Aug. 15, 2024

Living the dream with wellness expert and co-founder of NourishDoc Amita Sharma

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In this episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, host Curveball sits down with Amita Sharma, the co-founder of Nourish Doc, a holistic wellness platform designed to support women through their menopausal years and beyond. Amita shares her personal journey and the inspiration behind creating Nourish Doc, emphasizing the importance of self-care and holistic therapies during the perimenopausal and menopausal transition.
http://www.nourishdoc.com
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> Curtis Jackson>Welcome, to the living the Dream podcast with curveball. if you believe you can achieve Chee Chee.

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> Curtis Jackson>Welcome to the living the dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate, and inspire. Today, we're going to be talking about helping women during their menopausal years and beyond, as I am joined by the co founder of Nourish, Doc, Amita Sharma. Amita, as I said, has developed this holistic wellness platform to be able to help women in their menopausal years and beyond. So we're going to talk her about everything that she's up to and, how she is making the world a better place. So, Amita, thank you so much for joining me today.

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> Amita Sharma>Thank you so much, Curtis.

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> Speaker D>I really appreciate when a guy interviews me, as I was mentioning earlier, so I'm very grateful.

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> Curtis Jackson>Absolutely. I try to touch all of my listeners needs.

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> Curtis Jackson>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> Amita Sharma>Yeah. So I, as you mentioned, I.

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> Speaker D>Am co founder of Nourish talk. So the idea behind nourish talk is really helping women when they're starting their perimenopause journey all the way to post.

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> Amita Sharma>Menopause and beyond, and helping them embrace a holistic lifestyle.

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> Speaker D>And this is something that I personally developed because of my personal journey.

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> Amita Sharma>Having worked in high tech industry with.

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> Speaker D>So much stress that I did not.

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> Amita Sharma>Even know when perimenopause hit me, and.

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> Speaker D>I had a lot of embarrassing moments. So fast forward, this is something I.

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> Amita Sharma>Developed a lot of passion to help.

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> Speaker D>Other women, and that's what I'm trying to do now.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, well, I know you're the co founder.

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> Curtis Jackson>Do you want to tell us a little bit about your partner?

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> Speaker D>well, my partner is a tech, you know, he's been in.

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> Amita Sharma>The tech industry for the last 20, 30, 25 years or so. And I come from a product business.

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> Speaker D>Background, and I'm the face behind this, brand because, you know, I am a woman and he's a guy. So I guess we need a woman in front.

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> Speaker D>so that's sort of, I'm really trying to address culture sensitivity.

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> Amita Sharma>Within this journey of a perimenopause to.

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> Speaker D>Menopause, as this journey can be different for different ethnic groups as well.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, explain to the listeners what perimenopause is and why we need to pay attention to it.

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> Speaker D>Yes. So, you know, most of the women.

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> Amita Sharma>If you ask anyone on the street.

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> Speaker D>They will say they will understand what menopause is.

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> Amita Sharma>But if you ask them about perimenopause.

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> Amita Sharma>They're like, oh, what is it? Right?

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> Speaker D>So I don't know if you know about perimenopause or not, but, so.

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> Amita Sharma>Perimenopause is really the stage leading up to menopause.

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> Amita Sharma>That's the definition.

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> Speaker D>And it's a transition stage for a woman. And it's not like a switch one.

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> Amita Sharma>Day, you know, your menstruation stops.

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> Speaker D>It's not a switch for women.

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> Amita Sharma>it's a long transition, and it could be as many as ten or.

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> Speaker D>Maybe for some women, twelve years.

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> Amita Sharma>So an average menopause ages, let's say.

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> Speaker D>51, 52 women can start, ah,

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> Amita Sharma>Getting into perimenopause in forties or even early thirties.

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> Speaker D>So can you imagine nowadays, women are getting married later because they're financially independent. And I've heard so many of these.

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> Amita Sharma>Stories that she started into perimenopause and.

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> Speaker D>Then suddenly, because of the irregular periods, she could not start a family. And all these stories can happen to women.

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> Speaker D>So the reason perimenopause is so important is the transition phase that's happening if we don't take care of ourselves during this time, after menopause.

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> Amita Sharma>The data says, according to CDC, 80%.

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> Speaker D>Of the women over 55 have one chronic condition. So that is why it is so important for mid age women to take care of themselves.

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> Curtis Jackson>Well, for those who might not know, tell us some of the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.

