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at discover.com/cashbackdebit. Discover Bank

1:01

member FDIC. Hi,

1:04

I'm Hannah Brown and welcome to Better Tomorrow.

1:06

My absolute favorite thing to

1:08

do is have a heart-to-heart talk with my new

1:11

friends and my best friends, where

1:13

we sit down and talk about all

1:15

the things like relationships and love, faith,

1:18

and self-care, and of course, the little

1:20

things as well, like the struggle to

1:22

figure out what to eat tonight. All

1:25

in all, I really want to ask,

1:27

how am I better today than yesterday

1:29

and bring artists, entrepreneurs, and friends along

1:31

on the journey? So join me on

1:34

the journey, will you? Hi, everyone.

1:37

Welcome back to Better Tomorrow. We have

1:40

Mari Llewellyn here today and she is

1:42

the CEO of Bloom, the founder of

1:44

the Strength app by Mari. She's a

1:47

mental health advocate and fitness entrepreneur

1:49

who in 2022 landed

1:51

on Forbes coveted 30 under 30

1:54

list. She has grown her platform to

1:56

over 2 million followers by documenting

1:58

her everyday life in the future. sharing

2:00

her inspiring fitness journey. Mari

2:03

lost an astonishing 90 pounds

2:05

through strength training and completely transformed

2:07

her life. And that

2:09

inspired her to launch both Bloom

2:11

Nutrition and the Slay app, which

2:13

are completely self-funded businesses. Since then,

2:15

she has dedicated her life to

2:18

helping women from all backgrounds reach

2:20

their fullest potential by both strengthening

2:23

their mental and physical help. Most

2:25

recently, Mari has expanded her empire

2:27

as the host of the new

2:29

Dear Media podcast, Pursuit of Allowness,

2:31

which became the first Dear Media

2:33

podcast to hit the top 50

2:35

charts in its first week. I

2:38

am so impressed by you Mari, and thank

2:40

you so much for being here today. Oh,

2:43

thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate that.

2:45

You're killing it too, by the way. Oh my gosh, you're

2:47

so sweet. I mean, it took me a while to like

2:49

get that mouthful out, but just

2:52

like reading that, does it, from

2:55

me knowing a little bit more about your story, just

2:57

researching you, isn't it crazy

2:59

to like hear just all the things that

3:01

you have done in really such a short

3:03

amount of time and truly just had this

3:06

complete transformation it seems like,

3:09

not only mentally and physically, but spiritually, just the

3:11

way that you show up in the world. And

3:14

I guess my first question about,

3:17

in all that of how

3:19

does it feel to like when you hear this

3:21

list of things that you've been able to do

3:23

in such a short amount of

3:25

time, like what does that bring up for you? Yeah,

3:29

such a good question. I feel like

3:31

so many of us get wrapped up in

3:33

the day to day grind and it's difficult

3:36

to look up and see everything we've done.

3:38

So I appreciate you, you know, pointing all

3:40

those things out. It's wild.

3:42

And I think for me, I

3:44

had such a dramatic transformation in

3:47

my identity that it's, I almost have

3:49

a split and this is something I've

3:51

been working on in therapy, but I almost

3:54

view the older version of

3:56

me as someone completely different

3:58

than who I am now. And I'm

4:00

learning to kind of bridge that gap and

4:02

understand that I've taken pieces of who I

4:05

used to be and applied it to who I am now. But

4:08

it is wild to hear all of those things. And, you

4:12

know, especially with the podcast, I feel

4:14

really aligned with what I want to

4:16

be doing, you know, having conversations with

4:19

amazing people, sharing more. I

4:21

feel like through everything I've been through,

4:24

I found so much purpose

4:26

in my pain. So if I'm able to get

4:28

on the microphone and be transparent and talk about

4:30

things I've been through, if that helps even one

4:32

person, I really feel fulfilled. So

4:34

I appreciate it. No. Do you

4:36

– you know, a lot of

4:38

this – your transformation obviously

4:40

started with yourself, has

4:43

the way that you found fulfillment.

4:46

I'm sure it was great to be able to, like,

4:48

see that transformation for yourself. But do you feel like

4:50

that you have more fulfillment – sorry,

4:53

more fulfillment now that you're helping

4:55

others than you did

4:57

when it was just fully focused

5:00

on you getting better? Yeah,

5:03

100%. I feel like there

5:06

was always a greater mission. You

5:08

know, when I was on my

5:10

journey, I didn't quite know

5:12

what I was working towards. I knew it

5:14

was like daily I was trying to

5:16

get stronger mentally and physically, but I was like, you know,

5:18

I'm really committing myself to this thing because I feel like

5:20

if I just keep going, something good will happen. And

5:23

there's nothing more fulfilling than having a girl

5:26

come up to you and say, oh, I

5:28

have BPD also, I have mental health

5:30

issues, or I've been in this place and listening

5:32

to you helped me. Or even

5:34

now with the podcast, you know, getting an expert

5:36

on the microphone to talk about hormones and acne

5:39

and having other people relate. I

5:41

feel like in a world where social media is

5:43

so airbrushed and we only see the highlight of

5:45

everyone else's life, if I can get

5:48

on the microphone and be honest with people,

5:50

that's truly touching. And

5:52

my favourite thing is hearing other

5:54

people's success stories, even if I'm

5:56

a small piece of it. I

5:59

love that. I just think it's really cool what you've

6:01

created. I kind of want to go back to

6:03

where it all started though, was with your

6:06

own transformation, like

6:08

I said, in your bio,

6:11

you lost 90 pounds. That

6:15

was within nine months, exactly.

6:17

Yeah, yeah. Okay, how

6:20

did you do that and

6:22

what prompted that lifestyle change?

6:25

Yeah, so around that

6:27

time, it was 2017, and

6:29

I had just dropped out

6:31

of school. So I was going to Drexel

6:34

in Philadelphia, and I'd always

6:36

had underlying mental health

6:39

struggles, like depression, anxiety, as

6:41

a teenager, but I never

6:43

really fully understood it. And it

6:45

all kind of came to a head when

6:47

I went to school. I think a lot

6:50

of us go to school and we're suddenly

6:52

exposed to alcohol, partying, drinking, boys, all of

6:54

these things I'd never had

6:56

that much exposure to. And suddenly

6:58

I had all these ways of

7:00

managing my inner pain. I

7:03

feel like I grew up in a little

7:05

bit of a tumultuous household. I

7:07

also moved country a lot. There was just a

7:09

lot that happened in my childhood that I internalized.

