The Truth About “Clean” Sunscreen | Daily Shade on Know Your Ship

I think ideas really want to be born and they really want to be
alive and they come to a person and if that persondoesn’t act on it and they
don’t give it everything they need to to make this idea something I think the
idea goessomewhere else cuz it just wants to be born. It wants to be part of
this moment and the universe and it just wants to bealive. Welcome to the
Know Your Ship podcast presented by E-Hub. I’m your host FrankDolce. What’s
your maiden name? The Lions.Uh, okay. Lynford is my mom’s name that I grew up
with. My parents were divorced, so I grew up with my mom’smaiden name,
Lynford. And Hansen is my dad’s name, but no one knew me as that cuz I didn’t
use his name.Gotcha. Yeah. And then you were you were a single child until
12.Why do you know this? How do you know this? Because it’s my responsibility
to doresearch on my cat. How do you know this? Yes, I was a single child till
I was 12.Yep. I know. And and then did you did you accumulate some siblings
at after12? I I along the way it you know what it’s the mixed it’s the mixed
thing. So I technically wasn’t a single child. Mydad had other children but
they I didn’t see them very often. They didn’t leave in my householdand so I
was raised by a single mom. She didn’t have any other kids till I was12. So
it was just really me and my mom. M couple of stepdads in and out that didn’t
work out. So, it was just me andher against kind of everything. How do you
think that experience helped you evolve or how did how did thataffect you as
a kid and and now looking back and as an adult as an adultum in all the ways.
My mom was a teacher. So, ah I was her only child. She was a teacher.Oh man.
She she ran a preschool of our house and the joke is she would take a corner
and teach the kids and I wouldtake a corner and teach the kids. She had me
doing the alphabet backwards, all the presidents, the United States,
thecapitals, everything by the time I was probably four maybe. I mean, I knew
all the things.I was a whole world. She was a great teacher. So, education
was just drilled into me like this is the most importantthing is to get an
education. And that really modeled and built my entire life for so many
years. So, I think it waseverything. She was a single mom and she wanted me
to not ever have to worry about taking care of myself. Whatever Idid, she
wanted me to have some kind of career that I could take care of myself. Yeah.
So, I think it built everything. That’s amazing.Yeah. We’re already in the
interview. Like, how did he just He just snuck that in.He just He just snuck
it in. We’re already there. We’re Yeah, we’re in deep deep in it. Oprah
Winfrey. Whoa.Frank Winfrey. Yes. Thank you. What? Okay. Do you remember any
of thatstuff today? Like, can you do the alphabet backwards? C Yx W U T S N R
QP O N M L K J I H G EF E D C A. This is This is my fun thing. Yeah,that may
have been the most impressive thing that we’ve ever seen on the podcast. And
let me just tell you, we had the guyon the podcast Joe Toaft, who spent seven
years takingdown Pablo Escobar. Look, if he couldn’t do the alphabet
backwards, who cares?I don’t think he could. Like, who cares about that?
Listen, you know, I’m not sure he could do the alphabet forwards, but he did
take down PabloEscobar, and that’s something. That’s something. And that’s
something. Yeah. Okay. Do you know it’s America’s 250 iscoming up next year?
America’s 350th anniversary. Isn’t that exciting?Yes. Okay. You talked about
this education and did you say something about No, you knewall the presents. You
learned all the presidents. Okay. Do you have a favorite Do you have a
favoriteand I know you’re well educated. So, do you have a favorite moment in
US historywith the 250th coming up or a favorite president? favorite moment
in history isthe moment that women could get alone without a man. Get alone.
Yeah. And that only happenedalone, not get along. L O A N. Alone. Gotcha.
Okay. Someone fact checked me on the year, butit has been I I don’t know. Can
someone test me pull it up? It’s been a veryvery short amount of time ago
that women were allowed to go in and get a afinancial loan without their
husband signing off or a man signing off. Like a sponsor. You’d have to have
asponsor or Yeah. And that Yes. Yeah. Let’s check the date. It’s a shocking
number. I have one in my head,but I don’t want to spit it out in case it’s
wrong. We’ll let her tell us the date. Wow. 1988.I was born in 86. So that’s
2 years after I was born. thata woman could go in and get a business loan
without a guy signing off on it. Wow. Yeah, it’s crazy. Yeah. Well, it’s
crazy. And it’s evenmore crazy that in some places in the world that is still
the ca probablystill the case. And even more even worse than that. Even
worse, did you see that um movie of the groupof women who were in the Middle
East and they were trying to build the robots? That was such a great movie.
