S3E25: Claudia Grace Wants You to Slow Down and Connect Mindfully

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Claudia shares her story of finding the importance of overall wellness and holding personal health as the highest priority.

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Show Notes

For today’s episode, Claudia shares her story of finding the importance of overall wellness and holding personal health as the highest priority. She gives us a short rundown of her view on holistic nutrition and how what we eat affects our health.

We talk about the effects of our social media feeds on our self-image and mental state, and the parallels between your feed and what you feed on, your diet. We discuss tech addiction, how notifications and overstimulation can lead to high stress, and how difficult it can be to disconnect as technology becomes more and more integrated into every aspect of our lives.

We explore the concept of slowing down, learning to become more mindful of our inner desires and unconscious habits, and giving ourselves even just 5-10 minutes of quiet, personal time to destress and relax. Claudia also shares her experience as a volunteer for the Healing Hands organization working with doctors, surgeons, and other medical personnel.

In this episode, you will hear:

What does holistic mean?
Curating your social media feeds
Managing where, and to what, you give your attention and time
Learning to receive as well as give
Transitioning to a slower, more mindful lifestyle
Volunteering for Healing Hands

Claudia Grace is a certified health and wellness coach, designing custom Wellness Programs for organizations and private executive coaching. Ms. Grace developed a unique methodology to inspire high-achieving executives and CEOs to prioritize their health and well-being with ease through her proven system. Her various health programs create lasting change in behavior, activate a powerful mindset, and inspire people to reach new heights at work and in life!

Transcript

Claudia Grace 0:00
Stop comparing yourself, the only person you should compare yourself to is yourself, we should try to get better every day, but not to beat someone or when it’s to improve ourselves what is lacking in you, that you want to improve and work on those things.

Announcer 0:20
Welcome to the healthier tech podcast, the show about building a healthier relationship with modern technology. Now, here are your hosts, R blank and Stephanie Warner.

R Blank 0:33
Okay, so we’re about to hear Claudia grace. And the conversations really covers a lot of good parts. But the part I think everyone’s gonna really like is the focus on slowing down and what Claudia has to say about that. And her number one tip that people can start working on right now in order to slow down and the benefits that that’ll bring.

Stephanie Warner 0:54
Yeah, I appreciate hearing how Claudia approaches her clients to help them gain more of their time for themselves by teaching them how to delegate more so they can gain back some of their time.

R Blank 1:08
Yeah, this interview is chock full of actionable tips for people. So without any further delay, let’s get into our interview with Claudia Grace

Stephanie Warner 1:15
sounds great.

R Blank 1:20
Claudia grace is a certified health coach designing custom wellness programmes for businesses and private clients. Her holistic approach is founded on science based methodology and vast experience with Premier physicians covering health issues including stress reduction, chronic disease management, holistic nutrition, and mental health, learning lessons throughout her many health care career roles. She now teaches people to become the CEO of their lives by prioritising Health First, let’s welcome Claudia to the healthier tech podcast. Welcome, Claudia.

Claudia Grace 1:52
I’m so happy to be here. And thanks for having me as your guests.

R Blank 1:56
Oh, thank you for making the time. So to get started, can you share why it is you pursued a career in health and specifically, you know, the wide variety of roles that you’ve chosen to pursue?

Claudia Grace 2:10
I, it goes back to my family roots. My father was a physician and loved science. And I really was definitely interested in science and wellness, you know, at a very young age, very athletic. And I was very active in sports, my upbringing, being Spanish and my mother, always being very deliberate with you know, how we ate very nutritious whole healthy whole foods, in comparison to a lot of my friends were eating pretty junky. I always, you know, a pretty healthy and that made a difference in how I felt. And some of the things that I got into, I used to have migraine headaches. And that brought me to more holistic remedies in my upbringing, and how it really transferred my health, I always wanted to kind of get back to these roots, and really help other people my nature is to serve others and educate and heal them in some way and make them feel better. And that’s why I’m so excited to offer my programmes to to people and really transform their lives.

R Blank 3:22
So can you talk a little bit about the programmes that that you offer?

