Thrilled to announce the brand new Food Heals VIP Club where we go behind the scenes of the businesses of our favorite Food Heals entrepreneurs. They are authors, podcasters, bloggers, speakers, coaches, filmmakers and more. In the VIP club you’ll hear how these wellness influencers use their transformational stories, their miraculous healing journeys, their voices to create the life they desire. You will learn exact systems, strategies and real-world advice on how YOU can build a career out of the knowledge, expertise, experiences and passions you have had in your life.
So let me give you a little back story about how the Food Heals VIP club was born and what it is. Besides being wildly passionate about holistic health and healing and the notion that food heals, I have another passion: empowering wellness entrepreneurs to build empires.
I love entrepreneurship and teaching people to build businesses out of their passions; businesses that serve the world and serve our souls! I have never believed in the notion of slaving away at a 9 to 5 that we hate working at in order to build someone else’s dreams. I believe in creating our own reality, our own dream jobs, so that we can live each day excited to wake up and not living in dread or in fear. I know not everyone is born like this or believes this but it was ingrained into my DNA from when I was a kid.
Growing up my father was an entrepreneur. I watched him build multiple businesses. I watched him have massive wins as well as massive failures but one thing he said always sticks with me. He said “Build a business you love and then hire people smarter than you to run it so you can take the profits off the top and enjoy your life.”
This is what he did. When I was young he owned a construction company and he built houses around our small town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. When I was 4 years old he bought a plot of land and built my mom and I a beautiful 5 bedroom house on Lake Ellen drive which was situated between and lake and a creek with a waterfall connecting them (I know I cant make this up!)
I have fond memories of going to construction sites with him and how cool it was to see a piece of land go from patchy grass and mud to a beautiful house that a family would move into and call a home. And, not only did my dad build homes but he even fought to have low income housing built in wealthier areas of our town so that children in low income households would be in neighborhoods with good school districts where they could get top notch education. So, there was altruism in his business as well that I always have admired.
In the late 80s my father hit a roadblock. The savings and loans crisis which devastated families in the 80s hit him hard. The savings and loan system was originally created to promote homeownership for the working class and was a huge opportunity for people like my father.
The S&Ls paid lower-than-average interest rates on deposits. In return, they offered lower-than-average mortgage rates. S&Ls couldn't lend money for commercial real estate, business expansion, or education. However, just like we saw in the subprime mortgage crisis we saw in 2007-2010, the Savings and Loans house of cards eventually came crashing down and by 1989, thousands and thousands of the nation's savings and loans had failed. And thus my father was forced to declare bankruptcy.
You would think this is the type of situation that would tear a family apart, force them into poverty, or force business owners to give up. Not my dad. He started over. With help from my mom who worked at UNC as a curriculum creator not only did they come back from this crisis but my dad also paid back all of the debts that he owed when he declared bankruptcy.
Then he did something super unexpected. My dad decided to go to law school while I was in high school. Yes this man was a total risk taker - now you know where I get it from- right? Cut to a few years later, my dad had become an attorney in town and I went to college two hours away. My parents decided to move into their beach house which was about 30 minutes from my college town.
What happened in the small beachside community of Surf City, NC on Topsail Island was that my dad became to go-to lawyer in town for property law and real estate closings. He built a huge business by becoming the attorney who people got to know, like, and trust. His clients became friends who we would barbecue with, who we could have dinners and drinks with at the one bar in town. He used his previous construction skills and knowledge of the housing industry to start buying real estate and flipping homes and by the time I was a sophomore in college my dad became a millionaire.
And there he was living the lifestyle he had told me about- doing what he loved every day. Riding his motorcycle around town, taking my mom, our dog, and I out on the boat every weekend, cooking dinners for friends, families and neighbors and creating the life he envisioned for himself.
So this is what shaped me into believing that anything was possible. This is why I have always been an entrepreneur, this is why I always take risks in my life.
Now, as many of you know if you are a regular listener of my show, this bliss didn’t last. A few short years into this bliss I lost first my mother and then my father to battles with cancer.
