Psychotherapist Terri Cole on Boundaries, Burnout, and the Cost of "I'm Fine"
Psychotherapist and boundary expert Terri Cole joins Karena Dawn to break down High Functioning Codependency (HFC): the pattern where over giving, over functioning, and chronic self sacrifice get mistaken for strength. Terri, author of Too Much: A Guide to Breaking the Cycle of High Functioning C...
Celebrity Nutritionist Mona Sharma Breaks Down Ayurveda, Gut Health & Hustle Culture
Celebrity holistic nutritionist Mona Sharma, known for her work with Will Smith, Jay Shetty, and Julianne Hough, joins Karena Dawn to unpack the health crisis that changed her life. Mona shares her path from a high-pressure career in luxury beauty marketing through two heart surgeries and a PCOS ...
The Big Silence: Destigmatizing Mental Health Issues with Karena Dawn
In honor of Mental Health month, we close out May with a new episode of the HEAL with Kelly Podcast. In this deeply moving conversation, I sit down with Karena Dawn, New York Times best-selling author of The Big Silence: A Daughter's Memoir of Mental Illness and Healing and the visionary founder ...
Pilates Princesses lift heavy, too: Jasmine Sharp on Strength, hormones and starting over
This week Karena sits down with Pilates expert and Sharp Body Pilates owner Jasmine Sharp for a wide-ranging, honest conversation. Jasmine breaks down the real history of Pilates (yes, it started with hospital beds), debunks the "Pilates Princess" stereotype once and for all, and gets real about ...
The Science of Shaking It Out: DanceFit Founder Melody Afkami Dawson on Dance, ADHD, and Motherhood
This week, Karena catches up with Melody Afkami Dawson, founder of Melody DanceFit in Austin. Since their last chat, Melody has gotten married, had a baby, and continued to build her business through it all. They talk about why dance works as a nervous system reset, how motherhood changed Melody’...
Hard Knocks’ Rachel Hague: "You Already Know What Your Next Step Is"
When Rachel Hague came by to interview Karena for Hard Knocks Business, Karena had one condition: she got to interview Rachel, too. In this conversation, Rachel shares how she landed her hosting role out of 950 applicants, what she has noticed about the founders she interviews, and how writing he...
Fall Check-In: Friendship After 40, Female Loneliness & the TIU Fall Challenge
In this autumn check-in episode of Tone It Down, Karena sits down solo to chat about the season of new routines, the loneliness so many women feel in their 40s and 50s, and why she built this year's Fall Challenge around the one thing we’re all nostalgic for: being together. She shares the simple...
Be the CEO of Your Own Health: Ways2Well CCO Danese Rexroad on Labs, HRT & Longevity
This week on Tone It Down, Karena sits down with Danese Rexroad, the OG Chief Clinical Officer at Ways2Well, a Texas-based preventative healthcare company. Danese spent 15 years in trauma and the ER before moving into preventative wellness, and one night in the trauma unit changed how she sees ev...
I Am Safe, I Am Grateful: How I Handle Morning Anxiety
Your DMs, messages and voicemails kept asking the same thing: how do I manage my anxiety? So this week, Karena is sitting down solo to talk about the anxious mornings so many of us know too well. Karena breaks down the science of the morning cortisol spike, why women in perimenopause feel it so s...
From ICU Nurse to Head Spa Founder: Katie Willis on Hair Loss, Scalp Health & Starting Over
This week on Tone It Down, Karena sits down with Katie Willis, founder of Elysian Head Spa in Austin, Texas. Katie spent 15 years as a critical care nurse, caring for open-heart and heart transplant patients and working through the COVID ICU. A visit to a head spa in Japan gave her an idea, and i...
