Finding Your Voice featuring Christy Turlington Burns

you guys are friends? We are? Yeah? I mean, whoever would have put that together? I can tell you. My nerdy, suburban Chicago schoolgirl never would have thought there'd be a scenario where I would end up meeting Christy Turlington Burns as an adult and become friends with her, obviously not because of our parallel modeling careers, but because we met through sort of nonprofit stuff and bonded over that and her work with Every Mother Counts, which I am excited

to hear more about what she's up to. And also we met when we both spoke at TED, so we spoke the same year and became buddies, and so just sort of got introduced over and over again and finally just started hanging out. She's awesome. I first met Christie when she was a young model and I was a young makeup artist, and every time I would do her makeup, I thought I was the most talented makeup artist in the universe because all I had to do was put clear lip gloss on her lips and pinch her cheek,

and she was stunning. And honestly, I think I learned a lot about choosing makeup by looking at faces, and especially hers, because she had such natural, beautiful coloring in her skin, and that's how I ultimately like to do makeup. But she was always kind and I really haven't, you know, seen her as often as I would like, so I'm pretty excited to talk about everything. She's doing. Awesome, And if you can protect me from running a marathon, I

would really appreciate it. I have a feeling she's gonna hit me up again. Let's get into it. Excited for our conversation with Christie. Hi, Christie, Hi, and Julie. It's so good to see you, well to hear you. Hi, Bobby, Hi Christie. First of all, she knows your real name. A Julie. She knows how to pronounce your she knows how to say it. Yeah, oh yeah, because we're pals. We're pals from the neighborhood. We are. But I knew you.

I knew you'd eight or ten years and you never corrected my pronunciation, So I know, what did you say on Jolly? Oh? I know? And I it's a really bad carry over from childhood and being like a first generation immigrant where you're just like, yeah, whatever you want to say is fine, and I didn't correct people, and now even as an adult, like I don't know why I don't just say it right away. But I was like, oh, she means it with love. It's not like she's being disrespectful.

It just doesn't know how to say it's I'm like, it's fine, but yeah, now I'm I'm supposed to be of it. I know. I'm trying to be better for the next generation. I get called Cindy all the time. You don't you do do not I do. There's no way anyone's mistaken you for Sunday. They're like starts at the sea, ends of the hy You you all look alike,

well you don't. You're stunningly beautiful as always, And um, I feel like my first girl crush might have been on Christy Turlington Burns when I was Yeah, when you were in what and like what like fifth grade? What are you trying to say? Well, it's just as a teenager, you know, when she came on the scene, it's like you were the closest thing we had to like ethnic beauty being represented on on the main stage, you know, in Vogue and on the pages of my favorite magazines.

And I just you know, I probably had a little girl crush, don't I don't want to make you on comfortable, but it's true. One thing, one thing about her, because I met her during those times. I was lucky the times I got to work with her because as one of the big models, she was the nicest she was, you know, and so with Cindy, But she was always the nice I believe that. Thank you, Gosh. I want to hang out with you every day. We're here. We're here every day just doing this. This is what we do,

just that I'm recording. But has anyone ever called you other than nice? I mean, I'm proud of having the reputation of being the nice model of my peer group, but I I also felt like sometimes it was a little boring and bland, like just to be nice. I like, come on, I've got more than that. And I'm sure I wasn't always nice. I mean, I'm sure I had

my moments, like anyone does. But I definitely saw there was opportunity to um, I don't know, make myself remembered, or or to be liked, right, And we all want to just be liked on the set and like welcomed, and so to be nice was the easiest way to um to get that. Yeah, but the answer is no. Back then, people did not want to be nice. It was cooler to not be nice. I was always nice. And there was a hairdresser I don't even remember her

name who literally stopped working and she was awful. And I saw her again about a year later, and she said, I'm going to take something out of your playbook. I'm gonna be nice to everyone. That's my new thing. There was no chance this girl was ever going to be nice. There was no chance that we won't name names. I don't even remember her name. That's how much of a remember I remember. Then. I'm curious, Yeah, yeah, exactly, Maybe that's yeah. I guess it's the extremes, right, the divas,

