Ep. 102 with Maggie H. & Kelly C. | BIOHARMONY HEALTH

Perimenopause Made Livable

You can love medicine and still be crushed by the way it’s practiced. Kelly Casserly and Maggie Hildebrand are OBGYNs, moms, and co-founders of BioHarmony Health in Edina, Minnesota, and they don’t sugarcoat what full spectrum obstetrics can demand: overnight call, chronic sleep deprivation, and a “push through” culture that follows you from residency into real life. We talk about how that pressure shows up at home, how identity gets tangled in a title, and why motherhood can be the wake-up call that forces a hard, honest re-evaluation. 

From miscarriage grief to pandemic-era fear, they share the moments that made them realize something had to change. That change wasn’t a sudden leap, it was a plan: mentorship, building systems, learning the business side, and shaping a clinic model that gives women more time and deeper care. We dig into perimenopause symptoms that often start long before hot flashes, including anxiety, irritability, brain fog, sleep disruption, weight changes, joint pain, libido shifts, and the simple but powerful line so many women say: “I don’t feel like myself.” 

We also get practical about what integrative menopause care can look like when it’s still grounded in evidence based medicine: lifestyle pillars (nutrition, movement, sleep, stress), targeted supplements, thoughtful hormone therapy, and labs that help rule out thyroid or adrenal issues while also watching long-term risks like cardiovascular disease. If you’ve felt rushed, unheard, or overwhelmed by social media health advice, this conversation offers a calmer path forward. 

If this resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s struggling, and leave a review so more women can find real perimenopause and menopause support.

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Credits:

• Editor: Joseph Kirk
• Music: Kristofer Tanke 

Thanks for listening & cheers to Reclaiming Your Hue! 

Transcript

Meet The Founders Of BioHarmony

Kelly 0:00

Good morning, ladies. Good morning. Oh, this is fun. I am so excited. It's been a hot second since I've had two gals on the podcast to interview together at the same time. And it's always fun to do this back and forth. But I feel like I'm a veteran at it now. So with that being said, I want the listeners to know who I'm talking to. So, Kelly, would you like to introduce yourself? Sure. I am Kelly Casserly.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

And I'm Maggie Heldebrand. And can you share what your entrepreneurial business is? We both work and co-founded BioHarmony Health in EDINA.

Kelly 0:40

I love it. I love it. And from what I know now, your guys' stories, your ladies' stories, are going to be really fun to share with the listeners. And so I would love for you first, Kelly, to share what came first for you. Was it entrepreneurship or was it motherhood?

SPEAKER_01 1:00

It was definitely motherhood. Well, you know, it's been interesting to reflect on this. Um, but yes, motherhood officially. Um, I have an 11-year-old and an eight-year-old. Um, and we only opened our business officially a year ago. Of course, there was planning and pre-planning going on before that, but so mother motherhood definitely came first.

Kelly 1:21

Well, Maggie, why don't you share what came first for you? Was it motherhood or was it entrepreneurish? I think listeners probably have a pretty good sense of that, but yes, same thing. Nothing like from the horse's mouth.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Motherhood came first. Um, I have a 10-year-old, a seven-year-old, and a five-year-old. Um, and now I say I have a fourth baby with bioharmony, but yeah, um, yeah, so motherhood came first, and but in the midst of our careers before that. So which is all kind of combined.

Kelly 1:53

Yeah. You know, interestingly enough, I just want to take a moment to share, and it's been actually a hot minute since I've referenced this, but building a business is like birthing a baby, it really is. And um, there is a friend of mine who actually needed to put her business to rest, basically, and had to fold it. And I'm like, she literally is going through like the loss of a baby. And so I'm like, Yeah, it's pretty interesting. Well, and you ladies have a

Motherhood Before Entrepreneurship

Kelly 2:30

pretty good sense of what birthing looks like. So, Kelly, can you I would love for you to share a little bit about the background for you, what you were doing previous to um Bioharmony Health and Um how your transition unfolded. And then I do want you to just kind of piece in when each of the children arrived as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

Yeah, yeah. Um, so you know, I think of my career as starting when I joined my prior practice, but really like medical school is four years, and then it's four years of residency where you're working as an OBGYN, but not you have you're told what to do at all hours of the day, you know, your life is not your own. Um, but I started at Women's Health Consultants in, I guess what would have that been? Two four 2014. Yeah. So 2014. Um, and was a full spectrum OBGYN. So doing it all, office, babies, surgery, everything. Um, and did that for you know, essentially 10, almost 11 years. Um, my very first year at that job, I had my son Finn. Um, so he's 11, had him about six months into. I was I actually started that job pregnant. My gosh.

Kelly 3:54

They didn't need to know.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

Exactly. Um, so got pregnant at the end of residency, started my job, had him that first year. Um, and really I thought like having a baby can't be that hard. Like, we've been doing such hard things. We're up all the night all the time. Like, how bad can it be to be up with a baby? And I totally got it wrong. Um, he was a tough baby. Soup, like essentially the first month he wouldn't sleep unless he was being held or even bounced. Um, and I think looking back, that's just colicky, you know, what my mom was trying to tell me the whole time, and I wasn't having it. You don't know anything.

Kelly 4:33

Yeah. Um well, it's you also like depending on what that relationship looks like with your parents, you're like, Yeah, I know. Like, I get it, but at the same time, let it just kind of unfold the way that it needs to. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Or I was like, things have changed now. Maybe it's you know, this, that, and the other, and yeah, dairy removed everything from my diet. Nothing worked, by the way.

Kelly 4:58

Isn't that just like we as women were like, what do we need to fix about ourselves in order for this to be better?

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Right, yeah. And it turns out he just needed to develop. Yeah. Um, so he was a challenging baby. I definitely was not prepared for that. Um, and then so you know, we had gone sleep deprivation all through residency, a little less sleep deprivation in the first six months of working, and then now a baby with profound sleep deprivation, and went back to work right at 12 weeks and resumed the full-time job and still running home to deliver pumped milk and you know, just trying to balance it all because I was not a big producer.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Um, so it was just crazy. And there are times during that period of working and not sleeping and trying to manage two things where like there are some, like, I wasn't forming new memories. Like, I have periods of time where I look at photos and I'm like, huh, I don't really know that that happened.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

Was I there? Yeah, are you sure?

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Um, so that was, but it was just like, this is life, this is what you do. Keep going. Yeah. So kept going. Um, had him. He um he was a turkey baby, finally slept through the night at 14 months, and then like until two, we were good. Like work was doable, I was sleeping. Um, I felt like okay, I can do this now. Um

Sleep Deprivation And The OBGYN Grind

SPEAKER_01 6:30

and then he was in then well, I actually had a early miscarriage between him and and Josephine. Oh Kelly. Yeah, and that was that was super sad too. Um, but uh, and maybe we'll get to this later. Medicine does sort of train you to just move on. You just like deal with it, cry, move on. Yeah.

Kelly 6:53

I I want to pause for just a second and reflect the recent episode that just dropped with um Michelle Wall. She's a pelvic floor therapist and uh PT. And she shared about one of she shared about a miscarriage that she had, and she was not here in Minnesota when it happened either. And that was sort of her tipping point of like what? Like the exactly to what you're speaking to is just how quickly they were like, okay, well, you're gonna have to go home and this is gonna happen, and you know, call us in a few days. And she was like, that's and she was coming from that world. Yeah, you know, she was like, I mean, I I didn't realize that like that was gonna happen the way that it did to me, being it it just it floored her, like mind blown. And so to your point, yeah, I think that it's there's a lot of things that Western medicine and Maggie, you and I had our kind of in-depth deep conversations about Western medicine and um how Western medicine operates. There's a lot of great, there's a lot of greatness that comes from it, but there's a lot of other components to it that could be different, could be better. And I think that there's a model that's been flipped where it's more business oriented now than it is about the people too, or even like for you guys as you ladies as physicians as well. Like, what does that actually look like? Right. So I would like to talk about that at some point, but yeah, it's changed a lot, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Even since we started, but certainly even before that, you know. Yeah. Um, and then, and it was kind of interesting because we got pregnant pretty quickly with what which was not the case with Finn, and then yes, with the miscarriage. And then I kid you not, every single time I was ovulating or periovulatory, basically fertile, I was on call at the hospital. And I was like, ah, now this job is like controlling my future family. Like now I can't even get pregnant when I want to because I'm here working. Um, and so eventually we got pregnant and Josephine was born. Um, and she was just a lovely baby, just a normal one, not colicky, easy, you know, still still up at night, but like on a normal schedule.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Um, and that maternity leave, I was like, I can't go back to what I was doing before. So that was sort of phase one of like, okay, I can't do the same level of intensity that I was doing before, or slash, I don't want to. I'm like choosing my family now. Um, and so I presented my group with some options of how to like make work life um balance a little bit better, in my opinion. And it ended up working out really well. Actually, they took me up on it. I was even thinking about looking for other jobs that were, you know, office-based or just something where I could be home more. And they took me up on it, which was amazing. Um, they were a really a group of they're all women at women's health consultants, and they were willing to try things to make life easier. They wanted people to be happy.

Kelly 10:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Um, so we tried that, and it actually ended up working. I ended up being able to decrease my overnight and weekend like call, which is called call um burden, where you're in the hospital delivering babies, going to the ER, doing surgeries that like the emergent things that come up.

Kelly 10:24

Yeah. Um, so you're there too at the hospital, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:27

In our group, we were because we're too busy. And same thing. Well, Maggie actually had to be there. Um, but it we were too busy. You had to be there.

Kelly 10:36

Yeah. Uh I just want to ask real quick, because this is this is prompting. So that location, here and Edynah? Is it here in Edyna?

SPEAKER_01 10:45

My prior event? Yes. Yes. No, they're downtown, uh, and then midtown, like Chicago on 28th, and then Plymouth. Okay. And they just opened, well, not just, actually, just a couple of years ago, uh, a few days a week in Richfield.

Kelly 10:59

Okay. Yeah. Disregard. Okay. Um, I was um, I was literally trying to remember when we got together, Maggie, and I was like trying to like remember who my OBTYM was. Like, I literally know exactly what she looks like. Uh huh. Um, and it's Casabum.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Okay. Oh, nice.

Kelly 11:15

So Meredith, yeah. And she's since retired. I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty sure that well, maybe I'm four left or something.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Yeah, maybe. She delivered at Abbott, I think. Didn't she? Or no? Probably Southdale. Or South Dale.

