October 2, 2025 • 49 mins
Rethinking about your hard. What if the small hard thing you choose today could spare you from the bigger pain you fear most? This week, we sit down with entrepreneur-turned-wellness-builder Matt Stern to trace the arc from a 300 sq ft pool house to $300M+ in business outcomes—and why he pivoted to women’s health with a new mission grounded in family, freedom, and real results. The story moves fast: early startup lessons in growth, the power of purpose over pure hustle, and the moment he saw GLP‑1 meds not as shortcuts, but as lifelines that help people finally build sustainable habits.
We go deep on the hormone health gap. Matt shares his wife’s frustrating journey to find a clinician who would listen, his mother’s preventable osteoporosis, and how decades-old fear has kept too many women suffering in perimenopause and menopause. We talk about what needs to change: access, evidence-based education, and personalization that meets each woman’s biology and goals. From brain fog and sleep to bone health and even female hair loss, the conversation connects dots that mainstream care often misses—and outlines how a for-women, by-women telehealth approach can center expertise and dignity.
Along the way, we get tactical. A daily walk paired with a positive podcast. Breathwork that doubles as meditation and a nervous system reset. Consistency over intensity. By the end, “choose your hard” sounds less like grit and more like self-respect—a way to make tomorrow lighter by taking a compassionate step today.
If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a boost, and leave a quick review so more people can find these tools. Your support helps us move closer to empowering one million women to live all in.
Matt's book recommendation: Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
More about Matt:
Matt Stern is more than just a growth marketing expert, he’s a self-made entrepreneur, father, and story-driven leader who went from being homeless to generating over $300M in collective business revenue. As the CEO of The Stern Group and MyStart Health, Matt has helped build and scale multiple brands, but his real mission lies in helping others balance business success with life’s deeper challenges.
Whether he's discussing high-impact marketing, the raw truths of fatherhood and resilience, or how a single round of golf can reveal everything about a person, Matt brings authenticity, strategy, and lived experience to every conversation.
https://thesterngroup.com
https://www.mystarthealth.com
https://www.linkedin.com/company/thesterngroup/posts/?feedView=all
https://www.instagram.com/the_stern_group/
House of JerMar: houseofjermar.com
Empowerment Fundamentals Course: https://members.houseofjermar.com/empowerment-course
Instagram: instagram.com/houseofjermar/
YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@Houseofjermar
Read Jeanne's Book: Two Feet In: Lessons From an All-In Life
WELCOME TO OUR HOUSE!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
The thing that really registered with me with
the choose your hard kind oflike mentality.
And I've now I've I feel likeI've gotten hit with a lot of
that from like top thinkers inthe like personal development
space.
I hear that theme kind of runtrue.
But it's just it is so true thatlike whatever you're prepared
for to take on, and the harderyou can take something on, the
easier everything else becomes.
(00:21):
And so like it's to me wayharder to think about sitting in
a hospital bed at the age of 70with heart issues and diabetes
than like the daily practices ofgoing for a walk and making the
right decisions with diet.
And like if you just have thatperspective that life is pretty
damn short, and I'll be 70before I know it, um, it's
(00:42):
coming.
Like, and there's no avoidingthat.
And so, like, what are the hardthings that I can choose every
day that are hard, but they'relike amazingly transformative
too.
Like, it was way harder for meto live with a weight on my
chest and like every day be likein this fierce state of like
anxiety, and that pressure wasway harder than anything that
I've chosen to do.
SPEAKER_00 (01:04):
Welcome to the House of Germar podcast, where
wellness starts within.
The House of Germans is alifestyle brand empowering women
to live all in through interiordesign and personal wellness.
We are a destination for womenready to reimagine what is
possible in their homes andlives and then create it.
(01:24):
We are honored to have you joinus on our mission to empower one
million women to live all in.
I am your host, Gene Collins,and I invite you to become
inspired by this week's guest.
Welcome to Hazard Jerm Rpodcast, where wellness starts
within.
I'm your host, Gene Collins, andtoday we have Matt Stern on, and
(01:44):
I am so excited to talk to Matt.
I actually just got introducedto him.
So I'm gonna learn, along witheverybody, about all the amazing
things that Matt does.
But first, we're gonna let Mattshare his story because his
story is really empowering, andthen we are going to dig into
wellness and his businesses.
And get ready, everybody.
I'm going to dig into hormonehealth with Matt.
(02:05):
And I am so excited to talk tohim.
So, Matt, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_01 (02:09):
Thanks, Gene.
So great to meet you today.
And yeah, I was looking forwardto this.
It's exciting.
SPEAKER_00 (02:13):
Oh, this is so fun.
So, just to give everybody anidea, I love to tell people kind
of how we get connected becauseI think it helps people
recognize that, you know, youshould always just ask for
certain things.
So, someone from Matt's teamreached out to me on LinkedIn to
connect with me on LinkedIn.
And I don't just say yes toanybody anymore because I found
it is Matt and I were talkingabout this, it's messing up my
LinkedIn algorithm because I'mgetting connected to people that
(02:38):
I don't really want to beconnected with.
And so LinkedIn keeps thinkingthat like that's who my target
audience is, and that's who Iwant to connect with and be
friends with.
So I don't automatically sayyes, and I do look into people
when they reach out and ask toget connected to me on LinkedIn.
And I started digging into Matta little bit, and I was like, oh
my goodness, not only am I happyto connect with you, but I was
like, I actually want to talk toyou.
(02:58):
I actually want you on mypodcast.
And I'm going to bring up onething that I watched the first
video that I watched on yourLinkedIn profile, and you are in
a pink shirt and you have abaseball hat on backwards,
hence, um, feel totallycomfortable wearing a baseball
hat.
And the whole thing is aboutyour why and the fact that your
toes are pink.
You had me at the why, and we'regonna dig into that a little bit
(03:20):
because your why about why youdo the things that you do, we're
gonna dig into that andwellness.
But before we do, on yourwebsite, everything about you,
it talks about how you went frombeing completely broke to
building, I don't want to getthe numbers wrong, people,$300
million in collectivebusinesses.
And by the way, folks, he's theCEO of the Stern Group and My
Start help.
(03:41):
So he's super successful.
Can you share a little bit aboutthat journey before we dig into
everything else?
SPEAKER_01 (03:47):
Hey, T Gene.
Yeah, um, happy to.
I uh, you know, like everyone, Ifeel like I'm still just kind of
starting and figuring out thisjourney, but I'm 20 years now
with perspective into buildingbusinesses, which is wild to
think about.
But yeah, I love that that firstvideo connected with you because
that that is where I'm at inthis phase in life, right?
(04:09):
This phase and this next phaseof you know being in your 40s
and having a family and nowtrying to restart companies in
this phase is completelydifferent than the previous
phases that I've been throughand the why shifts as well.
But now there's nothing elsethat gets me up in the morning
besides my daughter and myfamily.
So yeah, I think going back 20years, I guess a little further
(04:32):
than that, but coming out ofhigh school, I had everything
growing up.
You know, like when you thinkabout my my journey really
starts with being superprivileged, um, honestly.
And so, like most of mygratitude, I think, stems from
having two amazing parents thatloved me fully and raised me
with a lot of love andcompassion for other people.
And that's kind of, I think, thefoundation of how I was built.
(04:54):
But unfortunately, my dadbattled demons that we didn't
know about when I was a kid.
My dad at one point wasdiagnosed bipolar, and it
explained a lot of the thingsthat we dealt with as a family
as I grew up, where he would gothrough periods of uh just like
everything, you know, being ontop of the world, right?
And like everything beingamazing and then being then very
(05:16):
disconnected and guarded inthese kind of ups and downs that
he went through.
You could see it through overyears of that would pass and
like our family's history.
And it all came to kind of ahead.
My senior year of high school,he had seemingly, I you know,
what I've come to a conclusionnow is like been out of work for
a long time.
He had been an entrepreneur, hadcreated multiple businesses, but
(05:38):
was never very good at managinghis money.
And I think he had just oneventure on top of us buying a
home and re and doingconstruction on that home, which
he had no business managing,where he just got totally over
his head.
And he wound up taking out debtand my name, my mom's name,
obviously in his, and uh reallyburying our family in financial
(06:01):
debt.
And at that point, my parentssold the house and my mom and I
had nowhere to turn.
And I look at that kind of as mystarting point because we were
taken in by family friends.
My mom and I moved into a poolhouse that was about 300, 400
square feet, where some friendsof our family built a wall in
(06:21):
the middle of this pool houseand put put in a little like
kitchenette um where we had aplug-in stove, electric skillet.
And my mom and I moved in there,and that's where I spent my
freshman year of college.
So instead of going off toschool and you know, doing what
all my buddies were doing uh atall the big universities, I was
home living across the wall frommy mom.
(06:41):
And yeah, I've been back theresince, and it gives me chills,
uh, like literally brought me totears the second I walked down
this little road to the houseand saw the pool house.
And so I think the pool house iswhere I've kind of anchored
myself from uh like emotionalstrength perspective and said,
like, I'll never be back there,right?
Like that's where I, you know,I'll never be back there.
(07:04):
And from that moment forward, Icommitted myself to just doing
everything as well as I could doit.
Um, so working it my ass off,um, you know, getting a 4.0 in
school, I wound up getting afull ride to go to Cal Berkeley
and graduated from there, whichI never thought I would do.
And then, you know, that justthe way life works.
I had no idea what I wanted todo after.
(07:26):
I thought I was gonna be alawyer because that's what my
cousins did and thought that waskind of the path.
Like made sense to me.
I liked like critical thinking.
I liked uh speaking.
I I liked argumentation.
Uh, but like the actual thoughtof signing up for debt and
getting$200,000 in debt orwhatever law school was gonna
cost me uh when I had justgotten a full ride to go to
(07:46):
school and had worked my ass offto get through it without debt
made no sense to me.
So I was like, I'm gonna seewhat's out there.
And I wound up finding these,finding these guys.
There were four guys in anoffice in Soma, San Francisco.
And the CEO got on thewhiteboard, he was a cow guy
too, and just drew this diagramof the whiteboard.
He said, We're gonna build aplatform that understands the
lifetime value of a customerfrom the first time they see an
(08:09):
ad online to the last time theyinteract with that brand.
And from that, we're gonna havethe ability to optimize the
entire journey of a customeronline.
And I was like, I have no ideawhat that means, but that sounds
really cool.
I'm in.
You want what do you want me todo?
Um, and so they paid me 30 granda year and I was answering
phones, I was writing web copy,but I was working for the
(08:30):
founders of the company.
And that was like my MBA indigital marketing.
That's you know where I learnedit all because I got to see
literally what do you describefrom the advertising piece
through the call center, throughour merchant process, every
piece that goes into running adigital business or an
e-commerce business.
I was on the ground floor and wewent from zero to 60 million
over three years.
We were incredibly successful.
(08:51):
And so I got to see the companygo from four employees to a
hundred employees and zero tosixty million.
And overnight we were movingbuildings and we were going
through the whole like SiliconValley dream, right?
It was amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (09:00):
Yes.
And hopefully you got paid morethan 30 grand.
SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
No, no, not for a long time.
No, they paid me nothing, butlike it didn't matter because I
loved it so much.
I felt like I was a part ofsomething that was really
special.
And that's something that likenow in my new businesses, I
really want to create for thepeople that I'm bringing on
board because I can feel how howspecial that energy was when we
were just like 24 and trying toprove ourselves and like we're
willing to do whatever it takesto make that business
(09:25):
successful, is really powerful.
Um, yeah, eventually I made moremoney, but like it was it was
years into it before like Ireally earned significantly
more, like what would be whatwould be a living wage today.
Because but we just loved it andwe were all invested in the
business.
We were all rolling together,and it was really exciting and
fun.
And then 2009, I had theopportunity to go out on my own
and start my own um business,and that's what I did.
(09:48):
So at 27, I started my firstcompany um with an incredible
business partner who was amentor to me and kind of like
big brother to me.
We did that for nine years, uh,where we invested in companies
and grew businesses using ourstrength in digital marketing.
And that's where that$300million number comes from,
right?
