In this episode of Functional Medicine Foundations, host Amber Warren sits down with Annie Tevelin, founder of Skin Owl, to discuss Annie’s journey into functional medicine through her creation of an online skincare brand. Annie shares how she developed Skin Owl as a line dedicated to transparency and clean ingredients, with a mission to help people feel beautiful just as they are, regardless of skin challenges. Her passion for empowering individuals to embrace their natural beauty has been central to her own path in functional medicine, highlighting the connection between inner health and outer radiance.
Podcast Drop Date: 11/20/2024
Transcript:
Amber Warren, PA-C: Welcome to the Functional Medicine Foundations podcast, where we explore root cause medicine, engage in conversation with functional and integrative medicine experts, and build community with like minded health seekers. I'm your host, Amber Warren. Let's dig deeper. All right. Welcome back. I'm here with my pal Annie. I'm so excited for this conversation. But we have to start with the bio. Before we get into it, Annie Tevelin is the founder of Skin Owl, a skincare brand dedicated to simple, effective and conscious self care with a focus on plant based, vegan and cruelty free formulations. Skin Owl was born out of Annie's personal journey with cystic acne. Rather than turning to Accutane, she pursued a degree in cosmetic chemistry in her early 30s, determined to create products that would heal her skin naturally. This journey not only transformed her own skin, but also led to help hundreds of others facing similar challenges. Annie's passion for skincare goes beyond the surface, offering her clients an opportunity to reconnect with themselves through thoughtful mind body care. So wonderful. So we have to just start with just your journey. And what brought you here to the Treasure Valley? Yes. Um. So, yeah, just tell. Tell us your story.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah. I mean, you know, now, as of this year is an 11 year young brand. Okay. Um, you told my bio perfectly right. It was acne, and nothing in the world was fixing it. I was a makeup artist in Los Angeles at the time, so I had access to all of these amazing products, but none of them would work. So I took matters into my own hands to create my own line, and I feel like there was just a huge void in how acne was being healed. It was like, take your face off, exfoliate active peels so or.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Kill your liver.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah. Oh, 100%. Right. Accutane. All of these things. So it was just it just there was a disconnect. And so I kind of went back into the world of pure plant oils and antioxidants and anti-inflammatories. And I healed my own skin, which was like, literally like the worst, the worst of the worst. Okay. I've auditioned for a commercial for the brand that is out there that does infomercials for acne. That's how bad it was.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Wow.
Annie Tevelin: So, you know, I think I was like, there's just something missing here. And so I went back to school, as you said, and, and and started healing people's skin after healing my own. And it just kind of it it was wildfire. It was like, oh, wait a minute. I need this for my son. I need this for my daughter, I need this for myself. And it was a seven for seven years in LA. It was a .com brand and we had wholesalers. And then, um, I got pregnant and I had a baby with my husband. And I had been in LA at that point for 17 years.
Annie Tevelin: And I was like, you know what? I think I just want something else. I was ready for another chapter. There was a lot of different parallel moves. My husband was from San Diego. He had lived in Seattle. Portland wasn't totally our vibe, and Boise just was like this place that just everybody kept talking about. We had known someone who had lived here and we came in March or excuse me, May of 2020 during the pandemic and stayed for ten days and bought a plot of land. Within those ten days, and left and packed up our house and moved here in September of 2020. And it was just like the it is the best place to raise a child. Feel that community be, I feel like every place caters to having children here. Where in LA? As wonderful as it was in many ways, I always kind of felt like a little bit of a nuisance in places with a child. So it's just been a wonderful influence on me and my family. And it's, you know, the right decision at the right time.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So that was your initial attraction. Attraction to Boise was just being family oriented.
Annie Tevelin: Yes. And we honestly, we had no idea that there was going to be this, like whole exodus from all of these western states into Boise. We were just like, this is an amazing place. Like, what a lovely place to raise a family. It reminded me a lot of Northern Virginia, where I was raised and just esthetically right. The Four Seasons, a little bit of a winter. Like, it just felt like, wait, this is very familiar, and this reminds me of where I was raised and it just felt like the right move, you know, like children were like beloved, like, you know what I mean? Like, every place had playgrounds. You can't go into the playgrounds in the parks in LA. It's just not it's just not the same vibe. So we were just. Yeah, we were like, definitely like bitten with a little bit of love when we came here.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So it's been just over, you just had your four year anniversary. It's been over four years now. So you're calling this place your home? Yep. And now you now have a brick and mortar?
Annie Tevelin: Yes.
Amber Warren, PA-C: In southeast Boise. Yes. And I've heard it's just amazing. I can't wait to get there.
