The Giving Garden® Loyalty Program

The Giving Garden® Podcast Episode 5 with Lisa Price

Click the image below to listen to Episode 5 with special guest, Lisa Price, Founder of Carol's Daughter and co-creator of Love Delivered initiative. For a full transcript, scroll further down.

Full transcript of Episode 5

Martina: Welcome to The Giving Garden podcast where we explore how small acts of giving can blossom into lasting change. I'm your host Martina Halloran, founder of The Giving Garden and CEO of Dr. Hauschka Skin Care USA. In each episode, we highlight the power of giving, whether it's time, kindness, or resources, and how these acts can transform both lives and whole communities. Join me as we explore the ripple effect of giving and its lasting impact.

In today's episode, I'm thrilled to share my conversation with Lisa Price, someone who truly embodies the spirit of giving, care, and community. Lisa is widely known as the visionary behind Carol's Daughter, a beloved beauty brand rooted in culture, care and the recipes passed down through generations from mothers to daughters. But what makes Lisa truly extraordinary isn't just the empire she built from her kitchen. It's the heart behind it all. At her core, Lisa is a giver, a mother, a nurturer, a woman who listens to the needs in her community and responds with love in action.

Lisa is the co-creator of Love Delivered, an initiative in partnership with the Mama Glow Foundation that is working to bring doula care, education and advocacy to Black and Brown mothers, communities that are too often left behind in our health care system. She is a fierce advocate for maternal health, and someone who believes that love is not only a feeling, it's an action. In a world that too often overlooks the needs of women of color, Lisa is creating space, offering solutions, and showing us what it means to lead with empathy and integrity. She reminds us that the true beauty isn't just what we see in the mirror. It's how we show up for one another when it matters most.

Lisa, welcome to The Giving Garden podcast.

Lisa Price: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Martina: It is our pleasure, and it is our honor. I have this idea of how do we harness the spirit of giving? And within that, there's a level of confidence that one needs to have to give. And you do it so generously. How do you cultivate that sense of confidence that allows you to just keep sharing your experiences?

Often women feel that perhaps they don't have a value add. How do you inspire other women to harness this confidence and to really give in a way that is meaningful to them and to others?

Lisa Price: It is understanding that maybe it doesn't always come from a place of confidence. Maybe it sometimes comes from the place of vulnerability, remembering when you didn't have the answer to something, and maybe you don't even have the answer today, but the situation is clearer. I consider myself fortunate in that when life teaches me something, I listen. Sometimes the lesson that I'm going through is really difficult and hard, but I was blessed with the temperament that allows me to go back and say, okay, why did that happen? I've been blessed with the resources that I can have therapy.

And so, I have someone that I can talk to when it's very challenging to unpack something. I've always been the type of person that once I see something, I can't unsee it. Now I may have gone decades not noticing and not seeing it, but once my eyes are open, they are open for good. And while I may not have the solution completely figured out, I feel like it's my responsibility to say to other people, hey, have you ever seen this? Have you felt this?

Because I have felt it. And I just realized yesterday that this is the reason why this is happening. So, it is my goal now to change that trajectory. And I just wanted to point out that, you know, you're not the only one. I remember feeling as if that might be the case.

Am I the only person that's going through this thing? Am I the only person that feels this way? And when you open up and talk about it, you realize that you're not. So, I don't know that my giving always comes from a place of confidence, but it definitely comes from a place of, I don't want other people to have to suffer in silence because I did that, and it didn't help. Let's talk together and not suffer.

Martina: That is so powerful. The idea of vulnerability and importantly, the idea of conversation, that trying to, for lack of a better word, normalize really difficult conversations. For some people, it's easier. For other people, there's a level of vulnerability that is difficult because some of the subject matter that we as women need to talk about, sometimes we don't talk about it, or just really difficult conversations. What is grounded in the giving garden is the idea that access to fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy food sources, is a fundamental human right.

And people need to do that with dignity. And people are very uncomfortable talking about food insecurity. And you may not know this, but as a child, I was a free lunch recipient. And my goal here is conversation to normalize uncomfortable conversations. People get really uncomfortable around me when I share that because they don't recognize that this issue is bigger and broader and affects so many different people, even people sitting across from you.