It's like we continually usedour expertise in growth
(10:09):
marketing to latch on tobusinesses where we thought they
had incredible potential, butdidn't really know what they
were doing from a digitalexecution perspective.
And that's what we had.
We had a team of experts thatwere at one point, like 20 folks
that were experts at what theydid in digital growth.
And we continue to replicatethat business by business.
And that's been the formula thatI've continued to grow and and
(10:30):
build from.
So that brings us forward totoday and and what we're doing
with my start.
And yeah, it's been a it's beena ride.
It's wild to think about.
SPEAKER_00 (10:39):
And I love that.
And there's so many things thatyou said that are so
interesting, you know.
A, which is you started outhaving no idea where you were
going, which I can trulyappreciate because so many of us
don't.
And so many people asentrepreneurs, we ebb and flow
and we grow and we getinterested in different things
and we change paths and we startstuff and we stop stuff and we
(11:00):
start stuff and we start stuff.
And you know, that's kind ofwhat we do as entrepreneurs.
I'm on, like, as someone said tome the other day, you keep
reinventing yourself.
And I was like, I don't know ifthat's a compliment or not.
I'm not sure.
I don't really know.
SPEAKER_01 (11:12):
That's a big time compliment.
SPEAKER_00 (11:14):
I kind of feel like I'm on, you know, business
number five in five years.
SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
But I relate to that too.
Yeah.
My wife used to say I wasstarting a new business every
week.
And I was like, I'm not startinga new business every week, but I
am so interested in businessthat I was always like into
different things and likeresearching and going deep on
different topics, really tryingto figure out where I wanted to
go deep.
But to her, on the surface, itlooked like I was, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:39):
It looked like you always were.
Yes.
Well, then you also talk aboutlike really understanding
something that you're reallygood at and then like diving all
in with something that you'rereally good at and something
that you're really passionateabout bringing to the
marketplace, which I think as anentrepreneur is so important.
And I think as soon as you arenot passionate about it or it
doesn't spark that within you,then it is time to move on to do
(12:00):
something else.
Because that passion is whathelps entrepreneurs grow
businesses and attract the rightenergy to bring the right
customers and the rightopportunity to them.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
I think that's really well said.
Yeah.
And I think that's still untilthis point, like until this
latest business, which we'll getinto and talk about, I think
that was still really lackingfor me in a lot of the other
businesses.
They were so driven by, like wetalked about in the beginning,
the why of like making money andproving myself and never living
in the pool house again.
And like that whole fear factorthat drove me from a financial
(12:31):
perspective wasn't also steeredtowards building businesses that
had a lot of value creation inthe world and businesses that I
felt super passionate about.
It was like, didn't matter.
It was like we can sell it, sowe're gonna do it.
And it led us down a path ofcreating a lot of transactional
success, but I would say not alot of internal, what I would
call success.
SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
Yes, yes, and it's so important.
Now, your daughter, is she inkindergarten?
Am I getting that called?
SPEAKER_01 (12:59):
Almost.
Almost.
We got one more year of pre-K.
She's four and a half.
SPEAKER_00 (13:03):
Okay.
All right.
So she's she's getting there.
Oh my goodness.
So pre-K is still, she's out ofthe house for a couple of days.
SPEAKER_01 (13:08):
No, it's full schedule.
They're they're game on.
Yeah, these, yeah, these pre-K'sin San Francisco.
They're yeah, not messingaround.
Yeah, I love that.
Two working parents, we're fulltime.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:17):
Oh my goodness.
That is so good.
You know what?
And honestly, she needs it.
It's so good for her.
Now, when did you start yourcompany, My Start?
My Start Health.
When did you start that?
SPEAKER_01 (13:27):
I started working on it last June.
Um, we launched last August, sowe're officially like what past
the one year mark, which I thinkis really exciting.
And we have a ton of momentumright now.
So it's yeah, we're hitting thislike inflection point that is
extremely exciting.
So now it becomes less of likethe fear factor of is this gonna
(13:47):
work?
to like, okay, how do we reallymake it successful?
Um, and we're like on the vergeof taking that next leap, and
I'm loving it.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:56):
I love that.
Yeah.
Before we talk about what it is,what made you, or let me
rephrase this.
What's the correlation betweenbecoming a father, becoming a
parent, and moving this shiftinto wellness and everything
else that we're gonna talkabout?
SPEAKER_01 (14:13):
Wow.
Well, the wellness journey forme started really when my dad
got sick.
He he passed away when he was 64and I was 27.
So my wellness journey and myconnection to my health really
started that, where I reallyshifted everything and was like,
I'm not gonna go down that pathbecause his was all tied to not
being healthy and not havingaccess really, I'd say, to
(14:34):
health care that he wasconnected to that could actually
move the needle for him.
So that's always been there forme for the last 17 years, call
it.
Um like a long time, like right,where I've really cared.
But the connection to having achild takes it to a whole nother
level where like now you wantto, at least for me, I want to
be here forever.
Like I want to live to 120because I want to go through all
(14:57):
of this.
I want to see it all for her,right?
I I want to be here and do itall.
Um, so yeah, I mean, getting upand working out in the morning
and caring about that reallymatters.
And then creating something thathas lasting value in the world
as well, I think is hugelyconnected to having a child
because you start to realizethat like you want to have
something to leave behind, asomething that's a legacy that
(15:20):
she can point to and be proud ofas well.
Like, my dad built this and likethat's really cool.
And hopefully it inspires her,right, to go and do great things
and be brave and try things.
And so, yeah, I think that'stied to everything that I'm
doing.
SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Which I love.
And so thank you for answeringthat because I think the way
that you answered it just says alot about you as a human being.
And I've seen the video and Iunderstand your why because
I've, you know, done a bunch ofresearch on you and feel
connected and that I know youalready.
But I think the way you answeredthat said so much.
And I'm gonna summarize it foreverybody.
And I encourage you all to goand follow Matt on LinkedIn and
(15:58):
Instagram and go find the videowith him in the pink shirt and
the pink toes.
And because you said two thingsabout your why, which is why
it's so resonated with mepersonally, and the why has
moved to family and freedom.
And so I feel like everythingthat we talked about before we
even started recording so alignswith family and freedoms and
(16:20):
really doing things that aregiving back to others.
And yes, you make a living, youwant to make a living, you need
to make a lot of money.
That's all really important.
But feeling purpose-driven withthose businesses, I find is such
an incredible pivot forentrepreneurs that pivot into
that space.
So I thank you for answeringthat because you gave a glimpse
(16:42):
into you as a person and the wayyou answered it.
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
Thank you.
I appreciate your acknowledgingthat.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:47):
Yeah, which is so good.
All right.
So let's talk about thisbusiness.
Like, how did this all start?
SPEAKER_01 (16:53):
Yeah, this business is really I call it the
culmination of everything I'veever done in business and in
life.
It really is something that Icouldn't have done 10 years ago.
Uh, I couldn't have done it 15years ago.
The market was arguably there.
Um, but my readiness, I think,as a leader and business person
(17:14):
wasn't there.
This business really evolved outof what I had spoken about
earlier, that I had all thisexperience in e-commerce and in
building what I would call MeToo businesses.
Like, you have a great idea, wehave a competitive product, I
can just sell it better than youand compete you, I'll compete
you on advertising and media.
So we're gonna like do that overand over again and replicate
(17:35):
that formula because it worksand we can win.
And so we did that verysuccessfully for many years.
And then I actually got a tasteof kind of the healthcare
telehealth world in thatbusiness as well, where we had
started a company in that spaceand it didn't work.
But what I found through thatfailure was that the application
of what we do, what I say we do,like what I do from a digital
(17:58):
marketing perspective to anyindustry, I felt like was most
powerfully displayed in thehealthcare industry.
Because you have an industrythat's historically completely
broken in terms of like theamount of money that we spend on
healthcare, the outcomes that itcreates, and the amount of
inefficiency that just acrossthe board is happening in the
(18:21):
healthcare ecosystem.
And so what I found was ourability to spend money on the
internet and really efficientlymeasure that against patient
outcomes was the most powerfulthing that like industry, I'd
say that we could apply thatkind of math and science to.
And in doing it, then getting aproduct where you can also
(18:41):
create incredible healthoutcomes to me just amplifies
the value creation that you havein that marketplace.
So when I said it's aculmination, it's like, okay, we
have this great ability to goout and market and acquire
people.
We have a completely inefficientand like broken system.
And then we have a product thatabsolutely changes people's
(19:03):
lives.
And when I found that, it wasthis light bulb moment for me
that I needed to get back intohealthcare.
And I kind of like also had thisopportunity because I saw other
people that had similar skillsets to me jumping into the
space.
And so it kind of touched onwhat I said before.
It's like, oh, well, I can stillout-compete you for the exact
(19:23):
same thing.
And I can see what you're doing,and this is an incredible
product.
And the incredible product isGLP1 weight loss products, like
these medications.
I saw changing family andfriends' lives all around me.
And these incredible stories ofpeople like one of my best
friends sat across from me atChristmas dinner and was like,
you could tell there was like alittle energy about him, and he
(19:46):
was like excited, and I waslike, What's going on?
And he was like, I gotta tellyou, I'm on your stuff.
And I was like, No way.
That's amazing.
And it literally, like, he'stried everything, right?
To like be healthy, lose weight,and and these medications gave
him a new lease on life wherehe's got two young kids, and
he's like, I I thought I wasnever gonna make it.
Like, I didn't think there wasany way to get past this, and
(20:07):
now I have hope and you couldsee it.
And then it sparks momentum inhis life, and he's walking every
day and changes life.
So, like when I saw those thingshappening around me, and then I
saw the opportunity to build abusiness with it, it was like, I
have to do this.
SPEAKER_00 (20:19):
Yes.
And I have to say, when I wentto your website, I was like, ah
the concept of Ozempic andtaking these medications to lose
weight, I think started out witha lot of stigma, sort of as
like, oh, you're gonna cheatyour way towards it.
And I would at least say where Ilive now, it is commonplace.
People are talking about iteverywhere because you know,
(20:42):
it's like it's accepted thatsometimes you need help.
And this isn't cheating.
And the people who really diveinto it, they start to lose
weight and then they just theyfeel better about themselves,
they start making smarterchoices, they start embracing
wellness in its totality.
Like wellness looks like for youand I, and we're gonna talk
about that too.
But it is, I've seen it changeso many people's lives, and
(21:05):
people are now, and I'm happyfor this, willing to say that
yes, that's how they got thehelp they needed because I think
it takes the stigma off of it,which we need as a society.
SPEAKER_01 (21:15):
100%.
Yeah, there's so many areas fromI mean, we can go mental health
to right to Ozempic, but likethere's so many stigmas that are
just absolute bullshit in ourworld today that are based on
old stuff that like as a societywe have to let go of and just
get real about like what mattersin this world, what matters in
our lives, and and surroundourselves with that.
(21:36):
So yeah, I think this is one ofthose things, and we'll go into
the next one that I think islike so topical for where where
that like old stigma has beenand how it's just completely
bullshit.
SPEAKER_00 (21:48):
Yes, it so is.
So let's dig into that becausewhen we first got on, I asked
you kind of like what's comingup, what's important, what do
you want to make sure we talkabout?
And you started going down thiswhole road, and I was like, oh
my goodness, we can absolutelytalk about hormone replacement
therapy, we can talk aboutmenopause.
I am so in perimenopause,menopause.
I talk about it.
(22:09):
I've posted videos about itbecause I truly believe now that
I am like in the middle of it,this is a subject that once
again has a stigma, is notdiscussed enough, people don't
talk about it, and there are toomany women that are out there
going through this journeyalone.
And I am so happy that there arepeople like you, plus a lot of
the people that you know that westarted talking about that are
(22:29):
really trying to bring thissubject to the forefront and
help women feel empowered todeal with this stage of life
that is natural and it ishappening, and you shouldn't
have to suffer.
So talk to me about where youare excitingly trying to take
your business next.
SPEAKER_01 (22:46):
Yeah, and talk about an area where the experts have
just completely gotten it wrongfor the last 30 years.
And I look at my mom'sexperience in aging.
Um, my mom's 77 now and has um abunch of things, but the
osteoporosis that she deals withis like top of mind.
