Serenbe Stories

The Future of Wellness is Community with Susie Ellis & Nancy Davis

November 02, 2020 Serenbe / Susie Ellis / Nancy Davis Season 4 Episode 5
Serenbe Stories
The Future of Wellness is Community with Susie Ellis & Nancy Davis
Show Notes Transcript

You may have thought "wellness" was just a buzzword, but it's also a $4.5 trillion dollar economy, with the wellness real estate sector making up $134 billion dollars of that. These figures were determined through extensive research done by The Global Wellness Institute, which is the non-profit research organization that grew out of the Global Wellness Summit, an annual think tank event made up of wellness industry leaders and releases annual trend forecasts.

In today's episode, we talk with Institute Chairman and CEO Susie Ellis and Chief Creative Office and Executive Director Nancy Davis about the importance of sharing research and information to help people live healthier lives, and proving the value of global wellness. Hear how wellness is more than a great spa day.

Monica Olsen(1s):
Hey guys, it's Monica here. I wanted to tell you about a new podcast that I've started with my very good friend, Jennifer Walsh called biophilic solutions. Our last season of Serenbe stories, building a biophilic movement was so popular that we decided to dedicate an entire podcast to it every other week. Jennifer and I will sit down with leaders in the growing field of biophilia. We'll talk about local and global solutions to help nurture their living social and economic systems that we all need to sustain future generations more often than not. Nature has the answers. You can find biophilic solutions on apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, subscribe and follow us today. So you don't miss an episode.

Monica Olsen (41s):
All right, now let's get back to Serenbe stories.

Monica Olsen (58s):
Serenbe is a place where the innate connections humans have with nature and all living things is celebrated through work and play. And we're here to tell the stories of those who have been inspired by this biophilic way of life in our community and across the country. This is Serenbe stories.

Monica Olsen (1m 25s):
You may have thought wellness was just a buzzword, but it's also a $4.5 trillion economy with the wellness real estate sector, making up $134 billion of that. These figures were determined through extensive research done by the global wellness Institute. The Institute is the research arm of the global wellness summit. An annual think tank event made up of industry leaders and releases an annual must read trends forecast. In today's episode, we talk with Institute chairman and CEO, Susie Ellis, and chief creative officer executive director, Nancy Davis, about the importance of sharing research and information to help people live healthier lives. Proving the value of global wellness.

Monica Olsen (2m 6s):
Listen today to hear how wellness is more than just a great spotty, but first serenbe stories is brought to you by the, inn at Serenbe. The Inn is nestled in the rolling countryside, a bucolic ceremony where guests can walk on the 15 miles of trails through preserved forest land, the wildflower meadow, and the animal village. You can relax by the pool hot tub or in rocking chairs on the wraparound porch, play on the croquet lawn swings and in-ground trampolines connect with nature and each other all while staying in luxurious rooms on the, in grounds or within the community of Seren ceremony. Book your stay today at serenbeinn.com. Well, I want to welcome everybody back to serenbe stories. And today we have a couple of wonderful women with us today.

Monica Olsen (2m 48s):
We have Susie Ellis and we have Nancy Davis, CEO and chief creative officer of the global wellness summit and the global wellness Institute as well. We have Steve Nygren with us again. Welcome everybody. How is everybody?

Nancy Davis (3m 3s):
Well, it's great to hear yours and thanks for having us. Thank you, Steve. It's great to be here.

(3m 10s):
Hi guys. How are you? And we're going to hopefully get to see you guys in person in November. Right? One of the things I ask everybody as we sort of kick off our conversations is how did you guys originally meet Steve Nygren and sort of come into our world?

 (3m 29s):
I think I should let you start with that. Nancy. I think I was the connector here. My relationship with Sarah and V, which is many, many years old now began with Claire Martorano, who was a resident at Serenbe and an incredibly close friend of mine for years and years. And in 2013, when I got involved with the summit and with Susie's world, Claire was one of my first calls because she was at web MD and I thought she's going to be incredibly interested in this whole world and what we're doing. And the next thing I knew, I was at Serenbe visiting Claire. And she exposed me to this extraordinary place.

2 (4m 14s):
I had never, ever experienced anything like it. And she was really living a kind of wellness lifestyle that brought everything that we'd been talking about at the summit to life. She became involved. She came to summit that year was in India. She came to India. She was absolutely amazed. She introduced me to Steve. Steve became part of our world. Next thing I know she introduced us to Renee Morefield who was also living at Sandy. He is now a member of the board of the Institute. She's very active running initiatives and she writes the content for our wellness main shot every month.

2 (4m 54s):
So the points of connection between Serenbe and S is there, there are many of them, they go deep and they go long. And Steve has spoken at our summits. He's received an award from us, Serenbe is part of our research is just an incredibly Serenbe just an authentic pioneering place. When it comes to wellness communities. We tell everybody about Serenbe and in fact, it's the post summit trip this year. So we hope a lot of people will get an immersion into Serenbe and that, but it started with Claire Martorano. We love Claire.

2 (5m 35s):
I love Claire too. And then you brought Susie to visit. That was the first time I had. So I was hearing from Nancy and I met Claire at our summit in India. This was the global wellness summit that we did there. Even the Dalai Lama came and spoke and you know, was with us. So it was a very special event. And that's where I met Claire. And actually that's where Nancy and I first started working together. So at any rate, after this summit, I'm hearing about Serenbe and I'm thinking, what is this? And we ended up having, we decided to meet there. And that was my first experience. I met Steve there and, you know, Stevie were gracious to show us everything.

