A New Way of Life Through Healing Your Gut with Lauren Mones

Welcome to True Grit and Grace, a podcast designed to empower you to claim your resilience and thrive through life's challenges. I am Amberly Lago, a mindset coach, fitness expert, and bestselling author. Each week, I'll dive deep with the world's brightest thought leaders and elite performers to share tangible tools and practical advice to inspire you to keep your eyes on the prize and forge ahead. So get ready to conquer your fears, heal any trauma, lead with your heart, and elevate your life with grit and grace.

Hey, and welcome back to the True Grit and Grace podcast. I'm so glad that you're here with us today. I have my friend Lauren Moniz with us. We were originally introduced by my other friend John and Katherine Gordon, and they're like, you've got to meet her. You have to try her products. And I'm like, I don't know what? Then I was like, oh, my gosh, I've totally seen her products. At Air1, which is my favorite grocery store here in LA, she is the founder and the CEO. CEO of Fermenting Fairy. They produce functional probiotic food and beverages that have the cleanest labels in the industry. We are going to talk about all kinds of stuff from pain, turning pain to purpose and transforming your health and really how to optimize your health, especially your gut health. And you might be asking, why gut health? And it is because it has been shown to have a major impact on our physical and mental health. And so Lauren is on a mission to help normalize the struggles people have with with gut health and to guide them to optimal health with ease. So, Lauren, welcome to the show. I am so happy to see your face.

Thank you so much. It is such an honor to be here.

Oh, my goodness. Well, we were going to try to meet in person and you were so kind and stopped by the house and brought me this amazing gift of your products that I love. And you know what? My daughter is even loves them. And I think that kids are the true test to whether something tastes good or not. But before we get into exactly what your products are, I want to talk about just how you got into learning about gut health. I think behind every successful story or business, there's some deep, driven passion or your why as to how you got into this. And I'm curious to know how you got into creating products that are so healthy and heal gut your gut.

Well, I mean, I really didn't have a choice. Like, I was thrown into this path because I was really sick about seven years ago and Like a lot of stories happen, it's from an illness or from some kind of traumatic event. And that was really how Fermenting Fairy started, was from me being deathly ill. And I went from being one of these uber healthy people. People would look at me and outwardly I was like uber healthy of the 1% racing triathlons, you know, I was training like, I don't know, 10 hours a day plus working a full time job.

Are you serious?

Yeah, yeah. I was waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning. I would go for a 40 mile bike ride on my own.

Oh my gosh.

I'd come home, eat breakfast very quick and then go off to work. I'd work an eight hour job, then I'd come home and either I would swim in the ocean a mile or I would swim in the pool or I would run or something. It was just, it was nonstop and I loved it and I felt like unbreakable. And then I started getting sick, but I always related it to, oh, I'm just training too hard, I need to rest more, or maybe I need to change the food that I'm eating while I'm racing triathlons. And then I got sicker and sicker and sicker. And what was happening was I was having a lot of diarrhea. And I hope you're okay with talking about.

No, I like that. And even in when you had filled out the form to be on the show, you said not afraid to talk about poop. And I think that we need to be like, we gotta get real here. We gotta keep it real. And this show's all about keeping it real. And also, by the way, we really wanted to do this interview in person. And then you moved to Florida. I'm so happy I might be your neighbor soon anyway. But yes, it is, it is totally fine to talk about that on this show because I like keeping it real. Because a lot of people, I think either struggle with the opposite, which is constipation, and they don't go, I have a lot of clients that have told me that. Or it's the opposite. It's, you know, diarrhea. And so that had to have been hard with trying to train and run and your stomach be upset like that.

Yes. Yeah, it was so difficult and I just kept pushing through it. But I would go see doctors and, you know, western allopathic and homeopathic and naturopathic and I would do it all. And, you know, the test, my blood work wasn't great, but it was because I was really, like, putting my body out there, you know, and stretching my edges.

So

little by little, I was going to the bathroom more and more. I was getting weaker and weaker. I was losing a lot of weight, and I would just walk up. Like, when I lived in California, I had two stairs going into my front door, and I would walk up those two steps, and my heart would be pounding. And I just knew that I was so sick. I had a lot of doctors recommend a colonoscopy, but to me, that was really invasive. So I was scared. And up to that point, I had no surgeries. I had no medication. I really was like a healthy person. I was so sick that finally what was happening is I would leave my house, and I wasn't even getting a signal anymore of having to go to the bathroom.

I would just go, that's got to be scary.

