In the latest episode of the More Than Your Age podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Stacie, the passionate founder of Sun Lovin’ Roots (SLR). Stacie’s story is a powerful testament to the importance of resilience, adaptability, and embracing life at every stage.
Building Sun Loving Roots: A Journey of Growth
Stacie’s journey to creating Sun Lovin’ Roots began with a deep passion for fitness and community. What started as an ambitious dream to revolutionize activewear has grown into a thriving brand that embodies connection, empowerment, and authenticity. Through her work, Stacie has fostered a global network of ambassadors who share her vision of supporting one another, both online and offline.
Her new ambassador program is an inspiring initiative where women from all walks of life, whether fitness instructors or simply enthusiasts, come together to connect, grow, and be the hands and feet of SLR. This program demonstrates Stacie’s commitment to creating spaces where women can thrive and find purpose through community.
Balancing Dreams and Reality
One of the most impactful aspects of our conversation was Stacie’s candid reflection on goals and aspirations. “Not everyone is meant to have grand, sweeping dreams,” she shared, emphasizing that fulfillment doesn’t always stem from societal expectations or achieving monumental milestones. Sometimes, it’s about finding joy in the everyday moments, creating smaller but meaningful goals, and embracing the life you’re living right now.
Stacie also offered valuable insight for those who feel stuck or limited by age or circumstances. Her advice? Just start. Whether it’s messy, uncomfortable, or imperfect, the key is to begin. “When you show up and start,” she explained, “things will begin to fall into place, and that energy will come back to you in rewarding ways.”
The Power of Reflection
Reflecting on her own journey, Stacie acknowledged the transformative power of mindset shifts. By focusing on gratitude and balance, she’s been able to navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship while appreciating the growth and lessons life has to offer. Her openness about the ups and downs of her journey serves as a reminder that personal growth is often a winding path, but one that’s worth taking.
Key Takeaways from Stacie’s Story
- Community is powerful: Building meaningful connections can elevate your personal and professional life.
- Perfection isn’t necessary: Progress starts when you take that first step, even if it’s messy.
- Success is personal: Not everyone needs a grand vision; fulfillment can come from smaller, intentional actions.
- Embrace your season: Where you are now is part of your unique story—own it.
Stacie’s story is a beautiful example of finding purpose and passion at any age. Whether you’re chasing a big dream or simply looking to reconnect with what brings you joy, her advice to “just start” is a powerful call to action.
You can find Stacie and explore her activewear line at shopsunlovingroots.com and follow her journey on Instagram at @sunlovingroots.
Listen to the podcast here: Episode 83
Read the Transcript below:
Erica Pasvar (00:01)
Joining me today on the More Than Your Age podcast is the owner and founder of Sun, Lovin’ Roots and the host of the Sun, Lovin’ Roots podcast, Stacey Jones. Welcome to the show.
Stacie (00:14)
Hi, I’m so excited to be here.
Erica Pasvar (00:16)
Well, Stacey, we have been trying to get our interview in the books for a long time and life has just happened. It’s been so crazy. think the first time I don’t remember what exactly happened and then had the day we were supposed to interview the second or third time I had my baby and then, and then we just kept finding, but we’re finally in the interview process. And so I just appreciate you joining me. Another one of our mutual friends, Erin, highly recommended you. And so when you and I got to speak previously, I just enjoyed our conversation and enjoyed
Stacie (00:30)
Thank
Erica Pasvar (00:45)
hearing your outlook on age and aging and the kind of how you have had to morph your own personal views on your specific age and where you are right now. And so it just sounds like we align a lot with that philosophy just in life and everything. But I want to go back to your career. You used to work for the Dallas Cowboys. You worked
partnerships and various events with the organizations. So how did you hear about the job? How were you able to get that specific position?
Stacie (01:14)
Yeah, so okay, we’re going back a lot of years. So I started working for the Cowboys in 2006.
thing called, I think if…
I’m gonna really age myself, monster.com where we used to put our, like, I think it was monster.com, we used to put our resumes on to get like jobs and yeah, yeah, yeah. So that is essentially how I got connected into the Cowboy organization. Like a recruiter saw
Erica Pasvar (01:32)
yeah, yeah, yeah.
Stacie (01:43)
and then.
pulled me in and then I started going through the interview process and there was like six people going for the job, then it trickled down to four, then two, then all these interviews and then finally, you know, they chose me and that’s how I started June of 2006. So we were still at Texas Stadium. Yeah, so it was, it’s been a bit ago.
Erica Pasvar (02:04)
Yeah, so what all would you do for the Cowboys?
you said, is it, 10 years that you worked for them?
Stacie (02:10)
I worked there for 10 seasons, so 2006 to 2016. I did a little bit of everything. I was in corporate partnerships, so client service. I was the executive assistant to our senior VP of that area, as well as I did our
Erica Pasvar (02:12)
10 seasons.
Stacie (02:30)
of sponsorship events. So think like golf tournaments to calendar shoots with the DCC, the cheerleaders. did our sponsorship retreats. So I was kind of in and out of a lot of things in the organization.
Erica Pasvar (02:49)
Okay, okay. So in the midst of working for the Cowboys, you begin having these ideas of creating your own clothing line. How did this interest come to be? And was this something that you had growing up or did just all of a sudden happen?
Stacie (03:05)
Yeah, you know, I’ve always had a thing. I’ve always been, I think, a fashion girl. Growing up, always like, I mean, I was always begging my mom, like, let’s go shop, let’s go shop, take me to the mall. When I like school shopping was back in those days, you know, we had the catalogs and we were circle and like, this is where I need to go for school shopping. So I’ve always had a thing for the fashion. And then really in my senior year in high school, I started working Christmas at the limited.
