Stop Focusing On Your Flaws & Love What You See In The Mirror with Maria McCool

*This transcript was auto-generated*

Kim Gravel: Coming up on the Kim Gravel show. So many of you have asked me about my weight loss journey. Some people are just like downright, look, I want to know what you've did. And I'm just like, well, I've got some secrets I'm going to share at the end of the end of the show.

Maria McCool: It's called beauty brave because it's just like they're there.

There's so much braver than they were. And like, how do we get that beauty brave? Not just from the lipstick.

Kim Gravel: A mullet, but not a rat tail?

Zac Miller: I was going to say, I don't want a rat tail. I don't want to be rat tailed guy.

Kim Gravel: I'd be bad for you, Maria, if I come in and sit and you'd be like, Kim, when's the last time you bathed?

Maria McCool: And I swear to God, that was the day I knew I was going to be a stylist.

Opening Introduction: Let's just go on and spill the tea. This is The Kim Gravel Show. This is one of the realest persons I've ever met in my darn life. You gotta watch this. My mission is to encourage every single woman, we're here to lift y'all up. There's no one more effective than moms. You mess with the bull. You going to get the horns. I need coffee. I need Jesus and I need therapy. If you can bring a smile to people's faces, why would you not? We love our kids. We love our husbands. What a blessing. We're gonna dedicate this to you in finding your superpower. Okay girl. True confidence is knowing who you are and why you're here.

Kim Gravel: Hey y'all, this is Kim with the Kim Gravel show. And we are a podcast. We are a place you can come and listen, hopefully, and be encouraged. And all of us together lock arms and level up our lives. And I'm telling you every single week, I hope you get a little nugget. I believe you will get a little nugget to do just that.

Today is a really, really great episode. I'm tell you why I've got one of my dear friends. That is with me today on the show. And we're lockstep in our beliefs and what we believe about, you know, empowerment and living our best lives and leveling up our lives. So many of you have asked me about my weight loss journey and it has been the most, some people are just like downright, look, I want to know what you've did.

And I'm just like, well, I've got some secrets. I'm going to share at the end of the end of the show. And it all goes back. To this one thing about making the decision. And we're going to be talking to Maria about how she decides to live her best, most successful life, but stay tuned to the end. And you're going to get a little nugget about my weight loss journey and how that all manifested and came about Zac.

Wait till you meet Maria. You're going to love her. Do you have your hair questions?

Zac Miller: Ready? I have so many hair questions.

Kim Gravel: All right, y'all. We will be right back with Maria McCool. I can't wait for you to meet her.

Are you stuck? Are you at a place where. You know, there's more for you. You don't know what that is and you don't even know if you've got the confidence to step out to even figure out what it is. If that is you pick up collecting confidence, my new book, I'm telling you, if you, if you don't have a compass, if you don't have a true North, if you're saying, Kim, I don't know why I'm here and what I'm here for, but I know it's something, grab this book and read it.

It's a light. Easy read, but I'm telling you, it'll give you nuggets and, and reveal things about yourself that you didn't even know. It's not only just my story, it's our story. It's that story of struggle to find out what we're called to do and why we're here. Pick up the book and read it. Then let me know how you, you know, hit me up on email and social media and let me know what you thought about it.

But let me just tell you something. You have a calling, you have a purpose, and you can walk in the confidence to fully embrace that call. I love you guys. And remember, walk boldly in your collected confidence. All right. Our guest today, I'm telling you, Zac. Well, first of all, we need to go see her. Right. I think you and I need to make appointments.

Zac Miller: I need an appointment really badly. It's funny because I feel like I have a haircut I don't love right now and I would love some professional advice, but that's like, I'm already hijacking the interviews.

Kim Gravel: Don't don't hijack the interview because we haven't even introduced her yet, but I, but you're going to love this because she is a true innovator.

She is the founder and CEO of Callista. She's an hairstylist with a salon spa in Westchester, Pennsylvania. I'm telling you, she has over 75 beauty professionals. She sees over a thousand women every single week. She is an author. I mean, her book, Becoming Beauty Brave, the bold makeover, and she is the originator of the bold makeover.

You know her and you love her from QVC. And if you don't, you need to. So check her out. She's a huge believer in self love. That's why Zac, our messages. Maria and my message are so aligned. We are such sisters in the sisterhood and kindred spirits when it comes to the self love. And she knows the power of a makeover.

Okay? And I love this, Zac. Callista, which is her brand name, in Greek translates To most beautiful. Y'all welcome Maria McCool.

Ooh.

Maria McCool: Wow. I love that. Can I get that?

Kim Gravel: Do it again, Zac. Do it again.

Maria McCool: I wanted to have a better approach with it. Now that I know it's coming.

Kim Gravel: That's so you, girl. You know why that's you? It's smooth. It's smooth as silk.

Maria McCool: I love it. I do need that.

Kim Gravel: I've been waiting to get you on.

Maria McCool: Hey, I've been waiting to come on. Obsessed, you know, I have a, I'm crushing on you all the time.

Kim Gravel: I crush on you all the time. Well, my hair is chicken scratch. So we're going to get into that in a minute. But you know, Maria, you are a CEO, you're a business woman first and innovator, and you are, a brand owner entrepreneur, and there is so much, to talk to you about because you have this, you approach your business in your, Artistry with this self love, love who you are messaging, wouldn't you say?

Maria McCool: Yeah, without a doubt from day one, from day one, like from before I even became a stylist. How did that happen? Well, you know, it's funny because you had said entrepreneur, but first and foremost, I'm a stylist. I always, if I'm behind the chair doing somebody's hair, that's when I'm the happiest. To be honest, but when I was 12 years old, my still my best friend now, she was my best friend.

I have two best friends from first grade and her parents had gotten a divorce and she was really not like, and in our school that was very not usual. And she was not really back in the day, right? Like she just. It was a downer and there was our first boy, girl party that we are invited to.

Kim Gravel: I love a girl boy party.

I remember mine. My spend a bottle.

Zac Miller: Wait, you played spin the the bottle, Kim?

