Of the many different forms of NATA that we all face in our lives. Research shows that loneliness is on the rise in Australia. We talk regularly on the show about the importance of building a neighborhood around you, but can you still feel lonely with people around you? Do
we really understand what loneliness is? We Are Lonely is a podcast that looks at loneliness and its impact on society through works of pop culture, with esteemed guests such as Matrix and Lord of the Rings, actor Hugo Weaving, and sing a songwriter Tash Saltana. Listen to We Are Lonely on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcast today.
You have to prioritize and you've got to have a plan, and communication obviously is very key, especially when you have a business partner, because they're wanting things, I'm wanting things. But at the same time, you need to focus on your health and your family and friends. Learn that things are going to go wrong and it's okay, and it's just how you deal with them. But that's why sometimes you just got to let go and give yourself enough time for things to go wrong.
Welcome to the cs THEA podcast. Busy and happy not the same thing. We too rarely question what makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but rarely we play, and often don't realize there's more than one way. So this is a platform to hear and explore the stories of those who found lives they adore, the good, bad and ugly, The best and worst day will bear all
the facets of seizing your Yeay. I'm Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned fu entrepreneur who swapped the suits and heels to co found Matcha Maiden and matcha Milk Bark. CZA is a series of conversations on finding a life you love and exploring the self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment along the way. Hello, lovely yighborhood. My goodness, it's been a big few weeks over here, and my brain is a little scattered trying to catch up which
you might actually hear in this episode. Pretty sure I fumbled my way through this one a little bit. But we're back with our regular programming and I'm delighted to have the beautiful and buds here. Just days after the launch of her very first business. You might know Anna from Australia's first ever season of The Bachelor, which screened get these ten years ago this year, or from Sas Australia, which she is tearing up it is screening right now.
Having never had a proper boyfriend, Anna was originally signed up for Batschi by a friend, but left with her now husband and baby daddy, Tim Robarts, who was our fifth guest ever on the show back in October twenty eighteen, and they've both come so far in the past decade.
Anna is, however, so much more than a reality TV star, starting out as a successful criminal lawyer, a chapter of her career that she only just closed officially last year, despite shooting to fame in the early days of social media. You'll hear what is strong and balanced head Anna has on her shoulders, meaning much of her real life, including motherhood, over the past decade, has stayed quite private. You'll get
to know her a little bitter here. I hope and the path YEA led her into launching into wellness, debooing with a sleep and skin renewal, a new superpowder and the perfect nightcap to target those overstimulated multitaskers who want to wake up re energized and with hydrated, youthful looking skin. Pretty sure it's made just for me. I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as I did. Anna Robarts, welcome to see Cza.
Hi.
It's so nice that you called me robots because I've actually changed my name on all my documents, but I haven't changed my Instagram. So everyone calls me Ana Heinrich all the time, and I'm like, okay, I really need to change my Instagram. And my husband is like, can you please change your Instagram.
I'm like, I'll get there. I'll get there. It takes ten seconds, but I just keep like, yeah.
Such an emotional thing, isn't it. It's like you've been called one thing your whole life, and then I felt like Instagram was my first thing I changed. Well, actually I didn't even need to change my Instagram name, but I changed my bio because I thought like that was the least procedurally thing to do. I love that you've done the hard stuff first.
I've done like everything like I and I always wanted to change my name. But then there's something just holding, like I'm holding onto that Instagram. But then it's it does get difficult when I'm like, I kind of want to be a Robards and I am a Robards now, but because so many people know me and anything that comes out it's always Heinrich. So I'm like going to just gradually like change my Instagram eventually and then kind
of transition. So I just yeah, I love my Heinrich name, but then I'm like, I'm a Robards now.
So you've done like a soft launch and now you're getting ready for the hard launch exactly. And there's been another very very exciting launch I think just a few days ago that we're going to get into. But before we kick off, as you probably already know, I start by asking everyone what the most down to earth thing is about them to break through that often really glossy
surface of our identities. And as you mentioned, people often come to an interview with you already having an idea of your story or bits and pieces of sort of who you are, but it's off and the very polished exterior and not the reality of a mom who's just started a new business, who has so much going on by in the scene, So what would you.
Say, Yeah, I had vomit all over me the other day right before our launch. It was literally just vomit. She vomited twice, and then I sent a pit to my business partner. I was just like, this is my morning, literally all over. I had to have a quick shower, wash my hair. So yeah, it's definitely not always polished.
I feel like that's the most reassuring thing as well for lots of people to know, especially other moms. You know, it just sometimes seems like I don't know what it is. But it's like people who are you know, out in the media are and just so glamorous and beautifully put together. You always look so incredible. It's hard to imagine you with vomit all over you. But it's nice to know what happens.
I also know, like sometimes in my head, I'm like do I post that. I'm like, I don't want to post everything about my life, like I like keeping things and all those things go on, And then sometimes I'm like, no, should I post it to show like what's.
Actually going on.
So I do find it difficult about like how much I share with people because I love Instagram. It's helped me so like with work everything, But at the same time, like I feel like I've got like a totally different life off Instagram. Like I'm not saying I'm a different person, but I've just got so much going on where I'm like with family, when we have like beautiful nights and dinner nights, I'm like, I want to put my phone away.
I don't want to have to like take a picture of every meal I have or everything in my life that happens, because I don't want it to be all on Instagram.
Yeah, totally. I think it's a really fine line between wanting to be really authentic and showing all the sides of yourself, but then also deserving to have a part of your life that's really private, and that also you don't need to have your phone there with you. You've got a little girl, I'm sure you don't want her to see you always with a phone attached to your hand, even though I'm sure you want millions of photos of every single thing she does because she's so beautiful.
I know it is that fine line because and nowadays we work on our phone, like half the time I'm doing my emails, like sometimes at ten o'clock at night and I'm doing emails and It is really hard because it's not like I'm just sitting on Instagram scrolling or anything like that. There are times when I do that, for sure, but most of the time I'm like trying to work email. So when I don't have to do that,
I'm like, I just want to put it away. So yeah, it is, but it's finding out fine line of like giving her enough tention and getting away from the phone, but also making sure you're keeping up to date with all your work.
