April 1, 2025 • 39 mins
In this powerful episode of PASSIONEER Magazine The Podcast, we sit down with Charmène Vega, an industry trailblazer, entrepreneur, and culinary innovator with deep roots in media, wellness, and the legacy of legendary entertainer Cholly Atkins. 🌟
Join us as Charmène shares:
✅ Her inspiring journey in the culinary and media industries
✅ Business insights for aspiring entrepreneurs
✅ How family legacy and passion fuel her success
✅ The secrets to longevity in an ever-evolving industry 🎧 Whether you're an entrepreneur, foodie, media professional, or dream chaser, this episode is packed with wisdom, motivation, and actionable tips to elevate your journey!
#PASSIONEERMagazine #Podcast #CharmeneVega #Entrepreneurship #CulinaryInnovation #BusinessSuccess #WomenInBusiness #MediaMogul
Join us as Charmène shares:
✅ Her inspiring journey in the culinary and media industries
✅ Business insights for aspiring entrepreneurs
✅ How family legacy and passion fuel her success
✅ The secrets to longevity in an ever-evolving industry 🎧 Whether you're an entrepreneur, foodie, media professional, or dream chaser, this episode is packed with wisdom, motivation, and actionable tips to elevate your journey!
#PASSIONEERMagazine #Podcast #CharmeneVega #Entrepreneurship #CulinaryInnovation #BusinessSuccess #WomenInBusiness #MediaMogul
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Welcome to Passioneer Magazine, the podcast Well You're Here, inspirational stories,
encouraging news, and in depth interviews with authors, influencers, CEOs
and thought leaders. Passioneer Magazine The podcast Bold Ideas, Brave Pursuits,
Boundless Inspiration.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hello, Hello, Hello, thank you so much for joining me
here today on Passioner Magazine, the podcast Welcome to the show.
Thank you for being here. Now, Sure, may I cannot
wait to talk to you about the all that you do.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
There are so many people in the world that wear
many hats and they wear them. Well, you are one
of those people. However, I realize I may be introducing
you to some folks that are unfamiliar with who you
are and what you do. So my first question for
you is what makes you? You tell us a little
bit about yourself.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Sure, what makes me me is I am my mother.
That's what makes me me. And I like to always
go into that. We always forget about our genetics when
they say what makes you you? What makes me me
is the generational genetics. It went into how I think,
(01:36):
what I do, the compassions I have, all of those things,
But what really makes me me is the things around me,
My family, my daughters, my grandchildren, and the people I
come in contact with. That's what really influences me, and
(01:59):
I get a little bit into other things that I do.
What makes me me is also the air I breathe,
the water I drink, the food I eat. All of
those things go into flipping switches within me. If you
want to say whether I'm healthy, I'm not healthy, whether
I have brain fog, all of those things. And I
(02:19):
know it sounds a little bit different than what most
people would say what makes you you, But that's how
I look at it. I really look at it from
that perspective, because that really is what makes me me,
and what people say to me makes me me because
(02:39):
if you say something that's positive, that's going to have
a vibrational influence on me. Because we're water, so it
makes an impact. It makes a ripple effect. If you
say something negative, it makes a ripple effect. So that's
what makes me me.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I love that, and you know, thank you for giving
an holistic answer, right, because usually it is just about
the business of who we are. And to be quite honest,
I love it when someone decides not to do that.
I am that person.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
When you walk into a room and people are trying to,
you know, figure out who is who, and it's like.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Hi, what do you do? What college did you go to? Like?
Am I really going to go through twenty five mini interviews?
Just you know, Hi?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Just hi, first and foremost, how was your day? What
exciting and fun thing did you do today? Give me
that I really don't. I don't need your label, right
and all of that. So I love that.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
But just to flip the switch a little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
You have several labels, and you wear those labels very well.
I must say, so my first question to you is,
as someone who is in the health in industry, in
the wellness industry, you're an entrepreneur, how do you keep
all of these things complementary in your life?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Ooh that's a toughie. How do I keep them complementary?
And I would say I do what I enjoy and
that's what makes them complimentary because I don't look at
my business as a business. My business is my livelihood.
(04:32):
I am a fourth generation nutritionist. It goes back generations.
I did not know that. I was originally going to
school to be a pre med major. So I did
that for three years. Then my husband who's passed away.
He wanted to go to medical school, and I was like, well,
we're gonna have kids, you know, that's going to be
(04:53):
a little bit tough. And so I went into special education.
I did that, but in going into special education, I
also we still brought the science with me. So I
never let go of the science. I never let go
of that component. But I grew up with herbs and
vegetables and all that. And then my mother, you know,
was a certified herbalist. And if you had asked me
(05:14):
part of this question two weeks ago, I would be
giving you a different answer than I'm giving you today.
And the reason I say that is there something that
you may not know, but it is on social media.
My mother passed away. My birthday was on the seventeenth.
My mother passed away on the eighteenth in my arms.
So when it talks about that, and she was ninety two,
(05:38):
she was on no medication, and basically what it ended
up being is she had renal failure, you know, and
that was due to old age, and her kidneys had
gone down to about thirty percent. But the last three
weeks she was on liquids. So during that time, my
entrepreneurship was set aside, and for the last really years
(06:00):
and a half that aspect. But I never let go
of the family component, and I never let go of
the nutritional component and what could do there. But because
I'm always inquisitive, her whole journey of what she was
going through and me being a caregiver is now what's
making my business what it will be moving forward because
(06:24):
I'm incorporating what I learned because I was not a caregiver.
Yes I took care of my children, but not a
caregiver like this, So I was able to learn the
problems that caregivers go through. I had to do my
own research, I had to do things, and these are
things that caregivers normally don't have. So there will be
(06:47):
additional information coming out about that because I'm compiling that
information so that it can be helpful to others. So
that's how I combine what I do every day with
my business, because what I do every day gets incorporated
into my business. It is not separated from my business absolutely.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
And you know, as you were saying that, I'm so
sorry to hear the news about your mother, but oh
to be blessed with a parent up to ninety two.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Years, we never want them to go. My father's passed on,
my mother is still with me. We never want them
to go, no matter how old they are or young
at heart. We never if we could check off a box,
keep parent forever, yes, we definitely do that. So my
heart does go out to you for that. But I
(07:43):
am so glad that you are able to take the
life lessons and put them in a way where others
will be able to learn from your experience, because as
people start to live longer, that means that we have
the possibility of being a caretaker. Like you said, being
a parent is one thing. We can raise our kids,
(08:06):
that's no problem, but being a caretaker is something is
something different, So we do need to have that information.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I'm so glad that you're doing that now.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
When it comes to staying on a trend in your industry,
as a consumer of information, we can't wait until you
guys release something that helps us.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Stay in the know.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
But be it that you are on the industry side,
how do you stay current?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
How do you stay aware and make sure that your.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Client base is also not only on trend, but just
well informed all around.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
That too, is an excellent question. You make me think
about these things. How I stay on trend as I'm
constantly researching, I'm constantly looking at things. If I look
at a product and I want to know, is that
product third party validated? And what I mean by that
(09:07):
is that it was not the company itself that said
this is a good product, but they actually send it
to outside sources. And I say sources, because you don't
want it to go to just one source. You wanted
to send it to multiple sources and see who those
sources are. It doesn't have to be just the Food
(09:28):
and Druming administration, because we know that's a political situation
that we can all talk about. But also did they
send it to something like the Cancer Society, or they
send it to Harvard's research project or UCLA research project
where people are actually doing research on it, or can
(09:49):
you look it up on PubMed dot gov. So whenever
I look at products, I'm researching it from that standpoint.
