Clare McKenna 0:00
Everyone is struggling through. But there are certain tools that I have worked out work for me. And I want to try and empower people to make the space to do that for themselves. Because everybody is different. And we don't often get that from the health message, we get a kind of a blanket one size fits all, eat less, move more, get on with it. And that's not the reality.
Finola Howard 0:18
That's Claire McKenna, passionate radio presenter, podcaster, integrative health coach and more. Claire will always surprise you with her genuine openness and authentic approach to every conversation. She is here to live her life to the fullest and in doing so continue to evolve what that means. She shares that journey blow by blow on a daily basis. And in this episode of your truth shared, it's no exception. Lean in as we talk about what the health and wellness space looks like today. I'm Finola Howard, intuitive marketer, your host and founder of how great marketing works, I believe that every business has a story to tell, because that's how the market decides whether to buy or not. And your story has to resonate with who you are and with the people you want to serve. And this podcast is about helping you reach the market in a way that feels right to you. So if you're an entrepreneur with a dream you want to make real, then this is the podcast for you. Because great marketing is your truth share. And today, I want to introduce you to someone you already know. And it's the lovely Claire McKenna, passionate, podcaster interviewer and lovely person who interviewed me for my book. But more than that, she has this beautiful soul that wants to make a difference in the world, and has taken her own journey to get there. And there's lots more to her that we're going to find out about today. And it's in the space of wellness. But the journey to get to there is quite interesting as an entrepreneur also. So welcome, Claire, I'm so excited.
Clare McKenna 2:05
Thank you so much for having me. A
Finola Howard 2:07
pleasure, a pleasure. I loved us when we had our chat about the book. And we had a chat before that as well. Your authenticity and your just groundedness. And an open arms just really struck me that this is a true person who wants to make a difference in the world. So I really wanted you to be on the podcast.
Clare McKenna 2:28
That's great. I love my job. I'm really, I'm really lucky. I love people and love conversations so that I've made a career out of that is not lost on me. It's fab. Cool.
Finola Howard 2:39
Let's start with that journey. Because I always like to get to kind of the cliff notes of where he started. And how he got to here because a lot of people know you as the presenter from different stages in your life. But I'd love to know how you got to here because you're also an entrepreneur. And in fact, broadcasting is entrepreneurial in nature really, isn't it? Yeah,
Clare McKenna 2:59
because most people working in this industry would be, you know, almost sort of sole traders, they'd be on contracts, they'd be self employed. And so you are a bit of a lone ship. And much as you can join a TV station or a radio station and really become part of the fabric and work with great teams and, you know, make great friends and colleagues in that way and be very much part of a team. The rug can be pulled from India at any time. And we've all seen that play out in the media and you know, new voices are looked for new faces, things change. So yeah, there is that sort of element to it. So you are kind of on your own a little bit. So the double acts are kind of lucky because at least you have someone to kind of lean on all the time. But for me, it started I think if I really look back to my childhood, my dad was a great man. He died three years ago, but he'd be a great man for walking into a room a real empaths everyone would kind of gravitate to him. Always had time for everybody. So I kind of grew up with that. And he was also a great man for documenting everything so he would get the camcorder out all the time. And that was back in the day where he had to wear the tape on his shoulder as a separate entity to the actual camera. And he would film me and I would be like on the beach and cork talking people through the sign castles in the background. So I was always kind of entered presenting it's really bizarre anything like that. He was a great man for you know, singing a song putting on a show and I always loved that I loved going to my tap dancing class. I loved Speech and Drama. So that was always there was something in me that loved that side of things. And if ever there was a power cord, he used to take out the big kind of ghetto blaster and we'd record radio programs. And so I think that was the first little taster of that. that I got bored. through school. The only thing that stuck out to me, as I said, was the sort of Speech and Drama and debating, and I loved English class, everything else I could sort of take or leave. And I kind of just coasted through, it did just enough. And that was me, even with the people I got on with, like, you know, I wasn't in the cool gang. I wasn't in the uncool gang, but I was actually friends with both. And that really suited me I kind of got on with everybody. And I floated around. And I kind of did the same through my subjects. But I loved being onstage and I loved anything like that. So I just decided that I was going to do I was going to do acting. And that was just the end of it. So I didn't need to worry about za point points or anything like that Cao points. And I did a post grad in theater studies. And I also moved out of home, I was always a very independent person. So myself, my parents clashed a lot. It's quite a big age group between me and my siblings, I have a brother and sister that are five and six years younger than me. So I think if we had all been going through teens together, it might have made a difference. But my mom was still doing bath time bedtime, and I was looking to hang out on street corners and smoke cigarettes. So that didn't quite gel. So I actually moved out when I went to college, and my parents supported me for the first year. And then I was on my own with rent and bills. So that obviously brought me to a big crossroads in that I had to really look at how was I going to sustain myself and I did then look at acting as something that wasn't going to necessarily do that. And I had to really question Did I love it enough to really struggle in any theater in any backstreet just to get on stage? And the answer was actually, no, I didn't. And I went into the corporate world, then because that was something that paid a salary. And when you're young, you have so much time on your hands, you're not really thinking of strategy. And where is all this leading? So I worked in marketing,