7:12

So I went to school and

7:15

really just definitely overused

7:17

alcohol, partying, anything to

7:19

kind of fill that void

7:21

that I had. And

7:23

things got really bad for me

7:26

junior year of college and

7:29

trigger warning before I say this, but it

7:31

was my first experience with self-harm. And

7:34

I was just at the darkest point I've ever

7:36

been, truly. So I ended

7:38

up going to a psychologist who

7:40

diagnosed me with borderline personality

7:42

disorder, and I

7:44

was put on a number of medications right

7:47

away. I was on antipsychotics,

7:49

anti-depression, anti-anxiety. You

7:53

know, rightfully so because I was

7:55

a danger to myself, but what

7:58

that did was kind of numb. any feeling

8:00

that I had at all. So I couldn't

8:03

feel the highs, the lows. I was basically

8:05

just like zombie mode. I felt

8:07

dissociated for a long long time and really

8:10

checked out of reality. So I was

8:13

a semester away from graduating when

8:15

I had to drop out

8:17

because I was failing every class. I

8:19

was still self-harming, still drinking. I was

8:21

now using food as an emotional tool.

8:25

So I had to move back home

8:27

with my dad and I just had

8:29

this massive like reality

8:31

check, epiphany, you know,

8:33

realizing that I didn't have any degree, didn't have

8:36

a job, didn't really have any goals. Kind

8:38

of finally took responsibility for where I

8:40

was at in my life and said okay, I

8:44

don't want to live an average life. I

8:46

felt like I had gone years and years

8:48

and years being average at school, kind of

8:50

not really caring about anything, just looking for

8:52

ways to numb this pain that I had

8:54

and I felt like I had more

8:57

potential to give. So

8:59

at this moment I decided to take

9:01

the first step in getting my

9:03

life back together and I was dating

9:05

my now husband Greg who has been

9:08

bodybuilding for his whole life.

9:10

He always says he came out of the womb bodybuilding.

9:12

It's a little dramatic but like he's

9:15

a big beefy guy and

9:17

I'd seen him super committed to fitness for

9:19

so long. He was

9:22

cooking in college and he had his tupperware and he was going

9:24

to the gym so I reached out to

9:26

him and I said hey I like really want to, I want

9:28

to take this seriously. So I started with

9:30

just getting out and doing more walks every

9:32

day, just walking my dog more frequently because

9:34

getting to the gym was like so intimidating

9:36

for me back then. I was so insecure

9:38

on who I was and then

9:42

also tweaking my food. So I didn't

9:45

realize back then how correlated

9:48

food is with our mental health and how much of an

9:50

impact it can have on our

9:52

emotions. So I began

9:54

you know eating more nutrient-dense food because when

9:56

I first started I was eating like two

9:59

muffins for breakfast. and like an

10:01

iced coffee with sugar which was spiking

10:03

my glucose and so much

10:05

caffeine and it was sending my mood and energy all

10:07

over the place which obviously doesn't help when you are

10:09

trying to work on your mental health. I

10:12

began incorporating more healthy fat, salmon,

10:15

avocado, olive oil, getting

10:17

more protein in. So

10:19

this was the start

10:21

of my new passion and I just

10:23

truly became obsessed. I didn't

10:26

start sharing about it right away, it was definitely

10:28

like a private journey. For me I was following

10:30

all the fitness influences back then and doing all

10:32

the things but that was the beginning for me.

10:36

Do you feel like what

10:39

came first? The mental transformation

10:42

or the physical transformation? Because

10:44

I think people hear, wow

10:46

like you got diagnosed, you're doing

10:48

all these things, you

10:50

know it only took her nine

10:53

months but I'm sure there's a bigger

10:55

story of how that

10:57

transformation happened. So would you say what

10:59

was the, I don't want

11:01

to say easiest, but what kind of

11:03

came first for you? It's

11:06

funny because I feel like I am

11:08

known as this weight loss person because

11:10

people have seen that before and after photo

11:12

of me that's everywhere but for

11:15

me when I think of the journey it

11:17

was so mental because I

11:19

think I felt I'd

11:22

lived my life as a pretty like unmotivated,

11:24

undisciplined person and I had a lot of

11:27

shame around that and I wanted to change

11:29

that. I wanted to be someone who had

11:31

a strong work ethic, who could make it

11:33

through tough times. I didn't want to be

11:35

weak anymore so I always

11:38

say keeping your own promises is how

11:40

you build up confidence. So showing

11:42

up in the gym every day, cooking my meals

11:44

every day, just taking myself to Trader Joe's and

11:47

taking accountability for my life, it was very

11:49

much like show yourself

11:51

that you can do this because I'd

11:54

let myself down before so

11:56

I feel like the mental shift

11:59

was the biggest piece and losing weight

12:02

is hard for sure and sticking with

12:04

it is really really hard but I

12:06

was more motivated by the mental change than the weight loss

12:08

and I feel like that's what kept me going so I

12:10

was like I want to be I really really want to

12:12

be a better person and I want to live up to

12:14

this potential that I have. Did

12:17

you ever have moments where you felt so

12:20

overwhelmed by all the changes

12:22

that you knew had to

12:24

be made because sometimes for me

12:26

I think I can

12:29

get stuck when I know that I want to

12:31

change something but I'm like I

12:34

don't go A to B I'm like oh I

12:36

need eight I'm like all over the place of

12:38

what all has to be done to get to

12:40

the very end and then I

12:43

just get stuck so how did you deal

12:45

with not getting too

12:47

overwhelmed to continue to keep going every

12:49

day on this transformation?

