Emily Merrell  00:00

Hey, my name is Emily Merrell. I’m a taco loving people connector. And I’m obsessed with playing the name game and all things networking. I’m the founder of secondary society, a female focused networking community, as well as a business coach for female business owners passionate about bringing their business to the next level with the help of the fence, community and connections. I crave deep conversations, and I’m continuously curious to see what makes people tick. And I’m invested in uncovering their stories with some life lessons along the way. This podcast is aimed to inspire and educate as you tackle your busy day to join the conversation and tune in to the second degree podcast. I’m your host Emily Merrell. And today I’m really excited to have my friend Meredith Wilinsky. She’s a health coach, health and wellness coach, and she’s the founder of inner compass help. Meredith, welcome to the show.

 

00:57

Thank you so much, Emily. I’m so happy to be here.

 

Emily Merrell  01:00

I’m so happy to have you here. And this is a big month for you. I feel like you’ve got some exciting things happening this month.

 

Meredith Wilensky  01:07

Yeah.

 

Emily Merrell  01:10

Like casually kinda got married last weekend kind of casually getting married next weekend again or something.

 

Meredith Wilensky  01:16

In October, October, official official wedding but we had a really beautiful communal celebration camping trip in the woods this weekend. It was really, really

 

01:26

beautiful.

 

Emily Merrell  01:27

I love it. And so you’re calling in from the Bay Area. How is it? How’s your summer been there so far?

 

Meredith Wilensky  01:35

We got a moment of summer. Yeah, sometime in July, but

 

Emily Merrell  01:39

it’s very in a parka, guys.

 

Meredith Wilensky  01:42

It’s definitely very foggy and chilly today, I think the highest in the 60s. So hopefully we’ll get some summer and August and September, October. Maybe. Yeah.

 

Emily Merrell  01:54

I those were the moments when when I lived in the bay when you’d realize you’re like, wow, I really do miss air conditioning. I don’t need it all year. But then, come September, it’s 97 degrees. And you don’t have air conditioning and your windows are weird and don’t have screens on them. You’re like what is this?

 

Meredith Wilensky  02:12

Yeah, it can it can get rough. But it’s always in a really random time of year that you’re like, Isn’t summer supposed to be over?

 

Emily Merrell  02:18

Yeah, no, it was it was confusing. I think after moving to Denver, I like found clothes that I forgot I had they were tank tops. I think they’re called sleeveless dresses. And like took my sweater isn’t kind of how to build some space for this. This whole new array of clothing that I forgot existed. Oh, I’m

 

Meredith Wilensky  02:40

a little jealous.

 

Emily Merrell  02:41

You know what? You can go get a taste of it in Atlanta for your wedding, I’m sure. Well, so Meredith, I want to hear your story. You’re a health and wellness coach, and you’re the founder of inner compass health. But it wasn’t always the case. You didn’t just graduate college and come a health and wellness coach, how did you get to where you are today?

 

Meredith Wilensky  03:05

Yeah, this was not plan a I can tell you that. I studied environmental studies in college, I was a really passionate environmental advocate. I still am and I ended up going to law school to do environmental policy and advocacy. And I absolutely love that work. I thought I would be a lawyer and do environmental work forever. But I was dealing with my own personal health journey and, and I kind of was that kid that always had like some health problems. I was not like the runt of the litter kid who like couldn’t play sports. But I definitely was on a lot of antibiotics as a kid and went to a lot of doctors offices and in college was getting a lot of sinus infections and things like that. And I’m in my 20s I started to get migraines, and they kind of just got worse throughout my 20s. And from what I understand that’s a really common trajectory. They did get worse than law school. And I think the stress of law school was a factor but I always like to say I don’t blame law school or the law, like being a lawyer or being at the law firm for my migraines. I think that was just an exacerbating factor of being in a high stress environment. But I I was really committed to not letting my migraines get in the way of my life. So I did what I had to do. I had a ridiculous routine by the end as they got worse where I would wake up in the morning and I would wait till I could stand up so I could get my ice pack and go lay down in bed. And like if I could stand up and mostly walk without being dizzy, I would like get ready and go to work and If I didn’t have a pain free day, for something like seven years, it was bad. And so on a good day, maybe I’d only have like a few hours of a headache. And on a bad day I was

