How a 10-Week Sabbatical and Shark Tank Burnout Rewired Our Family Forever with Margaret Barry

2025 Year in Review 0:00

Welcome back to Everyday Ancestral. What a year it has been. We are closing 2025 and per usual. Well, this is really only the second time, but still this how we're doing it. As per usual, I have my lovely wife and guest, Margaret Floyd Berry, to help me wrap up 2025 together. How are you doing, my dear? I'm doing great, thanks. It has been and it's interesting because you would think that the previous year where we were revealing like all those things you had gone through from the 50 mile run to the cancer scare to your knee that that would be a revolutionary year.

And it was, but like this year feels like there was so much internal deep Sticky growth that happened that is just in my judgment Just like pounding out of the body and just emanating as it leads us into 26. What does it feel like to you? it feels like there has been an internal rewiring. You know, I always have a mission and, you know people might have heard me say, always wanna be unrecognizable a year from now. Like I wanna look back and not even like, like who even was that? Like, but normally it has these big external accomplishments.

And it's not to say that those haven't happened in 2025, But I feel like for me and I actually see this in you as well. It feels there's actually internal rewiring happening at a very core level that means that who we are stepping into this next year is really truly totally different. Then what came before it's always a building a pond and accumulation of growth i think this time for both of us it has been and in fact i would say for a whole family it spin like this internal repatterning. Yeah, yeah, re-patterning for sure.

Yeah and it's interesting to your point, like the previous year was a lot of outward stuff, a lotta very physical, your knee, the cancer, it was on your skin, outside of your body, right? And this year really has been just deep, deep internal stuff. One thing though, I really wanna touch base about, because I think, it revealed so much and it's actually really applicable to my podcast,

Margaretu2019s Sabbatical and Burnout Recovery 2:51

The Everyday Ancestral. Like that, that it, what we experienced from what were about to share in terms of you taking a sabbatical, a 10 week sabbathical not only deepened your own personal experience and awareness of what you need and what drives you, right? But as a family, it shifted and I think it speaks a lot to traditional roles. Yeah. So I love to like dive into that. Would you just share what you did? Because it's you guys have to know. I just have Margaret and I are both entrepreneurs. We're also both kind of workaholics.

Like we like to work and dig into it and like get stuff done. And Margaret is the queen of getting stuff down. She surpasses most people I know in terms of being able to like create a list, not just a short list but a long list and get it done and it's sort of been in the 14, 15 years we've known each other. Like it's sort of like her thing to say like, I finished my list today. She's felt like an accomplishment from like finishing her list. And then she decided to literally just burn it all down.

Will you tell everyone what you did? Yeah, absolutely. Well, exactly as you say, James, I've been the ultimate human doer, right, like just in action and busyness, and frankly, an overwhelm and overdrive for a really, really long time. And I'm really good at hiding it. I would say not perhaps from you and from the family, but externally, I think most people wouldn't know that I was really close to burnout, if not like deeply in it. And, you know, we shared last year about some of these pretty intense things, with the cancer scar and then my knee, and I, think I even said that, it felt like, oh yeah, the universe was kind of taking me out at my knees.

But I didn't actually slow down. I still did all the things. And it didn't feel like it was possible to actually slow down. What I needed to do was just fully step out of business matters, like my professional life. I've been so career-focused since I was a kid. It never dawned on me that I wouldn't. You know, I started working when I 13 years old. Put myself through college with zero student loans. Worked every summer, every weekend, all of the way through university. I took a little bit of time off after, but even that, I was taking three months off with my back then boyfriend on a climbing trip, which I cut short because I got to get back to work.

So I don't really know how to just be. And I got some pretty loud and clear messages earlier in this year, although not that much earlier, it was maybe like just before the summer, like May, June of like, you gotta slow it down, girl, or you know, your body is gonna do it for you. And my mom- Well, to be fair though, Your body was giving you those messages all along. They were just finally loud enough where you were like Okay, no, I have to do something. I am on the verge here. So you were just close to the cliff?

I think what it was is that I had been really good at just muscling through. And actually really, really get at that. and I actually worked very closely with my beloved coach, mentor, spiritual guide, Deborah Joy. She was on this podcast. Yeah. Hard for me is to not push through, hard for me is to surrender. And just, I was experiencing all these things, but I'm really good at overriding. I really get at compensating. Um, and I would over and over push myself to collapse and it would collapse for a couple of days.

Then I'd like pick myself up and just keep going. It got to the point where I just too tired. Like I couldn't keep doing that anymore. This is also the age at which my mom's health tanked. So my mom, will you share what your mom had? Just so we give that context. Yeah, my mom right at this age was diagnosed with three very intense autoimmune diseases. She had rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and pulmonary fibrosis, each of which in and of itself is devastating. The combination of the three was horrifying.

