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Stephanie: and mindset and wellness partner of Sol Women a space dedicated to guiding women through every stage of womanhood, from hormones and health to emotional and spiritual well-being. Nandita is a multi-industry business leader, functional medicine enthusiast, and certified health and hormone coach with two decades of experience in the health and wellness industry. But the work she does today didn't come from a textbook. It came from her own story. After years of climbing the corporate ladder, she hit a wall. Burnt out, adrenals depleted, and navigating perimenopause largely alone. She discovered firsthand the gap that exists between clinical knowledge and lived reality. The gap became the foundation of SolWomen Nandita, I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for joining us. I would love for you to start by you know, I did this long intro, but the huge piece is that ending piece that leads into your story and what got you here. And I know there's more than just the corporate piece, so feel free to go into whatever aspects of it resonate for our audience, our female founders.
Nandita: Thank you for having me. Yeah. Well, my story is really not unique to me. I think the more women I've spoken with, the more I've realized that this is a pretty common story. It's just not talked about as much. But I climbed the corporate ladder, had twenty plus years of living what most people looking externally was would say was really successful. And I did that, I was a complete go-getter, you know, did Everything by the book, checked every box, had a perfect looking life on the outside, have two beautiful children, had a marriage, but internally was really suffering, falling apart. My health was plummeting slowly. I'd ignore it all the time, brush things under the rug and hope it wouldn't catch up to me. And sure enough it did. ⁓ health and emotions frequently do, you can only suppress it so much and at some point in time your body reaches a typic point and then it starts plummeting. And that's what happened with me. with my health, my marriage took a nosedive and my entire life what looked perfect crumbled. and there was nobody to talk to about any of that because most of the women founders that I spoke with were also running this rat race, just chasing You know, the next thing. Ambition was so important and is important. And that's all the focus was on that on that target. And so was a really lonely feeling. Most of the people I spoke with, you know, you have the usual, how are you doing? I'm doing great. How are you doing? I'm doing great. And that's PC conversation most of us have. But how many of us truly sit down and talk about what's truly going on? and it wasn't until I broke down in front of some it was a really lonely feeling. Most of the people I spoke with, you know, you have the usual, how are you doing? I'm doing How are you doing? I'm doing great. And that's PC conversation most of us have. But how many of us truly sit down and talk about what's truly going on? and it wasn't until I broke down in front of some Random strangers at a park Random strangers at a park and shared how I was feeling where that woman turned around and said, ⁓ my god, I feel the same way. And then I spoke to other women, you know, standing in line at a Whole Foods, and that woman said the same thing to me that I realized this is a common problem. A lot of us women who are so used to running this hamster wheel, taking care of our businesses, taking care of our kids, putting everyone front and center, and we are frequently on the back burner, tend to ignore a lot of our symptoms until we can't anymore. that's that was really the foundation of Sol SolWomen is I want women to be able to come together and talk about their health concerns. I want to shed light on the fact that emotions are real and if they're not dealt with and just suppressed, your body's gonna catch up with it. And so talk. Talk about it, share your feelings, be open, vulnerable. And women need other women to really Lift each other up. When we come together, we empathize, we recognize each other, and together we rise. And so there's the entire functional medicine side to Sol SolWomen, which is so instrumental, getting your hormones balanced, looking at your gut, your diet, your lifestyle, the exercises that you do, all of that is so instrumental and just as important as of this the medical component is also your mindset. And your nervous system regulation and coming together in sisterhood, that combination of all of these elements is what I think makes our program so successful. And the women who walked through these programs change their lives completely. You know, they come in depleted and they they leave within a few months feeling refreshed and energized and purpose-driven, and their health is vibrant. That's what you want. That's how you want to ex live your life. You want to live a vibrant life. You're running these huge corporate companies and scaling them and that's how you wanna come across with your teams. So it's been a very personal journey of mine that I've walked and it's a deeply gratifying one.
Stephanie: I love that. And ⁓ that leads me into asking, like, have you seen with the woman that you've worked with? Because I can relate to what you're talking about. And I know from experience for me, when I burnt out running my business I closed, was the doing doesn't stop, but also our value piece as becomes so tied to that drive of what we need to achieve. So, do you see that in a lot of your clients as well? And that's where the burnout comes from.
