Have you ever wondered how a simple shift in perspective can transform your entire approach to health and wellness? In this wellness podcast, I’m thrilled to share my personal journey through the fitness industry alongside my best friend Jill. Together, we’ll explore the ups and downs of my career, which began in the mid-90s—a time when women were often told that cardio was the only path to fitness. I’ll reveal how I navigated the challenges of health issues and significant life transitions, ultimately discovering the empowering benefits of strength training.
Have you ever wondered how a simple shift in perspective can transform your entire approach to health and wellness? In this wellness podcast, I’m thrilled to share my personal journey through the fitness industry alongside my best friend Jill. Together, we’ll explore the ups and downs of my career, which began in the mid-90s—a time when women were often told that cardio was the only path to fitness. I’ll reveal how I navigated the challenges of health issues and significant life transitions, ultimately discovering the empowering benefits of strength training.
As we dive into my experiences, I’ll discuss the misconceptions surrounding women’s health, particularly the myths about carbohydrate consumption. It’s time to debunk these outdated beliefs and embrace a balanced diet that fuels our bodies and minds. I firmly believe that nutrition for women should prioritize healthy eating and adequate protein intake, especially for women over 35 who are looking to build lean muscle and maintain energy levels.
Throughout our conversation, we’ll touch on important topics like menopause workouts, mental health, and the significance of self-care. I’ll share my insights on how fitness motivation evolves as we age, and why it’s crucial to adapt our workout tips to fit our changing bodies. Whether you're navigating PCOS and fitness challenges or seeking guidance on period and training, this episode is packed with valuable information tailored specifically for midlife women’s health.
I invite you to join us in embracing a holistic approach to wellness that allows for flexibility and enjoyment while striving for optimal well-being. Remember, it’s not just about toning workouts or weight loss; it’s about creating a lifestyle that supports your overall health journey. Tune in to discover how you can transform your mindset and elevate your fitness game! Let’s redefine what it means to be healthy together on this episode of your favorite wellness podcast!
If you're interested in womens health, this is the podcast for you.
Get FREE lifetime access to my 4-week Strength Without Stress program today! This unique program helps you build lean muscle and reduce inflammation—without the fatigue from long or intense workouts. All you need to do is post a review of my podcast, grab a screenshot, and upload it at: hollyperkins.com/review
This offer won’t last—soon it will sell for $197. Don’t miss your chance to grab it free!
Resources:
• Get 20% off Creatone creatine by Brickhouse Nutrition here by entering code HOLLYP here.
• Transcripts can be found on the official blog page for this episode here hollyperkins.com/blog
• Find me on Instagram: @hollyperkins
• Discover more on my website: hollyperkins.com
+Follow so you'll know exactly when new episodes are available on Tuesdays.
Speaker #0 I am so excited to do this. This is definitely out of my comfort zone and certainly a different approach to the podcast than I've ever done before. But Jill, I'm so excited to do this with you. I think this is such a great idea. And I think it would be great to just introduce you and tell us a little bit about you before we jump into the interview. Speaker #1 Absolutely. Hi, everybody. So I'm Jill, and I've been Holly's best friend for over 10 years. And, you know, I can tell you there's a lot you probably don't know about this woman behind the weights. I've had the honor of supporting Holly behind the scenes for my gosh, over 10 years. And more officially in the last year, I've come on to the team, I've met many of you, and I really feel so honored and excited to support. Holly's brand really by bringing on aligned partners, supporting during enrollment, helping really build the business from the inside out. A lot of what you don't see behind the scenes. And while I'm not a fitness coach, some of you will ask me fitness questions. I'm very passionate about helping women really change their bodies and really passionate about this work. In fact, I personally am enrolled in the body composition project. We did a podcast about that a few months ago in an episode. Scroll back, you'll see it. But I joined it and I've really been doing it this round. So that's how much I believe in the work. And I had an idea yesterday, Holly and I were talking and I said, why don't we do like a behind the scenes of Holly? So it's the conversations that we've had so many, too many to count over coffee, wine, even an IPA beer. That's her favorite, not mine, where we talk about what it really takes to create the body you need to keep up with the life you love. Like that, Holly? I used your tagline. Speaker #0 I love it. Good job. Speaker #1 So let's go with that. Should I start interviewing you? It's kind of a reverse podcast today where I'm interviewing Holly and we're getting to learn a little bit more