Rachel Dillon On Healthy Habits, Fitness, Flexible Eating, Relationships, Building Confidence, Body Image & Burn Out
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Harris to 500-500. The following podcast is a Dear Media production. Hi guys, it's Mari and you're listening to The Pursuit of Wellness.

Guys, today on the show, all the way from Australia, we have Rachel Dillon, a fellow fitness gal and entrepreneur. Rachel and I have been connected for years now, and I'm so excited to dive deeper in our conversation today. Not only is she a fitness inspiration, but she's a two-time business owner, the founder of Crop Shop Boutique and Move With Us.

I am a massive fan of Crop Shop. You guys listening probably know I wear it every single day to the gym. It fits so well and I've been wearing it for a couple years now, but now I'm really seeing it everywhere. So excited to chat about that. I feel like we have so much in common. We really are like the same person. I always say this to the girls. I'm like, Mari is just like, you just, you are, we always talk about like living by our values as a business and as people and you are just amazing.

Yeah. Thank you. We adore you at Crop Shop Boutique. Thank you. I love you guys too. And when I was writing this intro, I was like, oh my God, we have so much overlap. I know. The businesses, the fitness, the social media. So I selfishly have questions for you about how you handle it all. I'm excited. I'm really excited for this conversation. And this can be an isolating position to be in. My current partner, he always says, you know, it's a very lonely place.

you know position to be in and and the more you do the lonelier it can become so to be able to connect with people in a very you know similar position I feel it's so nice and it's so like comforting 100% and it's rare you know like I don't often meet fellow influencer business owners women yeah and this is great yeah I want to hop all the way back to the beginning okay how did you initially get into fitness like what was your childhood like but when did you find health

All right. So I have always loved fitness. I grew up in a family who was quite health orientated. This was probably before I cared too much about what I looked like. We were just always really active kids. But then moving into high school, obviously there's this pressure of wanting to look a certain way. And at that time, all the models were super, super thin and you're

Googling the diets that they would be on. And I remember always watching my mom and grandma and everything was about weight loss. Like they were all every morning they were on the scales or they were always buying the low fat, low carb. It was just very much, I very much grew up around, you know,

constant talk around weight loss. And, you know, for me, I always wanted to be super thin. I wanted to be like other girls. So I would, you know, do lots of exercise. I would, you know, follow the MyFitnessPal 1200 calories. I feel like everyone can relate to this. Some of the things that I would try to stick to, the fad diets, were absolutely outrageous. But it's all a part of it. And I think that through that journey and through

realizing how much I didn't know kind of forced me into educating myself. And so it wasn't until I finished school that I went on to, well, I never knew what I wanted to do. I don't know about you, but once I finished school, I was sort of like, what on earth am I going to do? So I tried a couple of things, teaching. I ended up doing a business degree, but I always loved fitness. So I was like, you know what? I'm going to do fitness. I did it on the side. I started my little business. It

that sort of took off. And through that, I guess I found weight training very similar to yourself. And I started competing and that even taught me so much more. I always talk about my first comp prep. I was literally eating fish, white fish at 4am in the morning. Oh my God. Yeah. Like tilapia? Yeah. Oh no. Yeah. Because it was on my meal plan. I was like, I cannot,

stray. Like this is what I need to eat. Yeah. So this was before I found flexible dieting. I can literally say I've done everything you could possibly imagine. And through doing it, failing, learning, it allowed me to then really be interested in, I guess, gaining control. And I

you know, by educating yourself, you get rid of that fear and you can control sort of what you want to do. And so I decided to get really educated around nutrition, learn flexible dieting. I counted calories for years. I don't count them anymore, but I have a good idea how to like fill up my plate and what's this and that. And then, yeah, I started weight training and my whole life absolutely transformed. And I've literally never looked back.

So you said you competed. You competed in WBFF. Yes. Do you know much about it? No. What does that stand for? What is that? I need to know. World Beauty, Fitness and Fashion. Okay. So the reason I was really attracted to WBFF is, as I'm sure you know, when people think about bodybuilding, it's very like that stigma around getting shredded, the big poses on stage. I

I was always like that was too much for me. Obviously, it's great for some people, but I loved fashion. I love being able to be you, et cetera. And so when I went into WBFF, what I loved about it is you got to design your own bikinis. You could pose however you wanted. No way. Yeah, it was very much like bodybuilding, but with a big element of marketability and fashion. And I absolutely loved that. So I competed for five years in a row, which was insane.

when you think about it. I think when I first followed you, you were like Miss WBFF. Yes. That was like your thing back then, right? It was my life. Like for five years, it was my entire life.

And I really loved it. I must say, like, I really loved it. I would design these really cute, sexy bikinis that I just, that was my favorite part of it. And yeah, it was very different to, you know, your typical bodybuilding. So that was a real journey and there was lots of learning in that. And although I think by the end I was competing very healthily, there's still an element of restriction. And I think to be able to even move out of that phase of my life, I think I haven't competed for.

Oh, since 2019. So it's been a nice time now to just live the health lifestyle that I've taken years to sort of develop and then, like yourself, be able to share that with other people. It seems like kind of a foreshadowing for your career now because you were doing fitness and fashion. Yes. And now you're kind of like doing that in both of your businesses as well. Definitely. And I feel like that was kind of what made me want to start CSB is that I would go to the gym and I...

