In this enlightening podcast episode, Lavender Morantz, a best-selling children’s author and wellness specialist, shares her journey into empowering families with the mind-body-soul connection. Discussing her transition to coaching and mentorship, Lavender emphasizes simplicity, authenticity, and coopetition, fostering a holistic approach in both parenting and publishing.
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Transcript
Hi and welcome to the You World Order Showcase podcast. Today we are speaking with Lavender Morantz. Lavender is a passionate children's author, illustrator and international, and TEDx speaker. She's the Mama of two spirited daughters. She is a certified nutrition and Wellness specialist who deeply desires to empower and educate children and families.
About the mind, body and soul connection, through her work. Welcome to the show, Lavender. It's so nice to have you here.
You. It's such an honor.
To be here with you.
So tell us your story. How did you get started? How did you get into all of this?
Right. How do we trace it back? I feel like it was just, you know, what do they call? Luck? It's opportunity meets timing. And I mean, my books were honestly on my.
10 years, probably since I had my first child, which is now almost 13 years ago. But before I published.
Let's go back that far. And before that I was very deeply involved in Wellness, holistic Wellness, Wellness, e-commerce, Wellness coaching and the books. I think we're just a really natural next layer to that personal interest and professional capacity to help other people.
And you know, I've done a lot of personal work with the mind, body, soul connection for myself, and my thinking was if we could gift our littles and families that beautiful knowledge connection into.
Edition earlier than, let's say I don't know, 30 or 40 when I figured.
It would be such a gift to the world.
I absolutely great and I was looking at.
Your books. They're so beautiful.
But they're designed in.
A way that inspires really little kids to like.
You're teaching them in a way that's not.
Teaching or teaching?
It's like.
It they're really well done. Let me point out.
Yeah, I mean.
It's interesting because like you know, when you're putting your work out in the world, you're like, Oh my gosh. Like, I'm really going to be seeing.
Here so it's.
Like scary. But I made them super simple on purpose because I watched what my daughters gravitated towards and what books they loved best, and it was always the ones with just a really simple, straightforward.
Message and it stayed in their heart. And so when I was creating these, I'm like, it doesn't need to be.
Anything like you know?
Crazy Harvard textbook over here. It's for kids. I want it to be fun and easy, because otherwise.
They're not going to love it.
You know the let's.
Eat the rainbow. I don't think I.
Will ever forget that.
It's so great from, you know, the perspective of children like to eat things. And the idea of eating the rainbow, the magic and the mystery and the it's in the sky.
And it's all the things that really draw kids in. But on the other hand, as you.
The health coach, I get that you should.
Eat the rainbow because you want to eat a little bit of everything, all the colors.
Because that's how.
You stay healthy, but it's just the way you marry. The two is like genius.
You. Yeah. I mean, you got to make it fun and you know, I feel like kids are still so in touch with their connection to nature. And so that was just a very easy segue into, OK, well, if your nature and you love nature like rainbow.
Is and all the beautiful.
Things you know, we need to nurture our.
I missed that last word. We need to nurture our.
Our own nature as well.
Yes, yes, for sure.
So how did you? You're just.
So when I was looking.
Over your website, it looks like you're kind of doing two things, but they're very much connected and as you're telling your story, it's.
You wrote these books and they hit the bestseller list and that catapulted you into doing something else. So tell us how that happened and how it.
Moved you to the next point in your journey and then you can tell us what that is.
Yeah, yeah, I love that. Good question. OK. So when I was writing my books, I think the number one thing I was doing was taking really good notes because it was something I had never done before. And it was like unchartered territory. And so I interviewed a lot of people who had gone before me and done it successfully. I wanted to.
Kind of know.
Like kind of explode the bomb up front and kind of know what to expect on that.
Me and in doing so, it actually made the road a lot smoother for me. You know, navigating the speed bumps and figuring out how and who to work with. And so then I was like, OK, well, now that I've done this and I took really detailed notes, who else can I serve with this?
Information because I don't wanna hold it to my son like I don't want to hang on to that. And, you know, not help someone else figure it out. And it was a really cool process. I was really grateful to have met some incredible people along the way. And so I wanted to share.
