Work Life Harmony w/ Melissa Proctor

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Calling all my sweeties to the forefront. I'm your host, christ and this is the keep it Positive Sweetish show. Hey, k his family.

00:00:11
Speaker 2: I am so.

00:00:12
Speaker 1: Excited about this episode because I have my dear friend, Melissa Procter with me. Melissa is the CMO of the Atlanta Hawks and she is the co founder of Perveta Health here in Atlanta, Georgia. Guys, we've known each other for a few years. What it feels like forever his family, Please give a very warm sweetie welcome to Melissa Proctor. Melissa, finally we got you here. Thank you so much. I know you are busy this time of year or all the time. You're a mother and a businesswoman, so I don't think there's every moment where you're not busy.

00:00:44
Speaker 2: So thank you.

00:00:45
Speaker 3: First of all, thank you so much for having me as a fan of the show and the fact that I've seen so many episodes.

00:00:50
Speaker 2: I am honored to finally be here. Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate your support.

00:00:55
Speaker 1: You came to my first live show, you watch you let me know that you've watched the episode, so I appreciate it.

00:01:00
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:01:01
Speaker 3: Yes, so we met like three years ago, which feels like an eternity. We're both like it was way longer than that.

00:01:07
Speaker 1: I think it's about three years ago doing the BMW un Court series, and immediately we hit it off, like we were locked in from that day on. And what I love about you is that you've always been a dreamer like me. From a very young age. You had all these big dreams that probably seemed so outlandish to people who heard it right. You wanted to be the first female NBA coach, but you became the first female ball girl for the Miami Heat. Now, little backstory. I read that you at the age of fifteen, you wrote letters and you called the Miami Heat every single day.

00:01:43
Speaker 3: Time about that. So, when I was fifteen, my mom, who was a registered nurse, you know, born and raised in Belieze, knew nothing of American sports.

00:01:53
Speaker 2: I said she. I told her I wanted a job.

00:01:55
Speaker 3: She said, okay, mal, if you want to get a job and whatever you're going to do for the rest of your life.

00:02:00
Speaker 2: At fifteen, what I was going to tell you I was an artist.

00:02:02
Speaker 3: I was always drawing and painting, but I knew that I loved watching basketball. One of my cousins introduced me to the game, but I would watch it like a soap opera on TV for the storylines. Whenever I watched, I never saw women. So this is before they were female referees or assistant coaches or anything. Yeah, And so I said, you know, mo, mom would be the first female coach in the NBA. She said, Okay, go get a job in the NBA. And that was it, like she laid down the gatland and there was no other option.

00:02:26
Speaker 1: Wow.

00:02:26
Speaker 3: And so I had never been to a game, never been to the Miami Arena, which is where they used to play.

00:02:32
Speaker 2: And so I started.

00:02:33
Speaker 3: Calling one eight hundred number like white Pages, and I called, I mean, how else do you get it right?

00:02:38
Speaker 2: Making phone calls?

00:02:39
Speaker 3: And I think I got someone in community relations and they were like, I'm sorry, we don't have any jobs for kids.

00:02:44
Speaker 2: Try the equipment manager.

00:02:45
Speaker 3: And so I got connected to a guy named Jay Sable who was then the equipment manager. And I started calling him. He wouldn't pick up, and I was like, let me write letters to Jay. So I would write letters, but I would draw on them. I'd draw pictures of the players. I would draw you know, logos. Basketball is anything. And so one day I called him again and he picked up. He was like, I've got your letters. You know you're a tremendous artist, but I don't have any jobs for girls. I was like, I don't know what you would do. You know, this is grunge work. It's coming early, staying late, mopping sweat, you know, olden towels. And I was like, well, I want a job. I have no other option, right, And so I kept calling and he was like, if you call me one more time, I'm not going to hire you. And I was like okay. So then I stopped for like a week, and then I.

00:03:26
Speaker 2: Kept on calling.

00:03:27
Speaker 4: Come.

00:03:29
Speaker 3: Then eventually he was like, you know what, you have a lot of heart, like the fact that he's like, well, why don't you coming for a preseason game? And to me, I was like, actually go to the arena like four a game.

00:03:38
Speaker 2: Who had no idea?

00:03:39
Speaker 3: And so I went and that was my first NBA game ever. I think we played the Magic that year and I got an outfit. It was like a rebox champion like sweatsuit. I tell you, it was like this free and it was the most amazing thing. Was like watching TV come to life.

00:03:55
Speaker 1: Yes, that was take us to that moment when you walked to the Miami Arena and was like walking into your dream.

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Speaker 2: Literally, how did that feel at that age?

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Speaker 3: I mean, I don't think I knew the gravity of it at the time, because I was just kind of like, I hope I don't mess up, mind you.

00:04:11
Speaker 2: I never played basketball. I was always in Melissa.

00:04:13
Speaker 3: So I never like I didn't know how to rebound like it was out there like going to the basket and rebound. I was like standing directly under the basket, like like I got hit, got knocked down, busted lip. All that first day, never forget. And it was one of those like learn quick. And there was a guy named James, one of the other ball boys who was definitely like from the hood around the Miami Arena. He was like, hey, I'm gonna show you the ropes and he took me under his wing.

00:04:40
Speaker 2: He's like, this is how we hustled.

00:04:41
Speaker 3: We got to carry, you know, like shoes for the players or carry their bags in and out of the locker room. But because women weren't allowed in the locker room, I couldn't go back there, like I couldn't do what he did.

00:04:50
Speaker 2: So I had to learn a whole other world on the court.

00:04:53
Speaker 3: So I ended up trying to help stand Ban Gunn, who was an assistant coach at the time, and I'd be like, all right, well, let me help you with the players, so be like stand right here and hold this pick.

00:05:02
Speaker 2: And I'd learned so much about the game.

00:05:04
Speaker 5: Wow.

00:05:05
Speaker 2: But that's so they ended up calling me.

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Speaker 3: Queen because I used to love having single and Queenland was like my person, yes, and so I was queen and I was the Queen of the court. So I would be out there diving for loose balls like I was in a game. I really thought I was like contributing, yes, But it ended up being the beginning of my career in sports and probably one of the most amazing jobs I ever had.

00:05:23
Speaker 1: Wow.

00:05:24
Speaker 2: I love that.

00:05:26
Speaker 1: When you think about the drive that our generation has that I feel like this new generation lacks. They're not calling and writing and really going after what they want, you know. And I don't know where we lost that in the translation of the times, but I think it's something that is a lost art, you know, and to really get what you want, what do you feel is something that you could tell this younger generation really how to go after what they want the way you did.

00:05:54
Speaker 3: You know, so much of it is like just not accepting no for an answer. Yeah, And I think a lot of it was my mom. My mom would always say nothing mes to trial, but a failure. She's like, you can do is ask. The worst they're going to say is no. And I realized for a lot of times, you know, if you have pride, and it was like or the expectation that everything should come to you, so it's like, well, you just see to give it to me. There was so much more of like she would always say you got a kiss ass so you could kick.

00:06:18
Speaker 2: It, and that was like her term.

00:06:20
Speaker 3: And so I remember coming in as a bond kid there or people who are incredibly disrespectful, like you know, I'm just here popping up sweat, Yeah, but I'm sitting with you know, billionaire people behind me, or like I remember Jimmy Buffett was behind me like every game and I had no idea who he was, and.

00:06:35
Speaker 2: Like, why do people ask you for your autograph?

00:06:37
Speaker 3: And one day he's like, I'm Jimmy Buffett and I was like then I was like, oh my god.

00:06:41
Speaker 2: There were so many things.

00:06:43
Speaker 3: Where it didn't matter who you were, like you respect everybody regardless of you know what class you are, regardless of what role you play. And I think that job taught me that, and I think for this next generation, there's so much of that that needs to happen. And there's so many examples of people who you know, did a little bit of work and got a lot of success. Everyone wants to replicate that, but the reality is you don't see it. And I think the social media microwave society just shows you the highlights but not the work.

00:07:08
Speaker 2: Come on, I don't think we had that viewpoint.

00:07:11
Speaker 3: I mean there was still some to a certain degree, but you saw more of the grind. And I think for me, I'll tell everyone, like to this day, if someone said, hey, you gotta go mop up sweat this game, I'm like, all right, and I know how to make a mob. I'd be out there because I'm never too far away from where I started. Yes, So, like, it doesn't matter what stage of career you're at, you should always be able to hummer yourself to go and do whatever it.

