How Creating Community Can Supercharge Your Practice – Meet Women’s Health Coach Graduate Mary Vidal

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:00:03 Hi and welcome to the Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. I’m your host, Doctor Jessica Drummond, and I am so thrilled to have you here as we dive into today’s episode. As always, innovating and integrating in the world of women’s health. And just as a reminder, the content in this podcast episode is no substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment from your medical or licensed health care team. While myself and many of my guests are licensed healthcare professionals, we are not your licensed healthcare professionals, so you want to get advice on your unique circumstances. Diagnostic recommendations treatment recommendations from your home medical team. Enjoy the episode. Let’s innovate and integrate together. Hi, and welcome back to the Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. I’m your host, doctor Jessica Drummond, founder and CEO of the Integrative Women’s Health Institute. Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Mary Vidal. She is such a inspiration. Truly. She became a member of the Women’s Health Coach Certification community a few years ago. She’s participated in multiple of our certificate programs and is an active member of our alumni association.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:01:35 We have great conversations every week because her business is growing and expanding like crazy in, gosh, like three different arenas. So I’m not going to give any spoilers. I want you to just dive in and listen and be inspired by a woman who, as her kids were transitioning, she’s kind of in the empty nest phase. she was ready to do something really meaningful for her life and her career that aligned with her own story and her own vision. And I’ll let you hear it directly from her. Let’s get right to the episode. I’m so thrilled to be introducing you today to Mary Vidal. She is one of our Women’s Health coach graduates and gosh, also Alumni Association member. We talk all the time about what’s going on in her practice. Welcome, Mary.

Mary Vidal 00:02:36 Hey Jessica, happy to be here today.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:02:39 Thank you so much. So I’m hopeful that by the end of this conversation, someone listening is going to say, you know what? That sounds like a really interesting, fun, impactful job and I can’t wait to hear Mary’s story.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:02:56 It’s inspired me. It sounds like something I want to do. So let’s start with before you ever shifted into joining our Women’s Health Coach certification. What was going on in your life and your work? Let’s talk about the before a little bit.

Mary Vidal 00:03:14 Sure. I’ll go like way before. A little bit just to frame things. I spent about 12 years in the corporate job doing data analytics, and it was really intense. And I have a husband who works at Intense Job as well. And when we have our first child, I decided to leave that career behind and become a yoga teacher. And that really set me on my women’s health journey. And that was 20 years ago. So along the way, I never intended to work in women’s health, but most other practitioners and health coaches are personal. Stories really are what bring us to the practice. I had a lot of pelvic floor For issues. And when I was teaching yoga, it was to postnatal women, and I saw a lot of the same issues I was dealing with in my students.

Mary Vidal 00:04:04 So I went on this really long journey to figure out how to heal myself and how to help my students heal as well. And it really set me on the path. And fast forward to the present. I have a very holistic and integrative approach to fitness and movement, which is really where I started. But I really knew that when I was working with my clients, I work mostly one on one now. Everything that kind of got in the way of their fitness and movement had to do with other things in their life, with their health, with their sleep, with their eating. And I really wanted to dive into that a little deeper and help them more. And I had some training, and I had been working in a very holistic sense, but I personally didn’t feel like I knew enough. And I wanted also a little more Tangible coaching skills because I feel like I’m pretty intuitive in terms of coaching, but I knew there had to be a very specific or more practical way to coach people in an effective way.

Mary Vidal 00:05:09 And so when I heard about the program, it was actually it was like six years ago, but it wasn’t really on my radar to do that kind of thing. And but it’s always in the back of my mind. And I would get your newsletters, which I love. And it was just like I thought about it a long time. And I finally got to the point where my youngest actually just graduated from high school. So when I signed up for the program, I was like, okay, this is going to set me up for the next phase of life where I’d like to do more health coaching and potentially go more virtual than what I’m doing now. I do mostly in person, so it just seemed like really great timing, and that’s how I ended up in the program.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:05:50 Yes, and I think that’s such an interesting misconception that people have about coaching. I think it’s an interesting balance between you can have an aptitude for coaching, just like many other things. Like naturally, you were probably you were doing this already with your yoga, teaching with working with people.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:06:09 You might be the person in your friend group that people come to you to share their stories and things. But there is a difference between that aptitude and then developing the skills. Can you go a little deeper in what that meant to you?

