Episode 7th of this segment, โEmpower Your Life,โ aims to bring positivity, motivation, encouragement, and inspiration toward the goals that you have wanted to achieve for a very long time. The same goes for me with what Iโm doing now on this website 
.
And part of this segment is not only interviewing people who recently joined as entrepreneurs, people who pursue making a difference by supporting a community or helping others, but also promoting sustainable living or lifestyle. And this is what the episode is all about.
One of the things that popped into my mind when I was looking for an idea who will be the next guest I can interview relates to something that I support โ a sustainable lifestyle. This idea pop-out when I started using the reusable pads (by the way, itโs my fourth month using it, and so far, so good โ you should try 
(yes, you amazing lady reading this 
).
Check out my blog post > How To Have A Sustainable Period Using Reusable Pads.
I was so grateful when I asked Rosemary (Pรฉtale Tea) if she knew anyone I could interview that relates to sustainable living โ thatโs when I met (virtually) Jasmine โ Wellness Within.
Check out my post with Rosemary (Pรฉtale Tea) > Letโs Be Inspired with Pรฉtale Tea.
So, let me share with you a little bit about Jasmine, the founder of Wellness Within โ a health-focused eco-friendly store that started to encourage no-nasties and a more sustainable lifestyle. From a younger age, she had a health (not skin) condition called eczema and had gone through decades of use of steroidal creams and medications to find that they were only temporary fixes and the root cause had never been addressed. She tried to find natural solutions and
remedies, but it compromised her immune system and health. Jasmine started to embark on a journey searching for free from harsh and toxic chemicals products, to be both healthy and earth-friendly, and this gave birth to a platform named Wellness Within. Wellness Within became a medium for sharing her knowledge and carefully chosen products that are clean, sustainable, and not harmful to our bodies, and her aim is for Wellness Within to become a platform where not only for her but for anyone interested in sharing knowledge and spread awareness to build a health and sustainably conscious community.
Living a healthier lifestyle is one of my top priorities; I always believe that your health is your wealth โ thus, I always try the best I can to have a healthier lifestyle by doing some exercises, healthier choices of food, a good amount of sleep, drinking a lot of water, and using less harmful products to my body. Iโm so happy to e-meet Jasmine, as we practice the same values. I thought by sharing with you this interview, youโll be inspired and start to understand the importance of choosing a healthier lifestyle and living in a more sustainable approach, aside from tips on when to keep going with your small business or when youโre about to start your own business.
So, letโs check out the video, shall we?!?
P.S. Please expect that there are some parts of the interview whereby the voice of Jasmine fades in and out due to the signal. And this interview was taken end of March (2021) when the current COVID-19 situation in Singapore might not be the same as when youโre reading it now. Thank you for your kind understanding 
.
Time Stamps:
02:34 โ 11:47 How Wellness Within Started?
11:47 โ 21: 23 Wellness Within Eco Initiatives
21: 23 โ 23:49 The Most Challenging Situation you ever experienced during Pandemic Time, and how did you overcome it?
23:49 โ 26:41 Tips to Share with other small businesses to keep going during this challenging time.
26:41 โ 29:15 Advice to give to others who want to start a similar business.
29:15 โ 32:01 How Do You Keep Yourself Optimistic?
32:01 โ 36:29 Where Can We Find Wellness Within (Singapore)? And mention 5 Products that youโre selling.
Key Takeaways from the Interview:
Time is Precious and So Our Health
Perhaps you will agree with me that COVID19 really hit most of us on the importance of time and health. It shook us, and suddenly we asked ourselves where the time goes, how much time can we cope with this pandemic, how much time our body can fight against this virus, and the question goes on and on. Unfortunately, we have this tendency to react only when something serious happens, like in our situation right now.
The good news is, as long as weโre alive, we wake up every day; itโs already a blessing; thus, never take time for granted โ do something to make your life worthwhile, follow your purpose in life, share more love, kindness, and hope to everyone. Never take โhealthโ for granted too; consider exercising, eat healthier food, feed your brain with the right information, and most importantly, make a small step on how you can help to make our Mother Earth better every day.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
This campaign is not something new; we all know this, and letโs do our part. There are plenty of ways how we can take our part to do all of these, and we donโt have to start to something extreme. For example, bringing your own reusable grocery bag instead of taking more plastics from the grocery store. When you bought food stored in a glass jar, clean and reuse it and use it as your dry food container; when you still have more plastics at home โ use these as your grocery bag next time you shop or use them as your trash bag for every part of the house. And the list goes on, but you get the point. Itโs always great to start from home then it will be easier to apply these behaviors outside as well.
