Starting Up After Staying Home: Going from Mom to Entrepreneur with Alison Serbentas

In this episode of the Kindling Project podcast, Alison Rico-Serbentas shares her transformative journey from being a stay-at-home mom to becoming an entrepreneur and bodybuilder. She discusses the challenges of navigating relationships, building confidence, and the importance of self-discovery. Alison emphasizes the significance of spiritual growth, seeking signs, and the evolution of her business ventures, including her experiences with social media and the entrepreneurial landscape. Through her story, she inspires listeners to embrace change, trust their intuition, and pursue their passions. In this conversation, Alison Serbentas shares her journey of balancing structure and intuition in her lifestyle choices, navigating personal and business relationships, and overcoming financial challenges. She discusses the evolution of her Spartan Bars from a homemade snack to a thriving business, emphasizing the importance of nutrition and muscle building for longevity. The conversation also touches on misconceptions about bodybuilding, the realities of entrepreneurship, and the significance of embracing the journey of personal growth.

All things Alison!

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Transcript

Melissa Halpin (00:10)
Welcome back to the Kindling Project podcast where bold women share how they took a spark of possibility and turned it into a full blown fire. Today's guest is a story of transformation in motion, a mom, a partner, an entrepreneur, a bodybuilder. My friend, Alison Rico-Serbentas is the founder of Spartan Bars. She's an IFBB pro bodybuilder. She's a mom, she's an entrepreneur. Welcome, Alison.

Alison Serbentas (00:37)
Hello, I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

Melissa Halpin (00:42)
I'm super excited to have you. We have like just kind of a long interesting connection which we can get into. I don't even know how to tell this story to people that just don't know about sweet potatoes, right?

Alison Serbentas (00:48)
That's crazy. It's crazy.

No, or even,

you know, message boards or what the heck is iVillage? Like, it was so long ago.

Melissa Halpin (00:59)
Yeah.

I know, and yet it's just been such a constant. for those of you listening, Alice and I met when we were pregnant with our now 20-year-old daughters. And we met on a message board online. And this amazing community of women has stuck together. I think there's like 60 or 70 of us still hanging in together for two decades, raising our kids.

Alison Serbentas (01:11)
Crazy.

Mm-hmm.

Melissa Halpin (01:24)
you know, sharing all the trials of our careers and our relationships and our families and just navigating, you know, life as Gen X women. So, and she's just perfect for our podcast in our community because she has such an interesting story.

Alison Serbentas (01:41)
Thank you. Thank you. It feels like there's just so much that's happened. I was just in the past 10 years, just in the past 10 years that I really don't even know the person that I was 10 years ago with how much I feel. Let's just say I feel like I've lived five lifetimes in that short period of time.

Melissa Halpin (01:42)
Yeah!

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Right, right.

I feel like I've had a front row seat to that journey with you. Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (02:04)
Crazy, huh? I know, because through

the message board and with the moms that we've been connected to for so long, like, you guys know way more than what anyone else knows. Like, there's just this closeness and this trust. That's the big thing. There's just a trust that I don't have with really anyone else.

Melissa Halpin (02:13)
Right.

Right.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. well, it's really a testament to like, the bright side of the internet, which, you know, some days is hard to find. It's hard to explain to people like, no, a lot of good can come out of online relationships. In today's like, you know, just social political climate with the internet. But I know I've watched you go from stay home, mom, new mom, to really starting over.

Alison Serbentas (02:31)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (02:48)
And you've had so many chapters that got you to this place now where you're a business owner. What did it feel like? Tell us a little bit about that journey.

Alison Serbentas (02:57)
Well, you know, it's something that I didn't think that I could ever do for myself. Provide. I never thought that I could provide for myself. I seriously went from my parents' financial umbrella right into my then husband's, you know, financial umbrella. He was military and everything was just set up for us. Just like everything was set up for me, you know, with my parents. Like had the insurance, had, you know, just I never wanted for anything.

Melissa Halpin (03:01)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Yep.

Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (03:24)
when I was growing up. And then I was in my marriage, had two kids, and I learned very early on, the red flags were there. They were there. And I just chose to ignore them because, you know, I didn't date a whole heck of a lot in high school. College guys just were not interested in me.

Melissa Halpin (03:24)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Mm.

Mm-hmm. Right. Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (03:50)
And that's what I tell my daughter even now as she's navigating her way through dating and stuff like that. I'm like, look, I get it. was like, guys did not look at me the same way that they looked at my roommate or some of the other friends that I had for whatever reason. So when I found someone who was interested in me and I was interested in him and we had that connection and there was, you know, some fun banter in the beginning.

Melissa Halpin (03:57)
Yeah.

Right. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yep.

Alison Serbentas (04:17)
I

really didn't think that I was going to be able to find someone else. So, and then early on you, you see little hints of what they are and who they could be. And you, I did what a lot of early twenties and you know, gosh, just even, even just really wherever you are in your dating journey, think age really has nothing to do with it. But for me, it was just me being just so young. You fall in love with potential and

Melissa Halpin (04:21)
Right.

Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (04:44)
even when you see the red flags and you're just like, well, it's just a one time thing. They really didn't mean that. They didn't mean to say it that way. Or you would hear the apologies and thinking that things didn't change. They didn't change. so I was really, let's see, I was married to him. We got married in 2001 and divorce was 2006.

Melissa Halpin (04:59)
Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (05:10)
No, sorry. 2016. Oh my gosh. 2016. So 15 years I was married to him. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so it's 15 years. They were way, yes, they were there. But when I'm so, when I'm in it and I wanted to be a stay at home mom, like that was, I wanted, I wanted, and I loved being a stay at home mom. So it's like, there were so many, there were so many reasons for me to stay. didn't.

Melissa Halpin (05:10)
Not very long.

okay, so that is on there. Yeah.

But you had the red flags all along. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. ⁓

Right.

Alison Serbentas (05:35)
I seriously said divorce was not an option. Like that was not going to be an option. And I remember telling my friends I would stay in a miserable marriage before I ever got divorced. And I remember that very dear friend of mine, like the look of and horror on her face when I said that I would stay in a miserable marriage before I ever got divorced. And I meant that I meant that and I was going to tough it out.

Melissa Halpin (05:38)
Right. Right.

Right, right you got.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (06:00)
But it got to a point where I realized he wasn't going to change. And I knew that I had to change. still divorce, not an option. So I figured I needed to build myself up if I was going, cause I had to, I had to learn that what he was saying to me and about me. mean, it, it, was very toxic all the way throughout. I had to know that those things he was saying wasn't true.

Melissa Halpin (06:12)
Right.

Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (06:24)
Because if ever heard where people say that if something upsets you, if someone says something about you, it can only make you mad if you believe it to be true. Well, I had to start building myself up from the inside to where whatever he said to me, it wasn't going to affect me. ⁓ What that ended up doing was building up enough confidence in me to where I could see that I deserved better and my kids deserved better.

Melissa Halpin (06:32)
Right.

right.

Right.

Yay. ⁓

Alison Serbentas (06:52)
So then it was just a matter of learning how I was gonna leave and support myself. And that was the tricky part. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (06:55)
Yeah. Right.

So it was a lot of inner work before you even took care of the external details. Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (07:04)
Yeah. I, like

I said, when I started building myself up, it wasn't for the purpose of I'm going to build myself up so I can, you know, turn my family upside down and leave my husband and go become a single mom. Like I really was trying to find a way to just manage things in a weird, twisted way to where I could stay in the marriage without, without feeling like,

Melissa Halpin (07:15)
Right?

Right.

Alison Serbentas (07:28)
without feeling like that the things that he was saying about me wasn't true. Like that I was a terrible housewife, that I was lazy, that, you know, the, the, the only thing he really could never say about me was, was about being a mom. Cause, cause he knew that that was something that like he could never do, but he would, he would throw things at me, like, not physically, but

Melissa Halpin (07:34)
Mm-hmm.

Right, right.

Yes.

