Work Life Harmony w/ Melissa Proctor

This week, we sit down with Melissa Proctor, who went from "Queen of the Court" to CMO of the Atlanta Hawks. She shares the real truths behind leadership, motherhood, and maintaining work-life harmony. With humor, honesty, and heart, Melissa reminds us that success isn’t about the title, it’s about your why. Also, we take our first KIPS road trip to learn all about Pravida Health. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Calling all my sweeties to the forefront. I'm your host,
christ and this is the keep it Positive Sweetish show. Hey,
k his family.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
I am so.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Excited about this episode because I have my dear friend,
Melissa Procter with me. Melissa is the CMO of the
Atlanta Hawks and she is the co founder of Perveta
Health here in Atlanta, Georgia. Guys, we've known each other
for a few years. What it feels like forever his family,
Please give a very warm sweetie welcome to Melissa Proctor. Melissa,

(00:34):
finally we got you here. Thank you so much. I
know you are busy this time of year or all
the time. You're a mother and a businesswoman, so I
don't think there's every moment where you're not busy.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
So thank you.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
First of all, thank you so much for having me
as a fan of the show and the fact that
I've seen so many episodes.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
I am honored to finally be here. Thank you so much.
Thank you. I appreciate your support.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
You came to my first live show, you watch you
let me know that you've watched the episode, so I
appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yes, so we met like three years ago, which feels
like an eternity. We're both like it was way longer
than that.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
I think it's about three years ago doing the BMW
un Court series, and immediately we hit it off, like
we were locked in from that day on. And what
I love about you is that you've always been a
dreamer like me. From a very young age. You had
all these big dreams that probably seemed so outlandish to
people who heard it right. You wanted to be the

(01:29):
first female NBA coach, but you became the first female
ball girl for the Miami Heat. Now, little backstory. I
read that you at the age of fifteen, you wrote
letters and you called the Miami Heat every single day.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Time about that. So, when I was fifteen, my mom,
who was a registered nurse, you know, born and raised
in Belieze, knew nothing of American sports.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
I said she. I told her I wanted a job.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
She said, okay, mal, if you want to get a
job and whatever you're going to do for the rest
of your life.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
At fifteen, what I was going to tell you I
was an artist.

Speaker 3 (02:02):
I was always drawing and painting, but I knew that
I loved watching basketball. One of my cousins introduced me
to the game, but I would watch it like a
soap opera on TV for the storylines. Whenever I watched,
I never saw women. So this is before they were
female referees or assistant coaches or anything. Yeah, And so
I said, you know, mo, mom would be the first
female coach in the NBA. She said, Okay, go get
a job in the NBA. And that was it, like

(02:24):
she laid down the gatland and there was no other option.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (02:26):
And so I had never been to a game, never
been to the Miami Arena, which is where they used
to play.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
And so I started.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
Calling one eight hundred number like white Pages, and I called,
I mean, how else do you get it right?

Speaker 2 (02:38):
Making phone calls?

Speaker 3 (02:39):
And I think I got someone in community relations and
they were like, I'm sorry, we don't have any jobs
for kids.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Try the equipment manager.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
And so I got connected to a guy named Jay
Sable who was then the equipment manager. And I started
calling him. He wouldn't pick up, and I was like,
let me write letters to Jay. So I would write letters,
but I would draw on them. I'd draw pictures of
the players. I would draw you know, logos. Basketball is anything.
And so one day I called him again and he
picked up. He was like, I've got your letters. You
know you're a tremendous artist, but I don't have any

(03:06):
jobs for girls. I was like, I don't know what
you would do. You know, this is grunge work. It's
coming early, staying late, mopping sweat, you know, olden towels.
And I was like, well, I want a job. I
have no other option, right, And so I kept calling
and he was like, if you call me one more time,
I'm not going to hire you. And I was like okay.
So then I stopped for like a week, and then I.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
Kept on calling.

Speaker 4 (03:27):
Come.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
Then eventually he was like, you know what, you have
a lot of heart, like the fact that he's like, well,
why don't you coming for a preseason game? And to me,
I was like, actually go to the arena like four
a game.

Speaker 2 (03:38):
Who had no idea?

Speaker 3 (03:39):
And so I went and that was my first NBA
game ever. I think we played the Magic that year
and I got an outfit. It was like a rebox
champion like sweatsuit. I tell you, it was like this
free and it was the most amazing thing. Was like
watching TV come to life.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
Yes, that was take us to that moment when you
walked to the Miami Arena and was like walking into
your dream.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Literally, how did that feel at that age?

Speaker 3 (04:05):
I mean, I don't think I knew the gravity of
it at the time, because I was just kind of like,
I hope I don't mess up, mind you.

Speaker 2 (04:11):
I never played basketball. I was always in Melissa.

Speaker 3 (04:13):
So I never like I didn't know how to rebound
like it was out there like going to the basket
and rebound. I was like standing directly under the basket,
like like I got hit, got knocked down, busted lip.
All that first day, never forget. And it was one
of those like learn quick. And there was a guy
named James, one of the other ball boys who was

(04:34):
definitely like from the hood around the Miami Arena. He
was like, hey, I'm gonna show you the ropes and
he took me under his wing.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
He's like, this is how we hustled.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
We got to carry, you know, like shoes for the
players or carry their bags in and out of the locker room.
But because women weren't allowed in the locker room, I
couldn't go back there, like I couldn't do what he did.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
So I had to learn a whole other world on
the court.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
So I ended up trying to help stand Ban Gunn,
who was an assistant coach at the time, and I'd
be like, all right, well, let me help you with
the players, so be like stand right here and hold
this pick.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
And I'd learned so much about the game.

Speaker 5 (05:04):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
But that's so they ended up calling me.

Speaker 3 (05:06):
Queen because I used to love having single and Queenland
was like my person, yes, and so I was queen
and I was the Queen of the court. So I
would be out there diving for loose balls like I
was in a game. I really thought I was like contributing, yes,
But it ended up being the beginning of my career
in sports and probably one of the most amazing jobs
I ever had.

Speaker 1 (05:23):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
When you think about the drive that our generation has
that I feel like this new generation lacks. They're not
calling and writing and really going after what they want,
you know. And I don't know where we lost that
in the translation of the times, but I think it's
something that is a lost art, you know, and to
really get what you want, what do you feel is

(05:48):
something that you could tell this younger generation really how
to go after what they want the way you did.

Speaker 3 (05:54):
You know, so much of it is like just not
accepting no for an answer. Yeah, And I think a
lot of it was my mom. My mom would always
say nothing mes to trial, but a failure. She's like,
you can do is ask. The worst they're going to
say is no. And I realized for a lot of times,
you know, if you have pride, and it was like
or the expectation that everything should come to you, so
it's like, well, you just see to give it to me.
There was so much more of like she would always

(06:16):
say you got a kiss ass so you could kick.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
It, and that was like her term.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
And so I remember coming in as a bond kid
there or people who are incredibly disrespectful, like you know,
I'm just here popping up sweat, Yeah, but I'm sitting
with you know, billionaire people behind me, or like I
remember Jimmy Buffett was behind me like every game and
I had no idea who he was, and.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Like, why do people ask you for your autograph?

Speaker 3 (06:37):
And one day he's like, I'm Jimmy Buffett and I was
like then I was like, oh my god.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
There were so many things.

Speaker 3 (06:43):
Where it didn't matter who you were, like you respect
everybody regardless of you know what class you are, regardless
of what role you play. And I think that job
taught me that, and I think for this next generation,
there's so much of that that needs to happen. And
there's so many examples of people who you know, did
a little bit of work and got a lot of success.
Everyone wants to replicate that, but the reality is you
don't see it. And I think the social media microwave

(07:05):
society just shows you the highlights but not the work.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
Come on, I don't think we had that viewpoint.

Speaker 3 (07:11):
I mean there was still some to a certain degree,
but you saw more of the grind. And I think
for me, I'll tell everyone, like to this day, if
someone said, hey, you gotta go mop up sweat this game,
I'm like, all right, and I know how to make
a mob. I'd be out there because I'm never too
far away from where I started. Yes, So, like, it
doesn't matter what stage of career you're at, you should

(07:31):
always be able to hummer yourself to go and do
whatever it.