Yeah. Absolutely, and that brings me to you know, just talking about work and the balance, and also what you do now being so different to where you started, brings it to our first section, which is your Wayta and Tim, your husband has been on the show. I think he was our fifth episode ever. And I think you might have still been a lawyer when I rocked up at your original apartment together to record with him, and you were dashing out the door to go and do something
in your corporate life back then. So it's yeah, so beautiful to sort of have come, you know, a couple of years later, and then circle back. Oh my god, I can't believe I use the word circle back, but mentioning law just made it just brought out the inner corporate meet. Yeah. I love sort of tracing back from
even childhood. Remind everyone that, you know, no one really starts out knowing who they want to be or what they want to do, and it often takes quite a few different chapter and many of them unexpected to sort of end up where you are today. So can you take us back to very young you what you were like as a child. I know that you have a really beautiful Hungarian heritage that again often kind of gets skated over in a lot of the media stories. But your mum also has Jude's food, like it's a whole
family affair. So take us back to your childhood and where it all began.
So I actually grew up in a country town called Golban. I don't know if you know where that is. It's like an hour from Canberra. And I think that's probably going back to the first question about what I believe
is something that's quite down to earth about me. And I always tell this to people because I actually really loved that I grew up in Golben and a country town away from Sydney, away from the city, and I felt like it really grounded me and I went to like well and Dilly Public School and just like my friends were totally different. Then I went to boarding school when I was in Sydney, and the school I went to it's completely different. But I'm really glad I started
in Golburn, in a country town. I definitely, like I said, I think it really grounded me. Then I ended up going to boarding school in Sydney, and I loved boarding school. I started out, I think I was pretty good, but I was probably a little bit naughty. And then as I as the years went on, I probably got a little bit, I don't know, probably cleaned my act up a little bit. And when I say that, I was like, I wasn't really naughty. And then like leaving school, I
had no idea what I wanted to do. I actually really loved sport. Sport was like, if you can even call it a subject, it was my favorite subject. And all I wanted to do is play sport. I was a really good runner. I loved hockey, touch football, like all those sort of more physical sports, and I loved it. So I always thought maybe I'd go into sports management or something like that. So when I left, I kind of wanted to go into that, but I just I didn't know even really where to start. So I, like
a lot of people, I did an arts degree. I did that at Sydney UNI, and I was.
Like, I'm going to do it.
And honestly, it's probably like fifty ucs and people after school if I don't.
Know what they want to do, like, they're like, I'll go do arts. And I did it.
I took a year off after and I went traveling, and then I did three years at Sydney UNI arts degree and then once again after that, I was like, Okay, I'm here at this point and I still don't know what I want to do, and it kind of scared me, and I was like, Okay, maybe I'll just continue studying. But like what And my dad was a lawyer and he's only just retired last year, and he'd been a lawyer it was like thirty six years or something like
that when he retired. And it wasn't because he did it, and he never forced me to do it, but I think it was just kind of like at the forefront of my mind, I was like, oh, look, maybe i'd be interested in doing that. So I did actually a couple of subjects on the side, and I quite enjoyed it. So I was like, Okay, well maybe I'll go and do law, which randomly I'll go, I'll go do law.
So sure as we do, I'll just go do it.
And then I did a postgrad law degree at UTS and I finished, and I actually throughout that I pretty much.
Most time I was like, I'm not going to do law.
I'm just going to use that as a stepping stone because I feel like I could do whatever after I've done a law degree once again, like so many people out there who've done an arts scree, done a law degree. And I got to the end and I got my practicing certificate and I started at a firm who then wanted me to stay on, and I pretty much had been there since finishing and being admitted as a lawyer up until this year when I finally didn't renew my practicing certificate, but saying that I wasn't a.
Full time lawyer for most of it.
I literally was the first couple of years, and then I ended up going on the Bachelor, and then after that I had so much going on, so I was like, hey, every second day I was going into my boss, It's like, oh, can I take another day off.
I got this, and I felt.
Like really guilty, and I hated doing that because I didn't like to let my boss down. And I'm not one of these people that like to have sick days either, Like I feel really guilty, and I'm like, I go to work and if I meant to be there, I'm there. And so it kind of got quite stressful going in all the time going I've got this, I've got this event of got this work. Can I take another day off? So gradually, as time went on, I was like working four days and three days, and then over the last
couple of years it was pretty much one day. But it was quite nice because I felt like I'd just break up everything that I was doing around it, and I'd go in there and it was kind of like I was just still like just I don't know, doing little bits and pieces. It kept me once again grounded, and then it kind of just got to a point where I thought I was going to go back after having l and all my intentions were to go back,
but then I guess life turned upside down. I started again and I was like, you know what, I'm actually not passionate about it. I never really was. I did it because it was a job. And I don't know about you, but growing up in a family like my dad who's worked at the same firm for all his life. His dad worked in an accounting firm for.
His whole life.
And then even like a lot of the family I knew around me, extended family, they all kind of just work in the same industry and they never they're not entrepreneurs, they never ventured out of that. I just thought that was going to be me, to be honest.
I was like, I'll just work at this firm forever and that's it.
And then it wasn't until and I guess we might we'll talk about this later, But it wasn't until that I had the conversation with a good girlfriend about Into Wellness, which is now what We've just launched a supplement, so I.
Guess we can talk about it later. But that's sort of why I decided to leave law.
But I think that's so fascinating. Before when I was doing my research, I sort of read that you said you could have ended up in law forever if you hadn't met Tim, and that hadn't sort of started this chain of events that led you to a completely new life structure and industry. But even still it wasn't exactly what you were passionate about. You never sort of really
went into it because you chose to be there. And I think so many people end up in where they are through that same like, oh, well, I don't know what I want to do, so I've got to do something else while I figure it all out. And it's actually okay for a big chapter of your life to be,
you know, buying yourself more time for later. I think people, you know, worry that they might regret that, but I would imagine and because I feel this way, I've probably will never go back to law, but I definitely don't regret it. It's sort of like you have to start.