2 (6m 19s):
And it was just such a, such a, an experience it's hard to even articulate because it's like you had put together the very thing that we had been discussing for many, many years, places where people could live in wellness lifestyle. And so we were there for quite a few days and we were able to experience and see and really kind of feel the place. And ever since then, we certainly have been a champion of having more people know about Serenbe. And then I would say, as we, you know, as an organization, we are the global wellness summit, which started about 14 years ago.

2 (7m 6s):
We then added the global wellness Institute, which is our nonprofit and it's our research arm. And we decided to do a major research study on the wellness real estate and wellness communities arena. And so we did come out with a 2018 big report called build well to live well, it took a whole year to do the report. And of course Steve was very instrumental in contributing to it. Serenbe is a featured there, and it's also talks about what's happening globally. And in fact there were 750 or so I would say, I wouldn't say places like Sarah, because there's nothing like Serenbe, but  efforts around the world to start doing things that are wellness oriented and community oriented.

2 (7m 58s):
So it's a really great report. I think it's still a real landmark. And I think we really have Serenbe to thank for being, I call it the poster child inspiration, but this is like a mutual admiration because it's two worlds together because as I've tried to articulate the importance of wellness, and then once I met Susie and Nancy and really found out about the global wellness summit and the Institute, you articulated a lot of the things that we were trying to say and do as it related to lifestyle. And then of course it, it, it, it comes down to places the way we're building places for people to live.

2 (8m 42s):
So just thank you for bringing that conversation for people all over the world, from the various areas and bringing that all together and, and now putting capital dollars on it, which is what really moves markets. And you go, you all have been just a brilliant endangerment.

0 (8m 60s):
I would really credit you guys just to support that from a brand and marketing, you know, you've really put a fine point on sort of the wellness real estate industry. And I mean, we really appreciate that because people have had a very hard time sort of defining what Serenbe is. And they've tried to put us in a bunch of different buckets, and I feel like the wellness lifestyle community real estate is where we sort of landed. And it, it has really propelled us and the work you did and the research is a huge reason for that. So yes, very much same

2 (9m 31s):
Time share with us, you know, kind of the base of, of the global wellness Institute and how, how you realized that this was an important component. Well, you know, going back 14 years ago when we began, we actually were the global sports summit because at that time the spa industry was, there was no industry. There was just a lot of places all over the world doing things that help people in body mind, spirit, but they were not connected in any way. And so we put together an event and then did our first research on the spy economy. And we hired these great researchers and they did something that was so valuable to us.

2 (10m 14s):
And I think it speaks also to what, what happened later with wellness, real estate and communities. They looked at what was a fragmented non industry at that time. We called it spa and they said, you know, globally, if you look at what's going on out there, there's a lot of things happening, but you're not talking together and you're not coming out with one story. So people are not, you know, in fact at that time there was a lot of disagreement about what spa even is. So they did a year long study and it was actually a company called Sri international that was founded as Stanford research Institute, who we hired to do this research.

2 (10m 57s):
And the bottom line is they did this year study and they came up with a suggestion for those of us who were in this fragmented world saying, you know, if you could agree to be under an umbrella of a very general definition of spa, which they suggested would be places where people renew body, mind and spirit, and then you can have lots of categories underneath that because people were saying, well, I'm a resort spa, or I'm a medical spa, or I'm a day spa, or I'm a diabetic spawn, Indian, et cetera. You can have all those categories. Then what you can do is you can add up the revenue from all of these places and come up with one number that you can present saying, you know, industry worth listening to.

Monica  (11m 45s):
And that is what happened 14 years ago. So based on that, we then, as you know, you know, the spa world became work, the wellness world. We also found through our research, but going back then to real estate and communities, we were starting to see that this was happening in different ways around the world. And we thought, you know, it might be good to study what's happening. And again, how we can come together because being one force is much more successful and putting a number on that is much more something people listened to. Then everyone trying to talk to the world because it is very difficult as you know, it, it's just, Sarah me is talking to, you know, New York times and all of the people that are interested, it's hard for them to understand what this is about.

2 (12m 38s):
So we, I think that the research also helped because we were able to put a number on this is what's happening in this segment. And, you know, people were paying attention to it. It was like real estate people said, wow, this is really fantastic and interesting, and we need to learn more so. And the other thing, and I just have to really credit Steve and serum this, the attitude of being willing to share information and data and come together is really what makes this work because we realized we all want more people to live healthfully. And so if serum B is doing something great, that is very valuable, but we also want, you know, ranch left branches that are doing residences.

2 (13m 23s):
Now we want that to be successful too, because that helps the whole arena. And Steve has been so gracious about inviting people to see her and be opening up showing, helping. And so Steve, thank you for what you've contributed to helping this grow in a healthy way, because you're a good example of something that's really authentic and working. And so we're really excited. We're, you know, it's still in the beginning globally, but you are showing that it can be done and has been done. And it's really making a difference in people's lives. Thank you. If we, if we all shine our light, wherever we can, we can change this world.

