Trust Your Innersense™ with Joanne Starkman
Trust Your Innersense ™ with Joanne Starkman invites you to slow down, reconnect, and come home to yourself. Rooted in self-love and everyday rituals, this podcast explores what it means to live with intention—starting with the relationship we have with our bodies, our breath, even our hair. Joanne, a holistic beauty founder and gentle guide, shares real conversations and mindful practices to nourish your inner and outer world.
Each episode feels like a cozy cup of tea with a wise friend—full of heart, honesty, and tools you can actually use. From soulful storytelling to simple shifts in daily habits, you'll find inspiration to soften, listen inward, and move through the world a little more rooted and real. Trust Your Innersense is a quiet nudge toward the truest version of you.
Trust Your Innersense™ with Joanne Starkman
49 - Clean Beauty & Public Health: Why Prevention is Power with Dr. Astrid Williams
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The power of prevention
Joanne sits down with Dr. Astrid Williams, a fierce public health advocate who helps you see beauty products through an entirely different lens. As an environmental justice expert and educator, Dr. Williams opens up about her mission to spotlight how toxic ingredients disproportionately affect Black communities—and why the clean beauty movement can’t just be surface-level. She shares her own turning point: the moment she decided to stop straightening her hair and embrace her natural texture, sparking a deeper journey into health, identity, and advocacy.
Clean beauty as a human right
Together, they explore how advocacy can start in small, everyday choices, from reading ingredient labels to questioning the norms of marketing. Dr. Williams shares how public health intersects with beauty, culture, and identity—and why transparency is essential. With passion and precision, she urges you to see product safety not just as a trend, but as a matter of justice and self-respect.
Reclaiming knowledge and power
This conversation challenges the idea that “what you don’t know won’t hurt you,” and empowers you to reclaim the knowledge that has too often been hidden or dismissed. Whether you're a stylist, consumer, or wellness seeker, Dr. Williams will shift the way you think about beauty—inside and out.
Connect with Dr. Astrid Williams on LinkedIn
Learn More About the Non-Toxic Black Beauty Project and Search the Database
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics Website
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics on Instagram
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics on Facebook
Breast Cancer Prevention Partners Website
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Dr. Astrid Williams and Her Work
04:15 Understanding Health Equity and Environmental Exposures
05:36 Defining Environmental Justice as a Public Health Issue
10:51 Common Toxic Ingredients in Personal Care Products
14:20 Breast Cancer Prevention Partners and Non-Toxic Black Beauty Project
16:37 Corporate Accountability and Consumer Education
19:23 Practical Steps for a Prevention-Centered Approach
23:05 Hope for the Future of Environmental Justice
24:38 The Connection Between Self-Care and Environmental Care
26:45 Personal Journey to Embracing Natural Hair
Let’s chat! podcasts@innersensebeauty.com
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Let’s Stay Connected
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https://www.youtube.com/c/InnersenseOrganicBeauty
Clean hair care & body products
Use code JOANNE15 to save 15% on first purchases at https://innersensebeauty.com/
Want to elevate your salon? (New Pro Clean Color Line)
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