Kelly 11:30

Yeah, I delivered Maddie at um Southdale.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Okay.

Kelly 11:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Yeah. Anywho. Anywho. Yeah. Where was I? Um, Justine was born pivotal point. They took me up on creating a better job for me and my family, which basically decreased my call burden and I could be home more and be more rested. Again, like the profound sleep deprivation that you deal with as a doctor who has to work overnight is a lot. Um and then it was again good for a while. I was like, okay, I think I got this. And then right at that, so she was born when Finn turned, he turned three a month later, which was funny that we're talking about three-year-olds earlier because this was another turning point. Oh, so a three-year-old and a baby, and working that job, and even though the job was better and now, quote, doable, he got hard again, as three-year-olds do. And again, it kind of comes back to this. Um, like, I remember one night where I had to work Friday 24 hours, you go sleep during Saturday, hopefully sleep Saturday night, wake up Sunday morning to another 24 hours. And we were a busy group. You will not get eight hours of sleep. You won't even get six. You might get two, you know, like maybe. So when you're facing down two out of the next three days being awake, and then in that middle Saturday night, he was a three-year-old, didn't want to go to bed. Our house is tiny. So if he's crying, it's not like I'm not gonna hear him. Right. Even if my husband's dealing with him and he was just having a full-on fit, and I just lost it. I like completely lost my cool. It's like I need to sleep. And um in looking back, I mean, even in the moment I realized how I had lost my cool, but I also couldn't cool down.

Kelly 13:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Um, and that was like like reflecting on that night. I'm like, oh, I am so sorry. You were a three-year-old, and I was taking out my frustration and my loss of control on you. And I just feel so bad about that in hindsight. He probably doesn't remember. He probably doesn't. Right. But you will forever. Yeah, I will forever. Exactly.

Kelly 13:44

I mean, it's interesting how you reflect on those moments. Um, frankly, I literally just had one of those moments within the last few days. And you do that. You're like, oh my gosh. And I remember just holding her and bawling my eyes out. She's bawling her eyes out, and I'm like, mommy, so sorry, mommy, so sorry, mommy, so sorry. And then I have to like coach her through it, right? Like, because frankly, she is a teenager right now, and she wasn't listening. And it was like all of these specific like moments that led up to that where she wasn't listening. She was, she literally chipmunks her food. Okay. So she chipmunks her food, and I have literally talked to her about we don't leave the kitchen or dining room until we finished our food.

unknown 14:37

Okay.

Kelly 14:38

Well, she had chipmunked it so well. And when I went to go brushed her teeth, I I literally it, I know that this sounds like, oh, it's not that big of a deal, but there were so many of these like specific moments that days and days and days leading up to that, where all of a sudden I just blew up like a volcano. Yeah. And Joel comes running from upstairs, like, and I left the bathroom, right? Like I at least left the bathroom and had my moment and then came back in. And he was like, Is everything okay? And I'm like, No, it's not. It's not, it's not okay. So I mean, I I totally get it, Kelly. I totally understand. And I think that there's so many women who are listening right now that can empath empathize with that completely, wholeheartedly. Do we want to admit it? No. Right. But I think when you can name it and go, okay, how can I do it better? And so, anyways, proceed.

SPEAKER_01 15:43

So that was like a pivotal moment where I'm like, oh my gosh, this isn't even me. This isn't who I am. It's not who I want to be as a mother. And like, you know, the days before the sleep deprivation and the days after are tainted by anxiety before, and then just like profound deprivation. Like, you feel like a shell of yourself after if you were up all that time, that is. Um, and so I just that was like another moment. I was like, I I actually can't, I don't want to do this anymore because I I'm taking away from myself and my family to give to my career.

Kelly 16:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

And so that's sort of when I started thinking about what is next, but not I wasn't in a position to make any moves, but it was like the first time where I was like, what is next? Yeah, we'll think about that. Um, and then you know, they got older and it got a little easier to the well, still in the threes, probably. I do remember one morning actually going to the operating room. Um, there's like a surgeon's lounge where we all hang out, chart, maybe have a granola bar, coffee on the run. Yeah, exactly. And I walked in and my colleague was like, How are you? And I was like, I don't know. I'm so happy to be here. Like, this is the only thing I know how to do. I don't know how to parent. Like these two are I don't know how to do it. Like, this is the only thing I know how to do. And I feel like I'm such an expert there, and then go home and I am like out of my league.

Perimenopause Sparks A New Mission

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Um, I think all of us feel like that at some point or another. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's just like it's hard, especially with the first, you don't know what you're doing. So anyway. So then it just like the seed was planted, and then um I entered my 40s and started to feel some perimenopause things, which at the time I didn't know that's what it was. And then all these women that I had delivered, their babies in their 30s, now they're in their 40s and coming to me and having symptoms as well. I started doing like a lot of reading, a lot of digging. Um, I was recommended a great book. Um, and read that, and it was basically about like how you're living your life can affect how your hormones are actually working. So, like diet, exercise, sleep, stress, like you don't have classic pillars. Yeah. Um, I read that book. I implemented like changed my lifestyle where I could. Obviously, I couldn't uh change the fact that I had to be up overnight a lot. Um, and I felt better. And then I started like telling other women in my clinic about like, let's do this. And and strangely, even in OBGYN, not everybody is super comfortable giving hormone replacement therapy, but I felt very I think I don't know. We I remember we were given a lecture in our fourth year on it, and I like still had those notes and brought them to my practice. And so from the beginning, I've been doing it and felt very comfortable. So then people were seeking me out for that. Yeah. And so it was like this time of I'm going through it, these other women that I have known for 10 years that I've had been my patients are going through it. Now people are finding me for it. So I'm like consuming all this stuff about hormones and perimenopause and stuff we didn't learn. Number one, because like the research wasn't there because women haven't been well researched as compared to men. Um, and yeah, number two, I think people didn't care as much. And now, at least I think social media and the internet have given women a big voice right now. It's beautiful. It is, it really is.

Kelly 19:16

Do you remember the name of that book? Yeah, I'd like to drop it as a resource.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

Hormone intelligence by Dr.

Kelly 19:22

Aviva Rom. Now, listeners, I want you to understand something. I will drop this resource, but there's no better resource than the two ladies that I am interviewing right in front of me right now. Might I just drop that little note. I'm sorry, say it one more time.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Hormone intelligence Dr. Aviva A V I V A Rom R-O-M-M.

Kelly 19:44

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Thank you. Um let's see here. So it was this culmination of um me just kind of getting into this perimenopause, menopause, hormone space, talking about lifestyle medicine and realizing like what is next. And in parallel, Maggie was also realizing what is next. Like can't, you know, you'll get to her story in a minute, but and and we were good friends. We actually met in residency, so we've been friends ever since residency.

Kelly 20:16

Beautiful. Can I just ask what year was it that you were doing your residency?

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Oh five to 09.

Kelly 20:22

Yeah. Okay. Cool.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

No, no, that was med school. Residency was 10 to 14. Okay. Yes. 10 to 14. 10 to 14. Yes, thank you. Okay. Um and so yeah, kind of contemplating what's next in parallel. She was, we'd get together, we'd talk about it, and then um, and then I think we were at your cabin initially when we were kind of like, maybe hormones is what's next. And we both started thinking about that. And then um was it really a year later that we then got together again? We were hanging out again um at a pool together, and that was the day, like a year the summer after, yeah, where we were like, let's do this. We had both been really thinking about it, kind of starting to plan, and then that was the day where we locked it down. Yeah.

Kelly 21:19

What's so beautiful about the story that you are sharing, Kelly, so far, and we'll get to Maggie's story here in just a minute, is you were going through the very things that you then turned around. And that's very much the story of many women who have been on the podcast, especially as it pertains to the health and wellness space. Um, health, wellness, and just medicine in general. And so I love hearing how it happened to you first, and then you started to explore different options. You were you provided an incredible resource, right? Thank goodness, because I think I I think I caught that during your med school are these things that are discussed very much?

SPEAKER_01 22:08

Not perimenopause. No, not perimenopause.

Kelly 22:11

Because women just aren't hadn't have still not been studied as much as men.

SPEAKER_00 22:16

Correct. And it wasn't a known entity. Like perimenopause wasn't really a known situation or um process that was happening. It was you were in your reproductive years, and then you had hot flashes and menopause, and that was just a defining time. And all of this leading up to it was just really never discussed. And it's very vague and different for everyone. So it's hard. It's different than the disease care model where you have a symptom, you have, you know, lab tests that can provide answers, and then you can have a treatment. And that's not what perimenopause is. It's very um fluid, it's variable, and it really a lot of it depends on, like you said, the lifestyle that you're living to and how something that affects me might not affect you. And so it just is it is too vague.

Kelly 23:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

But now we are learning so much more.

Kelly 23:13

Yeah. And I think to your point, the longer that this is continued to be studied, probably can narrow in on what that looks like, right? But I am curious of some of the studies and research so far, what what do you think it has boiled down to that paramenopause is all of a sudden a not not necessarily a thing, but like perhaps it was, it's always been sort of this phase that women have gone through and just never spoken about. Yeah. Is that it? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

So you go ahead. And I think it's um it's it's always been the the thought that menopause and perimenopause is hot flashes and night sweats. And so that is a very defining symptom. Yeah. Um, and but it I think we have realized that it is really a very it builds up to that. Um, and now we have more information of this whole menopause transition that is more like seven to ten years before these really distinct symptoms. Gotcha. And um, I think with that, people, you know, like Kelly is having some of them herself. I had started having some of them, which I'll get to. Yeah. We're like, this isn't me, this is new, this I feel different, but it's not that. Yeah. And so it wasn't ever referred to in that in that transition. And now we really know that this early menopause transition is very distinct and what's happening and it's kind of reverse puberty. I mean, it's erratic.

