Greetings,

hello,

good day,

wherever you are in the world.

Thank you for joining True Hope Cast,

the official podcast of True Hope Canada.

True Hope Canada is a mind and body-based

supplement company that is dedicated first and

foremost to promoting brain and body health through

non-invasive nutritional means.

For more information about us,

you can visit truehopecanada.com.

Today,

we've got a very special guest,

as we do every single week here on True Hope

Cast.

We have Tara Smith.

Now,

Tara's currently won one of True Hope's Vancouver

Island sales representatives,

but like most people connected to True Hope Canada,

her story begins way before she'd even heard of

Empower+,

micronutrient supplementation,

and even the possibility of eliminating things like

debilitating fears.

So in today's show,

which actually marks the 51st episode for us this

year,

Tara and I are gonna discuss her experiences with

anxiety,

anti-anxiety medications,

postpartum depression,

panic disorders,

agoraphobia,

and coming out of the other side of all of that

using Empower+,

which is this wonderful broad-spectrum micronutrient

that we have available to us here at True Hope

Canada.

So Tara,

welcome to the show.

Merry Christmas.

How are you?

I am doing great.

How are you?

I am very well.

Thank you very much for asking.

Yeah,

I'm excited to learn about what this incredible

product has done to you,

because I'm in a position where I get to hear

every week somebody's life gets changed by this

incredible,

quite simple micronutrient supplement.

Absolutely,

yeah.

Awesome.

So why don't you just tell us briefly,

let's just set this up a little bit,

like what is it you do for True Hope Canada now?

And then we can take a little bit of a deeper

dive into what led you to the position that you're

in.

Sure.

So I am the North Vancouver Island sales rep,

so I go from Courtenay pretty much all the way up

North Island,

and I just pop into stores and just bring our

products to as many people as we can.

Amazing.

Yeah,

we have,

I don't know,

how many,

like maybe 12 reps across the country.

Canada's a big place.

It's not like England where I am right now,

where you could probably have one or two,

but we have this incredible team all over the

country,

and it's very,

very important that we're obviously all on the

same,

on the same page and we try to bring as much

education to our role as,

to the role as possible.

So thanks for that.

So why don't you just take us back a little bit?

Let's take some steps back.

What are your earliest memories of experiencing

mental health issues?

Yeah,

absolutely.

So at the age of 15,

that's when I noticed that I had anxiety.

I actually went through a traumatic event at that

age,

which led me into doctors.

They put me on SSRI medication,

which is an antidepressant.

And I just kind of went on and off of it through

those years.

Through my teen years,

I ended up with some reckless behavior.

I started drinking to kind of numb my pain,

not understanding that I actually had anxiety.

I wasn't sure what was going on.

And I was literally trying to just run from myself

and wasn't getting very far from it.

So,

that's when I first noticed it going into my

adulthood.

It wasn't until I had my second child that I

ended up with postpartum anxiety.

And I actually thought I was having a stroke.

And I had my husband to call the ambulance.

So,

I was on,

actually,

we were driving.

I had to hop out of the vehicle.

My face,

my whole face went numb.

I couldn't speak.

My hand went numb.

I was,

I was screaming.

I was,

I just was freaking out.

I didn't know what was going on.

I didn't know what was going on with me.

And I thought I was dying.

And so that was my first panic attack.

But it wasn't my last.

It led me into the hospital.

And the doctors,

they tested me for everything.

I was healthy.

They gave me Ativan.

It was my first exposure to Ativan.

And I was,

I calmed right down.

So they told me it was just a panic attack.

And after that,

I remember walking out of the hospital.

And I had two young children.

Three,

almost three years old and nine months old.

And I just remember not being myself.

I knew I had a long journey ahead of me.

And I wasn't sure what to expect.

But I wasn't myself walking out of there.

I had to live with my mom for six weeks after

that.

Because my husband worked overseas.

And I couldn't take care of my kids.

I was put onto a new medication.

And I had sleeping pills.

I wasn't sleeping.

I had to take Ativan.

And I couldn't breastfeed my baby girl.

I was just heartbroken.

It was a really,

really low,

dark time in my life.

And,

yeah,

it was just,

it was really,

it was a struggle.

My mom had to take care of me.

I had agoraphobia,

which means I couldn't leave the house.

I couldn't,

I couldn't drive.

I was stuck at home with my two kids.

And,

yeah,

and then when I would leave the house,

I always made sure that I had my bottle of

Ativan.

It was always in my purse or my car.

And if I got to driving somewhere and I didn't

have it,

I would,

I would freak out.

I would have to turn around.

I had a full-blown panic attack.

Turn around and,

you know,

I'd have to explain to my child,

'Sorry,

we can't go to playdate today.

You know,

mom has a headache.' You know,

I'd have to come home.

And I would have to just,

like,

pop the pills,

try and calm down.

It was just,

yeah,

it was wild.

It was a wild ride.

It almost seems like a dream now.

It's just such a...

Yeah,

it sounds like a complete life takeover.