But I tookmy girls to that and I was so emotional watching that with them
saying, “Do you know how rare it is that you were bornin the time you
were born in the country you were born in? In the personage you were as as a
woman in this country thatyou can do literally anything you want to do. I
think we take that for granted every single day. There are women in theworld,
millions of women in the world who are under a completely different regime.
They’re it’s it’s suffragestill. It’s the craziest thing.” Yeah. Yeah.
The rarity of that is so beautiful. Yeah. I I love that. I’m glad that
youmentioned that and and you talk to your kids about that. Oh, we talk about
it at length every Yeah, it’s a daily conversation with mykids cuz anytime
they’re I do want to do my homework and like there’s a lot of people who
would be begging and prayingjust for the opportunity to have a book to read,
just to learn. I know. I love those opportunities. Oh yeah. I take advantage
of those tothe max. Just really drill in my guilt. It’s Yes. Yes.You will
appreciate that. Why is that so satisfying? I don’t know. And then I walk
away and I’m like,”Nailed it. Nailed it. Nailed it. Yeah,
absolutely.” I guess since we’ve alreadystarted the podcast, we should
probably introduce you. I don’t know. Okay, great. Bri, do you like You like
to go by Bri,but not Brelin. Breyn is great. Yeah, Breelin is great. I think
it’s harder for people to remember and say correctly, and they getnervous
they’re going to say it wrong. So, Bri is just a more it’s easier and more
confident for the person, but either one is great forHave you ever run into
another Brelin? Yes, but she was I think she was four or five. She was very
little.Oh, duh. It’s not a very common name. Yeah. So, Bin Vanluengrew up in
the States. When you have to fill out those forms and you have to fill out
each dot likethat’s a long Did you have to do that with your passport? Like
so long. Van Luen and you’re like, I need extrasquares. I need extra boxes. I
have personal paper. Yeah. Do you have a middle name also? I mean,luckily
it’s Jan. It’s short. Yeah. Was your were your were yourparents or was your
mom like a Brady Bunch fan and you became Jan from the Brady Brady Bunch?My
grandma’s name is Janet and so I was named after my grandma. Gotcha. Nice.
Well, you are the founder andcreator of Daily Shade. I am. Which is a
allnaturalnonharmful daily sunscreen for kids. That’s where you are
today.Beautiful. Correct. That’s right. And you uh you had a career prior
tothis well in in in medicine as a PA, but I I think what I understand is
that youspent time studying causes of skin cancer. It’s part of yourcareer.
Is that accurate? No, it’s totally accurate. Yeah. So, I studied medicine. I
practiced medicine for 15 years. One of the one of thespecialties I worked in
as a PA was in facial reconstructive plastic surgery. And Utah is the number
one state in theentire country for melanoma, which is the most dangerous form
of skin cancer. We are three times the national average.Utah. Yeah, Utah. You
would think it would be Arizona or Florida or Hawaii or California, something
like that. It’shere in our in our home state right here. Three times the
national average. And it’s because the elevation, thealtitude, the year-
round sports, and a ton of very fair skinned people. And then a lot of
tanning happens here.People love the aesthetic of being tan. And it’sFrank be
honest near does it does it happen mostly in UtahCounty just like actually it
really focuses right outside the vosas right next tothose tanning beds that’s
where the peaks happen right by those beaches tanning beds actually a high
amounthappening right there now that you mentioned that I don’t think I’ve
ever seen a fa without atanning salon My husband won’t even take me to Vasa
cuz if I’m there and someone is walking in, I will physically go overand be
like, I don’t think you understand what you’re doing. I don’t think you
should go in and do this. This is a bad decision. My husband’s like,”You
can’t you can’t say this to strangers. You can’t say this to people.”