 

Emily Merrell  05:14

in bed, which I’m sure was a, you’re such a joy to be around, you know, imagine, you know, like, talking about a social life or, you know, exploring things for fun, how that would have been challenging when you’re in pain like that. Yeah,

 

Meredith Wilensky  05:31

I, you know, human beings are incredibly adaptive. It’s actually incredible when you think about what humans can adapt to, and what we can get used to. And I was committed to having my life like, I wasn’t going to keep missing social events, because I wasn’t feeling great. If I could get up if I could go I pushed through. And in some ways, I’m so grateful to myself, because I did have a beautiful, wonderful life and meaningful relationships. And in other ways, I really see how I was unwilling to take care of myself. And I was unwilling to say, You know what, you need to slow down. Yeah. But I also think the

 

Emily Merrell  06:18

fact that you said that you’re going to doctors at a young age, you just it sounded like you just kind of accepted that this was your reality, and that this was going to be your life, you were going to be in pain, some people are in pain, and some people aren’t. And you just that was the card, the cards you were dealt. Right?

 

Meredith Wilensky  06:36

That’s absolutely right, Emily, and I appreciate you saying that, because I think so many of us kind of just feel like what we’re experiencing is the way it is. And especially when you have a diagnosis from a doctor, there’s kind of this idea that there’s just something wrong with you. And that’s your life, you have this thing. I didn’t know if it would ever go away and knowing that I didn’t want to miss my life, which is very strong

 

Emily Merrell  07:04

of you like that is very, very strong and remarkable. And I know a lot of people who have gotten the word Amis stage of things like Well, to me, Well, my life sucks, like, why am I here? And so I love that you were able to still to see the silver linings and like live a life versus just to be defeated in life. But if there was a moment that you were like, well screw this, I need to do something. What was that moment? That happened?

 

Meredith Wilensky  07:33

Yeah. So there was there was kind of a series of moments. And the first time I went on medical leave was after I had been put on a medication that left me literally in bed for 20 hours a day, it was terrible. So I took three months off, then did a whole diet saw these amazing, amazing natural doctors went back to work back into the hustle back into pushing myself and did that again for about four more years. And at that point, I was doing better than my worst. But I wasn’t doing great. I was crawling under the desk during the day. I couldn’t eat onions and garlic and gluten and this whole list of foods. And I was struggling. And I think one of the biggest moments was when a co worker, she was a paralegal at the law firm. We had been talking the day before. And I don’t really know what spurred this. But she walked into my office 20 Something girl like she’s amazing. And she was just like, Meredith, I’ve been thinking about you. You say you want to get married, you want to have kids, you want all these things. And you’re sick. Like why are you not taking care of yourself like this is this is not working for you.

 

Emily Merrell  08:46

Oh, I love this girl. She like a future life coach.

 

Meredith Wilensky  08:49

She’s going to law school. And I feel like maybe that’s maybe she does need to rethink. But it was a really wild moment. This is a coworker not like a best friend or my aunt or some. Like she just came in and she gave it to me straight. And I will say it was the first time that I really thought about how my physical illness was impacting my like capacity to begin relationship with, by the way is definitely a real thing. But it didn’t make me like walk out the door that day. But it was it was just like a straw on so many things where I was questioning like is Am I really doing everything I can to take care of myself. And so a few months later, after really thinking it all through, I thought you know what, I need to stop. And I gave notice, and I left because I knew that if I just like took three months off on a like a medical leave and I knew I had to go back. I knew that pressure to go back wouldn’t give me the space to just say, You know what? I’m doing whatever it takes to get better. So I Notice, I left my job and I had ideas of things that I was going to do, I wanted to do some microbiome diet, and someone had told me about this thing called Brain retraining, which is absolutely incredible. And if anybody here listening is dealing with chronic illness and not finding a solution, Google Brain retraining, or reach out to me, and I’ll share everything I know about it. But I was doing these different modalities. And I think the most important thing I was doing was just radically reorienting my life, around my wellness.

 

Emily Merrell  10:37

In the fact that you, you, this wasn’t time for you to lollygag, this wasn’t time for you to just like, understand what you wanted to be when you grew up, or think of beyond lawyering, you’re like, I need to heal myself. And I need to figure it out. Stat. So you really, it sounded like you went east, west, north south to to figure it out. So what were Did you have a strategy? Or did you have someone that was accompanying you with all of this? Or were you kind of Googling and hear hearing these things from other people and just doing it on your own?