And obviously anxiety is an incredibly very

obviously real thing.

But having anxiety about the anxiety is anxious.

It's just so...

Yeah.

Anxious,

provoking,

you know.

That's absolutely wild.

So I have a question for you.

So from obviously thinking back now,

you can recognize that you had anxiety at 15.

And it sounds like it's from 15 to this point

where you had this physical and psychological,

let's call this an anxious explosion.

This first experience of a panic attack where it

seems to have taken over your biology and your

psychology kind of at the same time.

To a point where you.

You can barely function normally.

Whatever normal.

Whatever normal means.

Yeah.

Oh,

yeah.

So would you would you describe that.

Incident as kind of just this this hitting hitting

the peak,

like the volcano erupting after,

you know.

Oh,

yeah.

Yeah.

From 15.

Then just boom.

Yeah.

Because I never experienced it when I was 15.

I had I had bouts of anxiety and sadness.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But I never experienced that big volcano burst.

That was like the huge.

Like I'm not OK.

Yeah.

Right.

It was it was so low.

I just thought I was going to die.

So when you were when you were quite young,

when you were a teenager and you were experiencing

anxiety because we have this awful problem within

the world right now of our youth.

It's just the mental health issues just rising.

Yeah.

And there's not really a therapy in place to

actually like treat and heal these individuals.

Do you did you remember doing anything or do you

remember like expressing how you were feeling

somewhat and then being it being played off or

you're a teenager?

What I remember is using substances like,

you know,

and it's bad to say,

but looking and it's hard to be vulnerable and say

that.

But I would party.

I would party.

I would go with friends.

I would avoid.

I would drink.

I would dabble in things.

And it it just was so toxic.

But I didn't see it then.

I didn't see it.

I wasn't aware of that.

I was actually suppressing that anxiety,

you know,

and just waiting for that volcano to explode.

But eventually.

Absolutely.

I mean,

you're talking about distractions.

Right.

And,

you know,

maybe 15 year olds today,

you know,

they're like,

'Oh,

my God.' I don't want to be in certain parts of

the world.

Can't find sense,

like can't find substances like alcohol.

But we're talking about video games and phones.

Absolutely.

All these significant dopamine biochemical things

that we can just engage in very,

very quickly to have that hit,

have that rush,

and not have to sit with what's actually going on

internally.

We can just distract ourselves again and again and

again and again with this like insane hyper

novelty.

That will never really allow us to have to sit

and deal with the issues until the biochemistry

gets to a point where it just can't deal with it

anymore.

And the reality is,

you know,

very difficult.

I can't even imagine just having two kids,

two young kids kind of like,

you know,

on your own.

I just imagine how unbelievably difficult that would

be.

Like,

you literally wouldn't have a second to analyze

what was going on for you because,

you know,

kids are just so unbelievably difficult.

Time-consuming.

Absolutely.

Many.

There are many different ways of what kids are.

You know,

you never have any idea about what time means and

the relativity of that until you have children.

Absolutely.

And the lack of sleep.

Right.

So when you do,

you're struggling with mental health and you're

being woken up from children.

It's it just it really and it's not their fault.

It's just that's the way it is.

It just it throws off your your hormones,

your everything's just kind of thrown off.

And it just leads to more anxiety.

Being tired in the day.

Yeah.

So you mentioned some you mentioned pharmaceuticals.

I think you mentioned a couple of different

pharmaceuticals that you've experienced and tried

from like 15 towards this panic attack.

And then you got put on an SSRI and you had

Ativan as well as kind of like a quick go-to if

you were feeling that rising.

Did you try any other therapies?

Be that,

you know,

natural or natural like substances or even

therapies.

Yeah.

So I did.

So not when I was in my 15,

16,

17,

not that age range.

But once I was into my adulthood,

after I had that big volcano anxiety explosion

happen,

I did really dig deep into that.

I saw a few different naturopaths.

I tried.

I used GABA to help me sleep.

Yeah.

I started to use like chiropractor acupuncture.

Trying to think of the other ones.

I literally went through the list of all of them.

I was desperate for help because I wanted to be

there for my family.

And I didn't want my children to develop this.

I didn't want them to see me suffering and then

them to develop this anxiety because of things that

they've been exposed to.

That scared scared me.

Right.

Like,

I didn't want that rubbing off on them.

So,

yeah.

I did use,

you know,

5-HTP.

Tried that too.

I tried so many different things.

My cupboard was full of supplements.

I searched.

I searched for so long trying to find something

that would work.

And I did.

Once I felt good on the antidepressants,

I would I would come off.

But it would be like,

you know,

so I was able to come off and then I got

pregnant with my third child.

And it was a good thing that I came off of them.

When I got pregnant,

the pregnancy was awful.

It was I had anxiety the whole time.

I was sick.

I.

It was it felt like the longest 10 months of my

life being pregnant with him.

And I was just praying that he would be okay and

he would come out fine and went into early labor

with him.

And he was born not breathing.