And holy cow. And I was 36. I was my mid-30s. I was engaged, you know, so I had, like, a fairly new relationship with a man that I was about to marry. And so here I am having accidents. You know, I was pooping in my pants. And it was happening often because I would go to work, and, you know, I would either make it or not make it. I would have to carry around toilet paper and pants and underwear with me all the time.

Oh, my God. Did you think about wearing diapers? Because I'd be like, the depends.

I just know because I just. That was, like, a big denial thing for me.

Yeah.

Yeah. So anyway, I decided to get a colonoscopy because that was, like, the end of my rope. Right. I needed a colonoscopy. So I got the colonoscopy, and it turns out that I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.

With Crohn's.

Crohn's? Yeah.

Oh, wow. I have.

Are you familiar?

Yeah. I have a friend that was just diagnosed with. With Crohn's. Yeah.

Yeah.

So put her on a lot of steroids, and now she's even on a type of chemo. I don't know exactly what it is, but they're treating her with a chemo, and her hair's falling out.

Oh, okay.

So it's pretty crazy.

Chemo for Crohn's?

Yeah. Wow.

Okay. That's intense. I haven't heard of it yet. Maybe that's a new kind of treatment.

Who knows? I don't know.

Yeah. So I was put on heavy steroids. Well, you know, and just as I was coming out of the procedure, I was still, like, I had heavy medication in me. Because I had never had. So I was like, I told the anesthesiologist, just put everything in me. I wanted to be out completely. So I was very groggy. And the doctor said, as I'm coming out of this, he said, you have Crohn's disease. I said, I don't even know what that is. And he said, you need to get these two medications. And my fiance at the time said, all right, we're going to do that. And we went home, started taking medication. And, you know, my follow up visit with him, he said, eat anything you want. You need to gain weight. Like, that's the number one thing. Gain weight and you can eat anything you want. Eat the ice cream, eat the white bread, eat rice. You know, just gain the weight. Food has nothing to do with the activity of the disease. That's crazy.

Sounded to me you are everything you eat. I feel. I mean, food is medicine.

Yeah. And that sent up a red flag. I was like, okay, well, maybe I'll consider that, but I'm not so sure about that. And he also said that you have a lifelong disease and Crohn's is incurable. And that's what, you know, if you read anything about Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, it says it's incurable.

And, and, and I know for me to be. I was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome. And they're like, it's incurable. Go get back in your wheelchair. Like, you will be permanently disabled. It's like being kicked in the gut. It's like, what? And then I think there's that moment that I'm like, wait a minute, there's. God, I know that can't be the rest of my life. I want more out of life. Did you feel like you had been kicked in the gut? When they're like, this is incurable. And, you know, you've been, you know, try. Try doing triathlons, swimming in the ocean, running, biking, all this stuff. Now all of a sudden, you've got a disease. What were the thoughts that were going through your head?

Oh, yeah. I mean, I just went into, like, a really deep, dark place, you know, almost like, like, how could this happen? You know, how could it happen to me? Like, I've tried really most of my life to be healthy, although I haven't. You know, I did struggle as I was growing up, and that has a lot to do with my story. But we can either touch on that if you want. But, you know, I definitely went into a dark place and my relationship you know, started coming apart because I felt like I didn't have any ground to stand on anymore. I didn't even know who I was. Now I have a disease, and now I have to be on two very, very intense medications, not to mention incredibly expensive medications, too, that insurance doesn't cover. So it was all just like a big, you know, smack in the face and punch in the gut. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don't know, there was, like, a piece of me that was like, okay, I'm not so sure how much I believe all of this, but again, I took his advice or whatever he thought Crohn's was, and I said, all right, well, I'm just gonna have to deal with it then the best that I can. And ironically, I went down to Barnes and Nobles. There was an actual Barnes and Nobles in Santa Monica back then. Now it's. It's gone out of business for a long time. And I found this. This book about paleo diets. So I was specifically for autoimmune diseases. So. And Crohn's is thought to be an autoimmune disease. Now, I know it's not personally, but that's what, again, the medical literature says. So it. So I got a book for diets for autoimmune. And in it, it's like a 600 page book, and it has a little paragraph. And that really stood out to me. Again, it's like, I didn't really choose this path. It's more divine, because why in a 600 page book? This little paragraph stands out to me. And it said, fermented foods could be really helpful for autoimmune diseases. And so I was like, all right, well, I'll go try some sauerkraut. And I went to my local health food store, bought a jar of sauerkraut, and took my first bite. And I felt, like, the surge of energy. It was like a kundalini awakening. I just felt all the cells, all the nerves in my body, like, tingle, you know, with sensation. And I had, like, a little bit of a hit of energy. Instead of feeling like death all the time, I just felt, like, alive for a minute, you know, And I was, whoa. I was like, what's that? And I tried it again to see if it would happen, and it didn't happen. But then I was like, but the. There's something about this. And the next couple of days, I started adding, like, one or two tablespoons of sauerkraut to my meals, and my stool was starting to form. Like, I was Going from, like, tons of watery diarrhea to starting to form stool and starting to go less and less. And then I knew I was onto something, so I started researching fermented foods and gut health. And, you know, what is Crohn's? Like, what really is Crohn's? Because if it's autoimmune, then why is my gut and my whole body reacting so well to fermented foods? What does the immune system have to do with the gut and all of that? I didn't know. Now I know. And again, to tell your listeners, this was seven. About seven years ago. So now we know the connection between immune system and gut. Seven years ago, it wasn't so popularized, you know?