and then the nice ones. I feel like kindness, right, that's sort of the that's the goal. That's what I want my children to be. Kind are they? They are? Um, they're also funny. I think that's the other thing that you want your kids to be because that keeps this going. Um. But kind and funny two good qualities. I totally agree. I think funny is a really great sign of intelligence too. That's what I keep telling myself, and I am really

hard to be funny. And then I was told recently in a meeting that I shouldn't tell people that I'm funny. I should just tell a joke. And I was like, oh, that burns. That hits a little too. Quotes when people will ask the question like what is something that nobody knows about you? Or what's something that's not on Wikipedia?

Like first, I never look at Wikipedia. But secondly it's like I was like, well, I think I'm funny, and I think it's a weird thing to say about yourself, right, Like when you say I think I'm funny, You're like, you can't possibly be funny, but you are funny. I know that. Thank you, Christie. I think you're pretty funny. You're funny, and you're kind. I would agree with all those ones. So funny and kind, and you're imparting that to your children as is Bobby, also funny and kind.

Look at us, we're just quite the trio, aren't we? Just the most wonderful, nice, kind giving people in America? Okay, so people are listening to think this is really not worth my time, this is boring. So let's get out to the to the meat of this podcast, which is basically it's called The Important Thing because look, everyone knows you're amazing career. We don't know enough about you, know what you're doing now, I mean the world doesn't. But

what has changed for you personally since the pandemic? Like, what are the important things to you now? I mean, I guess it's it's all the cliches. Really, I think the sort of slowing down piece of it. I feel like it's the truth that I that I knew, but I didn't have a choice but to really like surrender

to it um during the pandemic. I think that's sort of your family and your your home being where your heart is, and your your heart being or your home is that was very evident, like I couldn't be traveling, I couldn't be moving at the pace that I normally do, and I fully embraced it, like and I embraced it quite quickly. I realized like this was not a situation where I like there was any reason to fight it. It just was and it was out of our control.

And so not that it was like smooth every day, but I I early on was like, this is bigger than me and all of us, and you would have to write it. And luckily I'm here under the same roof with the people that I love the most in the world. So can't be can't be that much. And are your kids still in the house? Are there? I don't know how they are. They're back at school. They're

back at school. Um so oh so, Grace's eighteen, she's a senior, uh in high school and finished sixteen years of sophomore and so you know, early days pandemic, we were on Long Island in our house there because spring break, and then we came back to the city and the fall of of of last year. Um, and then they've been out in school back and forth a bit. Um. But they're in now, which has been really nice for everybody. I also spent a lot of the pandemic in the

Hampton's and it was for us personally. Having the family was you know, a blessing. But it was hard. I mean, I'm not gonna you know, I'm not gonna say it was hard. Three boys, three dogs. How many dogs did you guys have in the house? A lot? Three boys, four or five dogs, fiances, then wives, and then nephews,

so you know, it was amazing. She had a full compound, going wow, wow, Yeah, I had two kids, two dogs, and then I didn't even see in that first lockdown my sister and her kids and her husband lived you know, ten minutes away. We didn't even see them during that first you know, eight weeks or whatever, so we really just were the four of us for the very first time, I think, without anyone. Um. Yeah, it was. It was

kind of magical. Though. There was a lot that I really really loved and I still love, especially I feel like them at these ages where I don't think I would typically get that kind of quality time, certainly, not evenings around the table or watching movies together, you know, weekend. It's like they they would normally be just like a shadow of themselves. Um, I think during these years, but

lots of quality time and what were you doing? Mostly were you I was still working as they were going to school after that initial spring break time and we were all off and trying to figure out things. My my mother in law was down in Florida and she was quite ill and ultimately passed from COVID. So that was early days. So I feel like we very much were in that space that um. But we were reading about in the news and seeing on television like we lived it, you know, caregivers on the phone and um,

you know, it was it was intense. Um. And then also my kids really hadn't lost anybody before, so to have that be their first big loss during the pandemic while they were home, it was it was pretty intense. UM. But then once everybody kind of started to find their their routines, we all found our corner of the house. We don't have great WiFi out there, so that was a challenge. You know, crash and we'd all be screaming like turn on. I guess if anyone really had any

control of that either. But it was kind of also nice to know, like if they were down. I was down, like what could we do? I was outside as much as I could. That was the beauty of being able to be outside of the city during um those few months, and so to go for a walk or go for a run or something like that. I really felt like the pool of nature even more than I normally do.