Luckily,

they were able to resuscitate him.

And and then it was shortly after that that I

ended up with him.

I had another full blown anxiety,

explosion,

panic attack.

And I had I remember running to the nurses and at

public health and saying,

like,

crying to them,

can I please take Ativan while I breastfeed my

baby?

Like,

I'm suffering.

I am freaking out.

I don't know what to do.

And and they you know,

they did allow me.

They said,

'Yes,

you can take a little bit and still breastfeed.'

And I felt awful about it.

But I had to.

I had.

I had to do it.

And now I had three children.

I was like,

'What have I done?

You know,

it's what is going on?' Just hoping for some

something to fall into balance.

And and then I had to get back on SSRI medication

again.

So it was it was that battle.

I went on to one that was supposedly safe for

breastfeeding,

continued to breastfeed him for quite a long time.

And then.

Yeah.

And then that's kind of where it brought me to

True Hope.

How so after your third child,

how old were you?

I'm just thinking of this 15 years of age to when

it's like a timeline.

Yeah.

So I was I had him just before I was 30.

So I was still 29.

Okay.

So 15 years.

And the only thing that really helped with your

anxiety was antidepressants,

to a point.

Can you describe how they actually helped you?

Like what they allowed you to do that that you

couldn't do on them during that time?

Well,

so they did.

They helped.

It took a long time for them to work.

And a lot of like when I first had my after my

second child,

when I went on to them,

it took a lot of different ones.

I had to go on and off of different ones.

I was sick.

One of them made me awake all night.

I felt wired and shaky and jittery,

and just like like I was going crazy.

It was it was insane.

They make you feel sick when you go on to them.

At least that's what I've experienced being on and

off of them for so long.

But not having any other outlet to run to.

I ran to the doctor.

That's the only thing I knew how to do.

It's only I felt like that was my way out to get

help.

So they helped me to feel okay.

But they made me feel very fine.

I felt flat.

I had,

I didn't have joy.

My kids would be playing and I just felt like,

you know,

I couldn't engage in the laughing,

and I couldn't.

It made me a zombie.

Really?

It did.

It helped me get through the days.

But there was no joy at all.

It was just stripped from me.

And then,

you know,

they sort of work.

And then all of a sudden it just flatlines and

then it doesn't.

So then either you have to get them increased or

you go off to a different one.

So.

It's just an endless battle,

really.

What made you decide to go and see a naturopath?

Because a lot of people never come out of the

conventional model for something like that.

Yeah,

just through research.

You know what?

Actually,

I had a really bad habit of hitting Google.

So any time I felt then this is,

I think,

a health anxiety issue that people deal with,

struggle with.

So any time that I felt strange or I felt off,

I would go to Google and I would start Googling.

OK,

why am I feeling dizzy?

Why am I feeling,

you know,

and it will give you from cancer like the worst

case scenario to the best case.

You can find what you want.

But I did start to research a lot on the Internet

and I did find naturopaths that were dealing with

anxiety,

you know,

postpartum anxiety,

which I never even heard of.

I only heard of postpartum depression.

So.

And yeah,

I just went and saw a lady and she she ran a

lot of tests.

So we knew that my thyroid was good.

I had food allergies come back,

which was really helpful.

So I was able to take out those triggers,

which can also lead like I had a leaky gut.

So that can also it's like your second brain that

can lead to health issues to mental health issues.

Right.

And then after you have a baby,

your hormones are just kind of up and down and

raging a bit.

So,

yeah.

The naturopath definitely,

definitely helped me.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So did that open your eyes a little bit?

Because obviously going to see a naturopath rather

than going to see a conventional medical doctor,

there's many differences there.

Just the fact that you said that you run ran a

whole like a whole set of different labs to kick

off.

So you're you're able to look at look at your

thyroid and look at all these other different

levels to see kind of like where you're at.

Not every doctor is going to do that because,

you know,

you can.

Kind of ask you what your psychological symptoms

are and then put that into a box.

And then it's like,

OK,

this is this is the this is the collection of

drugs we're going to try.

We'll try this first.

You know,

it's a very it's a very lazy process in regards

to trying to heal.

Well,

it's not about healing,

is it?

It's about symptom.

Yeah,

I suppose.

Healing,

too.

Yeah,

it's it's.

And not one doctor asked me,

you know,

what's your diet or what do you eat?

You know,

how about how about counseling?

Or like I wasn't I wasn't offered those options,

which is just mind-blowing looking back now.

And yeah,

it's it's I think I think that the doctors are

trained in what they're trained in right now.

Like they're so overworked right now.

They're so busy and they don't want to or they

can't expand their knowledge into natural supplements

that could work for the clients.

So,

yeah,

it brought me it definitely brought me to.

Getting into being more natural,

like,

you know,

not containing,

keeping fragrances or anything like that in my home

and just really being careful about what we eat,

like only organic.

It got me into that whole.

It was an obsession because I absolutely loved it.

I loved learning about it and and trying to heal

myself,

although the things didn't really quite work.