Speaker 2 (07:33):
Takes to get the job.

Speaker 1 (07:34):
So I agree with that, and that's something I live
by to treat every person with respect. I don't care
what they're doing because we are never too far from that.

Speaker 3 (07:43):
I learned in corporate America when I started working at Turner,
they were like, you know, you always respect the assistant
and the drivers because they hold the keys to everything,
stuff that you.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
Don't even think about.

Speaker 3 (07:52):
And I was like, Wow, if you're trying to get
with any CEO or CMO and you're like, I want
time on your calendar, those are people who hold the
keys to the top and people don't. And so even
I'm interviewing people now for roles, I'll say, hey, I'll ask,
you know, the assistant of the person that works the
front desk, how did they treat you? Yeah, because it's
not about how they treat me. They're always going to
talk up for me, but it's so much more about them.

(08:13):
And I'm like, oh, I have a no jerk policy. Yep,
I do the same thing.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
That is so yes.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
I always want to make sure that my team and
anybody who's representing me is representing me to the fullest. Yes,
because you definitely don't want that, and a lot of
times you won't know unless you ask.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yes, that is so true.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Now, you wrote a book from ball Girl to CMO,
and I want to know at what age, did you
realize that you could handle leadership at the highest level? Like,
when did you to even write a book? You telling
me all the time, Crystal, would you write the book?
So I'm still waiting on your book.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
No, thanks, thanks.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
You know, I don't know that I ever knew, to
be honest, and the only reason I wrote my book
was for my daughter, Marley.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
I have my daughter name is Marley. She's eleven now.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
But when she was born, my mom had passed away
two years before Marley was born.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
And my mom and I were real closed.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
I was like, my bestie, and I really believe that
I gave birth to my mom through my daughter, because
she is my mother.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
That came back to life.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
But when she was born, I had so many questions
from my mom that I wouldn't have asked until I
became a mom, right, And I was just like, man,
God forbid, something happens to me while Marley's still young.
So many people were like, oh, you should write a book.
Your story is so interesting.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
I was like, I don't want her to have to
hear my story through other people, so I was like,
let me just put it down. It took a long
time to actually get it done. I'm not a writer,
I'm not a reader, but it was so much more
for her. So when I was done, I didn't even
think about sales or actually launched her in September twenty
twenty and.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
Then out of COVID.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
Yeah, no book, launch, no part no nothing.

Speaker 6 (09:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
People like, well, how are you going to market it?
I was like, I don't care, no marketing it. I
wrote it for her. Wow, but there's a lot as
a marketer like, yeah, marketing is your thing.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
I didn't even think about it.

Speaker 3 (09:48):
It's not about it wasn't the reason. That wasn't the why.
But in terms of leadership, so much of my journey
has been like wherever God has had me at that time,
and I would raise my hand to take on these jobs.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
People will tapping on my shoulder say hey, you're interested
in this.

Speaker 3 (10:02):
I may have wanted to go and try a whole
different career at times I was like, I'm going to
go work in an ad agency and it never panned out,
but I just had opportunities to take up.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Coming and so even and going to the Hawks.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
I had gotten laid off when I was eight months
pregnant with Martley.

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Oh wow, I.

Speaker 3 (10:17):
Was at Turner for about eleven years, and it was
part of a digital health and wellness startup, and then
one CEO left, a new one came in. You were
the last business started and the first one to get cut.
So the entire business unit got laid off. Wow, And
I was like out with HR recruiting young interns because
I started as an intern.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
In that company. So no one could believe.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
They're like, list, it has to be at Turner, that's
what this is. Yeah, And I was like, well, I'll
just figure it out, you know. I had my daughter
in About a month or two later. I ended up
going to a draft party at the arena Phillips Arena
then as a fan.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
My homegirl was like, Grol, you have no job. It's
a free party, you know, come on.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
And so I went and then ran into literally an
old mentor of mine who had left Turner to go.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
To become CEO of the Hawks. Yes, when I was.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
Still at Turner, so I hadn't spoken to him, didn't
have any conversation. He knew that I love brand building,
he knew that I loved basketball. My first year in
that land, I was a ball girl on the court
for the Hawks. Mop and I was sweat one season
and he would sit courtside and see me getting it
doing my thing, and literally I ran into him and
he was like, Oh, I want to introduce you to
some people. And he walks me around the party and
introduces me to every C level executive that's for the

(11:20):
Hawks and everyone I met there like, oh, we can't
wait for you to start, and I was like start, sorry,
And ultimately he was like, I know you love basketball,
I know you love branding. I might need some help
building a brand. We're in the middle of redesigning our jerseys.
I know you were a creative and an artist. Would
you mind sitting in on some meetings? You know, I
have a team here, but I love your perspective? And
I was like absolutely, And I started doing it for free.

(11:42):
Like I was like, I'm just happy to be out
my house right and my dad, mother in law was there.

Speaker 5 (11:46):
The kid.

Speaker 2 (11:46):
I was like, give me and give me out of here,
and so I go.

Speaker 3 (11:49):
Once started going to meetings and one became five, became ten,
and he was like, I think I should pay you,
you know.

Speaker 2 (11:54):
I would you like to consult?

Speaker 3 (11:56):
Absolutely yes, And so I started consulting and we started
consulting on building a brand. Yeh, we're going to be
and then that turned into becoming vice president of brand strategy.
Never had that as the vision of what it was
going to be, but ultimately some years later he was like,
you know, what do you think about being chief marketing
officer And I was like, no, thank you really, absolutely not.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
I want to know part of it.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
I was like, well, I think at the time I
had become an individual, an individual contributor, and.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
I loved it. And I could work with every department.

Speaker 3 (12:26):
I was helping with digital monetization, I was helping with
design stuff over here. I was giving perspective on how
to build out an internal agency. But I didn't have
a team and wrec reports and it was just very
freeing and I could kind of contribute in every way.

Speaker 2 (12:39):
I yes.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
Like specific help and I was like, ooh, don't box
me right, yeah, the corner.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
And then ultimately, you.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
Know, it kind of came to a point where he's like,
once I really need you to do this, and I
was like, He's like, do you know why I want
you to take this role or b CMO?

Speaker 2 (12:55):
And I was like no, Wow, He's like, because you
don't want it.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (12:58):
I thought it was so I'm telling at the time,
and he was like, look, most people want this job
because they think it didn't give them money or power.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
Sports don't pay, you know.

Speaker 3 (13:08):
The perception of power is always one thing. And I
had a mantra and I was like, I just want
to make dope ish like that's we have it on
a wall, like that's all I want to do. Make
stuff that's cool, different than people can like gravitate towards Yeah,
and he's like, that's why I want you to do
this job.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Because of your why.

Speaker 3 (13:24):
Yes, And after that I was like, okay, I total
imposter syndrome, was afraid. I said, well, if I do,
can I get an executive coach?

Speaker 2 (13:33):
He was like you want to coach?

Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (13:34):
And I was like, yeah, I don't know what. I
don't know.

Speaker 3 (13:37):
They have gaps and I want to help, you know,
feel those And he was like so interesting. Most men
would say if you get a coach, they think they're
getting fired. Here you are asking me for a coach,
and I was like, that's just who I am.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
And that coach, her name is Cheryl Jordan. She's amazing.

Speaker 3 (13:51):
She helped me so much in just three sixty figuring
out that I was a micromanager because I was always
used to doing the work everything exactly.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
So I was like, if you're doing hey, how is it?
Where is it? Can I get it?

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Okay, Melissa stip get out of my business? But who
isn't here?

Speaker 3 (14:06):
Like yeah, that's Me's almost like you gave me your
project today and tomorrow you're asking for an update.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Like I didn't even start yet. I think got struck
a nerve hours. Where are we on that? I mean,
that was so funny because that is so me.

Speaker 3 (14:25):
But I had to learn and so I mean, in
terms of preparation for leadership, I don't think anything could
have prepared me. And then when I was put into it,
it was like, okay, understanding what works?

Speaker 2 (14:33):
What doesn't you know? How to be better?

Speaker 3 (14:35):
I liked. I think of myself as a servant leader.
I want to make sure I leave any environment better
than it.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Was when I Yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:41):
So even for my team now they've been with me
a long time, they're amazing people. We work really well together,
and I'm always like, how can I help you be
a better person? Outside of the hawks are here? If
you decide that you're going to leave that's flattery. If
other people are proaching you these we're doing a great job.