Mary Vidal 00:06:25 Yeah, it’s funny because even when I signed up for the program, I didn’t have a good understanding of what health coaching was. In my mind, I was thinking, I really want to help people. I want to give them recommendations and for their health and help them be more healthy. And when I started doing the program and getting really into the details of it, I learned very quickly that it’s more about the client. It’s very much client led and more about listening to them. It really changed my view on what health coaching was, but it made me even more interested in the field because just when I started to dip my toe in, I realized like how powerful the coaching practice is. And it made me even more excited, actually, to become a health coach.

Mary Vidal 00:07:14 But it was not what I was anticipating. So that was like a surprise for me.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:07:19 Yeah, I think that’s so often a surprise. And I think, of course we have the education around hormones and nutrition and the lifestyle, things to change. And the harder thing sometimes for people is finding a space where someone where they really feel safe and heard. And we’re going to get to your new program in a minute, where I think you’re really creating that beautifully. So we know that before this work, you had a completely different career. Then you shifted into yoga and fitness. How did you find us and what wasn’t working in your fitness career, or what was the impetus to wanting to learn coaching? Were there any other specific, like people you were trying to work with, or you were curious about nutrition, or where were some of the gaps that you were looking at that time?

Mary Vidal 00:08:17 At the time, I was doing what I call holistic fitness and self-care. So I would meet with clients and it was mostly movement, but I would spend a good amount of time talking to them about all the lifestyle, things that impacted their fitness.

Mary Vidal 00:08:35 And again, I was hitting up against, I felt like I had some lack of knowledge. I wanted to go deeper and also at the same time, my health journey. I started out with core pelvic floor issues and I became very educated in those areas. But I was also entering perimenopause, and I found Jennie Burrell, who I did a postnatal training with her and her third age training, which is how I found you. And that really set me more in the direction of health coaching. One my personal journey with every journey I had my perimenopause and after I did the training, I had breast cancer and after breast cancer had breast cancer recovery issues and I was diagnosed with osteopenia. So with every stage of life, with every new health issue I come across, it makes me even more passionate about what I do. Because you would think at this point, like I would have the whole health thing down. But every new health issue is like a journey on its own. But I do have a lot of the skills.

Mary Vidal 00:09:46 Having navigated all these things in the past, I would really love helping other people build their own toolkit so that they can to support themselves as they go through the different phases of life. Because I do feel like once we hit the 40s and beyond, there’s a lot more things that we have to manage, and to have a framework and a structure to support ourselves is really important. It makes a big difference.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:10:12 Absolutely. And I think what you’re talking about there, in terms of your own health journey, it was like it’s one thing gets solved, then something else comes up. It’s very dynamic. Whereas I think when people think about health and sickness and wellness, it feels very binary and linear, like you’re sick or you’re well. But as you mentioned, you could have very strong pelvic health and then you navigate postpartum. You fully recover, you feel very active. You feel full of vitality. Then you shift to perimenopause and some things crop up that might feel confusing, or you’re doing all the same things and your body is changing, or your stress levels are changing, and then you navigate a cancer diagnosis, and then you’re cancer free and you have some post cancer sequelae that a lot of the Western systems don’t handle very well.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:11:14 And even some integrative systems if if people aren’t seen as constantly on the journey. And I think that’s one of the reasons that health coaching is so important, because even in integrative kind of health care, like clinical care, there’s this sense of now you’re well, but what exactly does that mean? It’s always a dynamic shift. Would you agree?

Mary Vidal 00:11:39 Oh, absolutely. For one, going back to your comment of it’s not a linear thing, I always point to this, that graph of like crazy like back and forth. It has an arrow, but it’s like up and down and back and forth. And that is totally what my journey has been. And I’m sure it’s the same for other people. And then in terms of like cancer care, it is absolutely true. Even when it’s integrative, a lot of it is okay, you’re cancer free and not a lot is being discussed about quality of life afterwards, the longer term after effects. And so if the individual is not on top of monitoring and understanding that this could be a long term thing, it becomes very challenging because things crop up and you don’t realize that it is because of some of the treatment that you had.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:12:28 Yeah. And I want to refer people to our episode with Margie Bissinger and Doctor Lisa Moore. Lisa Moore is an expert in osteopenia for cancer recovery. And as you said, sometimes that can come out of the blue, especially at the time when you’re in perimenopause transition and you’re losing that supportive estrogen and then you have the treatment which compounds that. So I think your personal journey, plus all your skills and knowledge, plus the application to movement and fitness and coming at that from such an integrative place, that was always your bent, but now you have the skills and the tools from the program and the multiple programs that you’ve been a part of at the Integrative Women’s Health Institute to really uplevel your practice, to work with this level of complexity, with confidence. Tell us a bit more about what you’re doing now. Some of the benchmarks along the way that really felt like, okay, I’m having some real success in this career. Maybe not complete transition, but up leveling, if you will.

