IAM331- Founder Provides Affordable, Accessible Holistic Wellness Care

Michelle Pellizzon is the founder of Holisticism, a wellness-tech company providing affordable, accessible holistic wellness care. A former professional dancer-turned-tech founder, she started Holisticism after overcoming an epilepsy diagnosis at 17 using holistic medicine. After spending 6 years in Silicon Beach working at various startups like Thrive Market and Laurel & Wolf, Michelle started Holisticism as a passion project and has quickly grown it to a community of over 45k people.

• CEO Hack: Meditation to optimize yourself
• CEO Nugget: (1) You always have the right answer (2) Make the next best decision
• CEO Defined: Creating the world around you for the better every day

Website: https://holisticism.com/

Twitter: @holisticism
Instagram: @betterbymichelle

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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 0:29

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I've Michelle Pellizzon of Holisticism. Michelle, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Michelle Pellizzon 0:40

Hi, nice to be here.

Gresham Harkless 0:41

Super excited to have you on Michelle. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about you so you can people can hear about all the awesome things that you're doing. And Michelle is the founder of Holisticism, a wellness-tech company providing affordable, accessible holistic wellness care. A former professional dancer-turned-tech founder, she started Holisticism after overcoming an epilepsy diagnosis at 17 using holistic medicine. After spending 6 years in Silicon Beach working at various startups like Thrive Market and Laurel & Wolf, Michelle started Holisticism as a passion project and has quickly grown it to a community of over 45k people. Michelle, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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Michelle Pellizzon 1:21

I am.

Gresham Harkless 1:22

Awesome. Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Michelle Pellizzon 1:30

Yeah, so I am definitely an accidental founder or a reluctant CEO for sure. I started my company Holisticism, honestly as a passion project that I thought maybe would die a natural death about six months after I started it as most sort of fun passion projects, or hobbies do. So you already mentioned it. But when I was 17, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that doesn't ever care. And I was put on really intense prescription drugs in order to manage my seizures.

My doctors couldn't tell what was wrong with me exactly. And I didn't get a really firm diagnosis other than epilepsy, which is sort of an umbrella term for seizure disorders. And so I put on this medication to manage my seizures day to day and it made me really, really sick. I had a whole host of symptoms that affected my day-to-day life. And for about six years, I took that medication every day.

And eventually, I was at my wit's end, I had essentially lost my short-term memory, and my mood and personality had changed. And I just wasn't functioning the way that I knew I could. And someone recommended I try working with a holistic medicine practitioner, sort of as a last resort. And I rolled my eyes because I am a totally analytical, science-based person. And I have a neurological disorder.

So there's a lot of science that goes into understanding it. And I just thought, if my neurologists couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, I doubt that this sort of woo-woo energy practitioner can help me, I hate to say it, but that was definitely my perspective. And yeah, but I guess I'm an optimistic skeptic, and I thought I might as well try and see how this goes. And so I went and saw this person who was recommended to me, and after one appointment with them, I never had another seizure again, and I was able to go off medication.

And I've been seizure free ever since that was almost eight years ago. And it was amazing. And I was really lucky I was living in New York City and although I was a professional dancer and making about $10 now or had some access to lower-cost practitioners. But I realized that there was a really big gap in the market.

And that was something that really bothered me that so few people had accessible wellness care and complementary or alternative medicine care. I mean, health care in general, and affordable, accessible health care is a huge issue. But Western medicine is really only one side of the story. It's a really good side of the story. Western medicine is really important, but there are other opportunities that people need to know about in order to really take their health into their own hands.

So I started Holisticism as a newsletter really, for my friends to talk about Alternative and Complementary Medicine in a way that felt accessible and like you were talking to me, my tech friends who I would drink coffee in the break room with and talk about everything from acupuncture to energy medicine, but in the way that you do and you're normally just like, you know, been game. And so I started this newsletter two years ago for about 100 of those people and it grew really fast into what it is today, which is this massive community that's growing, growing like crazy

Gresham Harkless 5:01

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I'm obviously sorry to hear all of that happened. But I feel I always used to say things sometimes happen for a reason. And it sounds like you've been able to get over epilepsy and the diagnosis and everything and been able to do that and learn more and also help other people out with that seems like it's definitely something that has been the benefit of not just yourself, but also to other people.