Claudia Grace 3:26
Sure, um, I offer Integrative Health programmes designed around the body, mind and spirit connections within like the human body. I do guided imagery, I focus on prevention, recovery and rebuilding, through my holistic nutrition, movement, exercise, mindfulness, we need to slow down, we’re rushing too much. And our stress is getting the better of us. And I think having someone who can hold you accountable in a loving and supportive way and encourage you and motivate you is really transformative. And I I want people to reach their greatest potential. And my programmes address chronic disease management, like you mentioned, stress and really mental health support, because we really need that today. Yeah,

R Blank 4:21
know for sure. And I definitely want to get back to your emphasis on slowing down in a second. But before we do, could you talk a little bit about for those who may not know what what, what is, I mean, I know the word holistic and I know the word nutrition. What do those two words mean when they’re put together?

Claudia Grace 4:38
It’s really going back to just being natural, what comes from the earth, you know, now things are so much more genetically modified and changed from their original stick status. You know, foods that come from Earth, you know, just whole natural foods. And really the difference it makes on our bodies, you is, you know, it reverses disease, you know, now, more than ever, I think science like the study of like our behaviour and our environment can cause and change the ways it affects our genes. So really holistic nutrition. There are so many studies now that show how we what we eat affects our health today. That is the best prevention is what we eat natural foods from Earth.

R Blank 5:30
So getting back well, actually, before we do, do you work with clients only in real life? Or do you also work with them? virtually online?

Claudia Grace 5:40
Oh, yeah, most actually, you know, because of the pandemic, most of my clients because we couldn’t really see each other are, you know, globally, you know, I have clients all over the world. And that is wonderful that I can help them wherever they are, you know, and serve them, you know, each person, you know, different situations and different kind of goals, but I can help them change their behaviours. And I think a lot of it’s not always telling them like what exactly to eat, but it’s a lot of things beyond that, that really affect our health. It’s not just our physical health, many other components to our health. Yeah, for sure how we feel. Yeah.

R Blank 6:21
So I’m wondering, how does someone know that they want to search you out? Like, how does when people find you? Why is it that they find you?

Claudia Grace 6:33
Um, I don’t know, I think I tracked I think my posts, I’m really a person that lives, you know, by my heart and my values. So I think people are attracted to me because I’m genuine and authentic. And I truly like to help people in any way I can. I think I give that. I’m very representative of that. And I guess I think I look the part. So I think you should look healthy. And I’ll be 54 in a week. And I’m in really good shape. I, you know, I practice what I preach, I eat well, and I take care of myself and I just tried to you know, live a healthy life. And I think it shows in that when you’re passionate about what you do. It’s like I think you give off that energy modelling, people say that about me that they either wanted to meet me or had this desire to to meet me or they liked my solutions, because I like to give a lot of value to people who I connect with, you know, whether it’s through a post or a referral, or just, you know, just to help them in some small way to solve a problem, or help them in, you know, physically or emotionally mentally.

Stephanie Warner 7:56
Yeah, I actually it’s, it’s, I was speaking to that I was looking at your Instagram earlier. And, you know, I definitely can understand and see the value that you’re giving, and you’re bringing to the table on some of these really, you know, big issues for today. And actually, the first post I looked at you, I think you posted it recently, and it was about breaking the body shame patterns. And of course, I had to read that because it’s such a, you know, it’s such a big topic for so many people, whether you’re young or you’re old, you’re male, or you’re female. And I noticed that the first step that you posted, was to choose your social media platform wisely, by selecting body positive bat, body acceptance and self love feeds. And I’d love it if you could share with our listeners on why curating your feeds is so important to your physical and mental wellness.

Claudia Grace 8:50
It is truly important. It’s like what we you know, what we take in and the news, the people that we surround ourselves with the feeds that we’re feeding our mind, we, we It can either harness our power or inhibit our power, right? Are we going to give our power to these feeds that make us feel bad because we’re never going to attain that? That model like image? Or what we feel is the object of beauty or? Or like our physical attraction? Or are we going to feed our body and mind wholesome things that are going to empower us because is our is our self worth? Our beauty? Is that what makes a person better? Because they’re beautiful? Or is it our intelligence, our character, our ingenuity, our creativity, what makes a person more valuable? It shouldn’t be our physical attributes. We there are many things that make each person you know, great, and our physicality shouldn’t just be one of them. And I think that people need to embrace themselves. and love themselves, you know, through our love and compassion and owning who we are, really is what should empower us. And there’s just so much emphasis on our beauty and our youth. And it’s kind of sad, I hear it from all ages, as you said, male and female, you know, just a lot of bullying over their life, either from extremes of being way too thin, or, you know, obese in that regard, and how to really love the person underneath all of it is what I’m really good at helping people overcome.