They should know. They need to know.Yeah. I think you’re right. They need to
know. And I think you have a responsibility. I do. To tell people.And I do. I
don’t have a very quiet way about me. So, I I do that. Yeah. Mhm.Sorry. I
feel like I’m getting us off track. Okay, let’s go back to your experience
studying causes of cancer andit happens to be right here in Utah. Right here
in Utah. And one of the the highest um cancer in women age 24 or 26to 30 is
melanoma. It’s the most common cancer in women aed 26 to 30. So,
thesebeautiful young girls would come into the office with very disfiguring
scars on their face cuz they had a melanomaremoved and now they’re coming in
to see a reconstructive facial plastic surgeon to try to minimize the
appearance ofthose scars. Let’s say they had something come off their nose.
It’s not just a very superficial removal of the tissue. They are going so so
deep. It’slike an iceberg. There’s just the tip of it that you’re seeing, but
underneath it is where all of the growth is happening and spread. And so
what’s happening insome cases I had a we had one young girl who had her
entire nose except one little piece of the cartilage wasremaining because of
melanoma. And it was in that moment I mean I knew I knewsunscreen was
important. I mean in my of course I would put it on myself every day and and
I knew it was but somethingclicked for me then where I realized man if these
girls already have this in their 20s the damage was done longbefore that.
Right. Um, so when I was a professor and I had to do research and Ihad to
pick a topic for my RTP, it’s part of the 10-year process. I chose to study
skin cancer prevention andawareness trying to figure out how can we best
prevent this most common cancer in America that is the most preventablecancer
in America from being that. Cuz it just blew my mind that the most common
cancer in America, skin cancer,was the most preventable cancer. And yet here
we still were. I thought, man, if if there were something that we could dofor
breast cancer, if someone said, “Here’s a bra that you can put on, and
if you wear this bra, there’s a 90%chance you won’t get breast cancer, every
woman would be wearing that bra, right?We have that. It’s called sun
protection. It’s being smart about the sun. It’s sunscreen. It’s we
alreadyknow what it is.” And yet, no one’s doing it. We could prevent
90% of casesof skin cancer if we were just smart about the way that we
handled the sun. And yet we’re not doing it because ofcultural norms because
we love to lay out because we love to be tan because it feels great to have
those endorphins hitwhen you get a sunburn. It’s all the things or a suntan.
I mean, it’s a real thing. There’s endorphins that are released when you get
a suntan.It’s it’s kind of a it’s kind of a thing. The first like I don’t
know. My experience was growingup is like you went through the first outdoor
kind of days in the summer. Yougot the first burn. Yes. And then you suffer
through that and then you’re good for the for the rest ofyear of the year. It
was just kind of a process that you went through. It seems that was the
thing. So up to 80% of sun damage in a person’swhole life up to so there’s
some studies that will say less but up to 80% or just majority of sun damage
in a person’swhole life happens before the age of 18. It’s this moment. No
one’s thinking about putting sunscreen on their kidevery day. Unless unless
you’re out at the beach, the pool, maybe a soccer game. My kids in soccer. I
very rarelysee parents put on sunscreen even for soccer cuz in their head
they’re like, “Oh, they’re only out there for an hour. We don’t need to
put on sunscreen.”Um the truth is it it takes decades for melanoma to
develop, for skin cancers todevelop. So while you think it’s just this
innocent base tan or base burn, it’s really damaging your skin forever.And
there’s once the damage is done, that’s it. You can’t go back. You can’t
reverse it. There’s nothing you can do.Literally, there’s nothing you can do.
I have a problem. Oh no. Yeah. Oh no. I I have an issue.You like to be tan.
Well, yeah. It’s just a natural thing. You know, my dad always says tan fat
isbetter than white fat. It’s the most horrible thing to say, but he always
says that. But it’s true.I mean, you kind of have to agree with that, right?
I mean, culturally, culturally, yeah. I mean, in this culture,it is I think
things are shifting and changing, but especially when I was growing up in the
90s as a 14-year-oldgirl, I wanted the Playboy bunny that I didn’t even know
what it meant. that sticker on my stomach from the tanningbed. Do you
remember that? Yeah. I mean, it’s so stupid. Or the heart or the rainbow or
whatever. And it was likethis cool moment to be like, “Look at
this.” You know, in junior high to show I’m like, “I went
tanning.”Mhm. Yeah. This is just It’s a cultural weird thing. It’s Well,
it is. And in other countries, like in someAsian cultures, are you guys
seeing those where they have the the massive banana leaves over their
face?They’re taking it that serious cuz the wider you are, the better. So,
it’s just it’s acultural thing, but in this country, I I hope it’s sort of
starting to phase out and people are appreciating naturalbeauty, but yeah, it
was part of my youth and yours. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we we from the very
earliestdays, I was out on the beach all day long as much as we could be
andwhich is great. Love I love sunshine. Love good beach day. We didn’t run.