Alison Serbentas (07:51)
mentally and spiritually and emotionally, you know, and he would make me think that he was going to quit his job so that I would have to go work. And this was like an argument we would have every single year, every single year he would be like, well, I'm just going to quit my job and you can go see what it's like to earn money for the family and I'll stay at home. And I would cry and freak out. And you know, when, when I

Melissa Halpin (07:58)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (08:16)
The way I describe it is that when he felt like that I had been punished enough and I was crying enough and I was upset enough, then he would build me back up. And then it was, you're, you're so good at what you do. I know that I could never do this. And you know, it would just be that it was that cycle for years is what it was until I started building myself up. And there was just one day I just said enough and I remember

Melissa Halpin (08:20)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (08:42)
you know, telling him, kind of standing up to him a little bit. I was able to stand up to him. And then we never had that argument again. But it wasn't, it wasn't too long after though, that I was able to just leave the situation.

Melissa Halpin (08:56)
Yeah, I'm so glad you got away from that cycle of abuse and it sounds like you became a whole different person having experienced it, right?

Alison Serbentas (09:02)
Yeah, I really did. And there was

so much, so much, gosh, the, the healing that, that goes into that. ⁓ I had even, even dating afterwards, like you just kind of realize you go from kind of the same situation to very similar situations because I really didn't see my part. And when I say my part, I just mean,

Melissa Halpin (09:11)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (09:26)
there's obviously some something in me that attracted him. So I had to do the I had to do the deep searching to where I wasn't going to continue to attract someone who gosh that same dear friend of mine. I remember her telling me when I broke up with someone that I was with for like a year and a half which at the time just felt like an eternity. You know she's like pretty much she said you went from

Melissa Halpin (09:30)
Right, right, right. ⁓ yes.

Alison Serbentas (09:50)
someone like your ex-husband to someone who just didn't abuse you. She's like, he still didn't put you first. It was very similar, but not. Yeah. Yes. It was very incremental. And I think even through that dating process, and I had told the kids this too, cause they were a little bit older at the time. They could see the dating process and I was like, you know what kids?

Melissa Halpin (09:56)
Right.

Right, right. It was like an incremental improvement.

Alison Serbentas (10:15)
I was like, you just have to trust me that I'm taking the good from one. And I'm looking for that in the next one. I said, so the goal is never to go backwards. We're always going to be improving.

Melissa Halpin (10:20)
Mm-hmm.

Right. Well,

and you described yourself in college as you hadn't had a lot of experiences to figure out what worked for you, what didn't work for you, what kind of personality you meshed with. And I mean, I think the crazy thing about so many of us getting married in our early 20s, which, I mean, I don't know about you, but I got married at 24. That wasn't even considered young, 30 years ago. No, 25 years ago. Like it was...

Alison Serbentas (10:32)
Yeah.

No. Right. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (10:51)
You know, my parents had gotten married at 18, but I mean, you're not fully formed. Whether you've dated a lot or not, right? It takes, I swear it takes till you're 35 till you wake up one day and you're like, okay, well, I think I'm gonna be this person now pretty much for the rest of the time.

Alison Serbentas (10:56)
No, you're not.

It's so true. It's so true. And if there's one thing, like I am, I am definitely not that mom who's like pushing her kids to date and get married and who are you, you know, why don't you have a boyfriend or why don't you have a girlfriend or whatever? Like, I just want them to take their time, figure out what they like. Like that's the only way you're going to figure out who you are is figure out what it is you like that way that when someone comes into the picture,

Melissa Halpin (11:10)
Yeah. ⁓

Right.

Yes.

Right.

Yes.

Alison Serbentas (11:34)
then you can tell pretty quickly if they're gonna mesh with you or not. Cause you shouldn't have to convince someone to like the same things you like. And if you can figure, yes. And that's exactly what I did.

Melissa Halpin (11:38)
Right.

Right.

Yeah. Or convince yourself or bend yourself, right? Yeah. And I mean,

this is kind of a core part of why I started The Kinley Project is so many of us wake up midlife and we still haven't really figured out who we are. Or there's sort of a little fire in there, but it's been dimmed because of the relationship journey or the work journey or the kid raising and all the other priorities.

that we just haven't put enough energy into our own true authentic selves. And I want that from my kids sooner. Take the time. Fine, date, but there's no pressure, and there's no rush. And experience a lot of different people in a lot of different situations at your own pace. There's no timeline for it.

Alison Serbentas (12:17)
And that's yes

Exactly. That's probably the conversation I've had with my son who just turned 22. I've had with him the most as he is finishing up his technical college program that I can never remember. It's it's machine mechanics or something along. We laugh because I'm like, OK, buddy, tell me again what you're doing. It's like. It's like industrial maintenance or something like that, but.

Melissa Halpin (12:44)
Okay.

Yeah.

You're like, you're about to graduate. What's that degree?

Alison Serbentas (12:58)
He's very excited, but also very nervous to enter into the real world, you know, of finances and all that stuff. And I just tell him, I'm like, look, keep your options open. Just keep your options open. It's the same, same way with dating. Like, like I draw all these parallels, you know, I can bring anything back to dating or your job or whatever it is. Keep your options open and just know that if something doesn't work out, it doesn't mean it's not for you.

Melissa Halpin (13:04)
Yeah.

Thank

Alison Serbentas (13:26)
⁓ It just means that at this time, it's not for you at this time. And you can use it to move forward to find something that is for you. Like you'll just learn something from it and just apply it to the next thing. You do not have to be locked in to a job. You don't have to be locked into a relationship or what, whatever it may be. You've got options.

Melissa Halpin (13:26)
Right.

Yeah.

Right.

Right.

Right.

Well, do you think you could call me and tell me that regularly?

Alison Serbentas (13:51)
I have to tell myself this regularly all these things. I saw something the other day, you know, I give out mental health advice as if I'm not, you know, breaking down every three days. yep,

Melissa Halpin (14:01)
Same, Yeah.

Okay. Well then, but I think we're good to go. So speaking of advice, do you have any other advice or any words of wisdom for women who might be in a situation like yours and they're thinking about starting over?

Alison Serbentas (14:17)
So the first thing, and this is where the spiritual side in me comes out, I pray. Whatever you're praying to, whatever it is, I just pray. I'm like, if this is not meant for me, I'm real big into asking for signs, and I'm like, if this is not meant for me, or if this is meant for me, show me. Make it obvious.

Melissa Halpin (14:23)
Mm-hmm.

Right. Right.

Right.

Mm-hmm. Right.

Alison Serbentas (14:42)
because I

Melissa Halpin (14:42)
Right.

Alison Serbentas (14:42)
definitely need something to smack me upside the head to tell me this is not for you. And I may need to hear it or see it, you know, the same sign 10 times in a row. But what I have found is I will see the sign. I will hear the sign. It's not going to get any softer. So the voice is not going to get any softer. The feeling is not going to go away.

Melissa Halpin (14:50)
Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (15:05)
It's just, it's just going to get louder and louder and louder. And if it's still on your mind, then it's going to be something that you just have to know everything is going to work out. So that's like the second step. I pray, ask for the sign. And then the next step is, you know, just, just knowing everything is going to work out. That knowing gives me such comfort because looking back, even through everything that I've experienced.

Melissa Halpin (15:09)
Right.

Right.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (15:32)
as detrimental as it seemed in the moment, something good has always, I mean, I will stand on that. Something has always, always come out better. And I have that knowing and I have that belief and I seriously move like everything is going to work out. So it really does. And it's hard when you're in that situation, no matter what it is, it's, it's hard.

Melissa Halpin (15:37)
Yes.

And it does, it does.

Alison Serbentas (15:56)
Cause you just don't know how it's going to work out. So for me, it came in the form of a makeup company. And at that particular time, there was, there was money that was being aggressively put into a 401k that we had never discussed. So I had worked part-time as a bootcamp instructor in town and that money was just extra fun money for us.

Melissa Halpin (16:02)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (16:19)
And then

when that started happening, I started seeing the paychecks get lower and lower. And I was like, what's going on? He had told me that he was putting more money into his 401k. That was pretty much making my fun money. I say my, but it was really our fun money for the family, but he never wanted to do anything with us.

Melissa Halpin (16:30)
Mm.

Right. He didn't like fun.

Alison Serbentas (16:42)
In

a roundabout way, was my fun money, but anyway, that money was becoming necessary money, like necessary. So I was like, the kids were getting just a little bit older, and when you've got a boy and a girl, it's hard to do things with them. Did you find that to be true, the older they got?

Melissa Halpin (16:49)
Right. Right.

I do, yeah. And mine are four years

apart too, so there was pretty big age gap as well.

