Episode 132: Vulnerability Impacts + Empowers with Blender Bombs Founder, Helen Hall-Leland
Are you a leader who is looking to show up with more vulnerability? Did you know that vulnerability and impact go hand in hand, and can transform not only how you show up, but how your team shows up each day?
Todayโs ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐! ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ guest, Helen Hall-Leland, is as real as they come. Helen is passionate about helping people achieve a balanced and fulfilling life through her 80/20 lifestyle approach: food + ingredient education, mindset shift-work, and inspiring storytelling. All reasons behind the start of Blender Bombs in 2017 โ to change lives, one superfood at a time (and of course, theyโre 80/20 approved)!
Along with making an impact, she is filled with so many tips and tricks on how to show up as your most authentic and vulnerable self. At the end of the day, week, month, year, Helen's mission is to be able to look back and feel that sheโs made an impact. And trust us, improve it! peeps โ this conversation is as impactful as they come!
๐ฌ Press play on this real and raw episode. We canโt wait to hear what you think!
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Email Erin: info@learntoimproveit.com
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief โYes, Andโ officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. Sheโs a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, โget comfortable with the uncomfortable.โ Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We canโt wait to connect with you online!
โI love this podcast and I love Erin!!โ
If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing this podcast! This helps Erin support more people โ just like you โ move toward the leader you want to be. Click here, click listen on Apple Podcasts, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with 5 stars, and select โWrite a Review.โ Then be sure to let Erin know what you loved most about the episode! Also, if you havenโt done so already, subscribe to the podcast. That way you wonโt miss any juicy episodes! Thanks in advance, improve it! Peeps :)
Episode 132 Transcription
Erin (00:01):
Improve it! Peeps, You are in for a treat today. And I say that with a pun intended. We are talking to the one, the only Helen Leland, formerly Helen Hall and Helen is just filled with so many tips and tricks on how to show up as your most authentic and vulnerable self. So just quick backstory. Helen is the founder of Blender Bombs and one of my dear friends and neighbors. Bo is their chief commercial- commercial officer, that's a tongue twister, and made this connection so thrilled to know her. I was a fan of Blender bombs before meeting Helen and now after researching the amazing work that she has done to build this brand and build this business, I am one of her biggest fans. So let's talk about Helen real quick. Helen is passionate about helping people achieve a balanced and fulfilling life through her 80 20 lifestyle approach.
Erin (01:09):
Food plus ingredient education, mindset, shift work, and inspiring storytelling. All reasons behind the start of Blender bombs in 2017 to change lives one super food at a time. And of course their 80/20 approved now along with making an impact, Helen loves to travel while cultivating new business opportunities and is your biggest cat enthusiast. Spoiler alert, you might hear about Cat Camp in this episode. She is an efficient multitasking master and out of the box thinking is her jam and in her most exciting chapter yet Helen recently got married to the love of her life Allen and they just had their baby girl lane. So at the end of the day, the week, the month, the year, Helen's mission is to be able to look back and feel that she's made an impact. You can follow her on Instagram, you can follow along as she authentically shares her vulnerable moments, the blender bomb team's gong hits and all the lessons learned along the way with zero filter, zero gate keeping and full transparency, you can join her community of 87,000 invested in her journey to make an impact to spread the 80 20 word and bring super food accessibility to the mainstream.
Erin (02:29):
I loved this conversation with her. I was just like catching up with a friend and that's what I want you to listen for today. Helen is the exact same on this show as she shows up on her Instagram as she shows up in everything she does for blender bombs. And this my friends is so refreshing. If you are a leader who is looking for a way to show up with more vulnerability to impact and empower your teams, this is the show for you. Spoiler alert yet again. Two spoils. There is a very fun surprise at the end, so stay tuned for that. But without further ado, let's hear how hell and Hall is improving it.
Erin (03:15):
Are you a leader searching for new and innovative ways to drive employee engagement and team morale through the roof? Do you wanna create a company culture where everyone feels seen, heard and valued? Hi, I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer, failfluencer, and professional Zubi who is ready to help you improve your it, your it being the thing that makes you, you think of me as your keeping it real. Professional development bestie who is here to help you learn from your failures, stand tall in your power and improve yourself so you can improve the lives of others. Oh, and did I mention that we are improving your IT through play? That's right. I am an improvisational comedy expert who uses experiential learning to help you have your aha haha moments. Those are the moments when the light bulb goes off and you're laughing at the same time. So grab your chicken hat, your notebook, and your inner child because I'm gonna take you on a journey that is both fun and transformative. Welcome to the Improve It podcast, Helen Hall. Leland, we have you on the pod.
Erin (04:42):
Singing you in. Thanks for being here. Thank you so much. This is my day job. The night drops Colin. Okay. I'm so excited to have you on the show. Congrats. We just talked a little bit before your new mom.
Helen (04:57):
Yeah, she's so squishy.
Erin (04:58):
She's so cute.