00:07:33
Speaker 2: Takes to get the job.

00:07:34
Speaker 1: So I agree with that, and that's something I live by to treat every person with respect. I don't care what they're doing because we are never too far from that.

00:07:43
Speaker 3: I learned in corporate America when I started working at Turner, they were like, you know, you always respect the assistant and the drivers because they hold the keys to everything, stuff that you.

00:07:51
Speaker 2: Don't even think about.

00:07:52
Speaker 3: And I was like, Wow, if you're trying to get with any CEO or CMO and you're like, I want time on your calendar, those are people who hold the keys to the top and people don't. And so even I'm interviewing people now for roles, I'll say, hey, I'll ask, you know, the assistant of the person that works the front desk, how did they treat you? Yeah, because it's not about how they treat me. They're always going to talk up for me, but it's so much more about them. And I'm like, oh, I have a no jerk policy. Yep, I do the same thing.

00:08:16
Speaker 2: That is so yes.

00:08:17
Speaker 1: I always want to make sure that my team and anybody who's representing me is representing me to the fullest. Yes, because you definitely don't want that, and a lot of times you won't know unless you ask.

00:08:27
Speaker 2: Yes, that is so true.

00:08:29
Speaker 1: Now, you wrote a book from ball Girl to CMO, and I want to know at what age, did you realize that you could handle leadership at the highest level? Like, when did you to even write a book? You telling me all the time, Crystal, would you write the book? So I'm still waiting on your book.

00:08:43
Speaker 2: No, thanks, thanks.

00:08:47
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know that I ever knew, to be honest, and the only reason I wrote my book was for my daughter, Marley.

00:08:53
Speaker 2: I have my daughter name is Marley. She's eleven now.

00:08:55
Speaker 3: But when she was born, my mom had passed away two years before Marley was born.

00:09:00
Speaker 2: And my mom and I were real closed.

00:09:02
Speaker 3: I was like, my bestie, and I really believe that I gave birth to my mom through my daughter, because she is my mother.

00:09:06
Speaker 2: That came back to life.

00:09:08
Speaker 3: But when she was born, I had so many questions from my mom that I wouldn't have asked until I became a mom, right, And I was just like, man, God forbid, something happens to me while Marley's still young. So many people were like, oh, you should write a book. Your story is so interesting.

00:09:20
Speaker 4: Yeah.

00:09:20
Speaker 3: I was like, I don't want her to have to hear my story through other people, so I was like, let me just put it down. It took a long time to actually get it done. I'm not a writer, I'm not a reader, but it was so much more for her. So when I was done, I didn't even think about sales or actually launched her in September twenty twenty and.

00:09:35
Speaker 2: Then out of COVID.

00:09:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, no book, launch, no part no nothing.

00:09:38
Speaker 6: Yeah.

00:09:39
Speaker 3: People like, well, how are you going to market it? I was like, I don't care, no marketing it. I wrote it for her. Wow, but there's a lot as a marketer like, yeah, marketing is your thing.

00:09:47
Speaker 2: I didn't even think about it.

00:09:48
Speaker 3: It's not about it wasn't the reason. That wasn't the why. But in terms of leadership, so much of my journey has been like wherever God has had me at that time, and I would raise my hand to take on these jobs.

00:10:00
Speaker 2: People will tapping on my shoulder say hey, you're interested in this.

00:10:02
Speaker 3: I may have wanted to go and try a whole different career at times I was like, I'm going to go work in an ad agency and it never panned out, but I just had opportunities to take up.

00:10:11
Speaker 2: Coming and so even and going to the Hawks.

00:10:13
Speaker 3: I had gotten laid off when I was eight months pregnant with Martley.

00:10:15
Speaker 2: Oh wow, I.

00:10:17
Speaker 3: Was at Turner for about eleven years, and it was part of a digital health and wellness startup, and then one CEO left, a new one came in. You were the last business started and the first one to get cut. So the entire business unit got laid off. Wow, And I was like out with HR recruiting young interns because I started as an intern.

00:10:32
Speaker 2: In that company. So no one could believe.

00:10:34
Speaker 3: They're like, list, it has to be at Turner, that's what this is. Yeah, And I was like, well, I'll just figure it out, you know. I had my daughter in About a month or two later. I ended up going to a draft party at the arena Phillips Arena then as a fan.

00:10:46
Speaker 2: My homegirl was like, Grol, you have no job. It's a free party, you know, come on.

00:10:49
Speaker 3: And so I went and then ran into literally an old mentor of mine who had left Turner to go.

00:10:55
Speaker 2: To become CEO of the Hawks. Yes, when I was.

00:10:57
Speaker 3: Still at Turner, so I hadn't spoken to him, didn't have any conversation. He knew that I love brand building, he knew that I loved basketball. My first year in that land, I was a ball girl on the court for the Hawks. Mop and I was sweat one season and he would sit courtside and see me getting it doing my thing, and literally I ran into him and he was like, Oh, I want to introduce you to some people. And he walks me around the party and introduces me to every C level executive that's for the Hawks and everyone I met there like, oh, we can't wait for you to start, and I was like start, sorry, And ultimately he was like, I know you love basketball, I know you love branding. I might need some help building a brand. We're in the middle of redesigning our jerseys. I know you were a creative and an artist. Would you mind sitting in on some meetings? You know, I have a team here, but I love your perspective? And I was like absolutely, And I started doing it for free. Like I was like, I'm just happy to be out my house right and my dad, mother in law was there.

00:11:46
Speaker 5: The kid.

00:11:46
Speaker 2: I was like, give me and give me out of here, and so I go.

00:11:49
Speaker 3: Once started going to meetings and one became five, became ten, and he was like, I think I should pay you, you know.

00:11:54
Speaker 2: I would you like to consult?

00:11:56
Speaker 3: Absolutely yes, And so I started consulting and we started consulting on building a brand. Yeh, we're going to be and then that turned into becoming vice president of brand strategy. Never had that as the vision of what it was going to be, but ultimately some years later he was like, you know, what do you think about being chief marketing officer And I was like, no, thank you really, absolutely not.

00:12:17
Speaker 2: I want to know part of it.

00:12:19
Speaker 3: I was like, well, I think at the time I had become an individual, an individual contributor, and.

00:12:24
Speaker 2: I loved it. And I could work with every department.

00:12:26
Speaker 3: I was helping with digital monetization, I was helping with design stuff over here. I was giving perspective on how to build out an internal agency. But I didn't have a team and wrec reports and it was just very freeing and I could kind of contribute in every way.

00:12:39
Speaker 2: I yes.

00:12:41
Speaker 3: Like specific help and I was like, ooh, don't box me right, yeah, the corner.

00:12:47
Speaker 2: And then ultimately, you.

00:12:48
Speaker 3: Know, it kind of came to a point where he's like, once I really need you to do this, and I was like, He's like, do you know why I want you to take this role or b CMO?

00:12:55
Speaker 2: And I was like no, Wow, He's like, because you don't want it.

00:12:58
Speaker 1: Wow.

00:12:58
Speaker 3: I thought it was so I'm telling at the time, and he was like, look, most people want this job because they think it didn't give them money or power.

00:13:06
Speaker 2: Sports don't pay, you know.

00:13:08
Speaker 3: The perception of power is always one thing. And I had a mantra and I was like, I just want to make dope ish like that's we have it on a wall, like that's all I want to do. Make stuff that's cool, different than people can like gravitate towards Yeah, and he's like, that's why I want you to do this job.

00:13:23
Speaker 2: Because of your why.

00:13:24
Speaker 3: Yes, And after that I was like, okay, I total imposter syndrome, was afraid. I said, well, if I do, can I get an executive coach?

00:13:33
Speaker 2: He was like you want to coach?

00:13:34
Speaker 1: Yeah?

00:13:34
Speaker 2: And I was like, yeah, I don't know what. I don't know.

00:13:37
Speaker 3: They have gaps and I want to help, you know, feel those And he was like so interesting. Most men would say if you get a coach, they think they're getting fired. Here you are asking me for a coach, and I was like, that's just who I am.

00:13:47
Speaker 2: And that coach, her name is Cheryl Jordan. She's amazing.

00:13:51
Speaker 3: She helped me so much in just three sixty figuring out that I was a micromanager because I was always used to doing the work everything exactly.

00:13:58
Speaker 2: So I was like, if you're doing hey, how is it? Where is it? Can I get it?

