Episode 25: Shel Pink

You have to be courageous and set boundaries. How often have we heard that? It is a common theme in today’s vernacular. It’s common and really hard to achieve. We live in a nonstop world of 24/7 news, TikToks and Snpachats. We are governed by a voracious media machine that must be fed a steady diet of celebrity, political and faux breaking news bytes that is often predicated on trespassing the boundaries of its subjects and our sensibilities. There is nothing new about this phenomenon of the intrusive hunger and press for information. William Randolph Hearst built an entire media empire on it during his day. What is different is the speed with which it all happens now. 

Speed, or rather its antithesis, has been the subject of Shel Pink’s work for much of her career within the world of beauty. In an industry that she describes as being consumed with quick creation and rapid consumption, Shel is carving out the space between, the boundaries, for self-reflection and thought to occur. She gives to herself and us the permission to slow down. Shel is the founder and visionary leader of SpaRitual – a vegan spa beauty brand that was one of the pioneers of the clean, ingredient conscious, cruelty-free movements within product development. She is also the author of a book and a quiet revolutionary movement called Slow Beauty, which is the embodiment of her thoughts about the present need for human beings to pause, to reflect, to be.  

Within these sacred moments of slowing down come the opportunities to experience true self-care, which Shel describes as being kind to ourselves and to others with the words that we use. Allowing ourselves to intelligently experience the seasons of change within our lives. And creating a space in our world for more poetry and more meditation to exist.

 As Shel simply states, “It is ok to just slow down and take deep, meaningful care of ourselves.”