And I just absolutely like loved it, loved it. And then I was like, you know what? I really want to go into fashion. So that was essentially what I was going to
just kind of different decisions I made, ended up not going to college in California for fashion merchandising, stayed back for, at the time was my boyfriend, which was really dumb. I don’t, don’t ever do that. And then went to school at McMurray and
Erica Pasvar (03:53)
Hehehehe
Stacie (03:59)
Then did the reporting. I was a reporter for about two years, anchor reporter, and then moved to Dallas and then started with the Cowboys and just kind of like trickled off. But I always wanted my own brand. know I kind of go on tangents. I always wanted my own brand. So in high school and all that stuff, and even in college, I was like, that’d be so cool to design. I always was always thinking like, ooh, this would be fun. This would be fun to do. This is what needs to be like, this would be cool. Like all these little different things and just.
Erica Pasvar (04:13)
Hehehe
Stacie (04:28)
different patterns and like I said, shopping was always, always my big thing. And so it was always brewing. And I think like working with the Cowboys and being able to, especially with our retreats and our, all the gifting that we did as an organization internally and externally, I was always involved with that. So that was always my, the most fun part of my job, especially with,
planning the retreats was the gift, the gifting, what we were going to be gifting our sponsors, the in-room gifts, how it was going to look and all those little details and then just the gift itself. So, and yeah, I think it just kind of like spurred. And then eventually in 2015, when I started Sun Living Roots, it was like a now or never. Like, okay, I, I was really tired of wearing like just all boring athletic wear. And I was like, something needs to be changed. Like I need, I want to design some cute tops that can
go from the studio to the street that had fun sayings on it that just weren’t your typical stuff that you were seeing back in like 2015. it felt like so long ago, but it really wasn’t.
Erica Pasvar (05:37)
Right. And then if you think about it, and after January, it’s going to be 10 years ago. It’s so sad. Isn’t that crazy? Yeah, it’s crazy. Okay, so pause in the story for a second, because you said that you were a news anchor for two years.
Stacie (05:41)
I know, I know, it’s crazy, it’s crazy.
Erica Pasvar (05:53)
a fun fact. So where were you news anchor? And then why did you decide to quit that? Obviously, you got the cowboy, the cowboy’s job, but it’s like, that’s a different, like you said,
Stacie (06:00)
Ha!
Yeah, no,
it’s definitely like I never, I never intended to end up in sports first and foremost. I think that’s probably one reason they hired me because I knew nothing. I mean, I wasn’t a big, yes, I grew up as a cowboy, like our household, my dad cowboy fan, Texas born race. So hello. But,
it wasn’t like, I want to end up in sports. Like I want to go into sports marketing. Never knew it really was a job. And so that was, I just kind of fell into it in terms of when I was going to school.
communication major I really was thinking like I think doing journalism, news, anchor, reporter, all the things and so my junior year I started interning at a local news station in Abilene and then when I graduated and
Yeah, so like my senior year when I was about to graduate, I got a reporter job and just did all that kind of stuff. So it was very, I thought it was what I wanted to do. And then when I got into it, I was like,
like it’s not really all like glamours which a lot of jobs are you think it’s glamours then you get in and behind the scenes you’re like this is not glamours at all but it was just really hard a lot of the stories like talking about death and just you know we see the nightly news like it’s just it’s not all like glam and
Erica Pasvar (07:11)
Right.
Stacie (07:25)
At that time too, mean, reporters don’t make that much money. So it was just kind of like, like, do I really want to do this? if I, I needed to go to a smaller market to actually get some like grit and some experience versus just staying in the ably marketing, going from a medium to a bigger. So I needed to go and get more experience. And I just was like, maybe I’ll just go into Dallas and see what I can do. So yeah, that’s, that’s kind of.
Erica Pasvar (07:52)
Yeah.
Stacie (07:54)
how that happened.
Erica Pasvar (07:55)
Yeah, that makes sense of wanting to kind of stay away from or remove yourself from what is not exciting things to report about because that can affect your mood and your overall well-being. And so wanting to stay away from that. so we share it. We mentioned you were with the Cowboys for six seasons and having, yeah, 10, 10, yeah, I’m thinking 2006 is the sixth number that came in my mind. So yeah, 10 seasons.
Stacie (08:20)
yeah, yeah, yeah.
Erica Pasvar (08:22)
And so having the Cowboys on your resume is really highly impressive. It’s sought after, people wanna work for the Cowboys, they want that esteemed notification of who they are. And so I’m curious to know when you did have this idea to start Sunlovin’ Roots and you’re contemplating leave, stay, what did you wrestle with when you were deciding to start your own business and leave or to stay with?
this business, you know, with the Cowboys where you could really kind of potentially work your way up into higher and higher positions.
Stacie (08:56)
Yeah, think honestly, think it was just a, at that time when I was creating SLR and then kind of on the fence of what to do, there was a lot of changes happening within the organization itself. And so I think it was just a really good time to be like, this has been, like, it was kind of like a now or never. If I didn’t do it now, I don’t think I would have ever.
I don’t know, just think it was, there was a lot of stuff. The organization change, me just like, okay, is this really what I wanna do? Like, it was fun, but it was also very redundant. It was also the same thing, kind of over and over. And I honestly was just, I think it was just, I was just really ready just to jump and just to go off and just do my own thing. so it really wasn’t like,
difficult decision I think. I think it was just I think it was just a decision that it was just kind of like I had outgrown and with all the changes being made I was just kind of like I think this is God’s way of being like okay let’s let’s go and my business at the time too it was
Erica Pasvar (10:06)
There you go.
Stacie (10:11)
It was picking up and I just couldn’t focus on both either. Like there was just kind of like it’s either you do this or you do that. And I think it was just kind of, I was just kind of pushed in that direction of this what felt right. So it wasn’t that too difficult of a decision.
Erica Pasvar (10:31)
So when people have, you know, like a side business, whatever that may be, and then they decide to jump full force in it, like you did with SLR, when they do that, you know, it’s really scary financially because, I mean, what if you fail? What if you flop? And so did you have finances set up? Like how were you able to quit knowing, like, yeah, business was good, but knowing or just trusting that everything was gonna take off?