about Holly and her journey, like I said, beyond just the magic and the incredible knowledge base she has in strength training and fitness and eating. There's so much more that I know people love to learn. And that was really the inspiration for this episode. Speaker #0 I love it. Let's go. Speaker #1 Let's go. So let's go all the way back. What moment made you realize that strength training really was your life's work? Speaker #0 Wow, this goes way back. So as you know, I've been in the fitness industry my entire adult life. And as soon as I graduated college, I became a personal trainer. And gosh, this was in the mid 90s. It was a very different fitness landscape than it is right now. this was actually, if you can believe it, this was before the internet when I started my career. And so, you know, back in those days, fitness was a bit more fringe. And I think we all were just really trying to figure things out. There was not a lot of science to fitness yet. And so it was a lot of trial and error. It was a lot of learning from someone else who was a self-professed expert, right so I learned from mentors. I had other coaches that I followed. And for the majority, I would say probably for half, yeah, about half of my professional career, there really was, you know, fitness was cardio. It was running. It was dance classes. It was cycling or spinning. And strength training, especially for women, was very unusual. Most women did not do strength training. Maybe they would pick up a one or a two pound weight in like a dance aerobics class, but that was like the extent of it. And so for the early part of my career, where I was a trainer and a coach, I was also my own guinea pig. And I was also on an exploration to really find the holy grail of human optimization performance. fitness, energy, body composition, all of those things. And it was a very long road, largely because we didn't have the internet. And in my, it was about my mid-30s, I really was just going through a life transition. I had been living in New York City for 10 years, really struggling with symptoms of depression, not feeling well. At the time, I didn't know it, but I had an autoimmune condition My diet was nowhere near what it needed to be for optimal health and I didn't know these things. All I knew was I felt terrible and I felt that I needed a new direction in life. And so I moved to Los Angeles. I knew no one. I completely started my business over as a personal trainer there. And I was in one of those phases where it was just like the dark night of the soul or maybe Saturn return. It was really trying to figure out myself and life. And the one thing I knew was that Most
of the time, I didn't feel well. At that same time, the internet had now become more popular. And actually, we were now using Facebook and social media became a thing. And I started to realize that the missing element really, in my own human performance, was to double down and get very serious on strength training. I had always been strength training, but it really was more um you know, kind of a pastime. It was really more something that we were supposed to do, but I hadn't learned it. I hadn't studied it. I hadn't really applied it to myself appropriately. And it was then during this transition in my life where I shifted everything in terms of my approach to nutrition and fitness. Instead of focusing on cardio and low carb, I turned it on its head and I started focusing on strength training and eating carbs. And Everything changed. And it was during that phase where I really got good with strength training that I experienced firsthand that when you feel physically strong, it really does impact all aspects of your life. I noticed that I felt stronger in my personal life. I felt more confident in my professional life, I felt that Whenever I had to address a conflict or a difficult person in my life, I felt physically stronger and that really impacted how I carried myself. And I felt like the stronger I got, the more muscle I had, everything in my life got better. And that was when it clicked. I realized I was ahead of my time because very few people were talking about strength training specifically for women. and I had this really just kind of like it was, I remember it was in a yoga class. I had a big epiphany. It was as if, you know, my spiritual guides came in and gave me a specific message. And that message was strength training is the path to really alleviate so much suffering for women because it impacts your hormones, your energy, how you feel, your mood, your confidence, everything about your mind-body connection. the physical body, the spiritual life, and also your personality. And that's when I was like, I'm going all in. So I would say that was probably like right around my mid 30s, I think. And so we're going back almost 15, oh, gosh, almost 20 years now, where it was like, okay, that is the focus. That is what I'm going to be teaching everything around. And, you know, here we are, we're finally in a very different landscape where women understand the importance and the power of strength training. Speaker #1 I love that. Thank you so much for sharing behind the scenes. I don't think you share that story publicly that often. I love that. So here's something that, you know, many of you know, Holly is a redhead and, you know, redheads sometimes get a