Introduction
[00:00:00] Detective Ev: Well, hello my friends. Welcome back to another episode of the Health Detective Podcast by Functional Diagnostic Nutrition. My name is Evan Transue, aka Detective Ev. I will be your host for today’s show where we hit on a lot about entrepreneurship.We are talking to the one and only Tara Garrison today. I was lucky enough to meet her at the Biohacking Congress. I say Congress on purpose because it is a conference that’s called the Biohacking Congress. It goes on a few times per year.
They started in late 2020, I believe, and we’ve been attending almost every single one. We will be at the one in February of 2023, which is in Austin, Texas. I think it’s the fourth and fifth. I will be flying down for that. I’ll be speaking there. Come check us out. We would love to hang with you. I’m sure I will have another FDN or two that’ll be helping me out at the booth, so it is going to be a good time. We’d love to see you there.
But I met Tara at one of these things. These are the types of people that show up to them, and she’s cool as can be. This woman has a really impressive story. She has an amazing energy. I think you guys are going to love this conversation today because it also incorporates the entrepreneurial aspect of what we do into the conversation.
Every time we include that in podcasts, you guys seem to love it. I love it too, it’s fun. So, we will read a little bit about her and then we will get to it here.
A Little About Entrepreneur Tara
Tara Garrison is the founder of HIGHER, a health and life coaching company that offers training, nutrition mindset, and biohacking coaching. She has helped many celebrities, professional athletes, and top executives optimize their health.
Tara is the author of Short-Term Keto, host of the Inside Out Health Podcast, creator of Higher Retreats, and producer of the Coach Tara app. She is a mom of four, avid weightlifter, Boston Marathoner, and lover of nature. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok at Coach Tara Garrison, where she shares health tips and the inner workings of her life.
This is one of those times where the podcast will just speak for itself. Without further ado, let’s get to today’s episode.
All right. Hello, Tara. Thanks so much for being here with us today.
[00:01:59] Tara Garrison: Yeah, thank you so much for having me. [00:02:00] Detective Ev: So, we had just met the first time in person, at the Biohacking Congress. We met in Miami. I know that you had done an interview with Reed Davis, the founder of FDN. If I’m not mistaken, you guys had to repeat that one, didn’t you? Because of technical. So as a spoiler alert, is that already out or will that be out like a few weeks from now? How will that work? [00:02:19] Tara Garrison: Yeah, I still have to get it from them, so it’s not out yet. But it will be on my Inside Out Health Podcast sometime soon. [00:02:25] Detective Ev: Definitely guys, I’ll have her podcast in the links below, and if that comes out prior to this being released, I’ll have it in there. Or if you’re listening in the future, it might already be there. I always update this thing just to keep people intact.Overweight and Can’t Figure It Out
Reed does so much, and people always follow him. They love listening to his stuff.
Tara Garrison: He’s awesome.
Detective Ev: That’ll be cool to see what you guys did.
But I want to get started today very similarly to how we always get started with people. And it’s just figuring out the background. Because when I was going through your bio and then the website and stuff, there’s many things I want to talk about.
I mean, you got a lot going on. I’m really impressed with the dedication to the health side, sure. But the entrepreneurial spirit, I think is something that very much connects here. Because regardless of whether the person that joins FDN started out as an entrepreneur, you’re kind of forced into that if you really want to succeed at the highest level.
So, you’re like the perfect person in many ways. What got you into this? Did you have health symptoms at one point or what was happening?
[00:03:16] Tara Garrison: Well, yeah. And I got treated, I got to hear your story, which I can’t wait to have you on my podcast cause your story’s so powerful for mental health. Like, so powerful.For me, my story was, it’s always pain, right? It’s always pain that brings us into our purpose. I mean, it’s kind of cliche, but it’s true.
So, for me, I was the very quintessential mom who’s been kind of overweight her whole life. Maybe had little bits and pieces of not being overweight. And just eternally frustrated. Like I’m not like morbidly obese, but I’m overweight and I just can’t figure it out. And I guess everybody else can figure it out, but me. Right?
Weightlifting and Nutrition
Even with that, I was still, I was running marathons. So, I have four kids and I’m like quintessential mom runner, going to workout classes, Zumba, and the little lifting classes sometimes, but mostly running. I was actually a pretty decent runner, for being kind of overweight.
I wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and I just couldn’t get there. I kept missing it by nine minutes exactly. It was so frustrating. So, I gave up. I did give up on that dream.
Then I picked up weightlifting. I picked up weightlifting out of sheer necessity as a mom. I was tired of doing the whole drop my kids off at the gym for the 10:00 AM Zumba class. And now it’s one o’clock before I’m even showered. Like, where did my whole day has gone? Not good for circadian rhythm at all.
But I was like, I’m going to start putting my kids to bed and join this little $10 a month gym down the street. All they had was weights and treadmills and ellipticals and stuff. I was like, well, I guess I’m going to have to learn how to lift weights. And man, at first it was same story as most women. I was super embarrassed. I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s just so embarrassing. Everyone’s looking at me, gym phobia, all this stuff.
But once I got past that and I got bit by the lifting bug, I was lifting consistently for like eight months. Saw a picture of myself at a family reunion, didn’t look any different. And I was like, I know I’ve got muscle under here. I want to show it. So that’s when I got into nutrition. And it worked.
Running a Marathon & Experiencing A Personal Awakening
I went from probably close to like 40% body fat to, I actually got down to 11% body fat, which I don’t recommend. I got a little too obsessed for a minute there. But you know, what happened after that was, I ran a half marathon with some friends just for fun.
I blew my PR out of the water. So, I was like, wow, I think I’m going to try to run a full marathon, see if I can qualify for Boston. Four weeks later, ran a full marathon. Shaved half an hour off of my marathon time without barely training for it, too. Was not even sore the first time. So, I qualified for Boston with 17 minutes to spare.
That happened because, one, obviously I was lighter, right? I lost 40 pounds. So that’s going to make you a faster runner. But I also really changed my power to weight ratio. So, I ended able to run the Boston Marathon in 2017. And that’s the mechanical health side of my story.
It also led to a huge personal awakening in me. Because as you know, when your gut gets healthier and your mind gets healthier and you’re eating nutritious foods and you’ve lost all this inflammation, like you can literally think better. I truly felt like I became smarter, like a more critically thinking person.