And she also had breast cancer along the way. I honestly can't even remember exactly when that came in, I think a little bit deeper into her journey. But that was a thing, but it actually was less of a think than the auto immune diseases, You know she lived for 20 years or so after her diagnosis, but it was a brutal existence It was there's so much pain. There was so struggle. It's a constant process of surgeries and procedures and you know one step forward five steps back two steps forward three steps And ultimately, you know, I always say, on one hand, she was a medical miracle.

I mean, the pulmonary fibrosis alone is a death sentence unless you respond positively to prednisone, which she did. But prednizone is not something you're supposed to take in high doses over the long term, what she had to, because if she stopped taking it, and that's one of so many different medications, but just that one alone, if you stop taking, it she would die. And so she ultimately passed away from side effects of the whole cocktail but in but primarily that prednisone. This is hanging over your head as you as your ambiguity with age yeah.

I have my own autoimmunity, I've got Hashimoto's, and basically keep it in check, you know, through diet supplementation, all that kind of stuff. But that lifestyle piece was not one that I was very good at. And, let's look at what I do for fun. I run hundreds of miles. So, the idea of slowing down is just completely foreign to me. impossible, but I have the most incredible teams in my two businesses who, like, they just immediately understood the need, quite honestly, because I was not performing at my best.

I really was showing signs to everybody that I wasn't doing well. And they were lovely about it and fully supported me and taking a full ten weeks off and this means i mean a true ten week so i'm talking i didn't look at a single work email text slack message zoom meeting i don't have check ins with anyone on my team a couple of times i got a text message like needing a code for a login to like pay a bill. That's literally the extent of the engagement. And definitely folks would message me saying, things are going great.

We miss you. Just want you to know it's all under control. So I got a couple of little updates like that, but really nothing was needed from me. 10 weeks. That is what? Two and a half months, basically. Yeah. What was so fascinating in that 10 And I would love you to kind of walk us through on a high level though of each week, but it was wild. Like you really did like the first two weeks. It was like, is this actually happening? Like almost like you didn't, you were disoriented. You were confused, right?

Can you walk through like what, what did the 10 weeks look like on the high-level? Yeah, it was quite the evolution. It's interesting because I didn't really do much other than in that first week I had friends visiting from Europe and I actually spent a week being a tour guide in New York City, which sounds really not relaxing, except it and they were because of time zones and just they have a teenager with them. We never got started until 10 or 11 in the morning and we weren't partying all night.

So we were in bed by like nine or 10 at night most nights. I actually had quite a lot of times to myself. It was a perfect because it was still busy, but it wasn't business busy and it moved me into not, I think if I just stopped and been just cold turkey like absolute quiet, i wouldn't have known what to do with myself, So this first few weeks was the, oh wait, and? And you were in New York City, which you love. Oh, my favorite city in the world. I love it so much. So it was amazing and helped me, kind of felt like a vacation.

For the first three weeks or so, I was completely allergic to any kind, like I had my amazing right-hand woman who's handling all of my emails for me. But I told her I would handle the personal emails, because it's going to be things like, from the school or doctor or whatever, like, you know, just like very personal stuff, which she normally does handle as well. But I was like I don't worry about it. I got it and she noticed after two weeks or so, she's like things are kind of accumulating in there.

Do you want me to go in and handle? I said yes, please, because I could not physically get myself to open email for three weeks. And I did not look at a single email first three. Well, I still laugh because there would be some days in that 10 weeks where you would you would be have gotten a massage or something like that. You would have sometimes just been in bed, you were watching things. And I would walk up and I think, on a certain level, your doing these things and not thinking about someone else, like responding to what you're doing.

I walk in the room and you had this sheepish, kind of like, I got caught kind face. What was so funny about it, because here you are, spending your day relaxing, watching, doing the things that most people do. And yet you never do. And you were like. is this okay? And I was like, of course it is. Like I had no judgment. And if anything, I wasn't excited, but it was, like I could feel like it so hard for you to peel back and just like let yourself have the day that is not planned. The day is just kind of flapping off.

You know, you're just doing whatever you really want. It could be just sitting in bed, laying in a bed and watching a whole series of a show. Only did a couple of times and you only did it a cool time But I did feel guilty the whole time it was actually I had this perpetual feeling of of playing hooky like I can still I Can remember when I was in school just like an elementary school or high school and there's that there is a specific feeling when you know You're home, but everyone else is at school, or everyone.

Else is it work. It's like the world looks different when You are not working or not at school when you normally would be like everything just feels a little bit and you're not out because you are at an appointment or you like there's no reason for it you just not there is not a holiday and I had that feeling incessantly for like the first three or four weeks it couldn't shake it now I will say. What I did, I slept a ton. I could not believe I was expecting I would sleep a bunch for the first two to three weeks.