Speaker 2 (14:56):
Yeah, absolutely, instead of trying to keep you for myself.

Speaker 3 (14:59):
And I had a lot of lead throughout my career
that always were probably keep you on my arms. You
help me look good. So I just want to keep
you right here and stunting your growth.

Speaker 2 (15:07):
That's so good.

Speaker 1 (15:08):
Anybody you are a true definition of your gifts will
make room for you. The fact that, like everything you've
done from being an artist, you're an incredible artist. That's
another thing I wanted to ask you. Have you ever
like put your work like in a museum for exhibits?

Speaker 2 (15:23):
It was wild.

Speaker 3 (15:23):
I was just looking through some old pictures this morning, randomly, Yeah,
and I found an exhibition pictures of me at an
exhibition I had been in like high school, and I
was traveling around Florida. I had a manager helping me
manage my art. Honey, I think you need to get
my art, you know. And it's so crazy because I
would do like artwork on commission. I went to Wake
Force on an art scholarship, and so I had done
a lot of exhibitions and when I moved to Atlanta

(15:46):
started working at Turner.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
At one point I had a design job. Wow.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
And it was the end of my art career. Once
I got paid for creating. It was like it almost
took the passion.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
For the ways it can work. Wow.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
And so my daughter Marley's an amazing artist. She loves
a characters like she I see it through her now.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Yeah, but I don't have the.

Speaker 3 (16:06):
Desire really because I was gonna ask you, I mean,
I do something for you.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
I need some of that in my house. It is
so beautiful.

Speaker 1 (16:13):
Yes, like you guys have to get her book and
you can see some of her artwork.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
It is absolutely stunning.

Speaker 3 (16:19):
I figured it may come around another time, yeah, in
my life. But you know, for now, I say that
I use my creativity to find like creative solutions to
business challenge.

Speaker 2 (16:28):
Yes.

Speaker 3 (16:28):
Yeah, so it's still like using the same muscle, but
in a different way.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
Right, Speaking of business challenges, and you talked about imposter
syndrome very on, very on early in your career. How
did you overcome that and what was like one of
those moments that really stand out were you literally out
of body experience of you experiencing imposter syndrome where you
were like, I don't belong here?

Speaker 2 (16:50):
What is happening? Who do you think you are?

Speaker 1 (16:53):
Because these are all the thoughts that we think when
we're right where we belong, but we don't think we do.

Speaker 3 (16:57):
I don't even know if I just have one. There's
so many throughout my career, and I'll probably say maybe
what I started at the Hawks because you know, the
perception was, you know the CEO, I worked with him previously.
He brought me in and be like, oh, you're just
here because you know him and whichever. So I really
had to come and improve myself. And I remember when

(17:18):
we had to onboard a new ownership team and.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
My boss gave me the job. It's like, Melissa, help
with onboarding.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
I don't know anyone who's onboarded and ownership team for
a professional sports organization.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
Like I'm like, I have no clue what them.

Speaker 3 (17:31):
Yeah, And it was calling other teams and asking questions
and then just figuring things out or like, Okay, they're
not from here, let's do tours, let's do this, put
these finders together, let's help educate. And by the end
of it, they were like it was such an amazing experience.
He was like, you know, I'm going to promote you
to this new position, and I'm like what and so
much And what I learned in that is like, nobody

(17:52):
knows what they're doing.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
Come on, And it's certainly.

Speaker 3 (17:54):
Especially for senior level, like people think that you haven't
all figured out, like no, and I'm like, no, no
one knows, and it so freeing When you finally get
that point, He's just like, you can't mess up. It's
like you're I think COVID was a great example of
that because there are so many leaders. Everyone was figuring
it out on yes, and some people in better ways
than others. But once you get that, it's like all
you're trying to do is make the best decision for

(18:15):
the business.

Speaker 2 (18:16):
That you can at the time.

Speaker 3 (18:17):
For sure, through experience, it helps you understand what things
may or may not work, but that's ultimately And I
was like, oh.

Speaker 2 (18:23):
None of y'all know.

Speaker 6 (18:25):
Cool.

Speaker 2 (18:26):
If anything, I'm resourceful, I'm gonna figure something out. No,
for sure.

Speaker 1 (18:30):
Yes, what are some of the challenges that you have
faced as a woman in sports? Because we both know
that being a woman in sports it's a very male
dominated industry and you are one of the few women
that are in a high position you know.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
What's interesting, It's evolved so much.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
Like I remember when I started with the league almost
eleven years now with the Hawks, I would go to
NBA meetings and there would be a lot of men.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
You know, some women, But it's so different now.

Speaker 3 (18:54):
It's much more diverse seniors on the business side, even
in some of the basketball side, but definitely on the
business side, you see a lot more women presidents and
teams and things like that. Like there's an opportunity and
a lot of you can't be what you can't see.
So seeing Sint Marshall when she was, you know, leading
up the Mavericks and it's like, okay, I got it now,
Like that's that's a thing, And so there's definitely opportunity.

(19:17):
I almost see being a woman in sports as a superpower.
Especially I'm like, who's buying tickets? Who do we market to?
You know, a lot of times like it's us and
that's a good thing. I mean early in my career
there were definitely times where you know, I would be
helping out and you know, working on Scott and Reports
back in the day. You know, I would do stuff
for the heat and number having someone tell me like
we don't pay you to think. We pay you to

(19:38):
do what we tell you to do. And that was like, Yo,
what I don't I don't like that. That's not necessarily
what I see from my life. But as I've grown one,
I'd never forget those things. As a leader, I want
to make sure that everyone feels empowered. But as a
black woman, I mean, and you know me, I'm normally

(19:58):
in sweats and you know, nikes, and she got dressed
for me. I got chanted on my inner crystal. I
styled myself. But I remember when I first got promoted
the CMO, and I tell the story how I went
to go park and they have a reserve parking spaces
when you're an executive. It's like I got promoted. I'm
an executive. Now I could park in a good spot.
And so I went to park at the arena in

(20:19):
the reserve place for players park and security came out
to my car and said, excuse me, ma'am, I'm sorry,
you can't park here.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
The space is reserved for executives. And I was like.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
Okay, And so I had to take up my badge
and show and it said like executive on.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
The body and it was a brother and he looked
at me.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
He was so confused, like, oh, oh, all right, you know,
go ahead. But I realized in that moment, I was
changing his perspective or stereotype of what an NBA executive
looked like exactly because I got locks and nose ring
like and I'm the same all the time regardless, and
I don't think people expect that. So the number of
times where I've gone places and people just underestimate, not

(20:56):
just because I'm a woman, because I'm a black woman
in sports at this and this position.

Speaker 2 (21:00):
Yeah, it's interesting.

Speaker 3 (21:01):
But I love like when I get to talk to
youth and they're like, oh man, you're so coold.

Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah, I didn't expect that.

Speaker 3 (21:07):
And I'm like, yes, it can be a regular person.
I mean I always say I'm just warming the seat. Yeah,
this job is in mind forever, you know what I mean.
And ultimately, I'm grateful for the opportunity and as many people.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
As I can help while I'm in it. I want
to do that.

Speaker 3 (21:20):
I don't define myself by the job, and a lot
of people define me by it.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
Oh Melissa, how does that make you feel when you
don't define yourself by it but other people do?

Speaker 2 (21:30):
So annoying.

Speaker 3 (21:31):
Yeah, go outside, people like, oh yeah, that's Mlissa from
the Hawks. Hey, let me get some tickets, Hey, let
me get a job. Hey, I got this stay in
this brand. I want to promote. And I know that
if I didn't have this role, none of them would
be speaking to me. And I know that, and I'm
okay with it. But I realized when I was a turner,
a lot of people got got let go after all
the changes in the company. Sold a couple of times,

(21:51):
and I saw people felt like they were going through
a divorce, like how can they do this to me?

Speaker 2 (21:56):
And I'm like, it's a job. It happens.

Speaker 3 (21:59):
But if they're whole identity is wrapped up in this position.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
If they lose the position, they don't know who they are.
That's real.