Kim Gravel: I've probably spent one or two mini bottles in parties in the past, and I don't even drink, so I was just trying to get my kiss on.

Maria McCool: So, my friend, my best friend Mary, was just not gonna, she decided she wasn't gonna go kinda last minute because she just wasn't, you know.

And I'm like, no, no, no, you have to go, you have to go. I don't feel myself. I'm like, no, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna perm and cut your hair. And we're going to get your outfit and you're going to feel good and we're going to go. And so she lived in the little town of Westchester, like she lived in town and we were there.

We walked up. I got a Tony perm from the little Rite Aid store and I used to watch my aunts. Give each other's perms. So I'm like, I got this. We can do it. And we go up, her house was like, like they were the like three stories. Right. So we went up to the third floor bathroom because those perms stunk.

And I'm like, we can't tell your mom permed and cut her hair. But to fast forward to the party, she was literally the bell of the ball. Like she was like, everybody was like, she was fire. And I swear to God, that was the day I knew I was going to be a stylist. Cause I was just like, Oh my God, like it totally changes.

Kim Gravel: Maria, now let's just, there's a lot to unpack just in that little intro story because how old were you when you gave the first perm and everybody listening to this right now Hands up, where you're sitting, listening, or where you're driving, listen, hands up if you've ever had a perm. Maria, how, how old were you?

Maria McCool: I was 12.

Kim Gravel: Dang, girl.

Maria McCool: I'd already been cutting my Barbies for at least three years. So I was your first client. Yeah, she was totally Barbie with my little Barbies. And then I got the Barbie head, you know, the whole thing. And so by the time I got to my girlfriend, I'm like, I got this. We're good.

I'm fine. I have, I've been apprenticing for a few years now on my own. We can do it.

Kim Gravel: Give it, give me them pink rollers. I'm rolling that mess up, putting that solution on you. Your first head of hair at 12, 12 years old. Let me just say that's your calling. And that's your purpose when you're perming hair in your preteen years.

Yeah, I'm done. That's it. That's what you're made to do. So, so, so fast forward to now, because you, like you said, you're a stylist first, but you know, I see you as, as entrepreneurial. I mean, I just see you as this bar, you know, baller shot, collar boss. And I think that is because, I mean, you sell.

Millions upon millions of dollars worth of product with your amazing successful line Calista. I mean, how many Perfectors do I have? Zac, she has designed and made and innovated this, this thing called the Perfector. I have the gut to go, I have the one on the go. I love that one. I got two or three sizes.

I've bought a million of them for everybody. It doesn't tangle in your hair and with my little chicken scratch hair. So, so when you launched the Calista Salon. Mm hmm. This line. How old were you at this line?

Maria McCool: I was 23. So what ended up happening was when I was in ninth grade, one of my brothers, I have five older brothers.

I have a sister too, but I have five of those. And one of them's girlfriend who I thought was, you know, you're younger. They're like, so cool. She was in beauty school in 10th grade. Like she was in beauty school. And I'm like, wait, what? And so I was like, I'm doing that. And so a ninth. So what I was 14, I signed up for beauty school, which was a big problem.

Because I was a straight A student and they were not having it. And my parents had to march up there. It's a funny story because literally my father brought the Barbie dolls to the school. To the counselor. In my high school, walking in, everybody's seeing. I was just like, what's happening? What's going on?

But, good news is they just, I love it. I remembered my mom saying, listen, yeah, we would love all our kids to go to college. If that's what they want to do, and she's happiest when she's doing this. So we got to go with what she wants to do.

Kim Gravel: But see, you know what? I agree your, your parent. And can I say this, that, that, that was, it was risky then, but that was a little, even now I feel like we, we, we are not really leaning into our calling.

And the fact that you knew what yours was so young. I say that in my book too. I say you, you, your calling has always been with you. What an amazing blessing it was that yours was so prevalent and so recognizable. What has that done for your life? Like, you know what you're called to do, you know, because you're called not to just cut hair, but you really have that connection with that, that woman or that man in that chair.

Maria McCool: You know, I think too, just in general, like, like beauty in general, like whether I'm making a meal or doing somebody's hair or. Even wrapping a gift for somebody. I don't know. There's just something around the creation of beauty and making things beautiful and, you know, not in a beauty way that it's like.

You have to be beautiful. You know what I mean? Like, but just where it's

Kim Gravel: not a fixer kind of way,

Maria McCool: like a creative way, like, you know, kind of thing. How does it feel for me? Like, it's, it's funny. My kids call it putzing. Like I could get up two hours early and I'm like, they'll come up and all the furniture's in new places.

And they're just like, well, everything's changed around and it's just like, I lose myself. And that's why I like behind the chair when I say it's one of my favorite things. Cause I lose myself like behind the chair when I'm with a client. It's just about me and them and what's happening.

Kim Gravel: No, I was going to say, we got, we got to pause here with this because when Zac, you know, I'm always looking for ways to direct people to their calling.

And what you just said, Maria, when you said. I lose lost myself. I lose myself when I'm doing it. That is a indicator. That is a red flag. That is a siren going off going. That might be what you're called to do. I had to take a pause because can we dive a little deeper into that? I say what that feeling is for you.

Maria McCool: Well, first of all, I tell my kids that because when you lose a sense of time. When you're doing something you can do for hours, there's something in there, even if it is video games. No, I think sometimes with my boys, there's money in there.

Zac Miller: That's a whole thing. Yeah,

Kim Gravel: Big money.

Maria McCool: Whether it's technology, it's something right.

Like, but that feeling for me is like, I mean. Yeah, I mean, I literally can do hair for hours and hours and hours. Like it wouldn't, doesn't, I actually, we know we do do that. Right. When we do TSVs.

Kim Gravel: Well, you do that all the time. I mean, yeah, it's the only way and it comes so natural to you too. So a few years after you, you created the salon and you opened the salon, you decided to bring the experience to, to people at home, tell us what your journey has been getting.

To launch Callista, the brand on QVC. How did that all come about? Because everybody's wanting to know.