And I wanted to look good because I was always in the gym. So this was years and years ago when I kind of first started going to the gym. I would go to like, I don't know if you guys have like City Beach and Supre. Do you guys have Supre here? Oh, no. I don't know what that is. Okay. They're like your typical, let's just say like Target or, you know, you'll get these little cheap crops from there that are like you would wear with jeans and stuff. Yeah. I would buy them, but I would wear them to the gym. And so he would be like, why are you wearing, you know,

fashion-y crops to the gym. And I was like, because I feel good. And I was like, I loved that I could feel sexy and like kind of show that side of myself when training. And that's when I really realized there was just a lack of

fashion-y style gym wear. And so before I actually started CSB, I partnered with a company for, I think it would have been three or four years where I actually designed my own outfits and active wear. So I would do like bandos and this was years and years ago. I bought them. Oh my

No, literally. I've been a fan for a while. Oh, my God. I remember when you were repped by that brand. I've been there from the beginning. Oh, my God. I love it. Yes. So I did that for like a good couple of years and I realized I just had this massive burning desire to want to create activewear. And as you would know, I feel like we can relate so much, but, you know, it was the spaces, you know, it's saturated. There's no room. You know, it's already happening. And I was like, well, you know what? I love it.

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I feel like you were like the first person rocking bandos at the gym. Yes. You really were. Yes. I feel like I really made bandos a thing. I can claim it. I can claim that. I would agree. Yeah. You made me feel like I could do it too. Yes. And honestly, that's what I've loved about Crop Shop from the beginning. It's super unique and it has that fashion element to it. I'm just seeing it everywhere now. And comfortable still. Yes. Because I feel like

So many people I speak to, I always say, I want you to feel confident, sexy and comfortable because there's nothing better than just being able to sit in something all day long. You know, we go to the gym in the morning and we have to like chuck on a coat and head to a breakfast meeting or something. And it's like, you can still feel a little bit sexy, but you can also feel super comfortable. And I think that element is super important. And it's like, I try to keep in mind when we're designing our items. How would you say your relationship with your body is?

nutrition, fitness in general has evolved since the competing days to now.

Massively. I think that, you know, it's so funny. There was probably a bit of a time on Instagram. You know, you get used to, I actually saw you make a post about this, but you get used to sort of being like, well, this is me. I post body shots. I post this, I post that. And that's kind of what I'm known for. And I went through a phase where I kind of just stopped posting many body photos. And I remember someone asked me once, they're like, oh, like, why aren't you posting many body pics? I'm like, to be honest, I just

don't take that many body pics of myself anymore because I don't feel the need to. I'm not checking in every day to be like, do I look good enough sort of thing. It's the acceptance I now have and my priorities and how they've changed. I feel like it's an age thing. I feel like the older you get, the more you're like, how important are certain things to me? So honestly, massively, even from before competing. And then I think I like evolved through competing, but then even since finishing, I've

I love fitness. It is a massive part of my life, but it's not the only part. And I'm all about kind of making it fit into the lifestyle I have. And like yourself, we have business priorities now. We have relationship priorities. And I guess trying to balance all of that and yeah, fitness, it's just not my number one priority anymore. So I feel like I've

got much more of a balance now. And I know balance is a, it's a tricky word. What is balance? I guess I found my balance, which feels really good. It's refreshing to hear you say that because I think a lot of people tuning into this podcast would assume that you and I would say fitness is a number one priority. And for me, it was for a while, but it was when it needed to be, if that makes sense. Like

When I was trying to change my life and prioritize my health, yes, fitness was my number one priority. But as you kind of get more comfortable and when it becomes a habit, that's when it becomes a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle. Yeah. I always say that life, you'll always have competing priorities. So it's like, which phase are you in? You know, one day when we have families, that's a whole new phase again. It's like you're constantly just choosing...

where you are in life and what's taking priority at that moment in time. And like you, I had my fitness thing. Now it's just, it complements my lifestyle. And now, you know, it's kind of business and relationships. And I think it's nice to be able to know that you're never stuck in one box. You can move, you can change shape. You can, yeah, there's not one version of you that has to stay the same. I love that. I think that's so important. It's okay to embrace different seasons of life.

And also, as you said before, in our position, you know, I definitely sometimes feel tied to a certain story or brand image and feeling stuck to like the before and after the weight loss journey. And it's like it's been years for me. Yeah. And I feel like a completely different person now. My priorities have changed. And I think it's nice to be able to embrace that change and also talk about it. Yeah. Because it helps other people.

you know, feel comfortable with changing who they are. Like you can evolve. Yes. And it's a weird stage. I always say when you're kind of feeling uncomfortable like that, you're going through a transition. You're sort of like elevating into your next self. And I actually saw you do a post and you're like, guys, I love fitness, but I also love fashion. I love business. And I was like, oh, I can relate to that so much. And I often say to my partner, I'm like,

I don't know, I'm feeling like a little confused with my own content right now. And he's like, well, why do you have a bit more of a content strategy? Like, what are your pillars? And I'm like,

yeah, but I don't know, do I view myself as that? And then you just have all of these like conflicting opinions on who you should be. And it's like, it's okay to change and it's okay to try new things and yeah, show a different side of yourself. And I think it's refreshing. I think it's also, there's so much identity tied into who we are online as well. And

With the numbers especially, it's almost challenging to try something new because you're not going to get the same feedback. Like, we both know a before and after is going to outperform anything else, probably. But, like, I want to post horseback riding. I want to post... I'm in my horse era right now. I want to post my horseback riding. No one...