When I finally started learningthis stuff, I was like, that's
(23:08):
it.
Like that was so preventable.
But she was in the 90s a part ofthat whole evolution of people
telling women that hormonetherapy causes cancer.
And so there's no way she had noaccess.
She had the she had doctorstelling her that it would cause
cancer, so not even an option.
And yeah, it's just wild.
So what I've seen in kind ofthis evolution of the business
(23:31):
is uh most mostly women aredrawn to the GLP1 weight loss
products that we have.
So we have like a population offive, six thousand patients
right now in my start.
And of those, about 85% of themare women uh between the ages of
35 and 70.
Um, the average age is in the intheir 50s.
And so when I started to thinkabout other things that would be
beneficial to their longevityand to their lifespan, hormone
(23:54):
therapy just started rising tothe surface.
And this has been probably thelast six months that I've been
paying attention to it.
And as I started to payattention to it, I started to
see that the experts that areout there on the topic are
really women like yourself thathave been through it, that can
share their stories because thedoctors still don't know.
Right.
They're still lost in like theold traditional medical world
(24:15):
that like doesn't want toacknowledge that this is a
thing.
And then it came, slap me likeright in the face, besides the
story about my mom, it slappedme right in the face with my
wife, who had our daughter fourand a half years ago and has
battled ever since to get herbrain and her body back and has
been to doctors and has multipletimes done blood work, and the
(24:36):
doctor comes back and says,You're great, you're healthy.
And she's like, No, not no, I'mnot sleeping well.
I I don't have my brain back, Idon't feel like myself.
I don't know about like, no,that's not the answer.
And so it took her going throughthis journey of talking to a lot
of different alternative healthexperts and finally finding a
(24:57):
doctor that would come alongsideher and partner with her.
And it took her two years tofind that solution.
And now I'm sitting herelearning like what I'm actually
getting it.
It's like it's clicking for me.
And I'm realizing that it's it'sher, it's my mom, it's every
woman that I'm connected to isgoing through this experience.
And the only way you can getaccess to education about what
(25:20):
matters is by being on TikTok orbeing on Instagram and like
listening to the stories ofother people.
So I think we have an incrediblebusiness opportunity in this
space, but more so, I think it'sjust something that is coming.
Like it's the next, in my mind,revolution that's going to
happen for women's health.
And I want to be a part of it.
(25:40):
However, I can, you know,empower women to be the experts
on the topic.
I think I've been critical ofother telehealth businesses, and
then I'll stop talking for asecond.
But I've been critical of othertelehealth businesses because
they're like buy men for menbusinesses.
SPEAKER_00 (25:53):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (25:54):
Like you have hims and hers.
And it's like okay, the hersthing they strapped on later.
You have row.co now, which, youknow, got this big publication
with Serena Williams recentlyabout her being on GLP1s and her
husband being on the board ofthe company.
But like that company when itstarted was one of my biggest
competitors.
It was called Roman.
And it was black and red, blackand red branding.
(26:14):
And like it was by men, for men.
It was a son and father thatstarted it, and it was all men's
products.
And it was like, then theyrebranded as Ro to like soften
it up and make it like, youknow, for women too.
You know, I think my start hasthe opportunity to really be a,
you know, I'm not like obviouslyit's I created a company, but I
think it really has anopportunity to be for women, by
(26:35):
women, and like bring in expertson the topic that can really
empower and really createcontent and community around
these topics that really matterfor women.
And if I can build thetechnology and empower them with
the platform to do it, like thatwould be a home run for me.
SPEAKER_00 (26:49):
I am personally so excited for you.
Because I have to tell you, itis, I and I will just personally
share, it is such a challengingjourney.
And I am fortunate that I have agynecologist that's like all
into hormone replacementtherapy.
He has patients in their 70s and80s who are still on it.
However, it is still really ajourney because not everybody's
(27:12):
the same.
And I tell him what's happeningwith me, and he's like, You're
doing great.
And I'm like, why am I havingthis battle with my body still?
If I'm not, I don't feel likeI'm doing great.
And he's like, You are, you'redoing great.
And so now I am on that journeyof trying to investigate what
else should I be doing?
What else should I be trying?
I've I've hired a nutritionist,I've done so many different
(27:33):
things, but I still ampersonally having a battle with
my body.
And I know so many women thatare in this same space, and it's
just really hard to know whereto go to get the right
information because as you'resaying, it's you're getting
information from Instagram andTikTok, really, because which
you're being told you shouldn't.
SPEAKER_01 (27:52):
Yes, but you're like, there's like no one else,
there's nothing else.
So, like, I'm gonna trust otherwomen that have been through it
the way I've been through it,and like that exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (28:01):
Yeah, and that's it.
And and I will tell you, theother normally male dominated
industry, which is actuallybecoming a very large problem
for women, and just uh if youhaven't heard this yet, hair
loss.
Women hair loss.
Like, I cannot even tell youwhat happens after 45 with that.
And that is a subject that isvery rarely spoken about for
(28:24):
women, but yet is a reallycommon problem for women.
And it's deemed as a whole maleindustry where women feel so
self-conscious and so terrible.
Like, I have hair extensions asa result of it, and I tell
everyone, like, this is this ismy hair because I paid for it.
But, you know, all these issuesare serious issues for women,
and our health system is nothelping women by giving them a
(28:47):
network and ways that they canfind out the truths or more
truth.
SPEAKER_01 (28:51):
I think my take on that today, and I welcome your
input.
My take on that today is thatthe hormone piece will help, I
think, get ahead of some of thehair stuff.
Because hair, as like anindustry or hair loss and hair
growth as an industry hasn'treally changed that much in the
last 20 years.
Like it's kind of the samemedications that are prescribed.
So I'm hopeful that the hormonepiece helps, like, right?
(29:13):
It kind of is something thatempowers you to hold on to some
of that into later years of yourlife where you start it earlier
and you get ahead of it whenyou're going through this shift
in parametopause, that likegoing into menopause, then it's
not as impactful.
Um, but I do think there's somecool solutions that are kind of
combining different therapiesthat have been out there for the
last 20 years that we can makeavailable, we will make
(29:34):
available through our platform.
But that's a really good insightby you.
SPEAKER_00 (29:38):
Yeah, which is exciting.
I just know for me personally,like I didn't even know there
were medications I could starttaking.
And all of a sudden someonestarted telling me about some of
them.
And I was like, I thought thatwas only for men.
And they're like, oh no, it'slike a whole new thing.
And I was like, so where do youeven?
I, you know, and I was like, Iconsider myself pretty well
educated, you know, like I'm apretty well educated.
(30:00):
Person and I have access topretty well educated people.
And yet here I am, up until sixmonths ago, had no idea and
didn't even know what questionsto ask, or that this was even
part of the hormonal process,that he was even tied together.
And so it just as you're talkingabout trying to bring this to
the masses, I'm just thinking tomyself, I am a case study of one
that's here to say I'm a reallywell-educated person.
(30:22):
I have access to a lot ofinformation.
And yet I still don't feel likeI have enough access to enough
education and enough facts andenough science and enough
resources.
Because even here, it is reallyhard from a hormone perspective.
If you want to go see a hormonespecialist, it's even really
hard to find one that will takeyou here.
SPEAKER_01 (30:43):
Right.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (30:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which is really hard.
SPEAKER_01 (30:46):
I think we're we're in a little bit of a bubble,
right?
And being in San Francisco andright next to Marine County,
like there's a ton.
Even then, it's hard to find onethat you really like connect to
and that gets you and that willget you like on the right
journey.
So I think what you said in thebeginning that women's health is
complicated and there's no onesolution for everyone.
I think that's the businesschallenge that we're taking on.
(31:08):
Um, is that we're gonna have toget really personalized and
understand how we literally getdown to the individual patient
level and how we're prescribingand how we're kind of moving
people through their differentprograms.
Yes.
Um, that's a big businesschallenge that we're gonna take
on.
But yeah, I mean, access acrossthe country is minimal.
SPEAKER_00 (31:26):
Minimal.
Oh, yeah, right.
We live in big metropolitanareas.
So we have more access than mostpeople do.
SPEAKER_01 (31:32):
Yeah, imagine the rest of the country.
It's not there.
Um, so the education is zeroonline.
It's starting to come, like it'sstarting to bubble up, like you
and I were talking about beforewe hopped on.
Um you're seeing the FDA holdpanels with women experts and
like so it's the topics arestarting to bubble up to the
mainstream, but even so, likethey're not being covered by
what I would say.
(31:53):
Like, I guess we just sat an SFexaminer article here locally um
talking about hormonereplacement therapy.
So it's getting there, it's it'sbubbling up, but you know,
there's still a ton of space.
SPEAKER_00 (32:03):
It is a long way to go.
I am excited to see where youare going to take it for sure.
And I'm happy to become acustomer.
SPEAKER_01 (32:11):
Let's do it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:12):
Let's do it.
Okay.
So we're going to be able to dothat.
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
We're gonna have to get you a little more than that.
A little more.
We gotta get you like in thecommunity.
We gotta get you helping otherwomen.
I gotta figure that piece out.
Maybe you can help me.
SPEAKER_00 (32:21):
Happy to help.
You know, I am I really it hasbeen one of the greatest gifts
to start a podcast and really beable to connect with people and
just really help people haveaccess to information and to
ideas and to getting inspired bywhat other people are doing
because the internet is a bigspace and there are so many
people out there on theinternet.
And so sometimes finding thatperson who you can connect with,
(32:43):
who you can help is harder todo.
So I feel um very grateful tohave a public platform to be
able to do that with.
So happy to be a part ofanything that you do.
So thank you.
I would also love to talk aboutwellness for you because I think
it is important for people who,you know, kind of see people
like yourself and myself, andyeah, we look healthy and we
(33:04):
exercise and we have these greatbusinesses and we're successful.
And but one thing that I thinkeveryone that I've found that is
like yourself and myself, andmany of my guests, is that
wellness is an absolute priorityin life.
It is a non-negotiable.
And I think it's important toshare what my individual guests
do for wellness to show peoplethat everybody's got different
(33:26):
ideas of wellness and you got topick what works for you.
So could you mind sharing alittle bit?
What does wellness look like foryou personally to take care of
yourself?
SPEAKER_01 (33:36):
Yeah, uh, absolutely.
When I'm journaling consistentconsistently, which is not
consistent these days, but whenI'm consistent, it's one of the
first things I write down that Iam exercising and meditating.
I'm quote, doing something everyday.
And doing something every day tome was like something that was
created probably 10 years agowhen business was really like
(33:59):
busy and like there was everyexcuse in the world to not
prioritize my health.
I basically created someacceptance of if I can do 20
minutes a day, I can check thatbox.
And it was actually it maybeless than 10 years ago.
I for the first time had like atracking watch.
Yes.
Um, I had a Fit, I had a Fitbit.
There was a whole backgroundstory around why I never wore
(34:20):
watches, and like the Fitbitbecame something that my wife
made me wear because I needed analarm clock that didn't wake her
up when I wanted to get up.
So I started wearing a Fitbit.
Um, but what the Fitbit does,it's really cool, is like it
literally checks that box foryou.
So like if you do 20 minutes,check like on the app and on the
watch, it does that.
And I thought that was reallycool to like inspire people to
(34:41):
like count it.
Like I think people get toocritical about I need to go for
an hour or I need to do twohours or I need you know like
for it to matter.
And the reality is if you get upand move and do something for 20
minutes, like you can create aton of momentum around your
health because the 20 minutesturns into 30 minutes, and then
you have a day where you havemore time and you do an hour,
like it all kind of compounds inhow I look at wellness and
(35:04):
health.
And I've just seen it over andover again as I've trained for
races, uh, running races or bikeraces or triathons.
Like it just, it's all aboutcompounding effort.
And to me, it applies toeverything that I do, right?
It's my relationships, it's mybusiness.
It's like compounding effort isthe like epitome of how I'm
wired.
So it really started there forme when my dad got sick and I
(35:27):
felt like I had to make myhealth a priority.
I started signing up for races,and that would force me to just
commit a little bit of time allthe time to build up to that
moment.
And now I don't need that.
I don't need that like thingholding over my head.