Maria McCool: Well, see, what's interesting is that I was a competitive stylist, right? So, okay, I competed all over the world. And then what happens is, is that brands kind of pick you up. Right. To do education for the brands or whatever.

And, one of the brands of Veda before a Veda was a Veda. I worked with a, you know, a Veda. I worked with a hair color company. And then I was, then I opened my salon. So, and I was doing that as well. And then I started having babies, so I couldn't do that anymore. Like I, I had to run the salon, do my clients and raise my children.

So I started concocting products on my own when I wanted something different. Like, you know, when, when I just didn't like the first thing was embellish when I couldn't find texture products to work on fine hair. When I couldn't find product texture products to work on fine hair, I was manipulating the ones I had and I would put them in a little pot.

And one of the, hosts, Jill Bauer was my client at the time too. And she was just wanted it. She like loved it. And she's like, you should bring this QVC. Like, it's amazing. And I was like, really? Like you think, you know, like what, you know, and QVC being close to me was like, well, I could do that. Cause I would, with my little kids wouldn't have to be traveling, getting in a plane, like, and I was a single parent at this point too.

Just remember I was like on my own. So, and to be honest, I was looking for ways to, you know, also. more financially as well. Being a single parent now, I needed to do more. And so that's actually, she's told me to do it. And so I set up an appointment with QVC. I pitched the product. I had no idea. And it's the same with the salon.

The salon became a very like nationally recognized salon. I wanted to become, I wanted to become a salon. I mean, a stylist in which I did, then I became a competitive. You know, it was winning awards and I wanted an open a salon and I did it. But each time I did the things I did, I didn't know that they were going to go.

Like when I launched the product on QVC, I didn't think I'd be where I am today. Being one of the bigger haircare products there, you know, like.

Kim Gravel: Would you have been there? How long Maria? 15 years, 15 years. You think, why do you think you've had this success? Why do you think things have? Have happened the way they've happened for you because a lot of people you we look at people like you and and people say oh I could never do that because bop bop bop bop bop or she got lucky or yeah, what do you think?

really Because success takes years and years of hard work. We know that, but what, what a piece of advice or what would you tell somebody listening to this that would say, well, it's too late for me or I wasn't that lucky.

Maria McCool: Yeah, definitely. Never too late. I think one is if you're doing what you love, cause you're going to have to do it a lot.

So we just talked about that, right? Cause you, you gotta love it cause you're going to do that a lot. You're going to work hard, right? A lot, a lot. I am. pretty spiritual person. I believe in manifestation visualization. I have vision boards like, that I think plays a lot into like, you know, I think sometimes if you're not dreaming big enough, like I think you have to dream.

You have to shoot for this. I always say you have to shoot for the moon, just fall into the stars. You know, like you just, I think shooting big and if you fall short, like still big, like shooting extravagant, I should say. Because when you fall short, it's still big. But it's, it's, believe me, one of my struggles always is not thinking I'm enough.

And that's the one thing that I have to constantly over, like, overtake myself and say, no, you are, you can do this.

Kim Gravel: Right. You have to decide to not believe that. Yes. And I'm glad to hear you say that because we all do. We all feel like we're not enough. And isn't it funny how a lip gloss... Or a haircut and color can change a whole trajectory of your life.

Have you seen that with women?

Maria McCool: I've seen that. So we call it beauty, brave. I call it beauty, brave. Like it's almost my goal, my little secret goal. When I do somebody's hair and they get done and they're like looking in there. So having, they're like, they'll say something like I'm not going home or I was going to go be like, they have to go somewhere they want to be seen like now.

And I think it's called beauty brave because it's just like, they're. They're, they're so much braver than they were. And like, and so I've, what I've learned over the years is. So that's great. When you put on a lipstick, like you said, you do and you, but like over years and years and talking with women every day, like how do we get that beauty brave?

Not just from the lipstick. How do we just get that from our own selves? You know, it's, it's a lot of work, like it's awareness and it's, it's, it's continuing to accept yourself. Um. I used to say all the time when women sat down in my chair and I'd be like, so what are we going to do today? What are we thinking?

And it would generally quickly go to, well, I just don't, you know, like I hate my hair or I hate my forehead. I don't want to see it. Like my nose is too big. Like I've got these big shoulders. Like it was just like the rattle of like, wow. You know what I mean? Like, like That's like, that's just what you don't want.

 You know, and it's like, well, let's look at these, look at your eyes are amazing. Like, look at this, look at that redirect. And so I think we all do that where we're looking at why we're not enough instead of why we're enough. And like, you know, leaning into that a lot more, but I think it took a long time.

I mean, I'm 57, like some of this stuff I only learned in the last 10 years, you know, but like, I think always. Learning. I think that's what it is. Always reading. I have not read your book yet and I cannot wait. It's coming to my door.

Kim Gravel: Well, I have yours and I love yours.

Maria McCool: Aw, thank you. I cannot wait. I love your book.

Kim Gravel: This is the whole thing about it. It's so funny how it's so similar. Our stories and our journeys. And I think that's not... a coincidence. I think we're all on this journey to be enough and feel enough and feel that beauty brave like you're talking about. What is a makeover that you've done? That has really you've seen the change because I know you do so many and you love a good makeover and I do too Yeah, but you've made over people from the outside in do you know what I mean?

Maria McCool: Yeah I mean, I have to say if you you know, it's hard to pick It's always hard for me to pick the one but right I do think the two that stand out the most will shine is That was definitely the most doubt I think about it but Is something founded, it'll be 25 years this year and it's money that we raised for the cancer center.

And, and the, it started with the first one started with bringing in the cancer patients, doing makeovers and them having a fashion show. Right. And so the one that. Sticks out the most to me is they came in, we did massages, we did everything. We did makeup, like whatever they, we needed, whatever journey.

Some of them didn't have eyelashes. Someone didn't have brows, like whatever, wherever they were in their journey. And the one woman, we did a wig for her. And so she was that night modeling the clothes, you know, doing the little catwalk thing. And she got back and everybody was cheering for her. And she literally took the wig off.