And to be able to be vulnerable and to be really transparent about experiences really does help people feel that they're not alone. That is an incredible perspective in terms of creating a sense of community that you are not alone. We may not have the same experience, but you're not alone. Together, we can find a solution, a part of a solution, or if nothing else, through our ability to give of our vulnerability, we can at least give comfort in many ways to people that do feel like they're alone. Vulnerability comes up a lot, I think, with women.

And we're not able to be vulnerable at work or we're not willing to be vulnerable or we simply can't. But I think about your incredible journey and your career and your unbelievable success. You stand back and you see all of the things that you've built over time. But in building Carol's Daughter, you had a lot of balancing and juggling between business and family and giving back at the same time to the community that you live in, to your broader community of people within your Carol's Daughter family. How did you do that?

And how did you do it consistently?

Lisa Price: That is a great, great question. And when I think of juggling, as soon as you say, how do I juggle? My mind goes to the image of a juggler, like an actual juggler that, you know, you see in, you know, when I was a kid, you would see a juggler in a circus. And so clearly when you have that image in your mind, you see someone who is particularly skilled at juggling because they're managing to keep five balls in the air. So that's something that they had to practice, and they had to learn how to do.

And I don't know that our lives necessarily teach us how to juggle, but somehow it is expected that we juggle. And, you know, I look at life through the lens of who I am. I am a black woman, born and raised in America, the granddaughter of immigrants from The Caribbean. So there are certain things that I was taught to do because it was what was believed would lead to survival and success. And then I was blessed to have the support of this family.

My mother was the youngest of seven and her brothers and sisters were raised to support each other, look out for each other, and they raised their children to do the same. So my relationships with my cousins are like relationships that people have with siblings, very, very close. We supported each other. We looked out for each other. Even when we were arguing with each other, family was paramount.

So you would put the disagreement aside and help your family member. So what that does is give you support when you're juggling and maybe you have a relative who juggles better than you do and they give you their tips and their life hats. But then you move along in life and you begin to realize, why am I juggling all the time? Is it really necessary? You know, because even the juggler who's juggling at the circus, they juggle when they're at work, when they're performing, but then they put the balls down.

They're not walking around the house trying to keep all of balls in the air. And the way that I learned that was life just throwing things at me literally, and me having to just say, look, I got two hands. I can't really do this. This is not sustainable. I can do it sometimes when it's necessary, but I can't let it be necessary all the time.

Martina: And it's also vulnerable to share because I'm sure many people feel alone in that journey of juggling and where it leads us. It can often lead us to health issues, whether it's physical, mental, emotional, and pausing as you go through life can really feel regenerating in so many different ways. As we grow, it's important to leave the door open for others, especially for women of color who don't have the resources to do so independently. I've often looked at you as a leader, as a beacon, as a light in many ways. How do you empower other women of color, particularly in an industry that historically overlooks them?

Lisa Price: Because I've gotten to a place in my life where I recognize that things that happened that I used to view as I did X, Y, and Z incorrectly, or I was wrong, or I wasn't mature enough, or I made so many mistakes in the past, or I allowed such and such to happen. That's how I used to frame when errors would happen within my business. No one in particular said this, but one day I allowed myself to say, did you really do it wrong or were you figuring it out as you went along and in doing so from time to time made errors because that's how we learn through trial and error. If we look at a toddler, you know, a 13-old, who's learning how to walk, as soon as they stand up and they start to toddle forward, we look at them and we encourage them and we clap and we smile and we say, Yay. And when they fall down, we still keep that smile on our face.

And, you know, I know in my family, we used to say, uh-oh, with a big smile, because you didn't want the child to feel like something bad happened when they fell, because it's a part of the process. As you begin to walk and take one step forward, there's gonna be times when you fall on your tush and then you get back up. Why was it that I was wrong? Why was it I messed up? Because there was some sort of expectation of being perfect.

That's not real. That's not life. And no one else really has that pressure. But there is a pressure that we put on ourselves as women and that we put on ourselves as women of color because we don't get the same number of opportunities. And so there's this feeling of, if I screw this up, I'm gonna screw it up for every other black or brown woman who's coming after me and I can't do that.

