Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of Cooper City
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cooper City
EP #297: Jackie D'Alessandro with Hola! Beautiful
Join us for an insightful conversation with Jackie D'Alessandro, a remarkable woman who transformed a personal tragedy into a thriving holistic wellness business, Hola Beautiful, in Cooper City. From her beginnings as a stay-at-home mom and accountant, Jackie’s journey to becoming a skincare specialist is fueled by resilience and a profound interest in holistic health. She shares how the serene environment of Water Garden Place sets the perfect backdrop for her offerings, which include massage therapy, acupuncture, and skincare. Her story is a testament to the power of passion and necessity, illustrating how she turned her life around to support her family after her husband’s passing.
Explore the fascinating world of natural skincare with us as we dive into the benefits of dry oils like hemp oil, which Jackie champions for their nourishing properties. We discuss the challenges posed by traditional skincare products and the importance of adopting a holistic approach to health that encompasses diet, exercise, and skincare. The episode thoughtfully tackles the societal hurdles in forming healthy habits and emphasizes the significance of stepping out of comfort zones for personal growth. Whether you're new to natural skincare or a seasoned enthusiast, Jackie’s insights into holistic wellness offer valuable takeaways for enhancing overall well-being.
Call: (754) 273-1389
Visit: https://beautifulskinbyhb.online/
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Jeremy Wolf.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello, hello. Friends, family, wonderful community. We are back with another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. Our guest today is another good neighbor. He actually has a business here in Cooper City and is also a resident of our lovely city. I am joined by Jacqueline D'Alessandro, but we're going to call you Jackie, right.
Speaker 3:Yes, you can. Most people call me Jackie.
Speaker 2:Very, very cool. All right, Jackie, welcome to the show. Thanks for joining us.
Speaker 3:Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:Oh, it is our pleasure. Okay, so let's get into this. Okay, hola, beautiful is the name of your business. Tell us a little bit about what you do.
Speaker 3:Well, hola, beautiful is a holistic wellness and health business that specializes in massage therapy, acupuncture, skincare. Skincare is what I do personally and that's what we do. We have a beautiful location in Cooper City off of Griffin and Knob. I'm not sure if anybody's seen it, but it has like a humongous balcony in the back. So it's more than just like the services. It's a very calm building. It's called the Water Garden Place.
Speaker 2:Love it.
Speaker 3:Yes, it is, it is it's surrounded, it's very zen Huh.
Speaker 2:Very zen like.
Speaker 3:Very zen. It's shaped like a U and all the businesses are overlooking a beautiful water garden. So in the front, in the back, it's very peaceful, so a lot of clients just come here and relax. There's a lot of other wellness businesses in the same building, so it's a very zen, very health and wellness approach to health and skincare.
Speaker 2:Yes, I've been encountering more and more lately folks that are involved with holistic wellness and that whole space. I'm at a point in my life where I am really focused on that myself, so I'm attracting what I'm focused on. So I've done a lot of podcasts with folks from all different industries, whether it's a holistic approach to total body care with medicine or with what you're doing with skincare and everything in between. You know I I've been been in it for for years now and I really love seeing that approach to wellness, this whole holistic, whole body approach. So you mentioned that you specialize in skincare. So how many, how many of there are? Are you at Ola? Is it? Is it kind? It kind of like a salon suite type model, or is that?
Speaker 3:It is. It is you know. I mean to really know about Ola Beautiful's journey, where it came from, and to answer a lot of these questions. It kind of has like a little story to it.
Speaker 2:Let's hear it.
Speaker 3:So I know you like those. So, believe it or not, you know I was a stay-at-home mom. I married a wonderful man and we had a beautiful life. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 32. And unfortunately it's a degenerative disease that eventually started to affect his health overall. And you know we tried different conventional means. Obviously, you know he was a great cook. He loved to cook, so he prepared all the meals. Everything was very healthy and he did what he could. Unfortunately, it didn't work and he succumbed to it. You know he passed away.