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> Speaker D>Yes. So perimenopause, like I said, is just.

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> Amita Sharma>Beginning, like transition to menopause.

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> Speaker D>So 40 years, you know, if a woman is a 40 year old, the first symptom typically is irregular periods, irregular menstrual.

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> Amita Sharma>Menstrual cycle.

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> Speaker D>So typically, as we all know, we've studied in biology, the menstrual cycle happens after 28 days.

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> Amita Sharma>In the earlier part of the perimenopause.

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> Speaker D>It could be shorter.

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> Amita Sharma>So that's one of the symptoms.

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> Speaker D>And what happens is the, you know, the two female sex hormones, one of.

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> Amita Sharma>The, one of the hormones starts.

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> Speaker D>Going down due to that hormone going down.

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> Speaker D>The other hormone goes up, and women.

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> Amita Sharma>Tend to gain weight.

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> Speaker D>Weight gain is very common. Mood swings is very common.

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> Amita Sharma>Anxiety and depression is very common.

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> Speaker D>Hot flashes, which most of people know, and they think menopause is only about hot flashes, and that is not accurate. But hot flashes is one of the key symptoms.

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> Amita Sharma>Sleep becomes issue.

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> Speaker D>You're not able to sleep at night.

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> Amita Sharma>Because of night sweats and hot flashes.

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> Speaker D>So all these symptoms are associated with.

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> Amita Sharma>Perimenopause, even loss of libido sometimes.

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> Speaker D>So as we start inching forward towards menopause, the symptoms may change. But these symptoms are generic symptoms. What I'm explaining, they may be different for different women. Every woman is unique. And also they may differ as per ethnic group of women.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, so you talk about holistic wellness for menopause. So tell us about some of the holistic wellness methods that are, out there for women that are suffering from this.

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> Amita Sharma>Yeah.

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> Speaker D>So, you know, like I said, a woman may experience not necessarily one symptom.

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> Speaker D>It all is a vicious cycle, right? So if a woman has heart flashes.

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> Amita Sharma>She'S going to have a problem sleeping at night.

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> Speaker D>And if she hasn't slept at night in the morning, you know, in the morning when she goes to work, she's going to be cranky. So there'll be mood swings, and then she's not able to work in the workplace, then there's anxiety.

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> Amita Sharma>Right.

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> Speaker D>It's a typical woman. That's what happened to me. But it's a very typical story. Now, what do you do as a woman? So you can take medication, you know.

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> Amita Sharma>Most of the time.

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> Speaker D>But the holistic wellness, what we are trying to say is that no matter if you take medication, HRT, Bhrt, whatever, you need to, embrace dietary and lifestyle modifications. So, for example, mind body connection, right? We are, mind and body is one. It's not two separate compartments right there. So things that you should embrace is a proper dietary modifications. You need to change your diet. You need to include movement as medicine, food as medicine, different type of exercises.

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> Speaker D>Then you need to include calming, helping.

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> Amita Sharma>Yourself to calm yourself and relax yourself.

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> Speaker D>So therapies such as yoga, ayurveda is a complete system. But mindfulness exercises, meditation, a little bit of meditation, puranayama, breathing exercises.

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> Amita Sharma>Aromatherapy, acupressure, acupuncture as well can help you.

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> Speaker D>Massage therapy can help you.

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> Amita Sharma>Hypnotherapy can help you. CBT, cognitive behavior therapy can help you.

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> Amita Sharma>Counseling can help you. All these things combined herbs and supplements can help you.

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> Speaker D>Some of the other naturopathy, therapies can also help you. If you combine all these.

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> Amita Sharma>These are different therapies.

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> Speaker D>This can be very confusing for a woman. Oh, what should I do now? What should I not do now? But these are different therapies that women.

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> Amita Sharma>Can embrace during the perimenopausal years.

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> Speaker D>So their journey towards this whole tumultuous.

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> Amita Sharma>Transition, is better.

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> Curtis Jackson>Or why do you feel like talking about menopause in the workplace is so taboo.

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> Amita Sharma>Yeah.

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> Speaker D>I mean, you just hit, you know, hit the right button here. I'm telling you, when I started.

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> Amita Sharma>Doing, getting into this perimenopause, my personal experience, I was scared to talk to anyone. I was ashamed.

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> Speaker D>I thought that someone's going to judge me. So it's the whole idea that age.

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> Amita Sharma>Right, age is an uphill battle in.