Speaker 3 (22:06):
I tell people today, if I was a greeter at
Walmart tomorrow, I would be equally as cool and still
very much met.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
You'd be the coolest greater a Walmart.

Speaker 3 (22:14):
You know, I'm saying, like it's all good, but I
always have to maintain that mentality. Because I can, and
because I got laid off when I was eight months pregnant,
I think now I can go to work every day
like you never know, and that's okay, and it's free
because I'm not holding onto it. That would be sad
because I love what I do and I love my team.
But at the end of the day, that means God
has just prepared me for my next adventure.

Speaker 2 (22:34):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (22:35):
Yes, speaking of an adventure, you went to get your
master's degree in Design Studies and Branding from Central Saint
Martin's College of Art and Design at the London Institute.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
It's a mouthful. It's a mouthful. Listen.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
I love London. How did you end up in London?

Speaker 3 (22:55):
Random story? So my mom, I mentioned, she's from Belief,
colonized by the Is. She went to nursing school in England.
Really so my entire life I heard about her friends
in York and all these things, and it wasn't like
fancy or fabulous, like if you were in Belieze, you
either were a teacher or nurse, and if you were
then you went to London for nursing school.

Speaker 2 (23:13):
And so she did.

Speaker 3 (23:14):
And I had never been to Europe my entire childhood,
and I just remember it was like a mythical place.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Yes, when she was I would see pictures of her.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
She was the only black person in her class, and
so I would always.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
Be like, you know, one day I'm gonna go to London.

Speaker 1 (23:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
I had family from Jamaica. My father's from Jamaica.

Speaker 3 (23:28):
I have an uncle and two cousins and an aunt
that moved to Jamaica moved, sorry, moved from.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Jamaica to London.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
OK. So they were like my call my British cousin,
and I was like, one day I'm a visit them.
And I remember an undergrad at Wake that had a
study of broad programs. So I did a semester abroad.
The first time I got on a plane in London
and I fell in love with it. But I was
at a house with a bunch of Americans and like, we traveled,
you did some really cool stuff. But I didn't feel
like I really got like an actual experience being in

(23:55):
London because it was kind of like it was an
Americanized experience.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
Okay. So I said, if I can.

Speaker 3 (23:58):
Go back, I want to go to like British school,
be in a dorm, live with people from all over
the world. And so that's what I did. After I graduated,
I came to Atlanta. I worked at Turner four year
and they offered me a job like six months in
and I was like, oh man, this is great opportunity,
but I really want the chance to live abroad. And
so I turned down the job and I got into
the program in London, so one year master's degree, and

(24:20):
so I literally went as an excuse to live abroad
and have that opportunity, and so I couldn't do it.
And what I realized then if you didn't have the
amount of money you needed for the year in your
bank account, they won't let you go. So it wasn't
like you can get financial aid and all of that.
So I needed twenty thousand dollars and I was like,
how am I going to have I get it. One
of my colleagues at the time was like, why don't

(24:41):
you just ask for it? So I made some proposals
and I was like, I'll give my artwork, or I'll
just be a great citizen, give me something thousand dollars.
It was the year the All Star Game was in Atlanta,
so I was mopping up sweat for the game and
I was shopping it around, gave it to players, you know, anybody,
family members, and ultimately it.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
Was Tim Hardaway, one of the players that I need
for my days.

Speaker 3 (25:00):
He was like, you know, my wife and I sorry proposal,
We really believe in you.

Speaker 2 (25:03):
You know, here is the father, Tim Hardaway.

Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:05):
What So when I was a ball room for the Heat,
I like worked Tim Junior's birthday party.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
I was a ball girl. He was like, hey, can
you come help out of the party. I'm like, oh,
I'm going to Hardaway's house. It was like can you
carry this ice? And in his budget? I was like
all right.

Speaker 3 (25:20):
But from then they were like family to me. So
he's like, my wife and I have always believed in you.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
We love you.

Speaker 3 (25:26):
And I was like, well, I'll pay it back over time.
He was like, pay it forward and it was the
biggest blessing. And so that's what got me to London
and it was amazing, awesome program, great friends that I made,
lifelong friends from my experience now going to school in
England coming back like, I wouldn't trade it, and I'm
so glad I did it at that stage of life.

Speaker 1 (25:44):
So you were a mother at this point, you hadn't
had Remember you were turning you This is way back.

Speaker 3 (25:50):
Okay. I was going to ask how as you manage that?
But wow, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
That's that's a whole other.

Speaker 1 (25:55):
World, right, that's crazy and similar to you, I've always
wanted to study a bride.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
I feel like the British actors are the best.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
So when we went on strike a few years ago,
I remember I started I'm always like a solution oriented person,
not like, oh what are we doing?

Speaker 2 (26:10):
What's happening? How can I make the most of this time?

Speaker 1 (26:12):
So I started looking up different schools that I could
go to to do like intensive courses in London. And
I remember I was totaler what I wanted to do
and he was like, oh, he was like, I wouldn't
do it. He was like, only because this strike is
going to be over before you know it. Well it wasn't.
It was not over before we knew it. And I
was like, dang it, I should have went. But it's
one of those things where I still want to do that.
That's still a dream of mine. Yeah, totally, I do.

(26:34):
I want that experience of studying abroad. I just I remember.

Speaker 3 (26:38):
It so vividly because I got to like feel like
I was immersed in it. Yeah. First I was like, okay,
you're in, you're out, but it was like, you know,
getting the bus and going to the markets for groceries
and making friends and like it was such a great time.
I think I was maybe like twenty five.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Wow, So it was a good Yes, I'm sure that
helped shape you as well.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
Something about moving away from home that really does a
lot of shaping for me.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
It was why Washington, DC?

Speaker 1 (27:01):
You were London, And I know those moments definitely shape
me for sure.

Speaker 2 (27:05):
Yeah, when you.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
Think about your leadership style, what are some of the
core principles that anger every big decision that.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
You have to make.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
You know, from a work perspective, I always think of
my values.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, I go back to my why, and I'll tell
the team.

Speaker 3 (27:20):
So we even explaining like why we're doing things like
just don't rush through it, like explain how we got
there and the why. And so when it comes to
like business decisions, a lot of it is like focusing
on the what are we doing, What do we need
as orientation? What to the fancy, what does the community need?
Which is important when it comes to personal decisions. I
talk a lot about in my book as well about
my guiding principles. Yeah, like people ask you yes instead

(27:42):
of like my career and that's a different one, and
I think at some point in my career, I remember
I wanted to be in branding. I'd gone to grad
school in London to focus on brand strategy.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
I love branding.

Speaker 3 (27:55):
I want to learn more about it. And I think
I was maybe twenty six. I'd come back to Monday
and I worked for a couple of years at a
job and then I finally maybe I was like twenty eight,
I got a branding jobs Rectro brand strategy.

Speaker 2 (28:06):
I got to rebrand cour TV to true TV Wow,
and I was like.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
Oh man, this is cool. Yeah, I got to work
on it. But when I got the brand job, I
was like, what's next? Do I retire?

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Like what are we going to do?

Speaker 3 (28:17):
And so I had to kind of redefine what, you know,
success kind of looked like to me. And at that
point I had a lot of mentors that were like,
you know, you should really create your guiding principles for
your life and your career.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
What should that be? And I never really thought of it.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
So I took some time to you know, ask these
questions of like, you know, what would I do if
you know for free?

Speaker 2 (28:36):
You know, what is my superpower?

Speaker 3 (28:38):
What things do I dislike, despise, what.

Speaker 2 (28:41):
Keeps me up?

Speaker 3 (28:42):
And I had all these things and I kind of
land that I call my starting five and almost like
the filter that I use for every decision that I make,
both personally and professionally. And so one is, you know,
I have the ability to both be really creative, like
with the art, but also strategic from a business sense.
And I've had business strategy jobs I hated, so it
was all strategy and there was no creativity.

Speaker 2 (29:03):
And I had all.

Speaker 3 (29:03):
Creative jobs, like I mentioned that the art job, which
at first I liked, and I was like, that's not
for me either. But my superpower is when I can
bring both of those together. And this role is very
creative and strategic business wise.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
I think that's why I thrive in it.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
The second is I get bored real easily, Like if
I can do it in my sleep, I don't want
to do it. And so I'll always say that I
want to be adding more tools to my personal toolbox.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
I was an agency of one.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
What new capability am I adding to my capabilities presentations?
So anything that I do, if I could already do
it before I start, I don't need to be doing it.
The third is my mom was not the best with
money growing up.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
You know what it was like step.