Michelle Pellizzon 5:26

Yeah. And I think that's the biggest thing I want to share with Liz Fascism. Listen, I'm not an expert practitioner, although I do, I did go back to school and actually get a secondary degree and holistic health and nutrition. But really, I think sharing our stories, and different things in different pathways to healing ourselves and becoming the best versions of ourselves, is one of the greatest gifts that we can give the world and just saying this is what worked for me in it, it might not work for you. And that's totally cool.

But you should try it if you're interested. And that's what we really try to do with Holisticism, it is to empower people to make the best choices for themselves and have really what we call personal sovereignty, when it comes to their health and wellness choices, by providing them free resources, educational content, and then really accessible access to practitioners.

Gresham Harkless 6:26

Absolutely. I love that you said personal sovereignty. I love that, especially in this day and age, when everything's at everybody's fingertips where you're able to get so much information. But a lot of times, I always say and I've always heard people say you're your best doctor. So sometimes you have to be able to figure out if that works or not. And it sounds like you guys are definitely having a platform that allows people to figure that out for themselves.

Michelle Pellizzon 6:51

Yeah, totally. And I think that consumers in general are just a lot smarter than they are a lot more savvy than they used to be. Right, we do have everything at our fingertips. And so like that crosses over into everything from how we market to consumers, but also on how we talk to consumers, but also how we empower consumers, right? Instead of saying that my brand is the best, I think that companies need to say, well, here's where we're staking our claim. This is why we believe in what we do, and it might not work for you. And that's totally okay. But if you vibe with this, great, then we have some crossover and like, hopefully, we can work together.

And when it comes to health, healthcare, or wellness care really empowering people through education is a way to get into their hearts and to really gain their loyalty and their trust. And to be honest about the fact that we don't have all the answers, we might be wrong about some things, we might make mistakes even. But we're always going to try and fess up to them. And at the end of the day, like I'm not trying to sell you one thing. I'm trying to be an advocate for you. And I think that's probably why our readers and our communities really vibe with us.

Gresham Harkless 8:14

Yeah, absolutely. And I think like you said when you started out the newsletter, and just building it out on very conversational terms, like you're just talking with your friend, and do it that way as well, too. Because sometimes when you get the educational part or all the knowledge, sometimes it's in so it can be over my head a lot of times when you read a lot of this stuff, so it's great to kind of hear you know that somebody's actually talking to you, just like your friend is talking to you to understand so that you have the knowledge and power as well, too. I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and it could be for you or Holisticism, but what do you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart? And you might have already touched on that.

Michelle Pellizzon 8:49

Yeah, I think our secret sauce is listening. Like, working in tech has been awesome, right? I've had a very weird career path. I was a professional artist for a really long time and then took a pivot into the tech world. And something that I see in both art and in technology is people with vision, it's sometimes so laser-focused, that it's myopic. So seeing what they think is the right answer, because they're the visionaries, right, and sometimes they're correct. And they see the visionary seeing things that other people don't. And those are amazing stories when we hear them right when we're like, Oh, this guy's the founder of Peloton, he worked so hard for 10 years to get Peloton to where it is and no one believed him until finally another billion-dollar company.

But I think that sometimes in the tech world and in the art world, we get so entrenched in what we think, the product or the piece, or whatever the work should be about that we forget to look outside. Have we really asked like, what is the purpose of this product? What is the value I want to bring to the world? And how can I do that in more than just this way? And I've had to learn that lesson a lot over and over again, of having a vision and thinking like, Oh, this is the answer.