00:14:01
Speaker 1: Okay, Melissa stip get out of my business? But who isn't here?

00:14:06
Speaker 3: Like yeah, that's Me's almost like you gave me your project today and tomorrow you're asking for an update.

00:14:10
Speaker 2: Like I didn't even start yet. I think got struck a nerve hours. Where are we on that? I mean, that was so funny because that is so me.

00:14:25
Speaker 3: But I had to learn and so I mean, in terms of preparation for leadership, I don't think anything could have prepared me. And then when I was put into it, it was like, okay, understanding what works?

00:14:33
Speaker 2: What doesn't you know? How to be better?

00:14:35
Speaker 3: I liked. I think of myself as a servant leader. I want to make sure I leave any environment better than it.

00:14:40
Speaker 2: Was when I Yeah.

00:14:41
Speaker 3: So even for my team now they've been with me a long time, they're amazing people. We work really well together, and I'm always like, how can I help you be a better person? Outside of the hawks are here? If you decide that you're going to leave that's flattery. If other people are proaching you these we're doing a great job.

00:14:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, instead of trying to keep you for myself.

00:14:59
Speaker 3: And I had a lot of lead throughout my career that always were probably keep you on my arms. You help me look good. So I just want to keep you right here and stunting your growth.

00:15:07
Speaker 2: That's so good.

00:15:08
Speaker 1: Anybody you are a true definition of your gifts will make room for you. The fact that, like everything you've done from being an artist, you're an incredible artist. That's another thing I wanted to ask you. Have you ever like put your work like in a museum for exhibits?

00:15:23
Speaker 2: It was wild.

00:15:23
Speaker 3: I was just looking through some old pictures this morning, randomly, Yeah, and I found an exhibition pictures of me at an exhibition I had been in like high school, and I was traveling around Florida. I had a manager helping me manage my art. Honey, I think you need to get my art, you know. And it's so crazy because I would do like artwork on commission. I went to Wake Force on an art scholarship, and so I had done a lot of exhibitions and when I moved to Atlanta started working at Turner.

00:15:47
Speaker 2: At one point I had a design job. Wow.

00:15:49
Speaker 3: And it was the end of my art career. Once I got paid for creating. It was like it almost took the passion.

00:15:56
Speaker 2: For the ways it can work. Wow.

00:16:00
Speaker 3: And so my daughter Marley's an amazing artist. She loves a characters like she I see it through her now.

00:16:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I don't have the.

00:16:06
Speaker 3: Desire really because I was gonna ask you, I mean, I do something for you.

00:16:11
Speaker 2: I need some of that in my house. It is so beautiful.

00:16:13
Speaker 1: Yes, like you guys have to get her book and you can see some of her artwork.

00:16:18
Speaker 2: It is absolutely stunning.

00:16:19
Speaker 3: I figured it may come around another time, yeah, in my life. But you know, for now, I say that I use my creativity to find like creative solutions to business challenge.

00:16:28
Speaker 2: Yes.

00:16:28
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's still like using the same muscle, but in a different way.

00:16:31
Speaker 1: Right, Speaking of business challenges, and you talked about imposter syndrome very on, very on early in your career. How did you overcome that and what was like one of those moments that really stand out were you literally out of body experience of you experiencing imposter syndrome where you were like, I don't belong here?

00:16:50
Speaker 2: What is happening? Who do you think you are?

00:16:53
Speaker 1: Because these are all the thoughts that we think when we're right where we belong, but we don't think we do.

00:16:57
Speaker 3: I don't even know if I just have one. There's so many throughout my career, and I'll probably say maybe what I started at the Hawks because you know, the perception was, you know the CEO, I worked with him previously. He brought me in and be like, oh, you're just here because you know him and whichever. So I really had to come and improve myself. And I remember when we had to onboard a new ownership team and.

00:17:22
Speaker 2: My boss gave me the job. It's like, Melissa, help with onboarding.

00:17:25
Speaker 3: I don't know anyone who's onboarded and ownership team for a professional sports organization.

00:17:29
Speaker 2: Like I'm like, I have no clue what them.

00:17:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, And it was calling other teams and asking questions and then just figuring things out or like, Okay, they're not from here, let's do tours, let's do this, put these finders together, let's help educate. And by the end of it, they were like it was such an amazing experience. He was like, you know, I'm going to promote you to this new position, and I'm like what and so much And what I learned in that is like, nobody knows what they're doing.

00:17:53
Speaker 2: Come on, And it's certainly.

00:17:54
Speaker 3: Especially for senior level, like people think that you haven't all figured out, like no, and I'm like, no, no one knows, and it so freeing When you finally get that point, He's just like, you can't mess up. It's like you're I think COVID was a great example of that because there are so many leaders. Everyone was figuring it out on yes, and some people in better ways than others. But once you get that, it's like all you're trying to do is make the best decision for the business.

00:18:16
Speaker 2: That you can at the time.

00:18:17
Speaker 3: For sure, through experience, it helps you understand what things may or may not work, but that's ultimately And I was like, oh.

00:18:23
Speaker 2: None of y'all know.

00:18:25
Speaker 6: Cool.

00:18:26
Speaker 2: If anything, I'm resourceful, I'm gonna figure something out. No, for sure.

00:18:30
Speaker 1: Yes, what are some of the challenges that you have faced as a woman in sports? Because we both know that being a woman in sports it's a very male dominated industry and you are one of the few women that are in a high position you know.

00:18:43
Speaker 2: What's interesting, It's evolved so much.

00:18:45
Speaker 3: Like I remember when I started with the league almost eleven years now with the Hawks, I would go to NBA meetings and there would be a lot of men.

00:18:52
Speaker 2: You know, some women, But it's so different now.

00:18:54
Speaker 3: It's much more diverse seniors on the business side, even in some of the basketball side, but definitely on the business side, you see a lot more women presidents and teams and things like that. Like there's an opportunity and a lot of you can't be what you can't see. So seeing Sint Marshall when she was, you know, leading up the Mavericks and it's like, okay, I got it now, Like that's that's a thing, And so there's definitely opportunity. I almost see being a woman in sports as a superpower. Especially I'm like, who's buying tickets? Who do we market to? You know, a lot of times like it's us and that's a good thing. I mean early in my career there were definitely times where you know, I would be helping out and you know, working on Scott and Reports back in the day. You know, I would do stuff for the heat and number having someone tell me like we don't pay you to think. We pay you to do what we tell you to do. And that was like, Yo, what I don't I don't like that. That's not necessarily what I see from my life. But as I've grown one, I'd never forget those things. As a leader, I want to make sure that everyone feels empowered. But as a black woman, I mean, and you know me, I'm normally in sweats and you know, nikes, and she got dressed for me. I got chanted on my inner crystal. I styled myself. But I remember when I first got promoted the CMO, and I tell the story how I went to go park and they have a reserve parking spaces when you're an executive. It's like I got promoted. I'm an executive. Now I could park in a good spot. And so I went to park at the arena in the reserve place for players park and security came out to my car and said, excuse me, ma'am, I'm sorry, you can't park here.

00:20:25
Speaker 2: The space is reserved for executives. And I was like.

00:20:30
Speaker 3: Okay, And so I had to take up my badge and show and it said like executive on.

00:20:33
Speaker 2: The body and it was a brother and he looked at me.

00:20:36
Speaker 3: He was so confused, like, oh, oh, all right, you know, go ahead. But I realized in that moment, I was changing his perspective or stereotype of what an NBA executive looked like exactly because I got locks and nose ring like and I'm the same all the time regardless, and I don't think people expect that. So the number of times where I've gone places and people just underestimate, not just because I'm a woman, because I'm a black woman in sports at this and this position.

00:21:00
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting.

00:21:01
Speaker 3: But I love like when I get to talk to youth and they're like, oh man, you're so coold.

00:21:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't expect that.

00:21:07
Speaker 3: And I'm like, yes, it can be a regular person. I mean I always say I'm just warming the seat. Yeah, this job is in mind forever, you know what I mean. And ultimately, I'm grateful for the opportunity and as many people.

00:21:18
Speaker 2: As I can help while I'm in it. I want to do that.

00:21:20
Speaker 3: I don't define myself by the job, and a lot of people define me by it.

00:21:24
Speaker 1: Oh Melissa, how does that make you feel when you don't define yourself by it but other people do?

00:21:30
Speaker 2: So annoying.