Nandita: Yeah. Yeah, it's what one I I'd probably say one hundred percent of them. We've we've all been raised in this masculine world of do do do achieve chase we're functioning in overdrive all the And our our value, like you said, is so attached to results that if if you're not chasing something that has a result at the end of it, then who are you? You know, there's nothing to you outside of
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being the the head of this company. yeah, it's very much results driven, which which which get to shift because there's nothing wrong with with being in that masculine space. I think it's incredibly important when you're building and leading a company, you need that. But as women, our superpower ⁓ is empathy, the the kindness, the heart-centeredness, the feminine energy that comes with it. And that's really we get to balance those two. And when we do, my gosh, it's a it's a complete game changer.
Stephanie: I love that. And that actually leads me into like how do you bridge the gap between that knowing what needs to be done and then the doing it when it's so hard to do it on our own.
Nandita: It it takes practice. It's an everyday practice because even today, several years into it, I still am very attached to results. And every day I get to remind myself that while that's important, there's also how how you show up in life. that's so important because that ultimately leads you to those results. You get those results so much faster when you're in that. Presence space when you're exuding, you know, calm confidence versus this anxious running after something. And so learning how to really reset your nervous system. There's no out there that can do that for you. You've really got to learn it. And it's a practice that you do every single day, and you get better with it as you continue. But that really grounds you, it makes you confident, keeps you calm. And When you when you function from that place of calm confidence, then you at the energy that you put out just attracts the things that you want. So instead of chasing, you're now attracting, which is a much better place to be.
Stephanie: Easier too. Yeah, I love that. ⁓ so what does it look like when you're working with women on this mindset piece? Because at the beginning I can imagine that the mindset is working against the health, you know, because it's hard to take care of your health when your brain is thinking you just have to keep pushing through. So, how do you help her see?
Nandita: Matching. I guess.
Stephanie: it before it becomes a crisis or maybe it's within a crisis, I'm not sure.
Nandita: Yeah. Yeah, unfortunately a lot of the women who come to us come to us at a at a place of, you know, depletion where they know something is wrong. They don't quite know what it is, but they've just been going through the motions and the doing. And built this incredible life that looks impressive on the outside, but secretly they know that their body is in keeping up with this ambition. And Ha so they come to us knowing something is wrong, but they don't quite know exactly what it is. And so a a lot of them also come to us saying the medical component is more understood, right? Versus mindset. It's like who has time for mindset? And so we do the the hormone balancing, we do the the diet, looking at your gut and all of that. But very soon we also incorporate the mindset component because they go hand in
hand. You can have all of your hormones balanced, you can take all of the supplements you want to, but if you're not sleeping at night because of an anxiousness that's within you and you don't know how to calm yourself down, gonna stay in that state of fight or flight. You're gonna stay tightly wound and it's really not going to have the impact that you want it to have.
Stephanie: Yeah, and those pieces of even our emotions affecting our health as well come from that and the stories that we tell ourselves from my experience. My autoimmune stuff has only ever come up when I'm stressed and depleted. And of course they come at the same time because those are the hormones that work together best and negate the other ones that you need as a woman.
Nandita: Yeah. Yeah.
Stephanie: So how would you say functional health changes the way a woman can show up in her business as we're talking about this? Like nervous system, functional health, like for me I see it very holistically as well. It's all connected. But I do see that it can benefit or hinder the risks someone in business would take or how leads or anything like that.
Nandita: Yeah. Yeah. I mean th think of think of two women, one one woman who is just so ridden with anxiety, hasn't slept well in, know, several months, just constantly working nonstop, has emotions and changes that she's kind of s hiding the rug. How does person show up? What is her energy feel like around her employees?
Stephanie: Yeah.