And remind you, this is 25 years ago. She took the wig off and spit it in the air and threw it out to the crowd. And so that was probably to me, one of them, like where I knew she loved how she looked, she was so happy about it, but it was almost what beauty brave's all about is because she felt so good that she felt so good.

Then she was like. Here's who I am.

Kim Gravel: That's what I'm talking about. That's what, what makeovers do. They, they, they, they don't make you over, they empower you over. Right. They empower you and it's just little changes, right? Just those little tweaks and changes from a professional like yourself. Okay, so we've got to get down and dirty and talk hair.

 Because, you and I have had this conversation before. I think we have the same hair. Yes. Meaning, I think it's, my hair is so fine. I have a lot of it. Exactly. Maria, I'm telling you, and I use all your products. You've got to tell me and other people who are struggling with thinning hair, fine hair, hair that is flat as a flitter.

Tell me what we can do. To make our hair thicker. Volumous, beautiful, even with my chicken scratch. I mean, you know what I mean by chicken scratch, right?

Maria McCool: And you're, I forget is yours have curl. Cause I don't remember that part.

Kim Gravel: No, it doesn't. That's awful. It's flat as a flitter. And it's like, it's like five days dirty.

That's why it's got any kind of volume at all.

Maria McCool: Well, one thing I'm just going to say, and I, I don't want this to be as a pitch, but I know this for a fact because I'm all about styling, right? We've got tools and styling pens, blah, blah, blah. And then just a few years ago, I launched juice, the cleansing condition.

I love it. I'm going to tell you how long have you been using it?

Kim Gravel: I'm out. So it was a while back. I've got to get some more. That with the vitality spray every day has transformed more of my clients. Like there's so like Lisa Gleason, Tara Tescher. I'm thinking of my fine haired ladies that are on cue.

Maria McCool: It went Tricia, Tricia Sullivan, just the other day, everybody was complimenting her. And I said, how long have you been juicing now? She said, it'll be a year. month. I'm like, that's the magic potion. Like, because it takes a while for our hair to grow.

Kim Gravel: So it's the consistency of it. Got

Maria McCool: it. Like it's like, it's kind of, it's kind of like skincare, right?

Like you have to like let the other stuff come out. So. If you want to see a big change in your actual hair itself, juicing, juicing, juicing. I mean the products and the tools that you're using, the perfecter, because it doesn't damage like all of that is so important. But it does start with the basic and, and I mean, you could say any shampoo, but the reason why juicing is so it's, I, it's made for the scalp.

It treats the scalp first and all my years as a stylist, shampoos just treat the hair, all of them. You can buy fine hair shampoo, color treated shampoo, dry hair, you know, for dry hair. Like all the shampoos tell you what your hair issue is. None of them, none of them do the scalp. Which is really is what's going to change our hair over time.

Just like skincare. You can put as much makeup on top.

Kim Gravel: But if you don't treat the skin. Okay, well Zac is dying to ask you a few questions. He's been waiting on you to come on Maria.

Zac Miller: I am, I was just sending I I ask some questions? I really need to ask Maria.

Maria McCool: I love, and I love doing men's hair. Even though I talk about women a lot.

Men is my strong suit because my, my partner and my boss at the time, who's now my partner, was a barber. So I learned how to cut some.

Zac Miller: Oh, that's cool. So I just, I just moved. I just started with a new barber. I'm not sure how I love my hair, but like, let's put that aside for a second.

Kim Gravel: You've got good hair, Zac.

Zac Miller: I do have thick hair. I, and that's like something like my dad's in his late sixties and like full head of hair still. So like, you know, thank God for that.

Maria McCool: But how about your mom's dad? Because that's really just so you know, unless you look exactly like your dad, then

Zac Miller: I think still, I do look exactly like my dad, but still good hair, good hair genes for the most part.

My mom's brothers. Not great, but we'll, you know, we all have our struggles. We all have our struggles. . But lemme ask, you're doing seriously, like, so as a dude, Right, and for like, you know, the women watching this show that maybe shop for their dudes, like, I don't know I've like have no idea where to even start looking for stuff.

I'm like, okay, you know now that we're we're on I'm on the show every week with Kim like I want to start looking a little better. You know, I'm trying I'm putting more products I mean right I have to live up to Kim Like I don't even know where to start looking and I feel like your stuff is amazing, but I don't see products for men.

So.

Maria McCool: So Zac, the first product you have to get is embellish. You have to start embellishing. You're going to use it on your hair after, you know, you're going to shampoo your hair, you're going to let it air out a little bit, and then you'll put a little bit of embellish and you're just going to.

Slip the sides, do the top, whatever you're doing, but that is an addictive product. I used to have to bring like multiple, I always had them in the back of my trunk because whenever I would go to my son's high school, they'd be like, this is my cool,

and it was a boy's school. That's why I'm saying that it's all boy's school.

Kim Gravel: That's right.

Zac Miller: Does that give me more like body? Does it do like kind of a styling?

Maria McCool: Yes. It's like, it's these fibers that adhere to their, it's a fiber technology formula that doesn't exist except for an embellished and it, it literally makes the hair thicker, fuller, but it makes the hair pliable.

So then you just get it to do whatever you want. Oh, that's definitely where you're starting and you're going to be obsessed with it.

Zac Miller: Well, that's the thing is like, I, you know, there's like, there's gels and there's shine and there's less shine and there's pastes and it's like, I, I literally, I'm not even joking.

Oh, two weeks ago, I went to the store and just bought like five things and brought them all home. And I'm like,

Kim Gravel: I know. And that's the thing. I mean, you could spend upwards of like 200 bucks just walking out of a drugstore somewhere. It's crazy.

Maria McCool: You know, and I love because Callista, when we, when I created it, it's a very, it's like, I call it.

Affordable luxury. Like, you know what I mean? It's not breaking the bank, but it's definitely luxury products. It's what we use in the salon. And the one thing I was going to say about the embellish, which is so fun. When you clap it, you see the fibers. The more you clap it, the lighter it gets. So you get to control, like if you want it really firm or you want it really light, it's daytime, you're just doing something soft.