Mary Vidal 00:13:35 Yeah, definitely.

Mary Vidal 00:13:36 It’s been an up leveling process. Even as I was going through the training, I started applying my coaching skills to my existing like training clients and right away, like I really Notice like what a difference it is when you empower your client to make their own decisions, even from a fitness standpoint. Obviously I’m training them, but like they really know themselves. And so I started from there and I also started in addition doing individual health coaching, which I hadn’t done before. So I felt much more confident, like I felt like I probably could have done that before, but I didn’t feel like I had the confidence to get out there. I was like, definitely had some imposter syndrome going on and and also to. I figured out along the way, with the help of some of the other members, that doing a hybrid of the two has become like a really key part of my business, because I find that I do mostly like in-person, but the community that I work in, people don’t seem to really want to spend their time and money in health coaching.

Mary Vidal 00:14:49 But fitness, they always want a personal trainer. I want to know how to work out. And then when we do a hybrid thing, all of a sudden it opens the door for them to talk about their health. And I find I feel like fitness is like a gateway to health coaching, because it’s so much easier to get them once I get them talking and I’m listening to them like, oh yeah, then I have this and I didn’t sleep and my stomach is upset. And then and when I do a hybrid session with people, I leave it because I do an hour long session and I leave the ratio of health coaching to fitness open to the client so they can decide, well, today I just need to talk. And that has happened and it’s been really powerful. I’m really excited to play with this some more. So it’s in I feel like I’m in transition. And then along with that, I’ve really been looking to work more with the perimenopause and beyond population because that’s really where I am.

Mary Vidal 00:15:47 And I also feel like that’s where there is a bigger gap. There’s so many people supporting post-natal, which is a great thing, but we still really need to build out more of the helping women through perimenopause and beyond. To that end, I feel like we all really also need community and connection with other people to get through this time. There’s so many stories there. Everyone has their own perspective, and just to get together and talk about it is so important. And it’s really been a dream of mine for since pre-COVID to start a group. And I just didn’t get it together. Part of it again with that like imposter syndrome, but also just like how to do it, how to make it happen and with a lot of effort. And I found this beautiful space to do it in. And since January, I’ve been holding a monthly meeting, and I have a women’s health expert come in to every meeting to give a talk and do Q&A. But it’s really a beautiful, like, intimate group where we get together and it starts out like a coaching session where we share stories.

Mary Vidal 00:16:50 I called it the Menopause Mojo Society. Really, it comes from, I think one of the things I really loved about the Women’s Health Coaching program was learning how to celebrate, because I think as women were so busy chasing like, I have to get all these things done, I have to get fit. And like every time we get to the next level, there’s something else. So we never pause and really celebrate. And so have us do that on a regular basis. And it’s always so hard. You stop people and say, what are you celebrating? And it’s such a challenge, and it’s a skill to muscle that we need to work. And so I really built my Menopause Mojo Society based off of that. Let’s put celebration first. Let’s think about this stage of life as like transformational. Yes, there are a lot of things that we need to overcome, but it can be such an empowering, beautiful stage. We just have to get some help navigating it and be able to dream though.

Mary Vidal 00:17:54 So I feel like I kick off all my meetings with having people share mojo moments is what I call it, and that’s their celebration. And it’s been wonderful. Like really happy.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:18:05 I love that, and I think one of the things you said in the beginning or a little bit earlier was fitness can be the gateway to coaching. Sometimes it’s challenging to describe coaching or coaching like to be clear about it from a marketing standpoint. And yet there’s a principle in marketing of and we teach a lot of this in the business aspect of the program of sell people what they want, but then give them what they need. And you’ve created such beautiful space for that. They think they want a 25 year old body. Right. Okay. Who doesn’t? But in that transition, what they realized they actually want and actually need is a safe space for exploring what the intuitively already know, at least like 80% what they need. Yes, there’s space for skillful fitness program development, for skillful nutrition, recommendations for skillful testing and supplement recommendations and lifestyle recommendations.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:19:17 But very often, as you mentioned, our clients know, at least to some degree, their next step. And so it actually if you create a hybrid model and we’ve seen this time and time again, and clients in our students who are fitness professionals, yoga teachers, physical and occupational therapists, chiropractors, nurses, acupuncturists, you have that gateway into that safe space for women to trust. And you felt this too. We have this intuition and knowing and we know how to do things, but it actually has been trained out of us to trust that. And now you are the safe space for them to trust it. And now you’ve expanded even more into the menopause, into creating, leading and facilitating this community of the Menopause Mojo Society that helps to even deepen that trust, not just individually, but among your entire community.