Helen (05:00):
Two weeks old today.
Erin (05:02):
You're incredible for being here. I literally don't think I could walk out of my apartment at two weeks pre postpartum. Like truly. I still needed like a pillow on text to
Helen (05:13):
Me at all times.
Erin (05:15):
I was like, ugh.
Helen (05:16):
They need to give out those donut pillows at the hospital. Cause that really, really helped. Like the Fri baby donut pillows.
Erin (05:23):
Yes. Fun fact for you. I broke my tailbone snowboarding in high school and I had one of those and I carried it around and had people sign it like a cash
Helen (05:34):
<Laugh>. You had to sit on it in every class.
Erin (05:37):
Yep. And I was like, listen. And it was like, I was on the dance team and it was my senior year and so it was like the senior dance and I couldn't jump or anything. So I just like mind the music with my butt pillow. <Laugh> really weird. Okay. Enough about me. I want you to tell our improvement peeps five facts about you that we couldn't find from the internet. Your bio blender bombs website. Like what are five interesting things about you that no one knows that you could share right here. And I got a little Diddy that goes with it. It goes like this. Five facts. Five facts. Five facts. Five facts, five facts. <Laugh>. What comes to mind, Helen?
Helen (06:22):
Ok. Honestly, the first thing is, and this is so weird, but like my husband and I share a toothbrush. Oh my. But that's cause he has, he has the fancy toothbrush and I had bought the fancy toothbrush and then I lost my fancy toothbrush, like, you know, the two 50 toothbrushes and I was like, I'm so addicted to the way your mouth feels afterwards though. But I didn't wanna go spend, you know, another two 50 after I had lost a toothbrush that I had for two weeks, a hotel room and they never found it. So we share a toothbrush.
Erin (06:53):
That's one, that's one. We're coming back to that. Okay. Two.
Helen (06:56):
Oh gosh. Number two is I think a lot of, a lot of people just assume that I eat super, super, super clean and I, I don't eat super, super clean. I eat clean like 80 20, which you can find on the internet. But people still, for some reason they just assume that I'm vegan or vegetarian, but I'm not, People are always surprised by that. <Laugh>. I love dairy.
Erin (07:23):
Okay. Okay. That answers a question for me. Okay. Three. Three.
Helen (07:27):
Oh gosh. Okay. Ugh. I do this thing called Cat camp and you'll know this if you watch my stories, but like I said, it's hard, it's hard to pick five facts that literally no one knows because there are no secrets in my life. Like everything's an open book. I do this thing called Cat Camp where like four or five times a year I'll foster kittens and literally like I put my heart and soul into raising these kits for a month and then I give them off to whoever, like I find owners for them. But I always foster like two at a time. And then I find an owner who will take both of them normally through Instagram, but like I'm talking, we take this cat on walks, we take this cat to other people's houses. So they get used to people. We take the cats like I'll like put it in Cooper's mouth so it gets used to dogs like Cooper's our golden retriever cat camp. Now we're in baby cab
Erin (08:19):
Cat camp. I love that. And I love that you can walk cats. I didn't know you could walk cats.
Helen (08:23):
Well I carry them so get used to it, but then they learn to like follow me when they're older. They'll follow you on a walk.
Erin (08:31):
Got it. Okay. Okay, that makes sense.
Helen (08:33):
Like I should be charging for sure for Cat camp, but I'm not.
Erin (08:36):
You should. This is another revenue stream that we need to monetize. Okay. Number four, listen up. Lender bombs, cat camps are next and we'll make to make cat bombs, you
Helen (08:47):
Know. Yeah. We should.
Erin (08:49):
Okay. Four.
Helen (08:50):
And this is a vulnerable one, but like people assume, okay. Oh, you have a business and it's nationally distributed with Whole Foods. It's in 1200 Walmarts. Like you must be rolling in it. I'm not literally not even taking a salary. Like I don't take a penny from the business right now. I did for the first few years, but something that I decided to do was hire someone who could, we could build them up to be the ceo. Right now he's chief commercial officer, but he's interim CEO while I'm on maternity leave. But like give him my salary and then some. But that's because I know that I'm not fit to be the CEO once we get to a certain revenue point. Like I can do it now while we're at X amount of revenue. But once we cross that, like I think honestly 5 million in annual revenue threshold. Like I can't run a budget. Yeah. So people always assume that we're making tons of money and it's not true. You know, startup world.
Erin (09:51):
Well I love that truth. This is, this is where we're here to talk about this vulnerability. I love it so much. Okay and number five.
Helen (09:58):
Number five is, this is dumb, but I could eat the same thing every day and like never get tired
Erin (10:04):
Of it. No, it's not dumb. I totally do the same thing. My breakfast has not changed in like 10 years. Like for real? What's your breakfast? Oh my god. So boring. FAA yogurt and then I put like raspberries or if I'm feeling crazy I'll add almonds. Helen, I'm nuts if I'm nuts if
Helen (10:20):
You're, I guess see what you
Erin (10:22):
Did there. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, what about you? What do you, what are your like go-tos?