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> Speaker D>Corporate world, all over the world. It doesn't matter corporate America anymore. We are, living in the international world right now. So age is an uphill battle. Now, you can imagine on top of.

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> Amita Sharma>That, all these symptoms women are having, and this can be perceived as a.

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> Speaker D>Woman not being able to have proper.

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> Amita Sharma>Productivity or not able to work properly.

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> Speaker D>And women get a little bit like.

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> Amita Sharma>Oh, my God, if I talk to.

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> Speaker D>Someone, I might be perceived as that. I can't do my work properly. But this is a natural phase of a woman's life. It's not a disease.

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> Speaker D>So I think this whole advocacy for corporates to recognize, because approximately 50% of their workforce is women nowadays, for them not to cater to this age group is actually costing them billions of dollars, if I may say so. And it should not be a taboo. So the reason it's taboo is because women feel they'll be judged.

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> Speaker D>and corporations haven't really paid attention to, and it's not really their fault. It's also the society hasn't paid attention to this whole phase of a woman's life, which is beyond reproductive years.

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> Amita Sharma>I'm not going to blame corporate America.

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> Speaker D>Only I think it's the overall society, too. How many times have you gone in a party and a woman is saying.

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> Amita Sharma>Oh, by the way, I am menopausal, or I am perimenopausal.

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> Speaker D>But all of us have gone to so many parties where the woman is pregnant and having a baby, and that's celebrated so much.

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> Amita Sharma>But this is like hush, hush, hush, right?

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> Speaker D>It's the society part.

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> Curtis Jackson>Okay, well, let us know about nourish. Doc. If a woman was suffering with perimenopause and they came to you, how could your platform help them? Tell us all about it.

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> Amita Sharma>Yeah.

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> Speaker D>So, you know, like I said earlier, you know, our approach is self care first and embracing of holistic therapies first.

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> Speaker D>And then what we would do is.

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> Amita Sharma>We have two different options.

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> Speaker D>One is a self care in the self care that's going to be priced less than $10 a month, wherein, we would have an expert once a.

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> Amita Sharma>Month, come in, live and take in the questions.

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> Speaker D>And then in addition to that, a woman based on her symptoms can start getting bite sized, actionable insights into what.

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> Amita Sharma>She can do, how she can incorporate.

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> Speaker D>The right kind of diet as an.

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> Amita Sharma>Example so she can lead herself through this journey based on her symptoms in.

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> Speaker D>The self care model, along with once.

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> Amita Sharma>A month, she has the ability to ask questions, and she has a guide.

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> Speaker D>To guide her, based on her.

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> Amita Sharma>Assessment that we can take on online.

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> Speaker D>Assessment, that different type of simple dietary and holistic, tips or ideas that she can do. So that is a self care, model that we wanted to release to make it super affordable for every woman there.

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> Speaker D>But the next, step is, again, expert guided. But now it's going to be once a week. So every week, like, we're going to have a, expert, ranging from, for.

00:12:35.256 --> 00:12:42.716
> Amita Sharma>Example, a gynecologist or a sexologist or a hypnotherapist, aromatherapist, a naturopath or a.

00:12:42.749 --> 00:12:51.990
> Speaker D>Yoga therapist or a pilates or a hip, so all these, like I explained you, it's not just one thing that happens.

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> Amita Sharma>There are multiple things.

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> Speaker D>So every week that women are going to be guided with an expert, and.

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> Amita Sharma>They have the ability to ask questions, whatever questions they have.

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> Speaker D>And this is the next tier, so to speak, that women can do to.

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> Amita Sharma>Help themselves, along with every single day.

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> Speaker D>They'Ll have daily sort of like a simple videos, so to speak, that are, again, by experts, short, bite sized information that they can consume on a daily basis.

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> Speaker D>So we have these two options as of now. The third option, which we will launch.

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> Amita Sharma>Would be one on one, like, a concierge services.

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> Speaker D>If someone wants to spend money and they don't care about the money part, then a complete team will be given.

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> Amita Sharma>To them, like a naturopathic doctor, or.

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> Speaker D>A, yoga therapist, or dietitian, and even a counselor, so that a complete.

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> Amita Sharma>Personalized plan can be put together for a woman.

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> Speaker D>And that would price about $250 a month. Not, not ridiculously high, but still. So that's kind of how we have built a tiered approach to help every single woman who has the budget and who doesn't have any budget. But we still want to help, right? We want to help each and every.

