Unknown Speaker 0:02
Hi, everyone. It is Thursday, November 3 11am. Here pacific time vary. I mean, truly and I talk about this all the time I say this as a prelude to every 30 minutes of Spyglass lending. I say it's a special episode special guests, but I really mean it this time. No offense. Anybody else has been on here, but this is my wife. Please welcome to the show.

Unknown Speaker 0:27
Health and wellness strategist. She has her own company syrup coaching. My lovely wife, Shannon Pfeffer. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you for coming on agreeing to do this. And to you know, it's enough. You got to get peppered with my questions at home all the time, text and anything that just comes to my head, but here you are on camera agreeing to it.

Unknown Speaker 0:51
All the time. Actually, the first time I met your parents, they sat me down and questioned me for a solid hour. So it's just you know, I'm used to it. 10 years in, they're used to it. We are 10 years in that's pretty damn good. And I remember that very well. It was pretty early on that you haven't I mean, my parents, they just happen to be out. And you know, like, I didn't want to be alone with them. So thanks for doing that. And yeah, Mom grill. You pass with flying colors. Here we are 10 years later.

Unknown Speaker 1:22
No, I was gonna say 1010 years certainly is a good amount of time. But we're gonna go back. Well, let's go back 40 years or around there, where it all began? Let's say let's say around there. We're gonna say around there.

Unknown Speaker 1:38
Your story? Lavonia. Let's start there. You're at heart.

Unknown Speaker 1:45
Tell us how it all began.

Unknown Speaker 1:47
Yeah, so my parents were in Detroit, I don't think by choice at first, but they loved it eventually. And they moved all the time. And back and forth. And back and forth. Dad worked in the auto industry. And mom did too for a little bit. And born in Detroit, we moved so much in the beginning every couple of years for job opportunities and promotions and things like that. So the Midwest has always been a part of me and I miss it. I actually, oddly enough dreaming about Chicago last night Chicago in the fall sort of feels like it right now with the wind storm going on on the other side of me. But grew up in the Midwest, went to college and high school in Indiana in Indiana.

Unknown Speaker 2:42
Kind of random how we moved a bunch and then ended up there and ended up going to school there too. And lived in Chicago for a couple years after graduation. Not necessarily by choice was a bit of a default, because people went there after school was college did that feel like a default as well, though,

Unknown Speaker 3:02
in a way because I really didn't have college on my mind was like, This is my next step. I quite honestly wanted to be on days of our lives and be a soap star actress and I knew I didn't need a college education for that. So that was really the dream. But I also didn't want to be a struggling actor and like the thought of like rooming with like six people and waitressing and all that like that wasn't for me, it's for a lot of people. And they, they do that dream that way. But I just I couldn't wrap my head around that. But you know, we live pretty close to the days of a live set. It's not too late. It's never too late for that, by the way. And something tells me you dream about it more than you might let on.

Unknown Speaker 3:48
But you did stay in Indiana for college. But I mean, obviously you you ended up going there to Notre Dame. And but was there other thought maybe you would have been somewhere else if you had the opportunity? If I really like had college wrapped around, I'm like, This is what I'm going to do. And I want to go and tour all these spots and sort of figure it out this way. Sure. You know, I my grades were great and had all of the other things like the volunteer work and the captain of this and the editor of this and the list goes on. But I really I truthfully, like just didn't put much thought into it. And I was like, I'll go here, but it but I think it's also important, like if you were looking at colleges, or if you're looking at taking your kids to look at colleges like what really fits them because I walked into a situation where I had never been to a Catholic school, or even a private school and it was so different. Everyone had Dave Matthews Band posters, and they all wore like, like white collared shirts and pearls and

Unknown Speaker 4:56
I listened to wu tang in no way I

Unknown Speaker 5:00
I didn't know where I fit in there.

Unknown Speaker 5:04
It seemed like everyone sort of like, grew up with like white picket fences. And not that I didn't.