You know,

like I would get magnified.

I was like,

okay,

let me see.

I'm magnesium is great.

Lots of people should use it,

but it didn't heal me.

It didn't heal what was going on in me.

So you went to see his naturopath,

you had a bunch of tests done,

found out about sensitivities,

which is absolutely it was very,

very important.

No question about that.

But it sounds like what you were recommended

through your naturopath again is kind of really

narrow-minded in regards to.

Okay,

let's try GABA.

It's kind of one thing.

Let's try 5-HTL.

Let's try 5-HP.

All in all,

in the attempt to increase serotonin and all these

other biochemicals to improve mood.

Was there anything else that they kind of tried?

Did you see any success from any of those type of

things?

You know,

I did for a little bit.

Yeah,

I saw; I saw it like definitely cutting out the

fruit triggers healed my gut,

which was really good.

I had a really high yeast load as well.

So once I cut out everything that contained that,

I did see improvement in my mood.

I think what is really hard for me is that from

being 15 years old and then up until,

you know,

30 years old,

not having any tools,

you know,

not doing meditation,

not having those.

I didn't learn any of those tools.

So I feel like that 15 years of age.

That's a prime time.

Your brain is still growing.

And I didn't learn any tools to try and deal with

anything.

So no matter if little things would work,

I still had the daily struggles of the anxiety.

And any small win is a win for sure.

But it just I still had those daily struggles

because I didn't know,

like,

it's okay to feel those emotions instead of trying

to suppress them.

It's okay to go through those daily emotions and

allow your body to feel that.

It's just and it will pass.

So I didn't have any of those tools.

So it was just literally like a pre-program of

fight or flight.

Let's freak out.

We're going to run.

Oh,

no,

something bad is happening now.

Right.

It's a rising.

It's coming.

It's,

you know,

so,

yeah,

it did work,

though,

like small little things worked.

But there wasn't this like,

wow,

wow,

I'm healed or wow,

I feel amazing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And so it's really,

really important to have that kind of a moment of,

you know,

like,

when it comes to something as significant as

high-level anxiety or even depression,

then you might see like a little tweak in the use

of something that's kind of single-minded in regards

to its approaches.

Like one ingredient,

you know,

one ingredient of 5-HTP or GABA or an SSRI,

you know,

it might tweak something.

But when we're talking about significant healing of

something that is very,

very large,

we have to be looking at something that's very

full.

Rounded in regards to this a broad spectrum

micronutrient,

which will lead us into our discussion about how

true hopes started with you,

but it sounds to me like,

with your experience of significant anxiety,

that even actually just having something a bottle,

anything as this kind of like dependency crutch,

sounds like symbolically significant,

absolutely yes,

I think we all need a little bit of like some

crutch,

right?

Something that we know that's there and you know

we can grab it and it can help us to get through

something,

especially people suffering from anxiety because it's

just huge for us,

you know.

It's an outlet,

like going for a run and running it off to,

would be beneficial,

yeah absolutely,

I mean it feels like to me that the higher the

let's say,

the higher the significance of the anxiety than the

kind of more symbolic the crutches,

and everybody On everybody on the spectrum needs

some sort of self-care outlet,

let's say.

But for somebody who is anxious about being

anxious,

it literally needs to be something that's in your

handbag or in your pocket,

or something super accessible.

And that's when like the idea of you know,

when you look at the incredible research behind

using a placebo or an antidepressant the placebo

effect is is almost just as effective because

you've just got something there that you know is

there that you can take,

and even just the idea of taking something can

biochemically change you endogenously inside of you,

so trying to find something in The beginning stages

that's going to help your body heal itself is

obviously a massive part of the actual healing and

treatment process of something that's so like deeply

intertwined within who you are,

because we're talking about 15 years of your life

of living with something that's just like on the

back that just on your shoulder constantly always

there,

yeah it's stressful.

I've never really dealt with super anxiety apart

from apart from this year,

but um yes,

and same thing right.

He's he's that's why we work out; we work so good

together,

we're a good balance.

He he's never really struggled with anxiety,

so it's been a big journey for him too yeah no

it's a learning process and a big point is you

can't do this alone it's so important to have a

support system and to be able to rely on a hug

or another human being for that for that connective

energy to recognize that you're not alone because

something like anxiety or depression or other

psychological disorders is going to you're going to

isolate yourself because more people and more

environments are just going to accentuate that that

feeling that you have and you probably feel like

you have a little bit more control when you're

able to sit at home alone in a dark room and

it's hard it's really

Hard to reach out when you're in that moment,

it's very hard.

It's like your mind is stopping you from from

doing it,

from reaching out to somebody,

but it's so important,

even just a friend and say,

'Hey,

I'm feeling off today,

like you know?

Do you want to go for a walk or or just even

like someone's kind of like if you have a mom

like my mom's my best friend,

so I always use her as my you know outlet if

something's going on,

and it's it's good.

Right?

You got to have that outlet with one person.