Alison Serbentas (17:02)
Yeah.

So it was, it was like the stuff that I found that we could do together. was more experiences, which costs money. You know, they don't want to play with each other at the playground anymore. They don't have the same friends. It's, it, it just got a little more difficult. So if we were going to have that, that money, and this is seriously where it all started, I knew it was going to have to come from me. So I realized that early on, I just didn't know how. And that's the thing is that when you, when you put it out there,

Melissa Halpin (17:09)
Right.

right.

Alison Serbentas (17:29)
You're like, this is what I want. You just have to know, and you've got to be open to creative opportunities to come your way. And you've got to be ready to walk through the door when it's presented to you. So I did not wear makeup at all, nothing at all. And then I found this girl who was selling a mascara online. And this was when like social selling first became a thing.

Melissa Halpin (17:30)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Right, right.

Yeah. ⁓

Right.

Alison Serbentas (17:52)
And

it was new. So people would buy anything you told them online. Now you see it everywhere. Now it's like everyone's selling something. But at the time it was like, these are my lashes. I don't wear mascara, but I wear it now. I love it. You need it in your life. And I started very quickly, you know, making some money doing that. So I just started holding that away for fun money for me and the kids for the summer, because that was coming up. I wanted to get a passes to the water park.

Melissa Halpin (17:56)
Right,

Alison Serbentas (18:20)
is what I wanted. And I ended up making that money in like the first month. I was shocked. It really, it did. It took off fast and I saw the money making opportunity and this is looking back on it. I still can't believe I put all of my eggs in this makeup basket, but it paid off and I'm very much an ignorance is bliss kind of person. So

Melissa Halpin (18:24)
⁓ so your makeup business really took off fast.

Nah.

Alison Serbentas (18:44)
Once I figure out that where I'm going is going somewhere, I go all in. is no, there's no trepidation anymore. There's no, I'm nervous to do this. It's just, we're doing this. And I've done that with my protein bar business. did it with bodybuilding and I'm sure there'll be other things that come along the way that I just haven't even discovered yet. But once I, once I get that feeling of this is what we're doing, then it takes off and that

Melissa Halpin (18:49)
Right.

Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (19:09)
is honestly how I was able to support myself and my kids for gosh, think it was probably, I think it was six years before the income started waning just as I started getting different interests and my protein bar business, you know, started taking off. I had met Keith by then, my now fiance and just, just other opportunities opened up for me. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (19:13)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Right. So let's back up a little bit to that though.

you were a sales rep or a consultant for a makeup company. You're free to mention it if you want to or not. But I imagine that that comes with a lot of structure and tools and marketing tools and support. But you did transition to being a solo entrepreneur when you created your protein bars.

Alison Serbentas (19:36)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (19:55)
which I have lot of experience having my own business, but also as a marketing and design agency, I work with lot of entrepreneurs. That's a whole different animal when you're out there on your own building a business, creating a product or creating a service. tell us a little bit more about how that came about, like what the differences were, what you learned from the first job to the entrepreneurship venture.

Alison Serbentas (20:06)
It is.

So you definitely hit the nail on the head. There are some major differences there. ⁓ With my makeup company, which is called Unique, they were known for lashes and ended up becoming like a whole makeup thing for me. ⁓

Melissa Halpin (20:22)
Right, right.

huh.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (20:33)
So with that, course you've got everything is there, like customer service is there. All I had to do was learn how to do makeup and show people online how to do it, which was very scary. So it was very scary. But again, that's what I had put all my eggs in that basket. So I had told myself, you either learn how to do this. Cause I was already, I was already out of my house at that time. We were separated, divorce hadn't gone through, but I was not going back.

Melissa Halpin (20:36)
Right. Right.

Right. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Right. You are now dependent being a unique. Do they call it consultant or sales? I don't know.

Alison Serbentas (21:00)
and that wasn't for lack of him trying, believe me. Yes. Yes. It was,

at the time it was a unique presenter. they've done some rebranding and they're called something different now, but at the time it was called a presenter and it was, so post a selfie a day, you know, so much, the structure was definitely there. So I learned.

Melissa Halpin (21:11)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Right. ⁓

Right.

Alison Serbentas (21:23)
I learned that you really did have to put yourself out there on social media. Otherwise people, that was your storefront. So if you weren't excited about your product, no one else was gonna be excited about your product. If I didn't believe in it, no one else was gonna believe in it either. So those were things that I was able to take with me as I created a whole other, whole other thing. I mean, totally different things.

Melissa Halpin (21:28)
Yeah. Yeah.

Right.

Was it confidence building?

Was that confidence building for you to get used to putting yourself out there? Because I feel like, you know, even though I'm doing a lot of marketing and branding and, know, I'm very versed in photo shoots and video shoots for others, I still struggle even with this podcast, putting myself out there. And people keep saying, well, the more that you do it, the more comfortable you get. And I don't know if that's happening.

Alison Serbentas (21:52)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

You

know, and I even, I struggle still today and Keith doesn't understand it because he's like, you used to do live videos on Facebook. I mean, I would, I would seriously do the whole get ready for me thing before we called it get ready, you know, with me. And it, at the time it was, it really was a have to, but I started, I did start to have fun with it. It was therapeutic. It was therapeutic for me.

Melissa Halpin (22:18)
Yeah, right.

Yeah, I remember those. Yeah.

Yeah, you, yeah.

Okay, yeah,

Alison Serbentas (22:36)
And

Melissa Halpin (22:36)
right.

Alison Serbentas (22:36)
the biggest difference between then and now, I would say, is just the environment of social media is so different. People are just meaner these days. And that's my kryptonite, I will tell you. I don't know how much we'll be able to touch on the sobriety journey, but I went through, you know, and I'm...

Melissa Halpin (22:44)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yes.

Alison Serbentas (22:58)
It'll be a never ending journey. It'll be a never ending journey. But in the very beginning stages, like, mean, I was one of those going to AA six times a week. I had a meeting right down the road from me, you know, so, and thanks to my online makeup business, I had all the free time in the world to be able to go, yes, yes, yes. And that's really what, what it was. That was the, really the catalyst, I guess, for my spiritual journey.

Melissa Halpin (23:00)
Right.

you. Right, right.

The flexibility to work on yourself in a way though.

Alison Serbentas (23:26)
And I would go every day at noon, every day at noon. I had, I called her a spiritual advisor or a mentor is what I called her in the program. They call them sponsors, but when I would refer to, know, you know, cause I always shared my journey, always shared it. And I was very careful because I didn't want to turn people off. If AA happened to be something that someone wanted to do, I'd

Melissa Halpin (23:33)
Right.

Alison Serbentas (23:50)
I wanted them to be able to look at me and this is how it was in the makeup business and anything else that I do. I never want to seem like I'm talking at someone. I truly want to inspire them to do it. I want them to see me as an example and not someone who's telling you what to do because everybody's journeys are different and I want you to be able to create your own journey. And if there's something that I can say that might inspire you to do something then

Melissa Halpin (24:01)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (24:17)
I've done my job, but I never want anyone to feel like that. I'm telling you what to do. So I'm careful with the words that I use, but for, for here, I'm just saying the words AA, my sponsor, all that stuff. But anyway, through the steps, they help you figure out what your, what I call your kryptonite is, you know, what is it? You really peel the layers back. And through every experience that I could think of that was

Melissa Halpin (24:27)
You're sharing it. Yeah. Yeah.

Right, right.

Alison Serbentas (24:44)
just a negative experience in my life. It always boiled down to this one thing. It boiled down to, I care too much about what other people think. And I see that in my life even today. So even whether it's with bodybuilding, whether it's with my protein bar business, I'm still in my mascara business. And if there's anything that I'll say like, I wish I could do this or

Melissa Halpin (24:46)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (25:07)
I really should be doing this. I peel the layers back. I'm like, well, why am I not doing this? Why am I not? And it still boils down to, I care too much about what other people think. Social media is just, I can't get over that hump just yet. I have to be super, super sure and certain about what I'm doing before I can really put it out there. Just because, I mean, a year ago I put a plate of my food

Melissa Halpin (25:18)
Yeah.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (25:34)
because in the bodybuilding world, like everything that I eat is mostly very, very minimally processed food. It's your typical protein, starch and vegetable, you know? And it's very colorful. And I do like to share that part, but I posted a plate of my food and it got on the wrong side of the algorithm. And people were so nasty about my food because...