Yeah, I think a lot. I don't know if it's. I've been focusing on it more, and it's kind of like when you're focused on something, you start to see it more or it's actually out there more. But there's a lot more information out there, I feel like, about gut health, especially since COVID Everybody's trying to do everything and anything they can to. To, you know, get their immunity strong as possible. As strong as possible. But can you talk a little bit about gut health and leaky gut? Because I hear a lot of times people throw in this term leaky gut. And I interviewed a doctor on the show, and she said all of us have leaky gut to some extent. And I'm like, wow, that's kind of crazy to think about. So do you, first of all, do you know a lot about leaky gut? And do fermented foods help with that?

Yes, absolutely. So usually there's leaky gut, and then what's behind leaky gut? Like, what causes leaky gut?

Right.

So everything has a cause. And so what's behind the leaky gut? What started it all is dysbiosis, which is an imbalance in healthy bacteria compared to unhealthy bacteria. So the probiotics and the pathogens is what I like to call them. I like to picture like, a chessboard. And you have the black and white. Right. The checkers, or. Yeah, you have the squares. Let's just say that I'm not a chess pro, but me either. So let's just keep this image light. So that the chessboard is the gut. That's like the flora of your gut. That's the environment of your gut.

And then you have the lining of your gut.

Yeah. And just the inside. Right. The chessboard. And then you have the two sides. Right. You have the 16 players and the 16 players. So a healthy gut would have the 16 players on the probiotic side, and then on the pathogenic side, you'd have like, maybe three or four players. Right. So that's a healthy gut. Because you do want to have pathogens. Pathogens have a place in our gut. You know, we can't. It's all about diversity. So you don't want all, like, good guys, like, the bad guys will have a place and a role in your body, too, when that ratio is flipped. So when you have the 16 players on the pathogenic side and you have two or three players on the probiotic side, that's when you start to have problems. That's the ratio.

That's what causes that. Is it when we go on medications like antibiotics? Yeah. Is it stress? What's causing it?

All of it. There's so much to list, but it's antibiotics. It's PPIs, that's the acid reflux protein pump inhibitors. That will cause it. A lot of medication. Antidepressants will cause that. Anti anxiety medication. I would say the majority of pharmaceuticals will cause a dysbiosis.

Wow.

Environmental toxins, you know, all the. The chemicals in our food system. Everything from stress. Stress is a major one. Like, with stress, like, our gut is constantly going up and down, Our stress levels are going up and down, and most of us are living in a fight or flight state.

You know, we're now.

Especially now. Exactly.

I thought we were getting out of this and in California. Well, this. This. Who knows? This will be a few months before this episode is released. But right now, you know, it's like kind of. We were talking before we started recording. Recording. It's kind of a stressful time again, because nobody knows what to do here, you know, and, you know, I went to the gym and no one was wearing a mask. I go to Starbucks. You have to, like, put your mask on before you go in. People are freaked out. You can feel the energy and the stress. And I do feel like stress affects your whole body. And I've been on a lot of medications. I mean, I've been put under anesthesia 34 times. And so I have, you know, looked into probiotics. And, you know, I don't. I don't have any, you know, symptoms of Crohn's or anything like that or if we're getting real. I don't have symptoms of, like, the. The poop issues that were going on. But I've thought, oh, my goodness, I've been on so many medications at one point, I was on 11 different prescription medications and been put under. So I've always thought about, you know, I want to make sure that I'm doing things to heal my gut. And I'm a bit confused. You know, you see, especially at Air1 market, I love that place. But it's like there are so many different things to take, and it gets overwhelming with what to take. And I remember when I had first researched kombucha, and. Oh, kombucha. It's so. Or however you say it, it's so good for you. And I drank one. Not yours, another one. And immediately I got a flare up. Well, the reason being is because this particular one was full of sugar. Yeah, it was full of sugar. And I can tell when I have sugar, it really reacts. My body really reacts to it. It's not. And I'm like, oh, my gosh, why didn't I look at the label? Just because it's from Air1 and it says it's. It's in the healthy section. And so when I tried your drink, I was like, oh, my gosh, how is this only 15 calories?