12:52

Such a good question I feel like that

12:54

is such a roadblock for a lot of

12:56

people my biggest thing is you don't have

12:58

to do all of it at once like the

13:01

way that I started and the way I

13:03

am now is so different because I've given

13:05

myself years to evolve so when I first

13:07

started it really was just

13:09

getting my shoes on and going outside more

13:11

you know I was barely moving before so

13:13

just getting out walking more was the first

13:16

step okay let's tweak my breakfast like let's

13:18

try and work on that a little bit

13:21

and really having these like small increments

13:23

of change and celebrating each tiny win

13:25

like even if I lost one pound

13:27

that week or I made sure I

13:29

got to the gym four times a

13:31

week whatever it was just increasing the

13:33

goal a little bit month

13:35

by month and not like I definitely didn't

13:37

go into my fitness journey being like I'm

13:39

gonna lose 90 pounds I had no

13:41

idea that that was gonna

13:43

happen like I did that wasn't the plan my

13:45

plan wasn't to create an entire career out of

13:48

it my plan was just hey like let's get

13:50

a little bit better even day by

13:52

day like just try making small tweaks here

13:54

and there and do what you can and

13:57

now I'm at the point where the gym

13:59

and nutrition just comes naturally to me. It's just a

14:01

part of my life. I don't really have to think

14:04

about it. And now I add

14:06

in things like the cold plunge and sauna,

14:08

which like that takes extra effort for sure.

14:10

Like getting in that cold plunge sucks. But

14:14

that's the cool thing with wellness is always

14:16

more to learn and more ways to grow.

14:21

I definitely resonate with your

14:24

story about going into

14:26

college and how that's

14:29

where you kind of realize there

14:31

was probably a little bit more going on. That's

14:35

when I also really started or

14:38

noticed that my depression was

14:41

becoming more debilitating.

14:44

I got help and was put on medicine and I

14:46

was able to like, you

14:49

know, make it through. But I think I also, it

14:51

took me a while to hit my rock

14:54

bottom. It took years of, I

14:56

think, just making it through. And

14:59

it's still a journey that I'm on. But

15:02

I do think it's interesting

15:04

how college is where I feel like a

15:06

lot of times, you know, you're

15:09

not under your parents' roof and

15:11

there's like a, there's structure,

15:13

but it's different. And that's where you can kind of

15:16

see some of those like unhealthy

15:18

habits really take hold.

15:22

Was that where, like, did you struggle, I

15:24

mean, you said you struggled a little bit

15:26

with your mental health, did you struggle with

15:28

food before that? Or is that where you

15:30

really started to like gain

15:33

weight? Or do you always like eaten,

15:37

not like made the healthiest options? Or

15:39

did that just really start in college

15:41

when you didn't know how to deal

15:43

with all the big feelings you were

15:45

having? Yeah, it's interesting

15:47

because I was, I've been

15:49

thinking about that and health was never

15:52

super emphasized in my house. I grew up in

15:54

the UK until I was 10. And

15:57

I'd say my family ate in a pretty

15:59

like euro. way, like we

16:01

ate a lot of baguettes and cheese but we

16:03

ate really well. It was like high quality food

16:05

but I never thought about food. Like I had

16:08

no idea that

16:10

had an impact on my mental health, my physical

16:12

health and then I remember in college I

16:15

would go the whole day not eating.

16:17

I'd have one subway sandwich

16:19

and that was it and now I'm

16:22

like wait what? Like that was not

16:24

enough food and like no nutrients and then

16:26

I'd go drink a ton of alcohol. I

16:29

cringe thinking about that but I just didn't

16:32

have knowledge around it at all and didn't

16:34

think about my body

16:37

honestly until when

16:39

I was put on medication and suddenly

16:41

I was eating so much

16:44

more than normal. Some

16:46

medications will do that and really

16:48

using it as an emotional crutch. So it was

16:50

the first time in my life actually that I

16:52

ever even noticed that I had gained weight because

16:55

it wasn't something I ever really had to think

16:57

about. I was always like kind of tall and

16:59

skinny and then this hit and it

17:02

was a new thing for me. It's interesting

17:04

how our stories are also different and I've

17:07

spoken to so many women that struggle with

17:09

body image their whole life and

17:11

it's interesting to me because I think back before

17:14

my fitness journey I never thought about body

17:16

image. I feel so grateful that I didn't

17:18

think about food that much but

17:21

interestingly when I did lose the weight and

17:23

then I became obsessed with fitness I've gone

17:25

through periods of time now where I almost

17:28

was more like it's almost like the leaner

17:30

I got the more obsessive I was about

17:32

the way I looked and it was the

17:34

first time I'd ever experienced that and even

17:38

like as recently as a year or two ago

17:40

I would go on vacations and not be able

17:42

to be present because I was so worried about

17:44

the food and oh my gosh I'm gonna eat

17:47

pasta and my abs will be gone or

17:49

it was almost like the leaner

17:51

I got the more insecure I

17:54

was which before when I was heavier

17:56

I kind of didn't care as much so I just think

17:58

that's interesting and definitely a problem

18:00

in the fitness industry that people don't

18:02

talk about enough. So yeah, I mean,

18:04

I did pageants growing up. So I

18:06

think there was always an emphasis on

18:09

your body and the way it looks. So

18:11

I might have not had the tools. I

18:14

didn't really know how to eat for my

18:16

body to like really, you

18:18

know, make it as healthiest, but I would

18:21

just try to find ways to do

18:23

that in the quickest

18:25

way possible, which is usually not healthy.

18:27

And so I think when there's such

18:30

an emphasis on that early on, and

18:32

then you have had these transformations when you

18:34

have lost this amount of weight and one

18:36

time and you get the, like,

18:39

I'm sure getting as much attention as

18:41

you got from that transformation. It's like,

18:43

Oh, now I've built this whole business.

18:46

If I like, do you ever struggle with, Oh

18:49

my gosh, if I gain back a

18:51

certain amount of weight, will this

18:54

all go away or will people start

18:56

to question my ability to live a

18:58

healthy life? Yeah, that has

19:00

shown up for me before 100%. I

19:04

feel like where I am right now, I

19:07

allow myself much

19:09

more to have fun and

19:11

enjoy food. And I have a very good relationship

19:14

with it, but I have

19:16

to be honest, there's obviously been ups and downs in

19:19

the road and I've gone through periods of

19:21

over-restricting and feeling pressure

19:23

because I've built an entire company

19:25

off of my story and a

19:27

business and people rely on me.

19:30

So I feel like for a long time, I was

19:32

so tied to my,

19:36

not just my body image, but who I was.

19:38

I was like, I'm someone that works hard, I'm

19:40

disciplined, I get through hard things and that's all

19:42

I do. So for years and years and years,

19:44

all I did was work and work out. I

19:47

didn't allow myself to have fun because anytime I

19:49

relaxed or had fun, I was like, oh, you're

19:51

flipping backwards, oh, you're old Mari, we can't go

19:53

there. And I didn't allow myself even to go

19:55

out to dinner with people. I was such a

19:57

control freak because I was like, this is what.

