Pivot With Purpose Season 4 Episode 6 Full Transcript
[00:00:00] Announcer: Pivot With Purpose, a podcast that highlights the unique stories of professionals that pivoted their careers to align with their work lives and personal lives more purposefully and with more joy.
[00:00:23] Announcer: Pivot what purpose is hosted by Megan Hall, a globally accredited career and business coach and creator of the Megan Hole Method.
[00:00:32] Meghan Houle: Welcome back to the Pivot with Purpose podcast. I'm your host, Megan Ho, and in this episode we talk to Lauren Berland, J and Katie female entrepreneurs who came together to change the spot industry with revolutionary infrared light technology higher.
[00:00:49] Announcer: Thank you for listening to Pivot With Purpose with host Megan, who you can find out more information about each guest, including full transcripts at Pivot with purpose podcast.com. And if you'd like to share your own pivot with purpose, click on the share button and add your story to the conversation.
[00:01:09] Announcer: Finally, be sure. And share your comments wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Your support amplifies our voice. And now this week's episode,
[00:01:23] Meghan Houle: Lauren began as a renowned nutritionist, health coach, and the host of the popular virtual series Women Versus Workout when she discovered the power of infrared saunas to help boost mood and recover from her intense exercise. C. Katie is a former investment banker at Merrill Lynch, an international employee of the year at Tuff Mutter.
[00:01:45] Meghan Houle: She had just started pursuing her passions and consulting for health and wellness companies when Katie and Lauren met while detoxing in New York City, and when she heard about Lauren's plan to bring a natural high to people through Infr Sauna Technology, she was hooked together. Lauren and Katie created higher.
[00:02:03] Meghan Houle: A brand, which is all about getting high naturally with their infrared sauna blankets as their first boss service and take home product. Lauren and Katie, welcome to the Pivot with Purpose podcast. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank
[00:02:17] Lauren Berlingeri: you for having us. We're excited to chat with you today.
[00:02:21] Meghan Houle: Yay.
[00:02:21] Meghan Houle: Well, I have to tell you, I feel like it's almost like three years to the date. That I was in New York City February, 2020 before, we won't talk about what happened after that, but I was literally googling higher dose and where I could pop into one of your saunas while I was in town for crazy client meetings.
[00:02:39] Meghan Houle: So unfortunately, given my crazy schedule, I wasn't able to book a session. But now full circle, here we are three years later with a higher dose sauna, a blanket in my own house. Thank you very much, and both of you on my podcast. So isn't this universe powerful? It's a crazy
[00:02:53] Lauren Berlingeri: way. Yeah. I love. How did you hear about Higher Dose living in Boston?
[00:02:58] Meghan Houle: Well, I just am such a fan of the health and wellness space. Mm-hmm. , I do a lot of fitness classes. Love it. You know, berries, all the things, cycling, whatnot. And for me, I really don't ever give myself moments of pause and relaxation. I'm like, oh, relaxation. That's cute. Is that like a candy bar in cvs? Like seriously, what is that about?
[00:03:21] Meghan Houle: So for me, just talking to some fitness people, and I know you guys are both big health and wellness fitness backgrounds and seeing higher dose, just sort of like popping up where I think it was, you had a new version of the blanket coming out and people were talking about it and the mats were coming out and I'm like, what is this moment I can.
[00:03:39] Meghan Houle: Doing like a little detox cuz some of my spas in Boston offer it. But I dunno, when you're sitting detoxing in a blanket, everyone else is using, you're like, I don't know about this. Sort of have something in a home that is like recovery. Also getting a little older, you know, your muscles, your joints, just like overall piece while being I like pop in a podcast, I get in that blanket and it's literally me time.
[00:04:00] Meghan Houle: Yeah. So I just started seeing it and then kind of came into your worlds. Here we are, but just by word of mouth, you know, being in this fitness and wellness community for sure. Well,
that's
[00:04:11] Lauren Berlingeri: great to hear. I'm so happy that we have that kind of reach, especially to go to Boston. That was the reason why we created the sauna blanket is cuz we knew most people didn't have access to an infrared sauna.
[00:04:21] Lauren Berlingeri: I didn't have the space for it, couldn't afford it. So we wanted to create the same experience in a easy to use travel version that's effortless and pays for itself in a few sessions. That's where the sauna blanket came
[00:04:35] Meghan Houle: from. Yeah, it's so easy. I'll tell you, anytime I post on social media, I literally get a swarm of like, oh my God, I love her.
[00:04:41] Meghan Houle: Do. Oh, I have it. I have it. I saw one of my girls that I used to work with had it, she posted today, she's like, I love my blanket. It's like on her bed. And absolutely over the holidays, I literally sat watching the Hallmark Christmas channel in my blanket and a bike down. Chad's good, but it's just like relaxing and cozy, and especially this time of year, you're in the Northeast.
[00:05:00] Meghan Houle: We all love cozy. So yes, you absolutely have a huge reach and basically, I and Katie, all of us are meant to be on this podcast and have this conversation so, so honored. I know you both have some real interesting pivots, so I would love to dive in and before we do, so kind of talking all things pivots and business creation, let's chat about, what are you guys up to lately?
[00:05:23] Meghan Houle: Maybe start with you, Lauren and Katie. Like where, where can we find you? What are you doing? What are you involved in? Tell us a little bit.
[00:05:31] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah. Besides the product launches that we did, as of recently, we just started launching our own line of CPG products. Mm-hmm. , so that's topicals and ingestibles that compliment the wellness tech and amplify the benefits of the reason why you're using the wellness tech in the first place.
