Mari & Greg on IVF, Imposter Syndrome & Building a Brand Together
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This is the pursuit of wellness podcast and i'm your host marie llewellyn Cheers Hey, how are you good? It's monday. You'll be happy. I was just going over my life my next two three months I have very little travel Really as of right now, who knows? I mean you kind of can't i'm trying to get people to come here Yeah, I think that makes sense what you're just going over travel in general like work work travel. Yeah Yeah

So you just got back from LA. Yeah. For Expo West. Anaheim. Okay. Anaheim. Orange County, maybe? Yes? I think it's in Orange County. Can you explain to everyone, you know, what Expo West is and like why it's such a big deal? People have maybe heard of it. It's big. It's called like Natural Foods Expo West. West, just referring to West Coast. There's also one on the East Coast once a year. Yeah.

So yeah, it's once a year. It's in March. It's in Anaheim, California across the street from Disney World. I always mess this up as Disney World and Disneyland. You're asking the wrong person. I'm not a Disney girl. It is a place to debut your new product innovation or new brand innovation depending on what stage your business is at to generally the retailers of the world.

So Amazon's there, Costco's there, Target's there. And you have the chance to not only debut to those buyers, the people who make the decision to bring you into the store, but also to just the kind of the general public of our industry. And there's probably a good 100,000 plus people that are there and you can get real time. I mean, for context, we've had this brand for six years. We've never debuted a product in any type of real life scenario. We have only debuted our hundreds of products online.

In our living room? Well, online. Yeah, digitally, right? So it's always just been like Mari and I in a room and like,

The only real hype you see is like Instagram comments. Yeah. So Mari was at home, I assume at our home and here in Austin and you launched it digitally. Yeah. Cause I guys, this is my first year not going to expo West, which we can get into afterwards. But Greg was there physically. I was there physically with that 70 of our team members, seven zeros a lot. Uh, we, we had a, we had a large booth. I don't even know if you call it a booth once it gets to like 40 feet by 40 feet. But, uh,

We debuted our soda and we're so excited to kind of take what is this, you know, legacy category of sodas that we feel like are, you know,

Or the opposite of bringing wellness to y'all's stomachs. Meaning like real soda. Meaning Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, whatever it may be. We're hoping to bring you a not only healthier, better for you alternative, but quite literally a good for you product, which will be releasing this July.

Yeah. And for context, Greg literally like pulled a curtain off the wall. Like it was a very dramatic unveiling. It was really fun to watch from afar. I was obviously so sad I couldn't be there for this big moment, but it looked incredible. And this product I mentioned in my previous episode, I think will be my favorite because I was saying how much I love the flavors of the energy drinks and I wish I could drink three a day.

But I can't because I can't handle that much caffeine. But with the sodas, I can have multiple a day. Yes. They're fun little treats. The Shirley Temple seemed to make the biggest wave at the expo. And it's also my favorite. It tastes like a Shirley Temple. It's so good. I mean, guys, just for some context on how natural and awesome this product is.

The Shirley Temple, which for people who do not grow up in America, such as the woman to my left, Shirley Temple is Sprite with cherry syrup and 12-year-olds order it at restaurants. I actually didn't know it was Sprite. It's like a lemon-lime soda and grenadine cherry syrup and it comes with some maraschino cherries, which are the most delicious syrup-filled desserts.

potentially have some sort of cherry actually in there, but they're normally three years old. What's cool is our product is so natural that we didn't even know if we'd be able to launch it this July because the cherry crops were not that great in 2024. So,

So the cherry, there's so much just real cherry in this product. Mind you, it's only 20 calories, the entire soda. And it's like three grams of sugar, organic cane sugar. But the cherry crop was so crucial to us actually being able to make the millions of cans that we need to make that we didn't know if we'd be able to make enough. Yep. No preservatives. No preservatives. It's pasteurized. So the can just goes through like a hot tunnel. And so there's no preservatives in it. I mean, this type of conversation that we're having right now, they've never had that conversation in Coca-Cola's boardroom. Yeah. Yeah.