UM and I think my kids did too, like bike rides, walks, um even alone just to like get the space that we needed to be able to kind of come back together again. UM. That was kind of critical to clear head. And you're you're a major marathon or correct major? Yeah, I completed my ninth full marathon last November. I've done all the six world marathons as well. Um. Yeah, I I've found that I love running now. I now, I

kind of wish that I discovered it earlier. But maybe that's why I'm surviving as a runner now, is that I didn't discover it earlier, and so far my joints and bones are intact. So will you share with us the the tips that you were giving me to start running, which I admittedly have not started doing. Bobby will enjoy this. Christie was I think it was last summer You're or maybe last spring, She's like, would you should run the

marathon with me? And I was like, we obviously don't know each other very well, because if you knew me better, you would know that's not something I want to do. But I was really inspired by the idea that you had asked me to do it that I was like, maybe someday, I promise I will run it for you if I do it, but I don't know that that's happening even a five k. Honestly, the walking walking is probably the best exercise you can do, and it's probably

the healthiest for your body. Um, and anyone could do it anywhere, right like whatever of your urban or suburban or in rural rural part of the world, I think. And if you do it at a pace like I think, that's actually the healthiest for all of us and you get all the benefits of the like solitude and meditation and bree thing. Um. Yeah, I think a five k could be okay for you. Okay, k Unsually do you walk? I do? I walk a ton. I can walk for like days. I mean, I would like traverse the country

if I had to walking. I can walk with no problem. But it's the running I've never you know, it's interesting, I think because as a kid, I feel like you guys have different narratives around this. But for me as a kid, because I wasn't traditionally athletic and like the American school system, like I didn't play American sports well, like basketball or volleyball or whatever. I wasn't good at that. So I had a very strong narrative that I wasn't athletic.

I conflated the two and it was really hard for me to then grow up and be like, oh, I was athletic in a different way. But I really was like, oh, I'm not a fast runner, or I'm not the best on the basketball team, even if I'm tall or whatever, So that means I'm not athletic. So it's been hard to to change that narrative. Christie, how do I change that narrative? Tell me? We sort of tell yourself right, like, um, we are what we say we are actually, But my dad had three girls with my mom, and he had

two children before he was married to my mom. But there are three sisters, and he had us do every sport, and I would say I was not the most natural athlete, but I had to still you know, plague, soccer, um, softball, ski and he had us do some track and field as well at little like community college nearby. And I was I got tall, and I learned that I was fast when I was young, and so I did think of myself as a runner, and so then dropped it

for many, many years. And when I came back to start running, um for for every mother counts, it was like I discovered or rediscovered that I actually love it. And it's like human beings, they run for play, they run like we We are runners, Like human beings are naturally runners. We just in our sort of more sedentary Um, I don't know devolution, I would say, have become a lot more still in static and tied to our seats.

And so I don't know. If you can get that mentality that it's actually playful, that it's fun as opposed to a chore like work or exercise, then um, you can start to kind of discover that part of yourself that you probably forgot. And were you a runner when you were modeling a little bit sometimes, but again more

for exercise. I would say, like, I don't know if you remember, there was like no gyms anywhere, especially in Europe at the time, hotels didn't have gyms, or if they did, as like a teeny tiny room um in the basement of a hotel, and so I would sometimes bring shoes and go out for a run if I was jet lagged or there was a park nearby. Um.