And anytime I'm recommending something to my clients, you can
look in my cupboard and I have those products. So
it's not where I'm making a recommendation on something that
(10:10):
I'm not doing myself, but it is something that I'm
doing myself and Oftentimes I will take my cell phone
and I'll walk to my cupboards and I'll say, see, guys,
this is what it is. And you see, here's the bottle,
it's open, and here's all the pills in it. Or
here's the powder. Look at how much is left. This
is what I'm doing. So when I'm making recommendations and research,
(10:31):
I'm researching the product because it's something that I'm going
to take myself, and because I'm going to take it myself,
I want to make sure that what I'm taking is
not going to be harmful to me and my family.
So my family will do a lot of the follow
a lot of the steps that I do. Some steps
they don't, but for the most part they do.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And you know, you said a very important thing there,
and I think it's going to be a.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Moment, an aha moment for a lot of people. And
that is the verification. It's not just one, but several
stamps of approval. I think many times we just want
to make sure that someone, just some agency has validated,
but we're not thinking agencies. So that is a really
(11:24):
good point that you that you're making there. I love that,
And what a great thing to do on social media
right to show everyone, hey, I'm recommending this particular brand,
or we're utilizing this brand because X, Y and Z,
but I literally use it as well. What a great
I hope they're taking advantage of that, of that stamp
(11:44):
of approval. Definitely. Now, as women, we have a lot
going on.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
We are moving into our own independence while still staying
traditional in many aspects of our lives, which means that
we have different cares, different concerns that are being introduced
into our lives. What challenges are you seeing with the
women that you service and how are you able to.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Help them go from stuck to unstuck, from maybe disillusion
to having their own epiphany moments.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Oh, you have such thought provoking questions.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think I am much like you and that I
am naturally inquisitive, right, I want to know why is
this what you're saying that it is, and how can
I use that? So every question is like a bite
side a bite size.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Of wisdom and food.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So it's like ooh, a bite, Oh that's good, I
want another bite.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
And you have just such a wealth of information. I
want to make sure I can.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Get in enough nibbles for folks that they are that
they too are inspired by by the work that you do.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
But let me let you answer that question.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Okay, Well, I come from the standpoint that what my
father taught me, and that is no means not that
way that's not a traditional thing for women to start with.
Is that you know, we've shared a little bit that
we're used to being submissive, used to not having that voice,
(13:30):
and sometimes even myself, I will suppress it. But other times,
my family and friends who know me, they know that
it's only going to happen but for a short period
of time before before I voice my opinion, especially if
it's something that I know that's not absolutely correct, you know,
(13:51):
I am going to have to say something about it
because I want women to understand that you don't have
to suppress what it is that you're doing. And example,
I like to lead by example. And an example I
would give relative to that is my last partner. We
were together for eighteen years and then when I went
to women counseling and stuff like that, one of the
(14:13):
things they told me to do was to take down
my social media because he control and he could follow you,
and he could do all these things. And I told
them absolutely not and My reasoning behind it was is
I said, people will only know in social media what
I put out there. So if he's trolling, the only
(14:35):
thing he's going to see is that I'm being successful.
He's not going to see the heartache or anything that
may be going on behind the scenes, because that's not
what I'm going to show. I'm not going to show
that that in and of itself allows you to be powerful.
It allows you to take back your power rather than
giving it away. So I show women in small ways,
(15:00):
but it means a lot for them to be able
to take that power back. I counseled one woman and
she was like, well, you know, she was a housewife,
and I wish we could come up with another word
for that. I don't, you know, maybe house engineer, something
along those lines, because you're not married to your house,
(15:21):
you know. So it's I and I look at words,
and you know, because I taught English, so when I'm
looking at words, they mean something different to me, and
so I'm I told her, I said, do you like
to paint? Get a rock? Paint the rock, make money
from the rock, get a bottle, paint that, do something.
But we oftentimes women don't look at what's our real value?
(15:46):
And I recently did that to show women how valuable
they really are, even if they are what we call
a housewife is I went and I said, what are
all the skills that a woman who runs a house
have to do? Taking care of the children? Doing this?
Just listed every single thing they had to do, and
(16:08):
then I said, if you have to go and get
a job that does that same thing, what will you
get paid for that job? Then I totaled that and
I was able to show them this is only part
of your value, because this is the value of what
(16:28):
you do. But now let's look at your body. What
is your body worth? And I went to insurance companies
to say, if you lost your eye, you lost your tooth,
you lost your finger, you lost this, what is the
value of that. So now we have the value of
your body. We have the value of what you do.
Now we add it together and you'll see how many
(16:49):
millions of dollars you're really walking around. And that is
your value. So I show them how valuable they are,
and by doing that, it gives them, like you just said,
an aha moment, And I said, now cherish that and
take care of it, because if you had a house
(17:10):
or something. You know, that's an object that was that valuable,
you would take care of it. So now take care
of it and let it grow and flourish. So that's
how I would That's how I try to empower women
is by showing them something that you can't really dispute.
You can't dispute numbers. Numbers are numbers. So I show
(17:31):
them something concrete, and then I go into the abstract.
Let's talk about your health and all of those kinds
of things.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah. Yeah, as you were talking, it made me think
about an article that I read many many years ago,
and this young family was having the same epiphany moment
when he realized that, oh my goodness, how much it
would cost if his wife were in the working world.
(18:01):
I believe they had to then two small children and
just daycare, and they needed to purchase another car and
the food for everyone in wardrobe. And as you were saying,
listing all of the things, and he said, you know,
it is much better if if my wife, her choice,
(18:23):
chooses to stay home. I am one hundred percent in
agreement with her now because I realize how much she
is worth to building the family, Because, oh my heavens,
he was a numbers guy, and when you said that,
it made me think about that story and I was like, oh, yeah,
(18:44):
he says, you know, it's not about the emotion.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
I want to support her. If she wants to work, work,
you want to stay home, stay home? But what are
the numbers? Let me see the numbers. And that really
helped him understand the value that she was bringing. And
I think the article was in part talking about how
when you're a numbers person, when you run the numbers,
you see that it is not the old fashioned understanding
(19:11):
of being a housewife. Right that our homemakers, our domestic engineers,
our mamas are so much their value is so much
more than folks were giving to them before. So I'm
so glad that you did that with your client. Now,
speaking of making decisions and figuring out how we do
(19:33):
the things that we do for folks that come to
you for that aspect to pick your band, be it
that it is in health and wellness, or it is
on just simply being an entrepreneur, how do you help
guide them when it comes to making decisions, not just
tough decisions, but just understanding what is best for them.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
That's where I go into the traditional question that we
always say, what is your why? Why are you wanting
to do what you do? Why do you want to
do it? Why do you want to teach? And some
person would say, well, because I like it, okay, but
(20:18):
why do you like it? So I keep asking them
the question of why, drilling down to get to what
is the core? What is that little seed that's in there?