And I went through a dramatic life change. I got out of a religion that, for me, was not aligned for me anymore, that I had been in my whole life. I actually ended up getting divorced, my marriage was not aligned. I got into a really unhealthy relationship after that. Lost everything and went on this journey.
Going Through a Lot Before Entrepreneurship
You want to talk about entrepreneurship. When I started this Coach Tara Garrison business, you’re exactly right, it’s like, I just want to help people get healthy. I kept saying, I want to help people feel strong, this feels so amazing. I felt like the universe was like, oh, you want to help people get strong? Okay, well you got a bunch of stuff you still gotta learn, girl.
You’re going to have to go through some really deep darkness on the life side of things. So, I did. Through that, just like I know probably everybody listening, most people know your story, it’s like desperation. It’s like, I don’t want to feel like this anymore. So, you become extremely open and very solutions focused. It’s like, okay, I’ll try it. Let’s try it. You know?
So that whole path, I thought I had gone through this big mindset journey when I changed my health and my body. Then I had to go through it on the whole life into things and how I relate to myself. Through that, that’s how I got to where I’m at now and teaching all of these things that I’ve learned along my path.
Yeah, entrepreneurship. It’s like you want to help people get healthy, I bet you didn’t realize you were going to become a business owner. That’s pretty much what happens. Good luck. Right?
[00:07:28] Detective Ev: Wow. So many things here. First of all, I have to acknowledge this because our audience is so audio based a lot of the times. We’re working on the YouTube stuff, but the first 170 episodes of this podcast, we did audio only. You’re one of like the first 30 on the more video site.Longevity & Strength, Without the Bulky
With that said, just for those listening, this is probably the most jacked mom of four you guys have ever seen in your life. Like, it’s kind of ridiculous. It’s very impressive. Very cool. And I had no idea that you had came from a place of being overweight at all. I mean it just seems to me that you would’ve been in fitness kind of your whole life. And sure, you were in a different sense, but not in the way that you are now or what you were doing.
I know so many people, especially women, I hear this all the time, that are scared to lift weights cause they’re afraid of the bulky thing. I’m like, okay, one. First of all, do you know how much time it would take to actually get legitimately bulky as a woman. That’s not how it’s designed. But this is for strength and fitness and health. I always recommend people do it.
I’m not the biggest person in the world. I still go lift weights two to four times a week because I know what it, first of all, just does for you, health wise, long term. It’s one of the biggest things for longevity. Also, you can get very strong. Who doesn’t want to be stronger without getting hugely bulky? Right?
I can do lifts that are pretty decent for my size and I’m not some massive person. So, strength is not always correlated a hundred percent with the mass thing, although obviously they typically go hand in hand. But if you guys want a crazy video, go on YouTube and look up 150-pound guy benches 405 pounds on the bench press. He is the most unassuming dude in the world. The whole gym is staring at him.
My Gateway Drug to Personal Awakening
With that said, you went through all this stuff. And I liked that you brought up how this helps you think clearer. I won’t get into this fully, but our group, I think people in the functional medicine space or the biohacking crew that we have, it is a bunch of people who do think a little critically. Some of us are very skeptical about things that go on in the world. I’m not talking specifics; I’m just saying in general.
I believe if you are out there, one of those people who thinks that there’s some group doing something, which maybe there is, I don’t know, if there is, the biggest secret that they have is keeping people sick and dumb. Because when you are sick, what are you fighting back from? You’re not even thinking about what’s going on in the world.
It is amazing, the correlation I see between people getting healthier and them changing their religious beliefs, right? Getting out of a relationship that wasn’t serving them. We are running on autopilot with things that don’t serve us. And the second you get healthy again, it’s like, I gotta clean up some of this stuff that I’m in.
It was the Mormon religion. I went to their college. That’s how I got out to Utah, where I live now. I was in leadership for the church. You know, I was so in it, it’s unreal.
Entrepreneurship: Getting Healthy & Making Changes More Easily
When I started to get healthy, I finally had the strength to be like, you know what, that doesn’t make any sense. I don’t mean any disrespect to anybody who wants to, you know, that jives with them. But for me, it was just the matter of fact that I was able, I felt like I was literally capable of having the strength within myself to be like, hold on a second. That doesn’t make sense and I want this to make sense. I’m not going to just go along with the show, you know?
And yeah, you’re exactly right. I’m very much a skeptical, critical thinker now. I’m grateful to being healthy, because to me, getting healthy was like the first step. Then that paved, I would say, a more neuroplastic brain environment in which I’m able to more easily make changes in my life.
You know, growing up, I was like the quintessential like plugged into the matrix person, right? In school, I graduated top of my class, went to college, and got my degree in Spanish. You know, this is back before I had kids.
So, it takes a lot, in case anybody out there has tried to do entrepreneurship and you grew up in this very, like, you go to school, you get a job, and you like, you know. It’s like you have to completely change how you look at life and how you think.
To me, getting healthy is like the canvas for that. If you have a healthier brain and you’re not overloaded with inflammation or metals or all of these toxins and all of this stuff, and you’re exercising, you’re creating BDNF, you’re creating an environment in which your body, your brain literally can make changes more easily.
Entrepreneurship & Getting Healthy: Thinking Out of the Box
That’s why I think you see so many people, they get healthy and then they go into business or entrepreneurship or start going after their dreams. Because you actually have more capacity to do that because your brain literally can more easily.
[00:11:47] Detective Ev: This actually, amazingly, doesn’t really come up that much in the podcast. And I probably need to highlight this more. Because getting healthy is amazing.I mean, not feeling headaches all the time or having severe skin issues or mental health issues is awesome. But yeah, the freedom on the other side! Because it’s not just the scale of, oh, you go from like unhealthy to neutral necessarily. You go from like unhealthy to a little farther than neutral cause now you’re inspired.
You’ve done something tough, first of all. You’ve probably did it in an unconventional way and I think that sets the stage a lot for thinking outside the box. Because anyone that’s listening to this podcast, if they have healed or on a journey of healing, by definition, you had to think outside the box to go do this.