Stacie (10:57)
Yeah, you know, I did have a little bit saved, so it wasn’t just like this, okay, like, gosh, like, what are we doing? But it also, it is, I mean, it is very difficult. When I talk to business owners now, I never just be like, leave your job, just do it. Like, just trust, it’s gonna happen, because you don’t ever know. But I think at that time…
I mean I was 36 when I left the Cowboys so yeah I left at February 2016 so I just turned 36. I think that’s my math’s right yeah 36 and
I had that drive. mean, it was kind of like there’s no plan B. Everybody would always, if I was doing trunk shows and I would tell them like, well, how’d you get it? Like, what’d you do before? was like, I was with the Cowboys. Wait, you left? Like what, what? They would look at me like I’m just kind of crazy. And it was just, they’re like, what’s your plan B if this doesn’t work? And I’d always say, there is no plan B. This is it. Like, this is it. Like I will make this work. And I think that is the, you have to have that fire. You have to have that grit. You have to have that grind, which
back in 2015, 2016, that boss babe grinds, that was a big, big thing. And like, there’s a lot of people like now getting over that burnout of just hustle, hustle, hustle. But that’s essentially what I did. And that’s essentially, I feel, I mean, I don’t ever tell people like, yeah, you, you know, burn yourself out. No, but you have to work. can’t just like, you, that’s the thing. Like, my goodness, like you did this. I’m like, yeah, but there were a lot of nights that
Erica Pasvar (12:26)
Yeah.
Stacie (12:32)
like blood, and tears and a lot of tears. Like, I mean, there would be times I’d be doing truck shows and maybe sell one thing or just wasn’t a good truck show or whatever the case may be. I come home and I would lay on my floor and just literally cry and be like, what have I done? Like, what am I doing? I’d have my moment and then I would pick myself up and be like, okay, let’s figure this out. Let’s and then I would sit on my computer and I’d email out 100 studios and like get my line sheet out there. I would every night I was always emailing always emailing and I got a lot of nos and then
once I would get a yes, especially once I got like a foot into like a franchise, like a bar method or a pure bar, it kind of helped because if one studio is like, yeah, then another would see it and then it just kind of trickled down. But there was a lot of like grind and a lot of tears at the very beginning and a lot of what in the world did I just do. But I also always knew that I just felt that this was where I was what I was supposed to be doing, where I was supposed to be at.
Erica Pasvar (13:30)
like that you shared that there were hard moments and you was, you if you got down and you would cry, but then you wouldn’t let yourself stay there. And then it was like, okay, I’m going to get up and now I’m going to email a hundred people or I’m going to a hundred companies and I’m going to do what I need to do. There wasn’t a plan B because I went, as you were talking about that, I was like, I wonder what she, and what she was would do when she felt like quitting. But it sounds like you didn’t feel like quitting you pushed.
Stacie (13:56)
Yeah, I mean, did push. mean, okay, I’m not there were thoughts that I’d always be like, maybe I should just like quit and go do something else. But then I the time being I would always tell my mom this my mom’s like, what are you gonna what do you want to go do? And I was like, I never this is probably after
It was probably like my first year as being a full time. So I didn’t have any other income coming in. And I was just thinking, I can’t go back. can’t go back to a corporate world now. can’t, I don’t really want to go and have to like spend my time helping somebody else with their dream or their whatever it is. So it was just always like, okay, I mean, what do I want to do? And then it’d be like, this is what I want to do. I mean, how, how like,
sleepless nights or how am going to pay the rent or what am going to do or how am going do this. I mean there was always something always worked out and I always felt like when I was
putting the energy into it versus just stagnant and sitting there and like worrying. Like I have my moments and then I pick myself up. And then like I said, I would get on my computer and I would be emailing out a hundred studios a night. I would get on Instagram. I’d connect with people. I’d get my product into people’s hands for them to see it and touch it and like give me a reviews. And then I would be booking studios and pop-ups and just going in and getting my product in front of people. And that was, that was like the turning point. And
I mean, that’s essentially how I built my brand was doing pop-ups and wholesale.
Erica Pasvar (15:25)
Yeah, so okay, and I wanna know too, when you decided athleisure wear was the route you wanted to take, because you said you would look at other outfits or athletic clothes and just be like, they’re kind of bland. So when you decided, okay, I’m doing athleisure wear, where did you know to start to get the right fabric and you would have the design, but how did you start with step one in that regard?
Stacie (15:50)
Well, step one, when I first launched SLR, was like as a tank’s t-shirt sweatshirt. So that was a little bit of like my foot into the business. And then the following year as I was
doing a lot of trunk shows and seeing like the shirt, the tanks, and then people would pair it with different leggings. And I was like, like, I want it to be the whole outfit. And that’s kind how that kind of started. And I was tired of paying like really hefty price tags for leggings that would be like falling down in my bar class. And I’d always be yanking them up and they were just so ugly. They were all just all black. And so I, it was basically working with my
t-shirts, wholesalers, company, and then just putting fillers out for fabric and what’s the best way to produce a good product but I’m not going to be having to carry out so much inventory and testing it out.
Erica Pasvar (16:53)
Yeah, that makes sense. So Sun Lovin’ Roots has been featured on Pop Sugar, the Oprah Magazine, the Bachelor and Bachelorette. So all my fans out there, when I saw that I was like, my gosh, go Stacey.
Stacie (17:05)
Mm-hmm.
Erica Pasvar (17:07)
And so you, I mean, obviously you did these trunk shows and you reached out to these fitness studios. So how were you able to get on Pop Sugar and attain Oprah and the Bachelor and Bachelorette?
