s always looking for the big break. If someone recognizes me, if someone sees me, if someone acknowledges me, if someone brings me, we believe that that is what’s missing. So it’s like if we’re always looking for the influence to recognize us and we believe that that is the answer, then we can’t see that. We are just not recognizing ourself.

Danielle: Right. We have to see it in ourselves, a 100%. And the crazy part of it is that it doesn’t even matter what the others see. At the end of the day it only matters what you think.

Kim: And when you don’t need their recognition and acknowledgement you will get it.

Danielle: Exactly, yes.

Kim: Just like your family comes onboard. As soon as you quit fighting them, and as soon as you quit judging them, and as soon as you quit comparing, all of that stuff then suddenly there they are.

Danielle: Totally, I’ve definitely seen that with my husband and with my children. So yesterday was thanksgiving and we were celebrating, and my brother-in-law and my sister are going to be moving nearby us. And so their new neighbors, they know us because we’re in the same area. And they were like, “Yeah, Kevin and Danielle, okay, Danielle’s a life coach, right?” And I’m like that’s so awesome, I love that. So my neighbors know me as the life coach and that’s who I am. And there’s no getting uncomfortable about it or trying to shake that off.

No. Hell yes, I’m the life coach, that is what I want everyone to know. But I am a life coach and I want them to know that I’m a style and image coach. And I want them to know that I can help them. And the more people that I can get that message to the more people I can help and the more people that need me will find me.

Kim: That’s the embodiment, when you embody who you are it’s unshakable. It sounds so easy guys, we’re not just throwing little memes around. It really is an experience, it’s a process that’s hard to understand until you’ve actually done it. Until you have created that imprint of belief on all levels, because it is, it’s a healing of belief systems, that’s the work that we’re doing.

That’s what we’re doing in Self Healing Masters. It’s about brainwashing what we thought or what we’ve been told, getting that out of the way so that we can plant, and nourish, and grow what’s already there. It’s already there.

Danielle: Right. And that’s how I help my clients is to embody who they are. So it’s not – I don’t put clothes for someone else on them, find out who they are on the inside and what’s their authentic self, what are their authentic desires? What are their message that they want to put out to the world? And we just take off all of the layers, of all of the things, all of the programming, all of the conditioning, all of the things that society has told them how to dress, what to wear, what they look good in, what they do not look good in.

I’ve been talking to some amazing women who are beautiful, such a beautiful example of a real woman. And they do not see themselves because society has sold them on this filtered look of what a woman should look like. And I’m looking at them and they’re like, “Clothes don’t look good on me.” And I’m like, “What are you talking about? No, it does, we just have to find the right fit and the right style for who you are on the inside.” But a lot of times they don’t know who they are on the inside, so we have to start there.

Kim: Right. It’s styling the mind and body to match. Match the mission, the movement, it’s again empowering the empowered practitioner. How can we style the mind and body to match the empowered practitioner? That’s your work in the world is to help that rising leader, the one who is making the impact, who’s bringing the change and help them step out of that. What do you think it is that’s holding them back? What is the reason that they’re not stepping into it? What are they saying to themselves at night and in the morning? What were you saying?

You wanted to do this so badly and I was seeing it in you, you know that. I mean…

Danielle: Yeah. It’s mostly the lens and I don’t think they’re necessarily listening to what they’re saying, or they’re hearing it. It’s mostly subconscious I think. But the lens, and it could be the camera lens, when they look at the picture. They have an idea that they’re beautiful but when they look at the picture, the evidence shows otherwise, so then they’re confused and they don’t want to put that picture out there. Their closet is not a reflection of who they really are.

Nine out of ten times the woman will have at least one or two pieces that they absolutely love, but they have no idea how to wear it. And they don’t wear it, so they keep putting on this uniform that doesn’t fit them and then they keep getting, it reconfirms that they’re someone else because that’s what they’re seeing in the mirror, they’re seeing something else. Weight is a huge issue, despite the actual number. So that’s how I know that it’s not a real thing because you can be…

I spoke with a woman yesterday who weighs a 110 pounds and she was wearing shirts that were too big for her to hide her pooch. So you can’t tell me because you weigh 200 pounds that her story’s not as real as yours. And she was embarrassed to say because I know in her mind, because I’ve been there too, that the judgment is that you’re skinny so you don’t understand my issue. No, we all get the same message from media that you have to have a six pack. There’s no such thing as cellulite except for you.

