Welcome to Grounded Wellness, your go to podcast for
simplified and trusted information on how to live a
more non-toxic and holistic life.
We're your hosts. I'm Bethany McDaniel, founder of
Primarily Pure biohacking enthusiast and mom of three.
And I'm Courtney O'Connor, holistic esthetician with over
15 years experience in the healing power of touch and
holistic skin care rituals. Let's dig in.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Grounded Wellness.
We pulled you guys on Instagram and asked what questions you
wanted me to answer. And so I'm here to answer
several of those today. It's always fun getting into
your questions because it just kind of feels like we are here
together at the farm having a conversation.
So I'm excited to dig into these.
All right, going to get right into it with this first
question. How did you stay true to your
ethics early on in business? So this wasn't a hard thing for
me because I truly started primarily pure out of my own
passion for natural personal care products and skin care
products. It was really the result of my
own journey in dealing with acne and different skin sensitivity
issues after going the conventional route.
And so from the get go, I was just really, really passionate
about what I was doing and it wasn't really an option for me
to to not go about things in an ethical way.
I didn't really have like certain sales numbers that I was
trying to hit. I think if I did, it would have
been easy to get discouraged early on, but I was just really
excited about the journey. Every time we saw an increase in
business, I was just really excited about that.
It was really fueled by customer feedback.
I also have always believed that this is something that God has
put on my heart to do. And there's always been
challenges and there's going to continue to be challenges.
But I think the difference is when your faith is in God and
your identity is in Him, cutting corners isn't an option because
ultimately He is in control. And it's my job to do the best I
can and be faithful with what He's given me.
So that's kind of always been the approach I've taken with
primarily pure. OK, next question.
Can you talk about balancing motherhood and business?
Yes, this is indeed a difficult balancing act at times.
And it's not lost on me that it is such a gift to have the
privilege to to even like try to balance these two things that I
love and care so deeply about my family and my company primarily
pure. And while my family and being a
wife and a mom is obviously my number one priority, I do also
work. I do also have a company.
And that whole balance has looked very different depending
on what season of life I'm in. So I have been doing this for 10
years now and every season of life looks a little bit
different. And I'll give one example.
So for the last two years we have taken a big summer road
trip as a family and these Rd. trips have lasted anywhere from
a month and a half to two months.
And I'm not working a whole lot on these Rd. trips.
Like my husband always drives, I am the passenger Princess and I
have my laptop like my my water, maybe a coffee or green tea.
And I post up and that is that is my work time on our Rd.
trips. And then when we hunker down and
stay somewhere for like a week, I'm working like during nap
times or before the rest of the family wakes up.
And so I'm kind of keeping things going during that time,
not really like spearheading new projects or anything like that.
But in order to do that, I do have to work extra leading up to
that trip and then work extra when we get home to catch up,
similar to maternity leave. When when I've had, I have, I've
had three kids since starting primary pure now.
So that looks a little bit similar.
I'm like, I'm in crunch time leading up to, to having my baby
and then once I'm on maternity leave, I, I have been able to,
especially with my last two, really relax and, and enjoy and
treasure that time. So I'm always kind of like
evaluating and adjusting where things are at with my family,
where things are at in my business and kind of making
changes based on that. We also have a lot of help.
I try to outsource a lot of things outside of motherhood and
outside of my business so that I can really be fully present in
those two areas. As much as possible.
I try to involve my kids in my work whenever I can.
So sometimes that's bringing one or two of them along on a work
trip. I always like to give them new
products that are in development to try and kind of give them
that inside look into the development of a product so that
they can and like be a part of that process.
And I think they really love that.
So it doesn't look perfect all the time, but I, I do my best to
be intentional about it and to kind of like make adjustments as
needed to, to do both of those things to the best of my
ability. Someone also asked, what's your
non negotiable evening ritual? I have five of these that are so
critical to like winding down properly in the evening and
those are oil cleansing. Wearing my blue light blocking
glasses, I mix half a teaspoon of baking soda in a cup of water
every evening to alkalize my body.
