We came up with the name by combining the words “morph” as in metamorphosis and “us” as in community. Because we are in this changing stage of life together. We are stronger together.
I am in menopause and have been for several years. I believe I went into menopause at the age of 50, but I am unsure. I write about why this is, and my own personal journey in my new book, Nourishing Menopause: Powerful Nutrition and Lifestyle Strategies to Feel Your Best.
My own personal experience was a big part of why I wrote this book. I was in perimenopause for a total of fourteen years, and for eleven of those years, I had no idea. At the time, I knew very little about perimenopause and menopause myself, and I realized how unprepared so many women are for this transition. I wanted to help educate women on what to expect, support them through it, and help them feel more prepared for what may come. There is so much women can do when it comes to their health and symptoms, and I wanted to write a book that offers practical, actionable solutions that truly help.
I love my work, and it fulfills me in a major way. Although I don’t consider it work, I’m always learning in some form or another. I love listening to podcasts, reading medical journals, doing deep dives on supplement ingredients, or working on survey research. I have a real thirst for knowledge, and I’m happiest when I’m learning new things and then putting them into practice.
Before perimenopause and menopause, I could burn the candle at both ends. That’s no longer the case. Now I have to pace myself and make sleep a priority. I always joke around that I went from a type triple-A personality before perimenopause, to a type F during it, and now I’ve landed at a type B+ now that I’m in menopause.
Hands down my husband, Rich. I couldn’t be doing when I’m doing without his support. When I told him 26 years ago that I wanted to leave my six figure paying job to start my own company, he told me to go for it. We had just gotten married and bought a house, so the timing wasn’t ideal, but he didn’t hesitate and told me he believed in me.
He was also my biggest supporter when I was writing my book
Be patient. I’m a Capricorn and extremely driven, so when I was younger I would want everything fast, despite whether I was ready or not. Today I am the opposite. I believe everything happens when it is supposed to so I try not to rush anything. However, of course there are things I want to do and I am disappointed when they don’t happen, but I now understand that if it’s meant to be it will be, and if it’s not, it won’t.
The first year we were in business we bought booth space at an industry trade show to showcase our book. We were total newbies, in our 20’s, and didn’t know anybody in the industry. I was SO excited to be there. I was passionate about what I was doing and excited to finally be doing what I loved. At the show we met an industry veteran who approached us to work with him so we set up a call after the show so we could brainstorm. On that call he told me he really liked me, but I was too “passionate” and that could be off-putting some people and I should “tone down” my excitement. I remember taking in what he said thinking I didn’t know how to tone anything down because it came from a place of authenticity. I wasn’t putting on a show for anyone. It was who I was. The lesson I learned is that people will always judge and give their opinions so it’s up to us to decide whether or not we want to confirm to meet their expectations or continue on the path we were meant to walk on, and listen to ourselves.
I was miserable in my job and I came home every night in tears. Not only was I unhappy with what I was doing, but I but also I didn’t love my boss’ way of managing me. I knew I had to find another option but I didn’t want to work for anyone else anymore. I only wanted to work for myself.
I knew since I was a little girl that I wanted to run my own company, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Then one day I was driving in my car and I prayed for a business idea. And an idea came to me. I went home that night and I told my husband and he told me to go for it. My husband and I were newly married (2 months in) and we just bought our first house, so the timing wasn’t great, but he believed in me and wanted me to be happy. I asked Randy, my business partner, is she would go into business with me, and the raest is history.
Our first company was called “The Healthy Shopper.” We were the first company in Canada to offer a booklet of coupons for natural and organic products. The reason I thought of the idea was become I had just gone back to school to learn about nutrition and I wanted to be able to buy cleaner products but they were expensive so I wanted to save money buying them. We had that company for 18 years.
We created our second company, Naturally Savvy, in 2007, when we were in the throw of raising our young kids. We started it because I connected with Dr. David Katz, who wrote for Oprah Magazine at the time, at a trade show and was writing an article on natural and organic products. I asked him if he could include our coupon book in the article, but because we were a Canadian-based company, it didn’t make sense. So, that inspired us to launch a website that could help consumers make healthier choices. Plus, my friends and family were always asking me which products I recommended because I loved doing research on healthier options, so now we had a place for all of that information to live.