Then I think it does, it allows you to start challenging the system. Cause you’ve already done it once successfully. So, wait, why don’t I just go do this other stuff? And I kind of felt, Tara, like I always had a little hint of that ever since I was a kid. I was always asking questions or whatever.
The health stuff, it’s like I’d get two steps forward and then it would take me three steps back, right? Then once this unleashed, I remember I did like a semester and a half of community college.
Unstuck & Awake
I really think the way that you described the Mormonism was very well received. I can genuinely sense that you’re still respectful to it. But for you it didn’t make sense and it’s allowed to not make sense for you.
For some people, college makes perfect sense. For me, I didn’t even finish out that second semester. I’m like, what am I doing here? Someone else wants me to do this. I don’t know what I want to study. I’m going to be wasting money. Like at the very least, I can come back to this if I want to.
Mormonism is still going to be there for you, right? I’m going to go figure out something else right now and see if that works for me a little better. Then I can decide if I want to be with this other thing.
But yeah, it’s amazing and sad to me how many people, forget even the health thing for a second, just get stuck in doing what their parents did or their teachers told them to do. And they’ll do that for the rest of their lives.
[00:13:27] Tara Garrison: I know. And it really was like, I didn’t do any mindset work, except for changing my health habits.Just to set the tone so you understand. I mean I was eating McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Kraft macaroni and cheese, white bread, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, brownies, cakes. I mean, as standard American as it can get. I didn’t even have the capacity to think about what we’re talking about right now. I was just so in my life; I was so in reactive mode.
Then without doing mindset work, except for that’s required to change your health habits, all of a sudden, I was like, awake.
From Feeling Like Death to Passionately Full of Life
I truly believe, if we want to talk dopamine, like for me, I look back at that with what I know now and I’m like, Okay. So, you’re working out like crazy. You’re eating way more protein than you ever have in your life. You’re getting all the building blocks for dopamine, serotonin. You probably have more GABA, cause my gut health was better. I’m able to have the breaks on my brain. I’m getting all this neurochemical upgrade and it was just, da, da, da.
I can see life in a way that I never have before. Then on top of it, you go through that journey, and you start meditating and doing cold showers and doing deeper personal development work, hiring coaches. It’s just like, it’s insane.
People see pictures of me. I almost want to give you a picture or something that you guys can put in this. Cause I am unrecognizable, not just because my body changed, but my whole energy. I hear that from people all the time. They’re like, how can you be the same person? I’m like, I don’t know. I don’t feel like I am. I truly feel like that person died and like quote/unquote “reborn” almost, you know. That’s what happened. That’s the power of health.
That’s why you and I are both so passionate about it, because we know what it feels like to feel like crap and be asleep and go through the motions in life. Then you get healthy and it’s like you’re living in like an alternate reality that’s really freaking cool. I want as many people to be able to do that as possible.
Investing in Learning from the Best
[00:15:20] Detective Ev: Well, I think you can even say, you’re actually living for the first time. You’re like, yeah, this is pretty cool here. You know, the time is short. There’s a lot of uncertainties and certain scary aspects. But man, overall, this is an insane, fun adventure when you’re living intentionally, and you have that health on your side. It’s worked out great for you.You’ve created this really successful brand. You’re training top people. I mean, you’re doing cool things. So, I want to break that down a little bit. One thing I may have missed, and I apologize if you already said it. What career path were you doing when you were the overweight marathon runner?
[00:15:47] Tara Garrison: I was a stay-at-home mom at that time.I had gotten a college degree in Spanish, and I was going to be a Spanish teacher. Then, you know, I was still married. This is kinda toward the end of my marriage. I got, you know, really fit and healthy. And I was like, you know what? I love teaching. I’ve always loved teaching and that’s why I like podcasting and sharing on social and speaking and writing books. It’s fun for me cause I love teaching.
I was like, this matters so much more. So, I went ham, I just went crazy on investing in my education, mentors, like, who’s the best in the world? Can I learn from them, you know? Just went on that path that way. So, no Spanish teaching for me.
Stay-at-Home Moms
[00:16:20] Detective Ev: Yeah, it’s just amazing. Because, I mean, stay-at-home mom. People, I feel like undersell this. I mean, you’re talking about four kids. That might be just as tough as entrepreneurship, if not harder. I don’t know. I’ve never done that. I would imagine it’s not particularly easy because it doesn’t end after eight hours. That’s 24/7. [00:16:36] Tara Garrison: Yeah. To any stay-at-home moms or anyone married to a stay-at-home mom, that is hands down. When people say hardest, I don’t think they understand the type of hard that it is. Because, unless you’re like a really unique stay-at-home mom, you kinda lose yourself, right?Entrepreneurship is very self-focused. I’m not going to lie. I mean, it’s like, obviously, I’m aiming to serve others and help, but it’s like, I have goals. I have things that I’m personally working towards. When you’re a stay-at-home mom, so much love to those women. If you’re married to one or you know, it’s like do everything you can to give them space to let them like, what do you want to do just for you, right?
Because man, as wonderful as it is, it can be very depressing as well. Because for a lot of stay-at-home moms there’s nothing for you really except for serving.
[00:17:23] Detective Ev: Yeah. But this is important because I think this is an aspect of entrepreneurship. And some of our coaches could really use this message cause it is a transition for them.Entrepreneurship: Money Mindset
In entrepreneurship, one aspect, you guys, you can’t pour from a cup that’s empty. So, you have to be “self-ish”, quote/unquote sometimes to actually be selfless.
One of my best friends and I were talking the other day. Because he, I’m sure myself in the past too, but right now his moment’s happening. And he’s just waking up all kinds of stuff. It’s so freaking cool to see in someone that you care about that much.
As he’s doing this, we’re talking about different money things or whatever. Really, really intelligent guy. He sees a lot of the BS and how money, sometimes, sometimes can corrupt people. I really think they’re probably corrupt to begin with, but that’s beside the point.
I asked him this, I said, well, who’s actually more virtuous? Cause he’s had this almost like limiting belief about earning more money, which is going to be a part of entrepreneurship. I said, who’s more virtuous? The guy that makes $50,000 a year for his whole life and donates 50% of his income? That’s amazing. Or the person who didn’t donate at all. I mean, I don’t really think you should do that, besides the point. Maybe didn’t donate for 20 years, makes a hundred million dollars and before they die, donates 20% of what they made? Who actually did more?