Unknown Speaker 5:10
They were all quite sheltered. And that just that rocked my world of like, what am I doing here? So

Unknown Speaker 5:18
I knew that in order to like, sort of like, make it through that I needed to do something for me. So I went to NYU, and my summers, it took all of my college electives there. And that was just amazing to live in New York City and realize like, oh, like, at the time in college, like doing yoga, or Pilates was strange, especially in Indiana. And we're like, and I remember going out to dinner with my parents and telling them like, I actually feel like I fit in here in New York, because what I'm doing is not even weird. It's totally normal. So

Unknown Speaker 5:56
your idea, right, I mean, to go to start going to New York during the summers was definitely your idea. Yeah, I did. I did some acting and stuff. And I really enjoyed it. But again, there was just like this, like, kill yourself to make it mentality. And at the time, I just wasn't ready for that. So my parents gave me a suggestion of like, going into PR, because when I like something I really like and like to talk about it and convince people to like, come on board. So like, while you're I like to think that you that that's how you feel about me, and you talk about me and convince people to come on board, like no, you're gonna really gonna like my husband, I swear, I promise he's gonna go, Hey, I booked some guests for this podcast, you really have, by the way, you've been tremendous. I think you're responsible for 50% of this season. So thank you.

Unknown Speaker 6:46
It's a good podcast.

Unknown Speaker 6:49
Yeah, so living in New York, like, the long and short of it is my, my parents met on a blind date. And at the time, my mom was going to move to New York, she wanted to be a model. And she wanted to get discovered and do that. And my dad was gonna move to LA and like, live this, like, totally different life than when he grew up in. And they met each other. And they both were like, Let's throw our plans out the window, and be together. But they always talked so highly at both those cities. So it was like, oh, like New York is amazing. And but what about LA, you know, like, there were always like two places in my head of like, definitely not Midwest, though, I love it. And have so many dear friends there. But I just knew that I needed to go. And I didn't know where that was. But the sort of like the stagnation I felt in college of like this. And even when I first lived in Chicago, like, this is what your life could be like a 24, you are going to get a dog. And it's probably going to be a golden retriever. And you're going to buy your first apartment and you're going to get engaged, and then you're going to get married, and then you're going to get a house in the suburbs. And like that path of life just didn't seem right for me. And that's what I had to come around to, to have, like, you know what, like, my friends are taking this, this path and that. That's their story, but like, this is a mine. So I had to figure out what I wanted to do. And that was moving to LA after about five years in Chicago, New York, what were you doing in Chicago? I mean, we got we got to hit that point, right? I mean, how you ended up staying even you were in the middle of like, amazing. You did this incredible, you know, these excursions four years in a row in New York City, but still found your way back to the Midwest and still, you know, that that great Midwestern city of Chicago for five years What were you doing there? I mean, to fund any of these dreams, you need a job so so my, I remember very distinctly going my mom to Chicago and interviewing for these roles and being like really crappy weather like it's crappy weather in LA today. It's just wind.

Unknown Speaker 9:04
I don't know if you could see me on here. I keep trying to move because the wind is blowing all these trees.

Unknown Speaker 9:09
Anyway, so I remember going to Chicago with my mom had all these like interviews with these top tier PR agencies and like, you know, prepping ahead like, I'm gonna nail this I want to work for this company, because this

Unknown Speaker 9:24
is a big company called Edelman and they're still one of the top

Unknown Speaker 9:29
drag to work there. Go in this intern interview. And they're asking me about like my dream kitchen and countertops and all this because the client was like Korean, the the kitchen table pops. And I remember being like, I don't know, like, I don't even want to house like I definitely on my radar. I didn't want to go to college. You didn't. You didn't want the picket fence and the Golden Retriever though you had to growing up. But what was the

Unknown Speaker 10:00
wasn't on your radar. I mean, what were you really thinking about at that time, but you're still dreaming of being an actor on days or maybe so that point, I was like, okay, like, I guess I get this next step in life of like, I have to get a job. Yeah, yeah. And like, my friends are doing it, this is what we do. But, you know, it still wasn't like,

Unknown Speaker 10:21
I can do what I'd like to do in life. Like it was like, I have to get a job and work in an office check.