Finola Howard 7:06
your parents doing that, saying, here's just one year that we're going to take care of one year for you. Do you think that had an impact on how you made decisions like you were you're out of the cottonwood at that point, you had to look at things from a different perspective. Yeah, I
Clare McKenna 7:23
often think about that. And, you know, I am obviously from a very privileged position I've never wanted for anything in my life. I'm always very conscious of that. And my parents were always there in the background. I mean, realistically, if something really went down, I knew I could pick up the phone. And I knew there was always a you know, a bed for me in the house. So you know, that is different. But I mean, essentially, I was on my own, and that's what I wanted. And that was the makings of me because obviously we didn't fight anymore. I kind of called over to the house had dinner, how to check off the dark rock entertainment and danced around to the Spice Girls with my flatmates. You know, when I'm that I want that life. I really did want that life. But all these things shape your decisions. I mean, my first long term relationship, like, I moved in with him, and I, you know, I would never look back and regret that, but I think I was really looking to create that family unit again. So yeah, it's like closing doors or sliding doors. If I just stayed at home, what different decisions would I have made? But like, these are things you never, you never really know. Yeah. And then you moved into the corporate world? Yeah, there was a friend of mine. And she was working on reception for a marketing company. And they offered her a job in the company. So she asked me would I like to take her job? So I said, Yeah, and it was actually really cool company. And I never regret that time. Because you would see car brands and other household item brands coming in and the pitches being made to what you then see on billboards or on TV, like I did think that was a really exciting world. I really enjoyed that. And they offered as part of my kind of package because like this, we were so lucky growing up in that generation. This was before the recession. This is Celtic Tiger era, there was plenty of money around. So they offered to pay for a college course for me to go to it nice. So I chose marketing. I was thinking I like ads. I like what these guys are doing. Why don't I get a qualification in this. So that's what I did for a couple of years, and I ended up moving to different to different companies and eventually ending up in Indigo, the first ever internet company in Ireland owned by eircom. Remember that? And I was working in the marketing team there. And look, I was happy for a long time. The bubble bursts there they kind of they, I mean often I say was it because they invested so much in us. It was a great place to work. It was one of the best times of my life. A great social events, they'd send us on team building exercises all the time, we'd be climbing up mountains, we'd be sitting talking about our feelings. And that was huge for me because I didn't really I'd never really been exposed to personal development then as a concept. So there'll be people up on stage saying, if you can leave it, you can achieve it. And it was very much tied to sort of the corporate world and the people that be on stage, you'll be like, and I wanted a yacht. And now I have the OS, but there was still something in us that really spoke to me. And that I really loved. And it made me become, I think I was quite self aware, because I'd already asked myself the question about going on with acting, and decided no, and I did often say, What do I want. But that introduced it to me in more of a concept and the idea of, of goal setting and writing things down and your feelings, and it just kind of gave me a lot more there. But that company ended up closing down. And I ended up by chance working as a PA to the managing director of another marketing company. And while I really enjoyed parts of that job, and I really had a lot of time for him, and I still do now he's a very special person in my life. When I look back, and I got bored, I got really bored, if he was off playing golf or at meetings, I would literally just be sitting waiting for the phone to ring. And I like to be busy. And I like to be learning and I like to be evolving. And it was just a bit too much of the same. And that was another question I asked myself. Do I want to stay here? And the answer was no. And something came to me. Well, why don't you do something that's sort of around performance? That's like acting? But what about radio and TV? Why don't instead,
Finola Howard 11:55
which so that came to you that you made that deduction? Yeah,
Clare McKenna 11:59
I think I remember, I think I remember like, as I'm saying that to you. Now I can see the desk that I used to sit at, it was up on the top floor, this gorgeous building, and his office was beside me and my little, my little desk was there. And I can picture that desk now. So I have a feeling I sat there i plenty of time on my hands. And I think that's what it came to me. And I did have some friends that were working in that industry. And I think maybe I was looking at them and thinking, I think I might quite like to do that.