00:21:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, go outside, people like, oh yeah, that's Mlissa from the Hawks. Hey, let me get some tickets, Hey, let me get a job. Hey, I got this stay in this brand. I want to promote. And I know that if I didn't have this role, none of them would be speaking to me. And I know that, and I'm okay with it. But I realized when I was a turner, a lot of people got got let go after all the changes in the company. Sold a couple of times, and I saw people felt like they were going through a divorce, like how can they do this to me?

00:21:56
Speaker 2: And I'm like, it's a job. It happens.

00:21:59
Speaker 3: But if they're whole identity is wrapped up in this position.

00:22:03
Speaker 2: If they lose the position, they don't know who they are. That's real.

00:22:06
Speaker 3: I tell people today, if I was a greeter at Walmart tomorrow, I would be equally as cool and still very much met.

00:22:11
Speaker 2: You'd be the coolest greater a Walmart.

00:22:14
Speaker 3: You know, I'm saying, like it's all good, but I always have to maintain that mentality. Because I can, and because I got laid off when I was eight months pregnant, I think now I can go to work every day like you never know, and that's okay, and it's free because I'm not holding onto it. That would be sad because I love what I do and I love my team. But at the end of the day, that means God has just prepared me for my next adventure.

00:22:34
Speaker 2: Absolutely.

00:22:35
Speaker 1: Yes, speaking of an adventure, you went to get your master's degree in Design Studies and Branding from Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design at the London Institute.

00:22:47
Speaker 2: It's a mouthful. It's a mouthful. Listen.

00:22:51
Speaker 1: I love London. How did you end up in London?

00:22:55
Speaker 3: Random story? So my mom, I mentioned, she's from Belief, colonized by the Is. She went to nursing school in England. Really so my entire life I heard about her friends in York and all these things, and it wasn't like fancy or fabulous, like if you were in Belieze, you either were a teacher or nurse, and if you were then you went to London for nursing school.

00:23:13
Speaker 2: And so she did.

00:23:14
Speaker 3: And I had never been to Europe my entire childhood, and I just remember it was like a mythical place.

00:23:18
Speaker 2: Yes, when she was I would see pictures of her.

00:23:20
Speaker 3: She was the only black person in her class, and so I would always.

00:23:24
Speaker 2: Be like, you know, one day I'm gonna go to London.

00:23:25
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:23:25
Speaker 2: I had family from Jamaica. My father's from Jamaica.

00:23:28
Speaker 3: I have an uncle and two cousins and an aunt that moved to Jamaica moved, sorry, moved from.

00:23:31
Speaker 2: Jamaica to London.

00:23:32
Speaker 3: OK. So they were like my call my British cousin, and I was like, one day I'm a visit them. And I remember an undergrad at Wake that had a study of broad programs. So I did a semester abroad. The first time I got on a plane in London and I fell in love with it. But I was at a house with a bunch of Americans and like, we traveled, you did some really cool stuff. But I didn't feel like I really got like an actual experience being in London because it was kind of like it was an Americanized experience.

00:23:57
Speaker 2: Okay. So I said, if I can.

00:23:58
Speaker 3: Go back, I want to go to like British school, be in a dorm, live with people from all over the world. And so that's what I did. After I graduated, I came to Atlanta. I worked at Turner four year and they offered me a job like six months in and I was like, oh man, this is great opportunity, but I really want the chance to live abroad. And so I turned down the job and I got into the program in London, so one year master's degree, and so I literally went as an excuse to live abroad and have that opportunity, and so I couldn't do it. And what I realized then if you didn't have the amount of money you needed for the year in your bank account, they won't let you go. So it wasn't like you can get financial aid and all of that. So I needed twenty thousand dollars and I was like, how am I going to have I get it. One of my colleagues at the time was like, why don't you just ask for it? So I made some proposals and I was like, I'll give my artwork, or I'll just be a great citizen, give me something thousand dollars. It was the year the All Star Game was in Atlanta, so I was mopping up sweat for the game and I was shopping it around, gave it to players, you know, anybody, family members, and ultimately it.

00:24:57
Speaker 2: Was Tim Hardaway, one of the players that I need for my days.

00:25:00
Speaker 3: He was like, you know, my wife and I sorry proposal, We really believe in you.

00:25:03
Speaker 2: You know, here is the father, Tim Hardaway.

00:25:05
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:25:05
Speaker 3: What So when I was a ball room for the Heat, I like worked Tim Junior's birthday party.

00:25:12
Speaker 2: I was a ball girl. He was like, hey, can you come help out of the party. I'm like, oh, I'm going to Hardaway's house. It was like can you carry this ice? And in his budget? I was like all right.

00:25:20
Speaker 3: But from then they were like family to me. So he's like, my wife and I have always believed in you.

00:25:25
Speaker 2: We love you.

00:25:26
Speaker 3: And I was like, well, I'll pay it back over time. He was like, pay it forward and it was the biggest blessing. And so that's what got me to London and it was amazing, awesome program, great friends that I made, lifelong friends from my experience now going to school in England coming back like, I wouldn't trade it, and I'm so glad I did it at that stage of life.

00:25:44
Speaker 1: So you were a mother at this point, you hadn't had Remember you were turning you This is way back.

00:25:50
Speaker 3: Okay. I was going to ask how as you manage that? But wow, I don't know.

00:25:54
Speaker 2: That's that's a whole other.

00:25:55
Speaker 1: World, right, that's crazy and similar to you, I've always wanted to study a bride.

00:26:00
Speaker 2: I feel like the British actors are the best.

00:26:02
Speaker 1: So when we went on strike a few years ago, I remember I started I'm always like a solution oriented person, not like, oh what are we doing?

00:26:10
Speaker 2: What's happening? How can I make the most of this time?

00:26:12
Speaker 1: So I started looking up different schools that I could go to to do like intensive courses in London. And I remember I was totaler what I wanted to do and he was like, oh, he was like, I wouldn't do it. He was like, only because this strike is going to be over before you know it. Well it wasn't. It was not over before we knew it. And I was like, dang it, I should have went. But it's one of those things where I still want to do that. That's still a dream of mine. Yeah, totally, I do. I want that experience of studying abroad. I just I remember.

00:26:38
Speaker 3: It so vividly because I got to like feel like I was immersed in it. Yeah. First I was like, okay, you're in, you're out, but it was like, you know, getting the bus and going to the markets for groceries and making friends and like it was such a great time. I think I was maybe like twenty five.

00:26:51
Speaker 2: Wow, So it was a good Yes, I'm sure that helped shape you as well.

00:26:56
Speaker 1: Something about moving away from home that really does a lot of shaping for me.

00:26:59
Speaker 2: It was why Washington, DC?

00:27:01
Speaker 1: You were London, And I know those moments definitely shape me for sure.

00:27:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, when you.

00:27:07
Speaker 1: Think about your leadership style, what are some of the core principles that anger every big decision that.

00:27:12
Speaker 2: You have to make.

00:27:14
Speaker 3: You know, from a work perspective, I always think of my values.

00:27:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I go back to my why, and I'll tell the team.

00:27:20
Speaker 3: So we even explaining like why we're doing things like just don't rush through it, like explain how we got there and the why. And so when it comes to like business decisions, a lot of it is like focusing on the what are we doing, What do we need as orientation? What to the fancy, what does the community need? Which is important when it comes to personal decisions. I talk a lot about in my book as well about my guiding principles. Yeah, like people ask you yes instead of like my career and that's a different one, and I think at some point in my career, I remember I wanted to be in branding. I'd gone to grad school in London to focus on brand strategy.

00:27:54
Speaker 2: I love branding.

00:27:55
Speaker 3: I want to learn more about it. And I think I was maybe twenty six. I'd come back to Monday and I worked for a couple of years at a job and then I finally maybe I was like twenty eight, I got a branding jobs Rectro brand strategy.

00:28:06
Speaker 2: I got to rebrand cour TV to true TV Wow, and I was like.

00:28:09
Speaker 3: Oh man, this is cool. Yeah, I got to work on it. But when I got the brand job, I was like, what's next? Do I retire?

00:28:15
Speaker 2: Like what are we going to do?

00:28:17
Speaker 3: And so I had to kind of redefine what, you know, success kind of looked like to me. And at that point I had a lot of mentors that were like, you know, you should really create your guiding principles for your life and your career.

00:28:27
Speaker 2: What should that be? And I never really thought of it.

00:28:31
Speaker 3: So I took some time to you know, ask these questions of like, you know, what would I do if you know for free?