Contrary to popular belief, alkaline water does not alkalize
the body, but baking soda mixed with water does, so I do that.
It kind of helps me to calm down and wind down.
I use a magnesium sleep spray on my feet and that helps me to
wind down as well. And then I like to read before
bedtime. So I'm always reading a novel.
I like historical fiction novels, and I don't have time to
read a lot before bed typically, but I usually get like anywhere
from 2 to 10 pages in. And that just kind of helps me
forget like the troubles of the day or anything that's really
pressing on my mind and it takes me off into a different place.
Similar to like how maybe watching a show would be for,
for people that are into shows, but I, I don't really watch much
TVII just like to read before bed.
If I had to choose one of those things though, it would be oil
cleansing. It's just such a critical part
of my wine down routine. And I love the oil cleansing
method. Our cleansing oil works so well.
It smells amazing. It really balances out the skin.
It gives you this deep clean without stripping the skin of
its natural moisture barrier. And you even just you, your skin
feels really clean and moisturized after doing it.
And it's really relaxing, like just taking time to take some
deep breaths, massage that into my skin.
It really helps me unwind for the day and and gets me ready
for sleep. So that would be the one that I
would choose if I had to pick OK meal recommendations for healthy
skin and body. So protein I would say is #1 if
you build your meals around protein, you will be more
satiated, your, your skin will will look better and you'll have
more energy. And I prefer animal based
protein because the nutrient profile is just so bioavailable,
such a robust mineral vitamin content in well raised animal
based protein. So that would be my one
recommendation. Just balance your meals around
protein. Eat the protein before you move
on to carbs or even fat. I do love healthy fats also, but
I think eating protein first at meals and really balancing your
meals around that is key. And for us, I'll just give an
example of dinner time that always looks like either chicken
or steak or even just ground beef.
We eat a lot of just plain ground beef.
And my husband's usually in charge of the protein.
And then I will like make some white rice or a big tray and or
a big tray of like veggies and potatoes, like carrots, onions,
broccoli, and just put that in the oven.
And that is kind of how we eat. It's pretty basic, but but it
works OK. Tips for eczema?
We got so many questions about eczema.
I was actually really surprised by this.
And while I don't have personal experience with eczema, either
for myself or with my kids, I do know so many people who have
struggled with eczema. It's, it's such a common thing
and I think it's something that more and more people are
struggling with. So I'll just talk about what I
have seen work for others and what I would do if I had eczema
or if one of my kids was dealing with eczema.
First, I just want to mention our baby bomb is amazing,
amazing for eczema. So I wouldn't say it's a cure
per SE for eczema because I think most of the time with
eczema, it is the manifestation of an internal issue.
But I have had countless people tell me that our baby bomb is
the one thing that soothes their child's eczema and doesn't cause
it to flare up. So our baby bomb is amazing for
that. But like I said, there's always
an underlying cause with eczema. So my first recommendation would
be to look at look at your diet, look at your your kids diet and
eliminate all dairy. I'm a big dairy fan.
I love raw organic dairy products, but for a period of
time I do think it's really important to eliminate dairy if
you are struggling with eczema and even like even grass fed
butter. I love grass fed butter.
But I have a friend who who had eliminated dairy for her son and
he was continuing to have these eczema breakouts.
And once she got rid of the butter, his eczema actually
healed. So removing dairy for a period
of time, also removing grains, especially gluten, refined
sugar, minimizing sugar intake in general, even with natural
forms of sugar, I think can be helpful.
And then of course, eliminating artificial food dyes and
artificial additives in food, just focusing really on real
food and then adding in some extra gut support like bone
broth. Tailored Dukes has an amazing GI
immune support powder supplement that you can put into smoothies
or even into water, and that is really can be really powerful
for helping to heal the gut. I would look at personal care
and skin care products and really just do a total overhaul
there. If you're using a lot of
products with chemicals, I would especially avoid anything with
fragrance, but also anything with just a lot of ingredients,
especially a lot of synthetic ingredients.