Unknown Speaker 10:29
So eventually, I started working at ruder Finn, and the Ogilvy and I worked at this, both of those respective companies for a long time and met incredible people to teach me all the things like Excel. I never use excel

Unknown Speaker 10:50
in all of our lives, when we learn

Unknown Speaker 10:53
pretty much all of office if you can just pick a software. Great, yeah. Right. So that and a little bit at at Rudolph. And really I got into it Ogilvy of working on consumer brands, and, and food. And we had the luxury of so many food corporations and manufacturers and brands are headquartered in Chicago, it just happens to fall that way that that consumer packaged goods category is just huge. And I got to work for some of the biggest brands in the world. And I won't name names here, because I do want to tell this really important story, which was sort of like the crux of me doing anything that I'm doing in my life now. But worked for this massive global company. And I got to go to their headquarters and actually learn how to make product. And it was just teaspoon of sugar and teaspoon of sugar and one after the other until I got to 23 teaspoons of sugar. And this is a product that is marketed as breakfast food in market is healthy for kids. Not even as like, oh, it's better for you or like this is a good alternative if like this is healthy for you. And I about like lost my mind. And so it was only that until it all clicked for me of like asking all the right questions of like, Oh, this isn't really strawberries in here. This is figs that you injected with strawberry flavoring or, Oh, you've taken out 25% of the sugar of the real sugar and you feel that with the fake stuff. And there's even more of the fake stuff in it to get it to taste like the real thing. So the totally change everything for me because quite honestly, before that I was still living my college life of like eating a bag of chocolate chips in one sitting or like some like stuffers frozen like stir fry rice, like that's a meal that's healthy. And it just like clicked for me right there of like, how do I get into much more of this space where I can actually help people with this instead of

Unknown Speaker 13:03
just letting everybody succumb to all the marketing speak that's around them. That's like, misleading, very misleading. Right? Which unfortunately, you're you were a part of. I mean, you were in orbit, right? I mean.

Unknown Speaker 13:17
Yeah. And for some time after that, I mean, and you know, obviously you you made your way out to Los Angeles, of course, how that happened. When was that? I lived in you know what, I don't remember the year anymore. 2008 2009 around there.

Unknown Speaker 13:32
And I just I was stuck in the snow in Chicago in front of my my apartment with like, five an SUV. I'm stuck in the snow, like what am I doing here. So despite everyone in my life being like, your family's here, your friends are here your life is here just you know, shifted, moved everything drove cross country with my mom and like a car full of stuff and started over. And I worked a job I don't actually think the company's still around.

Unknown Speaker 14:01
But I worked a job in more of like the like active wear like fashion space for a bit. And I did like that because it was more about like the lifestyle I was living of like, actually like going out and running and taking care of yourself. And that was cool. The company had some financial troubles. And I actually went back to Ogilvy because I knew and I said right up front, like, identity, PR stuff will be so big and they have the advertising arm with strategy. I'm like, that's all I want to do. Like, I want to figure out how you change your brand over time and you and you move them to a place where it actually makes sense or they're telling a different story or a different message and they said okay, and so I started like, sort of started over there and worked my way up and

Unknown Speaker 14:56
did worked in the New York office again for a bit and

Unknown Speaker 15:00
And I was there all the time and just, you know, loved every single second of it, it was amazing. And then I had an opportunity to move to another agency to focus on the food, and specifically kids food.

Unknown Speaker 15:14
And that was great, too. But that I had these moments of, oh my gosh, where, why? Why are they making us? Because they can, like, should they? I mean, they have the dollars to do it. So I guess why not? But like, do people need this? So

Unknown Speaker 15:30
in advertising, you shift jobs a lot, and you get these, like, different perspectives of everything. And every single time I went to take another job, I always considered leaving the business, every time.

Unknown Speaker 15:43
And, and this is, and this is, you know, around the time we started dating, and I remember that really coming through, especially in the early part of us dating.

Unknown Speaker 15:53
Just that, that notion of like, should I should and you kept like, kind of job after job for a little while, like, Okay, well, you know, you're already in it. But you didn't seem to want to leave. Yeah, I mean, well, we live in LA, one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, especially now. And so the security of the that amazing paycheck and benefits and the ability to travel all the time. You know, it just it, it's hard to get back to that Midwestern mindset a little bit, right? That was how we like the thought process growing up. But the beauty of LA

