Episode 83: Conceiving Success with Fertility Expert Elizabeth King
In this enlightening episode, we sit down with Elizabeth King, a certified international fertility expert, to explore the complexities and triumphs of the journey to parenthood. Elizabeth shares her extensive knowledge and experience in the field, providing invaluable insights into fertility, pregnancy, and achieving a healthy birth.
Elizabeth delves into the common challenges faced by individuals and couples trying to conceive, offering practical advice and strategies to overcome these hurdles. She emphasizes the importance of holistic health and the role it plays in fertility, discussing the impact of diet, lifestyle, and mental well-being on conception and pregnancy.
Listeners will learn about the latest advancements in fertility treatments and the importance of personalized care. Elizabeth also addresses the emotional aspects of the fertility journey, highlighting the significance of support and resilience.
Whether you’re just beginning your fertility journey or looking for expert guidance to navigate the complex path of entrepreneurship, Elizabeth King’s wisdom and compassion will leave you feeling informed and empowered.
Key Takeaways:
- Understanding the factors that influence fertility and how to optimize them
- The role of holistic health in achieving a successful pregnancy
- Insights into modern fertility treatments and personalized care
- Strategies for maintaining mental and emotional well-being during the fertility journey
- The importance of support systems and resilience in overcoming fertility challenges
In this episode, we discuss:
Introduction to Elizabeth King
- Certified international fertility expert
- Background and experience in the field of fertility and pregnancy
Understanding Fertility
- Common challenges faced by individuals and couples trying to conceive
- The importance of identifying and addressing these challenges early on
Holistic Health and Fertility
- Impact of diet and nutrition on fertility
- Role of lifestyle choices in reproductive health
- Importance of mental well-being and stress management
Modern Fertility Treatments
- Overview of the latest advancements in fertility treatments
- Personalization of fertility care
- When to seek medical intervention
Practical Advice for Improving Fertility
- Strategies to enhance reproductive health
- Tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle to support fertility
- Importance of regular medical check-ups and monitoring
Emotional Aspects of the Fertility Journey
- Addressing the emotional challenges of trying to conceive
- Coping mechanisms for dealing with stress and disappointment
- Role of mental health support and counseling
Building a Support System
- Importance of having a strong support network
- Finding support groups and communities
- Involving partners and family members in the journey
Resilience and Perseverance
- Stories of resilience and success from Elizabeth’s experience
- Encouragement to remain hopeful and persistent
- Celebrating small victories and progress
Find Elizabeth:
https://www.elizabethking.com/
Guest Bio:
Elizabeth King is a Certified International Fertility Expert and Founder and CEO of the Fertility Coach Academy® who helps people of all backgrounds on their path to conception to have healthy pregnancy, healthy baby and carry to term. After having 3 children of her own after the age of 41, Elizabeth believes taking a more holistic approach is the key to success when attempting to conceive. As a Master Certified ICF Life Coach, Birth & Bereavement Doula, and New Parent Educator she has helped thousands of women achieve their dreams of conception and parenthood in 21 countries around the world. She supports clients through natural fertility, infertility, IVF, miscarriage loss, early pregnancy PTSD, and new parent support. With over 24k followers on Instagram, Elizabeth is the host of podcast, Creation Innovation and is a contributing author to three best-selling books Naturally Conceived, The Creative Lifebook and Radical Self Love. For her expertise, she has been featured in Forbes, BBC, Entrepreneur, Newsweek, The New York Post, New York Magazine, mindbodygreen, The Independent, Yahoo News, PopSugar, Authority, Thrive Global, Romper, Parade Magazine, and on Good Morning Washington, The List, Good Morning DC, Sacramento’s Your California Life, and The Tamron Hall Show, and on variety of top podcasts.
Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube or Spotify and leave us a review!
- Like the show? LEAVE US A REVIEW wherever you listen!
- Have a question? CONTACT US at info@thepursuitofbadasserie.com!
- Want to sponsor us? Find out how HERE.