Helen (10:26):
Like a smoothie and then the glider bomb bars. I pasta. Like the same pasta I could have every day. Yep. Just pasta with like red sauce and Parmesan or, and like vegetables or lately Elizabeth got me hooked on this pasta with this. She freezes peas and spinach and like basil and olive oil and sea salt and a bunch of other stuff and puts 'em into cubes. So you just microwave the cubes for the sauce and just put it over pasta.
Erin (10:55):
That sounds amazing and easy.
Helen (10:58):
Peanut butter pretzels.
Erin (11:00):
Yeah. Oh peanut butter pre. Yes. Okay. See I'm loving this. This is why I love this game cause I know so many things now about you that I wouldn't know and it's amazing and I feel like the, first of all, you're vulnerable in all of that. The fact that you're like you would know this on my stories is because you share so many awesome things that help people connect to you as a leader, as a founder. So I wanna really hone in on that. But I also wanna ask you if you have an intention for today's show, if you could say one word that you wanna give the improvement peeps today, what would it be?
Helen (11:36):
I would say the word hustle. And not in the sense like, this is something that Bo taught me as well because that word has been around since the very beginning. Like my original Instagram name back when people had these types of handles was like hush up and hustle before I changed it to my, my name. And then the name of reverse smoothie bar is hustle and we're re rebranding butter bumps, the word hustle, but it's not hustle in terms of go, go, go, go. It's like hustle in terms of like find your hustle and like what drives you, like what your passion project is. So it's like what, what makes you want to hustle sort of thing. Yeah. And then to focus on that,
Erin (12:13):
I love that. It's like find your, find your, which we're gonna talk about. We call it the it here. So it's like what's your it, what's your passion? What gets you outta bed? And I love that because you've, you do a lot and be if, if for everyone listing is is your C chief commercial officer, interim ceo, Is that right? Yes. Yes. And he's also my neighbor and my friend
Helen (12:38):
Throw a rock at him.
Erin (12:39):
Yeah. And truly I can't. And our kids are friends and they're wonderful people. So you are a new mom, you're an entrepreneur, you're a leader. And I'm loving, like I said, I've told you this before we hit record, but I love following you now. I did and I love you. Do you know I found some smoothie advice. I'm loving some smoothies, I've got some Amazon tips for my closet.
Helen (13:04):
Yes. I love Amazon.
Erin (13:06):
Oh my god. Me too. It's bad. It's like if it's so bad and I wanna support small business, I really do. But,
Helen (13:13):
But you are, I will tell you this, as a small business, I love when people buy my stuff from Amazon because, and I honestly, I link Amazon like bun bomb's Amazon more than I like Bun Bomb's website because even though Amazon takes 30%, chances of you reordering are much higher because it's so much easier to buy on Amazon.
Erin (13:35):
Oh I'm so glad you said that. Cause honestly I always feel guilty because I wanna support the local but it is so freaking easy as a working parent, it's so easy for me to press that button.
Helen (13:49):
You have to be sane. Yeah. And we make just as much money off Amazon as we do. If you were to buy it at wholesale studio, like the cycling place that you talked about.
Erin (13:58):
Okay.
Helen (13:58):
So don't and hon you the same amount of money too. Honestly more money than if you bought it at Whole Foods.
Erin (14:05):
Okay, that makes sense.
Helen (14:06):
And that that goes for all food products or most products anyway.
Erin (14:11):
Okay. Okay. Helen, look at this knowledge. I'm getting dropped right now. I love that because truly I was like I've, every Christmas I'm like I'm shopping local, but then it's like, you know, it happens where I can't. So life gets in the way. We
Helen (14:27):
Gotta get the local people to sell on Amazon.
Erin (14:30):
Okay. This is good news. This is good. I'm gonna ask you this though cuz I'm loving all the things that you share. I like the mission behind what you do. When did you start sharing your life this authentically? Was it when you launched Blender Bombs? Was it before? Tell
Helen (14:51):
Us that. This is a really good question and it's actually something that I need to share with be as well. Yeah. But I just talked about it on the podcast when I first started bombs. Yeah. When I first started Blender bombs. And it grew really quickly, really fast. I was spending 80% of my time on Instagram stories being authentic, sharing, doing what I'm doing now. So much customer interaction in the dms, resharing, what other customers are saying, resharing, what other customer's questions are answering them. I did that and it really grew my platform and it really grew the business. When the business got big, I had to completely shift my focus from being myself on Instagram to running the business. So for the last four years, I did not have any bandwidth to like share day to day what was going on in my life on Instagram because I was running the business.