Speaker 3:But before that happened, you know we were put in a situation that we put a lot of funds and money into his health, and not only the conventional way but also holistic ways as well. I mean, we were desperate, we wanted to kind of save his life and we, we spent a lot and unfortunately we lost a lot. But in that process, you know, knowing the fact that I had to provide for my kids, you know I had to move on eventually because he wasn't going to be there for very long. Unfortunately, after that diagnosis, you know he passed away six years. But it wasn't something that you know from one day to another, no, it was a process. So you know we were losing a piece of him all the time, you know. Fortunately, you know, his body succumbed to all the you know conditions and the medicine and the side effects, unfortunately, of all this medicine. But cognitively he was still a brilliant man and he was able to still work from home, remotely, and provide for the family, and it gave me the ability to kind of realize I have to do something. What can I do? I can't afford to, you know, go back into the corporate world. I was an accountant, you know, but I wanted to be with my children. I was a late in life mom and you know I had my son when I was 40. I had my daughter when I was 42. So I didn't want to be a nine to five, but I still had to provide and I was, as I was aging, I was more interested in skincare and treatments and once I realized that it's a profession that not only doesn't require a lot of education thank goodness or time, you know, it's something that a person can do independently eventually, and go on their own, you know, make as much as they want, do so many different aspects to skin care. And I decided to get into that business and thankfully he was healthy enough to still provide for the family and give me that opportunity to start my business. So, you know, I eventually went to school.
Speaker 3:I worked for someone for like six months and you know, the need to provide just made me do everything at an accelerated rate. You know. Know, just take the leap where you know it's pretty terrifying, but you know I didn't really have a lot of time. So within six months I rented out a room in a nail salon within the same building. It's a cute little nail salon and again, the need I was doing well and I was pleased. You know, I'm helping people. You know, not only am I providing for my family but I'm also doing something for someone that affects them in so many ways, and that's a different topic we can get into later. But you know, the bottom line is that it's something that I was very happy with and I knew that I can really grow and do a lot of really good things with it.
Speaker 3:But I couldn't do it in a little tiny room. So, again, only six months when this suite became available. It was a lot because it was just me and I was just building up my clientele. So I took the leap of faith because it was available. The building is so beautiful that there is no availability, so I really wanted to stay here and I just took the leap of faith and thankfully, the community and my clients you know they love me so much that they came in here and used.
Speaker 3:I was the first person here, so I was the only one. I didn't have any tenants, it was me. I only started with my room ready. This entire place was empty. I know that's crazy. The bathroom was good, it was clean, but the entire place was empty other than my room and my clients were completely content with that. But I was able to get my first tenant. You know he's a massage therapist, joshua Walder. He's amazing and you know. Through that I was able to get other tenants and then, once it kind of helped, it relieved some of that financial burden of paying for the place myself. I was able to reinvest it into other things like making and growing my own skincare, which it really completely changed my business and my life.
Speaker 2:Skincare products. Yes, yes, okay, yes, yes, got it. So you mentioned, so Ola Beautiful. Do all the businesses work under that, under the name Ola Beautiful, or is that specifically for your skincare?
Speaker 3:No, that is the name of the suites.
Speaker 2:You know it's.
Speaker 3:Ola Beautiful, but they have their names individually on their doors with their businesses or license information. They have to. You know it's like a salon suite type thing but within you know Ola Beautiful, which is my business. You know my skin care is beautiful skin by HB.
Speaker 3:OK so Go ahead, sorry, no, you're good to go. Ok, it's something that you know. Out of course, out of need, I always had to scale the business. So once I got all the tenants in here and everything was great, you know, some, you know, help me with the rent, pay the rent. Obviously I needed to provide more. So I'm always looking for ways to scale and you know the root to that is always need.
Speaker 3:So I decided that once I was in school and I realized all the chemicals that were used in skincare products, especially professional brands. It's a little scary what's in there. You know there's a lot of myths about that and that's one of the questions we'll tap into later. But you know it's something that I realized that once I graduated I definitely didn't want any professional conventional products. I wanted to do something that was organic and you know I didn't want to do any organic. I wanted to do maybe an FDA certified organic, you know, just to verify that it is.