Speaker 3 (29:41):
Getting cut off or bill collectors calling, and I said,
whatever I do, want to pay my bills on time
or ahead of time was the goal. Then after I
had my daughter, was thinking about generational you know what's building,
like what can I do for her long term or
you know, I'm not leaving her in debt. My fourth
is some sense of like work life harmony. I don't
think there's ever balance. You know, we both work really hard.

(30:03):
Harmony is a good way to put harmony. You know,
sometimes you got to work really hard, sometimes you got
to live really hard.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
They a great way, yes, And making sure that.

Speaker 3 (30:10):
I'm always in a position where I'm able to do
that when I can, especially with my daughter, like being
able to spend time with her when she needs it.

Speaker 2 (30:16):
That's important.

Speaker 3 (30:18):
And then the last one is authenticity because how I
am right now, If I am no matter where you
see me in any environment, trap house, at the White House,
like this is going to be what she is.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
And so those are like.

Speaker 3 (30:29):
My starting five and every decision I've made, I ladder
it up to those and I'm like, does it check
these boxes? And if it does, it's something that I
know that I would be happy with.

Speaker 4 (30:38):
Love.

Speaker 2 (30:38):
So even from a professional sense, people have.

Speaker 3 (30:41):
Come with opportunities and say, hey, how would you like
this opportunity, I can very easily say, well, can you
handle these five things? These can be met. We can
have a conversation and it's not that's cool mm hmm.
I love that guiding principles. I'm going to take that on.

Speaker 1 (30:55):
I got to find out with my starting five and.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
It can evolve.

Speaker 3 (30:59):
But I think it's so much of who you are
at your core. YEA, that like that's important. Like another
one now is Atlanta. You know, I had had opportunities
to leave Atlanta and my daughter was like, uh uh,
I'm not leaving Atlanta, and so I I'd love to
travel and yeah, you go places. And so at some point,
like another opportunity came and she was like no, Mom,

(31:20):
And I said, you know what, you didn't ask to
be here. Yes, And if I could do anything by
just having you stay here because you love this as
your own, I can make that sacrifice. So like a
silent six is being in Atlanta. If it's work related, ya,
that's important personally. Yeah, speaking of motherhood, you are an
amazing mom.

Speaker 1 (31:36):
And Marley, when I tell you she is true to
herself is so so baby. When I tell you she's
very matter of fact, she is not fake. No, Like
I love that child. She was like, you did a
really good job. I would say, she's so the truth.
Sometimes I'm like a little less truth, little less true.
Bring it back, bring it back right. When you talk

(31:58):
about work, life, harm and having a child, how do
you find harmony with everything that you have going on?

Speaker 2 (32:05):
I see you bring her the game, sometimes against her will.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Sometimes sometimes she doesn't, like I do not want to
do you understand who your mother is?

Speaker 2 (32:13):
She eats, she's ready to go. That is her. That
is so funny.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
But how do you find harmony and everything that she
have going on with the motherhood?

Speaker 3 (32:21):
You know, she is my first priority, and I'll tell
everyone if I have to leave because she just started volleyball.
She tells all her friends that her parents forced her
to pick a sport, and I was like, okay, you
picked this one right. But I really keep her first
and so for as many things. And you know, her
dad and I we co parent really well, and I'm

(32:41):
grateful for that. That's good, but it's so much like
I we'll think of all this stuff I have to do.
And I was telling a friend of mine, I often
ask her, how can I.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
Be a better mom to you?

Speaker 1 (32:50):
Wow?

Speaker 3 (32:51):
And I've asked her since she was really young, and
she'd be like, you can give me more candy, like
it was real, it was a real kid, Like right now,
she's like no, mom, like you're good or helping her
sort feelings that she has, or you know, she's like,
you can make you can be less cringe when you
drop me off at school, And I was like how,
I'm like, oh, I turn it down the volume at
a song. I really like to embarrass you. I'm like, no,
I'm going.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
To be cringe. That's that's what it is.

Speaker 3 (33:13):
But just to like being able to communicate with her
and make sure that we're good at some point, you know,
like I recently started an entrepreneurial endeavor and I asked her.
She's like, you know, you work a lot now or
you're always tired. And I'm glad because she gives me
perspective of gaps that I don't even see that I have.
And I'm like, okay, so how can I have the balance?

(33:33):
And I'm like Okay, So note to self. I need
to put work away and when I have time with her,
like make that focused time. And she's like, hey, we
watch a movie together. Sometimes I'm like, yeah, put it on,
come here. But you're correct, so I'm like, you know what,
like stop that, like just sit with her and be
there because you have a couple hours she's going to bed.
And so it's just trying to be more intentional about things.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
But it's tough. Yeah, I can imagine.

Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, speaking of taking on new professional endeavors, how has
that been?

Speaker 2 (34:03):
Let's talk about it. I'm excited.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
I actually went you had for Vita Hell, yes, and
I do want you to explain what it is because
it's fascinating. Like I went to your facility and we're
actually going to go there too. But I went to
the facility and it was absolutely amazing, next level, like futuristic, amazing.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:21):
And so myself and not my business partner, doctor Trevor Turner,
we opened up a wellness center in Atlanta and Buckhead
and it's all around longevity and like orthopedics, but really,
how can you live as well as you can for
as long as you can?

Speaker 5 (34:34):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (34:35):
And having all of these different modalities or services that
we offer to do that.

Speaker 2 (34:38):
And you know, I was experienced wellness.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
My mom was a nurse, as I mentioned, an orthopedic
nurse iron and you know, someone brought an idea to
me around like hey, how do we you know, could
we do something like this? And doctor Turner and I
were introduced and we were like, okay, if we were
to do this, like I want to be able to
inform people of all of these things that have been
in Hollywood and things like therapeutics of exchange where people
are taking all the microplastics out of their blood, like

(35:03):
that's something that's like only billionaires do that, but actually no,
it's pretty affordable and you know you can do that here.
People don't talk about it, and especially in the black community.
So for me personally in being an investor, initially I
was like, I'm gonna be a silent investor just in
the background, and then that quickly changed, and I'm.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
Glad it did, because you say, our community does not
know about these things. I wouldn't have known about it
if it wasn't for you, So thank you for not
being silent.

Speaker 3 (35:26):
Well, you know, and I'm you know, God put you
in places where you did it like this was never
my This was not my idea to be where I
am as a part of this business. But you know,
things changed and it made it so that was the opportunity.
And I was like, there's clearly a reason, and I'm
going to walk in it and you know, to the
best I can as this vessel. Yeah, and so it's
amazing because now we just had an open house on

(35:48):
Saturday and people came in and we learned about we
have IV therapy, we have an AI robotic massage table
which it's called Escape.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
People love it.

Speaker 3 (35:57):
Oh, literally this robots giving you a massage. They learned
all the different massage techniques and I mean I've done
it a bunch of times and I'm like, it really
is good. It is in ways that you're like, oh, I.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
Didn't know what to expect, but it was amazing. I
felt really good after words.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
Relax. It is.

Speaker 3 (36:13):
And so even as an owner in Pravida, you know,
I decided to invest in an executive physical because it's
very much what it's kind of the crux of everything
that we do. Get all this data about yourself, whether
it's genomics, whether it's your gut health, understanding what vitamins
you're deficient in, and not just taking random supplements, but
taking supplements that really are for you based on your deficiency.
I love that you all do the IVY cocktail.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
Yeah, all the vitamins that you need, not just pumping
you with random stuff.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
And then for people that may not want IVS, we
have a partnership with Vitamin Labs. We'll make supplement packets
for you, personalized below what you need. You have an
amazing head of imaging and so we have a Texa
scanner that tells you about your bone density.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Oh I did that. I had the bones of a
thirty year old. Okay.

Speaker 1 (36:55):
He was like, you don't have any there's no like, no, yeah,
none of that in your future.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
I was like, come on, lord, you know, but there's
so many things about yourself you don't know.