Somewhere exactly, And I think that, like so many people change jobs in their life, and my best piece of advice for someone wanting to do law, I'm like, you really got to enjoy it because it's you're in there every single day. You're in the same probably firm. If you change another firm, it's probably going to be very similar as well. Like you've just got to be really passionate about it. You don't want to go into it
just because it's a job. And one thing I also regret doing is that I felt like I did it because I wanted to say I was a lawyer, and I felt like they gave me credibility. And I was like, and I think a lot of people do that. They see I wouldn't put doctors and lawyers together, but like they see that as the pinnacle in a way, and it's like, oh, if you're a lawyer, then like, oh,
I'm going to praise you for being a lawyer. And I felt like that's why I did it, and I held on to it for so long, which I hate because I was like, why am I doing it? Like I don't really like it. I don't need to please other people. But when I did stop practicing, and this is like one of the reasons to back up what I'm saying is that I want to get my clothes cleaned.
And the lady there, she was like, oh, he's still doing Laura, And I was like, oh no, I actually to stop this year, and she was really disappointed, and I was like, I'm really happy now, Like she was, oh, like, law though, it's so great, and I'm like, yeah, it's just not for me. And I honestly just held onto that that point of being a lawyer because it almost pleased everybody else, and I thought it looked good, whereas I wasn't happy there. Like I enjoyed my time in there.
I had a great boss, the other employees were great, and I love that side of things, but it just wasn't me. It never was, And I'm yeah, I'm not going to regret it, and I don't I'll ever go back there, even though everyone probably wants me to go back there, because anything I do is never going to be good enough.
But yeah, it's interesting how much of our identities get really wrapped up in the prestige and the title and other people's expectations, but also that you know, even if it wasn't what you wanted to do, and even if it has been so wonderful that you've since been able to jump, the hardest thing for a lot of people is what to jump to, Like, how do you create
that sliding doors moment in your life? And it does often take someone or some big formative experience like the Bachelor, to click you out of it, Otherwise you are at risk of just sitting there forever knowing you don't like it, but not kind of going for anything else, which is the whole idea of seizing the ya, like swapping those metrics of titles and financial progress or climate of corporate ladder and swapping it for am I happy day to day? That's so much more important.
That's where Tim comes into play, because he's someone who was someone that took opportunities and he went outside of his comfort zone, whereas I was like, oh, I'm too scared to do that, and he kind of brought me out of my shell and with a lot of the things that I've done, even just going on sas I've spoken about this quite a lot, as I would never have gone on if it wasn't for Tim kind of.
Encouraging me to do it for the right reasons.
But it was just something so far out of my comfort zone where I thought like I could fail at this, and I don't want to fail, so I don't want to go on and I could just stay at home. It could be cruisy, I'll just continue with my life, or I could go do this, and I thought, well, why would I do that? And then these are the reasons. I'm like, Okay, that's yes, that's exactly. Everything that I'm saying is a reason why I should go on, because
I just sit in my comfort zone. So I think it's really important to like push yourself get out in comfort zone and encourage others to do so as well.
I think we have that in common with each other as well, in that we sort of grew up in an industry where you're trained to be risk averse. The whole point of a lawyer is to identify what's going to go wrong and avoid it at all costs, whereas our husbands are, you know, the opposite, totally just take the risk and figure out the consequences later, which is nice when you both bring each other a little bit closer towards the middle. It's also it's good when they
can open your mind. I think it's also you know, as women, we want to be really independent, we want to forge our own pathway, but it can be a good thing to be influenced by your partner's way of thinking and way of life as well.
Oh exactly.
And I kind of take in from all around, and I think it's just kind of opening your eyes a little bit more. Because I was in a family that wasn't like that, so That's why I thought I was quite narrow minded in work and things like that, but now I'm a lot more open and that's because of my husband and also his family. So it's really Yeah, it's really nice.
So I know we've touched on it, well we've on this show, have touched on it in episode five, but also I'm sure you've You know, there are so many places people can go and hear the Batchel story in depth, but just to touch on it very quickly, because we do have some very cute audio of Tim explaining how you won his heart. You mentioned quickly that it was a friend of yours actually that signed you up for it, and that you thought you were signing up for the bachelourette, not for the Bachelor.
Is that right?
Long story short?
She and you're a producer sourcing and finding girls, and she caught me up and said they're doing the Bachelorette.
Would you do it?
And I was like, oh, no, I don't think so, but if anything, I would do the bachelotte, but I'd never do the Bachelor.
I wouldn't want to.
Be one to help me And then I think it was like a day or so lateish Cord so actually they're doing the batchrott would you do it?
I'm like, oh, God, like, I don't know, my parents are going to kill me, and I think I just started law.
And I remember the conversation down in the elevator to the building and I's just like, I yeah, it was one of those moments. I was like, I just I think no, but I'm like, I'm gonna like sit on it. I'm going to sleep on it. And she pretty much feeled out. Like we sat there over a couple of wiles, she filled out the question and sent it through and
if like it was kind of like that moment. If she didn't be a producer, if she didn't call me out, I would never have signed up for it because I just didn't think it was me and I just started my law career. So I was like, it kind of was that moment where I feel like it really was meant to be.
Oh. Absolutely. I think everything happens for a reason, and sometimes in the most convoluted ways and often in people's way. To ya, we go through this role of kind of fate eventually leading you somewhere, but it's generally related to Korea. So I kind of love that this happened more in your personal life, but then tweaked a massive shift eventually
in Korea and total direction pathway, but just quickly. Tim's episode was our fifth episode ever on the thirty first of October twenty eighteen, and this was just after you had gotten married. But it was just a little snippet I want to play of him describing you're a whole approach to that show and why you stood out so much, even though of course you didn't actually want to be there competing with everyone, because that's not what you signed up for.
I went to boarding schools, so I was always surrounded by a lot of women, so I was like, I know how to handle the women.
Yeah, so this is him.
Yeah, That's the thing I loved about her. She never really competed for me. She was just like, you know, this is me. If you like me, that's it. She didn't try, she didn't get worried about the other girls, which is what it should be. You're not going in there necessarily to be better than another girl. You're just going in there to be your best self. And if you and I clicked, then that's great.
And you guys just got married. Yeah, five years later, I marriage out of the BATCHI is it.
That's so cute, but it's true, Like I literally and I think that's what It's definitely changed nowadays because like, because we were the first, we didn't have no one was an example of what was to happen the process, Like, we had knew nothing, so it was sort.
Of it was taking a massive risk going in. But I'm not someone.