Or not just the knowledge and the process, but also the helpful people along the way because that's where the magic happens. And so that's where those courses and you know, mentorship and training came to life kind of out of nowhere.
Is it interesting how you start out on one path?
I feel that in my own business, where I thought I was going to do one thing, which is why I named my website heart Life Coach.
Yes, I love by.
I am not. I am not a life coach really. I'm a business coach and I thought I was going to just work in the business realm but with sales. But I ended up, I help people with podcasts.
The road, yeah.
Because I had to do the same thing, I didn't have anybody that I could turn to when I first started.
And I had to figure out all the pieces.
And it's.
Blown up pretty well for me and.
Love that? Yeah. Like you create the map and then you.
Share the map.
Yeah, yeah. And there's all these little bits and pieces that you learn in the process and as you.
Experience a lot of success with.
Following the map that you figured out and you share it with others, there's all those little pitfalls that you they don't have to go through that you may have fallen into and had to climb out of.
Yeah, I think that's the beauty of mentorship and coaching. And you know, I've had coaches and mentors my whole life, and it's made the journey, first of all, way less lonely because we thrive in community. And second of all, yeah, say to your point, you get to avoid.
That's not what.
Do you get to progress on that journey that much faster and more successfully than if you had tried to navigate it yourself? It's genius.
Yeah. Yeah, it really is. And it.
I don't know the community aspect of.
It also is.
Like so important, I can't tell you how.
Many people I've met over the years that.
I've stayed in contact with, but I met them.
In a group we were doing.
Some project or some coaching or something and the coach is long gone, but the.
Friends that, I mean, they're still around.
We still do stuff.
That's the magic of community, and like, you know, the phrase that takes a village didn't come out of thin air, right? I think. And I think a lot of us have lost that because, you know, the world is very spread out and a lot of people are online now, which is still a great way to connect. But I think we've lost.
Essence of our village. And so getting to recreate that in these little mini bubbles and ways that we're able to do that I.
Think is so.
Powerful for people because isn't it interesting how certain people end up in certain groups too? It's like it's not, it's not an accident that you ended up in a group with certain people.
Because there's commonalities there every time.
And it's interesting to be able to interlay the connections like I'm part of a lot of groups and you're part of a lot of different groups that when I bring you on to my podcast and then we're interacting and I can share some of the connections from my groups and you can share some of the connections from your groups and then.
Our worlds expand and our connections expand. It's.
I think.
Well, I love it. I love it so much. Honestly, that's where the magic is. I totally believe that too. Very cool.
So when you're doing your.
Your coaching program for the Do you do both backup? Do you do both coaching for the health and Wellness still?
And mentorship for book writing.
I do actually. Yeah. Because I think it's just something that's been such a close part of my journey. And I think that ultimate life success, whether you want to call it.
But business or?
Whatever you need to be healthy in order to really fully participate in life and business and relationships. And so I just see those two things.
As part of a greater whole. And so yes, I do coach in both, especially mental Wellness because that's been such a huge part of.
My journey, and I think everybody's especially over the.
Last few years, you know, I think we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg right now. I think it's so deeply intertwined that you can't really separate them and coach them separately. They need to be kind of.
Part and parcel of the same conversation.
I couldn't agree with you more, I.
I think the first part.
Of any business, journey is within down deep and.
Deal with all your stuff and then.
You know, it's interesting to see.
What comes out of it and.
I don't know anybody who isn't.
Who is really successful? Who hasn't done?
Gone on that journey.
It's just like.
Yeah, yeah, even the bro marketers out there.
Yeah, you're in.
The right you can.
You can see it.
They give it to the Bros.
If you watch them long enough, you can. You can see that they've.
Had to go through.
That awakening of the soul.
To get where they're at.
Yeah, I don't believe you can authentically coach another person if you're not.
In a place where you're vulnerable enough to, like, deal with your own things too it, it will always come to the surface.
Should you just keep attracting those kinds of people? That.
Are that will drive you crazy.
So true, so true so.
The real secret is be your authentic self know.
Who you are.
And those are the.
Kinds of people you'll attract to you because.
Everybody else will be repelled and then?
Exactly which is the good thing. Stay away.
You will have to deal with them.