It definitely helps when I justput something on the calendar.
But every day I'm doingsomething that makes my mind and
body stronger.
SPEAKER_00 (35:46):
Can we talk about breath work for a minute and the
role breath work has played inyour life because it's one of my
favorite life-changing thingsthat I got introduced to this
year.
And I love any guest who hasgotten involved in breath work
to share what breath work meansto them and what they do.
SPEAKER_01 (36:01):
Yeah.
Life changer.
I had a friend, uh, JimmySpencer, also very successful
executive um in the sportsspace, and he had sent me uh the
Wim Hof app.
And I'm always like you, itseems like trying different
things and biohacking and liketrying to feel like what feels
best for me.
(36:22):
And I just committed to, he wasdoing it and he was sending me
like his stats.
And so I'm very competitive.
Um, and I was like, okay, I'mjust gonna, I'm gonna try it,
right?
Because Wim Hof lends itselfperfectly to that.
It's 30 breaths in and out, andthen you hold your breath and
you see how long you can hold itfor.
And then what you find is whenyou go to round two and round
three, you can hold itexpansively more.
(36:44):
And then if you're consistentover weeks, like it continues to
compound.
Like we said, your ability andyour to manage your lungs, but
it's really your brain, right?
Your ability to shut off and bepresent, I've found is the best
form of meditation that I cando.
Um, when you're holding yourbreath and you have no lifeline
and you just have to be stilland be focused.
(37:06):
Like if you do it for 30 secondsor you do it for a minute, or
like I've gotten up to twominutes at a time in moments
when I'm like rolling, I can getover two minutes.
And like those two minutes areso focused and so still that
like it's the best meditationyou can get.
So wow, like I started gettinganxiety when I was 18, 19, going
(37:27):
to Berkeley.
Like it was overwhelming to mehow smart all these people were
and how much work I had to doand how to reading it, like
totally overwhelmed me.
SPEAKER_00 (37:34):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (37:35):
It's probably anxiety I had my whole life, but
like it really bubbled up andwas paralyzing in that stage in
life.
And I got on Xanax and thatmanaged it.
And then through like my earlystages of my career, I just
leaned on medication and itnever fully went away, but it
was manageable.
And then I started breath worknow, like three, four years ago,
(37:56):
pretty consistently, and it'sgone.
Like it'll bubble up.
Like I'll I'll go throughstressful times and that anxiety
bubbles up.
But if I go back into just thefoundations of like, I'm gonna
do breath work in the morning,I'm gonna get into like, yeah,
at some point in the day, I'mgonna get into it.
Wow, I can control it, I canmanage it.
And I haven't been on medicationin years.
(38:16):
So powerful.
SPEAKER_00 (38:17):
It's just amazing, amazing.
And it's nervous systemregulation, is what it really
is.
And what I love about what youjust talked about, two things.
The first thing is you're nottalking about having to sit down
for half an hour in dead silenceto meditate in order to get
benefits of nervous systemregulation and the power of
breath to be able to controlanxiety and control what's going
(38:38):
on and reduce your stress.
You're talking minutes that youcan do absolutely anywhere.
There's no no equipmentrequired, right?
Like you can do it anywhere,anytime.
SPEAKER_01 (38:48):
He has a video on YouTube that's absolutely free
that walks you through it.
I pay$60 a year for the app,which I feel like is a
no-brainer.
SPEAKER_00 (38:55):
It's still a bargain.
Yeah.
But like you can be sitting on aplane.
The person next to you doesn'teven need to know what's going
on.
You could just be doing it.
SPEAKER_01 (39:01):
And it's a little weird.
SPEAKER_00 (39:02):
They might think it's a little weird, but who
cares?
SPEAKER_01 (39:04):
I see people on the beef like they're like, I know
what they're doing, but I don'tthat's okay though.
SPEAKER_00 (39:10):
That I think is good.
That you and you have a video onone of your platforms, you
actually have a video of youbreathing, which I think is
great.
And so I think it's soimportant.
And it's something that is sosimple that a lot of people
don't try.
And I just found breath work,you know, almost a year ago.
And I said, I never realized Ididn't know how to breathe.
I did not know how to breatheproperly.
(39:31):
And it has been a game changerin terms of that.
So the other thing you said isit like when you are holding
your breath, you it is thegreatest form of meditation
because you really I find when Ido that and I hold my breath,
even if it's 30 seconds or aminute, is kind of like where I
sort of start to max out.
But I am so focused on holdingmy breath.
And when I do it, I'm so focusedon connecting to what I am
(39:54):
feeling in my body that there isno other thought going on.
There is nothing else.
And so it is the beginning ofreally being able to learn how
to meditate.
If you can first learn how tobreathe properly, it makes
meditation that much easierbecause meditation, at least for
me, is not about not thinking.
(40:15):
It's about having a thought andletting it go and learning how
to have that happen.
And it's not to say that whileyou're sitting there holding
your breath, you're notthinking, like, oh my God, is
this over?
Is this over?
Are we there yet?
You know, because you might be.
Like, is when are they gonnasay?
When's the timer gonna go off?
But it's about learning to letit go and just really dial in.
SPEAKER_01 (40:34):
I would just add that just for people like
listening to our conversation,that also it's not easy.
Like it sounds simple, but toactually commit to it every day
and go through the like threerounds, even one round, right?
Like, and it's not easy.
I fall out of it all the time.
Like, I know it's the best thingI can possibly do with that like
eight minutes that I have, but Istill don't do it sometimes
(40:55):
because it it's like challengingto get settled and get in that
space and go through it.
It's like physically a challengetoo.
I I think, at least for me,that's my experience of it.
And meditation, same thing,right?
Like it gets frustrating assomeone who's competitive to be
like, I can't just it, but it'sexactly what you said.
It's the ability to reconnect tothat stillness and let the
(41:15):
thoughts go and that practice ofjust consistently failing and
then reconnecting and failingand reconnecting and failing and
reconnecting.
And that's been my framing thatI've gotten and to enjoy
meditation a lot more has beenthat acceptance of failure and
restarting as as like a themethat just runs through
everything that we do in life.
SPEAKER_00 (41:36):
Right, exactly.
Don't expect perfection.
And also you talk about this, Ithink, somewhere online
somewhere, I'm not sure where,but I remember hearing you talk
about picking your hard, right?
Like what's gonna be your hardthing that you're gonna do
today?
Like, what is the hard thing?
And maybe it is breath work foreight minutes or three minutes
or five minutes, and maybe it isfinding half an hour to go for a
(41:56):
walk and just, you know.
But I think having a commitmentevery day to doing something
that is for your personalwellness that might not be, you
know, easy.
It doesn't have to beexhausting.
Like you don't have to be on thefloor dead after a half an hour
run, but just finding somethingthat stretches you, whether it's
stretching your time, stretchingyou mentally, stretching you
physically, I think is a reallygood thing to do because then it
(42:19):
makes everything else just alittle easier.
SPEAKER_01 (42:21):
That's it.
Right.
Then that's that's the thingthat really registered with me
with the choose your hard kindof like mentality.
And I've now I've I feel likeI've gotten hit with a lot of
that from like top thinkers inthe like personal development
space.
They I hear that theme kind ofrun true.
But it's just it is so true thatlike whatever you're prepared
for to take on, and the harderyou can take something on, the
(42:44):
easier everything else becomes.
And so like it's to me wayharder to think about sitting in
a hospital bed at the age of 70with heart issues and diabetes
than like the daily practices ofgoing for a walk and making the
right decisions with diet.
And like, if you just have thatperspective that life is pretty
damn short and I'll be 70 beforeI know it, um, it's coming.
(43:08):
Like, and there's no avoidingthat.
And so, like, what are the hardthings that I can choose every
day that are hard, but they'relike amazingly transformative
too.
Like, it was way harder for meto live with a weight on my
chest and like every day be likein this fear state of like
anxiety and and yeah, thatpressure was way harder than
anything that I've chosen to do.
SPEAKER_00 (43:29):
Yes, yes.
So, talking about hard, I havetwo more questions, and then
you've taken you've given us somuch of your time, so thank you.
But two more questions.
If someone's listening to us andthey are just thinking, you
know, I am struggling withweight, I'm struggling with
anxiety, I am struggling withhormones, I'm struggling with my
mental health, I'm strugglingwith my job, I'm struggling, and
they feel like they'restruggling in every area of
(43:50):
life.
And you and I just casually talkabout all these things that we
do, it can be a little bitoverwhelming for people.
Yeah.
So based on your life experienceand your professional
experience, if someone were tochoose one thing to start today,
what would that one thing be tohelp them with their personal
wellness?
SPEAKER_01 (44:08):
A daily walk.
To me, it's the simplest.
It's like put on somethingpositive that you love to listen
to in your headphones, grab ontoany of the amazing thinkers that
are out there, whether it's likeBrandon Bouchard or Tony Robbins
or Mel Robbins, like there'sjust there's so many incredible
(44:29):
thinkers out there on like thestate of being a positive human
in the world, and like grab ontosomething positive or a book
that you love, put it in yourears and start to walk.
And I think like that dailypractice of creating space for
yourself and putting positivityinto your ears for a moment,
whether it's 10, 15, 20 minutes,whatever you can do, I think
(44:50):
will create those initial stepsthat you need.
SPEAKER_00 (44:53):
I couldn't agree more.
And it's about making yourself apriority in your own life, which
is something that is um so hardto do for a lot of people.
And that's something I'm verypassionate about trying to help
women find is find themselveswithin their own lives, because
a lot of women lose themselvesin their lives, especially as
they start to get older.
Um and so it's learning to pauseand find even the smallest
(45:14):
moments of time, whether it's 20minutes, half an hour, 15, 10,
whatever it is, somewhere in thelife that you make yourself the
center and the priority and haveit tie to your wellness, I think
is the greatest place to start.
So I'm so glad you said that asyour answer.
So thank you.
Absolutely.
So before I let you go, I alwaysask all my guests if there is a
book that they would like torecommend, booker books that
(45:34):
they would like to recommend, oran author that they recommend
that has changed or impactedthemselves personally and
professionally, because I'm atrue believer that books can
inspire and change lives.
So, what book, books, authorwould you like to recommend
people check out?
SPEAKER_01 (45:47):
Yeah, that's a good one.
Um I I think my brain turns toRyan Holliday.
SPEAKER_00 (45:53):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (45:53):
He not just from a book perspective, he's written a
ton of books, um, but he has twonewsletters that I just tie to
daily.
That one's called The Daily Dadand the other one's called The
Daily Stoic.
And so, like, if you have threeminutes, I don't know, in a to
like get his email, um I lovethat because it gives you a
theme that like you can connectto in in the day.
(46:16):
And I love the Daily Dad onetoo, because it ties into those
stoic principles.
Uh, the last book I read of hisis Ego is the enemy.
And I think that one I flewthrough because it just ties to
so many of the principles that Istand on.
My, you know, my principles arelike being self-aware and like
(46:37):
checking your ego at the door.
Um, you know, so self-awarenessand emotional intelligence are
the two pillars that I've builtmy entire life on.
And that's what he's preachingnonstop, right?
Is that all these great leadersthat have come before us and
people that have changed theworld uh were all about what can
I do for others and how can I beof service.
And, you know, I think that'sit.
(46:59):
That's and he's just every dayproducing content that speaks to
that, which I think is superimpressive.
SPEAKER_00 (47:06):
Yeah.
And I think that's so important.
I think when you start doingthings, yes, we all need to make
money, we all need to have acareer, we all want to be making
an impact.
But I think when you start doingthings from the heart, it shows
and it comes through yourpassion for trying to help
people and empower people andyour commitment to wellness and
health.
It it shines through as youspeak.
So I thank you so much forsharing that.
(47:28):
I am so excited for where yourbusiness is going.
We will absolutely stayconnected.
I'll put in the show notes everyway that everybody can follow
you, get connected with you, seeabout your businesses, and I
hope everybody will follow andlike and subscribe to your
newsletters and followeverything that you're doing.
And I thank you so much, Matt,for all the time and for making
this work and for letting mewear a baseball hat because I am
(47:49):
going to go out for a walk afterthis.