Like it's this product that, you know, literally is. Like a chameleon. You can make it do whatever you want.

Kim Gravel: It's customizable. It's customizable, I say. Yes.

Zac Miller: I'm sold. I love that. That's great.

Maria McCool: Juicing

Kim Gravel: I'm starting that.

Maria McCool: It's how you keep your hair. I guess I should just say that how you keep your hair. Cause you want to keep it on your head.

Zac Miller: Done. Done. All right. Well, thank you. That's so helpful.

Kim Gravel: I like, and well, I've got a question. I've got a question for Zac. Should he get, yeah, I've got a question to Maria for you. Should Zac get a mullet? Cause mullets are back.

Maria McCool: I mean, I just gave my son one. You know what? I, I, I'm just, I'm seeing such a small picture.

You do have one. I told you I love your hair.

Zac Miller: I can't hear it. Look, you can.

Maria McCool: Ooh. Yeah, Zac, you got great hair.

Kim Gravel: Do not need a mullet.

Maria McCool: No not full fledged. But I do think he can stay tight and have a little bit of length right there. Just a little bit.

Kim Gravel: But not a mullet. Not a mullet, but not a rat tail. Isn't that a rat tail?

Zac Miller: I was going to say, I don't want a rat tail. I don't want to be a rat tail guy.

Kim Gravel: No. Maria, I got to ask you right now, like what, because you said earlier in the vision board, what is in, what do you hope for yourself, your business, your family, whatever? In the next five years, I think, I think so many of us get to a certain age and we stop setting goals for ourselves. We stop, We either, we've raised our kids, you know what I mean, we raised our kids or we're in the throes of raising it and we forget about our goals and our dreams.

What is some things that you want to accomplish or do in the next five to seven years of your life?

Maria McCool: Well, as far as business goes. I have realized like how empowering my products and tools have been to so many women, right? Cause they write us, right? So I really would like to, I would like that to permeate out way more than it is now.

I would like to see us in, I just see the growth astronomical. And I'm not going to stop. I know a lot of people who've become successful in their second half and that's my plan. Like. I'm not, I'm not done at all. And I don't ever want to be done. Honestly, you know, like I don't have to do 80 hours a week anymore.

Hope I can like. Cut down there, but, so I would like, honestly, Callista to be a, international known name. And I'll tell you why, because I won't say the names, but there are ones we know, and I don't think they're serving our beauty needs very well.

Kim Gravel: I try to be nice. And you know what? I don't know if they have the messaging that you have either.

Like how you said that people, the women sitting in your chairs and they always go to the negative. How do you turn them into the, how do you show them their positives? How do you turn them to be positive about themselves?

Maria McCool: I do think that. I probably could be a therapist now, like I do think I could just take a test and move on, you know, like,

Kim Gravel: I'm pretty sure I do the same thing, just, you just talk, you just, that your facialist, I, I spill, I'm like, if my facialist ever wanted to turn on me and rat me out, I'd be in trouble, right?

Zac Miller: That's a different podcast. Give me an episode.

Kim Gravel: Whole different podcast. You are a counselor

Zac Miller: and we're just going to spill the tea. All right.

Maria McCool: There you go. I try to like, I actually tell my clients or like, I'll be like, okay, we had our fun enough dissing of on ourselves. Let's talk about the good, because that's what I'm going to work with.

Like, come on. Let's sometimes people come in and they'll just be like, don't look, I don't feel good today. I don't, I feel old. I have a blah. And I'm like, okay, good. You just had your little two minute soapbox. That's gone. Now let's take a look. You're gorgeous. What are we going to do to make, you know, like, and really sometimes it's the encouragement.

Yeah, like when sometimes people say that, I'm like, you do know that no one thinks that, right? Like you do know, you do know that every single person I know looks at you and thinks you're the most beautiful women, woman that they've seen. Like, you know that, right?

Kim Gravel: We don't see ourselves.

Maria McCool: Gosh, so you just remind ourselves, right? Try to remind ourselves.

Kim Gravel: Well, that's why we're lockstep. Okay, so let me just tell you, Maria, every single show we do, we do a thing called rapid fire. Rapid fire questions. The first thing that comes to your mind, spit it out. Don't think about it. Just let it come out.

 Favorite hairstyle to cut?

Maria McCool: Bob.

Kim Gravel: Oh, you do a good Bob.

Maria McCool: Pixie is so close, but Bob.

Kim Gravel: Bob, what makes a Bob so good? I'm sorry to get out. I was always supposed to do rapid fire, rapid fire,

Zac Miller: not rapid questions, rapid Kim.

Maria McCool: It's just the thing about a Bob is you can do a Bob on everyone, anyone. You just have to do the right one for them.

And you can, even though you think of a Bob, like you get to, you can play in a Bob so much, like from a shattered Bob to a stacked Bob to a, and you can change, you know, from a lob to a, You know, short Bob, so it's a, it's a, it's a safe cut that you could do on people. Like you could take a long hair girl to a lob, a short hair girl to a little pixie Bob.

Like, so it's, it's kind of like, I just find it very, very, very playful. And it always looks like style. You know what I mean? Like there's a style to it. I don't know.

Kim Gravel: It's got a look.

Maria McCool: Yeah, it's got a look. I think you have to be precise with it. And I am a precision cutter. So that's the thing about.

Probably why a bob, because bobs you gotta be like, right on the money.

Kim Gravel: You gotta be dead on, oh lord honey. I can't wait to come and see you. Okay, here we go. Past hairstyle you wish would come back.

Maria McCool: Oh, past? Ugh, oh my gosh. Um... I think it had, but I mean, I love the shag, so more shag is bad. Yeah, but it's that's what I was thinking.

Like it's back. So

Kim Gravel: no, that's good. It's a good one. I mean, just, I mean, it's just, it's just emerging.

Maria McCool: Yeah, exactly. I love shags. I love shags.

Zac Miller: What's a shag for, for the,

Kim Gravel: well, everything is old is new again. Zac, there's nothing new under the sun.

