Colleen Wachob

Colleen is Co-Founder & Co-CEO at mindbodygreen. She graduated from Stanford with degrees in international relations and Spanish and spent 10 years working at Fortune 500 companies including Gap, Walmart, and Amazon.

On her morning routine.

Most days I’m up around 7 AM. 

Before my daughters wake up, I squeeze in a 15 to 30-minute mind-body movement class by Lia Bartha. She released an app called B Plan, which offers classes that vary in length.

I also will mix in short yoga classes from Tara Stiles’ Strala yoga app.  

Then I’ll whip up an almond milk latte to get my caffeine fix, followed by a simple five-ingredient smoothie with a healthy dose of greens and collagen.

On structuring workflows.

I start the workday by spending 30 minutes scheduling my priorities.

This process includes sifting through emails and replying to anything urgent in the morning. Without this, it’s tough for me to get anything of substance done.

Regarding optimal environments, I’ve never been a fan of the open office layout because it creates a lot of distractions.

I need a quiet environment to do my best work.

On work-life integration.

To be transparent, this has been the biggest challenge for me. It’s particularly difficult since my co-founder is my husband.

We’re huge believers in work-life integration.

There’s no binary separation when it comes to disconnecting from work. 

However, some of our best business ideas spring to life when we’re technically offline. Whether we’re just talking in bed or hopping out for a walk, we end up brainstorming together.

When we’re with our daughters we’re definitely more strict about work-life boundaries. Our children are our priority, and their needs come before work. 

On fitness and breathwork.

I live and breathe the principles of mindbodygreen, so I try to integrate our teachings into my life every day, especially when it comes to working out and focusing on my breathing.

On the fitness side of things, I love pilates-inspired movement to work my core. I also monitor my steps, which is a nice forcing function to move my body.

On the breathwork side, I focus on integrating meditation, gratitude practices, and breathing exercises throughout the day. 

I love breaking up the afternoon with little activities that allow for a mental break and a chance to rejuvenate my mind.

On community and mental health.

Before the pandemic hit, we were in the middle of a loneliness epidemic. 50% of Americans reported feeling lonely, and this has only been accelerated by COVID.

Unfortunately, mental health issues are on a steep incline.

While a lot of folks understand the importance of community and face-to-face interaction, we’re all forced to use digital solutions like Zoom and Slack while working from home. 

Despite arguments around productivity enhancements and distraction-free environments, digital solutions just can’t replace the value and joy that comes from in-person interaction. 

It’s so important to foster core relationships with mutual support and shared values. I’ve always focused on a small nucleus of people that I can count on when things get tough.

On winding down at night.

Sleep is one of the most overlooked aspects of mental health and wellbeing. 

Every aspect of our bedroom is designed to optimize sleep.

We keep our AC at 65 degrees year-round and have blackout curtains to make sure there’s no light streaming in. 

Two hours before bed, I take a magnesium supplement that helps with my sleep, then we’re usually lights out by 10 PM every night.