00:28:36
Speaker 2: You know, what is my superpower?

00:28:38
Speaker 3: What things do I dislike, despise, what.

00:28:41
Speaker 2: Keeps me up?

00:28:42
Speaker 3: And I had all these things and I kind of land that I call my starting five and almost like the filter that I use for every decision that I make, both personally and professionally. And so one is, you know, I have the ability to both be really creative, like with the art, but also strategic from a business sense. And I've had business strategy jobs I hated, so it was all strategy and there was no creativity.

00:29:03
Speaker 2: And I had all.

00:29:03
Speaker 3: Creative jobs, like I mentioned that the art job, which at first I liked, and I was like, that's not for me either. But my superpower is when I can bring both of those together. And this role is very creative and strategic business wise.

00:29:14
Speaker 2: I think that's why I thrive in it.

00:29:16
Speaker 3: The second is I get bored real easily, Like if I can do it in my sleep, I don't want to do it. And so I'll always say that I want to be adding more tools to my personal toolbox.

00:29:26
Speaker 2: I was an agency of one.

00:29:27
Speaker 3: What new capability am I adding to my capabilities presentations? So anything that I do, if I could already do it before I start, I don't need to be doing it. The third is my mom was not the best with money growing up.

00:29:39
Speaker 2: You know what it was like step.

00:29:41
Speaker 3: Getting cut off or bill collectors calling, and I said, whatever I do, want to pay my bills on time or ahead of time was the goal. Then after I had my daughter, was thinking about generational you know what's building, like what can I do for her long term or you know, I'm not leaving her in debt. My fourth is some sense of like work life harmony. I don't think there's ever balance. You know, we both work really hard. Harmony is a good way to put harmony. You know, sometimes you got to work really hard, sometimes you got to live really hard.

00:30:07
Speaker 2: They a great way, yes, And making sure that.

00:30:10
Speaker 3: I'm always in a position where I'm able to do that when I can, especially with my daughter, like being able to spend time with her when she needs it.

00:30:16
Speaker 2: That's important.

00:30:18
Speaker 3: And then the last one is authenticity because how I am right now, If I am no matter where you see me in any environment, trap house, at the White House, like this is going to be what she is.

00:30:28
Speaker 2: And so those are like.

00:30:29
Speaker 3: My starting five and every decision I've made, I ladder it up to those and I'm like, does it check these boxes? And if it does, it's something that I know that I would be happy with.

00:30:38
Speaker 4: Love.

00:30:38
Speaker 2: So even from a professional sense, people have.

00:30:41
Speaker 3: Come with opportunities and say, hey, how would you like this opportunity, I can very easily say, well, can you handle these five things? These can be met. We can have a conversation and it's not that's cool mm hmm. I love that guiding principles. I'm going to take that on.

00:30:55
Speaker 1: I got to find out with my starting five and.

00:30:58
Speaker 2: It can evolve.

00:30:59
Speaker 3: But I think it's so much of who you are at your core. YEA, that like that's important. Like another one now is Atlanta. You know, I had had opportunities to leave Atlanta and my daughter was like, uh uh, I'm not leaving Atlanta, and so I I'd love to travel and yeah, you go places. And so at some point, like another opportunity came and she was like no, Mom, And I said, you know what, you didn't ask to be here. Yes, And if I could do anything by just having you stay here because you love this as your own, I can make that sacrifice. So like a silent six is being in Atlanta. If it's work related, ya, that's important personally. Yeah, speaking of motherhood, you are an amazing mom.

00:31:36
Speaker 1: And Marley, when I tell you she is true to herself is so so baby. When I tell you she's very matter of fact, she is not fake. No, Like I love that child. She was like, you did a really good job. I would say, she's so the truth. Sometimes I'm like a little less truth, little less true. Bring it back, bring it back right. When you talk about work, life, harm and having a child, how do you find harmony with everything that you have going on?

00:32:05
Speaker 2: I see you bring her the game, sometimes against her will.

00:32:08
Speaker 1: Sometimes sometimes she doesn't, like I do not want to do you understand who your mother is?

00:32:13
Speaker 2: She eats, she's ready to go. That is her. That is so funny.

00:32:17
Speaker 1: But how do you find harmony and everything that she have going on with the motherhood?

00:32:21
Speaker 3: You know, she is my first priority, and I'll tell everyone if I have to leave because she just started volleyball. She tells all her friends that her parents forced her to pick a sport, and I was like, okay, you picked this one right. But I really keep her first and so for as many things. And you know, her dad and I we co parent really well, and I'm grateful for that. That's good, but it's so much like I we'll think of all this stuff I have to do. And I was telling a friend of mine, I often ask her, how can I.

00:32:49
Speaker 2: Be a better mom to you?

00:32:50
Speaker 1: Wow?

00:32:51
Speaker 3: And I've asked her since she was really young, and she'd be like, you can give me more candy, like it was real, it was a real kid, Like right now, she's like no, mom, like you're good or helping her sort feelings that she has, or you know, she's like, you can make you can be less cringe when you drop me off at school, And I was like how, I'm like, oh, I turn it down the volume at a song. I really like to embarrass you. I'm like, no, I'm going.

00:33:11
Speaker 2: To be cringe. That's that's what it is.

00:33:13
Speaker 3: But just to like being able to communicate with her and make sure that we're good at some point, you know, like I recently started an entrepreneurial endeavor and I asked her. She's like, you know, you work a lot now or you're always tired. And I'm glad because she gives me perspective of gaps that I don't even see that I have. And I'm like, okay, so how can I have the balance? And I'm like Okay, So note to self. I need to put work away and when I have time with her, like make that focused time. And she's like, hey, we watch a movie together. Sometimes I'm like, yeah, put it on, come here. But you're correct, so I'm like, you know what, like stop that, like just sit with her and be there because you have a couple hours she's going to bed. And so it's just trying to be more intentional about things.

00:33:55
Speaker 2: But it's tough. Yeah, I can imagine.

00:33:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, speaking of taking on new professional endeavors, how has that been?

00:34:03
Speaker 2: Let's talk about it. I'm excited.

00:34:05
Speaker 1: I actually went you had for Vita Hell, yes, and I do want you to explain what it is because it's fascinating. Like I went to your facility and we're actually going to go there too. But I went to the facility and it was absolutely amazing, next level, like futuristic, amazing.

00:34:20
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:34:20
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:34:21
Speaker 3: And so myself and not my business partner, doctor Trevor Turner, we opened up a wellness center in Atlanta and Buckhead and it's all around longevity and like orthopedics, but really, how can you live as well as you can for as long as you can?

00:34:34
Speaker 5: Yes?

00:34:35
Speaker 3: And having all of these different modalities or services that we offer to do that.

00:34:38
Speaker 2: And you know, I was experienced wellness.

00:34:41
Speaker 3: My mom was a nurse, as I mentioned, an orthopedic nurse iron and you know, someone brought an idea to me around like hey, how do we you know, could we do something like this? And doctor Turner and I were introduced and we were like, okay, if we were to do this, like I want to be able to inform people of all of these things that have been in Hollywood and things like therapeutics of exchange where people are taking all the microplastics out of their blood, like that's something that's like only billionaires do that, but actually no, it's pretty affordable and you know you can do that here. People don't talk about it, and especially in the black community. So for me personally in being an investor, initially I was like, I'm gonna be a silent investor just in the background, and then that quickly changed, and I'm.

00:35:19
Speaker 1: Glad it did, because you say, our community does not know about these things. I wouldn't have known about it if it wasn't for you, So thank you for not being silent.

00:35:26
Speaker 3: Well, you know, and I'm you know, God put you in places where you did it like this was never my This was not my idea to be where I am as a part of this business. But you know, things changed and it made it so that was the opportunity. And I was like, there's clearly a reason, and I'm going to walk in it and you know, to the best I can as this vessel. Yeah, and so it's amazing because now we just had an open house on Saturday and people came in and we learned about we have IV therapy, we have an AI robotic massage table which it's called Escape.

00:35:56
Speaker 2: People love it.

00:35:57
Speaker 3: Oh, literally this robots giving you a massage. They learned all the different massage techniques and I mean I've done it a bunch of times and I'm like, it really is good. It is in ways that you're like, oh, I.

00:36:08
Speaker 1: Didn't know what to expect, but it was amazing. I felt really good after words.

00:36:12
Speaker 2: Relax. It is.