really gains anything from it but I do you know and it's kind of interesting to become okay with that but what I also think is I guess like we've kind of conditioned the people who follow us into that's the kind of content we post so I think it's also about taking them on the journey with you you know and it's like this is the new me this is what I mean and also you start to attract

different people as well. I think everyone's looking for value. So it's like, how can we share value in different areas of our lives? And yeah, I guess allow people to come on the journey with us so that they feel a part of it. Yeah. And

even, you know, you sharing your relationship or me sharing horses is showing people that we're embracing that balance and showing other priorities we have. And even if that doesn't directly apply to them, it's kind of an inspiration to, hey, maybe you can take a day off your phone. Maybe you can go do something that's different than anything you've done before. Yeah. And I think, you know, even I saw you post the other day, like I had a weekend off social media and I was like, I so need a weekend off social media. Like it also, you're not just influencing

you're influencing other influences in your own way. And I think that's really nice because people want the real. They want to see the ups, they want to see the downs, and they want to see that there is many facets to you. And I think, yeah, I personally love seeing many forms of Mari. Thank you. And so do I with your content. What would you say are some non-negotiables in your current day routine?

Oh, that's so easy. I'm such a creature of habit. I don't know about you, but definitely. So I wake up every morning. I try not to go on my phone straight away because I just feel it's just

it's a lot to start my day. So straight up, I like to always drink 700 mils of water. I know you guys do water a bit differently here. And then I'll have a coffee, I'll plan my day, and then I'll do a walk. And that's kind of my morning, every single morning. And then I'll, you know, go to work or jump on meetings, et cetera. But I love to have a certain amount of

of time in the morning. So whether my first meeting's at seven or nine, I will get up and give myself enough time to do those things because I always say if I'm not turning up as my best self, like my team and the people around me aren't going to get the best Rachel. So there's just some things that I'm like without them, I'm just not me. So I really make an effort to

schedule, plan and just have that sort of me time first thing in the morning. So crucial and especially the phone piece. I think when you work for yourself or even just someone listening who has a normal job,

waking up and being bombarded with texts and emails is just like you're on someone else's schedule at that point, not on your own. Yeah. And I think that's important. Yeah. And it's setting boundaries, right? It's like once you start replying, you know, really early in the morning, you're kind of saying, hey guys, message me then or like I'm available. So as hard as it is, it's also, you know, setting boundaries to always bring your best self. And for a long time, I didn't do that. Oh no, me neither. Early on in my career, I would, I,

I absolutely burnt myself out to the point where I was questioning whether or not I loved what I did because I was just so, I was like a slave to my job and that was my own doing. It was no one else's. It was that I had no boundaries. I couldn't say no. I didn't allow for any time for my relationships or my friendships around me or even, you know, spending enough time with my family. I really did not have a balance. It wasn't until I met my partner that I found balance.

he really helped me create space for us and my life outside of my work. And I was like, I would feel anxious. I was like, oh, like, who am I? Like, is this okay? Is this, should I be doing something? I'm like, oh, I'm not working hard enough. And he was like, you need to like,

separate the two. He's like, otherwise you're going to lose other things in your life. And I was like, wow, that's like so true. And actually it was, it was a defining moment. I went on a wellness retreat and I got this strange abdominal massage and the lady was giving me this abdominal massage. And she was like, what brings you joy outside of your job? And I was like,

Oh, my God. Without knowing you? Yeah, without knowing me. She's like, you work a lot. Like she kind of was like reading me and then she asked me that question. And I went outside and I just like started crying to my mom and I was like, I don't know. This was before I'd met my partner. I was like, mom, I don't know. Like I'm so, I work so much that I've lost touch with so many of the other things that are important to me.

And so the last 18 months has been a real transition for me in that I have built out my teams. I've let go of control. I allow myself that downtime. I allow myself that separation. I'm more than just Rachel at Move With Us or Crop Shop Boutique. I'm Rachel as a partner, as a friend, as a family member. And I think that's brought a lot of happiness into my life. And it's made you realize that you can do it all. And I know that sounds crazy.

hard, but you genuinely can. And I think you kind of have to choose, yeah, what's important to you in life and then give time to those things. I have never related to anything more in my life. Seriously, I'm sitting here just like, yes, yes, yes. Because I have been on a journey as of late trying to find out who I am outside of my work. And I think

Maybe it's because we are the faces of the brand or the brands are based around our own journeys, but you really do get tied into the

the business and on a level that's not healthy and also when you're passionate about something it's easy to just lose yourself oh yeah in the whole thing and you know I work with my husband Greg every single day and it was we were finding ourselves talking about it 24 7 it was in our house all the time it was like okay well who are we without this and I think you need to be okay with

Like imagine it all disappeared one day. Then what would be left? Like who are you without it? And that's kind of when I started exploring new hobbies and trying new things and really taking time away from the phone. And I dealt with the same anxiety. It's scary to let go of that comfort. It is almost a comfort. Like I was using work as a way of avoiding...

confronting certain personal issues and it can be a little bit of addiction sometimes. It's 100% an addiction. I can relate to that so much. And my ex-partner, we worked together and it was the same thing. We would go to dinner and outside of work, we wouldn't have any conversation left. And we were sort of like,

oh, like this is interesting, you know, and it's so nice that you guys have been able to recognize that. And obviously, you know, you guys are such a power couple. I love watching you two together. But yeah, it's a challenge and people don't really talk about working with, you know, your partner or your family and knowing how to separate the two. Yeah. I think

especially with social media now, there's so much noise everywhere. Like you really need to figure out how to prioritize your own energy because it's so tempting to like

Even if you're doing something for yourself, it's like, oh, should I post this? Should I share it? It becomes this like catch all where you're constantly doing things for other people and forgetting about your own energy. I could not agree more. This is heavy stuff, guys. Out of curiosity, having businesses in the fitness industry, do you feel like that's helped you live a healthier lifestyle more or has it made it more challenging? If you know what I mean.