reputation for being like hot, you know, and I've had some moments where I'm like, Holly's cool. She's calm. Nothing rocks her. Oh, but when Holly gets rocked, I call it redhead Holly and redhead Holly sometimes comes out. So I say that to say it doesn't happen often. It's like in my all, I don't know, 10 plus years of knowing her, I think I've seen Redhead Holly three or four times. So it's very rarely. But one time, you know, it's around these fitness myths sometimes that comes out too. And she'll go off on a rant. So what's one myth about women in fitness that just drives you absolutely insane? And sometimes it activates Redhead Holly. Speaker #0 Oh, gosh. Um, low carb. And, oh boy. Yeah, that definitely ignites Redhead Holly is this idea that eating fewer carbs is your salvation, that it is the solution to weight loss or fat loss. New science is emerging that is really revealing that we've gone down this path that If you have hormonal issues along the lines of, let's say, PCOS, or insulin resistance, or syndrome X, or you are on the precipice of diabetes, the kind of current landscape is that you start to restrict carbohydrates to improve insulin sensitivity. And I don't want to get too sciencey today, because I know today is really more of like a personal interview. but I lately have been getting really hot under the collar When a client comes to me, who has been struggling for years. I've got a couple right now, some are in their 30s, some are in their 40s, some are in their 50s, where they had been working with medical doctors, functional nutritionists, functional medicine doctors, chiropractors, a number of very credentialed, very respectable providers. And the protocol was to reduce their carbohydrates. And the idea is that their A1C or their resting glucose or their insulin sensitivity would improve. And therefore, their symptoms associated with those health issues would improve. And what I have
seen now on at least eight occasions, firsthand with clients that have come to me, is that even with a further reduction of carbohydrates, all the way down to less than 100 grams of carbs a day, these women were not getting better. Now, some of them weren't getting worse, but they weren't getting better. And I said, why are you continuing to go down this path? If it's not getting you better, you're not seeing an improvement by eliminating or reducing carbs down to an ultra low level. And Which case she would say to me, I hadn't thought about that. I was following the advice of medical doctors and thought leaders and really and truly, like I said, a very respectable people in their field. And I said, you know, that doesn't line up with my experience. Let's take your carbohydrates up to where human biology wants it. You know, the human body is really built for certain amount of carbohydrates. And in my school, in my... sphere, if you will, that's a minimum of 40% of your daily calories coming from carbohydrates. And so many women were terrified to take their carbohydrates up to 40%, thinking that was so high, which it's actually not. Technically, 40% carbohydrates is considered low carb, by the way. And, you know, through some handholding and some coaching and some guidance. They brought their carbohydrates up to 40% and lo and behold, they started feeling better and their lab work started to improve. And so I was able to convince them to come up to 45% carbs. Things got even better. Most of these clients are now up to 50% carbohydrates in their daily diet and their labs are finally changing. And that's because when you give the human body what it's really designed for, it gets better. So I lately have been getting real hot. around this just pervasive notion that carbs are a problem. We have been in this like landscape for 30 years now and nothing is getting better. You would think those other thought leaders, those other medical professionals would kind of get the memo also and start to look at it differently. And so I would say like right now this week and this month, that's the thing that the myth that absolutely drives me nuts and yes, can bring out redhead Holly. Speaker #1 I love it. I love it. Well, let's say, you know, Redhead Holly is a part of you, but there's also the part that I know that I think Holly is one of the hardest workers. I think she's one of the most dedicated people to herself, to her path, to her mission. And, you know, life gets hard at times. And, you know, you started in New York, you are up early in the morning. You know, at the time I met Holly, frankly, she was going to the gym at 5 a.m. and meeting clients and ending her day at three. And, you know, she had to be up early. So she would go to bed really early. I'm like, how am I ever going to be friends with this person? She's literally living in the gym all the time and then saying she's tired all the time, but she's so cool. And in the background, I actually met Holly. I was doing some sales and enrollment for a retreat and she was training. She was the trainer for the retreat host. essentially. So we had a lot of free time. We met in Hawaii. I started doing walking lunges on the beach with her. And I was like, she is so cool, but I need more than seven days to be friends with her. And after the retreat, I was like listening to our lifestyle. We happen to both live in LA. I really didn't know like how she did