Stacie (17:20)
So, okay, let’s start with the Bachelor Bachelorette because that we had a mutual from Erin and Nicole who owned
Bar Method South Lake, but Nicole was DCC cheerleader. So that’s the connection there. I know you mentioned Erin earlier. with Nicole, there was a mutual friend, a mutual cheerleader who was on the bachelorette or bachelor. And she brought before she, called me and was like, I’ve been chosen, but can’t say anything. if you, I would love some SLR pieces. So I basically sent her like, okay, like a box.
full of SLR and when she was on it like the girls in their little scenes everything were wearing it for that season and I can’t remember what season that was I should know that but I don’t remember and it was still when I was was I still yeah I was still with the Cowboys wasn’t I? I can’t I mean maybe that was after I was the Cowboys the timelines are kind of wonky but Kaitlin Bristow who was
on the bachelor and she was the bachelorette and then she got engaged to like Sean I believe his name was. I know too much about this industry. Okay good I was like she was married to him and yeah they’re not together anymore. Yeah exactly exactly. It’s really weird that I know all this stuff but
Erica Pasvar (18:30)
I need to I’m like, I know I know who you’re talking about. And then she dated this guy and then now she’s with this guy. I know.
Stacie (18:43)
She was at, it was right before I was leaving the Cowboys and her and Sean came to a Cowboys game and they were in a suite and I ended up giving her a bunch of SLR as well and she posted it out on her Instagram and things like that. So that was kind of like my connection with the Bachelorette. And then fast forward to 2020 for the Oprah.
of all things that I got featured in Oprah for was mask or COVID. I was like, I’ve worked all these years and this is this is what’s like being like talked about right now. But at that time, I was one of the first
Erica Pasvar (19:15)
You
Stacie (19:25)
I mean, they always say I was one of the first companies to start making masks that weren’t just ugly. So my mask matched my leggings. So like I had like a wine mask that match my wine leggings, avocado, so like that. and the one that was featured in Oprah was my palm, my
mask. And so of all things, it was just, it was crazy. I was like, hmm, okay, well, I mean, I’m in there. I am in there. that is a fun fact. And then the pop sugar,
That just came from, I believe, Oprah and it was just, and those they did, it was my actual like leggings. It wasn’t just a mask, but it was like, but it was, yeah, it was kind of a whirlwind back in 2020 when everything, especially with when my business was focused mostly on in-person pop-ups at fitness studios and wholesaling to fitness studios. Well, what industry was hit the most? Fitness like studios, especially in on the West coast where a lot of my wholesale
Erica Pasvar (20:21)
Yeah.
Stacie (20:25)
were
they were they closed out immediately so it was actually like I guess a blessing in disguise I don’t know just one of those weird universe like moments of okay well here you go so it’s still brand recognition and got a lot of people exposed to the brand from Oprah
Erica Pasvar (20:38)
Yeah.
Yeah,
that’s really neat. mean, and you always hear like it takes just one person who is able, who can really influence the decision of other people and the other people see it then they love it and then just keeps going and trickling down. So at first it was sending out all those emails, email after email. I want to get to more in the between too, but I am curious to know now what are a lot of those fitness studios still regulars? it like what has been a shift that either you’ve had to make?
as far as with your clothing design and getting the information out there. Because I know you revamped recently too with you had a new line.
Stacie (21:21)
Yeah.
So, okay, so I feel like the first from 20, like say 15 to 2020, that was like a year. Those were my years of like hustling, grinding. I was just doing whatever it took to get my brand out there. I mean, I basically in 2017, 2018, sold all my belongings and headed to the West Coast. I was like a little gypsy, like a brand gypsy. Basically did the Airbnb thing was on in San Diego ish area and just got there and just started calling studios asking to
come
in to do pop-ups. So I did that for about like eight-ish months. I was out there, did it from like Arizona to San Diego, then up to the Seattle, Utah, Oregon, Boise area. So I was all over the West Coast at that point. So, and then, so then 2020 happened and then things just kind of shifted and I always say these past almost, you know, five years we’re going into 2025, it’s been pivot, pivot after pivot after pivot. I always
tell
when I especially when I’m working with other business owners, it’s like you have you pivot like you have to be able to pivot you have to be able to navigate you like entrepreneurship is not linear. It’s always up and down a roller coaster. As you know, I mean, it’s never it’s not just like, I’m gonna got like I was an Oprah and it was just going up and then after that it went down and then it went up and then it went down. mean, it’s never just this one thing. Because you always have these like growth. It’s like breathing like you like expand, retract, expand, attract it’s
always
going in and out. So I feel like the past four or nearly five years have been my pivot years. After 2020, after everything was still kind of
trying to get back to normal. lot of those studios unfortunately closed down. They never reopened. I feel like even now the fitness industry studios, especially are still rebuilding from that type of thing because at that point in time, everything changed. Everybody took their stuff, like all their fitness classes and everything online and started doing live like Instagram live workout classes and then streaming and join my online workout class. And a lot of people were like, I don’t really have to go into a studio.
I can just go online and work out like so I feel like it it changed ever it changed a lot of businesses and just the way we did things and so
Lot of them didn’t haven’t reopened so I’m kind of like in this phase of rebuilding wholesale and in the midst of it all like I
pivoted into business coaching, helping other brand owners develop brand awareness, a brand identity, not just buy my product. It’s not just about the product you sell, it’s about being.
like building community, building connection, people want to feel like they’re part of something now versus prior to COVID. People, were all just busy, but going, going, going, just like, I want this. You weren’t really thinking. think consumers and just humans, because that’s what we all are, we’ve changed. Like our attitude toward a lot of things have changed since then. And so it’s just, I’m helping.
Other business owners do the branding thing. And then at the time, like these past couple years, I was in a really burnt out mode when it came to SLR. I feel like when you, you work so hard for something and then when we all experienced it, the world shuts down and you’re like, crap.
like what am I supposed to do now? And then that’s, I mean, that’s how it was. luckily I had those opportunities with like Oprah, Pop Sugar, that were still kind of helping get the word out. And so my online business started picking up from there. And I don’t know, I just like, I know you asked the question now, I don’t know what question it was. I don’t know if I’m answering it, but it is just the pivot. Like I think these past couple of years have been a pivot. I…
Erica Pasvar (24:51)
Mm-hmm.