But I can't say I loved it. It was more like the something that I should be doing that I you know, I should be doing it like a chore like part of my job, but not necessarily what I loved. Did you love modeling? No, No, you didn't. You knows you didn't love modeling. You just kind of sucked, know. I mean, I think I liked a lot of things about the job that had nothing to do with the

actual job. Um. I like the people. I like the playfulness again, I guess like to me when I, yeah, when I was a teenager and started working, I would come to New York and you know, you have this creative group of people playing dress up essentially, like it was so much more fun than my friends in high school doing whatever they were doing, Like it like trying to be trying to go to clubs. And I did a little bit of that too when I got here.

But for the most part. The work part of the day was more like fun, like what are we gonna do today and what's the going to be? And like playing and trying and scratching it and starting something again, Like there was something that was so kind of I don't know, it really felt like a collaborative, fun, creative process that even as a model, because I don't always find the model role of the whole team and fashion

to be the most creative one. I mean, certainly there are some that are very creative, but I always kind of found like I'm supposed to be sort of I don't know, playing back in a way another person's or company's fantasy as opposed to being like an active participant

in it. But there were so many instances early on that I think I really like that feeling of being a part of a team and then going on a trip, Like for me, that travel was always the most fun part about the whole job and the most exciting part. And I always love to, like go to a new country, go to a new city, and so you know, when you travel with people, you bond, you connect, you have

these shared experiences, and to me that was everything. So the actually like okay, you gotta get up at five in the morning and get ready and then go stand in the cold or do whatever we have to do. That was like the but the fun part is like the getting there, the meals in between, the just the

adventures that happened when you get on the road. That was so Now you're gonna laugh at me because to me, I mean, I'm a lawyer by training, and but to me, what you're describing doesn't actually sound that different from what I loved about being a young lawyer in London or in Paris or wherever. Was the travel and it was the people, and there was an aspect of it that was fun. The job stank like that was not the

fun part, but it was. I mean, I would rather have been a model, I think in a direct video, but um, you know, you take what you can get. But it's uh, I think at that age there is something so opening through your job. It's just like it was a different time or like that was really the portal for me to experience so much was that first those first work experiences. Absolutely, the people that Christie was

working with. I mean, I'll tell you from being in the same industry, the top of the top, you know, the orbit the photographers like honestly, like the top of the Top. I mean, I don't think you did much catalog work, Christie, Well that that's actually the funny thing. I feel like there was a lot of catalog work then remember Spiegel did you ever work? So there was like the German clients and the German catalogs right where you get there, and literally you couldn't sit down for lunch.

It was like, you know, the clock is ticking, and how I think could get ten shots? I mean like it was just a machine, and so that's no fun. I mean you'd hope that you could have a laugh in the makeup and hair, you know, chairs, because otherwise it was a bit of torture. And then there was every now and again the fun shoot, which you're right.

I got to work with some of the most amazing people, many of them are no longer with us um, but to have had that experience to get to I think the beauty also being a model or or on the hair makeup team, is that we get to come in and out of those crews and those teams all the time, work with the different magazines. You get kind of insight to it all. Whereas the photographers. You know, they only know what they know, They only know their own universe.

And and I think that can I don't know, for like the assistance in the groups that are so tightly connected to at one team. I think you miss a lot of the fun because you only know that one team. Yeah, I see you on Instagram, you know with all the other models, you know, the same models of the same You know, you seem to be friends with a bunch of the girls. Do you keep in touch with a bunch of them? Yeah, I mean I I don't see too many in person these days, just because of COVID.

But then also not everybody lives in New York anymore. Um, I you know, I'll see Cindy sometimes. She lives in l A, but she comes to New York quite a bit. Uh Naomi is still moving at the pace that she always did, even in the pandemic somehow, And I mean, I know, unbelievable. I know, she's she's a hero, amazing.