I knew the situation. I knew there are other girls there, and I didn't want to compete. I was like, if it's going to work, it's going to work. So I really tried hard to just be like like remove myself from the situation and just be me and well, yeah, obviously, well.
So talk us through. I mean, that has been an incredible moment. I mean, I hate the word pivot, but it was like the ultimate pivot at a time where the industry really was so new to this concept of for shore. It was the very first series ever, so like you said, there were no examples of it before,
no one knew what was going to happen. But then it led to marriage, a beautiful daughter, and a huge shift in career direction, which obviously allowed you to kind of have law on the side but kind of drew you and showed you back comparison, you know, all the other things that you're or that you love more. How did that all unravel for you?
It was daunting, Like even just going on the batchel, it was really daunting. And I remember the first day going and I was like, oh my god. I called my mum right before we had to give our phone and I was like everyone.
So like awkward. I don't know what to do.
And then obviously went through ended up with Tim, and we were both from the Eastern suburbs, so I think we may have even been at parties together. There was one article that came out that they said that we knew each other and we'd actually worked in an event together.
And it wasn't that many people.
There was three, I think three three or four guys, three or four girls, and we're working at this event.
And they were there.
We all got a photo together like this, But the girls were hanging out with the girls, the boys were hanging out with the boys. And I think he must have liked another girl at the event and he didn't like me. I didn't take any notice in him, and vice versa. And I always say this is why it was so good for us because I feel like it forced us to get to know each other, where as on the outside we may met and we did and we totally forgot.
It wasn't memorable.
It wasn't memorable, and I think it sounds silly, but that's what was so good about this show, where it literally forced us to get to know one another and even if you weren't sure at the beginning, then you could still get to know them and sort of put that aside. And sometimes on the outside people aren't giving other people chances and they're just writing people off from the get go.
So that's what I loved about this show.
And then obviously after like it was hard because it was like we're in the limelight now, so everything is scrutinized. However, we just kind of removed ourselves from that and we want to make our relationship as real as possible, and we kind of just like didn't focus on all that. We focused on our relationship and we didn't get engaged or anything too quickly.
I think it was like five years.
I was like, come on down, Okay, you've really got to propose to me now. And then yeah, we got married and had a kid, but like, we're coming up to out ten years next year, so like ten years. I've married since twenty eighteen, but we've been together for ten years as of next year.
Oh my god, I had no idea ten years had passed so quickly twenty thirteen. We all face different forms of nati A in life, but research shows that loneliness is on the rise in Australia, with two in five Australians reporting feeling lonely in a typical week. We talk regularly on this podcast about the importance of building a neighborhood around you, but does that necessarily combat loneliness? Can you still feel lonely even if you have good people
around you? What actually is loneliness? Do we really understand it? We Are Lonely is a podcast that investigates loneliness and its impact on society through works of pop culture, with esteemed guests like Matrix and Lord of the Rings actor Hugo Weaving, Australian rapper Briggs, sing A songwriter, Tashed Sultana and Savage Gardens Darren Hayes and Moore. Hosted by research fellow at Melbourne University, doctor Frederick Kiernan and former Triple
JABC and Speaks and Specs host mif Warhurst. It's a fascinating listen to to add to your list. Listen to We Are Lonely on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcast today. And that's the other thing as well, I think is that I like, we just sort of look from the outside and you see all
these dot points. You see BATCHI was a lawyer, became a you know, launched into the media, got into the public eye, did sas like, got married in Pullia, I had a baby, and you forget that in between, there's so much pathway, There's so much choice and doubt and like redirecting and also deciding between you and Tim, like, I don't think people had really launched careers off the back of television or social media at the time. It was very early to do that ten years ago, so
there was no blueprint for how to reshift. And in Tim's episode, I even remember him talking about you guys actively deciding to give yourself some privacy at the beginning, but then afterwards to make the most of this incredible platform you've been given to follow pathways that you were passionate about, but might otherwise not have had the chance for And I think the uncertainty of the past couple of years has given more and more people the chance
to redesign their lives in a way that they want to. So in between all the dot points that we might have been able to read in the media or see on your social media, you know, I mean it's hard to condense a decade into a short amount of time, But you've just become a business owner. You've just launched your own baby into the world, just a couple of days ago, into wellness, and that's a huge shift from lawyer who didn't want to go on a reality TV show,
who I read had never had a boyfriend before. You know, how have you spent that decade realigning to seizing the AA? Like, how have all the dot points internally unraveled for you? And how did you end up at into Yeah, so.
I've definitely evolved, and I'm not that a totally different person. I've just grown in different ways.
And I think that's the beauty of life that you don't know where things are going to go and who you're going to meet and what path that will then lead to. And for me, this has just been a little bit of I think probably working on myself most of the time up and to this point, and all the people around me who are in the media, I always see their starting businesses. They're doing this, and in the back of my mind, I was like, I want
to do something for myself. I'm working for a lot of other brands, like I'd love to do something for myself. But nothing ever felt right, and I just didn't want to bring out a product for the fun of it and be like, I just want to sell a product like that is not me, And it was only what are we in two thousand and two? Two anyway, everything's all a blur. About a year and a half ago.
I say I was pregnant. My friend's like, no, I think you had anyway, all confusing once again, once you had a baby, I just don't know what's going on.
I don't have a baby, and I still don't know what's going on.
So you're fine, Yeah, yeah, that was probably me too. So it was just what and this is how the business came to light. Where we were just walking one day and we're talking about the lack of sleep we're getting. I was I'm going to say I was pregnant. I was pregnant, and.
To be confirmed, I'll do some research later.
Yes, someone can confirm that bombing.
And yeah, so we're walking just talking about the lack of sleep and what we use to help with that. And I'm only since being pregnant, I started using magnesium. And I always have to like preface out with like make sure you talk to your healthcare professional about it, because I did and he recommended it because I wasn't sleeping. I was getting all my joints really tight and crampy. So I started using magnesium. And as soon as I started taking magnesium, I was like, I am never going
to sleep without this, Like it is so good. It helped me get to sleep quicker and longer, and I
had better sleeps. Anyway, then we're also talking about in the same conversation, we're just talking about beauty products what we use, and at the time it was collagen and a few other things, and we were just saying how there's nothing all in one out there and anyway, So basically that's where it all came about, where we're like, why don't we just do something where it's all in one everything that you need.