2 (14m 6s):
Definitely,

0 (14m 7s):
Definitely. Susie, tell me how you came to this sort of world in the beginning. I know that you sort of started out doing sort of more of a spa summit, but where did your interest begin? Has this been a lifelong sort of journey or

2 (14m 21s):
Where did you start? Well, thankfully it has been a lifelong journey. I right out of college, which now is many decades ago. One of my first jobs was with the golden door, which is a very well-known and successful spa in Southern California. Deborah's AK, who is the founder and still living she's 97. Now. She, I worked for her right after college and I saw the golden door is a place where people came on Sunday and left a week later and they had all these lifestyle experience. They have healthy food exercise, massages, inner door kinds of experiences, stress reduction.

2 (15m 7s):
And people literally changed in that one week. And I saw this just, you know, I was a fitness instructor at the time and I saw this transformation and I was just thrilled to be part of it. And this was back in the seventies when, you know, actually Bundoora was called a fat farm. We didn't even use the word spot at the time, but that is where I started. And then my career has just continued in that vein. I went back to graduate school and did an MBA and worked for a variety of people and consulted and so on, but I was able to, and this is what I really appreciate, that I was able to be part of this movement from the seventies.

2 (15m 50s):
So I've seen a lot of the development and I think that's why it's been a little easier to see how things are unfolding, which is why, you know, seeing what's happening with nature and people wanting to live a healthy lifestyle and why spa, you know, morphed into wellness and that sort of thing, you know, I've been able to see that. So I've just always been in that arena, fast forwarding my husband and I ended up being involved in, we purchased a company called finder, which was in New York. We were there for about 15 years. And then we put together the global wellness summit as a result of being part of spot finder and then spot finder later was so, but we maintained the summit and grew it and added the Institute.

2 (16m 39s):
And I will just say that Nancy, you know, she came along actually as such an important part of why we have now grown the way we've grown and become. So international has her background is such that she has been able to add a lot of sizzle and a lot of excitement and creativity to, you know, some of what we're talking about, but she's really made it come alive with events and ways of connecting people. And so that's, you know, a big part of the story too. Yeah.

0 (17m 17s):
Yes. I was. Tell us a little bit about your background and sort of cause yeah, your hand, their fingerprints are all over the amazing work that they're doing, but tell us a little bit about your time prior and then sure.

2 (17m 33s):
I've been involved in creativity in the arts, my entire life still am. And, and what happened to me is that I went to rusty. I moved to New York after his day as many students do and got very involved in producing things I found I could write and I have a degree in photography and graphic design. I could put all of those things together and discovered that there were actually places that wanted those things together. And so I became a producer and a sort of creative director at, at an agency in New York. And I three years in, could see that climbing that ladder was not actually giving me a whole lot of satisfaction because I like to make things I like to actually do things I like to sit.

2 (18m 25s):
I was with what happens in the agency system is you, you know, you do very well, you get promoted. And next thing you know, you're just sending other people out to do the work you used to do. And three years in, I thought that's not for me. And I went on my own and I've been that, you know, sort of independent entrepreneurial ever since. And you know, what happened to me is that I had a mutual friend of the organization of the summit who, when they were going to India said, okay, we gotta get, we need a professional. I mean, I think before then, like Susie was putting the microphones on the speakers. I mean, it was just a little bit their bones and, and they said, somebody recommended that I go meet with Susie and a whole bunch of her team and see what I could do.

2 (19m 9s):
You know, the short story is that I went to India to produce that summit, no site visit just a couple of months before the deep end of the, it was the most astounding experience to this day. It was just wonderful. I completely fell in love with not just the team and the organization, but with all of the people that showed up and, you know, the, the warmth and the openness and the collaborative spirit of this group was really very different. I'd done tons and tons of work in the corporate world. I worked in children's television and I've done a million things, all very creative, but this was something else, you know, this had a soul and that really touched me and I literally never left.

2 (20m 2s):
I mean, I went as a, you know, just a producer freelancing to do this one project. And that was it. I, you know, kind of turned off the corporate part, turned on this part. And I have to say that, you know, Susie and I talk a lot about our, our sort of secret sauce between us, this collaborative thing that we have. And it's really, it drives everything. And it's very inspiring. It's very creative and I get to make stuff. I still get to make things, you know, it's a song, maybe it's a summit. Maybe it's a precedent in New York. Maybe it's, you know, initiatives at an Institute. We make stuff.

2 (20m 43s):
And it's really, it's the greatest joy of my life. Absolutely. That's

0 (20m 50s):
Incredible. So now you've been with them for seven years. We're now 2020, the pandemic hits I've been to, I haven't been to any summit. Steve's now been to, I don't know, multiple summits all over the world. I think Italy was there, Mexico, maybe. Sure. And I've had the privilege of going to your New York press events, which have been phenomenal and you've partnered with Hearst, which has been incredible. And I think prevention now, but with the pandemic, like what has happened and how have you pivoted and you know, what are you guys doing now? I've been in a few of your virtual calls, but tell us a little bit, like it's a crazy time. Do you want me to start?

2 (21m 34s):
Nancy mentioned that secret sauce, which is really a collaboration between Nancy and me and our board and our, the larger network out there. But why don't you explain a little bit about what happened and why we decided we are going to do her summit. We decided also this would be such a great opportunity to include as an opportunity for our delegates to actually experience, you know, I will say that we've been working remotely as a team on zoom forever. So, you know, when, when the world started turning to zoom and talking about zoom, like as, and was like, oh my God, that's.