Maria McCool: Let's think of who, who, who, who, Kim had the best shag ever.

I'm trying to think of celebrity. Well, I guess like, the one from the pretenders. I'm sorry about that.

Kim Gravel: Oh uh, Chrissy Heinz.

Maria McCool: Chrissy Heinz had a great shag, right? Joan Jett had a great shag.

Kim Gravel: Joan Jett had a great shag.

Zac Miller: All right. I'm looking it up. I see it.

Maria McCool: Now, you know, look it up.

Kim Gravel: Look it up.

 All right. You write your book that. You love making things from scratch, what is your favorite thing to make from scratch?

Maria McCool: Uh, raviolis.

Kim Gravel: Oh. Oh, good lord. Now I haven't eaten all day, I'm starving. You make homemade from scratch raviolis? You make your own pasta? You don't just get it in the frozen section?

Zac Miller: Is that like a Christmas thing? That's a Christmas thing in our family.

Maria McCool: We do. Ravioli is a, is a part of the Italian Christmas. Yes.

Kim Gravel: Oh my God.

Maria McCool: And it's my kid's favorite too. I like, I, gnocchis are pretty high up there, but I think because my kids like are kind of obsessed that I have to make them more than Christmas because they're just like, can we have raviolis?

Kim Gravel: Oh my god, I'm going to say that next time. Hello, can I have a ravioli? Okay, how often should we wash our hair?

Maria McCool: Um, how, as often as you need it so that you love the way your hair looks. There's no rule on that. I hate that people think there's a rule.

Kim Gravel:  Mine’s five days dirty.

Maria McCool: And you love it, right? And it works great for you five days a week.

Kim Gravel: Honey, I don't even have to fix it. It's just fixed. It's just, mine is... But that's not bad for you? No, because it's so different. I wash my body more than five days. Okay, people, don't start judging.

Maria McCool: Because that could be bad for you. I think that is bad for you, for sure. And everybody else, and all the people around you.

Kim Gravel: It might be bad for you, Maria, if I come in and sit in and you're like, Kim, when's the last time you bathed?

Maria McCool: No, it's that, you know, it used to be a thing when shampoos were so harsh. But they're not anymore. So shampoos are color safe. You can use them every day. It's not a problem.

Kim Gravel: So it's really perfect.

It's good to know. Uh, what's something you think everyone should try at least once?

Maria McCool: I think bungee jumping off of a bridge in Africa,

Kim Gravel: have you done it? Have you done that?

Maria McCool: Yeah, I think everybody should try.

Zac Miller: Is there a moment of terror when it's like coming to the bungee and you're like.

Maria McCool: No, it's more of a moment of terror when you first fall, like when you, well for me, was when I first fell, because you're falling, and you don't know.

Zac Miller: Kim, everyone wants to jump out of planes, or bungee jump, or like what's with the QVC?

Kim Gravel: I do not. All I want is a homemade from scratch. Chocolate cake. That's what I want. Wait. And the ravioli. I mean, that's my. You got to try once.

Maria McCool: Uh, I don't, I don't, I don't, I think there should be something better than that, but that's the only thing that just came to my mind.

Kim Gravel: No, that's fantastic. I would say that's a thing. I would give you a hundred on that. If you could instantly learn anything, what would it be?

Maria McCool: Instantly would be tough between a musical instrument and a second language, second language,

Kim Gravel: second language. What would that language be?

Maria McCool: Um, if I instantly could have it right now, it would be Spanish because I think I use it all the time.

Kim Gravel: You'd use it. Um. What is your ideal way to spend 30 minutes of free time?

Maria McCool: I supposed to be rapid fire. I like seven things come in my head and I have to place them.

Kim Gravel: No, I know. Everybody does it. They start, they start trying to analyze their answers.

Maria McCool: Sitting on a beach, toes in the sand.

Kim Gravel: Take me with you. Take me. Let's go. Let's go. Eating your ravioli. Favorite junk food?

Maria McCool: Popcorn.

Kim Gravel: Celebrity crush?

Maria McCool: You. I told you.

Zac Miller: That's such a good answer. Best answer ever.

Kim Gravel: Best answer ever. Good job. Best answer ever. Last one. Maria, how are you beauty brave?

Maria McCool: I'm beauty brave because I strive. It's not that I'm always good at it, but I strive to take care of myself. And take care of my feelings and my emotions and my thoughts and my good thoughts, my bad thoughts, but I think I'm beauty brave, mostly telling myself it's okay, everything's working out.

It's okay and everything's working out for me. That's what it is.

Kim Gravel: That's how we need to end this. All right. You can find Maria at Calista Tools on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, wherever you have her social, and also on her website calistatools. com. Go check her out. Great social content, a lot of tips and tricks, and a heart of gold.

Check her out.

Zac Miller: And I'm buying her stuff. So that's like she told me what to do. I'm doing it.

Kim Gravel: You don't have to buy it. I'm just gonna send it to you. Will you come back? Okay, first of all, let's do this in your salon. Zac can come Yeah, you can fix our hair and and we'll eat the ravioli.

Maria McCool: Okay, and I would definitely my house is right up the street and we'll Cook it up the ravioli.

Kim Gravel: We're not jumping off of anything. Not even a front porch Just letting you know.

Maria McCool: Are you sure? .

Zac Miller: That'll be our first for on location episode of the podcast.

Kim Gravel: I love that.

Maria McCool: Not even like a zipline out my back door.

Zac Miller: Do you have a zipline?

Kim Gravel: She would get one knowing Maria, she would have it built for us. The answer to that is no. That's rapid fire. No, we're not .

Love you girl.

Maria McCool: Love you too. Thank you so much. You guys are so much fun.

Kim Gravel: You're amazing.

I'm telling you, Zac, you say, I mean, like to me, Maria is the real deal. Like she's living out her passion, her calling. She is 57 years old and still has dreams and goals. I mean, she says she's just getting started. She also gave us so many tips and tricks, even for your hair, which you have fabulous hair, by the way.