R Blank 10:37
So what I what I hear when I hear you answer that question, and that was a great question stuff. What I hear when I hear you answer that question, is people should take an approach to their, their digital interactions the same way that they do with their diet, right? So you want to engage with wholesome and nutritious sustenance, whether we’re talking about, you know, food from the earth, or you’re talking about somebody’s Instagram feed? Yes,

Claudia Grace 11:05
yeah, it’s like contagious, you know, what, you know, what we give, what we take in, you know, we’re eating, for instance, too much sugar we’re gonna feel are jittery, and we’re gonna go through this roller coaster of, you know, high glycemic and crash, you’re gonna get a little energy, and then you’re not going to feel really good. And then you’re going to do probably something else that may not be healthy, just with you like our feeds, we need to kind of, you know, do like a little I tell my clients a little social detox, let’s put, let’s put some healthy elements in there. And, you know, stop comparing yourself, the only person you should compare yourself to is yourself, we should try to get better every day, but not to beat someone, or when it’s to improve ourselves, what is lacking in you, that you want to improve and work on those things.

R Blank 11:59
So it sounds like there’s not a one size fits. So if you’re, if you’re working with a client, and you’re working with them to try to improve their social media hygiene, for lack of a better term, it sounds like, there’s some general goals that you set, but it’s not a one size fits all sort of list of criteria,

Claudia Grace 12:20
right, it is very personalised, because look, each person, you know, some people are, you know, addicted to social media, and that’s a lot of time away. So if you’re a good time manager, you can’t just sit there and scroll for, you know, you can take hours and lose time. Or you can, you know, find valuable podcasts, find things that are helpful, you know, holistic information, how to eat, how to be empowered, you know, there’s so many things that are beneficial with, you know, apps and social media that really harness us and improve us and challenge us to grow better, just the same, we can get into that cycle of comparison and criticism and feeling unliked because you don’t have 1000 likes, like your friend, or you’re not getting the attention that you want from that video, you know, so we, we hold a lot of importance to those, that social approval, we all want to have love, safety and belonging, but are those channels the right way to get it is that the best way to find it and that has to be decided about, you know, upon each person, and I just tried to help them see their own value. And that, you know, through my coaching, they start to recognise how wonderful and great they are, you know, through our, my programme, and I

R Blank 13:45
imagine in addition to curating the nature of the feeds and and handles that you’re interacting with, that there’s you also recommend moderation and time is that yes,

Claudia Grace 13:59
yes, we Yeah. How do you

R Blank 14:01
how do you work with that with with your clients,

Claudia Grace 14:03
I guess again, like, you know, depending on you know, are they at the addiction level? Are they kind of minor? Where are we on the spectrum, you know, like I say, you know, it’s always best to do it on a downtime you know, when when a lot of tasks aren’t required because that does that can take away a lot of time or set a timer, you know, put a little timer and say, Okay, you have this much time to have a little break and check out your, your, you know, your favourite places. But again, it’s it’s very personalised, and it depends on their personal goals, you know, they set their goals and I have some structural things, foundations that I have in my programmes, but again, I’m I’m working on with them to establish like healthier balance and, and sometimes they come up with the solution of I do need to do this more. I didn’t realise, you know, sometimes we don’t realise how addicted we are until we take it away. And then they’re like, oh my god, but it was like, I was missing it, you know, that gives us a dopamine. It’s a you know, it spikes our dopamine levels, you know, we have pleasure when we hear that being, you know, we were like, Oh my gosh, this person just texted me you’re here this notification, I gotta check this out. That is, you know, that’s when we can, when we pull back, we can see, wow, that is a greater issue than I thought and learn how to manage that better and in a healthier way, you know, like in life stuff to make those good choices?

R Blank 15:33
And are you seeing addiction as commonly in your clientele? I mean, tech addiction in particular.