You say, well, maybe virtuous wise, the person who did 50% versus 20%. Okay, sure. But like, just because you did a percentage doesn’t mean that you actually had that big of an impact, right? That money can only do so much as opposed to that other dude. $20 million dollars. Okay. Yeah. You’re changing some lives like that for sure. This isn’t a competition. It’s not saying that someone’s wrong for making 50K a year.
Using Judgement to Protect from Pain
But I think there is a lot of limiting beliefs that come in when you start the entrepreneurship journey. I’m not good enough. Or who am I to make a bunch of money?
It’s like, if you’re living in America making over $40,000 a year, I’m sorry to tell you, but you are already way beyond privileged and you don’t realize it. Making a hundred thousand or a quarter million is not all of a sudden making you some bad person. You are already in the 1% at like $35,000 a year. I don’t know if you know that offhand, in America, puts you in the one percent of the world. Give me a break, right?
We get this illusion that, oh, well it’s the 1% of the 1% that’s bad. It’s like you’re already in the 1%. So, you might as well make some more and do some more good with it, in my opinion.
I see this a lot with the body. You know, a woman who is pretty significantly overweight might develop a pattern of judging women who are fit and healthy and thinking well, I bet their relationships are terrible. Or I bet they have an eating disorder. I bet they’re unhappy. Or I bet their miserable, I don’t even want to look like that. I bet they’re stupid. You know? All this judgment comes in to protect ourselves. Like, well, I don’t even want that.
Entrepreneurship: Be the Change
I see this with money too, right? So, with money it’s like, well, I bet they’re a bad person. I bet they use people. I bet they lie to people.
I will say, I have been around a lot of very wealthy people. And there are different types, just as you were saying. Like money can be a magnifier, right? And yes, are there people who cheat people and lie to them and have crappy marketing that’s just full of lies and crappy products? Of course, there’s people like that. But there’s a bunch of people who aren’t.
If we can focus on, it’s like, so what do you want to bring? What legacy do you want to build? Cause for me, I fully resonate with your friend. I’ve had to do deep sessions. I have a mindset coach that does a lot of subconscious mind work with me. And I had to do it on marketing.
Cause I was like, I have this thing. I’m like, I don’t like it when I feel like somebody’s trying to lie to somebody and prey on all their emotions and their weaknesses and insecurities and then tell them they need, and brainwash, you know. I had all this stuff with it. So, I’ve had to go deep on that.
And where I’ve gotten, I’ll just share if it’s helpful. It’s the whole, “be the change” you want to see in the world. So, if you feel like, okay, there’s a bunch of slimy people out there with money or whatever. Okay, we’ll show that it can be different.
Entrepreneurship: Find A Good Company to Emulate
Look at Patagonia as a company. They just donated all their profits back to Mother Earth. Like holy crap! It was amazing! The founder of Patagonia, like, I’ve been kind of like looking to them as leaders for the last several years. Cause I’m like, what kind of companies do I want to emulate?
This really respectable, I like the way they show up. I like what they’re about. And I was looking at Patagonia. Then just, it’s probably in the last six months, he announced that all profits from Patagonia are going back to Mother Earth. And their mission statement was, we are in business to like protect Mother Earth, I think I’m saying that correctly. And he’s showing it.
You know, there’s a lot of amazing people out there. So, it’s like, okay, you don’t like how that system is? Then be the change. Show how it can be done well. Do it. Go, you know.
[00:21:58] Detective Ev: Yeah, baby! I like this!Commercial Break: The FREE Course Download
Hey there friends. It is Detective Ev popping in here really quick. I wanted to let you know about a new resource that we have for people that are considering the FDN course.
I’ve mentioned this before in some of our advertisements, we are people who know that there are those out there that need the FDN course and actually want to do it. Similarly, there are people who never want to do this and don’t particularly need the information in the course.
We are big on giving stuff for free so that people don’t get confused and they’re not joining something that they don’t want to join. Similarly, we like people to know that, hey, we are here if this is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
What you want to do then is go to fdntraining.com/course. That’s fdntraining.com/course, and you will be able to download our entire course curriculum and see exactly what you will and won’t learn in FDN. That’s fdntraining.com/course.
All right. Now back to today’s episode.
Entrepreneurship: “Wants” not “Accountabilities”
We’re going to need a part two eventually, because we’re literally just bouncing back and forth. I’m glad that I get to come on yours. I forgot that you sent me the link, so thank you. I will make sure to schedule right after this.
But on a side note, I want to talk a little bit more about your journey. So, you get into was it the coaching first?
[00:23:05] Tara Garrison: It was like personal training, then nutrition, then holistic health, and then mindset. I just keep adding. [00:23:12] Detective Ev: Okay. I know there’s a few things that are offered today. I actually think because we’re on the topic of entrepreneurship as well, like normally I would go into that at the end, but I think this will help us transition.What do you offer today? Like as to where you’ve gotten to now, killing it on Instagram, got the social media thing down for sure. What do you offer people?
[00:23:27] Tara Garrison: The main base of my company is my one-on-one coaching. And I’ve made it a one-on-one group hybrid. All of my one-on-one clients, we have two group Zoom calls a week.
We do a mindset Monday. And then we do, it’s an “accountability” call. And I’m putting quotations if you’re on audio cause I don’t like the energy of accountability. We call them “wants”. If you ever want to increase your accountability compliance, ask your clients what they want to do that week. I’m telling you that word is magic. It went way up. So anyway, we do that. It’s really awesome.
Entrepreneurship: What Coach Tara Offers
Then in terms of what we do is, I started with training and nutrition. I love training. That was my first passion. So, we do training, nutrition, and then we also do mindset. It’s like life coaching.
We go into relationships. We go into your professional life and finances. We go into your relationship with yourself and your physical. I call those my four peaks. I’m not like business coaching them. My job is just to ask excellent questions and make sure they’re aligned and doing what they want to do. I’m holding that space for them.
Then we do, I call it biohacking. And it’s very similar to what you guys do with FDN. It’s a lot of lab testing, right? We do anything from DNA analysis to blood work, to hair mineral analysis, to heart rate variability tracking, to stool analysis and all of that kinda stuff.