It's going to target sleep.
It's going to target skin and for me, I don't know if you take magnesium, but it's something that you take before bed.
So it's kind of like when you're I don't.
Know, it's starting to relax, you've got time to think about what you need to take before going to bed, as opposed sometimes in the morning it's like so hectic we get what to take. I sometimes I used to take Colligen, but it was like once a month because I literally would forget and so it was kind of like that moment of like, Okay, there's a gap in
the market. How can we help women, mainly when it comes to sleep, Because when it comes to sleep, it is like when you're a working woman, mother, or anyone who just gets up exhausted, they've got so much going on in the day. If you haven't had a good night's sleep, it's a knock on effect and it can pretty much affect absolutely.
Everything you do.
So first and foremost, also when it comes to your skin, like how often do you think, Okay, I've got to put this cream on, I've got to try this, but like you kind of forget about sleep, and I'm like, well, if you had like a good night's sleep that is probably going to do more than anything else. So that was like a big thing for us and anyway, so that's where and then a lot of other things. When it came to design the name, it was about getting
in tune with your body. That's where into wellness came intuitive beauty and just knowing what your body needs.
So long story.
Going on and on, Oh please do It's obviously you've had you've been having an amazing sleep, so you have enough energy to go on and on and on about it. But it's so funny. I was reading up on you know, what the product is, and it was actually harder for me to describe what it doesn't do because there are so many different things at once that it's targeting, and
you can tell just even from you know. One of the main words in the copy was that it's a high achieving like the ultimate overachiever in the supplement space. And I was like, this is clearly designed by a and overachiever herself, but be one who is juggling a lot of different things and does not have time to think about all the different things you put into one thing. So it's likely just the gift that keeps on giving.
Exactly and now I've got to be I've got to remember all the different claims because it is TGA approved, so I've got to make sure that now also speaking about it, and I think thinking about the TGA and the new rules and regulations around that. So I'm like, okay, well, can I say it's not stupp up. We wanted it TJA approved because we wanted it to have all the correct amounts. We wanted everything to work well, and that
was another thing going into this. We're like, we want a product that has the best ingredients and it really really works. So now we're just trying to get our head around all this sort of TGA stuff as well. But we've got the claims and we've just got to stick to those.
Ye. Well, I think another thing that's really interesting is that so many you know, not just women, everyone really who ends up in business. Sometimes it's because they set out to be a business owner. Often it's more because they stumbled upon a gap for themselves and they filled it because they you know, they were the target market. They wanted a product that didn't exist, and then they closed the gap, which often means that they weren't trained
business owners. They didn't set out as a child with a lemonade stand. You know, you went from a job where you trained. You know, law studies take six to ten years sometimes, so you're so qualified even out of your comfort zone, you're within a very safe structure. Now you're going into an industry that you've worked with, but not necessarily as the business owner yourself.
So exactly, and it's so it is so different, Like like, honestly, I've got my business partner and co founder, Christy Whitehill, who actually has an entrepreneurial background, so I always say I could never do it without her, And I also bring certain things to the table that we work really well together. But some of the things that she's been doing the business side of things, I'm like, oh my god.
I'm like literally just trying to get my head around it because obviously studying a new business, like you said, like going from law to studying a new business, it's like a completely different world and there are so many things to learn and I'm just trying to find my feet. And then yeah, it's just it's been pretty crazy.
And even leading.
Up to our launch, it was like three weeks before we launched, we got all our containers and everything, and we opened one up and we were like, I think this is the wrong size scoop and we were.
Like, oh my god.
Anyway it was, and we had pretty much a week maybe a week and a half before we had to send it out, and anyway it was.
It was a nightmare.
We had to relabel everything because originally one scoop and now you'll see that it's two scoops. And it's just those things where it's like, learn that things are going to go wrong and it's okay, and it's just how you deal with them. And so a lot of the times it's kind of like I want to pull my hair out, I want to scream, and I'm like, okay, look this is just a little hurdle. It's going to
be okay, and we'll work around it. So yeah, we had a lot of those moments and I'm just like trying to be like super zen about everything.
Now.
I was going to say, well, that is the crash course in business, is something going absolutely pear shape before you've even started. I mean, welcome to the world of business. That typifies the whole entire journey.
You can't prepare for it, and you think I'm someone who likes to be in controlled and I like to plan absolutely everything, but it's just something that you can't in a way. You can do the best you can, and you can do everything on your end, but because you're dealing with so many other people, it's really hard to control. But that's why sometimes you just got to let go and give yourself enough time for things to go wrong.
And I feel like this is why it's such a privilege to be able to speak to you when it's just a few days old. The whole launch process and all the fears and worries and you know, mistakes that have sort of already happened, are so fresh in your mind because we're talking about this before. It's beautiful to have gone back to listen to Tim's episode just off the back of your wedding, and then now that you're a mum, to kind of come back around and hear
your side of the story is so beautiful. I also love that in a couple of years time, we can go back to this episode and sort of reflect on how you felt right now, you know, when the business is boomy. So I think something that's very very common in fact life in society and particularly for women when they're trying anything new, starting a new business, but any new position is self doubt and the imposter syndrome of
I don't deserve to be here. I'm so scared that I'll fail and look silly, and often that leads people to not even start launching or to think about starting launching whatever it is that they're doing. How over the last couple of weeks, while it's so fresh and so you know, acute, that whole like, oh my god, I'm about to release this new thing into the world that I don't know anything. You know, it's so brand new
for me. How have you been dealing with that? Have there been any hacks or tricks that have helped you? How do you break the cycle? And you're sort of like, I don't want to launch, Like, oh my god, it's going to go so wrong. How are you coping on us?
Like that was me and that's been me for quite a while.
That's why I didn't want to have my own business, because I literally was like, who's going to buy anything from me? And even doing podcasts like I never used to do podcasts because I was like, why is anyone going to want to listen? To what I have to say, and I genuinely felt that. So like this year, I'm like, Okay, I'm gonna do a lot of podcasts like people, yeah, they might like what I have to say. So I honestly did feel like an impost and there's times where
I still do. I'm like, if I go onto a certain job, whether it's presenting or anything, I'm like, do I deserve to be here? And all of those things do kind of run wild in your mind. So one thing for me that's helped is having a business partner. I really don't think I could have done it on my own.
