S8 Ep19: Mothers Know Best— Honoring Motherhood in Business with Hoda Mohajerani
“Without our mothers, we wouldn't be here. We need to put mothers and nurturing maternal relationships at the forefront of our families, of our communities, and also how we lead businesses as well.” —Hoda Mohajerani
Motherhood is at the heart of many businesses today. Where some see constraints, these mompreneurs find freedom in following passions with impacts that nourish families and the future. Their brands reflect the love, care, and vision that sustain communities, just as motherhood sustains families.
Chakra Chai founder Hoda Mohajerani returns to share her journey as a mom and business leader. Listen in as Justine and Hoda discuss more about the intersection of motherhood and entrepreneurship, Chakra Chai's latest products that aim to nourish both physical and spiritual well-being, the importance of collaboration and community in business success, nurturing communities through sustainable practices, and more.
Connect with Hoda:
Following the loss of her newborn son, Arta, Hoda’s body, mind, and soul were in a state of disarray. Her heart was shattered, her energy depleted, and she suffered from chronic gut and colon problems. Hoda’s being was in turmoil while she struggled to find solace in her physical and emotional state. However, her sheer power will keep her going through the toughest of times.
While meditating at home, Hoda heard a whisper from her dear Arta: “Chakra Chai”. At first, she was not sure what it meant or what her little one was trying to tell her. Over time, though, she began to understand the profound message, delivered with the utmost tenderness and love.
Hoda received a download of information that she knew was sacred and powerful. She sat with her thoughts and quieted her mind, allowing for the message to sink in and take root. She knew that this was an incredible gift, one that she had to honor and pursue with all her being.
CHAKRA CHAI is the product of her loss and grief, but it has become Hoda’s mission in life to offer a drink that brings wholeness, balance, and strength to those who need it. It is a privilege to serve others, and she hopes that each sip of CHAKRA CHAI offers solace and healing to all those who come across it.
Episode Highlights:
02:37 Building a Conscious Brand that Supports Mothers
05:16 Love Truffles
08:04 Finding the Right Team
13:27 The Importance of Collaboration and Community
19:03 Honoring Motherhood in Business
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Tweets:
Empowered mothers can empower many. Tune in as @jreichman and Chakra Chai® Founder, Hoda Mohajerani as they discuss how motherhood can inspire businesses that uplift communities. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #Season8 #ChakraChai #nourishourmothers #motherhoodandbusiness #consciousfounders #consciousbusiness #mompreneurs #femalefounder #womenempowerment
Inspirational Quotes:
00:56 “Without our mothers, we wouldn't be here. We need to put mothers and nurturing maternal relationships at the forefront of our families, of our communities, and also how we lead businesses as well.” —Hoda Mohajerani
03:07 “The heart is the starting point for everything— for all of our relationships for all that we do.” —Hoda Mohajerani
09:41 “When you meet one another's frequency… you'll be brought together somehow, you just magnetize each other and then, incredible co-creation, productivity and creativity happens.” —Hoda Mohajerani
09:12 “When you believe it and you own it, things naturally come to you.” —Justine Reichman
12:42 “Nutrition and food and business is one symphonic communion around one big family table, that is the human family.” —Hoda Mohajerani
13:07 “There's a lot of challenges, oftentimes, when we try to build something and we're a mom or raising kids.” —Justine Reichman
15:51 “It's more fun to do together!” —Justine Reichman
19:38 “Mother's Day holds a particular value. We shouldn't be afraid of singling women out on this day.” —Hoda Mohajerani
21:53 “There's nobody more motivated also than the founder of the business.” —Justine Reichman
Transcriptions:
Justine Reichman: Good morning, and welcome to Essential Ingredients. I'm your host, Justine Reichman.
My guest today is Hoda. She is going to tell you all about Chakra Chai, and why she founded it? What inspired her? How we can support other women founded businesses this Mother's Day, that actually not only are built by women, but support those women to have the best possible love and life that they can buy.
Hoda Mohajerani: Justine, thank you for having me on. Again, it's here. And it's really an honor to be able to speak as a mother and Founder, CEO of a conscious company and conscious brand to other mothers who are also founders or who are not founders. Because without our mothers, we wouldn't be here. And we absolutely need to put mothers and the nurturing maternal relationship at the forefront of our families, of our communities, and also of our businesses, and maybe also how we lead businesses as well. So yeah, I'm the Founder and CEO of Chakra Chai. We are the first spiritual somatic food and beverage company on the market, which means that our products are intended to and designed to support not only your physical body, but your emotional and your spiritual bodies as well. And that is definitely a place where mothers feel the brunt, the force of life, our emotions, our energy and energetic bodies. And yeah, we'd love to be able to support them.