But I will tell you like right up until like week nine, 10, was still sleeping to the point where a week before I went back, like I don't know how I'm going to do this. Because I now need a two-to-three hour nap every day in order to kind of make it through life. So how in God's name am I going remove that from my daily schedule and be okay? And I am okay. Although I have even been able to squeeze in some naps. I found that space in my calendar. But that's, you know, then I would say that the kind of middle part of it once I had sort of untangled from some of the business things and got more used to it, the middle of part I really leaned in to the family.

And I think that is probably what you are referring to here. You know I grew up with a mom who was hyper career focused. We always kind of joked, both my parents were very, were professional. They're both professional musicians and academics. And so it wasn't that the roles were fully reversed, but it kind felt like the rules were reversed. You know, my father was very artistic and lots of emotions and all these things. My mom was like very straight-laced and disciplined. She sort of was the one who like put her foot down with things and She was very much like the consistent career person.

And so I had no idea what it looked like to be the idea of a stay-at-home mom. I know that when Sia was born, that's our eldest. I didn't really, I took, mostly took time off, but I actually still had a lot of business obligations even with taking time-off. And an infant is a totally different stage. It's just so hard. I remember thinking, oh my God, how do women do this? This is the hardest thing in the world. Let me get back to work. Like I couldn't wait to get to back work, But now that our kids are older, and they're really at that fun age, right?

We have a nine year old and a 13 year-old, And they really want to spend time with us. And I was able to do that. I wasn't able spend all this time with them and I learned things like if they come home from school, when they home home school they wanna connect, they're ravenous. And so I started having dinner ready at 3.30 in the afternoon, which sounds absurd, but we'd have dinner together at three 30 in afternoon and connect and debrief their day. And then they weren't feeling abandoned. I wasn't feel frustrated because what will otherwise happen if I'm still working when they come home is they're like wanting my attention, I still have two more hours of work at least, you know?

And they are hungry so they start trolling through the cupboards of the kitchen and even though we have really clean food in the house, they aren't eating dinner. They are eating snackier foods and then by the time dinner comes on, just like, eh, okay. And then it turns into a fight, and then I'm tired, you know, like all this, just this major domino effect of me being fried that would then spill onto them being fired. I was able to be home when they got home. I was nourished, so I'm showing up really present and engaged with them.

Something I did about halfway through is I noticed that because I had so much space, it was really easy to pick up my phone and start scrolling Instagram. I really have no addiction to any other social media, but I just deleted Instagram off my iPhone completely. That changed everything. So I don't have that kind of, I didn't tune out. A lot of meditation, a lot a journaling.

Family Rhythm, Parenting, and Home Life 17:10

a lot of reading, a lotta time with the girls. I felt like I could just really tune into them in a powerful way. And it actually made me realize just the power. Look, James, you're an incredible father. You are in top 0.001% of fathers out there, engaged, loving, supportive, involved. And kids need their moms, you know, and they need, they needs moms who are present. They need moms whose nervous systems are regulated. And I had never given them that. I have given the exhausted dredges of myself and it's no wonder that we used to just like all be in this kind of like tense, who's going to freak out first mode.

That just went away. Yeah, this is a, this is the gray area of traditional values, right? Because when we say traditional value, a lot of people just jump to like, oh, the woman's gotta be at home and the man's got to be working. And while I do think that we are wired that way, and I don't know if that's fully, you know, like Mary Ruddock would say that that actually how male and female are wire, but I'm not, I know know about that. I haven't done that research. So I dunno if it's because we're wired, that, way or if its because were socialized that I, don know.

But either way That is what we've known historically. I tend to think that it's more of like, we just need the traditional part is we need someone who's managing the home, the kids, everything that surrounds and is within the Home. And then we needs someone managing that the income of money outside of the Whether that's the husband, the wife, male, female, I don't personally have an attachment over that, but this was the first time I experienced it where we had someone who was managing the home and then I was focusing on being the person who is working outside the house even though I'm working from home.

But I will still say though, that even though you were the homemaker, you're still the breadwinner. And that your businesses at this time are bringing in the majority of our needs financially. So yes, taking 10 weeks off, yes you stayed home long, but your business was still keeping us afloat to a degree. Well, not to degree, literally. And I felt like you being at home and in that role enabled me to be more in my masculine. And felt it. I finally like the chains were off and I could like really just dig into being like, I am going to take care of this family financially, you know?

And it was so interesting because they were invisible chains. They didn't know they where there, but I thought it, did you feel that? 100%. And I really, I love that you brought this up because I think it's an important piece. You know, we have two daughters. I want them to grow up believing they can do absolutely anything that they set their heart to if they work hard enough and really like go for it. They don't ever want him to feel that there are limited in their choices and options because of their sex.