…
Read the full transcript of this episode below!
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Hey, I’m Lynn.
Amanda Furgiuele
And I’m Amanda. Welcome to the pursuit of Badasserie: the Podcast. are back with another amazing guest. This is Elizabeth King.
She’s a certified international fertility expert, a little bit different today, and founder and CEO of the Fertility Clinic Academy.
And she helps people with all backgrounds on their path to conception and having a healthy pregnancy, healthy baby, and to carry everything to term.
So we are super excited. She has been featured in Forbes, BBC, Entrepreneur, the New York Post, and now on the pursuit of badasserie.
Welcome, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth King
Thanks for having me. Excited to chat with you guys today.
Amanda Furgiuele
Yeah.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Tell us a little bit about your journey.
Elizabeth King
So it’s kind of a, the shortened version is at 19, which is now 30 almost years ago, which is scary to say, my sister was diagnosed with a rare cervical cancer.
I did not know what a cervix was at that time and was told she had four months to live.
Her big thing. at that moment was oh my gosh I’m not going to be able to have kids and my thing was initial like right out of the gate I’ll have one for you.
It just wasn’t even a question. What do we need to do to make that happen? That started the first intro into a fertility doctor.
What was that? What would that look like if I carried a baby with our DNA and all the things?
Only to then fast forward I’ll give you a spoiler alert. I did not end up being able to have a child for her.
She is living in fine now 30 years later. When I was 30 I went through my own divorce and went to that same fertility doctor and said can I freeze my eggs and at that time he said no you’re too young come back later.
The technology wasn’t what it is now. I went back again at 36 still single. Can I do it now?
He’s like yes let’s do it. So I went through IVF at 36 on my own and went on to then meet my husband at 39, my first child at 41, last child at 44, ended up having all of my kids naturally.
have three children. And throughout that, the in-betweens and all the things, that’s where I had taken my 10 plus year as an ICF life coach and transferred that to focus on fertility after our first loss.
When I really recognize this whole situation of fertility is not something that people are talking about at the water cooler, nor are they talking about in families really even.
I had uncovered lots of stories about people that had miscarriages in their families that were not talked about until recently.
So, navigating that emotional experience through fertility really became my mission and recognize that it had actually been teeing me up for a very, very long time with
Without me really knowing it.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Yeah, we we love that you are so rooted in a why and understand that like you’re so rooted in the connection of, and I can only imagine like how and I’ve known plenty of people and oh man does so many people that struggled and have went through their own stories, right?
so right, but how much changes happened in the industry? And also you being a woman coming into the end like because it was a male dominated, I think it’s still this amount of industry and being a woman to like bring a very different perspective, not just from your own personal experience, but also just being a woman and helping women navigate this.
Yeah, it’s just incredible.
Elizabeth King
It is interesting to note that I think because there’s this whole new wave I say of fertility doctors, reproductive endocrinologists as they’re referred to.
That’s graduating and coming up now that gets the mind-body spirit perspective and get that it has been run and the studies have all been done by men and all the things.
When you really look at all of the data in years past, there really wasn’t a lot because it was male-driven.
So it’s fascinating to me. I’m a very scientifically-driven person. I love black and white numbers and all of that.
And now that we’re getting to a point that they’re bringing this new dialogue into fertility on top of the statistics, Harvard did a study on if you’re doing any sort of cognitive behavior work while going through fertility, you’re 55% more likely to conceive.
So the fact that Harvard did the study obviously speaks volumes, right? mean, we want to shout that from the rooftop.
That’s not one five. That’s five five. When you’re in a fertility journey, that’s a big number of a difference.
Mayo Clinic did a study in 2013 that showed if somebody who’s going through fertility is the same stress level as a cancer patient, that validates millions of women feeling so stressed out about this fertility journey, thinking they’re losing their mind.
You’re not. This is not an easy situation to go through. So I love quoting those because it just kind of validates people to know like, okay, this is the real deal.