2 (22m 17s):
So last week, you know, we've been on journey for like 10 years working, but anyway, but now the whole world was on zoom. But within weeks, literally within weeks of that happening, we started holding a series of calls to keep our network engaged and together, and to continue the collaboration that has really helped everyone in the industry. So, you know, the first we held calls by sector of the industry. Every Tuesday, we hold what we call the global wellness, collaboration calls, bomb, hospitality, you know, thermal, mineral Springs, workplace wellness, all of them came together and they came from all over the world.

2 (22m 57s):
And I mean, our calls to this day attract hundreds of people from 60, 70 countries and people were calling and to share their circumstances and to, and together to see how we could maybe help each other through this, I'd share ideas, share triumphs, share the despair. And, you know, we saw a trajectory, you know, over these many, many months cause we sweep, you know, just we're about to launch a new series, but we just finished that series after visiting all of those sectors three times, you know, from the utter despair to the reopening of that, of those businesses.

2 (23m 40s):
So it was a very interesting time, you know, and it sort of timeline to view that we also do a series called the wellness masterclass and that's been, you know, in a way the keynote speakers, you know, we grew up very, very high level thought leaders and business leaders to talk about something important. Again, beginning at the time, you know, creativity in the time of COVID, how do you stay, you know, agile and creative with all this going on in the world to now, you know, last week we had bill, Benzley talking about most extraordinary projects he's doing all over the world. You know, it was more creativity without COVID in a way.

2 (24m 21s):
And you know, in, in, in the midst of all of that, you know, we had a summit planned in Tel Aviv. And when all of this hit, you know, one of the early decisions we had to make was we knew that Televiv was probably not going to work that, you know, asking people to travel internationally from the U S from Europe to the middle east, et cetera, et cetera, was not going to work. It was also very special for us to be for the first time in the middle east and you know, like really important partners there. We all agreed it wasn't going to happen. And, you know, we decided we should hold it in the United States.

2 (25m 1s):
And actually Steve was one of the first phone calls. Cause we tried to actually see if we could hold the summit at Sarah. And you know, this is now, now I don't want the breakers to feel like they're second best, but you know, we thought, well, we should take people to a wellness community. There's never been a better time. But obviously what worked out best was to have the summit at the breakers in-person with as many people as can get there. And we are having registrations from all over the world. They will tell you as well as sponsorships from all over the world and then to have registered delegates, do an immersion at Sarah Andy, and really see what it's like to live inside a community like that.

2 (25m 44s):
So, you know, people were coming at us, you know, do a virtual event, streaming, do this. Don't actually go. And, you know, we really felt that our event can't really be replicated online. It was very important for people to be there in the end. You know, we got a lot of positive feedback about, you know, how it's really in person. Okay. That's terrific. And I'm, and I'm hoping a lot of your readership listenership will, you know, we'll figure they can just drive down to Florida for that event. But, you know, the breakers is going to be a place where, you know, it's safe to be, they exceed all the protocols and, you know, Susie and I got on a call right away with rich Carmona who's on our board and asked him to be medical advisor to the summit.

2 (26m 32s):
So he's somebody who on the front lines of dealing with this pandemic, he was the 17th surgeon general, the U S is very involved in the health and safety and public health. And, and he, you know, he said, you know, you have to figure out how to live inside this, not just parallel pandemic of isolation, mental health issues are. So we are, we are holding our summit

0 (27m 1s):
Because I'm, you know, I feel like it's a very, I don't want to use the word exclusive, but a very, the leaders in the business are really the people that are coming, tell us, or tell our listeners, like, how can you go? Like, what is their criteria like, how can, and if they can't attend, how can they get involved?

2 (27m 22s):
Sure. Well, the, the global wellness summit was really modeled after the world economic forum. My husband and I had attended the world economic forum for a few years before we started that this summit 14 years ago. And we recognize how valuable it was to invite the leaders in an industry to come together, because there could be a lot of think tank kinds of conversation that could be very valuable. And so that's what we modeled it after. So we did make it, you know, an invitation kind of an event where we invited the top people from places all over the world in various parts of what we now call the wellness economy.

2 (28m 7s):
And, and so therefore those are the people that are invited, however, and it is not inexpensive. You know, people attend and it's, you know, over $4,000 to come. Interestingly enough, we have people that come year after year because they find that it is quite valuable. There's not, you know, there's always at least a $4,000 idea or a connection with someone else that that becomes extremely valuable. But we also realized that, you know, wellness is for all. And we do want to make sure that information that we provide is available for more people.

2 (28m 49s):
So therefore we have decided many years ago that we make all of our research available for free. So on the global wellness Institute website, all the research, including the one that I've mentioned called build well to live well is available. And it is for free. Also we put on our website after the summit, the speaker videos. So anyone can access that and become part of that. And then all of our virtual discussions, like Nancy mentioned the masterclasses and our various collaborative discussions, those are available to anyone. So they go to either of our two websites, global wellness, summit.com or global wellness institute.org.

2 (29m 35s):
There's ways to get involved. There's ways to get involved on the mailing list, to get all of our information that we, the trends that we do, which are very popular. So we have built a big network and we want it to be a very inclusive network. So that's how it started and how it's grown. And really the one silver lining in the pandemic is that our audience has grown. There's more people that are joining because of our virtual conversations, the information we're putting out. So people are talking about wellness and more people are talking about wellness, wellness, real estate.