And sometimes they don't realize that the reason that they
want to do it is because of something that had happened.
(20:38):
You know, I want to do this because of something
that happened earlier. I want to do this because I
saw my mother or father, or sister or somebody do
this and how it made me feel. So I want
the replication of that feeling of feeling better, feeling whatever.
So you have to really drill down and find out
(21:00):
the why. Even if a person says, well, I want
to lose weight, why are you losing weight for someone else?
Because if you are, that's not going to last. If
you're doing it for yourself, why are you doing it
for yourself? It's still a why are you doing it?
(21:22):
Because you want to fit into that dress that's still temporary, right,
because that's fleeting? Are you doing it because you want
to live longer. Why do you want to live longer?
So you have to really drill down on that why.
And once we get down to the why, then I
(21:44):
can say, Okay, now we can move forward because now
I know the plan that we have and what we
can put together. I call it a covisionary because I
can't help you unless I know where you want to go.
But I can be your covisionary. You have a vision
of where you want to go, and I can help
you get there by helping you to vision and vision
(22:07):
what it is you want to do. So I call
it I'm, you know, more than just a coach, more
than just a teacher, more than just a nutritionist, more
than just a holistic wellness coach. Whichever title we want
to put on it, I think the best one is
is that I'm a covisionary because I can't help you
unless I know where you want to go.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Oh my goodness, that is that is so true. And
I find that some of the best people who have
assisted you have been those people that continue to ask
you why right. They don't allow you to stay on
the surface because you're already on the surface. You don't
(22:49):
have any problem being on the surface. You can even
perhaps go one or two layers deep and think that
you're doing something right because you're prepared for those You're
prepared for those questions because your parents or your sibling
or friend has asked, well, why do you want to
do that? So you're ready for one or two layers.
But by time they get to someone who really and
(23:11):
truly is trying to help you get to the core,
that's when you can see it, right.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
You can see it in their eyes. They're breathing sometimes,
changes their countenance really and they're going, oh, my goodness,
I don't think I've ever been this is on chartered territory.
She's making me tap into my feelings, into these emotions.
She's making me figure out who I am. Oh, this
is good stuff. And they're going through so much, and
(23:38):
by time they get to that last they really and
truly have discovered who they are and their why.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
So thank you for.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Doing that and for giving folks permission to peel back
those layers and to get out of the facade of
who we have to present ourselves to be, but really
who we are as indie visual people. Now speaking of
how we are and being our authentic self. How do
(24:09):
you taking f all of those hats, those labels and.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
All of that. How do you recharge your batteries?
Speaker 3 (24:16):
How do you stay just a positive person as yourself?
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Ooh, well, because I do have a saying that I
have a friend who's from Africa, and he always tells me,
he says, you can't unknow what you know? And I
told him yes, but I have another sentence to add
to that, and he said, Okay, you're going to be
smart about it. I said, yeah, I said, and since
(24:44):
I can't unknow what I know, I don't want to
know if it's negative. So one of the things I
do is people know that I have a certain way
of looking at things, even when it's what the average
person would consider bad, I try to look at it
and I try to find what is the good in
(25:05):
the bad. The example I can give with that is
that years ago, my mother's sister had passed away, and
everybody was at the funeral, and they were crying and
this and that. Well many of us, myself included at
one point in time, were raised by this aunt and
we were all together. So my first cousins were there,
(25:26):
and I was the one who said, why are you
guys all crying? I said, I haven't seen you in
forty years. I said, so you're so happy to see me,
I said, is that way, I said, is that way
you're crying? I said, So what you should look at
is that her passing brought us all together. We wouldn't
be here if it wasn't for her passing, So look
at it as a joyous occasion. And now we're across
(25:48):
the country. So now we have zoom, and we have
phone numbers, and we have all this where we can
keep in touch where we didn't do that before. So
it brought us together. And the same thing with my
mother's passing, you know, she was here with me in California.
But now all of my family, with the exception of
my daughters and my grandchildren are you know, are on
the East Coast, So we will all be going to
(26:10):
the East Coast, and many of them they will be
meeting for the first time. And if they choose to engage,
they can. If they choose not to, they don't have to.
But we also have a family cemetery that's back there
that goes back generations, so my grandchildren will be able
to see from where they come from. And the cornerstone
of the church that's built there was partially built by
(26:31):
my grandfather, So they will be able to see their
history in living color, so to speak. They will be
able to actually see it, touch it, feel it, know
where it is, know that this is where you come from.
It's so I look at those things, and that's how
I stay and I recharge myself and I try now
(26:55):
that my mother is not here. I couldn't do it
when she was with me because she would get up
in the middle of the night, so I had to
worry about that. But now what I do is I
try to get that eight hours of sleep. And that's very, very,
very very I can't emphasize that too much important for
you to do because even myself, you know, and being
(27:17):
authentic and full disclosure, my face is fatter than it
was before because I've gained about ten fifteen pounds and
that's because of my cortisol level. You know, I know
what was going on, you know, I know what was
going on. I didn't worry about it because I knew
when whatever happened happened, I would then be able to
(27:38):
get back on track. So I try not to worry
about things. It's like my mother would say, this too
shall pass. So you have to look at what is
my next step. I don't look at the problem. I
don't ever say that there's really a problem. I say
I'm in a situation. Also the words that you use,
(28:03):
and so I say, this is a situation. Now can
I figure out the solution to this situation? What do
I do? What's my next step? What's the task? Analysis?
And so what I do is I'm looking at what's
my next step, and I don't look at the journey.
I look at what is my next step. I may
(28:23):
have figured out what the journey is, but I'm not
looking at the journey. I'm looking at the next step.
Because if you only look at the next step, you
don't see it as being laborious or any of those
kind of things. You look at Okay, this is what
I have to do today. Okay, what's on my list
for me to do today? Okay, this is what I
have to do. Okay, that's done. Now, next what do
(28:44):
I do? Let me go for a walk, let me
do this, let me go water the plants, let me
do something so getting into nature. It might be let
me go to the grocery store and see if they
have any new produce. This is my way of doing
when you say, what is it that I do? So
I'll go to the grocery store, or I might go
and look at some plants, or call a friend who
(29:04):
I haven't talked to and say, hey, how are you doing,
what's going on? What's going on in your life? Looking
for something that's positive, and just figuring out how can
I take whatever that situation is and turn it around,
you know, you know, and again like you know, this
is one of those things where you asked me questions
to be authentic and full disclosure. So I am. You know,
(29:24):
I had you know, I still do a little bit
in taxes because of the situation that had happened before.