Like that's just stupid. And, as women, especially women who assume historically masculine roles, like being the breadwinner and the provider financially for the house. We can unintentionally be very demasculating towards our male partners. And I know that that was the case with us. And, I don't have enough distance from it yet to really psychoanalyze myself in terms of the whys, the what's, and the hows, because truly all I have ever longed for in my life was a male to take care of me. I did a women's relationship weekend way, way back in the day.

Some people would say, oh my gosh, it's just so, It's all about the patriarchy, this and that and other, but I do think, you know, is it societal, wired. I don't know. Who knows? I know that it matters. All I can tell you is that I have just longed for somebody to, like, take care of me, you know? And I remember learning, for women, love is being taken care off, and I was like that lands, whereas for men, at least per this person's teachings, men want unconditional love. And it's really interesting that so often we do the opposite, right?

James, love me unconditionally in this way that is just like at a cellular level. At a way I sometimes can't even take in. Like it's annoying sometimes because I'm extremely self-critical and then you look at me with these eyes of love and acceptance and I wanna smack you. Because I don't look myself that way and it like it grating when you can experience yourself that when somebody sees this greatness in you and its just ugh, I get teary even thinking about it. It's beautiful. And it's hard. And so I feel like, you know, in a lot of these modern relationships, You have the male giving the female unconditional love, and the Female, but not receiving it from the Male partner.

Because I know that myself, when I'm tired, When I am completely exhausted, I was both very proud to be the financial provider, And like do this thing for our family, sometimes resentful and sometimes just like oh my gosh i'm just so tired and you just take the reins for a minute but not wanting to admit that there's very very complicated feelings within that because that sort of felt like if i admitted that you know that i am failing as a modern woman if I admitted it really i wanna hang out with my kids and i want to make dinner and I wanna.

fold help them learn how to fold their laundry properly and I want to like walk with them to school slowly walking the dog and like hang out and just take the dogs for a walk in the afternoon because that's what I can do you know like I just that felt embarrassing to acknowledge that I actually long for that but this break forced me into that role. And I freaking loved it. And so all that unintentional critique of you I think dropped away and I noticed in our relationship all of a sudden it became spicy.

Like I relaxed into my divine feminine and you were able to express your divine masculine in this really beautiful polarity that we really had never experienced in a relationship before. Yeah, and our family just dug into this beautiful place. You could feel the kids were feeling nurtured and seen in a way that I think we had kind of, I mean, failed is a harsh word, but I don't, that's just the word that coming. It's like, we'd failed at with the kid to a degree because we're entrepreneurs, stay at home entrepreneurs.

So they've seen us all the time, But we are not actually available. And I think that it's not about always being available to your kids. I don't think, that's at all what I'm trying to say, but I do think it is about the quality of the time you do have with them. And we were sometimes half there, half not. Because I know, at least for myself, I was thinking about all the to-do's I had to do. To move the needle on the business, things like that. It's challenging, and it has taught us to have boundaries around our work.

Boundaries around, you know, making sure that we have family time on the weekends, but this was other level like this Was to me the missing ingredient from? From our lives and I believe that were now seeing it from this 10 weeks. We're seeing how regulate like how everyone's just Everyone's system seems more regulated. Everyone seems in parasympathetic mode. There's not as many fights. Not as much aggression on anyone's side. That there's just this love and we saw it play out to where when our kids, right before Thanksgiving, they were like, we were supposed to go to a friend's house.

They were, like hey, can we just have Thanksgiving the four of us? And we're like huh? You like, you wanna hang out with us and they're like yeah, we just feel like it would be so nice just to be the four of us. And we're, like okay, right? It has been and continues to be really, really beautiful and important for our family. And I have a lot of questions for you. So I wanted to shift, but I just want to just say that now that I've been back, I'm almost at the end of my second week, so we're still in early days.

I will acknowledge that. But I feel like, you know, when we do the real food reboot or what we used to call the sugar control detox, we would describe that as a chiropractic adjustment for your blood sugar handling, right? You'd have to take absolutely every hint of sweet and overt sugar and hidden sugars and all the things out of your diet, even with sweet fruit, for three weeks in order to like really like break the habit so that when you step back into things, it's a whole new world. And I feel like this 10 week break for me was that chiropractic adjustment for in terms of my relationship to my work.

Now my team gets all me when I'm there because I am present. I not exhausted and depleted. And so I able to be very specific in what I do. We've all learned that there's things that I was doing I didn't need to doing. So now I only doing the things truly only I can do and should do And it means, too, that I'm extremely able to be really present with the girls when they get home. You know, I am still able sit down and eat a meal with them, for the most part. Not every day, but for most parts. Sit down, eat meal them when the first come home from school and check in.