Apple cider vinegar. It's a gorgeous ingredient panel that I'm a big fan of. And you guys are going to be obsessed. I mean, what's sad is we've just announced it and it doesn't come out till June or July, which sucks, but you guys are going to freak out. We haven't announced this yet, but what's cool. And I think potentially the most special that we're able to do with our careers and bring to you guys is that it's coming to Walmart.

So we're taking this product that is truly good for you and making it as accessible as possible to anyone in the United States, especially a place where, of course, there's a ton of

unhealthy product consumption. You know, there's 5,000 Walmarts in every city in the country and we are bringing this truly healthy soda alternative to their doors. I would say Walmart's the most accessible store in the country. There's, there's the most of them. Yeah. I mean, unless you were going to talk about like seven 11s, right? I think there's like 20,000 seven 11s, but, uh, or there's a, there's a store called dollar general. I think there's like 20,000 of those, but in terms of a like big box retailers where bloom is pretty prevalent, uh,

I mean, there's more than twice as many Walmarts as there are Targets. What would you say to people who are like, oh my God, there's enough prebiotic sodas, like enough with the sodas? Yeah. I mean, I think I would respond to them in a more general statement, which is just speaking from our perspective, there are 50 other greens powders. There are 1,000 other energy drinks. I hate to break it to you, Mari. Maybe you don't know this, but there's 100,000 other podcasts. And

I think for somebody to not do something because somebody has done it before, especially if you think that you could do it better, which we know that we can.

That's so disappointing. And if nobody did an alternate version or a better version or the same version, if you want, of something that's already on the market, then you're never going to be able to release everything, anything. Everything's already been made before. And I hope that anyone out there who wants to start their own venture or partner on a new venture, if their biggest concern is this has been done before,

That's not a concern. Erase it from the whiteboard. Just do it better. Do it your way. Bring a new story to it. And I think launching this soda has me really reflecting on our journey as entrepreneurs. And it's just so great. Like it feels like yesterday that we were like in my dad's kitchen sampling pre-workouts. And I was like, this is crazy. It's never going to work. How are we going to do this? Or like coming up with the name of it in the car in Boulder and like sketching the logo. Like it really, it was just a crazy idea that we were like, why not? Like, let's just give it a go.

And now we're launching a freaking prebiotic soda at Expo West. We have the biggest booth. It's like insane to see how excited people get. And our PR news got leaked early because someone, like crazy, someone found out early and then put it in the news. And I was like, the fact that people are even talking about us, about our brand is insane. Like, I feel like we have a child, like Bloom is my child brand.

And it's out in the world, like just making noise. And it's crazy. Like I feel like Expo West is like our child's biggest recital. Like it's, it's just a funny feeling. It was a big recital. It just has me reflecting. I think my biggest thing is if you have a crazy idea,

And you feel really driven and passionate to do it. Just freaking do it. Like, yeah, just chip away at it. Like there were so many moments where I was like, oh my gosh, are we going to make it out of this alive? Like, is this really going to be a thing? Yeah. Two things. One, Mari posted on her Instagram, your, your collaboration with Shopify. I did a partnership with Shopify. Yeah. Which,

Partnership aside, this was one of the coolest pieces of content that I've seen. Maybe I'm biased here, but you're like A to Z in 30 seconds of us making Bloom. When I got the opportunity to partner with Shopify, this is not a sponsored episode by any means, but...

I was so excited because genuinely it was a platform that like changed our lives and it's how we grew our business. So I took the opportunity as like, yeah, I want to put together a montage. And going through all those videos, I think like reminded me of those days of like,

you know, sitting there watching people on the website, like us in our apartment in Brooklyn or us in Colorado launching the brand, like how young we look and how we had no idea what we were doing, but we figured it out. Like the light box, the camera, like it's just so funny. And

And when people are like, how do you start a business? Or they're excited. It just, it makes me excited for other people. What's proprietary about what you're doing? That's all you need to bring to the category. So we made a healthier version of an energy drink in a category where there's hundreds of other energy drinks. And everyone said the same crap when we launched this energy drink, which is there's already so many other energy drinks. You can't do something unique. This is unique. And there's already...

billion people a day drinking an energy drink and we wanted to make a better version of it and we did and clearly it worked. So please do not ever stop yourself from a venture because you feel like quote it's been done before. Yeah, and not many people say said that that was just like the only negative feedback I saw about our launch. It was like a couple people. The other thing I was going to say is with bloom.