 

Meredith Wilensky  11:10

Yeah, so at this point, I was about a decade into dealing with migraines. So I had, I had tried, basically almost anything, some wild stories about that some interesting energy healers, I won’t go there. But I had this sense, something inside me that said, I’m not broken, I am out of balance. And so when I went into it, there was this guiding idea that like I needed to bring my body and self back into balance. And I had heard about this diet that I and I saw a practitioner to support me with that, and I did the brain retraining. And I saw coaches to support me with that. But fundamentally, it was about reorienting myself towards taking care of myself. I liked you know, I think when people quit their job, we like to call it like fun employment. And I like to call it my health employment, like my wellness was my job. And one of the most interesting things that happened in that time was I realized, when I stopped trying to do anything else, how little time there wasn’t a day, because just taking care of me was all I had energy for, which is mind boggling that

 

Emily Merrell  12:31

you were even able to get yourself out of bed into the office and hold down a job while going through this excruciating, excruciating pain every single day. And,

 

Meredith Wilensky  12:42

you know, while I appreciate you recognizing that in me, I also just want to say like, testimony to women everywhere. Like the things that we do, the pain that we undergo, the the the way that we just show up is, is incredible. And women are doing that every single day and not being recognized for that. I mean, so, yes, I did it. And I think so many of us are doing it in 1000 different ways. It

 

Emily Merrell  13:10

blew my mind. Just quick squirrel on that one after having a baby. Like walking around in diapers essentially myself, not him. Like, Ben like I just pushed a baby out of my vagina like, can people pat me on the back? Like I just I wanted more Pat’s on the back than I think I had ever thought of giving to someone after they had been in that circumstance. Like I’m standing, I’m holding the baby and feeding the baby and I just made the baby for nine months and push the baby out. Like I wanted a big pat on the back. So next time we see a postpartum person, like days postpartum, just give them that Pat.

 

Meredith Wilensky  13:47

Yeah, absolutely. It’s just a perfect example of the way that we don’t really recognize everything that women do, and people do and really see what it takes to show up. Yeah, it’s crazy. So pay your your now health employed.

 

Emily Merrell  14:05

I love that. Your health employed you’re you’re taking time for yourself. Did you fix? Did you did you balance yourself? Did we get? So?

 

Meredith Wilensky  14:14

Yeah. So magically, within a few months, I’m already starting to feel better. And I’m understanding things about my mind and my thoughts and the way I had been living in fear and anxiety and keeping myself in a stress state that was preventing me from healing. And all of this understanding about how I was caught was so powerful and illuminating. And it and it took a long time and I like to say I’m recovered in the sense that I don’t have chronic migraines anymore. But I also see myself as a lifelong retainer, a lifelong grower and I’m still string setting my nervous system to the strength that I want it to have. But within months, I was adding foods back in, I was having more pain free hours, even pain free days. And I was feeling so empowered to know how much how much I was able to support my body and dictate the way that I experienced the world. And I was feeling so angry that I had spent a decade of my life. And even in this moment, it is emotional, actually to just think about how hard I try how many experts I went to, like, really brilliant doctors and specialists. And nobody was like, hey, I want you to know, you’re not broken. And you have everything you need to heal, huh.

 

Emily Merrell  15:56

Imagine if you had heard that when you are seven, or 10 or 15. Or, you know, going to prom and feeling like your head is about to explode with pain, like all of these little moments. So how, yeah, what would you like four more questions wrapped into one? What did you do with knowing this information? was number one? In Question number two is for those that are listening that are like, oh, you know, I get those migraines. And I’ve talked to everyone. And I don’t think there is a solution out there. Like you’re lucky that you found something that worked for you. But Meredith, I’ve tried everything. What do you want to tell them? Yeah,

 