20:00

I did to succeed, so this is the way I have to

20:02

live my life for the rest of my life. And

20:05

it's taken a lot of like unlearning and doing

20:07

a lot of therapy to get to the place

20:09

where now I have hobbies

20:11

just for fun and like go

20:13

out for dinner with friends and allow myself

20:15

to have a glass of wine here and

20:18

there and foods that aren't necessarily like great

20:20

for me. Like it's been a journey

20:22

to get to that place and give

20:24

myself that freedom for sure. It's

20:27

now I feel like we're probably doing the same

20:29

type of work in therapy like this shame of

20:31

a past part of you and

20:34

realizing that that person wasn't bad.

20:37

Like there's not like you're not good and you're

20:39

not bad like we're all kind of somewhere in

20:41

between. And

20:45

that means that like you don't have to I don't

20:47

know you're not just one thing. And

20:49

I think when you have these full transformations it's

20:51

like okay well this is what has made everybody

20:53

and everybody's eyes is good and this is what's

20:56

made good for me and my business and everything

20:58

that I've built. Like I have to stay like

21:00

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21:03

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today. I

24:02

kind of want to go back to when

24:04

you said you started to do all

24:06

this change. Did

24:09

you have a good support system around you or

24:11

did you realize that you had to cut people

24:13

out of your life that weren't supporting

24:16

you kind of going on this new road of

24:18

making just

24:23

healthier choices for yourself? Such

24:25

a good question. I feel like

24:27

when you go through something like that,

24:29

it really shows you who's there and

24:31

who isn't. I

24:34

will say my dad was really,

24:37

in his own way, super supportive. And I

24:39

feel like, you know,

24:41

it's interesting that men, it's like a

24:43

little bit of a different emotional skill

24:45

set. And I remember he got me this

24:48

book and it was called like food is medicine. And I remember

24:50

being like, why do you think the food is going to help

24:52

me? Like I was almost angry with him. But now looking back,

24:54

I'm like, Oh, that's really cute. Greg,

24:56

my husband now was so

24:58

supportive. He would like, he

25:01

taught me every single move in the gym. He really

25:03

like took me under his wing and was there to

25:05

support me through the whole thing. So

25:08

what I am getting off that like, when

25:10

did you and Greg start dating? Like

25:13

was he through? Was he a part of

25:15

this whole process like in college? Yeah, I

25:17

met Greg 10 years ago.

25:20

So I was 20 years old

25:22

when I met Greg. I'm 29 now. And

25:26

we went to the same high school actually in New

25:28

York, but we didn't know each other in high school.

25:31

I was in the sorority next to his fraternity,

25:33

which is so cheesy. But yeah, and I would

25:35

like see him through my bedroom window every day

25:37

cooking. And I was like, what is this man

25:39

doing? Like why is like no one's cooking right

25:41

now. And we

25:43

ended up meeting at a Halloween party, like

25:47

a frat party. He like fell through a table. I love

25:49

it. Oh, yeah. It's

25:51

so classic. And then we

25:53

kind of like just stuck by each other's side

25:55

throughout college. He's seen

25:57

me at my absolute worst. And

26:00

he would that throughout the whole journey

26:03

help me along the way on I'm

26:05

he was like my goes you person

26:07

because he knows everything about food supplements

26:09

working out so he was a huge

26:11

support for me. How did you. Change.

26:17

While you in a relationship. Because.

26:21

I. Mean the idea I said greg with

26:24

already set in my it was like

26:26

part of his life some sure that

26:28

he was like really helpful and all

26:30

that but just like mentally what. You're.

26:32

Going through like how did. That.

26:36

Affect. Your relationship, How

26:38

we are able to

26:40

grow together. Such.

26:42

A good question. We had ups and downs

26:45

like in college I feel like anyone who's

26:47

been in a relationship with in college you're

26:49

like oh it was a disaster. Ours was

26:51

like kind of. it is a series knowledge

26:54

like I'd look back on what what were

26:56

we doing. I'm definitely up and down. But.

27:00

During. It. I mean. As I

27:02

was on my said his journey and then ultimately growing

27:04

our businesses in a all the things we've done. We.

27:07

Kind of grew together like. I

27:10

would say Greg wasn't Now he

27:12

the Ceo and an entrepreneur and

27:14

he's truly living his passion. But

27:16

he wasn't the most academic guy like.

27:19

He definitely struggled in school, so I

27:21

think both us just felt. We.

27:24

Knew we had the potential to do something,

27:26

but we didn't feel well aligned and academics

27:28

we couldn't really find off saying. So when

27:30

I was going through this journey I fell

27:32

like it was like. Us growing

27:35

together. I was learning from him, he

27:37

was running for me and then when

27:39

we did start a business he's so

27:41

entrepreneurial and has such a knack for

27:43

marketing and numbers and I love sharing.

27:46

I love branding. It was like the

27:48

perfect. Match. And it's

27:50

been really cool to watch him grow

27:52

as a person, but also like to

27:54

see him lead a massive team and

27:56

run a business together. It's been a

27:59

really, really cool. journey. And when I look

28:01

back, I'm like, we were such kids. You

28:03

know, back then, it's interesting. So

28:06

speaking of the businesses, how did, you

28:09

know, this turn into

28:11

the business and the

28:13

businesses it had, like what, what

28:15

started it all? Obviously, you shared

28:19

your transformation on your

28:22

social media, and then people

28:24

started resharing and sharing. Can

28:26

you tell us what happened?

28:30

Yeah, so I shared the transformation didn't expect

28:32

anyone to care. I was actually like super

28:34

embarrassed to share it because I had 900

28:36

followers. And I was like, I don't want

28:38

anyone to see this, like, whatever. It

28:40

blew up way more than I expected. And people

28:43

were asking questions. They were like, what

28:45

workout plan did you do? What nutrition

28:47

guide did you follow? They wanted products

28:50

and advice from me. So I was like, Okay,

28:52

yeah, let me make a workout plan. So I

28:54

went to Barnes and Noble. And

28:56

I whipped up a workout plan. I

28:59

wrote it myself. I sold it for $5. I

29:02

would manually email it to everyone. And they

29:04

would PayPal me $5 back.