Nandita: versus somebody who sleeping well through the night, is eating well, more present, more calm, that person has gonna have a much bigger impact in their workplace. You want to hang around people like that. You respect somebody like that. That person speaks from clarity. They they know exactly what they want. They're centered, they're grounded and They know the most the movement they need to make to get to that result, versus somebody who's just in this anxious space. And so I want to give you an example. We have one of our members who came to us, has a of really large companies within the Austin area. She's within the aesthetics and med spa space and has for years been ⁓ just in functioning in overdrive. A lot of us leaders, you probably can relate, we're also controllers. We want to control it all. We want to keep it all on you know under our wing. and she was somebody like that and has hadn't slept for y for months on end, had quite a bit of trauma happen her life, did not process it, you know, just kept going with the work, almost ignoring that side of it because the work kept her going. and she came to us it ⁓ really, really. Just shell of a human being, you know, doing all of these things. If you looked at her from the outside, it was like, wow, your life is fabulous. But internally, there was so much shame and guilt and just suffering inside. And so we've worked with her for about six months now, and hired a team of people under her. She goes plays golf and does horseback riding. She's created space for herself. Her company has gone, I mean. Grown so much in the last six months. But it's because she hired people under her and she gave them control to go out, make mistakes if they need to. They're going to. We all we all know that, but that's how they learn. She's created this legacy under her, who can now take the company and run with it. And has all this free time and is so much more rested. She's fun to be around. Her kids are happy to have her come back home because she actually spends time with them. Her husband. Their their relationship, their intimacy. I mean it's changed her life on so many different levels when you not just balance your hormones but also work on, you know, mindset and all of the components that come along with a fulfilling wholesome life. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓
Stephanie: That's incredible. That actually gave me the chills because it is it's such a common story and it creates inspiration and belief that when we do put ourselves first, we can make that shift. yeah, that's really cool. so I you kinda answered, I was gonna ask like what does alignment actually look like when someone gets it right, but that's a perfect story that shows that. Because it is possible. When for me, I think as a business owner, mindset always comes first because if the mindset's not there, it's going to impact every other aspect and it's not going to be what it that
Nandita: Right. To stop and put herself first. It doesn't need to be something overwhelming. We're not giving you a long list of things to add to an already full schedule, but small steps that you can take on a daily basis could be 10 minutes that you set aside to really prioritize yourself and do small actions, whether it's you know you wake up 10 minutes earlier and go outside, sit outside, listen to the birds chirp. Get yourself a tall glass of water with some electrolytes and just be present. Give allow yourself that time. out and making make walking out an important non-negotiable component. Movement is so important. Maybe that's your time during the day, but take 10 minutes out of your busy day, start and gradually go from there. But there's so much a lot of women who come to us think, ⁓ my God, I don't have. Time to do a long list of things. I'm I don't have time. It's not that. It doesn't need to be overwhelming. It can be really simple, but you've got to start somewhere.
Stephanie: Love that. Well, everything I that
Nandita: Yeah. Yeah. happen right we we we there's no way to be there's no perfection is not what we're chasing we're always gonna have days where we can't get to it but recognizing how it impacts you it reminds you of how important it is and yeah definitely
Stephanie: Exactly. Totally. walk me through
Nandita: Yeah, we do an initial lifestyle and health assessment where we look at what your diet looks like, what is your nutrition, what is you know, are you what are your bowel movements like on a daily basis? Do you have constipation? We have pa bloating.
we look at sleep as a really important component. We look at how much what what joy do you have in life on a daily basis? Are you passion-driven or are you just going through the motions? so we do a full assessment on hormones. ⁓ look at e even your your your workout, your your root your workout routine, what is your relationship with movement, what is your relationship with sex? We look at all these different components and then we explain to them how this is not a it's not a short, you know, come and get one visit and think everything is gonna be fixed. We work with you, we do blood testing, we do stool testing, those are the two tests that are pretty foundational, which is a blood panel and a stool test. And then from there, we look at your diet. We do a really in-depth metabolic screening to check on about 19 different markers. It's called the Pinoe test. We an in-body test to check on your muscle to fat ratio. And that's when we come together. We have a team of three people. So you have a health coach, you have a clinician, and you have a mindset accountability coach. That's your clinical team. They come together, they put together a treatment plan for you. That we then walk with you through over the next three to six months. Three months is more intensive to get you back on track, to get it get you down to baseline. And then from there, it's more maintenance. So we really work with you over an entire year to get your foundations really solid, strong. We work really closely with you on some small habits that can make huge impacts in your life. And we walk we walk with you every step of the way. So it's not it's not a huge list of things that we're giving you to do up front. It's small changes that you make on a weekly basis that compound over time. And at the end of the at the end of a year, you really should be in vibrant health. Your mindset should be really in a positive, uplifting place. You should feel more passionate and fulfilled in what you're doing in life as far as work goes, you should have a schedule that allows for ease and flow. you should have time to go out and, you know, go out on your date nights, have intimacy time with your partner. and yeah, we have all these different components of life that make it a full, whole, happy life that we work with you on.