Melissa Halpin (25:41)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (25:59)
They're like, looks so plain and you don't season your food and that would be disgusting. And, I don't even know these people. And it was, it was so, I was like, I did not sign up for this. Like I did not sign up for this. And that's, that's a huge part of what still sticks in the back of my head is I'm like, do I really want to put myself out there so much? But then at the same time, I'm like,

Melissa Halpin (26:06)
Right.

right.

Yeah.

Right. You almost have

to commit to I'm staying out of the comments section.

Alison Serbentas (26:25)
Yes, I've, I've, Gabby Bernstein, do you, are you familiar with that name? She, one of the books that I just absolutely love is, the universe has your back. And she's, she's just, she really taught me the tangible ways to pray. And I know that might sound crazy to a lot of people who like grew up in the church and stuff like that, but I did not. And I, I just felt like that I needed to.

Melissa Halpin (26:27)
No.

Mm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (26:49)
create my own way and relationship. But I knew that prayer was a big deal. And I'm like, how in the world do you really do that in the realm that I'm trying to do it? Anyway, she really just takes God out of the box in a way. And she reached someone like me as far as asking for signs. That's where I got the pray and ask for signs and let God speak to you, whoever your higher power might be.

Melissa Halpin (26:55)
Right.

Right.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (27:16)
have to know that what I'm doing, I am super solid in. And then I really don't care what anyone thinks. So when I have these thoughts to myself of, I should be doing this, or I want to do this, sometimes I just have to sit with myself for just a little while and say, right now may not be the time for you to do X, Y, or Z. Like I've got like so many things.

Melissa Halpin (27:19)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah

Alison Serbentas (27:39)
Just three things off the top of my head I could just list off that I really want to do that really could probably open up a whole new world of opportunity for me. But it takes putting yourself out there.

Melissa Halpin (27:39)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

It does. Well, I mean, I just want to say somebody who has, I can't even believe I'm saying this, but has been following along with your life for 20 years, it doesn't look like you're afraid of trying new things. It actually looks like, wow, this woman who was very committed to being a stay at home mom, transitioned to self-employment. Or this woman who didn't wear makeup and wasn't really like a social media personality.

Alison Serbentas (28:00)
So long time.

Melissa Halpin (28:17)
put herself out there, was doing behind the scenes, was doing makeup online. Or your body has transformed in this stunning way from looking healthy and looking great to being a bodybuilder, which is obviously a much more extreme lifestyle and transition than most of us are capable of. So you're talking about the inner struggle or the fear, but.

Alison Serbentas (28:25)
Mm-hmm.

⁓ yeah.

Melissa Halpin (28:41)
I mean, you've certainly been leading by example of like doing things that like, I don't think those of us who knew you would, you know, we're, we were all rooting for you, but we were predicting you were going to get out of that marriage and be independent or would anyone have predicted that you were going to be the face of a makeup brand or you were going to start your own business. So you're doing a lot of hard things and it looks like you're doing them gracefully. Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (29:02)
I

Thank you. Thank you. That really does mean a lot. And I think

it's just a testament to anyone that starts something new. I think everyone goes through that. Just the length of time that they allow themselves to be, you know, in that space varies. Like my fiance, Keith, he gets the idea and he just goes with it. And

Melissa Halpin (29:15)
Right. Yeah.

Right, right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (29:27)
Then I see him struggle. I mean, as confident as what he is, and he's got a ton on social media right now, I've seen him come out of his shell and it's very inspiring to me because I know what he's overcome, the fears of putting himself out there, what he's overcome and seeing his Instagram following just skyrocket and the views that he gets on his videos. But I will say he loves creating and that's very overwhelming to me.

Melissa Halpin (29:37)
Right, right.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (29:55)
Like I don't mind filming the content, but I would almost want someone else to put everything together where he loves to create the stuff. So you really have to know. And that's just through trial and error. And that's just through life experience. You just, you'll learn. You'll learn what is, what truly like lights you up inside and what truly just puts that fire out.

Melissa Halpin (29:55)
Yeah.

Right. Right.

Right.

Yes.

Alison Serbentas (30:19)
because there's certain things that I really have tried to do and it just makes me more miserable than anything else. But then there's other things that are really scary to do. But when I start taking those steps, they may be scary for the first few steps, but then something starts to, I don't know, just light up inside of me. And then I know, okay, we're on the right path and I'll continue. I'm very, just.

Melissa Halpin (30:19)
Yes.

Right.

Yes.

Alison Serbentas (30:43)
I'm a very intuitive actor. So I'm not someone who you can even ask, you know, what, what are you doing today? Because that will probably change midday.

Melissa Halpin (30:52)
Right,

because I'm getting the info. I'm very much like you this way. I'm getting the information in real time, whether it's from God, or it's from the universe, or it's just from the energy in the room. it's channeling through me. I haven't necessarily planned it out. But that's how I like to live too, is intuitively is a good way of describing it. Well, you mentioned.

Alison Serbentas (30:59)
Yes.

Mm-hmm. Yes.

So when I make out any,

when I make out like any to-do lists, it's, they're my have to-dos for that day. It's not a list of to-dos and I'll be like, well, just because it's on my list, I have to do it. There's certain things that I must get done that day. So that's what gets written down. And then I may write intentions, but I don't beat myself up if the very next day, something that I wrote the day before goes on the next day.

Melissa Halpin (31:17)
go ahead. Yeah.

Right.

Right. Right.

in.

Alison Serbentas (31:41)
And there have been times where that same task has been written down for five days in a row before it finally gets crossed off. The key is just not to, I can't beat myself up if I don't get that particular thing done.

Melissa Halpin (31:41)
Right.

Yeah, right.

Yeah. Well, I

mean, it would seem from the outside, though, that you're good at structure because you have a structured way of eating and you're working out regularly and you've chosen a very healthy lifestyle. You've chosen a sober lifestyle. So it would appear that you're good at balancing intuition and structure.

Alison Serbentas (32:01)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I guess that's is very interesting that you picked that out. Our mutual friend, Sally, you know, Sally. And when I started on my sober journey and told her what I was doing, she was like, well, you're someone who really like structure so I could see that being good for you. And I kind of got offended by that. was like, because at the time I'm like living this very free flowing, you know, life and fly by the sea.

Melissa Halpin (32:12)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I do. love her.

Right, you took it a little personally

or something, yeah.

Alison Serbentas (32:37)
Yes,

I was like, I was like, that doesn't sound like a good thing. But looking back on it, I am a very structured person. I eat very similarly my workouts. I mean, but that's why I'm good at the bodybuilding lifestyle is because I don't mind doing the boring things every single day. But at the same time, if you know, I need to do X, Y or Z and I just don't feel like doing it that day, I'm okay not doing it.

Melissa Halpin (32:45)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Right.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

OK. So it's not compulsive. No.

Alison Serbentas (33:05)
which is no, no. In fact,

I love the flexibility that I have in my days because even when I have like a set schedule of doing something because I can make my own schedule, I'll still change that up. I love flexibility when it comes to being able to come do and, you know, come and go as I please. I love having time flexibility, I guess, is what I love having.

Melissa Halpin (33:14)
Mm hmm. Right.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Well, and it sounds like you mentioned, Keith, it sounds like you both are sharing in that lifestyle. You're engaged now to a life partner and a business partner. So tell us a little bit more about how that's working. I know I also have been in and out of business with my husband, so I have some insight into this.

Alison Serbentas (33:31)
Mm-hmm.

You

Well, it's something that I never thought that we would do. We had very similar interests when we met, which was the, and at the time I wouldn't consider myself a bodybuilder. At the time I was just really into fitness and I loved to work out. That's really all that it was. He was more the bodybuilder at the time and I loved that he lived more that lifestyle. It meant that he took care of himself. It meant that he was structured.