So when did you start, every mother count what was happening in your journey when you started at Yeah, I mean I get, I mean I still model sometimes, so I can't say I stopped her, but I stopped in my mind working as a full time model. About ten years in, I went back to school to just get my undergrad degree at n y U UM in like

ninety five or ninety six. So that sort of was the break off to kind of figure out who I wanted to be and what what were my I had a ton of interest, but it was like, let me, let me explore those parts of myself, because I could see how twenty years could get sucked away if the industry even would have me. To be honest, I didn't. I didn't really have a big future plan with my modeling career. I was always like, oh, wow, here I am five years in or ten years in. I couldn't

believe actually that I lasted that long. And so then school I went full time for four years. UM. I was feeling like, you know, my mid twenties, I I felt like I was behind and so I was trying to catch up and I graduated at thirty. What did

you study? Initially? It's I took a liberal arts degree at the Gallatin School, which is an individualized study program at n y U. And I initially was interested in like art history and the things that my sister was studying in college, like literature, and and then I started studying comparative religion, and I kind of and I was practicing yoga a lot at that time in my life or just starting too, and so my studies kind of went into comparative religion, Eastern philosophy, and then I got

to still touch on all those parts of the liceral arts degree that I was already interested in. So it was so much fun, like the whole experience, not traveling as much for for the first time in ten years, sort of creating a home for myself in this city that I called a home already, you know, from the age of like sixteen or seventeen, and then like really

making a home. You know. I think I had a boyfriend in those years, but I wasn't living with anybody, so it was really creating my own space, my own home, walking to school, walking home from school, making friends outside of the industry, and it was a really magical time. I also started doing other things, you know, like you know, I guess philanthropy started to kind of become more of

a choice. I think, you know, our industry has always had since I've been in it, philanthropic side obviously, HIV. AIDS was a big problem when I became a model in the mid eighties, and I grew up in the East Bay area, so outside of San Francisco, so I felt like I knew people who were dying of AIDS before I came to New York. And then of course when I got to New York, you know constantly UM and so I was aware of that issue, and the industry really rallied. I would say around it, um, I'd

say soon after that, you know, breast cancers. A lot of work and activity around that. So I would kind of play my role but more as a sort of sure, I'll show up to that thing, yeah, you know, donate. And then I started to um have more opportunities to kind of explore for myself, like what what did I really really care about? And for me, it was pretty straightforward, like my mom's from Central America, she's from El Salvador.

And I got asked in the very early nineties if I when the war had ended, there would I, you know, help out to try to create some I don't know, positive publicity around the country. And it's a country that I had grown up going to have been and so to be able to go back after the war and have you know, I don't know, for people to realize that I was actually from that part of the world was also like a really I think important thing for

me as a young adult. And then my next thing was my father had cancer and he died from lung cancer. And I had been a smoker in my teens in early twenties, so I had an opportunity to kind of share my testimony and share my dad's story and advocate, and um, that was a pretty exciting time because you know, tobacco cessation and prevention was very much in the culture for the first time. When I look at that public

health nightmare, it's amazing where how far we've come. And my kids have grown up kind of like they see a cigarette, they're like what is that. They're seemingly making a comeback, but for most of their lives they've been like what is that. I know, if my daughter smells it on the streets, she's like taking it back, She's like, what is what's happening? Like, Oh, that's a cigarette, you know, that's a cigarette smoke, and she's really that's It's like,

that's the normal weed smell that we smell. Anywhere that she's used to. Unfortunately, in the streets of New York. I think that she doesn't notice. But cigarette smoke is quite charring. It's interesting. We didn't know it was bad for you back then, you know. I mean I smoked in high school. No one said you shouldn't be doing this, it's not good for you, which is crazy. I kind of think I knew it was bad for me, but I I also was attracted to it for those reasons.