I would also avoid essential oils for a period of time.
Again, that's something that there's nothing inherently wrong
with essential oils, but when your skin, your body is in a
really sensitive state, they they could further trigger that
that sensitivity that you're experiencing.
So I would avoid all of that for a period of time.
Our baby line is really great for anyone struggling with
eczema. We always recommend that because
it's so gentle, it contains so few ingredients and it has
healing herbs that are super gentle but not any essential
oils. I would also switch out laundry
detergent. This is a big one because the
chemicals in laundry detergent are in get in our clothes and
then we're wearing clothes all day, all night.
And so those chemicals are just in constant contact with the
skin. And a lot of times they are
carcinogenic, allergenic. And so switching out laundry
detergent I think is really important if you're struggling
with eczema. I love branch basics.
That's what I would switch to. And then also being aware of
clothing, and this can be a tough one because it's such a
big thing to do an overhaul with.
And, and I don't think you need to do that big overhaul all at
once, but it's just something to be mindful of and, and to start
choosing clothing that is made of natural fibers like cotton
and linen and really avoiding synthetic fibers like polyester
and, and other fabrics made from petroleum byproducts as much as
possible. And if you can't do it with
clothing, I would do it with bedding.
So if you are using polyester bedding and you are struggling
with eczema, that is definitely something that you'll want to
change. And, and cotton is a great
option. Linen is a great option.
So these are all just ideas and my goal in sharing this isn't to
overwhelm, but just to provide options.
Eczema can be so defeating and I think it's just important to be
aware of all of the potential things that could be
contributing to it. OK, someone wants to know the
best product to prevent stretch marks.
I would say our baby bomb. Our body butter is also really
good at preventing stretch marks.
Both of them are so nourishing and hydrating, but the baby bomb
in particular has both tallow and emu oil, both of which have
a really really rich profile of fatty acids.
The Baby Bomb also has marshmallow root, and
marshmallow root contains this thick nourishing substance
called mucilage, which is really good at soothing and protecting
the skin. I know with stretch marks there
is a genetic component as well, but I will tell you I've had
three kids and I've used Baby Bomb on my belly for all three
of them and I don't have a single stretch mark.
So that would be my number one recommendation for stretch
marks. Next question, what is the
weirdest skin care ritual or experience that you've done?
So this is an easy one. I recently had my own stem cell
rich fat injected into my face. That may sound really weird, but
let me back up a little bit. So I did an interview with
Doctor Chestnut, who is a a plastic plastic surgeon, but a
very alternatively minded plastic surgeon.
And afterwards we filmed me getting a procedure done where
he took fat from from my own body, from my inner thigh.
And he filtered it down to the most stem cell rich and dense
portion of the fat and then injected that back into my face
kind of evenly, evenly dispersed in different areas in my face.
And that does two different things.
So it can help to replace lost volume, not in the same way that
filler does, in the sense of it kind of like distorting and
changing the look of your face, but it does help to replace some
volume that has been naturally lost with aging.
And the stem cells in the fat actually help to rejuvenate the
skin and improve the health of the skin overall over time.
So this is something that can have benefits for months and
even years down the road. It isn't necessarily this
immediate benefit, but it does help to transform the skin and
improve skin health long term. He also used a few different
lasers on my skin, which was a totally new experience for me.
I've never had anything like that done before.
And then he filtered the fat down even further to get just
the stem cells. And he mixed my stem cells with
our baby bomb and then applied that to my skin to help with the
healing. And then I actually got to take
that mixture home to continue to apply it to my skin over the
next few days. So that's not necessarily a
weird experience, but maybe it is to some people.