Annie Tevelin: It's the first brick and mortar. I don't know if there will be another one, but I feel like an owl is best experienced in person. Yeah, we've been, you know, wonderful at managing that online and really curating a lot of really meaningful relationships. Our clients, for the most part, have been with us over eight years. And I just felt like, you know, everybody was like, why are you opening up a brick and mortar in February of 2021? Like no one's ever really going to shop in store again. And I just remember thinking to myself, no, like, absolutely, people are going to shop in store again. If there's anything that people need, it's that human touch, that human interaction that, you know, we offer so many different types of complimentary pampers that are just kind of come as you are, come in, we'll steam you, we'll glow stick you. That just sounds a lot. That sounds a lot worse than it actually is. It's like a lovely, very calming tool. Um.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Steam. You glow stick. You. We got this. Let's go. Let's go for it.
Annie Tevelin: Sounds like a torture chamber, but it really is like this. Like wonderful haven for people to come in.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Well, and that's what I was going to say. Like you, I feel like you almost sell yourself short. Like I created a skincare line. I feel like what you do with skin is so much bigger than that. Like, I feel like you just try. And I know, I know your personal story and we've talked so much offline, just about just women and and feeling beautiful. And I you do so much more than just heal people's skin. I feel like and I'll be honest, I haven't visited Skin Owl, but just from what I've seen on social media and even just on your website, like it's so much bigger than just pretty skin. It really is, though.
Annie Tevelin: It's I feel like I have built a career in an industry that historically breaks women and men for that reason, for, you know, down the industry assumes that you are, you know, not attractive and overweight and sick and lonely and single. But if you use this mascara, your life will change. You know, it is an industry of overpromising and under-delivering. And I remember feeling that as a young child, you know, like first getting into, you know, makeup as a kid. And it was so just like icky and everything was airbrushed. Everything was a lie. And so what I've really tried to do is just meet people where they are. And anybody who has interacted with us in our store knows that is a fact. And anybody who has integrated, you know, or interacted with us in any way online knows that that's a fact. I don't talk to women about how this product is going to help them. Emotionally, it is simply supportive skincare. It is here to support and give you a moment in the day where you're in front of the vanity and you're, you know, taking off the day and checking in with your under eyes to see if you need a little bit more sleep.
Annie Tevelin: Like if it wasn't for skincare or makeup for that reason. Like, I don't know if I would check in with my face at all throughout the day because I'm going and moving and hustling. So I feel like skin owl is a coveted moment in your day where you get to check in with yourself and say, like, how did today show up? And then I know for a fact, because of how effective and efficient the product is, that you will wake up the next morning and feel different and look different. But I just try and keep it very like in shallow waters in terms of like the promises of what skincare can do. I just think it's a lovely moment in your day. I think people could afford to have more of those soft little, you know, sweet wins. And I know the amount of love and education that has gone into the product. Um, and, you know, it speaks for itself. I try not to hard sell it.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Well, and I think, I mean, I guess I should ask you this without me thinking anything. Why do you think you've had so much success? Because it's not like Skin Owl is just this small little thing. Like you've been on the Today Show. You've been featured in Vogue like it's a really big deal. And I love to hear when clean, natural skin products are a really big deal because I want them to be main line. I want them to be. Or mainstream, I should say. Yes.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah, I've I've learned a lot over the last 11 years. I have met, you know, a lot of these clean beauty founders I started with and a bunch of them, you know, started before me. The Missus, the Josh Rosebrook, um, Todd Harper, I mean, these are all brands that we were, like the beginning of something like, right when it was like, like crunchy. And then it became kind of cool, like we were at the forefront of that. It was all about the founder. It was all about these like human owned brands, as opposed to the big box department store brands that were like high impact longwear like it was just like a different language started forming in the beauty industry. And I feel like we've never let go of that. And a lot of, you know, we've partnered with Anthropologie, we have partnered with Aerie, we've partnered with Fabfitfun, and luckily they have all been like really successful partnerships. But when the Targets and like some of these like bigger box brands start coming in, what I've noticed with my peers is that let's say you have a $68 product, but Target wants to sell it for 30. What happens is a reformulation. You know what I mean? So you're still using argan oil, but instead of using 50% of it, you're using 10% of it. And you can keep the ingredient deck the same. But the customer is like, wait a minute, something's different. It's all the ingredients, but something's different. And there is just so much cheapening. I think that happens. And it's these like, I just I don't think I would do Skin Owl if it got to that level. I think I would close it. It's just like too it's too personal.
Amber Warren, PA-C: A sellout.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah, yeah,
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, so interesting.
Annie Tevelin: I mean I could go that's a whole separate.