You have to just kind of force yourself to reach

out to one person.

Yeah,

you hear way too often stories of individuals who

really struggle.

And even their best friends and their family

members have got no idea,

because it's I know that the ability to hide

what's going on inside,

and also a bit of like social naivety in regards

to maybe that person is struggling and society in

general psychologically is is struggling anyway,

but we have we have this kind of like ignorance

towards it,

I think that really doesn't allow people to really

see what's right in front of them because it's

kind of impossible to really hide deep down like

when somebody is really struggling.

It's very difficult to do that.

I think it's hard and I think for the majority of

people it's really

Hard to be vulnerable,

and say you know there's been such a stigma around

mental health illnesses,

and you know that's why I never spoke about it

when I was 15.

Like,

not a chance I would - I would bring that up to

any of my friends right?

But now I feel like it's getting out there so

much more,

and it's it's accepted more even though it should

have always been accepted.

Um,

and that speaking out empowers you,

it really does.

And it helps to bring it out,

it helps to not suppress it,

it helps to just bring it to light,

and then it can disappear.

So it's so important for people to know that

speaking out will could save one or two lives,

yeah,

and It's okay to not feel okay,

yeah,

absolutely nobody feels okay all the time right.

Instagram may say differently,

but no,

love that great dig at Instagram,

love it.

Um,

how uh tell us about true hope?

How did it come into your life?

Do you think it came because so many people tell

me about how true hope came into their lives and

it's like,

right time,

right moment,

and it's exactly when I needed it,

yeah.

Well,

I could have used it at 15,

but hey,

you know what,

I have a story to tell and that's powerful,

so um,

yeah.

I was working so after my obsession with

supplements and natural nutrition and everything,

I actually ended up getting um,

hired on with some Of the companies,

so I did demos and health food stores and mainly

in Nanaimo.

And one day,

I was at the Nanaimo Health Shop,

and a lady came in and she was,

you know,

frantically looking; she was going away on a trip

and she needed to find Empower for her son who's

ADHD,

and I just was sitting there listening because I'm

always curious about all new products - um,

I love supporting the companies,

I love trying new ones.

And just her panic about how it's helped her child

and she really needs it,

really needs it.

And I'm like,

'Oh my god',

I'm like,

'Oh my god',

I'm like,

'Oh my god',

I'm like,

'Oh my god'.

Um,

and I asked the lady that was working at the

store; I said What is this true hope,

true hope is that,

what it is,

she says,

yeah,

it's,

she's like honestly,

it's a formula that is incredible,

nobody can really explain it but it just works,

it's really insane and cool and so I wrote it

down in my notebook and I later went home and I

researched it,

I thought wow okay this looks amazing,

so that was my first introduction to true hope.

And I did buy a bottle and my son was actually

struggling.

So he was 10 years old and struggling.

He started to develop motor and vocal tics.

It started with the eye blinking probably when he

was about eight years old.

And we weren't really sure what it was.

We did bring him to one of the pediatricians and

they said,

you know,

it could be Tourette's.

So bring him back in a year if he still has them

and then we'll put him on medication.

And I thought,

no,

we're not going to be doing that.

So I started him on the True Hope.

I started him on it first because I actually had

to pull him out of school.

He was struggling.

He was being bullied and he had a lot of anxiety.

And I pulled him out of school.

I started him on True Hope.

And within a month,

he was completely healed.

Like he was this happy boy.

He was full of life.

He's funny.

He doesn't do the blinking.

Or the throat clearing.

You know,

we can watch a movie with him and we don't have

to ignore the whole,

you know,

clearing of the throat and stuff.

And it was just amazing,

like for my husband and I to see that.

And all our family was just like blown away.

So then after I started him on that,

I emailed the company.

I emailed True Hope and it was during COVID just

started.

And I sent an email and I just said,

like,

how much I love your products.

I love everything you guys stand for.

And if you're looking for a sales rep,

I would love to be part of that mission.

And I got an email back from David and it was a

beautiful email,

but it said,

you know,

we're,

thank you,

but we're not looking for anybody right now.

And I thought,

okay,

bummer.

That's okay.

Because it's still a great product.

But then I heard back,

I think it was a couple of weeks later,

I got an email back saying,

you know,

are you interested still?

And I was like,

wow.

Okay.

That's amazing.

And I talked to him and then he hired me on as

North Bay split up the island because we do have

a sales rep already.

So he does Victoria.

And then I do,

I do the portion up to the North,

but it's a big portion for one sales rep to

cover.

So it was amazing the way God worked and he

opened it up for me because yeah.

And actually David didn't know my story.

He didn't know I was on SSRI medication at the

time when he hired me.

So then I actually decided I was out in my garden

one day and I just felt like I need to tell him,

I need to tell him this,

that yes,

it works for my son,

but I haven't tried it yet.

I think I was taking actually one pill a day,

but I was nervous to take any more because it

says if you're on any type of antidepressant

medication,

you shouldn't take too much of it or you need to

consult the micronutrient support line.