[00:05:48] Lauren Berlingeri: That's been really successful, but I think. Me personally, and I'm sure Katie too. What we feel most passionate about is definitely our content that we've been creating. Mm-hmm. , uh, one, it's just so much fun to do and we get to trial these crazy biohacking technologies and experiences. So that's been fun.
[00:06:05] Lauren Berlingeri: So we filmed this series called Biohack Hers about female biohacking. Biohacking is an amazing community of people, but it's mainly male dominated. There's a lot of thought leaders that are. It's kind of more about hacking to be faster, stronger, smarter, not always speaking to women, but yet when you deep dive into this community, you learn so much.
[00:06:29] Lauren Berlingeri: That's where you discover hot and cold therapy and red light therapy and infrared and P E M F and philosophies like fasting and calls that really work to make you look and feel your best. And we've always felt like women are the original biohack. , we just never called ourselves that. So we knew that a woman would love this community if it felt more approachable for us, if it spoke to us a little bit more.
[00:06:53] Lauren Berlingeri: So the show and concept is Katie and I trying all the, the wildest biohacks and then us just talking about it and talking about our goals and how they're very different than most men's goals. And it really speaks to women, but also to men too as well, that. Looking to get into this world, but don't really know how to get there.
[00:07:13] Meghan Houle: I've seen some of those episodes and just like you said, trying products and having a community that trusts you and talking about your experiences. That's really cool. Full health, wellness, lifestyle, for sure. That's great. Katie, any kind of fun, other things that you wanna add or that you are up to?
[00:07:28] Meghan Houle: Coming in from Miami, Florida here, coming live from Miami.
[00:07:32] Lauren Berlingeri: Live from Miami.
[00:07:33] Katie Kaps: Yeah. I feel like , just building on that, like obviously Lauren and I have been biohacking for a while, right? Because we got into infra saunas, I would say, way before most people. But I think even the experience of doing that show together just kind of wanted, I guess it made me excited to dive even deeper and learn more.
[00:07:57] Katie Kaps: I've been like doing more testing and personalized regimes and that sort of thing. and I, it's funny, this new like detox program I just got on requires at home glutathione and N A D injections and I thought, oh, okay. No big deal. And so I got ready to do one this morning. And I, I like drew out like this expensive glutathione and N a D and into the vial.
[00:08:23] Katie Kaps: And then I looked at the needle and it was like an inch and a half long that was supposed to go right into my arm and I actually chickened out. So that's my latest there. Tidbit on biohacking, we've gotta solve that problem. Oh my gosh. I
[00:08:39] Meghan Houle: hate needles too, so
[00:08:41] Lauren Berlingeri: I'm right there with you. Well, was the needle bigger than the peptide needle that we did to ourselves at Next Health?
[00:08:47] Lauren Berlingeri: Oh yeah.
[00:08:48] Katie Kaps: It was like bigger, thicker, and you know, it, it could either go on the arm, which like, I can't imagine a more painful place or the butt, and I started to. Look at YouTube videos on the glute, and you can actually hit your sciatic nerve if you don't do it right. And I'm like, okay. I'm just, I'm gonna bow out of this one,
[00:09:09] Katie Kaps: We're just gonna put a
[00:09:10] Meghan Houle: pause, just a little pause on this. Yeah, I know. I hear you. I went and got like a, a B12 or like immunity shot, I don't know, a couple weeks ago. And the. The nurse practitioner was like, this one's gonna be spicy. I'm like, what does that mean, ? But you're right when it goes into your arm and it's like thick.
[00:09:27] Meghan Houle: I know not to like scare people off in the podcast, but like, I hear you Katie, so I'm with you. So I'll be thinking of you. You let us know how that works
[00:09:33] Katie Kaps: out. . Yeah. We've gotta solve that problem for female biohackers. Who,
[00:09:38] Lauren Berlingeri: yeah, what I first said. I love it.
[00:09:41] Meghan Houle: That's your next video. Okay. Already in the works.
[00:09:43] Meghan Houle: Yep. So, you know, diving into beyond what's going on in your world now, I'd love to hear about your start, maybe starting with you, Katie, keeping you on the spot, and then Lauren, tell us a little bit about some of those early career highlights, career pivots, where did you start off? I'd love to hear a little bit about your journey before joining forces.
[00:10:02] Meghan Houle: Yeah,
[00:10:02] Katie Kaps: totally. Yeah. I actually studied international economics at Georgetown and I studied abroad at the London School of Economics. Basically just imagine myself having this finance career. Mm-hmm. , I started off in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, so in the consumer products group covering clients like Pepsi and their acquisition of their bottling group, et cetera.
[00:10:27] Katie Kaps: So I'm needless to say I was started off in a very different place than I am now. But actually it was kind of the stress and pressure of finance that really got me into wellness, that got me into committing to a running program since running was such a good stress release. . It was really what got me into this idea of the natural high of the running endorphin release, so I kind of got obsessed with other ways to get high naturally.
[00:10:52] Katie Kaps: Also, there was the whole financial crisis and I was like, okay, maybe this is a good time to think about a career pivot. And that's really when I started to combine my passion for wellness with my career. And I was one of the first employees at Tutter, which was like that obstacle course running event.
[00:11:09] Katie Kaps: Oh yeah. Series. And after that I had this great finance and startup experience, wanted to start my own business and really met Lauren at the perfect time cuz she introduced me to infrared. And the stars just kind of aligned for us and, and that's how got to where I am today. I love
[00:11:28] Meghan Houle: it and you just talking all things universe, as I was before, it's amazing how the universe will send us those signs of like, what?