Annie Tevelin: Oh yeah podcast discussion I'm sure.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Well it's yeah, it's just so cool. And I feel like we're in this world. And I don't know how much you've been following, like the Casey and Calley Means or Food Babe and what they've been doing with, like, you know, the chemicals, food dyes, whatever in our food. But I'm like, and of course I'm like, this is a wonderful movement. Keep this going. But it's so much bigger than that because it's also what you're putting on your skin. Right? And what these little kids and little girls are absorbing when they put these perfumes and these makeups and these potions and these, these things on their skin. So I'm like, okay, let's keep this going, but let's also talk about what we're absorbing transdermally.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah, right. And people, you know, get very overwhelmed sometimes by this conversation because it's like, oh my God, the house products and then the kids products and then and then what I'm eating and like, I like, that's it. I'm terminally ill. You know what I mean? And it's just like, I think sometimes that is really valuable because it actually holds up a mirror to what is happening in this country in many ways. Thank God we have small businesses. Thank goodness we have like people who are out there keeping the integrity right. The farmers, people like myself, other small beauty founders, people who are doing functional medicine. There's a bit of that. I consider that a bit of rebellion because in general, you know, if you are to talk about the personal care world, there is no legislation, right? This isn't Health Canada. They don't have the EU standards. As long as you put it on the ingredient deck, it's used at your own risk. So from deodorants to body washes to shampoos to body creams, I mean literally anything that is not considered an FDA approved drug, which are, you know, the acne treatments, things that you would need a prescription for. Spf is considered a drug. Um, like, I'm not allowed to say that a product actually cures acne that is technically illegal to put on my packaging, because the only thing that cures acne are drugs, right? According to the FDA. So personal care products are like the Wild West, and there's beauty in that for people who are doing it right. And there's like terror in that for people who are doing it wrong. And it's cheap and it's like consumerism at its best. I could go on and on. It's like I just try and
Amber Warren, PA-C: It's actually frightening.
Annie Tevelin: It's frightening. So that's why it's like, just pick one area that is habitual. Do you use deodorant every single day? Do you use dry shampoo every day? Pick like 1 or 2 products that you're super habitual about and clean it up.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, that's good advice. Yeah. Simplify it.
Annie Tevelin: Otherwise it just it's.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Like so overwhelming.
Annie Tevelin: It breaks the bank. People get crazy and then it becomes it becomes muddled. And at the end of the day, it is always the cumulative effect of these toxins in your body unless you have some kind of anaphylactic response or hyper allergy to something. What we're noticing in the science of personal care products is that over time, the habitual use of it could turn into something when that.
Amber Warren, PA-C: When that bucket spills over. Right?
Annie Tevelin: Exactly right. But if you're going to the hotel and you forgot your shampoo and it's some weird shape, it's not going to kill you. You know what I mean? The stress will.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Annie Tevelin: So I try and, like, just live, you know? And that's good.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Advice for parents, too, because I think with with your young little kiddos, it gets even more overwhelming. It's like, okay, the birthday party cupcake. It's okay, like, you got to enjoy community and your child got to enjoy community, like let's go. Yeah. And they're going to come back into your home and eat the big box.
Annie Tevelin: Brands are doing much better than they were when I was a kid. You know, if you're shopping at Target, if you're shopping at a department store, you're going to Sephora, you're going to find clean beauty.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: And maybe they like, messed with the formulations here and there, but it's still better than still clean.
Amber Warren, PA-C: And that's because of demand right. Because the the, the people buying the product are demanding better, cleaner product.
Annie Tevelin: Yes.
Annie Tevelin: Right.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah. I mean, it's like the TikTok Instagram world has just put that all on blast.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So it's not so interesting.
Annie Tevelin: And people are getting sicker. You know, I think younger now because of, yeah I'm sure you can speak to that.
Amber Warren, PA-C: It's a huge deal. So that's actually a really good segue. We've talked offline about just your journey, and it's so interesting because you're actually you have the opposite of what most people come to our clinic with where they don't trust anything in conventional medicine, and they only trust natural, integrative, functional, holistic medicine. And you have the opposite concern almost. And I love your transparency and just your your who you are. And you shared with me your concerns, your fears. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I love this because I know exactly what I'm working with and I love a good challenge. So I'm like, I have to get Annie's trust. I love this so much. So share. Because it's just it's such a unique, such a unique battle that you were up against right away.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah. I mean, to be honest, so much of this stems from, I think, almost a lack of experience with medicinal help. Like I have, I think I've jammed my finger. Like that's the extent I did have like a weird I did fall off 30 foot bleachers when I was like ten years old, but I had a skinned chin like, that was literally it. I haven't broken a bone. I haven't got, you know, I'm knocking on wood here, but like, yeah, I've been very healthy throughout my whole life. I haven't had any chronic pain. Et cetera. Et cetera. So being treated for something is very foreign to me. Right. And that that works in a vacuum. And now I'm 43 and things are starting to come through that are completely foreign to me. You know what I mean? Low level anxiety, low level, um, you know, digestive issues, fatigue, something that truly, you know, in terms of my education, what I have come to call a hormonal imbalance. You know what I mean? Just like things just popping up for no reason. Not in the same way, cyclically that they used to.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Right.
