Toto

Everyone on social media tells you to “pursue your dreams.” But almost nobody tells you how. If they won’t, I will… Here’s how to pursue your dreams in 7 simple steps: Step 1 - Identify Your "Special Sauce". What makes you, uniquely you? Example ↳ What have you overcome that over people need help with too? Start here. Step 2 - Set Clear Goals. Example ↳ Want to speak on stage to thousands of people? Start with a room of 10. Step 3 - Learn from Giants. Example ↳ Research people in your niche who have done what you want to do. How can you do what they do, differently? This is your "Secret Sauce". Step 4 - Build A Plan (a simple one, please). Example ↳ A notion board. An iphone note. Simplicity is key- don't get stuck in the detail. Step 5 - Take FAST Action. Example ↳ Got the plan? Great. Start executing, one small step at a time. The sooner the better- the universe loves forward momentum. Step 6 - Listen to your people. Example ↳ Once you start sharing, start listening. The people you're trying to reach will tell you what they want, and will inform your next steps. Step 7 - Go back to "school". Example ↳ The people who are the best at what they do are the ones who never stop learning. Choose something you can lose yourself in for hours on end, and you'll find that what your doing never feels like "work"- simply becoming It's never too late to chase your dreams. The fear of failure holds more people back than the failure itself. The first step is the hardest, but I promise you, as someone who has been here time and time again, it gets easier. What's something that you've wanted to do, but the fear of failure has held you back? P.S. This has been me with the idea of starting a podcast...until this year. Consider this a *soft launch* announcement for what's to come this spring! 🥳 #Entrepreneurship #ChaseYourDreams #NeverTooLate

Being sick SUCKS. Being sick for 12 years— now that’s a new kind of SUCK. As I write this, I’m sitting in bed with a blanket, with one of the most intense Crohn’s flares I’ve had in a long time (thank you stress). Oh, and Covid- we love a 2-for-1. Here are 5 lessons I’ve learned from living with a chronic illness to live the fullest life possible: 1. Life is this moment, not the next. Life is 10 minutes from now, 3 hours from now, or even tomorrow. While the discomfort might be here now (or even the joy), it won’t be here forever, so take from it what you can. P.S. The tough times usually teach you much more than the good ones do. 2. Your reality is not your outside experience, its your inside experience. Regardless of what the universe has served you, you have the full power to decide what you do with it. Ironically, some of the most “seemingly amazing” times in my life has been the most difficult, and vice versa. You get to choose. 3. It’s a set up, not a set back. I said what I said. As the cliche says- an arrow has to be pulled back before it can be propelled forward. 4. Your greatest pain becomes your greatest superpower. If it wasn’t for my Crohn’s and my entire health journey, I never would have come to start Toto, and be able to reach millions of people with our mission of helping people treat themselves better. Trust your journey. 5. Rest IS productive. I used to hate not feeling productive, but now my definition of productive has changed. Working hard is cool, but resting hard is pretty cool too. Whether you’re someone with a chronic illness, or you’re going through something difficult, I hope this can be your reminder that you’re exactly where you’re meant to be. Hold on. Hang in there. There’s greatness loading. ❤️ #selflove #mentalhealth #entrepreneurship

Life feels long until it doesn’t. Two after this photo was taken, I was in the emergency room. Last Tuesday, at about 2am, I woke up in a panic to take Bennett to the hospital. To make matters even more interesting, we were in Las Vegas to film a commercial for Toto that was supposed to start shooting 4 hours later. That night, as he was laying down to sleep, his heart started beating out of rhythm, and it was beating harder than I’ve ever heard any heart beat. When we arrived, the doctors told him he may have a blood clot blocking the flow of blood to his heart, and they’d have to clear it. One hour went by. Then 2. Then 15. The medication they were giving him wasn’t working, and after 30 hours, his heart hadn’t returned to normal. I tried to put on a brave face for him, but I was terrified. After nearly 2 days in the hospital, his heart finally returned to a normal rhythm, but he was diagnosed with Atril Fibrillation (at a very young age 27 year old), and was told to take it very seriously. The entire time he was in the hospital, all I could think was— “But…we have so much life we’re supposed to live together”, and “We’re too young for this”. And then I remembered that I had thought that same thing 12 years prior, when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. The reality is, we never really know how long we have. Or what tomorrow holds- for better or for worse. So when you love, love HARD. When you dream, dream FULL OUT. When you go for it, give it ALL YOU HAVE. And when you wake up, remember how lucky you are to see another day. Squeeze the ones you love extra tight- you'll never regret that you did ❤️