I feel like Greg and I always envisioned Bloom as like a platform brand. Like it was never like we're going to be a greens company. We're going to be a pre-workout company. It was like we want to be a family name. Like we want to have products for everyone. Like if you don't like caffeine, then we have a soda. If you don't like greens, we have a colostrum. Like there's something for everyone. And we just have this bigger vision for Bloom. I just feel like it's meant to be this.

platform name but i recently found out and i just thought this was very funny and they would like to hear it that we have become like middle school and high schoolers like favorite beverage which i don't know if that's like like should 13 year olds be drinking energy drinks i did yeah i think a lot of them drink check with your doctor but i did check with your doctor but like a lot of my mom friends have been like my kids are obsessed with bloom everyone has a bloom on their desk

So the soda is like good timing. What did you drink in high school? Dunkin' Donuts with milk and sugar. An iced coffee? Yeah. At the end. Yeah. Because I realized everyone thought it was cool. I did not like how it tastes and I did it anyway because I was like, everyone thinks this is cool. That's hilarious. Do you remember the iced coffee you would drink in college? Do you remember what I would have? Yeah, it was from Little Miss Sunshine. That was the movie. Happy Sunshine. Oh, the best.

so we had we had food trucks from school in philadelphia so mario and i lived in philadelphia for five years i would get sugar in it no there wasn't an option it came out of like you know a keg and it was amazing the sweetest whitest coffee because it was probably 90 milk yeah or whatever it was and it was it was a lot oh my god they had the best egg sandwiches i feel like i would get a buttered bagel that's

That's something you would order. And do you know what else I would get? I remembered that Starbucks in the LeBeau building. LeBeau. That was new. Frappuccino, like white, the white bean Frappuccino cake pop or pound cake. You were hitting the cake pops? Like in the morning. Yeah.

But like now that you know where I'm from, like you've been to Gloucestershire and you've seen the cake shops. Okay. This is something that needs to be spoken about. In the UK, it's normal to have a slice of cake for breakfast. The most stable, consistent home that Mari's lineage. Not stable, meaning like they haven't moved. Like granny has lived in Gloucestershire. The most consistent. Sorry, consistent. Gloucestershire.

UK. Gloucestershire. Gloucestershire, UK. There is probably on every block four cafes that if you were just an American walking in, you would think, is this also a bakery? And everyone is eating like a slice of cake.

with their coffee or tea in the morning. Like granny's town is just cake shops and coffee shops and bookshops. I just have never seen anything like it. It's a big part of the culture. I get the sausage roll though. Oh, I mean, you know, I'm a sausage roll girl. I'm a savory guy. I'm same. I'm a big savory girl. But for some reason in college, I just look back on my decisions and I'm like, what the frick?

Rick, what was I doing? Like a morning cake pop and a frappuccino. No wonder I felt like shit. Breakfast of champions. But yeah, happy sunshine. I really wonder if it still exists at Drexel. If you go to Drexel, please DM me and tell me if happy sunshine's still there.

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You are very much in your grind era, right? You're the CEO of a company. Work is like a huge part of your identity. Like accomplishment is a huge part of your identity. A year ago, that was also me. Obsessed with work. Didn't know who I was without it. My calendar was like cortisol, fight or flight, masculine error, whatever you want to call it. My life has like completely 180'd where I've like kind of been forced to stop. And now I'm enjoying it and I feel like I needed it and I think I wouldn't

be able to handle this IVF journey without stopping. But I have this, like, I still have this underlying guilt of like, I should be working. I should be going a hundred percent. Like I'm a very black and white person. It's either 110% or it's nothing. And I'm in this weird in between that I'm kind of like a bit uncomfortable with. So I'm reading these comments of like,

where are all the guests? Where are the experts? It's just solos right now. And I've told you, I'm focusing on solos because it's difficult for me to prep for these experts and like give it my all right now because my mind is just not there. They'll be back in a couple of weeks, few weeks, but right now I just can't. You know, I used to be number one or two on the charts and now I'm not as much because I haven't been doing as many guest episodes. Like if things are just

reflective of the time that I'm in. I kind of started to spiral this morning and I was like, oh my God, like my hard work is slipping, like my accomplishment, like who, just that feeling or even me not going to Expo West. Like it is hard to say no and have boundaries. And I think it is, you know, tough on my brain. And I know I'm in a season of life where

