Beyond the Band Aids

On this special bonus episode, Shannon Vivar discusses women’s hormonal health, clean products and the importance of supportive communities with the founder of Radiate Wellness Products, Mary Beth Perrone. Mary Beth shares her personal journey dealing with perimenopause and how it led to the creation of Radiate Wellness Products, this season’s sponsor. Furthermore, she highlights the crucial role of education about women’s bodies, hormones, and the significance of vitamins will creating a positive change in women’s health. Shannon shares her personal experience using Radiate Calm and Radiate Balance products over a six-month time period, discussing the improvements in her menstrual cycle, waistline, and emotional regulation, while emphasizing the importance of consistency.

This episode features the founder of our Season 1 Sponsor: Radiate Wellness Products, in which we received free product to test during Season 1. The review provided within is a true and honest representation of the Investing in Vitality Host: Shannon Vivar’s personal experience over the past six months.

Read the Full Transcripts

Welcome to vitality exchange, boosting conversations, the interview series behind the investing and vitality podcast. On today’s bonus episode, I’m sharing a few clips from my conversations   with Mary Beth Perrone, the founder of radiate wellness products, women’s wellness Fest, and one of our health and wellness coaches in the vitality exchange collectives. New conscious leader wellness program. We talk about women’s hormone health, the importance of having a supportive community.   I also review my experience with radiate balance and radiate, calm, which I tried over the past six months.   The full conversation can be found in the vitality exchange group within the well stylists lab, community platform.

So everything that I do is to empower women and help them through midlife and beyond. I’m a co-founder of Radiate Wellness Products, where we support women through their perimenopause and menopause journey

with bioidentical hormones and supplements. I am past my mid forties, and definitely in perimenopause. And I know that women’s health and hormone studies, there’s not a lot out there… not a lot of information. And women don’t even know how their bodies work.  Ooh, yes. Um, it’s such a disservice to women cuz we don’t even know what goes on inside our bodies.

So…   You’re not losing your mind. You are completely normal and you just need the tools and the information to understand what’s going on.

So, perimenopause is real deal. Like I went through it at 38 and I, honestly, anything less than an alien happening to me, I just felt horrible.  Like everything was off. I had newfound anxiety. I gained weight. I couldn’t sleep. I just kept chalking it off as stress, and finally I’m like, this is not stress.

I remember just looking out. I got off a plane, , from a business trip in New York and I just had tears rolling down my eyes and didn’t want my family to see. I was just coming out of my skin and I knew this was not stress anymore. And I brought it up to a friend. She said, girl, I told you it’s your hormones.

You’re in perimenopause. I’m like, I am 38 and I’m in menopause. My life is worse than I even thought. And that started the journey of Radiate Wellness. So I went to a world renowned hormone doctor who happened to be in my backyard. Lucky for me. And took his formulas and brought them mass market and made them clean.

So the cleaner they are, the shorter the shelf life and , more expensive. So that has been a very long journey, but I am a huge advocate of your health. It’s not only what we eat, but what we put on our bodies, and we have to be making sure we’re putting clean things in our bodies and on our bodies.

 I’ve always had just wonky hormones, , I started late later than most. I’ve never had regular periods. And then when I had my child at 32, my body completely changed. So clearly my hormones changed. And now I’m in my upper forties and it’s like a never ending, learning experience.

 It takes an average of a woman going for an entire year, 10 appointments, and they’re still not getting the information that they are seeking. And a lot of doctors are not trained specifically in hormones, and women just get bandaid after bandaid, antidepressants for their anxiety. They’re getting sleeping pills for their sleeping problems. They’re being put on the pill. I can tell you the amount of women I’ve got off the pill and the journey to get off the pill, , is a hard one.

But then when they’re on the other side of it, they’re so grateful. So yeah, there, there’s resources. But yes, it is a lifetime journey. Women, we need the education and we need we need community, right?