That’s what I do. That’s my main gig. Then I have an app for people who can’t afford that, it’s training, nutrition. I have some mindset journeys and a biohacking section in there. It’s just called the Coach Tara app. And I’ve got programs on my website.
And for anybody who’s starting their business listening to this, it’s been a journey, man. Like it started with emailing somebody a Word document and meal plan. Right? It’s just over time it’s built, you know.
And then I have my retreats, which I am so excited about. My whole goal with the retreats is to use Mother Nature as an ally to help people get deeper inside of themselves.
Entrepreneurship: Health Retreats
I’m only on my second one. We did one in Zion National Park in Utah in April. That was like amazing. The power of love and nature and human connection. Wow! So opening and transformative. Then we’re going to Maui in May. We have our next one coming up in May.
[00:25:21] Detective Ev: We took a “less is more” approach. And we had just started, just like you said, you started with a Word document, right? Our retreats weren’t something crazy. But I had done a few with friends and they’re special man. There is an energy. It’s just like being human in my opinion.
I’m like, is this what it was supposed to be like when you disconnect for a week and actually just talk with other human beings? You have your food and really, we’re not doing anything that crazy. It’s just kind of being human. And I’m like, wow, is this what life was actually supposed to be like?
I love that you’re doing that. It looks beautiful too. I saw the background on the website for the retreat thing. I’m like, holy crap.
[00:25:51] Tara Garrison: Yeah. I’m excited. It’s gonna be really cool. [00:25:53] Detective Ev: So, if these people are coming to you, I mean, it’s for a variety of things, right?I understand it’s not direct business coaching, but of course it could benefit that with the stuff that you’re doing. And then you have the health side. So, what does your average client look like? Like what’s the person coming in, age, background, like who are they typically?
[00:26:09] Tara Garrison: I’ve had all sorts.Entrepreneurship: Tara’s Typical Client
You know, I have some of my super high-level entrepreneurs that are making hundreds of millions of dollars a year. And I’ve got introed into this like post NFL circuit somehow through word of mouth. I’ve had guys coming out of the NFL and they’re so amazing to work with.
Oh my gosh. If you guys can coach ex-professional athletes, like do it. Do what you can cause they’re so easy to coach. They’re so coachable. The most coachable people in the world, they are so awesome. But typically, it’s normal people.
I’ve got anywhere, you know, professionally from real estate brokers to nurses, to doctors, to moms, to business owners, to male and female clients. It’s all over the place. But what’s great about health is like, none of that really matters. You know, I’ve worked with people who are making literally hundreds of millions of dollars, but in terms of how they relate to themselves in their body, it’s still like their nine-year-old self.
We can be that way too. Like we can be really great at business, or we could be really great with health, but then in relationships we’re like our little inner six-year-old cause we just haven’t addressed that area of our life yet. Right? So, it’s health. I love that about health. It’s like equal playing ground, you know?
And I love to meet people where they’re at. I love that. It’s so fun. Just like you were talking about your friend, it’s so cool to help somebody see the beauty and power of where they’re already at and then just keep building that. Helping them see that and be like, look, look, look. And then they feel it. It’s so freaking rewarding.
Entrepreneurship: You Can Figure This Out
[00:27:32] Detective Ev: Especially as you’re living that path. I mean, even if you’re not on video, if you guys are just listening, you can just feel your energy. It’s something that you can’t hide.And this was such an uncharacteristic phrase out of his mouth today. We were just with each other today. He said, it feels like I have pixie dust on me and someone’s just like, oh yeah, this is working out.
I’m like, Dude, yeah. I’m jumping up and down. That’s what it is like when we start following that calling and intuition instead of what mom and dad told us to do when we were five years old. All of a sudden, it is like things line up and we learn to trust that a lot more.
I don’t mean this as a religious thing, it could mean anything for you guys. But Steve Harvey actually talks about, he’s like, at the beginning when you’re trying to get your dream, you’re just hoping for some stuff, right? Then God, he claims, gives you some stuff that you hope for. Then you’re supposed to have faith. That’s when you learn, hey, it’s going to come, so I gotta pursue.
[00:28:19] Tara Garrison: Whatever you believe. That resonates with all of us.I will say for just some quick way of inspo, I started my business in the middle of a bankruptcy, had just lost my car, had nowhere to live, and had $17 to my name, had no child support, no alimony, no nothing.
I’m telling you, if I can figure it out from that place, if your heart is in the right place towards others and also yourself like really truly staying open, doing your work, like there’s no reason.
Entrepreneurship Can Be Scary But Very Rewarding
I’m just sharing that because there’s no reason. If I can start from that place and just show up and aim to serve and do my own work, there’s no reason nobody else could not do that either. It’s definitely achievable. And it’s fun. It actually lights your soul on fire.
It’s scary. It was scary when I was in that place. My adrenals needed a break after a few months, you know. And I don’t recommend starting from that place, but at the same time, it does, it lights your soul on fire. And your friend’s pixie dust thing. I call it jumping on the magic carpet ride of life. Truly, that’s what it feels like I’ve been on since this whole entrepreneurial journey started.
[00:29:19] Detective Ev: It’s just the way to live.Where did you get the training or just knowledge about the lab testing that you’re utilizing with some of these clients? I was curious about that.
[00:29:25] Tara Garrison: For lab testing, Holistic Health Educators is who I work with. They have a nutritional therapist certification and then also a holistic health coach certification. I’ve actually been thinking about getting FDN cause I love what you guys share. It’s good stuff. I was thinking about talking to Reed about that. [00:29:40] Detective Ev: We’ll talk briefly afterwards, especially with someone that has the influence you do.But beside the point, so when you are working with these clients? You’ve had some really cool people all types of individuals. I always just like to hear to the degree that you’re able. I’m assuming some of them might be private, others not so private. Like, what are some of the coolest testimonials that you’ve had?
Client Testimonial: Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
Since you offer so much, I’m kind of interested in what the transformation really does look like for someone that might come to you. Are there any client testimonials that stick out?