Helen (15:44):
Now since we've hired Beau, I now have that time to go back on Instagram and share and I hired Elizabeth, you just met. She also sees the vision and she has helped tremendously in just pushing me more to do the q and a. So a lot of what, like if if there's a question answer up there, it's like, cuz Elizabeth was like, Hey this is a really good question for you to answer because at this point I've been making smoothies for so long, I don't even know what would be helpful to someone else or not. Totally. So it's really nice having her be like, this is something that a lot of people ask and a lot of people are confused about. So answer this, but it's only because I now have time to do it. That's what I'm saying. I don't know how people work, Be a mom, be an influencer. Like, I dunno.
Erin (16:31):
No, I don't. I I truly don't. I may say this, I totally hear you because I made my Instagram public in March of 2020 when my completely in person business was shutting down I and before that and prove it started in 2014. Well really 2015. I didn't have a single day to even think about social media or I didn't even try to because I didn't have a minute in the day that I wasn't doing something. Cause all hands were in every part of the business, right? Yep. So that's really interesting that you started before you hired a team, but then it became so overwhelming and now you're back because you have that team,
Helen (17:22):
You just have to like pick your priorities and the priority was keeping afloat the current customers and the current sales that we had. But then it takes away from my ability to grow the business.
Erin (17:31):
Totally.
Helen (17:31):
So we definitely saw that pattern and like, you know, we expanded, we're able to get a lot, you know, our customers are in the southeast, but I can't expand more than that when I can't be active on social
Erin (17:44):
Media
Helen (17:46):
Or like expand that way. There's obviously other ways to
Erin (17:48):
Yeah, and you've done a real, I've what I've, when I've looked through your stuff, I just thought you did a really good job of finding people with similar audiences, doing great collaborations, connecting with the consumers in a real way. Because I really think that that's what builds trust is authenticity and just being real and vulnerable. So I know this, but if you could give like a logline, like if, if this was a movie, if Blender Bombs was a movie and you could tell us the logline of the movie and two to three sentences, how did you create blender bumps?
Helen (18:29):
I gained weight in college, 30 pounds yo-yo dieted to lose it. Nothing worked until I started having smoothies and implementing more whole foods in my diet. And yeah, then I became a personal trainer after college. They wouldn't make smoothies and so I started for them to make it easier, make
Erin (18:50):
Smoothies. It's crazy. And I, I too, let me tell you this for free, I was a dancer. <Laugh>, I gained, I gained 30 lbs. I went, Now I know where you went. Just Helen, you don't know this about me. Maybe you do. I went to Clemson.
Helen (19:04):
It's okay. I don't care about sports.
Erin (19:06):
All right. Me neither. Me neither. Okay. I'm
Helen (19:08):
Actually a Georgia fan.
Erin (19:10):
Okay. This is fair. This is fair.
Helen (19:12):
But you know what's funny? I was choosing between gonna South Carolina or gonna Georgia and I was visiting South Carolina the weekend of the Alabama South Carolina game. That was at South Carolina and we Alabama. That's
Erin (19:25):
Crazy.
Helen (19:25):
So I was like, I'm gonna school. We're football powerhouse. The
Erin (19:29):
Ha hey, well Alabama just lost last weekend to Tennessee. I know know, you know, the southern football is real. This is a real thing. Football all over the country is real, but the southeast football is strong. We have a strong,
Helen (19:44):
It's the only reason you go to college. Yeah.
Erin (19:47):
And I, so I danced at Clemson. This is where I was going with this. I danced at Clemson. Let me just, hell on, let me preface. We wore purple spandex.
Helen (19:59):
<Laugh>,
Erin (20:00):
Okay. Oh my God. It was, this was pre the cute little sequin outfits. You see these dancers in today and I was 30 pounds heavier than I am currently. I could have used a blender bomb moment. Instead I, I just drank from every keg I could find. But you know, I truly hear this and it's cool how this came to be because you yoga day, you try to figure it out until you find stuff that works for your body. And this just really works for you. And now it's, it is, I will like to say it's a phenomenon. I think you've created this in, in parallel with the 80 20 lifestyle. So if you can explain to the improvement pees what that means. I've, I've done my research. I know, but tell us what this 80/20 lifestyle is.
Helen (20:47):
The 80 20 lifestyle is so important and it makes me really happy. I was at a restaurant like a hamburger joint the day and I was eating kale salad that <laugh> was finished dip. And this girl behind, like to her friend her I'm vegan and I'm like, where are you at A hamburger restaurant? Yeah. Anyway, and then the other girl was like, I'm 20, like I 20. And I was like, yes, it makes so happy. But also Tom Brady talks about sos probably means for me it means if I was to food I over a week and put it all on the table, probably around the, of it would be like a whole plant ingredient. That's all it means. And then whatever else I wanted, literally no restrictions, but goal is just the forefront of my to eating mostly whole food plant base and then some, you know, peanut butter pretzels.