We didn’t do sunscreen. Yeah. And it was and you know it waskind of a thing
like if you did wear sunscreen then you were like that guy can’t that guy has
to use Yeah.That guy has to use sunscreen. Exactly. Yeah. That’s I was
getting sand kicked in my face if I put sunscreen on.Yeah. All this stuff.
Okay. I have two things. Okay. About this. Uh one is like I have this I have
thisidea about how I’m going to age. Well, I’m already aged, but you look
great for your age. How old areyou? Continues to You know what? It’s so
funny. This comes up on this podcast with some regularity.It’s the lighting.
Maybe it’s like very appealing lighting. Oh, no. How old are you? I’m not
going to make you guess. That’sterrible to make you guess. I’m 56. You look
great. So you are sort of the um you are the person that disproveswhat I’m
saying because most people even if they you know sun skin cancer isn’t a
concern for them aging the sun ages youfaster than anything else right
hyperpigmentation fine lines wrinkles. Imagine how good you’d look if
youdidn’t lay out. Oh imagine that. Look how good you look now with laying
out. Can you imagine?I could look even better. Is that what you’re saying? I
could look even better than I do. I can’t.Can you? I can’t hard to imagine. I
can’t. But no, you I mean you kind of goagainst the grain of what I’m saying,
but for most most people, the sun is an is an age amplifier. It just ages
youquicker than any other environmental factor you could come across. I’m
going to tell you a little secret.Okay. Botox. You probably get a lot of
Botox. Is that your secret?No. Uh no. I Okay. So, I love everything
associated with the ocean, includingthe sun. Like the like my favorite scent
is suntan oil. Those are all my candles.And apparently now I can’t buy
candles. Like that’s a thing. Hormone disruptors left and right. It’s like,
and you know what I justfound out about? I don’t know why I didn’t know about
this, but seed oils. I’m now reading this book like don’t have any seed
oils.And that’s everywhere. I mean, I kind of knew the sugar thing. I just
disregardedit because I have such a terrible or amazing sweet tooth as I tell
people. So, but it’s all these things. Well, thething with sunscreen is like
it’s for that period of time, the summerseason, it you I mean, sunscreen is
just a part of that. It’s your it’s the sand,it’s your beach towel, it’s the
water, it’s the sunscreen. And I developed thisgreat affinity for the scent
of a sunscreen that I know that youhave. You won’t find that in you. You had
a difficult experience withthis particular sunscreen, but it that sunscreen
in that brown bottle, theminute I put it on my and so I use sunscreen for the
scent of it, not for theprotective qualities. night after the sun goes down
for date night. You’re tapping it. I sometimes use sunscreen. I don’t doit.
Now we’re in the fall, so I It’s not It’s like It feels inappropriate, but
during the summer,I’ll use that sunscreen for like my lotion. Oh, yeah.
Yeah.So, I put it on not for the protective quality, but for the the scent,
the aromathe aroma of it because it’s so nostalgic. It brings back this flood
ofmemories. Okay, here’s the other thing that I have is I I kind of have
thisfascination with I I’m like a a patriot like western,you know, old west
Americana like at the Marlboro man with the tanleather skin. That’s exactly
right. Yes. So, how exactly what we’re wanting to avoid?I’m supposed to get
to the point where I look like a fine piece of leather.If I’m wearing
sunscreen all the time, like that’s a How do you manage that? I would say if
those are your goals,sunscreen is probably not for you. If your goal is to
really age like a fine leatherface, like I mean, Robert Redford just passed
away. I saw him one time up atSundance. He was not a sunscreen user. Can tell
you that. His skin was really,really leathery and dark. And he’s one of these
people. If these are your goals, maybe he used sunscreen. Maybe we shouldcut
that out. I don’t know if R used sunscreen, but it didn’t look like it. It
didn’t look like it. Yeah. If those are your goals, I would I woulddefinitely
say sunscreen’s not for you. What did he look like up close? Lot of freckles.