Unknown Speaker 16:32
is a gold rush, you figure out your own dreams here. So,

Unknown Speaker 16:36
you know, I think I always held on to that idea. But I was always like, slightly miserable on the backburner. And every time I left, it was always to leave for a very specific reason to become a dietitian. And to become what I call that industry across like a media RT of like going on TV, and actually educating people about, you know, a certain topic, health wise, like, I just, I always knew I could do something like that. And I always wanted to do something like that because of like, and it's not like working in food marketing is working in the tobacco industry. It's very far from that. But there are things like it's

Unknown Speaker 17:22
there are legal things you have to put on packaging. And you just have to follow like the minimum legal things. And so like, that's where it gets new. You have to like, gosh, I just wish people I wish I could tell people and they will do all these large corporations just follow the minimum, right? I mean,

Unknown Speaker 17:40
to be like, yes, what you like, This is worse. Even think, yeah, and I would do focus groups and moderate these focus groups, and it'd be like, choice A or B, and they're both bad. But this one got people to think like, oh, I actually want to share that with my friends. So we're going to put that on there. And I'm like, yeah.

Unknown Speaker 18:00
So anyway,

Unknown Speaker 18:03
I always had the dream of doing this, but, you know, then our life got busy.

Unknown Speaker 18:11
One child, two twins, two kittens, you know, a pandemic, pandemic move from one side of the Los Angeles or one very distinct type of living right in the Hollywood Reporter Out to the valley. Valley. Remember the day? I told you the rally was cool. I yeah, I distinctly remember because prior to that, I had not heard a P betteryou. About that. Or myself, by the way, and everything it was you and I credit you, of course, convincing me that. Yeah, the valley is very cool. That is where we belong. And if you are starting, you know, starting to grow a family and have children. It seems to be a lot more appealing. Glad we made the move, are you? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, weird first two years, of course. But no doubt.

Unknown Speaker 19:00
I feel like you're you are now here. You are now out of the advertising and PR industry, you escape, and you have started zero coaching. I have I have and it's something

Unknown Speaker 19:11
I've been technically coaching for years.

Unknown Speaker 19:14
Not charging people for many of those years. Well, you've been coaching me a long time I feel like I have.

Unknown Speaker 19:22
But you know, I just always knew that. What I was put on this planet to do is to boss Aaron Pfeffer around. That's right. And Pfeffer lights when you do so. It's working well, but

Unknown Speaker 19:39
no, I I

Unknown Speaker 19:41
really believe that I have so much knowledge in the food space and even the lifestyle and healthy living space. You know, call me a goop devotee. That's true. But, but I'm not going to ask people to go by Jade egg or you know as

Unknown Speaker 20:00
Mao's like vagina candle. I'm not, I'm not going to ask people to do that. But I do want to mythbuster a little bit about, you know, what people should have in their pantry. And you know what these labels really mean. And the other part of it too is

Unknown Speaker 20:18
I have endless energy, which yes, part of it is genetic. Part of it, is I got a super mom, who doesn't stop. But I have this method of, you know, how we feed our family. I mean, you have been doing it for years with me, now the kids are doing it too. And so I have been busy not only, you know, building my coaching business up, but I'm starting filming hopefully soon in like two weeks, a digital course about this specific method of eating for energy and how to feel vibrant again, because I think so many of us are eating all the crappy food

Unknown Speaker 21:00
and things that are supposedly good for us or ordering and all the time.

Unknown Speaker 21:06
Which I bad habit, myself included. But you know, we're ordering from good kitchen or you know, healthier, better for you spots.

Unknown Speaker 21:15
And delicious. I might do kitchens, surprisingly really very good.

Unknown Speaker 21:20
Black Onyx members, hey, hey, hey.

Unknown Speaker 21:25
Anyway, but honestly, when you first told me that that monitor when you told me that I was like I was loved it I was drawn in immediately the notion of eating for energy, you know, because it's one part of like, the rise this idea of just Well, of course, alliteration always sounds good. anybody's here, but just just this notion of like, yeah, you know, I mean, part of it does feel like, oh, because the consumption, so many of us are on the go or us just kind of do that. But like, what are we talking about? With energy? I mean, that that was so exciting. And the thought process is like, it's a little bit more than just, Oh, get the nourishment and go, that's not really what you're saying? No, because people come by that, you know, and I think that

Unknown Speaker 22:03
there are a couple of things that like, immediately changed the game, immediately, like, one, you have to rest your digestive system, which a lot of us don't do that, you know, it's like, you need to eat in the morning, when the sun is up, and like, Shut that mouth, shut that snack bag, like seven, eight o'clock, like give your body that time. And like, let's say you can like do you work late or you work night shift, like, give your body a time to break down food, like have a smoothie for meal, like not like a fruit smoothie, like a very thick, heavy hearty smoothie that will fill you up for a long time.