Finola Howard 12:28
I could do that. Yeah, there's two things that strike me. You know, we hear a lot of negative stuff about the corporate environment and wanting to leave the corporate environment, would you speak very fondly about how much personal development that you got from this and how, but this idea of self awareness, like I have a very strong belief and from working with all my clients, the self awareness piece is pivotal before they ever go near marketing, like really consciously, but then the other thing that you said is, you're asking yourself what I want, like, so many people don't ask, what what do I want?
Clare McKenna 13:05
And sometimes I asked myself that question now, and you don't always have the answer. It's not like this big concrete, I want this and then the steps are really easy. Sometimes it's just a feeling that you get, I want something different. And you kind of just lean into that a little bit. And obviously, I could jump a lot quicker. When I was younger, you know, and I you know, I don't mean to be ageist in any way, but I you know, I've become a bit more strategic now as I've got older, because I don't want to just chance something but back then I could really, I could really chance in the same way. I mean, now I've got more responsibilities with, you know, mortgages, kids, family, you know, all of that side of things. And obviously, I've got a bit more settled into what I'm doing. But still now I asked myself the question, and what do I want? And what do I want the next few years to look like? And how do I want to feel? Sometimes that's it's become that now, more than what do I want to become? How do I want to feel? And one analogy that somebody gave me, no, it wasn't back then in my early 20s, it was more recently was of the movie Brave. And in it, she goes into the woods, the girl with the big long red curls, and it's some sort of little kind of name for something that she's following, but it's just like a little flickering light. And she sees it by one tree and she goes to it and the next thing pops up at another tree. And that was explained to me, as you know, don't always keep thinking about where the destination is. Just follow the light, the little light wherever pops up, and when you get to there, it'll come up again, further down. And when you get to there, something else will appear. And I kind of go a little bit more like that with it. Now.
Finola Howard 14:43
How do you reconcile because you're also a goal setter, how do you record because this is a question that's often asked, which is the going with the flow and following your truth or your that little name for little light versus the goal setting. See
Clare McKenna 14:59
I've changed And now because we're kind of jumping from me and my 20s, making the decision to get into radio and TV to me now in my 40s. And I am now looking more to be content where I am, I've done so much building building building, like there was always such a fire in me and that fire has not gone out. But I don't want to just build, build, build my whole life and never sit and look around what I've built. So I think that's why I've sort of changed, I don't have this push in the same way. There's a different energy behind the push, I still have great ambition. I still have great fire, but it's with a different energy. Because what's the point in putting in all that effort, particularly from when I look back to me 24. I mean, I handed in my notice, I said to the managing director, who I was his PA, I said, I'm off, I'm going to work in radio and TV. And you know, I told everyone and they were like, Okay, well, good luck, and I got a job in a restaurant. And I just made it happen. So that took a lot of graft that took a lot of slog. And I don't want to keep slog slog slog, I don't want that same energy because I got there, you know, I got on radio I got on TV, I made things happen. And yes, there's, you know, still things I might have done differently, or that I would have liked to have done. But the fact of the matter is, I did achieve so many of the things that I set out to do. So now, contentment is more of my goal.