And I was like, well, I know one way I
can keep them, you know, at Bay until I figure
it out, and that's to pay them a little bit
of money, keep giving them a little bit of money,
a little bit of money till I find the right
tax person who can do my stuff. And I just
kept praying on it. I was like, that right person
is going to come up, and she did, and she's
(29:46):
working wonders and so now I just turned it all
over to her and said, okay, fix this work your magic.
What what do I need to do? Who do I
need to talk to? And so she is doing it,
but I didn't worry about it. What I did is
I looked at what is it that I I have
to do? And what I have to do is make
sure I can keep them at Bay? And how do
I keep them at Bay by paying them something. I'm
(30:09):
not ignoring it and not saying I don't have to
do it. I'm just saying I don't know how to
unravel this because the tax person and I had did
it all wrong. So I need somebody who knows what
to do to fix this because I don't know and
I don't have time to study that too. I have
enough things that I study and enough things that I do,
so I have to find that right person, and I did.
(30:30):
It was one of my friends who referred me to
somebody and she only takes like so many clients, and
unfortunately but fortunately for me, some of her clients passed
away and she said, I have now, Now I have
room because she only takes a certain amount and no
more than that. So that's why I'm saying, I look
at what is it? What is my next step? Not
(30:51):
what is my next steps? And then I just am
making sure that I'm concentrating on, Okay, what do I
want to eat today? What do I feel like eating?
So I do the intuitive eating, and again sometimes you
can know a little bit too much. So it's like,
I really want those chips, but I know that's not
(31:12):
the right thing for me to eat, So let me
figure out something I can do. Why do I want
the chips? What is my body really saying to me?
You know, Okay, I want the carbs, I want the sugar.
So then I go through my analysis stage and then
I come to a conclusion, you really don't want to
eat those chips because you really are trying to lose
weight because you know you need to do this. So
(31:33):
I go through that and talk myself out of it,
and then I look at what products do I have
that's going to be the products that's going to help
me with what it is I need to do, so
I stay happy in the research is pretty much to
answer the question, and that way I never feel like
I'm limiting myself on something I may really want. You know,
(31:55):
I'm still going to get it because I'll figure out,
Oh I want some sugar, I want some sweet soak.
Go eat a piece of dried fruit, Go eat a
fresh fruit. So I do those things where I know
I'm getting what I'm craving, but I'm also getting it
in a healthy way and which helps my brain helps
me to stay healthy and happy. You know, you know,
(32:17):
good food keeps you happy. So that's kind of what
I do.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
And you know you're you're definitely reminding folks to go
out there and not only do the research, but to
really listen to your body figure out what is being said.
I remember I was.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
On social media and I was listening to a particular
lecture and the guy was sharing, you know, we have
a tendency to want he called them by name. But
I'm just gonna say snack food, right, he says, But
it really isn't the snack food that we want. It's
because our body is lacking in And then he would say,
(32:56):
you know, we need magnesium, or we need zinc, or
we need fight whatever it is, right, we need vitamin
whatever it is. And he says, it's just your brain's
way of saying, hey, I need this good thing, and
because you like this snack food over here, Eat some
of that so that I can try to get some
of this good thing. And he too said, if we.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Only learned what the fruits and vegetables are providing for us,
then we would understand that it's more than just our
mothers saying eat your vegetables every day. Right, It's like why, right, yes, why?
Speaker 3 (33:35):
And if we understood that why of why we are
actually eating that fruit or that particular vegetable, then it
could help us curb some of the unhealthy things that
we're doing so that we could.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Get to that healthy thing. But we're just not taught that.
So I am so glad that people are being authentic
and they are sharing their stories, and it helps people
realize that even if your business is well in this
every now and again you do want some chips, or
you might want a cookie or some eggs cream or whatever,
(34:08):
it is right that you really do want to have
that experience, but that you also have the boundary and
say we can have a little, and that little is enough.
So I love that that you shared that. Now another
hat that you wear is one of a author. Now
we know that your books are available on Amazon and
(34:32):
wherever books are sold. Of course, but you have a
series of books entitled No. Two on this first of all,
love the title. If I saw that at my Barnes
and Noble, I'm gonna pause and just thumb.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Through the book because I want to know. I cannot
wait to see what's inside.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
Tell us about this series, I will, and I will
share the inside joke on that. And that's where I
took back my power. My ex had stolen a lot
of money and I had gone to counseling and all
that type of stuff like a lot of women do,
(35:16):
and they had told me take down your social media.
You need to do this. And my whole point is
is that they can only find out what you put
out there in public. And because it's my dad who's
in me, and my mom who's in me, you know,
I went back to my roots and I said, you know,
I'm in a situation. What am I going to do?
How do I flip this around so that it's healthier
(35:39):
for me? And so that's how the title came about.
My daughters will say every like you. Everybody says, oh,
that's such a cute title, and my daughters saying, no,
it's not. You don't know what she's really saying a
message that she's really sending. So that's how the series
came out. So it is it does have a double meaning,
and it is. And I have in the series. I
(36:01):
do have one that was geared towards women, which is
on hormones, so it talks about women hormones. I have
one in the series that talk about plants, and it
talks about the plants that you put in your house,
and it's called, you know, now chew on this, A
Breath of Fresh Air. I have another one that's now
chew on this eats seasonally, So I tell you the
(36:23):
fruits and vegetables and the recipes that would help you
eat seasonally. So I keep it going so that each
book that I come out, it will start out with
now chew on this, and then it will have a
subtitle to it, and the subtitle tells you what the
book is about. But the now chew on this is
my power.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Oh I love that, not the situation that happened to
you to spoke it, but just being able to say
I will no longer be filling the blank with all
of the negative words that you want to put in there, right,
but instead, I like you said, taking my power back.
I'm gonna walk forward and stand in this power. So
(37:06):
now too on this.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
I love that because we do need to understand that
life is gonna give us some of those those hardships.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Right, We're gonna have some obstacles. We're gonna run into even.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Some people in our lives that are there to even
teach us the heart lesson right, that person that's just obstinate,
that just who They're only there for a moment. But boy,
did we learn a lot about a negative thing so
that we can move forward in that positivity.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
So I am so glad that you did not allow
that situation to keep you under, to keep you beneath,
to keep you from achieving and being the all that
you have become. And I tell you are such an
inspiration and I cannot wait to continue to follow the
(38:00):
journey that you are on and how you continue to
inspire not only us but the next generation as well. Now, Charaine, thank.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
You again for being a guest on the show. I've
enjoyed my conversation with you. But before I let you go, though,
if someone else wants to reach out to you again.
The books of Course are available on Amazon or wherever
books are sold.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
But if they want to reach you, how do they
do that? How do they find you? On social media?
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Well, on social media, you know, you see my little
name back there and you will see you know, my
you know at so it's going to be Mama Vega.