Helen (21:48):
Like whatever it's that I'm craving or like a milkshake. If it's a milkshake that day. And then in terms of like your mindset, it's in more than just food. 20 means whatever it is that you have to do or, and this is gonna mean a lot now that I'm whatever is on your to-do list or whatever you're trying to accomplish or whatever goal you set out to. Im happy with just doing it 80 of the time or like, you know, meeting 80 of my goal. Like I'm to a, that is not in I'm type would rather would rather be less than stressing myself out. Trying to be perfect. Oh. Because I think that like in anything weight maintenance, your happiness levels, your ability to sleep, like your cortisol levels and your stress levels are the most important thing. Yes. Like even before food.
Erin (22:42):
Oh my god. You know, it's so truly I hear you on that. Cause I'm, I'm in this process of like, where is this pain in my back coming from? And I realize a lot of it is through mental stress and I am a recovering perfectionist turn feel flu. Okay. <Laugh>. Truly it's, it is a debilitating perfect. Is a debilitating disease. And how cool that you are, like, listen, I'm cool cause it's all about the progress, not the perfection. And I have been given a crash course and that over the past few years, truly I think this pandemic changed the way that I'll look at things forever for the better. But it's so nice that you've decided to lean into this mindset that you've, you're challenging other people to do the same. You're, you're educating people and who cares about Tom Brady? This is yours. Okay. This?
Helen (23:41):
Yeah. Who care? I own the
Erin (23:43):
Same. Yes. Tom, suck it it Tom. Okay.
Helen (23:45):
Or Tom, we can like collaborate.
Erin (23:48):
Yes. She's listening. So Tom, call Helen. Okay. Hey Tom, I know you're here,
Helen (23:53):
But I will, I also wanna point out though that, that I do that in my personal life. But then with work, when it, if something involves someone else, Im more of a perfectionist. Cause I don't wanna let that person down. So it's like if I have a meeting with someone at, I'm gonna be on time every time. Just that's outta respect for them. But I also know that because my personality is and like I'm not and change that, that's just how I've always been. It's what makes me happy. That is why I need someone else to be CEO eventually. Because once we start taking on investors and we're using other people's money and we're growing, like I, I want someone type A in that role.
Erin (24:40):
Totally. Totally.
Helen (24:41):
Totally. And then I'll be more of like the marketing visionary side of things.
Erin (24:46):
Is that what you like to do? Like have you outsourced all the things that you don't like to do?
Helen (24:51):
Yeah, that was the first thing I did. That's why I, we, I have not made money personally like I should have because I just spend all my money on outsourcing the things that my stress.
Erin (25:03):
Yes. I'm so with you now. For real.
Helen (25:05):
That's why I have a night nurse.
Erin (25:07):
Yes. As you should. And let me tell you something. I am, I am just shocked and impressed that you are here at two weeks. Cuz let me tell you the errand of two weeks postpartum. She was like, I be, I would have like bottles attached to my boobs. Okay. I would be, Oh
Helen (25:24):
Yeah, I've got a problem.
Erin (25:24):
Yeah. You know, all the things. And I would be a totals a total zombie and the bags would not look like shopping sprays under my eyeballs. They would be real bags.
Helen (25:34):
I've got my little leaks. I've in
Erin (25:36):
Here <laugh>. I love it. I, Okay, so this is why I think personally, Yeah, I'm sort of following you. I'm so intrigued. I'm like Helen. Yes. People love real stuff and sometimes I don't swear on this show, but I'm gonna today kids get your earmuffs. People love real. This is authenticity and I am, I'm just not shocked, but I'm so impressed with how you are the same through and through and you're like, this is the real deal. I'm gonna give it to you. But I wanna ask you, is that just something like that comes naturally and do you think that has brought you to where you are today?
Helen (26:24):
I've thought about this a lot because I always thought it was normal to be so open. But then when I went to college and in high school, I mean in college and like after college and people, not everyone was like that. And I was like, huh, this is interesting. So I s I remember like studying people and being like, what aren't they sharing? What are they sharing? Et cetera. So I think why I am so real is a couple things. A I don't ever do anything bad. Like there's nothing in my past that like I'm ashamed of. Obviously I've made so many mistakes and like I've done things, I've cheated on boyfriends, I've, I've done bad things, but it's not anything I'm embarrassed of because like I, I learned from it and I can be open about it. The other thing is I have a brother who is a year and a than me and he has learning disabilities.
Helen (27:15):
He's high functioning and he does not have filter. And I have up with him like my only sibling <laugh>, there's literally no filter at all. So I'm thinking that's normal cause he's older than me. And honestly he was like at all my sports games growing up like I was at his, people love his authenticity and vulnerability. They love that he doesn't have a filter and it's a straight shooter and he's given an excuse because he has learned disabilities but, or intellectual disabilities I should say. So I guess I just started doing it and I've never gotten in trouble for being so honest.
Erin (27:53):
Yeah. And I think it's refreshing. Like I'm like, yes the world needs more leaders to do this because you lead a team, you have a brand. You, do you think that that was instrumental in building the community that you have now?