[00:11:34] Meghan Houle: Be a unfortunately economic or major pandemics or otherwise, you know, you're like, okay, there's a different direction here for me, and I love that you and Lauren found each other combined forces and here we are. But Lauren, what were you doing before you met Katie? What was your world prior to higher dose Collabo?
[00:11:52] Meghan Houle: Yeah. Very different
[00:11:53] Katie Kaps: than Katie,
[00:11:54] Lauren Berlingeri: which is mm-hmm. . Why I always thought we made such good business partners is cuz we came from such different worlds but then yet combined our worlds and now we speak the same language, but mm-hmm. my background, so I started modeling when I was 16. I left Canada and started traveling the worlds.
[00:12:11] Lauren Berlingeri: The first place was Milan, Italy, and from there it was just this addiction to traveling and experiencing new cultures and ultimately making travel My. So I lived in all sorts of places from South Africa to Australia, Turkey, all through Europe, and really, you know, loved that side of modeling, but didn't like the other side of modeling.
[00:12:34] Lauren Berlingeri: That was so all about the way that you looked. Mm-hmm. , you know, being a certain size, I naturally wasn't always a very thin person or even that tall, so I always just felt like I wasn't that great of a model anyways. And I really didn't have a passion for fashion or photography. So you can imagine after doing it for so long, how it really didn't feed my soul.
[00:12:55] Lauren Berlingeri: And over time that would start to play on me. And as I got older, I found it harder to stay really thin and small. I adopted really bad habits like with the Diet Coke and cigarette diet and body dysmorphia and just stress. And the more I stressed, then the more I would eat. And yeah, it just was these constant cycles of always just thinking about every bit of food that went into my mouth and how that would make me look, or when I showed up to a job just not feeling worthy enough cuz.
[00:13:23] Lauren Berlingeri: I didn't look like my photos, but that being said, modeling opened me up to so many different things like traveling the world and meeting so many amazing people. I would say I learned a lot about emotional intelligence and how to communicate and get along with all sorts of different people. And as I was modeling in New York City, I actually got interviewed to do a TV segment called Woman Versus Workout, where I got challeng.
[00:13:48] Lauren Berlingeri: Very hard, physically challenging things from, you know, 24 hell night with Navy Seal, NASCAR driving, motocross firefighter training. Tough, utter, anything insane. You name it. I tried it and that was about, you know, 13 years ago on YouTube. And that just led me to host for other extreme sports brands like U S C, eea, EA Sports.
[00:14:10] Lauren Berlingeri: I led the Extreme Sports Division at img, but. I love doing women versus workout cuz I got to talk about and experience things through me versus talking about other people doing amazing things. So I realized quickly that being a TV presenter wasn't exactly what I wanted to do. Mm-hmm. . So that's when I went back to school and I, I really wanted to study nutrition just because I was always so confused in my modeling career on what to eat.
[00:14:36] Lauren Berlingeri: But yet, My product was me and I needed to invest into me. So I signed up for I I N Institute of Integrative Nutrition, which is an amazing online nutrition school, and just really realized that, that that's where my true passion was. I couldn't wait for the next module. I learned so much. I was always testing out new health and wellness philosophies, and that's when I started to get a job at Health and Wellness Startup developing.
[00:15:01] Lauren Berlingeri: and my job was to pick the brains of the most influential health and wellness people from doctors, naturopaths, fitness experts, just trying to figure out what products we should be creating there. Mm-hmm. . And that's when I discovered the Infr sauna. A doctor told me that he literally tells every single one of his clients to do the Infr sauna because it contributes to so many different health goals.
[00:15:23] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah. And I went and tried the only one that existed in New York. and just was blown away by the whole experience. I mean, I've been doing saunas all around the world because cultures everywhere do saunas, and found it really hard to find a good one in New York City. So when I discovered the Infr, I was like, holy shit, this is it.
[00:15:42] Lauren Berlingeri: Like, yeah, I sweat. Like I've never sweat. Before I got that U four Kai, my skin looked amazing. Mm-hmm. . I felt calm and connected for the first time. So long walking down the streets in New York. Yeah. I slept like a baby and I was just like, this is it. This is what we're trying to create in a boardroom. Yep.
[00:15:58] Lauren Berlingeri: So it was then, then I knew that I wanted to start my business around that, but I had the idea more to bring Infr to fitness, cuz I always did hot yoga. And I was like, wait, why are they using this gross, disgusting hot yoga? Yeah. From like con conventional heat. Yeah. They should be doing infr panels. So yeah, when I met Katie, that was our idea.
[00:16:18] Lauren Berlingeri: And we started with that actually. So talking about pivoting, we've pivoted multiple times in higher dose, which I hope we get time to talk about that. But our first idea was installing identified yoga panels to yoga studios. And we did that for Y seven Yoga Vita. You know, we transformed their whole entire product offering.
[00:16:38] Lauren Berlingeri: An experience offering but realized, wait a minute, we're just building other people's brands and wait a minute, it's so hard to install these clunky units that are super expensive to yoga studios who don't have that much money. We need to think of a different model. And that's when we were tipped off from ClearLight, who was our partners who made the yoga panels that, you know, there's some companies that are doing these tanning salon models within infrared saunas.