So Mama Vega is the easiest way. If they google it,
you'll see me on all the different platforms. It may
say Charmaine Vega, but if they were to do a
Google search, it would be Mama Vega. If they go
(38:49):
to my website, which is the easiest, it would be
Mamavega dot com. And then in the upper right hand
corner it has all the links to all my social
media there and that way I don't have to remember
how I did it. I only have to remember Mama
Vega and that makes it easiest for me and looking
(39:10):
at it. And I do have some of the books there,
but again there on and the books are under Charmaine Vega,
They're not under Mama Vega, so it would be under
my real name. You know, I published under my real name.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Thank you again for being a guest on Passion, your magazine,
the podcast
Speaker 4 (39:26):
And thank you for having me
Welcome to Passioneer Magazine, the podcast Well You're Here, inspirational stories,
encouraging news, and in depth interviews with authors, influencers, CEOs
and thought leaders. Passioneer Magazine The podcast Bold Ideas, Brave Pursuits,
Boundless Inspiration.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Hello, Hello, Hello, thank you so much for joining me
here today on Passioner Magazine, the podcast Welcome to the show.
Thank you for being here. Now, Sure, may I cannot
wait to talk to you about the all that you do.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
There are so many people in the world that wear
many hats and they wear them. Well, you are one
of those people. However, I realize I may be introducing
you to some folks that are unfamiliar with who you
are and what you do. So my first question for
you is what makes you? You tell us a little
bit about yourself.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Sure, what makes me me is I am my mother.
That's what makes me me. And I like to always
go into that. We always forget about our genetics when
they say what makes you you? What makes me me
is the generational genetics. It went into how I think,
(01:36):
what I do, the compassions I have, all of those things,
But what really makes me me is the things around me,
My family, my daughters, my grandchildren, and the people I
come in contact with. That's what really influences me, and
(01:59):
I get a little bit into other things that I do.
What makes me me is also the air I breathe,
the water I drink, the food I eat. All of
those things go into flipping switches within me. If you
want to say whether I'm healthy, I'm not healthy, whether
I have brain fog, all of those things. And I
(02:19):
know it sounds a little bit different than what most
people would say what makes you you, But that's how
I look at it. I really look at it from
that perspective, because that really is what makes me me,
and what people say to me makes me me because
(02:39):
if you say something that's positive, that's going to have
a vibrational influence on me. Because we're water, so it
makes an impact. It makes a ripple effect. If you
say something negative, it makes a ripple effect. So that's
what makes me me.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I love that, and you know, thank you for giving
an holistic answer, right, because usually it is just about
the business of who we are. And to be quite honest,
I love it when someone decides not to do that.
I am that person.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
When you walk into a room and people are trying to,
you know, figure out who is who, and it's like.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Hi, what do you do? What college did you go to? Like?
Am I really going to go through twenty five mini interviews?
Just you know, Hi?
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Just hi, first and foremost, how was your day? What
exciting and fun thing did you do today? Give me
that I really don't. I don't need your label, right
and all of that. So I love that.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
But just to flip the switch a little bit.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
You have several labels, and you wear those labels very well.
I must say, so my first question to you is,
as someone who is in the health in industry, in
the wellness industry, you're an entrepreneur, how do you keep
all of these things complementary in your life?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Ooh that's a toughie. How do I keep them complementary?
And I would say I do what I enjoy and
that's what makes them complimentary because I don't look at
my business as a business. My business is my livelihood.
(04:32):
I am a fourth generation nutritionist. It goes back generations.
I did not know that. I was originally going to
school to be a pre med major. So I did
that for three years. Then my husband who's passed away.
He wanted to go to medical school, and I was like, well,
we're gonna have kids, you know, that's going to be
(04:53):
a little bit tough. And so I went into special education.
I did that, but in going into special education, I
also we still brought the science with me. So I
never let go of the science. I never let go
of that component. But I grew up with herbs and
vegetables and all that. And then my mother, you know,
was a certified herbalist. And if you had asked me
(05:14):
part of this question two weeks ago, I would be
giving you a different answer than I'm giving you today.
And the reason I say that is there something that
you may not know, but it is on social media.
My mother passed away. My birthday was on the seventeenth.
My mother passed away on the eighteenth in my arms.
So when it talks about that, and she was ninety two,
(05:38):
she was on no medication, and basically what it ended
up being is she had renal failure, you know, and
that was due to old age, and her kidneys had
gone down to about thirty percent. But the last three
weeks she was on liquids. So during that time, my
entrepreneurship was set aside, and for the last really years
(06:00):
and a half that aspect. But I never let go
of the family component, and I never let go of
the nutritional component and what could do there. But because
I'm always inquisitive, her whole journey of what she was
going through and me being a caregiver is now what's
making my business what it will be moving forward because
(06:24):
I'm incorporating what I learned because I was not a caregiver.
Yes I took care of my children, but not a
caregiver like this, So I was able to learn the
problems that caregivers go through. I had to do my
own research, I had to do things, and these are
things that caregivers normally don't have. So there will be
(06:47):
additional information coming out about that because I'm compiling that
information so that it can be helpful to others. So
that's how I combine what I do every day with
my business, because what I do every day gets incorporated
into my business. It is not separated from my business absolutely.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
And you know, as you were saying that, I'm so
sorry to hear the news about your mother, but oh
to be blessed with a parent up to ninety two.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Years, we never want them to go. My father's passed on,
my mother is still with me. We never want them
to go, no matter how old they are or young
at heart. We never if we could check off a box,
keep parent forever, yes, we definitely do that. So my
heart does go out to you for that. But I
(07:43):
am so glad that you are able to take the
life lessons and put them in a way where others
will be able to learn from your experience, because as
people start to live longer, that means that we have
the possibility of being a caretaker. Like you said, being
a parent is one thing. We can raise our kids,
(08:06):
that's no problem, but being a caretaker is something is
something different, So we do need to have that information.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
I'm so glad that you're doing that now.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
When it comes to staying on a trend in your industry,
as a consumer of information, we can't wait until you
guys release something that helps us.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Stay in the know.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
But be it that you are on the industry side,
how do you stay current?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
How do you stay aware and make sure that your.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Client base is also not only on trend, but just
well informed all around.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
That too, is an excellent question. You make me think
about these things. How I stay on trend as I'm
constantly researching, I'm constantly looking at things. If I look
at a product and I want to know, is that
product third party validated? And what I mean by that
(09:07):
is that it was not the company itself that said
this is a good product, but they actually send it
to outside sources. And I say sources, because you don't
want it to go to just one source. You wanted
to send it to multiple sources and see who those
sources are. It doesn't have to be just the Food
(09:28):
and Druming administration, because we know that's a political situation
that we can all talk about. But also did they
send it to something like the Cancer Society, or they
send it to Harvard's research project or UCLA research project
where people are actually doing research on it, or can
(09:49):
you look it up on PubMed dot gov. So whenever
I look at products, I'm researching it from that standpoint.