Speaker 3 (37:05):
So as a part of our executive physical Word Pernuvo partner,
if you've see in Perneuvo you get a full body
MRI and I just didn't.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
Coming to do that.

Speaker 1 (37:11):
I wanted I've been wanted to do that because that
was something that the wealthy was doing to kind of
get ahead of cancer or know their ailment.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
You have stage one cancer.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
Some people may have brain aneurysms and walk around and
be unaware. And so the idea of preventative health is
something that you know, in America, we're just so used
to reactionary. Time has to go wrong, it's really then
you're then you're sick, and now you're in the system
trying to get well. Yeah, and so for us, the
whole idea of prevention and they can it personalized.

Speaker 2 (37:38):
To you is really really where we are and then predictive.

Speaker 3 (37:41):
So a lot of it is the data and ultimately,
if you come in and you you know, use our services,
you know.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
More about yourself than your primary care positional. Yeah, that's amazing.
It's crazy.

Speaker 1 (37:50):
I did not know my mother passed away from a
brain aneurysm. I had no idea those skins would actually
help with that too, because I had before. Probably I
haven't had lately, and I don't know if it's because
of like work stress when I'm working, like when I'm
filming and stuff.

Speaker 2 (38:05):
But I was having these really bad dizzy spells and.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
I was like, because when people can have brain amurges
and not even know it, that's literally crazy, no idea. Yeah,
and I know it's not hereditary, but like to hear
that this can actually let me know like what's going
on there in my brain as well.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
I definitely got to do it now.

Speaker 3 (38:24):
Yeah, I mean and doctor Turner is phenomenal and then
so much.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
I mean, people we talked about like shoulder injuries. Yeah,
hip I got back problem.

Speaker 3 (38:31):
Yeah, because I was like, girl, I was like, I
don't know what's going on.

Speaker 2 (38:34):
With my spine. I think I got a slip.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
Miss You're like, come over and I'm fine now, but
now my thumb. I was like, I don't know what
is going on. After forty it's like everything just start
kicking breaking down.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
I'm not with you, but this has truly been helpful
for me, even just to know where you are for
a baseline and be able to go back. Absolutely, I'm
grateful for it. We're just starting out, and so the
goal is really Grope. We want people to come in
and learn about it and take a tour and say
but you know, ultimately like I want for Vida Health
everywhere in the state, and that's you know, the long
term vision, and you know, I hope that if we're

(39:07):
doing things the right way and you know, treating people
well and really ultimately helping them making impact on lives.

Speaker 1 (39:12):
Right, that's where we'll go. I love that, and I
think this is a good time to go.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
Should we go over there. Let's do it. Let's do it.
We'll finish this at for Vida Health. We're going on that.

Speaker 7 (39:25):
You and your baby Ragusa, welcome to for Vida Healthy.

Speaker 2 (39:36):
Hey, ladies, this.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
Is our amazing teams Trenise and Andy.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
Yeah we met before. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
Happy to be here, Happy to bring my key to
positive city community here so we can learn more about
Pavida Health. Super excited for my dear friend Melissa, and
excited to show them everything you guys have to offer
because it is definitely next level futuristic.

Speaker 5 (39:58):
That's why I was telling her.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
I was like, it's just a futuristic experience. So excited
to see all you guys have to offer.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
Cool, let's do it.

Speaker 5 (40:05):
Let's get it a lot.

Speaker 6 (40:08):
So as we come back through this store, past the
massage room, you're gonna see two kind of large medical
interventions on the right.

Speaker 5 (40:15):
First one over.

Speaker 6 (40:15):
Here is a table we use for diagnostics called dexa
scanner for the ability to tell you about bone density,
which is huge, especially as females age. We really focus
on the prevention of osteopenia and osteoporosis, which is a
major factor on how well people are moving and continue
to move by avoiding fractures and.

Speaker 5 (40:35):
Their hipp ands.

Speaker 6 (40:36):
Fine that the bones, Yes, it's like you're probably yeah,
you're blessed of good habits and probably good genetics as well.

Speaker 4 (40:44):
Ye.

Speaker 6 (40:46):
That leads us to the next port, which is body composition.
So DEX is the gold standard for body composition, which
is great. It tells us not just about where your
muscle is and where your fat is, but also about
a hidden piece of fat that you can't see on
the surface called visceral adipose, which is the fat around
your organs, which almost acts like a hormone that secretes information.

(41:09):
And so we always pay attention to how much fat
and how much muscle people have so that they can
be resilient in age in a healthy way. But making
sure that we don't have a lot of fat around
organs is really really critical, and we would treat patients
differently depending on if there was a lot or a.

Speaker 5 (41:25):
Little of that.

Speaker 6 (41:25):
So as we move kind of past that room, if
you look over here on the left side, this machine.
You may have seen an ICU before. It's called a
TPE or therapeutic plasma exchange. And we've got emerging data
now that shows there's no other tool in medicine that
really reduces mold, heavy metals, pesticide, srbosides, and now microplastics

(41:50):
all together in a single session. We have some patients
who are coming because there was an Italian study that
showed you could reduce cognitive decline and like, for me,
in my face, that's really important. I had a grandfather
with Alzheimer's grandmother.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
Yeah, when we talk about microplastics, there's a lot of
studies around drinking from plastic bottles and even microwaving plastics.
Is that the type of microplastics that you're talking about?

Speaker 6 (42:14):
Details removed, Yes, And we're finding that they're hidden in
places maybe we wouldn't even expect. So I could ask
for a paper cup, but it turns out the paper
cup is lined with plastic on the inside. So and
even if I ask for a glass bottle, I heard
it about the plastic all the cap right, So I
heard that exactly, and we to what extent those cause disease.
We're just scratching the surface. But I'll give you one example.

(42:38):
When we do heart surgery and we take plaques out
of people's heart, we're finding that microplastics are embedded in
some of those plaques. So the degree to which they
cause either disease that we don't think about or disrupt hormones,
et cetera, those are things that we're still studying and
learning about in medicine, but I think a lot of
people are becoming more attuned to how significant they really
may be.

Speaker 2 (42:58):
Yeah, so what is there prices? You draw the blood out,
it go through.

Speaker 6 (43:03):
So this would be staffed by a nurse who's done
this a bunch of times and is excellent because she
stuck me in.

Speaker 5 (43:08):
She did a great job. Was a painless insertion.

Speaker 6 (43:11):
But you get two big ivs started, and so one
of those ivs would take out your blood in your plasma.
It would filter out the dirty plasma with all the
inflammatory factors in it, and then it would put your
blood back into your body and the same basically procedure. Okay,
got it. Yeah, I'd like this experience, so have I.

(43:37):
But we had a patient who came in Actually he
wore VR goggles the whole time, so he just hung
out for a couple hours and got his TPE and
then took off.

Speaker 5 (43:45):
Deal.

Speaker 6 (43:46):
There's no real yeah, and no real recovery time associated
with it, but you know, I would say afterwards, I
kind of felt like I did a hard workout, so
really Yeah, So I took one night off and I
was back in the gym the next day.

Speaker 5 (43:59):
Good time. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (44:02):
As we keep moving this way, you'll see this semi
region hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Hyperbaric oxygen kind of became known
for treating divers who had injuries that stayed.

Speaker 5 (44:13):
Down too long under the ocean.

Speaker 6 (44:14):
Yeah. I supervised the chamber in Florida years ago, and
then we got interested in it because it improves wound
heealing really well. So for me, if I'm doing any
kind of orthopedic procedure for a patient, or especially here
for our skincare patients, if they come to get chemical
peels or micro needling or maybe a filler of botox,
being able to push oxygen under some pressure underneath the

(44:37):
skin while you have a quote fresh wound a lot
of times enhances your outcomes, And so we pay attention
to that because we always say there's a good way
to treat patients. There's a better way, and there's a
best way, and really what we're trying to do.

Speaker 5 (44:49):
Is give everybody the best way every time they come in. Yeah,
as we.

Speaker 6 (44:53):
Keep moving to the side, there's an IV therapy suite.
You probably familiar with IV therapy because there's a lot
places that do it. One thing that's unique about how
we do it is every IV a patient gets here
is a prescription from me, and that that prescription is
really based on your unique micronutrient profile.

Speaker 5 (45:13):
So that means the kind of.