it. So going back to that time, Holly, was there a time you ever gave up on this path? I mean, those are hard hours in the gym and then you transferred. I convinced her to maybe get out of the gym and do this online thing because I can have a friend. And if I'm being honest and my selfish motives and online business and being a business owner is not an easy path. Have you ever or almost given up on either one of those paths later this path as a you know educator trainer you're so much more than just someone who goes in the gym yeah wow what a I mean such such a good question and you even just took me through like the ages and stages of my career and it really is true like Speaker #0 I work my booty off and this is a very hard type of business to run and being a personal trainer in the gym for eight ten hours a day is a very hard business as well. And so the times where, when I think back to the few times where I thought, do I want to go in a different direction in my life? It was always because of physical exhaustion. It was always when I was having a health hiccup. And I've had a couple of those chapters in my life where I was just depleted to the bone and
tapped out and exhausted. and frustrated and confused. It was always only in those moments that I was like, maybe I need to find a different path in life that's just easier, whether that's physically easier or from a like mental bandwidth perspective, right? I think something a lot of people don't realize is like my business doesn't ever shut down. Like even on Christmas day, I was doing work, right? Like my business doesn't ever shut down and therefore my brain doesn't ever shut down. And. The times when I was like, ooh, physically not feeling well, and even still, you know, there are days when I'm like, if I'm exhausted because I've worked too hard or I haven't taken any time off, and I'm just depleted mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, it's, ugh, can I keep doing this? And ultimately, every single time when I have confronted that question, Thankfully. I've always said to myself, if I felt physically amazing right now, what would I choose to do? Like if life was awesome, and I felt great, what decision would I make here? And it was just always so unanimous and obvious that I'm like, this is my calling in life. Like I have zero doubts. The remedy is I need to get better at self care. And that might sound kind of ironic, because I'm in the business of helping people. healthier, right? But you know, when you're a business owner, and for many of my years, I was, you know, a solo business owner, I was by myself, I didn't have a partner. And I've always run my business by myself. You know, it's a, it's easy for me to put my self care aside and work myself to the bone at times, just like other people do in different areas. And so those are the only times when I'm like, oh, I don't wanna, right? But when I really stop and look at. my life's joy and what I get so passionate about and what I obsess about even in the middle of the night. It's always this helping women use strength training and nutrition to improve their body composition so that their life improves through a health improvement. It's all tied together. And so, you know, thankfully, I feel like I've always had this guiding light that just kept me going through the tough times. Speaker #1 I love that. You just keyed up the next question because you literally almost said your own tagline. You know, a lot of times in business, you're advised for any business owners listening, you know, to in a sentence, say what you do and, you know, make it where someone remembers it. And you just kind of spoke to that in your own life. So the next question I have is, you know, your business tagline. But really, the thing you talk so much about is, you know, you needing needing the body or having the body you need to keep up with the life you love. And, you know, as you were sharing, you talked a little bit about self-care. Specifically right now, what does that look like for you when you're practicing that in your own life? Speaker #0 You know, there's so much I want to do in life. I have a lot of interests in things unrelated to my professional life, right? And life can be so fun and there's so much to do and so many places to go. and things to learn. And when you're tired, or you don't feel well, it's hard to have that fun. It's hard to really explore that part of life. So like, for me right now, it's You know, I want to live the biggest life I can. And I know if I don't have my physical body in check, I'm unable to really show up for all those fun things in life, whether it's travel or an adventure or a new activity or learning a new skill, or even making a new recipe in the kitchen, whatever it may be. If you're tired, you don't feel well, it's hard to do that. And so for me, That's really what it's about. It's like in the times of my life when I was in peak physical performance, I was able to show up for life so much more and be in life so much more. I was unstoppable. Fatigue was less of an issue. My days were longer. I slept less and still felt good, right? And so for me, that's what it's about right now. It's like really getting my biology dialed in because I've been in this industry now for over 30 years. My 20-year-old body was very different than my 30-year-old body, was very different than my 40-year-old body. And now that I'm in my 50s, it's a very different physical body. And so for each decade, you have to adopt different practices. And so I am in that right now where it's like, okay, you know, the latest practice to keep me feeling optimal has a lot to do with nutrition. And it even more so is about getting strength training dialed in. So much so that now in my 50s, I'm doing the least amount of cardio I've ever done in my entire life. And that's part of the recipe for