2 (30m 15s):
I think that's key is that the world has turned to wellness during this. I mean, this has been a silver lining that lots of people have talked about. Steve, I know you've had record numbers as well. You know, people are thinking now, how can I lose my immunity? How can I be healthy? What are the preventative steps I'm supposed to take? How can I make sure the air quality? How can I live outside? How can I, you know, all these things that we've been talking about for a long time have really come to a head and a really public global way. And it's, you know, it has provided incredible opportunities. I mean, it's not an opportunity. You know, it wouldn't have wanted it to come this way, but since it has come this way, the opportunities are immense in the wellness world, in the wellness communities.

2 (31m 0s):
And they, we are hearing about, you know, a very robust sector in wellness communities. I'm sure you, Steve, you can talk to that better than we can, but we are hearing it from a lot of people. No, it's really, this is a time that everyone's reanalyzing. We'd been on such a busy what I call the treadmill of life that we haven't stopped to think. And now people are thinking, and not only are we busy, the interesting thing is we're getting calls from developers, city, council, people all over on, how can we change? How can we do this? Because they're all saying it's important. And then the market's going to be asking the hard questions.

2 (31m 43s):
No, I feel like Sarah, Andy is, that is a, it's a real, it's, it's very unique for a lot of reasons. And in a real sort of sweet spot, you know, we're hearing, we hear about a lot of wellness communities that are being developed and being built. They're very, they're sort of vast and they have all kinds of things. But the thing that struck me about Sarah and D and I, you know, I don't even know if this is part of your master plan. Was it made me feel a lot about my childhood. I felt like it was a step back in time in a way at the same time that it was, it had all the sort of modern sciences and all of that. But I felt like it was really a home and a community.

2 (32m 26s):
I grew up in a small town in new England and it felt like I had come home, but somebody had thought about everything for me. And, but it was very authentic. I think that's a really difficult thing to achieve that authenticity when you're building something new that makes it hearkens back to something that is familiar and familial. And, you know, I really credit, you know, Steve has a lot of heart and I feel like it's a place of heart and that's what I felt when I was there. And I think that's why people come to you and want to know how you do that.

2 (33m 9s):
And I don't think it's necessarily that you can, you know, pop up a Sarah and be everywhere. I mean, people have to have, you know, a sort of heart and soul about it. And anyway, it's just, it's always, it's always remained very clear to me how I felt when I was there. Not just what I was taking in intellectually, but thank you. Thank you, Nancy. And of course what we have realized it's, as it's remembered, it's not creating something new. It's remembering what life was at another time. And, and, and the key thing is, is connecting to nature and understanding how we, how we feel is a huge part about our mental and physical health.

2 (33m 50s):
And that's what we see and what the senses, you know, with all the noise and all the things that are happening in our built environment today. And so we really looked at all that to bring it back and, and, and I'm amazed because Sarah B is being held up as this unique place that isn't everywhere. And, and while I'm pleased about that, it makes me sad because Serenbe is just about common sense. And how have we stepped away from common sense in so many things about our daily life. And hopefully this pause, I think what's happening is common sense is coming back because we're, we're looking at each other every day in a more intimate way than we've ever had in a long time back to where we were 50, 60 years ago, when, when we were all kids in a, in a place that we connected as families and communities in different ways.

2 (34m 45s):
And I think this is what, while it's difficult right now, I think we're going to have some long-term positive thoughts.

0 (34m 53s):
Well, and I think that that feeling that you get is true, and we hear those stories and actually, you know, to just sort of give you guys further credit, you know, to people have moved here because of they came through the summit, you know, we've all

2 (35m 9s):
Worked best. Yeah. That's three. Yeah. Yeah. Three people, two households. Yeah. Sorry. Three people. Well, it's actually one more. Oh, oh, who is that? Or they're checking it out, Natalie. Now they'd do tell Wells Willis. I don't know if you know her, but she's a global summits person. And she just moved in last week,

0 (35m 37s):
Introduced us to Jennifer Walsh. We met at one of your press events. And I, I believe she had done one of the research trends that year, which was about connecting with nature. Right. And we became such fast friends and Steve and I fell in love with her. She came and did a whole series of her walks with Walsh here at Sarah and V that was sponsored by mother dirt. And she's just become a great friend. And I think, you know, another mutual admiration, I believe you guys have a podcast, which we should shout out on the, to our listeners. And she, I think she's going to be on this season. Tell us a little bit about the podcast.

2 (36m 15s):
So we do podcasts and we do livecasts on Instagram and both of them are really fun and powerful. We work with Kim Marshall and Darlene Fisk. We give them a little shout out at public relations. They do a terrific job of putting those together. And yeah, we, we, you know, bill Benzley did one they're really fun and it's just, you know, we really stepped up our social media a bit. It's an area that, you know, by the time we do everything we do with a small team that we have, you know, social media is not top of the list, but, you know, we're seeing a tremendous is what Susie referenced is sort of the growth of our network. Part of that is through social media.

2 (36m 56s):
And as people do have more time and they're taking a walk and they're listening to a podcast, you know, we jumped on that as well. We started doing podcasts at our summit in Singapore last year, and they have continued and people find them very, very valuable. Jennifer is terrific. She's doing a live cast, I think this week. Wonderful. She's

0 (37m 18s):
So fantastic. Tell me, can, you know, cause she had done one of the trends and that's something that we haven't really talked about. Obviously the global wellness real estate with a report, a research report. But you also do these industry trends every year. And I believe you release them at the summit every year. Is that kind of when you tease them out? No, no, no. At the, at the press event.