And then if I need to go back and do an hour or two of work there, They've been satiated, they've connected and now they're off doing their thing, I'm doing my thing. But they don't, you know, if I feel like we have established a new system for and kind of a pattern for the family overall, and that feels really good. Well, and you mentioned one of them and I want to highlight it to people is that, you know, through that time off, Margaret, as she mentioned, noticed that the kids are really hungry when they get home.

Instead of like forcing the kid to wait with that hunger, And play out the normal pattern of snacking and then not being hungry for dinner. Why don't we shift as a family like let's shift and have dinner earlier and that switch really does work like adjusting the environment sometimes to fit the people in it works very well and it not only have I seen them eat better because of it, but I also notice it's affecting the choices we're making with food. We don't have as many snacky foods in our house because we don�t eat them.

It's pretty incredible. I really love that. Baby proof an environment. Well, one of the reasons you do that is obviously you want your child to be safe But you're more so doing it because you don't want to always be in the position of saying no to everything like no Don't touch that get out of that, right? So if you baby proof it and remove the things that you can have to say no To then all it's about just let them explore, you know, let then be curious right and in many ways that's what you did by adjusting dinner time and adjusting, um, certain of our lifestyle practices to fit everyone's needs.

It's like, we made it so that no longer do we have to be out of congruence with each other or angry or hangry or whatever you want to call it. Okay. You said you had some questions. I do. Well, this has been, you know, no small year for you, Mr. James Berry. And the big one that I'm sure all your audience is aware of and is wondering about from the inside, and I recognize there's things you cannot talk about

Shark Tank Journey and Emotional Aftermath 29:38

due to signing NDAs, but Shark Tank, this was a big year for you. And people have witnessed the external manifestation of that. I want to know if you're comfortable sharing the internal journey that you went through, because from my position here as your wife watching you go through this, as I said to you the night before the episode aired for the first time, and by the way, amazing that they've already aired it twice now, by that night, no matter what ends up coming of this who you are as a businessman and as an entrepreneur has just evolved massively, right?

Like I think about with marathon running, which I do and you have done, you know, the race is whatever. The race great, but the outcome of the races so little and of that overall experience. It's who become as human. through the discipline of the training and everything it takes to get to that starting line. It just evolves you so profoundly as a person. And that is what I witnessed in you. So I would love it if you could share with your audience what that internal journey was for you Yeah, well it really, yeah, it was very revolutionary.

And it's hard for me sometimes to step outside myself and see what you see, but I feel it. I do feel the change. You know, something a lot of people don't know about is the process of how it happens. So I'll take a second to share that because I think it's really telling of what has occurred since. Since I started Pluck over five years ago, every single year throughout the year, multiple times, people will come up to me and they'll say, you've got to get on Shark Tank. This, it would be amazing.

They would eat it up. And I've never felt aligned to it, ever. I have just been like, ah, I'm not really a glory hound, don't need to be on TV. You know, have a great investor who helped get it launched. Like I don' want to do something that is not needed, you know? I wanna focus on the business, and just for so long I pooh-poohed it. This doesn't feel right. And then earlier this year through some with the last few years, there's been a lot of like internal work going on. Some work we did with some friends of ours, like just really like processing some deep stuff and releasing things.

And I think it culminated from that process. But I started this here out at one point. Like a May or something like that. And I came to you and I said, Margaret, I think I'm ready to be on Shark Tank. What happened for me was I had this revelation of like, oh my gosh, being on shark tank is not about me. It's not even about the company. it became really crystal clear to me that it was about the message. It was the mission that I'm on in terms of trying to help people and support them in getting these nutrient-dense foods, these animal-based, nutrient dense foods.

Like it's about amplifying that mission and message and so suddenly when it about more than just me, I was like, yeah, i'm ready. And I told that to you and then like three days later, I got an email out of the blue from one of producers on Shark Tank saying, hey, we think you'd be a great business to be on shark tank. I thought it was a joke. Like I messaged them back saying like, really are, you know, is this for real? And they're like no, no it's a for-real email. We'd like to have a meeting to see if this would be something you wanna take advantage of.

And then suddenly it like I was catapulted into this process of just being like just saying yes. Do you want to do this? Yes. Okay. What do you have to? Do okay do XYZ Okay, I did XY Z and I was not easy because I'm still doing the hundreds of other things I got to but now I am adding more work. And so suddenly it was like I Was like Doing the things and I just kept passing go. I kept Passing on getting to the next stage every time and it felt so divine in many ways Like yes, there was effort, but it was nowhere near the effort that most businesses go through to get on this show nowhere, near And through that process, I was definitely having to like really get granular with my the numbers, the business, really understanding like why what is this about?