Uh-huh.Uh very leathery skin. And he was tiny. He was short. Yeah, that’s
what I understand. He’stiny. He’s tiny. Yeah, he was a very he like Yeah, he
was smaller than me. He was He’s tiny.Okay, here’s the other follow-up
question I have about your research and the thought about usingsunscreen on a
daily basis. Yeah. Okay. Does that affect your body’sability to develop its
own sun protection?This is an interesting deep conversation. I don’t know how
far you want to go into it. If you were to go get a base tan, let’s say that
you weregoing on vacation and you think, “Okay, I’m gonna go in the
tanning bed so I can give myself a base tan for vacation, which I will never
do.”No. And I’ve never We would not. Uh-uh. No. No way. We would not. If
someone were to go do that, whatyou’re protecting your skin with is about an
SPF of four. So that base tan gives you an SPF offour. That’s how much
protection it’s providing to your skin versus um, you know, sunscreen SPF of
30and above is recommended. So, the problem is is people get this base tan
and they think, “Oh, I’m good to go,they go out, and they just, you
know, fry to a crisp or get a deeper burn.” Anytime you’re getting a
suntan, it’syour body’s way of saying, “Protect me. I I need protection
cuz I’m getting damaged.” So, it sends out these littlehelpers to try to
block more rays from coming in, which is what makes you tanner. And it’s the
body’s way of saying, “I’mgetting too tan. Help me. This is my this is
my warning signal that I’m damaging myself. That’s what a tan is.So, all a
tan is is just evidence of damage to your skin. I know. It’s terrible.You
certainly put a damper on that. I know. When you look at it that way, the tan
becomes much less much lesspretty. It’s just damaged skin. It’s all a tan is.
It’s such appealing damaged skin. Imean, there’s a point. There’s like a
level of I guess appeal. You kind of like that sun glow. Isn’t that Isn’tthat
something? Yeah, I think that people do like that. And that’s one of the
things that we fight on a regular basis. I think peopledo like that. Yeah, I
love it. Okay. Well, I’ll I’ll have to consider that.Okay. So, at that point,
you’re uh you’re deep in your career and you’rethinking about well, we can
prevent all of this is all of these issues withpeople in skin skin cancer.
It’s a there’s a way to prevent it. At that point, were you thinking, I
should starta sunscreen line, or were you thinking like, I’m gonna just I’m
going to help educate people on utilizing sunscreenmore appropriately? Yeah.
The first time it actually crossed my mind to start a sunscreen company was
in 2020. I went from working full-timepracticing medicine and then we moved
to Alabama with my husband’s job. So, I was flying back and forth and I was
seeingpatients um every week or two weeks and then I would fly back to
Alabama for a week or two and then I’d fly home toUtah to see patients
because my medical license was in Utah. So, I wanted to keep seeing my
patients. So, I was flying back and forth. And then 2020 hit and all of a
sudden travelwasn’t a thing. Air travel wasn’t something we could go do. So,
we were in Alabama. I was stuck there. We had apool. Stuck is a hard word. I
loved Alabama, but I was there and I had a pool. And it was the first time in
mywhole life that I was a stay-at-home mom completely. that I didn’t have any
sort of outside anything and my mind I justhave a busy mind and it loves to
think and be active and put it to something and my daughter had this horriblereaction
to a chemical sunscreen at her one-y year birthday and so from that point on
I was using sunscreen after sunscreen and either she would stillhave a
reaction because a lot of sunscreens on the market are hybrid meaning they’re
not mineral sunscreensthey’re actually a little bit of mineral and a little
bit of UV chemical filter mixed together so she’d react just as she would to
a chemical sunscreen Mhm.And if she didn’t, I would use these really thick,
white, pasty, greasy, natural zinc sunscreens. And the more Ibought, I just
couldn’t. And I kept telling my husband, I spent probably, I don’t even know.
I’d have to go back look at my receipts. Thousands ofdollars on these
sunscreens. And he it got to the point where he’s like, “You’ve got to
quit. Like, there’s not one. Just pick your favorite or pickpick the best of
what’s available and go with that.” And I’m like, “You know what?