2 (37m 40s):
Yeah. That's what we do. And you know, we have become known for our trend forecasts, which we started many, many years ago because what we find is that to really look and we don't just report trends that are happening. We, we look at the future and so we are helping people see further down the road. And so what we do and we have this formula for looking at the trends and part of it is that we study during the year, we do a lot of reading. We interview people, but this summit is a resource for input to what the next year's trends are.

2 (38m 22s):
So when the trends actually come out in January with the precedent, you know, we have all of these people meeting at the summit. So we get a lot of very valuable information and I'll just mention it, you know, it's always eight or 10 trends looking forward, but in 2019, one of the trends was prescribing nature. And that is what, because we were seeing that even in Europe, there are doctors that actually prescribe nature. They, you know, okay, you must do this and this and this. And in Japan with forest bathing and becomes a prescription. And so we helped bring that out.

2 (39m 2s):
And of course seeing, you know, Sarah and be in nature and by the way, Steve, I don't know, maybe you've done this on other podcasts, but I was so struck by the story you told me about the school children who were not getting sick because they were meeting outside at B. And I just thought, you know, I've, I've thought of that. So often now with this pandemic and of course with our global wellness summit, which by the way is going to be in November at the breakers and we're going to do a lot of things outside, but that, that story, the school children. And have you talked about that on, on your podcast? Oh, I'm sure we have. Yeah. I mean at various times, but yeah, it shows you, I mean, this is our charter school.

2 (39m 44s):
I think you're referring to, although we have the same thing at our acting academy here at right on campus. But the charter school is really bringing children from underprivileged, really a lot of lower income because of the charter 500 kids. And the average Ms. Stays in Georgia due to health is, is 13 or higher. And that was true in our local schools. And so suddenly the charter school with classes outside in second year, absenteeism became so low. It rounded out to zero. And the difference is that they were spending a third of every school.

2 (40m 24s):
They outside, no matter what the weather was. And so it shows you that, you know, we, we think these, this is such a difficult thing and, and it just seems huge and changing all the problems in the world. But if we just start taking these first small steps and their preschool children asserted day outside, very simple, but, but it was difficult for parents that kids were getting dirty and you know, it's just things we're not used to, but as Nancy said, it's the way we all grew up years ago. Let's, let's come back to that.

0 (40m 58s):
Yeah. Well, and Patrick Muhammad, who's the principal over there is actually one of our guests this season on the podcast to talk about the school and how biophilia and integrating the outdoors and agriculture and sustainability is, you know, huge core components for the school. So we're going to get like an update from him on sort of like what he seen now. Cause I want to say the school's now been around for maybe six years. So I think that's going to be interesting conversation.

2 (41m 27s):
You know, a lot of this came from the principles that Richard Lew has as advocated through children and nature network now. And the executive director of children nature network has just moved here from Minneapolis. So we're getting all sorts of key things. And then the Rodale Institute, which is really dealing with soil health, they're opening their Southeast research center here. So we're really becoming a hub of law of these various disciplines, which is exactly what you all are doing with the global wellness Institute. And so Sarah is kind of that place that people can touch it and feel it, and, and a lot of these programs are actually happening here on the ground.

2 (42m 7s):
They're going to bring them all to the summit, right. Steve, like we discussed, I will. Absolutely. Yeah.

0 (42m 12s):
Well, and this'll come out a couple of weeks before, so I don't know if that's people will still have time to sign up, but I think that's important and we'll promote it prior. You know, one of the things I, I believe, you know, I was talking with Michelle Gamble in resetting, right? It's resetting your wellness is I think the, are we resetting is the theme of the summit

2 (42m 31s):
This year. Perfect. So

0 (42m 34s):
Talk about that a little bit. I I've been hearing just like from various people, friends of mine, that people are starting to hire chief wellness officers. And I just think it's a really interesting time. So tell me about the resetting the world. Like tell me a little bit about why you guys chose that theme.

2 (42m 56s):
Well, it it's really actually part of a fun and interesting story. We were asked by the Vatican to contribute, to contribute a series of white papers. The Pope was going to take a look at the world post COVID reimagine the world post COVID what's it gonna do to public health, what to do to all of the sort of, you know, areas that concerned him. And one of them was prevention and wellness. And because of our summit in Singapore, where Martin Palmer, who is a scholar, a religious scholar, just an incredible man was so impressed with us and the summit and does work for the Vatican.

2 (43m 41s):
He said the only people that can write those papers at the global wellness Institute. So we put the Vatican and produced a series of papers and those papers, the first one was entitled resetting the world with wellness. And it resonated with us. We are researchers still don't remember when they came up with it or if who did or what, but it was one of those things that just sort of naturally was like, aha, we heard it. And we thought, okay, that's the theme for the year? That's the theme for the summit. That's the theme for everything we're doing. So it grew out of a relationship with the Vatican and, and it resonated with everyone. And we started to use it and call some of the calls that we were hosting that I mentioned earlier, you know, the first there were the collaboration calls and there were the resetting calls, you know, so we we've been using it.

2 (44m 29s):
And, and Susie will tell you about a book that has come out, who works with us to hold it up, which your listeners can't see, but I'm sure you'll post a link. And it's written by who writes our wellness barometer. He is a global economist and the head of the world economic forum. Wow. Cheery is our masterclass. Next Wednesday just seems to be the word. It seems to be the word of the year.