I’ll ask the woman who is 50 pounds overweight, “Tell me one example of a woman that you admire her style and she weighs 50 pounds more than you.” They can name 10. Just like when I ask them to name something that they love about themselves they can’t think of anything. But when I say, “Tell me the things you don’t like,” they have no problem, it just all comes up. So it’s the craziest thing.

Kim: Yeah. And if they’re ashamed and not able to expose themselves then they’re never going to be able to expose their message. They’re never going to be able to make the impact in the way that they want to. It’s so frustrating when you can’t step into the thing that makes you feel alive.

Danielle: Right. And whenever you’re so focused on how you look you dilute your message, your focus is not in the right place. So of course your message is not going to get out there. And whenever you are able to step into her and embody who she is, her power, the people are going to be drawn to you magnetically. So there’s going to be an electromagnetic field that they’re going to feel and it doesn’t even matter what you’re wearing, that’s the crazy part. They’re going to look in your eyes through your soul.

You create this aura about yourself that cannot be denied. And then you start seeing examples of it all around you and it’s so cool. I want to be in that all the time. I want to be in that all the time. It is amazing whenever people are like, “I don’t know what it is about you, but I think I know you. I feel like we’ve met before. There is something about you but I can’t put my fingers on it.” And then they just stare at you across the room. And it’s like okay, why is this person staring at me? Do I have something on my nose? What’s going on?

The times that I’ve really felt that very strongly was whenever – I was in the middle of fashion week and I was on a high, in my zone, I was so tapped into my passion and who I am and what I love that it was just oozing from me.

Kim: Was it a bit humbling, uncomfortable when you first started to experience people were looking at you and recognizing what you weren’t even recognizing in yourself?

Danielle: Yes, it was because I was like, “Surely you’re talking about someone else and what do you mean exactly?” Because the first time it happened I was at fashion week and there was a room full of, if not a 100 models, there were more. So I was not the most beautiful person there. We’re going to say that. But this person was drawn to me and not in like an attractive hitting on me kind of way. And I’m like okay, I don’t know what this, this is weird. I was like it must be my shoes, I was wearing hair extensions. I was like it must be my ponytail, I don’t know.

And he was mellow, he was like, “There’s just something about you.” I was like, “Wow, okay.” And so then going into this baby shower that I had gone to and I used to dread going to baby showers. I mean who doesn’t? They’re so uncomfortable, there’s people you don’t know that you’re like having mimosas with and trying to make small talk. And there was this one woman who used to judge pageants and she kept staring at me. And I’m like, “Okay.”

So I was still on a high so my introvert was not in that room and so I just went to talk to her and she was like, “I feel like I’ve met you before. You just have this aura about you, it’s so amazing.” And at that point I was like, yeah, I mean it’s because I’ve been in my zone. So when they say you’re a zone of genius, I was in my zone for the last week and that’s what it is. And so we had never met before but she saw my soul is what she saw. And I mean our souls are all beautiful, we are all beautiful. There is not an ugly person on this planet, God doesn’t do ugly.

Kim: It’s when they see the natural essence of our soul.

Danielle: Right, yeah.

Kim: It’s that. It’s not trying to be beautiful, it’s not trying to be attracted, or attractive, or attract. It’s when you’re fully embodied, the essence of being. And it’s very easy, it’s very easy. And the reason I asked you that is I remember that and I’m sure this is the thing with your clients too is the whole fight is I need to be recognized, I need to be seen in order to get myself out there. And then there is this flipside of that coin where when you are in it in your naturalness and you’re first being seen, when someone’s first looking you into the eye, there’s kind of a freaking out.

It’s like almost like a nervous system response, the fear and doubt and all that stuff starts bubbling up, the judgment. The judgment of ourself is what it is.

Danielle: If we put on this fake show then if we get judged then that’s okay because it’s not really who we are on the inside. And no one really knows who we are anyway. So if they only knew who we were they will love the shit out of us. But we’re not going to ever show that many of that kind of thing that goes on. And there is, there is this almost, it’s weird but it’s definitely from the ego fear that if they did see us, what if they saw our soul and they didn’t love us? That would be the worst.

Kim: We say, “Don’t take anything person, just let people think what they do or whatever.” But I was like, “Listen, I take my business very personal because it leaves my soul exposed.” The business that I am in, my work to the world is my contribution in the most raw way. And so I do take it personal, exactly what you’re saying right here, I’m not – it’s not just it’s a business and I make money and I do this. It’s not. And I think this is part of us as role models, the 6-2s, we have that visionary way of being. So it’s like we see for the future generations.