You’re right. There’s not one.That’s a gap. I can totally fix that.”
That was sort of the first inkling of Ican fix this. Gotcha. So that’s when
it really first occurred and then it took four years for us to develop the
product because it was areally challenging thing to do. Okay. So your
daughter uh did hadn’t hada reaction prior to this. She was one-year-old and
we were using a sunscreen that was okay. It was stillwhitening on her and
thick. It was um I can’t remember the name of it, but one that you would be
familiar with. And itwas okay on her, but we ran out. So, my husband just
grabbed a random one at the gas stationor the Publix or wherever we were in
Seaside, Florida. And I didn’t even see what he grabbed cuz we were out of
it. Iwant to do a cake smash scene on the beach and the sun was beating down.
It was in June and I’m like, “Just go grab some more sunscreen.” It
didn’t evenlook to see what he got. Covered her in it. And we have it on
video of her just getting red and flustered and irritatedand itchy eyes. And
then she started to get welts and blisters all over. I mean, within 30
minutes, it just you can watchthe development while she’s smashing her cake,
it just gets worse and worse and worse. And it took us a minute to figure out
what it was, but yeah, it turns outit was a chemical sunscreens. Gotcha. Are
chemical sunscreens effective? Look, I think this is a big topic and abig
conversation. And because I’m regulated by the FDA, I have to be very careful
with my verbiage and how I saythings. And I would never want to discourage
someone from using sunscreen in general. I think sunscreen saveslives and I
think that protection against the sun. We know that the sun causes skin
cancer. We know 90% of casesof melanoma are caused by UV radiation. So for me
to say that they’re noteffective would not be accurate. I do think that as a
country we can be moreresponsible for the ingredients that we’re putting on
our skin. It’s the largest organ of our body. It absorbs everything that we
put on it. And ourcompany doesn’t use 1,700 ingredients that are banned in
the EU. I think there’s seven banned here regulatorywise. The EU is banned
1,700. I hold our company to that standard. So, we don’t use 1,700 of those
ingredients plus. ButI think this country, are they effective? Yes. Could the
ingredients besafer? Could they be better for our kids? Absolutely. Right.
Even the FDA,they have two mineral filters that they consider generally
considered safe, which are titanium and zinc. Those arethe two that the FDA
says these are considered safe. Then all the UV chemical filters are in a
differentcategory and they’re actually going under investigation and studies
constantly because there is evidence ofabsorption into the bloodstream and
into the breast milk and endocrine disruption. To what degree? That’s
stillbeing studied, right? So there’s some question marks around those
filters and there’s question marks around the boosters that aren’t regulated
by theFDA that comp companies just load their sunscreen product with. So
they’ll say, “Oh, this is a mineral sunscreen. It’llhave 2% of 2% zinc
or 10% zinc and then they’ll flood the rest of it with boosters like
salicellate that’sunregulated. They can put as much in there as they want.
And you don’t have to list. You have to list it in the inactive butnot the
percentage because it’s not inactive.” Right. So, do I It’s not
appropriate to say they’re not effectiveagainst sun, but do I think there’s a
better way to do it? Do I think that our country and our kids deserve a
higherlevel of regul regulation? Absolutely. I mean, it’s the largest largest
organ of your whole body. Everything we put onit, it absorbs within seconds.
And we’re just slathering who knows what on our skin, right? And it’s doing a
lotof damage that we’re not even probably aware of. So, it’s so interesting.
This is probably part of a much larger discussion, butlike I was just saying,
okay, now I’m here. I’m finding out about how seed oils are so damaging
andcausing all of this inflammation and fragrance and candles and our
countryit’s ever been and food and like wait a second, we’re the most highly
developed. How did this happen? And it feels likein ways we’ve been like it’s
been misrepresented all of thethings. How about the food pyramid? I mean, I
grew up on the food pyramid and that thing has been completely tossedout the
window. Oh, yeah. Anyway, so no, and it’s the same it’s the same thing with
any kind of cosmetic productthat we’re putting on. I mean, I don’t I don’t
think we’re even aware of half of the things that we put on because it’s it’s
marketed so well and so beautifullyand it’s so mainstreamed that you don’t
think twice about the shampoo or conditioner or deodorant you’re puttingon
until you start really looking the ingredients and you’re like, “Oh,
that where does that come from? What I It’sjust a very eyeopening kind of
moment.” And I would think for anyone who’s overwhelmed by this, I would
say startstart with things that you’re ingesting and things that go directly
onto your skin. Those are the two things I wouldstart with. Yeah. And if you
can start to slowly make better switches in those categories,everything else
will tend to follow. I mean, there’s people that get as, you know, as serious
as the fabricsthat go on their body and the blankets that they’re choosing.