You
Stacie (25:18)
I’m not the same person as I was when I first started SLR. I met my husband, what, when I was like three years ago? Like, so met him, we got married last year, last August
2023. So a lot of things have like really…
moved differently in my life. mean, being married for the first time at 40, what was that 43, 44, 45 now. So
Erica Pasvar (25:39)
Hmm.
Stacie (25:46)
just, yeah, I just think a lot of things have shifted and
changed my outlook on like success and what I want. I was in the Dululu when I first started like, I want to be the next Lulu Lemon. Now I’m just like, I love doing this. love designing. My creativity has kind of come back in the past couple of months, like past like nine months or so. And just the drive to kind of rebuild and just kind of be more of a more of a community brand, more of a fun brand, not so much of like the hustle that goes behind when you first start out, which
Erica Pasvar (26:18)
Mm-hmm.
Stacie (26:20)
I guess it’s a luxury, like a little bit, mean, because I have put that blood, sweat and tears into my brand. So now that I have kind of pivoted and now I’m revamping and doing all these things, I still have my community, that connection that I’ve built all these years that people have invested into SLR.
thankful for that. That’s one thing that I did very well. I think was that bringing people in and letting them know that like you’re spending your money with SLR. Like it means the world to me because that’s kept me in business. That kept me from having to go get another job when I was barely making it. Yeah.
Erica Pasvar (26:57)
Yeah.
Yeah, and I mean, even like you’re saying, you were, you you’re doing all this hustle, building it up, and then you were hitting a burnout, even though you still loved this and were passionate, and then you had to make a pivot. And like you said, in entrepreneurship, that is so much of part of it is pivoting when something is working great, but then if it’s not, or you just need to shift because life circumstances change, and so you’re gonna shift with that and like you still love it, but
but it’s okay. So I want to also address a few things that we spoke about too, just little age moments. When you started your company at 36 and you had told me that you never said your age before because you felt like you were too old. Why is that do you think?
Stacie (27:49)
Well, you know, think it’s just society, honestly. think I’ve been doing a lot of thinking back to like the early 2000s and just the…
the way that the media, society, magazines basically made us feel like in terms of, you need the perfect body to be able to do X, Y, Z. I mean, that was in our faces so much. And then it was always like youth and like, you you’ve got to be young to make it and just like another pretty face type thing. think…
When I started, don’t, I think I was just, yeah, I think I just felt like people were like, like you’re just, you’re 36. That’s just old because back then, 2015, 2016, I still think that stigma around age was so big and coming from a place too that you’re just…
like with the organization, like especially working with the cheerleaders all the time and being like, you’re just, I mean, it’s just young. It’s like you need to be like this, this to be successful in a sense. I don’t know. I think it’s just a weird way that the media society, all the things, just how we grew up as like Gen Xers and elder millennials, like it was just kind of driven to us. Like this is what.
success was like you needed to be young you needed to be fit you needed like after 30 everything was downhill and I and I think I was just so embarrassed because I was 36 never been married no kids so I did not fit the typical the typical box of a lot of people especially a lot of my friends I mean they were married they had kids and they were doing that white picket fence thing and then I was just over here like I just felt very like an old maid in a sense I think.
Erica Pasvar (29:21)
Right.
Yeah.
Did you, at that time when you were filling these things and your friends around you were married and starting to have kids, did you feel, this may be too broad of a question, but did you feel like, this is never gonna happen to me and was it a woe is me or was it a like, not woe is me, I’m sad, but I’ve got my business? Like, do you remember kind of how you felt around all of that?
Stacie (30:06)
Yeah, I think
I had both those sides of it. I think it was there was a lot of times probably the woe is me, especially like being out in the dating world and like just the losers that you know, you meet, you’re like, my God, this is never gonna happen. This is who I have to pick from, like, what is happening? And then the, you know, one thing about me, I never was the type like me, my best friend, like she, we met in college, and she was always like, I just can’t wait to get
Erica Pasvar (30:23)
Yeah.
Stacie (30:36)
I want the kids. I want, you know, the picket fence, all the things. And she got married right out of college. She’s still married. She has three kids. Like, I mean, all the things. I was never that girl of, I have my dress picked out. I want this. I my kids’ names. It was just always like, I think I just want to, like, have a career and do the things, but not that so much. So that was never really in my, like…
thinking of, well, I’ve got to find a guy to fill in all these little blanks that I have for myself. But I think that I know a lot of my friends keep saying, I think this is your year. If I was like 28, 30, like, no, this is your year, Stace. This is your year. And I was like, let’s not say that. Let’s just not. Like, I don’t think it’s going to be my year because you don’t see the kind of guys that I’m meeting. And it’s just not, it’s not, it’s not going to be my year. Like, I mean, Dallas is a hard place to be single. I always say that to people.
Erica Pasvar (31:26)
Hahaha.
Stacie (31:35)
And so yeah, no, I don’t, I think it was, had both. was like, there was a lot of woe is me moments and there was a lot of like, well, I’m glad I don’t have to, you know, deal with that. And I laugh now that like, as I…
married for the first time. people are now like, my friends, they’re going through their second divorce or they’re doing this. And I’m like, well, guess you just should have waited till your 40s and then you’re here. And so it’s like, yes, it feels right. I don’t know, my path has never been like anybody else’s path. I think…
Erica Pasvar (32:00)
Hahaha
Stacie (32:10)
I think everything does happen for a reason, especially I can say that now that I’ve like seen it and now that I look back on everything that I went through, like, God had such a plan and my husband that I’m with, I mean, it’s like we’re perfect for each other. Everything just fits. Everything just works. It’s just one of those things that it’s like God had a hand and where I’m at and how we met and all the things and the age. Like, yeah. Yeah.