Speaker 6 (45:13):
IV you're getting is going to be different from what
I would get or molistaly because it's going to be
tailored to your specific physiology, right, and we prevete on
the mission as always personalization, So we want you to
have the most effective IV you could get every time
if you.

Speaker 5 (45:30):
Have a need for that type of therapy.

Speaker 6 (45:31):
Okay, And then as we keep moving down the way,
we have this kind of very bright light fancy room
which is aesthetics are done. My room is as a
little more basic as we as we're doing ORTHO, it's
a little more straightforward. But this device is called a fluoroscope,
and so if we have to do an advanced procedure
for somebody's spine or joints. This giant sea allows you

(45:55):
to rotate around the body and that allows me to
capture essentially a three dimensional picture. So it enables me
to be very very safe in the event that I
need to do a procedure. It also enables me to
be highly accurate. So anytime we want to treat something,
it needs to be guided by an image so we
know that we're.

Speaker 5 (46:12):
Hitting the right target.

Speaker 6 (46:14):
So we do have a source of doing that without radiation,
and that is this big ultrasound machine that you see
over here. I use ultrasound for a couple of other
purposes to diagnose as well. So a lot of us
sometimes think that the best way to get a picture
done is to get an MRI, and MRIs are great
for some things, but there's still pictures. And so if

(46:37):
a patient comes in, sometimes they'll say I'm hurting. I'm hurting,
and I had an MRI and it said I was normal,
And so I'll say, well, let me put the ultrasound
probe on your shoulder or whatever it is and watch
you actually move. And sometimes we pick up on things
that we would miss with a still picture, like an MRI,
so ultrasound gives us an advantage in that regard. And
then you know, we have a tech come in once

(46:59):
a week, and nice thing about that is she's trained
to do heart, liver, kidney, breast overy, pelvis, prostate, et cetera. So,
especially if someone's coming in here to get surveillance for
any kind of hormone replacement therapy, we can look at
all the quote risk factors and really minimize them however possible.

Speaker 4 (47:17):
Right.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
Yeah, I recently went and got a breast exam, did
the normal exam, and they called me back for a
second look, and it was the ultrasound that they were
able to really get a good look.

Speaker 5 (47:27):
So I understand what you're saying, So let me take
the ultrasound.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
Yeah, I have to help you get a better look
into things.

Speaker 6 (47:31):
Yeah, And in the United States, I think approximately forty
percent of women have done spreast tissue that requires ultra
something and they all get callbacks. And of course, when
you're in the patient and you go get a scan
done and they call you back, it makes you nervous.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
Right an, I was filming when I got that callback,
So on top of like the anxiety and pressures of work.
Then it's also like do I have cancer? You know,
and it's never the call that you want to get.
But as a patient was also like, why don't you
just give if you know I have bitsbruash tissues, just
give me an ultrasound instead of taking me through all.

Speaker 5 (48:05):
That, right right? So yeah, so we do use ultrasound
for that.

Speaker 6 (48:12):
And then and then there are some patients who let's
say they have a family history of a particular kind
of cancer or let's say an aneurysm or something that's
otherwise hard to detect. We will offer them. We have
a contract with Pernuvo so they can go get full
body MRIs for surveillance.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
I just learned that. I knew that you could find
out if you may have cancer in any stage with
the Pernuvo scanning. But my mother passed away from a
brain aneurysm. So when she told me today, I was like, Okay,
I really need to get it because I don't know
you could also see that if I've had an aneurysm before,
that's crazy.

Speaker 6 (48:47):
We have actually a patient in our practice is signed
up as a member, had a similar story. You know,
her mother had passed for that and actually found a
really really tiny one. Right, But now she knows and
at least she has the opportunity to do something about
it before it becomes severe. Right, So very much about
empowering people with data. The more data you have, I think,

(49:09):
the better you can prepare and make better decisions.

Speaker 5 (49:11):
Absolutely that all right, Doug.

Speaker 1 (49:18):
This is my favorite part. One of my favorite parts
of your facility is the escape massage.

Speaker 5 (49:24):
This thing is is crazy. I don't think people are ready.

Speaker 6 (49:27):
We were very proud to roll this out. So we're
our first people in Georgia to have one.

Speaker 1 (49:31):
So today we have big fella.

Speaker 5 (49:33):
He is in here.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
He is about to get a massage. Are you guys ready? Hey,
big fella, it's so funny.

Speaker 3 (49:49):
We are all right.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
So they're going to show you how this is done.
Because you're hear of the shot. There you go, never
took it back to the camera, bright, All right, keep.

Speaker 4 (50:01):
All of that.

Speaker 7 (50:04):
He's gonna give you.

Speaker 4 (50:06):
Is gonna give you a tutorial, alrighty. So you already
have your clothes on, which are perfect. You'll lay on
the table on your stomach and your face will go
in the face rest. Once you get on the table,
there's gonna be a full onboarding process for you because
it's as welcome with it'll do a body scan. You
can change the bolster setting, the headdress, and the arm

(50:28):
rest setting, all with the touch of a button. You
can change the pressure, the music that plays, and even
the video that plays on screen. All right, no problem.

Speaker 6 (50:39):
Yeah, So, because we capture so much data on each patient,
typically we use a screen like this that enables us
to put all the things up at one time, and
that makes it easily more understood and visualize so that
you don't leave thinking, well, gosh, they told me so
many things and.

Speaker 5 (50:58):
Now I've lost right.

Speaker 6 (51:00):
So you can see a bunch of different kinds of data,
and we call this concept to the digital twin. So
if you look up here, there's two different sets of
DNA on the far left side we would typically get.
One is the DNA that you would use from your
saliva and that's what your mom and dad gave you,
and the other is actually the DNA of the little
microbes that inhabit your colon, and we call that the microbiome.

(51:22):
There's been a lot of evidence about how the interaction
between the bugs that live in your gut affect your
immune system and your brain in particular, and so we
use that as a way to stratify risk. We do
draw blood and look at micro nutrients. So anybody who
gets a medicine or a supplement here is getting it
because we test it in such a way that we

(51:42):
know your unique.

Speaker 5 (51:44):
Prescription is unique to you.

Speaker 6 (51:46):
We do get exercise data and so you see that
guy on the bike that's called Yu.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
No, I gotta do it again.

Speaker 6 (51:55):
Great, it's just well, we'll have to get the music
a little more hardcore. But yeah, So that tells us
about how well you breathe in oxygen, how well you
pump it to your muscles, and then how well your.

Speaker 5 (52:06):
Muscles use it.

Speaker 6 (52:07):
And it used to be we used votwo max for
athletes who are trying to win races. But we also
found that for like during COVID, for example, if you
wanted to be the person who is super sick and
you wanted to get out of the hospital and get
off a ventilator, well, it turns out having a higher
VO two max predicted your survivability in a better way.

(52:27):
So on the one hand, it's applicable to pro athletes,
but on the other hand, it's applical for everybody, Yeah,
who wants to just have a good quality of life
and a good health span.

Speaker 5 (52:36):
Can I ask you something treating our COVID.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
Have you noticed a rise in people with breathing issues
after COVID? Because I know, for me, I'm implementing like
running into my workout schedule now or workout regimen now,
and for a while, like I could barely like keep up.

Speaker 5 (52:53):
I was like cutting it off.

Speaker 3 (52:54):
I was like, this is too much.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
Just even breathing was hard, and even with singing, like
I can't hold my breath for as long as I
used to. And I'm wondering if COVID had any type
of implications on that.

Speaker 6 (53:04):
We've definitely seen some patients have longer term pulmonary scarring,
some little scars on the end side of their lungs,
depending on how they responded in the severity of the
disease they had. But you can train that, right, So
the important part is one recognizing it. And it sounds
like you have some insight because you're working out all
the time, so.

Speaker 5 (53:23):
You notice the difference.

Speaker 6 (53:24):
Yeah, right, But then we could test for it, and
we could program the way that you work out in
such a way to optimize how much volume you take
in and out when you breathe and hopefully get you
past that limitation so you don't notice it.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
Yeah, it's a lot better now, but I know it's
like the last two minutes of my move today, my
heart was like it felt almost like constricted, like it
was like like it hurt.

Speaker 6 (53:46):
I was like, well, we'll book your VIA two next test.