So therefore, I'm wearing andyou have a hat.
You always have a hat onInstagram and stuff.
So I love that.
So thank you, Matt, so much foryour time.
And it's an honor to get to meetyou.
So thank you for being on theshow and wishing you all the
best.
SPEAKER_01 (48:02):
Thank you so much.
It was great to meet you, andI'm excited to continue our
conversations.
SPEAKER_00 (48:06):
Thank you.
Have a great day.
We'll stay in touch.
Thank you for joining us foranother episode of the House of
Germar podcast, where wellnessstarts within.
We appreciate you being a partof our community and hope you
felt inspired and motivated byour guests.
If you enjoyed this episode,please write us a review and
(48:26):
share it with friends.
Building our reach on YouTubeand Apple Podcasts will help us
get closer to our mission toempower one million women to
live all in.
You can also follow us onInstagram at House of Jurmar and
sign up to be a part of ourmonthly inspiration newsletter
to our website,houseofgermark.com.
If you or someone you know wouldbe a good guest on the show,
(48:49):
please reach out to us atpodcast at houseofger.com.
This has been House of Germarproductions with your host, Jim
Conn.
Thank you for joining our host.
The thing that really registered with me with
the choose your hard kind oflike mentality.
And I've now I've I feel likeI've gotten hit with a lot of
that from like top thinkers inthe like personal development
space.
I hear that theme kind of runtrue.
But it's just it is so true thatlike whatever you're prepared
for to take on, and the harderyou can take something on, the
easier everything else becomes.
(00:21):
And so like it's to me wayharder to think about sitting in
a hospital bed at the age of 70with heart issues and diabetes
than like the daily practices ofgoing for a walk and making the
right decisions with diet.
And like if you just have thatperspective that life is pretty
damn short, and I'll be 70before I know it, um, it's
(00:42):
coming.
Like, and there's no avoidingthat.
And so, like, what are the hardthings that I can choose every
day that are hard, but they'relike amazingly transformative
too.
Like, it was way harder for meto live with a weight on my
chest and like every day be likein this fierce state of like
anxiety, and that pressure wasway harder than anything that
I've chosen to do.
SPEAKER_00 (01:04):
Welcome to the House of Germar podcast, where
wellness starts within.
The House of Germans is alifestyle brand empowering women
to live all in through interiordesign and personal wellness.
We are a destination for womenready to reimagine what is
possible in their homes andlives and then create it.
(01:24):
We are honored to have you joinus on our mission to empower one
million women to live all in.
I am your host, Gene Collins,and I invite you to become
inspired by this week's guest.
Welcome to Hazard Jerm Rpodcast, where wellness starts
within.
I'm your host, Gene Collins, andtoday we have Matt Stern on, and
(01:44):
I am so excited to talk to Matt.
I actually just got introducedto him.
So I'm gonna learn, along witheverybody, about all the amazing
things that Matt does.
But first, we're gonna let Mattshare his story because his
story is really empowering, andthen we are going to dig into
wellness and his businesses.
And get ready, everybody.
I'm going to dig into hormonehealth with Matt.
(02:05):
And I am so excited to talk tohim.
So, Matt, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_01 (02:09):
Thanks, Gene.
So great to meet you today.
And yeah, I was looking forwardto this.
It's exciting.
SPEAKER_00 (02:13):
Oh, this is so fun.
So, just to give everybody anidea, I love to tell people kind
of how we get connected becauseI think it helps people
recognize that, you know, youshould always just ask for
certain things.
So, someone from Matt's teamreached out to me on LinkedIn to
connect with me on LinkedIn.
And I don't just say yes toanybody anymore because I found
it is Matt and I were talkingabout this, it's messing up my
LinkedIn algorithm because I'mgetting connected to people that
(02:38):
I don't really want to beconnected with.
And so LinkedIn keeps thinkingthat like that's who my target
audience is, and that's who Iwant to connect with and be
friends with.
So I don't automatically sayyes, and I do look into people
when they reach out and ask toget connected to me on LinkedIn.
And I started digging into Matta little bit, and I was like, oh
my goodness, not only am I happyto connect with you, but I was
like, I actually want to talk toyou.
(02:58):
I actually want you on mypodcast.
And I'm going to bring up onething that I watched the first
video that I watched on yourLinkedIn profile, and you are in
a pink shirt and you have abaseball hat on backwards,
hence, um, feel totallycomfortable wearing a baseball
hat.
And the whole thing is aboutyour why and the fact that your
toes are pink.
You had me at the why, and we'regonna dig into that a little bit
(03:20):
because your why about why youdo the things that you do, we're
gonna dig into that andwellness.
But before we do, on yourwebsite, everything about you,
it talks about how you went frombeing completely broke to
building, I don't want to getthe numbers wrong, people,$300
million in collectivebusinesses.
And by the way, folks, he's theCEO of the Stern Group and My
Start help.
(03:41):
So he's super successful.
Can you share a little bit aboutthat journey before we dig into
everything else?
SPEAKER_01 (03:47):
Hey, T Gene.
Yeah, um, happy to.
I uh, you know, like everyone, Ifeel like I'm still just kind of
starting and figuring out thisjourney, but I'm 20 years now
with perspective into buildingbusinesses, which is wild to
think about.
But yeah, I love that that firstvideo connected with you because
that that is where I'm at inthis phase in life, right?
(04:09):
This phase and this next phaseof you know being in your 40s
and having a family and nowtrying to restart companies in
this phase is completelydifferent than the previous
phases that I've been throughand the why shifts as well.
But now there's nothing elsethat gets me up in the morning
besides my daughter and myfamily.
So yeah, I think going back 20years, I guess a little further
(04:32):
than that, but coming out ofhigh school, I had everything
growing up.
You know, like when you thinkabout my my journey really
starts with being superprivileged, um, honestly.
And so, like most of mygratitude, I think, stems from
having two amazing parents thatloved me fully and raised me
with a lot of love andcompassion for other people.
And that's kind of, I think, thefoundation of how I was built.
(04:54):
But unfortunately, my dadbattled demons that we didn't
know about when I was a kid.
My dad at one point wasdiagnosed bipolar, and it
explained a lot of the thingsthat we dealt with as a family
as I grew up, where he would gothrough periods of uh just like
everything, you know, being ontop of the world, right?
And like everything beingamazing and then being then very
(05:16):
disconnected and guarded inthese kind of ups and downs that
he went through.
You could see it through overyears of that would pass and
like our family's history.
And it all came to kind of ahead.
My senior year of high school,he had seemingly, I you know,
what I've come to a conclusionnow is like been out of work for
a long time.
He had been an entrepreneur, hadcreated multiple businesses, but
(05:38):
was never very good at managinghis money.
And I think he had just oneventure on top of us buying a
home and re and doingconstruction on that home, which
he had no business managing,where he just got totally over
his head.
And he wound up taking out debtand my name, my mom's name,
obviously in his, and uh reallyburying our family in financial
(06:01):
debt.
And at that point, my parentssold the house and my mom and I
had nowhere to turn.
And I look at that kind of as mystarting point because we were
taken in by family friends.
My mom and I moved into a poolhouse that was about 300, 400
square feet, where some friendsof our family built a wall in
(06:21):
the middle of this pool houseand put put in a little like
kitchenette um where we had aplug-in stove, electric skillet.
And my mom and I moved in there,and that's where I spent my
freshman year of college.
So instead of going off toschool and you know, doing what
all my buddies were doing uh atall the big universities, I was
home living across the wall frommy mom.
(06:41):
And yeah, I've been back theresince, and it gives me chills,
uh, like literally brought me totears the second I walked down
this little road to the houseand saw the pool house.
And so I think the pool house iswhere I've kind of anchored
myself from uh like emotionalstrength perspective and said,
like, I'll never be back there,right?
Like that's where I, you know,I'll never be back there.
(07:04):
And from that moment forward, Icommitted myself to just doing
everything as well as I could doit.
Um, so working it my ass off,um, you know, getting a 4.0 in
school, I wound up getting afull ride to go to Cal Berkeley
and graduated from there, whichI never thought I would do.
And then, you know, that justthe way life works.
I had no idea what I wanted todo after.
(07:26):
I thought I was gonna be alawyer because that's what my
cousins did and thought that waskind of the path.
Like made sense to me.
I liked like critical thinking.
I liked uh speaking.
I I liked argumentation.
Uh, but like the actual thoughtof signing up for debt and
getting$200,000 in debt orwhatever law school was gonna
cost me uh when I had justgotten a full ride to go to
(07:46):
school and had worked my ass offto get through it without debt
made no sense to me.
So I was like, I'm gonna seewhat's out there.
And I wound up finding these,finding these guys.
There were four guys in anoffice in Soma, San Francisco.
And the CEO got on thewhiteboard, he was a cow guy
too, and just drew this diagramof the whiteboard.
He said, We're gonna build aplatform that understands the
lifetime value of a customerfrom the first time they see an
(08:09):
ad online to the last time theyinteract with that brand.
And from that, we're gonna havethe ability to optimize the
entire journey of a customeronline.
And I was like, I have no ideawhat that means, but that sounds
really cool.
I'm in.
You want what do you want me todo?
Um, and so they paid me 30 granda year and I was answering
phones, I was writing web copy,but I was working for the
(08:30):
founders of the company.
And that was like my MBA indigital marketing.
That's you know where I learnedit all because I got to see
literally what do you describefrom the advertising piece
through the call center, throughour merchant process, every
piece that goes into running adigital business or an
e-commerce business.
I was on the ground floor and wewent from zero to 60 million
over three years.
We were incredibly successful.
(08:51):
And so I got to see the companygo from four employees to a
hundred employees and zero tosixty million.
And overnight we were movingbuildings and we were going
through the whole like SiliconValley dream, right?
It was amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (09:00):
Yes.
And hopefully you got paid morethan 30 grand.
SPEAKER_01 (09:04):
No, no, not for a long time.
No, they paid me nothing, butlike it didn't matter because I
loved it so much.
I felt like I was a part ofsomething that was really
special.
And that's something that likenow in my new businesses, I
really want to create for thepeople that I'm bringing on
board because I can feel how howspecial that energy was when we
were just like 24 and trying toprove ourselves and like we're
willing to do whatever it takesto make that business
(09:25):
successful, is really powerful.
Um, yeah, eventually I made moremoney, but like it was it was
years into it before like Ireally earned significantly
more, like what would be whatwould be a living wage today.
Because but we just loved it andwe were all invested in the
business.
We were all rolling together,and it was really exciting and
fun.
And then 2009, I had theopportunity to go out on my own
and start my own um business,and that's what I did.
(09:48):
So at 27, I started my firstcompany um with an incredible
business partner who was amentor to me and kind of like
big brother to me.
We did that for nine years, uh,where we invested in companies
and grew businesses using ourstrength in digital marketing.
And that's where that$300million number comes from,
right?
It's like we continually usedour expertise in growth
(10:09):
marketing to latch on tobusinesses where we thought they
had incredible potential, butdidn't really know what they
were doing from a digitalexecution perspective.
And that's what we had.
We had a team of experts thatwere at one point, like 20 folks
that were experts at what theydid in digital growth.
And we continue to replicatethat business by business.
And that's been the formula thatI've continued to grow and and
(10:30):
build from.
So that brings us forward totoday and and what we're doing
with my start.
And yeah, it's been a it's beena ride.
It's wild to think about.
SPEAKER_00 (10:39):
And I love that.
And there's so many things thatyou said that are so
interesting, you know.
A, which is you started outhaving no idea where you were
going, which I can trulyappreciate because so many of us
don't.
And so many people asentrepreneurs, we ebb and flow
and we grow and we getinterested in different things
and we change paths and we startstuff and we stop stuff and we
(11:00):
start stuff and we start stuff.
And you know, that's kind ofwhat we do as entrepreneurs.
I'm on, like, as someone said tome the other day, you keep
reinventing yourself.
And I was like, I don't know ifthat's a compliment or not.
I'm not sure.
I don't really know.
SPEAKER_01 (11:12):
That's a big time compliment.
SPEAKER_00 (11:14):
I kind of feel like I'm on, you know, business
number five in five years.
