Wellness Wednesday Issue #143

🌱 Reformer Pilates without the $3K machine? Just use your wall—perfect for busy professionals who want real results at home.

🧘 A smarter way to support your team’s well-being at work.

⌨️ This ASMR-inspired desk essential makes the workday unexpectedly calming.

🍂  8 office fashion trends you’ll see everywhere this fall.

We’ve been sold a lot of “hygiene rules” over the years—some from old-school marketing, some from well-meaning advice that never should’ve stuck. The problem? A lot of them do more harm than good, messing with your body’s natural balance and even creating the very issues they claim to solve.

Over-Cleaning Does More Harm Than Good

• Washing “down there” with harsh soaps. More soap ≠ more clean. Harsh soaps and douching wreck pH balance and trigger irritation or infections. Fun fact: the vagina is self-cleaning. Water + a gentle, fragrance-free cleanser on the outside is all you need.
• Daily hair washing. Shampooing every day strips oils, which makes your scalp pump out even more. Most hair types thrive with 2–3 washes per week.
• Aggressive toothbrushing for whiter teeth. Scrubbing harder won’t get you a Colgate ad smile. It actually erodes enamel and damages gums. Gentle > force.

Marketing Has Us Buying Problems

• Scented feminine products are “cleaner”. Nope. Sprays, wipes, and scented tampons are unnecessary and often cause allergic reactions or pH disruption.
• Deodorant and antiperspirant do the same thing. Not the same thing. Deodorant masks odor. Antiperspirant blocks sweat. Knowing the difference means less trial-and-error in the drugstore aisle.

Clothing and Sleep Habits

• Always wearing underwear to bed. Even cotton can trap moisture overnight. Sleeping without it = better airflow and fewer infections.
• Wearing the same bra multiple days. Bacteria and sweat build up faster than you think. Rotate daily, wash every 2–3 wears.

Beauty and Grooming Oversights

• Sharing makeup brushes or rarely cleaning them. Dirty brushes spread bacteria, causing breakouts and infections. Clean weekly, never share.
• Skipping exfoliation before shaving. Dead skin cells + razor = ingrown city. A quick scrub first means smoother results.
• Using razors until they’re dull. Old razors cause more nicks, infections, and irritation. Dermatologists recommend replacing them every 5-7 shaves.

Health Misconceptions

• Period smell means poor hygiene. It’s just oxidation. Normal. Over-washing because of shame? That’s what causes irritation.
• Cranberry juice cures UTIs. While cranberry products may help prevent bacteria from adhering to the urinary tract, they won’t cure an active infection. UTIs typically require antibiotic treatment.
• Loofahs are always hygienic. Those fluffy bath poufs become bacteria magnets unless replaced frequently. Most people use them far longer than safe, making them counterproductive for cleanliness.
• Not drying off completely is fine. Moisture trapped in skin folds creates perfect conditions for rashes and yeast overgrowth. Taking time to dry thoroughly after showering prevents many common skin issues.

Better hygiene isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing the right things. Your body’s already got smart systems in place. Support them instead of working against them.

That new hire in London? Still waiting on benefits access.

Your Poland contractor? Forgot to upload their tax doc (again).

Your U.S. manager? Has no visibility into PTO, comp, or headcount.

And you? You’re duct-taping six tools together to make it all work.

That’s not people ops—it’s survival.

🧠 Why teams are turning to Deel

Deel is the all-in-one HR platform that handles onboarding, managing, and paying global workers in 150+ countries. Think: localized contracts, built-in compliance, automated tax support, and self-serve tools that actually save you time.

Here’s what it handles well:

• 🌍 Global hiring & onboarding for contractors and full-timers
• 📄 Localized contracts, PTO policies, and payroll compliance
• 💼 Compensation planning, performance reviews, and headcount visibility
• 🗂️ Centralized time-off, surveys, documents, and expenses
• 📊 Real-time workforce data without the spreadsheet gymnastics

Whether you’re hiring in Canada or Cambodia, Deel gives you a single system that flexes with your team.