It's okay. And there's bigger, more important things. What do you think? I think that there's certain decisions that are obvious because there's this tangible risk. So you going to Expo with 100,000 people from around the world

You were going to get sick. We cannot get you sick right now. So it's like, that's obvious. Or like South by like I had all these opportunities for South by that. I said no to. I agree with what you're doing. 100%. There just needs to be chapters. You can't could be at a full spring for a decade straight.

I know. You know, we meet so many people who they did dedicate 100% of a 30-year sprint to one thing. In my experience, it's normally when I talk to entrepreneurs who are now like 50. And some of them are still fucking single. Some of them are, you know, don't have the family. Some of them...

you know, have a, have a hundred percent of one thing, but 0% of another thing. So they're, they're, they're older and they don't have that, that balance of, uh, you know, fulfillment to reflect on. I guess this is why we're lucky we have each other as well. Yeah. But I think, yeah, cause we can kind of tag team, but I think you need to look at your life in, in a multiple decade run and you're going to look at this six month taking your foot off the gas of the career and going full throttle on family as, Oh, that was an interesting blip.

Right now, it just feels like a ton of time. I know. But then I think for a woman, it's hard because now I'm like, OK, fingers crossed, knock on wood. Hopefully I'm pregnant soon. And then I'm going to be having a baby. And it's like, how do you balance work and big? I'm also in a weird time with this transfer where I don't know dates of anything. So it's like, oh, are you available in April? Well, maybe. Yeah.

But if it didn't work, I'm doing it again. And if it did work, then I'm sick. Or how do I know when I'm going to feel good? Like, I just, I feel like I'm in a very uncertain time where I've had to let go of control. I just want to talk about it because I think a lot of women can relate. And then I have friends who are like, oh, I'm, I really want to have kids, but I'm so into my career. And how do you do both? And it's just, for a woman, it's weird. It's weird. Because it feels like, and not everyone feels this way, but a lot of people feel like they're put on earth to have kids. Like, I feel like it's a big part of my purpose. Yeah.

But then they also feel really driven to have fruitful careers and social lives and things like that. So it's like, how do you do it all?

Yeah. I mean, obviously Bloom is 90% plus female team. I don't know. I've thought about too. Like it's definitely like just you have different outside variables that the male career does not need to quote deal with. No, literally your life just continues. Entering this phase of my life, I have like such a bigger appreciation. I used to hear women talk about it and I never really understood it. But even just being at this point in my life, I'm like,

just confused on how how to handle everything well you're obviously an entrepreneur and you don't have a legitimate maternity leave like your output is day-to-day correlated to you know your your return of work ethic or work work effort so you know i would i would like to think that people that are employed by good businesses like bloom feel supported in that journey

Obviously you're employed by Bloom, but you are, you operate a little differently. Nothing's clear cut. You don't have like this six months maturity leave or whatever it is where you can just literally like not respond to emails for six months confidently. You know, I don't look at my emails anymore.

Well, you have a great team around you. I know. Thank goodness. I have such a great team. Also, a lot of people reach out to your phone directly. It's just funny because I used to live in my emails. I used to respond to every email within 10 minutes. Yeah. I mean, that's a funny thing. I was just listening to this older entrepreneur or older CEO. He used to travel internationally for business. And he would bring a stack of papers on the plane to work on because there was no laptops. There was no cell phones. Even if you were hustle mode back in the day...

at least you weren't getting like live time emails and texts constantly. Yeah. On a Saturday evening, on a Friday night. It almost becomes like this competition of if there's five people CC'd on an email, who responds first? Yeah. Yeah. Or if you're in a group chat, who reacts first, even if it's not even a productive message? I don't know. There's the barriers of work-life balance. I feel like COVID probably disrupted that quite a bit, even though it brought a lot of people to work from home opportunities. I

I don't know. I mean, the modern day workplace is pretty scary with all this. You can reach anyone at any time. It's so stressful. And I am so envious of people who are boundaried with their phone. Like, it's a big goal of mine to get there because the last thing I want is to be on my phone a lot around our kids. Like, I find that to be really...