Mary Vidal 00:20:21 Yeah, I think you’re absolutely right. It is a lot about trust trusting themselves. I’ve had even recently clients had I just I couldn’t trust my body. I couldn’t trust the process.

Mary Vidal 00:20:35 And it’s really a great thing to be able to foster that and allow people the space. And as you said, they often come in for I want to get I don’t want to lose weight, I want to get fit. And at the end of the day becomes things like, I want to just be active with my kids and be able to play pickleball with my friends and whatever it is. And so I think it really gives people the opportunity to create that vision or, and understand what their true desires are and filter out some of, I guess, the societal pressures.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:21:12 Right, societal what they should want. And one of our key tenants, as you mentioned in the Women’s Health Coach certification, two things. One is that so many practitioners come to us burned out because they think they have to answer all those questions. But the reality is their jobs actually get easier even if they don’t change their jobs. Even if you fully stayed in fitness and we’re like, okay, now, I trust that my clients know a lot more than they think they do, so I don’t have to hold all this responsibility.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:21:44 I just hold safe space. And then you mentioned that one of the key tenants of the women’s health coaching program that you’ve really applied to your work now is celebration, which I love. What are some of the other aspects of the program that you really enjoyed, and you’re bringing even more into your work?

Mary Vidal 00:22:06 So one of the things is the whole data part, because I am a data geek for sure. I love spreadsheets and databases, so I could go a little off the deep end there. But so I have my brain and so using data, I’ve used it before, but and now I’ve come at it with a new lens for my own personal health. It’s been so beneficial. And so I put it out there to my clients. It doesn’t resonate with everybody because some people it is makes them a little more stressed to have that information, but other people are like, oh wow, that’s so powerful. So that has been like one of the things I feel like I’ve come back to. I knew it was there, but I’m starting to explore that again and find ways to integrate it that aren’t overwhelming for myself and for other people, because there is the temptation to every morning check the aura ring and say, what’s my score today? But and it’s very validating, but it’s, you know, it’s just very powerful.

Mary Vidal 00:23:07 So that has been a really great thing. What else really the mindful listening. I feel like I’ve always been a good listener, but adding the kind of extra skill of skills, of reflecting and and just honing that skill, the listening skill with clients has been, I think, really powerful just to get them to figure out their own answers. It’s really been a great thing.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:23:39 Yeah, for sure. So let’s talk about what might have held you back. You mentioned you were struggling with a little bit of imposter syndrome, but if someone is in your shoes five years ago and they’re like, oh, I don’t think I can do this. And when people know what coaching is, am I ready? What are some of the things that were going through your head that maybe slowed down your willingness to take that leap?

Mary Vidal 00:24:05 Part of me, I didn’t quite know personally what coaching was. And so I think I probably should have done a little more research. Honestly, in retrospect. And even though, I mean, I have a really good friend who she herself is a master coach, and I talked to her and she’s not a health coach, though.

Mary Vidal 00:24:22 And so I talked to her a lot, and she convinced me. She’s like, yeah, you would be like a really good fit for this. Even though I was like, oh, I don’t know. And and she, I had her look at the program and she said, wow. This is like really comprehensive. It looks like it’s going to be a good fit for you. And that was really helpful. But also, I would just say that anyone contemplating who’s I don’t have a clinical background, I come from a family of clinical people, but I don’t have a clinical background. So part of that held me back, and that was part of my impostor syndrome, where I know a lot of physical therapists are in your program. There’s lots of doctors, and it’s intimidating, right? It’s intimidating. I have a technical background, so I feel like, okay, I can intellectually understand things, but I don’t necessarily have that clinical background. And at the end of the day, honestly, it didn’t really matter.

Mary Vidal 00:25:13 And also I found that sometimes it gets in the way. You know.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:25:19 You’re so right. We see this time and time again. Number one, it doesn’t really matter, as you said, because we teach you all the like clinically, educationally stuff you need to know. But you’re exactly right. It’s sometimes a lot harder to unwind the clinical training of I’m the healer, and you should do what I’m telling you to do. And when people don’t have that ten years of that kind of training or experience, it’s sometimes easier to become a really good coach.