Stephanie: That's so easy now to touch
Nandita: Yeah. Yep. I know. Yeah, it's it's a ⁓ it's a ra it's really a chicken and an egg scenario. And so when you get into midlife, your hormones go haywire a little bit. And so your progesterone, which is really the hormone that keeps you calm and peaceful and keeps you sleeping really well, that starts to go down a little bit. And when your progesterone goes down, your cortisol, which is your stress hormone, tends to rise. And so A lot of us wake up at two o'clock or four o'clock in the morning and we've got all these racing thoughts, our to-do list of things to think through. And that's very typical in women in midlife. And this
was me too. I could sleep a good nine hours, no problem. And then I hit forty and I I couldn't ⁓ through the night. And so getting your hormones balanced really helps with that. You can take a little bit of progesterone. You can there's so many things you can do. The nighttime routine is so important. But you can incorporate a nighttime routine with my my absolute favorite is a sleep machine, having your room really cool and then a satin, you know,
Stephanie: mask.
Nandita: thinking of blind blindfold. What is it called? An eye mask. Thank you. No, going that exactly. Plus some of that too, maybe. But the total game changer. So yeah, and then when you sleep, sleep is when your body heals. Sleep is when your body grows, when you can be going out and working out really hard and lifting weights. But when you sleep, that's when your muscles are really growing and replenishing. And so if you're not sleeping, every organ in your body is suffering from it. Your brain is not getting what it needs.
Stephanie: Whew.
Nandita: You're gonna start seeing cognitive decline. It's it's single most important health metric is sleep. So yeah, very, very important.
Stephanie: Love that. Yep. And a constant ⁓ Last that
Nandita: With you, with your little ones, yes, and another one on the way. Yeah.
Stephanie: community
Nandita: Yeah.
Stephanie: Yeah, it is.
Nandita: Yeah, community is one of the pillars of SolWomen. we've found it to be one of the most gratifying parts of what I do is when we do retreats, we do them every other month in Austin. They're day-long retreats. We have small curator groups of women. So it's about 10 to 12 women who come together. And we are topics we talk about. We bring in a facilitator, there's always something around. nervous system rebalancing or sexual wellness is a very popular topic amongst women. And we just talk. We talk, we share, we come together. And it is so incredible to see the friendships, the bonds that form. Also, these are all founders and entrepreneurs coming together. So there's always some kind of connection or you know, sparks are flying and then relationships blossom from there. And so it's been incredible to watch. But it really starts with bringing a group of women together so they really feel comfortable sharing. It's not, there's no judgment. You get to be vulnerable. There are a lot of women who are so uncomfortable at the beginning because surrounded themselves in this masculine space. And then to have to talk about emotions and feelings is so cringe. But then, you know, a couple of sessions in and they love it. They're like, ⁓ my God, I I feel so. liberated to actually be able to talk about this stuff and share it because we're all feeling it. It's just hidden behind this facade of I got it all together. So yeah.
Stephanie: Totally. That
Nandita: those friendships are so beautiful. You know, the ones that are truly deep and you connect at a deeper level than lot anybody else you know, those are it's beautiful to watch that happen.
Stephanie: ⁓
Nandita: Every other month. I'm gonna say my eye mask. I love my eye mask I love my sound machine. Sleep is so important to me. I love it. It is probably the best time of my day is when I get to get into bed and and asleep. I'm so excited about it. But yeah.
Stephanie: Yeah. So do you want to challenge their week or month?
Nandita: Yes. Strongly recommend a silk eye mask. You can get them for 20 bucks off of Amazon. I'm sure there are nicer ones out there. and a sound machine. Total game changer, telling you. And if you have blinds, my god, I can sleep until 9 a.m. on a weekend.
Stephanie: can
Nandita: Yeah. So great. Yeah, you can go to our website. It's S-O-L-W-O-M-E-N dot com. We're on Instagram at the the T-H-E Sol SolWomen. And you have we have we offer complimentary assessments. So you can go ahead and schedule one and you'll be talking to me and we can go from there. Thank you, Stephanie.
Stephanie: ⁓
Nandita: Yeah.