Amanda Furgiuele
Absolutely. And there’s just so much involved in the entire process from your mindset to the monetary levels to family support to obviously health or lack thereof and obviously health things.
So I mean, how do you find that people even navigate all of that over the course of however long it takes?
Elizabeth King
So the blessing in the curse of social media has been that it has opened these conversations and the awareness of fertility in general.
You know, even seven years ago when I started down the path with my own fertility journey, there really wasn’t anybody talking about it online realistically.
So that opens up a whole new conversation and education for people now. mean, we’re not even taught about our ovulation in school, we’re really taught, you know, you have a period every 28 days, which is so far from the truth of most women out there.
So that alone with educating people is really brought so much to the industry. And now helping people navigate their individual situation really, I feel so honored, first of all, to be able to help them through that.
But everybody is so different. So I have a lot of people that come to me saying we’ve been trying for two or three years and want to get pregnant naturally.
I’m a big person. I’ve let’s integrate all the things. If you can get pregnant naturally, great. If we need some sort of
of assistance. The world that we live in, it blows my mind every day, that we have what we have to have different paths to parenthood.
It’s so amazing. But it’s not for everybody. You have to see what aligns with your values, what feels right to you.
Some people have, you know, we’re going to try naturally for X amount of time and then we’re, that’s it, we’re not going to go any further.
Some people say, we’re going to do eight rounds of IVF and if that doesn’t work, that’s it. Everyone has their own barometer of where they’re at and what works for them.
And I think recognizing where you’re at in your life too, are you building your business? Are you at a point where you feel really calm about life and where you’re at?
That really does affect how we show up in the world, right? If we’re climbing the corporate ladder or building our business from the ground up and we’re trying to do our fertility in the meantime, it’s not going to be probably as easy as we would like to do as it was 50 years ago where women were like, okay, we’re just going to do home at
in high school and then go go to the kitchen and and see what’s for dinner and and hope that we get pregnant next month and you know it was a very different time than it is now.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Yeah we know we we actually have clients and my daughter wanted to be in the industry as well. She actually wants to go for midwifery but she’s an ICF.
I see an international lactation specialist. Oh okay yeah um ICF that’s another thing and we like we have a couple clients also who have been in the industry who help pre and post post-baby and it’s interesting to watch both of them navigate somebody who’s been in the industry for a very long time and then my daughter who’s new to the helping women navigate like you said the complexities of today on top of you know either getting pregnant
having a baby, not even with the complications, those that you’re dealing with, obviously with fertility complications. What is, what is like some of your top things that you help support them in, in the mind body, because you brought that in, the mind body spirit.
because, like you said, 50 years ago, we didn’t have, you know, it was home ec and go into the kitchen or whatever for the majority, generalizing.
oh, like, we’re, we’re driven, we’re, we’re stepping up, they’re going up the corporate ladder, out lots of entrepreneurs, and just like that, that multifaceted kind of like we’re doing, we have our hands in many buckets nowadays.
So, with the ICF background, how do you help them navigate that and your team help them navigate all of that?
Elizabeth King
So I always say, let’s get the lay of the land of what we’re dealing with. So go see a fertility doctor, rather than OB, regardless of where you’re at, whether you’re, you know, 25 or 30.
45 or 40 plus. What’s going on? your tubes open? Is your uterus clean? we good? Are we working with all the right things normally?
That gives you a starting point, a baseline of where you’re at. That drives a lot of people once they get that hormonal blood panel to say, okay, I’m 28, but I have an AMH level of somebody who’s 38.
Maybe I better freeze some eggs or maybe I better make a different decision here. Regardless of where you’re at with your path of your career and or family life, I feel like getting in touch with your own body and your own cycle first and foremost, aside from everything else is key because again, I’ve seen so many people try for a long time only to find out they have blocked tubes.
They just wasted three years. We don’t have part of that is what can you And you do now to basically crime yourself for later.
So for me, for example, I was doing my thing. I was traveling the world and building a business and having fun.
really had no intention of having children, but it definitely was not on my radar. I was not somebody who yearned and burned for children my whole life where I had friends that were like, I just always want to be a mom.
