Unwrapping The Mind-Body Connection With Melissa Wood Tepperberg

In the Climbing in Heels podcast, sponsored by Genesis, Rachel Zoe interviews female powerhouses across different industries. Through her warmth and humor, listeners hear about the challenges and successes of female entrepreneurship, balancing work and family life, and how these boss women navigate the changing landscape of business in a post-pandemic world. Because with Genesis, it’s easy to find your reason, your passion, and your inspiration to Keep Beginning.

“There’s just something that comes with turning 40,” Rachel Zoe muses in the latest episode of Climbing with Heels. In conversation with health and wellness entrepreneur and creator of Melissa Wood Health, Melissa Wood Tepperberg, the host and stylist is reflecting on one of her biggest life lessons: Confidence comes with experience.

As two successful businesswomen who embrace their femininity while also owning their strength and superpowers, both Zoe and Tepperberg understand the importance of aligning your actions to support the life you want to build for yourself. They believe you have to stop paying attention to everyone else and hone your authentic voice.

At a young age, Tepperberg took on the “leader of the house” role, supporting her mother, who was raising six children solo. “I think of my 7-year-old self crying out the window in the tiny house I grew up in and feeling like nothing in life is possible,” she reflects. That sense of responsibility gave her a hunger to thrive — but also led to immense personal anxieties that she’s spent the last few decades working to correct.

“For the first time, I haven’t felt anxious, and that was the baseline for most of my life,” she says. “A lot of what has gotten me to this place was, years ago, when I started this business, I was trying to heal myself. I was really trying to change my relationship with myself. When I was stepping on the mat, I was overcoming an eating disorder. I had cystic acne all over. I didn’t love myself. I didn’t treat myself with love.” It was the first time in her life, she says, that she was no longer running from herself, her upbringing, and her traumas that were causing her to exist in a constant state of fear. She began to truly understand the connection between the mind and body, and she started opening up about her own struggles — and how she breathes through them. “I started getting more comfortable sharing the real shit and living in the flow.”

Some early advice from her husband helped Tepperberg demystify the image of perfection and humanize her own journey: “You have to pay attention to the things that light you up,” she says. “It’s the simplest things that bring me back to this peaceful place within myself. He really taught me how to focus my energy. I’m a natural-born hustler, but I think you can hustle yourself to a point where nothing is fulfilling.”

Today, her empire includes workouts and meditations, nutritional recommendations, and a podcast, all with the goal to create a more mindful way of life that’s accessible and attainable for all. And while she’s seen the fruits of her labor, she’s really just getting started. “We’re always looking for the next thing,” she says. “I’m living beyond my wildest dreams at this moment. I truly love what I do. I love my life. I’m really proud of how I show up and treat myself. And while I feel so good, I have so many things I desire. I want to spread my message as far and wide as I possibly can.”