“Without our mothers, we wouldn't be here. We need to put mothers and nurturing maternal relationships at the forefront of our families, of our communities, and also how we lead businesses as well.” —Hoda Mohajerani
Justine Reichman: Well, I'm so excited to have you on this Mother's Day because I think that a lot of these podcasts really talk about the founders and their journey. And that's really important. And motherhood even plays a role in yours, and we could share a little bit about that. But I really want to be able to provide these stories for these products for inspiration to the mother so the community can better understand what we're doing to support each other, and maybe even inspire other founders and other mothers to do the same thing in turn. So before we go on, if you could just kind of talk about some of these truffles a little bit, and which one you want to focus on today as it relates to moms this Mother's Day, that would be great.
Hoda Mohajerani: So the one I'd love to speak to first and foremost is love. You've got love, too. We've got enough love, a whole lot of love. And as you can see, there's a hashtag on the side of the truffle box that says #nourishourmothers. And the reason is because we act, the whole love, our heart chakra range or ranges that we created, were the very first ones that we created because we believe that the heart is the starting point for everything for all of our relationships, for all that we do and the charity that we support with this, because we support seven charities. As you know, Every Mother Counts. So charity that was set up by Christy Turlington for mothers, mothers and babies, and pregnant mothers. And so we're really, we created a virtuous cycle, if you will, with the creation of this product.Some of our listeners know that my personal story is a mother that was quite tragic, but that was transformed into something really rather triumphant. I started this as a mother. And then the very first product is given back to mothers through the charity, but the actual product itself is formulated to really support the heart. Not only cardiovascular health, but emotional health and serenity, because mothers give so much. We're giving, giving, giving, and then to actually feel enveloped, feel embraced and nourished ourselves. But then it goes one step further. Because the way that we source all of our ingredients, which are 100% organic and over 95% regenerative is we're supporting regenerative organic agricultural practices that are in turn, re nurturing and regenerating Mother Earth.
Justine Reichman: I love that. I'm curious though, and I know that we've talked about it. But for our listeners, because last time, I don't think we spoke about these truffles and so I'd like to just talk about the journey for you to figure out what goes into this truffle to be able to achieve what you're hoping to achieve through chakra for love. Whether it's for love, spirit, etcetera. But what's the journey been like to figure out how to create that?
Hoda Mohajerani: A really great question. Actually, I personally am not an Ayurvedic practitioner. I received this entire concept of Chakra Chai from one journalist from The Beyond, from my son. And so I was incredibly just in awe of how I was brought together with a third generation Mohajerani ayurveda practitioner, and the two of us began the R&D process. And the whole thing is that the chakras are part of our subtle bodies, so they relate to the sub dosha, not the doshas. You can be tried to perfect balance and your chakras can be all over the place and vice versa. So how do we create a physical product and material product that is actually addressing almost an immaterial or an energetic need? And that took me essentially close to three years. We did the original R&D, and then it was like tweak after tweak. So there's a proprietary way that we've blended and where we maturate these herbs in a synergistic ratio so that might be very little of something. But the way that it works with something else really amplifies its effect. Second thing is, we use all herb adaptogens. So we're really harnessing the intelligence of plants and of nature, and not just isolating an extract. And then the third level is that we calibrate and activate all of our products with sound frequencies throughout the entire production. So essentially, we're setting the intention, we're harnessing the intelligence of the whole herbs, we're blending synergistically in a very precise ratio. And then we're like intensifying and amplifying everything with the sonic frequencies. And then it comes into your hands, and then into your system. And we've got the same medicinal complex that in these truffles is also in the elixir, right? Medic super drink. But this one is not liquid, and this one is liquid. So whatever your needs are at that moment.
Justine Reichman: As we go back, and I remember you're just speaking about the fact that you were not an anti America practitioner. That was not necessarily your skill set, but you knew that this was part of what you were creating. How did you go out and find the right person or the right team to help you build that out, and make sure that you stay true to your value system?
Hoda Mohajerani: That's such another great question. You really know how to ask them. A lot of people are throwing around this term consciousness and conscious business, etcetera. It really hits home very, very deeply, and it's kind of the axis of our it's all hands on deck in Chakra Chai. If I'm absolutely honest with you, every single person who was brought to me and with whom I was connected was through divine architecture. I didn't put out a job application and say, ayurvedic practitioner was needed. Ayurvedic practitioner was brought together to me and there's, I could literally, and I would love this. I would love to have the opportunity to have one podcast with you where I literally tell the story, three little stories, how did I meet my co founder? How did I meet that ayurvedic practitioner? Each one of them is magical. And yeah, the aligned people. And again, that's about frequencies. It's about consciousness. When you meet one another's frequency, it's inevitable that's in the quantum realm of existence that you will be brought together somehow. You just magnetized to each other. And then incredible co-creation, productivity and creativity happens.
