SEDA:

One often doesn’t change their habits without a defining moment. 
For Seda, her defining moment was contracting Lyme disease in 2009. 

“It literally changed my life overnight and turned it upside down. There were days I couldn’t get out of bed, or see clearly. I was embarrassed of the symptoms so I didn’t talk about them too much to people. The disease has a bit of controversy around it and as a result a lot of people suffer in silence so they’re not ridiculed or questioned. I was freaking out, drowning in google searches and calling any specialists I could, but for the most part antibiotics were the only solution. So I took them, a lot of them for a long time. And while the effects of the Lymes started to slowly fade, new ones were created and my immune system was near to non-existent. I was sick at least twice a month having to take antibiotics for years on and off.  

My now fiancé came across a book while we were on a weekend trip to Cape Cod one year
(mind you I had strep and a yeast infection due to the antibiotics I was on...again ). 

He read the book...and my life changed again, but this time for the better…

We figured, let's give this book a shot and quickly adapted to the “Bulletproof lifestyle” by Dave Asprey. The gist: it’s a diet based on a 100% organic and an anti-inflammatory approach.

How quickly I changed was unbelievable! I wanted everyone to do it, it wasn’t that different than what I was doing, but everything was organic and I was eating high quality ingredients only.

What I learned here is even the smallest of changes could make the biggest difference. 100% organic, changing the time in which I ate certain foods, the processing of certain ingredients changed their efficacy... and butter, lots and lots of butter!

The AHA moment:

Turmeric was my new BFF, I threw it into everything. Tastes like you’re licking the ground, but it didn’t matter to me, I was finally healthy! Before I knew it one night, everything in the kitchen was stained this burnt orange-yellow hue including my dish towels, hands and nails.

I’ve always wanted to change the world, not on an impossibly grand scale, but even one person’s world (other than my own) would’ve been lovely. I wanted to help people, but it also seemed so overwhelming until I looked around my stained kitchen.

I thought, if this could stain my whole kitchen, what else can I do with it?

How can I have the same impact on people that Dave had on me?

I majored in Chemistry, formulated products and worked in fragrance for the past 15 years.

It was clear, I was going to create products that fused my passion for science, beauty and health by making people feel beautiful while optimizing their skin health from the outside in.

And of course, as my grandparents would always say "you can’t be beautiful and healthy while polluting the world" so I needed to include sustainability. All my worlds collided, my past present and soon to be evolving future.

I had found my purpose. And then I talked to Amanda...

AMANDA: 

I’m quite a hungry person.

Literally and figuratively.  Catch me enjoying my dad’s filipino pork adobo, scallop sushi at a local omakase japanese joint, or I’d-eat-this-every day-for-lunch Turkish chicken adana (I swear it tastes like chicken embutido)!. My meals are pretty much planned each day, because I just can’t wait.

And figuratively - I’ve always been hungry to make a sincere impact on something that mattered.  I deeply care about my family, friends and acquaintances. I care about what makes them happy.  I care about what makes them strong.  The prospect of helping one person’s life just a little bit brings me so much craveable joy.

I got dealt a happy life - loving parents, doting grandparents, and much older siblings who reminded me that I’m - in the nicest/tough love way - the youngest.  My mom held a successful corporate career and my dad built restaurants and businesses while we moved around every 2-4 years.  I always loved chemistry and would always try new experiments to try to heal my eczema.  Colloidal oatmeal baths, creams, lotions, oils, vaseline, steroids, socks while sleeping, and new ways of covering it up was a daily struggle.  This helped propel my interest to study chemistry in college and a couple years in, I also realized that I loved business - got that from my parents - and wanted to figure out a way to combine the two.  I love travelling and would start to walk into beautiful stores/spas all over the world and wonder -  “what if they made products for people like me?”  Imagine what that would look like.  After college, I graduated with a M.S. in Cosmetic Chemistry while being an entry level chemist.

While working in fragrance and personal care for 10 years, I was able to learn the ins and outs of formulation development/stability, supply chain and production, but I was still hungry.

I decided it was time to get off of my eczema steroids for the first time when I turned 30.  Woof.  The eczema was back full force during the winter after and Seda introduced me to the bulletproof diet and skincare regimen.  Within 3 days, my skin started to heal, I slept incredibly well, and woke up refreshed and ready to start each day.  I was amazed at how my body and mind transformed and was hooked immediately.  For weeks, I didn’t believe it and decided to chart my progress and was able to analyze how I was doing based on habits I did the day before or three days before.  There’s always cheat days - and don’t miss out on them. - just know that there is a way to get back on track.

Sometimes I wonder if living this new natural life cannot possibly work - but then I remember - the chemistry makes perfect sense.