Unknown Speaker 22:44
You know, little strategies like that, or supplements you can take to really sort of like boost that energy in the beginning.

Unknown Speaker 22:52
There's different things you could do with coffee to like, you don't need to even put a milk in there, you can take like the fat off of the coconut milk can like this, the top part, put in a blender with hot coffee and throw some ice in there. And it's like this, like very creamy fatty coffee that will keep you full and keep you like sustain and you're not going to crash because there's like fat in the coffee. So just this by the way, seen it myself tasted it is all pretty damn good. But what about the cost of all of this right? In both time and money? I mean, you know, it's it's the thought process of fast food or packaged food or whatever it just is like, oh, it's cheap. It's easy. It's quick, you know, how do we change hearts and minds here and show people what you're talking about is not nearly as expensive as they might otherwise think or time consuming. I think that's a good point. Because I think a lot of people think wellness is expensive. So they don't

Unknown Speaker 23:41
you know, but but it's not, you know, I am definitely on the another mission to start a ugly food movement. Because,

Unknown Speaker 23:52
yes, your meal of a beautiful ice bowl, and Instagram is gorgeous. Awesome. But like what I'm asking people to put together in this plan is not pretty, like bring on the pictures of the ugly food that fuels you. Because that's all that matters. Like it doesn't matter the presentation on the plate, maybe if like it's a new food to you, and you want it to be appetizing, fine. But like, if you're having rice and ground beef and like a fatty sauce and throwing some greens on there, that's not going to be gorgeous, but you're just going to mix it all together and eat it and feel good. You're gonna feel gorgeous afterwards. You're that just

Unknown Speaker 24:31
thank you for it. I mean, obviously, in this energy you're talking about, I mean, that's all we're looking

Unknown Speaker 24:38
for in lives and businesses. Yeah, and it's, you know, it's about consistency and always having something available. Right. Those are the two simple things like if you can just like never miss twice. And just like no excuses have like three things four things in your fridge at all times. Like someone in your family can like you

Unknown Speaker 25:00
sort of like, make a combination from like, you're golden. That's all you need. And you're putting this all in a in a really concise roadmap for anybody to truly understand. I mean, and you know, obviously, I'm your husband. So I'm gonna back into the ends of the earth here with it. But I am the first to say like, you've really been changing our lives in our habits and how we're handling it. I mean, you're talking to somebody who has just about the worst digestive system. And thanks to you, I am feeling a hell of a lot better. You know, this past couple years when since we've transitioned into, you know, your way of, of doing this, like, my body thinks you heard my stomach, certainly, thanks.

Unknown Speaker 25:39
Hey, I mean, we were at our son's Halloween preschool. And I'll say right now, because it was the best comp woman ever. Like, someone told me, I look 27. And I'm

Unknown Speaker 25:50
not 27

Unknown Speaker 25:54
There's something about it to have like, you're going to feel better, and you're going to look better, and you're going to be more focused, and you're like, you will have the tools to live this like vibrant life. And, and so many of us search for those tools. I have a Starbucks coffee this morning. So it's freezing. And it's not the healthiest one ever. But whatever, you know, you you have those treats, and you have those indulgences. But it seems like we're allowed to do that. Because the rest of the time, you know, eating for energy and doing it correctly. You can have those intelligences, right, yeah, yeah. And it's not like a daily thing. I think people get in the habit of like, I'm gonna go to Starbucks every day three and have this like pumpkin spice latte, and all the foam and all the things to power me through. And like that's not the solution that like it's, that's a great short term solution, if you have to make it through like one day, two days, but like, that's not long term. But people are living the short term in the long term. So I'm here to help with that. I also want to put a point on this as well. I mean, people, you know, whether they believe it or not, like, yeah, we do feel good now. And we do have the energy you're talking about. I mean, you already are, of course, an energetic person. I'm not though right now, nowhere near you. And certainly nowhere near your mother, but you have brought it out on us. I mean, we do have three really young children, our older son is rambunctious as hell with two little one year olds, and one of them's always up somewhere in the 5am range. But yet we find the time and the energy, you know, to go through our day, I think because of the you know, what you've put us on this track that you successfully put us on, you know, for eating and the way we're living and how we're feeling and the use of our time. So