We see what’s coming or we see what the problem is here and how that can change. We see it from such a fore perspective. And the here is the hard part. And so when we connect those two and we’re able to be here now and still have that vision embodied, it’s personal, it’s intimate, it’s raw, it’s exposed. And so when someone does say something about me, or about money, or about any of that stuff, it hurts. I was like, “Oh my God, it feels so personal. It feels like you just slapped me.”

And it’s really evolved, so I really contemplated and sat with it. But it’s exactly what you’re saying right there, it’s like this is my soul’s work. This is me expressing a part of myself that I wasn’t always friends with, I used to hide it. I was ashamed. I’m just doing what I feel spirit led to do, that part. And so my funnel was, do you know what they call a funnel today in the business world? My funnel was my business so it was a beauty shop and tanning beds. But what I was really doing is trying to lead them to the back room which is where would be the yoga and meditation.

So it’s like if I could feed them in through the vanity thing that they thought they needed then right there I didn’t have to be real and raw, right?

Danielle: Yeah. It’s like kind of the spas that lead you to the back room, but it might not be so legal.

Kim: It was alluring, right into the bait, it was the bait, it was the [inaudible]. And then within that crowd would be that person who would lock eyes or would tell their story of what was going on at home. So as a cosmetologist we are basically life coaches because we’re seeing our clients on a regular basis. And they’re kind of in a relaxed state and spilling the beans. And so I did nails for so many years and visited with my clients an hour every other week or every week for years. So that’s where all of this evolved from.

And so I can see that and I love that you’re helping them to see that because I think it’s the part that scares us the most is truly being seen.

Danielle: Yeah. And just talking about seeing everything from a higher point of view, it reminds me of the eagles’ point of view. And when I had gone to the retreat last year, Peggy was pulling cards for me and one of them was the eagle. So I had that vision I believe for the healthcare professionals. I see that things are shifting, they’re going to have to change. So things right now are really bad in the profession, but that’s the time that people are motivated to change. But there are some people that are going to just stay stuck and they’re going to be left behind.

But I am here to help those that are ready for the change. I see what’s coming and I see a wave. So I see a wave of not just pharmacists, but I think pharmacists are going to lead the way, the healthcare professionals in general that are going back to their own wisdom, finding the root causes of disease, helping people with the lifestyle changes. But really the mind, body, spirit and teaching them how to heal themselves instead of just going to medication.

And another card that she had pulled for me was the buffalo. And so the buffalo she was telling me, it’s meant abundance. Because the buffalo has everything that you need. So she said, “You’re going to have, I guess, shelter, but warm food, you can cover yourself, clothe yourself, you have to eat. You can make weapons with the buffalo”, so many things. And I was like, “Okay, I don’t know what that is going to be.”

But gosh, now looking back, my one year of this styling and image coaching business, and I just hosted a retreat in a three million dollar house that was 8,000 square feet. And oh my gosh, I would have never guessed that a year ago that that was even available to me.

Kim: I was at the retreat with you which I was so inspired when I got back. I think I mentioned it on the show that I had just returned. And how it was humbling and it was such a gift to watch you expand the work in the way that you did. But I think what touched me more than anything else is having those other pharmacists and practitioners there who were saying the same thing. And they found their tribe. They found their functional friends who got it too.

And so there is something about introducing something impactful or this movement into the world and doing it by yourself compared to finding your people, finding your tribe. And I do think that’s something that you do hold a space for. And I’ve met your clients personally now in that way. And it lit me up and it’s like that ripple effect. Seeing how it’s weaving through all of the systems, but you being able to hold the space for that pharmacist, which I think you guys, the actual health practitioner has – I want to say this in a positive way.

You make really good money doing it this way, doing it the systematic way. And so it does take a different strand of courage to be willing to move against that paradigm for this knowing that you have. See if you can reframe it.

Danielle: Right, yes. I think there’s this large resistance or threshold to overcome, because it’s very comfortable where we are. And I think that’s where pharmacy has shot themselves in the foot is because it became very comfortable. When I was graduating, a little bit before I even graduated, I mean they were throwing cars and sign on bonuses, and just crazy things. There was so much need for pharmacists at the time, the income, you couldn’t even open up a practice as a lawyer or a doctor and make what we were making, graduating and coming off of that stage.