Mary Vidal 00:25:53 Yeah, I saw that a lot in my triad accountability groups where these people with whatever 15, 20 years of clinical experience were having a harder time with the coaching skills because it’s just really a totally different way of looking at things and approaching a client. Health coaching can work for people with many different backgrounds, so I don’t think it really matters.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:26:19 Absolutely. And I think for our clinical graduates or clinical students, it’s a muscle. They have a new muscle they have to build and they have to I wouldn’t say unlearn because you want the other skills too, but it’s like those new neural pathways are being built that are being a little bit impeded by the old beliefs, whereas people who come from publishing or data analysis or marketing or.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:26:45 Human resources or teachers, they get to start without having to unlearn certain skills or learn around other skills, if you will. Our clinicians do great too. It’s just it actually helps make their work easier, because they’re not constantly feeling that responsibility of having to solve everything, which is an impossible responsibility to carry. How would you say what are the aspects of the program that you found that you liked the most and really contributed to the program really working for you to be able to be like, okay, I’m confident now I’m through that imposter syndrome. I’m ready to do a lot of different things, because when we can get into this in a minute. But not only are you now doing individualized fitness and health coaching, you’re hosting a really beneficial menopause transition group in your community in person and collaborating with lots of health and wellness professionals that way. And you’re working with your son and his fitness. Not exactly fitness program, but wellness program. We’ll talk about what that is. So how did the program help you to get confident in all these different arenas? What were some of the practical pieces of it?

Mary Vidal 00:27:59 One of the biggest things that helped me was the retreats, I should say the combination of the retreats, the accountability groups and the master coach support.

Mary Vidal 00:28:12 So just having that one on one, because a lot of programs I’ve taken, there’s not a lot of one on one support or group, you know, in live support, I should say, you know, it’s like you listen to videos and, and you can do Facebook, but this was really the game changer. And it wasn’t just like one time or an hour here and the retreats, it was really Transformational. Like each retreat, I came out of it feeling like so much more confident. And that is what really, I think helped. And then in between working with peers in the group and also we are encouraged to have a triad, but I probably had 2 or 3 triads like it just because of the more the merrier. Yeah, and it’s also hard to coordinate schedules. It’s just having that resource. I’m a solopreneur and I’ve worked on my own for a long time, and it’s really lonely sometimes and hard to connect. And I have a local network of people, but having this international group of people that you can reach out to from all different backgrounds, that is such a plus.

Mary Vidal 00:29:16 Not just clinicians, but you have people from marketing and people from all over, and they just bring different perspectives. So I really I find that helpful not only in the one on one, but also in the support calls where you hear people asking their questions, even if I come into a call and don’t have a question just to listen to other people work with different clients, that’s it’s been so helpful because the content is one thing. The content is great, but putting it into action is really what made a big difference for me.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:29:52 Yeah, absolutely. I think that interaction, seeing so many different perspectives within our community that helps to inspire creating communities within your work. And tell us a bit about the work that you’re doing with your son.

Mary Vidal 00:30:07 Yeah. So I mentioned that I came into health coaching thinking, okay, I’m going to be an empty nester soon. I want to expand my business. I always worked part time because I wanted to be there for my family, for my kids, and that was a priority for me.

Mary Vidal 00:30:21 And I said, okay, I have the opportunity to do something bigger. And along the way, my son, who is a competitive powerlifter, has been pushing to start his own supplement company. It was very challenging. And this is where the coaching practice came in, because as a parent who wanted to see her child go through college and do the traditional route, and my husband and I, and we’re hearing stories of, I want to start a business and not go to college. I really leaned into coaching to try to be. It’s harder as a parent, but try to listen mindfully and ask the questions to understand what is driving this strong desire. And it was several months of back and forth, but ultimately he convinced my husband and I to understand that maybe traditional path was not the best for him, and he wanted to start his own business and start his own supplement company, which we agreed to. And I ended up becoming his CEO because it’s hard as an 18 year old to start your own business and do all the things and legal and insurance and finance all this stuff.