I still kind of can't believe that I did it, but the whole
thing was really fascinating and I feel like it definitely
improved the health of my skin and, and hopefully those
benefits will only increase with time.
If you want to see more on this, you can look at my interview
with Doctor Chestnut. And if you want to know more
about my philosophy on a lot of different skin treatments and
procedures, I just recently filmed an episode on that as
well that you can look back and see.
What are some biohacking tools that you use?
You guys know I love to talk about biohacking, so I'm going
to tell you all of the devices and tools that we have, but also
keep in mind that we didn't get all of these overnight.
Like we have been kind of accumulating these over time
over the last eight years probably.
And these we really see these, my husband and I, as investments
in our health and things that are going to really help to
compensate for some of the toxic exposures and some of the body
burdens that can accumulate over time of living in our modern
world. I don't think these things are
foundational to health. I don't think that every person
needs to have all of these, but it's just kind of something that
we enjoy geeking out on and and it's something that's been kind
of fun to like bring our kids into as well.
Like I'll talk more about this, but my kids, we have a cold
plunge. Like my kids like to go back and
forth between the sauna and the cold plunge, obviously
intuitively at their own pace. It's not something that we
force, but it's just kind of been a become a cool like hobby
that we do as a family. So at this point, we have an
infrared sauna. We have an ozone generator.
Ozone is a gas and you can infuse it into water.
You can infuse it into oil. You can put the gas in the ear
canal. You can do rectal ozone
insufflations with the gas. So there's a lot that you can do
with it. Ozone is really powerful for
eliminating pathogenic bacteria. We have a hyperbaric chamber,
which is a pressurized oxygen chamber.
So when you get in that, it just floods your body with oxygen,
floods your tissues, your bloodstream with a fresh supply
of oxygen. I have a few different red light
devices that I'll kind of use interchangeably depending on
what I feel like I need at the time.
We have APEMF MAT and we have a cold plunge.
So again, not something that I think everyone needs, but we do
in some regards live kind of a a higher paced and what some might
consider to be more stressful life in some ways.
And these things kind of help to help to energize us and help us
to kind of help to sharpen us so that we are more effective in
the areas that we need to really show up for.
OK, our last question, how do you handle stress and anxiety?
So I try to get ahead of it as much as possible.
And for me that looks like staying really disciplined with
the habits that put me in a good headspace.
And some of those things are going on daily walks, being
outdoors, sauna, cold plunge, strength training, eating well,
a lot of prayer. So staying consistent in in
some. Or all of those things, not all
of those things every day, but a lot of those things depending on
what makes sense in any in any given day really helps me, Helps
to fill my tank so that when anxiety inducing situations do
come up, they don't rattle me as much as they might if I if I had
been, let's say, like overworked and rundown.
And if I hadn't invested in myself leading up to whatever
stress, stressful situation I face.
And so I still do get rattled and stressed at times.
I'm human. I'm not immune to that.
And when that happens, I really think of my stress or anxiety in
two different ways. I kind of put that into two
different buckets, one bucket being things that are within my
control. So I I'll think like, OK, what
can I do in this situation? If anything?
Is there something that I can do to change my circumstances or
alleviate some of this stress? And then what, what do I need to
surrender in this situation? And usually it's, it's the
surrendering that's actually a lot harder than the things that
I have control over and the things that are within my power
to change. But I do find that the older I
get and the more life experience I have, the easier it is to
surrender the things that need to be surrendered.
I have seen God be faithful in my life again and again and
again. And so when things come up that
are difficult, it has become so much easier for me to to trust
him with those things. And that doesn't mean that I get
what I want out of those situations all the time.
Sometimes it's the opposite, but I get what I need.
And ultimately that is so much more important.
OK, I think that was a good one to end on.
Thank you guys so much for listening and for watching.
If you ever have a question that you want me to answer, you can
always submit that on on Instagram or you can add it to
the comments on YouTube. Have an amazing rest of your day
and thanks for tuning in.