29:06

So yeah,

29:08

and I was also working the front desk at

29:10

Orange Theory at this point, I was getting there

29:13

like three in the morning, leaving at five, it

29:15

was a whole thing, getting my

29:17

degree again. So I was hustling on

29:19

the phone all day selling these guides.

29:22

And we sold a lot of them figured out how to

29:24

make a website. I ended up

29:26

making more guides. So that was our first business

29:28

called Mari Fitness. And

29:30

that has now become the strength app.

29:32

So that has evolved over the years

29:34

of basically all the workout plans I've

29:37

ever used to change my body, fall

29:40

in love with weightlifting, it has

29:42

all my favorite recipes. And

29:44

then in the

29:46

meantime, we began sampling supplements for

29:48

bloom in 2018. I, on

29:52

my fitness journey had a really hard time

29:54

finding supplements that I felt like were Marketed

29:57

towards women like I would walk into a GNC and

29:59

it was. Or like black and red

30:01

and yellow and muscle destroy it.

30:04

This. And other, well this is really.

30:06

it's amazing and scary. I want to

30:08

make something that is fun and approachable.

30:10

and men for women. So

30:13

we started sampling it he doesn't eighteen

30:15

and did everything ourselves. I took the

30:17

photos that were on the label of

30:19

the pre workout. We did the customer

30:22

service, we did the social media and

30:24

launched in January of two thousand and

30:26

nine. And the pre

30:28

workout sold out right away through a like

30:30

okay like I think we've got something here

30:32

in this is just through social media. Your.

30:35

Yeah. Oh My. God. Yeah!

30:37

all through my Instagram on

30:39

which I select then Instagram

30:41

was so different. Like. People.

30:44

Were organically growing very very quickly

30:46

is non and now it's still

30:48

like everyone is so saturated now.

30:50

But I'm. We. Kept

30:52

putting up products taking you know

30:55

feedback from from the community, seeing

30:57

what they wanted us to make

30:59

and then right before covert we

31:01

released Greens And Greens The Something

31:03

the I. Personally, Just wanted

31:06

to. My daily life I wanted are all

31:08

in one supplement with fruits, veggies adopted James

31:10

probiotic something forgot health of thing for bloating

31:12

that tasted really good because all of the

31:15

greed that ever tried. Tasted. Like

31:17

Ross sophists, I I made

31:19

the greens and those were

31:21

like a home run. Products.

31:24

That everyone absolutely loved. On that. We had

31:26

a really hard time keeping them in stock.

31:28

They kept selling out. And. Now

31:31

Bloom is pretty much. Noted.

31:33

The Greens Company. That's kind of what we are and

31:35

I. I'd never imagined how. Big.

31:37

Bloom would got, but it used to just

31:39

sort of be like my little supplement company

31:41

and now we've got thousands of women and

31:44

influences taking the product and we just did

31:46

office influence a corporation. Greens. So

31:48

it's it's then wilde when Target and Walmart

31:51

now which was always my dream. Send.

31:53

You an incredible mean I feel

31:55

like. I see bloom

31:58

everywhere I am. I'm

32:00

really inspired by how ya started that

32:02

but. How for you? I

32:04

mean I've been. It is a part of

32:06

my life for sure. Arm. But.

32:09

A lot has evil as like what at

32:11

taking where my thoughts on supplements from somebody

32:14

who like you have any trish in business

32:16

like how important is. Supplements.

32:19

For is typically women to

32:21

take into added to their

32:23

overall. Wellness. Program.

32:26

Yeah. Great question. I mean I'm never

32:29

going to say you need to take

32:31

supplements to be healthy. I think everyone's

32:33

different. It's totally up to you and

32:35

it depends on what you're working on.

32:37

I take a lot of supplements because

32:39

I'm. On an acne journey right

32:41

now so I'm taking like various things from.

32:43

I got health, I had candida and bacterial

32:45

overgrowth. I was taking a regimen said that

32:48

I'm when I created greens. I wasn't someone

32:50

who was necessarily getting enough that she then

32:52

I had a hard time with.so I would

32:55

like let me make an easy way of

32:57

getting everything and in one scoop if you

32:59

struggle with that great maybe a green supplement.

33:01

As for you, if you don't struggle with

33:04

that maybe it isn't the a kind of

33:06

depends the way your life.i feel like supplementation

33:08

is only gonna be effective. When you

33:10

also focus on a diet and

33:12

having a really nutrient dense diet,

33:14

getting everything you need an getting

33:17

outside, getting a little bit of

33:19

exercise n supplements are like the

33:21

cherry on top of a great

33:23

routine in my opinion I want

33:25

to ask you to just about

33:27

your and. Entrepreneurial spirit.

33:30

To. Star all this because I'm hearing

33:32

you like yes, We. You.

33:35

Know Alice the one that was emailing

33:37

these things out myself. I said up

33:39

the a, the this and the that

33:41

like. Is that

33:44

something that came naturally You? I mean

33:46

that to sounds. They can seem very

33:48

overwhelming to take on. Like how did

33:50

you just. Star. Or

33:52

was that. A lot

33:54

of, you know, Greg Arty kind of

33:56

having that type of mindset that got

33:58

used to going and getting. this business

34:00

started? I was never

34:02

someone who liked business. Like

34:05

I was always such a creative

34:07

person. I hate numbers, I still

34:09

do and I never thought that that would be for

34:11

me. But something, I

34:14

think it was just because it hit my purpose. You

34:16

know, like I was like, I love health and fitness,

34:18

I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be

34:20

doing. And I kind of didn't have

34:22

a choice because I was literally working the front

34:24

desk at Orange Theory Fitness making minimum wage, I

34:26

wasn't making any commission, because I wasn't really doing

34:28

well at selling it. And I

34:30

was like, I have to make this work.