Like really dialing into the mission, everything. And I had to lock down a pitch, all these kind of things. and suddenly I. Was on that list to shoot it. Then suddenly, i'm now in the shark tank and I'm and i am doing it and it was so intense. There was so much adrenaline to it. It did not go how I thought it would. And you had to even remind me like. you never actually wanted an investor. Like you had to remind me when I first did that, that it was about the amplifying the mission. Cause I, during the process of doing all the work they told me to do and being around all these people that kept saying, oh my gosh, you're going to get a deal.

I started to actually believe it. And I actually shifted and think, Oh, this is why you are in it instead of being reminded and remembering that no, it's about amplification of the I just want to pause there for a second because I think that's a really, really important piece. Nobody ever intended on doing anything but complete support of you, right? And people see what an incredible thing that you're building. And it's hard for those who are familiar with you who know you well or who just even know through pluck to see anything like how could somebody look at this and not see the incredible opportunity in front of them.

And so there was so much of this energy of like, well, of course you're going to get a deal. I mean, we had friends who were making bets on which shark was going make the deal, not is there going And it did you know it's hard not to start to sort of believe your own press so to speak right and start a kind of take it in and have that is the new expectations i think it completely natural that ended up happening cuz that really was from every angle that's what you were hearing. Yeah, and I don't want to go into details about what it's like in the tent because that is kind of the NDA stuff I had to sign.

But let's just say that it really was overwhelming and it is not what is seems like on TV. It's pretty intense. There was a lot of things that happened. that I didn't expect that it wasn't ready for because it's different when you're in there. They film like 45 minutes and you only see seven minutes of it. So what I experienced versus what people saw are very different. And so let's just be like, I'll just leave it at that without crossing any lines. But basically when I ended, I was flattened. I I don't even know what to do like at this point, because the energy output was so intense and then feeling a bit like a failure to a degree, even though like you had reminded me, like this was not, you didn't do it for, I had to be reminded.

I have to stress that because then the emotions were really heavy for me. And then you were the only person that knew and we couldn't talk about it. So I filmed it in June and it didn' air till September, so that's like nearly- October. Oh, October, that's right. So, you know, five months of just sitting with that silence and those feelings. And I couldn't sleep for the first month. I really struggled because I kept playing out the whole process. In many ways, I would say it was kind of traumatic for me.

Like there was an element of trauma. and I got through it, though, in that month, and he really did kind to turn it around energetically and be like, no, I get it now, there's a bigger picture and I was really like, just at peace. And I still didn't know if it was gonna air. Then we got word that was going to air and then I did something that I think you even struggled with. I'm curious for you to share your process with us, but you were like planning a whole viewing party and said, I am not gonna come.

and you were like, what? Now it was later, like I was really, I do put, you know, my health and, and I wake up, at the same time every morning, Like I didn't want to diverge off of my lifestyle, plan. So that was an element, but to degree, when there's certain, supernatural things that are about to happen, You step out of that just to be in them, right? It would be like getting nominated for an Oscar and then not showing up for the event just because it's too late. So there was an element of absurdity about me saying I wasn't gonna show up, but I felt really clear of like, you know what, I have made my peace with this process and I did have fears of watching it, seeing how they edited it.

It would open up something that I didn't need to revisit that. I got from the experience what I needed and I continue to get from experience when I need because there's it continues to flower out and blossom and like and reveal new beautiful things. But yeah, will you share your process of me not not showing up in that conversation? We kind of had around it. Yeah, well, it's actually really interesting because I, you know, I had my own my feelings because i knew the outcome, but neither of us, of course, had any idea what was actually going to be shared.

And, because it is always a longer thing and they added it down. So we have no idea how it was going how is going be finally, that final cut, so to speak. And I was definitely disappointed that you didn't want to come and in my mind I said well isn't it like if you you know it's a you're an actor and is the premier of your movie and then you don't go to the movie in you were like margaret. Most of those actors go the red carpet and go home i don' need to see the movies like they were there they're not gonna sit there with everybody and watch it.

And I'm sure that there's some who do watch and some don't, but that actually made a lot of sense to me. And it was actually, it ended up being great because, you know, as a group watching it, we were able to, everyone was able comment freely because you weren't in the room. As soon as your segment was done, TV was turned off and there was a very, very lively discussion about everything, which again, probably wouldn't have happened as freely had you been in a room, And no, I think it ended up being really the right decision.

Well, it felt like a real moment for me as well because I stood up for what I needed. I really stood out for it and I stayed true to it. And I didn't. I. Didn't let my worries or concerns for you or other people like sway me from what I needed in that moment, since technically it was, you know, an experience that was about me. Right. So it's like I wanted to really make sure I took care of myself and. And and I and i feel like that. Was a moment for me, because I think and think even how I'm now looking at the business and how i'm running.