 Like we need other women. Women are not talking about it. And like, I have to say, when you get to your forties, like it’s great, you know yourself better, but finding like-minded women who have the same values as you is hard and creating these spaces where women can come together and where like-minded is where my heart and head is . How did you land on creams?  I had to start on creams because I have blood clotting disorder, so I take Xarelto. So I can’t ingest Progesterone by a pill, but then come to do the research, transdermal is actually the most safe and effective way to take, , medicine, because if you think about it, your skin is your largest organ and you’re absorbing it, and it’s not going through your GI tract or processing through your liver.

So you get the proper dose you should be getting. A lot of women, they don’t understand why they’re taking, you know, say vitamin D pills and then their levels are still low. So depending on your GI tract and what’s going on, , you could not be absorbing the amount you think. What women don’t know is 93% of the population is deficient in vitamin D, but you actually need magnesium to be absorbing your vitamin D. So there’s so many little things that  women don’t understand of why their body is off. If I could shout it from every rooftop everywhere, I would tell every woman that they should be taking magnesium and vitamin D.

Now, bio identical hormones, I’m just here to give information. It has to feel right in your heart. I’m a huge advocate for it, but I think everyone has to do their own research,

I wanted to take a moment and share with you my experience using radiate wellness products.

Over the past six months, I’ve been using radiate calm, which is a magnesium supplement as well as radiate balanced the progesterone cream. For those of us that are in perimenopause.

Radiate Balance is our natural progesterone cream and we are actually one of the only companies on the market that has Vitex in it too, .

From Chaseberry, which is a cactus, but it, helps absorb, , the hormones more effectively. So that’s amazing. , so it’s a lightweight cream, and you want to just squirt it right here. Squirt it right here? Yep. Like that? Yep. Is that too much? Nope.

. Rub it on in. That’s it? Yep. That’s it. And let it dry for about 20 seconds. It doesn’t have a very heavy weight to it. No. Which is good. So Radiate Calm is so, so important because magnesium is actually a co factor to 300 functions in your body.

So this is one of the easiest ways for women to start to balance out their hormones with stress levels, cortisol levels, everything. This is like my go to, my favorite thing ever.

, this is a game changer. Love it. So it’s like a supplement. It is a supplement. Yes. And, , I take a booty burn class and all of us douse ourselves in this booty burn because it really does help with sore muscles, tight muscles. A What about PMS? Yeah.

PMS. Yes. Yes.Magnesium great for that.  Going into the experiment. I had a few goals. I wanted to see how it impacted my weight, my menstrual cycle, my libido. And my sleep.

  One of the first, , symptoms we often hear. The waking, not sleeping, the newfound anxiety.   When you order a radiate balance, everyone gets a how to apply and a symptoms tracker. And it’s so, so important because,   women, want this validation that they’re going through perimenopause and get.

A blood test, but a blood test is just a snapshot of one moment at one time.   Every single day by the hour can be different during this time.

So, our symptoms tracker, which we will give you as you start your journey is so, so important we made this just for radiate.

, but it has common symptoms, the mental symptoms, the physical changes and the pains. And so this is a full comprehensive list of the different things that women can be feeling. And it’s not a one size fits all, right? So everyone’s journey is different. Everyone’s symptoms are different. And this really gives you the ability to track and see how the product’s working.

And, Adjust as needed.

So it’s funny because when you look at the symptoms chart, you’re like, yep, all of this. And I have this, and I have this, and I have this. Electric shock. Yeah. I haven’t had that one yet, but I’m sure it’s coming because now my hair is thinning, which I never thought would happen. It just keeps the, the journey just keeps going.

So thank, thank goodness we own, um, a hormone company to help us through this. I would say that I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong with me, per se, but I’ve also been living like this for so long. The brain frog is real and I like laugh because I remember like a very distinct moment that I put the milk in like the pantry.

And I went back and I was like, wait, like, how did the milk land up in the pantry? For me, I could really feel the brain fog effects and then a half hour later come, who was I going to type an email to? So like those changes that I saw, I was like, oh my gosh, like my brain, it’s there, it’s there.

So that was, that’s always nice.

