April 24, 2024 • 51 mins
To say it is a treat to welcome renowned author, nutritionist and wellness advocate Lola Berry to the buzz is most definitely an understatement.
It's difficult to know where to start when you're interviewing a longtime hero of yours, Lola has had enormous success as Australia's favourite nutritionist. She is a best selling author, accredited yoga teacher, content creator, TV presenter, actor, podcaster and, of course, entrepreneur.
There's a lot to be inspired by in this chat, and I'm pretty confident it will help you make your own positive changes in choices, lifestyle and, of course, in business.
Welcome to the Buzz, Lola Berry.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
to say it is a treat to welcome renowned author,
nutritionist and wellness advocate Lola Berry to the buzz is
most definitely an understatement.
It's difficult to know where to start when you're interviewing.
A longtime hero of yours, Lola has had enormous success
as Australia's favourite nutritionist. She is a best selling author,
(00:26):
accredited yoga teacher, content creator, TV presenter, actor, podcaster and,
of course, entrepreneur.
There's a lot to be inspired by in this chat,
and I'm pretty confident it will help you make your
own positive changes in choices, lifestyle and, of course, in business.
Welcome to the Buzz, Lola Berry.
(00:50):
I don't think I'm actually gonna be able to contain
my excitement. I've been fangirling over the super amazing Lola
Berry since I was given the happy cookbook back when
it first hit our shelves. Here it is, right here
in 2015. Look at all my notes. Um, I've been
cooking up a storm from it ever since, and then, uh,
(01:11):
like a lot of us walking became a daily activity
during covid. Right and I took the opportunity to
tune into what was fast becoming my favourite podcast series.
Fearlessly failing lawsuit with Lola Berry. Um, I've loved getting
to know you, Lola, with all your incredible stories that
you've shared over the years in this podcast series. And then,
(01:34):
of course,
um, the book following up with that bloody awesome TV
presenter actor, best selling author, yoga teacher leading Australia's most
favourite nutritionist and certainly my favourite podcaster. Welcome to the Buzz,
Lola
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Berry.
Can you hang around with me all the time, Karen,
So that I can just be like, Yeah, So here's
my introduction. No, no. Um, thank you. Thanks for reading
the books. And thanks for listening to the pod. It's
my baby, as you know how much my podcasting is.
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yeah, absolutely. Well, you're amazing. You're amazing at it and
and and all that you do. But I wanna learn
a bit more about your journey and finding your career path.
I mean, what career options were you considering? Straight out
of school?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Well, I mean, I did my work experience in, um
I wanted to be a zoologist. So I did my
work experience in Melbourne as a Collingwood Children's farm. And
I wanted to follow my dad's footsteps. He's a vet,
and I wanted to be. Yeah, Zoo. And so as
much as I loved it, I think by year 10,
I'd figured out that I needed to be really good
at maths and science, and they were my two least
(02:47):
favourite subjects. And I was the junior house drama captain
at school. So I was very focused on becoming the
next Cate Blanchett. So I went from school into a
bachelor of performing arts at Monash, and
about halfway through that degree, uh, my I remember a
teacher said, You know, 99% of you will be drama teachers.
(03:08):
No one's really gonna make it. And I was like, Oh, God,
this isn't the course for me. And then I, um,
became a makeup artist and DJ for many years. So
it took me a long time before I didn't start
studying nutrition. I don't think until I was about 20
Speaker 1 (03:23):
one. Yeah, right. So you just really took that time
to find your feet.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, And just figure out what I loved. It was
always my backup career. Nutrition. I liked it. My mom
was so healthy and a nurse, so but, um yeah,
it was always my backup career. and I did it
and loved it and then started working in morning TV
Like I think I hadn't even graduated yet. Like, super
like I'd finished my degree, But I hadn't done the
(03:48):
graduation and got my certificate for another month.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
So what was the motivation? I mean, you said your
mom was, you know, super healthy. What was the motivation
to go into nutrition?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Honestly, Steve Irwin. I wanted to be like the Steve
Irwin and fruits or veggies like I wanted to I.
I would get a camera while I was at uni
and be like, these oats are like an intestinal broom.
Great source of soluble and insult fibre, you know? So
for me, it's always been, um,
really about helping people on a large scale that's always
(04:21):
been kind of my MO or inspiring people on a
larger scale. Clinical practise. I'm not a patient person, so
I'm just not good at clinical practise. Although I've done
it loads. Um, I'm
Speaker 1 (04:33):
a patient person. Why aren't you a patient person?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Oh, I'm pretty impatient. I've always found that about myself.
I don't know. I'm just I I'm I'm a hard
worker and I like that hustle like I like that like,
Let's all right, here's a goal. Let's just go, Go, go, go, go.
But then I am quite resilient, too. So I'm like,
Although I don't have patience, I have resilience so I
can take the get and get back up again and
get back up again. So maybe I'm like a backwards
(05:01):
patient person because I'm resilient,
Speaker 1 (05:04):
patient in a whole different way. So Steve Irwin, obviously,
you know, the the, um the passion that he brings
and the education that he brings. Um, what were the
other things that you know? You you, um, really admired
about
Speaker 2 (05:20):
him?
Yeah. I that unapologetic self like he didn't philtre himself.
He was just like, this is he was like, I'm
passionate about conservation, and I hope my family follow my
He's like I there's a famous quote. He's like, I
don't need a gold plated duddy. I just wanna like,
look after his own Just wanna look at it. Wildlife.
(05:42):
And I remember I dedicated that book. I think that's
in your hand. I think I dedicated to him
and Terry Irwin organised me like a whole visit at
the zoo and animal encounter and I've got a video
of Bindi Irwin being like you're a wildlife warrior. That'd
be proud, you know? So, yeah, I just For me,
it's the passion piece. Like I just loved his passion
(06:03):
and enthusiasm and like zest for life too. Like life
can be hard And he always never shied away from
talking about the like grief and things that he faced,
but like
he felt it, it feels like he felt it all.
And he genuinely, just, like, wanted to make a positive
impact on the world. And I think that no matter
what I do, whether it's a podcast, whether it's TV hosting,
(06:25):
whether it's acting like I think my goal was like
to touch people's hearts and to hopefully like,
you know, inspire them to feel on some level.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Absolutely. And I say that you, you know, do that.
What I love about you is that you are so
raw and you are so honest. There is no bullshit.
You'll tell us how you're feeling on that day. You know, um,
you you do what you're gonna say you're gonna do,
and and there's so much authentic and passion. Um, so, yeah,
I love it You You really are the real deal.
(06:57):
And
yes, Steve Irwin would absolutely be proud to know that
you were his hero. And you're doing it so beautifully
to yourself.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
He's the best. Anytime I have a shitty day, can
I say shitty? I've just done it. Yeah, I have
a shitty day. Uh, we usually watch Steve ien docos
I've got them all. Like I've got them on on DVD.
I'm pretty sure I've got some on BHS as well. Well, yeah. Anytime,
even just YouTube. I'll just YouTube a Steve Ien interview.
I love it like my F. One of my favourites is,
(07:27):
um
Rose McManus was like, Do you drink coffee? Oh, no, mate.
Top of my head. It'd blow off. Could you imagine
bouncing off the walls like so much fun? I love him.
I have to. I'm gonna have
Speaker 1 (07:40):
to look up some of those interviews. I think you
You're right. I think it would really tear your day up, right.
It would really get you on track.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's unreal. And I love that America
fell in love with him before Australia did. And I'm
always felt that I'd probably have a win here.
I know I've had a great, like, a really lovely
amount of success as a nutritionist in in Australia, but
I think as far as like what In the entertainment
industry as a TV host, podcaster and actor, I feel
(08:11):
like I'll probably get my win in America before. I've
always felt that
Speaker 1 (08:15):
you've always said that. Yeah. Yeah. And even going back to, um,
one of your interviews I watched with you doing, um
this was like years. It was, like, 2009 or even early.
And you were, um, interviewing the New York, um, food.
You know, like the food co op and the, um,
food support. And I was like, Oh, God, Even then
(08:39):
you had this real calling and fascination with, um, the states, right?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've loved it. I've wanted to call
it home since then. Like, I've really wanted to be there.
Be here. I'm coming to Los Angeles today and it's
been a journey. It's been a It's brutal, though, Like
I don't want to sugar coat it. L A is
a brutal, beautiful beast.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Hm. OK, we'll get to that. What? I want to
know first is you know, I know you have a
lot of yoga and wellness qualifications. So what? You know,
at what point did you go? OK, I've got my
nutrition going. It's not exactly
the the clinic side. You've got some, you know, um, media, um,
air time now is yoga and wellness sort of part
(09:25):
of that, um, nutrition and well being, um, quest. Or
is it more OK, you know, tell me. Yeah. Tell
me what was the inspiration behind doing that side of wellness?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It's Look, it's not a great story. It was just
a shitty breakup. And I just needed to find myself
and the yoga mat helped me find myself. And then
I found that it was something I'd look forward to
every day. You know, when you're in the depths of
those first couple of breakups in your twenties and you're like,
Holy Mac, you feel like your world's crumbling down. And
so I for me yos was like, uh, I always
(09:58):
say yoga. When I practise as a gift, I give myself,
and when I teach it as a gift that I
share with others and that's my job in L, a
right now, like I am a yoga teacher here. I
flipping love it. It's so much fun it is.
And you're like, That's the thing that people don't understand.
You're amongst, like so many people in the entertainment industry
(10:18):
and people talk to you like I was teaching a
class last week and someone said, Are you a voice actor?
And I said, I am And he goes, Well, I
work on this animation and I work on this animation.
I work on it
and it's just like That's L A like That is
the beauty of our A A And like I got
booked on a TV show two weeks ago, and it
was from working at the yoga studio last year like
(10:39):
it's just that funny the way that it all.
Yeah, that's what I love about it, like you do
get seen, you know, even when you think you're doing
something that won't lead you down the path in L. A.
If you're honest about your passion, usually people will see that. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (10:55):
yeah, yeah, it's like Business Network. It's like Business network
on a whole. Another level,
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, and it's just people say L A is a
city of connection and II. I can't afford it for
a while because I'm a bit of an introvert, even
though I can be loud. Um, and
it is. But you've got to make the right like
you want real connections. You don't want fake ones. And
so it does take a bit of discerning to figure
out what's legit and real and what's not.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
And how do you figure out that? Have you by now,
I'm sure you've got some kind of hit list that
you can work about Pretty cap proto.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
You know how you trust your gut. Usually, Um,
if someone asks you for something straight out of the
gate like you, that's usually the barometer of like, oh,
that feels a bit take. And And if I get that,
like Spidey sense of like that, take Spidey sense, then
I'll be like,
OK? Or like you'll meet someone and they'll straight away
(11:54):
pitch themselves to come on your podcast without really, like
listening to the pod or getting to know you. And
you're like, OK, like that feels funky. But, um,
yeah, I think I think he just use your Yeah,
just my boyfriend's watching me It's like he can hear
me and he's like, hes my podcast And he's like
you saying about our hot, um
But But yeah, I think you just use your intuition
(12:17):
and gut gut instinct for that stuff. And I remember
before I moved to LA I said to a good
friend of mine, Jane and who had lived here for
10 years but was back in Australia. I said, Oh,
people keep warning me that L A is so fake
and she said, Yeah, but you'll find the most realest,
truest people amongst all that, and they'll be with you
for life. And so that was a really good and
(12:38):
so that
there's some mates that I've met here that have, like,
got me out of pickles. And just because it is
a hard city like you do you do find yourself
in pickles and um, yeah, what's a
Speaker 1 (12:51):
pickle?