This tastes.

It tastes clean. And y', all, I'm. I'm not, you know, she's not sponsoring this episode. This is not like some advertisement for her drinks. I'm being real that I was very skeptical. I'm like, oh, gosh, let me try this drink. Because the ones I had had were sugary, and they. They flared up. They gave me a crps flare up, and I couldn't believe. And John Gordon had said, no, you. You've really got to just. The drinks have changed my life. You really got to try it. And I'm like, okay, Sometimes it takes a friend telling you, just try it. You're going to like it. And I'm so glad I did. But my question for you is, so what is the difference between, you see these capsules that people can take versus a drink that, you know, that you can drink half of your drink a day or something like that? What's the difference in that?

Well, there's. Okay, so there's. There's. There's a lot in that statement. Like, you know, pro. The probiotic bandwagon is so popular right now.

It is.

It's a. It's a, like an $80 billion industry in terms of the supplements. And then the.

Really?

Yeah, and then the fermented foods are right behind it. You know, I mean, the probiotic supplements are. A lot of them are backed by the pharmaceutical industry. I mean, that's how, that's how popular it is now because the, you know, the big, big pharma knows where the probiotic supplements are going. So they're back in them right now. So that's where, you know, like, they're not exactly the healthiest things to be taking. But first I'll touch on how, I guess, my products differ from probiotic supplements and then maybe we can talk about my products versus other, like kombucha or something like that. But probiotic supplements, first of all, they don't offer a lot of diversity to keep things really, really simple for you and your listeners.

They. Please keep it simple for me.

Yeah, no, like the very foundation like we were talking about. Leaky gut. What's behind leaky gut? And that's dysbiosis. Well, how do you heal dysbiosis? You have to really focus on getting as much diverse bacteria and other microorganisms into your gut. So you want diversity. So what that means is you want to take in wild, fermented foods. And I can touch on what that is in a second. You want to take in good, healthy, high quality organic plants, plant fiber, like vegetables and fruits, because all vegetables and fruits, when they're grown in a healthy soil will have a lot of microorganisms on them that you want. And so that's a good way to really diversify your gut. Also getting a lot of sunshine, spending time in nature, because when you go to the ocean versus the forest versus the desert, you're breathing in all different kinds of microbes, organisms. So getting out into as many environments in nature as possible. Also putting your feet, your bare feet on the earth, that's. You're going to, you're taking in the microorganisms through your feet. So that's all, like, those are all ways to diversify your gut. So that's the way that you then balance your gut.

Yeah, I've never thought of that. And I think so many people have gotten out of touch with or just out of practice of doing that, especially in the last year and a half. I know I've spent most of my time on my computer and zoom. And I feel a difference. And so I'm like, I've got to get out in nature. I've got, you know, we just went to the ocean yesterday and so, wow. I never thought, I guess everything's connected. But I had never thought of it in a way that, that can actually help with your gut. And I think that's so important. Sunshine get grounded, like stick your feet in the sand or in the.

Yeah. Bare feet, Dirt or. Yeah, especially if you're on the computer all the time. Especially, you know, because we're taking in that blue light, you know, that artificial blue light and a lot of EMFs, and so that'll throw our whole system off, and then, you know, most especially our gut, that's going to throw our gut off. So you're. By doing like a lot of the computer blue light plus you know, the EMFs, you're moving more into the dysbiosis area rather than the diversified area. So, like, what I recommend to people who are doing a lot of podcasts and zoom calls and stuff like that is, like, after a few, maybe like an hour or two hours, go out in sunshine, if you have it. But definitely put your feet on the earth, whether it's soil, dirt, even concrete is better than wearing shoes. Stones, river, ocean, sand, whatever's earth. Right. So just get out there with your bare feet and that'll help balance your system. And that has a direct effect on your gut. So these probiotic pills don't offer a lot of diversity, for one, because if you see a lot of them just have one strain. Some of them have three or four strains, some of them you might get 10. But the thing with that is you're taking the same pill over and over again every day. So that's not diversity. Even if it has 10 or 20 different strains, you're still taking the same stuff over and over. And that creates like a monoculture in your gut. So what happens when you plant the same plant over and over in your garden? Eventually the soil is going to go bad, the plant's not going to live. You need to really diversify your garden. That's the same thing with our gut. So that's one reason why probiotic pills, they either won't work for most people or they'll make you feel worse. You'll have cramps or bloating or something like that. Plus, they're made in a lab. A lot of the strains that the probiotic companies are using are GMO'd because they're patented, they're made in a lab. They're also usually taken sometimes from cow intestines.