And anytime I'm recommending something to my clients, you can
look in my cupboard and I have those products. So
it's not where I'm making a recommendation on something that
(10:10):
I'm not doing myself, but it is something that I'm
doing myself and Oftentimes I will take my cell phone
and I'll walk to my cupboards and I'll say, see, guys,
this is what it is. And you see, here's the bottle,
it's open, and here's all the pills in it. Or
here's the powder. Look at how much is left. This
is what I'm doing. So when I'm making recommendations and research,
(10:31):
I'm researching the product because it's something that I'm going
to take myself, and because I'm going to take it myself,
I want to make sure that what I'm taking is
not going to be harmful to me and my family.
So my family will do a lot of the follow
a lot of the steps that I do. Some steps
they don't, but for the most part they do.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And you know, you said a very important thing there,
and I think it's going to be a.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
Moment, an aha moment for a lot of people. And
that is the verification. It's not just one, but several
stamps of approval. I think many times we just want
to make sure that someone, just some agency has validated,
but we're not thinking agencies. So that is a really
(11:24):
good point that you that you're making there. I love that,
And what a great thing to do on social media
right to show everyone, hey, I'm recommending this particular brand,
or we're utilizing this brand because X, Y and Z,
but I literally use it as well. What a great
I hope they're taking advantage of that, of that stamp
(11:44):
of approval. Definitely. Now, as women, we have a lot
going on.
Speaker 3 (11:50):
We are moving into our own independence while still staying
traditional in many aspects of our lives, which means that
we have different cares, different concerns that are being introduced
into our lives. What challenges are you seeing with the
women that you service and how are you able to.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Help them go from stuck to unstuck, from maybe disillusion
to having their own epiphany moments.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
Oh, you have such thought provoking questions.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
I think I am much like you and that I
am naturally inquisitive, right, I want to know why is
this what you're saying that it is, and how can
I use that? So every question is like a bite
side a bite size.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Of wisdom and food.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
So it's like ooh, a bite, Oh that's good, I
want another bite.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
And you have just such a wealth of information. I
want to make sure I can.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Get in enough nibbles for folks that they are that
they too are inspired by by the work that you do.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
But let me let you answer that question.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
Okay, Well, I come from the standpoint that what my
father taught me, and that is no means not that
way that's not a traditional thing for women to start with.
Is that you know, we've shared a little bit that
we're used to being submissive, used to not having that voice,
(13:30):
and sometimes even myself, I will suppress it. But other times,
my family and friends who know me, they know that
it's only going to happen but for a short period
of time before before I voice my opinion, especially if
it's something that I know that's not absolutely correct, you know,
(13:51):
I am going to have to say something about it
because I want women to understand that you don't have
to suppress what it is that you're doing. And example,
I like to lead by example. And an example I
would give relative to that is my last partner. We
were together for eighteen years and then when I went
to women counseling and stuff like that, one of the
(14:13):
things they told me to do was to take down
my social media because he control and he could follow you,
and he could do all these things. And I told
them absolutely not and My reasoning behind it was is
I said, people will only know in social media what
I put out there. So if he's trolling, the only
(14:35):
thing he's going to see is that I'm being successful.
He's not going to see the heartache or anything that
may be going on behind the scenes, because that's not
what I'm going to show. I'm not going to show
that that in and of itself allows you to be powerful.
It allows you to take back your power rather than
giving it away. So I show women in small ways,
(15:00):
but it means a lot for them to be able
to take that power back. I counseled one woman and
she was like, well, you know, she was a housewife,
and I wish we could come up with another word
for that. I don't, you know, maybe house engineer, something
along those lines, because you're not married to your house,
(15:21):
you know. So it's I and I look at words,
and you know, because I taught English, so when I'm
looking at words, they mean something different to me, and
so I'm I told her, I said, do you like
to paint? Get a rock? Paint the rock, make money
from the rock, get a bottle, paint that, do something.
But we oftentimes women don't look at what's our real value?
(15:46):
And I recently did that to show women how valuable
they really are, even if they are what we call
a housewife is I went and I said, what are
all the skills that a woman who runs a house
have to do? Taking care of the children? Doing this?
Just listed every single thing they had to do, and
(16:08):
then I said, if you have to go and get
a job that does that same thing, what will you
get paid for that job? Then I totaled that and
I was able to show them this is only part
of your value, because this is the value of what
(16:28):
you do. But now let's look at your body. What
is your body worth? And I went to insurance companies
to say, if you lost your eye, you lost your tooth,
you lost your finger, you lost this, what is the
value of that. So now we have the value of
your body. We have the value of what you do.
Now we add it together and you'll see how many
(16:49):
millions of dollars you're really walking around. And that is
your value. So I show them how valuable they are,
and by doing that, it gives them, like you just said,
an aha moment, And I said, now cherish that and
take care of it, because if you had a house
(17:10):
or something. You know, that's an object that was that valuable,
you would take care of it. So now take care
of it and let it grow and flourish. So that's
how I would That's how I try to empower women
is by showing them something that you can't really dispute.
You can't dispute numbers. Numbers are numbers. So I show
(17:31):
them something concrete, and then I go into the abstract.
Let's talk about your health and all of those kinds
of things.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah. Yeah, as you were talking, it made me think
about an article that I read many many years ago,
and this young family was having the same epiphany moment
when he realized that, oh my goodness, how much it
would cost if his wife were in the working world.
(18:01):
I believe they had to then two small children and
just daycare, and they needed to purchase another car and
the food for everyone in wardrobe. And as you were saying,
listing all of the things, and he said, you know,
it is much better if if my wife, her choice,
(18:23):
chooses to stay home. I am one hundred percent in
agreement with her now because I realize how much she
is worth to building the family, Because, oh my heavens,
he was a numbers guy, and when you said that,
it made me think about that story and I was like, oh, yeah,
(18:44):
he says, you know, it's not about the emotion.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
I want to support her. If she wants to work, work,
you want to stay home, stay home? But what are
the numbers? Let me see the numbers. And that really
helped him understand the value that she was bringing. And
I think the article was in part talking about how
when you're a numbers person, when you run the numbers,
you see that it is not the old fashioned understanding
(19:11):
of being a housewife. Right that our homemakers, our domestic engineers,
our mamas are so much their value is so much
more than folks were giving to them before. So I'm
so glad that you did that with your client. Now,
speaking of making decisions and figuring out how we do
(19:33):
the things that we do for folks that come to
you for that aspect to pick your band, be it
that it is in health and wellness, or it is
on just simply being an entrepreneur, how do you help
guide them when it comes to making decisions, not just
tough decisions, but just understanding what is best for them.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
That's where I go into the traditional question that we
always say, what is your why? Why are you wanting
to do what you do? Why do you want to
do it? Why do you want to teach? And some
person would say, well, because I like it, okay, but
(20:18):
why do you like it? So I keep asking them
the question of why, drilling down to get to what
is the core? What is that little seed that's in there?
And sometimes they don't realize that the reason that they
want to do it is because of something that had happened.
(20:38):
You know, I want to do this because of something
that happened earlier. I want to do this because I
saw my mother or father, or sister or somebody do
this and how it made me feel. So I want
the replication of that feeling of feeling better, feeling whatever.