That was not my story. Mine was like, OK, am I a 401k? Am I eggs frozen? Check. Like, let’s move on.
And only to find out at like 38, 39, I remember I was walking in London by myself on a solo trip and like, oh, I might need to like figure out what I want to do here if I’m going to start to want to have kids.
Before that, it never really entered my mind other than the fact of just having that on the back burner.
So I think getting in touch with your cycle, again, because we were not taught that. What is your cervical mucus like?
What is your cycle like? What is your cycle know about your body that you need to know more about in order to make those decisions for the long term, whether you’re in a relationship or not, whether you’re going to do it on your own or not, there’s a lot of women now that are choosing to do solo mom, like you do it on their own because they’re like, I’m not waiting for anybody, more power to you if that’s something that you want to do and you have the ability to do that.
But it all comes back to education and figuring out what’s going to work for you and your lifestyle in your body and where you’re at because I have a 52-year-old client right now going to transfer next month.
I have 22-year-olds that are struggling to get pregnant, so it doesn’t really matter how old you are or what environment you’re in, really just priming your body for what you need and the only way that we really find out what you need is by getting to lay the land from a doctor, getting the blood work done, and most of the
These don’t tell you to do your hormone panel on day two or day three of your cycle, but you need to do your hormone panels on day two or day three of your bleed of your cycle in order to get an accurate glimpse of where you’re at for your baseline for fertility especially.
So what I tell people is you start to do that when you’re whatever age for me too, every time I do a full panel, I make sure I do it on that so I’m doing apples to apples each time to see where am I at is are things changing am I going into menopause now like what’s happening right?
If I did that at any day of my cycle, it wouldn’t be accurate. So I think that’s the biggest thing that I would say for people.
Yeah, I know that on the on the backside, I had kids very young, not not clearly if you had a daughter that’s doing something, yeah, yeah, and I don’t even look like, yeah, no, no, my kids are mid to late Amanda corrected me yesterday on a podcast that they’re mid to late because they’re like 26.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
like 27, but it is interesting to, you know, and I mean, I have to always bring this back entrepreneurship and like small business, but like anything, like how can you make a decision if you don’t understand where you’re at, right?
so, and we have the technology now where years ago we didn’t, and I say we, and I’m saying this with a lot of and respect because we do global and we just actually had a bunch of women from Africa in one of the conferences that I facilitated here in Bangkok that Amanda spoke at.
you know, women there don’t even have access to feminine hygiene products. And, but we also in the States, like there is this like such a divide of, and you were talking about education, like so many people, even that have access to the information, don’t know about their own body in the basic sense, let alone what everything that you were just speaking about.
And so, I love everything that you just said.
Amanda Furgiuele
There’s this huge impact on women’s lives as we have become more aware and it’s become more acceptable to educate ourselves in these things because there’s such a taboo around it, which tries to be insane.
And this is this kind of study and still, and that’s actually what we’re speaking of the conference and these women from Ethiopia.
And it blew me away how it’s 2024 and there’s still such a lack of knowledge and education and like a will for almost a willful ignorance.
When these things clearly impact women’s lives, women’s businesses, know, these part centered businesses like, like fertility, like lactation, like, you know, postnatal.
It just blows me away. It absolutely blows me away. And it’s, you know, so good to see that you are making this kind of impact.
Elizabeth King
Well, most obese traditionally will say you have period cramps here to take the pill. You have acne. Go on the pill.
know, that’s kind of the, the bacon answer. are for many, many years. now the younger generation is like, maybe I shouldn’t do that.
Although still, lot of people are saying, well, it’s hormone-free. It may be hormone-free, but it’s still disrupting your cycle, right?
So you just have to think through all of these things and understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. Because if you’re having painful periods, that’s your body telling you something is wrong.