I am happy to report that by using it consistently for the first four months, I did see a very positive impact to both my menstrual cycle, as well as a reduction in my waistline. And one added benefit that I wasn’t anticipating was my ability to better regulate my emotions, particularly anxiety and stress.

The last couple of months, I pulled back a little bit, not using it as consistently as directed. To see how my body would react.

I did see reversal of some of those positive impacts so I’m in the process of getting back to a more consistent basis of using the products and my daily regimen.   Consistency is key because you’re rebuilding it.

It’s not like you eat an apple and you lose five pounds. You don’t eat something one time and you see this change. So 30 days, we suggest putting it on daily in the morning, in the evening, , two pumps a day. And then if you have a day that you really know you’re feeling it, the breast tenderness or like you are having severe PMS symptoms, you can go up to four times a day.

, and then once you have your menstrual cycle, take a break from it and then you can restart it again, , once your menstrual cycle is over. So really easy to use and you can adjust accordingly.

I believe that the reason why I like these products is that I can control the dosage. So I don’t feel like I’m getting too much or not enough.

I can basically listen to my body. And regulate my usage based off of the way I’m feeling.   I actually have a friend who is in menopause. She had a hysterectomy and she just got the pellet. Mm hmm. Two months ago and she’s like, I feel 100 percent completely different and better and her, you know, libido’s back and all this other stuff. She said, but I just don’t know if I want to get it done again.

It’s so expensive and like they cut it and they stick it in. She’s like . I can feel it. Yeah. On the outside. And once you put it in, you can’t really like adjust it to your body.

 So how much does something like this box actually cost? So we do sell a perimenopause pack that has our progesterone, COM, and Joy in it for 110. But radiate balance is 42 and a COM, the supplements are 38 and it lasts you for 30 days, 30 to 45 days. So it’s very affordable. We’re actually one of the most affordable on the market.

There is other options out there and, , I think women just don’t even know they’re available.

That’s what I find often when women come to us, they’re like, I didn’t even know this was an option for myself. So education, like I say, it’s not for everyone. Do what makes you feel good, but it is a really great alternative for people like us that clean beauty and what we put into our bodies is really important to us.

 can you just give like, just a quick summary of the different products that you have . Yes.   So, we offer some other great products. We have a beauty, face moisturizer, which is collagen boosting. , and then in the menopause space, which a lot of women don’t even know this.

You’re in true menopause. If you have not had a menstrual cycle for 365 days. As you’re getting through perimenopause into menopause, a lot of women’s cycles will stretch out and you’re not there yet even if they are spreading out.

So once you’re in true menopause, Radiate Vitality, and again, I would put that in with your magnesium and vitamin D. Radiate Rest, which is melatonin, magnesium, and l theanine great for good night’s sleep. So there’s some other stuff on there.

What I’m excited about in talking with Mary Beth. Is that \ radiate wellness products is taking a more holistic approach to women’s health. They’re actually bringing their hormone testing in-house with a registered nurse and hiring a nutritionalist to work with. The women that are using their supplements

So there’s going to be a lot more support going forward for people in the community, using the radiate wellness products.

I believe that if you’re looking for Something that. might take the edge off of getting older.

Something that’s over the counter that you don’t need a prescription for.

Something that’s using organic ingredients and being manufactured in a clean manner.,

these are products worth experimenting with.

I highly suggest that you go out and do your research. , talk to your doctor. And try it out. See if it’s right for you.

Check out the vitality exchange for more resources, interactions, and online masterclasses.

For more information on radiate wellness products, visit radiate wellness products.com. You could also check out mindful movement, fl.com and women’s wellness fest.com. For more information about Mary Beth Peroni and the support she is providing our community of women locally and globally.   This is our final bonus episode of season one, be on the lookout in the second half of 2024 for our next season of investing in vitality called horizons. It will be full of trends that are fueling both the wellness industry and today’s leaders.   If you’re looking to kickstart a little self discovery and transformation in your life, consider exploring the new conscious leader wellness program by the vitality exchange collective. Launching this year. This seven month program helps leaders explore a new definition of success.

One that incorporates wellness and daily decisions of embracing joy in our everyday lives at home and at work.