There's a self doubt again, yes.
I know exactly, and it's still there.
And even recently I went on SAS and that was one of the reasons why I went on says was to change that mindset, and to a degree it did. For sure, I'm still a work in progress and it's still there. But even just doing podcasts now, I'm like it has helped me gain confidence to do it and believe that, yeah, I actually might have something that could
benefit someone else in their journey. So yeah, it's like self doubt still there, still working on it, and I think as you get older, you become more self aware, and then you start to love yourself more and honestly, like, I'm a totally different person in that regard compared to
when I was younger. And that's one of the reasons I say I didn't have a boyfriend because I was too afraid to let someone in and I'd go on dates and things that but I was like, oh, I don't want them to see who I really am, which was like a normal person, but I was just too scared to let people in. So yeah, it's definitely something's still working on, but it's changed like completely since I was a teenager.
I love that your approach is, you know that whole idea of well, if you're scared of it, you should probably do more of it until you know, just practice and practice and practice, and the more you prove to yourself that you can do something, then next time you sort of have more evidence to say, well, I mean I did sas look what I go to with there, so I can pretty much do anything exactly.
And for me, that was something first I didn't think I could do once again, and then I also knew everyone would be.
Like, there's no way Anna's going to do it.
Someone wrote on one of my Instagram posts that on the sports bet, I think I was like fifteen dollars to win, but now I've gone down to like a dollar fifty or something. Not promoting gambling, but like like that's the odds. So it's so funny how people first perceive me and now they can watch what I can do, and a lot of people didn't know that I, like I said earlier in the podcast that I loved my sport,
like I wanted to compete with the guys. I was just someone who was quite determined in that way, like I'm my touch footy, all that sort of stuff. So I had that as a base. I still don't know how I was going to go, Like I had no idea. I was like, I hope it might make it past the first couple of days. So I'm yeah, over a week now, which is fabulous.
Oh gosh, you are just such a wonder woman. I'm so inspired by everything you do and that you did it as a mum. And I think that's the other thing is when you are in the public. I actually had a conversation with a good friend Samantha, who's on Survivor at the moment. It's like people think you've then volunteered to put every part of your personality and life and choices on the line for everyone just to comment on, like what you look like, and it's just absolutely insane.
So there is a really really difficult part of being in the public eye. But it also I think it's wonderful that then you can choose to fill in the gaps and redress perceptions that people might have about you by doing things that scare you and showing people you know what you can do exactly.
And I think sas as well is a show that a lot of people have said, oh, I didn't know you were this sort of person or you were capable of that, because they've only seen me in a completely different life light, which is one of the reasons why I went on as.
Well, But it was more for self like the self doubt and self belief.
So I think one of the things that then is really hard for a lot of people who kind of shoot to fame in a really short amount of time as well, without much time to sort of grapple with how they want to interact with it, how much you want to respond all those kinds of things, is that social media. It's democratized business. It's democratized you know, you've been able to launch into wellness using the benefits of social media, but it comes with a lot of downsides
as well, like trolling, but also comparison. I feel like it's so easy to see what everyone else is doing in their lives, and for new mums in particular, that's an area I think that I haven't been able to experience yet, But I can only imagine how much harder and more triggering it is when motherhood and your parenting and all that kind of thing, and and feeling guilty
for having a career and all the different things. How do you get a control of comparing yourself to others or having others compare you to others and commenting all the time on what you're doing. How have you found a really happy place in that world.
I don't follow those people if I feel like it's going to affect me. Most of the people I follow are people i've met or like are my close friends, So I'm not someone who follows every celebrity out there. I kind of just I don't really need to know what they're doing. And when I first came into the media. I would read some of the comments on I think it was like daily mail face with all of those, and it would really affect me and I was like there was a point where I'm like, Okay, I am
literally I'm going to stop reading those comments. And ever since that, I actually feel like on my personal account, I get there's a few nasty comments every so often, but majority of the time it's really positive and so I love that. But I do think it's who you follow as well. So if someone is affecting you and you're comparing yourself, like I just don't get why you'd follow them, Like.
You don't need to see that, and it's kind.
Of like that out of sight, out of mind, So you just try and focus on yourself. And I know it's hard, but that's something I guess I'll have to teach my daughter about. She'll be on Instagram like everybody else, She'll be on all these different social media platforms. But it's just trying to make them like aware that they don't have to compare themselves and it's not always what you see on there.
And I've got to keep saying that as well.
At times, if I do see something, I'm like, you know what, like, yes, they're on holidays, but like, come on, like there's so much more around that, and I think you've just got to get smarter about that. And if it does affect you, then talk to people like try and get help or or get off social media. But for me, it doesn't affect me that way because I, like I said, I don't follow people like that, and I.
Think that's how I handle it.
But like I say this, but at times, like I might see a comment and it might affect me, so but it's rare now. And it was as a comment, I think, yes, sir, and it was about saf but it was horrendous to comment, but it kind of it was slightly funny where I was this person is writing this, like I think, and we talk about it with other people, like who sits there writing these horrible things to people like I just don't know what sort of person they are.
And I do generally feel sorry for those people that there must be going and I think a lot of people think is now there must be something going on in their life where they feel the need to write something that horrible to someone else, So I, yeah, I do feel slightly.
Sorry for them.
Where I'm like stop and stop criticizing everyone else and focus on yourself.
Yeah.
I think that's such a healthy approach. That you do have to remember it's ninety nine percent of the time about them, if not one hundred percent of the time about them, and not a reflection on you, and that if you can flip that into compassion for what they must be going through, then it's easier to push away. But also to remember you have a lot more control. We're not passive consumers on Instagram. You only see what
you've chosen to follow. If you do have a public account, every now and then there's something that you can't control, but if you have a really healthy approach to it and don't let it kind of impact on your worth. And another thing you mentioned that I love reminded me of a quote that I always come back to, and that's that if everyone put all their problems out on the table and we could all see it, we'd take our problems back because we'd realize, actually, we don't have
it that bad. And I think when you're comparing, you're often comparing to just one percent. You're not seeing everything else under the surface, so it's only your life that you know. You need to be concerned with because that's the only one that you can control. What about in terms of you know, I think one thing that happens, particularly with people who have a wellness based business, is that you come into it to sort of boost your
own wellness and close the gap for yourself. But then you become so passionate about the business that it starts to consume your own wellness. And that's kind of the irony of going into that industry. I'm sure you're probably already feeling the burnout just from making it to launch. How do you feel about juggling your time and energy like so many people want a piece of you. You're so doing so many different things and being a mom.