It is a good thing it's important that you, you interact with the people that are going to lift up your life and.
Make you invalidate you and we all look for validation and in our opinions and our.
Business and in life.
Because you know who wants to argue with people all the time?
Life is too short for that.
Wait so?
How does your how does your own life, health and Wellness part?
That is mine.
Body, body, soul and spirit, body, mind and soul.
How do you how do you phrase that?
Mind body. Soul connection.
My body. So OK, there we go.
How do you how do you do that piece?
When you're working.
With clients, is it one-on-one? Is it group coaching? Is it families? How does?
That look.
Yeah, that's a great question. I'm actually I'm available to do both. Typically what I've done is I do love the idea of community because I also feel like.
We need to see ourselves and other people too, and typically like I said so like, let's say everybody signs up for a December course with me.
There's going to be commonalities in what people are experiencing and what's holding them back in what their subconscious mind is saying, and I think it's so powerful to not only accept that the coaching and mentorship ourselves, but to also see ourselves reflected in others. And sometimes one person is comfortable saying, hey, this is my problem.
And somebody else isn't comfortable saying it out loud, but they're still getting.
It by listening to the other person. So I love the group coaching environment. I do understand that it's a very vulnerable environment, especially if we're talking about like conscious parenting because you know our Littles are so precious to us and nobody wants to be like I'm a bad mom you.
Know so I think.
That both serve a purpose, but I really think that the group coaching situation is very powerful. I also have some pre recorded.
Stuff so you can do a work at your.
Own pace situation, which I think serves some people very well too, especially parents, they're busy, they maybe can't make all the calls live and then they can just do a self study which I have found with my network that that's actually been really appreciated as well, so.
There's kind of a few ways that.
People, which is cool.
Yeah, I like that you have a lot of alternatives for them because parents are busy, you know, they're working. And even if they're not working like outside the home, almost everybody is doing something or just like, the hassle culture.
Oh yeah, it's chaotic.
Yeah, I say, you know, parenting is the most uncertain and intense form of leadership that there is, right?
Come my parents. Just. Here you go. Enjoy.
I've had five kids and.
Oh my goodness.
They're all. They're all launched, but eight. I had two when I was in my 20s and I had three more when I was almost 40. I started having more kids.
My last one was I was 44 when?
She was born so.
It's interesting to.
To see the difference in who they became.
As adults and young adults.
They're all different. They're all interesting.
But it.
Could you can?
Tell as you grow yourself and your different points and your journey.
It's like what?
What they feedback to you?
Yeah, totally. And there comes a point where we just have to trust that our.
Parenting was enough.
Right.
Do you have a?
I like to think that they picked the.
Journey. They're on.
They knew what they were getting they.
Asked for it.
And so they're going to be on that journey and.
To them to deal with it, it's not my problem. We all go through trauma in childhood. Nobody's escaped it.
100% true.
I tell my girls, I say you signed up for this.
And then now.
They paired, they paired it back to me. They're like you signed up for this and they're in trouble. I'm like.
This is a true.
Story I did. You know there's.
So much power in that.
Though it and responsibility, taking responsibility for the situation that you're in, knowing that and teaching your kids that when they're.
Young, that is.
That's going to just produce some really well adjusted adults. You can't help but have that because.
You were bang.
On with that? Yeah, it's a game changer.
It really is and I hope that more and more parents are catching on to that concept that you know.
We we're all here on this journey together. We've picked it.
We picked this experience that we're going to have together and, you know, yeah, there's going to be ups and downs and it's going to go both ways and it kind of plays into the whole boundaries thing again where you know boundaries are becoming.
More of a.
More people are aware.
Of the concept of boundaries than I think have been in the past. It's becoming.
We talked about.
Topic that as parents start to develop boundaries for themselves out of love and boundaries are a love element and.
And showing their children and modeling for their children how to create boundaries. And then the kids, can you, you can model respecting other people's boundaries with them.
100% yeah.
And that also is going to help our society as these children grow up and.
They have these.
Tools for interacting with each other.
Definitely. I think it's very, very powerful and it's such a.
Do because it's like, you know, our children do as we as we do, they don't do as we say.
Think modeling is huge and boundaries are an incredible thing to learn as early as possible, so you don't, you know.