Annie Tevelin: So, and some of this stuff happened after having a child, but I think I was just like, I just like, I'm good.
Annie Tevelin: Like, I don't really need anything. And then that wasn't working anymore because I did need help. And, you know, I, I had not found a doctor here. I was traveling back to Los Angeles to go see my gyno. And she would take my blood. She would do. I mean, she's the best, I love her. I will, like, never leave her. I am indebted to her for many reasons, but I would literally go to her once a year just for like the blood work and the this and the that. I was like, I need someone here and you came highly recommended. I had heard about you through a couple of friends and I was like, okay, you know what? We're just going to what's what's an appointment? You know, like, we'll just go in and I think it's like when, when you're when you are approaching and like attacking someone's health from a preventative place, it's going to feel more overwhelming than how Western medicine does it, which is reactive. And so if you're someone that hasn't been sick a lot, then there's not a lot of reactivity. Therefore there's not a lot of prescriptions and there's not a lot of call to action.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Not a lot of things to find.
Annie Tevelin: There's not a lot of turnover.
Amber Warren, PA-C: And yeah.
Annie Tevelin: So, you know, so I come in here and it's like, oh my God, wait, I need a vitamin D and I need a B12. And I needed this and I needed that. But it's like we're looking at the root cause and we're looking at like the prevention of it. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's very like eastern medicine in a sense. Yeah. I think it has taken me a while to get comfortable with this feeling that my body isn't fully optimized.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: And I think cerebrally, I feel very, you know, capable. And I feel like I have built a life off of, like working really hard and hustling and overcompensating. And I think all of these things have now caught up to me in a way that's like, you need support. And that's really how I see it. I don't see it as I'm sick. I see it as, yeah, that is the definition of supplementation is to supplement.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Fill in the holes where holes need to be filled in.
Annie Tevelin: And I think I'm just like surrendering to it, to be honest. Like, you know, me, there are days where I'm like, I'm not doing that.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. I mean, but my favorite is you're like, nope, I know why I'm not. Which one would you do out of the ten? And I'm like, all right, Annie, we got this. You and I, girl, we can do this. It's so good, though.
Annie Tevelin: It's like the best client because I, like, buy it all. And then I let it expire, and then I have to buy it again. You know what I mean? I'm, like, literally the worst.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I'm like, wait, why didn't you? I didn't want to. I didn't want to take it. I, I don't, I don't know, I just apparently.
Annie Tevelin: I'm like really happy being completely in like full suffering mode. It's just like it's always taken me a, like a long time, so. Right. We started with the vitamin D and then that's good. And then I'm like, okay, now we'll start with the bioidentical, right? So it's like, okay, the pregnenolone was working and then we'll start like it is always slow and steady with me. I also will admit that I'm extremely hypersensitive because some of this is just sheer discomfort. Yeah. It's like once I get past the anxiety of it all, it's, um, I have reactions to stuff. I get a little itchy from B12.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Sensitive for sure. For sure. Yeah. But I also I'll argue this, though, and I've said this a lot on this podcast, actually. Are you just sensitive? Are you very aware of your body? Because I think there's so many people. A lot of my clients included, that walk around are completely unaware how sense, how foods, how chemicals, how emotions, um, Mask things in their body, affect their body. And I one of my biggest goals with my clients is to make them more aware because the body is so good, the body is so brilliant and designed, brilliantly designed and so good at sending signals when something's off.
Annie Tevelin: I think that's like that might be the underbelly of not really feeling a lot of ailments. You know what I mean? Like, I've been at zero for kind of my whole life. Like, I don't think I could count on one hand occurrences where I was, like, chronically in pain or uncomfortable. Okay. Like even pregnancy. And that's an uncomfortable thing to talk about because most friends, most people, that isn't the story, right? So I've kind of kept that a little bit to myself, because who would I be to talk freely about how free I have felt?
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: And of course, now I'm saying that that's not the case currently, you know. So, like, it all kind of came to a head and I am relearning. I'm almost like reparenting what it is to be sick in a sense, or to feel under or to feel uncomfortable. I mean, I think that's just really what it is.
Amber Warren, PA-C: It's just not whole. Not balanced, not whole, not not not fulfilled totally.
Annie Tevelin: Like waking up at 3:00 in the morning is fine. If it's once in a while, you can be like, okay, it was weird. It was a full moon. It was whatever you want to call it. When it's chronic, there's something deficient.