I had no idea.

Yeah, I know most people don't know that, but yes, it's true. Really. It's like, what's the point of taking them if they're made in a lab or if they're coming from an animal that we have such different organs from?

And before you go more, I want to make sure. People know the importance of, like, gut health, what the symptoms are. I mean, it can be anything from as severe as causing Crohn's disease, like you were diagnosed with years ago, or it can be depression, fatigue. It can lead to so many diseases that, I mean, we really have to get a handle on this and start to really pay attention to and be in tune with our bodies. And so what are some of the other symptoms besides fatigue? Getting sick, nauseated is in depression because it does affect our mood. What are some other symptoms you've had some of your clients come to you with. With symptoms that are like, I think I have something I need to heal my gut. This is what it is.

Well, I mean, we could. I mean, it's. It's really. It's everything. I mean, we can look at Alzheimer's, dementia, autism, Parkinson's, all of the neurological disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders. That's all stemming from the gut. And then you have mold toxicity. You have candida, like yeast overgrowth. Autoimmune.

Here of a lot is the yeast overgrowth.

And yeast overgrowth have that.

And they. I had a friend that had that, and she was like. Looked like she was five months pregnant.

Yeah, yeah. And then you have autoimmune diseases, you have cancer, you have. I mean, really, like, thyroid issues. Just the list goes on because everything stems there. Like, everything starts in the gut. The energy that you have, the metabolism, blood sugar regulation, that's all stemming from the bacteria, the microorganisms in your gut. It's hard for people to really grasp that, but once you understand it, then healing becomes really easy. And I don't want to. You know, I don't want to say, like, everyone will have an easy time healing their bodies. That's not always true. But, you know, we get thrown so much information all the time, like, take this supplement, take this medication, eat this food, you know, stick with this diet. And sometimes you just want to say, enough is enough. I'm not going to. I'm not going to take anything, except I'm just going to focus on healing my gut and see what that does. Many times, I mean, I would say most times, you'll start to see a big difference, like, right away.

I. I think so, too. That's kind of what I did before when I was on. Oh, my gosh, Lauren. I was on 73 homeopathic pills and 11 different prescriptions.

Oh, my God, 70 day three a day.

Because I was trying all these different treatments, all these spending thousands and thousands and thousands on medical procedures, some which were very invasive. And I went to this homeopathic doctor and he hooked me up to a machine and he had these little things on my temples and my wrist and my ankles. I mean, I was like desperate at this point. I was like, I don't care if this guy is doing voodoo or magic potions or whatever. I just want to be healed. And I was like jumping through hoops or doing anything anybody told me to try to get out of pain. And so he prescribed these different things. I went to the homeopathic place right there in Santa Monica, the little homeopathic drugstore. Spent about twelve hundred dollars on all these pills, started taking them, and I was like, this is handfuls of pills every day. I didn't feel any different. And it was like, enough is enough. I have just got to heal my body to the best of my ability. And that's when I started really getting focused on my food and then really learning more about gut health and really, you know, wanting to talk to you more about gut health and learn your whole process for creating this product to. For you to be an ERE one. Did you just die when they were like, yeah, we'll carry your products in ERE one?

Yeah. I mean, that was the first store that I got into. Like, when I first started my company, I was in a farmer's market, the Brentwood Farmer's market.

Oh, really?

Yeah. And I knew nothing about owning a company. You know, I was always in healthcare as an occupational therapist. Before that, I was a yoga teacher. So I didn't have any business background. I didn't literally, I didn't know what I was doing. I still don't, but. No, I'm kidding. I have a little bit of knowledge now, but. So I was in the Brentwood farmer's market for four months, and I heard that Erewhon takes like a year to get into. So I thought, okay, let me just fill out their form. Let me start the process now. And that I didn't even check my email after because I just thought, oh my God, this is going to be like a really long year trying to get into them. I did. So I didn't check my email for days. And then I checked my email and she had emailed me that night saying, wow, your products look incredible. You know, send them to us at this address. And I said, well, I'm right there. I didn't realize that their corporate headquarters was in la. So I met with the buyer and met with her. And ironically, she's not like really a fermented food person. So she gave it to the owner of Erewhon. And within, say, two or three months, my product was on the shelf, which is.

That's unbelievable.

It's really unheard of. Like, when it comes to Erwhon, now even more, because they're so well known.

Well, how long has your product been in air?

One, three years. Because I. So this September will mark four years of my company, so about three, three and a half years. Yeah.

That's amazing.

