IAM2542 – Founder Provides Affordable, Accessible Holistic Wellness Care

Michelle Pellizzon is a former professional dancer turned tech entrepreneur and the visionary founder of Holisticism, a wellness tech company dedicated to making holistic and alternative health care more accessible, inclusive, and empowering.

Drawing from her diverse experience in the arts, technology, and holistic health, Michelle launched Holisticism as a modest passion project, one that rapidly grew into a vibrant digital community of more than 45,000 members.

Michelle believes the heart of Holisticism’s success lies in its community-first approach, built on truly listening and empowering people to take control of their healing journeys.

She highlights the importance of meditation for mental clarity and burnout prevention, and encourages CEOs to focus on making the next best decision rather than chasing perfection.

Website: Holisticism

Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE. 

I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Michelle Pellizzon Teaser 00:00 

And that's what we really try to do with holisticism is 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.

Intro 00:22

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective waays to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:49

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

Michelle Pellizzon 00:58

Hi, nice to be here.

Gresham Harkless 01:00 

Super excited to have you on, Michelle. And what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about you, so 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 six years in Silicon Beach, working at various startups like Thrive Market and Laurel and Wolf, Michelle started Holisticism as a passion project and has quickly grown it to a community of over 45,000 people. Michelle, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Michelle Pellizzon 01:39
I am.

[restrict paid=”true”]

Gresham Harkless 01:49

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 01:47

Yeah. 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 sorts 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 have a cure, and I was put on a really intense prescription drug in order to manage my seizures.

My doctors kind of 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 was 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 kind of was at my wit's end. I had essentially lost my short-term memory. 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 neurologist 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. 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.

I was almost eight years ago. And I just, yeah, it was amazing. And, I was really lucky. I was living in New York city and had, although I was a professional dancer making about $10 an hour, had some access to, lower cost practitioners.

But I realized that there was a really big gap in the market, and it was something that really bothered me that so few people had accessible wellness care and complementary or alternative medicine care.

I mean, healthcare in general and affordable, accessible healthcare 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.

Som 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, like, my tech friends who I would, you know, drink coffee in the break room with and talk about everything from acupuncture to energy medicine.

But in the way that you do when you're normally just like, been game. And so, I started this newsletter and 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 05:17

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, obviously, I'm sorry to hear you know, all of that happened.

But I kind of feel I always usually say things, sometimes happen for a reason. And it sounds like you've been able to get over the epilepsy and the diagnosis and everything, and being able to do that and learn more, and also help other people out with that.

It seems like it's definitely something that has been, to the benefit of not just yourself, but also to other people. Sounds like.

Michelle Pellizzon 05:42

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that that's the biggest thing that I, I want to share with plasticism, like, listen, I'm not an expert practitioner, although I did go back to school and actually get a secondary degree in holistic health and nutrition.

But really, I think sharing our stories and different things and 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, and 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 is 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 06:42

Absolutely. And I love that you said personal sovereignty. I love that, especially in this day and age, everything's kind of 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 to some, a lot of times 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 built, haven't have a platform that allows people to figure that out for themselves.

Michelle Pellizzon 07:06

Yeah, totally. And I think that consumers in general are just a lot smarter than they, they're a lot more savvy, than they used to be. Right. Because we do have everything at our fingertips.

And so, like that, that crosses over into everything from how we market to consumers and 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, is the way to, I think, 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 gonna try and press up to them.

And at the end of the day, 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 community really vibes with us.

Gresham Harkless 08:30

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, like you said too, when you started out the newsletter and just building it on a very like conversational term, 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 at least, 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 that somebody is actually talking to you just like you're a friend, you're 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 09:04 

Yeah. 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 are people with vision that's very, 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 these visionaries see things that other people don't.

And those are amazing stories when we hear them, right? When we're like, oh, this guy, like 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, now they're a 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 of ourselves and really ask, 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 what they're asking for as opposed to trying to force my own vision on them.

So that marriage, I think, is really important. And I think listening to yourself too, getting 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 asking yourself, am I building this thing because it lights me up?

Am I building this thing because it's important and it's what's needed? Or am I building this because of something in my ego? And then trying to check that ego whenever you can, because that will only get in your way.

Gresham Harkless 11:26 

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think it sounds like you, um, you know, have developed that, that strong mission as well too.

Cause 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 ain't 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 the vision. That's an alignment. You just may not necessarily know exactly what it is at that time.

Michelle Pellizzon 11:49

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Gresham Harkless 11:51

Nice. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack.

And this could be like an Apple book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Michelle Pellizzon 12:02

Yeah. I would say I have a lot, but I'm a 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 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 QEEG 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 rest. 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 13:13

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 gotta sometimes just be able to find peace in the presence of the current moment.

And then I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget, and this is a word of wisdom or a piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Michelle Pellizzon 13:37

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 get into a culture, especially around analytics and quantifying ourselves, and, trying to make 10-year plans.

If you're, if you're pitching to a VC, they're asking you what your 20-year vision for your company is.

Gresham Harkless 14:06

Absolutely. No, 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 riding 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 CEOs on this show. So, Michelle, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Michelle Pellizzon 14:30 

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

Gresham Harkless 14:42

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 whole review and find out about all the awesome things that you're doing.

Michelle Pellizzon 14:56 

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 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.

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 how holisticism can be useful to them.

So you can find my email on the website, and you can find us at holisticism.com and on Instagram at holisticism.

Gresham Harkless 15:46

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. I hope you have a great rest of the day.

Michelle Pellizzon 15:57

You, too, thanks so much.

Outro 15:58 

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and 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 Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless Jr. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]