Beyond the Sheets is a monthly series where we share the health and wellness journeys of fellow wellness disruptors; those, like our founder Allison, forging innovation around sleep, skincare, and overall well-being. This edition features Darlene Fiske.
With spas, hotels, and small businesses closed, we asked wellness public relations expert, Darlene Fiske, how wellness is transforming (literally by the minute).
Darlene is a force. She is the owner of award-winning The Fiske Group: Public Relations & Marketing Strategies, a national communications firm based in Austin, Texas. In June 2018, she co-founded S’Well Public Relations, a communications firm for wellness brands, and later that same year she was recognized as the 2018 PR and Marketing Guru of the Year in American Spa Women in Wellness Awards.
Not only does Darlene reveal the state of wellness and cue us in on sleep trends, but she also provides us with a list of unique virtual wellness resources (tip: they are all listed at the end). Let’s just say, we love Darlene as much as she loves our soft sheets!
Jessa (Nollapelli): What does wellness look like right now?
Darlene: It’s huge right now. If anything is going to put wellness in the spotlight, it is a global pandemic. How do we care for ourselves today and tomorrow and ten years from now… everything from the food we put into our mouth, the air we breathe, the people we surround ourselves with to the sleep that we get, how much we move. I think this will have a bright side, and one of those bright lights will shine on the wellness space.
Jessa: What do you think of this virtual wellness shift?
Darlene: The shift that we are all doing right now is a necessary one. We don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, but what we do know is people are trying things for the first time because of all the access to virtual classrooms, yoga sessions, and even live feeds of riding a bike in Palm Beach.
Jessa: What is the most exciting thing you’ve witnessed?
Darlene: One of the most exciting things I have seen are the hordes of people taking to the streets, sidewalks, and hiking trails! We all have free access to sunshine and vitamin D and trust me, I am also taking advantage. As bad as this is affecting our economy, I also know that some good will come from this. I see people in my neighborhood I never knew lived here – I’m meeting new people (from a distance) and have read messages of hope written in colored chalk on the sidewalks and driveways in our community. I love seeing so many people moving, exercising, doing something out of the ordinary from their day to day lives.
Jessa: What are you doing currently to balance wellness?
Darlene: I want to tell you I’ve been doing a puzzle a day and reading and crocheting and helping seniors, but it’s all not true. I have been consumed with work. But, I have made a point every day to get out of the house to exercise.
I’ve also been listening to the Global Wellness Summit Podcast while I run. My company, S’Well Public Relations, produced the podcast with the Global Wellness Summit. We did 21 interviews in Singapore last fall and interviewed amazing visionaries in the wellness space. Number 19 with Martin Palmer makes me laugh and smile every single time I listen to it. He is the religious advisor to Prince Phillip - charming, smart, and witty, and who doesn’t love a British accent?
Jessa: Pivoting to sleep, what trends are you seeing?
Darlene: This is one of my favorite topics. Sleep is always going to be an issue with people, what will change is how we deal with it. That is why I was so excited to learn about Nollapelli. I ordered the sheets and they are super dreamy.
Jessa: How have our sheets been treating you?
Darlene: You completely changed my sleep style. For years, I never slept with a top sheet. It gets in the way and I would rather have my fluffy soft blanket on top of me. The first night, I left the top sheet off and just did the fitted sheet and pillowcases. My favorite thing I love about them is that they are so cool when I get into bed. I have not had night sweats since I’ve had your sheets. After the first night, I loved how it felt on my skin so much I had to have the softness all around me, so I added the top sheet and now I’m converted!
Jessa: Are you a good sleeper?
Darlene: I am a great sleeper, but sometimes my mind does race. I use a meditation technique that I learned from my friend, Nina Smiley, a Mindfulness expert from Mohonk Mountain House. She wrote a book called the Three Minute Meditator, I do one thing; I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth and that is all. I focus on the breath. And the next thing I know, it’s the next morning!
Jessa: Routine is critical to me right now, something I can control.
Darlene: I know. Making your bedroom a sanctuary for sleep, now is the time to do it. We have extra time to pay attention to the area of our homes that need love. I think, well, new sheets would do a body good. I am a believer!
Jessa: What are other sleep trends?
Darlene: The science behind circadian rhythms. We interviewed the founder of the Timeshifter® app for the Global Wellness Summit Podcast, and the science behind the app is based on light and circadian rhythm. If you can get your body adjusted to the natural light, or as natural as you can, you can travel and get onto a sleep schedule in the new time zone with limited downtime. I traveled from Austin, Texas to Singapore with no jet lag!
Jessa: What is one thing you do every day for your sleep?
Darlene: There are so many rituals I have before sleep. I always wash, tone, and moisturize my face with Pietro Simone skincare. I wear the comfiest pajamas possible. And, I dab a little Aromatherapy Associates Sleep Oil on my temples.
Virtual Wellness Resources:
- Discover The Palm Beaches, Florida virtual bike ride
- Global Wellness Summit Podcast
- Darlene recommends episode 19, Faith: Why It’s Worth Investing In Financially, Emotionally & Soulfully
- The Three Minute Meditator, David Harp, M.A. and Nina Smiley, Ph. D.
- Timeshifter® App – “The Jet Lag App”