Your hormones are off. You need to balance somewhere and something. Putting a Band-Aid on it is not fixing it.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Absolutely. That’s very Western way. And something you just said kind of triggered, like I’m not sure if you know, but I’m a cancer survivor.
And one of the things I learned during navigating that 20 years ago was becoming my biggest advocate, like understanding who I am in the process, what my options are, doing the research myself, and making the decisions based on my beliefs, how I wanted to handle things.
etc. And it is, it is so important to really learn in many aspects of our life, but especially when it comes to our health, to be our biggest advocate, our number one advocate.
I love that you’re supporting women in that because it is so empowering. And I know the change that it made in me to like not just on my medical journey, not just on my health journey, but in everything that I do, becoming my biggest advocate has not just saved my life, but it is absolutely catapulted the things that I’ve done in my life.
so it’s yeah, I love it.
Elizabeth King
And I think that the advocacy for yourself always also leans into your intuition, right, as women, as a collective of knowing, you know, this doesn’t really sit well with me, right?
pushing back on the medical community or whoever it is that you’re talking to. Same similar story for me, I had fibroids in my OB was like, no, it’s fine.
I’m like, it kind of doesn’t feel fine. They’re small, don’t worry about it. So I went back to my fertility doctor.
He’s like, yeah, they’re small, but they’re exactly where you would need to implant. So you need to go see a gynecological oncologist, get those removed, and then sure enough, the next time I tried, we got pregnant.
So advocating for yourself is huge, but also leaning into your intuition to trust yourself, trust yourself to say, no, I kind of want to go a different direction than this, right?
We have so many people and resources outside of, you know, Dr. Google that you can bounce ideas off of, you can say, Hey, what do you know about this?
What can you teach me about this? What do you think I should do in your experience? Your story is a perfect example of that for somebody else who’s navigating the same thing.
Amanda Furgiuele
And I think that’s true too, to make it a more broad idea of, of your business, of your life, of what, what your path
about what your goals and you have to advocate for yourself because no one’s else is going to do it.
And I think that I’ve seen it a lot with people kind of waiting around for something to happen or someone to take over or something to change for you.
And it just isn’t going to be that way. So there’s nobody else who can advocate as well as you can for yourself.
And man, I wish I had learned that when I was pregnant. I mean, all sorts of things there. So even if you want to think everything in life, you’ve got to advocate for yourself.
Elizabeth King
Yeah, I mean, with business and business coaches, right? Everybody has the solution, right? Here’s the blueprint for success and XYZ.
think you need to lean into your own gut feeling. Does this feel like it’s the right thing for me?
Because everybody’s doing their thing online now. it does differ per industry. It does differ for each individual. What’s behind it?
How are you coming to the table and what energy to you bring that’s going to make that successful, not just because Joe schmows up on a stage saying, this is the secret sauce for his business, you know?
And I think, again, advocating for yourself with what you feel is right for the direction of what you want to do and your own boundary for your business and what you want that to look like.
I think more and more women are being empowered to take it in directions that traditionally we weren’t told we could do before.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Absolutely. On that note, I’d love for you to speak a little bit more about because kind of going back to one of the original things that we spoke about was you being in a male driven industry and you really kind of like coupling, coming into the industry, coupling your ICF background, your life coaching background with this and you’ve accomplished huge milestones like your over here at Colm CVs, but your resume is like, it’s extensive.
So I can imagine that you’ve had to push some boundaries and absolutely just step on some toes, not necessarily in a negative way, but to make sure that you’re getting this message, you’re helping the people that you need.
Can you talk a little bit about how you stayed grounded in that process, because especially with industry that you’re in, you have a personal tie, it is such an emotional industry to be in.
There’s something different about this industry than what is about business coaching or whatever, and I’m not googling another, I’m just saying, it’s definitely more emotional.
Elizabeth King
Yeah, I mean, it’s not been easy to, like I said this, the old kind of generation of fertility doctors that you’re trying to let them know, hey, if we can help your patients, they’re gonna be more successful.
If you recognize that this is not just, It’s another day in the office for you, and it’s an extremely emotional path that they’re on.