Kelly 24:54

Yeah. Great. I just turned 40 this past year, and so I'm like, am I? I mean, I truly am coming at this at a very curious stance myself. Um, I was telling my husband, he's like, Oh, who are you having on the podcast today? And I shared that it was gonna be the two of you and what your practice was. And he was like, interesting. And I was like, Yes. I've been, I've been asked by women who are very curious, like, are you gonna have somebody on? And then Maggie reaches out to me and I'm like, this is so cool. This is literally perfect timing. So I think this is a really opportune moment for Maggie to share her story. So why don't we go ahead and dive in? I know

Med School To Residency As A Couple

Kelly 25:40

that you mention motherhood came first, but let's let's talk about your experience um in the medical world as a physician, and and then we'll kind of join those two stories together.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Yeah. Um, so medical school in Chicago, and I bring that up because that's where I met my husband. Yeah, he is also a physician, and and it's funny, the very first day of medical school, there's 140 of us. And one of the physicians in, you know, doing the intro said, look around, 10% of you will marry someone else in this class. And both of us, you know, to ourselves thought, not a chance. Like I am not marrying another physician. He had a girlfriend, I had a boyfriend in different states, you know, long distance. Um, fast forward two years at the end of our second year, and we ended up meeting. There was a big gathering for a um New England Journal of Medicine. We had this review course where you would go over different articles and then the um attending or the the doctor that put this on threw a party at the end of the season. And so he and I were both there and ended up talking again. We really, even though there's only 140, we really hadn't socialized much before that. Um and had it had to sit for six weeks and study for our first set of boards. So you don't see anyone, you just put your nose down, head down. Um, that was a trying time. Um, that's for me when a lot of my first like anxiety of everything started to come up. Um, just the pressure of this test that really defines where you go. Um, so that was you know very interesting. Anyways, we made it through that and um started to we got together at one of a big party after med students didn't really party, but when they did, it was big.

Kelly 27:36

I can imagine it's so funny that you bring this up because I was like, give us like just a little insider like a little peek into what that looks like. I would love, I would love just a little peek.

SPEAKER_00 27:47

It it just was one where it was zero to 60. I mean, you you studied, you studied, you studied, and then it just it was a little bit like everyone had just released and worked hard and now you're gonna play hard. And you just took this test, which you're not gonna find out the answer and how or your result for you know weeks. Yeah, so much release, anxiety, pressure, everything all at once. Um, and all of us did it within two or three days. I think it was, you know, kind of the way that it worked. And then we had three weeks off, which is the longest we had in med school off. So um, so funny. And then he and I started dating when we came back for the beginning of our third year. He asked me out on a date and um was fun after that. But so I bring that up because that's where I met him, and then all of a sudden we were part of this 10% of dating someone in our class. Um, and it also had to get serious fast because at the end of third year, you start to apply to residency interviews. Yeah, and you could go anywhere in the country, and we had to decide like, is this gonna work? Do we like each other enough that we are going to make this big decision on each other? And so we started, we kind of were like, Yeah, I think we, you know, this is going somewhere. So we started to apply to all the same places at least. Um, and then started getting interviews. You can only control where you get interviews, but we would make sure that we were going on ones like that. If I got one at some place he got an interview, he'd go to. So I don't know when is it? It's somewhere in like November where you make your rank list. Yeah. And you can link your rank lists. Okay. Um, so he had where how many ever he interviewed at, and I had how many ever I interviewed at. And the only other process is similar to like um sorority rush. Okay. Where you rank them, they rank you, and then you put it in envelope and find out where you're going. Okay. But if you link your applications, it makes it that much more challenging because we both had to get in. Yeah. And um, so we linked our applications, which is another big step to saying, like, this could really determine where we're going. Um, and so we had 152 combinations on our rank list of where we would go. And and thinking, oh my gosh, if we get to 152, like what is happening? We put the University of Minnesota one and we got University of Minnesota. So it all of us. So um, and that was even hard. That was a really pivotal point of trying to decide what to put first. Yeah, this is his hometown. Um, but it was a wonderful program, so it it really did work out. So here we were moving here.

Kelly 30:28

What's your hometown?

SPEAKER_00 30:29

Um, Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Kelly 30:31

Okay, how about you, Kelly? Uh Robinsdale here. Okay. Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Yeah. So he grew up here in Edina.

Kelly 30:37

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

Um, but and his dad was here, which was great, you know. Um, so lots of good things. But it was a big thing for me not to go to Colorado and be where my family was through something which I anticipated was going to be very challenging. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but met wonderful people, met Kelly. So, you know, here we are. Started residency. His was five years, mine was four. I don't remember a lot of residency. I mean, it's one of those things where you don't I remember work, I remember few events. Like I don't remember he and he and I ever having dinner, you know, coming home and having dinner. Maybe we didn't, maybe we ate at the hospital. I think I grocery shopped maybe once a month. Yeah. Um really kind of funny things like that. So, um, but made it through the four years. He had a fifth year, so I worked at Regions for a year, and then he matched for his fellowship in Colorado, um, for in in Denver.

Kelly 31:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Um, so for his sports fellowship, which was great. And I was so excited to go home. And shortly, he had to leave early. Um, I think he left in July, and I had my contract at this um at Regents for one year. So I was staying through September, and we got pregnant 12 weeks before he left, or you know, learned it four weeks before he left. My gosh. He kind of jokes that he got out of that first trimester and poor Maggie. I was doing that, but it was one of those things where I would go to work, I would push through, and I would come home, and it was just like, oh my gosh, I the only thing I ate was a peach for dinner for like weeks because I couldn't go to the grocery store. It made me so nauseous. So um it moved to Colorado, and that's I worked at uh hospital there for the year, and that's where we had our first son. So that was when motherhood started. Okay. Um, and kind of going to the the point of where you kind of just push through is I was working at Denver Health, which is the county hospital there. Wonderful place. And I woke up, definitely knew I was in labor, but I also had a full clinic and he had surgery all day. So I he just said, Are you okay? He found me, you know, in the fetal position in the shower with hot water on my back. And I said, I'm fine. I think this is probably starting. I'm 38 weeks or 39 weeks. Yeah. Think this is

Labor At Work And The Culture

SPEAKER_00 33:00

starting, but like let's go on with our day and I'll let you know.

Kelly 33:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:03

So I drive to a clinic and I do three and a half hours of clinic with contractions every five minutes, and I didn't want to say anything to anyone else there. So I would just, you know, scrunch my fist and hold my breath through it, and then Maggie.

Kelly 33:19

I know Maggie. Okay. Pause. Why do you think that was the case? That you didn't want to say anything because you had mentioned something relatively similar, Kelly. I am just so curious.

SPEAKER_00 33:35

Was it just I think we were really just no, my my colleagues were also my OBs. And I think once I said, Hey, you know, I think I'm in labor, they were like, Yeah, let's check you. Get upstairs. Like there was no, it wasn't outside pressure. I think it was um a little bit of a culture, but also I didn't want to let anyone else down. Sometimes you're you if you call in sick, you're putting someone else out. Sure. You're letting patients down. I don't know. We always put ourselves last. And that's where we get to a little bit, you know, later on.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

But um, I don't know. It was just I think it's that too, especially in residency. If you call in sick, someone else has to take your spot, and it's a significant ask. Sure. Can you bring that with you? I think into your career. You're just like, I can't burden someone else with the work I'm supposed to do. That's my work. I'll do it in labor, apparently.

Kelly 34:30

Maggie, when we sat down, did I did I mention I I had literally just shared with you the um the group of women that I had on that was the three wise widows is the podcast that they're gonna start. They might have already started it. And one of the women, um, her name is Betsy Gall. She's now since married, and so her last name has changed, but she wrote a book called The Illusion of the Perfect Profession. Her husband was a physician and he committed suicide. Oh god. And I think about just what you're speaking to with this culture and just like not wanting to impose on anyone, and and it's all kind of like clicking into place for me with what she spoke to and what she wrote in that book, and how he literally just would push through, just push through, just push through. Yeah, and he would put himself last. But there was also because he was so good at what he did, he also just wanted to continue to like rank and rank and rank and rank, and that also created that additional pressure as well.

SPEAKER_01 35:36

Yeah, it makes me sort of think motherhood, like for being a woman and being able to have kids, like that. I do think that's what shifted my mindset. And so I feel sad for him that like you wonder if he was a woman and had kids, would that have shifted? At least it did for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

Mine ultimately did too.

Kelly 35:56

So anywho, yeah, just I thought that I would um add that in because it's it's interesting just hearing the two of you speak to exactly what we were talking about. It's just this culture, and so yeah, well, and it's devastating.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

It is on both sides too, because so I realize I'm in labor, they take me upstairs, um, and I call Greg, and his he's operating and his attending. So he's a fellow at this time, yeah. And he they all knew that this was coming, and so Greg had set his phone out. Like if Maggie calls, you know, he had tried to warn them. So his attending answered and was like, Okay, all right, can he finish this case? And I said, Yeah, I don't think the baby's gonna fall out. He can finish the case. I love you, and he showed up, you know, not I mean, I was like four centimeters dilated for his baby, so he knew what was, you know, and it he made it in plenty of time. Yeah. Um, but it was kind of oh, yeah, of course you can finish the case. Like, that's not a question in my mind. Of course you wouldn't finish that case. Yeah, um, so he finished the case and then left and came, and just so funny because what was his attending thinking too? Like, why wasn't he like, oh my gosh, I'll finish this. You go be your wife's paper, but that's just yeah, I said yes, and so that was the answer. Yeah, and it it always fine. Um, so that now that brought us to Max, and we were in uh Denver, and I was lucky enough to have my sister there. Um, so I went back to 24-hour call at nine weeks and would pump, yeah, just pump in the workroom, whatever room. Not with him, but one of my other deliveries I remember pumping and then actually not having time to take off the pump for an emergency C-section, and I had the pump on for this emergency C-section. And it was one of those automatic ones, the willow or something. Yeah, and I just thought, God, I certainly hope this auto turns off when it because it didn't think it was pumping at the beginning. I was like, I just hope this auto turns off, or I am going to be leaking, leaking. Yeah, so and it did, and it was fine.