And I didn't do that yet.

So.

I,

I reached out to him and I told him that I'm

actually on medication.

I'm really kind of embarrassed about it,

but and he just embraced it and was like,

'are you this amazing'?

Like,

we will help you.

And I just felt like a weight was lifted off my

shoulders.

Like,

oh my gosh,

somebody is actually like knows what I'm going

through and is willing to help me and has faith

in me.

So,

yeah,

then I contacted the micronutrient support line and

actually.

Yeah,

it was Collette,

his wife,

who has worked for years in micronutrient support

line.

She gave me all the dosing information.

So the type of medication I was on and how much

I should lower that.

And it's not,

doctors have told me over the years.

Yeah.

If you feel good,

just split in half or just,

just stop taking it.

It's fine.

Which is not good.

No,

that's bad advice.

Very bad.

I've experienced brains out to debilitating stuff in

the past.

So,

um,

yeah,

I got the schedule all laid out for me and what

to do to increase my empowerment as I'm lowering

my dosage and to use three medications.

And I'm going to tell you,

I was on a really hard antidepressant to get off

of.

I had no withdrawal,

none,

Zippo,

zero.

So you're introducing Empower Plus whilst on this

medication and you're kind of going through this,

this balance.

What was the time period?

Like with that process of taking them both to

coming off the antidepressant.

So mine was two months.

It's it's,

it is a long process,

however,

and I was,

I wasn't on a very high dose,

but they really,

really researched this very well.

And they have the science behind it and it works.

Like,

it really works to be cutting it,

lowering it just slightly,

slightly.

So it doesn't trigger your brain,

you know,

It doesn't trigger your brain to have any type of

like,

um,

like,

like you can have,

uh,

your symptoms will reappear.

Right.

Even worse.

Yeah.

So it was a very thought out plan.

The way they have it is just,

it's genius.

Really?

It's,

it's amazing.

And it's,

it's every like two,

two to three days,

then you cut it.

You take the free Minos as much as you really

need them.

And it was a really,

really easy process.

That's awesome.

How did you get a 10-year-old to take?

Oh,

gosh,

actually,

Bonnie Kaplan has a video of how children can,

should,

or can swallow pills and it's a very helpful

video,

but we went through quite a few of them trying to

get him to swallow them and now he's a champ,

like he just,

he throws in three and swallows them like no

problem,

but,

um,

for my younger children,

they still won't take them.

So I have to put them into smoothies and be

careful.

Kind of,

kind of sneaky about it.

So it is creative,

creative,

creative.

Yeah.

It's which is hard when you're busy.

Right.

It's hard to get that,

get that into them.

Yeah.

Well,

that's,

that's really cool.

Yeah.

I'll share,

um,

cause there is some really great information from

Bonnie Kaplan.

We've had her on the show and,

um,

there are some really amazing ways in which you

can,

you know,

help your children learn to be more comfortable.

I think it's about like turning your head and

swallowing.

Right.

That's one technique.

Um,

so that's,

yeah,

that can be really,

really helpful because there's adults that don't

want to take,

take supplements,

let alone,

you know,

a 10 year old.

So that's amazing.

That's really,

really cool advice.

Um,

when you personally started to get on,

like,

let's say you're on your,

like,

just an empower plus,

and you're not on antidepressants anymore,

that two-month period,

what did that change?

Because we're talking about,

you know,

rather than using a pharmaceutical drug.

Right.

Right,

right.

Number two.

as well,

a hundred years ago on the,

um,

day of childbirth,

months it really it allowed it it's a kind of a

strange thing to say but I'm trying to word it

good it allowed me to feel amazing but it also

felt like it was keeping keeping something away

like I could feel there would be times because

that was like my default setting where I wanted to

have anxiety just because of something small it

almost like kept it down it kept it it kept it

normal do I want to say normal I mean it just

made me feel like I was had this inner calm and

this inner joy and it just really helped to

balance my brain and keep things so they wouldn't

explode out like it it just wouldn't it wouldn't

come out and I don't want to say suppress but it

just helped to like dissolve dissolve that those

feelings those creepy feelings those those moments

of feeling like you were going to just burst it

just helped to dissolve it and it was just like

wow is this really for real What is in this?

I think,

the miraculousness of this product and how quickly

and how well it works for everybody.

Um,

does the product disservice because people don't

recognize miracles when it comes to or healing,

especially when it comes to something as significant

as high-level anxiety or high-level depression,

because you know it does work so well.

And if you know a little bit about the the

science behind it and how it works,

it totally totally makes sense.

So I know it makes sense to me,

but like listening to like maybe like a friend of

a friend who tried this and came off the

medications,

and it's it's too hard,

it's Too miraculous to even believe for a lot of

people,

yeah yeah.

And I think the thing is too,

is that like people need to be consistent; they

really need to be consistent with it.