And, you know, they really, like, they really made my company what it is because so many people found me through Erewhon and I have so much, like, allegiance and gratitude for them, and they're really like a family to me. So.

That's amazing. That is amazing.

It's a great story.

Well, tell me a little bit about your. Your product. And we talked about the difference between taking, you know, a pill versus your product, which is so delicious. I'm out of them, by the way. Right. I need to go to the market. So that's on my list. That's. I was supposed to go yesterday and I'd have.

I'll send you some.

Oh, no, girl, you already gave me so many.

It was so good to you and

give you a hug. I am going to go buy it. I buy them all the time because that's my favorite place to shop. Tell us about your product, your drinks. I love your sauerkraut.

Thank you. Yeah, we do. We do a. We do a wild fermentation, which is the most important way to ferment a food. Because if you. I'll just explain it as simple as I can. If you take a head of cabbage, right, Cabbage becomes sauerkraut. If you take a head of cabbage, on the surface of that cabbage and in the cell walls of that cabbage is bacteria. If it's been organically grown. There's a lot of microorganisms. But let's say that there's, like, I'm just throwing out a number, but 200 microorganisms on that raw cabbage. When you ferment it, it'll become 2 billion. So that's what the fermentation process does. It takes the already present microorganisms and it just makes them flourished into the trillions, the billions and the trillions. But that's what wild fermentation is, is we take raw head of cabbage, we submerge it, we create a healthy environment for the microorganisms to thrive, and then they do their thing. And then before you know it, we have sauerkraut that when we Consume. We, we're consuming a healthy, diverse, robust food that has a ton of really good probiotics and healthy microorganisms as opposed to, let's say like pickles made with vinegar. That's not a wild fermentation. Another company that might take a head of cabbage, put it in some kind of vessel and then add freeze dried bacteria to it and then call it, oh, really? A sauerkraut. Yeah, I mean it will ferment, but you have this external freeze dried. They're dead until they hit the environment. Lab made that kind of thing. I find it not as healing. I find it not true fermentation. In order to go back to our roots, which is where the healing happens, you must go back to what our ancestors were doing. And that is they were doing wild fermentation. They didn't have this cool like lab made like freeze dried bacteria. They didn't have any of that. They just took nature and, and, and, and fermented that.

Yeah, well, you know, I've always, this is my sound kind of weird, but I've always tried to picture how you make your stuff, like where it's made because I listened to your episode with John Gordon and how you, you know, you do things naturally. You take things wild. Do you, how do you make it? Did you start in your kitchen making these things?

I did, yeah. I started in my kitchen. I, you know, I had cabbage all over. I remember like my dining room floor was covered in cabbage. I would, I was making pickles back then, like garlic, pepper pickles. And my neighbors from like a mile away would come over and say like, is somebody dead in here? Like it was just like smelling like a dead body. You know, they would check on me. Is everything okay? I started in my home and then I, you know, moved into a commercial kitchen and now we now in Florida we have our own kitchen. So we're really.

That's awesome. So now do you do a farmer's market at all? Do you still do a farmer's market? Are you only in markets now?

We're only in markets and we mostly do online orders actually. But probably in St. Pete we'll do some farmers markets. Really? Our goal is to get it to as many people as possible. And so we focus on online from our website, fermenting fairy.com.

okay. Do you, do you have like a subscription type box where it's just every month you get.

Yeah, sure.

Okay. I just wondered about that. And gosh, building a business from the ground up. I mean, look, I used to be a fitness Instructor full time. I did that for many, many years, and I knew the business of doing that with clients. But when you get to a product, that's a whole other ball game. I mean, everything that goes along with that. And I actually had a company that was a supplement company that reached out to me and wanted to make some products with me. But it was like protein powders and collagen and all that kind of stuff. And when I got the details of it all, it was so overwhelming. And I'm like, this would take, like all of my time to really do this the right way. What has been one of the biggest challenges for you? You know, starting your business and seeing it, you know, just keep soaring up and growing and growing. What has been one of the biggest challenges and how have you overcome that and what have you learned from it?

I would say the biggest challenge for me has been trusting people who are not worthy of being trusted. Yeah.

I think when you have a business and you want to scale that. When I'm growing my team, the first thing I always say to them is the most important thing is trust. And if you don't know how to do something, that's okay. Just tell me, we'll work it out, but don't tell me you know how to do it, and then it just doesn't get done.

You know what I mean? Right.

Yeah, it is. When you're scaling a company or growing a business, it's like, trust is a really big deal.

Yeah, trust is a big deal.

It's everything.