Stray too far away from your soul.
Yeah. And then you when you're.
When they finally grow up and move away, you can remember.
Who you were.
Instead of trying to like.
There's so many people.
In my age.
Group when we were raising our kids, our younger kids, it was just like you were expected to be separate people. But your kids, you can get caught up in living. Your kids lives for them and.
And then you lose yourself and or you never really grow into who you're supposed to be. And then you get to that point where you're on your own and you're like.
Who am I and what are my values?
What do I?
Want in life?
And you could have had.
It all the way along.
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, that brings us full circle back to part of why I created the book series is so that kids don't lose that in the 1st place. And I feel like sometimes we're taught.
City, who wants pieces of us that it's selfish to focus on you first, but you cannot pour from an empty cup.
Early, like how to connect with your.
Feed your body how to feed your mind, and you're less likely to stray in the 1st place and you are a much more pleasant human to be around because you're so grounded and centered and who you truly are and what makes you tick.
Yes, and.
And you're still connected to nature.
And that's so important it it's.
We've built all these institutions that I am. I'm grateful we're moving away from a lot of them. You know, the school system's been challenged. Medical systems been challenged, the political systems are all challenged. It's.
All the things.
It's like all the things that.
Personally, I thought we were just like careening off this Cliff. We'd already gone over the edge and just waiting for us. The hard landing to happen. But after COVID, it's just like there's been this awakening.
Of.
People saying man, I don't.
I don't really think it has to go.
That way I don't.
I don't have to do education this way just because you said so. I can do it this way.
Which is so cool, yeah.
And the parenting.
Huge, yes.
Yes you are.
And it's actually been amazing to see that side of things. Yes, there was the darkness that came through. We all saw it. But there's also been a huge call for light and for leadership. And to your point, to do things a completely different way, which is awesome.
It is really inspiring to me.
It's like I like to get up every.
Day it's like, wow.
So much opportunity and so many people doing so many cool things and they're using their unique talents and skills and.
Is a different way. There's lots of different ways to do things. We don't all have to be the same and.
In the uniqueness there's the beauty of collaboration and lack of competition.
Something I like to call coopetition where you compete with yourself to be the best that you can be in the areas that you're gifted at and you can respect and appreciate where other people are gifted. You don't have to.
Compete with them for that.
I love it.
They together you can, like, do amazing things.
It's huge. Honestly, I love that. Actually, I'm going to use that word. I think that's amazing with credit of.
Course yeah, I love that punch.
I just want it to.
Get out.
Yeah, I love that.
Because I feel like we don't realize that, you know, jealousy, envy. It's just a projection onto someone else. And you know, we're so much more powerful together in community and cooperation, to your point. And. And we're not all going to be good at all.
The things so like.
It benefits every single person in the equation to collaborate and to cooperate, and to honor each other's genius right, which is like so cool to have conversations like this, it's like.
Look how we came together. It's magic.
It is magic, and there's more magic that's going to.
Happen in the.
Wings that I'm really excited about.
You too. Yay.
And I just.
It's a beautiful world. There's lots of opportunity and.
Just being able to share it with others is.
It makes the world better so.
OK.
When it comes to the coaching.
For the book.
Publishing, writing.
Yeah, authors for authors and aspiring authors, yes.
OK. And it doesn't matter if it's a children's book or an adult book?
It doesn't matter. I mean, I do tend to find that the people that gravitate towards my coaching and mentorship are more inclined towards either fiction or children's books, but it's not necessarily only for them, but because that's what I did. I tend to see a lot of people who are on this.
On a similar path, if not the same path.
Interesting. Interesting. So how does that?
Look, if people want to work with you.
In that realm.
Yeah. So I have a couple of different options. I do a shorter uh program called your best seller and it teaches kind of the energetics behind getting to best seller. You get to meet some of my people that I worked with, which I love. So you get to.
Expand your network and you kind of get all.
Along the way of.
First of all, how to do it? And second of all how to get it to best seller and then the other way that I work with people is with a longer mentorship program. It's more like an 8 week or 8 module program and that is really in depth. So the first.
Focus on the energetics of self. Like what it takes for you to even walk that.