Justine Reichman: It's so amazing. I mean, I believe in that too because I believe in it in the sense that what you put out there somehow, as you're talking about it, when you believe in and you own it, things naturally come to you. They come. I don't know if it's because we're putting ourselves subconsciously in that place in front of it. Somehow, we take other opportunities up, or it's just manifested because we're sitting there thinking about it all the time. I'm open to any of those rationales being correct. But in some sense, it's like the same thing when we talk about pursuit of a cure or anything like that. All of a sudden, things just start falling into line when you put the intention for, when you start to move things forward and you start to talk about it. Because people can see the drive, they can see the excitement. And when they try, they taste it, or feel it, or watch it, or whatever it is, people get excited with you. And all of a sudden, it's a village. That's how I've always felt when I built my businesses. Because when you're excited, people can tell you are authentic.
“Nutrition and food and business is one symphonic communion around one big family table, that is the human family.” —Hoda Mohajerani
Hoda Mohajerani: I'll give you one little example that I had met with Shawn Ardaiz, who's my co founder, before he became my co founder before I had actually received the communication from my son in that meditation. I just met him and he told me that he'd been mentoring entrepreneurs and had started many businesses themselves, etcetera. We only knew each other. And then when I received this communication, I thought to myself, oh, my God, I don't know how to do this. Wait a minute. I know, I met that one guy. And apparently, he knows how to start up this. Let me call him and see if he just thinks I'm crazy. Does he think I'm a raving lunatic? Because I told him that I had a meditation, my dead son told me this. So I called him up. He comes over and I tell him the dead, this, that. And he was gobsmacked. Almost, I would say pale as a sheet. And he said, I can't believe this. I said, what are you talking about? He said, first of all, for the last 10 years of my life, I've been moving towards an understanding that I need to go towards food and regeneration in my career path. But in the last five weeks, I've been doing a yoga nidra meditation led by a teacher. We have been honing in on manifesting the right business patient for me to actually become a part of, and here I come out of the blue and say, hey, Chakra Chai. So it makes one very awestruck. And we've really tried to carry that sense of all. And that sense of service, again, bringing it back to our mothers, to Mother Earth, to our mothers, to the children to the future, to our elders, and really show that nutrition, food and business is in fact one symphonic communion around one big family table, that is the human family.
Justine Reichman: So what would you say to other moms that are inspired to start a new business because of an experience of where they see in the market, however it comes to them? Because I know that there's a lot of challenges. Oftentimes, when we try to build something and we're a mom raising kids and all these different things, as a mom, as somebody built something for moms, inspired by being a mom, and for the benefit of so many, what would you recommend to them?
Hoda Mohajerani: First and foremost, women are exceptional creations of the creator. I believe we have wrapped up within our beings, so many dimensions and so much potentiality and capacity, and it is truly a wonder to watch a woman realize her capacity. No less a mother who is both nurturing and raising a child or family, and creating something else in the world as well. I think that there truly is no greater, at least for me, no greater joy and love than the nurturing of another human being. That is the greatest possible gift that we can actually give to the world, I believe. And it changes cultures that change our civilizations when they're not women really raising children and nurturing children consciously to bring a business into the world. That's your passion, or your calling. It requires so much of one's resources, both energetically and financially. And most importantly, really, in terms of our communities and relationships. Make sure you have the right community to support you. Make sure you have the friends and the colleagues who will be able to come in and take a corner of this tent to pick up the tent for you because we absolutely can't do it on our own. And much like raising a child, and that it takes a village, we need the grandmother, our own moms, we need the auntie, the cousin, the sister, the neighbor. I think business is very similar. And if a mother can bring that sense of how I bring community into my business into the founding and growing of this business, then I think it'll be a little bit simpler. I can't say that business can ever be simple, but it'll be a little bit easier. And there'll be a hell of a lot more support so make sure you've got your community in place.
“There's a lot of challenges, oftentimes, when we try to build something and we're a mom or raising kids.” —Justine Reichman
Justine Reichman: Frankly, it's more fun to do things together when you're collaborating or brainstorming. It's just more fun together.
Hoda Mohajerani: Exactly, exactly. For example, neurodivergent people. There's a whole thing of body doubling that they've discovered that if there's somebody else in the room, the neurodivergent person actually performs better, more focused, etcetera. I think this is true for all of us. Almost all of us, not just neurodivergent people. And so it's so much more fun. And it is easy to have somebody who also witnesses your journey, witness itself forming a container and holds that space for us to be able to move safely forward and feel supported. And like you said, it's a hell of a lot more fun. Why do it alone?