Kelly 38:03

But it's funny because that is something like the fact that your brain could literally be thinking about that, but then all of a sudden you're like, okay, we talked about compartmentalization and how as you are going through okay, it's residency, right? Like yeah, residency, and they don't, it's not like they're telling you like you have to compartmentalize, it's just how they coach you through everything and that you automatically do that. But that is what you literally were needing to do. Yeah, okay. Well, I'm thinking about it. If it happens, it happens. Yeah, it's just like whatever. You can't do anything about it. Can't do anything about it.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

Um so we were there for a year, moved back here. Um Hadley was born two and a half years later. That was a quite a traumatic pregnancy overall with everything, but um ultimately she was born early. I had a placenta previa, had to have a C-section, you know, one of those where you're like, wow, I'm really the patient right now. Yeah. Um, and another one of our residence colleagues that I worked with um was my OB. And I think she was so happy when that baby was out. She was just, I mean, we put a lot of pressure to be your friend's OB, too, especially when it's traumatic. But she was amazing. And so Hadley came in 2018. Okay. Um went back to work, kind of continued. I actually, when we came back to Colorado, though, always only did part-time. I started at three days a week, which you know, some which is in still 24 hours. So it'd still be like 40 or 50 hours a week sometimes um doing that, but it that was three three days of dedicated time. Um, and then COVID hit, which is a whole different level of you know, compounding on all of this. Yeah. Um, I I bring that up because I remember in at our clinic, we or at our hospital, we were in-house, so you had to be there. And so we divided the clinic doctors and the call doctors. Okay. So we only did call and they only did clinic. Very stressful for everyone involved. But um it was probably a week into it, was my call, and I was leaving my house, and it was kind of when everything had just shut down, and we really did not know this disease. Yeah. Um, and I remember, Greg, it was a Saturday morning. Greg, Hadley, and Max are waving to me from the window like they did when I would leave. And I just started bawling. And I thought, am I gonna come home to these children? Like, what is happening? And then we would go be in 24 hours in you know, full in 95 in a mask. Yeah. And these other women were having babies during COVID, and we always had partners allowed, luckily, but it was traumatic for them. I mean, it was just a traumatic time to go through for any healthcare provider or first responder. But I think that was uh, you know, a point where I just remember them waving and smiling, and in my mind thought, holy cow, what you know, what is happening? And am I gonna come home or am I gonna bring something home?

Kelly 41:06

Yeah. Um it was scary times. It was scary times. It really was, and now I look back and I'm like, I know. Oh, yeah, the hype around it. And and to speak to that for just a second, yes, there absolutely needed to be hype around it. And I I also think that it extended far beyond what it needed to. Yeah. That's just my humble opinion. Yeah, nobody needs to listen to me. No, I hear you. Yeah. But I've got two physicians on here, so I'm gonna just speak candidly about it.

SPEAKER_00 41:39

If I and I think we know that now, right? Yeah. Anything in the in hindsight.

Kelly 41:45

Yeah, but in the moment, if if you are being told by your government this is serious business. Like, when they were saying that you can't go outside, yeah, or that you needed to wear a mask outside, I was like, wait, like, huh? Isn't vitamin D supposed to be really good for you to like heal you?

unknown 42:05

Yeah.

Kelly 42:05

What about like fresh air? Yeah. Like then I started to go, okay, this is really strange. Like, that doesn't make sense to me. Also, just a quick note about this. I was in mortgage at that point, and so we weren't quite sure like what the housing market was gonna look like then, because like our real estate agents gonna even be able to go out and tour homes with

COVID Stress Migraines And A Breaking Point

Kelly 42:30

clients, and so there was a lot of unknowns that were happening. And then when they said that like we were essential, right? Like that was essential, no duh. Like, of course, you have to keep the economy going that plays into it, and so when they said that, it was like, oh, okay, I would be talking to, well, my husband and I were doing business together at that point, not dating yet, but we were doing business together, and he was like, It's a different world. Like, I will go into Minneapolis and people are like, it's like you've got like nobody's out. It's like masks all over the place, but then he'd go out to like Plymouth, yeah, and it was like the wild, wild mess, right? Like nobody was wearing masks or anything. He's like, I I my brain can't comprehend this. This is and this is just here, right? Yeah, in Minnesota. Like, what does it look like everywhere else? Right. He's like, it just doesn't make sense, and so that's where you know the wheels started to come off.

SPEAKER_00 43:31

Yeah, yeah. Anywho, oh my gosh. Yeah, so it just was an odd time. It's this was very early in it, and we had, you know, basically our surgery shut down, all of that. So um fast forward, decided to have another kid. Chase arrived during COVID 2021. Um, and that I think was a big point for me. I I did the third kid, I was 38. I think for me, hormones were. Went basically from having a kid postpartum to a little bit of perimenopause in hindsight. Yeah. Um, I also started to really suffer from migraines, um, especially call. I think it was stress and sleep induced. I mean, just debilitating migraines after call. So leading up to a 24 was so much angst about one, what sleep am I going to not have? And so plus having these three kids that continue to function at the way that they function, regardless of how much sleep you get. Um, and then also COVID was still happening a little bit, and then you know, just uh probably quite a bit of postpartum anxiety. Yeah. Um, which is interesting. I mean, that's a whole nother field of part, you know, where you just we don't know, we know a lot about it, but it's so vague and there's so many degrees in the spectrum. For sure. I couldn't even diagnose myself with it.

SPEAKER_04 44:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:53

I couldn't see the forest through the trees. So I think that was one of the biggest points for me where I just thought, I cannot do this. So I actually said, I'm not coming back unless I can only do two days a week, which my department was amazing. They were like, they could see that I was struggling. Yeah. Um, I'll still be a call taker, but I only want to do two days a week. And so they let me do that for the as the first person ever to do it. But it didn't actually solve kind of the internal dilemma of what was going on something doesn't feel right here. Um, and I would say I had amaz I amazing colleagues. I was at um the Women's Center at Park Nicolet, Delivered Methodist, um, amazing colleagues, and I think they were part of why I stayed there much longer than my heart was there. Um but the call was grueling, and then there was an um a certain event that I think was a very big tipping point for me of that I couldn't compartmentalize as much anymore. And it was um a 24-hour call. It was like, I still remember the time. It was 6 13 that my alarm went off. And um they called me to an emergency to triage that they couldn't find heart tones. Um, when I got there, they were doing an ultrasound. The baby's heart was, you know, maybe at 20 or 30. You could see it just barely beating. Um, I called an emergency c-section. We were in the OR and going before it even got paged out. We were trying to move so fast, did an emergency C-section, um, started before anesthesia got there, which is very traumatic for everyone involved. Um, and from the moment she walked in the door to the moment I had the baby out was nine minutes. And it was just one of these that it went from I was dead asleep to baby out. For me, it was seven minutes involved. And it just was a very pivotal moment of changing everything. And I just thought, I don't know that I can continue to do this anymore. And there were many days after that that I still came home and was like, Greg, I don't want to do this anymore. He's like, then you need to make a change. Like, you have a lot of career left, yeah, and you can't do it like this. So I I think it still was about a year after that. I finally just said, you know, I need to do something different and I don't know what. So I stepped back from um kind of the full spectrum OB. Yeah. And was just taking call to still be with my partners and still practice, but not do everything. And that was in I think April of 23. Okay. Yeah.

Kelly 47:32

You speak to how you had that pivotal moment. 24, sorry, April of 24. So you had that pivotal moment, right? You know, nine minutes, seven minutes for you, nine minutes for this pregnant woman and pregnant family. And also the I think many women can empathize to what you speak to the after, right? Like this is what I went to school for, or this is what I've I know, this is what I've been doing. And there's a lot of identity that is wrapped up in that. Yeah. And so a note that I wrote down is I do want to just take a moment to speak to identity for both of you women, and where your hue was at at that given moment, and where do you feel like your hue is at now that you have made these actual pivotal changes as well? So when I speak to the hue, right? Reclaiming your hue, and I mean, I've shared my story just in and how even through this podcast, how it has evolved my hue and how much more vibrant it is. And hearing the stories of you incredible women, the changes that you've made, which has allowed me to then turn around and go, I can make a change. I'm gonna hang up my head in mortgage. Oh, I need to make another change. I'm gonna go do business with my husband. Oh, I need to make another change. Let's start a podcast. Oh, oh, oh, like all of these really cool things that have allowed that vibrancy and that coloring to really come back. And so I am curious, let's just talk a little bit about identity and going to school to be a physician, the time and the energy that is put into that, and then going, Oh my stars, am I actually like, is this actually what I want to do? And what you were going through identity-wise.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

I feel like I didn't think there was other options for a while. That was my in it, that felt very like gray and heavy. Yeah. Um, of just I don't want to do this, but what else, you know, what else can I do? There I don't have a business degree. I don't have any of this. So what else is there for me? This is who I am, what I am. I it was very much my identity. And I think motherhood helped me realize that that doesn't have to be my only identity. Yeah. And then it it did take me stepping completely away and back to see the colors of what else could be there.

Kelly 50:10

I have just reflecting on other women who have been on the podcast and and trying to recollect if this point that you just made about motherhood helping you to realize like that that shifts your identity massively. Yeah, might I add. And I love hearing you say, Maggie, that like it allowed you to have this different perspective of like, okay, well, I I'm doing motherhood and that's a different identity. Like, what why couldn't I go into business? You know,

Identity Beyond The White Coat

Kelly 50:50

like start my own business. It's wild. That's I love that perspective. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 50:55

I probably wasn't being the best mom because of some of what I was going through on, you know, of that. And I knew that I needed to show up. And and that does bring me back to a little bit of Greg being a physician. It's it was a very time trying time where both of us are, you know, up early and missing things. And a kid is sick, who calls in? Who I'm on call, he has nine surgeries. Like, what do we do? And we're just there was one time we used a service where we just hired through our company a nanny to come and stay with our sick kid that none of us had met. And I just felt like this is not gonna happen. Sustainable? Yeah. This is not right. I don't feel good about this. And she was wonderful, it was all fine, but yeah, I didn't see that being. I knew something had to change. One of us couldn't, one of us needed to make a change, and I was the one that wanted to.

Kelly 51:52

Yeah, fair enough. Yeah. I feel like this is an opportune moment to kind of talk through your stories merging together. So, Kelly, you had talked about how going through all that you had gone through, um, that there your sustainability piece was just starting to fizzle out, right? Like that, yeah. This is probably not gonna be going on too much longer. And then um, let's to sort of like put the stake down for timeline for the listeners so that they have a better understanding. Because where we left off, Maggie is around 2024 when that happened. And so it was just within a few years where you had this this pivotal moment, and then it was probably what nine to 12 months after that, where you finally pulled the plug.