I do feel this sense of like guilt and stress. If I look at my phone and I have tons of notifications, I'm like, oh my God, I need to answer people immediately. If I don't answer immediately, I feel awful or I feel like I'm a bad person. Like the guilt is overwhelming. You can't respond to everyone.

one. I think people live in this dissociated state because they're walking around on their phone. I mean, you and I do it. We're not good at this. I think we need to get better. Walk around the house glued on the phone doing things at the same time where if when I put my phone down like this this weekend when I put my phone down and I do the dishes and I make breakfast and I'm in my life, I feel so much happier.

Yeah, I think there's also this element of like if you're on your phone checking your emails and your text messages, refreshing things, you like think you're being productive.

Yeah. And so it gives you kind of like that dopamine hit of like, I'm doing things. It's reactionary. And it's like, just clean out the fucking dishwasher. Like you don't need to be refreshing this live time every 15 minutes to see if anyone's reached out or if anyone, you know, I don't imagine in your world if someone's commented or messaged you or, and it's like. I don't really do that with my comments. Sure. But someone in your position, maybe something needs to change. Yeah. It's a lot. I feel like we all need a collective agreement that we,

Are not blowing each other up or like expecting responses immediately. That's what it would be, right? It's totally fine for people to reach out 24-7. It's more so like what's your relationship with that device? I know people who have like away messages. Have you ever received one of those? It's automated. Like on a text message? Yes. That's crazy. I've seen multiple people like CEOs that have that. Yeah. I respond right away. I know. Or I'm not responding. At some point, you're going to have to figure out how to have a little more balance. Yeah. But we just launched a set of them.

When we have a baby, you have to figure that out. We're going to pull up some voice messages. Hi, Mari. I'm Irena from Italy. I love your podcast.

I know you've suffered from the imposter syndrome, but I want to know if Greg has never had that. And if yes, how you and your husband deal with it. Thanks. Bye, Mari. You're doing great. And finger crossed for your IVF journey. Bye. So sweet. Thanks, Irina. Have you ever had imposter syndrome? I've probably expressed it on the podcast before, but I'm by far not an academic. And a lot of people in my position that I do business with are like,

finance whizzes, number whizzes, and have a very different but useful way of thinking about business.

And so sometimes if I'm in a room with people like that, I'm very more so used to be very intimidated and felt like I couldn't hold my own. And then there's different different paths to the same destination now. And you don't need to be one of those types of quote business people. But how do you deal with imposter syndrome when you have it? Like, how do you build confidence before you walk into a room like that? First of all, it's it's always OK to answer a question. I don't know.

Which, you know, I think in my youth I was very concerned about doing. You always try to like answer the question. Or maybe right now I should try to do that. But I think it's totally okay to not know something, have no experience doing something or to try something you've never done before. And no matter who you're in the room with, even if it's someone that you're asking like join you on that journey.

to admit what you don't know, but explain what you do know, then that's totally an okay answer. And I think people will appreciate the honesty and transparency. Yeah, and just respecting that there's different paths to the same destination. And just because someone has a certain skill set that society recognizes as the correct skill set for doing something does not mean that your skill set is not potentially even better than theirs.

Yeah. I feel like I've gotten really good at this because I used to have such horrible imposter syndrome that I started, I don't know what to call it. I need to come up with a name for it. For example, when I went to Harvard Business School, when I'm on a stage and like in my head, I'm like, wow, I would never get into a school like Harvard. I am not academic. I got bad grades. Like, why am I on this stage?

I just like assume this role as if I'm an actress going into a movie where I'm like, I am the Mari that they think I am. I have this amazing business and I'm not bragging. I'm just like, this is what I have to tell myself in order to get on the stage. I have an amazing company. I've built a platform. I have a podcast. Like you have to remind yourself of all the amazing things you've done and almost like

Like I pretend I'm in a movie and I'm someone else. Really, it's me living my actual life. But for some reason, if I convince myself I'm like an actress, it helps. And I kind of like assume this role. Like if I go in a social situation where I'm nervous, I'm like, I am the most talkative social person in this room. Like I'm smiling. I'm asking questions, even if I'm like, and maybe a little bit of it is fake it till you make it, but then it actually becomes who you are.