I
Speaker 2 (12:53):
just
I was driving a I was renting a bulb of
a car off an Aussie actor last year, and it
broke down on the 405 twice, you know, and I
barely got it off the highway and a friend was
standing there like drinking oil and the water bobbing.
You know, all that kind of stuff. You know, Just
(13:15):
like little things. Like one day I went to start
a car and the battery had been stolen out the
front of the house, you know?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the fun stuff. Yeah. So
it's finding a tribe, obviously, And And when you are
the way you are, you're gonna attract those those same people, right?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah. And I think for me, I'm always in acting
class or at the yoga studio. So you're you're immersing
yourself in communities very quickly. And I think building a
community that feels safe for you is really important in
L A.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Yeah. Yeah. Good advice. Good advice. So with regular appearances on, um,
so back in Australia now, year tens, um, the circle
and I think current affair,
um, that fire to act and and be You know, um,
in in, um on TV is obviously really fueled. Do
(14:08):
you remember a moment or a show when you were
on camera and thought I just want to take this
to the next level. Like, what was your aha moment
that this is going to be my career
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yes, I always loved morning tally. That's where I started
when I was 23. I started on a show called
9 a.m. with David and Kim, and it was a
cold call. That's how I got on. You couldn't do
that These days doesn't really exist, but I'm probably ageing myself. Um, anyway, I,
um
I always loved being on morning tally, and I just
it time stopped for me. I love like multi cam sets.
(14:43):
So a lot of those morning shows you've got between
three and five cameras and you've got producers yelling One
thing you've got someone in your ear saying something. I
just love that pace and that
that awareness that came with it sometimes I'd be live audience,
so I just loved it all. And I would always
pitch myself for more than a segment girl. I was
always the wellness girl, and I would always be like,
(15:03):
How do I get to be a host? And they're like, Hey,
you're the segment girl. You're the segment girl. And then
I
finally got put forward to co host a show for
Channel seven, and I was in the chemistry test, so
that's where they test you against another host. And I
remember they auditioned me. So there was a female or
(15:24):
male lead and I got subbed in. Then then they
auditioned Rachel Finch and Nani Bartel in Melbourne. So the
three of us were didn't really against each other. And
the boys were like limo,
uh, Tim Robar like there were a few and we
just all got subbed around with each other so they
could see whose chemistry was best, essentially. And I remember
(15:45):
I learned the script by rote, which means you learn
the script by heart, which I didn't need to because
it was an auto cue, which means there's a screen
and then the script is moving as you read, and
I was petrified. I had no training and I thought,
I'm gonna rote learn this thing and it was hard.
It was like, you know, 13 pages. It was a
lot to rote learn. And, um, I sat down next
(16:05):
to Lima. He goes, Let's improv this Let's throw the
script out. And I was like, Oh my God, I
learned all this for nothing, and it was a lot
of fun. And then I came in with him Robards
and he He was similar to me like he had
spent some time on the script and they switched our scripts.
And so he'd learned mine. And like, we'd learnt the
wrong scripts in the end. And I walked out of
(16:26):
that scenario and I loved it. The hair and makeup
artist like you think this is yours? You got it
in the bag. And I was like, I just never
got green lit. So it never went anywhere. And he
never got any other other than that makeup feedback, I
never got feedback. And then
I remember I caught up an acting school and I thought, Well,
I was so nervous about auto Q And this is
the thing I want to do with my life and
(16:48):
may as well trained in it. So I said, Hey,
I think you've got a great TV presenting course. I
need to learn auto Q. Can I get in? And
they were like, No, it's full. And they said, Have
you thought about acting? And I said I'd rather swim
with sharks and they that's a great sign. Why don't
you do it? And I was like, Oh, what have
I got to lose. Uh, I and I still in
my first teacher. His name was Stephen and I
(17:11):
fell in love that day with acting and I was
31 maybe about 32 and I have since then never
stopped training. And so I just kept training and it's
just like something bigger than me. Uh, and you feel
it in your heart. It's like very different TV Presenting
and being on set is like you're most of producer.
You're like, right, Red light there, that camera there The
audience is over there. The guest is over there. You
(17:33):
you're kind of producing yourself. It's a different skill set,
and I love it as well. I would happily do either.
But acting is like us, Like you feel like you
are a part of something bigger than yourself. And you're
like this small little conduit that, like shares a little
piece of their heart and hopefully touches another. And I
love that about acting, So I love it all. I
(17:53):
love it all, but that's that's why I do both. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (17:56):
love it, love it, love it.
So OK, what about flexing those author muscles? Right? Your
first book. Um, inspiring ingredients in 2010 was self published.
What was your motivation behind that book? And and why
did you go the self self
Speaker 2 (18:12):
published route?
Yeah. So I did have, uh, a publisher back me
for that. I just want to be really honest about
that because I had no idea what to do. And
so they essentially they didn't do any kind of health
or wellness books. So they created just, like a mini
imprint of their already existing publishing house. And they basically said, Look,
(18:34):
we're gonna throw you a little bit of money and
give you some contacts to get it
and all that kind of thing, and it will be
on your own sort of rest. So essentially, we both
put money in to make it come to life. I like.
I can't remember exactly how much I think it would
have been, like 20 grand each like it's not cheap
to make a book,
and I still remember it. Fine greens, like the front
font is my handwriting. Like lo, the berry is written
(18:56):
in my handwriting. Like it? We like my cousin shot it,
you know, recipe and muesli. and rhubarb. And I left
the rhubarb off the ingredient list. You know, like,
yeah, yeah, we were feeling it out for that one.
But it was so fun. It was so fun. I
remember I took a job at a smoothie bar to
(19:18):
pay for the publicity team because I really wanted a
good publicity team. So it was just the only reason
why it was like, co self published was, like just
to see it come to life and give it a
chance to Yeah, that's right. Essentially. But I think the
print run was like, three or 5000. It was small.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Yeah. So for the listener, who's, you know, looking to start,
you know, writing and potentially selfish in that way as
a as a starting point. What's your top tip?
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Uh, OK, so if you're gonna again like I, I
had backers, so I did have somebody to help with
the contacts. But the number one cool thing about self
publishing is if you literally self publish, you take all
the 100% of the profitt. Like I worked with big
publishing houses for all of my other books. And you
just get a little royalty check. It's very different, but
they pay for the photo shoots. Pay for all the ingredients.
(20:10):
If you're doing a food shoot, they
pay for the publicity spend, which is very expensive. Um,
they have relationships with distributors and make sure that it's
in my big W David Jones target. You know, all
those kind of places that I had no idea what
to do that on my own. So I would say
I coach people a lot on how to write a book.
And I always say, If you're gonna self publish the
(20:32):
money on a great distributor because then somebody can make
sure in all those great bookstores for you and then
if you've got extra money
paid for a publicist so that you know, you can
be on those morning shows and you can be featured
in those you know, magazines and come out on the
Sunday Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know about all that stuff.
(20:52):
It's your house, The
Speaker 1 (20:54):
marketing side? Absolutely.
Um yeah, OK. Yeah. Great advice. So then you had
your subsequent books. Um, so from pretty much 2012 with
the 2020 diet, um, and then through to, you know, 2018,
where you had, um, foods to make you glow beauty
food and and yo,
your body. Um, at this point, are you tempted that
(21:16):
writing could be, you know, um, something that you would
transition into as a as a an occupation? Or is
it purely only ever been a a passion project on
the side?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Oh, no, no, no. I was like being an author
was my full time career for a big, big part
of my life because I was bringing out two books
a year, which is a lot like you're writing what
you're writing for three month minimum, three months, chunks for
each book, and then you're shooting it and then you're
in edits and posts. So no, no. All was like
(21:48):
how I would be introduced every time I did TV Anytime.
I did a lot of quick speaking around those years
as well, and it would be like
nutritionist author Lola Berry, you know, like, I've always been
an author. Um, I'm not super smart, like I'm not
book smart, but I, I am like street smart. So
I've always been like as soon as the the book
(22:10):
would come out I'd been negotiating my next deal like
I was. I've just written my 12th book now. So
Speaker 1 (22:19):
what is that? Is that out on the That's not out.
What have we got?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
What do we
I can't say because it hasn't been sold right now.
I know what a what a what? A wanker of
me to say that, but But I mean, I it's
different to what I have written in the past. So
I had to go and train in it like I
had to skill up and understand that that's a different
genre and style of writing. So I, I think, um,
(22:47):
yeah, I think II I think I will. I'll always
be an author till the day I die. You know,
even if you take a year or two off here
and there, it never leaves you love writing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I think everyone should write a book like That's
what I literally spend more people I do online consults
and more people come to me for how to make
a podcast or how to write a book than nutrition advice. Now,
Speaker 1 (23:10):
I might have to come back to you with a
how to write a book. I've got a couple of
ideas that's been milling away for a few years now.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Yeah, do it. Everyone should be writing.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, so good for the soul. So the media industry,
you know, we know it's got a reputation of being
pretty ruthless and super hard to get into. Has the
ruthlessness of it gotten to you before?
Um,
Speaker 2 (23:36):
no, I think cos I like I'm If I had
a superpower, my boyfriend would say it's resilience and adaptability. So, like,
I've been told so many times, I'm 38. I've been
told so many times I'm too old to make it
as an actor and I don't care. So it doesn't
really bother me like I'm like, I don't know. No,
(23:57):
it doesn't bother me. What bothers me is, I found
sometimes when I would try and pitch myself as an actor,
people would be like, No, no, no, you're a nutritionist.
And you like that? Yeah, that bothered me more. And
how
Speaker 1 (24:12):
do you get over that?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Well, I mean, that's one of the pushes that push
me here, because when I'm in a meeting here and
I say I'm a nutritionist and my agent's like, Oh, amazing.
We can add that to your coal. She you work for, like, health.
Like it means that, like, from a commercial sense, the
fact that I teach yoga is a huge seller for
(24:36):
them because they can put me
for commercials for that. And same with the nutrition and
wellness stuff. They're like, Well, she's going to be comfortable
in a kitchen and working with food so we can
put her forward for that. So here they don't care.
It's just an add on. It's like a bonus. Whereas, yeah, yeah,
but like, I met with a lot of agents in
(24:57):
Australia and a lot of acting agents, and they wouldn't
sign me because, um,
you know, I'm a nutritionist and wellness, you know, influencer.
Sometimes people would call me, you know? So,
Speaker 1 (25:11):
yeah, it's interesting how there's like, yeah, such different perceptions
on that.
Yeah. Yeah, I like the American perception on that one.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Oh, like the more if you've got more feathers in
your cap. You know, like they love it. If I'm like, Oh, yeah,
I'm a nutritionist. Oh, yeah, I teach I Oh, yeah,
I can write books, and I'm a podcast. so they're, like,
amazing. I
Speaker 1 (25:35):
love it. Sign you up today. Yeah, So, as you know,
the buzz, Um, this podcast series is all about inspiring
and motivating business owners. And I know throughout your career,
you've had various businesses in play at one time or another.