Mhm. I think there’s a whole there’s a lot of levels that you could get to,
but thethings you’re ingesting and the things that you’re putting directly on
your skin that you’re getting absorbed, those are the two biggest factors I
think inthis conversation. Yeah. Okay. I want to talk about the uhbuilding
the business. I want to get to that point, but I don’t want to leave this
youryour transition from uh PA career Yeah. in the in the medical field to
whatyou’re doing today. So yeah, big jump. Yeah, an enormous jump. And it
soundslike that was a fulfilling career being Oh, I loved it. Yeah. And I
think one of the storiesthat’s was kind of interesting is we were talking
about your childhood earlier and that you kind of always hadthis you you
leaned toward the the medical field from very very early age.Oh my gosh.
Always. Yeah. I was downstairs in my basement. I mean, I was an only kid. I
didn’t have a bunch of siblings to play with. I didn’t have abunch of friends
in my neighborhood. So, I was like the OG Doc McStuffins. I was downstairs in
my basement. I like I havevery few childhood memories, but that’s just vivid.
All my stuffed animals lined up in my file folders. Like, yeah, I wasI was 30
years old at, you know, five. I was just down there diagnosing my mypatients.
I was thrilled that they were returning for a follow-up. It’s like the
silliest thing, but it’s just it’s whatI’ve always loved. And I I think my
grandparents like encouraged it so much. And it was if I wasn’t, you know,
theywere so proud of me and so proud of my educational accomplishments that
it became my identity in such a huge way,you know. That’s interesting. Yeah.
Like I I was I was the kid that, you know, sophomore year summer break,my mom
taught school, so she had summers off, so I made her well, she was
volunteered cuz she’s the best mom in the world, but she drove me up to
theUniversity of Utah chemistry lab cuz I did chemistry classes all summer.
That’s what I did in in my summer break for fun. You did that forI don’t
know. I don’t know. were fun. But I think I think my identity was so tied to
academic accomplishment, itbecame who I was and the reward and the reward
like your grandparents being proud. They were proud, right? Thatbecame kind
of such a huge part of me. That’s amazing. And you know, I getting I was a
juniorand senior. I had finished all of my high school credits. So I was then
getting my associates degree while I was a junior and senior in high school.
So Iwas at BYU campus and Utah Valley University’s campus getting all of my
college credits done while I was in highschool. I mean it just became like
such a huge part of who I was. I didn’t do sports or cheer. I did a little
bit of that early on but yeah I just I have afull board education in school
all through school or high school. So okay just became who I was.Big terrible
question. Do you feel like you missed out on anything because youwere so
focused on your education? Oh I remember I had a group of friends thatgot
really into partying and I I haven’t had alcohol in my entire life. I’ve
never done drugs. Never done alcohol.not one step ever my whole life. And it
just from a very early age, I just decided it’s not what I’m going to doand
that was it. I I’m very determined kind of human. That was just it. And I
spent a lot of Friday nights at Barnes &Noble and eating Chinese food
like egg fuyang with my mom. You know, there were a lot of those weekends
where I was justlike hanging out with my mom on a Friday night. And I don’t
regret him at all. Yeah, I think the friends that I have are thepeople that
as you get older, your circle gets tighter, you know, but I I don’t feel like
I missed out onanything. Well, I uh I would have to I I alignwith that in
lots of ways. And um I think you end up with a lot of emptynights on the
other side and regret I think in the morning too. When I Yes. When I was at
college, I’d see myfriends the next day and I’m like, “Oh, wow. That
doesn’t look good. That looks rough. That looks bad on you, you know.Yeah, I
didn’t have any of that. That doesn’t look good on anybody. It doesn’t look
good on anybody. Yeah.Can you name I don’t I don’t know. There’s one Brad
Pitt. Maybe it looks g