And so it’s just so comfortable that we’ve become very complacent, and we’ve become almost under the rule, they don’t have the same oath that we took as pharmacists. They don’t have the same values necessarily. Our patients’ health is as important as the money that we make, if not more. That’s what drew us to become pharmacists, to become healers. And it’s just the industry is going in a different direction where it’s getting harder and harder for these corporations to get paid.

And so they’re having to see more patients and be more creative on how they can get more prescriptions going through their door in and out with fewer people actually working there. So it’s beginning to become uncomfortable. And so that’s the change that, you know, I’m encouraging other pharmacists to start looking into more of this holistic way. We have enough knowledge that you can start to build on it.

And I love that there are so many avenues now, look at Lauren Castle’s Functional Medicine Pharmacist Alliance, find a collaboration, someone is out there that’s going to want to share some knowledge. And so I do believe that having a community is super important and that is super helpful. And that is just going to move everything much quicker. I am a big believer that I never wanted to reinvent the wheel, that was never my thing ever. Even when I was in pharmacy I was a director and I had to go to these meetings, make policies.

I will not create a policy from scratch. I am going to find one and make it better. So the same thing with your business, find someone who’s doing it and make it better.

Kim: There is so much passion in this. And I think the hurdle to get across is it is so comfortable until it’s not comfortable. And right now it is not comfortable for that healing focused practitioner who is looking at their patient or client on a personal level and they’re in an homogenized system, that’s not seeing what they see. That pain in itself is so uncomfortable, or that’s what I am hearing more of what the health and wellness practitioners are experiencing is I got into this to help people.

I thought I was contributing to health, and happiness, and joy. And I thought I was contributing to the world. And it does not feel that way, it feels more frustrating, that how would you say, is it almost like a pressure cooker kind of pull because the money, the ease of the money and the comfort and of that? And then so you see that on the physical level. But then you have this mental, emotional, even spiritual, whenever you’re doing it from a place of purpose and passion.

Danielle: Yeah, purpose, and passion, and growth as well. We need to grow, working for these big corporations we’re not necessarily getting that growth. So unless you’re doing a hobby, it’s on the side, or have something that you’re putting your efforts into. But if you’re just working, going to work and then going home and doing housework, and then going to work, and then just doing the day-to-day things, you are missing out on a huge amount of fulfillment. And you’re going to burn out fast.

Kim: Do you think that’s because they don’t use their creative drive? They’re contributing but they are not putting themselves…

Danielle: It’s because they are so short staffed, it’s just like a pill mill, almost and they’re not able to feel that fulfillment. Once in a while you’ll be able to get a patient in where you really have that impact and that connection. And then you’re like I don’t even care, the rest of the pharmacy can stop for a moment. But on a day-to-day there’s no creativity allowed so much.

Kim: Do you think it’s almost like painful to care because you’re so strapped?

Danielle: It’s very painful to watch because they’re looking at their patients, they’re not getting better. And they know the answers most of the time, but they don’t have time to go and share it with them.

Kim: I even felt this in massage therapy, and yoga, and meditation. I felt like I was battling against the busyness of the world to get them to come inside, come back inside, you, let’s come back to you. And I was competing with – even in doing nails and cosmetology I was competing with the cell phone that they couldn’t keep their hands off while they’re messing up their nail polish. And it was like the lack of presence and that requires time.

And so what you’re saying is the change, the actual change of stepping into this new way, this holistic, functional, integrative approach is the catalyst for their growth, what it requires to say, “Yes.” And then, “Hey, can you help me?” So we know that they’re coming into – you’re going to hit this head on. We’re going to have to break down these walls. We’re going to have to do things differently.

Danielle: Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of for some that get into it, it’s because they had their own health challenge or someone they loved had their own health challenge. And they saw that they took a different approach with it. And they were able to get them so much more healthy quicker than taking the drugs.

Or I was talking to one pharmacist, he had a woman who came in on – I think she was on 35 medications, it was insane. And they thought she was crazy and they were admitting her to the nursing home. But then when he took on her case he found out that the medications were giving her side-effects that was causing her some hallucinations and some delirium. And so once he got her off of that he actually was able to go and be the expert witness on her case. So I think – I don’t know if she was suing or she was just trying to get not put in the nursing home.