What was your very first business?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Well, I mean, I had to set up a business
to write the book, so I set up my own
company Young, because I had I employed my friend at
the time when I was, like, 20. And so I
had to set up a proprietary limited straight out of
the gate of the book. Well, just to write and
create content, I was creating video content, and I was
employing people to help me with that. So I ran
(26:13):
it all through a proprietary limited from when I was
21 I think, um, so that's been
my business. But then, obviously, like I had a smoothie bar,
if that's what you're referring to.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, Well, that's Yeah. I didn't actually think of setting
up the company, and obviously, yeah, you would. You would
need to do that. But I was thinking of the
smoothie business. because I know, um, there are a few
challenges in that one, wasn't there?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah. Yeah, it was an epic failure. A great failure, though.
Smoothies in Melbourne Winter winter in Melbourne? No, it's a
cold smoothie, no matter how delicious the salted caramel one tastes.
Yeah. So after three years of bleeding money in the
winters and and being really profitable in the summers but
(26:59):
not enough to carry it through the winters, my business
partners all offered me to buy them out. And I
had to do a lot of work with my therapist to, like,
get my ego out of it
way essentially and go. This actually isn't my passion. I
need to be OK. It had my name on it.
It was literally called happy place. Paula Berry, you know, And,
(27:19):
um I had to just give it all up. It
still exists today And all the branding got ripped down and,
yeah, wild As soon as we sold it, they ripped
the branding down. They took the inst star and unfollowed
me and wanted me to have nothing. I wasn't allowed
to enter the space. It was wild.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
That is wild.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Yeah. Yeah, and it was like such a beautiful transaction.
And it happened right before covid, which is probably
quite lucky. Um, but yeah, I It was a hard one.
I really had to let go of, like, also my
friendships I'd made in that business. Unfortunately, a lot of
them were linked just to the business. And so it
was a real letting go and, you know, not needing
(27:59):
to hold on and control that one. I had to
really work hard.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
So what was your biggest surprise in that business?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Ah, I I The biggest surprise was I didn't understand
how to manage employees, which was one of my jobs.
And I didn't understand P and L.
I had no idea about the profit and loss and,
you know, like so And luckily, my business partners did.
But it made me realise that I was kind of
playing catch up a lot. I was like, Oh, what
do you mean it doesn't balance out and managing staff?
(28:32):
My biggest mistake was I tried to befriend everybody and
it meant that there was not respect when they needed
to be respect when, like the hard truth had to
come down. And so
I learned the lesson of like, you can't be everybody's
friend in business for success.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, love that. Absolutely. So the smoothie bar. And then
obviously your your your your own, you know, company going
on in the background. Was it then Lola coffee, or
was there something in between?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Uh, no, I think it was Lola. Coffee? Yeah, I
think we did Lola coffee. And then we But then
we bought out other things under the umbrella of Lola.
Coffee like a hinterland. Adapt genic hot chocolate and a
pink hot chocolate. So that kind of is still going
on in the background now. But the coffee itself doesn't exist.
It's too expensive to make. We were doing it so
(29:26):
beautifully and freeze drying and making no anti or anti
moulding agent. But it was just coming at such a cost.
And unless you were doing tonnes and tonnes and tonnes, Um,
it wasn't it didn't it Didn't grow the way it
needed to for us to scale up, so we had
to pull that one right back.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. One won't say no,
Speaker 1 (29:48):
but it's all about what you take away, right? What
you take away from it, Um and Yeah. And I
guess Were you a bit guns going into that next
business after after the smoothie bar, or were you just
really happy to take your learnings from that and apply
it to the next business?
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yeah, I always make sure I've been lucky in both
of those businesses. There's been more sad business people with
me as partners. So,
um, in both scenarios, I had savvy business people that
were able to, like take that fear away from me
and be like, No, this is my skill set. This
is what I bring to the table and so that
stop not caring If it, I mean, I don't I
(30:31):
don't think you're meant to succeed in everything you do.
So I'm not upset. They haven't worked, you know, I'm 100%.
And
I was talking to an actor mate here in L
a just two days ago, and he goes, Welcome back.
And I was like, Thank you. And he
he goes, if you hear the word No, just say
(30:52):
OK and keep going. And so I just think like that.
I'm like, OK, that didn't work onto the next. Ok,
that didn't work onto the next. Like, um, even the
book I've written, like it took a lot of time
to get a yes, you know, And it took It
took changes, and it took a lot of letting go
and stuff like that. And so yeah, I just keep going.
I keep moving forward and then on to the next
(31:13):
I love
Speaker 1 (31:14):
it. So inspirational.
You and yeah, So you've touched on it. You've had
some pretty great business partners along the way. Um, was
it the ST Ali coffee founder? That was your your
business partner with the smoothie bar
Speaker 2 (31:30):
with a smoothie bar? Not the lo of coffee. Just
a smoothie
Speaker 1 (31:33):
bar. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, such an incredibly successful entrepreneur.
It would have been great to soak up. You know,
all that knowledge, what was a piece of advice or move?
Maybe that he made that will stick with you forever
as one of your biggest lessons in business.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Um, 21 of them was when we we had to
go and pitch for the venue. So the venue space
and I remember we walked, he goes, give passion. And
so I gave the passion. He said the like, P
and L stuff. And I gave passion, So that's I
quickly what my strength was, which was passion
without really saying it. And then the other thing was,
(32:12):
he called me up early days, and he was like,
You need to learn P and L now. And so
it was really good to kind of, like, have that
call because he's a bit of a tell you how? Yeah, doesn't.
Doesn't mind feathers and all. So that was kind of
a cool lesson for me to go. Oh, shivers like
I gotta pull my socks up, you know? Um,
yeah, yeah, yeah. And
Speaker 1 (32:34):
then biggest lessons. Incredible. I mean, such valued and and
a lot of, um, you know, successful entrepreneurs that I
speak to on this podcast. I think they all say,
Know your figures. You know, we talk about giving advice
to someone starting out in business. It's every time without fail.
Know your figures, Um, and then with Lola coffee, Of course.
(32:55):
Your other half music producer, Matt Soo, he would really
bring a different take to the business. What are some
of the ways that sort of he's approached the business? Um,
that again You've taken away and thought, Oh, those are
real nuggets of gold.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
And we also had a third partner in with Lola Coffee,
one of one of Matt's best friends, Rob, who had
the all the contacts for, um, scaling up and back
end and things like that. But Matt
is incredible. He is just like somebody that is just
like a problem solver. And so when we were like, Oh,
(33:31):
we're gonna create all this like artwork Freestyle, Matt would
be like, Yeah, I'll do that. Yeah, I can do that.
And I'll be like Oh, my God, like you know,
Whereas So I'm like passion. He's the do what, like
he'll physically do the stuff like when we were getting sales.
When we first do a soft launch, it was selling
out, and I was in a hardcore teacher training from
like 7 to 7 every single day for three weeks straight,
and he was traipsing on down to Australia post and
(33:54):
posting each item. And yeah, he was like he just gets,
he just rolls up his sleeves, he's quiet and he
does it like he's one of those quiet achievers, you know,
and he's got no ego. So
whereas I, like, celebrate every win, I'm like, Oh, my
mom's like going like he's just that quiet like that
(34:15):
almost dark horse energy, you
Speaker 1 (34:16):
know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what about the lessons that
you took away from Rob's time in the business?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah. So Rob was all about, like, finding the growth
quickly and and And he'd always be looking at, like
Steve
from, like, impressions online. How many people were clicking onto
the website, How many people would put something in the
shopping cart and then not buy? He was like, really
into that like, stats kind of side of things. And
he also,
um, Sal did this and Rob did this. Both said
(34:44):
it's not growing fast enough. Same as what Sal did
with a SW the bar. And he was like, I'm
out and the same thing happened with Sal because I
think they've done so many businesses that they just know
when it's time to tap out. And it's really cool
to watch people do that because they do it with
no emotion. Whereas I do it with emotion. Yeah, I
Speaker 1 (35:01):
would be the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's tough
um, great. Great lessons, great lessons. So with so much experience,
such a huge diversity in skills and knowledge Um, what
would you say you are here on this planet to
do at this time?
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Mm.
I think it's kind of what I said at the start, where, like,
my goal is just to connect and touch other people's hearts. Like,
I think, whether that's through acting, whether that's through the pod,
whether that's through TV presenting, I'm like, Just show up.
Be like live my truth Be real. Be so curious
about like what I'm doing, whether it's with a scene
part now, whether it's with a podcast, whether it's like
(35:43):
hosting a TV show like, I just think
they're the three things that bring me the most happiness.
So they're the things that I'm gonna run the hardest
start with Always. The goal is to like connect with
people and touch people's hearts. Whether it's a guest or
a listener, you know what I mean or about
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Yeah, absolutely, beautifully said um, so, you know, I think
that our audience here at the buzz are new business
owners or business owners who may have lost their, you know,
business mojo Looking for some inspo?
Um, I think it's fair to say when you are
in that sort of place, what makes you feel happy
(36:21):
and satisfied can sometimes be a little elusive. What would
your advice be to those listeners who aren't, you know,
who kind of lost their their mojo a bit?
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Just find the stuff that makes you happy that might
not even be related to your business. So for me,
Steve Irwin videos on YouTube, but also like going to
the theatre like going to the movies and seeing art.
When I say seeing art like seeing a great movie,
you know, like on the plane over I watch Oppenheimer and,
like I you know what I mean, Like just like
(36:53):
for me, it's that it for a lot of people
might be just like, really like self care reading book,
you know, like whatever it is that makes you happy,
do more of that because that will kind of like
let the true you kind of bubble back up when
you're feeling deflated about other things like it's it's so
easy to get bogged down in the shittier things. But also,
(37:14):
I would say like,
check the people around you to check that they're like that.
They believe in you as well. I had a friend
recently say, Ah, there's a less than 0.1% chance you'll
make it. And I was like, Oh, that's not nice.
Thank
Speaker 1 (37:31):
you for having my back, mate.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yeah, Yeah. Whereas Matt said to me,
you know, we were looking at apartments in our way,
and we found one we loved. It was a bit
above our budget, and he looked at me. He pulled
me out onto the balcony and he goes, Do you
want to do this? And I said, Yeah, and he goes, Well,
then let's fucking make it. You know what I mean?
He's like, you gotta go. So, you know, like I
(37:56):
think it's just, like, keep the believers, keep the people
that see the spark in you around you, And, like,
really let go of the ones that don't truly believe
in you. And it's only really a reflection of themselves.
They don't believe in themselves at the end of the day. Um,
but yeah, that would be Keep your friendship barada sicko.
(38:16):
I
Speaker 1 (38:16):
love that. That is just gold that is absolutely beautiful. Awesome.
Love it.
Um, in business terms, we talk about measures of success.
For some businesses, their success is outright sales. For others,
it might be staff retention, brand awareness. What are measures
of success in your acting?