That is a really good question. I think that in a way, early on, it served as sort of an accountability piece in that I felt like if I was going to do something and I told, you know, my audience, it was like, they're relying on me. Like, I need to follow through on this, especially, you know, in my competing days. However, I do think that

was a certain amount of pressure maybe early on that wasn't obviously ideal. But again, it's more, I think it's more pressure from yourself than other people. But I definitely think that

a bit of both, I would say. I would say it served in, I liked that I've kept accountable, but I must say now I'm just a lot, I'm a lot less phased. I'm kind of, I'm so much more accepting of who I am. I'm kind of like, this is who I am. This is what I'm going to share. You know, people can either love it or not, or whatever they choose. It's sort of not my responsibility. And I think that

given me a lot of power to just be more who I am too. It's more, I can post when I'm having a bad day or that I'm, you know, I think people get so used to seeing these highlight reels. Like I think it's refreshing for them to know, well, it's not always like that, especially as business owners. Building True Businesses has been by

by far the hardest thing I have ever done. Forget the competing, forget fitness. Like it is so challenging. It's an ongoing journey of constant problem solving. And I think people see, you know, the big, the businesses and the fun and the content and the, all the fun stuff. And I think it's important for people to know that it's actually, there's some really difficult times and it is

It's a hard journey to be on. It's emotionally grueling. It's a lot. Yes. How often a week are you training now? Yep. So I try to be active once a day, but whether that be a walk or Pilates, I probably do three to four weighted sessions a week. And then I'll do, I'm really into mobility at the moment. So I try to do a walk and mobility or Pilates and mobility twice a week. So I'm doing something every day, but...

yeah, I'm always pretty consistent with my three to four weighted sessions. And then outside of that, I'm like, do what feels good, you know, enjoy, enjoy your training again. And because we've trained for so long, you need to keep some sort of variety because otherwise it can become quite

I guess. So I'm always up for trying, trying new things, moving in anyway. I think trying new things is crucial. I've been on a phase right now where I'm, I became stuck with training six days a week with weights and I was beating myself to the ground because I kind of felt like this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Like I'm the weightlifting girl. Now I'm down to like three to four days a week and doing other things as well. And it's making it really fun. And I think my body is enjoying it more. Oh, I

I can relate so much. I'm like, I'm doing Pilates, but I'm the girl that lifts weights. And I'm like, well, you can be both. Yes. You know? Yes. And that's exactly what I'm talking about. We don't need to fit inside a box that...

we have or other people have created for us. It's like, I want to encourage people that they don't have to fit inside that box either and that they can go and try new things and enjoy your life. I think we spend so long, oh, but I should be doing this. I should do seven days a week or everything's like, where did that actually come from? Like, where did we pull these, you know, numbers or stories from? And I think, yeah, there's a lot of power in just

waking up each day and trying to enjoy what you do. What tips would you give someone listening who wants to start living a healthier lifestyle? I think number one is environment. I think that it's super important to probably look around, you know, who are you hanging out with? Who's influencing you? Who are you following? I think those things are super important because I know that if

And naturally, we do kind of attract what we are. And I think that even I look around me and most of my friends love to move their bodies in a way. They love going out for a fresh salad. Or I think that's really helpful if you can try to start even just going online and joining some groups, group classes or anything where you can just start to hang around people that have similar interests and, you know, are like-minded. Yeah.

And then outside of that, I always say start small. People, as I said, we set these ridiculous goals. Seven days a week. Can't go off my meal plan. This and that. Start super, super small. Two sessions a week.

hitting, let's say you do one liter of water a day. Sorry, I know that's not... Do two. Start really small and make sure each day you're taking those things off. And I promise you, once you start to prove to yourself, oh, hey, I can do that. It's like, let's add something else to the list. And then eventually, as you said, they become habits. And once they become habits, it just becomes a lifestyle. I don't really have to remind myself to drink water. I just do it. I don't have to

Like, it's not a chore going to the gym. I'm like, I just go to the gym, you know, choosing my dinner at night. It's not like, oh, I really want, I just choose the options that I know make me feel good. So I get it. Initially, it's really difficult and

staying consistent is hard, but I think it's also about starting small and realizing that me and you miss gym sometimes too. We have, you know, in and out when we feel like it, you know, that's all normal and okay. And I think that's super important. Be kind to yourself throughout the journey because it's not, there's no end destination, which is something a lot of people say, like, I'll be happy when I lose 10 kilos or I'll be happy. And it's like,

you once you get there it'll be something else so instead of attaching like this end emotion just try to start looking at it as this is something that I want to do every day because it makes me feel good 100% and I think keeping the promises to yourself even when they're small like drinking the amount of water you promised yourself or taking that walk you promised yourself those are the building blocks to keeping the bigger promises and you'll be shocked where that takes you

you

You guys have probably been seeing greens all over your TikTok, your Instagram feed, at Coachella. And by now you've probably realized that they are bloom greens. And what's crazy is my husband and I started the company back in 2019. So to see it blown up all over the internet is absolutely insane for us. Originally, I created greens for myself. I wanted an all-in-one supplement that helped with digestion, bloating, immunity, energy, and more. And I wanted to create a green supplement that helped with digestion, bloating, immunity, energy, and more.