Erica Pasvar (32:32)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah,
and to touch base too with like you saying, know, okay, at 44, you got married for the first time and something that you just mentioned as well, like you said, you felt like you had done everything out of the norm. Like it was just your path has always been different. You said you used to say that you can’t buy a house until you’re married, but eventually you realized you can’t wait until any perfect moments to start synchronizing.
You touched this a little bit too, but I’d love to hear more. What do you think has changed in your philosophy on age, your age specifically, and then just the timeline that we all create?
Stacie (33:08)
I remember saying that I didn’t want to buy a house until I was married. Like that’s one thing I feel like I just never wanted the responsibility of. It’s like, no, I need a husband to do that. Like, what do you mean? I can’t do that by myself. Yeah, you know, I think honestly, especially when turning 40 and then just kind of navigating the ups and downs of business and like being at the peak and like going on going and then just all crashing down and then kind of
revamping, pivoting, all that. I learned a lot about myself in that process. And I just think that like…
I don’t know why we have such a, like a, just this weird.
thing with age because I think that as I’ve gotten like older, I’ve gotten better. And I mean, obviously just just my life experiences. I have all that to pull from now. I just said that somebody else said that I was like, I don’t I don’t want to I would not want to go back to being 26 years old. That 26 year old me was like such a hot mess that I’m like, I would not want to go back to her. Even my 36 year old me. I was a hot mess. But it was the growth that now that I’m going to be turning 46
in January it’s like wow like I can honestly feel like a lot of the stuff that I have been like holding on to all these years with just just being a girl for one and being just in the especially the fitness industry just being like you need to you need to look this way you need to do this you know you know just stand there look pretty type thing like good old boys club like you just
I don’t know. It’s a good spot to be in when you’re not harping and thinking, I’m too old for this. I always have that rule in my head from that movie, like, am I too old to be here? Tell me I’m not too old to be here. Do you know what I’m talking about? I’ll have send it to you. It’s from that, I forgot what movie that’s from, but she’s just like, am I too old to be here? As I walk into a club and the girl, she’s with like 20, and they’re like, no, you’re not. You’re fine. I don’t know. So did I answer your question?
Erica Pasvar (35:03)
No, I don’t. Okay.
Hehehehe
Yeah, you did answer my question. Well, and you know, it’s cool too, because like, I feel like there was a one moment too where it’s just like a perspective shift for me as well. And I think
I still talk with people that they just they struggle with it. And I don’t know if this is with you as well, but I feel like age comes up constantly all the time. And women are just
just so
stifled by the age and feeling like they’re not where they should be. And I think we’ve all been there. It can be hard sometimes when you compare. I think it’s a comparison issue too of just what you don’t have and you feel like somebody else has, or maybe they do have. And so it’s kind of hard with that. And I think that’s great that you were able to have that shift and change in that. And I feel like too, just what I’ve seen on what you’ve been sharing lately on social media, you’ve also been sharing kind of a shift in like,
And please correct me if I’m wrong, like kind of a, like what diet culture used to be like, or how we’re viewing our bodies. Can you share kind of a little bit of what you’ve been changing up as well and kind of why that’s been important for you?
Stacie (36:23)
Yeah, I, for the longest time, I since I was just telling my husband this, was like, so.
Like since I was like 17, there has not been a day that I have lived that I have not wished that I was skinnier or I could fit into those jeans or things like that. And it’s just such a sad, I mean, when you look back at all those years, all that energy wasted and I’m like, my God, that’s so sad. And I do think that was just the way of the world back then, especially not that, I mean, I’m sure I know it is still like that now on a whole different level because we didn’t have social media and our faces all, all day, every day. We just had magazines that would come to our good mail
straight to our doorstep and make us feel like crap every month, know? But it wasn’t like on a day to day to day
So looking back, especially 17 on, and I have like, I’ve had like eating disorders, all the things like in my 20s and just kind of shifting from one thing to the next to like Lumen Cleanse to Beyonce diet to Atkins to just don’t eat, like all the things. And now…
I really am like I guess I was telling my husband the other day I was like I’m at a place now that I just I’m happy. I’m like I’m not trying to obtain like this this thing that I can’t get to because like it’s nothing was ever like that was never attainable anyways. It’s like just being like having moving for movement not moving to be punished because I just ate bread and I needed to go jump on the treadmill and that’s how I would that’s how I lived my my 20s and my 30s. I mean working out was punishment.
Up until I found the bar method and started doing bar on a consistent basis, I hated working out. Like I loved it, but it was a punishment. That’s why I looked at it. And now…
Erica Pasvar (38:07)
Hmm.
Stacie (38:08)
just the shift from finding something that I love doing from bar to spin to now just like, I call them grandma walks, but I am a walking girl all the way. I love going out in my neighborhood and like putting on a vest and just power walking and getting on a treadmill and putting music on and just walking and not caring of how many calories. I used to not get off the treadmill. I did, my calories were like 212. I was like, nope, I gotta wait to 220. And if I went over 221, I have to wait till 230 to get off. It was like these little like games.
I’d be like, I can’t do this until this. And it just was not fun. And so now I’ve taken that kind of…
mentality and I’m turning it into my content because I feel like we all struggled with it at some point in time we’ve had these thoughts and it’s not just that that’s I feel like that’s one thing regardless of where you’re at in the world all the things like we all have that common ground when it comes to our body image unfortunately when we shouldn’t but that’s just something that’s always been ingrained in us like I feel like even from childhood it’s just like you just you know
Erica Pasvar (38:54)
There we go.