How do you manage burnout and time for yourself and you know, juggling everything.
I prioritize, Like one thing, which is what our product is all about, is sleep. And I know there's a few things that I've got to do and I should have done them yesterday, but I was like, I need to go to sleep, Like at this point.
In time, that's more important.
So it's prioritizing, and we set out all our intentions, me and my business partner, all our intentions at the beginning, and they said, we both said, we don't want to be working at one o'clock at night.
We want to have that work life balance. And there was a lot more in that conversation, but.
We just put it all out on the table and so we knew each other's expectations and I think that was really important conversation to have and know that we don't want it to take over our life, Like we want to do this and we want to enjoy it, but I'm also a mom. I'm doing a lot of other things other than my business, so I've just got to juggle it. Right now is really busy, so I'm kind of looking forward to like a couple of weeks'll.
Calm down a little bit.
But we've also set up everything to make it sure it runs and the process runs smoothie where we're not like we wanted to sit there and pack the boxes, but we were like, that's just going to be like not a time waster, but we can prioritize on other things that are more important. So let's set up with the third party logistics and then they'll be able to send it all out and that so we just you have to prioritize, and you've got to have a plan.
And communication obviously is very key, especially when you have a business partner, because they're wanting things. I'm wanting things, But at the same time, you need to focus on your health and your family and friends. And I know I'll continue to do that. And if some things lack rare, I haven't got something to my other business.
But I'm like, I just need a really good sleeper. I needed to see my girl.
I think she'll understand because I know I'd understand if that was her case. And also when it comes to being sick and things like that, we know that you're going to have to take time off from work and we both appreciate our health and family and yeah, we're on the same page. So it's getting yourself a good business partner that's setting those intentions from the beginning.
Oh my gosh, I wish I had spoken to you before we started our business, because it took me like seven years to get to those revelations. But it sounds like you've got a really good structure because one of the biggest learnings is to delegate the things that you know not only you can do, and keep only the things that only you can do, because it is a bit of a time waster in the context of having very limited time to give to that business exactly.
And I'm so thankful that I have my business partner because because she's started businesses before, she had all these in the front of her mind where it was like, hey, this is what we're doing. Sometimes I'm like, do we really have to sit here for an hour talking about
our intentions? Like couldn't we be doing something else? And now I'm like, you know what, that's one of the most important things we did at the beginning, knowing where each other stands and what we've both got going on in our lives and how we're going to balance it equally.
Another thing I think that's really difficult early on is that you have sort of as a self protection mechanism also wrapped up in self doubt. Is that humility of goals, Like it's almost like we never want to say how successful we want it to be because that you know, it's like you don't want to then fall short of that, Or I wanted to sell.
One, I was like, yeah, it's so happy.
Right, And sort of setting those small steps up the ladder then allow you to actually celebrate all the small wins and not always be so distracted by the destination rather than the journey. But if you do listen to this in a year's time, is there any big ultimate thing that would just you know, crash through those dreams and you know, really hit the mark of what you want to achieve within two wellness, The main.
Thing I want is that I want to hear people loving the product and it's benefiting their life. Like I want people to be like I've just had the ultimate night sleep, I've had the best night's sleep, and it's then affected everything else that I do in the day. Like if I can help people in that way, that will be problem the best and most beneficial thing for me as well, because I know that I'm doing something good.
So look, yes, we want to sell lunch. That's why you start a business because you want to sell You don't want to sell one, and that's absolutely even though that was my goal at the beginning, to sell one. But you also want to help people as well, and you want to see that product affecting them in a really good way. So I'm hoping to hear that, and I'm hoping anyone that tries it just absolutely loves it because it does help them.
I'm so excited to try it.
I feel like like there are so many people like my mum hasn't even got one, myst because of all the issues at the beginning, where it was like we literally had I think the product probably only a week out from launching.
Were like, you will get something you can try.
Oh my gosh. Well, just biggest congratulations on launching. Often that is the hardest part is just getting it actually to market and yes, putting.
It out there a year ago, oh my god.
Well, I mean the best products are always delayed. And I feel like if people like us a particularly who you know have spent our first careers in the height of perfectionism, actually getting something launched at all and not delaying it to make it perfect over and every again
is a massive achievement in itself. So huge congratulations. And I think probably this question the answer will be a little bit different in the early days of your business because there are chapters of your life where balance does look a bit different, where work obligations are a bit heavier than normal. But the last section is your playta and that's something that most of us spend a lot of our lives without at all. But it's just the era of life where separate to what you do, it's
who you are, it's what you love. It's the things that you do that don't have a productive goal, that don't further you in any way other than pure joy. Is there anything you do I mean, you know, traditionally known as hobbies, but is there anything you do that's just to play and that's just to bring you happiness without needing to learn or or produce or create?
Can I say just my family?
Like yes, when I actually get to spend quality time with my family, and sometimes at the moment, I'm like, oh, I just want to be able to like genuinely just play with you and not have to worry and think about anything else. And it's like there are times where I get that, but I'd like a lot more of that, And that's probably That's definitely something for me that I'm like, even like working towards in the future where I want to kind of you know, when you can just put
work aside and not have to think about it. Because a lot of the times, even when I'm with my daughter, I'm like, oh, I've got this to do. I've got that to do, so like, yeah, just downtime with my family and not having to worry about work.
And I do think that this is a mean time to ask you that question, because the first week of lotching your business is probably not the time where you're going to be playing to yay very much.
Exactly.
How do you and Tim wine down? Because you both, you know, have so much going on, and often it's quite connected into social media and the digital world. Do you do like days where you switch off your phones? Do you sort of have reading on Netflix shows that help you switch off.
We go for a lot of walks around our area. That's normally with Ellen. If she's not crying and screaming, it's quite relaxing, but always relaxing. We like to go
out to dinner as well. We like to get foot massages together, and when we can, we watch like a Netflix series together and I always have to like turn it off after because if I don't, he'll continue watching because I normally go to bed earlyer than my husband, so he would want to keep watching something that She's like, Okay, I'm going to bed, turn it off, and then yeah, he'll stay out.