34:32

And I've been at rock bottom, I had

34:35

nothing to lose. And I just had this

34:37

like fire underneath me and this work ethic

34:39

that I developed over the fitness journey. And

34:41

I just went for it. I don't

34:43

think you need to be necessarily like

34:45

a business professional to get a business

34:47

going. I feel like experience is the

34:50

best way of learning. And I just

34:52

went for it. And started really with

34:54

that workout guide. And

34:56

just escalating from there. And kind

34:59

of having having the confidence of like,

35:02

you know, I know what my followers

35:04

want, I know how to do this,

35:06

I'm as qualified as anyone else. I

35:08

ended up getting my degree in designer

35:10

merchandising, which actually helped me a lot

35:12

with with the branding of everything. And

35:14

then ultimately hiring people who are super

35:16

talented and I could learn from. But

35:18

yeah, it wasn't necessarily like,

35:22

I don't know, I guess I am somewhat

35:24

entrepreneurial. I never could really picture myself working

35:26

for anyone else. I don't think Greg or

35:28

I would be great employees, to be honest.

35:30

I know Greg was fired from multiple jobs

35:32

before. So

35:36

I feel like we didn't really have a choice.

35:38

And together, it just made

35:41

sense. It just worked. And

35:47

everybody says trust your gut, but there are

35:49

definitely been some times where I should have

35:51

not trusted my gut.

35:54

Mainly thinking I

35:57

can always get everywhere

35:59

in five minutes or

36:01

that you know there is a

36:03

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36:05

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36:07

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36:09

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36:11

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36:13

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37:03

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That's Walmart. I

38:09

wanted to also talk about, you said it

38:11

earlier, how you

38:14

have struggled

38:16

with acne because I too

38:19

have struggled with my acne. And

38:22

I feel like mine has recently started

38:24

to come back and flare

38:26

up. So it's something that, I

38:30

don't know if this is for you, but

38:32

it can kind of, whenever I see it

38:34

starting to flare up, I get like really

38:36

triggered and I'll have

38:39

like old memories come up and I'll

38:41

get like really insecure even before it

38:43

gets really bad because I'm just scared

38:46

it's going to spiral. I don't know

38:48

if that's something that you experience anytime

38:52

you had these flare ups and

38:54

then how do

38:56

you manage during those times when you

38:58

are starting to see your skin totally

39:02

freak out and just ruin

39:07

your day. I mean, no,

39:09

I get it so much. Acne

39:11

has, I mean, I've legit had acne on and

39:14

off for 10 years at this point. Like ever

39:16

since I never had it in high school. I

39:19

had it there. 23 when I turned 23. You

39:22

know what I think it is and I've had

39:25

so many conversations about this with my naturopath and

39:27

other people. I think when

39:29

we are in our 20s, we go

39:31

live in college, we're exposed to mold

39:34

in the dorm room or in the sorority house or

39:36

whatever. And we're eating gross stuff and

39:38

we're just exposed to so many chemicals that

39:40

sit in our bodies for years and years

39:43

and years. I

39:45

don't know at what point I

39:47

was around these toxins, but I started breaking out

39:49

when I was around 2021. And

39:53

I had such bad ways of dealing with my acne

39:55

back then I would go in tanning beds every

39:58

day. Oh, it would too. it

40:00

up. Yeah, but then it would come back worse.

40:02

Yeah, I know. It would come back worse because

40:04

we were probably like drying it out and it

40:06

was like coming back like crazy. That's one of

40:08

my biggest regrets is the tanning beds. Oh my

40:10

gosh. Tanning beds,

40:12

birth control to try to control

40:14

it. Sprawn a lactone. All

40:17

I've done all the things and they all

40:19

messed me up even more. I mean birth

40:22

control was one thing like I just never

40:24

could do for my own mental health. I

40:26

would try it but even just trying it

40:28

for three months like four different times that

40:30

probably just messed

40:32

everything up. And

40:35

I also people don't understand the

40:37

impact of mold. I think I

40:39

lived in black mold for like

40:41

three years and didn't know. Wow.

40:43

And just

40:45

how much that affects your gut and

40:49

just your overall health. And yeah,

40:51

I won Miss

40:53

Alabama USA because I did pageants

40:55

and I remember the day that

40:57

I was like, I think

40:59

they must have whatever they used on my makeup. Like,

41:03

you know, broke my face out and it just never

41:05

got better. And I think even

41:07

now like I have breakouts but it's nothing

41:10

like compared to when you have

41:12

like cystic at me

41:14

that takes over.

41:18

What was

41:20

that time like for you? Like how did

41:22

you feel about yourself because for me I

41:24

felt like I was just wearing a mask

41:28

and that nobody could see me and

41:30

I couldn't see myself. And so that

41:32

just made me hide. What

41:34

did you do during that time? I mean,

41:37

for me this was like a month ago,

41:40

like I literally only have had clear skin

41:42

now for like four weeks and I'm terrified

41:44

that it's going to come back. Oh my

41:46

gosh. Yeah, I'll show you pictures after it

41:49

was bad, bad. So how long were you?

41:51

So you've dealt with it like fully for

41:53

10 years, like no relief

41:55

in just on an

41:58

occasional bad like sometimes. a

42:00

little better but never like a truly clear

42:02

face, you know. And for years, I like

42:05

couldn't figure out

42:07

why and I had so much self hatred around

42:10

it the way I would talk to myself. Every

42:12

day I would look in the mirror and be like what's new on my

42:14

face, like looking for the

42:17

mistake the blemish like what's wrong with

42:19

me today. Such a I

42:21

was nitpicking everything I did I would legit

42:23

change where I was sitting at a dinner

42:25

table based on the lighting. I would

42:28

not look people in the eye I don't

42:30

want people to look at my face straight

42:32

up like it dictated my everything like it

42:34

changed my confidence. I think people

42:37

have a hard time understanding because I bring it up to

42:39

people in my life and they're like oh I never

42:41

really even noticed like oh I don't see it but

42:43

I'm like it's all I see. And

42:46

also being on camera for the podcast and

42:48

the job that I have I was so

42:50

aware of it like any time I launched

42:52

a podcast I was like everyone's just gonna

42:54

comment on my skin like it's so bad.

42:57

So it took me

42:59

doing a ton of

43:01

lab work talking to so many

43:04

different people to finally find a

43:06

great doctor who is

43:08

a nutrition therapist an integrative medicine

43:11

doctor finally told

43:13

me all of the underlying issues I

43:15

was having. Candida,

43:17

bacterial overgrowth, mycotoxins,

43:20

mold things that

43:22

you know I was living a very healthy lifestyle but

43:25

I was like why am I still breaking out and

43:27

it was things that I had no idea were in

43:29

my system and that's drinking enough water. But

43:34

that's that's the thing I was drinking a gallon

43:36

plus a day. No I'm saying that because it's

43:38

what everybody says. I know I'm

43:41

drinking enough water Karen please go

43:43

away. People would be

43:45

like it's because your dog licks your face. I

43:48

was like if I can't let my dog lick

43:50

my face I'm just gonna have acne for

43:53

the rest of my life because that's sad. No

43:55

it's definitely not bad. People

43:57

love to give unsolicited advice when you have By

44:01

yeah it it was such a journey and I

44:03

feel like I'm finally at the point where I've.

