Why I do what I do

If there was one word that I would use to describe my mother, it would be 'strong'.

She was a very smart woman, staunch liberal and feminist, and very socially active in our community. She not only supported the Equal Rights Amendment, but I also recall as a young child, being dragged to an ERA rally. She was a very strong, smart woman, and believed in being of service to her community, through volunteering and she was very involved in policy that impacted her - from the local school board and PTA through all levels of city, state and federal government. Talking and debating about politics was something that was normal in my family growing up.

My Mom is a huge reason why I do what I do.

It's because she died of Breast Cancer that I not only started taking care of my own health, but also have chosen this path as the way that I want to help make the world a better place.

It was only after she passed away that I started researching how NOT to get Breast Cancer for myself.

I had witnessed how the disease destroyed not only her body, but her spirit as well, and I wanted to do anything that I could do to avoid following in her footsteps - as far as health was concerned.

I was overweight when she passed away. I had started exercising and improving my diet, but I wasn't all on board. What I found out was that being overweight was a HUGE risk factor for many diseases, including Breast Cancer.

At the time, I was working in the tech field as I started my own journey towards better health. It wasn't long before I decided that this was how I wanted to make the world a better place; since Gary and I don't have children (which seems to be the norm for how folks leave their legacy), how did I intend to leave the world in a better state than how I had received it?

Now, I mostly work with women. It makes sense because I am a woman and women's body's are different than men's. But there's another, more important, reason why I write to the women on my list: women are the decision makers in their families. They are responsible for the health of their family, and raising our next generation of adults (aka: future leaders).

So, it didn't take me long to realize that women's health is important to my business.

I am a feminist, and I wear that label with pride. But I don't see feminism as being a woman-only thing. I see feminism as being an equality issue.

Given the environment that I was raised in, it didn't take me long to connect the dots from government policy to the health of my clients.

Yes, sure - our recent public debate over health care coverage surely impacts my clients lives, but the influence that law has on our health goes much deeper than that.

Politicians make the laws that we follow both at the federal, state, and local levels. Those laws influence public opinion of those topics. Examples of that might be the legalization of marijuana, tobacco use in public spaces, or the use of your cell phone while driving. Think back to how your opinion (and judgement of others) may have changed over time - from before current legislation was introduced in to law until now.

Our beliefs influence our behavior. Where you may not have given it a second thought that you could text and drive a few years ago, with the laws that are now in place, and all of the data to support them, you might now realize that your goal of staying injury free is at odds with texting and driving. ??

When laws are made that affect minorities, (people who are not white, straight, Christian, and I dare say male) those minority groups are treated differently. They're discriminated against. "There are no laws that say that I have to treat you equally? Well, then I'm not going to. I'm not going to pay you the same, because I don't have to." Or "I'm not going to give you the same benefits that I would a white couple/straight couple/Christian couple because I don't have to."

And research shows that there's a direct link between discrimination and self-esteem - which totally makes sense! If someone else tells me directly or indirectly that I'm not as good as another, that gets in to your psyche! We start to believe it!

And finally, folks who have low self-esteem don't invest in their health. How often does that happen to you - where you feel bad about yourself, and then do something not in your best interest? I feel like a failure at my job -> I'm going to eat an entire pint of ice cream. I know I'm supposed to workout, but I really acted like a jerk to my friend. I'm going to sit on the couch and watch bad television instead.

But seriously - there's data to back up that minority groups are less healthy than non-minority groups.

* Poor folks have less access to high quality food, or can't afford it.

* Minorities have less access to safe, free or low cost exercise environments, nor do they have access to fresh food.

* LGBT youth have a higher mortality rate, and are more likely to be smokers.

These are just some examples.

Over the past few years, since the overt display of racism, sexism, misogyny and fear that has gripped our country, I feel like I owe it to you to come out to you.

Those who know me in person know that I am deeply passionate about politics. And this is one reason why. I never thought I needed to say "Don't be racist", but what I've learned over the past few years is that my silence on discrimination could be perceived as privilege, acceptance or apathy.

Where I thought that "don't be misogynist" didn't need to be said, apparently there are people who didn't get that message.

So, although I don't expect that I'll be bringing up politics often in my messaging, I realize that it does have a place in my message.

I don't care about your race, religion, orientation, gender identification or if you have purple hair.

I care about you and your health. Deeply.

I want you to be as healthy as you can - and if I could do it for you, I would. Unfortunately I can't. But I will do what I can to make that happen.

And so, I'm sorry. I've kept a piece of myself hidden from you because I didn't want to turn you off.

I know that sometimes we just want to turn the talking heads and political commentary off. It seems to come at us from all sides. We don't want to think about it because its all so awful. If this opinion resonates with you, I get it. You're fortunate to not have the laws affect your life enough to have to advocate for yourself.

But I know now that my message is incomplete without looking at health from a larger view: the community and world perspective. I hope you'll stay with me on this journey.

Happy International Women’s Day