IAM224- Yoga Teacher and Certified Life Coach Supports Mind, Body and Spirit Wellness

Mary Hoyt Kearns’ purpose in life to help people discover and nourish their Inner Light, and to teach them how to heal themselves. She holds a PhD in developmental psychology from Fordham University, with a focus on Behavioral Health. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher, Certified Life Coach, Usui Reiki Master, and has studied herbalism, shamanism, past life regression, mandalas for healing, and more. She is the owner of Your Stellar Self, whose mission is to bring Light, Love, and Healing to the world by supporting mind+body+spirit wellness. Mary has been offering wellness workshops and talks on various mind-body-spirit topics since 2003.

• CEO Hack: 5-min role to create room for bigger things that need more concentration
• CEO Nugget: (1) It's okay to delegate (2) Have time for self-care
• CEO Defined: Wearing many hats, decision maker and walking your values through our work

Website: https://www.yourstellarself.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yourstellarself/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourstellarself/

Full Interview

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Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:26

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresham from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Mary Kearns from yourstellarself.com. Mary, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Mary Kearns 0:36

Thanks for having me, Gresham. It's great to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:38

No problem. It's great to have you on and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Mary so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Mary Hoyt Kearns’ purpose in life is to help people discover and nourish their Inner Light, and to teach them how to heal themselves. She holds a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Fordham University, with a focus on Behavioral Health. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher, Certified Life Coach, and Usui Reiki Master, and has studied herbalism, shamanism, past life regression, mandalas for healing, and more. She is the owner of Your Stellar Self, whose mission is to bring Light, Love, and Healing to the world by supporting mind+body+spirit wellness. Mary has been offering wellness workshops and talks on various mind-body-spirit topics since 2003. Mary, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Mary Kearns 1:27

I am! Thank you.

Gresham Harkless 1:28

No problem. Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

Mary Kearns 1:35

Oh, okay. Well, the first incarnation of this business I created right after I was done with my Ph.D. And that was in 2002, and got my coaching training, I started doing workshops, and different things like work-life balance, how to reduce stress, kind of integrated some mindfulness techniques into that. And then I got certified in Reiki in 2005 and started adding that to the mix.

By 2008, I kind of went a different direction and turn to wellness through herbal Baths and Body products and teaching people about the importance of what you put on your skin and self-care and all that I continue to do workshops, but I kind of left the more mind spirit side of it behind. And then in 2017, I got certified as a yoga teacher. And that kind of reminded me of how much I loved the whole package to the mind body spirit. So combining movement with meditation with mindfulness and self-care, I brought the old business back in a new form. And so at the end of 2017, Your Steller Self was reborn. And yes, so now I kind of combine all those different things through workshops, through yoga lessons through energy healing.

Gresham Harkless 2:49

Nice. I love that. And it kind of reminds me of the fact that sometimes I even think that you can kind of silo some of those things like your health is just your, the way you're eating or the way that you're working out. But really, you know, it's the way that you're filling all these things are kind of I guess the term will be a holistic way to kind of look at your whole entire health, is that correct?

Mary Kearns 3:08

Yeah. And one of the tools that I learned in coaching was something we call the life wheel, where you have people like there's a circle on a piece of paper, and it's divided into like eight sections or so. And people label it with different aspects of their life, like physical health exercise, how well they're eating, how much sleep, they're getting, things like that thing that are important. And then they rate it on a scale of zero, which is the center of the circle to 10, and then color it in as far as that skill. So they can see how like lumpy their wheel is, how out of balance at any given point, and it's really hard to have everything running smoothly. But within that over time, if you get some good routines, you can get kind of a smooth, balanced proportion of all those things.

Gresham Harkless 3:50

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. You know, trying to maximize the most of our 24 hours as best as you can. Um, it's always kind of gets kind of a goal. And I guess correct me if I'm wrong, but sometimes even if you know you're a little lumpy in the area, at least you're kind of more aware of exactly where you're lumpy. So maybe it might be like a short-term thing where you understand that I might have to work you know, a lot more this time. But after this period is over this month, or whatever, I'm gonna be able to spend more time with my family or spiritually, or whatever those things you find that happen a lot.

Mary Kearns 4:18

Yeah, and especially when I had the bath and body products business because it was a product and had all the things that come along with inventory and wholesale clients, retail clients, and all that there were many times, especially around the holidays, when I hit 14 hour days, seven days a week, it was really out of balance.