[00:17:05] Lauren Berlingeri: And I actually remember walking down the street and Katie was. Look, I think we need to be doing this. And if you don't wanna do it, I'll do it with my brother. And I was like, , you're like, hair's drop. You remember that? Yeah. That . Do you remember that, Katie? Did I say that? Really? Did I say that? ? I feel like, yeah, you were like it.
[00:17:24] Lauren Berlingeri: This makes sense. We need to do this. Like, if you don't wanna do it, I'll do it with my brother. And I was like, Ooh, not happening. Let's make this happen. And that's when we decided, you know, we needed to. From friends and family mm-hmm. and get our first location open and, you know, we put our minds to it and, and we did it.
[00:17:40] Lauren Berlingeri: We opened our first location and then multiple locations came from there. and then we were able to secure investment once we had two locations open. So it was, it was pretty awesome. Yeah.
[00:17:51] Meghan Houle: And here you are. Well, yes. I would love to dive into all the pivots, and maybe you referenced it a little bit, would love to dig into the story.
[00:17:58] Meghan Houle: But in the spirit of our podcast, I usually ask a yes or no question. So I put you guys on the spot and maybe it's a collective Yes. I feel like it might be, and then we just go to a little break and we come back in. So yes or no, and I don't know if you wanna jump in together, but do you guys remember the moment you both got together and said, we're gonna create higher dose, we're doing this?
[00:18:18] Meghan Houle: Yes. Yes, yes. Oh, wait. So with that, we're gonna go to a quick break and we will pick this up when we get
[00:18:26] Announcer: back.
[00:18:41] Meghan Houle: All right, Katie and Lauren, before the break, you said Yes. So tell us about that moment, and then also, you know, some of the big learnings that you guys have taken away from like bringing this business to life. Tell us about.
[00:18:55] Lauren Berlingeri: I feel like I remember it really clearly. For some reason right now, which I have the worst memory, Katie knows, she usually has to tell me everything that we did cuz I totally forget
[00:19:04] Lauren Berlingeri: But I remember putting together this deck on infrared and I was so amazed by the studies and how efficacious the technology was. I was just blown away that everyone didn't know about it. So I put together this deck and I remember thinking right there, based on my experience at Aloha, my. Startup, I know I'm gonna need a business partner because there's no way I'm gonna be able to do this without someone that has more business experience, especially to raise money.
[00:19:31] Lauren Berlingeri: Mm-hmm. . So I actually crashed a friend of mine who was pitching Katie on this probiotic gum idea. Mm-hmm. . And he let me come and he was like, I met this girl. She seems pretty awesome. You should tell her about infrared. So I remember showing up as crazy as I was. I was probably riding my bike in the middle of winter and.
[00:19:52] Lauren Berlingeri: Pitched her on this idea and showed her this deck, which, funny enough, Katie sent it to me I think maybe like a year and a half ago, and it was so embarrassing what I ended up putting together. But I told her all about it and she went and tried the sauna that existed in New York City. And I remember how we were like, well, let's do our first meeting and where are we gonna do it?
[00:20:13] Lauren Berlingeri: And Katie was like, well, you know, I don't know. And I was like, well, can we do it at your house? I don't have anywhere to go right now. We did it at her house and we had this whiteboard going, and that's how it all started. And we just knew that this is what we wanted to do. I don't think there was this official agreement.
[00:20:29] Lauren Berlingeri: It just felt so natural and we were just both very excited about it. And I guess we definitely came to those awkward moments a little bit later on. Like Katie was like, this is your idea. You're not paying me, so I guess I'm gonna be 50% business owners. I guess so I need you just as much as you need me.
[00:20:47] Lauren Berlingeri: So, you know, we had those kind of weird conversations as we went on. It wasn't so awkward from the very beginning, and I think that was pretty much a blessing because you could tell that we are both in it for the right reason and not just to start a business to make money or. Power in something. Yeah. Or at least that's the way I felt maybe Katie felt differently.
[00:21:08] Lauren Berlingeri: uh, Katie,
[00:21:08] Meghan Houle: tell us about your, what you remember and, and maybe some big learnings like coming together with Lauren or just any takeaways from kicking things off. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:21:17] Lauren Berlingeri: I remember
[00:21:18] Katie Kaps: I met Lauren the week of my 30th birthday, which feels like a big deal when you go from your twenties to your thirties.
[00:21:26] Katie Kaps: And I was just so, so happy and shocked that I actually survived my twenties and was still alive, that I was like, okay, I'm great. Like it's all, it's all upside from here. Yeah, when we met, it was always my dream to start a business, and Lauren was just so passionate that it was so easy at that lunch to pivot away from this probiotic idea to Lauren's idea.
[00:21:52] Katie Kaps: And I felt like right when we met, I knew we'd end up working together. And like Lauren said, it was just. Really fun. From day one. I think we were having a blast and we both really just loved infrared so much. I remember thinking, well, even if this doesn't work out, as long as I can do the infrared sauna every day, it'll be worth it.
[00:22:10] Katie Kaps: So definitely came from a really pure place. We weren't the type to just sit behind a spreadsheet and think about backing into margins and scaling, and it was all like a pretty organic process for.
[00:22:25] Meghan Houle: Going back to your statement before we went to our break, Lauren, what are, and maybe collectively for both you guys, what are some pivotal years that have stood out for you in the business that have been really challenging?
[00:22:35] Meghan Houle: Maybe some key pivots within higher dose that you're just really proud of overcoming. What's been your journey since you've brought this brand to life? I mean,
[00:22:44] Lauren Berlingeri: definitely the year that we got our first investment, cuz you know, Katie and I were fundraising and having fundraising conversations for about a year and a half before we actually secured funding.