SPEAKER_00 52:45

I think it even was a little longer than that. I started to talk and reflect on it and actually got some professional help to help me make this decision because, like you said, the identity. Um, and I had, you know, and at one point they gave me four options of like, these are the only four options that you can do, which one? And all of them felt bad. And so it was just this weird moment of do I continue? Do I quit? Do I, you know, where am I? So yeah, um, I think it was even longer. I think it took me about 15 months from that event where I just knew I needed something different to actually stepping away from the full practice, knowing and my again, who I was working for was amazing. They're like, you can go do this for a little while. You're still in the call pool. If you need a year off, then you can, you know, I I that was helpful to know I could go back instead of completely just cutting ties. Um, and I actually still deliver there. I still take every once in a while. That's so colleagues. And and I feel like it's a very different perspective for me now. And yeah, um, I show up with rose-colored glasses instead of doom and gloom. And I'm on call and I'm I wasn't the person I wanted to be on call. I I could tell that and how I responded to things.

Kelly 54:00

So do you know what's interesting? I just had this kind of weird thought that came through is that you coming in with those rose-colored glasses could be just the perspective that somebody else might need to see.

SPEAKER_00 54:14

Yeah.

Kelly 54:16

And seeing you, both of you women, frankly, going off and stepping into something where you're still exercising the education, right? You're still exercising that. And you're thinking about how am I best utilizing myself? My health and wellness is playing a vital role in this, and then I can turn around and go see. This is precisely like the results that you're also gonna be able to see too. And that's speaking to your clients, but then it's also speaking to others who may be in this moment of doom and gloom, and they're just like is they don't see any other way besides you know, exactly what they're doing right now. So when did the two of you start to talk?

SPEAKER_01 55:12

So it would have been let me think. So we've been open for a year. So a year before that we said we're doing this, so

Choosing Hormone Care As The Niche

SPEAKER_01 55:20

then it was a year before that that we were talking. Yeah, and I kind of three years ago where we started to.

SPEAKER_00 55:25

And I had said, I think I'm thinking of stopping, like, but I hadn't yet.

SPEAKER_01 55:30

Yeah. And so yeah, it's just how we kind of planted the seeds, kind of started mingling.

SPEAKER_00 55:37

And so 2023 approximately.

SPEAKER_01 55:39

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 55:40

But we didn't know what it was gonna be and we did not have what it is in mind, right? You know, and that took a lot of exploration over the last the year leading up to it to really figure that out.

Kelly 55:53

Well, where did the hor hormonal piece come into this? I mean, I I know that you had you, Kelly. Sorry, I should probably be emphasizing that for the listeners. You, Kelly, had already gone through your own experiences, sharing those experiences with um patients. And is that did you start to just draw from that?

SPEAKER_01 56:17

And then that for me became like I'm pretty passionate about this. Like, I am really loving this. I'm loving that women feel better when you treat, like it's just and they're not being heard anywhere else. So that kind of became, I mean, I definitely think we both were like, we're gonna do hormones and hormone management. We just didn't know exactly how it would look. Um, but yeah, hormones rose to the top right away. Like we both enjoyed doing it and caring for women and this particular age group. So I think that was there. We just hadn't had it crafted to like, okay, how are we gonna deliver this care? Yeah. How are we gonna, yeah. Why are we gonna be unique? Yeah. And that tips. And how oh, and and then the other thing is like in the traditional medical system, you it's not built to talk about your diet, stress, sleep, exercise. So interesting, isn't it? It's built to talk about what's your problem, here's your prescription. Like, that's how it works most efficiently. So we knew we wanted an avenue to be able to talk about those lifestyle things because like that's your foundation. That is literally how you're gonna feel your best, live your longest, be your healthiest. Like, that is your foundation.

Kelly 57:29

Speaking into my soul right now. Seriously. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:33

And we both kind of individually did that on our own to feel better. You know, some of mine was um through, you know, like the postpartum challenges and just struggles was like the only thing that made me feel better was exercise, you know, or um I knew, you know, certain foods or whatnot. So you you knew it in yourself. But then we also were on 24 hours where you just sometimes eat what's around. And then you're like, that probably didn't make me feel better in this really stressful 24 hours. I ate junk or what I could get really quickly down. Right. And um, you know, so you kind of see it in yourself. And then when you ate better, you're like, wow, my migraines weren't as bad post-call, or you know, the nights I got sleep. Oh, you know, really sleep.

Kelly 58:21

Imagine that, imagine that sleep.

SPEAKER_00 58:23

If I got a little more sleep, it wasn't as bad. Um, so you we saw it in ourselves, and so we realized like you you have a two minutes to talk about it in an annual, plus it isn't really covered in insurance. It's very it's a very challenging situation in that sense. And we were just really along for the ride. Yeah. Um, without a lot of control in those situations. And so um I would say that that's the case is that a physician doesn't not want to talk about it. It's just that the whole system is not allowed. Yeah, right. And so big patients very much would feel dismissed, even though that was never the intention. Yeah.

Kelly 59:01

Um, yeah, it's such a bummer. And uh thank you for that perspective, because yes, I mean, I have felt that way myself going in and just going, well, wait a second, I didn't actually get, and what can I talk about? What versus what can I talk about? And am I gonna get charged extra if I talk about something that is outside the scope of what this annual is supposed to look like without knowing that also. Yes, tricky. Too it's very tricky, it really is. Um, admittedly, I haven't been in for a physical for years, since Maddie. Literally, since Maddie, I haven't I haven't been back. I also had heard rumblings about um Meredith leaving, and so I was like, well, I just really loved her so much.

SPEAKER_00 59:44

So um well, and you saying that right there was was one thing that was really hard to leave and to be that to someone. And there are people I run into who, oh my gosh, you're Dr. Hildebrand, you deliver my baby. And you know, I don't necessarily remember that moment or the delivering of their baby, but that fact that connection, it I didn't was another really hard thing and part of my identity because I I do feel like we are OBs in general, you're part of this monumental moment for someone, good or bad, mostly good, right? You know, um, but you're there and they remember you. Yeah. And yeah, different than you know, a different sort of situation where most people remember their doctor or whatever, but it's just a different moment in their family's time.

Kelly 1:00:37

Yeah. That's a benchmark. Yeah. That is a huge, to your point, monumental benchmark. Yeah. Having a child. I know.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:46

And I do think that also can is part of why we compartmentalize because you might have a really hard situation, but you have to go into the next room and it's their monumental moment, and you can't bring what's happening next door into their room. And so it part of it is also that customer experience because no one wants you grumpy or sad or crying or devastated because their moment and and you're the doctor on it, and you might have how many other patients. And so that was part of it too, is that it wasn't just compartmentalizing for ourselves, it was very much because you had to move on to the next situation and you needed to show up for them. Fresh perspective.

Kelly 1:01:28

Yeah. We're gonna table that because I think that this is something that we can talk through as it pertains to your business now. Yeah. For sure. So you guys decide to join forces, and now I'm I promise I'm not trying to speed it up. I would love, I would love to hear, like, because you're in startup phase and the uniqueness about what's happening with your business. If I might just share this with the listeners, is that you not only are you in startup phase, you're in hypergrowth, and you're in a phase of scale soon. Like I think, Maggie, you had shared moving to a from one

Building The Business From Scratch

Kelly 1:02:10

round to phase four and big space.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:12

Yeah. That's cool. We kind of had planned on a slow start so we could like really understand the business side, but lucky for us, it it hit the ground running. But that means we're running after it, right? We're like, oh my gosh, how do we do this? How okay, thought we were gonna have this big on-ramp.

Kelly 1:02:30

What did the groundwork set before actual launch of the business look like for the two of you? Because you had mentioned that that that was the case, that there was groundwork that was being built before you went public to everyone.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:47

We actually took a course from a business mentor, and I think that was real that was foundational. Yeah. Like that helped us organize how the heck do you open a business? How do you give care? So I think, and that was what, six months long or was it a year? It was six months. Six months long. Yeah. Um, and so, and so she would give us things, okay. I want you to work on looking at EMRs, electronic medical systems. I want you to look at work, you know, like insurance, like so, sort of at least we had benchmarks of what we needed to tick off our list.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:19

We also reached out to um Score is a um business mentorship program in Minneapolis, and they provide free mentorship. And so we had a few meetings with them. And so it was um, and then of course, each of us were doing our own things, like you were still delivering, weren't you at that point?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:39

Like four to five calls a week a month.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:41

And so then outside of our main job, we were just on the computer researching, learning, calling, setting up meetings, meetings, meetings, meetings, lots of meetings. Um, and designing our programs, like designing how we were gonna give care. So it was kind of like having two jobs during that time in the planning phase. And then at least once I left my job, then it was like, okay, I'm down to one job. Yay.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:05

Yeah, it's great. I think the hardest part was coming up with a name. Yeah, it took us forever.

Kelly 1:04:12

This is something that I have not done the best job of hitting when it comes to asking. Like periodically, I'll be like, How did you come up with a name? But I think that I'm gonna mentally make a note to add that to the notes.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:26

We had a lot of just different ones, lists and lists and would send things to each other. And I think for a while we were biosynchrony or no biosymphony, both of those, both of those, both of them, and then everyone's like, You're not a you're not a symphony, like people are gonna think it's a piano score. And um, we really liked harmony because that's what we tried to do is bring the harmony of the whole body together, but there's um other places called harmony, and it just that didn't seem right either because we really didn't we wanted to differentiate ourselves differentiate ourselves as you know experts and in the medical field. So we needed something, and I actually think it was one of my girlfriends who I was talking, and she's like, Well, why not just bioharmony? Yeah, and I texted her and we were like, uh-that's it.

Kelly 1:05:15

I love that. When you just know, you're like, Yes, yeah, that's it. That's so good. It took a while though. I I like to share this about how I came to the name Reclaiming Your Hue. Did I share this with you? No, okay. So initially I wanted to call it Get Your Pink Back. Okay, okay, and do you know about the brand Get Your Pink Back? Get Your Pink Back? Um, okay, so Lindsay Girk, she is an influencer on social media, especially on Instagram. She is a joy. Like, I love following her. So I am like, I came across the concept of flamingos as they have their babies, they lose their coloring, yada yada, and then it starts to come back. And so I was like, oh. Oh, get your pink back. Let's call it get your pink back. Yeah. And then there was something in me, like this little gut feeling, going, you should probably just do a little bit of research. Yeah. So I did. And I literally like that was one of the moments where I almost didn't do the podcast because I was like so stuck on get your pink back. And then I just was like, nope. And actually, my husband was like, you need to get over yourself and get over it. And so we kind of did this back and forth. And then reclaiming your hue was like, that sounds like it felt a little bit more sophisticated too, not to bash on get your pink back. And I will never forget a girlfriend of mine who she uh a few weeks back, episode-wise, she interviewed me. So I was in your seat over there, and she's doing all of this interviewing back and forth with me. And I'm going, Yeah, I wanted to call it get your pink back. She goes, literally sounds like it'd be like a vagina thing or something like that I was actually thinking we're gonna stay with some like lubricant door. So yeah, anyways, I'm really I'm really grateful that it it resolved to reclaiming your hue. It just feels yeah, it felt right. Yeah. Literally, when I when I saw that, I was like, yes, it's that's it. Yeah, that's it. That's what it is. So yeah, thank you for sharing that too, by the way. That's so fun. Okay. So date that you officially like filed LLC and opened your doors. They're gonna be different.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:39

I know that, but like sometime in May of 25th. May 25, yeah. And then we opened on May 20th, yeah.