And when you feel good,

you don't stop taking it,

and you don't stop taking it,

and you know,

like,

even with my son,

so I noticed if he doesn't take it for two or

three days,

which has happened when we've been busier on the

road or something,

and or he just forgets to take them because if I

haven't reminded him,

his tics will come back; they will come right

back.

But within two days,

I've taken his Empower,

it's gone again.

So we treat it like medication.

We treat it as if you can't live without it,

and you have to take it.

And that's the way that I've been taking it.

I'm very,

like,

I keep a bottle in my vehicle at all times

because if it's lunchtime,

I'm like,

'Oh no,

I didn't take my three [Empower].' I have them

here; I don't have to panic.

You know,

I don't have to get all worried about you know

not taking it because I'm very a very consistent

person.

But that the consistency is key to things working

and not giving up on it if it doesn't work in a

week.

It might take you two weeks or three weeks,

but you have to stay with it,

and you have to have faith that it is going to

work; it will work.

Yeah,

I think that's important.

Yourself with kind of the testimonials and the

science and documents and articles that we have on

our website can really help people fuel up their

ability to take this on a consistent basis and

really give it the chance that it deserves,

but because it's like a supplement or just like

another multivitamin,

people might take it sparingly.

Like you're an example,

right?

You took you had the product,

you heard the story,

you tried it on your son and you were just taking

kind of like one a day and that just wasn't

enough,

and that's that's an example of that so yeah I

can't reiterate it enough as well and important it

is to take not only The right dose is to taking

that consistently so your body is getting used to

this new influx of brain medicine,

absolutely yeah.

I felt like my brain was blown,

you know,

like I just felt like I could think clearer,

like a fog was lifted off it's like,

wow,

I have,

you know,

this clarity,

this piece,

it was just,

it was incredible.

But yeah,

you know,

you got to be consistent with it and it may

fluctuate on how much you need to.

I go through cycles where I will go higher on

mine through high-like stress times and or even

near my hormonal times,

right during my menstruation time,

I will go higher and then I can drop back down a

little bit lower.

Too,

but I never stop taking it,

it's just not,

it's it'll never be that way.

I will be on it forever,

yeah,

I,

I completely agree with you,

there are going to be times where you know you're

going to have a stressful week or you've got a

stressful event coming up,

um very important to be able to load your body up

in preparation for that,

you know that high turnover,

that high resource,

um time so absolutely yeah it's very important.

It's just way more than just another supplement

how,

um,

how are you different from your 15-year-old self

now?

Oh,

goodness,

I am way different.

I'm just,

I have tools that I use,

um,

it's still a,

it's still a learning curve.

For me,

I'm still learning stuff.

I'm trying to be more consistent with my

meditation,

like I have a meditation app,

it's the Calm app,

and I I love it,

and so being consistent with that.

But it's hard because when you have kids,

it's um,

you know they consume a lot of your time too,

so you know I'll get in there to listen to my

Calm app,

and then a kid will run in and it's like,

'Oh,

can I just have 10 minutes?' You know,

it's just the way it is.

It's trying to be consistent with that and reading,

and um,

prayer is huge.

Like my faith is big; that's what's really helped

me hang on through all of this too.

So having faith and whatever you believe in.

Is just amazing and,

um,

yeah,

I just feel like I I can enjoy life,

I can; I'm not struggling,

and I'm not concerned with what I was concerned

when I was 15 years old.

So,

I've been able to let go of that,

and I've been able to grow.

And I have,

I have my true hope team to thank for that,

and for saving,

you know,

not only my life,

my son's life,

but millions of people's lives too.

Yeah,

that's amazing.

I think that.

Do you consider those 15 plus years as a massive

lesson?

Absolutely.

And I wouldn't change a thing.

Um,

that's awesome.

Yeah,

I think those types of journeys they happen for a

reason; they're there to teach us things,

and we kind of if you're if people are open and

allow themselves to be exposed to different types

of information and to be vulnerable at maybe the

right time and say yes to things,

like you know,

you're going going to the um doing those demos

overhearing that story,

depending what people believe,

you know I think those those things have certainly

been put the universe has put that in for you to

serve your self and serve your family in such an

incredible way um absolutely yeah that's really cool

so apart from you know this micronutrient as brain

food,

you you do when you can,

you know you do your meditations,

you have your faith practice,

do you have like any other Things that very

important to you,

that if you don't do them,

you know,

no,

it's like maybe a slip or a slide,

um,

I don't think there's really any slips or slides,

really.

Honestly,

the inositol keeps my brain going so stable that

I'm good.

However,

if I do have an anxious moment,

inositol is a natural Ativan and it's so now,

I've replaced my bottle...

well,

a year ago,

I replaced my bottle of Ativan for my bottle of

inositol.

I keep it in my car,

my purse that is my crutch,

that's what I go to now,

and I'm so happy to have a natural alternative

that works immediately,

so and I call it my natural Ativan,

it's incredible!