Meredith Wilensky  16:38

so I’ll answer those. The second one first. I think it takes enormous bravery, when we’ve tried 1000 things for migraines, but also for anxiety, right also for depression, also for all of these other non physical ailments that are stress related, and are related to being out of balance in our bodies, it takes so much bravery to say I’m going to try another thing. And no, it might not work. But also hope that it does. And I think just recognizing the bravery that that takes is important, because it is scary when you’ve tried so many things, to try one more. And I think the difference here that I would point out is it is a fundamentally different thing to go searching for the thing that is going to fix you than to try on a completely different paradigm where you’re no longer fixing anything. And you are actually coming home to yourself and honoring and respecting and becoming more of yourself. And one of my teachers, Dr. Kathleen King, she runs primal trust, she talks a lot about that fixed set mentality, and how that really keeps us locked in stress and thinking something’s wrong. And so this isn’t just trying another thing. This is trying a completely different way of treating ourselves and the imbalances we’re experiencing.

 

Emily Merrell  18:11

I think that’s such a poignant thing to, to add that it’s like, we’re not broken, and you don’t need to be fixed. It’s just shifting how you look at it. And it’s true, because I feel like I I’ve heard a version of your story from so many different angles before can be from fertility. It could be from, from pain management, and can be from love if finding love, like there’s so so many things in life that we feel maybe potentially broken in, and that needs to be fixed. And once it’s fixed, then the solution will be there. But I like that Reshef. So you got what did you do? What, what what, what actually happened to you, in this time in this journey? And then how did you change your life accordingly?

 

Meredith Wilensky  19:01

Yeah, it’s, it’s so hard to put it all into words, because these types of deep changes happen so slowly, and they happen so deeply. And they’re not linear or clear. And, but what I will say is, after many months, many more months than I thought it would be I around nine months. I actually was like, hey, you know what, I think I have enough energy to do something other than take care of myself. Which by the way, there was moments after like six months where I thought to myself, oh my god, do I never want to work again. Like am I just going to cook and lay on the couch and, you know, go on walks in the woods forever. No, there was a point where I actually felt well enough and had enough energy that I wanted to get back. And I like to say that because I think we like a lot of us have the secret fear that if we didn’t push ourselves we wouldn’t create things or do things or give things and every single client that I work with As a deep, deep wish to give back, and we do that from our own goodness, not because we have to or prove something. So random thought, but I was, I was ready to do something. And I didn’t want to go back to the law at that moment, I didn’t feel ready for that. And I kind of just felt this, like deep need to spread the Gospel. And so I thought about, you know, you asked me this question, like, who was supporting me on my journey. And while I had a nutritionist, or I had like a neuroplasticity coach, I had no buddy, who was just my support system and my advocate, and I didn’t even know it existed. So I had this idea that I thought I made up and didn’t even exist, that I was going to become this special type of coach that has no specific agenda, I’m not focused on your brain, I’m not focused on your microbiome. I’m focused on you mind, body, heart, soul, and supporting you through your journey, and helping you determine how you’re going to put the puzzle pieces to fix what needs to be fixed. So you can feel well and whole and satisfied in your life. And randomly, I was sharing this with my acupuncturist. And she mentioned, there was this thing called health coaching. I didn’t even know it existed. So I went and I got my certification as a health and life coach, and was very excited to learn that this field exists. And it’s actually one of the fastest growing professions in the United States right now. And I decided that I wanted to help folks. And importantly, I didn’t just want to help people who are dealing with physical illness. But when I looked around, I saw that the deeper roots of the symptoms, I was dealing with the disconnection from my own need, the rushing the all of these different things, were were things that were so widespread. And you don’t have to have migraines to be there. And I’d rather help folks before they kind of hit the rock bottom that I hit. And it is so much easier to heal and to improve when you’re just dealing with some sleep problems than when you’re like deep into chronic illness. Totally well in do you think

 

Emily Merrell  22:21

knowing what you know, now, you look back at the young version of Meredith? Like do you feel like this could have been nipped in the bud? If there had been someone to help you at a younger age?

