Banking on KC – Dr. Michelle Robin of Your Wellness Connection: Small Changes, Big Shifts
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Kelly Scanlon:
Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Dr. Michelle Robin, the founder of Your Wellness Connection, and Small Changes, Big Shifts. She's a renowned chiropractor, author, and holistic healer with more than 30 years of experience in guiding individuals toward healthier lifestyles. She's also the host of the Small Changes, Big Shifts podcast, where she shares wellness insights and interviews experts in the field. In recognition of January as Healthy Habits Month, we've invited Dr. Robin to share some of her insights into the actions that can lead to lasting wellness. Welcome Dr. Robin.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Thanks, Kelly. Well, it's always fun to be with you because I started doing a podcast because of you.
Kelly Scanlon:
Well, you always give me credit for that, but I just gave you a few pointers and gave you some time and a lineup I had, but you actually made the commitment and learned all the ropes. So, congratulations to you because that's been, how many years ago?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
10 years, it's 11 seasons right now.
Kelly Scanlon:
Yeah, it's been a long time, and so I don't remember. I used to know it, but there was a stat and a lot of people do two or three episodes. A lot of people do two or three episodes and then that's it. So 11 years, that's remarkable.
Let's talk about January. I said it's Healthy Habits Month. We know that it's a well-known time for resolutions, for people to make commitments about new habits, but as we all know that by the end of the month, most people have already abandoned those good intentions. And one thing that I actually heard for the first time this year is that the second Friday of January is known as Quitter's Day. I hadn't heard that before, but I thought yeah, I bet that's about right. So tell us about some of the common pitfalls that people face when they're trying to establish healthy habits. How can they overcome those obstacles, that mindset probably?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
I think a couple things. A mindset, and why are you choosing to focus on certain habits, and why are you shifting those? We have a saying, if you know the why, it's easy to comply. So, why would you drink water before you drink coffee in the morning? Why would you give up diet soda? Why would you want to go for a walk after you eat? There's so many reasons why we should do things to be well, and people don't know that. They're more concerned with how they look in a mirror. I think that's important because you got to like yourself, but what's really important is the word that I think about is well-being. And the word well-being in the dictionary means happiness. And it's hard to be happy in your body when your skin hurts or your stomach has a belly ache or you have a headache or you just feel anxious and you can't sleep.
So, what I really encourage people to do is think about, who do you want to be a year from now? How do you want to feel? Who do you want to be? What do you want to look like? Let's say you're taking five medications, you want to get off some medications. So, that could be something that you look at doing, is why do I want to change this in my lifestyle?
And maybe thinking about changing one thing a month for the next 12 months and you'll change your life forever and think about it like a tool belt. Is as a kid, let take dental hygiene. In this country, we're pretty good at dental hygiene, especially in different socioeconomic status. You think about learning to brush your teeth, floss your teeth, mouthwash, and if you keep on taking it further, maybe you learn how to scrape your. And why do you do that? You do that because you want to prevent some bacteria in your mouth and you also want to prevent your teeth from falling out. And so what people don't realize is just because you can't see your gut doesn't mean it's not going to fall out. And so that's the vanity of ourselves as we look on the outside, we don't think about what's happening on the inside when I'm putting the wrong fuel in.
And the other side too is when I'm putting the wrong thoughts in my mind, that creates anxiety. It's one of the loneliest times right now in history, and we've got a big mental health crisis and how do we work on that? So if you think about having a habit, maybe the habit is, I'm going to work on balancing my blood sugar so that I have less anxiety and so I feel more present. And so I'm able to really enjoy my life more. So I believe the biggest thing is, why are you doing it?
Kelly Scanlon:
Exactly. You focus on that larger goal as opposed to, I want to get on the scale and see a five pound difference in three weeks. Let's talk about Small Changes, Big Shifts. It's a part of your philosophy overall, your approach to wellness and being able to create those lasting impacts. So, tell us about Small Changes, Big Shifts, the philosophy behind that, and why small changes matter.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
I used to say inch by inch wellness is a cinch.