That, and the second four weeks we talk about the book, so like how to pour yourself into this thing that you're creating, that you're birthing and how to make sure that you do it with the absolute most beautiful energy possible. So it's a little bit different than the traditional bro. What? What did you call it?
Bro marketers I love.
That it, and it's different than like, you know, the Big 5 publishers like, it's not a turbo forceful business approach, but it's an approach that's going to get it done in a really beautiful way that's going to feel good.
To you.
We don't want people burning out on this journey because then why? What good is that for you if your health suffers in the process, right?
So would it?
Would it be in somebody's best Mr. say they have a book in them and they're thinking they want to write this book. They should take this second thing that you described first and then.
Once they get the book.
Done. Then hop over to the how to make it a best seller.
Yeah, I mean you can do it in any direction because I think that there's tidbits in both that can support both journeys, I feel like.
They're all.
Or a potential author or existing authors best interest. So whatever they intuited.
Drawn to 1st is what I encourage. They are not matched to. They're meant to complement each other, but.
It doesn't matter.
What order you were to take them? Yeah.
Interesting. OK, so there's a little bit of overlap in.
Both of them so.
Definitely, yeah.
Very cool. And are those. Those are self-paced or group?
So I have those available as self study which I do find. Like I said, people love because I mean a lot of authors are also doing other things, so they may not be able to make it to an 11:00 AM weekly Monday call for example. I do once a year, run them live as well.
But for right now, they are available as self study and then I also do offer one-on-one coaching as well.
Very cool and just can you do the like the one so you get into one of these coaching programs that are self-paced and you're like Oh my cow, I just really need to talk to her about all of this. There's ways that you can.
For a fee.
Of course, I mean your time is valuable and they could connect with you and have like a private coaching session and then they could pick back up.
And that they had other questions.
Yeah, it's 100%.
Answers OK.
100% when somebody signs up for self study, they automatically get a discovery call with me as well so that they're not kind of just floating out there by themselves. You know, in, in singular orbit they've got, they've got some grounding there to have their questions answered and explore a little bit more. If something doesn't make sense, they can, you know, kind of clarify.
So would you?
Do the discovery call before they purchase your program, or is it like after?
Entirely up to the client, so they get to choose. They get to pick their timing. I feel like a lot of people prefer to do it after just because then they've had a chance to digest the information and.
Like, I think that when you do it before then they then they're still wanting more information after. So I encourage you know dive into the material and write down all your questions so that when we do have the call, it's like super productive for people. But then there's also the opportunity for someone on one coaching as well after the self study. So there's always the option to add on if people need.
Need the extra time and attention and hand holding for sure.
Awesome. And you cover all.
Of the parts like.
The formatting the publishing whether it's self published or Amazon or.
Yeah. Yeah. We talked about the three kind of main channels to pub.
You know, pros and cons are to each of.
Them how to?
Build your dream team. If you're going to.
Do it yourself or.
How to navigate? I'm choosing a publisher who has a team already in place for you. I talk about illustrating. I talk about promoting. I talk about how to get into major retailers. I talk about the Amazon process, I talk about print on demand versus pre producing like my books are board books.
And considers them a physical product, not a book, which was interesting and I didn't know that beforehand. So I pre produced those and then shipped them over and then sent cartoons to Amazon so that Amazon could offer them as well. And then they're also in indigo, which is really cool.
But that whole process was like such a learning process for me. Then going a year later into ebooks, then Amazon finally recognized it as OK, now you get an author page and now you get.
A best seller sticker and you get all these.
Things, but those are things I didn't really know or understand. I'm like, no, no.
I wrote a.
Book it's a book and Amazon's like. Nope, that's a product, you know, all the things that you wouldn't even like. Know ahead of time until you kind of figure.
So we talk about all those things. We talked about PR, about marketing, about advertising, about how to use your book as a business card for other products, cause a lot of these people also have businesses that they're running similar to you and I, right, so.
Oh yeah.
All of those intricacies with you know what a book can also do for you in terms of opening other doors, whether it be speaking or coaching or you know.
Into your world that you wouldn't have reached otherwise.
And you.
Are an international speaker and you did.
A Ted X talk and.