You’re going to have better statistics coming out your door, right? Because that’s, I don’t want to say that’s what they’re all about.
But for a lot of years, the fertility clinics, they wanted good statistics. wanted to say, you know, nine out of ten people coming out our door are pregnant.
Traditionally, coaching has not been a thing, right? When I first became a coach in 2008, they’re like, oh, you’re from California.
You eat sushi in your life coach. You’re like, yeah, kind of, you know. Now everybody’s a life coach. But from that specific industry, they still don’t know what that is, right?
If you’re not a licensed therapist, they kind of didn’t want to talk to you because they’re like, they don’t know what that means.
So that in and of itself has been a whole journey of educating people as to what coaching is versus what therapy is and how that can work together to help the patient have a successful outcome.
I’m going to say it’s been an easy journey, it has not, but being able to continue to stay educated.
I’m kind of the only the non-MD showing up at these medical conferences for reproductive medicine to learn what these abstract research researchers are showing, right?
are they presenting on? So when I go into the offices and talk to people, I can be educated on what’s the latest and greatest of the research that’s happening, right?
So, we know egg health has a lot to do now with the inflammation in our body. We’ve always been told, you’re 40 years old, so guess what?
got 40 year old eggs, well, yes and no. So that’s a different story than it was five years ago because of the research that’s being done.
So, if I can walk into the door and hold my own and say, I’m showing up as a collective for fertility coaches and how we can help your clinic and your patients be successful, they start to listen a little bit more and see
see that we are no longer just talking about people that are struggling on the emotional journey. We have the data to show what the mind-body spirit combination can do in health in general, not just with fertility, but all things health-related.
know, it’s not new news, right? So the fact that people are starting to wake up a little bit to see the value is amazing, but also it hasn’t been easy.
Although I think it’s getting a little bit easier with the younger generation of MDs coming up to recognize that there’s a different aspect, because there’s a whole lot of naturopaths and acupuncturists and everybody else that really agree with that.
But in the world that I specifically live in with fertility, people come to me that have real true struggles that actually do need medical intervention.
you know, we need everybody. I talk about fertility teams. We need everybody. everybody to be on the same page of recognizing the value and importance of everybody’s portion of this patient in front of us, right?
So it’s not just the medical guy, it’s not just the acupuncturist, it’s not just the therapist if they need medical intervention with psychology and the coach.
So it’s a variety of everybody for the success of the patient.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Yeah, you made a comment in there and you said that I know that the mind body spirit has been around for a while, although in the US or in the Western countries, like it is a more newer concept versus the Eastern countries.
Elizabeth King
But like IVF, but it’s only like 40 some years old, like it hasn’t been around long.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
actually you are you are a trailblazer and because first of all that industry hasn’t been around that long and then you coming into the industry and like talking about exactly what you’re doing, you are a trailblazer.
because there aren’t a lot like you, you’re opening up so many doors, you’re one of the first open up doors to say, now let’s look at this as the collective, let’s see how we can support everything.
And I love that you’re, you’re just as much the, like you said, the black and white, as well as like the mind, body, spirit side as well.
So I just hats off to you because I’ve been watching you and I haven’t quite heard you say exactly that.
I know you own your story, but you truly are a trailblazer.
Elizabeth King
Like this is really incredible. Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. It’s, and it’s, I’m sorry to say that I think unfortunately, fertility is only going to become more of an issue globally.
And just based on the things we’ve all been through in the last few years, and I don’t think it’s quite hit its peak with that.
And so being able to support the couples that are going through that and what they’re going to be pacing down the road and educating.
Other people like your daughter to help support in other ways of women wellness is, I think, so important because it’s going to be a thing that continues to keep going, unfortunately.
Amanda Furgiuele
It really is unfortunate because I think you take it for granted, particularly when you’re younger, oh, you know, got years or maybe I will not get pregnant, right?
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
We’re always thinking like, oh, God, we can’t get pregnant, you know, God forbid, only to find out later, like, unless, you know, surprise.