Claudia Grace 15:40
You know, I think it’s, it’s just, I think it’s stress. And so can this cause stress? Yes. Because what we are so attached to it, you know, and it’s not just scrolling, it’s work, we’re attached to it. I mean, my gosh, sometimes I’m like, I need a break. You know, we’re attached to our cell phones and our computers, when is, you know, our organisations demanding 10 hour days is that the new norm for some people it is they’re, like, 10 hours, that’s, that’s a good day, you know, it’s 12 hours, you know, if they’re self employed, and they’re, you know, struggling to, you know, to keep people or, or have to fire people, because, you know, the economy and the inflation, so I think it’s stress, and does our, you know, our phones and computers and all our devices? Or are they adding to it? Are they simplifying our tasks? Or are they causing us to do more? Because we’re constantly worried during the study? Where’s that email? Oh, my gosh, I didn’t check my, my social media, I forgot to post today, you know, we have all these demands, on top of just having to make other decisions with our work and in our families and our lives or personal lives. So it’s balancing all of that, in a healthy and productive way is often very, my clients find very difficult a lot of my clients give to everyone, and they’re last on that list. Yeah. Does that ring true for anybody? Are there any hands up? Yes, yes, yes, you have you are the givers and not the receivers. I don’t know. I wouldn’t be really, uh, probably have a lot of dollar signs, if I for how many times I say, Stop doing it all delegate and ask for help. So many people don’t like to ask for help. They think it’s a sign of weakness. And the reason the reason why I knew that I was I was guilty, you know, I would do it on so no one would ask me, Do you need help? Because you know, I’m very efficient. The problem is, sometimes, you know, people stop asking, you know, because you always handle it well, and they think you don’t need it, because you never ask it. And it’s okay to say I would appreciate if you could do this. For me. It’s so empowering. When you ask it, you actually get what you’ve always wanted. And my clients are like, Why did I do this

Stephanie Warner 18:16
before? Right, right? I bet. And, you know, when it comes to asking for help, if it’s somebody who’s used to doing everything, how do you even approach that? How do you get them to feel comfortable asking?

Claudia Grace 18:30
It is really hard for them. They like stress about it. And it’s in how they asked, I said, look, it’s it’s almost like a gift to the people who love you and support you, even if it’s a colleague. It’s a gift to them, because they appreciate you and all you do. And it’s actually, you know, like I say, it’s actually getting what you want, and asking when you need it. And it’s a sign of, I’m really stressed out. And I would really appreciate if instead of me making dinner, could you make dinner tonight? You know, one of my clients was running three plants. And he wouldn’t ask his kids to do that. He’s Oh, I can’t, like you most certainly can. And he started to do it. And he felt so appreciated. I was like, stop paying for if they want to treat you let them treat you. Oh my gosh, I don’t know if I can do that. I’m like, just say thank you, if you have nothing you should just say thank you.

Stephanie Warner 19:42
And that seems to be a hard, hard two words to say sometimes, you know, especially if you are one of those person if people who tend to, you know, to do all the things, you know and to be the support system for everybody. Like oh wait, thank you. Just thank you. It’s very easy to words that are actually Believe very challenging, sometimes

Claudia Grace 20:02
it is, but you know what they feel so much more connected. Once you start doing that, you learn and I teach people to be more assertive, it’s not assertive is standing your ground and asking for exactly what you need in a powerful way. And getting it and not feeling it’s not aggressive. It’s not demanding, it’s not being pushy. It’s been, you know, concrete and direct, in a powerful, you know, way. And once they start doing that, their life just changes, because now they can ask for things and delegate things that they don’t necessarily need to do. But, you know, they, they’ve always done it. So it’s undoing some old patterns, and finding the power to, you know, to receive, because part of life is to give and the other part is reciprocal, you gotta, you gotta receive it. And we feel so much more powerful when we’re in that kind of position.

R Blank 21:10
So earlier, in our conversation, you mentioned that everyone really needs to slow down. I wanted to kind of step back to that. And I guess, as a starting point for that you what is the? Why is everyone going so fast.