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Oh, happiness like feeling connected and getting up and doing
a scene in scene study class being in the vocal
booth and doing the voice of like, an an eight
year old possum or something, You know, like it's so
much fun. And can you do
Speaker 1 (38:51):
an eight year old possum now? Can I put you
on the
Speaker 2 (38:53):
spot? Oh, my goodness. I had to do one. I
had to do an eight year old vampire, and she
sold the family cat she'd done. She'd sold the family
cat
and I. I have a low voice for a girl, right?
My voice is low. And I said to the teacher,
I don't think I went like this kid Sounds awesome,
but like, I don't know how I'm going to do
this and he goes, Yeah, just breathe quick and I go, What?
(39:14):
And he goes, Trust me. You gotta sound excited. Just
breathe quick and I go, What do you mean? And
the line was like,
I'll see if I can do it. This was ages ago,
so I don't know. I just was like, No, no, no.
But I only sold Mr Sweet Mr Sweetness because I
got a I got a really, really, really good deal.
Trust me, trust me. But, uh, don't worry, Mum. I'm
gonna get him back, you know, like, and you do
(39:36):
this breathy thing and you can't get your energy up
here like
yeah, yeah, And you just you just like, don't sit
in your diaphragm. You sit up here with your breath
and it's really interesting with voice acting because you wanna move,
especially if you're a kid with energy. Um, but you
gotta ground your feet, because otherwise you're gonna hear you
moving around in the booth, and so you gotta ground
your feet. But you can't
(39:56):
in the you you can't wear Bengals or anything like that,
because you finding that anything I did one where where
I was like an explorer, that was a wombat, you know,
And and Australian and I was like, what's hiding behind
this wall? You know, like you just
you just give it a crack and I'm not. I
don't have vocal range. Like most most voice actors, I
(40:19):
imagine if I got booked, it'd be a version of
my own voice, like an Aussie voice. But yeah, so
much fun, though. And I'm just like for me like
that's the stuff that makes me spa. So that's the
stuff that's even though, like, that's not an Emmy or
a Golden Globe. That's the stuff that's gonna get me
there because I'm gonna keep chasing that thing that I love.
(40:40):
And the more you chase that thing you love, the
better you get at it.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Love it, love it, Love it. Lola, you are such
a bloody legend. I love what you do. I could
chat for hours. I'm conscious of time. Um, but what
I wanna do, what I wanna do is take a
couple of minutes to finish the episode with a Lola
Berry hot seat sesh borrow borrowed from fearlessly. Bailey. Um,
(41:04):
of course. So let's go sweet or savoury?
Wait. Always W. Which one in particular?
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Ok, right before I did this episode, I snapped on these.
They're amazing. These are sweet and spicy pecans from Trader
Joe's and they're, like, the perfect balance of, like, chilli.
But they've got a little bit of coconut sugar on them,
and they're, like, delicious. I could live off them. I've
had that much of the bag in two days. Like
Speaker 1 (41:33):
beautiful. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Speaker 2 (41:37):
I'm actually gonna steal this from a guest that came
on my podcast because it made me nearly want to cry.
He's He's an actor of game of Thrones. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (41:45):
I know. I know exactly what you're gonna say. I
know exactly what So I listened to that. I thought
that was amazing. And then I heard you say it
again to Jody. You're the
just
Speaker 2 (42:00):
say
Speaker 1 (42:00):
it. Say it.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
He said, You know, when someone has a sad heart
and I go yeah, and he goes, I wish I
could have a power that kills that sad heart but
in a beautiful Welsh accent And I was like, Don't play,
don't play Lola, don't play like it was so amazing.
But he has a very special energy. Like I didn't
tell him I was an actor. He just as soon
as we stopped recording, he goes, You've got a spark
(42:25):
Don't ever let it go. And then I was like
and he was like, Keep at it. He goes, The
FSS is all about it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Did you just want to give him the best hug
ever
Speaker 2 (42:36):
gave me? So he's super cool. He's, like, 65. Yeah,
and he, like, grabbed me. And he had one of
those double hugs. And when someone pulls in and then
they go give you another like
and I was just like, don't cry, don't cry. But yeah,
he had really beautiful like energy. I would say that
he was just very caring and extremely humble and one
(42:58):
of the most beautiful voices. And
Speaker 1 (43:00):
you could hear that like, I listened to that episode, Um,
and the and the hot seat. And it was just beautiful.
Like it was actually really soothing to listen to him
like just his voice was just beautiful.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
I love that he always does for the watch. He
does it when hens Jon Snow and I'm like, Oh,
he's such a cracker. And he Yeah, he was so
light and and and yet genuine at the same time.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yeah, Amazing. OK, so we've we've borrowed that superpower. Now
we're on a favourite city.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Oh,
I think I've got to say Los Angeles right now
because that's where I am and I'm in it and
I'm Yeah, I'm soaking it up and I'm running in
it all, and I'm spending time in different parts. I'm
teaching yoga, so I'm gonna say Los Angeles right now.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Beautiful, favourite nature spot
Speaker 2 (43:57):
Byron Bay without a shadow of a doubt. I love
Byron Bay, and you may be one of my homes. Always.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
Do you miss it a little
Speaker 2 (44:06):
bit?
No, I don't because I was lucky enough to live
on the Gold Coast when I was young at, like,
18 to 23
and I would spend most of my weekends in Byron Bay,
and I remembered Then I moved to Melbourne for years
in Sydney and was doing TB all that stuff. And
(44:27):
so that's a 10 year window that I spent away
from Byron. I still go there for work and holidays,
and it always welcomed me back and it didn't change loads.
And so now I just know Byron's one of my homes,
and so it's weird. It's like I know it's not gonna.
Time's not gonna go backwards or forwards. For me, it's
just and it's very healing. And I think
(44:49):
you are meant to go to Byron Bay and Heal.
And then I think you do leave again. And so
it's the perfect healing home for me, and I don't
feel like I need healing yet. So I'm not moving.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
Yeah, I love it. Great answer. Number one for you.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
I know it's such a hard one, and it's mean
that I ask people, this one When I was younger,
it used to be loneliness. It's not lonely loneliness now,
and I don't have kiddos, so I don't have parent fear.
Um,
I think the whole reason I make the choices that
I make is that I don't want to have regret.
(45:27):
And so I I think I'd hate to get to, like,
80 or 90 years old on my deathbed and go.
I wish I gave that dream a crack. I don't
want that feeling, but as a result, I'm living now
with no regret, so that I don't get that feeling.
So I think that that would have been my fear
if I didn't
and the same reason why I froze embryos and all
(45:50):
the like I've done. Every choice I've made is because
I don't want regret it.
Yeah, yeah, I think my fear would be to have regret.
And I don't
Speaker 1 (45:59):
want it. Yeah, so you're not gonna have it. So
there you go. Quality about yourself that you admire.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
I can adapt.
Yeah,
I can stand in the fire. I can stand in
that fire and be like,
Oh, that's shit. But I can go. All right, quick,
let's figure out the options And, like, have a plan.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
Yeah. Nice. Nonnegotiable.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
Right now it's yoga. It's really important to me, I
think because I'm teaching so much, I'm practising a lot
as well. And because L a is go, go, go, go, go!
Being in a yoga room, you're connecting body to breath,
and then that carries through into acting school. So I
would say yoga.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
Yeah. Beautiful favourite song.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Uh, OK, my favourite band is the national.
Um, my old roommate used to tease me because he'd
say it sounds like funeral music. And I was like, No,
I want to get married to this song. Um, there's
a few I love runaway by the National
and Oh, this fireproof by the national. The national is
(47:10):
my favourite. I've seen them live. I want to see
them again at the Hollywood Bowl. Beautiful. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:15):
Favourite book.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
Oh, my goodness. I'm such a bookworm. And such a
reader like I'm a full reader. I. I mean, it's
hard fiction, non fiction. What do you want? Oh,
Speaker 1 (47:26):
I want fiction.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
OK,
I have been going down the dark fantasy romance, um,
dragons and fairies and fun stuff of late. I did love, um,
and a friend of mine, Lara, put me onto this book.
I did love the book powerless, and it's the first
book of the series. So if someone's listening to it
and wants to take, like, go into that magical genre
(47:51):
with romance and darkness and all of that and like
layered people powerless is really good.
So if you're into dragons and loved game of Thrones,
then I would say fourth wing OK,
Speaker 1 (48:04):
all right. Might have to re listens to that. I
have to write that down. Sounds good. Sounds good.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
I'll write it to you in an email for love
and powers. And it's got fourth wings. Got a second book,
but yeah, read fourth wing and powerless because they're both
first books of the series.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
Yeah, OK, great.
So if you're going to a desert island and you
could take three items outside of survival, what would they be?
Speaker 2 (48:29):
A book? A really good book. Probably fiction
of the dark fantasy genre. Love me. A ancient 70
year old. They call them Dark Shadow Daddies. Um, Matt
and Matt's like Matt's been reading them too. And he's like,
Do you want me to growl like a shadow? And
I'm like, Oh, no, no, no, no, I'm going
Speaker 1 (48:52):
Just fantasy.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'd say a great book. Um,
I would say,
Ah, I'd want to be able to watch my favourite movies.
So something to watch a movie on. I love movies.
And, um, my favourite food is Brussels sprouts. There's something
to cook Brussels sprouts on.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
OK, then done. That's funny. So what's next for Lola Berry?
Speaker 2 (49:25):
Well, I'm in L a I'm strapped in here. Now
I'm now, so I'm pretty much just auditioning teaching yoga, um,
kind of find finding out feet here with, like, home
and stuff like that, as far as like a little
home and schedule. I'm a triple friggin Virgo. So I'm like, um, routine. So, yeah,
I think just, like, get really grounded, keep auditioning, and, um,
(49:48):
stay in some really good acting classes and just, like,
keep hustling.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
Amazing. And we'll have to stay tuned for that book, too.
Do we have any approximate idea of when it might
come out?
Speaker 2 (50:00):
So where it's with books, Basically, you can pitch it
straight to a publisher, but I've chosen to work with
an agent in the place of me doing that. And
so it will depend on that agent
entirely. So they might be like, Oh, they love it.
But they want you to write another four in this
genre before they sign it. And so you It could be,
(50:21):
um but I imagine within the next couple of years, yeah, books,
books aren't quick, mate. The
Speaker 1 (50:27):
long, slow burn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All good. Thank you
so much. Lola, you are an absolute pleasure. Um, I
really appreciate you taking time out of your busy, busy
schedule to be here with me today.
Um, I'm really excited to launch season five with, um,
with this episode, and I know that there's just so
much gold in it for for all the listeners. So, um,
(50:50):
thank you. Lovely. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (50:53):
Thanks for making it happen. I know you set your
alarm to get here so early, Jane, I was off
recording in L. A true crime poured right until you
hit record. So thank you so much. And, um, it's
and thank you to your listeners as well. Like thanks
for taking the time to listening for listening to this chat. But, um,
I can't wait till it's out. You let me know
when it's out, and I can promote it for you
(51:14):
as well.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
Sounds good. Gorgeous. Thank you so much. Thank you. Have
a good night.
If you're looking for some free resources to start creating
a buzz with your digital marketing, then go to bees
Knees marketing.com dot a U backslash free. That's bees knees
marketing.com dot a U backslash free. Follow the prompts and
(51:38):
take advantage of our free resource library and get your
business buzzing
to say it is a treat to welcome renowned author,
nutritionist and wellness advocate Lola Berry to the buzz is
most definitely an understatement.