So I wanted to make a formula that was full of whole fruits and vegetables plus superfoods, antioxidants, probiotics, digestive enzymes, and more. Basically when I was on my fitness journey, I realized just how important gut health is. It really impacts everything else. To start a fitness journey, you need to have a good base and great gut health. And that's where it began.

Since then, greens have blown up all over TikTok. It's amazing to see how far they've reached, and they really are the easiest way to make sure you're getting in all of your essential nutrients. They come in five delicious flavors. Mango is my current favorite, but I highly recommend you check out coconut as well. I have some super exciting news. Greens are now available in Target and Walmart nationwide.

From the beginning, Greg and I wanted greens to be super accessible to everyone. So we knew Target and Walmart were the best choices. You can also find greens on Amazon and on our store, www.bloomnew.com. That's B-L-O-O-M-N-U.com. You can also use my code POW for 10% off greens on our website. Enjoy.

If I have learned anything from these podcast interviews, it's just how important sleep routine is. Sleep health is so crucial for so many things in our life, whether it's focusing at work, energy at the gym, skin health, and more. If you're on a fitness journey, optimizing your sleep is really going to be the first step.

I personally started focusing on my sleep health a couple of years ago. And one of the first purchases I made was the Hatch alarm clock. And I still use it religiously to this day. I absolutely love the rain noise feature. I can't fall asleep without it at this point. Neither can Greg. We're absolutely obsessed.

Make space for rest in your life with the Restore 2. Your new bedside sleep companion is inspired by nature, backed by sleep science, and designed to take care of you from sunset to sunrise. I absolutely love the gradual sunrise alarm. It wakes you up gently with natural feeling light.

I also love the fact that it helps you break your late night scrolling habits. There's nothing worse than having blue light from your phone in your face. You can be eased into sleep with a sunset paired with sleep stories and guided meditations and more or the rain noise like me. It can help you carve out moments in your day so you can create a simple, healthy sleep ritual that you'll look forward to.

Head to Hatch.co and get free expedited shipping on your new Restore 2 so you can start feeling well-rested ASAP. Head to Hatch.co and get free expedited shipping on your new Restore 2 so you can start feeling well-rested ASAP. People always ask, how do you build confidence? And I think exactly like that.

Knowing that I can keep myself accountable and do what I say I'm going to do, the power in that, I am like...

I feel so good about myself and so confident. And I don't need to say to my friend, oh, please, you know, make sure that we go to gym this week. It's like, no, I will make sure I'll go to gym this week. And I always say there was a really defining moment for me. I think I was like 19 years old and my partner at the time, I just had a massive like binge and I turned to him and I said, please make sure I'm healthy tomorrow. And he went to say something and I said, Rachel, you are the only one in control of what you choose to do each day.

And from that moment on, I was like, you make sure you don't do that or you learn more so you're not binging. Like, why are you binging? And I started to really ask myself the confronting questions that led to me then wanting to learn more and obviously being able to, yeah, be accountable to what I say I'm going to do. And that built confidence for me. It wasn't really the way I looked. It wasn't really, you know,

having a following or any of those things. It was like I said I was going to do something and I did it. And that feels really good. It's like a stack of evidence for yourself that you know you're capable. You can do hard things. So whether it's a business or something else you want to start, you already know you can do all these things for yourself. So this is just the next step. And I always say I feel like fitness kind of

the foundations and the things that we learned throughout fitness, we then could apply to business. I now apply to, you know, relationships in my life and management and all of these new things that I never thought I could do. It just really, for me, fitness helped me build that confidence in knowing that if

if I, you know, take the steps and I'm accountable that you can do anything. Like the world is literally like, what is it? The world's your oyster. That's the one. A hundred percent. Yeah, I agree. And I even take it as far as like sets and reps. Like I apply that to my life, you know, go to the last rep and also do another one. Yes. And if you take that mindset and apply it to business and just chip away every single day, you

You can change your whole life. It's insane. And I've always said, I don't think I would have the work ethic that I have without fitness. I could not agree more. It was life-changing for me. And I think a lot of people who have gone through similar journeys say the exact same thing. It's just set them up for success in all aspects of their lives. And it's also that like,

temporary pain you feel for so much growth I don't know maybe we're just being gym rats but like I think you can apply it to absolutely everything no I can totally relate to that what would you say is that I don't know if you you can tell based on your trip here but what would you say is the biggest difference between health culture in Australia versus America

Oh, that's a really good question. I think obviously LA is like the health hub of America. So something that you guys have that we don't is a lot more health options. So going down to what's the really famous? Air One. Yeah, that one. And just being able to all sweet greens and get a salad. That's not really that popular in Australia. So what I would say is different is there's a lot more

options here for you guys to buy out, whereas we cook in a lot more because we have the fresh produce and all of that stuff. But I don't feel like we've progressed as much as you guys have in having those convenient, healthy options. I would love to have a salad bar or a smoothie bar. And we have some, but they're not to the standard that you guys have. In saying that, I would say everything here is massive. Yeah.

Like your Cokes are like massive when you get a Coke at dinner or the refilling, very different. So our portion sizes in Australia are a lot smaller. Wow. Yeah, a lot smaller. Okay, so I feel really similar about the UK because whenever I go to London or see family or whatever...

I can't find a smoothie bar anywhere or a salad bar anywhere. It's crazy. The options here, like we are so jealous. Interesting. We are so jealous. I'm kind of surprised because I feel like people always tell me like, oh, Australia's the best for healthy food. It is good. And I guess where I live is Gold Coast. It's a bit more like beachy town. But Sydney, for example, you'd be looking at a bit more of it. But also, I mean, LA is pretty expensive too, super expensive. Yeah.