44:06

Not. Really healed my acne. I just did

44:08

a podcast episode on everything that I did.

44:11

And it was it. It was wild. I couldn't

44:13

believe. I always thought

44:15

that I was like I couldn't understand why

44:17

was happening to me considering the lies that

44:19

I live but seeing the blood work and

44:21

having the onto those like oh wow like

44:23

these toxins are in my system and I

44:25

had no idea. Did you

44:28

ever consider I try accutane? Thank

44:30

goodness I didn't I narrowly avoided

44:32

at because I wanted to so

44:34

bad as you. I did do

44:36

it but I didn't. Finish

44:40

my full round

44:42

on. I started out with

44:44

like really I guess dark stain on a

44:46

really low dosage? could I. Like. I

44:48

said I was competing them. As you say this

44:50

is like my like. Saying.

44:52

That I want to do my whole. Whole

44:55

life and my it's a

44:57

beauty pageant isn't a my

45:00

face was. Covered.

45:03

In this cystic acne by it

45:05

you know when you start accutane

45:07

he can get worse. So

45:10

it was like this whole thing and

45:12

i finally house is feeling so bad

45:15

night and then also ah i'm at

45:17

like a month. After

45:19

Miss Usa I think I got to be.

45:22

Asked. By went beyond the bachelor

45:24

and I remember so sad by

45:27

they called me and I did

45:29

my first video like. Conversation

45:31

with somebody and I was like. Why

45:34

does you know like I had that at the end?

45:36

You might? You might not want me on the show

45:38

because I. Because. My face is

45:40

really broken out and I'm trying to to fix

45:42

it but I don't know how like I will.

45:45

I saw I wasn't worried the. While.

45:47

Because I had at me and I

45:49

didn't see other people on. The

45:52

shows have scanned my guide and then

45:54

I was really self conscious with i'm

45:56

like oh gosh like I'm gonna be.

45:59

Being. said while I'm going through

46:01

this really intense

46:06

journey that I'm on with my skin

46:08

and then so I tried to start a

46:10

low dose of Acutane and I was on

46:13

it during the whole

46:15

time I was on the bachelor. Then

46:17

when I became the bachelorette it had

46:20

started to clear up but we

46:22

had to go out of the country and you have to be able to take

46:25

those tests like your

46:27

blood tests and like

46:29

to make sure you're not pregnant every month

46:31

and I couldn't do it so I stopped

46:35

but my skin did clear up but it

46:38

came you know it came back eventually

46:40

so it's

46:42

definitely not like it was

46:44

I don't have cystic acne but I'm starting

46:46

to get back like I think it had

46:48

to cut my oil glands and I've always

46:50

had really oily skin and now

46:53

I'm a lot producing

46:55

a lot more oil and so I've just

46:57

been really trying to go

46:59

on a journey like I'm on a new journey

47:01

and like going to see like a

47:03

faceless all the time but I'm like gosh like it

47:07

still has been really frustrating I think it

47:09

gets so hard with there's so much skin

47:12

care out there and there's so many people

47:14

who are experts in products what

47:16

have you figured out has worked the

47:18

best for you to be honest

47:20

with you never found that skin care

47:22

products like moved the needle it was

47:24

like I nothing like cleared

47:27

my skin up from using products

47:29

however I think using non-poor

47:31

clogging skin care and makeup is so

47:33

important and I made sure I went

47:35

through everything that I used I changed

47:37

out all my makeup for clean skin

47:40

care meaning like I legit plugged it

47:42

into a website and checked every ingredient

47:44

to make sure it wasn't acne triggering

47:46

I think for skincare clear stems really

47:48

good I use Pacific

47:50

touch out of New York City it's like

47:53

this acne clinic she has really gentle skin

47:55

care that doesn't like strip the skin I

47:57

feel like some people get really harsh with

47:59

that getting extractions is really

48:01

helpful. Like every three, four weeks it's

48:03

so painful, but it really does help.

48:07

But for me, I feel like the things that really

48:10

made a difference were all internal.

48:14

I think it's important to talk about because there is

48:17

so much skin care and there's so many promises that

48:19

this thing is going to be the thing

48:22

that changes it or is going to help resurface

48:24

your skin. And like you

48:26

said, I think extractions, I think

48:28

making sure that you're using products

48:30

that are not acne triggering is

48:32

important and that's like part of

48:34

it. But there usually

48:36

is something that you have to go

48:38

a little bit deeper into. And that's

48:41

like, as much

48:43

as it sucks, like really having to like dial

48:46

in that diet, like I've noticed and I

48:48

do not want it to be true, but like,

48:51

I can't eat ice cream right now. My

48:53

stomach, first of all hurts,

48:56

but also it messes my skin up so

48:58

bad, even just after a little

49:00

bit of ice cream, like it's just I

49:02

can't do that right now. And then realizing,

49:06

like you said, Mari, that maybe there is

49:08

probably some other stuff going on

49:10

and having to be patient

49:13

with it. How have you been

49:16

able to just

49:18

trust this process? Because I

49:22

can unfortunately get unpatient and give up.

49:24

I think sometimes before I

49:27

can really see the results. So how have you been able to

49:29

stay with it? I've been there a

49:31

million times. I gave up so many

49:33

times because I think like, as

49:36

we were saying, when it's your face, it's

49:38

like that's all people see and it's all

49:40

you think about. I get that. I

49:42

try to change my mindset to like, it

49:45

is a blessing that my skin is telling

49:47

me that something's wrong. Because a lot of

49:50

people walk around with internal issues and have

49:52

no idea, right? So for

49:54

me, for my body to say, Hey, there's

49:56

something wrong, there's something wrong. Like, thank

49:58

God that it told me that. because now I've been

50:00

able to go deeper and figure that out. And

50:04

telling myself, actually someone got on

50:06

the phone with me who saw my TikTok about my skin

50:08

and she was like, you need to

50:10

tell yourself affirmations every day. Like my skin

50:13

is healing. I'm

50:15

grateful that my skin is telling me something's wrong.

