Kindred Kitchens | Introducing Jo & Jules of Conscious Cleanse
What scale do you use to measure your health? When it comes to food, most measure it by weight. Instead, imagine you measured your health on a vibrancy scale. What’s your pep level? Do you feel happy, energized & “up for it?”
We met Jo and Jules, Founders at Conscious Cleanse this spring and were instant fans. These women are on a mission to bring wellness to our kitchen and spark to our life with a fully supported cleanse.
But wait Cleanse has become a dirty word. The notion of “going on a cleanse” can create such anxiousness that the cleanse never even happens. The team at Conscious Cleanse knows all about the fear to fail barrier so they’ve brilliantly incorporated failure into the program by highlighting the fact just participating is success and any slip is failing forward. We’ve seen a lot of cleanses pass our way and the Conscious Cleanse was the first that made us feel like success was obtainable because we defined success. The entire vision for the cleanse stems around one simple idea: Eat real food. Get real results. You’re setup to succeed.
Jo & Jules are reshaping our bodies and the health sector by filling our plates, (yep that’s right you're going to eat on this cleanse!), bringing mindfulness to the table and giving us the space to set our own parameters on the way to sustained vibrancy.
Read on as we dig deeper with Jo Schaalman and Julie Peláez and learn about Conscious Cleanse!
Why does Conscious Cleanse exist?
JS: When I was younger I can remember always wanting to help people heal and for a very long time, I thought I would be a doctor. In 2004, I was hit by a truck on my bike going 70 mph and was told that I would be disabled for the rest of my life. That was a huge turning point because I thought I would never be able to live a normal life, let alone fulfill my dreams of becoming a doctor. After much trial and error, I realized that I could use nutrition to help heal my body and with life changing results. I reduced my chronic pain, lost 40 pounds, and had hope for the first time since my accident. For me, the Conscious Cleanse was born from the idea that everyone can heal and everyone can feel good. I feel inspired everyday to get out of bed and team up with people who are ready to make a change in their life.
JP: Personal experience, passion, and the desire to make a difference in the world! I always considered myself a very healthy person, and yet still struggled with some nagging health challenges – “normal” things that many people deal with like acne, gas, bloating, and not being able to maintain a healthy weight, despite the fact that I was exercising daily, eating what I thought were health foods, and drinking a lot of water. Through my own trial and error, experimenting with different diets, especially the raw food diet, I realized I was eating certain “health foods” (like soy protein and yogurt) that were causing my biggest health complaints. Jo and I came together very synchronistically because we were both being our own experiments, asking ourselves independently, “how does this food make me feel?” We brought together our own areas of expertise and our own personal experiences, blended with several no-nonsense basics like “make veggies the center of your food universe” to form the basis of the Conscious Cleanse.
Not all cleanses are created equal. What is the Conscious Cleanse and how do you stand apart?
The Conscious Cleanse is a 14-day whole foods based cleanse. Most people hear the word cleanse and they think juice fasting or lemon water and cayenne pepper. On the Conscious Cleanse you’ll eat real food and lots of it! Our program is designed to help clean out your digestive system, identify food allergens and ultimately help guide people towards healthier nutritional choices.
The goal through our program is to make long-lasting changes that stick! While you will lose weight, it’s not the focus of our program. Over the course of 2 weeks you’ll make healthy changes that will become part of your daily routine, so that when the cleanse is over, you won’t go back to your old ways.
We love how you inspire your Conscious Cleansers to take their well being into their own hands. It’s powerful work. How do you keep yourself inspired?
Every time we run a cleanse, we feel inspired by the people who come to our program. Typically people enroll because they want to lose weight and feel healthier – and we love that! But, what’s even more incredible is when cleansers start to see changes happening in their body, they get inspired about transforming other areas in their life. Participants get empowered to do things they’ve never done before, to put themselves outside of their comfort zone and open to new possibilities. We tear up at the end of every cleanse seeing their incredible transformations.
Personally we both are very committed to our own self-care practices – regular massage, meditation, yoga, and hiking outside in the beautiful CO sunshine.
Which 3 foods are always in your kitchen?
JS: Lemon (for my daily warm water and lemon habit), dark leafy greens, and wild salmon.
JP: Avocados, bananas, and spinach – the three staples in my green smoothie.
What’s on the horizon for Conscious Cleanse?
We’re currently working on the On Demand version of the Conscious Cleanse that will bring our members the same supportive experience of our current 14-day program, plus new tools that will help people live a healthy lifestyle. We are very excited and are hoping to roll it out in the new year!
As female entrepreneurs, what is one thing you would pass on to other budding women pursuing their own business plans?
Commit to working on your own personal growth. Fifteen minutes a day is all it takes, but you have to do it daily. Read an inspiring article, learn to meditate, listen to a Podcast, read a book that helps you become more of you. Doing so will enable you to face the challenges and the demands of growing a business.