So always make sure just know what I know about how important is to get enough sleep and never went without at least six or seven hours of sleep. I always made sure that I made time for my family and to eat right, which is not always that easy when you're working crazy hours like that. But it's just sometimes it's a matter of just taking 10 minutes here 20 minutes there to do what you need to do for yourself to bring it back and remember it so yeah, it's not always easy, but life isn't always like that either, where it's constant, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel.

Usually, there's so, and then at times, I found that if it felt too out of control, it meant that I had to let go of something. Maybe I was doing some volunteer work that I really didn't have time for. But I was feeling guilty about saying no, or maybe I had a client who was really super demanding, just proportional to what they were worth. So let them go. So that's the other part of the balance I found was kind of constantly reassessing. Like, what made sense right? Now, what brought me joy, and like doing the things that didn't?

Gresham Harkless 5:35

Yeah, no, that's extremely powerful. It's funny I go, I find myself going through that exact same thing, where sometimes I try to push through things, that's my default, and just kind of push through. And sometimes, you know, when you're just so tired and exhausted and you're overextended, sometimes you just have to maybe face the fact, which is what you might have done in the first place, at least in my case, where I needed to cut that thing out, I didn't necessarily need to just push through it I that needed to come off my plate or that you know, that time reached its end. And I need to accept that. And that was the difficult thing, I was kind of phases of that, it's really

Mary Kearns 6:03

It's really important to do for yourself. Because, again, it is when you're at that point where you're stretched so thinly, you just are not the best for your business for the people in your life for your clients. Like you need to take care of yourself in order to serve everyone else in the best way that you can.

Gresham Harkless 6:22

Exactly, exactly, I remind myself to put my own oxygen mask on, because that helped me serve everybody else, I have to tell myself that over and over again. I know you touched on it a little bit. But I wanted to hear a little bit more about what you're doing to kind of help support the clients that you're working with and what you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique.

Mary Kearns 6:37

Well, I guess I'll start with a unique part, I'd say it's my combination of backgrounds, it's kind of unique in that I have a scientific background, and the Ph.D. is a research degree. So I'm really familiar with the research process and the science behind a lot of what I teach, or most of what I teach, and I always am continually learning about it even the more esoteric stuff, what is the science behind it, and I have the solid psychology background too. So combining that with the more esoteric stuff like energy, medicine, shamanism, past life regression, and again, bringing it all together in a way that is when clients said I have just the right balance of scientific fact and mysticism. Yeah.

And so I think that's kind of different in that I've worked in both worlds, and I feel comfortable in both worlds. And I feel there's that they can complement each other, just like traditional Western medicine and complementary medicine, like acupuncture and Western medicine can work together really beautifully to create something better than either one by itself. It's the same too, with this mind-body stuff. I think we have a lot to learn from both traditions or both areas.

Gresham Harkless 7:46

Yeah, you know, I think that's a great example of kind of like your secret sauce. Because a lot of times people are either like you said, you know, one or the other, they're in one camp, or they're in the other camp, but the ability to be able to kind of navigate and talk to people on both levels, where somebody might be more scientific, and they want to know the facts and figures behind everything. So you can have that communication, somebody might be a little bit more esoteric, and you can have more of that. That vibe type, I guess conversation as well. So being able to kind of communicate both of those is huge.

Mary Kearns 8:14

Yeah. And it's nice. And I feel like over the last 10 years, there's a lot more receptivity of the more mystical. I mean, it's always been out there like oh forever. But in terms of the general public's receptivity, it's really nice that people are more open to all these different areas. Because again, as I said, I think the mystical side and the scientific side both have a lot to offer. And you're right, and it appeals to different ways of thinking too. So it all, I think it all boils down to the same thing essentially to like, we have labels for this and that phenomenon or procedure or process, but it all kind of boils down to the same essence.

Gresham Harkless 8:53

Yeah, yeah, I would definitely agree with that. Do you find that? Um, do you feel like if people are, I guess more amenable to kind of understanding or accepting the more esoteric because there are more scientific facts and research that has, you know, caught up with it, I guess, so to speak, in terms maybe to

Mary Kearns 9:11

Some people, but other people are just more open and they want something bigger than what science has been able to offer.

Gresham Harkless 9:19

That's very powerful.

Mary Kearns 9:20

It's limited. And there are so many things, say these multi-1000-year-old healing traditions. For the longest time, Western science would say, Oh, well, there's no proof that that works. But tens and thousands of years of shamanism or a couple of 1000 years of oriental medicine have shown that it does work, even if there was no scientific paper. So there's partly that, like you said that there is no science that I can put it's also that people are just more open and unwilling to not just accept what what a small group says this is truth.