Melissa Halpin (34:06)
Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (34:11)
in his own way. And I felt like that having that in common, having that value was something that we could build upon. And we have. So when, when the business thing came about, that was, that was a little trickier just because of my previous experience in relationships. ⁓ I felt like that my value

Melissa Halpin (34:18)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (34:32)
in previous relationships was based on like what I could provide and do. And I do remember saying that to my ex husband. I remember saying, I feel like that you won't truly respect me until I make a significant income on my own. But yet he didn't want me to make a significant income because with money comes confidence and with money comes a say in things. So he really wanted to keep me small. Even when I

Melissa Halpin (34:47)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (35:00)
Cause I was with him when I started my makeup business and he did not like it that I was making money. He just did not like that at all. And he started doing the little things that he usually does or did to break me down to where I would quit something. And at the time I was like, my confidence was built up so much that I said, I'm, not going to quit this. I'm not going to quit. So what ended up happening was,

Melissa Halpin (35:07)
threatening to some.

Mm-hmm.

Right. Right.

Alison Serbentas (35:25)
Keith is a gosh, an entrepreneur is, is, is saying it lightly. His resume is like a mile long. I love that about him too. Cause then he could understand what I was doing with my makeup business at the time. So it wasn't going to seem weird to him, you know, that I was on my phone and answering messages and stuff like that. So that was another value that we were able to build upon, but he had a stump grinding business at the time. So here I am online makeup sales.

Melissa Halpin (35:30)
Mm-hmm, right.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Okay.

Alison Serbentas (35:53)
stump grinder, which is just such an odd combo, but ultimately we're entrepreneurs. And he, we was, we were maybe a few years in when he decided to buy a smoothie shop in town. And it was a smoothie shop that he had gone to every single day for, you know, probably since they opened and there was an opportunity to buy the shop. So he bought it and I really wanted nothing to do with it. I'm like, that's your thing.

Melissa Halpin (36:05)
Okay.

Alison Serbentas (36:19)
I've got my thing, wanted to keep things very,

Melissa Halpin (36:20)
Right, right.

Alison Serbentas (36:21)
very separate. Cause I just, I just didn't know what he, what he would be like, what kind of pressure he was going to put on me. I didn't want to disappoint him. Yes. I was like, I just, I just wanted to keep that separate. and just, that was a self preservation thing for me and my daughter, Kara, she actually ended up going to work for him first. And I really observed.

Melissa Halpin (36:27)
Right. It could affect the relationship. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (36:43)
how he interacted with the employees, how he interacted with her. And he's a very, you know, he sets a high standard, but he's a very compassionate business owner and he's a very compassionate manager. At the time he was the manager. He was the owner, the manager. He did all the hiring. He did all of that stuff. And there came a point, I want to say it was, it was when we moved, we moved here.

Melissa Halpin (36:53)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (37:08)
to Rome, Georgia in 2020. It was summer. And I was so, I was so up to my eyeballs in credit card debt.

Melissa Halpin (37:16)
Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (37:16)
I was so over it. I was so done with it, but I didn't know how I was going to get out of it. Again, don't know how I'm going to get out of it, but I was creating this, this situation for myself where I had to believe something was going to, what's going to happen to get me out of it. So what I did, I prayed and I was like, God, I was like, please let me be open to creative opportunities to make some money. I had to, and I had known that

Melissa Halpin (37:22)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (37:42)
I had been open to creative opportunities before. So when I say creative opportunities, I mean, like I said, I like my flexibility. I like to come and go as I please. Yes, I like my structure, but that's more with my workouts and my food and, pretty much starting out with anything. But when it comes to time, I love my flexibility. I do not want to go and clock in at nine o'clock and clock out at five. I don't want someone to tell me when I can go to lunch.

Melissa Halpin (37:51)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (38:10)
I don't want someone to tell me what to wear because I did, you know, I've been in those kinds of jobs before and I was just miserable. So I love being able to just work for myself. So I knew a creative opportunity had to be out there and it was right underneath my nose, which was going to work at the smoothie shop. there was a opening, someone had quit and I had seen the struggles that Keith had gone through to hire good people. And I just looked at him one day and I said, you know what?

Melissa Halpin (38:34)
Mm-hmm. Right.

Alison Serbentas (38:37)
I said, why don't I just take the shift? So I started working just a few days a week. I was like, I just need to get some cash flow. need to start getting the financial confidence. Cause that was something that I was lacking at the time. I needed that financial confidence. And that just comes from getting a little bit. It doesn't take much. It just needs to be enough cash flow coming to trigger something somewhere inside that says more money will come.

Melissa Halpin (39:03)
Right. Right.

Alison Serbentas (39:04)
You just need to see that you can make the money. And

Melissa Halpin (39:05)
Right. Right.

Alison Serbentas (39:07)
from there, I ended up on, see, when people quit our smoothie shop, it's never on bad terms. It's just, they move on with life. And the girl that was opening for us, she moved on with life. And that she was our, you go in at 6.15 and you leave at 2.30. And it's Monday through Friday.

Melissa Halpin (39:18)
Right.

Alison Serbentas (39:28)
And I said, I will do it. I will, I will do it. So that's what I did. I started working full time there and then ended up becoming a manager at some point. so ends up over like the course of what those five years, I guess I ended, I am now the manager of our staff. I do the hiring, I've transitioned out from behind the counter and

Melissa Halpin (39:29)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (39:55)
It's, I'll put myself back on the schedule here and there for various reasons. I'm kind of more of a filler right now because we hire a lot of ⁓ students. Yeah, we hire a lot of students. Yes. So it's, it's, it's been just a wonderful experience working with him because are we good?

Melissa Halpin (40:02)
Right, Like manager, owner, co-owner, however you see that.

Oh, you froze out for a second.

Alison Serbentas (40:16)
It's been an amazing experience working with him, ⁓ just because it allowed us to build that trust with each other, that the consistency is always going to be there. Like, it's not like one day he's one way and the next day we're getting into an argument or something like that. it's very just even keeled, very consistent. He is just as easy going as what he was with my daughter back a couple of years ago. And that, that trust is so important.

Melissa Halpin (40:19)
you

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (40:43)
to build in any relationship, but when you come from a relationship where your spirit has just been broken, it takes some time to heal from that. And it takes time to build trust with somebody else. And that's why you mentioned that we were engaged. and people want to say, cause we've heard this a lot. it's about time. It's about time. Cause we've been together for seven years and we've had people ask.

Melissa Halpin (41:03)
Ha ha.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (41:06)
even before we got engaged, when are you going to get married? Like, it's just amazing the things that people just flat out ask you. And it's awkward and it's weird. And I remember thinking to myself, I don't know if I want to get married. Like, I just didn't know if that was something. And that's what I say. I'm like, well, you know, my first marriage kind of traumatized me. ⁓ But there's a lot of healing that goes on. I still...

Melissa Halpin (41:20)
You didn't have a good experience the first time.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (41:32)
have triggers even now that I have to remind myself he is not him. And you are also not the same person that you were before. And I learned so much from that experience that I'm able to apply to this one. And same goes for him, you know, from previous experiences. So it's a mutual trust that's being built to where I know

Melissa Halpin (41:38)
right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (41:58)
I know that it's a true partnership. I know it's a true partnership. And really it just kind of gets to a point to where it feels weird to be 46 years old and calling him my boyfriend. It just feels weird. And yeah, I would like to call him my husband. And I even like calling him my husband to be over fiance.

Melissa Halpin (42:10)
Right, right, right, right.

Do you

have a wedding date or do you have a timeline?

Alison Serbentas (42:23)
So we know it's gonna be this year and it's gonna be just something super small, but we're not sure of the exact date just yet. But we have an idea of the type of day we wanna have and how we wanna incorporate friends and family into the experience. So we're both really excited about it.

Melissa Halpin (42:25)
Okay.

Bye. ⁓

I'm super excited for you that that's happened. You deserve it. You guys deserve all the happiness in the world. One thing that we didn't touch on is as you went through this sort of partnering up with Keith and working in the smoothie shop, how did the idea of Spartan bars come to you? Like what was the, you know, what was the evolution of your product development and yeah.

Alison Serbentas (42:46)
Thank you.

So I had

Melissa Halpin (43:07)
Tell us what farting virus.

Alison Serbentas (43:07)
been, so I had been making these peanut butter protein bars, very simple ingredients for years, years before I even met Keith. And I wanted the product to be, I call it a product at the time it wasn't a product. I just wanted a snack that I could eat that fit my personal macros. And that wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg to make. So,

Melissa Halpin (43:27)
Right.

Mm-hmm, right.