Helen (28:09):
Yeah, a hundred percent. I just think cause people trust me.
Erin (28:12):
Yeah.
Helen (28:13):
But the problem is like if I was spreading false information openly like that, that's not good. And I would get in trouble. And at the very beginning of Lenner bombs, you know, if I, I would re-share what other people had said and I've had to learn to be about that. Cause even if someone, it wasn't hundred percent, like it's not, don't need to sharing anything that could influence someone else. No. How many followers if I only followers? You gotta be careful about. So I did learn that lesson
Erin (28:46):
<Laugh>. Yeah. No, and I think, I mean you, and it's interesting cuz I think as leaders, I think this perfectionism is sometimes really polarizing. And so you either go to one side. So if you go to one side where you don't share authentically and you're not vulnerable, then people don't get to know the real you then who are they working for. Right. And then if you go to the other extreme, it's almost like, and I I, this may come as a shock to you Helen, but I also keep it real, real as well. And the mouth just goes somehow. No. Who? No who. No. But I I hear you once you, and it's like those mistakes that you make sometimes need to happen in order for you to not make them again. And I'm talking about myself, I'm talking about everybody. Yes. Like you gotta do it. Oh,
Helen (29:35):
You gotta do
Erin (29:35):
It. And then you're like, ugh. And then the next time the situation arises, I've actually stopped doing things that I've done in the past. And I don't know if I would've done that otherwise without something there to kick me in the pants and say stop. You know. So let me ask you, this has showing up so authentically. It obviously has catapulted you with blend bombs. I think it's very refreshing. I I I just was following your content and I said yes, we need this. Has it had an impact on you personally being so authentic? Does it, does it feel good? How does that feel to you? Yeah,
Helen (30:13):
It feels so good. It feels nice having like-minded and people and like you just made a comment that I think that's what you said, correct me I'm wrong. But like that there's two types of people, you know, showing up on Instagram. There's, there's, or there's two extremes. Like there's the super authentic vulnerable people, which is of what you and I are. And then there's perfectionist whose Instagram feed is perfectly curated whose is always to tens and et cetera like that. And it's crazy that there are literally two different types of people and people are drawn to different types of people like that. Right? Yeah. but I think for me personally, it's, I love showing up every day on Instagram and answering people's ss as best as I can because it's the dms and like, that's what I like the dms and the interaction with customers and hearing what I said impacted day, how blender bombs are, have a question if we like, I just, I absolutely eat it up. I love it. It's so fulfilling to, and problem with the problem is like I'm stuck behind the screen, right? So I'm behind the screen all day. And that's why the Smoothie bar is such an amazing outlet because every time I go into the smoothie bar, there's a customer in there who like I've with before and they introduce themselves and then I get people in. And that's what I really like.
Erin (31:38):
That's so cool. Cause you are, you are impacting people's health. You're impacting, they're just digestive system, which is huge. You're impacting their mental state, which is so great. And I feel like to me, this is the way of the world. I feel like the pandemic really, especially in corporate America. Cause we have a lot of people in corporate America who listen to this show. I think a lot of people prior to the pandemic were so stifled they would wear these business suits and they would show up to work and do the thing and you know, and they had this hypothetical mask that they wore and then we were forced to sit inside and be on Zoom for a long time. And in that way people really showed their true colors. You could see their pets, you could see their homes, you could see, you know, who they were, the person behind the suit, the power suit.
Erin (32:34):
Yeah. And it's so cool. And that is just showing up more and more as authentic as real. And people wanna work for people like that. People wanna follow people who are just real. And it seems like so much work to try to not be that way. I don't know. Yeah. I feel like it's refreshing. So, and you're very vulnerable too. I mean, even one of your facts today was super vulnerable. So let me ask you this, You use this authenticity, this vulnerability to create a community and empower them, but how does your community and the community behind blender bombs empower you
Helen (33:15):
So much? Just they, and, and people like I've had interns who have helped me with my dms and stuff, and they'll all say this, but we don't get any negative, negative dms. Like there's no cyberbullying. Everyone is so nice. And it's almost like there's some sort of shield on the dms where people like no negativity enters it. I mean, I say no, 99.9% of everything is just so positive. And it's also people can be like challenging. Oh, if something's outta stock somewhere <laugh>, they let know. Yeah. Yeah.
Erin (33:53):
But
Helen (33:55):
Yes, if they got an bar from Amazon, like they let me know. Or if, if someone is messing up somewhere with our products, they let me know, they send me a dm. If someone is on them at smoothie, they <laugh> like an employee. They, they send me <laugh>. It's so funny. They're like little tats. But also I think it creates a safe space for people to be so vulnerable with me. And just when people are vulnerable with me too, it just feels like a close.
Erin (34:32):
Yeah. I guess. Yeah. It feels like they know you without knowing you like mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. I mean, and I can, can I just say this? Like, I don't, like we've never met until today virtually or in person, but I kind of feel like I know you like I'm kind like, Hey Helen house's lane, you know,
Helen (34:50):
That's normal.