Speaker 3:But you know, with time I realized that as long as it's mass produced, it's really not what you really think it is and it's mainly all water. And even though, if it's organic, you know the chemicals are made, the alcohol is made organically and, yes, everything is a chemical. But there's a difference between a natural chemical and a synthetic chemical. A natural chemical you can find in, you know, fruits and vegetables. You know that's where we get. You know our nutrients well. The skin is an organ, so it also responds to real nutrients and you get more nutrients and natural products than you do in a synthetically made product. That's mainly all.
Speaker 3:Water, you know, has alcohol and sodium just to stabilize the water, to make sure that there's no bacteria, and there's a lot of things that has to do with just because there's water in there. There's chemicals in there just to make water thick. There's chemicals in there to make it a certain color. There's chemicals in there to bind different ingredients in there and then there's chemicals to preserve it. A lot of these chemicals are found in plastic and cleansing detergents. It's not something that you really want in your body and, like you said, everybody is starting to become more aware of their health, especially as we get older. I know that I have. You know, losing my husband made me realize that. You know I have two children that kind of depend on me and I need to be here for them as long as possible. So you know, I definitely you know have taken more of a stronger approach to holistic health overall, because it's more than just you know the skin, you know it's the body, it's the food that you eat, it's that exercise that you get so all of it so I
Speaker 3:decided to. Um, you know, instead of using an organic line, even though it was organic and it was certified, it was still cheaply made. You know, they focus more on the marketing and the containers than what's really in there. Honestly, 80% is water. It's crazy.
Speaker 3:So I decided that, you know, this can't be that hard. You know there has to be, you know, a holistic ingredient to kind of give me the same effect. So I started to research the skin a little bit more. You know a holistic ingredient to kind of give me the same effect. So I started to research the skin a little bit more. You know, in school it's a general topic that we cover. You don't really cover, like, the skin and and the layers and the you know components of it, how it functions and if it is, it's very brief, you know, and they definitely do not cover anything holistic. Everything is geared towards, you know, one side. So I decided that, you know I, they definitely do not cover anything holistic. Everything is geared towards, you know, one side. So I decided that, you know, I wanted to try a different side, a side that I know that would help me, you know, continue my family's health, and decided to go completely a holistic, natural approach which is real ingredients.
Speaker 3:So after doing research, you know, I realized that, believe it or not, the most important thing for the skin is oil. People don't realize it, but you know we're made in a certain way that our body gives us what we need and provides, and there's sebaceous glands underneath our pores producing oil for so many reasons, for so many purposes. So if we're producing oil for the skin, why are we using everything? Water, alcohol and sodium? That's like, you know, an opposite of that. So once you realize that the skin needs oil, then you find out out of all the oils, you know which oil is the best.
Speaker 3:And through that journey, you know, I found that there's different types of, you know, oil categories. There's a dry oil and there's a wet oil. You know a wet oil is an oil that the molecular size of the ingredient is so big it can't penetrate the pores. So either it, you know, suffocates it completely because there's no way for it to go, or it takes a very long time to penetrate. And when you deprive the skin of oxygen, because the lungs and the skin are the only two ways to receive atmospheric oxygen and the oxygen feeds the cells that are right underneath your skin. You know, moisture goes in and out of the body.
Speaker 3:So when you're using petroleum jelly and all these things that are actually, you know, blocking the skin from doing these things, it starts to, you know, malfunction and a lot of the signs are. It starts to, you know, malfunction and a lot of the signs are like dryness and, you know, age spots, and you know a lot of different issues. So I decided to try to focus my line on the number one thing that we need is oil, and out of all the oils, you know, the dry oils are the oils that the size is so small, they're easily, you know, penetrated into the skin and absorbed into the bloodstream, you know. So. You know it's a really healthy, you know, ingredient and out of all the oils that are considered dry oils, hemp oil is the best oils hemp oil is the best.
Speaker 3:You know jojoba oil is also the molecular size more compatible to our natural oils, but it doesn't have the same amount of benefits and ingredients. You know I recently came out with a skincare, holistic skincare magazine and the feature product is hemp. It's amazing, all the nutrients that are in there that the skin responds to. So people that have no issues with their skin they can get away with just using, you know, regular synthetic or you know over-the-counter organic ingredients that really have no effect and then the active ingredient is probably so strong that it's you know it can't be 100 good for you. So to have that option, to use something natural instead, tends to be better and sometimes, unfortunately, the industry is not geared to, you know, trying to let you know that you can use natural remedies to take care of yourself.