We launched our third company, Morphus, when we were going through perimenopause and menopause. We saw how in the dark we were about this phase of life so we wanted to help educate women who knew as little as we did, and we wanted to help all women moving forward to they wouldn’t be taken by surprise like we were. We also loved supplements, and used them ourselves to help mitigate our own
Randy and I have been business partners for 26 years. We have been through every stage of life together – from getting married (she got married a year before I did), having kids, and going through perimenopause and menopause. We have been each other’s pillars of strength. We’ve learned a ton over the years and continue to learn every single day what is means to run a business.
I remember having lemonade stands in front of my house as a kid. One of my most vivid memories was when I was 18 or 19. I was at my friend’s house who recently moved out on his own and I showed up at his apartment with a booklet of coupons I made him for free house cleaning, dinner making, and 2-for-1 hugs. I never really lived that one down, but funny enough years later I ended up working at a couponing company (News America), which inspired me to start my first company—The Healthy Shopper Coupon book.
Hands down the secrets to our success are: Communication, respect, loyalty, trust, compassion, and forgiveness. When Randy and I argue, we say what we need to say, and we move on. We never hold grudges. We have had many disagreements over the years, and a select few where we hung up on one another, but five minutes later we were back on the phone discussing business. We never allowed disagreements to come between us or fester. A business partnership is like a marriage—you need to have open communication and mutual respect in order for it to succeed.
We always have each other‘s backs—no matter what! Nobody can come between us or break our bond. People have tried but they didn’t succeed. Our partnership has gotten stronger over the years, and our dedication to one another has been strengthened by adversity we have faced together as business partners.
I didn’t really think about it much until 2010, when Randy and I met Michael Eisner (the former CEO of Disney) at a Harper Collins event in NYC. We had the opportunity to talk to him for a while as he just published his book, “Working Together, Why Great Partnerships Succeed.” His books talks about why certain professional business relationships succeed and he featured the likes of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, and Bill and Melinda Gates. I asked him out of the 10 partnerships he featured, how many were two women. He said “one.” I asked him why and he said it was because two women partners are rare so they were hard to find. I told him that Randy and I wrote the book on female partnerships and that he should include us in his next edition. He laughed. I wasn’t joking.
In 2008, my friend Scott Lazerson and I organized a PSA in L.A. to support “Stop Hunger Now.” Scott invited celebrities and I brought on the sponsors. We spent the day with Jeremy Piven, Lance Bass, Tamera Mowry, Michael Maloney, Laura Harring, Jesse Metcalf, Marla Maples, and others, creating videos to help raise awareness for this incredible organization.
Also in 2008, I flew to Denver to do a TV segment with Randy. When we stepped into the elevator to meet the producer on the second floor, two men joined us. One of the men told me he loved natural and organic products. At first I didn’t understand why he said, and he sense my confusion, so he pointed to the bag I was carrying that had my logo and tagline at the time: “Naturally Savvy—Natural and Organic Living.” It turned out than man was Alan Arkin. Alan and I became friends, and stayed in touch until his passing.
In 2011, I was in New York City with Randy promoting our newly published book by Simon & Schuster called, “Unjunk Your Junk Food,” when I received an email from someone claiming to be Maria Shriver’s assistant. When I first got the email, I thought it was spam so I deleted it. I looked at Randy, and for a split second I wondered if it was true. So I answered her back and it ended up being real! Maria found us online, and she wanted to feature us on her website. That was one of the coolest moments in my career. We fostered a great relationship with Maria’s team that lasted for many years, and she wrote me a beautiful hand-written note about our book. I cherish it to this day.
I would say the biggest highlight to date is my long-standing partnership with Randy. We have been business partners for 26 years and we have shared my ups and downs, but our biggest flex is that we are still going strong and have managed to crack the code of working as a team.
Absolutely! That’s when we learn the most. We need to fail or fall in order to understand what success looks like.
Absolutely. I’m the type of person who enjoys doing things as a team. There are some people who thrive as solopreneurs, and others who thrive as partnerpreneurs (I made that word up!). I’m the latter. I enjoy working with someone else, talking to them, brainstorming, bouncing things off them, and then implementing our ideas together. There’s this great book called “Rocket Fuel” and my friend Justin told me about it. It describes what makes for a successful partnership in business.
I wish that women would lift each other up more often and support one another. I built my business on partnerships and collaborations so I know how effective that can be.
I do! I like to say, and I quote: “that “Collaboration inspires conversation, exploration, creation, and cooperation, and minimizes separation.” I love it when entrepreneurs collaborate and come together to create something magical.