[00:30:06] Tara Garrison: Yeah, sure. There’s the fun, flashy, physical ones, you know? Thanks for asking cause I’m terrible about it. Like my relationships with my clients are so sacred. It’s so weird for me sometimes to talk about them on social media. I’m like, are you okay if I talk about this?But you know, so Haloti Ngata was my first guy coming out of the NFL. He played for the Ravens for a long time. He was playing for the Eagles, and he’s a big guy.
He was over 300 pounds and he wanted to hike Mount Kilimanjaro to announce his retirement from the NFL holding up a flag at the top that said, I’m retiring from the NFL. I’m like, he’s got four weeks. He needs to go from big-big to like, hiking Mount Kilimanjaro. I was like, I don’t like to do fast weight loss. I’m sure nobody listening really does.
But I was like, okay, listen. If you’re going to try to lose this weight, I get it. I want you to be able to do that. So, we did keto. Keto’s one of my specialties, right? I have a book called Short-Term Keto. I’m not like a keto zealot, but for the right time and place, it’s an awesome tool.
So, we did keto. He lost 30 pounds in a month, and he did that. That was pretty freaking cool to have your client holding up his, like, I’m retiring from the NFL on top. And props to him. He did all the work. That was cool.
Improving Clients’ Relationships with Themselves
Then I’ve had several of the guys coming in the NFL, really high responders to keto, which I really love too for their brains. You know, giving some metabolism in their brain after being in the league.
Then on the flip side of that is like, my favorite things that I ever, ever will get from a client is when I have like maybe a female client. She’s working a regular job, she’s a nurse or a mom or whatever, and she’s like, I’m a completely different person now. Like I’m living in a different reality because they’re healing their relationships with themselves.
That is such a tenet of my coaching. It’s about compassion and love and seeing yourself. It’s not about, I’m trying to prove my value by achieving this and achieving this body and achieving this goal. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about seeing yourself and when you truly do and you have that relationship with yourself, then you go out in the world, and you create. You’re truly creating, giving, instead of, let me just try to work my way up this thing so I can feel valuable.
We do a lot of the work of Byron Katie. We do a lot of subconscious mind work. We do a lot of that deeper stuff. When I get something like that from a client of like, I truly love myself now. I truly see myself; I’m living in a different life now than I used to. There’s nothing like that. It’s hard not to cry when I talk about it cause it’s just like, I know what we went through together, you know? I’m like so freaking proud of them.
Entrepreneurship: Pour from a Full Cup
It’s like, yes you did. You showed up for you and you did your freaking work. And I’m so grateful that through all my pain and suffering and my desperation to find my way out of that same place, that I found some really cool stuff that I get to share with them, you know? It’s freaking beautiful.
[00:32:38] Detective Ev: It’s the best thing.You might know this quote. There’s a quote that goes, the final stage of healing is using what happened to us to help others. And it’s the truth. It’s the only way to make sense of certain things sometimes, especially depending on how severe the trauma is, right? Literally is the only way that it makes it okay sometimes is to use it to help other people. I love that.
That full cup you’re talking about, that’s it. That’s the only way. You know, Mother Teresa. Was she like, I want to go inspire people? No, she was pouring from a full cup. So anyway, just have to say that in light of what you’re saying there.
Entrepreneurship: The Journey Doesn’t Stop
[00:33:28] Detective Ev: Well, you nailed it. Because I think what happens is the downside of social media and there’s many downsides, many upsides. It goes both ways. But people see the end results a lot. And we want the feelings associated with the end result. And my God, especially the 20-somethings. It’s like there is such a disconnect between what has to be done to actually do that.And here’s the good news guys. It is accelerated in today’s world. I mean, we got like a 17-year-old created Snapchat. So, you could still do things faster than any time in history, but it’s not overnight fast. That’s not literally how it’s going to work. It’s better to do the journey anyway. It’s better to become that person that’s worthy of getting to have that impact as opposed to just focusing on the impact.
Short-Term Keto
And in 2018 when it was kind of at its heyday, I had actually already stopped doing keto. I was strict keto for a year and I’d started bringing some carbs back in. I was like, everything was getting better for me. I was grateful for my keto phase. I don’t know if I really needed it as long as I did.
I was hearing a lot of dogma. Back then in 2018, it was like, do keto forever. This is the optimal way for all humans to eat. If you have half a brain, you know that ketones are better than carbs. Those people are sugar burners. They’re these pathetic losers whose brains don’t work. You know? That was kind of the vibe.
So, the whole premise of Short-Term Keto is like my catchphrase, I guess is do keto, not forever for most people. Some people, going to do great on keto forever, right? But for a lot of people, do keto. I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, keto is freaking amazing.
So, the whole first part of the book is like, why keto is amazing. And then the rest of it is considerations for why you might consider bringing carbs back in. Because you know, we’re looking at women, they might have low serotonin. You take somebody who’s already low serotonin, you put them on a ketogenic diet for long enough, they might start to get some problems, you know?
Flexing in and Out of Ketosis
I just wanted to give information like, hey, just so you know, here’s how some of that stuff works. Here’s some biofeedback you can look for of knowing when you might want to consider bringing carbs back in, why you might not. Then how do I actually do that? What does that look like? And training plans to match so you’re utilizing those carbohydrates effectively.
We go into intermittent fasting, cyclical, targeted. You know, just giving people options. I hate dogma. I don’t ever want to be right. It’s just, here’s some great information for you to consider on your health journey. So that’s what it’s all about. It’s like being able to go into ketosis and also being able to use carbohydrates, to me, is optimal metabolism. You can do both, either, or. So yeah, that’s my thoughts.
[00:36:21] Detective Ev: That makes perfect sense to me. And that’s kind of the vibe that I got from it. I feel like that’s very aligned with what Ben Azadi has been promoting. It’s like this flexing in and out. That’s what it should be.I do agree that there’s probably a time and place, especially if the person’s like super sick, lot going on, yes, you might feel about a thousand times better being in ketosis for a little bit. But if I had to choose one, I think obviously logically it would make sense that being in ketosis would be better than the opposite – never being in ketosis my whole life. Cause at least carbohydrates in a sense aren’t essential because we can kind of make the ones we need.
But neither of those is ideal. No one was supposed to be doing either of those extremes forever. I don’t think that’s ever been the case.