Amber Warren, PA-C: It's a problem
Annie Tevelin: You know.
Amber Warren, PA-C: It doesn't feel good.
Annie Tevelin: Low feelings, like that's just not something that I'm used to. So like, where does this low level anxiety come from? Where does this kind of fatigue come from? And I think I'm just out here exploring it because I deserve to be happy. And I and I think I've also had a really, really good relationship with adrenal gland fatigue, you know, because of how hard I've worked. So again, I think so much of this like worked in a vacuum and I would. If anybody is listening to this and thinking to myself, like, I don't know about functional medicine because it doesn't feel like real medicine or it feels a little woo, or I know people who are doing it and they're, um, X, Y, and Z. I would implore you to try it in the way that I have, because I am the biggest skeptic, I'm the biggest cynic, and I'm fearful, and I'm out here exploring things and it's working, you know what I mean? It's working. And I'm I don't know, I honestly don't know where I would be without it.
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Amber Warren, PA-C: But you had done. You came to me and you had done a lot of your own work. Like you had a morning routine. You were aware of the adrenal issues. You were aware of the stress stress issues. So the information is out there, like people can grasp that information at the fingertip. But I think I'm hoping what you're saying is like at some point, though, it has to become personalized medicine. Yes. Where it has to look at Annie's imbalances and not just how is that person going to sleep and fix their hormones and fix the nutrient deficiencies? Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: Well, I also feel like, you know, I lived in Los Angeles where everything was at my fingertips, granted, at a cost, but nobody was talking about functional medicine. And my friends in Los Angeles are still not talking about functional medicine. There is something about Boise and the Treasure Valley that is like living in in the epicenter of a wellness like enclave.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So yeah, I'm so glad you went there, because we talked about this a few weeks ago, and I was so intrigued because I'm I mean, I'm a native. I mean, yes, I'm a native. I moved away to go to school, but I this is really all I know as far as a home. And so, yeah, when you were sharing your struggle with the Treasure Valley, as much as you adore and love it and call it home compared to a place like LA. Let's let's dive more into that.
Annie Tevelin: I mean, if anybody's ever been to Los Angeles, they know that. It's like you can get your lashes done, your spray tan, your this, your Botox, your, you know, re I could go on and on with the things that you could do in one block. And it's just it is that city, right? It's like it's it's celebrities. It's all of it. So access to that is one thing. But conversation and like fodder about functional medicine and wellness is different. So I feel like Boise is a place where you have so many small business owners, you have so many female small business owners. And so what happens in this community is every like everybody, a lot of people know each other. And so now there's a lot of girlfriend marketing and everybody's like, oh, oh, you have this issue, right? It's a very candid, open, vulnerable community to I've opened up to women that I don't even really know that well about things.
Amber Warren, PA-C: On social media or like face to.
Annie Tevelin: Face to face and social media both. Yeah. Like, it seems to be the first conversation that women are having here, which is like, I moved here for a reason. I moved here for a reset. I moved here to calm my nervous system. And so, like, we're all out here in pursuit, trying to, like, manage these high intensity businesses, high, you know, very intense businesses, while also raising a family. There's like a lot of people doing the same thing here, experiencing the same thing. And it's a it's a smaller population. So the conversation is louder. And I'm not saying these conversations aren't happening happening in LA. I think it's also been four years since I've lived there, so it's probably happening now. But it was more of a microcosm. It felt like I had to like go into like a, like a, like a microcosm of people in functional medicine in order to access it. Here it's like ketchup. It comes up all the time, everywhere, no matter what. Functional medicine and the and the woes that people are feeling like. I can't even tell you.
Amber Warren, PA-C: But do you think it's just your world? Because you're in the wellness world? You're in the the female small business, CEO.
Annie Tevelin: I have friends that aren't in this world at all. Like I could name four different genres of work that they're in having nothing to do with wellness. And it's just I'm 43, my friends are probably 39 to 44. And there's the dials turning where everybody's just like a little under, a little under in sleep, a little under in mental health, a little under in just overall like, you know, mental like, you know, lifting the mental fog is now a thing like.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: And we've you know obviously this is a hormonal response and potentially perimenopause I don't know. But it's like it's now something that people are very hungry to help because of how desperately people want to be happy. And.
Amber Warren, PA-C: And those women that age, 39 to 43 is kind of an age that when it when that dial starts to, to turn and things start to change. Conventional medicine is wonderful in so many ways, but they just don't feel heard. They don't feel addressed. Not a lot of practitioners, for sure males. That's not fair. A lot of males understand the changes, but but they don't go through those changes, so they don't know what it really feels like internally. Right. But there's just not a lot of options for those women.