Stacie (39:14)
And I think that’s why people have such a hard thing with age too because…
Again, me and my husband had this conversation in the car. I feel like we always talk about this, but it’s like women’s age and men’s age. Men as they age, they get more handsome and they’re they get grays. And it’s like, OK, he’s exciting. And it’s like he’s older. And it’s all this stuff. And then women start aging. And then they’re like, she’s just old. I mean, she looks good for her age. What is that? I think that’s the most toxic thing. she looks good for her age.
Erica Pasvar (39:32)
Exciting,
Stacie (39:47)
What does that even mean? What does that mean? Like she just looks good. Leave the rest of it out. Like she looks great, period. Not because of her age. I saw last night on my reels and it was something about Jennifer Aniston. People were like the comments. I’m a big comment reader. And everyone was like, how old is she? Like 60? Like she looks great. And I’m like, who? Like it.
Erica Pasvar (39:54)
Mm.
Stacie (40:12)
Take it out, take age out. Because you don’t see people commenting on George Clooney going, gosh, he’s 60, I he looks good for his age. No, there’s like, he’s hot. He’s a silver fox, and it’s like, okay. Like McDreamy, like, you know, with Patrick Dempsey at that, when he was like, it’s like, he’s hot, like, he just keeps getting better with age. Women, no, you don’t hear that. it’s just, it’s sad.
Erica Pasvar (40:21)
Yeah, he’s a silver fox.
Yeah.
Right, it is sad and that’s why I think a lot of women too, and that’s not what we’re talking about, but a lot of women will do things, injections or whatever, and to each their own, but like, or plastic surgeries so that they look younger and you don’t really see men doing that. mean, I don’t think that many are, but I think it’s just, yeah, I think it’s just this fear. I mean, it is, it’s just a fear of aging.
Stacie (40:56)
No.
Erica Pasvar (41:03)
okay, so.
I want to jump back into, you we’ve talked about you having these different pivots and you had mentioned earlier too, you were helping other businesses grow their brands and specifically attracting like thirties and forties and how they fit into social media. And we talked to earlier, like I just briefly mentioned that you have a podcast, Sun, Lovin’ Roots podcast. so
I know he’s on a little break right now, but I’d love to hear just a little bit more about what the podcast offers. And as far as this branding that you’ve been doing and just kind of like this current season that you’re in, you’re also traveling all the time, which is super fun. just share any of that. I’d love to hear.
Stacie (41:45)
Yeah, so the SLR podcast, it’s going, it’s on low break right now, but my, the revamp, my vision is basically just being a place to talk about things like this, like to talk about like the healing ourselves from the diet culture and industry from back in the day to branding, to business, to just really little bits of everything. I…
My vision is big for it, but I’m just gonna, I really don’t like to put myself in boxes anymore, because I feel like when I do that, it’s like I pigeonhole myself and I’m like, well, it has to be this. I have to, I can’t talk about anything else because I’ve talked about this. So it’s just gonna be kind of like a, just like the vibe of sun, lovin’ roots just, mean, when I first named sun, lovin’ roots, it was all about, you know, sun, being happy with yourself, loving, loving the skin you’re in, roots, feeling, you know, feeling your body with nourishing food and also
accepting where you’ve been in the past, like where you’re rooted from, but knowing that you can change it. That’s the whole mantra around SunLivingRoots. And I just want to bring that into a podcast form to where we basically could talk about a lot of things, guests, bringing guests on and just having these types of conversations about like what women are doing and how we are.
just changing the game a little bit and just having like we’re all the same. We’re all different but we all have we’re all the same. We all have a lot of commonality and that we should be
celebrating that versus trying to make division and like we’re not competition, which I feel like that was a big thing growing up. feel like, you know, we were all like, we were felt we were raised to be competitive against other women. If someone was exceeding, then that was taken away from you. And I just, I, it’s taken me a lot, a lot of years to kind of recover and get through those like weird, weird
Erica Pasvar (43:25)
yeah.
Stacie (43:42)
And then working with business owners, I have a love, I love working with new business
especially those with a product-based business like…
just helping them navigate for the most part, helping them.
to helping them discover their own brand and discover their voice within their brand. a lot of business owners don’t really want to put their face on camera. And it’s not really about putting your face on camera, but it’s about doing that connection and not really, not leading with the product, but leading with what your brand represents. like with Sun Lovin’ Roots it’s like leading with all those things that the brand is versus just active wear. Like anybody can go buy active wear type of stuff. And
Erica Pasvar (44:25)
Mm-hmm.
Stacie (44:27)
So yeah, that and then just really, you know, revamping SLR. I just recently opened up my new ambassador program. So I’m growing that my ambassadors are gonna be essentially just like the.
the legs and arms of SLR where we meet once a month, have this little community of ambassadors who are all over the world. Some are fitness instructors, some just love working out, but it’s a whole different group of women coming together. And so I’m really looking forward to seeing how that takes off and how that grows. And as well as just traveling with my husband, I’m lucky to have, to be able to tag along with him while he’s working. I am working, but I get to experience all these different
places that he has to go to work and I’m just doing a little bit of SLR but also exploring and things like that so yeah I don’t know I just I I think
You know with age and all that stuff. It’s like like I said when you when you’re in it You don’t know and you’re looking you’re like, what was me? Like I just don’t understand what my life’s doing it but once you get to where you’re supposed to be and how things just start falling into place and just I like sometimes I look around I’m like, I don’t even know who that 36 year old girl was like I looking at myself now I’m like wow, like it’s just it really is a balance and it Does I know it’s just it’s crazy It’s crazy to do kind of like a full circle
Erica Pasvar (45:53)
Hmm.
Yeah, it’s really neat for you to be able to go back and just reflect on the mindset shift and what you’ve been able, I mean, you’ve accomplished so much professionally and then also just personally of realizing and acknowledging and appreciating the age you’re in, the life experiences that you have. I’m curious to know, I did not prep you with this one and so I’m just curious to know kind of off the cuff what you think about this. I’ll talk with other women too who…
I’m all about chasing after your goals, doing whatever you want, no matter your age. And some women will say, yeah, sure, but I don’t have these big aspirations. I don’t have these huge goals. so when thinking of that, just what are your thoughts for a woman who still is limited by her age, but is just like, I mean, there’s nothing grand that I wanna do. This kind of ties into my last question too. So what do you think you would?
say to that person.