Kelly 1:07:44

Okay, yeah. Is there any significance to May 20th?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:48

No, we were actually gonna open a week or two before that, and every time we were thinking of opening, we both would be like, I need another week, or we don't have this. She when did you finish work? April?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:01

Um May 1st, right? We finished clinic and surgery, April 30th or 31st, and then I took just the overnights, so there were like four or five in there in May. So I had nothing else except for those. Um yeah.

Kelly 1:08:15

I don't know. So we ended up May 20th. Yeah, May 13th.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:19

We weren't sure that anyone was gonna come.

Kelly 1:08:22

Like at all.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:23

Grand opening or we we did host uh the chamber. We um we had like a party, not at the office, but we had uh we screened the movie The M Factor at the Adana Theater, invited all of you know, well, it was a limited number because it's a theater, yeah. But like friends, family, colleagues, basically people who we knew.

Kelly 1:08:46

And ladies, awesome. I'm giggling because not only are you opening up, like getting ready to open up your practice, and you're prepping an event too.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:59

Yeah. And it was just the two of us. I mean, we've done it's just been the two of us until recently. We've recently hired a nurse, which has been amazing. Yeah. Emily joined us in January, so that's been great.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:09

But yeah, it is her

Startup Life Boundaries And Parenting

SPEAKER_01 1:09:10

and I show until then.

Kelly 1:09:13

I I want to talk through the harmonization of motherhood and starting a business. And I'm giggling because it's like I I am curious if you have felt more harmony with what you're doing now versus when you were in the clinic. Yes, and yes, and so I love that.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:35

Like and absolutely, I feel better. I'm a better mom, I'm more patient. I don't have this. I was gonna like as of May 31st, I'll have slept in my own bed for a year at night. You know what I mean? Like that is amazing, and it makes me a better person to my family, to myself. Um it had and I largely left my prior career because I was now prioritizing myself and my family more than my career, but wasn't ready to give that up entirely. Um and so since leaving, I am physically present a lot, but emotionally I'm also on my laptop working at the basically the dining room table. I'm there all the time when I'm not at work. And so I have had, I am really working hard on you gotta set boundaries, like just turn it off, because it's always there. The business is always there. You never always it's never done. It's always yeah.

Kelly 1:10:34

So I mean, literally, you just heard my my laptop dinging at me. That is that is literally telling me somebody just signed an electronic document.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:45

Okay, yeah. So it's like you're like sorry that you heard that too if the listeners heard it.

Kelly 1:10:50

Like I was just like, yep. And Maggie's like, what was that? So apologies for the distraction. But so to your point, like there's always something.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:00

I I love that I'm able to go to all their sporting or concert or whatever. I can go to all their events now, I can tuck them in every night, I can walk them to the bus most days, but I am always on my laptop and I'm trying, I'm do, I am doing a better job of that now. I'm like, okay, we're a year in and it's still there. So I just need to set boundaries.

Kelly 1:11:22

Can we just acknowledge something? That timeline for you to go. I need to work on that and to have implemented it already. And you are you have a start up. Okay, it's okay. That's okay. You have it's it's well, by the time this actually airs, I won't say what the date is actually today. That's okay. Okay, that is okay. I love that. Give your give yourself some grace and give more credit than what you're giving yourself credit for.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:57

How about you, Maggie? Yeah, it is always there, it's always in the back of my mind. Um, I think there are times where I just don't have a choice because you know, I'm doing the kid pickup and the way that we've arranged it, it's on me. And so it's like, well, the computer has to shut because I have to get the kids to whatever they're doing. Um but it's still there, it's still in the back of the mind of I should do this. And there are many times that I just say to the kids, just one more minute, I just need one more minute to finish this. And it's not one more minute, and it should be. And so I I'm trying to draw a little bit of separation there too. Um, there are things that have to get done, and then there's other things that can wait, and I need to just realize that separation. And so trying to find that.

Kelly 1:12:42

Um how do you how let's let's talk about the differences from when you were in the hospital to now, though, like just those stark differences. How can you speak to that for yourself personally?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:57

I think the thing for me is that I even before I left really wanted and saw where things could use improvement um and tried to join committees and communicate. I didn't do a lot of leadership because I just didn't have the bandwidth. Yeah. Um but knew where things needed to be changed and I couldn't change them. And so that felt very powerless. Um, and so now it's really great to see what could change, what could be better, where can we go? Yeah. And it is, I mean, it's the two of us making the decision together, but that is a much smaller ship to turn than a big medical system. And I really enjoy that. I enjoy the business aspect way more than I thought I would.

Kelly 1:13:42

Who do you feel like between the two of you wears more of the business hat? Or is it both of you pretty collectively?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:49

I feel like we've gravitate,

The BioHarmony Whole Body Approach

SPEAKER_01 1:13:50

we're super collective. I think it's just we we gravitate toward different things. Um I can tell I don't know that I've said this to you, but I can tell you what I think if you want. I feel like she's got visions and like has the bigger picture, like um, what's the experience like for the patient? What's the look? What's the kind of that thought? And then like the functional, like, okay, what do we need here? How what what do I need to stock? What do I need to what what program are we gonna use? Like the more operational is how I would I don't know. I agree. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:26

I think for sure in different like aspects of it. Um yeah, I think that's that's right.

Kelly 1:14:34

That is how my husband and I operate. Okay, he is the visionary, he is the creative, he comes up with like all the ideas when it comes to the business. And then I am the executioner.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:49

Okay. Yeah.

unknown 1:14:50

Let's go.

Kelly 1:14:51

Yeah. Get that clipboard for sure. And then when I have my moments of getting more into my creative side, which is a little bit more challenging for me, just who I am as an individual. Um, I get a little intimidated when it comes to the vision envisioneering. And then I have somebody like my husband who kind of goes, You can do it and you should do it. And then when I say something, is when he goes, I need to implement it. And it's just him like putting his husband hat on and going, I need to do this for my wife. Okay. So it's kind of fun how like we ebb and flow. And I love a lot of the women who I have had on um are solopreneurs.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:35

Okay.

Kelly 1:15:35

And so it's really fun to have the two of you on here and just hear the perspective of the divide and conquer, essentially, because then I go, well, yeah, that's how my like my podcast is solopreneur. The real estate business is the two of us.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:54

Okay.

Kelly 1:15:54

And so it's it's fun to hear the perspective that you're giving and going, yeah, I can see some of that too.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:01

And I think doing it together gave me the courage to do it. I don't know if I would have done it on my own, at least at that moment. Yeah, you know, I think and I don't think it would have been the same.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:10

Like I don't think the what we created would be what it is.

Kelly 1:16:14

Let's let's tell the listeners a little bit more about bioharmony health. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:20

Yeah. There we go. Okay. So um, I mean, like I alluded to before, the foundations of your health or the diet, exercise, sleep stress. And so um what we wanted to do was basically care for perimenopausal and menopausal women as our as our niche, because that's what we really knew well. Um, and who we felt were getting underserved, um, but in a different way, in a whole body way, like an integrative perspective way, not just the problem solution, which is a prescription, problem solution, you know. So um, so what we do is actually address all of those things with you. We address your foundational health, and then we layer in vitamins or supplements if needed, and then we layer in hormones if needed, like depends where that the woman is at in their symptoms, in their progression toward or through menopause. Like everyone's different. So it depends what in that pyramid you get, but everyone gets some of it, we'll put it that way.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:21

And it's um really individualized, and I think that's what's unique about it. Um it isn't a one size fit at all. Um, we have patients who are, you know, maybe gonna try to conceive again, um, but having some postpartum issues. And then we have post-menopausal, you know, 60-year-olds or 70-year-olds who come and they've done their reading and they they want this care, they want the risks and the benefits, and sometimes conventional practices or um aren't gonna cover it or address it with them because they're too far out of that window. And so also approaching it in a different way where we collaborate with the patient, and it's very individualized, um, comprehensive, very comprehensive.

Kelly 1:18:07

So I've got two follow-up questions. The first is I'm a woman who's listening right now, and what are some of the markers that I should be watchful

Signs To Watch For In Your 40s

Kelly 1:18:20

for that would then lead me to believe that I need to come and see you?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:25

So I always think of like both symptoms and labs. And so symptoms usually, I mean, I think um, I can't remember who said it, but like perimenopause starts in the brain. So often it's a I don't feel like myself, maybe I'm anxious, maybe I'm depressed, I've never had depression or anxiety before. Maybe I'm super irritable and rageful at my family, and I'm like, what? That's not me, and I can't point a finger why. Um, but anything from like palpitations, joint pains, abdominal weight gain, these are all like the more subtle and yet vague things. Sleep. Sleep, can't sleep just to wait, yeah. Can't find the what why did I come in this room or what's that word? Um those are like the more I think perimenopausal symptoms, and then the menopausal often does you do find yourself with hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, um libido changes, paints, libido, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:20

But one of the main things I think that women say is just I don't feel like myself anymore. Just something is different. Um, and you had brought up like you're just turned 40, yeah. Um, kind of what wind do you look at that? And that is really this amazing critical window where you're maybe not having all the symptoms yet, so you still feel okay. Yeah, but certain things are changing. Um, and that's really where we've tailored a lot of what we do as well is this ability to get ahead of it, be proactive, preventative, instead of just your labs aren't abnormal, so we're not gonna just treat them. It's maybe they're trending that way, or let's look at what and get a baseline, even though we don't always just treat labs, you know, and that is very true. You can't treat an estradiol lab. And um, but it can it can give you data and then sometimes some clarity. It also can rule out other causes, and that's what's really important about them is making sure that we're not just saying, oh, it's perimenopause, because you can almost blame most things on perimenopause. I have that joke with my husband and mine. He'll be he'll say something, and I'm like, it's perimenopause. You're not doing the dishes is perimenopause. I forgot, I'm sorry. Yeah. So we do have that joke. But it but it's true because it for everyone it's so vague. But um, you can get ahead of it and we can make some changes that really make a huge difference and get you feel like yourself. And they it may not be hormones yet, you know, you're not you may not be ready for it, or you may not need it, or maybe you will. And it and it really just depends on your story and where you're at. But um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:54

And then I also think about, you know, when I talked about labs or she said comprehensive, the other thing that I think is nice to get ahead of is, you know, typical Western medicine waits until your lab is a certain level, your blood pressure is a certain level, or you meet a certain criteria, and then they're like, Oh, now you're diabetic, or now you have cholesterol. But you've been inching there the whole time. We've been seeing it go up and up and up, and we keep saying you're normal until you're not. And it's like, why not rein it in when before you hit that level?