Annie Tevelin: I don't even.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Know if they.
Annie Tevelin: Have the education. You know what I mean? And that's a whole nother.
Amber Warren, PA-C: They for sure don't. Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: It's, my first appointment with you, I came in and I, I think I talked for two hours and I felt like I needed to write because in order, the complexity is equal to the story. So it's like you can't just come in and say, oh, these are the symptoms. Like there's a, there's like a story to every woman. And I mean, man, I mean, I think anybody who's like suffering in that way, there's just there's a backstory. And I think it makes people feel really comfortable and really prepared and really confident in the treatment plan if they're able to tell their story. And that never happened once in a conventional doctor's office. And I had great doctors, you know what I mean? Aside from my gynecologist, what's been going on lately, you know, it's like there's nothing chronic. There's that's talked about the blood tests aren't, as you know, thorough, um, supplementation was kind of looked down upon. It's like, you know, it's an Advil world. It's a name brand world, not yeah. Supplementation. So, yeah, it's just it is. I hear all the time this has changed my life. And I think anybody listening to this deserves to say that too, you know.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: Especially if they're not as big of a scaredy cat as me. Yeah.
Amber Warren, PA-C: But the scaredy cats are honestly my favorite. Like, when you said, like, I don't know how much I trust this functional medicine space, I was like, oh, here we go. Yes, I love this. I love this because I want to make you a believer in this medicine and, yes, and root cause medicine and this holistic approach and yeah, yeah, it's such, it's it's just such an interesting time to experience, experience all of this and to hear your story. And I am I am just really intrigued. Like do you feel like there's and we've talked about this too, like a lack of. So if we know there's this high volume of functional medicine and I feel it because there's so much, there's so many clinics popping up that we're. And I don't see them as like, you know, competition. I see them as like great, more and more of us to do more good work. It's it's wonderful. Um, because there are more than enough women that need help. Women and men and children that need help to go around. But but you mentioned that you feel like there's not a lot of access to healthy options or healthy exercise, healthy food. Um, here in the Treasure Valley. And you feel that compared to LA.
Annie Tevelin: You saying that? I don't feel like they're like that LA had more of it than the Treasure Valley.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Just the access not to functional medicine. To ways to implement functional medicine.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah, I think that listen, we're in a we're in a growing like metropolis at the end of the day. Like, I would be a fool to expect LA to be like Boise for sure. LA lives on its own little island. I've always said this that LA is America only sooner. And it's first access, right? And then, like, all the crazy stuff kind of goes through the filter, and then the rest of the country gets like gluten free. But like LA is with the venoms and the this and the that like LA is what it is. I you know what I mean? There's dark therapy. You go into a tent for ten hours, and the amount of things that are just like going to CVS in LA is incredible. The amount of things that you can just like go and have an experiential moment throughout the day, just and like terrorize yourself in terms of like wellness. It is wild. I think coming here, what I felt was lacking for me and I and I truly say this with love, but I just needed, I think I didn't realize how much support I had in a community that had fast access to fresh food and had, you know, no winter, you know what I mean? So, like, I was able to go outside and walk and I just realized that, like, I had to change.
Annie Tevelin: You know what I mean? And in ways that I needed to. And ways that I wanted to. And in ways that I wasn't prepared for. Like, I didn't realize that in the winter I was going to have to figure out some other way to move my body, and I was raised in that weather. You know, I grew up back east. I think 17 years in LA just created a disconnect, you know? But I think there was just like, I just I just really needed support. I really needed support. And I think living now that I'm in like Central Boise in the past, I would say 4 to 6 months, it's like an absolute surge of Pilates studios, juice bars, um, you know, red light saunas, I mean, like, it's. But when I moved here in 2020, it wasn't like that.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah. Yeah, I know it's the last couple of years has been so intriguing to see how it's changed.
Annie Tevelin: I really appreciate that. You know, I think I'm someone that needs self-care and support, jockeying right up against the life that I'm living. You know, running a business, running a couple of businesses, being a mom, I can't tell you how much I value small business female and male owners coming in and creating what seems like like a wellness row. Like it feels like it's the number one, like surge.
In the Treasure Valley right now.
Annie Tevelin: Now, 100%.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So cool.
Annie Tevelin: Boxing studios, Pilates studio, you know, like, yeah, there's.
Amber Warren, PA-C: So many cool new gyms popping up. I agree. And not just gyms where it's like, come get a great workout. Leave gyms that are trying to create community.
Annie Tevelin: Yes.
Amber Warren, PA-C: And that's what I love. Yeah. They're trying you know, they're embracing and trying to create an atmosphere where people want to talk, want to share, want to stay and have a juice or a smoothie and be in community. And that's how people heal. Yes. Especially in this post-Covid era where.