Yes, there's all this. There's. All this kind of like growth in terms of numbers and understanding the ins and outs of the business but I think ultimately what's really landed for me is the confidence that what I feel and what i have an instinct around is okay like a full acceptance of like you know what I'm going to stay true to this instinct. And I am okay with that. I will make sure that I take care of myself in that and I won't apologize for the instincts I have. and just showing up with that confidence, but also that curiosity.

I believe you have to be curious to follow your instincts. It's not over confidence. No, I have an instinct and you gotta be like, well, what is that? And you got to explore it enough to then confidently say like okay, i'm gonna listen to that. And I feel like I am an absolute acceptance of what I know, What I don't know and my curiosity to gain even more knowledge around whatever it is I Don't Know. And I also feel like I'm, I am showing up in relationships and I really like listening more to people.

And, and, um, Um, looking at others with softer eyes and i'm and trying to help as much as I can, when I, but i am also not trying do other people's work. Like I feel I find this really beautiful balance between entrepreneurship and humanity, if that makes sense. I would agree completely, and I'd add two things to that. One is that, you know, I think you got even clearer that all of this is about your mission. I know of some decisions you've made in the business that you're going to be revealing in 2026 that are just so aligned with you.

They're just in such integrity with the vision for the businesses. You got so clear on that in a way, and you go clear I think about the clarity going in was one piece and I mean the Clarity even before the producers reached out to you that was like step one of it then there was the clarity through that process which yet got a little muddy at the end but then coming home from the experience it's very tempting you know any of us who do anything in the public you no any time I have never given a single speech I'm sure you're the same where you don't then analyze every little bit of it, oh, I could have done this, could've done that, you know, and that times a thousand, with the experience of, Oh, Could I have this in this moment?

Could have said this? Would the outcome have been different? You were forced to just let go of all of that. You didn't even know if it was going to be aired, right? There's a lot of unknowns throughout the entire stage in the process. You know there's you had to let go of all that and just just say you know what it happened i have no idea the outcome of it i don't know idea if it airs what this is gonna do for the business i am just gonna move forward with other clarity on my vision and my mission and what i'm here on planet earth to do.

And you just did it. And then it came out, and then everyone's talking about it, right? Oh, what about this and what, about that? And everyone was kind of trying to break down, you know? You actually did such an amazing job of listening and you discuss it a little bit, but you actually didn't get caught up in the, well, I could have done this. And what if I had gone that way and if it did that, You didn' t do any of that. You were just like, yeah. mission, back to mission. And I think that is just profound growth.

Because there's always going to be things in business and in life that come at us externally over which we have zero control. I mean, we control over basically nothing other than ourselves and our internal reaction. Most of our life allows us to operate under the illusion that we actually do have some kind of control of all these external factors. But really, we don't. And you were put into a situation where you had zero control over something that was going to be extraordinarily public, viewed by millions of people, quite literally.

talk about bringing you to the fire and forcing you, to just say like, I gotta just be me. That would break a lot of people, but it didn't break you. It just like it got you so clear on what you're here to do and why you are doing it. And I know you can't talk, about what's to come in 2026, But I'm so freaking excited to have this conversation with you in a year from now. Because I think the purity You've always, I mean, you go through life with the cleanest heart. You're so, of anybody I know, You do things for annoyingly the right reasons, right?

Like you will put yourself last on the list of people to receive benefit from your business, for example, Right? You really are doing this for the mission of it, sometimes to a fault. But right now you are just so clean and you've got now the success in the business that allows you to make some decisions that are really, I mean, it's just really beautiful. Sometimes I think success can really corrupt people and help them. or sort of tempt them off course and draw them away from the original intent and the originally integrity of their vision, especially in a mission-based business.

You did not decide to launch this business because you thought you were going to make bazillions of dollars on it. People need to learn that organ meats are not scary and that they're the most nutrient-dense parts of the animals and they need incorporate them in the diet. And I have solved the problem of how to do that without having to deal with all the hurdles that people have when they think about organ meat. Sometimes it can be tempting for people when they achieve a certain amount of success to forget the origin story, to forgot why they're actually there.

Lessons on Mission, Boundaries, and Self-Care 47:48

But what this experience has done for you is just freaking nail that into every fiber of your being so that you can move forward with even more integrity. And that, my friend, is why I freaking married you. Thank you, baby. It's hard not to cry hearing this, of course, but I think from what I heard, the last line of what i said in Shark Tank is really, I'm really glad that they left that in. And it's that I am not going to apologize for wanting to help people. And it's like, that to me is like should be put on a t-shirt for me because it like I really, I've always gone down this path of wanting to be a chef, of to specifically in the health field around cooking because I want to help people because recognize that food is so, it can be so complicated and so tied to our emotions and we can make poor choices because there's so many, manufacturers and agencies out there and marketing that are really not in it for our health.