So you have to really drill down and find out
(21:00):
the why. Even if a person says, well, I want
to lose weight, why are you losing weight for someone else?
Because if you are, that's not going to last. If
you're doing it for yourself, why are you doing it
for yourself? It's still a why are you doing it?
(21:22):
Because you want to fit into that dress that's still temporary, right,
because that's fleeting? Are you doing it because you want
to live longer. Why do you want to live longer?
So you have to really drill down on that why.
And once we get down to the why, then I
(21:44):
can say, Okay, now we can move forward because now
I know the plan that we have and what we
can put together. I call it a covisionary because I
can't help you unless I know where you want to go.
But I can be your covisionary. You have a vision
of where you want to go, and I can help
you get there by helping you to vision and vision
(22:07):
what it is you want to do. So I call
it I'm, you know, more than just a coach, more
than just a teacher, more than just a nutritionist, more
than just a holistic wellness coach. Whichever title we want
to put on it, I think the best one is
is that I'm a covisionary because I can't help you
unless I know where you want to go.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Oh my goodness, that is that is so true. And
I find that some of the best people who have
assisted you have been those people that continue to ask
you why right. They don't allow you to stay on
the surface because you're already on the surface. You don't
(22:49):
have any problem being on the surface. You can even
perhaps go one or two layers deep and think that
you're doing something right because you're prepared for those You're
prepared for those questions because your parents or your sibling
or friend has asked, well, why do you want to
do that? So you're ready for one or two layers.
But by time they get to someone who really and
(23:11):
truly is trying to help you get to the core,
that's when you can see it, right.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
You can see it in their eyes. They're breathing sometimes,
changes their countenance really and they're going, oh, my goodness,
I don't think I've ever been this is on chartered territory.
She's making me tap into my feelings, into these emotions.
She's making me figure out who I am. Oh, this
is good stuff. And they're going through so much, and
(23:38):
by time they get to that last they really and
truly have discovered who they are and their why.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
So thank you for.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Doing that and for giving folks permission to peel back
those layers and to get out of the facade of
who we have to present ourselves to be, but really
who we are as indie visual people. Now speaking of
how we are and being our authentic self. How do
(24:09):
you taking f all of those hats, those labels and.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
All of that. How do you recharge your batteries?
Speaker 3 (24:16):
How do you stay just a positive person as yourself?
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Ooh, well, because I do have a saying that I
have a friend who's from Africa, and he always tells me,
he says, you can't unknow what you know? And I
told him yes, but I have another sentence to add
to that, and he said, Okay, you're going to be
smart about it. I said, yeah, I said, and since
(24:44):
I can't unknow what I know, I don't want to
know if it's negative. So one of the things I
do is people know that I have a certain way
of looking at things, even when it's what the average
person would consider bad, I try to look at it
and I try to find what is the good in
(25:05):
the bad. The example I can give with that is
that years ago, my mother's sister had passed away, and
everybody was at the funeral, and they were crying and
this and that. Well many of us, myself included at
one point in time, were raised by this aunt and
we were all together. So my first cousins were there,
(25:26):
and I was the one who said, why are you
guys all crying? I said, I haven't seen you in
forty years. I said, so you're so happy to see me,
I said, is that way, I said, is that way
you're crying? I said, So what you should look at
is that her passing brought us all together. We wouldn't
be here if it wasn't for her passing, So look
at it as a joyous occasion. And now we're across
(25:48):
the country. So now we have zoom, and we have
phone numbers, and we have all this where we can
keep in touch where we didn't do that before. So
it brought us together. And the same thing with my
mother's passing, you know, she was here with me in California.
But now all of my family, with the exception of
my daughters and my grandchildren are you know, are on
the East Coast, So we will all be going to
(26:10):
the East Coast, and many of them they will be
meeting for the first time. And if they choose to engage,
they can. If they choose not to, they don't have to.
But we also have a family cemetery that's back there
that goes back generations, so my grandchildren will be able
to see from where they come from. And the cornerstone
of the church that's built there was partially built by
(26:31):
my grandfather, So they will be able to see their
history in living color, so to speak. They will be
able to actually see it, touch it, feel it, know
where it is, know that this is where you come from.
It's so I look at those things, and that's how
I stay and I recharge myself and I try now
(26:55):
that my mother is not here. I couldn't do it
when she was with me because she would get up
in the middle of the night, so I had to
worry about that. But now what I do is I
try to get that eight hours of sleep. And that's very, very,
very very I can't emphasize that too much important for
you to do because even myself, you know, and being
(27:17):
authentic and full disclosure, my face is fatter than it
was before because I've gained about ten fifteen pounds and
that's because of my cortisol level. You know, I know
what was going on, you know, I know what was
going on. I didn't worry about it because I knew
when whatever happened happened, I would then be able to
(27:38):
get back on track. So I try not to worry
about things. It's like my mother would say, this too
shall pass. So you have to look at what is
my next step. I don't look at the problem. I
don't ever say that there's really a problem. I say
I'm in a situation. Also the words that you use,
(28:03):
and so I say, this is a situation. Now can
I figure out the solution to this situation? What do
I do? What's my next step? What's the task? Analysis?
And so what I do is I'm looking at what's
my next step, and I don't look at the journey.
I look at what is my next step. I may
(28:23):
have figured out what the journey is, but I'm not
looking at the journey. I'm looking at the next step.
Because if you only look at the next step, you
don't see it as being laborious or any of those
kind of things. You look at Okay, this is what
I have to do today. Okay, what's on my list
for me to do today? Okay, this is what I
have to do. Okay, that's done. Now, next what do
(28:44):
I do? Let me go for a walk, let me
do this, let me go water the plants, let me
do something so getting into nature. It might be let
me go to the grocery store and see if they
have any new produce. This is my way of doing
when you say, what is it that I do? So
I'll go to the grocery store, or I might go
and look at some plants, or call a friend who
(29:04):
I haven't talked to and say, hey, how are you doing,
what's going on? What's going on in your life? Looking
for something that's positive, and just figuring out how can
I take whatever that situation is and turn it around,
you know, you know, and again like you know, this
is one of those things where you asked me questions
to be authentic and full disclosure. So I am. You know,
(29:24):
I had you know, I still do a little bit
in taxes because of the situation that had happened before.
And I was like, well, I know one way I
can keep them, you know, at Bay until I figure
it out, and that's to pay them a little bit
of money, keep giving them a little bit of money,
a little bit of money till I find the right
tax person who can do my stuff. And I just
kept praying on it. I was like, that right person
is going to come up, and she did, and she's
(29:46):
working wonders and so now I just turned it all
over to her and said, okay, fix this work your magic.
What what do I need to do? Who do I
need to talk to? And so she is doing it,
but I didn't worry about it. What I did is
I looked at what is it that I I have
to do? And what I have to do is make
sure I can keep them at Bay? And how do
I keep them at Bay by paying them something. I'm
(30:09):
not ignoring it and not saying I don't have to
do it. I'm just saying I don't know how to
unravel this because the tax person and I had did
it all wrong. So I need somebody who knows what
to do to fix this because I don't know and
I don't have time to study that too. I have
enough things that I study and enough things that I do,
so I have to find that right person, and I did.