Kelly Scanlon:
I love it.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Inch by inch wellness is a cinch. And then years ago, about 11 or so, your team or you called me and said, "Hey, we're doing this thing called Blog Talk Radio. I think you should do a show." And for some reason, my spirit said yes, and I think people need to listen to what feels right to them. My spirit's pretty bossy and she said yes. And then it was like, "Well, what's the name of your show?" And I'm like, "Oh, it can't be inch by inch, wellness is a cinch." And so we thought about, what are we trying to teach people? That small changes lead to big shifts, and that's what's so great about being associated with something somebody like Country Club Bank, because it really is about fiscally being responsible as well as being responsible for your well-being. We all have a health account and we all have a bank account.
What the Dalai Lama says is, "Westerners are funny. They give up their health for wealth and then they give up their wealth for health." And so really think about that, and so it's so true, but how do we start to add up our health account? And my undergrad is in accounting, you may not know that.
Kelly Scanlon:
No, I didn't.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
And so I think about debits and credits, and if you continue to debit your health account, you're going to go bankrupt. And it's really hard to get out of health bankruptcy, whether it's diabetes or some neurological disorder or obesity. It is hard to get out of those diagnoses. And so the question is, how do you avoid getting there? And it's small changes on a repetitive basis that will create big shifts.
Kelly Scanlon:
Your approach to wellness is so well-rounded. You mentioned the financial part, I know that you address spirituality as well. We have the physical part of it, and there's others that you address as well. For our listeners today, what's one thing they can do that could maybe, I'm thinking scattershot here, that could hit all of the different spheres that you address?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Well, first of all, we do use a framework called the Quadrants of Well-Being, based on my teachings from Dr. Richard Yennie, who helped bring acupuncture to America, he was a Kansas Citian. And it talked about four aspects, mechanical, chemical, energetic, psycho spiritual, much like running a business, operations, marketing, finance and leadership. And you would never run a business on one aspect, but yet we do that so much with our health. We're like, okay, I'm going to go work out and then I'll eat the right way, or I'm going to go eat the right way, then I'll work out, or I'm going to be grateful, then I'll go work out, and then I'll eat the right way. And it really is, it's the magic of all those together that make you have a fulfilling life.
And so scattershot, I would say the first thing to do is be grateful. How can we be grateful for the... I walked in here on my own two feet.
Kelly Scanlon:
That's true, yeah.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
And some people don't have that liberty. I'm able to hear you pretty well. I'm aging, my hearing's changing, my vision's changing. But you know what? I'm able to see you. I'm able to hear you. I'm able to have my heartbeat. I'm able to swallow. And so the best way to change your life and the biggest scattershot would be is to be grateful.
Kelly Scanlon:
Okay, and that lifts you up. You just feel better automatically by being grateful.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Well, it changes your neurotransmitters.
Kelly Scanlon:
So there's a science behind it?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
There's a science behind it. It's like being kind, there's those neurotransmitters that dopamine and serotonin and what happens is those start to shift and you feel better about yourself, you feel more motivated, and you're able to look at life with a little bit more of a positive outlook. So, gratitude changes everything, and it's true. So I've actually been practicing a new thing.
Kelly, the good news is, is I get to take own medicine and I'm always looking for ways to help people. I have my favorite product that we've ever created. It's called Snackable Deck, 52 Tips for Being Well, and I love it because it's 13 for each quadrant. And so I'm always looking for things to enhance my own wellbeing, and then I share that. And so what I've been doing in the last 50 days is a new meditation. It's a 21-day that I've been doing it about 50, 11 minutes by Jess Heslop, and it's about gratitude. It has changed my life. And for me to say that after being in this space for 40 years is amazing.
Kelly Scanlon:
One of the things that you are now doing, you're an executive wellness coach, and so in your experience in that role, how does focusing on personal well-being translate to success in the workplace? Because we have a lot of business professionals listening to this podcast, and some might not think that if you're feeling great personally, that that's going to actually make them a better associate, a better business owner, whatever it might be.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
I would ask that question backwards to them. When life is going well in your business, are you a better friend? Are you a better spouse? And so we cannot segment our lives anymore. It's that whole thing, it's that work-life integration. And so I would just flip the question and say, can you be effective at home when you're super stressed at work? And the answer's probably no. And so can you be effective at work when your body's not functioning well? You may look like you're being effective, you may be making money, but are you truly making the difference you want to make, and are you being the leader that we're all called to be? And it's really hard to be a great leader when you're not sleeping. It's hard to be a great leader when you have to take different medications to kind of function through life or where you are in pain. So, I would reverse that question and say, are you effective at home if your business is suffering?