But definitely not the variety you guys have and the convenience. It's just, yeah, you guys have a lot more

than us in Australia. So it's like we're behind. We're just, we're a little behind. But you guys, you do have a lot of like health influences, I feel like. The culture of health is massive. Yeah. It's when I say, as in you'll see a gym on every corner, everyone is, especially where we live, Gold Coast, everyone is at Pilates or walking or at the gym. It is massive. Like the health culture is massive. Yeah.

I feel like the biggest difference is the food options. We would make a lot more of our stuff ourselves. And maybe it's just because we're here, we're buying out more. Like you might not buy out as much. People do. People do. Erewhon always has a line down the street. It's so busy. Oh, yeah. It's like popping. Yeah. But it's so good. It's so good. Isn't it like next level? Like $27 smoothies. Oh, ridiculously priced. But you have to remember our currency. So everything here is pretty much like...

what, around nearly half, a bit over half. So let's say it's a hundred bucks here. That's like 150 Australian or 140 around that. So yeah, it's already expensive. And then we're like, oh, add everything on. So if you go to Australia, you'd probably be like, this is cheap. Yeah.

I know I still have to come. Yes, you have to. I really want to. It looks incredible. Australia is beautiful. It looks gorgeous. Especially where you live right on the beach. You'd love. And I have to come meet P. Yes. Famous P. So I want to talk business. Yes. Let's go back to the beginning. Bodies by Rachel. How did that start? Like what was the whole vision?

Wow. Okay. So I was first, as I said, I was doing a business marketing and management degree at university or college, like you guys call it. And I just loved fitness. I remember I'd watch the personal trainers because I would go do all the classes. Like, did you guys have like body attack and stuff here? I don't think so. You guys don't have so many. You would. It would just be called something different. Anyway, I'd go do all these classes. I'll just watch the PGs and be like, I so badly want to be you. I thought it was like the best job ever. And

And my parents at the time loved them to death, but they're very traditional. And they were like, you know, it's not really a job. I think you need to just get your degree and blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, so I got my degree and when I was doing that, I started building bodies by Rachel. But at this stage, it was just like one-on-one training. Did you ever do? Yeah, okay. Never. Never. Okay. And did you have social media at this point? Did you have a following? No, no. Okay. So I was doing like a personal trainer doing one-on-ones and then in the town I was in, I was from quite a small town, I started to get heaps of interest because I was like the only girl doing weight training for females and they were all getting these incredible results. Okay.

And so then I started doing massive like hit camps and that'd be like big weighted circuit sort of thing. And there'd be like 50 girls per class and I would do several a day. And it just started getting really big. And I was like, oh, I need to share this with more people. And so that's when I was like, I need to build an app. And it was pretty early on. There wasn't heaps around at this stage. And I remember like, I'm sure you have much experience in this, but our first app was a total flop. Like there was so many issues. And

Anyway, we just kept building. Initially, we would manually send out people's programs. Yes, same. People still say to me, they're like, we have the PDFs. I'm like, oh, bless. Why are we the same? You are like me in Australia. This is so weird, guys. My story's the same. We're exactly the same. But you've got to go through the manual stage to appreciate the app stage. We would sit around a little table in our house. There was like three of us. We're like, quick, legos.

We're like, this must be how you run a business. This is perfect. This seems super efficient. And so, yeah, obviously it wasn't efficient. And then we kind of moved. I think 2017 was when we really moved online. And from there, we kind of just built out, built out. It was Bodies by Rachel at that stage, which was why we changed it to move with us because it was very much, you know, a bit difficult being just about me. So we did kind of move into like, you know, new coaches, et cetera. And...

Yeah, from there, it kind of just kept evolving, you know, through COVID especially, you would have felt the same, like that massive blow up of fitness just went like absolutely wild. And then I think it was 2019, I

was when I first decided to start my activewear. So I obviously worked with that company and I was like, I just, I wanted to create more. So I was like, I want to do this myself. And I remember at first I called it Crop Shop because I was like, I'm just doing crops. Like, you know, I was still working with someone else. And it wasn't until I think like 20, end of 2020 that we actually did leggings. And then...

Yeah, I really just kind of did it as a passion project. I didn't think it would be anything crazy. And then, you know, we had a couple of crops that kind of went viral, the Sierra and the Lexi. And yeah, now it's growing really rapidly and we're just absolutely loving the journey. I'm, yeah, it's very different businesses, as I'm sure with like your two as well. Yeah. When you're selling a tangible product, it's a new style. Obviously they have similarities, but it's been really fun to have new challenges. Yeah.

So, okay, Crop Shop came about in 2019. That's when Bloom came about for us. So we had that. Yeah. So very similar timelines. And it really is such a different mindset running two different types of businesses. Very. So do you have two separate teams for each business and what role do you play in each team? Yes. So two completely separate teams. At the beginning, they definitely were like...

going over each other and we were like, these businesses need to be separate because surprisingly, we don't actually have a massive overlap. So it's not like there is some overlap, but not probably as much as you would think.