So I don't have major slips and I

don't feel like I'm like um but I do like I

exercise a lot I make sure that like me and the

kids because I homeschool them that we're always

out on nature walks we're doing stairs we're

snowshoeing we're we're out getting the fresh air

and being in nature so that is like huge on my

radar every day we have to do some form of

exercise yeah and if I do slip and eat too many

sugars or the wrong food then yeah I don't feel

good but I don't have where I'm gonna explode

that's good um obviously power plus gets a lot of

air time on the show because it is our flagship

product it is a phenomena and we want to we

really just want to share these stories

and share how powerful it is more and more people

to just open up the door for a natural alternative

that not only treats symptoms but heals it's a

it's a healing healing product but why don't you

tell us a little bit more about inositol as well

because again it's a phenomenal product my two and

a half year old survive without inositol in those

in those trickier times he has to he has to be

eating quite consistently throughout the day um but

sometimes it's not possible because of time and two

-year-olds but um it's an incredible in between

that really helps um that really helps balance his

mood out when we all need it so why

Don't you tell us about inositol and how you apply

it,

yeah?

So it is my children use it as well,

it's amazing.

I have a five-year-old who is a little bit

bouncier; I try and get the empower into him,

but he's stopped drinking smoothies lately,

so um we do inositol a lot,

so and he knows,

so we have it in his little vitamin bin where my

kids' vitamin bin.

And when they are feeling like they're anxious or

so,

I'm trying to get them to recognize what those

feelings are,

and it's okay to have them,

but sometimes we need something to help us to just

calm so we can think and talk about it,

so they know to grab their right off the spoon.

Um,

another thing we throw it into smoothies,

water bottles with some lemon so they can drink

that throughout the day.

Um,

and that's what I do for myself too if I'm having

if I'm feeling a little bit off.

Always throw it into a water bottle,

take it for the day.

But it works great.

I mean,

you can make like I've made jam with it.

I've thrown it into smoothies,

you can,

you can be so you can sprinkle it on toast.

It tastes like powdered sugar,

so it's so tasty on its own.

Yeah,

I have a container in my bathroom too,

so at nighttime if I wake up in the night and I

feel like I can't get back to sleep,

I dump it into my hand and I just lick it off

and I hop back right into bed.

I fall right back asleep,

so it is it's a miracle,

it's amazing,

yeah,

and it works super quick,

so yeah,

having it as in your car or in everywhere,

bathroom cabinet or just everywhere,

super super helpful because you need to have that

accessibility in that kind of quick time,

you know,

because these things,

yeah,

these things rise quite quickly and there's usually

like depending on the individual but you've got

this like short time frame to kind of do something

about it,

yes,

especially when you're like,

you know,

two to six year old range,

they're they're little um,

the receptors are a little off right so they can

go from zero to a hundred.

Within seconds,

yeah,

that's for sure,

yeah,

that's awesome.

Well,

okay,

just coming up to the end of the show now.

I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your

story.

Obviously,

you're a rep for True Hope working on the island,

so if there are any like stores or any individuals

um looking to try the product themselves or

practitioners that are looking to bring it on board

and they are in your area um what's the best

place for people to um how to connect with you?

Yeah,

so they can email me at tara@truehope.com um they

can also call me.

Also,

I'll be able to get in touch with you if you're

on Instagram as well,

I'm under there as Tara.

Smith but I think my name is Natural Roots Mom I

try and update um True Hope supplements and keep

that kind of brain health up to date so yeah

anyone can just contact me at any point or anyone

that's even struggling anyone that is is listening

to this thinking oh my gosh like I've been there

I am there right now and I just need someone to

talk to feel free to reach out to me because I'm

here to help I've been there and I'm here to help

you and I'm here to help you and I'm here to

help you and I'm here to help you and I know how

hard it is to feel alone and don't hesitate at

all just reach out just call send an email

anything yeah that's what's

amazing about True Hope and the team is that we

are like no other company let alone natural health

product company out there in the world we have so

many incredible unique things to to us our reps

who are incredibly um open responsive like you're

just describing there you know we have True Hope

University where we educate retailers all across the

country and even the world so we do so many

different things in in amazing ways that I'm

actually really looking forward to see what's um

going to happen in the new year and um next on

the show we've got David Steffen the VP of True

Hope Canada and we're going to kind of talk a

little

bit about that we're going to cover the what

happened what's happened throughout the year with

True Hope and then look what's looking forward so

I'm very excited to learn more about that but just

like you I am absolutely blessed and honored to be

working for True Hope Canada.

Sharing all the amazing stories about what Empower

Plus does,

and it's yeah,

it's truly,

it's truly um an honor,

absolutely I totally agree,

Simon.

Beautiful,

well on that note,

thanks again for joining me today,

Tara,

really appreciate it,

thank you,

it was a pleasure of course.

Well,

thank you so much for listening,

everybody,

for more information anything we've spoken about and

information on how to get hold of Tara,

I'll leave that in the show notes,

so you can access it there.

Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't yet.

Thank you so much for listening,

this is True Hope Cast,

the official podcast of True Hope Canada,

we'll see you next week.