And so it gets so confusing. I just want to cut through it all and give people clean but delicious food. That's how we met, right? Literally it was, you're a functional nutritionist, I'm a chef, and then us realizing that our alignment and the philosophy of health was the same. I think I always have said over the years, I've said there's an illusion of health with most products. But when you meet someone that's in alignment with your health, that was the coolest thing is when we had that trip to the wine country.

You know which one I'm going to tell. We just started dating. Yeah and we just got into a discussion about like oh if we had kids how would you want to raise them and how Would you wanna feed them? And of course food was I think the first thing we talked about regarding lifestyle and it was like we were right on the same page like right from the get-go and And i'm just so excited to enter 26 with you it feels like 25 was such a deepening and so much growth happened. And I feel like it's percolated and it just all ready to pour out into 26. I can't wait to share the bounty with everyone and to continue to expand and grow with you and our family and little ones.

It's truly a journey and a beautiful one and I'm just so grateful to be on it with You too, baby. So much. Anything you want to say as we end 2025 wrap up? It's it's going to be, you know, I hope my hope is that, everyone out there is feeling a sense of coexistence, of like collaboration in their lives and and feeling an agency. and an empowerment to not go into 26 feeling like, oh, like defeated or not feeling less than, but where you feel like that you can be fully yourself and really emanate that beauty and that strength to those around you as you enter 26. I really hope and want everyone to feel empowered to not only support those around you, but also to support yourself.

We gotta like self care. And I think you beautifully did that by taking 10 weeks off. I beautifully that through my process with Shark Tank. and I wish that upon everyone that's listening or watching this podcast. Do you have anything you'd like to, a gift you like, to give everyone as we wrap this up? Well, I want to reiterate what you said and also put it in the context of I recognize that in world at large, it's a little crazy out there. And and I think your example of like there's just so much out they're happening that you can't control that can feel really overwhelming.

You had a very intense and personal example of that experience, you know, with you and your business. But I think a lot of people are experiencing that in like the big picture of the world. And I just want to encourage people to exactly like you say, really take care of yourself. That's not a selfish thing. I can even feel as we're talking here about it, I'm like, oh my God, i can't believe i'm acknowledging that I took 10 full weeks off. This is so like self-indulgence and like I, can I feel their story.

So Ii'm not going to pretend that i've like resolved this, but I want to encourage all of us to freaking get over ourselves because here's the deal. You cannot contribute to a better world when you are just butt tired. And your nerves are on edge. And the slightest sideways look makes you want to just like snap. Like you gotta take care of you. So please do that as number one. Then please number two, remember that all you can control is yourself and your reactions and how you show up. As soon as you start to control somebody else, whether it's your partner, politics, anything out there of the myriad of things that are annoying and not going the way that one might want them to go.

whatever spectrum, whatever your perspective on anything. I think that if we can all just take better care of ourselves and care for our close communities, our families, um, are close loved ones, or our friends. Um, I that we would live in a really, really different world. And I really wish that for everybody. Thank you. I look forward to many more wrap ups in the years to come. And most of all, I want to thank you all. You know, I started this not really knowing what it would become, but I definitely started it knowing, what I wanted it to be, which was, just wanted to have curious conversations with interesting people.

And I want it, to, be of service to you. Like I, wanted, you probably noticed almost every episode, actually every, episode has like actionable items, like things that will directly help you immediately. And that's really important to me that I want you to feel empowered to self-care, to Self-love, and to help those around you. Because I believe it's this community that we have and that were building that is keeping us tied to our humanity. It's community. Whose hand we're holding, who we are in relations with.

That's what matters. So I just want to thank you all for joining me on this journey. I truly, truly send you blessings and deep, deep love. But most of all, I hope that you can direct that to yourself. I believe we were, as Margaret said, and as I've said we are all too hard on ourselves. that we can hold ourselves to the fire, but we also be kinder. You know, we really can. We can do hard things. we say that to our kids a lot. And we could also look at ourselves with softer eyes. I think both can coexist.

So thank you all. This is a close to 2025. May 2026 be just a beautiful time of expansion for you. and I look forward to many more episodes with you in the year to come. Thank you so much for joining me on Everyday Ancestral. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe so you don't miss the next one. You can find the show notes, links and resources mentioned at eatpluck.com. That's E-A-T-P-L-U-C-K dot com. And hey, if you know someone who'd get something out of this, share it with them too. Stay curious, live well, and keep it ancestral.