really keeping me feeling vibrant and energized and excited about whatever the adventure is on the day's plan. Speaker #1 I love that. I love that. And that is so true, too. Like if, you know, the phrase, too, if you have all the money in the world, but you don't have health, right? You have nothing at all. Speaker #0 Yeah. Yeah. Speaker #1 And that's, Speaker #0 that's really true. And you know, like there were times in my life, I think when I was younger and I felt like invincible, nothing's going to stop me. And then when I had a chapter in life where I was really struggling with, you know, physical health, um, you know, this, this idea of like, there was a time when I was like, well, but if I had all the money in the world, I could go to all of the best doctors in Switzerland or Mexico or wherever it may be, right, and go to the best doctors to get the health that I need to get healthy. And that's when I realized, like, we have stories every day in the media of people, you know, famous people who have all the money in the world, and yet they pass away from cancer or some other you know, life-threatening disease that like money and the best doctors in the world couldn't fix. And that really is true. You know, our health is a little uncertain as we start to get into our 60s and 70s. It starts to get, you know, trickier, if you will. But there literally is nothing in life more important than getting your health dialed in and doing everything that you can do right now to at least, you know, add to the stockpile of health that you may need to draw upon in the future. Speaker #1 Absolutely. Absolutely. And again, going back to you, keeping it a little more personal. She's amazing at giving advice and giving coaching, and you're the most well-studied, well-read, honestly, in terms of fitness and health person I know. Personally, what's something that you are currently working on that's really active for you right now when it comes to your own health in this decade, as you were saying? I love how you said that. It's different each decade. Speaker #0 Yeah, so this is a unique one. And that's because for the majority of my adult life, I had... pure 100% focus on my professional life. And therefore, I would structure my days, my habits and my life from the place of like, what do I need to eat to optimize my health, whether I like it or not, right? Like if I need to eat raw broccoli all day long, so that I can perform well, I will. So you know, my life, my life took a really wonderful shift four years ago when I met my now husband. And I hadn't been in a relationship for a very long time. And so I, like I said, I was really able to structure all my habits and all my life around just like body optimization, like eating for optimal performance. Right. And so, you know, when I met my husband, he eats differently than I do. And we also went into a phase or I went into a phase of life that was really about like celebration and joy and like really and truly celebrating like every single day. Cause I really had something finally for the first time that was worthy of big celebration. And so my life in the past four years has shifted a little away from like eating for optimal performance, going to bed for optimal performance at the right time, getting up at a certain time. It has shifted away from that because it's like life has gotten good. Wait, Speaker #1 was that the inner Holly voice before? Speaker #2 The voice you just had? That's what everyone now knows. That was the inner voice that drove Holly before. What does the inner voice now sound like? Let's have a beer and then we'll work out in the morning. Speaker #0 Totally. Like the inner voice now is like, life is fun. Let's have a beer, right? Let's go out to eat. I don't have to get up at five o'clock in the morning. We can sleep in a little because now it's cozy and I've got someone I actually want to stay in bed with, right? And so like this season of life for me is a bit more about joy and. you know, pleasure eating, if you will. And I do think that like, there's a time and place for that absolutely without a doubt. Most people, it's the flip flop, most of their life was pleasure eating, and now they have to learn performance eating and performance lifestyle, right? I'm all the opposite. It's like, I'm a late bloomer in the sense of like, finding that kind of joy and pleasure in my life. I'm very late to come around to totally fine. I'm not judging one way or the other, but it's like both can exist and There are seasons of crackdown where you are really choosing your habits and behaviors to support performance. And then there's seasons that are a little less rigid. And this is the first time in my life that I've really had to confront