You know, my dad smoked always and said there was always cigarettes around. I feel like most of my friends parents one or both smoked. So when we started like sneak cigarettes or you know, try to look like we were older or cool, we would be smoking. And I also grew up horseback riding, and everyone around the horses smoked like everyone. So yeah, I started smoking in my

I don't know, twelve thirteen a little bit. And then by the time I was modeling at fifteen, I would like carry my pack of cigarettes around and I was

smoking all the time. And I think in those early years too, when I was a bit more shy and trying to kind of get the lay the land, it gave you this sense that you were doing something when you weren't doing anything when you're sitting like now people would be on their phone, but back then, you'd sit in a studio in a corner while they were like ignoring you or like making you wait to have an appointment, and you just like smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, smoke cigarettes

and sit there as if like you're you're doing something. UM. Anyway, I I quit when I was about twenty five, right before I went back to college, and my dad died two years later, and so I felt very confident by the time I started advocating on that issue that I was done done and that I could be trustworthy UM public person advocating on that topic. And and that's where I kind of got excited about public health and advocacy really UM. And that sort of prepared me for when

I became a mom. And when I became a mom, I experienced a postpartum hemorrhage. And that's really what brought me into this work around internal health. Wow, So what your did you what did you found it two thousands? Oh? I found the organization two thousand and ten, but I became a mom in two thousand and three. But you realize the power of your voice in that different way must have been pretty incredible. I mean, because it's you know,

you're where where you're talking about how you were. You know, when you're modeling that you're bringing somebody else's vision to life or your kind of acting in that way. But then to be able to take that attention in the spotlights that's being shown on you and shine it on things that you care about, it's pretty powerful. Yeah. And I think there's when you're at all in the public, I feel like there's a sort of pressure or there's the questions like, oh, and you should feel like you

you should be doing these things. And yet to me, there's nothing worse than having somebody in an obligatory way, I guess, put themselves out there just to do it because it's the right thing to do. It's to me, it really had to feel grounded in like an experience um for me to find my voice in that. And I think going back to school also gave me confidence.

Just like I had to talk in the classroom, I had to share my thoughts and my ideas, I had to introduce myself every semester in every class like that gave me a certain kind of confidence outside of my career, which was a success, and I didn't have to, like, you know, you kind of earn your stripes right in

the industry. Like at a certain point you can say more because your experience, your experiences inform you that, Like you see somebody else with me, you're like, hey, I didn't know I could do that, but now I can. Like remember the first time I said I'm not going to wear fur. I didn't know I could say that. I figured, like, I'm hired, it's not my choice, but I of course I had choice within the realm of um,

you know, a certain amount of choice. But it also must have been such a transition for you because you were known for your face. You couldn't go anywhere without people either staring at you were saying something or you know, there were no phones back then, so maybe pull out their camera and take a picture. And then all of a sudden, you're going back to school and be mean

someone that talks about the things that matters. I just think it must have been maybe subconsciously like empowering for you that it wasn't just about the way you look. Absolutely absolutely, And yet I also feel like it happened gradually enough that it never felt like something that happened overnight. And I also felt I don't know, I never felt like I attracted the kind of attention that some of my peers did. Like I wasn't followed around with a

camera outside of work. I really wasn't. I didn't. I didn't have a very um I don't think I had such an exciting, uh like personal life. So for me being able to like look like I did if I wasn't at work with makeup and dressed up, I kind of ease in and out of life very easily. The differences. I feel like I have a last name that is a little unique. It's not something you hear all the time, so it's not like Christie Smith sitting in the background class.

But mostly it didn't matter. I think the age difference that I was, even from my student peers, was enough that they weren't as in the weeds of what I did. I feel like my peer group if I was with people that were my age, maybe, but I already feel like students eight years younger than me, like they were in the whoever was next? Like you know what I mean? It wasn't like they were preoccupied. That was I didn't know what it was going to be like, and it

was much more comfortable than I realized. And then it just got more and more comfortable, as like a muscle you practice, you know, you just you just do and then you're like, oh, I can get outside of my comfort zone or I can blend in and I you know, no one's looking at me in thinking why am I talking about this or why do I have this opinion? It just sort of you know, all of us have an opportunity to do that if we feel confident in doing it, and should have the voice and place to

do it. And so tell me just a little bit more about what every mother accounts does I mean besides education and awareness, yeah, we UM. I mean our mission is really to make pregnancy and child worth safe for

every mother everywhere, which is a massive mission UM. But what that entails is educating the public in a big way through UM films and storytelling, UM, through working on policy and advocacy changed so that people can sort of demand for change, UM, advocate on behalf of themselves for what they need in that moment um, to advocate for