50:18

I can't wait to have clear skin. Like just

50:20

saying it to myself over and over and over

50:22

every morning, it sounds cheesy, but it did help.

50:24

And just acknowledging that, like

50:26

my fitness journey that took months and months and

50:28

months and months, this is something

50:31

that isn't gonna heal overnight. And just

50:33

like celebrating that little progress every day,

50:35

like less and less acne, helped

50:37

me get to the other side of it. I mean,

50:40

my face has not been this clear in 10 years

50:43

and I still feel scared that

50:45

it's gonna come back. But yeah,

50:48

it's been a journey. I

50:51

think it's just so important

50:54

to talk about because I mean, anytime I

50:56

share about my skin, it's so, it

51:00

makes me feel, yes, there are the people

51:02

who have all the solutions for why my skin

51:04

is the way that it is, but to know

51:06

there's so many other people that are also just

51:09

like on the same journey, we are just trying

51:11

to figure it out and that we have the

51:13

platform to talk about what's helping

51:15

us. And then also knowing

51:17

like what helps me, what helps you might be

51:19

a little bit different, but sharing

51:21

that and knowing that there's hope on

51:24

the other side and I don't know, I'm

51:27

dreaming of just clear, beautiful, shiny skin

51:29

one day. I had it. You

51:32

look amazing from what, truly. You're so

51:34

sweet, but I think I'm going through

51:36

what your fear is of like it

51:38

coming back and being like, I need

51:40

to make sure this doesn't get to

51:43

where it was again. So how

51:45

can I be proactive about

51:47

it right now? When I'm

51:49

noticing it's definitely flaring up,

51:51

but it's still manageable. It's

51:53

not to the point where I feel like I have to hide. And

51:58

maybe I've changed enough now, but that's. That's

52:00

not the way that I'll ever

52:02

look at it again. I hope that's also

52:04

the case, but it's

52:07

just really awesome to see. I started

52:09

listening to your episode of the Pursuit

52:11

of Wellness, talking about your acne and

52:13

I'm excited to finish it. But

52:15

on that, can you

52:18

tell us about your podcast, Pursuit of

52:20

Wellness and just what

52:22

type of conversations that you have there

52:25

and what people can expect when they listen?

52:28

Yeah, so Pursuit of Wellness launched in

52:30

January of this year. It

52:32

was such a passion project for me

52:34

because I was like, I wanna sit

52:36

with really cool people who know a

52:39

ton about nutrition, exercise,

52:41

how to optimize our

52:43

wellness, hormonal health, fertility,

52:46

mental health, basically anything

52:49

health and wellness related.

52:51

So yeah, it has definitely

52:53

taken over my life. I'm absolutely obsessed with

52:56

it. I launch episodes every

52:58

Monday, sometimes bonuses on Thursdays. I

53:00

do solo episodes here and there

53:02

about acne, things I'm going through

53:04

and it's been amazing. I feel

53:06

like I called it Pursuit of

53:08

Wellness because I feel like wellness

53:10

is an evolving journey.

53:13

I'm always learning more and trying

53:15

to grow and evolve and

53:18

become a better version of me. And it's

53:21

been really, really cool. There's some really

53:23

great experts out there. I feel lucky

53:26

to have gotten to sit with amazing people like

53:28

you and the other guests

53:30

I have on my show. So I've

53:32

learned a ton and I hope it's

53:35

adding educational value to everyone's social media,

53:37

what they're listening to every day and

53:39

definitely some motivation sprinkled in there. I'm

53:41

such like a mindset motivation person and

53:45

I love getting motivated by other

53:47

people but also offering motivational advice.

53:49

So yeah. Well,

53:51

you definitely do that, Mari. I

53:53

feel so motivated and inspired and

53:55

encouraged by you and the

53:57

content that you put out there. So

54:00

many people out

54:02

there putting out stuff in a lot of noise and it's

54:04

so great to be able to go

54:06

to someone and know that you're going to be

54:08

encouraged and inspired. And

54:10

you're doing that through the businesses that

54:12

you've created and the conversations that you're

54:14

having. And so I just really hope

54:17

other people also feel

54:19

encouraged and inspired and feel that

54:23

they can relate to some of

54:25

the struggles but then also the

54:27

journey of just success and

54:30

finding the value and the things that

54:32

you're passionate about that you show. So

54:34

just thank you so much for being

54:37

on here and talking with me today. Can

54:39

you just lastly just tell

54:41

everyone where they can find you, where they can find

54:43

your products again and how

54:45

they can interact with you on social?

54:48

Yeah, and thank you so much for having me

54:50

Hannah. You're killing it. I see you there on

54:53

the charts. Thank you. I'm correcting. You're

54:55

absolutely killing it. It was a pleasure to talk

54:57

with you today. I'd love to have you on

54:59

Pursuit of Wellness. I would love to. Yay!

55:02

You can find me

55:05

on social at marilawellen,

55:07

m-a-r-i-l-l-e-w-e-l-l-y-n, Pursuit of Wellness

55:09

on Spotify and Apple wherever you listen

55:11

to your podcasts. And

55:14

you can shop Bloom at

55:16

www.bloomnewnu.com. Or

55:19

in Walmart and Target. Oh

55:22

my god, you're a better promoter than me.

55:24

I don't even know, but that's just

55:26

like so incredible. Or

55:28

Amazon, I should say. Or Amazon. Oh

55:30

yeah. Where do you find most people

55:33

shop? Target

55:35

and Amazon for sure. I mean that's the

55:38

dream, to be in Target. That

55:40

was literally my dream. Like when I

55:42

created Bloom I was like, this is a Target girl.

55:44

It is. It is. Thank

55:46

you. I love it. It's awesome. Keep

55:49

killing it. Thank you. And

55:52

guys, thank you for listening. Thank

55:54

you guys so much for listening to

55:56

the episode. Better Tomorrow is produced by

55:58

me, Hannah Brown, and Legos Creative. Our

56:00

producer is Andrew Strymer. Our

56:03

show is recorded, engineered, and edited by

56:05

the Legos creative team. Remember

56:07

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And don't forget to rate and review us

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