[00:22:55] Lauren Berlingeri: And as to young females that didn't have an impressive track record in terms of companies. Going out to market. Mm-hmm. with a obscure infrared and these spa locations was very challenging. Actually. It wasn't as easy to get an investor. So when we actually got an investor, it was like, wow. And we went through so many weird experiences with what investors that would invest, but then put us in this incubator program to get their money back.
[00:23:24] Lauren Berlingeri: And it was just all this nonsense that we went through. And then to get to actually securing that first round of funding. Funny enough, you know, we raised 1.2 million over six years ago and we haven't raised any money since. Wow. So that's definitely been. I would say the most pivotal moment in higher dose.
[00:23:42] Lauren Berlingeri: And we took on these great investors that were very involved and very hands off when they needed to be. Katie and I never felt like we had to report monthly and certainly be letting them know every decision that we're gonna do. So we had a lot of freedom with them and that felt really good while still having a lot of support in ways that they would just help make introductions.
[00:24:03] Lauren Berlingeri: and even get their hands dirty in a lot of scenarios too as well. So that felt very lucky. Now we're in the process of fundraising again. And you know, I would say over those five years, so much has changed within Higher Dose as a company and what Katie and I are responsible for and how many people we have.
[00:24:19] Lauren Berlingeri: And going from a location business to a product business, and now going from Wallace Tech Company to more of this C P G company, there's just been so many amazing pivots that we've. naturally because we felt like that's what people wanted from us. Yeah. You know, it wasn't like we got stuck to an idea and we had to do that based out of ego, or we know better.
[00:24:42] Lauren Berlingeri: We very much listened to what it is that people are looking to have us soul for. I think that's been an amazing experience. . Yeah. And more
[00:24:50] Meghan Houle: product, like you said, more team members. How has the team grown? Tell us all about what the higher dose team looks like behind the scenes. And now I know you have so many other products like you were mentioning, but what's the day-to-day look like now in terms of all the things that you offer your offices?
[00:25:04] Meghan Houle: What's the day in the life of working with you guys?
[00:25:07] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah, I mean,
[00:25:08] Katie Kaps: we're remote forward, so I think mm-hmm. like a lot of companies. During the pandemic, we started working remote and we've. Kept that going, which I think is nice. It's a nice lifestyle perk for our staff, and we definitely want everybody to actually embrace life of health and wellness working for us.
[00:25:28] Katie Kaps: So that's part of our work life as being remote. And then I would say the biggest thing is for several years we had a very, very small team and everybody wore a lot of hats. We're still relatively small, like given our revenue runway, but I think we're actually starting to build out departments in the company.
[00:25:46] Katie Kaps: So we have a product team, a customer service team, a finance and ops team, a sales team. So it's just exciting to see things a little bit more siloed so that we can focus people more. I might say that's been like the biggest development in terms of our team in the last year.
[00:26:04] Meghan Houle: Tell me, where did the name higher dose come from?
[00:26:07] Meghan Houle: What was. Inspiration behind that. That was definitely a
[00:26:10] Katie Kaps: collab between Lauren and I. . I was thinking about this the other day because one of the first times I met Lauren, she showed me this really cool sizzle reel of her doing a bunch of workouts, and it had that song Stay High by tlo. You know that. Oh yeah.
[00:26:26] Katie Kaps: You know what I'm talking about? Mm-hmm. and I felt like it was kind of like a good theme for us and. Like I mentioned before, I was really kind of like addicted to these natural highs, and at one point I realized the acronym dose and how dose stands for dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins, which are your four main happy chemicals.
[00:26:45] Katie Kaps: And I feel like that's how Lauren and I were looking at health and wellness. It wasn't like, Just cookie cutter diet and exercise. Were like, what can we do to get high naturally and release dose? And then I think Lauren was like, well, what about higher dose? And then it just kind of like came together. So that was collab.
[00:27:03] Meghan Houle: Love it. Beautiful. And I don't think many people for, it's like if you know, you know for sure, but for the people that don't have access or know about all the amazing benefits, whether investing in a higher dose blanket or coming to visit one of the infrared on is in person, tell us what can we expect from this infrared light technology, whether visiting the sauna or doing it home.
[00:27:25] Meghan Houle: What are some of the benefits? That's my favorite
[00:27:29] Lauren Berlingeri: question. Yay. Actually, . Tell us Lauren notes. . Let me take that one. Okay. I still tell Katie about the benefits of infrared. I just can't help it. So I'll try to keep it high level cause I could go on forever. And I do encourage anyone that is interested to.
[00:27:46] Lauren Berlingeri: Look up the benefits online. There's multiple studies and I feel like, you know, you could be going into the sauna looking for one benefit and get a totally different one based on whatever it is that you need, and that's the beauty of infr. But generally speaking, what everyone should feel is this euphoric high, hence, get high naturally.
[00:28:03] Lauren Berlingeri: You do release serotonin and endorphins, but we do believe you release oxytocin and dopamine too as well. So serotonin, because in Fred's on the light spectrum, your eye picks up on the invisible light and you release serotonin so that happy chemical, that feel-good chemical, you know those happy lights.
[00:28:21] Lauren Berlingeri: That's infrared and, and red light therapies. And then endorphins, it speeds up your heart rate. So you are burning calories while you're in there, and you get this runner's high when you're running out with a friend and you're not going that fast, but you feel like you could talk about everything and mm-hmm , you can talk about how you wanna do this and this, and you feel so motivated.