It's difficult to know where to start when you're interviewing.
A longtime hero of yours, Lola has had enormous success
as Australia's favourite nutritionist. She is a best selling author,
(00:26):
accredited yoga teacher, content creator, TV presenter, actor, podcaster and,
of course, entrepreneur.
There's a lot to be inspired by in this chat,
and I'm pretty confident it will help you make your
own positive changes in choices, lifestyle and, of course, in business.
Welcome to the Buzz, Lola Berry.
(00:50):
I don't think I'm actually gonna be able to contain
my excitement. I've been fangirling over the super amazing Lola
Berry since I was given the happy cookbook back when
it first hit our shelves. Here it is, right here
in 2015. Look at all my notes. Um, I've been
cooking up a storm from it ever since, and then, uh,
(01:11):
like a lot of us walking became a daily activity
during covid. Right and I took the opportunity to
tune into what was fast becoming my favourite podcast series.
Fearlessly failing lawsuit with Lola Berry. Um, I've loved getting
to know you, Lola, with all your incredible stories that
you've shared over the years in this podcast series. And then,
(01:34):
of course,
um, the book following up with that bloody awesome TV
presenter actor, best selling author, yoga teacher leading Australia's most
favourite nutritionist and certainly my favourite podcaster. Welcome to the Buzz,
Lola
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Berry.
Can you hang around with me all the time, Karen,
So that I can just be like, Yeah, So here's
my introduction. No, no. Um, thank you. Thanks for reading
the books. And thanks for listening to the pod. It's
my baby, as you know how much my podcasting is.
I absolutely love it.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yeah, absolutely. Well, you're amazing. You're amazing at it and
and and all that you do. But I wanna learn
a bit more about your journey and finding your career path.
I mean, what career options were you considering? Straight out
of school?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Well, I mean, I did my work experience in, um
I wanted to be a zoologist. So I did my
work experience in Melbourne as a Collingwood Children's farm. And
I wanted to follow my dad's footsteps. He's a vet,
and I wanted to be. Yeah, Zoo. And so as
much as I loved it, I think by year 10,
I'd figured out that I needed to be really good
at maths and science, and they were my two least
(02:47):
favourite subjects. And I was the junior house drama captain
at school. So I was very focused on becoming the
next Cate Blanchett. So I went from school into a
bachelor of performing arts at Monash, and
about halfway through that degree, uh, my I remember a
teacher said, You know, 99% of you will be drama teachers.
(03:08):
No one's really gonna make it. And I was like, Oh, God,
this isn't the course for me. And then I, um,
became a makeup artist and DJ for many years. So
it took me a long time before I didn't start
studying nutrition. I don't think until I was about 20
Speaker 1 (03:23):
one. Yeah, right. So you just really took that time
to find your feet.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, And just figure out what I loved. It was
always my backup career. Nutrition. I liked it. My mom
was so healthy and a nurse, so but, um yeah,
it was always my backup career. and I did it
and loved it and then started working in morning TV
Like I think I hadn't even graduated yet. Like, super
like I'd finished my degree, But I hadn't done the
(03:48):
graduation and got my certificate for another month.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
So what was the motivation? I mean, you said your
mom was, you know, super healthy. What was the motivation
to go into nutrition?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Honestly, Steve Irwin. I wanted to be like the Steve
Irwin and fruits or veggies like I wanted to I.
I would get a camera while I was at uni
and be like, these oats are like an intestinal broom.
Great source of soluble and insult fibre, you know? So
for me, it's always been, um,
really about helping people on a large scale that's always
(04:21):
been kind of my MO or inspiring people on a
larger scale. Clinical practise. I'm not a patient person, so
I'm just not good at clinical practise. Although I've done
it loads. Um, I'm
Speaker 1 (04:33):
a patient person. Why aren't you a patient person?
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Oh, I'm pretty impatient. I've always found that about myself.
I don't know. I'm just I I'm I'm a hard
worker and I like that hustle like I like that like,
Let's all right, here's a goal. Let's just go, Go, go, go, go.
But then I am quite resilient, too. So I'm like,
Although I don't have patience, I have resilience so I
can take the get and get back up again and
get back up again. So maybe I'm like a backwards
(05:01):
patient person because I'm resilient,
Speaker 1 (05:04):
patient in a whole different way. So Steve Irwin, obviously,
you know, the the, um the passion that he brings
and the education that he brings. Um, what were the
other things that you know? You you, um, really admired
about
Speaker 2 (05:20):
him?
Yeah. I that unapologetic self like he didn't philtre himself.
He was just like, this is he was like, I'm
passionate about conservation, and I hope my family follow my
He's like I there's a famous quote. He's like, I
don't need a gold plated duddy. I just wanna like,
look after his own Just wanna look at it. Wildlife.
(05:42):
And I remember I dedicated that book. I think that's
in your hand. I think I dedicated to him
and Terry Irwin organised me like a whole visit at
the zoo and animal encounter and I've got a video
of Bindi Irwin being like you're a wildlife warrior. That'd
be proud, you know? So, yeah, I just For me,
it's the passion piece. Like I just loved his passion
(06:03):
and enthusiasm and like zest for life too. Like life
can be hard And he always never shied away from
talking about the like grief and things that he faced,
but like
he felt it, it feels like he felt it all.
And he genuinely, just, like, wanted to make a positive
impact on the world. And I think that no matter
what I do, whether it's a podcast, whether it's TV hosting,
(06:25):
whether it's acting like I think my goal was like
to touch people's hearts and to hopefully like,
you know, inspire them to feel on some level.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Absolutely. And I say that you, you know, do that.
What I love about you is that you are so
raw and you are so honest. There is no bullshit.
You'll tell us how you're feeling on that day. You know, um,
you you do what you're gonna say you're gonna do,
and and there's so much authentic and passion. Um, so, yeah,
I love it You You really are the real deal.
(06:57):
And
yes, Steve Irwin would absolutely be proud to know that
you were his hero. And you're doing it so beautifully
to yourself.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
He's the best. Anytime I have a shitty day, can
I say shitty? I've just done it. Yeah, I have
a shitty day. Uh, we usually watch Steve ien docos
I've got them all. Like I've got them on on DVD.
I'm pretty sure I've got some on BHS as well. Well, yeah. Anytime,
even just YouTube. I'll just YouTube a Steve Ien interview.
I love it like my F. One of my favourites is,
(07:27):
um
Rose McManus was like, Do you drink coffee? Oh, no, mate.
Top of my head. It'd blow off. Could you imagine
bouncing off the walls like so much fun? I love him.
I have to. I'm gonna have
Speaker 1 (07:40):
to look up some of those interviews. I think you
You're right. I think it would really tear your day up, right.
It would really get you on track.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's unreal. And I love that America
fell in love with him before Australia did. And I'm
always felt that I'd probably have a win here.
I know I've had a great, like, a really lovely
amount of success as a nutritionist in in Australia, but
I think as far as like what In the entertainment
industry as a TV host, podcaster and actor, I feel
(08:11):
like I'll probably get my win in America before. I've
always felt that
Speaker 1 (08:15):
you've always said that. Yeah. Yeah. And even going back to, um,
one of your interviews I watched with you doing, um
this was like years. It was, like, 2009 or even early.
And you were, um, interviewing the New York, um, food.
You know, like the food co op and the, um,
food support. And I was like, Oh, God, Even then
(08:39):
you had this real calling and fascination with, um, the states, right?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've loved it. I've wanted to call
it home since then. Like, I've really wanted to be there.
Be here. I'm coming to Los Angeles today and it's
been a journey. It's been a It's brutal, though, Like
I don't want to sugar coat it. L A is
a brutal, beautiful beast.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Hm. OK, we'll get to that. What? I want to
know first is you know, I know you have a
lot of yoga and wellness qualifications. So what? You know,
at what point did you go? OK, I've got my
nutrition going. It's not exactly
the the clinic side. You've got some, you know, um, media, um,
air time now is yoga and wellness sort of part
(09:25):
of that, um, nutrition and well being, um, quest. Or
is it more OK, you know, tell me. Yeah. Tell
me what was the inspiration behind doing that side of wellness?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It's Look, it's not a great story. It was just
a shitty breakup. And I just needed to find myself
and the yoga mat helped me find myself. And then
I found that it was something I'd look forward to
every day. You know, when you're in the depths of
those first couple of breakups in your twenties and you're like,
Holy Mac, you feel like your world's crumbling down. And
so I for me yos was like, uh, I always
(09:58):
say yoga. When I practise as a gift, I give myself,
and when I teach it as a gift that I
share with others and that's my job in L, a
right now, like I am a yoga teacher here. I
flipping love it. It's so much fun it is.
And you're like, That's the thing that people don't understand.
You're amongst, like so many people in the entertainment industry
(10:18):
and people talk to you like I was teaching a
class last week and someone said, Are you a voice actor?
And I said, I am And he goes, Well, I
work on this animation and I work on this animation.
I work on it
and it's just like That's L A like That is
the beauty of our A A And like I got
booked on a TV show two weeks ago, and it
was from working at the yoga studio last year like
(10:39):
it's just that funny the way that it all.
Yeah, that's what I love about it, like you do
get seen, you know, even when you think you're doing
something that won't lead you down the path in L. A.
If you're honest about your passion, usually people will see that. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (10:55):
yeah, yeah, it's like Business Network. It's like Business network
on a whole. Another level,
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Yeah, and it's just people say L A is a
city of connection and II. I can't afford it for
a while because I'm a bit of an introvert, even
though I can be loud. Um, and
it is. But you've got to make the right like
you want real connections. You don't want fake ones. And
so it does take a bit of discerning to figure
out what's legit and real and what's not.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
And how do you figure out that? Have you by now,
I'm sure you've got some kind of hit list that
you can work about Pretty cap proto.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
You know how you trust your gut. Usually, Um,
if someone asks you for something straight out of the
gate like you, that's usually the barometer of like, oh,
that feels a bit take. And And if I get that,
like Spidey sense of like that, take Spidey sense, then
I'll be like,
OK? Or like you'll meet someone and they'll straight away
(11:54):
pitch themselves to come on your podcast without really, like
listening to the pod or getting to know you. And
you're like, OK, like that feels funky. But, um,
yeah, I think I think he just use your Yeah,
just my boyfriend's watching me It's like he can hear
me and he's like, hes my podcast And he's like
you saying about our hot, um
But But yeah, I think you just use your intuition
(12:17):
and gut gut instinct for that stuff. And I remember
before I moved to LA I said to a good
friend of mine, Jane and who had lived here for
10 years but was back in Australia. I said, Oh,
people keep warning me that L A is so fake
and she said, Yeah, but you'll find the most realest,
truest people amongst all that, and they'll be with you
for life. And so that was a really good and
(12:38):
so that
there's some mates that I've met here that have, like,
got me out of pickles. And just because it is
a hard city like you do you do find yourself
in pickles and um, yeah, what's a
Speaker 1 (12:51):
pickle?
I
Speaker 2 (12:53):
just
I was driving a I was renting a bulb of
a car off an Aussie actor last year, and it
broke down on the 405 twice, you know, and I
barely got it off the highway and a friend was
standing there like drinking oil and the water bobbing.