Speaker 2:The industry is geared towards profit, as with most industries.
Speaker 2:So there's so much. It's just like with food right, you go out, and it is incredibly difficult nowadays to go out and shop and get pure products, naturally sourced products. The way they package things in the grocery, like it gives the appearance that it's healthy, but then when you actually look into what what's in it, it's a long list of ingredients, some of them you've never even heard of. You don't know if it's good or bad, and you're kind of in this position where you just kind of put things in your body that aren't really good for you. That's why I think it's interesting what's going on with RFK coming into office and the new administration. Just then you can say what you will about the guy. A lot of people think he's a quack, think he's crazy. A lot of people are happy about what he's doing.
Speaker 2:But just starting the conversation about this, just bringing awareness around what we're putting on our body and you mentioned diabetes, it's become a huge epidemic in the country Just having that conversation is starting to change the narrative, because our healthcare system is it's broken, but it can't be fixed from the top down. You have to. You have to fix the underlying issue, and the underlying issue is the health of the health of people right what we're putting on our bodies, how we're taking care of ourselves. And unfortunately, we live in an instant gratification society and there's a quick fix pill for everything and people just don't take care of themselves. We put a lot of crap in our bodies. We don't exercise, we don't do't do healthy things. Of course we're going to have a healthcare epidemic.
Speaker 2:So, I think just talking about this stuff and raising awareness is changing the narrative and is moving things in a positive direction. Absolutely. I did want to say, when it comes to skincare, I'm a guy. I don't really focus too much on skincare. If not for my wife, I wouldn't put anything. If she gives me like a cream, like here, put this on your face, I'm like all right. Whatever I just put on my face, You're very normal, typical guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a typical guy thing, but obviously it's just as important for men as it is for women. Right, we're all, we all have our skin. What, what, what piece of advice would you give to somebody like me Right, you're running the bill 45 year old guy who's starting to see the wrinkles coming in and starting to see these things setting in and I'm like, whatever you know, I'm just aging. What piece of advice would you give me to start taking care of my skin in a more effective way?
Speaker 3:Right, right. Well, you know creating a routine but, believe it or not, the routine doesn't have to be enormous. You know more doesn't equal better, but you still need a routine and, believe it or not, you know I know that guys work out and stuff like that. You know you should definitely bathe, you know with. You know soap, you know daily. But you know you can refresh with water. You can get in the shower and you can refresh, maybe clean your privates and everything, but you don't really need to use soap several times a day. What you're actually doing is stripping your own natural oils are there to hydrate your skin.
Speaker 2:Probably drying the skin by doing that a lot? Huh, probably drying the skin out by applying too much soap, exactly, I can imagine, like the over-the-counter soaps that you got are probably filled with a bunch of crap, right, I?
Speaker 3:can imagine, like the over-the-counter soaps that you got to probably fill with a bunch of crap, right, right, right. And you need to moisturize. You know what you take away because there's going to be a little bit. You have to replenish and you know again, hemp oil is amazing. It's for all skin types, it's. You know you need oil. So, honestly, there's very few products that you need because it has everything that all these other products that are going to give you a little bit of this, it has everything. So you really just only need a little bit. You know, a couple of drops really goes a long way. I have before and after pictures of my skin that was burned over here. You don't see any marks or anything like that, but I have a date where it clearly says like on the 18th of january I had burns all along here and for them to be completely gone in a month is pretty special it's a regular skin care would not be able to do that.
Speaker 3:So it, you know it gave the skin all the nutrients that it needs to to to heal. So for a guy, you know, a nice oil. But everybody, no matter who you are the simplest thing that you can do and this is my little advice is that you know different estheticians and dermatologists. We can have different approaches to a problem or to skin, but we're all on the same page on how simple and how important but effective sunblock is, and you know especially the guys that are out there golfing and fishing and stuff. I love the voting life too, but you really have to protect your skin by wearing sunblock and that really does make a difference in terms of, you know, aging. But again, now you're dealing with, you know, a healthier version compared to one that you know is probably not as healthy, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, speaking of hemp oil, I got to give a shout out to a good friend of mine, marilisa Lawless, with Hemp Del Sol. We actually do a podcast together and and goodness is cannabis. Hemp is such an amazing plant. It really is and it's so.