I didn’t inherit millions because of mismanagement of his estate by a very awful person who sought out to ruin us financially (and did- but that is a story for another time.) But, this tragedy and my upbringing combined to inspire me to create the life I wanted to live and make an income that allowed me to live that life but also always have time to spend with friends, and family and do things that I want to do like films, podcasts, write books, coach people and more. Things that light me up inside!
And one of the coolest things that happened to me was when I started Food Heals so many of my guests who had incredible healing stories to share ALSO had built incredible brands and businesses helping others learn about health and healing. They were authors, podcasters, bloggers, coaches, filmmakers, and more. And they were using their transformational stories, their miraculous healing journeys, their voices to create the life they desired. And I wanted to go behind the scenes and learn what they were doing to create careers around their passions.
And that is what the FOOD HEALS VIP CLUB is. It is where you will hear the stories BEHIND THE SCENES of Food Heals Podcast Guests. Where you will learn exact systems, strategies and real-world advice on how YOU can build a career out of the knowledge, expertise, experiences and passions you have had in your life.
People need your voice. They need your perspective. They need your stories. Your unique perspective is unlike anyone else’s. Because it has been formed by your life experiences and everything you have been through up to this point in your life. And if you have been through something you can help others going through that same thing. If you have mastered something, you can help others who want to master that same thing. Wherever you are on your life’s journey, there is someone who needs your help even if you are just one step ahead of them.
I don’t care who else is doing it. It doesn’t matter if it has been done before. There are more people who need help, who need healing, who need your knowledge than there are people teaching it. And nothing that you are going to do has ever been done before. Because no matter what it is, you’ll do it your way.
By helping others, by serving them, we can create careers that we absolutely love. For me when I started my production company 13 years ago now, I accepted a few clients with video production needs that didn’t matter to me, that I wasn’t passionate about. And it showed.
I decided after two of those experiences to stop accepting clients who wanted to do things that didn’t serve the world or help others in some way. I wanted to do media that mattered which ended up becoming my tag line. If you see my branding, or my budgets, proposals or invoices, they all say Melody Productions - Media that Matters.
And with that in mind the right client started to be attracted to me. For years now I have exclusively worked with clients in social justice, public health and wellness to create videos to inspire people to get educated, to get into action and to make changes in their own lives and help others. All this while getting paid to do exactly what I wanted to do. Creating a career out of my passion to serve.
Then the same thing happened with Food Heals… when I started Food Heals I didn’t think, “I want to make a million dollars!” I thought "I want everyone to know that the body is designed to heal itself if given the tools it needs to do so!”
I wanted to inspire people to stop outsourcing their health to doctors and pills but instead to take their health into their own hands through nutrition and alternative medicine. And what happened was I ended up building a brand out of helping people that became popular and lucrative so that I can continue to use my voice, provide a platform for healing stories, podcast, make films, write books, host masterminds, speak on stages and shout from the rooftops that food heals.
And so that’s what I strive to do every single day. Reach more people with my message. And that is what the VIP Club guests are doing as well. And we want to help inspire you that you can do it too.
So in today’s episode I’m going to play you some of my favorite clips from the brand new Food Heals VIP Club and if you are ready to join just go to www.glow.fm/foodheals and you can sign up today. The VIP Club is just $5 a month which helps feed my green juice habit and help me create more amazing content for you!
The content will appear anywhere you listen to podcasts. There is no extra app to download or login and password. You simply sign up and specify where you listen to your podcasts and all VIP club episodes will show up right there!
Now let’s give you a preview of what you will learn in the Food Heals VIP club! Today you will hear clips about manifestation, coaching, podcasting, writing books, and the power of storytelling!
Health Coaching: Evita Ramparte
First up I’m playing you a clip from Evita Ramparte’s VIP episode, “How To Create a Thriving Health Coaching Business” where we discuss her life as a health coach, author, speaker and retreat leader and giving ourselves permission to charge for our gifts.
Manifestation: Sarah Centrella
Sarah Centrella AKA “The Manifesting Gangsta” quit her 9 to 5 to become an author speaker, coach, blogger and workshop leader to create her dream life using Future Boards. In this clip from her episode, “Building a Blogging Business and Writing Books with Queen of FutureBoards” she explains how she manifested some of her best moments like her Madison Ave Barnes and Noble book signing by hustling, believing and receiving.