You know, all that kind of stuff. You know, Just
(13:15):
like little things. Like one day I went to start
a car and the battery had been stolen out the
front of the house, you know?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the fun stuff. Yeah. So
it's finding a tribe, obviously, And And when you are
the way you are, you're gonna attract those those same people, right?
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Yeah. And I think for me, I'm always in acting
class or at the yoga studio. So you're you're immersing
yourself in communities very quickly. And I think building a
community that feels safe for you is really important in
L A.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Yeah. Yeah. Good advice. Good advice. So with regular appearances on, um,
so back in Australia now, year tens, um, the circle
and I think current affair,
um, that fire to act and and be You know, um,
in in, um on TV is obviously really fueled. Do
(14:08):
you remember a moment or a show when you were
on camera and thought I just want to take this
to the next level. Like, what was your aha moment
that this is going to be my career
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yes, I always loved morning tally. That's where I started
when I was 23. I started on a show called
9 a.m. with David and Kim, and it was a
cold call. That's how I got on. You couldn't do
that These days doesn't really exist, but I'm probably ageing myself. Um, anyway, I,
um
I always loved being on morning tally, and I just
it time stopped for me. I love like multi cam sets.
(14:43):
So a lot of those morning shows you've got between
three and five cameras and you've got producers yelling One
thing you've got someone in your ear saying something. I
just love that pace and that
that awareness that came with it sometimes I'd be live audience,
so I just loved it all. And I would always
pitch myself for more than a segment girl. I was
always the wellness girl, and I would always be like,
(15:03):
How do I get to be a host? And they're like, Hey,
you're the segment girl. You're the segment girl. And then
I
finally got put forward to co host a show for
Channel seven, and I was in the chemistry test, so
that's where they test you against another host. And I
remember they auditioned me. So there was a female or
(15:24):
male lead and I got subbed in. Then then they
auditioned Rachel Finch and Nani Bartel in Melbourne. So the
three of us were didn't really against each other. And
the boys were like limo,
uh, Tim Robar like there were a few and we
just all got subbed around with each other so they
could see whose chemistry was best, essentially. And I remember
(15:45):
I learned the script by rote, which means you learn
the script by heart, which I didn't need to because
it was an auto cue, which means there's a screen
and then the script is moving as you read, and
I was petrified. I had no training and I thought,
I'm gonna rote learn this thing and it was hard.
It was like, you know, 13 pages. It was a
lot to rote learn. And, um, I sat down next
(16:05):
to Lima. He goes, Let's improv this Let's throw the
script out. And I was like, Oh my God, I
learned all this for nothing, and it was a lot
of fun. And then I came in with him Robards
and he He was similar to me like he had
spent some time on the script and they switched our scripts.
And so he'd learned mine. And like, we'd learnt the
wrong scripts in the end. And I walked out of
(16:26):
that scenario and I loved it. The hair and makeup
artist like you think this is yours? You got it
in the bag. And I was like, I just never
got green lit. So it never went anywhere. And he
never got any other other than that makeup feedback, I
never got feedback. And then
I remember I caught up an acting school and I thought, Well,
I was so nervous about auto Q And this is
the thing I want to do with my life and
(16:48):
may as well trained in it. So I said, Hey,
I think you've got a great TV presenting course. I
need to learn auto Q. Can I get in? And
they were like, No, it's full. And they said, Have
you thought about acting? And I said I'd rather swim
with sharks and they that's a great sign. Why don't
you do it? And I was like, Oh, what have
I got to lose. Uh, I and I still in
my first teacher. His name was Stephen and I
(17:11):
fell in love that day with acting and I was
31 maybe about 32 and I have since then never
stopped training. And so I just kept training and it's
just like something bigger than me. Uh, and you feel
it in your heart. It's like very different TV Presenting
and being on set is like you're most of producer.
You're like, right, Red light there, that camera there The
audience is over there. The guest is over there. You
(17:33):
you're kind of producing yourself. It's a different skill set,
and I love it as well. I would happily do either.
But acting is like us, Like you feel like you
are a part of something bigger than yourself. And you're
like this small little conduit that, like shares a little
piece of their heart and hopefully touches another. And I
love that about acting, So I love it all. I
(17:53):
love it all, but that's that's why I do both. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (17:56):
love it, love it, love it.
So OK, what about flexing those author muscles? Right? Your
first book. Um, inspiring ingredients in 2010 was self published.
What was your motivation behind that book? And and why
did you go the self self
Speaker 2 (18:12):
published route?
Yeah. So I did have, uh, a publisher back me
for that. I just want to be really honest about
that because I had no idea what to do. And
so they essentially they didn't do any kind of health
or wellness books. So they created just, like a mini
imprint of their already existing publishing house. And they basically said, Look,
(18:34):
we're gonna throw you a little bit of money and
give you some contacts to get it
and all that kind of thing, and it will be
on your own sort of rest. So essentially, we both
put money in to make it come to life. I like.
I can't remember exactly how much I think it would
have been, like 20 grand each like it's not cheap
to make a book,
and I still remember it. Fine greens, like the front
font is my handwriting. Like lo, the berry is written
(18:56):
in my handwriting. Like it? We like my cousin shot it,
you know, recipe and muesli. and rhubarb. And I left
the rhubarb off the ingredient list. You know, like,
yeah, yeah, we were feeling it out for that one.
But it was so fun. It was so fun. I
remember I took a job at a smoothie bar to
(19:18):
pay for the publicity team because I really wanted a
good publicity team. So it was just the only reason
why it was like, co self published was, like just
to see it come to life and give it a
chance to Yeah, that's right. Essentially. But I think the
print run was like, three or 5000. It was small.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
Yeah. So for the listener, who's, you know, looking to start,
you know, writing and potentially selfish in that way as
a as a starting point. What's your top tip?
Speaker 2 (19:47):
Uh, OK, so if you're gonna again like I, I
had backers, so I did have somebody to help with
the contacts. But the number one cool thing about self
publishing is if you literally self publish, you take all
the 100% of the profitt. Like I worked with big
publishing houses for all of my other books. And you
just get a little royalty check. It's very different, but
they pay for the photo shoots. Pay for all the ingredients.
(20:10):
If you're doing a food shoot, they
pay for the publicity spend, which is very expensive. Um,
they have relationships with distributors and make sure that it's
in my big W David Jones target. You know, all
those kind of places that I had no idea what
to do that on my own. So I would say
I coach people a lot on how to write a book.
And I always say, If you're gonna self publish the
(20:32):
money on a great distributor because then somebody can make
sure in all those great bookstores for you and then
if you've got extra money
paid for a publicist so that you know, you can
be on those morning shows and you can be featured
in those you know, magazines and come out on the
Sunday Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know about all that stuff.
(20:52):
It's your house, The
Speaker 1 (20:54):
marketing side? Absolutely.
Um yeah, OK. Yeah. Great advice. So then you had
your subsequent books. Um, so from pretty much 2012 with
the 2020 diet, um, and then through to, you know, 2018,
where you had, um, foods to make you glow beauty
food and and yo,
your body. Um, at this point, are you tempted that
(21:16):
writing could be, you know, um, something that you would
transition into as a as a an occupation? Or is
it purely only ever been a a passion project on
the side?
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Oh, no, no, no. I was like being an author
was my full time career for a big, big part
of my life because I was bringing out two books
a year, which is a lot like you're writing what
you're writing for three month minimum, three months, chunks for
each book, and then you're shooting it and then you're
in edits and posts. So no, no. All was like
(21:48):
how I would be introduced every time I did TV Anytime.
I did a lot of quick speaking around those years
as well, and it would be like
nutritionist author Lola Berry, you know, like, I've always been
an author. Um, I'm not super smart, like I'm not
book smart, but I, I am like street smart. So
I've always been like as soon as the the book
(22:10):
would come out I'd been negotiating my next deal like
I was. I've just written my 12th book now. So
Speaker 1 (22:19):
what is that? Is that out on the That's not out.
What have we got?
Speaker 2 (22:24):
What do we
I can't say because it hasn't been sold right now.
I know what a what a what? A wanker of
me to say that, but But I mean, I it's
different to what I have written in the past. So
I had to go and train in it like I
had to skill up and understand that that's a different
genre and style of writing. So I, I think, um,
(22:47):
yeah, I think II I think I will. I'll always
be an author till the day I die. You know,
even if you take a year or two off here
and there, it never leaves you love writing. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I think everyone should write a book like That's
what I literally spend more people I do online consults
and more people come to me for how to make
a podcast or how to write a book than nutrition advice. Now,
Speaker 1 (23:10):
I might have to come back to you with a
how to write a book. I've got a couple of
ideas that's been milling away for a few years now.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Yeah, do it. Everyone should be writing.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yeah, so good for the soul. So the media industry,
you know, we know it's got a reputation of being
pretty ruthless and super hard to get into. Has the
ruthlessness of it gotten to you before?
Um,
Speaker 2 (23:36):
no, I think cos I like I'm If I had
a superpower, my boyfriend would say it's resilience and adaptability. So, like,
I've been told so many times, I'm 38. I've been
told so many times I'm too old to make it
as an actor and I don't care. So it doesn't
really bother me like I'm like, I don't know. No,
(23:57):
it doesn't bother me. What bothers me is, I found
sometimes when I would try and pitch myself as an actor,
people would be like, No, no, no, you're a nutritionist.
And you like that? Yeah, that bothered me more. And
how
Speaker 1 (24:12):
do you get over that?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Well, I mean, that's one of the pushes that push
me here, because when I'm in a meeting here and
I say I'm a nutritionist and my agent's like, Oh, amazing.
We can add that to your coal. She you work for, like, health.
Like it means that, like, from a commercial sense, the
fact that I teach yoga is a huge seller for
(24:36):
them because they can put me
for commercials for that. And same with the nutrition and
wellness stuff. They're like, Well, she's going to be comfortable
in a kitchen and working with food so we can
put her forward for that. So here they don't care.
It's just an add on. It's like a bonus. Whereas, yeah, yeah,
but like, I met with a lot of agents in
(24:57):
Australia and a lot of acting agents, and they wouldn't
sign me because, um,
you know, I'm a nutritionist and wellness, you know, influencer.
Sometimes people would call me, you know? So,
Speaker 1 (25:11):
yeah, it's interesting how there's like, yeah, such different perceptions
on that.
Yeah. Yeah, I like the American perception on that one.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Oh, like the more if you've got more feathers in
your cap. You know, like they love it. If I'm like, Oh, yeah,
I'm a nutritionist. Oh, yeah, I teach I Oh, yeah,
I can write books, and I'm a podcast. so they're, like,
amazing. I
Speaker 1 (25:35):
love it. Sign you up today. Yeah, So, as you know,
the buzz, Um, this podcast series is all about inspiring
and motivating business owners. And I know throughout your career,
you've had various businesses in play at one time or another.
What was your very first business?
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Well, I mean, I had to set up a business
to write the book, so I set up my own
company Young, because I had I employed my friend at
the time when I was, like, 20. And so I
had to set up a proprietary limited straight out of
the gate of the book. Well, just to write and
create content, I was creating video content, and I was
employing people to help me with that. So I ran
(26:13):
it all through a proprietary limited from when I was
21 I think, um, so that's been
my business. But then, obviously, like I had a smoothie bar,
if that's what you're referring to.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, Well, that's Yeah. I didn't actually think of setting
up the company, and obviously, yeah, you would. You would
need to do that. But I was thinking of the
smoothie business. because I know, um, there are a few
challenges in that one, wasn't there?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah. Yeah, it was an epic failure. A great failure, though.