This is what people need. And then actually listening to people, the people that I'm trying to serve, when I tell them, I have the answer, and they say, actually, I need this thing, and sort of pivoting and really listening to what, they're asking for, as opposed to trying to force my own vision on them.

So I think it is really important. And I think listening to yourself to get really clear on your purpose and your why, and your intention every morning, when you wake up, and you go out into the world. And ask yourself, am I building this thing? Because it lights me up? am I building this thing? Because it's important and it was needed? Or am I building this because of something in my ego? And then try to check, check that ego whenever you can because that will only get in your way.

Gresham Harkless 11:10

Absolutely, absolutely. I think it sounds like you have developed that strong mission as well, too. Because I think when you're always even though, the vision might not necessarily be clear. But you have a customer focus value system, I guess you can say, you are able to do those interviews and be able to talk to people and hear exactly what they're looking for. It allows you to have a vision that's in alignment, you just may not necessarily know exactly what it is at that time.

Michelle Pellizzon 11:33

Yeah, exactly.

Gresham Harkless 11:35

Nice. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this could be like an app or book or habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Michelle Pellizzon 11:46

Yeah, I would say, I have a lot. I'm a wellness CEO, wellness tech CEO. So I'll do one for wellness and one for just pure technology, I find that meditation, as annoying as it sounds because everyone's saying it constantly, is the number one way to optimize yourself, like in all the ways right? Burnout is becoming such a huge problem, they recently actually are making it a clinical diagnosis that people can take time off of work for it's similar to fatigue, right? And you can get brain scans and see, you can get this thing called a Q E E G, actually.

And you can see how your brain works, and where it's firing and what's working well, and what's not working well. And lots of CEOs have what's called severe chronic under arrest. So they're super smart people, but their brains aren't firing as fast as they could because they're exhausted, and they're burnt out. And that's a sleep issue. But I think it's an anxiety issue. And at the end of the day, meditation is something that can really help with that. Even a short five-minute meditation practice every day.

Gresham Harkless 12:58

Absolutely. Well, I appreciate you for sharing both of those with us, especially meditating, obviously, especially with all the things that are going on, you got to sometimes just be able to find peace in the presence of the current moment. And now I'd 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?

Michelle Pellizzon 13:22

I think that when you always have the right answer. It's something that I would tell myself and also, life is just about making the next best decision. So, I think so often we got into a culture, especially around analytics and quantifying ourselves and trying to make 10-year plans if you're pitching to a VC, they're asking you what your 20-year vision for your company is.

Gresham Harkless 13:50

Absolutely not. I love that. And I appreciate that. And I always say if you're running your own race, not somebody else's race, not the race you think you should be running, you can never really lose just because you're right in alignment, doing exactly what you should be doing. I appreciate your time. And what I want to do is ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different corporate CEOs on this show. So Michelle, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Michelle Pellizzon 14:15

Being a CEO means creating the world around you for the better every day. And being in choice around that.

Gresham Harkless 14:26

Absolutely. I love that. And I definitely appreciate that definition. Michelle, I appreciate your time. Again, what I want to do is pass you the mic just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're doing.

Michelle Pellizzon 14:40

Well, thank you so much for having me and if anyone out there is interested in learning more about holistic wellness and alternative medicine, head over to holisticism.com. We have amazing free resources and we host weekly seminars with our experts and guides we'd love to grow our community. And we're trying to make wellness as accessible as possible to as many people as possible in order to heal this world. So if you're interested, definitely join and my inbox is always open. I love to talk to people and learn more about what they're up to. And you know how holistic ism can be useful to them. So you can find my email on the website, and yeah, you can find it the holisticism.com and on Instagram, absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 15:30

Awesome, awesome, awesome. We'll have those links in the show notes as well. But thank you so much again, for telling your story and all the awesomeness that you're spreading and doing. And I appreciate your time again, hope you have a great rest of the day.

Michelle Pellizzon 15:42

You too. Thanks so much.

Outro 15:44

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 I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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