My role is kind of like I kind of sit at the top of sort of each business alongside other people, but I kind of have what you would call like general managers underneath me and I sort of work really closely with them. And then I also on Crop Shop's side, I work really closely with like our creative director and sort of the brand piece, partnerships with Bronte and then obviously with Move With Us, the same thing. I kind of work with the programming and brand side

piece a little bit. So I'm not massively into titles. I don't think I'm... I don't know. I kind of feel like I just sit in a nice spot where I get to do what I really enjoy in the businesses. And that's taken a while. I had to do a lot of the stuff that I found more difficult for me. I found...

trying to do more of like the management side of things and more process and operations. I am not super passionate about it. So I kind of felt like I was losing touch of what I really love to do, which is on Crop Shop, obviously like design and brand and, you know, that aspect of things. I felt like I was missing out on that a little bit more. So I've definitely made an effort to hire out

and get people that are better at operations so that I can be more involved in, you know, the stuff that I think I can add more value to. I hope that made sense. Oh my God. So much sense to me because I had such a similar experience with our businesses. At the beginning, you kind of just wear all the hats. Like you're just there to help with anything you can. I mean, we were doing like customer service at the beginning. Oh yeah. We've done it all. Right. You do it all. And as you evolve,

I really wanted to focus on the things that I felt like I could add the most value to and the things I found the most rewarding as well. But there always is that weird founder guilt. Oh, yeah. I would say, like, I don't know about you, but I had this period of time where I was kind of grieving giving up control of certain areas, which is an interesting thing to go through. I feel like I definitely felt the same. But as I started to hire people that were really good at their jobs, I was like,

Go for it. Absolutely. Like I loved seeing people thrive. So for me, I have no problem sitting back and saying like giving that trust and that control. Early on, I did not. It was very much...

micromanaging which is not you know sustainable or healthy for you know not only the business but for people to grow within the business I think you need to let people try things make mistakes learn from them and I think that culture is really healthy but I can definitely relate early on but now I'm I'm so excited when we hire someone and they're really good at their job I'm like I'm

I'm here to, you know, guide and assist, but I love that they can sort of take control of that area. It is the best watching young people kind of grow because that's the thing with businesses like ours. They are kind of new and there's positions like influencer managing and all these new titles that haven't existed in years prior. And now we're giving young people the opportunity to kind of grow and it's awesome.

awesome watching them kill it. And I agree with you, it makes everything worth it. Oh, yeah. And yeah, you kind of early on, I think it's very, very narrow minded and sort of as you grow as a leader, I think you get a lot of happiness from watching people, you know, I guess, grow in their roles and succeed, which has been something that I've really enjoyed as of late. I really love the whole idea of building a team. To me, I'm like super passionate about it.

Where did you begin to learn management skills or like leadership skills in general? Yeah. So, yeah, I don't know about you, but it's kind of...

it was like one day I just was a manager and I was like, oh wow. So we need to have monthly business reviews and performance reviews and all of these new things. And I think that it's been a very slow journey for us as in we slowly implement, we've just started to slowly implemented things. We've had advisors, consultants, and then now that we're hiring higher level sort of executives, we're getting even more experience and then learning from them. And I think that

I wasn't, it's like I didn't read one book and I was like, oh, I'm the best man. And even still now, I've started working with a coach, a professional coach, because early on I was super hard on myself. If I felt like I didn't handle a conversation as effectively as I could or if I was always so worried with how I communicated something, I would

beat myself up and really get down. Whereas now I'm like, okay, well, you probably could have said this or done this better. So do that next time. And I think I'm just a little more forgiving with myself even within the journey, but also way more open to feedback. I really love when people can give me constructive feedback. I don't take it offensively. I think we're all here to be better. So I think that something I'm trying this year is just as something happens, confront it,

Finish with it. Move on. You know, I think that I was a massive avoider of confrontation for a long time. And it's still something that's super uncomfortable for me. But I know to be like a good leader that it's super important. And the more you do it, the less uncomfortable

of a big deal it becomes. Oh, yeah. Because I hate confrontation. It's my least favorite thing. Like having hard conversations with people, I will avoid it like the plague. But the more you avoid it, the bigger it becomes. And I think nipping it in the bud, getting it done and moving on also shows your team. Oh, yeah. You know that it's okay. It's okay to disagree and it's okay to have those hard conversations. I agree. And I also feel like there's an extra layer of hardness being a female and especially being the face of the brands because...

You're so concerned about, oh, my God, like, do they think I'm bitchy because I was assertive or do they think I'm this because I'm that? And it's like, no, you can be those things and you're still everything you are. But there's nothing wrong with being assertive sometimes or direct. But I think that's like I've always struggled with, like, because I'm

That's who I am to a degree, especially with business. I'm quite, you know, I can be quite serious and I'm real. I take my businesses really seriously. But then I'm also this fun, happy, energetic Rachel. And I think, you know, trying to balance those two for me have been difficult and still something that I struggle with a little bit. Being the face of both brands, essentially, and I know you've introduced coaches now. Do you ever feel that?

that pressure of your team, of, you know, the whole business kind of relying on you? Yeah, to a degree. I feel like both the businesses now are definitely at stages where, especially CSB, like most people don't even know I own it. And that was kind of the goal of it. I really wanted to create a brand outside of me. It's more, yeah, I guess within your team and trying to show up as

which Rachel's showing up sort of thing because I feel there's many facets of someone and trying to be business and energetic, playful and that sort of motivator for the team, I do find that challenging and especially early on I did find a lot of reliance but

I also found setting boundaries. I sort of said to my team, hey, we need new coaches. Like we need more content. We need variety. I'm going to give you this amount of time each week. And once that was done, it sort of forced the team to be like, okay, cool. We need to go and do these things. And I was only saying to them the other week, I'm like, it's been three months and we have like several new coaches. We have such a variety of content on our page. So I think sometimes I would give so much. If someone needed something and they messaged me, I wouldn't care what time or when I was doing it.