Smoothies in Melbourne Winter winter in Melbourne? No, it's a
cold smoothie, no matter how delicious the salted caramel one tastes.
Yeah. So after three years of bleeding money in the
winters and and being really profitable in the summers but
(26:59):
not enough to carry it through the winters, my business
partners all offered me to buy them out. And I
had to do a lot of work with my therapist to, like,
get my ego out of it
way essentially and go. This actually isn't my passion. I
need to be OK. It had my name on it.
It was literally called happy place. Paula Berry, you know, And,
(27:19):
um I had to just give it all up. It
still exists today And all the branding got ripped down and,
yeah, wild As soon as we sold it, they ripped
the branding down. They took the inst star and unfollowed
me and wanted me to have nothing. I wasn't allowed
to enter the space. It was wild.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
That is wild.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Yeah. Yeah, and it was like such a beautiful transaction.
And it happened right before covid, which is probably
quite lucky. Um, but yeah, I It was a hard one.
I really had to let go of, like, also my
friendships I'd made in that business. Unfortunately, a lot of
them were linked just to the business. And so it
was a real letting go and, you know, not needing
(27:59):
to hold on and control that one. I had to
really work hard.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
So what was your biggest surprise in that business?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Ah, I I The biggest surprise was I didn't understand
how to manage employees, which was one of my jobs.
And I didn't understand P and L.
I had no idea about the profit and loss and,
you know, like so And luckily, my business partners did.
But it made me realise that I was kind of
playing catch up a lot. I was like, Oh, what
do you mean it doesn't balance out and managing staff?
(28:32):
My biggest mistake was I tried to befriend everybody and
it meant that there was not respect when they needed
to be respect when, like the hard truth had to
come down. And so
I learned the lesson of like, you can't be everybody's
friend in business for success.
Speaker 1 (28:49):
Yeah, love that. Absolutely. So the smoothie bar. And then
obviously your your your your own, you know, company going
on in the background. Was it then Lola coffee, or
was there something in between?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Uh, no, I think it was Lola. Coffee? Yeah, I
think we did Lola coffee. And then we But then
we bought out other things under the umbrella of Lola.
Coffee like a hinterland. Adapt genic hot chocolate and a
pink hot chocolate. So that kind of is still going
on in the background now. But the coffee itself doesn't exist.
It's too expensive to make. We were doing it so
(29:26):
beautifully and freeze drying and making no anti or anti
moulding agent. But it was just coming at such a cost.
And unless you were doing tonnes and tonnes and tonnes, Um,
it wasn't it didn't it Didn't grow the way it
needed to for us to scale up, so we had
to pull that one right back.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. One won't say no,
Speaker 1 (29:48):
but it's all about what you take away, right? What
you take away from it, Um and Yeah. And I
guess Were you a bit guns going into that next
business after after the smoothie bar, or were you just
really happy to take your learnings from that and apply
it to the next business?
Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yeah, I always make sure I've been lucky in both
of those businesses. There's been more sad business people with
me as partners. So,
um, in both scenarios, I had savvy business people that
were able to, like take that fear away from me
and be like, No, this is my skill set. This
is what I bring to the table and so that
stop not caring If it, I mean, I don't I
(30:31):
don't think you're meant to succeed in everything you do.
So I'm not upset. They haven't worked, you know, I'm 100%.
And
I was talking to an actor mate here in L
a just two days ago, and he goes, Welcome back.
And I was like, Thank you. And he
he goes, if you hear the word No, just say
(30:52):
OK and keep going. And so I just think like that.
I'm like, OK, that didn't work onto the next. Ok,
that didn't work onto the next. Like, um, even the
book I've written, like it took a lot of time
to get a yes, you know, And it took It
took changes, and it took a lot of letting go
and stuff like that. And so yeah, I just keep going.
I keep moving forward and then on to the next
(31:13):
I love
Speaker 1 (31:14):
it. So inspirational.
You and yeah, So you've touched on it. You've had
some pretty great business partners along the way. Um, was
it the ST Ali coffee founder? That was your your
business partner with the smoothie bar
Speaker 2 (31:30):
with a smoothie bar? Not the lo of coffee. Just
a smoothie
Speaker 1 (31:33):
bar. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, such an incredibly successful entrepreneur.
It would have been great to soak up. You know,
all that knowledge, what was a piece of advice or move?
Maybe that he made that will stick with you forever
as one of your biggest lessons in business.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Um, 21 of them was when we we had to
go and pitch for the venue. So the venue space
and I remember we walked, he goes, give passion. And
so I gave the passion. He said the like, P
and L stuff. And I gave passion, So that's I
quickly what my strength was, which was passion
without really saying it. And then the other thing was,
(32:12):
he called me up early days, and he was like,
You need to learn P and L now. And so
it was really good to kind of, like, have that
call because he's a bit of a tell you how? Yeah, doesn't.
Doesn't mind feathers and all. So that was kind of
a cool lesson for me to go. Oh, shivers like
I gotta pull my socks up, you know? Um,
yeah, yeah, yeah. And
Speaker 1 (32:34):
then biggest lessons. Incredible. I mean, such valued and and
a lot of, um, you know, successful entrepreneurs that I
speak to on this podcast. I think they all say,
Know your figures. You know, we talk about giving advice
to someone starting out in business. It's every time without fail.
Know your figures, Um, and then with Lola coffee, Of course.
(32:55):
Your other half music producer, Matt Soo, he would really
bring a different take to the business. What are some
of the ways that sort of he's approached the business? Um,
that again You've taken away and thought, Oh, those are
real nuggets of gold.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
And we also had a third partner in with Lola Coffee,
one of one of Matt's best friends, Rob, who had
the all the contacts for, um, scaling up and back
end and things like that. But Matt
is incredible. He is just like somebody that is just
like a problem solver. And so when we were like, Oh,
(33:31):
we're gonna create all this like artwork Freestyle, Matt would
be like, Yeah, I'll do that. Yeah, I can do that.
And I'll be like Oh, my God, like you know,
Whereas So I'm like passion. He's the do what, like
he'll physically do the stuff like when we were getting sales.
When we first do a soft launch, it was selling
out, and I was in a hardcore teacher training from
like 7 to 7 every single day for three weeks straight,
and he was traipsing on down to Australia post and
(33:54):
posting each item. And yeah, he was like he just gets,
he just rolls up his sleeves, he's quiet and he
does it like he's one of those quiet achievers, you know,
and he's got no ego. So
whereas I, like, celebrate every win, I'm like, Oh, my
mom's like going like he's just that quiet like that
(34:15):
almost dark horse energy, you
Speaker 1 (34:16):
know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what about the lessons that
you took away from Rob's time in the business?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah. So Rob was all about, like, finding the growth
quickly and and And he'd always be looking at, like
Steve
from, like, impressions online. How many people were clicking onto
the website, How many people would put something in the
shopping cart and then not buy? He was like, really
into that like, stats kind of side of things. And
he also,
um, Sal did this and Rob did this. Both said
(34:44):
it's not growing fast enough. Same as what Sal did
with a SW the bar. And he was like, I'm
out and the same thing happened with Sal because I
think they've done so many businesses that they just know
when it's time to tap out. And it's really cool
to watch people do that because they do it with
no emotion. Whereas I do it with emotion. Yeah, I
Speaker 1 (35:01):
would be the same. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's tough
um, great. Great lessons, great lessons. So with so much experience,
such a huge diversity in skills and knowledge Um, what
would you say you are here on this planet to
do at this time?
Speaker 2 (35:21):
Mm.
I think it's kind of what I said at the start, where, like,
my goal is just to connect and touch other people's hearts. Like,
I think, whether that's through acting, whether that's through the pod,
whether that's through TV presenting, I'm like, Just show up.
Be like live my truth Be real. Be so curious
about like what I'm doing, whether it's with a scene
part now, whether it's with a podcast, whether it's like
(35:43):
hosting a TV show like, I just think
they're the three things that bring me the most happiness.
So they're the things that I'm gonna run the hardest
start with Always. The goal is to like connect with
people and touch people's hearts. Whether it's a guest or
a listener, you know what I mean or about
Speaker 1 (36:00):
Yeah, absolutely, beautifully said um, so, you know, I think
that our audience here at the buzz are new business
owners or business owners who may have lost their, you know,
business mojo Looking for some inspo?
Um, I think it's fair to say when you are
in that sort of place, what makes you feel happy
(36:21):
and satisfied can sometimes be a little elusive. What would
your advice be to those listeners who aren't, you know,
who kind of lost their their mojo a bit?
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Just find the stuff that makes you happy that might
not even be related to your business. So for me,
Steve Irwin videos on YouTube, but also like going to
the theatre like going to the movies and seeing art.
When I say seeing art like seeing a great movie,
you know, like on the plane over I watch Oppenheimer and,
like I you know what I mean, Like just like
(36:53):
for me, it's that it for a lot of people
might be just like, really like self care reading book,
you know, like whatever it is that makes you happy,
do more of that because that will kind of like
let the true you kind of bubble back up when
you're feeling deflated about other things like it's it's so
easy to get bogged down in the shittier things. But also,
(37:14):
I would say like,
check the people around you to check that they're like that.
They believe in you as well. I had a friend
recently say, Ah, there's a less than 0.1% chance you'll
make it. And I was like, Oh, that's not nice.
Thank
Speaker 1 (37:31):
you for having my back, mate.
Speaker 2 (37:33):
Yeah, Yeah. Whereas Matt said to me,
you know, we were looking at apartments in our way,
and we found one we loved. It was a bit
above our budget, and he looked at me. He pulled
me out onto the balcony and he goes, Do you
want to do this? And I said, Yeah, and he goes, Well,
then let's fucking make it. You know what I mean?
He's like, you gotta go. So, you know, like I
(37:56):
think it's just, like, keep the believers, keep the people
that see the spark in you around you, And, like,
really let go of the ones that don't truly believe
in you. And it's only really a reflection of themselves.
They don't believe in themselves at the end of the day. Um,
but yeah, that would be Keep your friendship barada sicko.
(38:16):
I
Speaker 1 (38:16):
love that. That is just gold that is absolutely beautiful. Awesome.
Love it.
Um, in business terms, we talk about measures of success.
For some businesses, their success is outright sales. For others,
it might be staff retention, brand awareness. What are measures
of success in your acting?
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Oh, happiness like feeling connected and getting up and doing
a scene in scene study class being in the vocal
booth and doing the voice of like, an an eight
year old possum or something, You know, like it's so
much fun. And can you do
Speaker 1 (38:51):
an eight year old possum now? Can I put you
on the
Speaker 2 (38:53):
spot? Oh, my goodness. I had to do one. I
had to do an eight year old vampire, and she
sold the family cat she'd done. She'd sold the family
cat
and I. I have a low voice for a girl, right?
My voice is low. And I said to the teacher,
I don't think I went like this kid Sounds awesome,
but like, I don't know how I'm going to do
this and he goes, Yeah, just breathe quick and I go, What?