And for some reason, what I found, especially being a woman business owner in the food industry, because the food industry is 95% men, I find. Oh, yeah. I mean, everyone. Everyone behind almost all food companies, the distributors, the health food stores, everything with the suppliers, they're all men who own these companies, which is fine. But I feel like there's. And I don't even feel like it. I know it. I mean, there's been a lot of sexism towards me as being a woman. Especially in the beginning when I didn't know that much and it was obvious I didn't know that much. I feel like I definitely was taken advantage of quite a bit. And also, like, the way that we do business here in America, I don't know if it's worldwide, but in America, it's like people kind of shit on each other, you know, and it's just like. It's just business. Like, people would tell me all the time when I got screwed. Well, it's business. And I was like, you know, why does it have to be business? Like, why can't we treat people how we treat people in our personal life as we do in business? It just doesn't make sense to me why there's such a dichotomy. So that's been very difficult. When I interact with somebody who I'm about to go into business, like, I feel into all the red flags, if there are any. And if there are, then I usually go the other direction, because I was overriding that feeling in the beginning when I was such a novice. Now I don't override that at all. Actually, I did just recently, about six months ago, because I was kind of desperate in a situation, and I overrode that red flag and got screwed in a very, very big way. But again, it's not always the other person. I had a play in that. I had a role in that, and I take responsibility. But why? Why do we have to do that to each other? Just because it's business in America,

man, I tell you, talking about gut health, but your gut never lies.

Yeah.

I mean, I feel like we. We know right away, and those red flags come up, and it's like, why do we ignore them? And it's just listening. So it sounds like you have really grown in every way just doing this business, from shipping it out to getting it in more stores to learning to trust your gut more and trust yourself. And I'm sure that has built a lot of confidence as well for you.

Yeah, tremendous. Yeah. I mean, I. I can finally, like, be really embodied in who I am now. And it's been the best thing that's ever happened to me. And I can trace it back to being sick, you know, that even being sick, like, before I even started my company, that really was such gold right there. Because I grew so much in being sick and having to release any kind of responsibility that I had placed on my family. Like, because I'm so sick, my family has to take care of me. That's always what I felt for most of my life. Well, I released that because, guess what? They didn't show up, and I had to take care of myself. And that was a good thing. You know, that was actually a really good thing for me because I cut the cord. I cut the umbilical cord that I had still attached to my parents, that they owe me something just because they're my parents. They don't. And I am now an adult, and I can take care of myself, you know, and there's a lot of beauty to that. And that has translated into my company. And that has translated into even how, you know, with this whole Covid thing, like using my voice and not being afraid of what other people think of me and not being afraid of, do I need my family's okay, you know, do I need my family's support with how I'm dealing with the COVID situation, you know, that kind of thing. So, yeah, it's liberating.

It is liberating to just really stand in your truth and. And cut the umbilical cord and really feel empowered. And I think that you show people that you can step out of the victim mentality and you can be the victor of your life. I think a lot of us is. I mean, I felt that way when I was diagnosed with crps. I'm like, how can. Why me? I've been so healthy. This can't be. I was in denial, and instead I'm like, okay, what's next? What can I do? And so you are showing people that they can be in the driver's seat of their life and take charge. And there are ways to heal your gut and to feel better, not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, spiritually, in every way. I think it's all connected. When you start to feel better physically and you start to feel better, you know, emotionally, it affects everything. And so you're such a beautiful example of how the power of healing. And I know that you also help other people who just want to learn more about healing and just their mind, body, spirit in every way. So how can people reach out to you if, first of all, if they want to connect with you and ask you questions or hire you to coach them in that way to get healthier, how can they reach out to you?

Sure. Yeah. Anyone can email me. I do all my social media. I answer all my own emails. So I don't. I like the connection with people. So I don't have, like, an assistant yet. I mean, but I like that I prefer being the person talking directly to people. Yeah.

Too. That's why sometimes it takes me, like, five days to get back to a dm and I'm like, I gotcha. I'll see. It just.

It's more meaningful. Yeah, it's more meaningful. I think so. So you can email me at. The best one is Lauren L A U R E n@fermenting fairy.com. my website is fermenting fairy.com and Instagram. You can send me a DMA, a DM, fermenting fairy on Instagram. And like you said, I do offer consultations. One on One, it's. It's distance. Unless you're in Florida, you can come to me. But, yeah, and, you know, I talked about this before. We, you know, we're on the show that I like to really get into the mental and emotional part of healing because I find that that was a huge piece, missing link for me that no one helped me with. I had to figure it out on my own and. And I like to help people with that aspect of healing.