Entrepreneurship: The Four Peaks of Tara’s Coaching
What’s amazing is FDN and the system itself, it’s not against keto by any means, but it’s not like we directly teach or promote that. Yet people have been getting the most incredible healings I’ve ever heard for 14 years. That’s why I joined FDN. So, there’s clearly more to it than this.
It’s a very cool tool. It’s free. If anything, it could save us a little money sometimes, cause we might not be snacking all day, every day. But it is just one tool in the toolbox.
Something else I wanted to touch on, Tara, was the retreats. Is this something that in theory would be open to the public, or do you already have to be a client?
[00:37:27] Tara Garrison: It’s open to everyone. So taraharrison.com/retreat. Yeah, let’s talk about it cause it is huge. I was basically intuitively guided to create these retreats. It’s like a “have to” and they’re going to be cool. So yeah. Whatever you want to know. [00:37:38] Detective Ev: Sure. Well, I guess what I’m most focused on in the beginning, is like what does this look like? Because I know some people that utilize lab testing will now use that on the retreats. Others, they back up from that. So, what do I get if I go on this amazing Hawaii retreat? [00:37:50] Tara Garrison: Great question. Thanks for asking.
Not on the last retreat, but for all the retreats moving forward, everyone is specialized towards the four peaks of my coaching, which are personal, physical, people, and professional.
Entrepreneurship: Biomechanics Bootcamp in Maui
My Maui retreat is actually my physical peak. It is all about health. We actually are doing a biomechanics bootcamp. Biomechanics bootcamp is like the physical stuff. We’re doing a biohacking buffet is what we’re calling it.
We’re doing breath work, cold immersion, some meditative type stuff with binaural beats and just different things like that, light therapies. Cause I’ve noticed a lot of people have heard about some of these optimization tools, but they’re just not really ever going to go do it on their own. So, I wanted to provide that opportunity.
Then we’re also going into the mindsets with health that hold people back and getting past those blocks. It is focused on physical health, on optimization. But then the other aspects, there’s a couple other aspects. The biggest thing is that the whole point of the retreat is to pull people in nature and let Mother Nature do her work with them.
There will always be a part of my retreats in which people are in silence in nature, and they’re just listening and they’re just open. So, there’s that. We’re going to be surfing, we’re going to be paddle boarding, we’re hiking in Maui. I mean, it’s going to be really cool on that end of things.
My ex-husband’s actually Polynesian, so a lot of our friends were Hawaiian. I actually danced hula for like 15 years and am pretty well acquainted with Hawaiian culture. I’ve always found it to be one of the most beautiful cultures in terms of connection to the land, connection to Mother Earth. They didn’t believe in land ownership in Hawaii until the Americans came, they didn’t believe that way. They’re very integrated with nature and gratitude.
Embracing and Respecting Hawaiian Culture
We’re going to have someone come and teach us how to pound poi, which is like the taro roots. It’s like a communion thing that they do with friends and family. They’re together and they express gratitude.
I, intuitively crazy magic carpet ride stuff, met this Hawaiian man at a gym four hours from my house that normally goes to my regular gym. We started talking. It was so crazy. He ended up writing us a chance, like asking for permission to be there, like asking Mother Earth. They do this in Hawaiian cultures, so freaking beautiful.
It’s saying like, hey, do we have permission to be here, and can you help us with whatever we need while we’re here? And thank you. So, that kind of stuff I wanted to bring in.
We’re going to be doing some hula and some spear throwing and just some Hawaiian culture things too. Because I think it’s important for us when we travel and we go on these retreats, to come in humility and ask and give back. We’re going to make some leis and like give back. Because to me that’s the energy of love that will keep us in optimal health when wearing gratitude, respect, humility, giving back, service, listening, silence.
So, bringing a lot of that into the retreat as well of like thank you to the Hawaiian culture specialists who will be there that are kind of helping us get introduced to that as well. That’s a special thing for this Hawaii retreat.
[00:40:31] Detective Ev: So cool. I love your energy. Everything that you say just sounds awesome. The retreat thing’s very cool.An Entrepreneurship Question
There’s a gentleman I followed on YouTube for years. It’s like The Earther Guy, I don’t know if you’ve seen him. He’s like this sixty-year-old guy, jacked as can be. But like natural and has lived off the land for a while in Hawaii and does those retreats and stuff.
I’m like, if I end up there at some point, which I will, it’s going to be through something like what you’re offering, what he’s offering. Because that just seems like the best way to go, like really experiencing it in that way seems fun.
Tara Garrison: Yeah, I’ll check him out. Thanks.
Detective Ev: Alright. Last like seven minutes here, not a huge rush. Again, we’re going to have to have you on again at some point.
One thing I wanted to ask though was a more direct entrepreneurship question because we have a lot of people starting off their entrepreneurship journey in the world of FDN. We have a lot of female entrepreneurs as well.
You are killing it. I mean, we’re always on a journey. I get that. But like you figured it out on the point that like you are working for yourself, period. That’s succeeding in my eyes, is when we have the ability to do that. We’re thriving, we’re enjoying what we’re doing. So, what would be some tips that you have maybe for people that are just starting this off?
[00:41:31] Tara Garrison: Ooh, yes. I love this question. It’s the same as health. It’s like, oh my gosh, I feel your pain. I feel your pain. And I found some really cool solutions. I’m so happy to share.Beginning Entrepreneurship, Take Time for Yourself
One of the gifts that popped into my magical carpet ride was in the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. I was just coming out of living with a friend for four months, had just gotten my own basement apartment, have four kids. It was like eating humble pie.
I renamed the basement apartment, my launch pad. I was like, I’m building my whole life out of this little launch pad. I was obsessed. I was in nature and silence all the time, I’m listening.
That’s one thing I will say. And I’ve been telling, my son’s 15, I’ve been telling him the same thing. He’s into all this stuff, right? He loves Wim Hof and personal growth and all this stuff too. He was like, I don’t have any friends who think like this at all. I was like, you know what? I didn’t either when I started on this path.
You know the famous Jim Rohn quote, Of the five people you hang around most are the people you become like? Well, as sad and lame as this sounds, I was like, I’m going to hang around, virtually, Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, Wayne Dyer, Napoleon Hill, you know, Viktor Frankl. Like every great mind that I can get, I’m just going to consume the way they think as much as I possibly can until I start to think like them. So, those were my friends, you know. And of course, I had friends in real life, but I spent a lot of time.
