The following podcast is a deer media production.

Hi guys, it's Mari and you're listening to The Pursuit of Wellness.

Hi everyone, welcome to my brand new podcast The Pursuit of Wellness.

Today is a solo episode with just me because I really wanted to dive into

why I started a podcast and also introduced myself to anyone who's new to me and my story.

My name is Mari Lewellen, I'm 28 years old and I live in Los Angeles, but I'm clearly not from

Los Angeles. I will jump into that later. Firstly, thank you so much for listening and supporting

me in this new venture. I've been creating social media content publicly since 2017,

but I've always wanted to do something with my voice as weird as that sounds.

Since I was a kid, I've loved presenting and connecting with people through my voice.

In school, I would fail every test but nail a presentation because I feel like that's

the best way I'm understood and how I convey ideas the best. I also feel like social media has become

faster and faster. There's short form content everywhere. It's become more and more difficult

for me to dive deep on topics that I really care about. I have a lot more to say than I think

social media allows for and what people would assume about me and it's interesting the more my social

media has grown, the more private I feel like I've become because social media is such a scary

place. Lately, it feels like you are not allowed to have an opinion about anything and I'm really

excited to use this podcast as an outlet for me to share my opinion here from other people.

I think it's so important to embrace change and growth. It's okay to change your mind. It's

okay to be corrected. It's okay to expand your perspective and that's really the goal with this

show. Now, why did I name the show the pursuit of wellness? Everyone knows I'm a fitness influencer.

Actually, you may not know. You may be new. Technically, I'm a fitness influencer, but before I was

...