Gresham Harkless 9:51

Yeah, no, that's absolutely powerful. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app A book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Mary Kearns 10:03

Yeah, I was thinking about that. I know in other podcasts, or that you've done with people, they've had really great apps and books and things. But I think the one thing that I've used for a long time that works really well for me is the five-minute rule. So if something comes across my desk, my to-do list that will take five minutes or less to do I do it immediately. And then it's off. And by doing that, some people might say that's less efficient, rather than letting them build up and do them all at once. But I just find if I shoot something off, and it's off my desk out of my mind, then it just leaves more room for the bigger stuff that needs more concentration, of course.

Gresham Harkless 10:40

Yeah, no, I love that hack. And it's funny that you say that because I sometimes will try to push it off to a later time at my designated time. But I mentally know that I still have it in my head. So it kind of doesn't leave that place. Like if you could have just, you know, did that very quickly. You could have got it off your plate. And now you're not even worried about it. But it still holds a place, even when you sometimes put it in that special place.

Mary Kearns 11:01

Yeah, that's when I say I have like a limited amount of RAM. The more I can just like offload stuff, the easier it is because it You're right. It's constantly running in the back.

Gresham Harkless 11:12

Exactly, exactly. And speaking of RAM, you're speaking my language now. So I appreciate that. That analogy. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you can happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Mary Kearns 11:27

I would say the self-care thing that we were talking about earlier, learn to say no to the things that really drain you. And taking time every day, even if it's just 10 minutes or so to just sit in silence like meditate, a lot of the biggest CEOs do that they will meditate every day, Steve Jobs is huge on that. I think having that time for self-care, just a designated time just for you is super important. And I would have definitely, I think my younger self knew that one of the things that I would have told my younger self though is it's okay to delegate. You don't have to be a control, freak, and micromanage or just oversee everything as a solopreneur. For much of my life, I was used to wearing all the hats, but sometimes someone else would be a lot better at doing what I'm doing. So feeling trusting enough to let go and let someone else do it. I would have told myself Yeah, do that. Do that more.

Gresham Harkless 12:22

Yeah, it's funny, it's always a fine line. Because you know, you want to make sure that you have that level of excellence that you always put forth. But at the same time, sometimes you have to find people that are maybe better at certain aspects, and you're able to empower them to be able to be their best selves as well. But it's also hard to kind of make that it's sometimes easier said than done, at least in my case it has been.

Mary Kearns 12:43

It's hard.

Gresham Harkless 12:45

Exactly. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on the show. So I want to ask you, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Mary Kearns 12:56

I think a big part of it was like I was just saying that wearing many hats least as a solopreneur. And even when I've had employees, I've kind of been the decision maker, you know, the mice joke. But along with that, I guess the most important thing for me is always been in my business to utter the triple bottom line kind of philosophy or sustainable business philosophy that every decision I make every purchase I make, I wanted to try to make sure that I'm keeping people planet and profit in mind. So I try to balance that always, like walking my values through my work through what I create and staying true to that.

Gresham Harkless 13:37

Nice. I absolutely love that definition. And I find that a lot with what I call what I like to call and phrase healthy CEOs, people that are in like their sports, fitness, and wellness industry, they have that triple bottom line approach that it's about profits about growing a business. It's about, you know, doing those things, but it's also about making the world a better place, which is why I admire you know, healthy CEO so much.

Mary Kearns 13:56

Cool. Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 13:58

Yeah, it's awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, Mary, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out. I wanted to pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to tell us about your business, your background, and anything else you can think of. And then of course, how best we can get ahold of you.

Mary Kearns 14:11

First of all, thank you so much for having me on the show. I love the show. And I love what you're doing to support entrepreneurs and CEOs and other business people sort of getting at the heart of what we were doing. So thank you. Yeah, there is a Wellness Expo coming up in March, I'll be one of the presenters called exploreexpo.org. And they'll it'll be a day of just all different types of holistic practitioners with workshops and demos and stuff. So I'll be one of the speakers. You can go to the expo.org website and my website, yourstellarself.com. That's where it lists my workshops and things as they come up. So I guess that was the main thing just people can feel free to contact me if they want my info on the website. Thank you for having me here.

Gresham Harkless 14:59

No problem. Thank you for taking some time out and for all the awesome things that you're doing. We'll make sure to have the links in the show notes as well so that everybody can follow up with you and see all the awesome things you're working on and you're doing. So Mary, I truly appreciate you again for all the awesome work you're doing and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Mary Kearns 15:13

Nice to see you.

Outro 15:15

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

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