Annie Tevelin: Like mocktail bars and coffee bars that have like a vibe and candlelit nights and it's just like it is. It's. It's just very therapeutic. Yeah. You know, and like the Halotherapy Salt Sanctuary, these businesses that are just like, if I was feeling like I needed self-care, I could do a day retreat in Boise.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah, that's so cool. And access it.
Annie Tevelin: You know what I mean?
Amber Warren, PA-C: And compared to, like, LA, do you feel like it's a little more affordable or. No. Oh, God. Yes. Is it significant?
Annie Tevelin: It's it's insane. It's insane. You would think that with more saturation, there would be people being like, oh, lower my prices so that someone will notice me. It's the complete opposite. Like, it's just as a whole. I would say it's just expensive, you know, to you also have people who are some of the best of the best. And so they're charging X, Y and Z. Um, but I think it is I would, I would say it's changed significantly since I've moved here in ways that I very much appreciate and I think are supporting and supplementing a society that, you know, is managing a lot.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: I think it's I think it's important to live in a community like this for me. And I know that there's a lot of other people out there that are feeling that too. Mhm.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I'm wondering I'm hopeful and I mean I, I don't get out a lot but I'm curious if like here in Eagle and in Meridian, if people though that lived especially women our age lived in areas like that, they would say the same thing. I think, I think I feel it in Eagle. I spend most of my time in Eagle and live really close to this area. So yeah, I think I would notice it, but I also sometimes think, am I just in my bubble and hanging out with people that care about the fresh juice and the sauna and the self-care, and want to spend their time doing a girl's day, taking care of themselves and not getting wasted at the bars or going to the wineries all day. You know what I mean? Like, but sometimes I think I'm just in this little bubble and really, the rest of the world isn't actually.
Annie Tevelin: Yes.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Tinking alongside.
Annie Tevelin: Me, I think people are, you know, I mean, say what you will. This is my, like, unsolicited, you know, subjective opinion. But. I would argue that much of the population is is I want to say this diplomatically, but in a bit more. And I'm not saying everybody. Right. Everybody has their own lives. But I would say that after a pandemic that people are trying to pick up the pieces of their life more than they realize. Yeah. And, you know, I came here and this was a completely different experience than Los Angeles. You know what I mean? Like, you just I couldn't even, like, get my hair done there. I came here and I got, like, my grays touched up for the first time in eight months. So, like, I think people I think the history books will talk about that time as something that just kind of brought a lot of people to their knees. And if you were hanging on by a thin thread mentally, financially, you know, to live in a bigger market and then to live here. I saw the dichotomy of what just that experience did to people. Um, dear friends of mine are therapists, and they're saying the same thing, like people are just in an immense amount of pain, and they're trying to pick up the pieces and restore faith in humanity.
Annie Tevelin: And it's just a very divisive time, I think, to be alive. And, um, people need support.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: And so I'm just very grateful to be living in a community where, you know, all I always say this, but all of my life's drama lives online. Like, I feel like very good about my family, my husband, my son, my friends. Like, I'm really clear on how good that is. And then I go online and it's like, you know, it's insane what people are saying and the boldness and the divisiveness. And it's just like, what a beautiful, like reaction to be able to then go and be like, I'm just going to go like for a walk along the river, you know, or I'm just going to go sit in this halotherapy room or I'm just going to escape. You know, like there's not a lot of places that are as esthetically beautiful as Boise, where you can go and like walk off the greenbelt down some rocks and sit on the edge of the river.
Amber Warren, PA-C: And feel safe doing that.
Annie Tevelin: And feel safe.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I think I always underestimate how safe this town is. This city is.
Annie Tevelin: 100%.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I can take my kids and we can go right on the greenbelt and they can go off with friends or go by the river. And I'm like, I mean, of course I've got eyes and I'm aware, but I'm not like, fearful. And I think I underestimate what that is, to live in a good sized city and not like, just be fearful all the time. Like, that's such a blessing.