Passive Income: Toni Okamoto
Toni is a podcaster, blogger, speaker and author of Plant-Based on a Budget. In this clip from herVIP episode, “How to Become a Successful Recipe Blogger and Cookbook Author” we go behind the scenes of her biz to discuss how she went from broke to having multiple streams of passive income which gave her the space to write her books and accomplish her other goals and dreams.
Podcasting: Kate Erickson
In the VIP episode called “The Power of Podcasting & Becoming an Entrepreneur on Fire” Kate Erickson about her journey into podcasting, entrepreneurship and how podcasting is one of the most powerful mediums to connect with your audience. Kate is a speaker, podcaster and Chief Implementer at EOFire which is John Lee Dumas’s podcast and she hosts her show, Kate’s Take which is an audio version of the EOFire blog. And John and Kate do something really cool- they publish their income reports! So you can see that they are creating an income through the medium of podcasting and doing what they love. As I record this they are currently taking time off to travel the world so Kate is a beautiful example of someone who has truly found her passion and created the ultimate life for herself.
Passion: Laura Powers
Laura Powers is another incredible VIP guest who truly has designed a business around all of her passions - 6 in fact - yes she has 6 podcasts all about different things that she cares about and this has truly led her to lead that laptop lifestyle that a lot of people pretend to live on Instagram. In her vIP episode, “The Healing Power of Podcasting, Writing and Channeling Your Message” we discuss how her podcasts are her direct connection to booking clients so they hear her show and book her for calls, plus she has affiliates and sponsors. And these shows allow her to get press passes to major events as well as book speaking gigs all over the world!
Getting Debt Free: Ronsely Vaz
In this clip from the vIP episode entitled “From Half a Million in Debt to Thriving Author, Podcaster and Agency Owner” Ronsley Vaz shares a bit of his journey of going from $500k in debt to becoming a successful podcaster, author, event producer and agency owner… al because he took big risks and never gave up pursuing his passions.
Time Management: Kris McPeak
Another important aspect of entrepreneurship is learning how to manage your time and be sure to be allotting enough time for working but also self-care. In this clip from our VIP club episode entitled “How to Create More Productive Time in Your Day and Elevate Your 8” with Author, Educator, Coach, Podcaster and Food Heals OG Kris McPeak, we discuss how to manage your time effectively and efficiently.
De-Cluttering: Janice McQueen
In the next clip from our episode “Coaching & Podcasting How Helping Others & DeCluttering Your Life Helps You Build a Brand That Matters” I’m talking with Pageant coach, motivational speaker, performer and goodwill ambassador Janice McQueen who shares with us a surprising way to discover your unique gifts. It is something that definitely works for me and Im excited to share it with you today as well.
Automation: Michael O’Neal
We talk about a lot of health hacks on food heals but I also love talking about business hacks and in this clip from “Automation Hacks You've Never Heard of and How to Be a SoloPreneur” I'm hanging out with Micheal O’Neal who coined the term “Proudly Unemployable”which applies to just about everyone on todays show! We talk about how to save time and money by creating automations that you probably won’t hear about anywhere else.
Final Thoughts: Samir and Laura
And finally, I'd like to wrap up with final parting advice on health and business from an episode called “Filmmaking, Podcasting, Outsourcing and Living That Laptop Life” which is about the power of filmmaking, podcasting and sharing your message that I did with fellow filmmakers and brand new power couple Samir and Laura.
To join the club go to glow.fm.foodheals and you can get your bonus episodes straight into your podcast app of choice for just $5 per month!
Being hailed as “Sex and the City for Food,” The Food Heals Podcast brings together experts in the field of nutrition, health and healing to teach you the best-kept natural secrets to being a hotter, healthier, happier YOU!
The Food Heals Podcast is hosted by Allison Melody and Suzy Hardy – two self-proclaimed natural chicks who will rock your world and change your beliefs about health! This sexy, savvy duo provides eco-friendly advice on a variety of issues including the healing power of nutrition, living authentically, turning your passion into your career, choosing the best natural health and beauty products, the benefits of a plant-based diet and so much more!
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