SPEAKER_01 (11:17):
But I relate to that too.
Yeah.
My wife used to say I wasstarting a new business every
week.
And I was like, I'm not startinga new business every week, but I
am so interested in businessthat I was always like into
different things and likeresearching and going deep on
different topics, really tryingto figure out where I wanted to
go deep.
But to her, on the surface, itlooked like I was, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (11:39):
It looked like you always were.
Yes.
Well, then you also talk aboutlike really understanding
something that you're reallygood at and then like diving all
in with something that you'rereally good at and something
that you're really passionateabout bringing to the
marketplace, which I think as anentrepreneur is so important.
And I think as soon as you arenot passionate about it or it
doesn't spark that within you,then it is time to move on to do
(12:00):
something else.
Because that passion is whathelps entrepreneurs grow
businesses and attract the rightenergy to bring the right
customers and the rightopportunity to them.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
I think that's really well said.
Yeah.
And I think that's still untilthis point, like until this
latest business, which we'll getinto and talk about, I think
that was still really lackingfor me in a lot of the other
businesses.
They were so driven by, like wetalked about in the beginning,
the why of like making money andproving myself and never living
in the pool house again.
And like that whole fear factorthat drove me from a financial
(12:31):
perspective wasn't also steeredtowards building businesses that
had a lot of value creation inthe world and businesses that I
felt super passionate about.
It was like, didn't matter.
It was like we can sell it, sowe're gonna do it.
And it led us down a path ofcreating a lot of transactional
success, but I would say not alot of internal, what I would
call success.
SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
Yes, yes, and it's so important.
Now, your daughter, is she inkindergarten?
Am I getting that called?
SPEAKER_01 (12:59):
Almost.
Almost.
We got one more year of pre-K.
She's four and a half.
SPEAKER_00 (13:03):
Okay.
All right.
So she's she's getting there.
Oh my goodness.
So pre-K is still, she's out ofthe house for a couple of days.
SPEAKER_01 (13:08):
No, it's full schedule.
They're they're game on.
Yeah, these, yeah, these pre-K'sin San Francisco.
They're yeah, not messingaround.
Yeah, I love that.
Two working parents, we're fulltime.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:17):
Oh my goodness.
That is so good.
You know what?
And honestly, she needs it.
It's so good for her.
Now, when did you start yourcompany, My Start?
My Start Health.
When did you start that?
SPEAKER_01 (13:27):
I started working on it last June.
Um, we launched last August, sowe're officially like what past
the one year mark, which I thinkis really exciting.
And we have a ton of momentumright now.
So it's yeah, we're hitting thislike inflection point that is
extremely exciting.
So now it becomes less of likethe fear factor of is this gonna
(13:47):
work?
to like, okay, how do we reallymake it successful?
Um, and we're like on the vergeof taking that next leap, and
I'm loving it.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (13:56):
I love that.
Yeah.
Before we talk about what it is,what made you, or let me
rephrase this.
What's the correlation betweenbecoming a father, becoming a
parent, and moving this shiftinto wellness and everything
else that we're gonna talkabout?
SPEAKER_01 (14:13):
Wow.
Well, the wellness journey forme started really when my dad
got sick.
He he passed away when he was 64and I was 27.
So my wellness journey and myconnection to my health really
started that, where I reallyshifted everything and was like,
I'm not gonna go down that pathbecause his was all tied to not
being healthy and not havingaccess really, I'd say, to
(14:34):
health care that he wasconnected to that could actually
move the needle for him.
So that's always been there forme for the last 17 years, call
it.
Um like a long time, like right,where I've really cared.
But the connection to having achild takes it to a whole nother
level where like now you wantto, at least for me, I want to
be here forever.
Like I want to live to 120because I want to go through all
(14:57):
of this.
I want to see it all for her,right?
I I want to be here and do itall.
Um, so yeah, I mean, getting upand working out in the morning
and caring about that reallymatters.
And then creating something thathas lasting value in the world
as well, I think is hugelyconnected to having a child
because you start to realizethat like you want to have
something to leave behind, asomething that's a legacy that
(15:20):
she can point to and be proud ofas well.
Like, my dad built this and likethat's really cool.
And hopefully it inspires her,right, to go and do great things
and be brave and try things.
And so, yeah, I think that'stied to everything that I'm
doing.
SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Which I love.
And so thank you for answeringthat because I think the way
that you answered it just says alot about you as a human being.
And I've seen the video and Iunderstand your why because
I've, you know, done a bunch ofresearch on you and feel
connected and that I know youalready.
But I think the way you answeredthat said so much.
And I'm gonna summarize it foreverybody.
And I encourage you all to goand follow Matt on LinkedIn and
(15:58):
Instagram and go find the videowith him in the pink shirt and
the pink toes.
And because you said two thingsabout your why, which is why
it's so resonated with mepersonally, and the why has
moved to family and freedom.
And so I feel like everythingthat we talked about before we
even started recording so alignswith family and freedoms and
(16:20):
really doing things that aregiving back to others.
And yes, you make a living, youwant to make a living, you need
to make a lot of money.
That's all really important.
But feeling purpose-driven withthose businesses, I find is such
an incredible pivot forentrepreneurs that pivot into
that space.
So I thank you for answeringthat because you gave a glimpse
(16:42):
into you as a person and the wayyou answered it.
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
Thank you.
I appreciate your acknowledgingthat.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:47):
Yeah, which is so good.
All right.
So let's talk about thisbusiness.
Like, how did this all start?
SPEAKER_01 (16:53):
Yeah, this business is really I call it the
culmination of everything I'veever done in business and in
life.
It really is something that Icouldn't have done 10 years ago.
Uh, I couldn't have done it 15years ago.
The market was arguably there.
Um, but my readiness, I think,as a leader and business person
(17:14):
wasn't there.
This business really evolved outof what I had spoken about
earlier, that I had all thisexperience in e-commerce and in
building what I would call MeToo businesses.
Like, you have a great idea, wehave a competitive product, I
can just sell it better than youand compete you, I'll compete
you on advertising and media.
So we're gonna like do that overand over again and replicate
(17:35):
that formula because it worksand we can win.
And so we did that verysuccessfully for many years.
And then I actually got a tasteof kind of the healthcare
telehealth world in thatbusiness as well, where we had
started a company in that spaceand it didn't work.
But what I found through thatfailure was that the application
of what we do, what I say we do,like what I do from a digital
(17:58):
marketing perspective to anyindustry, I felt like was most
powerfully displayed in thehealthcare industry.
Because you have an industrythat's historically completely
broken in terms of like theamount of money that we spend on
healthcare, the outcomes that itcreates, and the amount of
inefficiency that just acrossthe board is happening in the
(18:21):
healthcare ecosystem.
And so what I found was ourability to spend money on the
internet and really efficientlymeasure that against patient
outcomes was the most powerfulthing that like industry, I'd
say that we could apply thatkind of math and science to.
And in doing it, then getting aproduct where you can also
(18:41):
create incredible healthoutcomes to me just amplifies
the value creation that you havein that marketplace.
So when I said it's aculmination, it's like, okay, we
have this great ability to goout and market and acquire
people.
We have a completely inefficientand like broken system.
And then we have a product thatabsolutely changes people's
(19:03):
lives.
And when I found that, it wasthis light bulb moment for me
that I needed to get back intohealthcare.
And I kind of like also had thisopportunity because I saw other
people that had similar skillsets to me jumping into the
space.
And so it kind of touched onwhat I said before.
It's like, oh, well, I can stillout-compete you for the exact
(19:23):
same thing.
And I can see what you're doing,and this is an incredible
product.
And the incredible product isGLP1 weight loss products, like
these medications.
I saw changing family andfriends' lives all around me.
And these incredible stories ofpeople like one of my best
friends sat across from me atChristmas dinner and was like,
you could tell there was like alittle energy about him, and he
(19:46):
was like excited, and I waslike, What's going on?
And he was like, I gotta tellyou, I'm on your stuff.
And I was like, No way.
That's amazing.
And it literally, like, he'stried everything, right?
To like be healthy, lose weight,and and these medications gave
him a new lease on life wherehe's got two young kids, and
he's like, I I thought I wasnever gonna make it.
Like, I didn't think there wasany way to get past this, and
(20:07):
now I have hope and you couldsee it.
And then it sparks momentum inhis life, and he's walking every
day and changes life.
So, like when I saw those thingshappening around me, and then I
saw the opportunity to build abusiness with it, it was like, I
have to do this.
SPEAKER_00 (20:19):
Yes.
And I have to say, when I wentto your website, I was like, ah
the concept of Ozempic andtaking these medications to lose
weight, I think started out witha lot of stigma, sort of as
like, oh, you're gonna cheatyour way towards it.
And I would at least say where Ilive now, it is commonplace.
People are talking about iteverywhere because you know,
(20:42):
it's like it's accepted thatsometimes you need help.
And this isn't cheating.
And the people who really diveinto it, they start to lose
weight and then they just theyfeel better about themselves,
they start making smarterchoices, they start embracing
wellness in its totality.
Like wellness looks like for youand I, and we're gonna talk
about that too.
But it is, I've seen it changeso many people's lives, and
(21:05):
people are now, and I'm happyfor this, willing to say that
yes, that's how they got thehelp they needed because I think
it takes the stigma off of it,which we need as a society.
SPEAKER_01 (21:15):
100%.
Yeah, there's so many areas fromI mean, we can go mental health
to right to Ozempic, but likethere's so many stigmas that are
just absolute bullshit in ourworld today that are based on
old stuff that like as a societywe have to let go of and just
get real about like what mattersin this world, what matters in
our lives, and and surroundourselves with that.
(21:36):
So yeah, I think this is one ofthose things, and we'll go into
the next one that I think islike so topical for where where
that like old stigma has beenand how it's just completely
bullshit.
SPEAKER_00 (21:48):
Yes, it so is.
So let's dig into that becausewhen we first got on, I asked
you kind of like what's comingup, what's important, what do
you want to make sure we talkabout?
And you started going down thiswhole road, and I was like, oh
my goodness, we can absolutelytalk about hormone replacement
therapy, we can talk aboutmenopause.
I am so in perimenopause,menopause.
I talk about it.
(22:09):
I've posted videos about itbecause I truly believe now that
I am like in the middle of it,this is a subject that once
again has a stigma, is notdiscussed enough, people don't
talk about it, and there are toomany women that are out there
going through this journeyalone.
And I am so happy that there arepeople like you, plus a lot of
the people that you know that westarted talking about that are
(22:29):
really trying to bring thissubject to the forefront and
help women feel empowered todeal with this stage of life
that is natural and it ishappening, and you shouldn't
have to suffer.
So talk to me about where youare excitingly trying to take
your business next.
SPEAKER_01 (22:46):
Yeah, and talk about an area where the experts have
just completely gotten it wrongfor the last 30 years.
And I look at my mom'sexperience in aging.
Um, my mom's 77 now and has um abunch of things, but the
osteoporosis that she deals withis like top of mind.
When I finally started learningthis stuff, I was like, that's
(23:08):
it.
Like that was so preventable.
But she was in the 90s a part ofthat whole evolution of people
telling women that hormonetherapy causes cancer.
And so there's no way she had noaccess.
She had the she had doctorstelling her that it would cause
cancer, so not even an option.
And yeah, it's just wild.
So what I've seen in kind ofthis evolution of the business
(23:31):
is uh most mostly women aredrawn to the GLP1 weight loss
products that we have.
So we have like a population offive, six thousand patients
right now in my start.
And of those, about 85% of themare women uh between the ages of
35 and 70.
Um, the average age is in the intheir 50s.
And so when I started to thinkabout other things that would be
beneficial to their longevityand to their lifespan, hormone
(23:54):
therapy just started rising tothe surface.
And this has been probably thelast six months that I've been
paying attention to it.
And as I started to payattention to it, I started to
see that the experts that areout there on the topic are
really women like yourself thathave been through it, that can
share their stories because thedoctors still don't know.
Right.
They're still lost in like theold traditional medical world
(24:15):
that like doesn't want toacknowledge that this is a
thing.