Elizabeth King
Yeah.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
it’s, it’s one way or the other. It is.
Amanda Furgiuele
It’s definitely a still surprising subject. It’s still a sad and difficult and challenging subject for a lot of people and situation.
you, I don’t think anybody ever wakes up one day is like, oh, well, I’m probably super fertile or like, oh,
Elizabeth King
I bet you I can’t have kids like nobody’s having that conversation or even thinking those thoughts for sure I mean the statistics for men too are insane the last hundred years with the decline of sperm counts and You know, so it’s not just for the women It’s it’s across the board really of the the lifestyles that we live now and speaking of Africa I’ve talked to people in places in random areas where they’re still living very tribal and off the land and they’re like We have people that are getting pregnant naturally at like 50 and 60 years old because they’re healthy They have no stress their their cycles are still, you know where they should be and You know, that’s that’s amazing too and just a testament to the fact that when you’re off the grid and you’re Living naturally and your your body is healthy.
operates the way that it’s meant to and there’s just very few Few places on the planet these days that that are like that, but
It’s sad, but also I feel the fact that we’re on this mission to help educate people on their bodies and their overall, we call it the sixth vital sign of your cycle really helps you to understand not only your reproductive health, but your health in general.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Yeah, no, I definitely agree. I love this. Thank you for being on our podcast because I know audience. We know this is slightly different than what we normally have, but I think coming off of the conference and all the conferences that we are conversations that we had around women’s health and our own personal journeys, but also, and not just like you said, not just women’s health, this also affects men as well, but we just really knew we wanted to change the script, so we really appreciate you being on and sharing your knowledge and your background and all of that.
Elizabeth King
Thank you for having me. Again, I think that the more that women as a collective are having these conversations around work and saying, like, this is what’s going on with me, right?
The good, the bad, the ugly. It doesn’t let the other person feel so isolated when they go through it because they’re like, oh, I remember Elizabeth said she had that or Amanda said she had that going on, right?
So it’s opening up Pandora’s box to really help support each other in a way that has been silenced for hundreds of years, unless you were living in a tribal community and everybody was in a tent together when they were on their period or something, right?
Now we don’t operate like that and we don’t support each other in the ways that we really do need to support each other to say, hey, if you had your mammogram, hey, have you, you know, what’s going on?
you feeling like you’re not feeling so good or maybe you’re on your period working in the cycle thinking? I think is huge for a business.
Yes, I know it could be an awkward conversation for people to have with their teams, but it is so much more productive when you know.
Okay, Susie Q’s in her luteal phase. She’s super creative this week. Like, let’s have a meeting around that. And so and so’s in her menstrual phase.
right, maybe she needs to have a nap today and block off some time in her calendar to like lay low.
And it sounds funny because most of us entrepreneurs and business owners are very type A and go, go, But really, when you lean into this cycle, thinking of what your body is telling you, you really are so much more productive and you’re like, oh, okay, I get this.
I get why my body is telling me to give me these signals. We just got to listen.
Amanda Furgiuele
Oh, yeah, I was actually having a conversation with a client of mine who’s just like, I want to make this change, this change, and I was like, what time is the month visit?
Because she’s falling off the ledge of my business is the worst. I need to change everything and I’m like why do you wait four days and then we’ll have this conversation again and then it turns out like spiraling hurt.
I mean I’m not trying to make it sound like we’re all crazy hormonal it’s not something that she really it just it hit her hard that day and and it’s important to really respect that side of yourself and acknowledge it.
Elizabeth King
A hundred percent it’s it’s not about being crazy and I think that’s what people are like oh I’m hormonal as if it’s a bad thing we want your hormones to be shifting through the month we want that change to be happening but how you can manage that through being a business owner I think is so powerful if you can tie in with your female counterparts to say okay what do we let’s let’s map out our month I know it’s gonna sound crazy but tell me what you need at what time so that I can know you’re being most productive this month right because I don’t want somebody making decisions for my business would
they’re at a time where they’re not really feeling the best, right? I mean, it could make some bad decisions during that time.