Justine Reichman: I couldn't agree more. I've always wanted a partner and something that I've done, but I've never actually found the right partner to do it. I haven't found the right partner, but I have tons of partnerships with tons of partners. That while they're not my co founder, they are partners to making the success of my business, which to me is really instrumental and integral to any growth. But I want to take it back again and bring it back full circle to Mother's Day and moms. And the other thing that I think about when I see moms and founders, and dads and founders, I'm not trying to negate them, but my mom was an entrepreneur and so was my dad. But my mom was an entrepreneur. I found it inspirational to me. She started the business at her dining room table with a telephone book and a phone. All the work was done there. And she had all the files, and she grew it to them having a business with 40 employees, which is a small business, and gave them health care. So to me, when I think about that, it is something to strive for to be able to treat your people well as family, giving them health insurance, providing support, giving them a safe place to come, giving them jobs. And so I also want to celebrate that today. What you're building is to bring more people in to be able to share your products everywhere, to be able to build that community and all those other moms that are founders out there that are doing the same thing. Because it's an inspiration. And I think that many times, women and men do so many different things, and we get inspired regardless. But for me as an entrepreneur, and for this Essential Ingredients Podcast where we are about founders, I just want to honor that on this day.
Hoda Mohajerani: Absolutely, on Mother's Day. My mother, God, rest her soul, she wasn't an entrepreneur. And yet, what she was was a great connector and unifier. Every family member, which in a Persian family, you can imagine we're talking to hundreds of people.
Justine Reichman: I have a Jewish family with like a million cousins.
Hoda Mohajerani: Her primary language of love was food. And it's not lost on me that as my mother's daughter, I have taken that language of love quite literally extending beyond immediate family to the human family. And really, I think that Mother's Day, and yes, you mentioned fathers and entrepreneur fathers, but Mother's Day holds a particular value. And we shouldn't be afraid of singling women out on this day.
Justine Reichman: I think that all her spirit is in your business and it gives you the power and insight through love and truth to create a foundation and route to grow from.
Hoda Mohajerani: Absolutely. And foods to create a flow.
Justine Reichman: I forgot the flow one, sorry.
Hoda Mohajerani: Brilliantly, because I love that. I'd love to be able to actually make a campaign where we can ask our customers to maybe write something where they're using the words as to how they use the products. Love is there between a mother and a child. And we see that between the love of Mother Earth for us, and how she provides abundance, and the love, the patience, and endurance, and showing up, and presence of mothers for their children every day, every night throughout the world. And the way that we bring that into our businesses as entrepreneurs that we evolved. Expo West is over a week ago, and I was having a conversation with a very dear friend of mine, very deep in the regenerative industry and business. And he said, so how exhausted I am. Because honestly, just like every mother out there. And he said, unlike being the mother of an actual child that you can't just leave the child, right? This is a business so you can leave it. I understood his point. But somewhere inside I just heard myself say, and that's the difference between a mother and a father. I've nurtured this as a mother.
Justine Reichman: There's nobody more motivated also than the founder of the business. There's nobody more motivated. If somebody else isn't going to do it, we're gonna do it because it needs to get done. And I think that's the way it is. And so on this Mother's Day, we're so pleased to have you here. I just want to share with those folks, because you did build this as a mom, and you did build this from being a mom, which was part of the inspiration, and just let people know where they could learn more about Chakra Chai, and even find some products. We'll also resurface your first podcast so people can learn more about you and your story.
Hoda Mohajerani: Thank you. Yeah, I'd love to also create a special promotional code for your listeners.
Justine Reichman: Listen all the way through, pay attention.
Hoda Mohajerani: Promo code coming up. But yes, so we're going to do, let's say, essential7, and I'll create that. So the love products can be found on our website, and also on Instagram. Our website is chakrachai.co. And these beautiful products contain rose, arjuna, and cardamom. They're absolutely gorgeous. I ate mine so I don't actually have the product. But I wanted to also show you these beautiful cards that you can use, which actually have the affirmations of what you can or what you're (inaudible).
Justine Reichman: We'll see I saved mine just for this occasion. I wanted to eat it, but I kept it for the podcast so that those viewers tuned could see what the little truffles look like. And have a little green powder on the outside. It looks lovely. I can't wait to have some.
Hoda Mohajerani: So you smell that beautiful rose, the cardamom, the arjuna and mulberry in there. But then a few minutes later, you should feel serenity in the heart space, and they're really delicious and nurturing. So yeah, this is awesome, chakrachai.co. And our Instagram is @chakrachaiofficial. And I'd love to hear your thoughts, your testimonials, and be in service in any way I can to our moms out there.
Justine Reichman: Good to add all of that to the show notes as well. If there's anybody that has any further questions, or wants to learn more about this, do follow us at Chakra Chai or Essential Ingredients. We'll make sure to get back to you and connect those individuals interested in chatting further with Hoda, learning more about the products, or just wanting to collaborate in any way where the doors are open for so many opportunities. Again, thanks so much for joining me.