(30:30):
It was one of my friends who referred me to
somebody and she only takes like so many clients, and
unfortunately but fortunately for me, some of her clients passed
away and she said, I have now, Now I have
room because she only takes a certain amount and no
more than that. So that's why I'm saying, I look
at what is it? What is my next step? Not
(30:51):
what is my next steps? And then I just am
making sure that I'm concentrating on, Okay, what do I
want to eat today? What do I feel like eating?
So I do the intuitive eating, and again sometimes you
can know a little bit too much. So it's like,
I really want those chips, but I know that's not
(31:12):
the right thing for me to eat, So let me
figure out something I can do. Why do I want
the chips? What is my body really saying to me?
You know, Okay, I want the carbs, I want the sugar.
So then I go through my analysis stage and then
I come to a conclusion, you really don't want to
eat those chips because you really are trying to lose
weight because you know you need to do this. So
(31:33):
I go through that and talk myself out of it,
and then I look at what products do I have
that's going to be the products that's going to help
me with what it is I need to do, so
I stay happy in the research is pretty much to
answer the question, and that way I never feel like
I'm limiting myself on something I may really want. You know,
(31:55):
I'm still going to get it because I'll figure out,
Oh I want some sugar, I want some sweet soak.
Go eat a piece of dried fruit, Go eat a
fresh fruit. So I do those things where I know
I'm getting what I'm craving, but I'm also getting it
in a healthy way and which helps my brain helps
me to stay healthy and happy. You know, you know,
(32:17):
good food keeps you happy. So that's kind of what
I do.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
And you know you're you're definitely reminding folks to go
out there and not only do the research, but to
really listen to your body figure out what is being said.
I remember I was.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
On social media and I was listening to a particular
lecture and the guy was sharing, you know, we have
a tendency to want he called them by name. But
I'm just gonna say snack food, right, he says, But
it really isn't the snack food that we want. It's
because our body is lacking in And then he would say,
(32:56):
you know, we need magnesium, or we need zinc, or
we need fight whatever it is, right, we need vitamin
whatever it is. And he says, it's just your brain's
way of saying, hey, I need this good thing, and
because you like this snack food over here, Eat some
of that so that I can try to get some
of this good thing. And he too said, if we.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Only learned what the fruits and vegetables are providing for us,
then we would understand that it's more than just our
mothers saying eat your vegetables every day. Right, It's like why, right, yes, why?
Speaker 3 (33:35):
And if we understood that why of why we are
actually eating that fruit or that particular vegetable, then it
could help us curb some of the unhealthy things that
we're doing so that we could.
Speaker 2 (33:47):
Get to that healthy thing. But we're just not taught that.
So I am so glad that people are being authentic
and they are sharing their stories, and it helps people
realize that even if your business is well in this
every now and again you do want some chips, or
you might want a cookie or some eggs cream or whatever,
(34:08):
it is right that you really do want to have
that experience, but that you also have the boundary and
say we can have a little, and that little is enough.
So I love that that you shared that. Now another
hat that you wear is one of a author. Now
we know that your books are available on Amazon and
(34:32):
wherever books are sold. Of course, but you have a
series of books entitled No. Two on this first of all,
love the title. If I saw that at my Barnes
and Noble, I'm gonna pause and just thumb.
Speaker 3 (34:48):
Through the book because I want to know. I cannot
wait to see what's inside.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
Tell us about this series, I will, and I will
share the inside joke on that. And that's where I
took back my power. My ex had stolen a lot
of money and I had gone to counseling and all
that type of stuff like a lot of women do,
(35:16):
and they had told me take down your social media.
You need to do this. And my whole point is
is that they can only find out what you put
out there in public. And because it's my dad who's
in me, and my mom who's in me, you know,
I went back to my roots and I said, you know,
I'm in a situation. What am I going to do?
How do I flip this around so that it's healthier
(35:39):
for me? And so that's how the title came about.
My daughters will say every like you. Everybody says, oh,
that's such a cute title, and my daughters saying, no,
it's not. You don't know what she's really saying a
message that she's really sending. So that's how the series
came out. So it is it does have a double meaning,
and it is. And I have in the series. I
(36:01):
do have one that was geared towards women, which is
on hormones, so it talks about women hormones. I have
one in the series that talk about plants, and it
talks about the plants that you put in your house,
and it's called, you know, now chew on this, A
Breath of Fresh Air. I have another one that's now
chew on this eats seasonally, So I tell you the
(36:23):
fruits and vegetables and the recipes that would help you
eat seasonally. So I keep it going so that each
book that I come out, it will start out with
now chew on this, and then it will have a
subtitle to it, and the subtitle tells you what the
book is about. But the now chew on this is
my power.
Speaker 2 (36:43):
Oh I love that, not the situation that happened to
you to spoke it, but just being able to say
I will no longer be filling the blank with all
of the negative words that you want to put in there, right,
but instead, I like you said, taking my power back.
I'm gonna walk forward and stand in this power. So
(37:06):
now too on this.
Speaker 3 (37:08):
I love that because we do need to understand that
life is gonna give us some of those those hardships.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Right, We're gonna have some obstacles. We're gonna run into even.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Some people in our lives that are there to even
teach us the heart lesson right, that person that's just obstinate,
that just who They're only there for a moment. But boy,
did we learn a lot about a negative thing so
that we can move forward in that positivity.
Speaker 2 (37:39):
So I am so glad that you did not allow
that situation to keep you under, to keep you beneath,
to keep you from achieving and being the all that
you have become. And I tell you are such an
inspiration and I cannot wait to continue to follow the
(38:00):
journey that you are on and how you continue to
inspire not only us but the next generation as well. Now, Charaine, thank.
Speaker 3 (38:10):
You again for being a guest on the show. I've
enjoyed my conversation with you. But before I let you go, though,
if someone else wants to reach out to you again.
The books of Course are available on Amazon or wherever
books are sold.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
But if they want to reach you, how do they
do that? How do they find you? On social media?
Speaker 4 (38:27):
Well, on social media, you know, you see my little
name back there and you will see you know, my
you know at so it's going to be Mama Vega.
So Mama Vega is the easiest way. If they google it,
you'll see me on all the different platforms. It may
say Charmaine Vega, but if they were to do a
Google search, it would be Mama Vega. If they go
(38:49):
to my website, which is the easiest, it would be
Mamavega dot com. And then in the upper right hand
corner it has all the links to all my social
media there and that way I don't have to remember
how I did it. I only have to remember Mama
Vega and that makes it easiest for me and looking
(39:10):
at it. And I do have some of the books there,
but again there on and the books are under Charmaine Vega,
They're not under Mama Vega, so it would be under
my real name. You know, I published under my real name.
Speaker 2 (39:20):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Thank you again for being a guest on Passion, your magazine,
the podcast
Speaker 4 (39:26):
And thank you for having me
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