Your Body, Your Brand
Kaila Tova
Women are dropping out.
They’re dropping out of the workplace to become yoga teachers. Leaving behind careers to sell essential oils and fitness programs. Opting out of STEM to focus on their Paleo diet cookbook.
And even when they stay in, they’re spending their lunch hours talking about their latest diet, getting up from their desks to do burpees or add a few more steps to their FitBit, waking up early or staying out late to beat their bodies into submission at hot yoga or Crossfit. They’re giving the money they earn to the women who have dropped out.
We're making dangerous investments.
We’re bought into the idea that health and fitness is where the money is, and if we could just spend or make a few more dollars and hit the next PR, all of our problems will be solved, we’ll improve our relationships, and finally stop hating our bodies. But though the Internet seems bullish on optimizing your health, no one ever talks about the real reason we’re feeling so bad in the skin we’re in: money.
And it’s time that we had a conversation about it. In our increasingly branded and visual online world, we need to talk about how capital —both social and financial — affects the ways in which we hold onto damaging beliefs about our body image, fitness, and nutrition.
And getting rewarded for disorder.
The things we invest in often control us. This podcast isn't about eating disorders, though it does touch on how we're buying and selling disordered eating, fitness, and body image. But really, it's about the pervasiveness of brand, the difficulty of selling something authentically, and the sad fact that it's easier to sell something you can control (your body) than trying to control corporate America.
This podcast will introduce you to marketing psychology and behavioral economics and tell the story of how we gave up our sense of embodiment, empowerment, and participation in the workforce in exchange for a few “likes” and the veneer of a “healthy” personal brand.
The Your Body, Your Brand podcast brings experts in sales, marketing, branding, feminism, and coaching into conversation with coaches, entrepreneurs, and diet consumers to ask:
- Why do women keep dropping out of the workforce to sell diet/fitness/body image coaching?
- Why do people keep getting invested in following "solopreneurs" with fitness/diet/body image brands?
- Is becoming a brand based on your body ever a good thing?
Visit the website to read show notes, meet the guests, and learn more about each episode: bodybrandpod.com.
Support the podcast and receive exclusive extended audio interviews through our Patreon-only podcast feed: patreon.com/bodybrandpod.
Reach Kaila Tova at [email protected]
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Top 10 Your Body, Your Brand Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Your Body, Your Brand episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Your Body, Your Brand for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Your Body, Your Brand episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Introduction
Your Body, Your Brand
09/02/19 • 17 min
An introduction to the ethos and story behind the Your Body, Your Brand podcast.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A Cage with the Bars Labeled "Freedom"
Your Body, Your Brand
10/07/19 • 55 min
Not every health coaching program starts or ends with an eating disorder — but that doesn’t mean that most forays into wellness entrepreneurship leads to fame, fortune, and a cookbook deal.
In this episode, we’ll look at how, branding becomes a performance and, as Pace Smith puts it, a “cage with the bars labeled freedom.”
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Epilogue
Your Body, Your Brand
12/02/19 • 80 min
In our prologue, we met Jennifer Saminathen on the eve of yoga teacher training. What became of her?
In this episode, we find out Jennifer’s next steps — and also hear from two previous guests about their decision to leave wellness entrepreneurship behind.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Health is Wealth
Your Body, Your Brand
11/18/19 • 90 min
Buckle up, because we’ve reached the final episode of the podcast wherein we ask: what does it mean to do helping work in the context of a capitalist society?
Wellness entrepreneurship seems to promise to make health into wealth — but what about the other helping professions?
In this episode we look at David Graeber’s theory of Bullshit Jobs,* David Geary and Gijsbert Stoet’s study on the gender equality paradox, and continue our discussion on neoliberalism’s influence on wellness professions.
*affiliate link
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Accountability
Your Body, Your Brand
11/11/19 • 55 min
When we start a diet or a fitness program, we often ask others to hold us accountable.
When we launch a brand or start a business, we often feel accountable to our audience and customers.
What does all of that accountability mean, when we consider it in a neoliberal framework? In this episode, we look at economies of visibility and ask what whether becoming consumable objects via brand images is as feminist as we think it is.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Future is (Neoliberal) Female
Your Body, Your Brand
11/04/19 • 46 min
If you’re listening to this podcast, you’ve probably heard the word “neoliberalism” before. Most of us only have a vague concept of what that means — I certainly did when I started this project. But to understand wellness entrepreneurship, we need to understand neoliberal economics — and neoliberal feminism — and how it shapes our ideas about who we are and how we’re meant to function in the world.
In this episode, we dive deep into the economic foundation of “self-worth” and discover how the value we place on our brands becomes the value we place on ourselves.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What Men Feel All the Time
Your Body, Your Brand
10/28/19 • 67 min
What drives women into multilevel marketing is the same thing that drives women into wellness entrepreneurship writ large. While MLM has codified a certain business model, wellness entrepreneurship requires the same level of commitment, often for the same slim chance at payoff.
Yet the women who remain optimistic about this business model must have a reason. And that reason is: to feel what men feel all the time.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Interlude
Your Body, Your Brand
10/26/19 • 5 min
A brief word to add some context, and ensure that the audience is aware that 1) being a guest on this podcast doesn't imply endorsement of the context I've added around the pieces of the interviews I've chosen to include, 2) this is cultural criticism and not investigative journalism, which means that I'm using narrative to contextualize something bigger in our culture, not implicate specific participants, and 3) this podcast is meant to raise awareness about an issue, not prescribe action or suggestion that the work any of us is doing is wrong/bad/misdirected; we're all swimming in this, and we need to find ways to become "aware of the water."
Feel free to drop me a line at [email protected] with questions, comments, and feedback!
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Pyramid-Shaped Elephant in the Room
Your Body, Your Brand
10/21/19 • 59 min
When we talk about wellness entrepreneurship, it’s hard to ignore the pyramid-shaped elephant in the room: multilevel marketing. MLM or network marketing gets plenty of time in the media, but instead of just talking about why the actual system is good or bad, we’re going to ask: why do women join them in the first place?
I approached these interviews from a place of curiosity instead of condemnation, and they revealed some pretty interesting stories. I encourage you to listen to these interviews with curiosity too — you may be surprised at what you learn.
This is part one of a two-part episode.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Publish or Perish
Your Body, Your Brand
10/14/19 • 76 min
When professional brand takes over personal life, performing your branded self can feel like a life-or-death proposition.
In this episode, we continue our look at the pitfalls of engaging in what Brooke Erin Duffy calls “aspirational labor,” and we examine the factors that keep us trapped in a performance of success, even when it leads to failure.
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/bodybrandpod.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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FAQ
How many episodes does Your Body, Your Brand have?
Your Body, Your Brand currently has 17 episodes available.
What topics does Your Body, Your Brand cover?
The podcast is about Personal Training, Health & Fitness, Society & Culture, Clean Eating, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Feminism, Empowerment, Podcasts, Economics and Health.
What is the most popular episode on Your Body, Your Brand?
The episode title 'Epilogue' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Your Body, Your Brand?
The average episode length on Your Body, Your Brand is 54 minutes.
How often are episodes of Your Body, Your Brand released?
Episodes of Your Body, Your Brand are typically released every 6 days, 23 hours.
When was the first episode of Your Body, Your Brand?
The first episode of Your Body, Your Brand was released on Aug 9, 2019.
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