Speaker 1 (53:48):
Nice whatever you're yeah.

Speaker 5 (53:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (53:53):
So we do use images, which we talked about a
little bit. So you see the dexa scan here, ultrasound
that we talked about over here, and the way we're
using ultrasound is typically to get an actual picture of
the inside of.

Speaker 5 (54:04):
Your blood vessels.

Speaker 6 (54:06):
So you know, you draw a cholesterol panel and it's like, well,
maybe you got black in your arter ease. Maybe you don't,
we don't really know, but if you take a picture
of it actually look inside, we can be very confident
and then the discussion about how we minimize cardiac risk
becomes much better informed. And you see the whole body
MRI over here on the right side, which we talked about.

Speaker 5 (54:26):
And we do use some data for wearables.

Speaker 6 (54:28):
So for example, I think Melissa's wearing a glucose monitor
right now, Melissa is not a diabetic, but we're learning
about the kinds of food she eats and the order
in which she eats, and how it affects how you
release glucose and insulin and how you recover from workouts.
So we find a lot of meaning from that data.
And when you put it all together, Really the goal

(54:48):
is that you know so much now about your individual
physiology you become the master of them.

Speaker 5 (54:54):
Right. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (54:55):
And there was a paper published related to microbiome called
the American Gut Project.

Speaker 5 (55:01):
There's a term they used in that paper.

Speaker 6 (55:02):
Called citizens scient Test, and I was like, well, I
want every patient who comes in the store to become
a citizen scient test because when they're informed by that
kind of data, you can make the best decisions for yourself.

Speaker 1 (55:14):
Well, this has been amazing, very informative. I'm glad we
got to come and share your facility with people. I
think the older I get, the more I am being
more cognizant of my health and making sure I'm taking
the proper steps. And especially with this last demonstration, it
shows you so much. I recently went to the doctor
because every time I go for my annual I get

(55:35):
blood taken to like around nine panels of blood taken
to really see what's going on when I'm defishing in
and came back.

Speaker 2 (55:42):
That I was borderline diabetic.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
Yes, so when you said you're in the Glue Coast monitor,
I was like, hmm, that may be something I need
to do as well, just to make sure that those
levels are changing. I recently took on fasting this month
and I was doing a sixteen to eight or yes, yes,
six to eighteen yeah, in a manifesting windows so eighteen

(56:05):
hours I'm not eating, and then up from twelve to
six I'll eat. I wanted to ask you how sustainable
is it? Can that be a lifestyle or is that
something that you shouldn't try to do.

Speaker 6 (56:15):
No, I think it's been sustainable for a lot of people.

Speaker 3 (56:19):
For me.

Speaker 6 (56:20):
You know, we use like and Melissa know something called
a fasting mimicking diet, which is like a five day protocol.
We see other people who do twelve twelves. We see
people who do other intervals besides sixteen eight. I've had
people do one meal a day, which I would not
be good at doing, but some people really like that, right,
So I do think.

Speaker 5 (56:40):
There's a lot of data to support that. And if
you find that it fits your lifestyle.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
I have found that I have so much energy. I
don't know what that is on it's come resting more.

Speaker 5 (56:48):
I'm going to bed.

Speaker 1 (56:49):
Earlier and waking up earlier and making sure I work
out every day.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
But this is my second week, and.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
Normally around twelve one o'clock or even like around sometimes
around at two three o'clock window, I'll feel a crash coming.
And I have not felt that in this past two weeks.
I used to joke around saying it was nap time
like that when we were.

Speaker 5 (57:10):
In school where we have to go to sleep.

Speaker 1 (57:12):
I was like, maybe this is just kind of carried
on into adulthood. But I feel like it was my
eating habits and even my schedule and not resting enough.
But I did want to know if that's something that's sustainable.

Speaker 6 (57:21):
Yeah, And I think to your point, if you were
to study that phenomenon you just described with a glucose monitor,
what you would probably find, and I know this from
personal experience, is that time when you felt like it
was nap time, it's probably because you had a big
glucose swing up and then a big swing the opposite
way after your insulin was released. So it's that low

(57:42):
period that gets you feeling like, oh, it's after lunch
and men a coma.

Speaker 5 (57:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (57:46):
Right, but it sounds like you're, you know, mastering your
own faith because with the sixteen eight window, it sounds
like you're not having the crash, which is great.

Speaker 1 (57:54):
Yeah, that's crazy. So since we got here, I had
my lunch with me. As soon as it strike the
clock strikes club, I was like, because I didn't want
to be in here, like, oh no, I'm sorry.

Speaker 3 (58:04):
You know what's so interesting is I told you as
you know, becoming a part of Pravita, I decided to
get an executive membership for myself to do the executive physical.
So doctor Turner mentioned, I've never worn a glue coast monitor.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
My mom was diabetic my entire life.

Speaker 3 (58:16):
She actually had your stational diabetes when she had me. Wow,
And so I've always seen her shooting slant and just
that was the norm. So putting on this glue coast monitor,
I was telling dow to Turner. The first week I
had it, those swings up down that time, I saw it,
and then I did a five day the Prolo fast
and it was even the entire time while I was
fast and I felt amazing and I'm like wow, he said,

(58:37):
it was like, now you have the data and it
shows you sleeping better, like all of the things connected.
So understanding like how fasting and the benefits of that,
but also seeing how it impacts those are things I
would have never been privy to really understanding with the
data behind it without going through this process.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
So the glue coast monitors, it's something that you like
have to like super tiny did her right here?

Speaker 4 (58:58):
Not?

Speaker 5 (58:59):
He had to put a on for me. I was like,
I can't do it.

Speaker 3 (59:01):
I was like, oh, I didn't feel it.

Speaker 5 (59:02):
Oh, it's so easy. Maybe when you don't know, you
don't know. Yes, that's a normal feeling. How long do
you keep it on?

Speaker 3 (59:11):
The one that we have last for fifteen days, so
you know you can do it once, you can do
it twice. But being able to see over time and
then you can take a picture of what do you
eat so you understand where.

Speaker 2 (59:20):
Those highs and lows come from.

Speaker 5 (59:22):
Right, And then for me, I wore it.

Speaker 6 (59:24):
I mean I was still doing crossfits, I was doing
pull ups and overhead squats. Didn't interfere with me at all.
And then of course when people around you see you
doing it, they're like, what is that?

Speaker 5 (59:34):
Yeah, yeah, I want that, right, I want.

Speaker 6 (59:37):
Michael Goes to be better than yours. Good competition, right,
But it becomes a team, and I think, you know,
people engaged in a common pursuit, they hold each other
accountable and that community.

Speaker 5 (59:48):
Is very powerful. Absolutely, and that's really what we're here
to create, is powering community. Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 1 (59:55):
Yes, So tell the people where you guys are, where
they can find you. We want to say as many
people as we can your way so that we all
can live a bit better, healthier lifestyle.

Speaker 5 (01:00:05):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 4 (01:00:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:00:06):
We're on the south side of Buckhead, close to Piedmont
Atlanta Hospital. I address eighteen oh one Peachtree Street, Northeast
Sweet one fifty. We have a beautiful video about how
to come in if you're coming in for the first time.

Speaker 5 (01:00:17):
I'm free parking, so that's great.

Speaker 3 (01:00:19):
We love reparking parking in Atlanta.

Speaker 2 (01:00:21):
Fafriena dot com.

Speaker 3 (01:00:22):
We're on Instagram, We're on Facebook, we're on LinkedIn. You
can see all the information testimonials. I think the people
who are coming in are really having an impact and
a stoptor trying to mention we're trying to create that community.
So thank you for coming. You are now part of
our community.

Speaker 5 (01:00:35):
I love it. Thank you guys so much, Thank you
so much. I appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (01:00:39):
Hey, guys, we just finished our very first kifts Field trip.
I hope you all had an amazing time touring the
Parvida Health Facility with me. I know I did, I've
been there before, but today I learned so much more.
What I want you, guys to focus on is getting
in front of your health issues versus trying to catch
up with them.

Speaker 2 (01:00:56):
All right in the meantime in between time.

Speaker 1 (01:00:59):
Keep it positive, sweeties, and remember share this episode with
someone who use a little positivity.

Speaker 2 (01:01:04):
Have a good one. See you next time.