That I would say, be, like you said, quote/unquote “self-ish”. Take time to yourself, not only to consume great minds, but also to be out in nature in silence. I can’t recommend that enough. Just go blank with no expectation. Get a view.
Entrepreneurship: Don’t Just Do Personal Growth Business Stuff
That’s why I name my coaching company, HIGHER. Because when I would go up into the mountains here in Utah and just literally get a higher view with no expectation, not like, okay, help me solve all the problems at the universe in my life, just letting go, that’s when all the good stuff came in. So, I spent a lot of time in silence.
Do, not only personal growth business type stuff, but spiritual work. Learn from the spiritual masters. I love Ram Dass and Wayne Dyer and these guys. Do meditation, like get in touch. Cause there’s a frequency that you operate from when you’re tapped into the higher frequencies of love and compassion. It’s different operating systems. So can’t recommend that enough.
And then a book. So, I got introduced to this. I got to go to this mastermind with all these like bazillionaires, when I’m just starting. I was like, how? Cause I trained one of the guys.
Detective Ev: That will rock your system really quick.
Tara Garrison: It was really humbling and very eye-opening and I’m so incredibly grateful.
There was a guy there that actually just sold his company for over a billion dollars. Okay. But back then he was working towards that. So, I’m like sitting here like first year, first eight months of entrepreneurship. And I’m like, Yeah, I can totally hang in a conversation with you. You know what I mean? I’m just like, this is good for you. This is good for you. You know?
He was really sweet, and he was like, you know what? He’s like, I just have one recommendation for you, Tara. He’s like, read the book, The E-Myth, and I’m so grateful he said that.
Entrepreneurship: Spend Time Doing What You’re Good At
I’m so grateful because The E-myth is basically talking about the entrepreneurial myth. Basically the premise of the book is what most people do when they go into entrepreneurship is they just create a job for themselves. And he’s saying that it would be better if you started a business in which you had no idea how to actually do anything in it, because then you would actually create a business and not just a job for yourself.
We as health coaches, we know how to do all the stuff, right? So, that book, I can’t recommend that enough. Because it will get you thinking like, what are the things here that I don’t absolutely have to be doing? And then it’s about getting past your own money blocks.
Like when I hired my first assistant, I was scared. I was like, I can’t afford an assistant. Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Figure it out and start working on delegating and getting rid of the things that you’re not really good at so you can just only spend your time as much as possible on the things that you’re super good at. So that’s my take.
[00:45:20] Detective Ev: This is just such a good lesson in general. Cause I was talking with that same friend the other day. This is my opinion; some people love like cleaning and stuff. I’m like, if you start to make any amount of money, hire someone to clean. Why are you wasting time doing that? Cause him and his girlfriend spend every Sunday cleaning the house. [00:45:35] Detective Ev: I’m like, Hire someone for it. Dude, if you’re on this journey, like you gotta learn to give certain things up.Entrepreneurship: Let Go of Control
And you know, my dad, I love him to death, but he did that in his own business, right? He’s one of the hardest working people I’ve ever met. And I’m not just saying that cause it’s my dad. I mean literally he was a landscaper seven days a week, 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, from the time he was 17 to 51. That’s different than most people. He’s built different, right?
But he gets into his own business, and he won’t let anyone else touch it cause it has to be done perfectly the way he wants. I’m like, to grow, at some point we gotta give it up. One person can only do so much.
[00:46:06] Tara Garrison: I agree with you. I hired cleaners when I was still in my launchpad and couldn’t technically afford it. But I figured, I was going to make that time valuable.What am I going to spend time doing during those two hours that they’re cleaning my little apartment? How am I going to turn the needle on my business? I did that same thing.
And in terms of like letting go of control, which is hard for a lot of people, consider the fact that there might be somebody out there better at things than you are.
[00:46:30] Detective Ev: What a concept, right?
So yeah, I completely agree.
Where You Can Find Tara Garrison
[00:46:45] Detective Ev: Awesome. All right, my friend. Where can people find you if they’re interested in some of the stuff that we talked about?
Then of course, I’m on like YouTube and LinkedIn and Facebook and all that stuff too, but Instagram, TikTok, website.
[00:47:01] Detective Ev: Yeah. You guys know the drill. Of course. We’ll have that in the show notes.Health Detective Podcast Signature Question
We will finish up today with the signature question on the Health Detective Podcast. The signature question is if I could give you, Tara, in this case, a magic wand and you could wave it and get every single person in this world to do one thing for their health, whether that’s literally do one thing or stop doing one thing, what is the one thing that you’d get them to do?
[00:47:21] Tara Garrison: Man, that’s a tough one. My mind is going so many places. I would say, honestly, it’s a kind of outside of the box answer. But investing in help on how you relate to yourself and your mindset, whether that’s therapy or coach or something like that.Because the way that you see life, if you can start to change the lens of reality through which you see life, you can start to change all of your health patterns. That’s why I do mindset coaching in my health coaching. Because it’s like, Dude, how many times have you done a freaking plan? It’s not that, it’s the lens through which you’re seeing life.
I would say like subconscious mind reprogramming. Some sort of program that offers that is what I would want for people. Because then they can change all of it way more easily because of the way that they’re looking at life and themselves and all of that.
So, mindset work.
[00:48:10] Detective Ev: Excellent. Thank you so much for coming on today.Tara Garrison: Thank you.
Conclusion
Detective Ev: All right, friends, that’ll do it for today’s episode with Tara Garrison. I hope you enjoyed that one. We are just two Energizer bunnies apparently. We are going back and forth the entire time bouncing around, and some people seem to really like those episodes.
I will also be on her podcast eventually, but this woman is booked the heck out. I am not being recorded until March. I have no idea when that means I’m going to be coming out. It could be even later than that then probably May or June of 2023.
Reed did already record with her, so I assume that one would be out a lot quicker. Make sure you are subscribed to her podcast as well to check out that episode when it airs.
I think that is all for today. I’m looking forward to talking to you guys again soon. But until, please take care.
You can always visit us at functionaldiagnosticnutrition.com.
To hire a coach, go to fdnthrive.com.
For a FREE Health Review, go to fdnthrive.com/match/.
Tracy
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