If youโre in Singapore โ check Wellness Within website to participate in their 3Rs Initiative (Reduce, Reuse, and Return). For the rest, check online or on social media for your nearest same project or campaign where you can participate or maybe even start creating a community for this purpose within your neighborhood. With the help of technology, nowadays, we can find ways to start and basically do everything, including reducing, reusing, and recycling at home. Start with a baby step, in the long run, youโll achieve more than what you can imagine.
Thought below links can also help you how to start doing these 3Rs:
35 Staggering Ways To Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Save Our Environment Today
avoiding waste in everyday life: reduce, reuse & recycle
Every small step countsโฆ
Less Is More
Iโm a big believer that when you eliminate anything that doesnโt give great value to your life โ it will give you more sense of happiness, contentment, peace, and freedom. The same goes with when buying products. We should focus on what is essential in our daily lives and wellness.
In the interview, Jasmine mentioned that if you know that youโre healthy or youโre a more sustainable person -you donโt have to use that many products to keep yourself in good condition. I couldnโt agree more with her on this -honestly, Iโm not a fan of putting a lot of stuff โ and I donโt use many skincare products. Not that Iโm super healthy, I just prefer less...
Jasmine also mentioned that when we use many products, especially high in chemicals, these affect our skin and hormones, which are a significant part of our body, especially for us; women โ high chemical products definitely affect our period/menstruation. You can consider switching from disposable pads to reusable pads; check out my last blog post >>> How To Have A Sustainable Period Using Reusable Pads.
โLess is more. I think that if you try to put too many beauty products on, youโre probably gonna get used to it. Your skin is not supposed to be covered with a bunch of stuff, so I think that less is definitely more.โ หNina Agdalห
Educate Yourself To A Healthier Living
Health is Wealth; canโt stress this out once again, we all know this is a fact, yet some of us โ we still donโt take it seriously and responsibly on making smart health choices. When I started to practice a healthier lifestyle โ I know that this is not a temporary commitment but a lifetime commitment โ for my overall well-being and hope to bring awareness to more people out there.
During the interview, Jasmine mentioned that for us women, we thought that when weโre using disposable pads and we got rashes, itโs normal where in fact, thatโs a clear sign that our skin reacting towards the high chemicals in the disposable pads. Yes, itโs always easy to choose the most convenient way, but trust me โ this is not sustainable at all; the older we get, the more skin or body reactions we will slowly feel or experience, and Iโm no exception to those.
Years ago, I wasnโt paying attention to the food I took and thought that eating less without paying attention to what food I eat will help me stay fit and healthy. I was wrong, later on, I slowly have this skin rashes out of nowhere, and it almost affected the entire part of my body. Long story short, I am taking anti-histamine now. Before it gets worst, I became more conscious of the food and other products for my use or consumption.
Lack of knowledge or understanding about the right products or food nutrition will impact our health โ BIG TIME. Itโs never too late; start now, and start with yourself. I thought this article might help >>>Educate Yourself to a Healthy Living.
Tips to Keep Business on Going During COVID19
Believe In Your Product
Whether itโs a service or a product โ I think it worked the same way whether itโs your own business or you work for someone else โ believing in the value of your product or service is essential.
I may not have business work experience related, one thing I can contribute to this would be, think of yourself as a product; you sell your ideas or yourself to an employer or society in which you live โ if you are unsure about yourself, how can you expect others to trust or believe in youโฆ And I believe that should work as well when you have your own business.
Jasmine shared โ โif you know you have a good product, believe it, and believe in what youโre doing.โ
Do It With A Purpose
Another philosophy in life that I fully follow -I donโt believe in trends not unless itโs something that is valuable for the community and me โ for well-being. Itโs same goes for the business, in my opinion, which Jasmine also mentioned; she didnโt start this business with just the idea of earning money but how her own experience with her health condition brought her to the idea that perhaps the products she started to use can be something useful and helpful to people in Singapore. Apart from building this platform, her main purpose or goal is to share knowledge about healthier alternatives; she dedicates her time and effort to her team to ensure that she provides detailed information for every product they have.
โIf you donโt have a purpose with your business, you donโt derive joy running your businessโ โ Jasmine.
Things to Consider Before Starting a Business
You Need To Know What Youโre Getting Yourself Into
I think Jasmine shared it on point, itโs not going to be easy, and we have to get out of our comfort zone to start doing things that we never did or learned before, especially when we donโt have much capital to start with.
