Productivity, Creativity, and Wellness

Raquel Baldelomar is on a mission to promote productivity, creativity, and wellness. She’s the founder and president of Quaintise, an award-winning marketing and branding agency, based in Santa Monica. In 2015, Raquel decided to devote more time to changing the conversation of healthcare from sick care management to disease prevention. She co-authored ‘Sugar Crush: How to Reduce Inflammation, Reverse Nerve Damage, and Reclaim Good Health’.

In this episode of the Woman of Value Podcast:
– Why Raquel left JP Morgan to start her marketing and branding agency
– What inspired Raquel to focus on wellness and prevention
– Why creativity is so important to a well balanced life
– How pausing can lead to a more meaningful kind of productivity, creativity, and wellness

Show Notes S2 EP 15: Raquel Baldelomar – Productivity, Creativity, and Wellness

What is a Woman of Value to you?

Woman of value is bringing the best version of yourself out into the world and fulfill your potential in all ways.

What was your pivotal Woman of Value moment?

I started Quaintise 16 years ago. I was working for JP Morgan, and I wasn’t using my creative skills. I was on the corporate track to live my life as a banker. I had a lot of stress. I wasn’t fulfilling my full value. I was chasing material wealth, not using my creative energy. I moved back to Texas to start a marketing and branding agency. Our first contract was in Phoenix. I realized the healthcare system was underserved in terms of marketing and communications. It was all about sick care management. Not prevention. I came across a doctor who was on the forefront of prevention. Dr. Richard Jacoby helped prove how sugar creates inflammation and problems in our bodies. I helped him get this information out into the world through our book.

My grandparents had diabetes. They managed it through drugs. But if we manage through prevention, we will be healthier. I co-authored Sugar Crush in 2015.

Health is the most important wealth we have. Your genes load the gun, and your environment pulls the trigger.

How do you define prevention and wellness?

It means being connected to all sides of yourself. Being in balance when there isn’t balance. Intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual sides of ourselves.

How did you become a successful entrepreneur?

To be an entrepreneur you have to be able to dive into dark psychological waters AND be a strong swimmer. It was hard building our name in the beginning. I remember having to wait tables to afford my apartment. It was a humbling experience, coming from being a young successful analyst to building from the bottom up.

I realized there was a niche in marketing for health care. It was a big risk at the time. But…that’s when we started getting sizable accounts.

What’s your vision for the future?

I’m working on my next book. It’s a memoir of my life, growing up in Bolivia in a very elite family. My dad got involved in a drug cartel. My mom escaped to America. We grew up on food stamps in the U.S., and eventually, I built two companies. I’m continuing to build Quaintise. I love being surrounded by talented people. We founded a Nutraceutical company on Amazon.

Lightning Round

I used to think I wasn’t smart enough.
What was the #1 thing holding you back from becoming a woman  of value? My own confidence.
What’s the best advice you can give to a woman who wants to  become more empowered? At the end of the day, no matter your achievements, there’s nothing there if you don’t have love in your life. 
What advice would you give to your younger self? Don’t listen to other people. Follow your heart.
What’s something about you that people get wrong. They think I’m indifferent. My boundaries are sometimes misunderstood as indifference. I’m just careful in the projects I choose and the people I surround myself with. 
How would you like to be remembered? As a woman who impacted a lot of people’s lives in some way.