Kelly Scanlon:
Okay, let's take that a step further. We all know that community also plays a role in wellness. What is that role and how can business leaders, a lot of business owners listening today, how can business leaders create healthier environments for their teams?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
I think create a space that gives them the opportunity to wellness. So, I would encourage people... A funny story, I walked into my office today and somebody had left a diet Dr. Pepper in my office. And my ops person actually picked it up, and I thought she was actually carrying a diet Dr. Pepper. And I was like, okay, have you lost your mind? And she asked, "You know what? It's not open, but somebody left this here." And I said, "Well, that's fascinating. I'm really glad it's not yours." She goes, "Yeah, I think I'll just throw it away." I said, "That's a really good idea."
And so I would say creating a space that reflects what wellness really is, and wellness really is having good lighting. It's having positive, maybe sayings on the wall. It's having appropriate sounds. It's also having the right food. If you're going to have a staff gathering, make sure you're feeding people from all different types of lifestyles. Because there's a big thing right now where people are having lots of gut issues. So be somebody and open-hearted that says, "You know what? I know there's probably some people here that can't have wheat or can't have dairy or can't have corn. Let me try to bring in some clean eating." And we're lucky so many great places now that will bring you a meal that is healthy, and it may be the best meal they get of the day. I would have that be the goal, is that, you know what? I'm going to feed them the best meal today, not the cheapest meal.
Kelly Scanlon:
Another thing that comes to mind as you've talked about the intersection of so many parts of our lives and contributing to well-being is that if you can create a culture at work that's authentic with what you say and what the actions are that follow it, I would imagine that that goes a long way for well-being too, because it cuts down on the stress and the anxiety of a place where people are working and those aren't in sync, I would imagine.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Well, people can call the fraud, the five-letter F word, and I think that's what this time is, especially with the transparency of all the media that we can either listen to or see on social media. People are calling us out for not being that person that's authentic. And so for me, I want to be that person that is supporting my team. Do they have to get a medical doctor's note to have the right chair? How wrong is that? Or have a standing desk. So there's little things you can do, and I would maybe even survey your team and say, "Okay, if we were going to do one thing this quarter, small changes, big shifts, one thing this quarter to make our office a little bit more of a well-being environment. What do you all think we should do?"
Kelly Scanlon:
And in the very act of asking them makes people feel welcome, makes people feel invited. And again, that elevates people's gratitude for having a job that allows them to have input and just their well-being in general. So it all works together.
You talked a little bit earlier about kindness and gratitude. You actually have a formal program, a formal initiative called 31 Days of Kindness. It's gained global attention. So tell us about what that is and take us a little deeper into that relationship between kindness and well-being, not just for the receiver, but also the giver.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Oh, without a doubt. Kindness is, it just makes you feel good. And the people that you're serving or you're committed to helping, it also makes them feel good. So the sign says that when you're kind, not only does it change the other person's neurotransmitter, it changes yours. And so once again, we talk about dopamine and serotonin and some of those feel-good hormones. It allows you to feel like you belong. It allows you to feel like you have some motivation. And I believe that everybody has on their forehead four letters, MMFI.
Kelly Scanlon:
MMFI?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Make me feel important.
Kelly Scanlon:
Of course, yes.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
And so that's like just seeing somebody and witnessing somebody, and that's what kindness does. Like I said, it's as much for you as is for them. It's kind of one of those self-fulfilling prophecies. You're helping other people but you get as much back at you.
Kelly Scanlon:
Yes, boomerang, boomerang.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
And so, yeah, boomerangs, just go out through life and sprinkle that kindness everywhere.
Kelly Scanlon:
So tell us about your program, the formal program that you have.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Yeah, it's a 31-day program. We actually started it right before COVID, to be totally transparent. One of my friends Ann, who's a mental health advocate, she said to me and [inaudible 00:12:40], she said, "Michelle, you have all these 21-day programs for posture and sleep, and you need to have one for kindness." And I was like, "Ann, do I look like I have time to do a kindness program?" She said, "You need to do it." And I'm like, okay, she just would not leave me alone. You know how to have somebody like that?