0 (45m 6s):
You're saying you just registered, Steve,

2 (45m 8s):
I just registered. Yeah. This morning, master class,

0 (45m 13s):
Get out on our social. I mean, there'll be past it, but

2 (45m 17s):
You know what, one thing, if you don't mind, I was just going to jump in because I wanted to share some numbers, you know, so much of what we discussed, you know, everybody we all get excited about, but the world reacts to numbers and figures in terms of, you know, so, so if you don't mind, I'm just going to share that the wellness economy, which we've helped put a framework around, which includes, you know, the spine has Chally wellness real estate, the beauty, and anti-aging the fitness arena, nutrition prevention. And so on is a $4.5 trillion economy.

2 (45m 58s):
And of that, the latest research, which is what we do at the Institute is that the real estate wellness real estate arena is $134 billion bubble. We call it a bubble. And those numbers on what people start looking at to get an understanding of what the arena is. So they start thinking, wow, that's, you know, 134 billion revenue globally. And going up, despite economy's 119 billion, this wellness is only at this point 48 billion. You know, huge bubbles are beauty and anti-aging fitness is huge.

2 (46m 39s):
Wellness. Tourism is huge. Although I would say it was huge. It's certainly going to be smaller, but those numbers and they are all available on the website. I would just say that that's an important part of the discussion because you know, when people are going to buy a place, you know, in a residential community, they do care about, is this going to be successful? Will my investment go up? And so we've done some of that research and it's all quite favorable for wellness, real estate and communities, which is what is helping fuel the interest by governments and, you know, real estate companies and people in general.

0 (47m 20s):
Yeah. That's great. I have one sort of silly question I'm going to ask you that I just thought of is because both of you are so deep into this, what do each of you guys do sort of on a day to day? No, just like to really like, is there one thing that you do to sort of keep yourself whether that's fit or centered, you know, it could be a spa treatment, it can be meditation. Is there something that you guys have really found that is like you really your thing?

2 (47m 49s):
Well, definitely it's been valuable as I'm sure we all feel to be part of this wellness momentum because we learn, you know, eating, healthfully, eating, you know, things, fresh, exercising, being outdoors, meditation. I would say for me, that's the latest piece that was added about a year ago when I learned a lot more about meditation from Bob rock, who heads up TM for, I think globally. And, you know, I learned that that was another part of the important fabric of what we do. So I wouldn't say that, you know, sleep is important going to bed early and incorporating these kinds of things into life.

2 (48m 37s):
You know, has, I would say it's been a journey for me, but I'm at a place where, and the pause you, Steve, you mentioned the pause. I think the pause has been helpful because what the positive for me is that it stopped me from traveling. I was traveling so much and I loved the traveling and I was learning a lot, but I realized that, you know, I didn't, now that I'm not traveling, I'm still getting a lot done. And I would say I'm probably healthier for not traveling constantly getting more of a routine going. So I just have to incorporate most of what we teach or what we learn in this arena.

2 (49m 20s):
And I'm learning all the time. And one thing I'm learning also is that, you know, a weekend in a wellness resort is not enough, you know, staying longer is better or living in an environment. And in fact, I, you know, when my husband and I moved to Miami, we purposely chose a place that has, you know, a spa incorporated. We live at the epic in Miami epic residences, and there's an exhale spa here. So, you know, I can get massages. I can go manage your pedicure. I can work out in there, you know, techno gym, gym. And so that all has it, you know, helped incorporate it into my life.

2 (50m 4s):
So in a way it's not Sarah and B, but it's kind of like a mini there and be in that I'm in a place where all of these things are easily available. Sure. What about you Nancy? For me, I incorporated into my life. So I do that religiously and that's been very, very helpful, particularly at these. I spend a lot of time with family and my grandchildren. And so for me, there's a huge piece of wellness that is about the connection to people. I talk to people a lot. I have really like strong friendships.

2 (50m 44s):
Those things matter a lot to me being outside and taking walks, all of that is fantastic and fortunate to be able to do that in our house in Connecticut, where I have been for six months outside of Manhattan, but even in Manhattan, you know, walking as if like it's the connection to people that I find grounds me, inspires me and keeps me sane and playing with my grandchildren that I would say is one of the most joyful and you know, one of the healthiest things to do. Yeah.

0 (51m 20s):
Come join us. But I can see Steve smiling because about the grandchild.

2 (51m 23s):
Yep. We talked about that. That's totally, you know, of course, you know, so fortunate that all the grandkids have moved here and I get to see them all the time. And, but it's, it's going back to Nancy what you said because it's, it's, everyone's right. Children here interacts with adults in very unusual and very natural ways that we don't see anymore. And it's, it's a whole community that embraces all the kids as they walk down the streets and on the front porches. And many times you're looking around to see where the parents are for a seven, eight year old what's okay. That they're home.

2 (52m 5s):
Their kids are totally fine. You know, they're headed to the woods with friends. It's really a different day. I will, I will look back on this time and be very grateful that no one is ill in our family. And to be very grateful that we could, you know, be where we are. We were here with our kids and grandkids this entire time. And I will, I will look back at this time as something to cherish because that time, day to day, you never get with your grandchildren now. I mean, you know, 24 seven or thank God they, some a little bit has, has been just a really rich and important time that that was, you know, the silver lining for me.

2 (52m 46s):
And one thing that we're, we're starting to put our arms around your out is senior housing. And as the baby boomers are starting to really age and look at these issues, this is, I think one of the big trends in how do we do that in a, in a healthier mental and physical way. So one of

0 (53m 8s):
The things I want to know is the future, right? And so that could be what's happening at the summit or what you guys see 12 to 18 months out. Like what's out there. What are, what can we expect?