✨ Best Features

• Built-in compliance across 150+ countries
• Supports contractors, EORs, and employees in one system
• Super clean self-serve onboarding flows
• Modular pricing—start small and scale up
• Great visibility for managers (without needing three other tools)

⚠️ What to Watch Out For

• If you’re under 10 employees, it might be more muscle than you need
• Doesn’t include native IT or device management—you’ll need separate tools for that
• Feature-rich, but onboarding can take a minute (especially if you’ve been winging it with docs + email)

✅ How to Get Started

• Book a free 30-min demo tailored to your org’s setup
• Pick a starting point—onboarding, compliance, or HR ops
• Build from there with performance, comp, and payroll add-ons

👉 Book your walkthrough here

Today is National Women’s Health and Fitness Day, a reminder that wellness isn’t green juice and perfect abs.

Real wellness is messy, personal, and ever-changing. It’s about routines that fit your season of life and letting go of the pressure to “get it right.”

In honor of the day, our team is sharing what wellness really looks like behind the scenes: the stories, setbacks, and small wins that keep us showing up.

Joanna: A Practice, Not a Perfect Streak

I grew up in a Filipino household where food was love, involved plenty of rice and flavor, but not the healthiest start. In college, I was a broke student living on cup noodles and dating someone who didn’t believe in the gym (so I didn’t either).

Doing my first Whole30 was a real wake-up call. I learned how much better I felt eating whole foods instead of processed ones. Later, meeting my husband (a lifelong athlete) helped me fall in love with movement and strength training. The ripple effect was huge: more confidence, sharper focus, steadier moods, and resilience in both business and life.

Even now, I still fall off. A two-week trip to Europe recently derailed my workouts and healthy eating. Getting back was tough, but I’ve learned wellness isn’t a sprint or a perfect streak. It’s a journey. Setbacks aren’t game over. They’re just pauses. And every restart is worth it.

My go-to wellness products: I’m big on making it easy to stay consistent, so I lean on collagen peptides for recovery and whey for fast, clean protein my body can use right away. They’ve become a no-brainer part of my routine, and I’m a big fan of how clean the ingredients are. I’ve also started foam rolling more, especially after runs or heavy lifts, which has helped with myofascial release.

Kristel: Wellness That Fits Real Life

In my 30s, with kids and work, wellness means habits that support me without adding pressure.

Most mornings I sneak in a jog before the house wakes. A few times a week, I do Pilates or quick strength workouts with whatever weights I have. Weekends are family movement—jogs, walks, hikes. When I’m inside, my daughter joins me on the mat while my son and husband shoot hoops outside.

I follow intuitive eating, leaning on simple, nourishing meals. One ritual I never skip: simmering green tea with cinnamon and cloves. It smells like comfort and resets me.

Yearly checkups remind me that wellness is long-term. For me, it’s hydration, strength, and staying connected to my body so I can show up fully…for myself and the people I love.

My go-to wellness products: Every morning, I take this Women’s 3 stack, a daily pack with the essentials I need the most. With iron for energy, calcium for strong bones, and vitamin D3 for immune and mood support, it’s an easy way to stay on top of my health every day.

Cameron: From Identity Crisis to Self-Care

I grew up in a pool. Swimming was my identity from age 5 through college. Then 2020 hit, and training gave way to late-night cheese boards and wine. By 2021, the pendulum swung: I dropped 30 pounds in three months, felt sick nonstop, and lived at urgent care.

Graduation week brought answers: Celiac disease. Overnight, my relationship with food, wellness, and my body flipped. Goodbye gluten, hello gut health. I paused workouts just to learn how to feel good again.

Eventually, I missed moving. I rebuilt strength slowly—not for competition but for myself. Now I’m in the gym six days a week, mixing weights, cardio, and stretching. It’s no longer about medals—it’s therapy, balance, and listening to what my body needs.