 

Meredith Wilensky  22:34

Oh, it’s such an interesting question. So I definitely know that I was put on certain medications and and migraines by the way, like our run in my family. I was definitely put on medications that disrupted my microbiome. I think that so I, I am going to answer this question a little indirectly, Emily, which is, in in this world of health, there’s a lot of people who are like, really into one solution. So they’ll say everything that’s wrong with you is actually in your mind, it’s your thoughts, we need to focus on creating better mindsets and regulating your nervous system, and everything’s gonna get better. Or there’s just people that say, everything is the gut microbiome. And if you just fix your gut microbiome, you’re gonna get better. And are these other people who say everything is attachment and, you know, emotions. And if you and my strong belief is that we are a complicated input and output system, and everything comes together to create our experience. And we do ourselves a disservice. And I know why we do it, we come from this very convergent thinking orientation, right? Science is all about one hypothesis, and one solution. And so and so we want there to be that answer. And when I say to people, I actually don’t believe there’s that answer. I believe there’s your answer. And it’s a puzzle. And it is your job and gift to put those puzzle pieces together. So it’s almost impossible for me to say, Oh, if this had happened as a child, like, Oh, if we didn’t live in a broken food system, and if we didn’t have problems with, you know, overuse of pharmaceutical drugs, and you know, if there wasn’t intergenerational trauma and anxiety that existed due to, you know, things that happened in the potluck, there’s just so many things that I believe, led me to where I was. And I think that when we heal ourselves, especially like parents, especially parents, we’re doing the most important work because we’re breaking these cycles and these chains that are getting passed down and we’re, we’re supporting ourselves, but we’re supporting the people around us. Yeah, well, so

 

Emily Merrell  24:56

you’ve mentioned that you then decided to spread the gospel I love of how you said that? Did you? Were you successful in spreading the gospel to your own parents? Oh,

 

Meredith Wilensky  25:09

I didn’t start with my parents. That’s, that’s funny. Now you mentioned I’m like, I didn’t start with my parents, I think, I think where I decided to start was much more with people who were looking for that answer. I think my parents approach to many of these things has shifted, as they have seen what has changed inside of me. But I certainly focus my attention on the people who are looking for a new way of thinking about things. And so half, I think, I think there’s subtle shifts in how they think about these things and seeing how I feel, but they’re also you know, they’re on their own, their own journey and their own way of thinking about things. Okay,

 

Emily Merrell  25:52

so Meredith, you, you know, you heard about health coaching, I love that you’re like, I didn’t even know it existed. It’s this uncovering of this billion dollar industry that I love, I, it’s funny, I feel like life coaching was the first thing I was introduced to, and, and my mom would go to these, like, networking things when I was in high school and be like, life coach than they are what not. And to me, I was like, oh, road coach, they’re all they all just don’t know what they’re doing with their lives. So that’s why your life coach, you know, all the judgments and assumptions. And then health coaching, I think was the next big thing that I heard of. And when I became a coach, I was like, whoa, I’m such an asshole if a credit and all of the things, but I love life coaching. And I love health coaching. And I think the the lesson I wish everyone had was giving themselves the gift of help, and navigation. And like, imagine if we had had a career coach, when we started our careers, too. Like that would have been a game changer that I would have probably cried a lot less than a lot of bathroom stalls. If I had someone I could talk to candidly about things. Same with therapy. So knowing what, you know, how, and how do you work with your clients? And how are people finding you? Yeah,

 