00:36:13
Speaker 3: And so even as an owner in Pravida, you know, I decided to invest in an executive physical because it's very much what it's kind of the crux of everything that we do. Get all this data about yourself, whether it's genomics, whether it's your gut health, understanding what vitamins you're deficient in, and not just taking random supplements, but taking supplements that really are for you based on your deficiency. I love that you all do the IVY cocktail.

00:36:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, all the vitamins that you need, not just pumping you with random stuff.

00:36:38
Speaker 3: And then for people that may not want IVS, we have a partnership with Vitamin Labs. We'll make supplement packets for you, personalized below what you need. You have an amazing head of imaging and so we have a Texa scanner that tells you about your bone density.

00:36:50
Speaker 2: Oh I did that. I had the bones of a thirty year old. Okay.

00:36:55
Speaker 1: He was like, you don't have any there's no like, no, yeah, none of that in your future.

00:37:00
Speaker 2: I was like, come on, lord, you know, but there's so many things about yourself you don't know.

00:37:05
Speaker 3: So as a part of our executive physical Word Pernuvo partner, if you've see in Perneuvo you get a full body MRI and I just didn't.

00:37:11
Speaker 2: Coming to do that.

00:37:11
Speaker 1: I wanted I've been wanted to do that because that was something that the wealthy was doing to kind of get ahead of cancer or know their ailment.

00:37:18
Speaker 2: You have stage one cancer.

00:37:20
Speaker 3: Some people may have brain aneurysms and walk around and be unaware. And so the idea of preventative health is something that you know, in America, we're just so used to reactionary. Time has to go wrong, it's really then you're then you're sick, and now you're in the system trying to get well. Yeah, and so for us, the whole idea of prevention and they can it personalized.

00:37:38
Speaker 2: To you is really really where we are and then predictive.

00:37:41
Speaker 3: So a lot of it is the data and ultimately, if you come in and you you know, use our services, you know.

00:37:46
Speaker 2: More about yourself than your primary care positional. Yeah, that's amazing. It's crazy.

00:37:50
Speaker 1: I did not know my mother passed away from a brain aneurysm. I had no idea those skins would actually help with that too, because I had before. Probably I haven't had lately, and I don't know if it's because of like work stress when I'm working, like when I'm filming and stuff.

00:38:05
Speaker 2: But I was having these really bad dizzy spells and.

00:38:08
Speaker 1: I was like, because when people can have brain amurges and not even know it, that's literally crazy, no idea. Yeah, and I know it's not hereditary, but like to hear that this can actually let me know like what's going on there in my brain as well.

00:38:23
Speaker 2: I definitely got to do it now.

00:38:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean and doctor Turner is phenomenal and then so much.

00:38:27
Speaker 2: I mean, people we talked about like shoulder injuries. Yeah, hip I got back problem.

00:38:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, because I was like, girl, I was like, I don't know what's going on.

00:38:34
Speaker 2: With my spine. I think I got a slip.

00:38:35
Speaker 1: Miss You're like, come over and I'm fine now, but now my thumb. I was like, I don't know what is going on. After forty it's like everything just start kicking breaking down.

00:38:46
Speaker 3: I'm not with you, but this has truly been helpful for me, even just to know where you are for a baseline and be able to go back. Absolutely, I'm grateful for it. We're just starting out, and so the goal is really Grope. We want people to come in and learn about it and take a tour and say but you know, ultimately like I want for Vida Health everywhere in the state, and that's you know, the long term vision, and you know, I hope that if we're doing things the right way and you know, treating people well and really ultimately helping them making impact on lives.

00:39:12
Speaker 1: Right, that's where we'll go. I love that, and I think this is a good time to go.

00:39:16
Speaker 2: Should we go over there. Let's do it. Let's do it. We'll finish this at for Vida Health. We're going on that.

00:39:25
Speaker 7: You and your baby Ragusa, welcome to for Vida Healthy.

00:39:36
Speaker 2: Hey, ladies, this.

00:39:37
Speaker 3: Is our amazing teams Trenise and Andy.

00:39:40
Speaker 5: Yeah we met before. Thank you.

00:39:45
Speaker 1: Happy to be here, Happy to bring my key to positive city community here so we can learn more about Pavida Health. Super excited for my dear friend Melissa, and excited to show them everything you guys have to offer because it is definitely next level futuristic.

00:39:58
Speaker 5: That's why I was telling her.

00:40:00
Speaker 1: I was like, it's just a futuristic experience. So excited to see all you guys have to offer.

00:40:04
Speaker 3: Cool, let's do it.

00:40:05
Speaker 5: Let's get it a lot.

00:40:08
Speaker 6: So as we come back through this store, past the massage room, you're gonna see two kind of large medical interventions on the right.

00:40:15
Speaker 5: First one over.

00:40:15
Speaker 6: Here is a table we use for diagnostics called dexa scanner for the ability to tell you about bone density, which is huge, especially as females age. We really focus on the prevention of osteopenia and osteoporosis, which is a major factor on how well people are moving and continue to move by avoiding fractures and.

00:40:35
Speaker 5: Their hipp ands.

00:40:36
Speaker 6: Fine that the bones, Yes, it's like you're probably yeah, you're blessed of good habits and probably good genetics as well.

00:40:44
Speaker 4: Ye.

00:40:46
Speaker 6: That leads us to the next port, which is body composition. So DEX is the gold standard for body composition, which is great. It tells us not just about where your muscle is and where your fat is, but also about a hidden piece of fat that you can't see on the surface called visceral adipose, which is the fat around your organs, which almost acts like a hormone that secretes information. And so we always pay attention to how much fat and how much muscle people have so that they can be resilient in age in a healthy way. But making sure that we don't have a lot of fat around organs is really really critical, and we would treat patients differently depending on if there was a lot or a.

00:41:25
Speaker 5: Little of that.

00:41:25
Speaker 6: So as we move kind of past that room, if you look over here on the left side, this machine. You may have seen an ICU before. It's called a TPE or therapeutic plasma exchange. And we've got emerging data now that shows there's no other tool in medicine that really reduces mold, heavy metals, pesticide, srbosides, and now microplastics all together in a single session. We have some patients who are coming because there was an Italian study that showed you could reduce cognitive decline and like, for me, in my face, that's really important. I had a grandfather with Alzheimer's grandmother.

00:42:04
Speaker 1: Yeah, when we talk about microplastics, there's a lot of studies around drinking from plastic bottles and even microwaving plastics. Is that the type of microplastics that you're talking about?

00:42:14
Speaker 6: Details removed, Yes, And we're finding that they're hidden in places maybe we wouldn't even expect. So I could ask for a paper cup, but it turns out the paper cup is lined with plastic on the inside. So and even if I ask for a glass bottle, I heard it about the plastic all the cap right, So I heard that exactly, and we to what extent those cause disease. We're just scratching the surface. But I'll give you one example. When we do heart surgery and we take plaques out of people's heart, we're finding that microplastics are embedded in some of those plaques. So the degree to which they cause either disease that we don't think about or disrupt hormones, et cetera, those are things that we're still studying and learning about in medicine, but I think a lot of people are becoming more attuned to how significant they really may be.

00:42:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, so what is there prices? You draw the blood out, it go through.

00:43:03
Speaker 6: So this would be staffed by a nurse who's done this a bunch of times and is excellent because she stuck me in.

00:43:08
Speaker 5: She did a great job. Was a painless insertion.

00:43:11
Speaker 6: But you get two big ivs started, and so one of those ivs would take out your blood in your plasma. It would filter out the dirty plasma with all the inflammatory factors in it, and then it would put your blood back into your body and the same basically procedure. Okay, got it. Yeah, I'd like this experience, so have I. But we had a patient who came in Actually he wore VR goggles the whole time, so he just hung out for a couple hours and got his TPE and then took off.

00:43:45
Speaker 5: Deal.

00:43:46
Speaker 6: There's no real yeah, and no real recovery time associated with it, but you know, I would say afterwards, I kind of felt like I did a hard workout, so really Yeah, So I took one night off and I was back in the gym the next day.

00:43:59
Speaker 5: Good time. Yeah. Yeah.

00:44:02
Speaker 6: As we keep moving this way, you'll see this semi region hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Hyperbaric oxygen kind of became known for treating divers who had injuries that stayed.

00:44:13
Speaker 5: Down too long under the ocean.