Kelly Scanlon:
Yes, yes.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
And she said, "I'll help you," and I said, "Okay, Ann, fine." She just kept knocking on the door and I said okay. And so that was the fall of 2019 right before COVID, and it's our free program that we do, all the others cost $21. We had that program and then COVID happened, and I was working with a lot of my corporate clients and they said, "Okay, what do we do now? We've talked about building rhythm and resilience. We've talked about tuning into your wellbeing. We've talked about sleep. What do we do now?" And I said, "Well, let's talk about kindness. We're going into this 2020 election. People are exhausted on so many levels." And they said, "Great, let's do it, but we want 31 days. We want a full month and it ends on World Kindness Day."
So it's evergreen. You go to our website right now, smallchangesbigshifts.com/kindness, it's a free program. Right now it's live, but we do it collectively from October 14th to November 13th, World Kindness Day. And it's been very fun, we also have some kids decks for elementary, middle, and high school, because the school district said, "We really like the program. Can you make it shorter and can you make it age-appropriate?"
Kelly Scanlon:
Well, and the bullying that goes on in schools, so important at this age to start a program like that.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Yeah, and I think it's just because we don't see kids. We don't see people. Once again, just as you walk through life, MMFI, make me feel important. And what you give, you get back. And so just start spreading it.
Kelly Scanlon:
I was reading about this mom who took her kids into an ice cream shop to get ice cream, and they were fussing with each other, not acknowledging the person behind the counter who's trying to deliver great customer service, she said. And they weren't acknowledging her and they were just really not showing respect. And so she let them go ahead and get their ice cream. The worker, they didn't thank her when they headed out to the car. And she says, "Okay, come here," and she asked them if they liked their ice cream. They go, "Oh, yeah, yeah," and continued to do what they were doing. And she says, "Okay, give me your ice cream cones." And she took each one of them, she threw them in the trash. And they were hysterical like, "Mom, you're so mean." And she goes, "No, you'd never looked that woman in the eye who was providing this treat that you like so much. You never thanked her. You acted like she wasn't there." So the-
Dr. Michelle Robin:
MMFI.
Kelly Scanlon:
So the MMFI was missing there and she... I mean, I thought, what a mom to instill that in her children with such a great example too.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Well, it ties into what we talked about, when you said what would help scatter and help change your life. What's kind of a scattershot approach? Gratitude. If you want to change your life in 2025, be grateful. Be grateful for your well-being. Be grateful for your family. Be grateful for your pets. Be grateful for your neighbors. Be grateful for your colleagues, for your co-workers that make shift happen. Gratitude truly will change everything, and it's similar to kindness, yet a little bit different.
Kelly Scanlon:
Sure. Why do you think this message has hit such a nerve? I mean, I said at the beginning of the show that you have created a global following when it comes to this. Why do you think that that's something that people crave, really?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Have you seen the news lately?
Kelly Scanlon:
Oh, yes.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Kelly, all I can say is there's just a lot of stuff going on out in the world, and there's also a lot of great stuff happening. I can't tell you why, except that over the last 20 years, because of having the news everywhere right in our little pocket, we have gotten a little bit numb. And so I believe that kindness helps us be less numb and more humane. We're here being human beings, not human doings. And so how can we be more in the being-ness of this short thing called life? It is so stinking short. I'm feeling it day by day and I'm sure you are too. And so, how do we not take it for granted?
Kelly Scanlon:
And you began your career as a chiropractor, as I mentioned, and at some point you became really an evangelist, I guess is the word I would say. You're on a mission for healthy living. What spurred that shift for you? That was a shift. Not that you weren't creating healthy lives as a chiropractor, but then you had this shift and it really, you became on fire about this. What spurred that? Yeah, truth.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Yeah, truth be known, I went into chiropractic because of the way people, it made people feel. And so really, I'm not a huge scientist. I've gotten much better at it through the years, had to get much better at it, and I just really loved the way it made people feel. And from my own personal experience as a kid that was lost, my chiropractor, MMFI, he made me feel important, like I mattered, because we all matter and we just need to realize that we do so we can also sprinkle our magic around.