Alison Serbentas (43:31)
I just played around with different ratios and once I found what worked and I mean, I am here, here goes back to my structure when it comes to food. Like I had every single ingredient measured out to the gram. Like I weigh out every single ingredient, every bar. It's not one of those things where it's like in a pan and then I just eyeball it and I cut it. No, it, it, would be like in this, this blob, this peanut butter honey blob.

Melissa Halpin (43:47)
Right.

Alison Serbentas (43:58)
And I would take a piece off and I would weigh it. Each one had to weigh a certain amount, plugged it into my little, you know, my fitness pal app at the time and divided it up and figured out what all the macros were. So that was something that I made for myself. And if my son happened to eat it, he happened to eat it. Uh, Kara is allergic to peanut butter, so she wasn't, she wasn't touching it. No, no. And I would make them for friends.

Melissa Halpin (44:02)
Right. Right.

Yep.

She wasn't going near those.

Alison Serbentas (44:27)
And they loved them. anyone really that I made them for, they just absolutely just thought they were just the best thing ever. They're the consistency of the inside of a Reese's peanut butter cup. And like I said, simple, simple ingredients, because for me, it has to be simple. If you, I'm the world's worst about seeing a recipe and thinking it looks so good and I'll go and look. And if it's got more than a few.

Melissa Halpin (44:27)
Mm-hmm.

nice.

Alison Serbentas (44:50)
ingredients, I'm clicking off of it. It's not for me. And I loved this particular, this particular recipe because it really only has five ingredients. It's got whey protein, peanut butter, honey, oats, flax, like that is it. And I don't have to bake it. They don't have to be refrigerated. Like I have said so many times that these things have blessed me just on so many different

Melissa Halpin (44:53)
Right.

Right. Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (45:13)
levels and god knew what he was doing when he put this in my hands because it doesn't get any simpler than making this bar and when we let's see when keith took over spartan smoothies uh it was in 2020 so he took over in 2020 um probably or no he did sorry 2019 and then it was 2020 in the summer that he was like let's just see how they do in the shop just make a batch

and we'll put them in little Ziploc bags and we'll just see how they do. And it seriously just started off making 18. The batch would make 18 bars and I would make them, make them there. And I would probably make, I don't know, 18 every three or four days. So they would sell in that amount of time. And then I'd make another batch and put them out for sale. And it grew so much to where I ended up having to

Melissa Halpin (45:42)
Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (46:09)
get a commercial kitchen, moved to before that, I moved to making them in my home and then very quickly realized I needed a, like a commercial kitchen to do this. And I found it was seriously such, such a, such a huge blessing that one of the little, like those tea shops, one of those tea shops in town was moving. So I was able to take over their space.

And that was in And I've, I spent almost four years that I've had that commercial kitchen now. And I've got, two girls, two stay at home moms that work for me. And we now make, I haven't done a count here lately, but we crank out over a thousand of these peanut butter bars every single week. I've probably got 20 different flavors now. I sell them mostly through Spartan smoothies. And I've got a shelf.

Melissa Halpin (46:41)
Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (46:57)
sell them in dozen packs, four packs and singles, along with fruity protein, crispy treats. So they're made just like a rice crispy treat, just with fruity pebbles and added protein. and then I also sell them out of other nutrition shops. the biggest one being in Woodstock, which is about an, about an hour away. It's kind of like a Spartan smoothies, but just a little bit bigger and they've been around a lot longer. ⁓ they,

Melissa Halpin (47:06)
Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Alison Serbentas (47:21)
They've picked them up and then there's another smoothie shop. just actually in my former town that, that I moved from, they've picked them up and then I've got an online store that people can order from. And that's, that's one of those things too, as a, as an entrepreneur, you spend a lot of money trying to figure out how you're going to get these things out to the masses. Yes.

Melissa Halpin (47:43)
Distribute, yeah. So you're shipping

them nationally?

Alison Serbentas (47:47)
Yes. So I've shipped to over half the country. I haven't done a count of that lately, but I used to, I used to keep like a running tally of, you know, States and it's always so cool when there's a new state, you know, I'll be like, Ooh, I haven't shipped to, you know, Mississippi yet. And, I haven't shipped to, I've actually shipped to Alaska, shipped to California, Nevada. mean, I've shipped to all over the country.

Melissa Halpin (47:56)
of all the states.

Okay, you're gonna ship to Michigan this week, because

I'm gonna order some when we hang up.

Alison Serbentas (48:13)
They are so, and I know I'm the creator, I know I am, but they really are, I have not gotten tired of eating them or smelling them. There's just a unique smell that that whole little concoction has and it's just, I love it, I love it.

Melissa Halpin (48:30)
I'm so excited to get them. We'll tell everybody where they can get them if they want to go online and order.

Alison Serbentas (48:35)
So

they can go to Spartanbars.com and it takes you to my website and it links you to my Shopify store. So that was the big thing. was trying to avoid, ⁓ my gosh, yes. ⁓ If there's, my gosh, it was a journey. It was a journey to get there, but I'm so glad that I've got something that's reliable.

Melissa Halpin (48:38)
Okay.

Okay. Yeah, I know how that goes. We've built a number of those for clients and maintain them.

Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (48:58)
and something that people can go to and it's actually going to work. That's just one of those, just the cost of owning a business. I think that's probably the hardest thing for me to swallow when it comes to is just how much money sometimes you have to spend only to do what you probably knew you should have done to begin with.

Melissa Halpin (49:07)
Yeah.

Right.

Yeah,

just to build the infrastructure and the systems that you need, especially to do e-commerce. Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (49:20)
Yes.

Yeah, but it takes what it takes and

you know, every single challenge that I've experienced, I truly see that it's just helped me learn something to move forward with and then it just makes everything else better from that point forward.

Melissa Halpin (49:38)
Do you have any plans to try to scale Spartan bars to be like in national retailers or?

Alison Serbentas (49:44)
⁓

I would love that. And right now what I am, what I've put out there, what I'm praying for is better packaging. So better packaging is what I would love. Like I would love to have, and I went down that road before and again, kind of traumatizing. So I'm, I'm a little, a little hesitant, you know, to move forward with more packaging.

Melissa Halpin (49:54)
Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (50:08)
But that is what I would eventually like to do where, you know, like, like for you to be able to go into a gas station and get a Spartan bar, you know, off of, off of a shelf or see, in a vending machine, you know, at a hospital, like we've talked about that before, because there's, there's several, just people we've, we've got a lot of hospitals around the Rome area and I hear so much where they'll keep Spartan bars.

Melissa Halpin (50:16)
Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (50:34)
in their lockers at work or a friend of mine keeps one in her pocket, know, hairdressers, people that have to stand all day long that don't really get a chance to eat. They, you know, can just eat those really quick and it satisfies them. They're they're not the biggest thing, but they are dense and they they keep you full for a little while. They curb sweet, sweet teeth. I've just heard how they work with people.

Melissa Halpin (50:36)
nice.

Yeah.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (51:00)
on so many different levels. And I'm just like, my gosh, like I did that. I think, I just think it's so cool.

Melissa Halpin (51:05)
I'm of

you. I'm definitely ordering some today. And I really like the idea that they're clean. And I myself have been on a weight loss journey. so because I'm taking a medication that reduces my appetite, I'm always struggling to get in enough protein. And then I have

Alison Serbentas (51:10)
Mm-hmm.

Yes. And that's what's good about

these is that they're high protein, but when you're taking something or, I've talked with people that have had, you know, gastric bypass type surgery or something along those lines where there's just not a lot of room in your stomach. And in the medication side of it, where it actually slows the gastric emptying, you just can't have a lot of volume.

Melissa Halpin (51:24)
Is there high protein?

in

Right.

Alison Serbentas (51:46)
You can't eat a lot. You can't drink a lot. It's just so these are, are they're small enough, but calorie dense enough that packed the protein to where it kind of gives you everything that you need to where you're not going to feel super full, but you will feel satisfied.

Melissa Halpin (51:46)
Right, right. Yeah, yeah.

⁓

You know, that's really a good angle

for you because so many people are trying. So many people are trying the GLP-1 medicines. So that seems like a good angle. Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (52:05)
Mm-hmm.