Annie Tevelin: And I don't say what I said so that people can have a moment being like, oh, maybe I'm in more pain than I realized. I'm not. I'm not, like triggering that kind of self-assessment. I'm more so just saying. It's just so important not to leave yourself behind right now that like, could there be more under the surface that needs care and needs attention and needs, you know, you. Like it is a little bit of a homecoming, I think, coming to functional medicine, it is walking myself through a lot of patterns and moments that have been painful and scary and, um, unanticipated. And so to start to feel like a younger version of myself, like before, a lot of that stuff set in is priceless. And like, I know I'm sounding like an infomercial for functional medicine, but I think truly, I'm like, I'm the last person to come here.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: And I and now I am here and I'm really happy that I did it. And I love that life can surprise you. And that's what this place did for me.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I mean mic drop. I don't have anything else to say to that. That's the perfect way to I mean come full circle on this conversation and I didn't, I didn't you know, our team, our crew didn't want you on this podcast. So you could say those things. I really wanted to just hear your heart. And you're such a great, wonderful human that just loves people and you're so raw and transparent. And I wanted to talk about Skin Owl and just the, you know, the, the talent you've brought to the area and the wonderful products you've brought to the area. But thank you so much for sharing that, because it's, um, like it is why we and I will say we because I have an amazing team behind me. Do what we do, right? It's to like, just help people bring their best versions of themselves to their job, home to their babies, home to their spouse. Um, and especially I agree with you in just what we're seeing politically right now and in relationships right now, and with people's health right now and their nervous systems. It's it's it's just so sad. It just breaks my heart. And there is so much hope, right? Like I will always be that glass half full girl that's like, no, there's there's so much to overcome and there's so much healing to come to this place, to this town, to this universe, everything. And, um. Yeah, but your stories, I think just so many people, so many women and hopefully men can resonate with that, um, the fear, but also the hope and then the trust.
Annie Tevelin: Yeah, I think it's like it's okay to be afraid of something, but it's also like, okay to do it anyway. Yeah. And I've always said that, like, I can be afraid of this, but would everybody be afraid of this or do I bring my own?
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: Like psychosis, you know what I mean? Like psychology to it. That makes me afraid. And my husband always says that, like, Annie, would everybody be afraid of taking this, or are you afraid because of who you are? And if you can say everybody would be okay with this, then maybe you try it, you know, so it's like it's it's been a wonderful this experience has been wonderful for me because it's, you know, forcing me to reconcile some of this. Like, I think this is like a wonderful beta test. And I'm like all about the science of things as a formulator. So I'm like this is good for me. And I think it's okay to like not have fear be this thing that that's where it ends. Like fear is a conversation that I need to have with myself about why am I afraid of this? Is it possible that this fear could be for a different purpose, and that it's it's showing me kind of the root cause of this fear, and now what to go and supplement myself with in terms of therapy or in terms of outlets or joy, you know.
Amber Warren, PA-C: What's the next step?
Annie Tevelin: Yeah. And this is like also me projecting the amount of, you know, stuff that people have been going through over the last few years, like I'm included in that. So at the end of the day, this whole experience growing a business, being a mom, coming here for help like it all is walking myself home and it's all giving me lessons and experiences that I know I will, I am grateful for or will eventually be grateful for. And I know that the people that I have in my life are never going to do anything to hurt me, you know what I mean? And so I trust you. I trust my husband. I trust my friends like it's all for the greater good. And I think I'm like you. At the end of the day, I will always choose, despite what I know about this society right now and my own plight, that, like, life is beautiful.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Isn't it?
Annie Tevelin: And like, I will not have a life that I regret a decade because I was in a place of fear. If I take a step back, life I am, I am, I have been given a gift just to be here right now.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Yeah.
Annie Tevelin: So like, yeah, I very much understand the the brevity and like the, the responsibility of caring for myself because really, nobody else is going to do it, you know? So I think, um, you know, nobody else is going to hear, hear the noise and then feel motivated to do something about it. So, you know, we do the best that we can.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Absolutely.
Annie Tevelin: We do one product at a time, right? We don't overwhelm ourselves with the responsibility of life. We just we're human and I love it. We're human beings, not we're human. We're human beings, not human doings. And I just love that. It's just take a breath.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Be where your feet are.
Annie Tevelin: Exactly. Be where your feet are. Understand and count your blessings every single day. And you know, a lot of this stuff, I think, goes away over time because you realize how grateful you are to even be doing it.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Oh, amen. So good, so good. Where can people find out more about you?
Annie Tevelin: Yes. So, um, you can find me here seven days a week getting the help that I need. No, I'm just kidding.
Amber Warren, PA-C: She's such a liar.
Annie Tevelin: You can find us on skinowl.com is where you can shop and see all the behind the brand. We have a brick and mortar down in southeast Boise, 3122 S Bown Way. Um, if you have any questions about your skin, your makeup, how to kind of audit what's going on on your vanity? Um, you can email us info@skinowl.com. And of course you can see us on Instagram, @skinowl. Um, yeah. And I love you all out there and I hope to see you in in in IRL, as they say, one day soon.
Amber Warren, PA-C: I love it. Thank you so much, Annie. Thank you for sharing your story.
Annie Tevelin: Always.
Amber Warren, PA-C: Thank you for listening to the Functional Medicine Foundations podcast. For more information on topics covered today. Specialties available at the FMI Center for Optimal Health and the highest quality of supplements and more, go to funmedfoundations.com.
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