So that's undue anxiety and pressure that we're putting on ourselves. So what I try to do when I am in spaces with people, and sometimes it's not just women, sometimes it's men as well, but men who are in marginalized spaces where they're not always seen as their full selves. I point out at the beginning of our conversation how hard their work is, how they're carrying more than their counterpart, who's automatically viewed as smarter, more efficient, a better credit risk. They're welcomed in the room and not earning space to be in the room where you are earning space to be in the room because when you walk in, they see this whole list of things, even if it's unintentional, just because of how society is. If you're black or brown, somehow, you're lazy.

If you're overweight, you're sloppy, you know, all of these things. And so what I say to people is I need you to give yourself grace for that. I need you to pat yourself on the back, hug yourself, applaud yourself that you had the courage to walk into the room anyway. And they may not see who you really are, but you look at yourself in the mirror every day and know that you are exceedingly brilliant because you've at least gotten to where you've gotten, even though you're not where you want to be yet. Usually when I say that to people, they're hearing it for the first time.

Sometimes I can see people well up, but I know what it's like to feel invisible and I know what it's like to be in a room and not know how to raise your hand and ask a question. So I don't want people to feel like when they're in a room with me, that they can't be vulnerable and they can't raise their hand and ask a question. Like, when are we going to be in this room again? So don't be afraid. Share.

Ask. There are no dumb questions.

Martina: I've had to earn space myself. I'd never framed it that way in terms of always have to be perfect, always have to be smarter, always have to be better, be flawless, be perfect. That is a lot of pressure. As you grow older and wiser and see things through a different lens, giving yourself grace, I think allows you to take agency over everything that you've accomplished, everything that you've done, where you've come from, where you're at, your hopes and desires of where you want to go. And in doing that, hopefully creating space for other people and holding space for other people so they don't have to earn space.

So, you know, giving often is about advocacy and, you know, the role of advocacy and giving can take on so many different layers and it looks different for everybody and it looks different for so many different organizations. And Love Delivered is such a powerful initiative. Can you tell us a little bit more about this foundation and your work within it?

Lisa Price: Carol's Daughter for a number of years, we were looking for what is our philanthropic thing going to be? We've done philanthropy since the beginning, since before I even knew that that's what it was that I was doing. I donated products to different things. I lended my time and services to different causes. In 2016, '20 '17, we really wanted something concrete, wanted it to be formal and structured.

And so the process began, what does that look like? What topic is it? And there were a number of things about which I'm passionate. I'm passionate about entrepreneurship. I'm passionate about entrepreneurship for women.

I'm passionate about entrepreneurship for black and brown women and communities that don't always see themselves out in the world represented. But maternal health was something that was a topic amongst those of us in the staff that was appealing. And once we became a part of L'Oreal, there were other resources and, you know, departments that could do research and actually come back to you with data to let you know what would resonate with your consumer as well. And maternal health was something that was very much at the top of the list. The entrepreneurship and the business and everything was also there, but the maternal health was number one.

And for me personally, I was, you know, that auntie, that friend, that when someone was pregnant, I'm talking to them about, you know, their birth plan. What type of doctor do you have? Do you like your doctor? Are you exploring natural childbirth? I'll talk your ear off about breastfeeding and nursing.

And really, I didn't know the statistics. I didn't know how bad it was in this country for women in general when it comes to giving birth, even more so for black and brown birthing people. Those were things that I learned later when I began to work with Latham. In 2020, when we were all on lockdown and we were in the phase where we needed to decide how are we going to participate in this space? Are we going, you know, join hands with another organization or are we going to figure out a way to do it on our own?

I reached out to Latham. Latham has been a friend of mine for a very, very long time. And she was a doula. I knew she operated in this space. I knew it was something that was her calling in life.

And I reached out to her over an audio message and was just kind of like, do you know of any organizations that maybe we could partner with to build awareness in this space. And she was in the process of forming her philanthropic arm of Mama Glow. So Mama Glow was Latham's company that she founded, but it was not a not for profit at that time, but she was in the process of making it thus. And so we were able to share all of these audio messages when we were locked inside in 2020. And then when we were able to go out and take walks together, started talking about this.