Finola Howard 16:39
Can we poke at that a little bit, just out of curiosity, because the phrase we're using is I made it happen, I made it happen. But what I know of you is you will continue to make it happen. And you still have things that you want to do. And yeah, I get that, that the energy has shifted. It's much like that, for me. It's my focus on the joy of my life. And I trust that. And it's kind of interesting as well, because you, you, you, you introduce yourself very flippantly as an empath. And I think that's a really beautiful thing, because it's speaks of acceptance of who you are and your nature. And I don't often hear that. And so there is this integration of often considered opposing views of how, like male versus female energy even that, and I don't, I don't sense from you that the Make It Happen has disappeared. It's living comfortably within contentment is, I offer that to you. I just want your perspective. Yeah,
Clare McKenna 17:47
and easy. I think as well, a lot has evolved. So maybe it's because things haven't necessarily worked out exactly as I would have thought that they might. So even this whole health and wellness strand to my life, I did not really see that coming. You know, I just wanted to be on TV, I wanted to be, you know, the next Holly Willoughby doing big flower shows, go from Ireland, to England to America, you know, I just had these big, bright eyes of what success looks like to me. And, you know, if I would go for an audition, like, all my eggs would be in that basket, I'd be like, This is it. This is the moment and this is that, you know, it was that sort of energy. I don't have that sort of energy anymore. And sometimes, you know, when you get to a certain dream that you had, or a goal that you had, it's not that it disappoints you, but you know, you move on, it's kind of on to the next you're like, Okay, well I've done that now. And now was it so it moves naturally into a very different energy. And I ended up doing quite a lot of cover work, you know, on Ireland am and I was doing a news talk then, to see if there was any cover going there because current affairs and lifestyle was kind of what I knew. And the boss there who had been my boss many years ago, it's been Chris, he said, we're actually looking for somebody to do the health and wellness show. Kara Kelly had done it before she went on to do lunchtime live and it was kind of lying dormant. And I remember thinking to myself, Why did I not think of pitching a health and wellness show? I'm really into all of that. I love personal development. As I said I've you know, because since then once I left that company, I used to go off on courses myself. I walked across the crossfire with Tony Robbins like all of that stuff used to really just get me as well as going on retreats. And you know, trying every fad jimping you name it. I was into it. If they said it was good to drink. I was drinking it. So I was in and very much in that world and in that space, but it just kind of came to me and when I got the job, that just opened a whole other new space. And so I think that's the energy I've started to move in that sometimes I don't know where it's going. And like I said, with that analogy, I'm just following the lights a little bit more, because it served me really well. One phone call to ask for cover in lifestyle and current affairs led to health and wellness led to me going on my own personal journey with health and well being where I realized all that drinking and and just because they said it was good for you was actually fats. And yo yo dieting was a huge part of my life and restriction and punishing. And, and I, I worked all of that back and wrote about it in the Sunday independent and went on a huge journey myself, and then retrained as a health coach to help other people hear this story. So it's just become a different energy where I don't really know where all it's where it's going. So I don't kind of sit now and go. And that's it. And now I want to make sure that I get this message into, like, I don't have that energy. I'm like, It's not passive. No, it's not passive, but it's different. It's different. I'm enjoying it, I'm enjoying it, I say, you know, I want to share this message more, I want to end up on more stages sharing this story. And that's beginning to evolve, you know, and I'm really enjoying it. I
Finola Howard 21:29
am the reason I'm poking. So forgive me for the Poke, is that I understand what you're explaining. But I want listeners to hear that. It's not you sitting in a room going on and it just arriving on your doorstep. There is a following and being and sensing that where is the flow in this, that it is that it does make sense. And it does come, but it's not passive. Now
Clare McKenna 21:56
one of the biggest things for me is that question, I check in with myself a lot, like how am i What's working for me at the moment and whatnot. And that's in all areas of my life, from my health, to my relationships to my career? And like, sometimes the answers aren't pretty, I mean, it's not like, you know, I'm like, Okay, well, this is how I feel, and this is what I need. And then I just make that happen. I mean, life is messy and chaotic, and it has its ups and its downs. And that's very much part of something I want to share, I don't want people thinking that I have everything worked out. And that especially in the health and wellbeing world, like you say that I'm sitting in a room saying I'm and I'm this guru, and I found the secret to life, and I just want to share it, everyone is struggling through and doing their very best. But there are certain tools that I have worked out work for me. And I want to try and empower people to make the space to do that for themselves. Because everybody is different. And we don't often get that from the health message, we get a kind of a blanket approach to it, that is a one size fits all, eat less, move more, you know, get on with this. And you know, that's not the reality. So that's very important to me, because, you know, I'm as all over the place as the next person. But I know what my baseline is. I know what my pillars are, I know when I've come too far away from them. And I know how to get back to them. And I think it comes from that constant check in how am i What's working for me what isn't, and, you know, it can be writing a list and it's taken very small steps to get to each one of them. And eventually, it comes together.