In fact, that's where it really is. had

one of the wellness clinics in Alabama and it's, we're pretty close to the Alabama line. So she's maybe like 45 minutes away and she has her GLP one patient base and she started buying bars from me last year. And so she buys them in the dozen packs, the four packs and in the singles and

Melissa Halpin (52:15)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (52:33)
she'll have her husband who works here in Rome just come by and pick them up. So that's been a huge outlet for me as well. Our is the GLP one community. So it, and it made me open up my mind a little bit more and learn more about GLP one. mean, it's just been like a whole thing because I wanted to learn more about what it does in the body. who can benefit from it, which

Melissa Halpin (52:43)
Yeah. Yeah.

Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (52:58)
is so many more people than what I thought could benefit from it. I mean, it really is a great tool to have in the toolbox for more people to me, even more, you know, than than people realize. So it's just it's just another it's just another outlet for me that I see myself going down because protein is so important and nutrition is so important with people that are on GLP ones. And there's several different ones out there that I would say.

Melissa Halpin (53:01)
Right.

lot of us.

It is.

Alison Serbentas (53:24)
probably my passion project that's really starting to really take off because I would love to be a coach for people like you who may need that extra help in nutrition because a lot of times weight loss is the, gosh, it's the driving motivator. But then they lose, as they're losing the weight, they don't know how to

Melissa Halpin (53:37)
Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (53:47)
nourish their bodies because no one taught them how. So I have a nutrition certification, a nutrition coach certification. but as I was doing that and coaching people, it, I guess I've got a specific type of client that I'm looking for. And there's just something about that GLP one community. That's just so special because it's doing so much work on the inside.

Melissa Halpin (53:49)
Right. Right.

Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (54:12)
that's more than just weight loss, that it really sets them up optimally and it makes them a little more excited to get the nutrition part down. So that's something I'm excited about.

Melissa Halpin (54:16)
Yeah.

Right. do feel

like my experience with it has been, if you've struggled with weight, like I have really from my mid-20s to my 50s, and been on every single possible diet, and it was always about weight loss. But I realized, for me personally, but I know a lot of women that have said the same thing, the medicine was almost like, I want to say, like a psychiatric medicine in the sense

that it affected my thinking. It affected the food noise in my mind. It affected that sort of soothing with food. similar to, I imagine, a sobriety journey with alcohol or drugs or shopping or any other compulsion is that I really like that I wasn't thinking about food anymore. So I think whatever, you know, I'm not a doctor or a scientist and I haven't read all the research, but.

Alison Serbentas (54:52)
Mm-hmm. Yes.

Melissa Halpin (55:16)
However those leptins are working, it's not just in your stomach, but it's in your brain. it's, yes, yeah, it's very, it's a relief. I feel like it's a relief to me not to be on a diet per se, and the whole time my brain is saying, you're hungry, keep snacking, just one more piece of cheese, how about a handful of cashews? Like I don't have that food noise. So when,

Alison Serbentas (55:20)
it is and what really caught my attention was

Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (55:44)
whether I'm on a diet or not, or I'm following a nutrition program or not, or I'm just reducing calories, there's a mental and emotional and psychological component to the relief the medicine has given me. But I agree with what you're saying is that a lot of us who went in for weight loss are now founding like, great, I finally lost 40 pounds, or I finally lost 60 pounds that I've been up and down for decades with, but now what about

Alison Serbentas (55:55)
Yeah.

Melissa Halpin (56:10)
food macros and what about muscle building and what about, okay, I might've gone from a size 18 to an eight, but I don't like how these arms are looking, right? They're like, you know what I mean? Like, because I wasn't so much focused on, even though, not to say that the doctor didn't tell me to get in, you know, 100 grams of protein a day, I just didn't do it. Right?

Alison Serbentas (56:19)
Mm-hmm. ⁓

Yeah, yeah. Well, and it seems daunting for,

Melissa Halpin (56:35)
It seems daunting because I'm

Alison Serbentas (56:35)
know, to hear that.

Melissa Halpin (56:37)
already like, I'm finally eating less food and I'm moving more and I'm less. And that seems like such a huge leap that also like counting macros and being concerned about protein has been like a secondary concern. But a year in I'm like, no, I'm in my 50s. I need to stay strong and not lose muscle.

Alison Serbentas (56:50)
Mm-hmm.

Yes. And that's another

something that, that we are just, it's, it's been interesting to see the evolution of where Keith and I have come from as far as what we used to talk about when we first met. And here lately it's where all of our talk is about muscle building and, know, and, not muscle building for aesthetic muscle building for longevity, muscle building and just the importance of

Melissa Halpin (57:15)
Right, right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (57:22)
the role that it plays in, in insulin resistance and how it can improve all of that and help just, just make your body, more efficient metabolically. And it's not just about aesthetics. Like that, that does come, don't get me wrong. Like the shape you will be happier with your shape when you've got some muscle. Cause it pushes against the skin instead of the skin just hanging. I

Melissa Halpin (57:35)
Right.

Right. Right, right,

Alison Serbentas (57:48)
I do

Melissa Halpin (57:48)
right.

Alison Serbentas (57:48)
know that feeling. People used to think that I was crazy for never wanting to wear a bikini or work out in the gym, you know, in just a sports bra, but it didn't matter how lean I got. My stomach still just looked like not where I was comfortable, but it wasn't until I started, I realized I just don't have the muscle to push against the skin. So I had to start, I had to start doing

Melissa Halpin (58:06)
Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (58:16)
the sit ups that I didn't want to do because I was afraid it was going to make my waist too thick. so once I started doing that, it's so crazy. Like even right now at the weight that I'm at right now, cause just coming out of a show a month ago, the weight is starting, you know, really to come back on. And that's a whole other mental beast within itself, but it's fine. It's fine. Everything's fine. ⁓ but the, the shape of my stomach is so much different now that I have the muscle to push against.

Melissa Halpin (58:20)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (58:44)
the skin. So I'm like, ⁓ that looks kind of cool. but so the aesthetic does come, but what it does on the inside is so much more important metabolically than the way that you look. So it's just kind of cool that it goes, you know, hand in hand, but that's where our conversations that that that's where they, yes, yes.

Melissa Halpin (58:45)
Yeah.

Right.

Right, that it has those layers.

Right. I want to live a long life, and I don't want to be a burden to my kids. And I just got to the point where I don't want to run up and down the steps and be outwinded. Like, this is crazy. I don't want my knees to hurt. I mean, not like they don't still hurt, but just to the least degree that they can. Right.

Alison Serbentas (59:13)
It's those... Yeah.

Yes, and

believe me, even with me being in the gym as much as what I am, I still have the aches and pains because what I need to be working on at this stage in the game is flexibility. I need to be stretching. I need to be doing the foam rolling, all that stuff that I just absolutely hate. And if I could give anyone any piece of advice, the thing that you are really avoiding is the thing that you really should be doing that'll

Melissa Halpin (59:36)
Right.

Alison Serbentas (59:47)
make the biggest difference in your life. Like I tell myself I need to be doing yoga. I'm like maybe yoga would work, you know? I still can't make myself do yoga. I still can't make myself stretch. ⁓

Melissa Halpin (59:56)
It will.

think you'll love it though. I think you'll

love it because you're spiritual and you pray. And I do think there's this overlap between mind and body with yoga that I really appreciate. mean, sometimes people will be like, what's your favorite yoga pose? And it's just laying on the mat, just taking that moment, right? It's just that integration time of mind, body, spirit, the earth. It is powerful.

Alison Serbentas (1:00:08)
Yes, yes.

Yes

And I wish I knew what my hangup was with it, something I need to explore. But I know that if I can just lay on the foam roller or just lay on a mat in a yoga class, I'm sure that I will feel much better than what I already do.

Melissa Halpin (1:00:27)
Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah, yeah. Are there any other misconceptions about bodybuilding or healthy living or clean eating that you want to clear up?

Alison Serbentas (1:00:47)
So I think the biggest misconception when it comes to just muscle building for women in general is that they're afraid they're gonna look bulky and they don't wanna look like a man. here's, for me, I'm like, the more muscle the better. Like, I love it. And if I could put on, if I could have put on more muscle by now, I would have. It doesn't happen as fast as what people think that it does. It takes...

Melissa Halpin (1:00:54)
Yeah.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (1:01:10)
Quite a long time to actually build the muscle. So it's not like one day you're going to wake up and you're going to be like, my gosh, where did these shoulders come from? I didn't want shoulders this big. It, it happens so gradually that once you get to a point to where, okay, I'm happy with the way that my shoulders look, then you can go into a maintenance phase of your lifting. So you might have been, let's just use this as an example. You might've been training your shoulders. Let's just say three days a week. And then you're like, I'm liking the way that they're looking.