Erin (34:51):
Yeah. Which
Helen (34:52):
Is crazy for sure. I feel so weird. But it'd be weird if nobody watched that.
Erin (35:01):
Yes. And I think you put a lot of heart and soul into that. And so you pouring that into your community is a direct correlation of the energy. So they're giving you back the energy that you give them. Yes. Is really what I think is beautiful. And you're always doing it in a positive light. Like you said, you're not ripping people apart, you're empowering them, you're giving them great pieces of advice. You're making their day better, which I think is so awesome. So let me ask you this, you know, a lot of leaders listen to this show. So if somebody is struggling with letting go, if they're struggling with showing up perfectly and they're only showing one side of a story, what would you say to them to help them let go and to show up more vulnerably?
Helen (35:49):
I think for people who don't naturally do it, it's a, it's a hard thing. But I would start by first like journaling, Like the power of journaling is so important I think. And when, if you're trying to change something about it is the first step I go to. So practicing like telling someone your story, be a journal. So you're talking to someone but no one's actually listening. And it helps develop confidence and then baby steps, like taking it to a friend or a family member or a stranger, which everyone feels more comfortable to. Sometimes people prefer opening up to strangers. And then once you do that a couple times and you can someone else's response to whatever you're being vulnerable about and you like the response, you'll, you'll start developing confidence to share everything vulnerably. But it's everything that you say whenever you share it, it's all about the tone and the delivery of it. It's like if you say something with humility, no one will ever have a poor reaction to what you're saying. But if you say something with an undertone of like pompousness or whatever, then they're probably gonna be like a little turned off.
Erin (37:09):
Yeah, I agree. And I think that's awesome. I think a, a practice where you can get it on paper is key. And that's a, I go, that goes hand in hand with mindfulness. Do you do anything every day to start your day? Are you a journal-er?
Helen (37:24):
I actually used to a lot. Like, so like I just kind mentioned if the goal is to change, like if there's something about myself, I'm trying to, I'm hands and all the mindfulness stuff until that thing is and so I did a lot of that over the last few years and really over the last few months I haven't been doing as much. But I also feel like I'm at a place where I'm just so much at with myself and my life that there's not really anything I'm trying right now from a personal side of things like work stuff, I'm always trying to change. But from a personal side of things, I'm super content. Like I can look at myself in the mirror and be like, you're like we're doing 10 or
Erin (38:12):
Yes, I love that,
Helen (38:14):
But I wasn't like that and to do of mindfulness work to get there.
Erin (38:19):
Yeah. I mean I s i I do it constantly. It's like a constant reminder because I do think I'm the same way. There's stuff like, there's moments and it's so fun. You're in this nesting stage. You've just got this beautiful blah squishy baby and it's such a beautiful time. So I really hope you just sit there and just enjoyed that day. Ugh.
Helen (38:44):
And I have, I was so worried I wouldn't be able to get away from email. But I like my maternity plan was the first weeks I do not look email. Yeah. I mean I still browse it if there's anything emergency, but I don't, I'm not responding or opening anything.
Erin (39:00):
You're doing it. I'm so impressed. Well is there any books that you would really recommend or something that has inspired you that somebody listening here today from a leadership perspective could could grab and read that you love?
Helen (39:15):
Yes. Okay. So from a leadership perspective, the of Naval, I'm gonna butcher name or something like that. Get the, don't get the audio. It's one that you're, it's just bits of and its mind blowing. It's the best book ever. Everyone that I've recommended it to. It's like, thank you so much for telling me about this book. Like from the leadership side of things, if you're in that position, you have to read that book. I'm obsessed with my people Go surfing, which is by the, you know the Patagonia guy a living out his mission <laugh>. Yeah. And then lemme actually Amazon look at up real quick cause I'm forgetting
Erin (40:01):
It. No, I love this. We're gonna link to these in the show notes too because it's always so insightful to, First of all, I've never heard of the Patagonia book. I gotta get that immediately. Oh
Helen (40:10):
I
Erin (40:11):
Hear, I love everything that that company stands for. So this is good cuz people will definitely wanna grab these latch on.
Helen (40:21):
I'm gonna audible, actually this this book is one that youโre gonna wanna audible. Oh yeah. There's Kara's book that I read that was so good.
Erin (40:28):
Oh yeah, she, Hi Kara Golden on the show. That book, I read that via Audible as well. And I felt like when I actually talked to her, it was like I knew again her whole life story and talk about she, she has four kids.
Helen (40:43):
Ooh,
Erin (40:44):
She had her fourth child while getting hint into I think Whole Foods
Helen (40:51):
Like how you do that. Dunno how
Erin (40:54):
I don't either.