Meredith Wilensky  27:14

I just want to echo what you’re saying, Emily, I think we live in a culture where we have these ideas of experts that we are allowed to consult for information. We can go to a nutritionist, we can go to a doctor, or we can even go to a personal trainer. And that’s all like kind of kosher and a good use of your money and supported. And then there’s this whole world of support that know that we don’t culturally totally understand the value of yet. And that is the fundamental paradigm that I’m working with, with my clients, which is, what if your problem was that you didn’t have enough information? What if your problem was actually that you have to get closer to yourself and closer to your truth, and closer to what works for you. Because guess what, nobody has the same body, the same genes, the same lifestyle, the same everything. And so the way that you need to move and you need to sleep and you need to eat and you need to think is fundamentally different than even your partner, even your sister or brother, right. And so the way I work with clients is primarily one on one, but I’m actually been working with group programs lately, and it’s been really fun. I’m starting another group program. In the fall, I run through a 90 day program where we meet once a week. And meeting consistently is so important because the way that I work is with these four pillars, these four important ways that I’m helping folks. And the first pillar is all about nervous system regulation. Because if you can not get yourself into the feeling of okayness of safety. And it’s so hard to do anything else for yourself. Because when we’re stressed where we’re not our best selves, we’re not thinking clearly. And so, number one pillar is helping find ways to regulate our nervous system, and healthily manage our stress. Number two is all about healthy habits. And I like to say healthy habits that work for you. Because the things that you might need to move around Emily are totally different from somebody else. And you have to figure them out. And that is a process of experimentation. So when we meet every single week, when we come in and I say how did that go? And you’re like, you know what, I didn’t do it once. Like we’re used to being like, Oh, I missed up and a great that’s such good information, what went wrong? And so when we meet week after week, we can actually test things out and figure out what works for you. And we can figure out With the needle movers are for you, because that is going to be different. So I don’t have this idea that everybody needs like a specific movement routine or food routine. It’s more about figuring out what are your Keystone Habits, I like to call them that are the needle movers for you. And then the third pillar is all about reconnecting and coming home to ourselves. And so that is the mindset piece. That is understanding how we are our own worst stressors, things like perfectionism, self criticism, comparison. And that is the pillar in which I really help folks understand how we can get out of our own way and start to support ourselves in creating what we want. And I think when we figure out how much of our stress and our discomfort is our own doing, that can be really upsetting. I like to say it’s really empowering, because that’s the one thing we can control is our own selves. And that’s so that’s a really rich and deep area of work. And, and I think I differ from a lot of health coaches in that area, and that I’m not just helping folks figure out like, you know, how much protein to have in their lunch, but I’m actually helping them understand why are you eating when you’re not hungry? What is the deeper hunger that is there. And let’s get down to that deep belief and create a more empowering belief. And that’s my favorite favorite aspects of this work is really about deeper reprogramming. And then the fourth pillar is all about self advocacy and aligned living. Because if you have this beautiful brain thoughts and habits and nervous system, then you go out into the world and you don’t ask for what you want, and you don’t set boundaries, and you don’t take time for yourself. You don’t prioritize the things that actually matter to you. Nothing. Oh, it’s,

 

Emily Merrell  31:59

it sounds like a working with you would be the greatest gift that you can give yourself because it’s like having a mini cheerleader just in your, in your week, every single week been like, Okay, how are you? How’s it? How’s it going? Accountability, but also helping push you deeper in the directions that you probably want to go but you’re scared to go or you’re scared to pilgrimage. And you’ve got this this guide helping you along

 

Meredith Wilensky  32:24

the way? Yeah. Oh, thank you, Emily, I once heard someone describe coaching as helping people overcome the fear that stands in between where they are and what they want. Hmm,

 

Emily Merrell  32:37

it’s true. It’s, I always think of meeting girls when when she says I’m a pusher Katie, like, that’s what I think. I’m like, pushing, you’re pushing out of comfort zones, you’re pushing into like a uncomfy place that one day will never be thought of as uncomfy. Again, because you’ll get you’ll you’ll be expanded and expansive, hopefully, in that growth. So Meredith, what’s the best way for people to find you?

 

Meredith Wilensky  33:08

I am on Instagram at inner compass health. And you can find me online www dot inner compass. health.com. You can always email me, Meredith at inner compass. health.com. I am so passionate about this stuff, I will talk to anyone I have. I just I like to say that because I offer a free 40 minute destress strategy session. And I I love those sessions. They’re they’re so fun. I love helping people understand how they could move the needle for them and open up this possibility that things could feel different. And I will just say about that, that I think so much of what people realize when they do this work is actually when we pause and we do take care of ourselves. We are able to be the givers and doers and get things diners that we want to be but we’re able to do that from a full cup and from a place of alignment and satisfaction. And that is a very powerful place to be.

 

Emily Merrell  34:18

Amen to that. Yes, I so we see her on the corner in San Francisco. She has, you know, a milk carton that she’s standing on in a big bowl. What is the bullhorn? Is that what they’re called? Yeah. Like gospel over here. Come on over. I’m just kidding. I love that. Well, no, I’m thinking

 

Meredith Wilensky  34:38

about that. Maybe I should try that. Yeah, yeah.

