July Inspirational Woman
Tell us a little more about founding Naturally Savvy. Why is it important to you that people have the information they need when it comes to healthy living?
My goal for Naturally Savvy from the beginning was to provide truthful information in an easy-to-understand format that didn’t judge anyone. The concept stemmed from people telling me that they found healthy living confusing, and overwhelming because one website would say, “do this,” and another website would say, “no, do this!”
I was already a Holistic Nutritionist and had been working in the natural health industry for more than eight years when my partner and I decided to launch the site. We had met smart people, and interesting companies over the years who were just as passionate about healthy living as we were, so we wanted to share everything and everyone we knew with the world!
You started out as a nutritionist. When did GMOs and toxic food additives make their way onto your radar?
I always knew about the dangers of GMOs, but it wasn’t until Proposition 37 in California, which would have required mandatory labeling of genetically engineered food (which failed) that I really started to become passionate about them. Then I watched Jeffrey Smith’s movie “Genetic Roulette,” and the rest was history.
You’re the author of 3 books (amazing!). What advice do you have for women who want to write their passions successfully?
My advice would be to write them down. I know that sounds simple, but I find many of us get caught up in the processes, which tend to hold us back from actually doing it. So the first step is to gather your thoughts, and the second step is to write them down. The rest will follow as it is meant to.
Last year you launched a petition on Change.org to convince Procter & Gamble, the makers of Tampax and Always, to list all ingredients in those products. Tell us what led you into the touchy world of secret toxic chemicals in feminine care products.
We started the petition while writing our second book – Label Lessons: Your Guide to A Healthier Shopping Cart. In the book, we compared “good vs. bad” feminine hygiene products, specifically tampons and pads. In order to properly evaluate the products we were comparing, we looked for the ingredients on the boxes. However, they were nowhere to be found on either the Always Infinity pads or Tampax tampons. We were curious as to why the organic tampons and pads clearly disclosed their ingredients on their boxes, but the P&G ones didn’t.
As we dug deeper, we discovered that companies don’t have to disclose the ingredients of their tampons or pads because they are considered to be “medical devices.” It upset us knowing that companies were hiding behind a “label loophole” to keep consumers in the dark about the ingredients in products they are using everyday or every month.
What top 3 pieces of advice would you give to women who want to follow in your footsteps to become movers & shakers, raising their voices publicly about the things they care about?
- My first piece of advice would be to find your passion. Once you are passionate about something, you will want to pursue it all that much more.
- My second piece of advice would be to do your research. People want evidence-based information. It’s the key to your credibility.
- Lastly, align yourself with like-minded people who share your passion and vision. We can accomplish so much working together as a team.
- And I am going to give you one more: Share your knowledge. Scream it from the rooftops. Knowledge is power, so share it with as many people as you can.