And she was dancing at the trial, he got her off all of those medications. So everyone’s going to have a different story that’s going to draw them to this, it’s just saying yes to your calling, saying yes to what you’re being drawn to. And then having the courage to step into who you’re going to have to be. You’re going to have to be courageous, you’re going to have to step into who you always were meant to be. And this is the catalyst, just like you say, that’s the brave part is whenever you decide and get present and look within.

Kim: And I can relate to this so much because it’s my own story of being on medication for so many years. And being emotional and having an emotional wave, and being on those antidepressants, and zanax and klonopin and all that. So it’s like I didn’t have connection to my own power, my own inner wisdom. It was numb, it was dark, I couldn’t, but it was because the most powerful part of myself had been shut off. I was disconnected from me. And so I can completely relate to that story.

And that’s what I noticed talking with the other pharmacists and stuff at your retreat is that was the conversation. There were like incidences where things had really affected the patients. And what is it? What would you call it? It’s almost like the pill form where it’s like every single person is treated exactly the same, and this is the thing that worked for the most so it’s going to work for you. And so there’s no bio individuality, there is no…

Danielle: Right. So speaking of that, so it’s like cookbook medicine, which they have made us all buy into. And this is what the studies say. So they’ll do studies and they actually force practitioners by payment to follow the cookbook medicine. And so there is no creativity. Your physician only has so much, unless he really pushes, he’s not allowed to be creative and use what he’s seen work in patients. If the studies say they use a statin then he has to use a statin or he’ll be penalized. So yeah, it’s just gotten way out of hand.

Kim: And I imagine malpractice plays into that too, even though they – I’m not blaming anyone, the doctors, the medicine, any of that stuff. I think it’s all – we’re so lucky to have everything that we have. We just recognize that the system needs to be integrated with the mental, emotional, spiritual aspect. And that is not the doctor’s job, that’s not the pharmacist’s job. It’s personal.

This is something that whenever I first became a health coach I envisioned being in the doctor’s office in a little room where they gave the prescriptions and the diagnosis and then I helped them with the mental, and emotional part, and the spiritual part, really working with that aspect of it. I mean I tried talking to several practitioners, it just wasn’t accepted.

Now we’re getting better and better at it. I know my kids have Blue Cross Blue Shield and it’s part of their – they have life coaches. They have accountability for health and wellness stuff. They get bonus points and even money for exercising or joining gyms or stuff like that. So I do see it coming and I do again believe that the breakdown is the catalyst for the change.

But I do remember feeling frustrated, like you talk about and what the pharmacists were talking about that I could probably train enough integrative coaches to be in all of these offices here. If you would just let us come in and help with the personal part, you deal with the medicine, you deal with the diagnosis. We’re not looking to be in that. We don’t want to diagnose, that’s not us. I would send them in to get the diagnosis so that I could help them.

So I sent a couple of people in one particular week, this is when things really shifted for me. I sent two yoga students to speak to their doctor and PT, and I was like, because they were worried, they were nervous about doing something wrong or messing something up. I was like, “Just go and get the diagnosis and see what they say.” And in one week the physical therapist told both – both of them that I sent, not to do anything for six weeks and to do this. I was like, “Why do they keep telling them to stop moving?” They can come and lay on their yoga mat or do meditation, or barely move.

Danielle: The beautiful thing though is, what I’m seeing is that more and more pharmacists are being welcomed into these collaborative practices, midlevel practitioners. So with nurse practitioners and PAs that have found holistic and functional medicine and they’re collaborating and welcoming the pharmacists on the clinical team. So it is there, you just have to find the ones that already have made their way into those offices. And again don’t reinvent the wheel, how did they get in there?

And it is about you are going to have to put yourself out there and you’re going to have to build your brand. You’re going to have to step into your courage, step into your confidence, figure out who you are and what’s your message, because you’re going to be selling yourself. You’re going to be selling yourself to the doctors. You’re going to be selling yourself to the patients. And social media is a great way to reach people. And you can have patients all around the world. But if you’re hiding behind your screen and not being seen then they’re not going to find you.

Kim: Exactly. And this was like, I would say it’s – I owned the Ville Platte shops, so I sold there at least 10 years ago. So I’m talking way back in, but that is really what pushed me to get out there and really, even as a massage therapist, to start bringing this into other massage therapists. It really is about exposure, education. That’s how we are going to create impact is by collaborating and creating this movement. And it needs to come from a place where it’s not judgment and comparison, it’s not done out of frustration and anger. It’s really done from awareness.