Is it around these things? What was your subject on the Ted X?
Kind of my subject was.
Called your struggle will set you free.
And it was more along the line. And I mean, I think it's relatable to everybody, but it's really like, you know, your life struggles are there for a reason and kind of how to shift your mindset from.
You know, turning the mess into your message and learning to kind of pick through it so that it can actually elevate you instead of, like, completely taking you out of the game. And I mean, we've all been through a different set of circumstances. Everybody's had their share of struggle. It's, you know, how can you use it?
To empower you.
Instead of the reverse, you know.
Yeah, it's being the hero of.
Your journey and when you are.
Taking that responsibility for how you ended up where you're at and responsibility for getting to a different place in your life, if that's what you want and it.
It helps everybody around you. It's not just something that you do for yourself. And when we've all been told, oh, that's very selfish and you should never be selfish. Well, I'm here to tell you, be selfish. Please be selfish because the more selfish you are better off those around you are going to be because you know who you are. And you know what you want. You know what you like and you know.
How to contribute what you have to contribute instead of just, you know, whatever buddy tells you have to.
Do it. It's a, it's.
A totally different way of existing that.
Is making a huge difference in the way we interact with each other and the way the world is going.
Yeah, it is. It's true. You know, one of my very first virtual business mentors, Jim Rohn, always used to say, I'll take care of me for you and you take care of you for me. Because if we can't take care of ourselves first, it's like the airplane analogy that we've heard so often. Right. It's like you're told to put your oxygen mask on first, because if you pass out, what good are you?
Anybody else?
Right.
Yeah. And you know this.
It is a new concept, but it shouldn't be. It's just it's like it makes total sense I.
Don't know why we.
Had to go for so long where we had to be in these little pigeon holes that we were stuffed into as children and told don't ever escape from this. This is who I'm.
Going to make you be.
And you know, you weren't created to be that person. You were created to be something entirely different. And we don't always stay the same as we grow in age we.
We should be continuing to grow intellectually, spiritually.
Nutritionally, yeah, yeah. All the things when.
We know better.
We do better, right? And it contributes to a completely different hole.
And like, yeah, to your point about, you know, kids and, you know, being told you have to be this way or that way for somebody else's comfort.
Just comes back to let your struggle set you free. It's like all those things can be used as motivation and.
I mean, uh, I'm super open book and vulnerable.
About the stuff.
Because I know that there's somebody out there going through something that needs to hear it.
Yeah, and.
And just knowing that there's somebody else out there going through it too.
Maybe enough to like spur them on to like, hey, maybe it is OK if.
Sit and meditate and just.
Let my mind wander for a little while.
We're taught to be so busy that we don't ever, you know, pause for a hot second. I think, you know, one of the things that was actually part of my Ted talk, ironically, is that struggle is.
Maybe it's.
Even though it feels isolating in the moment, you feel very alone is actually the greatest human connector, because it's something that we all feel at some point in our lives. And so.
Open about it or feel deeper into it. The more connected, crazy enough we actually are.
Yeah. And we do connect.
Through different mechanisms, but pain is.
Is universally the easiest way to connect with others because we feel.
We feel for them whether it's bad or anxious or whatever, but we have that tie energetically to people that we can tell are struggling because we want to help them because we're human, you know.
That's the thing we do so.
So how do people get in touch with you?
Oh man, there's a.
Straight forward ways. It's my name. Lavender Marantz at whatever social media situation it is. So I'm on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. The website for my books is content.
Dot CA you can also reach me.
To an e-mail. If you have questions, there's a fancy little form you can fill out and you can also order the books through there too. If you've got kids or would like a beautiful gift for somebody that's special to you, yeah.
Perfect. Perfect. And what's the one thing that you want to leave the audience with today that you hope they take away from our conversation?
I love it. I think I love the idea of self responsibility that we've talked about in a number of different ways and angles today. I think you know you are in the drivers seat of your life for.
For your family, for your business, for anything and everything you want to see or anything and everything you want to shift in your life and you're way more powerful than you think you are. I think that's something everybody needs to be reminded of now and then.
I couldn't agree with you.
More, thank you so much for joining us today. Lavender.
Thank you. It was absolutely such a pleasure.