Thank you. Fabulous hair. Thank you, Kim. Yeah, you do too. So, but that, that's, that's why I love doing the show. It's like, we're getting a look at people who are doing. Not only just good work, but the work they're called to do. Can I just tell you, and she's even said she's struggled with her self worth and thinking she's enough.

Isn't that a common theme we hear from all these successful people that we have on the show?

Zac Miller: Yes, yes, it is. And she is someone who like, she took this thing that she was really good at, and she really did turn it into this call and this deeper thing where she's like really working on herself, working on other people, like really making it happen.

But. It does turn out, and the thing that I feel like I've learned from doing this show with you for this long is... Everyone deals with the same stuff. Like even if you're successful, right? Like how much, I mean, you have literally written a book about confidence. How much self doubt do you deal with, Kim?

Kim Gravel: I don't think you can have self confidence without self doubt.

A little bit of self doubt lets you know you're on the right track. Yeah, that makes you question. You're always, I mean, and, and honestly, I mean, I joke about, you know, me being crazy about Travis and the kids and stuff, but it's real. It's so real. And I think I can't be the only one. I can't be the only one thinking this.

And so whenever I start doubting myself or thinking I'm not enough. Or, you know, the negative self talk that she said, a lot of people, Maria said, a lot of people sit in her chair and say, I always remember, I can't be the only person feeling this way. And when you know, you're not alone in something and you know that, okay, this is.

A human experience. Then you can do like she said and redirect. You can decide, you know what, but look, I have to vent first. I'm just gonna keep it real honest with you. I have to vent it out. If I don't... Vent it out, baby.

Zac Miller: What's going on, Kim? This is, this is...

Kim Gravel: If I don't, I'm gonna eat a sleeve of Oreos.

That's just what I deal

Zac Miller: with. Don't do it, Kim! Don't do it! You gotta eat no Oreos.

Kim Gravel: And people always say to me, Kim, how have you lost weight? I cannot tell you how so many people, Zac, has said, How have you lost weight? Are you ever going to tell us how you lost weight? I've told you. I decided I was going to lose weight and I quit eating so much.

That's how I've lost weight, y'all. I don't know what to tell you. There is no, there is no magic pill. There is no, there's a lot of different ways you can lose weight. You can, you can get on, I mean, you can get, you know, you can eat the factor meals, which I have done and I love them. They're fantastic.

You can take, weight loss drugs. You can do, you can start exercising like Amy did and cut back to nothing. I mean, she eats, you know, Basami rice, but whatever it's called and chicken. That's what she's going to start clucking. Cause she's, I mean, there's. There's so many ways to do it. You can, you can lose it over six months.

You can lose it over two years. You can cut back. You can. My dad used to say how you lose weight is quit eating. You eat one bite less every time you eat. I mean, y'all, we know how to lose weight. That's not the issue. That's not the issue. You have to decide. You have to determine. I don't want to be this way anymore.

And that's what, that's what Maria was saying. She was saying she redirects her clients when they start the negative self talk. And, and, and that is. Key, but Zac, I have gotten 452 messages about how have you lost weight? And I've told people how I was like, they don't want to hear it. Well, and that's what I said.

Zac Miller: That's the thing.

It's like, it's it's so easy, but it's so hard.

Kim Gravel: Oh, people have said, Kim, you're doing something unnatural. You've had surgery. I'm like, I said, I'm going to lose weight and then I cut what I eat because let me tell y'all something that I eat. I can out eat Travis. I could out eat any man. I mean, I could sit down and eat two Big Mac meals and be like, okay, like, I mean, I am, I have an appetite.

And if you know me as a person, you know, that's in everything in life. I have a zest and an appetite for life. So when I decided I cut my Just my portion size to a fourth of what I was eating. There is no trick. There is no, there is no. Do you say, Kim, do you still eat a Snickers? I do. I just eat a fourth of it instead of two or one.

Zac Miller: Well, and you, and you also like, you were someone that you did hit the drive thru a lot, right? You would do fast food a lot too, right?

Kim Gravel: Let me just say, did you just, did you just read my mail? You're reading my mail, Zac.

Zac Miller: I'm telling you, I, you know.

Kim Gravel: Now how, tell everybody how you know that, because we're close.

Zac Miller: I will, so every time Kim shows up on set, she's got some kind of a drink. She's got some kind of a fast food drink with you. And so I know you've been to that drive thru. So here's the thing, like now that you have the stuff that's easy, like you have the factory meals, which I know are so quick. You have, you're drinking water?

It throws me away. Right.

Kim Gravel: And hey, not just, not just, not just one. Look at this!

Zac Miller: Two waters, Kim.

Kim Gravel: So you're right. You're absolutely right. I, I go to, I still go to the drive thru. Not as much. But when I do go through, instead of getting a number three super sized. Okay, I just get a cheeseburger and water.

So, I'm just telling you, there's no secret sauce. There's no program you can work that's going to, it might, every program will work for you, if you work the program. If you do it. But what you gonna do when you stop working the program? Have you made up in your mind that you're going to do it? Work, when you've made up in your mind you're going to do it, find any program that works for your personality, that, for your needs, for your lifestyle.

My, I can't cut out fast food in my lifestyle. I'm never at home. I'm running two kids around and we, we, I mean, basketball, and then you've got tennis, and then you've got homework, and then you've got, you know, there's social events, and then, you know. You got to run through the drive thru, it's, but you don't have to eat everything that I used to eat at the drive thru.

I hope I'm making sense to people because I'm not a nutritionist and I'm not a person that's, that's, yeah, I'm not a counselor. I'm just telling you what worked for me. I decided and then I cut my food intake by a fourth. I went, let me, let me, let me put it in numbers. I probably was eating And I'm probably gonna get a lot of judgment for this.

I probably was eating upwards of almost 4, 000 calories a day. When I, I've not sat down to do the math, but I've done a rough estimate because I'm afraid if I do the math, I'm going to not be in a good headspace.

Zac Miller: Yeah, don't do the math.