And in 2021, as we refer to it, we were able to birth the baby that is called Love Delivered. It has been such a beautiful process to see something completely embraced by not just our direct consumers, but women in general. To have my team work on something, and I'm making air quotes as I say work, because all of us have a story, whether it's a personal story of our own birth experience or a family member. And we felt when we first started this, if we make one person's birth story marvelous, that maybe wouldn't have been, then the work is done because the ripple effect of that one story in that sea of the world that is maternal health is impactful. And I know that it's been more than one.

In the work that we get to do with Mama Glow, we're not only helping families and birthing people have better birth outcomes, we're also changing other people's lives who discover that they want to become doulas, that they understand that this is their calling. And, you know, they're adding to their careers. You know, I know people who work in marketing and have become doulas on the side, you know, as a result of being exposed to this information. And I just, it is such a beautiful thing to be a part of, And I'm grateful that life led us there and that we took our time in really fleshing out what was going to make sense for us.

Martina: It's incredible, Lisa. And when we talked a little bit earlier about normalizing conversations that are difficult, I think in this space, that is what you're doing. You're inviting people to have a conversation about what your needs are. Maternal health is still somewhat from a conversational perspective, I still think it's hard for people to talk about

Lisa Price: the type

Martina: of birth. It's beautiful and it's powerful, but it's not pretty sometimes. And it's scary and it can be dangerous and life threatening. But at the same time, this beautiful, powerful, joyful time for a birther. It's been said that when you know better, you do better.

With Love Delivered, how important is education as a form of giving and how can it help us transform communities?

Lisa Price: It's super critical. When I first went into this process with Latham and I began to listen to her stories and the statistics and you listen to different healthcare professionals and birthing people talk about their experiences, it made me reflect on my own. If we want to have children, we go about the process of becoming pregnant. And of course, I'm speaking about this as a 62 year old. So, you know, some of my references may be older than today's generation, but you were basically focused on what happens when the baby comes home.

Necessarily happens before you even get pregnant and what do you need to do with your body and in your body to have a healthy pregnancy. And then when you're pregnant, the best way to manage being pregnant and the changes that you're going to experience, there's so much information that I didn't have that I was learning as I was in the process. And then you have this plan that, you you went to Lamaze class and you're to go to the hospital and you're going to have this natural childbirth and then you don't, and you didn't know what a C section was going to be like, what it's going to feel like after, what you can and can't do. The more conversations you can have before you end up in that room and really understand what's happening, the better it's going to be. The conversations to have happened before you even get pregnant.

And that's what's missing. So the education and the storytelling are really key.

Martina: That education, while for some people it's available very easily and it's accessible, we need to make it accessible for all people giving birth and make it accessible in a way that is digestible because it can be very scary. And you know what? I had a C section too, and I had no idea what that was all about. When I say not one iota of an idea, and it wasn't what I was expecting. So there's so many different layers and you certainly don't wanna scare people who are about to give birth.

Information allows people to make decisions that make them feel truly comfortable and truly safe.

Lisa Price: Absolutely. And recognizing, like the thing that Latham and I always try to focus on is while we are raising awareness about the concerns with Black maternal health, the statistics, and maternal health in general, we also celebrate the beauty of it and the wonder of it and celebrate the power that exists in women's bodies that enables them to be able to do this. And we want people to feel empowered and beautiful and special and not be afraid. So there's always this balance between educating, but not scaring. And recognizing that what we're doing is probably a drop in the bucket in comparison to all that needs to be done.

And it's going to take love delivered, and it's going to take every mother counts, and it's going to take the organization that Elaine Walter Roth has founded, you know, it's going to take Kindred Space LA, which is a natural midwifery company, co-founded by a friend of mine, It's going to take all of that and legislation and conversations in hospitals, so many things to change the trajectory and change the tide, But I'm grateful to know that we're doing what we can. I'm not trying to solve the whole problem because I can't. It's not possible. But it is going to get better. It's definitely going to get better.

Martina: Well, it sounds like you're talking about systematic change. While that feels daunting, but I think, you know, to bring it back to what you just said is that you can't fix it all, but you can affect change. You can help make change with small steps, with small contributions, with small things that add up to the whole in that ripple effect, almost like that butterfly effect. When we talk about some of these really heavy topics, maternal health, infant mortality, people often feel overwhelmed. How can I help?

What are some of the small ways that you think in meaningful ways that an individual can step out and help to lead to eventual systematic change?