This is something I think about almost every day-- The idea that... our life is simply.. many small moments. It feels like one long experience, but every choice, every "yes", and every "no" is somehow perfectly guiding us to become exactly who we're meant to be. Curious for you- Is there a moment in your life that drastically changed the course of everything? Drop them in the comments below. 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

This article should stop you in your tracks. The The Wall Street Journal just released this article yesterday about the rise in cancer in young people. While there is some extremely alarming statistics and numbers- the severity of the article can be broken down in this single statistic- "People born in the 1990's are at double the risk for early onset colon cancer, and four times the risk of rectal cancer compared with people born in the 1950's." That means that if you're in your 20'2 or early 30's, you are 2-4x more likely to develop colon & rectal cancer than your parents were. I wish what I'm about to say wasn't true, but just because a product is sold on a shelf, DOES NOT MEAN it is safe for you to consume. SEVERAL food additives are banned in Europe due to the overwhelming amount of research that shows how harmful they are for our health-- And yet, BigFood cares more about their bottom line than they do your well being, and these chemicals continue to be poured into our food. It's statistics like this that remind me why I do what I do every single day. The MOST important thing you can do for yourself to make sure you don't become apart of the statistic? Read the ingredients. If it doesn't come from the earth, it probably should not be going in your body-- at least on a regular basis. Please-- if you do nothing else, please share this post & this WSJ article with the people you care about. Your health is the most important thing you have- protect it at all costs.

Yesterday I shared on LinkedIn that I was really struggling with my mental health. Something that I don't know if I've ever explicitly said on this platform, though I've always been open and honest about the highs and lows of this journey. Reading the comments- there was 2 things that stuck out to me-- 1) Many people saying they felt the exact same way 2) Many people saying that entrepreneurship just "is that way" And it got me thinking... Why does it have to be this way? Why aren't more people sharing the nights when they feel like they're carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders? Or the amount of social plans/time with family/time with friends they've had to reluctantly say no to in order to "get sh*t done"? Or the team members that became family they've had to let go of? That is SO hard. So hard. And what's even harder, is pretending that it's not. In my opinion, the best leaders, the people we are MOST inspired by and feel MOST connected to, are not the ones who always are standing in the spotlight to celebrate their next big win. The leaders I am MOST inspired by and feel MOST connected to are doing big, incredible things... but they're also just like me. Going through big, hard feelings. And they're not afraid to talk about it. I hope this inspires you and anyone you share this with to be an incredible leader and step up to share openly and honestly-- You have no idea the lives you will change. 💖 #leadership #entrepreneurship #mentalhealth

It’s official. It's 2024. It’s always been so fascinating to me, the new year. We, as a collective, decide that on THIS day, we get to start over. We get to shed the old, and ring in the new. We are able to pause, zoom out, and look at our life as a whole— What do we want more of? What are we letting go of? Are we even moving in the right direction? Maybe it comes with getting older, or maybe it’s just me— But I can’t help but think about aside from the last digit or two changing on the year, The difference between today and yesterday was the same. Our ability to start over, today and yesterday, was the same. Our mind, our energy, and our spirit that has a “newfound” sense of motivation & inspiration, today and yesterday, was the same. I guess the point I’m trying to make here- is that I hope this year you don’t feel like you have to wait until next year to start over. To try, and fail. And Try again. To spend more time on things you care about. Pursue a new hobby. Or decide you want to go in a new direction altogether— You always hold that power. Today, yesterday, and every other day of 2024. Here’s to making this year our most fulfilling yet. What are you excited to spend more time doing in 2024? 🗓 #leadership #entrepreneurship 

Wow. Phew. This year has taught me more than maybe any other year of my life. It's been beautiful. It's been terrible. And just about every single fragmented emotion and experience in between. While there's about 1,000 lessons I could share, This has by far been the biggest: Trust your path. Trust. YOUR. Path. You are the only person in the universe with your own unique desires and your own unique skillset to bring your dreams to life. Your rough edges give people something to hold on to. Your missteps gave you a chance to pause, and change your rhythm. Your wrong turn, was actually a turn in the right direction. It takes real courage to show up, day in and day out. There's a lot that will go wrong, But even more things that will go right. That, I can promise. #leadership #entrepreneurship