And it’s just a time where you should just be doing tasks, right? No decisions being made. Let’s just do the tasks at hand during that time.
Rest during your menstrual cycle, just get through the next few days, and then hit it hard right after that, right?
So I do really think that it is becoming more of a conversation in businesses, of acknowledging how that works, as well as, you know, circling it back to loss and people acknowledging, you know, it used before during COVID and before you would get more time off from work for COVID than you would having a miscarriage.
It’s insane to me when you really recognize what is going through a women’s body when that happens, whether it’s an early loss or a late loss.
So management teams, need to understand how to navigate that, because that’s going to get real, real quick now that all these HR divisions are, you know, cluing in on diversity inclusion and whatnot, because again, the younger generation is not going to tolerate having to get back to work the day after they have a DNC or whatever, you know, so that’s a whole other conversation we can have.
No, it is.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
And we love that. Actually, we talk a lot about that, about the flow and working in and like, all of a sudden, we just courted training, and that was in our training about that, because it is important.
It’s not. And I do want to know, Tate, that obviously it is more predominant with women, but men also have their own flow as well.
And how powerful that is when you can have those conversations and how powerful the outcome can be, not just in business, but also in your mental capacity, Like, you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re,
listening to you and Amanda has a back a fitness background but I love working out and I used to love getting beat up by my my CrossFit coach and but he was even he was really good about like he could recognize in women before we even said anything when our cycles were and he would make us back off of certain things during certain phases of of our own cycle and though I love everything.
Elizabeth King
I had a division one um sports coach come to me to to consult and he’s like what if we have everybody wear like a a different scrunchy or a bow in their hair when they’re on their cycle so I know and I don’t actually have to ask them my great idea right like that way you know you’re not training him too hard during that time so again the conversation is opening up across the board which is really really cool
Amanda Furgiuele
I love that all right so unfortunately we are already coming to time but if there’s anything else to look one last little nugget you want to leave our audience.
Elizabeth King
What would it be? I think just tune in to your body. Know your cycle. Know what you feel might be a little bit off and figure out what that might be.
Again, you can do it as easily as seed cycling or supplementation sometimes. It doesn’t need to be a big thing.
listen to your body because it is your sixth vital sign and it is giving you signals every day of what it is that you need.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Absolutely. I love that. do want to add and don’t let the doctors tell you different if you know something.
I’ve read that myself a bunch of times. Amanda too and we have family members. don’t push, push, push. If you know something’s off, keep pushing until you can get an answer.
Elizabeth King
Could not agree with you more. If they don’t listen, they’re not your people.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
- Yeah, absolutely.
Amanda Furgiuele
So how can people get in contact with you? I know we didn’t even get to touch on your awesome podcast.
Elizabeth King
you have a podcast called Creation Innovation, but where else can people reach you? On Instagram at the official Elizabeth King, my website ElizabethKing.com and yeah, listen on the podcast.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
And your best, your award-winning best-selling author as well. yeah.
Elizabeth King
Radical self-love. We also have another solo book that’s coming out. Mom is after miscarriage, so I’m really excited about that.
But yes, thank you for having me.
Amanda Furgiuele
Thanks for opening this conversation to a broader audience. Yeah, we love it. And of course, everything will be listed in the show notes with links that you can click to find more information about Elizabeth, because we definitely want you to have all of those connections as you need them.
Elizabeth King
Thanks so much.
Lynn Howard (Lynn Howard)
Thank you, Elizabeth. All right, everybody. If this resonates with you, please make sure that you’re hitting the subscribe button, like, follow Elizabeth.
Give her DM if something really moved you or inspired you today. please share this in your community. is, to me, one of one of the most important podcasts that we’ve done in a very different, in a very different way.
So please make sure that you’re sharing this message with everybody.
Amanda Furgiuele
And yeah, until next time. Get after it.