Finola Howard 23:39
They love it share. So that has now manifested into this other initiative you've started on, which is nourish yourself. You want to share about that?
Clare McKenna 23:48
Well, like I said, you know, I had really thought of myself as somebody who was into health and wellness and I would have been renowned for and I still am I don't go anywhere without a big bottle of water beside me. You know, I was always into mad herbal teas nettle tea, and you name it and as I say, going on all these courses and doing all these different, these different things. But I think growing up in the 90s You know, there was a lot of focus on weight and body shaming, or the magazine sort of spoke about cellulite weight loss, you know, the RE pointing out embarrassing bets on bodies. And you know what, what's often spoken about diet culture, you know, it's like asking a fish what water is like, it's literally just what you're swimming through. It's, you know, it's everywhere. And it's not just the fashion industry and it's not just one thing, it's literally the water that we're swimming in. And there would be people emerging from the Big Brother house, they'd be on the front of heat magazine saying they dropped this dress size to be in their bikini and and they'd be feeling amazing and then the next month they'd be on saying no, all of that was a fraud and you know I was living on it. cayenne pepper and maple syrup, you know, it was just all this madness going on. But we really celebrated a certain body ideal. And I sort of got on board with us that to be healthy had to look a certain way. And that was my sole focus. Now, you know, there were a lot of positives, try lived my life. You know, nutrition is important. Moving your body is important. I never liked sports, I hated anything like that at school, I was absolutely allergic. But when I found the gym in my early 20s, I absolutely loved that I loved zoning out doing my own thing. feeling stronger, I think the goal setting thing kind of appealed to me that you'd have a plan for six weeks, then you might do a heavier weight. There's something about that, that kind of appealed to me as well, there were a lot of positives. But like I said, I always thought I had to be restrictive in what I was eating, and punishing in what I was doing. So calories were to be earned. And then they were to be burnt off. And I just lived that way. I never really thought of it as being unhealthy until I started presenting alive and kicking. And I think as well in that time, the whole wellness message had really ramped up because obviously with the internet and social media, like the noises just got louder, and now there was like paleo and plant based and CrossFit and all these different things coming at you from all different angles. And I was trying what used to be just I'd be on the latest fad became like 50 fads coming out yet once and I'd be throwing things I always say into the trolley because it's had paleo on the front. And I'd be like, Okay, I'm allowed that snack because it's paleo, even though I had no idea what paleo really meant, or you know what it was for, but there were people coming in onto the radio program that were really shifting my mindset. So somebody I really respect and I always, especially on the radio show, make sure that I have people on who are qualified, and I talk about evidence based practice, I think that's really important, I might go to some event, because it means something to me. But certainly what I put out on the radio has to be evidence based. So I would always have a dietitian or a highly qualified registered nutrition to talk about food. And all the while she's somebody that I really love. She's brilliant. And she just cuts through all the BS when it comes to food. And I was asking her about myths out there, and we were talking about milk, because you know, dairy was getting quite a bad rap. And it still does the kind of things come in and out of being bad or good for you. And I was asking her about that. And she was saying, if you want to order element milk was in and it's oat milk now, but it was an element at the time. If you want to order an element latte, then you know, you do that that's fine. You know if that's what you like, taste wise. And some people you know, want to go vegan for different reasons for more ethical reasons. That's another discussion. But not only do you have to think about where are you getting your calcium from, but where are you getting your iodine from? I just thought, I never even thought of that. And there's me like a fool just because it's cool. ordering these things. It just made me really think that you need to be educated before you start quoting things from your diet. And that was something that I've never done before. I mean, I think at one stage, I decided I wasn't going to eat much dairy because I