Kim Gravel: So, but I'm just gonna say probably roughly 4, 000, probably sometimes more than that.

And then I went down to like 1, 500.

Zac Miller: And do you feel like, is it, is it a healthier 1, 500? Does your body feel better with that?

Kim Gravel: Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.

Zac Miller: Well, you said in the episode too, you have to take that massive action. So that's the massive action you took. Like, that's what you did. You decided, and then you took that action.

Kim Gravel: And just did it. But people are wanting to know the program. There is no program. I didn't go and sign up for something I didn't go and start and I I'm trying to exercise three times a week. I'm trying to walk or get my 10, 000 steps in. I can't say I do it every day because I sit behind a desk a lot.

I'm running to three companies. Yep. I don't, I, you know, and then I'm running two kids in a house, which is another company. That's another whole company. That's the hardest one. Oh my gosh. But I wanted to, I wanted to put this out there because I have to add a lot of people, they've seen the visual difference and it happened quite fast for me.

And I'm not saying that's going to work for you, but it was a decision that I made. And then, like you said, I took action. But. That quote I read to you, the action comes after the decision. The decision is the biggest action you can take. Yep. And I will tell you this, I'm never going back. That's awesome.

See, and that's the confidence.

Zac Miller: That's it. And that's how you know, and cause, cause you are that person now. Like you've, you've changed something. You changed it up here.

Kim Gravel: I've learned I can control that. I can control that. Narrative in my voice. Now, when you look back at a journal and you have said the same, what y'all, this is, I mean, Maria was just talking about it.

People sit in her chair and they go to the negative every time. When I read that in my journal that I was doing that every day that I wrote in my journal, I was beating myself up about eating and I promise you you're watching me or listening to me right now and you're doing the same thing Yeah, about yourself.

If you were to sit in journal your internal faults every day, I promise you, I bet you they would lead with the negative. And y'all, I was doing it to my Children too. I was being negative towards them too. I'm telling you. And then I saw that Yeah, give me an example. Oh yeah, I was being as hard as I was on myself.

It was, I was taking it out on other people too. I was being hard on them too.

You can't help it. It's a habit. And when I read that about myself over and over and over, and let me tell you something. I love my kids. I love my husband. I know I wouldn't know that from listening to this episode, but I do. But this is the thing you, you, you get in the negative pattern. It's like Maria said, people sit in her chair and everybody, she says, this is her chair goes to no one sits down and goes, you know what?

I love this. I'm having a great hair day. It's wonderful times. We don't know how to embrace. We know how to embrace and celebrate the struggle. That's what we know. We have to work hard to redirect and make the decision to do better. Yes. Especially when it comes to ourselves.

Zac Miller: And you know, it's something actually that has changed my life from this show and I forget which episode it was, man.

I wish I could remember. Someone said, that you, your self talk should only be things that you would be willing to say out loud to someone else. Like so much of our self talk about ourselves is so negative. And if you said that out loud to someone else, it would be like. Please never talk to me again.

I'm leaving. Go. I don't ever want.

Kim Gravel: That's why social. That's why social media is so negative. That's why that's why if I unlocked and put a camera in most people's homes, it's not going to be poly positive people. Yeah, we talked to our kids negative too. I do. I'm guilty. I'm telling you right now. Yeah, because it is so much easier to do that.

And on top of that, we've done it to ourselves so much. What you put in comes out telling you what you put in comes out when people say you are what you eat. You are what you eat, but you are what you speak. You are what you see.

Zac Miller: Oh boy. Well, this all goes to like, this all goes to manifesting. This is all of it.

Right? Wrapped up together.

Kim Gravel: What you look at and what you constantly putting through your eyes is going to come out your mouth. It's going to come out your life. What you, and I'm preaching to the choir here. Don't think I'm sitting here pointing at you preaching to you. I'm pretty Jack or whoever I'm preaching to myself.

What you speak, you gon see. Well, and that's the thing about this show You are what you eat. You are what you speak. You are what you see. You are what you say.

Zac Miller: Here's the thing about this show. We, we are working through this stuff. We are working through it right now.

Kim Gravel: I'm working through it. I don't know about everybody else, but I am.

Zac Miller: It's not necessarily that easy answer. It's just Something that we're trying to figure out so you're on the ride with us. So if you want to like have a question for Kim, if you want to find something out, if you have questions about what we've talked about, like, let us know, leave us a review or you can email us.

You can send us a note on our website kimgravelshow.com. We read all of them and we try to respond to all of them as quickly as we can. Although man, we've gotten a lot of mail recently, so it's going to take a minute to get back to everybody. But these things. Thanks. Matter and you get to be part of the conversation with this show.

So send us a line.

Kim Gravel: Thank you so much for listening. I hope this is encouraging. I hope what Maria said was encouraging and, and yeah, we go to the negative, but we don't have to stay there. That's the beautiful thing about we can redirect, try all of Maria's products. I use 'em, they're. They're fantastic. They're made with love and made from our heart and they're made from scratch.

I love that. Until next time, know that we love you, we believe in you, and let's level up our lives. And I'm so blessed that we get to do it together. Until next time, I'm Kim.

Zac Miller: I'm Zac.

Kim Gravel: Bye.

Zac Miller: It's not.

Kim Gravel: It's not. Hold on, I think, I think the cleaner is here. Hold on. I'm a cool, Calista, I'm a cool, Maria, I'm a cool.

I'm telling you, I don't know my butt from the hole in the ground. I am just flying by the seat of my pants. My kids, I want to ship off to boarding school. And I'm, I do know why the English now do that. I get it. Completely get it. Totally get it. I love me Maria. I love me some Maria.

The Kim Gravel Show is produced and edited by Zac Miller at Uncommon Audio. Our associate producer is Kathleen Grant, the Brunette Exec. Production help from Emily Bredin and Sara Noto.

Our cover art is designed by Sanaz Huber at Memarian Creative and Mike Kligerman Edits the show and a special thanks to the team at QVC. Head over to kimgravelshow.com and sign up for our mailing list. Again, we can't do this without you, so thank you for listening, and we love you.