support for respectful care. I think it's sort of assumed that you know, even if you have access to healthcare that that's like quality care, but actually, like quality care is really quite um interesting, Like, you know, we sort of expect a very low standard of quality, I think in terms of our interaction with um with medical providers. And I think, you know, we all are intimidated by doctors. And I know, Angelo, you you're married to one, so

you will see this in a different way. But I feel like most people kind of again talk about surrender. They see somebody that's in a white coat or that has doctor next to their name, and they're like, Okay, you know best, you're the boss. I feel that way too, And the thing, yeah, I've been married for twenty some years and I still feel that way when a doctor walks in the room, but to the point that actually

it's it's weird. My husband will even like when we're going through our medical stuff trying to have a baby, um, the doctor would walk on the room and I would completely clam up. And I'm not shy for talking and advocating for myself, but in that scenario, you're so vulnerable, you're so nervous. I was, at least, and I would completely clamb up. I wouldn't ask questions. I wouldn't, you know, it was really unlike me, and so I'd have to write them all down and make him as that, which

was so great. It's so not how I am in any other part of my life. But in a medical setting, I felt super nervous. Yeah, I think you do. I think everyone feels that way to an extamp. But I think then put on put add onto that you're a woman, add onto that, if you're a woman of color, um add on to that. You know, like there's just these

different layers. And so I think our system has really sat people up for not feeling their most confident, not feeling that they know how their bodies work, or feel that connection to themselves enough to be able to know what questions to ask. And I really think healthcare needs to be a partnership. It needs to be like patient and provider coming together and working together to have the

best possible outcome. So we do a lot of just like sharing of resources and information, just making it in this world of so much information, especially around pregnancy and childbirth. Right like you go googling, and you know you'd be, you know, beside yourself, terrified of what could possibly happen, and yet a healthy amount of fear and maybe just being aware of the possibilities is also really empowering. Um. I was very very prepared coming into pregnancy. It was

like I was ready to become a mom. I felt like I'd had one career, i had gone back to school, I started a few other kinds of careers, and I was like, I'm ready. I'm in my thirties, I'm not a baby. I'm like, I'm informed. I have a supportive like husband and like a system around me to like get me the support I needed. And and then the annex spect it happened, which was to have that experience

of the postpartum hemorrhage after my baby was born. So when you think, like healthy child, she's out of my body, surely this is over, and then it's like, no, they're just starting. Yeah, exactly exactly. So I feel like I feel like I was informed and I wasn't completely. And I just know how many other people don't have any sexual reproductive education at school. We don't allow it to be taught in most states, um, you know, most counties

in the country. So like people are really not that aware and sort of fighting themselves pregnant oops sex pregnant, not having a savings because it's very expensive to become a parent UM, as you both know, and UM to support a child and a family through UM, through pregnancy and childbirth, and then to raise them for the rest

of their life. UM. Like these are things that need a lot of thought and care and planning, and most people in the world, but in this country, enter it not prepared and so part of our I would say, our role as an organization is making sure that people know their rights, know their options, UM, utilize those options, learn to use their voice, ask the questions UM, and then advocate so that others can have a better experience UM.

Because I truly believe, like you know, this has to get better UM, and in order for it to get better, we all have to be sort of out there talking and advocating together. Where is the focus of your work works countries and you do a lot more in the US than I knew about. Yeah, we increased a lot through COVID. Actually, I would say before before COVID, we were about maybe of our funding went to programs here

in the US, all community based UM. And then we also have pritners in Guatemala, Haiti, India, Bangladesh, Tanzania, uh Nepal, and Indonesia. UM. And you know, like I'm actually leaving for Africa on Sunday, and so we're going to be adding to our African partners, you know, through a few new relationships in Kenya most likely, but also visiting Tanzania. I mean, there's so much neat around the world that's like a very like tiny tiny amount of countries to

be focused on. And yet it's always been really important that there is a kind of global perspective on this issue. Um. You know, when I first started learning about the magnitude of the problem that you know, hundreds of thousands of girls woman die every year from pregnancy and childbirth related complications. You know, of those deaths do happen in the global South,

in the developing world. UM. But the United States is ranked fifty five in the world, Like we are doing so badly and we've fallen behind from forty one in the world since I became a mom. And you know, we're of two industrialized countries with the highest matroal mortality like ratio on the rise, Like why how is that possible?