read an interview with Victoria Beckham. And she said she didn't eat dairy because of her skin. I mean, this is who knows if it was even true, she was probably quoted, her skin is completely different to my skin, how do I know how long that's happening for but these were the kinds of things that I was picking up. So that's when I just said this is this is ridiculous, you know, I'm exhausted, I'm tired. My relationship with food and body is not where it should be. And I'm going to fix that. I'm going to look at that. I'm going to pare it all back what is health and wellness, I'm going to use people that I use people times bad. I'm going to work with people that I have met on the show a team of experts and I'm really gonna lean into what they are saying. And I worked with Daniel Davey he's a performance nutritionist he was talking about longevity and, and muscle mass because it was an indicator of how long you were going to live and how healthy you are going to be and your propensity to have disease later in life so that that kind of flipped it. For me. I worked with Claire McGrath. She was amazing. She is an amazing person who was a champion bodybuilder, everything she did, she just excelled as she was an amazing gymnast. She holds some sort of record for handstands, then she completely went the other way. Because it can be so tough for people who have gone to that bodybuilding stage they often get body dysmorphia. So she went to kind of the yoga stage and working with people around the emotions around food and your relationship. with food and your body and spirituality, so I worked with her she had, she had a brilliant course with a, a friend, Rosie horse, who she'd mess on the bodybuilding circuit. And they kind of helped me as well with with, you know, what's your relationship with food in your body? Where did it start? What are you listening to? Why are you listening to us. And from a psychology point of view, I looked at the psychology of motivation and how we really, we really change and Andy Ramage was brilliant on that he was a corporate banker who just in his own words, in his 40s was, you know, fat sick and almost dead. On he did a complete 180 gave up alcohol changed everything. And he was really fascinated, and went back and studied, and became an expert on the psychology of motivation. And he really taught me about the power of small steps, because we don't get really sold out either. It's quick fix, it's like I say, drop a dress size in two weeks, and we're all looking and I was due for this magic pill, this one thing that I'm going to take that's going to, I'm going to have great energy levels, I'm going to feel good and myself, you know, my body is going to look the way I want, and it doesn't really exist. So that was supposed to be a six month journey, working with all these people, and it was documented on the radio and in print media. And, and it ended up being a year because the the pandemic kicked in. And at the start of it, I was still in that mentality, I still was hoping that at the end, my final photoshoot would be me ripped, showing everybody how amazing I was and telling them how I got there. And in reality, over the time, I completely changed to be in it's nothing to do with how you look, it's everything to do with how you feel everyone's individual. And you just need to give yourself the time to work it out. And under compassion. And it was a very different message to the punishing restrictive one I had had, it was a lot more nourishing. The word nourish has really sort of appealed to me through it all. And I just wanted to share that message. I mean, I do think it gets shared a lot more now that we have a lot more about body positivity. We talk, you know, diet culture gets called out with the intuitive eating movement, there's books, there's podcasts, you know, their social media accounts. So, you know, I wasn't going into an echo chamber. But at the same time, I wanted to be part of sharing that message because it was a message I wished I had heard. And I have a daughter now and I, I even see her now a 10 comparing her body with other people. And that's what I wanted to do with with nourish yourself. And I knew I'd have to have a qualification behind me if I was going to talk to people about making changes in their life. And so I did a course in nutrition and as an integrative health coach, where you look at sort of lifestyle and preventative medicine. And yeah, I've set up nourish yourself, I have an online course there for people, I find it hard to put the energy into it that I'd really like to alongside my busy broadcast career as as that's really kicking off. And obviously I have my family as well. But I'm just letting it evolve and grow. Because I know what my intention is. I know what my baseline is, I know what my message is. And I know it will grow as it's meant to.