Mary Vidal 00:31:30 That’s become a big part of my work now, too, until we can get him launched, but it’s really exciting and I feel like the coaching skills definitely helped me get through that process. And also it’s been very synergistic because I’ve learned a lot about supplements. Yeah, launching this company, how to read labels, how to really dig into like dosing and all these things, which really has supported my health coaching business. So it’s actually really been fun and exciting, and I’m interested in seeing where that goes, because that’s another potential avenue for me.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:32:06 Yeah. So exciting. I think you’ve really taken this work and this training and your vision and really stepped into things, but also held flexibility. Another principle that we teach, right. Like you can have your vision, you can be really forward thinking and then also hold space for flexibility for opportunities. And I can’t tell you how many of our students and graduates tell me how much this program helps them with their parenting. We hear that all the time because it is having two daughters myself.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:32:39 Parenting, especially the young adult ones, is a little. It’s a new world, so.

Mary Vidal 00:32:45 That’s for sure.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:32:45 I love that story. Excellent. Anything else you want to share for someone who may be considering joining our community, but might be on the fence about it?

Mary Vidal 00:32:57 I want to say, even if you’re not going to become a health coach, there is just so much valuable information. Like we said, it just in terms of communication, in terms of personal health information, it’s really been a great program, and I think I highly encourage people at least to check it out. And if you have questions, talk a little bit more to people in the community and ask about it. But it’s really it’s been great.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:33:25 Excellent, excellent. So if people are interested in joining your menopause mojo Society or learning about powerlifting supplements or anything else that you’re working on, where can they find you?

Mary Vidal 00:33:39 So they can find me on Instagram, my company’s whole core Wally Core on Instagram. And I also have a website that is my whole core.

Mary Vidal 00:33:50 Com and our supplement company is called Cathartic SUPs. That’s cathartic with two KS sups and and you can check all that out. And my Menopause Mojo society is currently in person, but I am going to start doing some virtual sessions as well. So even if you’re not in the area, you know, you can follow me and get updates on when those virtual sessions are going to be probably a little bit in the summer because a lot of people are out of town.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:34:18 Yes, absolutely. I want to keep it flexible. They don’t want to lose touch for sure. Yeah. All right. Thank you so much, Mary, for sharing your story, your personal story, your career story. And I just think it’s so inspiring for women in their 40s and 50s who are thinking about career shifts, career expansion now that they’re empty nesters. You’re really a fantastic role model. So thank you so much for being here today, and I look forward to seeing you on our weekly calls.

Mary Vidal 00:34:48 All right. Thank you for having me.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:34:55 I loved hearing Mary’s story. I know it because of course, she’s an active member in our community. She takes part in our weekly live calls where we meet and connect as a community. As Mary was really pointing out, our whole community certificate program, certification program, our alumni association, our membership program, this is a safe space for people all over the globe who have a vision for helping themselves and women. Other women heal from the root cause in community with celebration. It’s not just about quieting symptoms. It’s not about supplements and medications and quote unquote cures. It’s about deep healing through connection, through mindful listening, through celebration. And of course, we’re also lifting weights and walking and nourishing our bodies with wonderful food and hydration and good sleep, delicious nourishment and supplementation that aligns with what our bodies need. But at the deepest level, healing for women is about celebration, community connection, and a re-education. Reconnecting to our own intuition. Those were some of my favorite things about what Mary is up to.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:36:24 How her journey with the Integrative Women’s Health Institute has really informed her Actual work. And, you know, I have to say, as I mentioned in the episode, one of my favorite things about doing this work, about seeing our students and graduates grow. Yes, they build big, successful careers and businesses. They build flexibility. They get to do all kinds of cool things. Their work spirals upward in a way that’s just really inspiring. And their parenting, their relationships with their partners, with their parents, with their friends get even better too. And how fun to be starting and collaborating on starting a company with her young adult son. I mean, coaching just has such a far reach into making all of our relationships that much better, that that’s one of the most fun things for me to see. And I’ve seen this hundreds of times in the last, you know, 15 plus years that I’ve been doing this work. And so I got I’m glad that you got to see a really fun example of that.

Dr. Jessica Drummond 00:37:32 All right. I hope you enjoyed Mary’s story, and it’s inspired you to take your next step in your career growth and your life vision. We’re here to support you at the Integrative Women’s Health Institute, and I’ll see you next week on the Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. Have a great week. Thank you so much for joining me today for this episode of the Integrative Women’s Health Podcast. Please share this episode with a colleague and if you loved it, hit that subscribe or follow button on your favorite podcast streaming service so that we can do even more to make this podcast better for you and your clients. Let’s innovate and integrate in the world of women’s health.