[00:28:39] Lauren Berlingeri: You get that same feeling in a sauna, but just passively sitting there. It's amazing. And then dopamine. Whenever you're doing something good for yourself, you know all the benefits of infrared. You release a ton of dopamine just knowing you're going into the sauna, and then oxytocin, of course, when you're sitting there.
[00:28:56] Lauren Berlingeri: Naked with somebody sweating, having that runner's side. Or whenever I go into the sauna, I always do my self-massage, my body planning, my dry brushing to increase the detoxification process of an infrared sauna. Mm-hmm. . And that's really the main difference between traditional saunas and infrared saunas.
[00:29:14] Lauren Berlingeri: Is that infrared saunas can heat the body at a much lower temperature because they're heating the core of the body much like the sun does. Whereas traditional saunas heat the air. So it's more of a cardiovascular workout. Yeah. Whereas when you do the light therapy infrared, what it's doing is it's vibrating water molecules and pulling out heavy metals.
[00:29:34] Lauren Berlingeri: Radiation and environmental pollutants out of your fat cells. So it's this very oily sweat. And you sweat like you've never sweat before, but your body's not that hot. Yeah. So it feels very gentle, very healing. And what it's also doing is it's putting your body into parasympathetic mode, which is rest and digest versus sympathetic, which is your cortisol raising.
[00:29:56] Lauren Berlingeri: And when your body goes into that state of relaxation and. That's when you really set up your body to heal, and that's, I feel like where most of the healing benefits come from is just putting you from go, go, go stressed out to relaxation, calm, you know, healing state that continues onwards past the sauna.
[00:30:19] Lauren Berlingeri: It's not like you're only in the sauna and you feel amazing. You feel great. Hours afterwards. Days afterwards. Yeah. I mean your sleep is The sleep is
[00:30:27] Meghan Houle: everything like you just saying. Yeah. The sleep
[00:30:29] Lauren Berlingeri: is everything. Mm-hmm. . And I feel like in a world of stress, go, go, go. Blue light, you know, coffee stimulants, pressure, anxiety.
[00:30:39] Lauren Berlingeri: You know, it's really amazing to have a tool like infrared that can immediately just melt all that stuff away so that you are in this calm state so you can do your day-to-day functions. You know, like sleep or have a meeting online and feel calm and and relaxed and feel sweet and gentle to your partner afterwards.
[00:30:58] Lauren Berlingeri: It's kind of crazy cuz Katie and I would get in these big fights and we would always go in and do the sauna afterwards. Mm-hmm. and it would just mm-hmm. melt it all away and then we were always on the same page and it was like, heck just happened. It must have melted our ego or our inability to feel Yeah.
[00:31:16] Lauren Berlingeri: Hear the other person's argument cuz you're so in fight or flight or just needing to get your point across. It was right. Amazing. What it could do just in one session. So yeah. Yeah. I love that. That's some of the highlights, but definitely encourage you to learn more and everyone's gonna feel slightly different when they do the bread on.
[00:31:33] Meghan Houle: Yeah. Gosh. Moments of clarity and calm. Who doesn't need that these days? Amen. Well, and on top of that too, I know you guys. Some other incredible products that have really launched over the past couple years with the mats and the mats for your chair, which I feel like I need to invest in one pretty soon.
[00:31:51] Meghan Houle: And then your other products that you've just launched that go in conjunction with Total Wellness, tell us about some of the other offerings that you guys have on top of the blanket. Maybe there's some other things that will work for other listeners out there as well. Katie, do you want me to take that?
[00:32:09] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah. Yeah, so we, that was our first product, which was our sauna blanket, which is the take home version of our infrared sauna. Mm-hmm. , for numerous reasons, most people can't afford a sauna or don't have the space for it, and they just needed to be accessible. And we wanted to think about other products that we could have, because not everyone wants the commitment of sweating every day with using the sauna of blanket.
[00:32:33] Lauren Berlingeri: But once those other amazing benefits like downing cortisol are putting the body in relaxation or deepening. So we knew we wanted to create something that had those amazing effects, but without the commitment of sweating. So that's how we developed our mat, which is infrared. And then we have 25 pounds of crystal therapy.
[00:32:50] Lauren Berlingeri: And when you heat the crystals, it naturally produces a deep infrared ray, which is very therapeutic and what you would experience in nature. Also, amids negative ions, which you experience in nature. And then as well, we added a technology called P E M F, which is very complimentary to infr. Especially when you're laying on Infr and not wrapping your body in it because P E M F is pulse electromagnetic frequency.
[00:33:15] Lauren Berlingeri: It's a frequency that's very similar to the Earth's core frequency. It charges the body, it relaxes the body. It increases blood flow and circulation. It's an amazing technology. Much like Infr has so much research and so much studies out there on how it does all of those. , and again, Katie and I did not invent any of these technologies.
[00:33:35] Lauren Berlingeri: We're just making them more accessible to people. Yeah. And that Matt did extremely good. Well, out of the gate. Yeah. And then we developed our Go mat version, which is half the size that sits in a chair, which. Definitely Megan, we need to get you one that you could do your podcast in cause that would be so good too.
[00:33:51] Lauren Berlingeri: Can at least feel calm and relaxed. I need it. And yeah, we all go, I'm sitting on mine right now, Uhhuh. And then we wanted to launch our red light face mask red light. Much like inbred, much like P E M F again, is one of those amazing healing technologies that we feel like everyone should be doing because of the research, the studies, how gentle it is, how safe.