Finola Howard 33:34
But that feels very centered and smart. I know what my baseline is, you know what I mean? It's with a very strong sense of self. And this. I was curious, as you spoke about this, that. And actually, you may give me hope, as you spoke about this, because I was like, maybe it is changing, you know, maybe. And then I worried about, you know, if your daughter is if there's already comparisons, like so it's still there. So we are still needed in this place where we need. I mean, what it feels like to me when you're speaking is it feels like empowerment versus that negative responsibility that was put on us. But actually, it's sort of a complete change in perspective of how we look at our own bodies, our own selves, our own joy, our own lives. Is it is it treated? Do you think it's taken seriously enough?
Clare McKenna 34:35
And do you mean by, by people or by the powers that be? I mean, I suppose it's multifaceted, isn't it? I mean,
Finola Howard 34:43
by society?
Clare McKenna 34:47
Look, you know, I was on a Zoom meeting. I'm chairing a panel later and Tammy Darcy is on that panel and she runs the show on a project and they talk to us girls in schools up and down the country and at their shine festival to empower women to be their best selves. And she said, you know, Irish women still have, you know, the lowest self esteem globally, in ER, and you know that that is huge, they have one of the lowest rates of self esteem. And there's something going on there. And there's something going on with the fact that we still have gender inequality. You know, I was watching Cate Blanchett talking on the steps of the Cannes Film Festival, about the number of directors that have been awarded there compared to the number of women and the number of men working in the film industry, compared to women. And she just said, the line, women are not in a minority in the world. So why are they in a minority, in in industries like this and beyond. And part of that issue, and again, it's multifaceted, is that women are taught from an early age to keep themselves small. And, you know, that was something when I heard about diet culture, I was I work with a company called spectrum and they go into different companies and provide their their well being program and access to psychologists and you know, I don't know a huge amount of there and my part in what they do is they get access to a weekly webinar of a health and wellness topic. And I'm one of the presenters of those. And one of them. I was interviewing Carla Braden, and she's an intuitive eating counselor, she's now starting to be a psychotherapist. And she sent me on this PowerPoint presentation about diet culture. And like, I think I was 40 Maybe. And I was like, How have I got to this stage in my life, I didn't know that. It was the thing. I thought this was just a way that we lived life, I didn't know it was something that was set up by the patriarchy, I didn't know that there was an insidious side to it, I didn't know that there was another option. And it sounds ridiculous. But I kind of, you know, when you watch one of these documentaries, and you kind of want to go out and start shaking people on the street and saying, you know, we all need to wake up here I was, I was just stoned. And one of the sentences that spoke to me most was that idea of women being taught to keep themselves smaller, to be constantly striving for a smaller, leaner, different body to the one they have now, that takes up brain power that could be used to make us more powerful. And we are wasting our time, getting caught up in something that we can't even really change anyway, 70% of our weight is genetic. And we have a setpoint weight that our body will just continue to and the more we put it on diets, and the more we put it on strain, the more we start messing with our metabolism. And going like you know, further down 90% of people who go on diets not only gained the weight that they lost, but they put on more. And that's not even important to me what's on the scales isn't important to me, what really is important to me is that self esteem piece, and that we constantly keep beating ourselves up for I'm not enough, I'm not good enough, I've failed again, that you can sit down on a Sunday evening, and eat a piece of cake or have a packet of crisps watching the TV without feeling guilty. And you're starting on Monday and you're like, That's it, I'm never doing this again, by Wednesday, you're tired, and then you're beating yourself up again. And that's having a massive impact on people's ability to thrive and be the best versions of themselves. So that's something that I don't think is taken seriously enough. And I completely agree. Like it's one of the conversations that we had, when I'm working one to one with clients. A lot of the time, before I get near the marketing, I have to get to someone's sense of self and their identity, and why they are keeping themselves small and why they are hiding, and why there is a cap on their own growth, a self imposed limit on their own growth. And it's exactly what you're speaking about.