 

Emily Merrell  34:42

Marketing and it’s called guerilla marketing and it worked for Jesus. So I this is totally unrelated, but I have a house in Denver and people actually knock on your doors and solicit here. And it’s so weird because I’ve always lived in apartments and like, you can’t really get into an apartment if someone knocked on my door in an apartment building in some very different lane. But so they come to your door. And so we’ve had like the Humane Society, which we now donate to. We have honesty International, which we now donate to. And then we had someone the other day and I felt so bad, but I, it was a very strong knock, I opened the door, I shouldn’t have opened the door. And he literally had like a Bible, you had his hit, he had a tie on, you know, everything was like perfectly tucked in. And I take one look. And I was like, I’m so sorry, I’m gonna stop you before you even start be like, this isn’t the right household for you. I hope you have a lovely day and just close the door. I felt terrible and wonderful all at the same time. Because, again, I just told you two places that we’re now needing to. I’m Jewish. So it was just not his conversion strategy was not going to work most likely. But I was just, I did have to say like, Damn respect. You believe in something so strongly and you were knocking on my door and you don’t know who’s on the other side of these doors. And you could have weirdos like myself and you just keep going. So that’s what I have to say about telemarketer

 

Meredith Wilensky  36:16

urge solicitors. Okay, so maybe I won’t start going door to door yet.

 

Emily Merrell  36:22

Now just the corner, just the street corner. So Meredith, before we finish this podcast, I have some six last questions for you. Okay. Okay. I didn’t even proper on this guy. So this is like, straight up fresh questions, and I’m really excited about this. So my first question for you is tell us an unknown fun fact

 

Meredith Wilensky  36:43

about you. I lived in the Amazon for a year.

 

Emily Merrell  36:49

Oh, that’s a very fun at GDC put on us.

 

Meredith Wilensky  36:53

Ah, I did I actually fished and ate a Parana sharp

 

Emily Merrell  37:01

really yummy.

 

Meredith Wilensky  37:01

That’s good. Yeah. Just

 

Emily Merrell  37:06

good. Good. That’s really cool. And I want to hear more about that. Who would be a dream person to be connected with

 

Meredith Wilensky  37:15

that are alive. Oh, man, I’m bad at these things. Anybody who wants to do this work? That’s my dream.

 

Emily Merrell  37:25

Taking that angle, I like it. Um, what? What show are you currently watching? No judgment.

 

Meredith Wilensky  37:31

marvelousness nasal. Oh,

 

Emily Merrell  37:33

that’s a fun one.

 

Meredith Wilensky  37:34

That’s a good. Season Five is going in very strange directions. But I’m committed to watch to the end. Is it Season Five already? rough season? I stopped at three. And then. Yeah,

 

Emily Merrell  37:49

I stopped at three which I need to pick up again. I was just like little. You know what, you have to take a step back and then yeah. Yeah, I need to revisit. What book are you reading? Or do you recommend reading?

 

Meredith Wilensky  38:02

Oh, I am reading. I read like six books at a time. It’s a very, very bad habit. But let’s see, I look over at my bed scan. I’m reading hold me tight right now. It’s a book on attachment and relationships. I haven’t heard of that one.

 

Emily Merrell  38:25

That’s a good one to add to the list. What is your favorite emoji?

 

Meredith Wilensky  38:32

I kind of like the monkey covering his eyes.

 

Emily Merrell  38:35

He’s cute. See no evil. Love it. And then who gave you permission or inspired you to do the thing you wanted to do with your life?

 

Meredith Wilensky  38:48

I did. I

 

Emily Merrell  38:49

did. Look at their confidence. I love it. And then I have a bonus question that I’m just starting to add

 

Meredith Wilensky  38:54

pizza or tacos. Together fine. I probably picked tacos because I was gluten free for so long.

 

Emily Merrell  39:06

There is this great SNL skit called like Taco town. And it’s like, you take a pizza and then you fill it with toppings. Like, you keep going. It’s like a 90 pound taco. Then we deep fry it and we put it in a commemorative bag. Taco down any Hill. So that’s your pizza taco right there. Well, Meredith, it was an absolute pleasure chatting with you. Seeing your passion shine through hearing your story. And thank you for being today’s guests on the sixth degree.

 

Meredith Wilensky  39:36

Thank you so much, Emily.

 

Emily Merrell  39:38

I really appreciate it. And listeners. If you liked today’s show, please make sure to follow Meredith at inner compass health. Give the star give the star give this show a five stars. Share with your friends and we’ll see you the next time. Have a wonderful day everyone