that season, right? And so for me, it's like keeping some of that, I guess, ease and joy and lack of structure and precision and performance, but also balancing it with that so that I feel well. And so, you know, while I am 100% choosing into some of my current lifestyle habits that I like consciously choose into and feel good about and don't feel any sense of guilt or remorse, I also know I don't feel as well physically, right? Like, I am someone who my habits really do indicate how well I feel physically. I mean, it is such a direct correlation. Now, I believe that's every human, but it's really powerful for me. And so what I'm working on right now is getting back to that like balance, where it's like, I'm optimal, but I can have an IPA if I want one on the weekend. I feel great in the morning when I get up, right? But I also don't have to get up at 530 in the morning. And so it's just really finding that perfect balance. Less so, so that I look ripped for my next exercise video or my next photo shoot and more so that I just feel like unstoppable and powerful and energized. And really and truly, you know, when we go back to the myths that drive me nuts and get me a little hot under the collar, really where I'm coming around to is an awareness that for all women, um There are some very serious downsides to being ripped and lean and six pack abs. And yet, so many women think that's what they're striving for. But the truth is, you will actually feel better and be healthier if you've got some body fat on you. And we can put numbers to what that is. I really believe it's around 75 to 80% lean muscle mass percentage, right? But like, For me, what I'm learning firsthand is that it is that in between, that balance of When I was, you know, 12% body fat and 115 pounds, I could perform like a beast in the gym. But there were other aspects of my life that were harder because I was so lean. And I would almost argue that wasn't optimal health. It was optimal fitness. It was peak performance for sure. But I'm not convinced it was optimal health. And so this is the season of realizing that like if a person really wants to be optimally healthy, it does come with some body fat. And that's hard for me to be okay with that. Right. So yeah, that's, I could go on and on and on, obviously, and this is deeply personal, but that's the season I'm in right now. Speaker #1 I love that. I love that for you. And yeah, it's been really fun as a like, dear friend to see this evolution. And yeah, it's so, so great. And I'm so happy for you. So what's one thing that people might be a little shocked to learn about you? Speaker #2 You know, I think, okay, the people... Speaker #0 And clients and participants and friends in my community that have become clients who actively coach with me, they're inside the Body Composition Project, or they see me every week, they interact with me every week, might not be surprised to hear this. But a podcast listener, or maybe someone who doesn't know me as their coach yet, would be surprised to hear this. And that is, my diet is not perfect, and I don't kill myself in the gym. And I think a lot of people are often surprised where it's like, wait, you eat some sugar, you drink alcohol. And I think the world has this notion that if you are at a healthy body weight, or you're lean, or you're fit, or you're strong, it means all this restriction. And so I think people would be surprised to know that like, yes, I drink alcohol twice a week. Yes, I rely on caffeine on days when I probably shouldn't. And Yes, I learned to make my own homemade caramel over the holidays. And that was probably a very bad habit to start because it's so addictive. But like, there's a lot of flexibility and normal in my life. And I think people are surprised to learn that about me. Speaker #1 Yeah, no, I love, I love hearing that. I love that you share that. I was talking to someone recently. And the reason they signed up for the body composition project, they actually said, I love that I can eat a donut and not feel guilty. Like Holly shared, she ate a donut. And I feel like in your living of a normal life, it also normalizes normal life because most people don't wake up and eat, you know, four ounces of ground turkey and rice and broccoli and get to the gym. And then three hours later, you know, do a two hour cardio like most women in the community have. jobs and family and commitments and don't have the only sole priority of training for a bodybuilding competition. You know, I'd say that's actually a very, very small percentage of people that are in this community, you know, so I love that you embody real life and how
that really works. And your training for real life and consistency. It's not like a short term, you know, do this program and get a short-term result. Speaker #0 Yeah. And you know, I think like that's such a great way to phrase it. I think women have this idea that in order to lose weight or get leaner, it's all or nothing. It's a perfectly clean diet or not. And the truth is, it actually doesn't take a lot to really improve or transform your body. And so as long as you're able to implement certain practices or protocols that move you in the right direction. Then it's just a function of a matter of time and the degree of discomfort you're willing to deal with. But the truth is, it's like, you know, I lose weight at 2000 calories a day. And that's because of, you know, a lifetime of walking my walk and talking my