Yeah, it all goes hand in hand for sure. And I feel like I. You and I are a lot alike in a lot of ways. When you were telling me about how you did 40 mile bikes and stuff like that, I'm like, oh, my gosh, I was doing a lot of that. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was running away from a lot of the trauma. Instead of feeling the feelings, I was just kind of running and over it, exercising and stuff. And so I'm grateful for. The CRPS has taught me that I had to. I had to go through all those feelings and heal a lot of trauma. So I'm so happy to hear that you're offering that.

And, yeah, your story is amazing, Amberly, by the way. I just want to flip this around for a second.

Like, thank you.

Yeah, it's, you know, every time I hear, like, a little piece of your story, I'm just like, oh, my God. The things that you have been through are tremendous. And thank you. You have such a beautiful spirit. So this, that just the name of your podcast is so. It's so perfect and so fitting.

Oh, I think it's so fitting for all that you have been through. I really do love your. Your products. I was so bummed. So I had half the applesauce eaten and I opened the refrigerator and it. It fell out and busted. And I was like, oh, no applesauce.

Oh, no.

Yeah, yeah, because it's that good, y'. All. It's like gold. It's so. You know, when you find something that's so good, you're like, oh, that's like my treat. And so if. If you go to the market, I get your stuff at Air1, but I know people can order it directly from you. And so if you're listening to this in the car and. Or you're on a run or wherever you are, all the links will be in the show notes. But I mentioned this because it is important to heal our guts, to live our best lives possible. So what's the best way they could, you know, try out your products? Whether they want to start ordering it or shopping or. Where. Where's the best place to get it?

Well, because we've just moved to Florida, we're not quite sure how we're going to supply stores yet. So right now, if you were to go to Erewhon, they're pretty much empty on the shelves because.

Oh, no. They are.

Yeah. Yeah. Because we're. We're. We're so backed up with online customers. Like, we're just trying to catch up with. With that.

Okay. Yeah.

Because we keep selling out, which is a really great thing.

But it's a good problem to have.

It's a good problem. Yeah. But so we're. We're keeping our. Online, our stores. Like, we're holding them off for a little bit until we get caught up. So by the time this air shows, I don't know, you know, what the

situation, maybe you'll be caught up by then, but I would think. Did Covid boost your business?

For sure. Yeah. Covid. You know, when we actually, like, really survived Covid in a good way. Because it did boost. I mean, it all stems in the gut, right? You want to fight a virus and you use the. You take care of your gut. And when January of 2021 hit, we just went through the roof and we were still catching up. Literally still catching up from January.

That's a good problem to have, though. That's incredible.

Yeah. So. So online is probably going to be the best way to reach us.

Okay. @fmenting fairy.com.

yeah. Yeah.

Okay. Okay, great. And, yeah, you know, it's a good problem to have being sold out constantly. That's awesome. You know what? When you have a product that's good and it's quality and they. People know it works. Like, I know John has it. His fridge stocked.

Stocked. Yeah, he does.

Yeah. Because it really helped him. Yeah.

You know, the. It's. It's all, you know, we don't have to do like a ton of marketing because a lot of. It's just a lot of word of mouth, which I'm grateful for. And we have such unique products like a fermented applesauce. No one's doing that. A fermented lemonade. No one's doing that the way that we do it. And a coconut milk kefir. We were the first ones to do it, at least in the U.S. not sure about worldwide, but I have people ordering it from Germany, Japan, all over the world. So I'm assuming there's not many companies doing a coconut milk kefir.

Yeah.

We do a lot of unique things, you know.

Well, I love how you'll be out traveling or something. You're like, hmm, I just made a new dressing. This is what you know. And you share. You're like experimenting with different things to make. And so, yeah, yeah, I love watching your stories. I love that you're not afraid to speak what is on your mind and what your opinion is about what's going on. About everything from health to everything, mask to everything. I really like that about you, admire that about you. So thank you so much for being on the show. I'll be in Florida in a couple of weeks and I checked and I'm about four hours away, so I don't know if I'll make it up to see you, but I googled it right away when you how far am I going to be from Lauren? Let me see if I can go see her. We'll definitely see each other in the future again. I know. And y' all check her out on Instagram at Fermenting ferry, our website, fermentingferry.com and if there's a part of the episode that really stood out to you, please take a screenshot and post it on your story. Let us know that you heard it or and tag us so we can see it and maybe share it in our story or just say thank you. And anyway, thank you so much for being here, everybody. Thank you for tuning in.

Thank you, Amberly. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for joining us this week on True Britain Grace Podcast. If you like it, please rate it or share it with your friends. That would help, too. If you're not yet on the newsletter list, come over to Amberly Lago.com and jump on it. While you're there, you can grab a free downloadable gratitude journal. And you might just want to check out my book or even check out my monthly motivational membership. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll see you next week.