Lisa Price: Well, voting, and not just voting in the big elections, but voting in all of the smaller elections as well. Having an understanding, you know, where politicians stand on certain rights and, you know, the medical profession insurance, etcetera. So that's one thing that we all can do. We have the right to vote in this country, so we should exercise our right. When it comes to the medical profession, I know that I learned my way of operating because I had to be an advocate for someone else.

And I learned that when you speak a certain way to doctors and nurses, you get results. And what I mean by that is I viewed going to the doctor as if I were going to take an exam. This another teacher that I have to get a good score with, you know, I want my blood pressure numbers to be good, my cholesterol to be good, my weight to be good, and if those things are bad, then I have failed, right? A doctor is supposed to be there to help. I'm supposed to walk into the doctor's office and say, I can't get my blood pressure under control.

I'm struggling to lose weight, and it's so hard, and I really need you to help me. But I didn't know how to do that. I didn't learn how to do that. I walked in thinking I had to prove myself to them. And in having to advocate, I learned how to become the squeaky wheel and learned that when a medical professional hears certain things, they can't unhear it.

So now they have to go investigate and get you an So that type of education is another form that you may not necessarily just get. You end up in a situation where you learn it. And that's something else that I share with people. I can't tell you how many times I've had doctors say to me, Are you in the profession? Are you a nurse?

Because of how I pronounce things and when I talk about medications and when I give his history. And yes, that was extra work for me and it was more lifting and toting than I should have to do. But if it's gonna make a difference in the level of care that my loved one receives, then that's what I have to do.

Martina: It sounds like, Lisa, the medical profession doctors need to impress us. We don't need to impress them. When you reframe it, and that is a light bulb, I think, for a lot of people, because I too have had the same experience. I'm going in. It's a test.

I'm an overachiever. I want all the numbers to be great. And then and then it's a little bit of a deflation when you leave because you haven't hit all the KPIs you set for yourself. And when you think about the service that they are providing, they're in service to you, you're not trying to impress them. Really thinking about making choices in terms of if you have the opportunity, finding doctors that click with you.

There's no fast rule. You can break up with a doctor. Think a lot of times people feel, I've been with this doctor and what are they going to think? Well, they're never going to see you again. They're not going to think anything.

So I often encourage people, you know, at this very stage in my life, it's the first time ever I've had a female doctor. It's right for me. It might not be right for everybody else. But in terms of creating that space for myself to have a conversation with the doctor that meets my needs in that given situation. And I think that unto itself is really powerful, especially for women.

Lisa Price: It absolutely is. And there are certain things that won't be given to you until you tell them that that is what you need.

Martina: So many people will take so much from our conversation today, Lisa, in terms of advocating for themselves, advocating for loved ones, advocating for their community through different acts of giving. You've shared so much and so many layers, and I thank you. But before we go, in the spirit of giving, we at the Giving Garden podcast would like to donate a thousand dollars to Love Delivered. And we would really like to help your work and Latham's work and all of the people that you're working with really help to create space for this conversation that's so critical and so important and will hopefully make a change.

Lisa Price: Thank you so much. That is so wonderful. I'm doing the proverbial clutch my pearls as you say because it's just touching me. And I wanted to also say that when people listen to this and they think about giving and how can they give, don't just think about how you can give outside of yourself, because I think those of us who do a lot and are a lot, we tend to think of how can I donate? How can I contribute?

How can I, you know, go out and do things? And sometimes we just need to give to ourselves. And, you know, make yourself a cup of tea, and, you know, massage your own feet, and draw yourself a bath, and take yourself to yoga class, and take yourself out for a walk. Sometimes the giving starts right in the mirror, and it can ripple from there. So don't forget to give to you.

Martina: Yes. Yes. Thank you, Lisa. Thank you so much.

Lisa Price: Thank you.

Martina: Thank you for listening to The Giving Garden podcast. I hope you're leaving inspired because even the smallest act can spark positive change. If you've enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to like, subscribe, and share. The Giving Garden podcast is produced by Edwin Bautista and edited by Steven West. A special thanks to Helen Palisi for her guidance and generosity.

The Giving Garden podcast is brought to you by Dr. Hauschka Skin Care USA pioneers in natural skincare for over 50 and home to The Giving Garden Loyalty Program. Visit drhauschka.com to learn more.