For me, starting this website is something new. When I commit to this website, I would need to put in a lot of time and effort, not just to create content. Still, something valuable for me and to you โ I have to get out of my comfort zone; I need to know that it will not be as smooth in the beginning; there will be plenty of mistakes here and there, but I know that this is part of what I signed up for โ and I believe that itโs the same approach when youโre considering to start a business.
โItโs not a glamourous job; you work 24/7. You live and breathe your business. You breathe your brand, and you breathe your mission; you are the soul of the business. And set your expectation that itโs going to be a challenging journey.โ โ Jasmine.
You Got To Know โWhyโ You Want to Start A Business
It goes back to your โPurpose.โ In any big decision we have to make, the purpose or asking yourself why you want to take that journey or chapter in life โ a definite way to slowly act onto your goals and keep that purpose in mind as a motivation to keep you moving forward.
I thought this article would give you more info on how to master your mindset before starting a business>> 3 Mindset Changes to Master Before Starting Your Business.
โPeople donโt buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believeโ โ Simon Sinek.
How To Keep Yourself Optimistic?
โYou are your reaction; you are your own emotions and feelings. Only you can control your reactions, your emotions, and how you handle the situation. โ โ Jasmine.
You Are In Control
There are so many things or circumstances in life that we definitely canโt control, but we definitely have the power to respond to the situation. Yes, easier to say than done โ it involves tons of practice to be able to be in the position where when you experience a situation where it can upset or disappoint you โ you can pause, breathe, and observe your reaction and emotion. Like you, I can get upset as well easily with tons of things that I watch, heard, or had a conversation with, whatever the situation can be โ back then, it will take me days to get over it. But now, believing that power of โYou are the ruler of yourself, you are in charge, you have the power,โ โ Iโm glad to say that I am handling it way better than before.
There are just so many things in our lives that we canโt control, a situation that unforeseen to happen โ but believe that we have the control in many things; our reactions, our thoughts, words, emotions โ we have to feed our brain or thoughts to believe โYou are In Controlโ and return, we will have a calm, back to being focus and ready to get going again.
Donโt Keep Your Problem To Yourself.
Talking or sharing with someone when youโre down or having a bad day isnโt a sign of weakness; itโs, in fact, one of many ways to help you stay in good mental health. And like what Jasmine said when you share your situation with other small business owners or someone you trust โ it will help you process the situation, and you might have that light bulb when you hear a different perspective. You might find the solution that you didnโt think of initially, and itโs not a bad day at all.
Or sometimes, we need someone just to listen, which will give our strength and good mood back.
Feeling your emotions is definitely not a sign of weakness โ weโre human, after all, and itโs okay to feel what youโre feeling, acknowledge it, and share it with people we trust. We all want to know that we have something to offer to people who share their situation and can make a difference in their lives. When you need someone to talk about how you feel โ itโs a strength of well-being.
And thatโs a wrap! I hope you find the Zoom Interview I have with Jasmine an inspiring one; I hope you will also start taking part to live a more sustainable lifestyle for your health and to help our Mother Nature. If you found this episode valuable to you, I would appreciate it if you can share with your friends or comment below to share some of your thoughts on this discussion and key takeaways 
If youโre in Singapore and would like to check Wellness Within products, perhaps start embarking healthier lifestyle as well, check their website below and their social media accounts for their more informative content or posts:
Funan Mall #02-18, 107 North Bridge Road Singapore, 179105
Do follow and subscribe to show our support to small businesses like hers.
DISCOUNT CODE: CINDYMARIE10 (10% OFF) โ You can use my discount code to purchase on their website, this is with a good cause for a non-profit project that Iโm supporting in Medellin, Colombia supporting low-income families with children with cancer.
You can check their website to make a direct donation as well Amizรณn โ Amigo de Corazรณn. Please do take note that itโs in Spanish so, you can translate by using Google Translate. Check my blog post and Zoom Interview with the founders >> Amizรณn โ Built With A Lot of Love
If you know any solopreneur/entrepreneur who newly started their business with a great story behind it, share the same values, and will be a great addition to this segment. Letโs connect.
Stay safe, share love, be kind, focus on the positive side, and until next time!
Follow me on my social media not only for more inspiring, motivational posts, but you can also view my passion for singing as well:
CindyMarieAzur
*Please be aware that the links are affiliate links. By clicking them and purchasing through them, youโre helping me to earn small credits! Thank you*
Photographs
The majority of the photos are owned by Cindy Marie, Wellness Within, and Amazon Online.
DISCLAIMER: All rights reserved to the owner of other photosโno copyright infringement intended in this article.