Claudia Grace 21:27
I feel like it’s, you know, we’re just trying to keep up, we feel like we’re gonna miss out on something, I feel like there’s this urgency to get it done. And I feel that that’s much more an American kind of mentality, we got us keep on working. I mean, you get other parts of the country, they’re just slowing down, we’re like, why are they taking so long? Why are they taking their nap, you know, you go to Hispanic countries, they kind of shut down for two hours. And for a long lunch, there’s just this urgency to work hard, and we were gonna miss out. And I feel like sometimes, you know, technology pushes us, everything’s pushing us to this acceleration. And people are so overworked and stressed and you know, the the the reciprocation is from COVID, you know, just tired, there’s burnout, there’s exhaustion from it, and the worry, and now you know, kind of with inflation, rising prices, and house a housing costs, you know, and there’s kind of financial stress. So people want to, I guess, prove their worth their, their, their wages there, they want to kind of show their worth. And I think people do that through working harder and long. hours in some, some organisations, that’s what’s expected.

R Blank 22:51
So those are all pretty powerful drivers that you were talking about. And I mean, having being able to afford a place of live being able to afford dinner for yourself and your family, those those are, I mean, those are serious concerns. So how if someone comes to you, and you sense just by working with them, that they really need to slow down? How do you approach helping them do that?

Claudia Grace 23:16
So it’s, it’s a slow process, because, you know, when if I were to just come out and say, you know, you have to do these things, you know, they kind of through my questioning part of coaching is I question people, about their actions. And then through my questions, they kind of discover more about their behaviours, sometimes our behaviours are apparent, and oftentimes, they’re unconscious, you know, we just do things we get up, we brush your teeth, we drive, you know, they’re unconscious activities we do all the time, we don’t even think about them. And so a lot of our behaviour change happens. And they realise, like, you know, questions after questions like, I go, What do you wish you could do? Just sit? Why don’t you sit? I can’t sit. You sure can. Why don’t you have a me day? What’s the me day? A day you do everything you want? Why don’t you take time to do one thing you want, you know? Why? You know, and then they’re just like, I don’t know, like to that, like, it’s a possibility that they don’t even consider because of family obligations or work or travel or, or whatever they’re, you know, their mind is keeping them from doing that or not even considering that there are so many things that are free like going outside and to slowing down a lot of my clients when they have a stressful job, like teaching them to breathe, and just calm their body in five minutes. I’m not saying to take hours or anything like that, but just in five or 10 minutes can completely calm their body in calm their mind and hopefully help them respond better to a really stressful situation than to react to it. So teaching these, these things that I have clients telling me, I’m never doing that I’m like, okay, and a couple sessions later, they’re like, Thank God, you showed me how to do that, you know, because it makes such a big difference in, you know, just feeling more grateful for all they have learning to appreciate what they have, instead of looking at it from a lack of, you know, scarcity, looking at their life and abundance. And, you know, realising that when they slow down, and they give a little bit to themselves first, everything else is better, they’re happier, they’re more productive, they’re more relaxed, their, their relationships with colleagues improve their workflow improves by delegating a lot of these people are very control, very perfectionist and control people, they don’t like to give it up, I have to control it all. And we look at why that is why sometimes we feel like it’s easier to control it then give it away, and the power in delegation, and changing workflow, and the difference that makes in their job and everybody else’s job in some of the, you know, some of the CEOs I worked with,

R Blank 26:26
they’re not just, they’re not just happier, for lack of a better term, they’re seeing knock on effects in many aspects of their life, and I assume their health as well, their of their physical health. So

Claudia Grace 26:38
it’s, you know, I had someone I worked with, and he managed, financial, you know, plans for millionaire billionaire level. And he, you know, at gained 30 pounds, he felt, you know, he had an amazing life, he was very humble. And, but he was struggling to work out, he just had no motivation, I think most people felt, you know, really unmotivated. And he managed, all of it just major control. After working with me, he was able to, you know, Delegate 50 clients to one partner and 50 to another, he, you know, we went through a process where he slowly had them, you know, kind of go on their own. And he kind of monitored that. And given all that extra time he had, he only had 40 major clients, he was able to come up with a new service model, a new, you know, he brought in two new partners to the business. And, you know, he just felt so different, losing 30 pounds, exercising every day, eating better, and just giving himself more time to kind of re re instil more creativity. It just made such a difference in his life. And it brought this camaraderie because he started to listen more, he was more present. And they kind of learned about each other through the process. And it was just really, you know, amazing that you can have that effect on, you know, a person who then affects his,

R Blank 28:17
yeah, how long did that transition take? I mean,

Claudia Grace 28:21
together like three, we worked together, like 90 days with that client. So he did all that. I was like, Wow, that’s pretty good.