And then it came, slap me likeright in the face, besides the
story about my mom, it slappedme right in the face with my
wife, who had our daughter fourand a half years ago and has
battled ever since to get herbrain and her body back and has
been to doctors and has multipletimes done blood work, and the
(24:36):
doctor comes back and says,You're great, you're healthy.
And she's like, No, not no, I'mnot sleeping well.
I I don't have my brain back, Idon't feel like myself.
I don't know about like, no,that's not the answer.
And so it took her going throughthis journey of talking to a lot
of different alternative healthexperts and finally finding a
(24:57):
doctor that would come alongsideher and partner with her.
And it took her two years tofind that solution.
And now I'm sitting herelearning like what I'm actually
getting it.
It's like it's clicking for me.
And I'm realizing that it's it'sher, it's my mom, it's every
woman that I'm connected to isgoing through this experience.
And the only way you can getaccess to education about what
(25:20):
matters is by being on TikTok orbeing on Instagram and like
listening to the stories ofother people.
So I think we have an incrediblebusiness opportunity in this
space, but more so, I think it'sjust something that is coming.
Like it's the next, in my mind,revolution that's going to
happen for women's health.
And I want to be a part of it.
(25:40):
However, I can, you know,empower women to be the experts
on the topic.
I think I've been critical ofother telehealth businesses, and
then I'll stop talking for asecond.
But I've been critical of othertelehealth businesses because
they're like buy men for menbusinesses.
SPEAKER_00 (25:53):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (25:54):
Like you have hims and hers.
And it's like okay, the hersthing they strapped on later.
You have row.co now, which, youknow, got this big publication
with Serena Williams recentlyabout her being on GLP1s and her
husband being on the board ofthe company.
But like that company when itstarted was one of my biggest
competitors.
It was called Roman.
And it was black and red, blackand red branding.
(26:14):
And like it was by men, for men.
It was a son and father thatstarted it, and it was all men's
products.
And it was like, then theyrebranded as Ro to like soften
it up and make it like, youknow, for women too.
You know, I think my start hasthe opportunity to really be a,
you know, I'm not like obviouslyit's I created a company, but I
think it really has anopportunity to be for women, by
(26:35):
women, and like bring in expertson the topic that can really
empower and really createcontent and community around
these topics that really matterfor women.
And if I can build thetechnology and empower them with
the platform to do it, like thatwould be a home run for me.
SPEAKER_00 (26:49):
I am personally so excited for you.
Because I have to tell you, itis, I and I will just personally
share, it is such a challengingjourney.
And I am fortunate that I have agynecologist that's like all
into hormone replacementtherapy.
He has patients in their 70s and80s who are still on it.
However, it is still really ajourney because not everybody's
(27:12):
the same.
And I tell him what's happeningwith me, and he's like, You're
doing great.
And I'm like, why am I havingthis battle with my body still?
If I'm not, I don't feel likeI'm doing great.
And he's like, You are, you'redoing great.
And so now I am on that journeyof trying to investigate what
else should I be doing?
What else should I be trying?
I've I've hired a nutritionist,I've done so many different
(27:33):
things, but I still ampersonally having a battle with
my body.
And I know so many women thatare in this same space, and it's
just really hard to know whereto go to get the right
information because as you'resaying, it's you're getting
information from Instagram andTikTok, really, because which
you're being told you shouldn't.
SPEAKER_01 (27:52):
Yes, but you're like, there's like no one else,
there's nothing else.
So, like, I'm gonna trust otherwomen that have been through it
the way I've been through it,and like that exactly.
SPEAKER_00 (28:01):
Yeah, and that's it.
And and I will tell you, theother normally male dominated
industry, which is actuallybecoming a very large problem
for women, and just uh if youhaven't heard this yet, hair
loss.
Women hair loss.
Like, I cannot even tell youwhat happens after 45 with that.
And that is a subject that isvery rarely spoken about for
(28:24):
women, but yet is a reallycommon problem for women.
And it's deemed as a whole maleindustry where women feel so
self-conscious and so terrible.
Like, I have hair extensions asa result of it, and I tell
everyone, like, this is this ismy hair because I paid for it.
But, you know, all these issuesare serious issues for women,
and our health system is nothelping women by giving them a
(28:47):
network and ways that they canfind out the truths or more
truth.
SPEAKER_01 (28:51):
I think my take on that today, and I welcome your
input.
My take on that today is thatthe hormone piece will help, I
think, get ahead of some of thehair stuff.
Because hair, as like anindustry or hair loss and hair
growth as an industry hasn'treally changed that much in the
last 20 years.
Like it's kind of the samemedications that are prescribed.
So I'm hopeful that the hormonepiece helps, like, right?
(29:13):
It kind of is something thatempowers you to hold on to some
of that into later years of yourlife where you start it earlier
and you get ahead of it whenyou're going through this shift
in parametopause, that likegoing into menopause, then it's
not as impactful.
Um, but I do think there's somecool solutions that are kind of
combining different therapiesthat have been out there for the
last 20 years that we can makeavailable, we will make
(29:34):
available through our platform.
But that's a really good insightby you.
SPEAKER_00 (29:38):
Yeah, which is exciting.
I just know for me personally,like I didn't even know there
were medications I could starttaking.
And all of a sudden someonestarted telling me about some of
them.
And I was like, I thought thatwas only for men.
And they're like, oh no, it'slike a whole new thing.
And I was like, so where do youeven?
I, you know, and I was like, Iconsider myself pretty well
educated, you know, like I'm apretty well educated.
(30:00):
Person and I have access topretty well educated people.
And yet here I am, up until sixmonths ago, had no idea and
didn't even know what questionsto ask, or that this was even
part of the hormonal process,that he was even tied together.
And so it just as you're talkingabout trying to bring this to
the masses, I'm just thinking tomyself, I am a case study of one
that's here to say I'm a reallywell-educated person.
(30:22):
I have access to a lot ofinformation.
And yet I still don't feel likeI have enough access to enough
education and enough facts andenough science and enough
resources.
Because even here, it is reallyhard from a hormone perspective.
If you want to go see a hormonespecialist, it's even really
hard to find one that will takeyou here.
SPEAKER_01 (30:43):
Right.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (30:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Which is really hard.
SPEAKER_01 (30:46):
I think we're we're in a little bit of a bubble,
right?
And being in San Francisco andright next to Marine County,
like there's a ton.
Even then, it's hard to find onethat you really like connect to
and that gets you and that willget you like on the right
journey.
So I think what you said in thebeginning that women's health is
complicated and there's no onesolution for everyone.
I think that's the businesschallenge that we're taking on.
(31:08):
Um, is that we're gonna have toget really personalized and
understand how we literally getdown to the individual patient
level and how we're prescribingand how we're kind of moving
people through their differentprograms.
Yes.
Um, that's a big businesschallenge that we're gonna take
on.
But yeah, I mean, access acrossthe country is minimal.
SPEAKER_00 (31:26):
Minimal.
Oh, yeah, right.
We live in big metropolitanareas.
So we have more access than mostpeople do.
SPEAKER_01 (31:32):
Yeah, imagine the rest of the country.
It's not there.
Um, so the education is zeroonline.
It's starting to come, like it'sstarting to bubble up, like you
and I were talking about beforewe hopped on.
Um you're seeing the FDA holdpanels with women experts and
like so it's the topics arestarting to bubble up to the
mainstream, but even so, likethey're not being covered by
what I would say.
(31:53):
Like, I guess we just sat an SFexaminer article here locally um
talking about hormonereplacement therapy.
So it's getting there, it's it'sbubbling up, but you know,
there's still a ton of space.
SPEAKER_00 (32:03):
It is a long way to go.
I am excited to see where youare going to take it for sure.
And I'm happy to become acustomer.
SPEAKER_01 (32:11):
Let's do it.
SPEAKER_00 (32:12):
Let's do it.
Okay.
So we're going to be able to dothat.
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
We're gonna have to get you a little more than that.
A little more.
We gotta get you like in thecommunity.
We gotta get you helping otherwomen.
I gotta figure that piece out.
Maybe you can help me.
SPEAKER_00 (32:21):
Happy to help.
You know, I am I really it hasbeen one of the greatest gifts
to start a podcast and really beable to connect with people and
just really help people haveaccess to information and to
ideas and to getting inspired bywhat other people are doing
because the internet is a bigspace and there are so many
people out there on theinternet.
And so sometimes finding thatperson who you can connect with,
(32:43):
who you can help is harder todo.
So I feel um very grateful tohave a public platform to be
able to do that with.
So happy to be a part ofanything that you do.
So thank you.
I would also love to talk aboutwellness for you because I think
it is important for people who,you know, kind of see people
like yourself and myself, andyeah, we look healthy and we
(33:04):
exercise and we have these greatbusinesses and we're successful.
And but one thing that I thinkeveryone that I've found that is
like yourself and myself, andmany of my guests, is that
wellness is an absolute priorityin life.
It is a non-negotiable.
And I think it's important toshare what my individual guests
do for wellness to show peoplethat everybody's got different
(33:26):
ideas of wellness and you got topick what works for you.
So could you mind sharing alittle bit?
What does wellness look like foryou personally to take care of
yourself?
SPEAKER_01 (33:36):
Yeah, uh, absolutely.
When I'm journaling consistentconsistently, which is not
consistent these days, but whenI'm consistent, it's one of the
first things I write down that Iam exercising and meditating.
I'm quote, doing something everyday.
And doing something every day tome was like something that was
created probably 10 years agowhen business was really like
(33:59):
busy and like there was everyexcuse in the world to not
prioritize my health.
I basically created someacceptance of if I can do 20
minutes a day, I can check thatbox.
And it was actually it maybeless than 10 years ago.
I for the first time had like atracking watch.
Yes.
Um, I had a Fit, I had a Fitbit.
There was a whole backgroundstory around why I never wore
(34:20):
watches, and like the Fitbitbecame something that my wife
made me wear because I needed analarm clock that didn't wake her
up when I wanted to get up.
So I started wearing a Fitbit.
Um, but what the Fitbit does,it's really cool, is like it
literally checks that box foryou.
So like if you do 20 minutes,check like on the app and on the
watch, it does that.
And I thought that was reallycool to like inspire people to
(34:41):
like count it.
Like I think people get toocritical about I need to go for
an hour or I need to do twohours or I need you know like
for it to matter.
And the reality is if you get upand move and do something for 20
minutes, like you can create aton of momentum around your
health because the 20 minutesturns into 30 minutes, and then
you have a day where you havemore time and you do an hour,
like it all kind of compounds inhow I look at wellness and
(35:04):
health.
And I've just seen it over andover again as I've trained for
races, uh, running races or bikeraces or triathons.
Like it just, it's all aboutcompounding effort.
And to me, it applies toeverything that I do, right?
It's my relationships, it's mybusiness.
It's like compounding effort isthe like epitome of how I'm
wired.
So it really started there forme when my dad got sick and I
(35:27):
felt like I had to make myhealth a priority.
I started signing up for races,and that would force me to just
commit a little bit of time allthe time to build up to that
moment.
And now I don't need that.
I don't need that like thingholding over my head.
It definitely helps when I justput something on the calendar.
But every day I'm doingsomething that makes my mind and
body stronger.
SPEAKER_00 (35:46):
Can we talk about breath work for a minute and the
role breath work has played inyour life because it's one of my
favorite life-changing thingsthat I got introduced to this
year.
And I love any guest who hasgotten involved in breath work
to share what breath work meansto them and what they do.
SPEAKER_01 (36:01):
Yeah.
Life changer.
I had a friend, uh, JimmySpencer, also very successful
executive um in the sportsspace, and he had sent me uh the
Wim Hof app.
And I'm always like you, itseems like trying different
things and biohacking and liketrying to feel like what feels
best for me.
(36:22):
And I just committed to, he wasdoing it and he was sending me
like his stats.
And so I'm very competitive.
Um, and I was like, okay, I'mjust gonna, I'm gonna try it,
right?
Because Wim Hof lends itselfperfectly to that.
It's 30 breaths in and out, andthen you hold your breath and
you see how long you can hold itfor.
And then what you find is whenyou go to round two and round
three, you can hold itexpansively more.
(36:44):
And then if you're consistentover weeks, like it continues to
compound.