He watches without you.
That's why I turn the TV off. I'm like, so you can't.
Watch It's nice.
It's like when we put L down, and she's really good at going down at seven, so it's like kind of our time to even just cook and watch something at the moment. It's been quite hard because there are times and nights around like on emails ten or eleven o'clock at night, and it's been difficult to like switch off, but that's.
What we do like to do, to sort of switch off when we can.
And it is a really big adjustment going from being a couple where or you know, you have time to focus on YouTube and your connection in your relationship and then pair into it. I'm sure just throws that completely out of whack and you've got to find new ways to then make time in between raising a small human.
It's crazy and trying to just juggle it all being like, okay, Tim, you need to look after L at this time. I will look after Like I sit there either the night before or even like the beginning of the week, going okay, what do you have on how can we juggle this?
I now have I think he has my dary now in his phone, so he is a human.
Doing just so where Yeah, just trying to stay on top of it all because we're our schedule is just so varied and it's different every week and sometimes you have really big weeks, sometimes you don't.
But if things are overlapping, we need to make sure it's looked after. And so it's just once again about communication and juggling basically.
Every Yeah, totally, Nick and I also have each other's calendar is just overlaid so that we know there's like small pockets of time where there's.
Blank got going on, so you don't need to like bug them and things like that.
Yeah, totally. Second last question for you, This will probably hard for you given how much you guys have been in the media, but what are three interesting things about you that don't normally come up in conversation that people might not know that are just like weird quirks or things that like only Tim would know.
Oh god, well, I actually can ask his question a lot, and I always think, you know, when really I get asked the question about what does what do people not know about you?
Something that people don't know about you?
And I'm like, yeah, but I've given all those things away because I'm like, you always get asked. I'm like, well, I've given that away last time. What is something like I see a massive tomboy? I have said that before I.
Did read that.
Yeah, that's not something out you.
I should have asked him. It's always fun when you have a couple of interview at the same time and you can get them to drop you in the dirt, because then it's something that you wouldn't normally think about.
But it's like a sleep so we strangle laughter say that.
It's always something like oh Anna sleeps with her mouth open and like quarterfly once, or like oh, hey.
Well I think, hey, I did eat a ciar.
I was like I did eat Was it a cockroach or a soicada? Like that was when a child. That's the first thing that came to my mind.
It's not even interesting.
Oh that's so interesting. I feel like the weirder the better, Like the weird things that never come up in conversation, like allergies or like your middle name or.
Like you know what allergies?
Yes, now that you said that, because I sneeze a lot, and like I have running nose, that's sneeze.
The you should be the name of this episode exactly.
So I went to test my allergies and I was like something every like it's almost like all year round and like sneeze and sinus problems. And then I went to get my allergies all tested and I said something. It was like, come on, it was like something grass and a little bit of grass or not even that much of grass, And I was like, is that my allergy? I wanted it to be something like extremely cool, yeah, and I could just cut it out and then everything will be fine.
But it's yeah, cut out grass out of your life. It's no more grass for you, babe.
I'm not I'm fully disappointed in that.
How do you even manage that? Like what do you even do about it? Just don't go near grass.
I don't know. It's only mild as well.
So see that's interesting. Yeah, do you have any like party trick? Do you speak Hungarian?
Oh?
No, I don't speak. I do have a put trick so I can do the worm with a lot of weddings. After a few drinks and a lot of time, people take videos of it and I'm like, can you please delete that?
Like the not good? But I'm really good at the worm.
Oh my God, I can't even imagine you're doing that.
Yeah, I know, and it's yeah.
A lot of the times my family and tim are like, oh, did you really have to do that?
And I'm like, yeah, I know, I really shouldn't have.
But I did. I did actually really have to do that. It was actually necessary.
There's lots of things.
They're the ones I love, the ones that like only come out. And very last question, since I love quote so much, what is your favorite quote?
So I never have a favorite quote because I'm like, I take inspiration from everything, but sort of most recently before going to sas, my husband said this quote and I probably will get it wrong, but it's something it's like, if you want to be a winner, you have to think like a winner and also know what a winner believes before winning will actually being a winner. So it's kind of having that winner's mentality before you can actually win.
And that was something for me, like I went into it going I can't do this, but I'm like, you've got to change that around, and you've got to say.
You can do it.
And also if whatever happens and you don't actually end up being able to do it, then you've got to know that that's okay as well, and you've learned something anyway, so it's actually okay not to be good at something or not being able to do something and learn that you're going to grow so much more from those as well.
So that one and I love that you've really executed that in like the whole trying things that scare you the most. It's like, you know what, I'm just going to believe I can do it, and then worst case scenario if I can't, like nothing changes about my value exactly exactly. One of the things I often have to remind myself is if you promised everyone that they could fail, but no one would ever know, would they care about failing?
And I feel like most of the time, if you could fail in private, no one cares exactly, So you're only scared about the perception of failure, which means that then you've got to change your mindset around caring what people think about you exactly. Well, thank you so much, Anna, huge congratulations on your new chapter. I can't wait to follow how it goes over the next couple of weeks and months. Where can we get into wellness?
So you can get into wellness online?
So it's ww dot Into Wellness dot com and that's NTU.
Yes well, how exciting. Congratulations Lovely, and thank you so much for joining.
Thank you, Thank Sarah.
It's such a great privilege to be a fly on the wall during special moments for our guests, like the launch of their first business, and to have a record of how they felt and what they were thinking for them to reflect on in years to come. I feel a bit the same way about Yeays of our Lives. One day I'll look back and be able to reflect
on what I was thinking at the time. How sweet to be able to play Tim's words back to Anna years after he'd said them, and I hope to catch up with her again when Into Wellness has grown far and wide over the coming years. I'll pop the link in the show notes so you can check it out for yourselves, and if you enjoyed listening along, please do share and tag at Anna heinrich One to thank her for her time and to keep growing the neighborhood as
far and wide as possible. And is back for another dose of Yeys of our Lives next week, so stay tuned, and I hope you're all seizing your yay
Contendit Regenement, Regenet Regenment, contenet Regement for the