[00:34:12] Lauren Berlingeri: For everyone to be using, and it ultimately does the same benefits as infrared, but in a much different way. Mm-hmm. . So we launched our third product, which is our infrared red light base mask. Mm-hmm. . It has all these beauty benefits as well as downing cortisol levels, increasing your happy chemicals, and in feelgood mood and balancing hormones.
[00:34:34] Lauren Berlingeri: feeding the mitochondria so that every cell in your body's working better. And that did extremely well out of the gate as well and which felt, we've been very lucky. I think when you're on the right path and you're really developing a product that's solving for what people are really looking for, they're gonna do really well out of the gate, which is great.
[00:34:51] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah. And then from there we wanted to think about what other products that could we launch that really compliment these devices? Cuz we're always doing so many different things before we go into our sauna blanket or when we're on our. or before we put our red light face mask on, maybe we should be developing these products that really compliment the wellness tech and amplify the benefits.
[00:35:12] Lauren Berlingeri: So we focused on a whole line of topicals and ingestibles that are magnesium based. We landed on magnesium for multiple reasons. Mm-hmm. , I'm gonna try to keep it high level with all this, but again, I could talk about it forever. , but mainly it's an amazing mineral that most people are deficient in that's responsible for over 300 functions within the body.
[00:35:30] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah. And those functions are the main reasons why people come to higher dose in the first place. Detox, mood, sleep, you name it. So we've developed a line of topicals that are transdermal form of magnesium and ingestibles that you absorb the magnesium in the gut. So that's our hydration powder. Mm-hmm.
[00:35:48] Lauren Berlingeri: our detox tincture that you put in your water before you. And then our chilled shoes, which are amazing that go with the mat. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm . And then we have our body care line, which is our healing oil, which is an organic castor oil warming essential that makes you sweat and detox even more. We got our get salty magnesium spray that everyone should be spraying.
[00:36:07] Lauren Berlingeri: I always spray it before I lay on the mat cuz it holds current and amplifies the benefits of the Wallace Tech. But you know, wow, when you're about to sweat your pores, open up and absorb that magnesium and most people. Gut issue. So it's really great that you can absorb that mineral through the skin as well.
[00:36:22] Lauren Berlingeri: And then we also have our baso, which is magnesium zesting, baso, with things like french clay and algaes and apple cider vinegar, which all are great for skin and detoxification. , but it makes you relax and have the deepest sleep and they all smell so good. So we have all these amazing products that we really encourage people to try out that you don't need the wellness tech for.
[00:36:46] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah. But man, does it ever go well with the wellness tech?
[00:36:48] Meghan Houle: Absolutely. Well, I know Magnesium has been just really loud and forward for. I don't know the past year of just like how deficient we are and how many benefits there are. So if anyone listening to this podcast is not googling higher tools, , like, abso alarm might just hit me at all.
[00:37:04] Meghan Houle: I love there's ways to use it without the mats and you can invest in, in what you feel like is best for you and just keep adding on. So I love that there's so many diversifiers and thank you for sharing all. And all the wonderful benefits and information and before I let you go with a couple more questions, one big one, maybe like putting you on the spot now, Katie, what are you most proud of, sort of career to date now with higher dose with the brand?
[00:37:29] Meghan Houle: What would you say as a female, amazing, badass entrepreneur, what's really sitting with you where you're like, damn, I'm so proud of that we did this, or I got through it. Any thoughts there?
[00:37:41] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah, I mean,
[00:37:41] Katie Kaps: I'm really proud of how successful we've been with how little capital we've raised. We've been extremely resourceful and efficient, and our revenue run rates like dozens and dozens of times more than the capital we raised, so I'm really proud of
[00:37:57] Meghan Houle: that.
[00:37:58] Meghan Houle: That's awesome. Coming from the finance side. Exactly. . So yes. Katie's like, oh, we're making money. Oh, . Lauren, what about you? What are you really proud of
[00:38:09] Lauren Berlingeri: in general, overall too? Yeah, I am really proud of that, but I'm really proud that Katie and I get to create products that help people feel their best.
[00:38:21] Lauren Berlingeri: There's nothing better than that. I think people always ask us our why, and it's really. We get to help people. And that sounds, I guess in a way pretty obvious, but we really are, like the testimonials that we get from people on how we're helping them with their Lyme disease or detoxing of heavy metals or, you know, melting away anxiety or improving their sleep, or, you know, helping them on their weight loss journey.
[00:38:46] Lauren Berlingeri: It's just been. pretty amazing. And we always make sure to circulate those testimonials within the team. And yeah, it really helps a lot when you have such a strong why like that it really makes us feel like we're not working. Yeah. And when we do get stressed out about the small things, we always just kind of look back to, to the bigger picture.
[00:39:04] Lauren Berlingeri: And I love
[00:39:04] Meghan Houle: your beautiful story of just coming together about not being about finances, but actually like helping people. and being so mission led there and everything else kind of falls into place when you're doing all the right things and you also have like such an amazing community. I know you're present, I know you show up a lot on social media and I'm doing all your biohacking.
[00:39:22] Meghan Houle: There's a lot of different ways to find you and engage with you. So one more question then I will definitely let you go cuz. It's a busy day, I can imagine over here. What are you guys loving to do beyond higher dose? Like any fun activities or like talents or like quirky things that you're doing beyond working we all have to balance.