R Blank 28:34
Pat yourself on the back, Claudia.

Claudia Grace 28:37
Time I delivered on time.

R Blank 28:40
So for someone, one of our listeners, because I’m sure a lot of them are resonating with the message of Yes, slowing down. Sounds nice. Yeah. What would one specific actionable step be that they could take? You know, as soon as this podcast is over, that they could take and and hope to start seeing some meaningful result from

Claudia Grace 29:03
what is one? So, you know, like I said before, it’s making time for yourself, like, I think the first thing people should do when they wake up is not look at their cell phone is to get up and get outside, take a walk, you know, 10 minutes, there was a study that if you walked three hours a week, for a month, you know, the the health benefits were numerous, you know, less heart disease, more physicality, better mood, less depression, less anxiety, just walking three hours in one week. So just do a morning ritual, whether it’s breathwork meditation, get outside exercise, do something for you to start your day and honour yourself. Whether you have to Get up, you know, a little bit earlier than a family or, you know, it could be as little as 15 minutes where you’re just giving yourself time. And just connecting with, you know, nature breathing in air and just listening to a podcast that could be when you’re walking or just taking in your surroundings and walking in a neighbourhood or getting on a bike or exercise, you do yoga, you know, I sometimes do things at home, YouTube has free exercise, you know, with trainers from all over the world. So it’s putting yourself first, it could be reading a book, you know, for every person, it could be different honouring what is important to you, changing activities, it doesn’t have to be the same thing every day. I think starting your day, like that will bring, you know, more peace in your life and just gratitude and I just feel like instead of putting everything else first start with you. That’s what I tell my clients to do.

Stephanie Warner 31:04
I love that slap you first in the morning. First thing in the morning approach. There’s a there’s a term there, there’s a there’s a tagline to coin there, putting yourself first first thing in the morning. I don’t know what it is, but I’m gonna work on it.

R Blank 31:22
So I saw that you are a volunteer for something called the Healing Hands Foundation. So not to switch gears too abruptly. But I always when I when I see a guest as interesting volunteer work I like. So could you talk a little bit about what that organisation does?

Claudia Grace 31:40
Yes. I, Marco Abila is the founder. And what it does is they have medical mission trips in Guatemala and Ecuador. They do trips, cleft palate revisions, they do Erie vision. So it’s for deformities, for children with deformities. And the medical staff goes, it’s all volunteer base. So you know, obviously no pay. And I was a translator, because Spanish is my first language. And I met Marco, a member of the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. And we were at a business meeting. And he’s also affiliate there. And he had his translator wasn’t able to make it. So I went on a 10 day trip in 2018, to Ecuador, and it was the most transformative experience, just to see what these doctors were doing. I had never been in surgery, I actually watched surgery. I watched them the surgery, I carried babies into the operating room and I had to calm them down. While they were getting anaesthesia, I read declarations to parents in Spanish saying, you know, they’re kind of, you know, giving up all rights, you know, to the to No, no, I was legal action. I was there with post op, I would, you know, talk to all the children when they came out to ask like their pain levels for the nurses. And then I was in post recovery with the parents giving them the instructions from the nurses in Spanish on medications. So the mothers knew kind of felt more involved in the process. And I would, you know, explain any questions that they had or just, you know, post being children had ear dreams. I mean, it was unbelievable. But the surgeries they had 60 surgeries of life saving for these children. The revisions they did I mean, they gave these children a chance to have some semblance of a normal life. You know, cleft palates were News’s were twisted, no lips, you know, mouth, you know, lips were placed on ear revisions, because some of their ears they have difficulty with hearing. They also did over 300 dental procedures because there isn’t really good dental care. And a lot of these kids their diets they eat what they have or what they can find because many of these children live, they live two hours away. And you know what this, you know, I have a newfound respect for all. I mean, I have a lot of friends that were nurses and I thought I knew how to work hard. I mean, we were on our feet, 14 hours and I was amazed at all they did, you know, to ensure that the patients were all safe, everybody was safe and just their care and post care. It was tremendous. It was such a wonderful experience and you know, the Ecuadorian people were so gracious and loving, you know, and, and just so grateful for that. Is expert medical care? And so little your donations? You know, I think it was like $300. For these I mean, what these doctors were doing. Were remarkable. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like that. I’ve never seen surgery. Yes, well then. And I mean, it was just it was really life changing for me to do to do that. And just to give my time, and just to see, you know, another side of healthcare, like upfront and personal. It was wonderful.