And okay, so these are the facts, now what? Without blame, without anything having gone wrong. It’s the way the system evolved. And then this is the new way. It goes right back to the tattering like we do in coaching. It’s like we tried something, now we are assessing and we are trying something different. And some people will be onboard and some people won’t.

Danielle: Exactly.

Kim: So what do you want to tell the audience, tell other pharmacists, or rising leaders who have something to share and want to create impact and are hiding behind the screen as you say it. Who are afraid to put themselves out there, are maybe feeling – I find that a part for us, for you and I that we have in common is the environment that we grew up in, it’s our culture I’ll say. And so there are other people who have that same issue where they live because rural America, it’s a lot of people.

So what would you say to those who are living in this environment where their culture is not enforcing or supporting the holistic, integrative, functional aspect? Because those are your people, those are my people.

Danielle: Yeah. So what I would say to them is to start now, it’s not going to be perfect. Not that many people is going to see you at first anyways, and they’re probably not going to be the ones that you’re going to be helping, so just practice on them to start getting your message out there. And just for me it was the craziest thing that I was putting all of this life coaching stuff out there, and mindset, and positivity and my people would respond to when I ask them, “What color top I should wear for the day.” So my audience was like they want to know about fashion.

They most responded, whatever I posted stuff about fashion week or about my favorite boutique. And so that would be my other advice is that really take into account who your audience is and what they’re telling you they want. Because you can talk about what you want all day long, they see something in you. So typically we resist our gifts and our talents. But what I would suggest is – this is something that I did at the beginning was ask friends, or family, or close ones, you can go on social media and ask. “What are five things that you see in me?”

Because a lot of times we just work too close with it, we don’t see it. And so it was so crazy some of the things that people said about me. I was like, “Wow, I didn’t – I would not have guessed that.” I thought they would have said, “You’re a good listener”, blah, blah, blah. I think some of them think I’m really not that good of a listener.

Kim: It’s so funny, because I’m watching you right now and we went into the kind of the darkness of the thing. And then as soon as you talked about what color top you wear, you just lit up, everything just lit up. And I remember this with the eyelashes, and with the hair extensions. And it is, there’s such a light fun-ness to you when it comes to – I don’t know. You get giddy, like the little girl comes out in you and you get a lot – I think it’s so funny.

I would like find you all over Facebook, if someone’s like, “Which dress do I wear?” And I was like, “Don’t ask me but you can ask this chick because she is my go-to girl.” How many sent you pictures, like oh my God, what’s happening? What’s going on here? What do I wear? What do I take off? And then I end up mix matching it. It’s so foreign to me.

Danielle: Yeah, but I think that’s the key, if you can tap into what your passion is, what your calling is, what you’ve always loved your entire life, what are some talents and some things that you loved when you were a young girl. But yeah, so whenever you tap into that, that’s that energy. That’s that electromagnetic field that I’m sending out right now. And so that’s the key, if you can uncover that.

Kim: Something just came up that I want to mention is I’m watching, I’m thinking about even that retreat is when you put on that white outfit, that was your day, how it changed. And let’s talk about that is when we keep not dressing in our role, how do we feel compared to when we’re in it? Because it made such a difference that day you showed up like that. It was like I don’t know.

Danielle: Right, I know.

Kim: I was like I want to find that in me. Take me shopping. This stupid Covid thing.

Danielle: I want to go shopping too. What is going on? I want what she has, yeah, so it was the beginning of the retreat, we did yoga, kind of stayed in my yoga clothes the first day. And I was sharing my heart. But I didn’t feel like I was stepping into the role. But when I put on that outfit, so the outfit I had found it on sale. And it was this outfit that I saw this other woman on television wearing. And she wore all white in all of her outfits. And I’m I love all of her outfits. I really love that jumper suit, it just looks so just chic and crisp and so elegant but effortlessly.

And I tell you, I attracted that, I manifested that outfit. When I saw it in my inbox, it’s almost like Facebook is reading our minds. They send us these ads that are perfect for us. This thing right here was in a Facebook ad, they just know what my personality – they know more about us than we do. If they ever have a course where this is you I think I would buy it because no telling what I’d find out.

Kim: I don’t believe we have a problem with that by the way. I’m looking for a new mattress, I was talking about a mattress and it just shows up.

Danielle: And it just shows up, right, yeah.