talk. And I think people are surprised about that. I can lose weight and have a donut. I can. I can lose weight and eat caramel if I want to. I can lose weight and eat pizza and have a beer on the weekend if I want to. And I think a lot of people think. you can't have any of these like fun foods or indulgent foods at all. And I think people think you have to work out every single day for two hours to transform your body. And that's actually not true. In fact, I would argue it's counterproductive. And so I do, you know, I will say I think I do a really good job of walking the walk of what's realistic for most women. And while I'm not in cover model shape right now, I know I could be if I really wanted to, and it wouldn't take that long. I know exactly how to do it and what to do. I'm choosing into it or not. And I think that is something I do very well with people because, oh, by the way, your experience in one of my programs isn't about my habits or my goals. It's about what you want for yourself. Speaker #1 Yeah, I love that. I love that. Well, I was going to say, I'll share the thing that I was most shocked to learn about about Holly. I didn't think she was going to share this one, but her first job, one of my favorite questions to ask new friends is like, what was your first job when you were a teenager? What's one of the first things you did? And Holly shared that she was a Mary Kay sales rep, and she was so motivated to save, I think it was, was it for like nails or jewelry? And you were like building your business as a teenager. Is that true, Holly, of what you're saving for? Speaker #0 Oh my gosh. I think it's so... funny that you remember that story. So yes, at a very young age, I was always entrepreneurial. And I was a girly girl, I wanted clothing, and I wanted fancy handbags, and I wanted jewelry. And you know, my family couldn't afford that we were very middle class. And so I was like, fine, well, then I'm gonna go get a job. And so I think I was like, fifth or sixth grade. going door to door in my neighborhood selling Mary Kay makeup. Isn't that hilarious? I wasn't very good at it, by the way, because it was very like nervous making to go like knocking on doors, right? But I had a few sweet little old ladies that were my customers and it allowed me to get the makeup, you know, for either you would either get it for free or get it like super discounted. But I loved it. And then very quickly, my next job was actually working at an ice cream shop at the mall. And so starting at a very young age, I always had a job. I always was very entrepreneurial. And so I don't think it's any surprise that, you know, for the majority of my professional career, I've worked for myself now. Yeah. Speaker #1 I love it. And this is why we are friends. I was like, I was selling magazines door to door and loving it. Was actually really good at it by seventh grade. You were. That's hilarious. All right. Well, last. question and thank you everyone for for joining us if you have any other personal questions you want to know just dm holly on instagram it's uh at holly perkins and you know she shares a lot of incredible personal and professional information on her instagram if that is a place you like to be holly's there um so we'll look for any other questions we could do this podcast in a few few months from now we'll do a drop in again but we'll wrap this one with if your life had a theme song right now, what would it be? Speaker #0 Oh gosh, you're going to die. Oh boy. This is almost embarrassing to even say. So on our
Spotify, when Dave and I were working out one day in the gym, you know how sometimes they will kind of offer you up a song that you haven't listened to, or maybe like new music, right? Yeah. Yeah. old Britney Spears song called Work It, B-I-T-C-H. It is the most hilarious song. That has been my theme song for the past couple of months. And when we work out, we're playing that. And I just think it's hilarious. If you don't know the song, you should listen to it. It's kind of campy. It's totally goofy. But she's like, you know, if you want a fancy car, if you want a big mansion, if you want... a hot body, you better work at B-I-T-C-H. And then it's like, if you want a Maserati, if you want a Lamborghini, if you want to, you know, party in France, you better work at B-I-T-C-H. Speaker #1 Oh my gosh. Speaker #0 I think right now is probably my theme song at this time, because this is definitely like a building time in my business. I want to grow my business with my next book coming out and with the Body Composition Project. I'm definitely in like a heavy work phase of my life right now. And so I think that hilariously and kind of like in a tongue in cheek way would be my theme song at this time. Speaker #1 Oh, my gosh. I love it. I just I just pulled up the lyrics as as you were saying it. This is great. Bring it on. Ring the alarm or get hard like it's your profession. All right. Well, with that, I better go work it. So, you know, we could get the Bugatti and the Maserati. Exactly. It was so fun. fun being with you here today, Holly. It's so fun being on your team, being in your community and being your friend. So this is a really fun podcast for me. I hope it was for you. Speaker #0 Thank you. Thank you. What a blast. I'm so glad you as listeners enjoyed it and hopefully we'll do it again.