Finola Howard 39:05
And I love that one of the things you said before we came onto the recording was you are really fueled by this idea of what can we do about this and say more about this because I love that we need to introduce that phrase into when we see these things there is that phrase of evil happens when good men do nothing but you know, also when good women do nothing for themselves too. We must do that too. What can we do about it? Yeah, I
Clare McKenna 39:35
think there is a real New World Order coming and like there's a lot of horrendous stuff happening across the globe. And it's really overwhelming. And to see you know, the far right movement rising it's like the pendulum swing and you know, sometimes it swings into a very dark and dangerous place until it settles again and and that is the kind of hope that I have that that's where we're at. Because we're more awake to all of this now, you know, the way people are shouting about Palestine now. I think we're realizing slowly, where we put all our faith is coming down. So whether it be organized religion, whether it be, you know, historically, I suppose the priest and the doctor had all of the power, and now that's being questioned, and, you know, like, I don't want to question people's faith, you know, you know, I think it's, we do people a disservice not to respect how people choose to live their lives. So what, you know, I'm not trying to demonize religion, or indeed the medical profession, because I don't think that serves anybody, either. There's a, there's a misconception out there that it's like health or it's wellness. So you're, you know, with big bad pharma, or it's sit and drinking cacao on the beach, and like, we shouldn't be doing that. These are complementary things that work hand in hand, where would we be without science? Where would we be without medicine and, and life changing technologies that are helping people to live, but alongside that, we need these complementary things that, you know, help us as human beings to make sense of it all. So I always think that's a really, you know, important point. But we're now starting to realize that we can't put all our faith in the government's that we can't, we have to be part of the change as well. And I think that's another really positive thing about social media communities are building like minded people are coming together, they're sharing information. And yes, there can be dangerous parts of that, and the sharing of misinformation. And, you know, the fact that you're scrolling, I mean, sometimes I wonder, Am I really taking this and I'll see something I want to see in the theater. And then I forget what it is I even wanted to book. So I know there's there's dangers in it. But essentially, people are coming together a lot more. And they're questioning and they're challenging. And I think that's really positive that we're realizing we can be part of the change. And I remember saying to Niall Breslin, Brizzy, who is a big voice for mental health. And he obviously said also has that, what can I do about it from being a boy sitting in a classroom, suffering with his mental health without the language around that, to know being an advocate to push for that change? I said to him one time in, I think it was a news talk was one of the radio stations after one of the interviews I've done with him. And I said, you know, how can we push the government to spend more than 6% of the overall health budget on mental health because that's, that's crazy to people. Because we have a crisis model, we wait until something goes wrong. And then we try and help people. And in many ways, you know, that that the intention is good there. And there's lots of amazing people doing amazing work there. But we want to try and get into preventing this happening. And that's where all the money is going. And it's not actually working and to know that only 6% of the overall health budget is spent in mental health, when your mental health is so entwined and your physical health just doesn't seem right to me. And I said, How can I help you in what you're doing in lobbying government? And he said, Look, it's not going to just be that it's got to be grassroots as well. It's not going to be we can't just say, Can you wave a magic wand, Simon Harris and make everything better, as a collective, we're all going to have to come together. And that really inspires me. And that's something that I don't take for granted, with a platform that I might have on the radio, and to be part of that and to be part of empowering people. And I suppose even as I'm saying to you, it's coming to me, kind of like the way you were saying, with the people you work with, it's all intertwined. You've got to get your own baseline and your own self esteem together first. And then you're ready to look around and see what needs What needs do and and what needs helping and everything counts from the conversations we have to the things that we share, to the events that we go to, you know, you don't have to be given loads of money. You don't have to be out every every protest, if that's not you, but there's something that everybody can do. And that's what brings about real change.
Finola Howard 44:22
I think that's a beautiful way to end this conversation. I just got so much out of that. Claire, thank you so much for joining me on your truth shared.
Clare McKenna 44:32
Thank you so much for having me. I love talking to you.
Finola Howard 44:40
I hope you enjoy that episode. And if you'd like to find out more about Claire then check out nourish yourself.ie and listening to alive and kicking every Sunday from eight to nine on Newstalk. And if you'd like to support the show, please follow or subscribe on your chosen platform. It makes all the difference to the impacts that I'd love this part Welcome to have on the world, deeper conversations that allow us to grow, to celebrate each other's truths and to know that there are many who are working with a greater purpose in the world.