Stacie (46:54)
I I think that’s great. I don’t think we’re all meant to have these grand, big, huge dreams. I…
Even before me my husband, feel like I was kind of going down this path anyways. I’m just like, just kind of just want to be. I don’t really want to be out there grinding. I don’t want to be in my masculine energy all the time. It’s exhausting. And I do laugh and I tell my husband all the time, like, I just want to be a professional plus one. I don’t really, I have like.
I do have a little bit of fire and I’m like, Ooh, I want to do this with SLR. I want to do this, but it’s not like it was back in 2015 where I’m like, Nope, we’re doing this. We’re going to be the next Lulu. Like let’s go. Like my Delulu was all over the place. I was like, I am doing this. And now I’m like, Hey, you know, like I have a little bit of it, but honestly, like I just want to be happy. I just want to be able to, I don’t want to be tied down to social media. I don’t want to be on social media all the time. I want to be able to like do what I want to do. Connect with people, have my community offline and
build and do something that way but not so like I think it’s completely fine not to have those big aspirations because I mean I don’t think it’s meant for all of us and I don’t think
There’s a book out and I forgot who it’s by, but it’s like, you you can’t have it all. And I don’t, I really don’t think women can have it all. I don’t think that you can have the huge career, have the great marriage, have the kids and do it all. Cause you’re, you’re always going to be missing something. Like it just, there’s just so many, was talking to my best friend about this too. was like, cause she’s always.
She’s like, just wish I didn’t feel like I need to be doing more. And I’m like, you’ve been raising kids for the past like 19 years. Like what, what? Like, but that’s huge. Like that’s a big deal. And she’s like, I don’t know. I just feel like I need to be doing more. I’m like, but why makes you feel that way? She said, well, because I don’t know. It’s just, I feel like that’s what I’m being told. And I’m like, that’s weird because you’re doing a lot. And it’s you also, once your kids are out, you’re going to have the next.
20 years to do whatever you want. But I just think that like, yeah, it’s just the messaging that we’re given. Like you should be doing all this stuff. And I just don’t really know if it’s really if you can have it all and be able to do everything and not miss something. I don’t know.
Erica Pasvar (49:18)
Yeah, that’s
true. because I mean, would be something has to lack, whatever that may be. And you don’t have to, I think, whether it’s social media or just society, we feel like we have to do all these grand things. And it’s exciting that, you know, that someone you can attain that and but that’s not everybody’s story.
So, well, Stacey, I have my last question and then I’ll have you share where everyone can find you. So it does relate to the previous question, but it’s still tackling that negative mindset, the limitations that we can easily place on ourselves. So if you could encourage one woman who does feel blocked or limited to pursue a dream or goal, and it doesn’t have to be big, everybody, but if you could encourage them who feels blocked based on her age or life circumstance, what would you tell her?
Stacie (49:43)
Okay.
Well, I would just say just start. like I feel, and I’ve done it too, I feel like we overthink. mean, women do overthink. all overthink, which is not, I it’s good and bad, all the same. But I think that we overthink, I wanna do this, and you feel like you have to have everything perfect. And that’s what I’ve come to find out, even with my own self doing SLR. There’s some times that I haven’t done what I needed to do because I didn’t feel like it was.
was perfect. I didn’t feel like everything was ready to go. And I feel like when you show up, you just start, you do it messy, you do it uncomfortable, you just do it. I was telling one of my ambassadors the other day, because she was like, I just feel very uncomfortable.
I don’t really know how to do the cute little videos and I’m like, just put your phone down and just start filming yourself. That’s the, you just have to put it down and just start. Like don’t overthink it and then look at the video and if you’re like, I don’t know, then just put it down again and do it again but just set a timer, do it for five minutes and then be done with it. And then from those three minutes of video, you can clip something down to like five seconds and have a video. It’s not like just.
You just got to start. And I feel like that’s what I would tell anybody. Just start. Start messy. Start raw. Just start. If it’s, you’re like, I just want to start sharing my life on social, on Instagram. Okay. Just start doing it. That’s the easiest, toughest thing, advice to do. It’s the easiest, but the toughest because it’s so hard to just to start. But once you do things, the universe, the energy that you’re putting out, you’re going to get it back.
It’s like it’s not stagnant. It’s not over thinking. It’s like you’re putting that out and it’s going to be rewarded. It’s going to come back around and it’s going to start. It’s going to start moving things even if you’re getting in front of one person and one person likes it one person comments. Guess what? That’s one person that’s invested and. Resonated with something that you put out and that you helped him with. So I just yeah, I know it’s so simple, but hard, but just start and.
Erica Pasvar (51:59)
you
Stacie (52:21)
Don’t overthink it.
Erica Pasvar (52:23)
Yep, I love it.
Yep, just gotta go messy. That’s what we gotta do. Just start it. Yeah. All right, well, Stacey, people can find you sunlovinroots.com and your Instagram is
Stacie (52:27)
Gotta go messy. Yeah, just do it messy.
Erica Pasvar (52:36)
Anything else that I’m missing?
Stacie (52:37)
No, it’s actually shopsunlovingroots.com, the website, but it’ll direct it either way. And then yeah, Sun Loving Roots on Instagram. And yeah, I think that’s it. That’s where I’m at.
Erica Pasvar (52:40)
Thank you.
perfect.
All right. Well, listeners, you need to check out her her activewear. It’s so cute. It’s so unique. I love it. Stacey, thank you so much for taking the time out and joining me today on the More Than Your Age podcast.
Stacie (53:02)
Thanks for having me.
Erica Pasvar (53:04)
Absolutely.