Unknown Speaker 27:30
now we just need a burger kitchen. Yeah, that's the big thing. I mean, there's no question if anybody saw the size of the closet, that is our kitchen, that we're trying to get it all done and it'd be amazing but I think that I think people would love like a peek into what our breakfast table looks like or how we're doing dinners now and certainly, you know the time we've taken for lunch but I love this notion of like and it certainly changed

Unknown Speaker 27:52
for me in a huge way of just not giving the body the rest of you know that there was such a thing you impressed upon me is like after seven maybe 730 and latest don't put anything in there certainly don't put anything crappy in there after the fact but like really just don't eat after that timeframe right don't you know like I know we put the kids to bed we get home we rush we play with them we put the kids to bed and then it's like you could be sitting down at 830 But you've made this incredible map for us this way just to make sure that we're eating still at 637 o'clock or at least 730 Even though we're still putting three kids to bed at that time. And again like you said doesn't always look pretty but energy is there after the fact so yeah, don't feel like in a food coma going to bed or waking up your body gets used to the cycle and

Unknown Speaker 28:38
and you're you're alright you sleep a little bit better

Unknown Speaker 28:43
rested a little bit more sleep a lot sleep a lot a bit better cuddle a ton better I could tell you that. Let me let me ask you this by the way because you know this course eating energy which is obviously incredible but you're doing all these other things as well because you have all this energy but what else to serve coaching do I mean you have your own podcast, you got a newsletter which I love by the way, and the number of things tell it tell us what what what else you're doing and what the plan is over the next couple years. So I just wrapped season one of my podcasts aside of syrup, and I have a couple of episodes I've already recorded for season two, which will be out in January. But Season Two just like a little you know, little teaser here we have a female founder who was in Forbes 30 under 30. We have a med tech investor or someone new to the scenes This is specifically in fitness and women's health.

Unknown Speaker 29:36
And we have someone who is a superstar at Microsoft who still finds time to run half marathons and and move into a house and re do it themselves. So a lot of like superstar people coming on the podcast. I also have a newsletter out every Friday morning. If you want to subscribe just head to my website the

Unknown Speaker 30:00
CES syrup.com A pop up will appear. And you can get on the newsletter and find out all the good stuff coming up. The digital course will be out early next year. So stay tuned for a lot more around that. And then I still coach one on one clients too.

Unknown Speaker 30:17
So anyone sort of looking to meet like very specific health and wellness goals, we talk about like one thing at a time, so it's not overwhelming. I do pantry makeovers, which is one of like, my most fun things, like going in people's house like pulling out things and like, like, let's actually read the ingredient labels see what's in here, see, how can you just like move you from maybe a pita chip to a veggie chip, you know, just like nothing like I'm not taking all your chips right now. But like I'm a good kind of chips to write because there's a lot of there's a lot of crap that's out there that isn't right, and you know what is.

Unknown Speaker 30:54
And then I'm also starting to work with corporations in the HR departments of you know, you have these top tier employees, but they are approaching burnout. And that's such a thing, especially in the workplace now of you know, how do I work with these individual employees who are marked as top tier talent to help them stay and help these companies retain these employees and, and sort of help them get their energy back and sort of their mojo back and the workplace? Is that all did we do we touch every tentacle of surf coaching? I think so for right now. But this is you know, pretty damn awesome. Maybe.

Unknown Speaker 31:30
So 30 minutes is up. We have touched on zero of real estate, but that's okay. Because you told us your journey, your story and exactly what you're doing. And it was amazing. And I'm gonna say something that I've never said to any other guests that's been on the show. I love you.

Unknown Speaker 31:45
Love you too. Let's talk again when we have a bigger kitchen and we'll give everybody a tour. We're definitely going to do this. Thank you, Shannon Pfeffer, co founder, health and wellness strategist, surf coaching. Thank you so much. Hello. I'll see you later.

Unknown Speaker 32:03
Thanks for having me on. Bye.