00:44:14
Speaker 6: Yeah. I supervised the chamber in Florida years ago, and then we got interested in it because it improves wound heealing really well. So for me, if I'm doing any kind of orthopedic procedure for a patient, or especially here for our skincare patients, if they come to get chemical peels or micro needling or maybe a filler of botox, being able to push oxygen under some pressure underneath the skin while you have a quote fresh wound a lot of times enhances your outcomes, And so we pay attention to that because we always say there's a good way to treat patients. There's a better way, and there's a best way, and really what we're trying to do.

00:44:49
Speaker 5: Is give everybody the best way every time they come in. Yeah, as we.

00:44:53
Speaker 6: Keep moving to the side, there's an IV therapy suite. You probably familiar with IV therapy because there's a lot places that do it. One thing that's unique about how we do it is every IV a patient gets here is a prescription from me, and that that prescription is really based on your unique micronutrient profile.

00:45:13
Speaker 5: So that means the kind of.

00:45:13
Speaker 6: IV you're getting is going to be different from what I would get or molistaly because it's going to be tailored to your specific physiology, right, and we prevete on the mission as always personalization, So we want you to have the most effective IV you could get every time if you.

00:45:30
Speaker 5: Have a need for that type of therapy.

00:45:31
Speaker 6: Okay, And then as we keep moving down the way, we have this kind of very bright light fancy room which is aesthetics are done. My room is as a little more basic as we as we're doing ORTHO, it's a little more straightforward. But this device is called a fluoroscope, and so if we have to do an advanced procedure for somebody's spine or joints. This giant sea allows you to rotate around the body and that allows me to capture essentially a three dimensional picture. So it enables me to be very very safe in the event that I need to do a procedure. It also enables me to be highly accurate. So anytime we want to treat something, it needs to be guided by an image so we know that we're.

00:46:12
Speaker 5: Hitting the right target.

00:46:14
Speaker 6: So we do have a source of doing that without radiation, and that is this big ultrasound machine that you see over here. I use ultrasound for a couple of other purposes to diagnose as well. So a lot of us sometimes think that the best way to get a picture done is to get an MRI, and MRIs are great for some things, but there's still pictures. And so if a patient comes in, sometimes they'll say I'm hurting. I'm hurting, and I had an MRI and it said I was normal, And so I'll say, well, let me put the ultrasound probe on your shoulder or whatever it is and watch you actually move. And sometimes we pick up on things that we would miss with a still picture, like an MRI, so ultrasound gives us an advantage in that regard. And then you know, we have a tech come in once a week, and nice thing about that is she's trained to do heart, liver, kidney, breast overy, pelvis, prostate, et cetera. So, especially if someone's coming in here to get surveillance for any kind of hormone replacement therapy, we can look at all the quote risk factors and really minimize them however possible.

00:47:17
Speaker 4: Right.

00:47:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, I recently went and got a breast exam, did the normal exam, and they called me back for a second look, and it was the ultrasound that they were able to really get a good look.

00:47:27
Speaker 5: So I understand what you're saying, So let me take the ultrasound.

00:47:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have to help you get a better look into things.

00:47:31
Speaker 6: Yeah, And in the United States, I think approximately forty percent of women have done spreast tissue that requires ultra something and they all get callbacks. And of course, when you're in the patient and you go get a scan done and they call you back, it makes you nervous.

00:47:45
Speaker 1: Right an, I was filming when I got that callback, So on top of like the anxiety and pressures of work. Then it's also like do I have cancer? You know, and it's never the call that you want to get. But as a patient was also like, why don't you just give if you know I have bitsbruash tissues, just give me an ultrasound instead of taking me through all.

00:48:05
Speaker 5: That, right right? So yeah, so we do use ultrasound for that.

00:48:12
Speaker 6: And then and then there are some patients who let's say they have a family history of a particular kind of cancer or let's say an aneurysm or something that's otherwise hard to detect. We will offer them. We have a contract with Pernuvo so they can go get full body MRIs for surveillance.

00:48:28
Speaker 1: I just learned that. I knew that you could find out if you may have cancer in any stage with the Pernuvo scanning. But my mother passed away from a brain aneurysm. So when she told me today, I was like, Okay, I really need to get it because I don't know you could also see that if I've had an aneurysm before, that's crazy.

00:48:47
Speaker 6: We have actually a patient in our practice is signed up as a member, had a similar story. You know, her mother had passed for that and actually found a really really tiny one. Right, But now she knows and at least she has the opportunity to do something about it before it becomes severe. Right, So very much about empowering people with data. The more data you have, I think, the better you can prepare and make better decisions.

00:49:11
Speaker 5: Absolutely that all right, Doug.

00:49:18
Speaker 1: This is my favorite part. One of my favorite parts of your facility is the escape massage.

00:49:24
Speaker 5: This thing is is crazy. I don't think people are ready.

00:49:27
Speaker 6: We were very proud to roll this out. So we're our first people in Georgia to have one.

00:49:31
Speaker 1: So today we have big fella.

00:49:33
Speaker 5: He is in here.

00:49:34
Speaker 1: He is about to get a massage. Are you guys ready? Hey, big fella, it's so funny.

00:49:49
Speaker 3: We are all right.

00:49:51
Speaker 1: So they're going to show you how this is done. Because you're hear of the shot. There you go, never took it back to the camera, bright, All right, keep.

00:50:01
Speaker 4: All of that.

00:50:04
Speaker 7: He's gonna give you.

00:50:06
Speaker 4: Is gonna give you a tutorial, alrighty. So you already have your clothes on, which are perfect. You'll lay on the table on your stomach and your face will go in the face rest. Once you get on the table, there's gonna be a full onboarding process for you because it's as welcome with it'll do a body scan. You can change the bolster setting, the headdress, and the arm rest setting, all with the touch of a button. You can change the pressure, the music that plays, and even the video that plays on screen. All right, no problem.

00:50:39
Speaker 6: Yeah, So, because we capture so much data on each patient, typically we use a screen like this that enables us to put all the things up at one time, and that makes it easily more understood and visualize so that you don't leave thinking, well, gosh, they told me so many things and.

00:50:58
Speaker 5: Now I've lost right.

00:51:00
Speaker 6: So you can see a bunch of different kinds of data, and we call this concept to the digital twin. So if you look up here, there's two different sets of DNA on the far left side we would typically get. One is the DNA that you would use from your saliva and that's what your mom and dad gave you, and the other is actually the DNA of the little microbes that inhabit your colon, and we call that the microbiome. There's been a lot of evidence about how the interaction between the bugs that live in your gut affect your immune system and your brain in particular, and so we use that as a way to stratify risk. We do draw blood and look at micro nutrients. So anybody who gets a medicine or a supplement here is getting it because we test it in such a way that we know your unique.

00:51:44
Speaker 5: Prescription is unique to you.

00:51:46
Speaker 6: We do get exercise data and so you see that guy on the bike that's called Yu.

00:51:53
Speaker 1: No, I gotta do it again.

00:51:55
Speaker 6: Great, it's just well, we'll have to get the music a little more hardcore. But yeah, So that tells us about how well you breathe in oxygen, how well you pump it to your muscles, and then how well your.

00:52:06
Speaker 5: Muscles use it.

00:52:07
Speaker 6: And it used to be we used votwo max for athletes who are trying to win races. But we also found that for like during COVID, for example, if you wanted to be the person who is super sick and you wanted to get out of the hospital and get off a ventilator, well, it turns out having a higher VO two max predicted your survivability in a better way. So on the one hand, it's applicable to pro athletes, but on the other hand, it's applical for everybody, Yeah, who wants to just have a good quality of life and a good health span.

00:52:36
Speaker 5: Can I ask you something treating our COVID.

00:52:39
Speaker 1: Have you noticed a rise in people with breathing issues after COVID? Because I know, for me, I'm implementing like running into my workout schedule now or workout regimen now, and for a while, like I could barely like keep up.

00:52:53
Speaker 5: I was like cutting it off.

00:52:54
Speaker 3: I was like, this is too much.

00:52:55
Speaker 1: Just even breathing was hard, and even with singing, like I can't hold my breath for as long as I used to. And I'm wondering if COVID had any type of implications on that.

00:53:04
Speaker 6: We've definitely seen some patients have longer term pulmonary scarring, some little scars on the end side of their lungs, depending on how they responded in the severity of the disease they had. But you can train that, right, So the important part is one recognizing it. And it sounds like you have some insight because you're working out all the time, so.

00:53:23
Speaker 5: You notice the difference.