Kelly 1:21:23

Look at you two. I wish that we were doing video because it was so fun. Like, I'm watching you and I can see Maggie on the side. Like you guys are doing the same emotions together. That was amazing. I love it. I wish we were doing video. Um, the other question that I had was say somebody decides that they're gonna come in to see the two of you, what does that process look like? What should they expect? You want to take that one?

SPEAKER_00 1:21:50

Yeah. So that is a little bit where we do do it different. Um, it's not just a one visit. And so, in order to provide this really comprehensive, deep level individualized care, um, we have programs. And so it's more visits. Um, so the first we do do discovery calls so people can find out like is if this is right for them. Um, and then we do uh a wellness consult, which is really uh pretty long. I mean, longer than most time people get to talk to a doctor. It's about an hour, hour and a half. Um that's incredible. Yeah. And I think that actually is where women realize that this is different, is because they get the time to tell their story, all of their symptoms, um, and really in-depth history, family history, um, diet, exercise, like what are you doing, sexual history, all of that. Um, and then we do kind of figure out which program is best. So we have three different programs that range from three to six months. Okay, and those, then we get labs, you

What Working Together Looks Like

SPEAKER_00 1:22:50

come back for another like one-hour in-person visit where we have a plan that's individualized. I mean, my plans and yours, they're they're like four to five pages of like, here are your labs, here's the interpretation, and here's what we're gonna recommend. And then we can stepwise it. Um, but sometimes patients they do walk out a little bit like, wow, uh, that's a lot of information. Of course. It's all written out for you. Yeah, and we don't always implement all of it at once. Yeah, you know, so it's not all of a sudden you're walking out. And I would say, for me, both of us, but you know, it's not that you walk out with fistfuls of supplements and all of this stuff. It's it's just very, it's very um targeted interventions. Okay. Um if your vitamin D is low, we're giving you vitamin D.

unknown 1:23:33

Yeah.

Kelly 1:23:33

Iron's low, we're giving you iron.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:35

But if they're not, then you don't necessarily need to take that one.

Kelly 1:23:37

And so yes, those are two core things that I have been taking for a long time. Good. Vitamin D, D3, D3, D3, and then zinc and a multivitamin. Yeah, perfect. Everyone should be on a bashwagandha. Yes, right.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:51

And and some of those, you know, they they come in there like, should I take this? Should I take this? Should I take this? And we kind of just figure out.

Kelly 1:23:57

Well, and and Kelly, you had mentioned how health-wise, women just haven't been studied. I mean, really, I think it's just been recent where they've actually even talked more about um, oh my gosh, I'm totally drawing a blank. Um it's paranoid. Uh what we literally talked about it, and now I'm totally drawing a blank. Matrescence. Matrescence. So, like the phase of going from not having children to having children, like that that identity shift, right? And all of that stuff, and they're finally studying what that means. Right.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:35

Yeah.

Kelly 1:24:35

And that process. And then, you know, the core of essentials of like the there is difference between men and women. Well, and the beauty of social media pieced in with that, and just all of the information that is being thrown at us. And so I I'm sure that you've had women come in while I saw this and I heard this, and and I personally try to refrain from like going so in-depth or down a rabbit hole on specific things. And I'm like, well, what are the core essentials? Like, I've had my blood work done before. This was years ago, probably should update that or get that, you know, re-up on that. What's the way to actually officially term that? But yeah, I mean, it was that was enlightening for me to go, okay, you know, things levels seem really good. And also here are just some of the things that I can start implementing supplementally that are really, and so I'm like, just keep it simple. Yeah, keep it simple.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:35

And I think people come in really overwhelmed from what's on social media. And I've had, you know, a bag of 20 supplements, and she's like, What should I take of these? And I was like, let's let's scale it back. Like sometimes you're almost counteracting for sure. But they're just, well, I have that symptom, so I'll take this one. And I have that symptom, I'll take this one. And it's maybe not any of it. Look for the unifier. Yeah, what's the or or start even more basic of um, you know, we include a really big nutrition plan at the beginning. Yes. Um, and kind of where you eliminate foods that could be inflammatory, yeah, and then add it back because that has a lot of science behind it for you individualized. So not everyone needs to take gluten out, but for some they may. And so actually figuring out what you need versus what you should do.

Kelly 1:26:21

I'm grabbing my phone for just a second because um there was this was back in 2020 when I did. Um, did you guys ever hear about Viome? Did you hear about Viome? They send you they sent me a kit and I like drew blood myself and then sent it in. And I got these results about like what are my superfoods? And it was really enlightening. Like, my body doesn't overly love spinach, but it loves arugula. And so my body is gonna operate so much more efficiently. And I thought, oh my gosh, I should probably like, I just noticed that I still have the app. I should try to get into that and just recollect like what are my superfoods? Why did I bring this up? Look at this is my brain. Just the basic we were talking about like how nutrition is really interesting. And yeah, and for sure different. And and having an understanding, thank you, Maggie. Thank you, Kelly. The having the understanding of like how your body actually absorbs and the absorbency rate, and like even with the supplements, like is my body actually absorbing this too?

SPEAKER_00 1:27:31

So and some of that, like that we do labs and then we repeat them, not because always is it gonna make the biggest difference, but we want to know are you even absorbing this vitamin D that you're taking? Right. So you don't spend money on it if it's not. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:46

Get it in a di or like iron like that. Because oral if you're not absorbing it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So yeah. Oh, I guess that goes back into like you were explaining what is it a w what does it entail? So yeah, the wellness concept and then We get labs and then sit down and go over all those labs, send you with a treatment plan, and then we see you every single month for three or six months. Okay. Those can be virtual. Um, and then the final one we repeat all those labs. Okay. Sit down again for another that one's like a little shorter, but I'll say an hour. Um, and go back over, see how the needles moved on the paperwork. Every month, though, we're checking in with you. How how are you feeling? And obviously people can reach out to us between that too, but that's the minimum we want us to use every single month to make sure you're getting better. Yeah. I want you to feel better.

Kelly 1:28:33

It's incredible.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:34

Yeah.

Kelly 1:28:35

And obviously, something's hitting home here for women because you are growing, you've hired on another nurse. And so talk, talk myself and the listeners through what that experience is look like. Like, how did you know that you needed to? Like, what was the moment where you're like, this is expanding more than we thought it was going to at this given where we're at? Okay.

unknown 1:29:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:02

Well, I think so. Our mentor gave us really good advice of don't go too big, don't put yourself in a hole. Start small, just start.

Kelly 1:29:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:10

And that was a little hard for me at first because I had this the big like vision of this big fancy clinic and whatnot. And it we just started with a room in a wonderful collection of other providers, but really just one room. And it still was working. And I was like, okay, that's that was what for me was like, okay, it's this is gonna work if we we have built this and and people are coming and we're we really haven't advertised much.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:37

Um a lot of word of mouth, or just you know, or we've done a few little things, but not not any real advertisements. Um and yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:50

Well, and then I mean, we both had our little mom like the question. We like how did we knowing when to scale? Like when scaling our space, I think we've known for six months that we needed more than just a room. So um the place we're at, we've been able to use a room across the hallway. Um, but it's not it's like you know, where we maybe draw blood or store supplements, or like it's not where you would have a sit down with a patient. Right. So that was pretty obvious. Like we need to find more space. So privacy, right? Yeah, for privacy. And each of us have a room. So we share one. We were sharing two and a half days each, essentially, you know. Um, and then you can do telehealth stuff from home, but we needed more. So that was obvious for a while, but we finally pulled the trigger on moving down the hallway into a four-office space, and hopefully it'll be done this summer. Yeah, we're renovating, and yeah, then we'll have plenty of room physically. And then as far as like hiring a nurse, I mean, we both have known we needed that for a while too.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:54

But it's been the biggest thing was that we were sending patients away for labs, and it you were doing some in in-house labs, but I wasn't, it just what the flow wasn't working. Yeah, and so that was the biggest thing, and that has been amazing.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:10

So you can get your labs drawn right at our clinic. And patients have really liked that off at like quest and wait in the lobby and forever. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, it's been great.

Kelly 1:31:20

And it sounds like it. Yeah, I love it. And what's sticking out to me is just how niche you are, right? Nishing is always incredibly scary, but reflecting on the women who have been on here, whether they're solopreneurs or they have businesses and they like they've got staff, right? When they started to get really granular and niche is when things would explode. Okay. And so I love that you already have that sort of built-in, baked into what the overarching like theme is for your business, which is really fantastic. And interestingly enough, like you know what the range is too, the age range as well.

Scaling Up Advice And How To Connect

Kelly 1:32:10

So what's the youngest that you've had so far? Youngest woman. I think I've maybe had 31 or 32, maybe had early 30s, I think 34.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:19

And it doesn't mean they necessarily were in perimenopause, but they weren't feeling right, and they were like, I want help. And so we're happy to help, and there are things we can do. Um but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:30

We that's where we start with the different pillars, and a lot of that was the food, nutrition, exercise, sleep, um supplementation as needed. Um, you know, we we use a lot of evidence based on the nutraceuticals. Okay. Um, so that ones that you know really do have good science behind them.