And so Kelly, when I was 31, I had built this practice. I started practicing when I was 25. I'd built a practice that the way I was taught, by truly a bunch of phenomenal male entrepreneurs, all chiropractors. It was, how many people can you see and how much money you're making? And I really just started feeling more and more dead inside. And so I remember one day in August of '97, calling a minister friend of mine and saying, "You know what? Something's wrong." She goes, "Yeah, you have no joy." And I wasn't really living my purpose. Yes, I was making money. I was actually more successful then than I am now, as far as financially, but I was dead inside.
And part of it is, I never dealt with not feeling like I mattered for my childhood and the reason why I was doing something. I think we all want to feel like we matter. We all want to feel like we have worth, and I didn't feel worthy. And so I was the five-letter F word, I was the fraud. I was the walking around dead, which if you actually truly look people in the eye and from a soul to soul versus roll to roll, you will notice that people are numb. They're numb, and they're just passing by the days. And so I went to get some help, and I realized that my purpose is to help bring this quadrants of wellbeing to the world. And I want to pour into kids, I call anybody under 40 a kid now, it's hard to believe.
Kelly Scanlon:
I know, same here.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
It's like, oh my gosh, how did that happen? Because I want them to make their kids feel like they matter, and I want them to protect their kids. Not in a helicopter parenting way, but in a way that you just have your child's back. Just like that mother, that mother had their back. She said, "You know what? No, it is not okay to not witness other people and not be grateful."
Kelly Scanlon:
Right, right.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
It gives me chills. I do feel like it's my purpose. I feel like it's my calling and whether I'm an evangelist or not, I just want to walk the talk and try to live my best life. So, hopefully that as I am walking through spaces, people are not falling over because me not paying attention to them and not caring, that I'm bringing light to the world.
Kelly Scanlon:
What is your ultimate goal? Do you have an end goal?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
I think about end goal, I think about just being the best version of myself. And I want to be the aunt that my great nieces and nephews say, "You know what? She showed up for me. She celebrated me. She cheered me on, and not only did she cheer me on, she cheered my friends on," and that when I walk into a room, the room gets brighter because I'm bringing in goodness and not darker because I'm bringing in sadness.
Kelly Scanlon:
As I asked that question, I actually thought to myself, that's not really a fair question to ask you because given everything that you've said today, you are creating situations where people just keep paying it forward, and so it doesn't end.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
I think that would be the ultimate, that it doesn't end where you don't get to be close to 60 and running a business for 30 plus years, that you're not thinking about, okay, what's the legacy of this? What's the legacy of my life? What's the legacy of my words? What's the legacy of my business? And so the end goal for me is that your Wellness Connection becomes a hub where people under 40 bring their kids. They find a haven of positive information, whether it's around their diet, physical activity, their mental health, their nervous system. That's my end goal. If I could tell you that, if I was to die tomorrow that it would live on, and that my team knows that inside our hearts is how do we make young people well, because you heal a young person, you heal a family, you heal a generation. Nothing wrong with helping older people, but you heal a young person before they have babies, then they transform that generation.
Kelly Scanlon:
If you had to leave our audience today with just one thought, what would it be?
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Be grateful.
Kelly Scanlon:
Be grateful. Yeah. Well, Michelle, thank you so much. We are very grateful that you took the time. I know you're in the middle of a lot of different things right now, so thank you for taking the time to come and speak with us about this really important topic. And thank you so much for all you do in the world.
Dr. Michelle Robin:
Well, thank you for having me, and thank you to the team at Country Club Bank for helping us spread the message of small changes, big shifts.
Joe Close:
This is Joe Close, President of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Dr. Michelle Robin for joining us on this episode of Banking on KC.
Dr. Robin explained how small intentional changes, whether they're in our daily routines, workplace environments, or community engagement, can lead to transformative shifts in our well-being. Her philosophy rooted in gratitude, kindness, and holistic health, challenges us to rethink what it means to truly thrive. She also reminded us that our health, much like our finances, is a balance of deposits and withdrawals, and that maintaining a robust health account is vital for long-term happiness and success.
At Country Club Bank, we understand the profound connection between individual wellness and the strength of our community. Initiatives and ideas like Dr. Robin's help Kansas Citians to achieve their true north, a life of purpose, balance, and opportunity. Thanks for tuning in this week. We're banking on you, Kansas City, Country Club Bank, member FDIC.