00:53:24
Speaker 6: Yeah, right, But then we could test for it, and we could program the way that you work out in such a way to optimize how much volume you take in and out when you breathe and hopefully get you past that limitation so you don't notice it.

00:53:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a lot better now, but I know it's like the last two minutes of my move today, my heart was like it felt almost like constricted, like it was like like it hurt.

00:53:46
Speaker 6: I was like, well, we'll book your VIA two next test.

00:53:48
Speaker 1: Nice whatever you're yeah.

00:53:53
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:53:53
Speaker 6: So we do use images, which we talked about a little bit. So you see the dexa scan here, ultrasound that we talked about over here, and the way we're using ultrasound is typically to get an actual picture of the inside of.

00:54:04
Speaker 5: Your blood vessels.

00:54:06
Speaker 6: So you know, you draw a cholesterol panel and it's like, well, maybe you got black in your arter ease. Maybe you don't, we don't really know, but if you take a picture of it actually look inside, we can be very confident and then the discussion about how we minimize cardiac risk becomes much better informed. And you see the whole body MRI over here on the right side, which we talked about.

00:54:26
Speaker 5: And we do use some data for wearables.

00:54:28
Speaker 6: So for example, I think Melissa's wearing a glucose monitor right now, Melissa is not a diabetic, but we're learning about the kinds of food she eats and the order in which she eats, and how it affects how you release glucose and insulin and how you recover from workouts. So we find a lot of meaning from that data. And when you put it all together, Really the goal is that you know so much now about your individual physiology you become the master of them.

00:54:54
Speaker 5: Right. Yeah.

00:54:55
Speaker 6: And there was a paper published related to microbiome called the American Gut Project.

00:55:01
Speaker 5: There's a term they used in that paper.

00:55:02
Speaker 6: Called citizens scient Test, and I was like, well, I want every patient who comes in the store to become a citizen scient test because when they're informed by that kind of data, you can make the best decisions for yourself.

00:55:14
Speaker 1: Well, this has been amazing, very informative. I'm glad we got to come and share your facility with people. I think the older I get, the more I am being more cognizant of my health and making sure I'm taking the proper steps. And especially with this last demonstration, it shows you so much. I recently went to the doctor because every time I go for my annual I get blood taken to like around nine panels of blood taken to really see what's going on when I'm defishing in and came back.

00:55:42
Speaker 2: That I was borderline diabetic.

00:55:44
Speaker 1: Yes, so when you said you're in the Glue Coast monitor, I was like, hmm, that may be something I need to do as well, just to make sure that those levels are changing. I recently took on fasting this month and I was doing a sixteen to eight or yes, yes, six to eighteen yeah, in a manifesting windows so eighteen hours I'm not eating, and then up from twelve to six I'll eat. I wanted to ask you how sustainable is it? Can that be a lifestyle or is that something that you shouldn't try to do.

00:56:15
Speaker 6: No, I think it's been sustainable for a lot of people.

00:56:19
Speaker 3: For me.

00:56:20
Speaker 6: You know, we use like and Melissa know something called a fasting mimicking diet, which is like a five day protocol. We see other people who do twelve twelves. We see people who do other intervals besides sixteen eight. I've had people do one meal a day, which I would not be good at doing, but some people really like that, right, So I do think.

00:56:40
Speaker 5: There's a lot of data to support that. And if you find that it fits your lifestyle.

00:56:44
Speaker 1: I have found that I have so much energy. I don't know what that is on it's come resting more.

00:56:48
Speaker 5: I'm going to bed.

00:56:49
Speaker 1: Earlier and waking up earlier and making sure I work out every day.

00:56:53
Speaker 2: But this is my second week, and.

00:56:55
Speaker 1: Normally around twelve one o'clock or even like around sometimes around at two three o'clock window, I'll feel a crash coming. And I have not felt that in this past two weeks. I used to joke around saying it was nap time like that when we were.

00:57:10
Speaker 5: In school where we have to go to sleep.

00:57:12
Speaker 1: I was like, maybe this is just kind of carried on into adulthood. But I feel like it was my eating habits and even my schedule and not resting enough. But I did want to know if that's something that's sustainable.

00:57:21
Speaker 6: Yeah, And I think to your point, if you were to study that phenomenon you just described with a glucose monitor, what you would probably find, and I know this from personal experience, is that time when you felt like it was nap time, it's probably because you had a big glucose swing up and then a big swing the opposite way after your insulin was released. So it's that low period that gets you feeling like, oh, it's after lunch and men a coma.

00:57:45
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:57:46
Speaker 6: Right, but it sounds like you're, you know, mastering your own faith because with the sixteen eight window, it sounds like you're not having the crash, which is great.

00:57:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's crazy. So since we got here, I had my lunch with me. As soon as it strike the clock strikes club, I was like, because I didn't want to be in here, like, oh no, I'm sorry.

00:58:04
Speaker 3: You know what's so interesting is I told you as you know, becoming a part of Pravita, I decided to get an executive membership for myself to do the executive physical. So doctor Turner mentioned, I've never worn a glue coast monitor.

00:58:14
Speaker 2: My mom was diabetic my entire life.

00:58:16
Speaker 3: She actually had your stational diabetes when she had me. Wow, And so I've always seen her shooting slant and just that was the norm. So putting on this glue coast monitor, I was telling dow to Turner. The first week I had it, those swings up down that time, I saw it, and then I did a five day the Prolo fast and it was even the entire time while I was fast and I felt amazing and I'm like wow, he said, it was like, now you have the data and it shows you sleeping better, like all of the things connected. So understanding like how fasting and the benefits of that, but also seeing how it impacts those are things I would have never been privy to really understanding with the data behind it without going through this process.

00:58:53
Speaker 1: So the glue coast monitors, it's something that you like have to like super tiny did her right here?

00:58:58
Speaker 4: Not?

00:58:59
Speaker 5: He had to put a on for me. I was like, I can't do it.

00:59:01
Speaker 3: I was like, oh, I didn't feel it.

00:59:02
Speaker 5: Oh, it's so easy. Maybe when you don't know, you don't know. Yes, that's a normal feeling. How long do you keep it on?

00:59:11
Speaker 3: The one that we have last for fifteen days, so you know you can do it once, you can do it twice. But being able to see over time and then you can take a picture of what do you eat so you understand where.

00:59:20
Speaker 2: Those highs and lows come from.

00:59:22
Speaker 5: Right, And then for me, I wore it.

00:59:24
Speaker 6: I mean I was still doing crossfits, I was doing pull ups and overhead squats. Didn't interfere with me at all. And then of course when people around you see you doing it, they're like, what is that?

00:59:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I want that, right, I want.

00:59:37
Speaker 6: Michael Goes to be better than yours. Good competition, right, But it becomes a team, and I think, you know, people engaged in a common pursuit, they hold each other accountable and that community.

00:59:48
Speaker 5: Is very powerful. Absolutely, and that's really what we're here to create, is powering community. Yeah, I love it.

00:59:55
Speaker 1: Yes, So tell the people where you guys are, where they can find you. We want to say as many people as we can your way so that we all can live a bit better, healthier lifestyle.

01:00:05
Speaker 5: Thank you so much.

01:00:06
Speaker 4: Yeah.

01:00:06
Speaker 6: We're on the south side of Buckhead, close to Piedmont Atlanta Hospital. I address eighteen oh one Peachtree Street, Northeast Sweet one fifty. We have a beautiful video about how to come in if you're coming in for the first time.

01:00:17
Speaker 5: I'm free parking, so that's great.

01:00:19
Speaker 3: We love reparking parking in Atlanta.

01:00:21
Speaker 2: Fafriena dot com.

01:00:22
Speaker 3: We're on Instagram, We're on Facebook, we're on LinkedIn. You can see all the information testimonials. I think the people who are coming in are really having an impact and a stoptor trying to mention we're trying to create that community. So thank you for coming. You are now part of our community.

01:00:35
Speaker 5: I love it. Thank you guys so much, Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

01:00:39
Speaker 1: Hey, guys, we just finished our very first kifts Field trip. I hope you all had an amazing time touring the Parvida Health Facility with me. I know I did, I've been there before, but today I learned so much more. What I want you, guys to focus on is getting in front of your health issues versus trying to catch up with them.

01:00:56
Speaker 2: All right in the meantime in between time.

01:00:59
Speaker 1: Keep it positive, sweeties, and remember share this episode with someone who use a little positivity.

01:01:04
Speaker 2: Have a good one. See you next time.