Your Body, Your Brand

In our prologue, we met Jennifer Saminathen on the eve of yoga teacher training. What became of her?In this episode, we find out Jennifer’s next steps — and also hear from two previous guests about their decision to leave wellness entrepreneurship behind.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Buckle up, because we’ve reached the final episode of the podcast wherein we ask: what does it mean to do helping work in the context of a capitalist society?Wellness entrepreneurship seems to promise to make health into wealth — but what about the other helping professions?In this episode we look at David Graeber’s theory of Bullshit Jobs,* David Geary and Gijsbert Stoet’s study on the gender equality paradox, and continue our discussion on neoliberalism’s influence on wellness professions.*affiliate linkSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we start a diet or a fitness program, we often ask others to hold us accountable.When we launch a brand or start a business, we often feel accountable to our audience and customers.What does all of that accountability mean, when we consider it in a neoliberal framework? In this episode, we look at economies of visibility and ask what whether becoming consumable objects via brand images is as feminist as we think it is.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’re listening to this podcast, you’ve probably heard the word “neoliberalism” before. Most of us only have a vague concept of what that means — I certainly did when I started this project. But to understand wellness entrepreneurship, we need to understand neoliberal economics — and neoliberal feminism — and how it shapes our ideas about who we are and how we’re meant to function in the world.In this episode, we dive deep into the economic foundation of “self-worth” and discover how the value we place on our brands becomes the value we place on ourselves.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What drives women into multilevel marketing is the same thing that drives women into wellness entrepreneurship writ large. While MLM has codified a certain business model, wellness entrepreneurship requires the same level of commitment, often for the same slim chance at payoff.Yet the women who remain optimistic about this business model must have a reason. And that reason is: to feel what men feel all the time.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A brief word to add some context, and ensure that the audience is aware that 1) being a guest on this podcast doesn't imply endorsement of the context I've added around the pieces of the interviews I've chosen to include, 2) this is cultural criticism and not investigative journalism, which means that I'm using narrative to contextualize something bigger in our culture, not implicate specific participants, and 3) this podcast is meant to raise awareness about an issue, not prescribe action or suggestion that the work any of us is doing is wrong/bad/misdirected; we're all swimming in this, and we need to find ways to become "aware of the water." Feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] with questions, comments, and feedback! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we talk about wellness entrepreneurship, it’s hard to ignore the pyramid-shaped elephant in the room: multilevel marketing. MLM or network marketing gets plenty of time in the media, but instead of just talking about why the actual system is good or bad, we’re going to ask: why do women join them in the first place?I approached these interviews from a place of curiosity instead of condemnation, and they revealed some pretty interesting stories. I encourage you to listen to these interviews with curiosity too — you may be surprised at what you learn.This is part one of a two-part episode.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When professional brand takes over personal life, performing your branded self can feel like a life-or-death proposition.In this episode, we continue our look at the pitfalls of engaging in what Brooke Erin Duffy calls “aspirational labor,” and we examine the factors that keep us trapped in a performance of success, even when it leads to failure.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not every health coaching program starts or ends with an eating disorder — but that doesn’t mean that most forays into wellness entrepreneurship leads to fame, fortune, and a cookbook deal.In this episode, we’ll look at how, branding becomes a performance and, as Pace Smith puts it, a “cage with the bars labeled freedom.”Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you religious about your workouts? A fanatic about nutrition? Do you consider yourself a clean eater or try to stay “good" about your fitness?While it’s funny to joke about Crossfit or veganism being a “cult,” have you ever stopped to really consider the intersections of religion and food? And what happens when your religious fervor gets tied up with your income stream?In this episode, we’ll look at the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, the spread of orthorexia (the “clean eating disorder”), and how wellness entrepreneurship becomes both a cover for an eating disorder and its perpetuator among non-eating disordered people.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No one wants to consider sunk cost, whether financial or otherwise. Losing capital in a capitalist society is a sign that you’ve failed — and especially in America’s culture of the self-made man, failure is just something that we don’t tolerate. We’re not failing at breaking the glass ceiling, we’re succeeding at harnessing alternative income streams. We’re not failing at body positivity or fat acceptance or self-love, we’re just works in progress, trying to push until we don’t have anything left. We’re going to succeed -- even if it kills us.In this episode we're diving headfirst into a niche corner of economic theory: Identity economics. Using a theory put forth by Professors George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton, we're going to look deep into our own motivations for buying into "healthy lifestyles" and selling them back to others. Sources: "Economics and Identity" by George Akerlof and Rachel KrantonIdentity Economics: How Our Identities Shape Our Work, Wages, and Well-Being by George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton*Who Cooked Adam Smith's Dinner? A Story of Women and Economics by Katrine Marçal**Amazon affiliate linksSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What, exactly, is a brand, and why are we all trying to become one? While bestselling author Daniel Pink says that “to sell is human,” exactly what is it that women are selling?In today’s episode, we examine why even feminist women end up objectifying themselves in the pursuit of the almighty dollar.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Women are dropping out. Maybe that woman is you. Maybe it's someone you know. Maybe it's someone you follow online. They say there's a serious leak in the corporate pipeline, or maybe it’s the lack of female representation in STEM roles. If you've ever felt like your nose was pressed up against the glass ceiling or like you had to be more "masculine" in order to make it at work, then you'll understand why women are choosing to no longer either give up and work for less money and recognition or fight it out as one of the boys -- they're choosing a third way: selling their body image to other women. In this episode, we'll get a sense of why women feel like they have less agency in the workforce than they do in yoga pants and on Instagram -- and why the conversation around feminism has shifted from burning bras to wearing sports bras. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you know where you first got the idea that thinner, leaner, more or less muscular was better? Do you know why you keep reading articles that tell you that your beliefs are true? How about why magazines don't publish more plus size women or why diet companies keep raking in millions despite studies that show that representation can change the way you think about body image and diets don't work? In this episode of the Your Body, Your Brand podcast, we'll discuss how representation of bodies is often tied to social and financial capital -- getting "likes" and getting paid -- and why we're all drowning in diet culture. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It starts with a toxic workplace and ends in a yoga studio. Jennifer Saminathen, a smart, driven, and vibrant woman, has an MBA and a promising career in Silicon Valley. So why does she want to leave it all to become a yoga teacher?Before we dive into the whys and wherefores wellness entrepreneurship, we’ll hear a case study on dropping out, on the eve of Jennifer’s first yoga teacher training class.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An introduction to the ethos and story behind the Your Body, Your Brand podcast.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Your Body, Your Brand podcast launches on September 2. Hear some of the voices you'll listen to beginning on Labor Day!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.