Stephanie Warner 35:35
Yeah, sounds sounds absolutely transformative, not only for you, but for the children that were being serviced. How so it’s helping hands, or who started Healing Hands Foundation. So we’ll link that in the show notes. And yeah, we we, you know, love to know, we, you know, love to know how we could or how our listeners could potentially help.

Claudia Grace 35:58
Yeah, they accept, I think at different times accept different things. I’m not exactly sure what they’re receiving now. But donations are great to see. Because the first day we got there, 500, people were in line waiting to be selected, you know, because they’re hand selected. And many of the operations take multiple times, they can’t do it at once. So some of the when I went, there were two babies that were eight weeks old. And so they they fixed. So they gave them like lips and kind of fixed news, like one had a nostril, you know that her nose was twisted. But then their palates were inside, they could only keep the babies under like three hours in anaesthesia. So then the second time, they would have to go back in and remove, so they had the, you know, the palate in their mouth now, so before it was kind of protruding on the outside. So now the babies had to, you know, learn to Reese to read, drink and suck with their, you know, cleft palate inside. And then the second. So the 2019 I wasn’t there, they had to take that out and do another, you know, so for IR patients, sometimes it’s two and three times because these are very, very difficult surgeries that take sometimes more than one time to do. And some, sometimes they have extra digits, like extra fingers on their, you know, toes or fingers on their hands that are removed, and they kind of combine the digits and use the one that’s taking off to be put back in the other one, like it’s very high. Physical.

Stephanie Warner 37:34
sounds intense. It’s definitely

Claudia Grace 37:37
like, it’s really, truly remarkable that they do this and just the camaraderie of the staff and their dedication to these, you know, people, these young children, and it’s such a beautiful organisation, they truly are making a difference globally. And it was such a pleasure. I want to go back, I want I want to do it again.

R Blank 37:59
So yeah, thank you very much for sharing information about that foundation. It sounds it sounds really, really impressive and really dramatic experience. So as as we wind down here, Claudia, where would you like our listeners to connect with you and engage with you? What would you like them to do?

Claudia Grace 38:19
I’m on my website, Claudia M grace.com. Or at Claudia grace, wellness on Instagram, or LinkedIn, they can find me there as well.

R Blank 38:31
Excellent. We’ll have all that in the show notes. So, Claudia, thank you. This has been a I really like where this conversation went. Both in terms of your story and your perspective and approach, but in particular, how the discussion we entered into on intent around relationships with technology, and folk gold based interactions, and I just, I really appreciate you taking the time to come on to the healthier tech podcast.

Claudia Grace 39:03
Thank you. It was my pleasure.

Announcer 39:06
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai

R Blank

R Blank is the founder of Healthier Tech and the host of “The Healthier Tech Podcast”, available iTunes, Spotify and all major podcasting platforms.

R has a long background in technology. Previously, R ran a software engineering firm in Los Angeles, producing enterprise-level solutions for blue chip clients including Medtronic, Apple, NBC, Toyota, Disney, Microsoft, the NFL, Ford, IKEA and Mattel.

In the past, he served on the faculty at the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering where he taught software engineering, as well as the University of California, Santa Cruz.

He has spoken at technology conferences around the world, including in the US, Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands, and he is the co-author of “AdvancED Flex Development” from Apress.

He has an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and received his bachelor’s degree, with honors, from Columbia University. He has also studied at Cambridge University in the UK; the University of Salamanca in Spain; and the Institute of Foreign Languages in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

Connect with R on LinkedIn.