Wellness isn’t linear. Neither is my journey. But through Celiac, setbacks, and comebacks, I’ve found resilience in starting over.

My go-to wellness products:  When it comes to wellness, the secret isn’t in chasing trends, it’s in consistency. Sticking to a routine, fueling my body with the right supplements, and keeping movement non-negotiable has been a game-changer for both my energy and my mindset. Over time, I’ve learned which products actually make a difference for me, and now they’re staples in my daily ritual.

Here’s my non-negotiable daily lineup: Happy V probiotics, Momentous Women’s 3 + Collagen Peptides, and Charlotte’s Web CBD sleep gummies.

When it comes to workouts, I’m just as loyal to my go-to stack: Momentous Creatine (the only creatine I’ll ever touch), 1UP Nutrition BCAAs, 1UP Nutrition Women’s Pre-Workout, and Clean Simple Eats Protein Powder.

Thania: Training to Be a Badass Grandma

In my mid-20s, I stumbled into online fitness coaching. As a former “fat” girl, I hated working out—until community and personal development shifted my mindset from vanity to function.

Now, I train 4–5 times a week and actually crave it. I eat healthy, but never skip fun cocktails on weekends. My biggest motivation? To be the fit grandma—still hiking and moving well into my 90s.

Watching my mom battle rheumatoid arthritis taught me what I want to avoid. My north star is simple: enjoy aging with joy, health, and peace.

My go-to wellness products: I use a mix of fancy supplements and drugstore ones. Olly Sleep Gummies, Beachbody Energize as pre-workout, Beachbody Recover for post-workout, ISOPURE Unflavored Protein to add to my coffee, Bloom Greens, and Create Creatine Gummies, but I just started using Momentous per Cameron’s recommendation and loved it. I also take Cortisol Manager and inject myself with vitamins from Simple Peptides.

Late receipts. Unclear policies. Team leads asking, “Wait—was this approved?”

If you’re relying on spreadsheets and Slack threads to track team expenses, it’s no wonder budgets feel like a mystery.

The fix isn’t just “more visibility”, it’s smarter systems that do the work for you.

What works (and when to use it):

🧠 Use Rippling when…

You want expense policies baked directly into your org’s DNA.

Because Rippling knows your team already—titles, departments, locations, and roles are synced from your HR and payroll systems. That means:

• Set rules like: “Marketing Managers in NY get $150/month for client meals”
• Reimbursements flow through payroll (automatically)
• You get clean insights by department, not just line items

Best for: Ops leaders who want expenses to run themselves—no finance babysitting required.

⚡ Use Ramp when…

You want to move fast, set smart limits, and see where the money’s going.

Ramp gives you corporate cards, real-time insights, and proactive alerts like:

• Duplicate spend across vendors
• Category overspend (before it snowballs)
• Suggested ways to reduce costs

Best for: Finance leads who want visibility, efficiency, and zero end-of-month surprises.

Smart Expense Tips You’ll Actually Use

✅ Ditch blanket budgets—assign by role and region.

✅ Automate small purchases, flag big ones.

✅ Sync tools with Slack so receipts don’t disappear.

✅ Review policies before someone buys a $400 desk lamp.

Streamline your spend the smart way.

🧹 The wet-dry vacuum to replace every other cleaning tool you own.

🧼 Level up your spreadsheets with Miss Excel’s Data Cleaning + VBA Macros class.

🗓 CREATE 2025 is where women + AI take the stage this October in Salt Lake City.

🛁 Stay safe in the shower with this non-slip bath mat.

• Generic is hiring for an Executive Assistant Office Manager (Miami, FL).
• ReMarkable Career is hiring for a Project Manager (Costa Mesa, CA).
• Mercor is hiring for an Accounting & Audit Expert (Remote).
• CAREERXCHANGE®, Inc. is hiring for a Talent Acquisition Manager (Miami, FL).
• Gallagher Benefit ServicesX is hiring for an Account Manager (Hybrid).

⭐ View more jobs here >

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