And now I feel very comfortable in social settings because I know I have that ability in me. I think the older you get and the more people you meet, the more you realize that everyone feels the same way. And like a lot of times you walk in a room and you're like, oh my gosh, all these people, they know each other. They are super smart and knowledgeable and they've been here a thousand times and I'm the new one. Nope.

Most of the time, everyone else is new to, they're shy, they're embarrassed, they're insecure. Like, you have to remind yourself that everyone's just a freaking human being and everyone's having their own experience and they're also worried about their own shit. Like, they're not worried about you. So I think reminding yourself of that. ♪♪

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Hi, Maury and Greg. I am so excited to be chatting with you. I've gotten so much from listening to your solo episodes. And I have a question about navigating change in a relationship.

I'm engaged to my partner and we moved to a new state about a year and a half ago and we made the decision together, but the move ended up being really tough for me. I ended up changing my career and I just launched a new one and I finally have friends here and now we're talking about moving again because my partner is unhappy in his career here.

I totally support the decision and I'm on board with moving, but I would love any advice in navigating this situation. I know you both have moved together more than once in your relationship, and I would love to know how I can stand up for my career as I'm afraid of

the same situation to happen again. But I also want to support him and I want him to be happy in his career as well. Let me know your thoughts. Can't wait to hear it. Thanks. Great question, Erica. I mean, it's exciting that you guys are moving and trying out new things. I would applaud you in that way because I think a lot of people get stuck in one place and they're afraid.

I guess this is also where we're lucky because we've always worked together and we've kind of moved as one. I feel like it's definitely worth having a conversation and being like, I really love where I'm at and it took me a minute to get here. I'm loving my career and my friends. Like, is there anything we can do to help you find something where we are right now or like kind of come to a compromise? What do you think? Yeah, I think that like it's pretty rare in life that you get to try to do something again.

Mm hmm. And hopefully each time you get a little bit better at it. So hopefully whatever pain period there was in this last move will be expedited in this new move. And you'll kind of know like, oh, well, in the last move I should have done X, Y, Z. But maybe they don't have to go. What about her career? What about her friends?

But if it's like you have to. Yeah, it makes sense. You've done it once before. You're going to be fine. Like you've already like built those skill sets. I just feel like maybe if you delay it, he'll find something where you live right now. I think follow the opportunity. If the opportunity makes sense for the two of you, then I think hop on it. And I think the universe will like reward you in that new city. Okay. And I would kind of trust the process. But you can always go back. Hi, Mari and Greg.

First of all, I just wanted to say a really, really big thank you to both of you. Your products and your content are the number one reason I became interested in health and wellness. And I think that that's the case for a lot of people. So thank you for sharing a lot of valuable information and being such a positive influence. I did have a question.

I know that you guys were able to see a lot of organic engagement early on when Mari made the post that went viral and you were able to put in the hard work and build off of that. If you were starting out today and you didn't have any organic engagement, let's say you were given just a blank Instagram page, a blank TikTok page, and you had to start completely from scratch,

What would your approach be in today's landscape? Would it be the same? Would it be different? Do you have any advice for that? Great question. I can speak as like a content creator. Maybe you could speak more from a marketing angle. I would focus more on TikTok. I think I would post probably like three to five times a day.

Just anything and everything. I would collect data on what worked the best. So for example, I've noticed my TikToks with pomegranate seeds seem to perform the best right now. I would focus on pomegranate content. Seriously. And I would go all in on that. And I would do more and more and more and more. And I would...