And that's what caused me to get very burnt out. And as soon as I started saying no, everyone just like respected it and found other ways to get content. Because as you would know, trying to get content, be in the business,

Manage. It's so much. And you need to have those boundaries in order for the whole business to be successful. That was actually my next question. How do you handle making content and running two businesses at once? It's insane. It is insane, especially with the amount of platforms now. Oh my God. Do you TikTok? I try, but I'm not overly great on it.

I've had like phases where I do it every day. And right now I'm in a phase where I don't even touch the app. Like I can't even look at it. I'm a bit the same. So when it was like early on, I went through a massive TikTok stage. I try to just repurpose some of the content. So one thing, how do I balance it? I think...

the one thing I try to do now is repurpose a lot more content. So when I'm getting it, I'm like, how can I use this in how many ways? And now that I have more support from my team on both sides, they really help me produce content. Now was initially I was doing it alone and it was so funny. I was hiring all these people for the businesses, but I was like, well,

what about me? You know, who's helping me? Because you kind of forget that your, your brands are part of the brands in itself, right? But it's still a standalone brand. So I did struggle early on trying to get my content, CSB's content, Move With Us content, and then several platforms. It was, it was overwhelming. But now I really lean on some of my team to sort of help me get more stuff. And I feel, or help me edit a video or,

And put time into training them. I think that's super important because you need people to be able to produce content like you would produce or edit it yourself. And that's a control thing too. But it's also you, you know, you're speaking as yourself. So I'm super like picky, I guess, with how I'm portrayed because I want to be portrayed as me. So I think putting time into training people around me to be able to assist me and allowing that assistance is

has been. But I mean, you know, it's always a struggle. The content game is always a struggle. Yeah. I always say to myself, I just want to share more just on the spot. Like this was my day. I know. And then, yeah, there's this, there is still that pressure of like, oh, but is it, is, you know? Yeah. Is it edited well? Is it aesthetic enough? I know. I go through seasons. We were talking about it before. There's seasons of life and like right now content is

probably isn't my top priority. This show we're on right now is one of my top priorities. So I'm here pretty much every week, multiple times a week, because I think these conversations add so much value. So much. But you position them on your page, right? Your podcast, which I love. I love seeing people speak and I love seeing the real side of someone because, you know, photos and everything are great. But I feel like

for where we are in our journeys, this is more, this represents us well. I agree. And you can go so much deeper on these topics that deserve more conversation than a photo, I think. Yeah. Oh, absolutely. What would you say is the most rewarding part of your job now?

Oh, that is such a good question. I think the most rewarding part of my job is seeing or receiving messages of girls. I'll go for CSB first, but same for Move With Us. But just hearing how great they feel about

about themselves wearing my product or doing my workouts. Whenever I do forget, I go in our forum or I check my DMs or whenever I'm feeling a little down, I'm just like, wow, you're actually really impacting people's lives. And that feeling is such a good feeling. And we've been doing it for so long. I'm like, oh, will that change? And it just doesn't. Every message, I'm just like,

oh, that makes me so happy and it really lights me up and keeps me. And, you know, we do a lot of community stuff where we bring the girls in. We did one here in LA actually. And they just, they bring me so much. They're my energizers. I always say like certain tasks de-energize me or energize me and they really energize me. That and seeing my team progress and evolve as well for me is super, super rewarding because, yeah,

Yeah, I'm such a progress girl. I don't care if it's big or small. I'm like, if we're progressing, tick. I love knowing that we're working towards reaching our potential. Yeah. And I think those in-person reactions, I don't know about you, but something hits with those in-person reactions. I cry every single time. They're just, honestly, I feel so much of our job is online that to be able to actually hear someone say those words to you, it's like...

this is real. What we're doing is so much more than anything that you can think of. You know, you're at work worrying about all these small problems and then you get one person tell you how great they feel. And it's like, this is the important stuff. And I think sometimes being online, you forget how many people you're actually impacting. And I think that's, yes, super rewarding for me.

Now it's time for the question we ask every guest. I started this podcast because I believe everyone's pursuit of wellness looks different. What does wellness mean to you?

I think wellness to me is self-care. I think it's about, and not just your typical like a mask on or, you know, candles lit. Obviously, I love that stuff too, but definitely I feel wellness to me is respecting myself enough to do the things that I say I'm going to do. And whether that be taking time off social media or investing in my relationships, I think wellness

investing in myself you know when I can really live up to who I want to be I love that okay where can people find you online where can they find the businesses where can they shop

So on Insta and TikTok, I think I'm Rachel J. Dillon. And then obviously we have Crop Shop Boutique for activewear and then Move With Us Fitness. So yeah, you can find us there. Should we do a little giveaway of Crop Shop? Absolutely. I feel like the girls would freak. Yes. Should we do five $250 vouchers? What? I want to win.

Okay. Yeah, we're doing a good way. Let's go all out. Guys, go follow the Pursuit of Wellness podcast page and leave a comment on the latest post saying your favorite part of this episode with Rachel. And then we will set you guys up with... Five, two...

$250 vouchers, which is so good. Five winners, guys. You will really snatch up some cute pieces. Okay, yeah. Go follow my podcast page. Go follow Crop Shop's page and leave a comment on my latest podcast post to win a gift capture. Thank you so much for having me. This was so lovely. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate it. That was great. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for listening to today's episode. Go comment on my last Instagram at Mari Llewellyn with the guest you want to see next. I'll be picking one person from the comments to send our bloom greens to. Make sure you hit follow so you never miss my weekly episodes. If you enjoyed the conversation, be sure to share and leave a review. See you next week.

Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.