You don't want them to get any bigger. That's totally fine. You can just go to training them once a week and you'll just maintain where you are. it also has to do with your nutrition. Like if you are someone who wants to put on muscle, you're going to have to eat at your maintenance or a little bit above in order to fuel your body enough to do it. Like we, we've worked with so many women who just focus on the scale so much and

Melissa Halpin (1:01:43)
Right.

Right.

Right.

Alison Serbentas (1:02:04)
they'll come in and we've got a body composition scale at our smoothie shop and they'll come in and after like three months of losing all the weight that they can, then all of a sudden they're disappointed that they've lost muscle mass because it shows you on there. And it's like, well, that wasn't the goal. Like you were eating in a deficit because you were wanting to lose body fat. And with that is going to come losing some muscle. So if you didn't want to lose muscle, we really needed to be a little closer to your maintenance. Like there's a whole like, you know,

There's just a whole thing that that goes that goes along with it. That's why a coach is really important. Like I've got to coach myself because if if I didn't have my coach, I would just be willy nilly all over the place. And that's that's where I was for a long time. And that's how I got with my coaches. I just wanted to see if I could execute a meal plan and be consistent with a meal plan. So he just he I call him he's just like the captain of the ship. He just keeps he just keeps me on the straight and narrow.

Melissa Halpin (1:02:33)
Yeah, a whole bunch of math.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (1:03:00)
But that's one misconception when it comes to that. And then I guess another one is that you've got to be in the gym seven days a week, maybe that you've got to work out every single day. And that's not the case either. You can seriously do two full body workouts and you will see some significant changes in your body. That's what I was just telling my mom. Cause I'm trying to get her, I'm trying to get her back in the gym. Like she's actually like,

the first woman that I saw lifting free weights, you know, not just being on machines. She was lifting the dumbbells and stuff like that when I was like 16 years old. And she was like a little pioneer, you know, when it, when it came to that for me. And it's been a long time since she's been in the gym and I would like to see her revisit that. planting these seeds when I was visiting her and

Melissa Halpin (1:03:32)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Alison Serbentas (1:03:48)
She's, she's just got already got such a muscle base to her that I told her, said, it would just take you just two days in the gym. That's all it would take just two days. And the little light bulb went off. I could see it in her eyes where she's like, I don't have to be at the gym every single day. So you don't have to be in the gym every single day. And if you're the type of person where you go two days a week, and then it's kind of exciting to you.

Melissa Halpin (1:04:04)
Right.

Alison Serbentas (1:04:12)
then go another day. Like nothing's telling you, you can't go more, but two days is really all, you know, it's really all that you need. And then I know all of these are, are, are centered around like fitness type stuff. I'm trying to think of maybe like a, like a business misconception. I would, I would say when it comes to business is that there's a lot more

Melissa Halpin (1:04:13)
Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (1:04:32)
There's a lot more trial and error that goes along with it than you think that there is. So you really do see someone's successes. Like I see you and this amazing podcast that you've got going on that you're super consistent with and very professional. And, you know, but I, I know, I know that you just didn't wake up one day and y'all were just, y'all had all this together. Like I'm sure that all of these, these tips that you gave me in order to create such

Melissa Halpin (1:04:36)
Yes.

No.

No.

Alison Serbentas (1:05:00)
you know, a quality podcast. I'm sure that came from trial and error from, from before. And you're probably still adding to it.

Melissa Halpin (1:05:04)
for sure. mean, everything.

All the time. It's always a journey, right? And making mistakes is part of the process. Like, and learning from mistakes, having partners come and go, finding the right contractors, just finding your own rhythm and your own comfort level and schedule. I think these things apply to what you're doing, what I'm doing, and what a lot of women are doing, is to just get comfortable with the journey and get comfortable with

failure and get comfortable with change and get comfortable with letting go. Some people are just here for short time. And that's fine. That's fine. Take the lessons and keep moving. Yeah.

Alison Serbentas (1:05:41)
That's right.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, because every

like I said every experience that I've had whether it's positive or negative has helped me apply it to the next experience and That's what I'm trying to teach my daughter right now and bless her heart, you know She'll be in the middle of something that's just really trying and she's like I'm really trying to see what the good in this is But I just can't see it and I said you can't see it right now

Melissa Halpin (1:05:55)
Yes.

Alison Serbentas (1:06:10)
I said, and I don't know if you're supposed to see it right now. I said, but it'll come to you later.

Melissa Halpin (1:06:11)
Yeah.

It will. And you've done a really beautiful job modeling for her, like, changing and adapting and trying new things, so... I'm sure she'll... I'm sure she's on her own journey to do that. It's hard, right? It's funny, like, it seemed like when they were little, it was... We were all online asking each other all these questions, and it seemed like the roughest time, but has it really gotten any easier with teenagers and young adults? They need us just as much.

Alison Serbentas (1:06:23)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Thank you.

No. No.

They do. And that's, that's why I'm so grateful that I, I went down the sobriety path when I did, because my emotional state was just, it was, was, was just getting worse and worse. Definitely wasn't getting any better. And before I decided that that's, that alcohol just couldn't be in my life anymore. that was when I really started learning how to not only manage my own emotions, but

once I learned how to manage my own emotions, then I could just be that even person for my kids when their emotions were all over the place. So I'm like, I couldn't imagine if their emotions were all over the place and my emotions were all over the place. Like it, it really would not, what wouldn't have been a pretty sight.

Melissa Halpin (1:07:23)
No, no, yeah. Regulating yourself, at least for myself, it's just been a lifelong pursuit. Yeah, yeah, a lifelong.

Alison Serbentas (1:07:31)
Yes, yes. And it is, it's

a, it's a never ending unfolding journey. And it's something that I've had to learn to just embrace. one of my favorite, I listened to these videos in the morning and they're, like these little cartoons, there's, it's a law of attraction thing is what it is. And they're just these little 15 minute clips and

She, she says all the time it's, they're Abraham Hicks videos and she'll say, we're here for the creating, not for the creation. And I love that. I love it. Cause it's just another way of saying the joys in the journey. but I truly see, and I see more and more each, each day, I see the evidence that who I'm becoming on my way to wherever I'm going is.

Melissa Halpin (1:08:03)
Yeah, I love that too.

Yes.

Alison Serbentas (1:08:18)
is really where it's at. And I either learn how to enjoy it in the moment now and appreciate all the good and bad that comes along with it, or I'm not going to enjoy where I end up because I've done that before too. And that's, that's not a fun place to be either.

Melissa Halpin (1:08:30)
Yeah.

And you don't live in the future. You live now, right?

Alison Serbentas (1:08:33)
No, because there's always going

to be something to do. Like until we die, there's always going to be something to do. So you might as well enjoy the doing.

Melissa Halpin (1:08:38)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, enjoy the doing. Well, you are wise, Allison, and I really appreciate you sharing your story. And I know that a lot of women can relate to it. And I will put all the places that the listeners can find you in the show notes. And I believe you're part of the Facebook community as well. reach out to Allison if you're interested in talking to her about.

Alison Serbentas (1:08:49)
Thank

Yes.

Melissa Halpin (1:09:08)
coaching or ordering some Spartan bars or sharing something about a sober journey or clean food journey. She's online. She's online. You can get some mascara. I've certainly ordered some makeup from her over the years. I think you're still doing that as well. Yep. Yep.

Alison Serbentas (1:09:15)
Whatever. Yeah. Yes.

Yeah, I am. I am, not to the

extent that I used to, but I'm still happy to be a part of the company. In fact, Kara was looking for a mascara yesterday and she thought I didn't have any. And she's like, I gonna have to use, this is the only mascara I've used since I started. I'm like, no, I've got some. I just have to find it. It was buried somewhere. She was so relieved.

Melissa Halpin (1:09:33)
Thank

you

Aww, well say hi to Kara for me and come back anytime and I really enjoyed talking to you today.

Alison Serbentas (1:09:51)
I enjoy talking to you.

Melissa Halpin (1:09:53)
have a great day until next time.

Alison Serbentas (1:09:54)
bye, thank you.