Like we said, your ability andyour to manage your lungs, but
it's really your brain, right?
Your ability to shut off and bepresent, I've found is the best
form of meditation that I cando.
Um, when you're holding yourbreath and you have no lifeline
and you just have to be stilland be focused.
(37:06):
Like if you do it for 30 secondsor you do it for a minute, or
like I've gotten up to twominutes at a time in moments
when I'm like rolling, I can getover two minutes.
And like those two minutes areso focused and so still that
like it's the best meditationyou can get.
So wow, like I started gettinganxiety when I was 18, 19, going
(37:27):
to Berkeley.
Like it was overwhelming to mehow smart all these people were
and how much work I had to doand how to reading it, like
totally overwhelmed me.
SPEAKER_00 (37:34):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (37:35):
It's probably anxiety I had my whole life, but
like it really bubbled up andwas paralyzing in that stage in
life.
And I got on Xanax and thatmanaged it.
And then through like my earlystages of my career, I just
leaned on medication and itnever fully went away, but it
was manageable.
And then I started breath worknow, like three, four years ago,
(37:56):
pretty consistently, and it'sgone.
Like it'll bubble up.
Like I'll I'll go throughstressful times and that anxiety
bubbles up.
But if I go back into just thefoundations of like, I'm gonna
do breath work in the morning,I'm gonna get into like, yeah,
at some point in the day, I'mgonna get into it.
Wow, I can control it, I canmanage it.
And I haven't been on medicationin years.
(38:16):
So powerful.
SPEAKER_00 (38:17):
It's just amazing, amazing.
And it's nervous systemregulation, is what it really
is.
And what I love about what youjust talked about, two things.
The first thing is you're nottalking about having to sit down
for half an hour in dead silenceto meditate in order to get
benefits of nervous systemregulation and the power of
breath to be able to controlanxiety and control what's going
(38:38):
on and reduce your stress.
You're talking minutes that youcan do absolutely anywhere.
There's no no equipmentrequired, right?
Like you can do it anywhere,anytime.
SPEAKER_01 (38:48):
He has a video on YouTube that's absolutely free
that walks you through it.
I pay$60 a year for the app,which I feel like is a
no-brainer.
SPEAKER_00 (38:55):
It's still a bargain.
Yeah.
But like you can be sitting on aplane.
The person next to you doesn'teven need to know what's going
on.
You could just be doing it.
SPEAKER_01 (39:01):
And it's a little weird.
SPEAKER_00 (39:02):
They might think it's a little weird, but who
cares?
SPEAKER_01 (39:04):
I see people on the beef like they're like, I know
what they're doing, but I don'tthat's okay though.
SPEAKER_00 (39:10):
That I think is good.
That you and you have a video onone of your platforms, you
actually have a video of youbreathing, which I think is
great.
And so I think it's soimportant.
And it's something that is sosimple that a lot of people
don't try.
And I just found breath work,you know, almost a year ago.
And I said, I never realized Ididn't know how to breathe.
I did not know how to breatheproperly.
(39:31):
And it has been a game changerin terms of that.
So the other thing you said isit like when you are holding
your breath, you it is thegreatest form of meditation
because you really I find when Ido that and I hold my breath,
even if it's 30 seconds or aminute, is kind of like where I
sort of start to max out.
But I am so focused on holdingmy breath.
And when I do it, I'm so focusedon connecting to what I am
(39:54):
feeling in my body that there isno other thought going on.
There is nothing else.
And so it is the beginning ofreally being able to learn how
to meditate.
If you can first learn how tobreathe properly, it makes
meditation that much easierbecause meditation, at least for
me, is not about not thinking.
(40:15):
It's about having a thought andletting it go and learning how
to have that happen.
And it's not to say that whileyou're sitting there holding
your breath, you're notthinking, like, oh my God, is
this over?
Is this over?
Are we there yet?
You know, because you might be.
Like, is when are they gonnasay?
When's the timer gonna go off?
But it's about learning to letit go and just really dial in.
SPEAKER_01 (40:34):
I would just add that just for people like
listening to our conversation,that also it's not easy.
Like it sounds simple, but toactually commit to it every day
and go through the like threerounds, even one round, right?
Like, and it's not easy.
I fall out of it all the time.
Like, I know it's the best thingI can possibly do with that like
eight minutes that I have, but Istill don't do it sometimes
(40:55):
because it it's like challengingto get settled and get in that
space and go through it.
It's like physically a challengetoo.
I I think, at least for me,that's my experience of it.
And meditation, same thing,right?
Like it gets frustrating assomeone who's competitive to be
like, I can't just it, but it'sexactly what you said.
It's the ability to reconnect tothat stillness and let the
(41:15):
thoughts go and that practice ofjust consistently failing and
then reconnecting and failingand reconnecting and failing and
reconnecting.
And that's been my framing thatI've gotten and to enjoy
meditation a lot more has beenthat acceptance of failure and
restarting as as like a themethat just runs through
everything that we do in life.
SPEAKER_00 (41:36):
Right, exactly.
Don't expect perfection.
And also you talk about this, Ithink, somewhere online
somewhere, I'm not sure where,but I remember hearing you talk
about picking your hard, right?
Like what's gonna be your hardthing that you're gonna do
today?
Like, what is the hard thing?
And maybe it is breath work foreight minutes or three minutes
or five minutes, and maybe it isfinding half an hour to go for a
(41:56):
walk and just, you know.
But I think having a commitmentevery day to doing something
that is for your personalwellness that might not be, you
know, easy.
It doesn't have to beexhausting.
Like you don't have to be on thefloor dead after a half an hour
run, but just finding somethingthat stretches you, whether it's
stretching your time, stretchingyou mentally, stretching you
physically, I think is a reallygood thing to do because then it
(42:19):
makes everything else just alittle easier.
SPEAKER_01 (42:21):
That's it.
Right.
Then that's that's the thingthat really registered with me
with the choose your hard kindof like mentality.
And I've now I've I feel likeI've gotten hit with a lot of
that from like top thinkers inthe like personal development
space.
They I hear that theme kind ofrun true.
But it's just it is so true thatlike whatever you're prepared
for to take on, and the harderyou can take something on, the
(42:44):
easier everything else becomes.
And so like it's to me wayharder to think about sitting in
a hospital bed at the age of 70with heart issues and diabetes
than like the daily practices ofgoing for a walk and making the
right decisions with diet.
And like, if you just have thatperspective that life is pretty
damn short and I'll be 70 beforeI know it, um, it's coming.
(43:08):
Like, and there's no avoidingthat.
And so, like, what are the hardthings that I can choose every
day that are hard, but they'relike amazingly transformative
too.
Like, it was way harder for meto live with a weight on my
chest and like every day be likein this fear state of like
anxiety and and yeah, thatpressure was way harder than
anything that I've chosen to do.
SPEAKER_00 (43:29):
Yes, yes.
So, talking about hard, I havetwo more questions, and then
you've taken you've given us somuch of your time, so thank you.
But two more questions.
If someone's listening to us andthey are just thinking, you
know, I am struggling withweight, I'm struggling with
anxiety, I am struggling withhormones, I'm struggling with my
mental health, I'm strugglingwith my job, I'm struggling, and
they feel like they'restruggling in every area of
(43:50):
life.
And you and I just casually talkabout all these things that we
do, it can be a little bitoverwhelming for people.
Yeah.
So based on your life experienceand your professional
experience, if someone were tochoose one thing to start today,
what would that one thing be tohelp them with their personal
wellness?
SPEAKER_01 (44:08):
A daily walk.
To me, it's the simplest.
It's like put on somethingpositive that you love to listen
to in your headphones, grab ontoany of the amazing thinkers that
are out there, whether it's likeBrandon Bouchard or Tony Robbins
or Mel Robbins, like there'sjust there's so many incredible
(44:29):
thinkers out there on like thestate of being a positive human
in the world, and like grab ontosomething positive or a book
that you love, put it in yourears and start to walk.
And I think like that dailypractice of creating space for
yourself and putting positivityinto your ears for a moment,
whether it's 10, 15, 20 minutes,whatever you can do, I think
(44:50):
will create those initial stepsthat you need.
SPEAKER_00 (44:53):
I couldn't agree more.
And it's about making yourself apriority in your own life, which
is something that is um so hardto do for a lot of people.
And that's something I'm verypassionate about trying to help
women find is find themselveswithin their own lives, because
a lot of women lose themselvesin their lives, especially as
they start to get older.
Um and so it's learning to pauseand find even the smallest
(45:14):
moments of time, whether it's 20minutes, half an hour, 15, 10,
whatever it is, somewhere in thelife that you make yourself the
center and the priority and haveit tie to your wellness, I think
is the greatest place to start.
So I'm so glad you said that asyour answer.
So thank you.
Absolutely.
So before I let you go, I alwaysask all my guests if there is a
book that they would like torecommend, booker books that
(45:34):
they would like to recommend, oran author that they recommend
that has changed or impactedthemselves personally and
professionally, because I'm atrue believer that books can
inspire and change lives.
So, what book, books, authorwould you like to recommend
people check out?
SPEAKER_01 (45:47):
Yeah, that's a good one.
Um I I think my brain turns toRyan Holliday.
SPEAKER_00 (45:53):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (45:53):
He not just from a book perspective, he's written a
ton of books, um, but he has twonewsletters that I just tie to
daily.
That one's called The Daily Dadand the other one's called The
Daily Stoic.
And so, like, if you have threeminutes, I don't know, in a to
like get his email, um I lovethat because it gives you a
theme that like you can connectto in in the day.
(46:16):
And I love the Daily Dad onetoo, because it ties into those
stoic principles.
Uh, the last book I read of hisis Ego is the enemy.
And I think that one I flewthrough because it just ties to
so many of the principles that Istand on.
My, you know, my principles arelike being self-aware and like
(46:37):
checking your ego at the door.
Um, you know, so self-awarenessand emotional intelligence are
the two pillars that I've builtmy entire life on.
And that's what he's preachingnonstop, right?
Is that all these great leadersthat have come before us and
people that have changed theworld uh were all about what can
I do for others and how can I beof service.
And, you know, I think that'sit.
(46:59):
That's and he's just every dayproducing content that speaks to
that, which I think is superimpressive.
SPEAKER_00 (47:06):
Yeah.
And I think that's so important.
I think when you start doingthings, yes, we all need to make
money, we all need to have acareer, we all want to be making
an impact.
But I think when you start doingthings from the heart, it shows
and it comes through yourpassion for trying to help
people and empower people andyour commitment to wellness and
health.
It it shines through as youspeak.
So I thank you so much forsharing that.
(47:28):
I am so excited for where yourbusiness is going.
We will absolutely stayconnected.
I'll put in the show notes everyway that everybody can follow
you, get connected with you, seeabout your businesses, and I
hope everybody will follow andlike and subscribe to your
newsletters and followeverything that you're doing.
And I thank you so much, Matt,for all the time and for making
this work and for letting mewear a baseball hat because I am
(47:49):
going to go out for a walk afterthis.
So therefore, I'm wearing andyou have a hat.
You always have a hat onInstagram and stuff.
So I love that.
So thank you, Matt, so much foryour time.
And it's an honor to get to meetyou.
So thank you for being on theshow and wishing you all the
best.
SPEAKER_01 (48:02):
Thank you so much.
It was great to meet you, andI'm excited to continue our
conversations.
SPEAKER_00 (48:06):
Thank you.
Have a great day.
We'll stay in touch.
Thank you for joining us foranother episode of the House of
Germar podcast, where wellnessstarts within.
We appreciate you being a partof our community and hope you
felt inspired and motivated byour guests.
If you enjoyed this episode,please write us a review and
(48:26):
share it with friends.
Building our reach on YouTubeand Apple Podcasts will help us
get closer to our mission toempower one million women to
live all in.
You can also follow us onInstagram at House of Jurmar and
sign up to be a part of ourmonthly inspiration newsletter
to our website,houseofgermark.com.
If you or someone you know wouldbe a good guest on the show,
(48:49):
please reach out to us atpodcast at houseofger.com.
This has been House of Germarproductions with your host, Jim
Conn.
Thank you for joining our host.
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