(39:14):
And he goes, Trust me. You gotta sound excited. Just
breathe quick and I go, What do you mean? And
the line was like,
I'll see if I can do it. This was ages ago,
so I don't know. I just was like, No, no, no.
But I only sold Mr Sweet Mr Sweetness because I
got a I got a really, really, really good deal.
Trust me, trust me. But, uh, don't worry, Mum. I'm
gonna get him back, you know, like, and you do
(39:36):
this breathy thing and you can't get your energy up
here like
yeah, yeah, And you just you just like, don't sit
in your diaphragm. You sit up here with your breath
and it's really interesting with voice acting because you wanna move,
especially if you're a kid with energy. Um, but you
gotta ground your feet, because otherwise you're gonna hear you
moving around in the booth, and so you gotta ground
your feet. But you can't
(39:56):
in the you you can't wear Bengals or anything like that,
because you finding that anything I did one where where
I was like an explorer, that was a wombat, you know,
And and Australian and I was like, what's hiding behind
this wall? You know, like you just
you just give it a crack and I'm not. I
don't have vocal range. Like most most voice actors, I
(40:19):
imagine if I got booked, it'd be a version of
my own voice, like an Aussie voice. But yeah, so
much fun, though. And I'm just like for me like
that's the stuff that makes me spa. So that's the
stuff that's even though, like, that's not an Emmy or
a Golden Globe. That's the stuff that's gonna get me
there because I'm gonna keep chasing that thing that I love.
(40:40):
And the more you chase that thing you love, the
better you get at it.
Speaker 1 (40:43):
Love it, love it, Love it. Lola, you are such
a bloody legend. I love what you do. I could
chat for hours. I'm conscious of time. Um, but what
I wanna do, what I wanna do is take a
couple of minutes to finish the episode with a Lola
Berry hot seat sesh borrow borrowed from fearlessly. Bailey. Um,
(41:04):
of course. So let's go sweet or savoury?
Wait. Always W. Which one in particular?
Speaker 2 (41:14):
Ok, right before I did this episode, I snapped on these.
They're amazing. These are sweet and spicy pecans from Trader
Joe's and they're, like, the perfect balance of, like, chilli.
But they've got a little bit of coconut sugar on them,
and they're, like, delicious. I could live off them. I've
had that much of the bag in two days. Like
Speaker 1 (41:33):
beautiful. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Speaker 2 (41:37):
I'm actually gonna steal this from a guest that came
on my podcast because it made me nearly want to cry.
He's He's an actor of game of Thrones. Yeah,
Speaker 1 (41:45):
I know. I know exactly what you're gonna say. I
know exactly what So I listened to that. I thought
that was amazing. And then I heard you say it
again to Jody. You're the
just
Speaker 2 (42:00):
say
Speaker 1 (42:00):
it. Say it.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
He said, You know, when someone has a sad heart
and I go yeah, and he goes, I wish I
could have a power that kills that sad heart but
in a beautiful Welsh accent And I was like, Don't play,
don't play Lola, don't play like it was so amazing.
But he has a very special energy. Like I didn't
tell him I was an actor. He just as soon
as we stopped recording, he goes, You've got a spark
(42:25):
Don't ever let it go. And then I was like
and he was like, Keep at it. He goes, The
FSS is all about it. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Did you just want to give him the best hug
ever
Speaker 2 (42:36):
gave me? So he's super cool. He's, like, 65. Yeah,
and he, like, grabbed me. And he had one of
those double hugs. And when someone pulls in and then
they go give you another like
and I was just like, don't cry, don't cry. But yeah,
he had really beautiful like energy. I would say that
he was just very caring and extremely humble and one
(42:58):
of the most beautiful voices. And
Speaker 1 (43:00):
you could hear that like, I listened to that episode, Um,
and the and the hot seat. And it was just beautiful.
Like it was actually really soothing to listen to him
like just his voice was just beautiful.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
I love that he always does for the watch. He
does it when hens Jon Snow and I'm like, Oh,
he's such a cracker. And he Yeah, he was so
light and and and yet genuine at the same time.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yeah, Amazing. OK, so we've we've borrowed that superpower. Now
we're on a favourite city.
Speaker 2 (43:37):
Oh,
I think I've got to say Los Angeles right now
because that's where I am and I'm in it and
I'm Yeah, I'm soaking it up and I'm running in
it all, and I'm spending time in different parts. I'm
teaching yoga, so I'm gonna say Los Angeles right now.
Speaker 1 (43:54):
Beautiful, favourite nature spot
Speaker 2 (43:57):
Byron Bay without a shadow of a doubt. I love
Byron Bay, and you may be one of my homes. Always.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
Do you miss it a little
Speaker 2 (44:06):
bit?
No, I don't because I was lucky enough to live
on the Gold Coast when I was young at, like,
18 to 23
and I would spend most of my weekends in Byron Bay,
and I remembered Then I moved to Melbourne for years
in Sydney and was doing TB all that stuff. And
(44:27):
so that's a 10 year window that I spent away
from Byron. I still go there for work and holidays,
and it always welcomed me back and it didn't change loads.
And so now I just know Byron's one of my homes,
and so it's weird. It's like I know it's not gonna.
Time's not gonna go backwards or forwards. For me, it's
just and it's very healing. And I think
(44:49):
you are meant to go to Byron Bay and Heal.
And then I think you do leave again. And so
it's the perfect healing home for me, and I don't
feel like I need healing yet. So I'm not moving.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
Yeah, I love it. Great answer. Number one for you.
Speaker 2 (45:05):
I know it's such a hard one, and it's mean
that I ask people, this one When I was younger,
it used to be loneliness. It's not lonely loneliness now,
and I don't have kiddos, so I don't have parent fear.
Um,
I think the whole reason I make the choices that
I make is that I don't want to have regret.
(45:27):
And so I I think I'd hate to get to, like,
80 or 90 years old on my deathbed and go.
I wish I gave that dream a crack. I don't
want that feeling, but as a result, I'm living now
with no regret, so that I don't get that feeling.
So I think that that would have been my fear
if I didn't
and the same reason why I froze embryos and all
(45:50):
the like I've done. Every choice I've made is because
I don't want regret it.
Yeah, yeah, I think my fear would be to have regret.
And I don't
Speaker 1 (45:59):
want it. Yeah, so you're not gonna have it. So
there you go. Quality about yourself that you admire.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
I can adapt.
Yeah,
I can stand in the fire. I can stand in
that fire and be like,
Oh, that's shit. But I can go. All right, quick,
let's figure out the options And, like, have a plan.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
Yeah. Nice. Nonnegotiable.
Speaker 2 (46:27):
Right now it's yoga. It's really important to me, I
think because I'm teaching so much, I'm practising a lot
as well. And because L a is go, go, go, go, go!
Being in a yoga room, you're connecting body to breath,
and then that carries through into acting school. So I
would say yoga.
Speaker 1 (46:44):
Yeah. Beautiful favourite song.
Speaker 2 (46:48):
Uh, OK, my favourite band is the national.
Um, my old roommate used to tease me because he'd
say it sounds like funeral music. And I was like, No,
I want to get married to this song. Um, there's
a few I love runaway by the National
and Oh, this fireproof by the national. The national is
(47:10):
my favourite. I've seen them live. I want to see
them again at the Hollywood Bowl. Beautiful. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:15):
Favourite book.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
Oh, my goodness. I'm such a bookworm. And such a
reader like I'm a full reader. I. I mean, it's
hard fiction, non fiction. What do you want? Oh,
Speaker 1 (47:26):
I want fiction.
Speaker 2 (47:28):
OK,
I have been going down the dark fantasy romance, um,
dragons and fairies and fun stuff of late. I did love, um,
and a friend of mine, Lara, put me onto this book.
I did love the book powerless, and it's the first
book of the series. So if someone's listening to it
and wants to take, like, go into that magical genre
(47:51):
with romance and darkness and all of that and like
layered people powerless is really good.
So if you're into dragons and loved game of Thrones,
then I would say fourth wing OK,
Speaker 1 (48:04):
all right. Might have to re listens to that. I
have to write that down. Sounds good. Sounds good.
Speaker 2 (48:10):
I'll write it to you in an email for love
and powers. And it's got fourth wings. Got a second book,
but yeah, read fourth wing and powerless because they're both
first books of the series.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
Yeah, OK, great.
So if you're going to a desert island and you
could take three items outside of survival, what would they be?
Speaker 2 (48:29):
A book? A really good book. Probably fiction
of the dark fantasy genre. Love me. A ancient 70
year old. They call them Dark Shadow Daddies. Um, Matt
and Matt's like Matt's been reading them too. And he's like,
Do you want me to growl like a shadow? And
I'm like, Oh, no, no, no, no, I'm going
Speaker 1 (48:52):
Just fantasy.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'd say a great book. Um,
I would say,
Ah, I'd want to be able to watch my favourite movies.
So something to watch a movie on. I love movies.
And, um, my favourite food is Brussels sprouts. There's something
to cook Brussels sprouts on.
Speaker 1 (49:17):
OK, then done. That's funny. So what's next for Lola Berry?
Speaker 2 (49:25):
Well, I'm in L a I'm strapped in here. Now
I'm now, so I'm pretty much just auditioning teaching yoga, um,
kind of find finding out feet here with, like, home
and stuff like that, as far as like a little
home and schedule. I'm a triple friggin Virgo. So I'm like, um, routine. So, yeah,
I think just, like, get really grounded, keep auditioning, and, um,
(49:48):
stay in some really good acting classes and just, like,
keep hustling.
Speaker 1 (49:52):
Amazing. And we'll have to stay tuned for that book, too.
Do we have any approximate idea of when it might
come out?
Speaker 2 (50:00):
So where it's with books, Basically, you can pitch it
straight to a publisher, but I've chosen to work with
an agent in the place of me doing that. And
so it will depend on that agent
entirely. So they might be like, Oh, they love it.
But they want you to write another four in this
genre before they sign it. And so you It could be,
(50:21):
um but I imagine within the next couple of years, yeah, books,
books aren't quick, mate. The
Speaker 1 (50:27):
long, slow burn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All good. Thank you
so much. Lola, you are an absolute pleasure. Um, I
really appreciate you taking time out of your busy, busy
schedule to be here with me today.
Um, I'm really excited to launch season five with, um,
with this episode, and I know that there's just so
much gold in it for for all the listeners. So, um,
(50:50):
thank you. Lovely. Thank you.
Speaker 2 (50:53):
Thanks for making it happen. I know you set your
alarm to get here so early, Jane, I was off
recording in L. A true crime poured right until you
hit record. So thank you so much. And, um, it's
and thank you to your listeners as well. Like thanks
for taking the time to listening for listening to this chat. But, um,
I can't wait till it's out. You let me know
when it's out, and I can promote it for you
(51:14):
as well.
Speaker 1 (51:15):
Sounds good. Gorgeous. Thank you so much. Thank you. Have
a good night.
If you're looking for some free resources to start creating
a buzz with your digital marketing, then go to bees
Knees marketing.com dot a U backslash free. That's bees knees
marketing.com dot a U backslash free. Follow the prompts and
(51:38):
take advantage of our free resource library and get your
business buzzing
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