Speaker 2:it's such a travesty that it was demonized to the extent that was back in the sixties and sevents, with this whole war on war on drugs and all of that it is a tobacco company, wasn't going to make any money yeah, I mean, it's such such an amazing plant and such an amazing tool and I just I see moving forward wonderful things happening in that space as it becomes more mainstream and more legal Also with like psychedelics and things like that. I'm fascinated by that as well. I see that that becoming a big part of our society moving forward. It's really really fascinating to get into this stuff for sure.
Speaker 3:Go ahead. No no, no, go ahead.
Speaker 2:No, no, after you, jackie, please.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much. Well, just tapping on to like the hemp, I have a list of all the like vitamins and nutrients that are in here that you can buy out in the market that has like lactic acid in there, which is a synthetic version, which when you're dealing with synthetics, there's always going to be a side effect to that active ingredient. Or you can use something like yogurt, which is 100% natural and unless you have an allergic reaction to it, which is unlikely, very, very few I mean it's way more healthy, it's way more effective. Not only are you putting lactic acid, but all the other vitamins and nutrients that you can find in a product like that. Same thing with sugar that's a natural glycolic acid.
Speaker 3:It's more healthy and effective than something that's said a little while ago in terms of you know, you know the market and everybody just starting to realize. You know that their health is imperative and they need to do something about it and they're becoming more aware. I feel that a lot of the people don't know what it is to be healthy and how the simplest things really affect them. You know, like the skin, people probably look at it in such a superficial manner that you know they just really don't look skin deep, but they don't realize how complex it is and how it's vital to life. I mean, without it, you know, we would not be able to sustain anything. You know it's a vital organ, it's the biggest organ.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, it's the biggest organ and it's the most neglected. So, yeah, exactly, it's the biggest organ and it's the most neglected and it is, it could be, the most effective because it's, you know, it's the largest organ. That you say and you know, not only does it matter, like the products, it's just it's like a massage, it's, you know, repetitive and you know, the more that you massage it in, not only does it go in deeper, but you're stimulating the blood and you're, you know it becomes like a health aspect because it boosts your immune system. I mean, there's just so many different things. When you boost your immune system, you also boost the immune system of the skin.
Speaker 3:People don't realize that a lot of these chemicals that they're using are actually bringing down the immunities of the skin and if they have like a cut and everything, they're susceptible to infections easier than other people that have healthy skin. So it really does matter and what I feel is that we're inundated with chemicals. It's honestly in the air, in the water that we drink, the things that we touch, you know, the food that we eat, even organic, like you say. You know there's something in there, you know, and that it's not enough, and then we willingly put it on our body. And it's just education, and you know, I've helped so many people who have had really health issues with their skin to the point where their skin is clear, their health is better, because a holistic approach is you know not, you know only natural skincare being applied to the skin.
Speaker 3:It's just overall, though, considering the person as a whole. You know their, you know their exercise and how exercise increases oxygen. Obviously it's going to help you internally, right? You know their, you know their exercise and how exercise increases oxygen. Obviously it's going to help you internally, right? You know it's going to keep your muscles intact and the more that your body has muscles, the healthier you're going to be, because it's going to bring up your immune system. So it also increases the oxygen flow, which, you know, when you're pumping yourselves with oxygen, it's like the most amazing thing that you can do for it, because without oxygen they'll start to oxidize. So you know exercise is vital because it does affect the health of the skin as well. As you know, it has a mental health aspect to it.
Speaker 2:You know a lot of people that have so huge I know exercise for me like. I started running about a year and a half ago and unfortunately, it's wearing down my body and I love it. It's such a great outlet for me and it really makes me feel amazing, and I hurt myself the other day and I want to get back out there, but I also hurt myself, so it actually opened up the window into another part of me that I need to work on, which is my flexibility, and the reason why I kept getting hurt running was because I wasn't stretching enough, which is my flexibility, and the reason why I kept getting hurt running was because I wasn't stretching enough. So this last little bout I had with that opened me up to doing that, and then, as I get older, muscle mass exercising with weights is so important, so I've been trying to do more of that.