I would stay vulnerable. That's the thing I would keep the same vulnerable, transparent, candid, show the real me, show the ups, the downs, but I would post way more frequently and I would focus on TikTok. I am a huge believer in Facebook ads, Instagram ads, TikTok ads. If you have anything that you are able to monetize, like a service that you offer or a business that you sell or a product that you sell,

Anything where you can run ads and have the action taken with that ad be go follow your profile. A lot of the initial traction that came to Mari's posts, there was a small amount of organic activity, but the algorithm is only so powerful for anybody. If you can find what does do remotely well in the algorithm,

Organically and then use that as a call it a boosted post through through Facebook Instagram or tik-tok ads You basically have the greatest ad that you can create. I mean any advertising agency That's what they try to do all day is create ads that people want to watch so if you could create something about pomegranate seeds in this case or pomegranate juice and then Monetize something based off of that topic even if it's so small just to allow you to have the fuel to fund

ads, you can supercharge the growth of your page so much while continuing to create a volume of content that's candid and vulnerable as Mario was speaking on. I mean, that's the formula right there for having a large following very quickly while being able to control things that you can control and not relying 100% on the algorithm or how TikTok feels about you that day. What do you think will be the best exercise routine

Like that you would recommend, like, let's say, how long do you need for it to change? How many cardio hours per week? How many strength training? Or like, what tip will be like the most valuable for you guys to tell us about exercise? How to perform like the best exercise routine or exercise program? I think...

Four to five strength training sessions a week for 30 to 40 minutes and getting 10,000 to 12,500 steps per day, seven days a week. What? That's easy. That's intense. No, it's not. I would say for women. That's only two hours of workouts a week. Three to four. I think three to four weight training. All right. We'll call it four. Four weight training a week and then just walk as much as possible. But at least 10,000 steps a day. Sure. Yeah. 10,000 steps a day.

Unless you're trying to have a baby, then tone it back. Throw some Pilates in there. But if you're trying to like see a big change, weight training, movement. Yeah, I think you could see...

plan to see real changes in a month if you're going from zero. Let's do this last one. Hi, Mari and Greg. First of all, I absolutely love your podcasts and I'm loving what you guys are doing in the health and wellness industry. I just wanted to ask a question around navigating a marriage with such a busy life. I recently started working full-time and my husband also works full-time and we're finding it a little bit difficult to find time for each other and

and really prioritize our relationship when everything else is crazy. So I'm sure you guys understand what that's like. So I would love to hear any thoughts or any tips in this space. So yeah, thank you so much. Sending lots of love from Australia. Hi to Lucy in Australia. Yeah, this has been, I think, an ongoing journey for us and we've really figured out ways to make it work. You know, we are both very,

busy. Well, I've been busier than I am now, but which is good. But we started a business together. We used to work side by side all day long and then our roles definitely drifted and we were both very busy on separate schedules. So I think we found like rituals to come together during the day. We used to spend mornings together. I think it's shifted to evenings now. We always have dinner together when we can, which I think is huge.

We go to bed at the same time. We spend weekends together. I'm a really big planner. I like to have reservations. I like to have activities. I create a note of like ideas of things to do on the weekend. We like to, you know, plan special trips together. And then I think also I would emphasize like the small moments in your day. Like the moment you say good morning to each other, the moment you see each other a

at night when you get back from work and being really present, putting the phone away, eye contact, like asking questions, making the other person feel special. Greg just got back from Expo West. He crushed it. I made sure I had a card waiting for him, a little present. I got him chocolate covered strawberries. Like I wanted him to feel like I was really proud of him because I was and just like showing him

how much I care and appreciate him. Yeah, I think little bits of effort. Mari holds the house together 90% of it in terms of our activities. Greg doesn't like to do anything. Here I am complimenting you. Um...

But Mario holds the house together with those types of things. I think 15 minutes in the morning goes a really long way to have a present moment. And then we've been relying on at least like a good half of the day together solid on Saturday and or Sunday. And you send me flowers when you were away. Always, yeah.

I like that. And figuring out each other's love languages. Yeah, just creating like clear signs of effort. And figuring out each other's love languages. Like Greg's more of an acts of service and I'm more of like a words of affirmation. And I think like fulfilling those needs for the other person. Therapy is also really helpful, like in figuring that out, I think. Anyway, guys, thank you so much for the questions. Greg, thank you so much for coming on the show. Thanks for having me. We cannot wait to launch Bloom Pop and we'll see you guys soon.

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