2 (53m 18s):
Well, I'm going to say I'll handle the summit, but Susie really has the crystal ball cause she is the visionary of the industry hands. You know, I'm sure that Susie has been thinking a lot after hearing what we've been hearing and reading everything about what, you know, the industry might, you know, what it might look like. And, you know, at the summit, at the breakers in November, we are going to really try to chart a course for the future of the industry. I mean, it was seriously looking at what that's going to be like. And you know, what we're seeing is we're seeing a tremendous focus on technology, a tremendous focus on wellness communities, where people live, how they live, how they work. And of course, you know, issues of mental wellness issues of diversity and inclusion.

2 (54m 2s):
Those are things that are going to be prominent as topics I would say on the agenda. Also, you know, something we didn't talk about when we're talking about meditation is breath work and we've all become a little bit more aware of that and the importance of that. And we did already announce that James nester, who's a New York times bestselling author is going to speak his book breasts, you know, was important to Susie. And I read it when you made the team read it, you know? So we're looking at all of that. So I think, you know, there's, there are a lot of sectors of the industry that are booming. We're running a competition for innovation, which were announced next week, and we're going to have a tech innovation pavilion at the breakers where people can showcase what they're doing in wellness technologies.

2 (54m 51s):
So we're really looking at that very, very carefully. We think it's going to have a tremendous impact going forward. So I just, you know, there's going to be some really interesting things happening at the summit and experiences. That's exciting, Susie. Yes. And so thank you for that. And certainly on the agenda at the summit, we'll be, you know, quite a few discussions about wellness communities, wellness, real estate and mental wellness because our research this year from the Institute is on mental wellness. So those and technology, as Nancy said, you know, in the book, COVID-19 a great reset that Terry wrote with plus shrub.

2 (55m 36s):
They say that the three areas that we'll have a big bump because of COVID is technology, health and wellness. And so, you know, that it'll be a discussion. And, you know, since you asked about my crystal ball, I always like to, to share it with people who are thoughtful, because sometimes what I talk about that I see, you know, not everybody is sort of getting it. I remember when we talked about wellness tourism and the entire board said, what's that that's never gonna happen. And the same thing with wellness real estate was like, you know, years ago, it's like, well, what's that?

2 (56m 16s):
So I, you know, I, I'm going to share with you what I'm sort of seeing is developing that I'm excited and that is that people are starting to sort of see. And I think we can help with that, that there is this issue of health and there's this issue of self. And then those are important things to work together, but to keep distinct, because as we know with healthcare, you know, there are limitations, it's expensive, there's, you know, a lot of orientation towards curing and, you know, medication and so on. But then there is self-care and wellness and wellbeing are really that in that arena.

2 (57m 1s):
So if we can galvanize people to get involved with their own self care, which you do in communities, which we do in, you know, in spa, which, you know, everyone can do. And we have a great combination of people making lifestyle changes for the better for themselves, and then having a healthcare system, ideally that also is helping, but we're not just relying on health. So I see that going down the road and I'm actually very optimistic because I think that combination is really ideal. Yeah.

0 (57m 35s):
And I'm like the self care it has over the years almost felt selfish, you know? And so I think trying to, to really show people that it's not, it's not a selfish act to do those things for yourself to care for yourself. And I think, you know, the society we're so go, go, go, right. And we're all like very results driven. And so how is it more to your point care than outcomes? You know, not that we don't, you know, an outcome's not good, but

2 (58m 9s):
Also true that the outcomes of self care have an enormously powerful ripple effect on the world and on public health and on preventable disease and all of those things. I mean, you know, you may feel like getting a massage or, you know, taking care of your immune system or whatever feels in any way, you know, self-involved, but it actually has tremendous positive impact on the world. You know, I, what is it, 75% of doctor's visits or, you know, it could be avoided because they relate to lifestyle choices. I mean, that's, you know, that's powerful stuff, not only visits death.

2 (58m 50s):
Yep. Majority of our deaths now be the lifestyle. So I'll just, you know, I'll just do another shameless plug and say, check out our wellness moonshot, a world free of preventable disease, which is another way everyone can get involved in what we're doing. We've got over 6 million people involved in that now over 800 country companies and it's globe completely global and really interesting. And we give you the tools every month to take care of yourself. And as a result, take care of, you know, the planet and the world. And it's a really powerful

0 (59m 23s):
Thing. Well, that's wonderful. That's a perfect way to end. And I'll just wrap this up by saying, you know, thank you guys because this connection and it's really a joy and an honor to get, to have this time with you guys and get to know you better. And it is really a lovely part of our, you know, week to be able to do this. So thank you so much for your time. I'm really,

2 (59m 44s):
Yeah. Thank you for having us. And we're very excited to be at Sarah and B right after our summit wraps. I will be there too, and there'll be quite a group I'm just really delighted that you're. So in that we really are partnering with, with Sarah and be this year. I think it'll, it'll speak volumes for many years to come. Thank you guys so much.

3 (1h 0m 11s):
We're looking forward to it. Thank you.

1 (1h 0m 20s):
Thank you for listening to Sammy stories. New episodes are available on Mondays. Please rate and review the podcast and visit our website to learn more about upcoming guests, episodes and everything by ophelia@sarahstories.com.