Speaker 2:I think the problem, though, that a lot of people have in our society is twofold right, it's not that people aren't aware I don't want to use that word loosely. It's not that they don't realize that you need to exercise, you need to eat, right, like all these things. At a fundamental level, most people acknowledge the fact that you need to do these things to be healthy. It's just that it's not easy to do all this right. It requires you to do, to create habits, routines and go through all the and it's not. It's not hard when you do it uh, when you break it down into little pieces. But creating these routines and these habits and doing it consistently over a long period of time can be challenging for people, especially when we live in an instant gratification, quick, quick fix society, when there's a pill for everything, right?
Speaker 2:it's like why do I? Why would I go do all this work on myself? I could just take this pill and I'll be fine. And we fall into old habits quickly and we're always kind of chasing comfortability. The older I get, the more I realize that I need to lean into the uncomfortability and I need to step into that to get better. That's where the true growth comes from. So, yeah, I think it just goes back to, like you said, education, right, starting from a very, very early age, like kids in school.
Speaker 2:I think the school system, the curriculum, should be altered in a meaningful way to focus a lot more on physical health, mental wellness right? Kids should be like doing meditation practice in school, breath work right Kids should be doing, not just have one little period for physical education should be integrated even more. These things are so, so important and they're often overlooked. And then by the time you get to be older, you're already set, you already got these programs running. It becomes that much more difficult to overcome it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, yeah, you definitely have to start you know at an early age, because that's when you create your habits. You know, I, the people that I normally come across, the ones that you know are consistent with you, know their health and their routine are. Those are the ones that kind of always did it, the ones that kind of do it, you know, occasionally, or started late in life. It's very hard to maintain it, you know, because we're always challenged with everyday. You know circumstances and you know hardships and it's easy to just say, you know I'm not going to. You know, work out today.
Speaker 2:Old programs die hard, okay, so. So let let our listeners know, as we wrap this up here, what, what's the best way to reach you? How can our listeners learn more? Let's say they want to come in and see you, they're having, they want to take care of their skin, they're having some kind of condition, whatever that looks like for them, how can they reach you?
Speaker 3:Well, I do have a website. It's wwwbeautifulskinbyhbonline. My business is located at in Cooper City, in the Water Garden Place, and the address is 10400 Griffin Road, suite 201. I also have Suite 202, but I am in Suite 201, cooper City, 33328. My telephone number is 754-273-1389. I would love to hear from you. I do, you know, consultations for free. I have a lot of things that I'm doing, of course, out of need, and, you know wanting to constantly scale the business. There's a lot of projects that I'm having that's coming up which is going to be really amazing. You know I'm going to be having workshops to, you know, have people make their own skin care products naturally, a way for people to come together, share, you know, holistic, you know opinions, recipes, you name it a way for fellowship and just to kind of educate people about that. I have the perfect space for it, so it's going to be really nice. We have a lot of fun things that we're going to be planning and I'm hoping for the best.
Speaker 2:Love it, love it, love it. We will, of course, drop a link in the description to all of your contact information so folks can reach out, and I want to speak to our listeners. I want your feedback. If there's anyone out there that has had some kind of difficulty, some kind of skin condition, some kind of challenge, and they were able to find a solution, find a pathway to overcome that, leave that in the comments below. Let us know a little bit about your story.
Speaker 2:We want to hear from you and we want to get your feedback and we want to bring these topics to light. If there's anything that's worked for you, we want to make people aware of it so that other people can explore the possibility of getting help. So, everyone, thank you so much for tuning in. Jackie, thank you so much for joining us. It was a pleasure getting the chance to know another neighbor in the community and we will catch everyone next time on the next episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Speaker 2:Everyone, take care and have a lovely day. Bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Cooper City. To nominate your favorite local business to be featured on the show, go to GNPCooperCitycom. That's GNPCooperCitycom, or call 954-231-3170.