Helen (40:55):
Ok, well I can't find this. Oh, Earth is hiring. That's
Erin (40:58):
Earth is hiring. Okay, we're linking to these. I love that. See, this is fun. See we all need more books in our repertoire here. So we'll link to all three of those. Let me ask you this question. We always say improve it your, it is what hustle means to you. It's your purpose, it's your passion. It's a thing that you were put here on this earth to do. So what is Helen Hall Leland's at
Helen (41:24):
Flender Bombs? And so this is why I'm like, why I wanted that to be the mission before we did the podcast was, what I've learned that works for me is I used to have like, obviously everyone has like a lot of things that sparked their interests and you wanna try different things out and see like what lights you up and what you wanna spend your life doing, blah blah, blah. I tried so many different things even after Blender Bums started like opening a smoothie bar, opening like a alcohol company. Like just a bunch of different things. But like at the end of the day, what was fulfilling, what was healthy, what drove me, what I felt good about, what was mission-driven what had a purpose and what was like making the most money was plunder bombs. And so learning how to narrow down my hustle so I can give my energy into one thing and doing it really well instead of like spreading my energy out over a bunch of different things that wasn't breaking. I mean that was turning point for me. And so my it is bombs.
Erin (42:22):
I love it. I love it. And I'm so happy it, it exists. I love them. I actually, as you know, I told you this before we hit record, I'm now a fan, a raving fan.
Helen (42:33):
Yay. I'll send you a gift card.
Erin (42:36):
Oh stop. Keep going. And also the drizzle. So my son, the three-year-old, his name's Jackson we love the Drizzle. We put it on everything. And so he was at school and they were doing like, they were using glue to do raindrops with the Elmer glue, like the drip Elmer's glue. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. So they put a little drop on the paper. They were teaching them that it's not a range or it's a rain drop, not a puddle. So don't put like a whole puddle of glue on your paper. And so he put a little bit more than a rain drop and he looks at his teacher and he goes, it's a drizzle. And it's because he loves drizzles. He, he has a drizzle drizzle on his toast. And it's such a cool, you've expanded the Blender Bram brand, which I think is so cool. Tell the improve it pees if they want some blender bombs, if they wanna get to know Helen, if they wanna connect, send you one of those fun dms. How did they do it?
Helen (43:35):
Yes. Well first we can do a discount code for anyone that's listening. The code can be improve it and it'll be <crosstalk> percent off. Yes.
Erin (43:45):
Let's Wes sit here. Yes, you can
Helen (43:49):
Share that all social medias or whatever, but blender, bombs.com. So not on Amazon.
Erin (43:55):
Yes. Okay. It's it exciting, Helen, Thank you. And everybody gets you some improve it. You just, we'll link to that in the show notes too.
Helen (44:05):
And then if anyone has like questions you can just Instagram Leland. I was, it's so weird changing my name, like saying a new last name.
Erin (44:17):
Are you, are you hyphened? Are you hyphened? Are you just Helen Leland now?
Helen (44:22):
I am Helen Leland on Instagram. I will eventually get rid of the Hall, but probably in like a year.
Erin (44:29):
Yeah. I love the name Lane. Lane Leland. I know, me too. That is the, a little, the alliteration there is beautiful, beautiful. She'd
Helen (44:38):
Better be a little, little sassy little Lane.
Erin (44:41):
Oh, she is, she is bringing so much to this world. I can't wait. And I'm <laugh> I'm so excited. And she'll have to meet Jackson at some point when you come back to Charleston. So thank you so much. You Helen, you're the bomb. Okay, let's just pun intended. <Laugh>,
Helen (44:58):
You
Erin (44:58):
Too. You have really empowered me to show the real deal more often and I know that all of our listeners are here for this conversation and are just so empowered to go out there and be their true vulnerable selves. So thank you so much for coming on the show.
Helen (45:13):
Yes, of course. Thank you guys. Thank you.
Erin (45:25):
Improve it. Ss yes to Helen, Yes to the 80 20 lifestyle. Yes to that discount code for blender bombs. So, so cool. We have our own discount code go tos.com and use the code it to get 15% off. I'm obsessed with these. Now I, like I said, love the drizzle, which is this very naturally ingredient made almost syrup like drizzle that you put on top of your smoothies. But go ahead, go to the website, look at the blender bombs, look at all of the blender bars. Get yourself one of these blender bumps and try them in your smoothie. My favorite is like a cow and peanut butter. It is so delicious and nutritious. So, you know, I like to give you some homework. Here is your homework. I want you to look in the mirror and ask yourself, how can I show up this authentically?
Erin (46:32):
How can I show up as this person I see across from me today? Because guess what? You already have that it, that the world needs. Show it to us. Give us the energy that you are meant here to do and do it with vulnerability and authenticity. That's the type of leader that your team needs. That's the type of person that people wanna follow. So don't be afraid to be you. I loved this talk with Helen. It was so refreshing and I hope that you take away that vulnerability impacts and empowers others. You know what I'm gonna say? Keep failing. Keep improving because the world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I'll see you next week. Hey friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improvement podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.