Kim: I love it.

Danielle: Yeah, it’s like manifesting. So anyway, so this perfect outfit and it was on sale and I was like, yes, buy. And I had even forgotten that I had bought it and what I had bought it for. I didn’t even buy it for anything. I didn’t even know I was having this retreat at this point because of Covid and who’s going to come and all of the things. And I had it in my closet and so about a week before retreat, once I knew for sure that I was having a retreat, people wanted this. They were coming. This is it, we’re going. The date is coming up.

So I’m like okay, now I get to go dress me, figure out what I want to wear. And it was almost like it was hiding in my closet. And when I saw it I was like, well, of course I’m wearing this. And just as soon as I put it on, I did my hair, I had my make-up, my accessories, I just held my shoulders back, lifted my head up. I just owned the position that I’m the leader here, I’m the role model. They all came here and paid money to hear my message and my story. And I have something to share.

Kim: They inspire energy shift within that house, and it was so fun and inspiring, so good.

Danielle: And then everyone else was like, “I have a dress too. Are we taking pictures now?” And everybody looked amazing, the pictures came out so amazing that Malerie took. Everybody felt their best. The yoga clothes are great and they’re comfortable but you can be comfortable and look great and feel amazing as well.

Kim: Yeah. Let’s talk about the sensation wise of feeling. How did you feel in your body when you embodied all of it? Tell me or tell the audience because I can see it in you, but they can’t see what I can see because this is audio.

Danielle: Yeah. So I just felt empowered. I felt confident. I felt comfortable. I wasn’t thinking about what I was wearing so I wasn’t distracted. I was very present. I just felt strong and knowing, I am here to help these women, no one else was meant to be doing what I am doing right now.

Kim: I love that, it’s so fun. I live for this. I live for this. So good. So for those who want to find Danielle, we’ll have all of her links in the show notes. Her Facebook group is Style your Mind and Body. If you’re in the More Than Mindset Facebook group, she is there. So you’ll actually, like she’ll be tagged in the post whenever we’re talking about this particular podcast. So you can just click, link, go and friend her.

We are all about southern hospitality here guys, so you can personally Facebook, friend us, we’re those kind of folk. If you came over to visit we would be sure you took your shoes off at the door. We’d probably give you a foot massage, a ball of gumbo. We would just love on you, it’s what we do. It is what makes the integrative life coaches different I believe is, we have such deep compassion.

And we are servers by culture, we serve. We were born and raised, we were bred to do that. And so I think that’s why people are attracted to us and really love our community is they’ll come to a retreat and eat gumbo for the first time because we’re for sure going to give them some warm cozy food. And it’s like there is something beautiful about us. And I think as we really got to embrace that, I do think things changed for our entire community, especially as retreats, when we bring in people that have come across the globe.

We have done this, not just in our states, or even in the US, they’ve crossed the borders and come. And it’s been so fun to watch the collaboration of the contribution is the way I want to say it. The collaboration of the contribution, the level that people want to serve at. And to bring that together in one space, whether it’s online or in person, it’s changed my world. How about you?

Danielle: So one of my retreat attendees is turning 50 in June. And she just hired me as her coach for a VIP six month package. So I already have the vision of, you know, and she does too, I know she sees it now what she’s going to step into 50 as. But she told me that she had never felt such a sense of belonging as she did at that retreat, that going in, not knowing a soul. I mean there’s nothing better than that, but what else…

Kim: No, I almost feel guilty because I’m thinking about my kids and my family. But there’s really nothing better than this.

Danielle: I know, it’s so good.

Kim: The deep level soul connection.

Danielle: That’s the purpose, that’s why we’re here.

Kim: That’s a great way to end this. So if there’s any – you have a minute, if you want to – one thing that you want to share and say to the person who’s really thinking that they are being called to something and they’re just…?

Danielle: Yeah. So it would just be, be her now, go out and be her now. That’s it.

Kim: That’s it. Alright guys, come and meet us over in the More Than Mindset group, click on the links below, find Danielle’s functional… what is it called, Danielle?

Danielle: Functional Medicine Pharmacist Alliance.

Kim: And so that way you can go and find her also because she is a lot of the passion that’s behind this vision for integrating functional medicine with pharmacy is I think – am I saying that correctly?

Danielle: Yes, perfectly.

Kim: Great.

                                                                                                                   

Thanks for listening to this episode of More than Mindset.