00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:10.952
> Amita Sharma>Woman, like I said.

00:14:13.972 --> 00:14:20.788
> Curtis Jackson>Okay, well, throw out the website so people can connect with the platform and check it out if they need it.

00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:23.712
> Amita Sharma>Yeah. So the app is actually coming out.

00:14:23.883 --> 00:14:26.746
> Speaker D>within this week or next week, right.

00:14:26.794 --> 00:14:29.407
> Speaker D>July 4, somewhere around that timeframe.

00:14:29.595 --> 00:14:31.982
> Amita Sharma>And people can go to the website.

00:14:32.102 --> 00:14:39.743
> Speaker D>Right now, there is a contact button if they want to, be on the, you know, want us to inform them and the app is out next week.

00:14:40.013 --> 00:14:41.513
> Amita Sharma>they can go on the website.

00:14:41.592 --> 00:14:51.321
> Speaker D>And fill some kind of a form and we will inform them. But when the app is out, then people can download the app. We give one week free for them to play around.

00:14:51.376 --> 00:14:57.729
> Amita Sharma>Or if they have any questions, they can talk to a program advisor. And if they still have more questions.

00:14:57.760 --> 00:15:02.773
> Speaker D>We are here to help them navigate this journey, as I said earlier.

00:15:05.393 --> 00:15:11.089
> Curtis Jackson>Now, is this app going to be Android and iPhone or what platforms is it going to be released on?

00:15:11.280 --> 00:15:18.730
> Amita Sharma>Yes. Yes, it is going to be on, iPhone. Android would be coming soon after.

00:15:18.914 --> 00:15:19.971
> Curtis Jackson>Gotcha.

00:15:20.154 --> 00:15:28.629
> Curtis Jackson>Okay, so close us out with some final thoughts, maybe if that was something I forgot to touch on that you would like to talk about, or, any final thoughts you have for the listeners and throw out that website.

00:15:29.528 --> 00:15:29.976
> Amita Sharma>Yeah.

00:15:30.033 --> 00:15:50.298
> Speaker D>So I just want to say to all the women out there is to really self care, self love and not doubt themselves during this phase because, and really take care of themselves. I think investing in yourself is what I want to say. Because most of the women during this.

00:15:50.339 --> 00:15:52.359
> Amita Sharma>Phase, they are probably a, mom.

00:15:52.359 --> 00:15:56.602
> Speaker D>a wife, you know, a daughter, like so many things, right?

00:15:56.674 --> 00:16:03.019
> Amita Sharma>Different relationships. And they end up taking care of all the other satellites around them except for themselves.

00:16:03.163 --> 00:16:05.523
> Speaker D>So my last thoughts are, invest in.

00:16:05.554 --> 00:16:08.886
> Amita Sharma>Yourself, believe in yourself, take care of yourself.

00:16:10.826 --> 00:16:13.291
> Curtis Jackson>Okay. And do you want to give out the website?

00:16:13.458 --> 00:16:16.167
> Amita Sharma>Alyssa yes, yes, the website is,

00:16:16.116 --> 00:16:29.640
> Speaker D>Www.Nourishtalk.Com and my name is Amita. And so please check the website out. We are also on all social, platforms. You can check us out on Facebook.

00:16:29.753 --> 00:16:33.044
> Amita Sharma>Insta, LinkedIn, as well as YouTube.

00:16:34.024 --> 00:16:36.945
> Curtis Jackson>All right, ladies and gentlemen, nourish dog.com.

00:16:37.024 --> 00:16:45.095
> Curtis Jackson>if you know of anybody that is in need of mis Ameda service, please follow rate review share this episode to as many people as possible.

00:16:45.475 --> 00:16:51.331
> Curtis Jackson>Jump on your favorite podcast app. Check us out. Give us a follow and a review.

00:16:51.523 --> 00:17:04.015
> Curtis Jackson>If you have any guests or suggestion topics, Curtis Jackson, 1978 is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and supporting the show and Ameda, thank you for joining us and all that you're doing.

00:17:04.964 --> 00:17:06.305
> Amita Sharma>Thank you so much.

00:17:07.404 --> 00:17:15.356
> Curtis Jackson>For more information on the living the Dream podcast, visit www.djcurvefall.com.

00:17:15.540 --> 00:17:19.997
> Curtis Jackson>until next time, stay focused on living the dream.

00:17:20.060 --> 00:17:20.285
> Speaker D>Dream.