[00:39:40] Meghan Houle: But Lauren, what are you loving to do beyond higher dose? And then Katie, we'll, we'll leave it with you and wrap it up. Sounds
[00:39:45] Lauren Berlingeri: really boring, but I love working out. I've always been a workout person. Mm-hmm. . I would say outside of hot and cold therapy, my second favorite thing to do that makes me feel the best is going to the gym.
[00:39:58] Lauren Berlingeri: You know, my evolution of how I've worked out has changed so much over the years. You know, when I was doing women versus workout, I was doing, you know, 10 miles in the morning running and then Muay Thai at night, and my nervous system was all outta of whack my hormones. I couldn't sleep through the night.
[00:40:12] Lauren Berlingeri: I would literally sleep, walk, and make myself oatmeal in the middle of the night, and I couldn't control myself. Oh, geez. Just to put my nervous system at ease so I could have a deep. Which was wild to me. So the progression of that has always been more tapping into my body and listening to what actually is serving me in the moment.
[00:40:32] Lauren Berlingeri: And that constantly changes. And I never used to do that before. If I wasn't getting faster and stronger than before, which I feel like is a very masculine way of thinking about things. Mm-hmm. , then I wasn't doing enough. Whereas now I always just think of what's gonna make me feel the best. And since then, yeah, I'm actually achieving the.
[00:40:52] Lauren Berlingeri: That I wanted to back, you know, 15 years ago Yeah. When I was doing too much.
[00:40:57] Meghan Houle: Yep. Isn't it amazing? I feel the same way not to, but the fact that there was, or maybe it was early on of like, you have to sweat and you have to like, feel like you're near failure to feel like you have a good workout. That's not how it is anymore.
[00:41:08] Meghan Houle: Like, do what is right for you in your body and I'm right there with you seeing some changes and shifts in my mindset about working out. The results come, it's really in. .
[00:41:17] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah. I'm not a big tracker. I'm not like, how many calories? No. What am I eating? And yeah, I feel like that made me spiral out and not feel happy and not be in the present moment.
[00:41:27] Lauren Berlingeri: And the second I just let all of that go and I'm literally just trying to feel my best. Mm-hmm. is exactly when I get this, this body, this mind, my skin, my sleep is just all sorted itself out. So yeah, I would encourage people to just have a better relationship with their selves and tap in. And notice when you're kind of cycling in a healthy way and when you can try to let that go and surrender.
[00:41:52] Lauren Berlingeri: How much more comes to you
[00:41:53] Meghan Houle: and get back on track. And I have to do like true confessional. I do have a diet Coke every now and then. once
[00:41:59] Lauren Berlingeri: in a while. , trust me. I have, I was just kidding. So many things. . I have so many things that I still like to do here or there.
[00:42:06] Meghan Houle: I mean, it's all in moderation, right? I agree.
[00:42:08] Meghan Houle: Not 16 diet Cokes where I was on that train with you. But, uh, love that. Well, thank you for sharing all that, Lauren. Like you are such a beautiful soul and I just am so appreciative of all the products and everything you guys are bringing to. Katie, before we let you both go, like what are you loving to do beyond, beyond the work balance?
[00:42:24] Meghan Houle: I love
[00:42:25] Katie Kaps: music. Yeah. So if I didn't have to work, I would probably figure out how to do something in music. I love making playlists and it just, yeah, music just makes me feel alive and releases dopamine. So also on brand .
[00:42:42] Meghan Houle: Yes, very much so. Well, listen, I mean, I think in terms of engaging with you guys and finding out more about higher dose, the benefits, all your products, where's the best way to land on all things?
[00:42:54] Meghan Houle: I mean, I know you guys have a great social channel, but what's the best way to find everything and engage with you both? Yeah, you couldn't go
[00:42:59] Katie Kaps: to our website, higher dose.com. Also, our company Instagram handle is at higher dose. My Instagram handle is at letter K, letter t k a. And Lauren, if you wanna give yours.
[00:43:15] Lauren Berlingeri: Yeah, mine is Lauren Berliner Berlin, like the city in Germany, and then G e R I. And then definitely check out our biohackers episodes. They're on our website under our blog biohackers. And then, yeah, check us out. Definitely ose. I don't know if you said that one, Katie.
[00:43:33] Meghan Houle: Link everything. , all different
[00:43:35] Lauren Berlingeri: ways.
[00:43:36] Lauren Berlingeri: Link, yes, link it all. There's lots of
[00:43:37] Meghan Houle: links. Link it all. Lots of links. Well, and I think it's so fun watching your episodes and I know there's in this community too, I mean, with a lot of people that listen in that are. It's definitely those retail career professionals, professionals from all of our industries, super burnt out, not knowing benefits or like what's possible or wanting to change up their routine.
[00:43:57] Meghan Houle: I think there's a lot of options here. I'm so incredible to hear about your journeys and really finding and coming together and finding your passions to bring this brand to life, and I'm so excited and happy for all your success and thank you so much for joining us. I know you're changing lives and routines and happiness of total wellness of humans and investing in your product.
[00:44:16] Meghan Houle: I just love your brand story and the perseverance you maintain through this journey and the way you let each other shine, and bringing your unique talents together to build this incredible business. So lots more to come. So thanks again and I can't wait to continue to see all you have up your sleeve.
[00:44:31] Meghan Houle: So everyone, click on a higher dose, click on all the links, invest in products where you can. I promise you you'll not be sorry you did. And thank you both for being here with me. I really appreciate your time. That was awesome. Thank you
[00:44:44] Lauren Berlingeri: so much. Thank you, .
[00:44:47] Meghan Houle: Thank you for tuning into another episode of PIB With Purpose.
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