So the stats are shocking. Those those stats are so and I think people really just assume it's another place problem as opposed to it's happening in our own backyards, and people are not aware of it, and I don't know what resources are needed and all that into the work you're doing. It's really incredible to shine a light on it and to really, you know, just to get everyone to understand that there's not a a problem happening to other people. It's happening right here too. And you're

taking care of the world. You're taking care of your family. How does Christie take care of Christie? Tell us some of your like tangible secrets, like what do you eat? What do you you know? Do take baths? What are your things? Oh? I love baths. My whole family are big bathsakers. Think goodness? Wit of live in California anymore? Um I I yoga. I mean I discovered yoga at eighteen years old, and it has been the kind of

that keeps giving in the pandemic. I went from practicing like two times a week, where I would like squeeze those classes in on my busy work week or when I was traveling. I went to like practicing six days a week, I practiced from home. I'm still doing like zoom classes with a group two groups from California that just started in those early weeks and have just been my like steady, steady, consistent, like reprieve in my day that keeps me going. What kind of yoga? Um, it

is like a vinyasa practice. Um. You know, I've kind of over the years done at all from Mashtonga to I younger. But I found that, like I like to have more precision around post years after doing it for so many years. But at the same time, I like to have sort of flow in the practice. Yeah, I like it's been my favorite. And what about food? Food? Do you have a practice in food? Not really? I mean I I mean I try. I think I'm a

pretty healthy eater. But I was vegetarian for a few years but before I became a mom and then I just kind of listen to my body. I feel like moderation. I mean, I try to eat things that are seasonal. I don't like indulge too much, but not because I not because I don't allow myself to. Just I feel like moderation is the way. Um, I do have guilty pleasure and fried foods I love. I mean, like, if it's fried and it's in front of me, I will

eat almost anything. Um, but I am, but I don't tend to have it that much like temporo will be like on the edge for me in my normal life. My daughter became a vegan over a year ago, and so she's been introducing more plant based foods in our all of our lives that I think is beneficial to us all um. It's also made her a better cook, and so that's been really nice that she kind of wants to share and she wants us to sort of try.

And you know, if she see I cleanse sometimes like once a year or so, she'll be like, Mom, don't just cleanse, just just do vegan. Just do vegan with me. You don't have to do a juice cleans like, you don't have to just just be vegan. So I'm kind of open, I believe, and maybe yoga helped me get there. But I feel like I listen to my body, and my body typically tells me what I need. Um, And if I eat something that isn't great for me, it's easily eliminated, you know what I mean. It doesn't stick

very long so quite literally, you are so balanced. I think it's quite something. But so there's one question I ask everyone that's on the show, and I think it's the most important one, which is if people listening could do one thing that you're gonna recommend that could change

their life, one thing, what would it be? I would say initiative practice, a meditation practice, a yoga practice, a practice um, something that has you sort of sitting with yourself, getting comfortable, sitting in solitude or in peace quiet um. And I think that could be in movement to I suppose, but just that sort of you know, when I run, I don't take music with me, I don't listen to podcast.

Sorry for your daughters, but hey, I want to be That's like one of the few times of the day where I'm not connected, where I can just breathe and I can just take in what's around me and the noises of the city or the noises of the country wherever I am. And so I don't know, I think building a practice figuring out how to be alone with yourself is a really healthy practice. I like that a lot, being alone with yourself as Yeah, but you can take

us with you listener, don't listen to question. Well, thank you so much for joining us. It's been amazing to you know, to first of all to see you and always one of my favorites, one of my favorite humans, not just favorite models, so I will say that here here, Thank you, Thank you so much, such a joy, joy to be with you both. To doto dot to be inher