Kelly 1:32:50

I love that term, nutraceuticals.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:55

Like the other interesting thing is people always come in and think, oh my gosh, it's my female hormones, it's perimenopause, but it could be other things too. Like it can be your adrenal hormones, it could be your thyroid hormones. Yeah. So we look at it all. You can't just like say, Yep, perimenopause, here's hormones. You have to like do an investigation and make sure we're not missing something else. And if you find it, you treat it, you know.

Kelly 1:33:15

So and what is it?

SPEAKER_01 1:33:16

So it's it's specifically you obviously draw blood.

Kelly 1:33:21

And it what else am I?

SPEAKER_01 1:33:23

So we always do blood at the beginning and then at the end of the three months, and then again at the end of six months if you're a six-month programmer. Sometimes we'll do a spit cortisol test as well, like saliva cortisol. Yeah, depending on what they present with. Yeah, what they yeah.

Kelly 1:33:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:39

And then sometimes a DEXA scan, so body comps to know just they feel their bodies changed. Sometimes that helps really um our our baseline, but then also for them to know what to work on. I think those can be helpful.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:55

Like the core if you're in the program. Obviously, if someone has something or they're high risk for osteoporosis and they've never had a DEXA bone scan, then we'll send them out for that. Okay. Um, but we don't necessarily do that as a part of the program. Sure. Or like you have terribly heavy periods and no one's ever done an ultrasound. Let's do one, you know. Yeah. Send them out for that. Fascinating. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:14

And a lot of the labs we do are more in-depth than what insurance covers. So some cardiovascular markers, um, like a lipoprotein A, apoprotein B, things that are have great um studies behind them but aren't in the mainstream yet. Yeah. But really give us an idea of what are what is your cardiovascular risk. Um, because menopause is a pivotal changing point through for some of those chronic diseases. So and that's why when we talk about perimenopause being this really critical window of not only addressing the symptoms you have now, but getting ahead of it and giving you a baseline picture of what could be move happening, and then um also, you know, hopefully be able to get labs, you know, in succession that will tell us what what's happening and where you're moving.

Kelly 1:35:05

So is there anything that I may have missed that you feel is really important, whether it pertains to motherhood or in the business realm that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_01 1:35:20

Well, I I just want to encourage women to like follow their heart and men too, sure. Um, but like um if something isn't right in your your career or your life, like start thinking about how you can make a change. Like our change wasn't sudden. We didn't like jump off the bridge, we like built our boat, you know, like and I saved up for a year because I didn't think we were gonna have an income for a year, you know, like and and we lived pretty frugally, like to keep our overheads, like just start planning. It doesn't mean you have to like jump right now, but if you don't like what you're doing, there's probably something better. Put your thinking hat on and just like start the planning phase and then at some point do it.

Kelly 1:36:06

Because there will be a push, push comes to shove moment.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:09

Yeah, yeah, life is short, and um two, three, four years ago would never have imagined that I would be sitting here on a podcast talking about it. Um, and so yeah, I think that just if if there is a poll elsewhere, explore.

Kelly 1:36:31

Yeah, I love that. We'll start to land the plane. I usually ask the question what's a piece of advice you'd give somebody listening right now, but you two just yeah, you just answered that. It was so beautiful. I love it. Before I before I ask um advice you would give a younger version of yourself. So just maybe think on that. I'm curious, what are um what are for each one of you favorite movie, favorite or sorry, favorite TV show, podcast, or book that each one of you is reading right now? And why?

SPEAKER_01 1:37:09

Do you want that question first? Or you want the uh that one first? Yes. Okay, yep. I think I'm still not yet so I comedy. I seek comedy. So like good hang Amy Poehler, she makes me laugh, just giggle. Her giggle is contagious. Um, or like if I'm watching a show or a movie, like I still need lighthearted and comedy, and I think that is because of how serious and all-consuming our work has been. And so, yeah. Although I did just start watching Stranger Things with my son, and it's not a comedy. It's like okay, I think I can do ours because it's with you, but like it's deep, it's dark.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:48

Yeah, I agree. I watch very lighthearted. I mean, Emily in Paris.

Kelly 1:37:54

Love that Sarah Boleyn and I had like this heart to heart moment about Emily and Paris. I was like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:04

Um and actually, um I was just on a trip. Um, I went heli helicopter skiing for a week, which was you sure did. I sure did, and it was uh wild and crazy and really amazing. Um, but on the airplane, I watched the six episodes of Taylor Swift's like end of the era. Oh yeah. Just and what a leader she is, and you know, just some of that stuff.

Kelly 1:38:27

So I I like um lighthearted, lighthearted um podcasts.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:32

I do listen to Mary Claire Haver a lot. I think she um is a good voice in our space, sure. Um, and provides, you know, new topics, new experts in the field.

Kelly 1:38:43

So yeah, yeah. As both of you know, I am in real estate with my husband, and I am always so curious. I've been asking this question more and more often now of what your favorite spaces within your home and why. Like, where are you doing this? Where are you listening to your your podcasts or watching? And is it in that favorite space?

SPEAKER_01 1:39:06

No, I'm in my car listening to podcasts. That's like the only time I feel like I have for that right now. Um, I would say our dining room table, like that is every night we have dinner. Um, and even sometimes at like 4 30, if we have sports all night, we're like, well, I know it's only 4 30, but let's eat.

Kelly 1:39:26

Um it's so funny. We literally just did that same thing last night. And it's actually interesting how smoothly the night went. We were trying to like pigeonhole dinner in it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:36

Yeah. Um, just because like that's when we sit down and talk and ask them how you know. Yeah, that's my favorite space. It's not the prettiest space, that's for sure, but it's my favorite, yeah.

Kelly 1:39:46

I am so with you on that. That's like a sacred time for us. Yeah. And to just be able to ask them, like, what are you grateful for today? How has your day, how's your day been? Yeah, and to just hear the stories is really comical. Especially from a three-year-old. Oh my gosh. I loved watching Pocahontas. I'm like, oh my god. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:10

Oh my gosh. It's probably one of my favorite spaces too. Um, we do something called High Low Buffalo. Yeah, we do that. So where they, you know, say a hi, a low, and a buffalo, uh random or a surprise or something that kept them off guard. And it's, you know, that's fine. My five-year-old always says for his high, this lovely dinner. Oh, kidding, even if he just told me he hates it and that he isn't going to eat it. Just he my high is this lovely dinner. So at least you know he's grateful that he's getting fed. Yeah. Right. Um so um, and then I think you know, putting our kids to bed is you know, sometimes a chore, but it also is we really have focused on a unique amount of time with each kid, and we alternate but laying there and getting those snuggles. And I know that time will pass when that even our 10-year-old still loves the reading and snuggles, and so just kind of absorbing those minutes because I know they are fleeting. That's so true.

Kelly 1:41:16

Um, so now we get to answer the other question. Piece of advice you would give a younger version of yourself, knowing all that you have been through.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:30

I think I would just say um do it for yourself, not for others. I mean, I don't mean that in patient care. Like, I love caring for others and giving all I can to others, but I think a lot of what I've chosen in my life, how dogged I've been with my career and doing well at things, was like I wanted to show others or impress others, or you know, and and when I really reflect, I'm like it should really be for me, not for others. And so I think I would tell myself to give yourself a break. Like it's okay, do it for you and not them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:10

Um, when I was thinking about this, one of my first thoughts was um stay in the business classes in that college that I didn't like and went back to the medical classes, hence that's what brought me here. But um, I think also, you know, what when I reflect on the 15 months of knowing I wanted to make a change before I did, what was holding me back? And a lot of it was what others were gonna think, like what were my colleagues gonna think? And even starting this, we brought it up many times. Like, what are some other people gonna think about what we're doing? Yeah, and some of those people have said, like, good job, I'm so proud of you. Wow. Um, you know, and so I think that's it too, is is don't worry about what other people are gonna think, still be um authentic, and really important for me that that was really important that we were authentic and that we can carry through all of our medical values and didn't go down a path that wasn't what we believed. Right. And that's why I think bioharmony is what it is, is that we really have been authentic to our Western and our traditional medical training, yeah, but also to the patients that we're serving in a unique way.

Kelly 1:43:18

Yeah. That one-on-one care and honing in on that is something really unique and special. And so I applaud the two of you for having the bravery to really go out, step out of what is perceivably a comfort zone and stepping into it. And I a lot of what you shared is so cool because it's a little bit different and unique than some of the other women who have been uh who have been on. Most of them have just literally taken the leap, like the leaps of the proverbial leap of faith. And there's a lot of that in what you're speaking to. There has to be, right? Especially if you have gone through uh the the traditional method of like college, and then for you guys, it was you know, everything else beyond above and beyond that. And it's a lot, might I add. You're like, tell me about it. Um but you know, it's there's always gonna be alternative ways to be able to do it. And this is what I love about entrepreneurship is there's no cookie-cutter way. And this podcast is a testament to hearing other women's stories too. So thank you. Thank you for what you're doing, the mission that you have behind it. It's really special. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:38

Thank you.

Kelly 1:44:38

I'm like, we're gonna have conversations.

SPEAKER_00 1:44:40

Yeah.

Kelly 1:44:41

But I'm a woman who's listening right now, and a lot of what both of you have spoken to is hitting them to the core. How can they connect with you? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:52

So our website is bioharmony dash health.com. Um, our phone number and an info ad is there, and then Instagram as well, Bioharmony Health. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_04 1:45:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:04

LinkedIn. Technical difficulties.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:09

Yes, I am on LinkedIn. I'm not as very active on it though. Um, it's as a patient to reach us is much more through.

Kelly 1:45:17

Sure. Sure. Sounds good. The website and our patient portal. Yeah, I love it. Ladies, what an honor and a privilege. Maggie, I'm so grateful that you reached out. Yeah, thank you. Now, Kelly, are you here any Dinah as well in Minneapolis? Minneapolis. You're so you're not too far away. Stone's throw. But it's it's really wonderful to have um had the sit-down conversation that you and I had and getting this scheduled, and finally we're here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:45:44

Here we are.

Kelly 1:45:46

So I'm so I'm so grateful and I'm really excited to see just the evolution of Bioharmony Health. And I know without a shadow of a doubt that there is plenty of women who are listening right now that are wink wink, yeah, ready to start that adventure. So thank you. I really appreciate it, and I hope you both have a great rest of the day. Thank you for letting us share our story. No problem. Talk soon. Talk soon.

unknown 1:46:14

I have to be so good. Oh my gosh.