Empowering Women Series: Hayley Hobson

What is an empowering woman? Immediate words that often come to mind are attributes like strong, courageous, genuine, and influential. But when you look up the actual definition of 'empower,' it means to make someone else stronger and more confident; to give power to another. That is what an empowering woman does above all else - she instills power, strength, and confidence in others.

We are surrounded by so many incredible woman at KiraGrace, and we want to share a piece of their stories and characters with YOU in the hope that they will empower you the same way they've done for us. We will be highlighting different women who inspire us, challenge stereotypes, and are just, well, fabulous!

For the sixth issue of this series, our founder and CEO Kira Karmazin stole 15 minutes with the amazing Hayley Hobson. A holistic MOM-trepreneur, Double Presidential Diamond Leader at doTERRA, world traveler, essential oils junkie, life coach, and yogini, Hayley Hobson is an empowering woman because she empowers other women to pursue their dreams. She travels around the world sharing her passion and helping coach thousands of women from chaos to clarity. 

Check out Kira's interview below with this fabulous woman:

KG – Before I ask my first question of Hayley, I want to introduce her with this quote from Richard Bliss Brooke: “Hayley Hobson is a force of nature, a social media maven and a network marketing rock-star. I can say with surety that she is the only person I know that has built a million-dollar income in less than four years, an incredible long-term company with real and valuable products. Take note, I am.”

So welcome Hayley, thanks for joining us today. What piece of advice would you give women starting a new chapter?

HH – That’s a great question because so many women think that they’ve followed this path and they’re stuck on it. Like the hamster wheel they have to ride for the rest of their life, and I simply don’t believe that. I believe that we’re all going to want to make changes in our lives, and I think that we grow as human beings and as women. And as we grow we develop personally and we’re going to want to explore new opportunities. I think that there is no age that has to stop, so my piece of advice would be go for it! And if you’re feeling a calling in your heart, no matter how old you are, I think you just got to follow that calling. I have all of these things I still want to do in my life, I’ve got these hobbies that I could turn into little careers as I go. I love what I’m doing right now but I never see any path ending for me.

KG – Just listening to you talk now is so inspirational to me. You inspire hundreds of thousands of people on your team, and you’re one of the top producers at doTerra. I have to ask you, what do you do to keep up the momentum? What inspires you?

HH - I think what inspires me is belief and hope. I really believe that we as women have a birthright to be happy and to be following our dreams. We are fully capable; we’re born with all of the tools that we need. I remember that you and I were at a yoga retreat together and I remember Andrew, Desiree Rumbaugh’s husband, saying to us, we come into life with a suitcase. And the suitcase is full, and we have all of what we need inside of that suitcase, but some people forget to open it. It gives me chills even thinking about that because we have what it takes to move forward, and some people forget that for a moment or some people never realize that. I know that I have a voice that has opened up the eyes and ears of many women and reminded them that they are capable and that they do deserve it, and that they have to run with that dream and follow that hope. Whatever they manifest can really happen.

KG – Who empowers you?

HH – I don’t know if I really have one person who inspired me. I just love women who are rocking it. You know what I mean, you’re one of those women! Desiree who I just mentioned is one of those women. Women who are strong enough to follow their dreams.

KG – I have always said about starting a business that the fire comes from deep within. It’s not like someone kindles it for you. It’s there, and it just sometimes needs a path, or the right opportunity at the right time. What I do know about you, Hayley, is that you give everything you do a 110%, or 150%. You are one of the biggest accomplishers I’ve ever known. You are a total do-er. You get stuff done. So, what has been the biggest challenge for you in your career? What are the roadblocks you’ve had to go through?

HH - Some of the roadblocks as a woman are just the normal every day to life, to be honest. We all wake up with an idea of what we want to happen that day or that week or that month or that quarter or that year. You know as an entrepreneur, as a woman, as a mom, that nothing goes according to plan, right? And so many people believe that if your plan sort of derails, if your train goes off the track, that you’re stuck, or you’re done, or you’re over. That is just not the case. You just have to take a breath and actually look at why things have maybe derailed and then make an alternative plan. That happens to me in my business dozens and dozens and dozens of times. Things do not happen as you ideally want them to. Sometimes, it’s a huge lesson; sometimes it’s actually a gift that you have to bring the track on the train a different way. And sometimes you go through a period that’s rocky, you’ve got a speedbump, you just have to get over it. You’ve got to acknowledge that there is a reason why things are getting derailed. (see video for more)

KG – What are the stigmas that you’ve been faced with as a working woman, or have you not had any of those conflicts?

HH - Oh no, there are those conflicts. One of the stigmas that I’ve faced, and I’m sure you do to, is that you’re not around as much as the “ideal mother or women” is for her children. If you’re sitting in a restaurant and a man walked out to get on a phone call in the middle of dinner, nobody would think twice about it. If a man walked out of his house in the morning and didn’t come back until six or seven o’clock at night, nobody would think anything of it. If a man got on a plane and left for a business trip for two or three days, nobody would think anything of it. But as women we have, over the generations, been stereotyped into a certain role, and we are breaking those paradigms. We are breaking through different avenues of what is possible and it’s hard to find that place, are we still in that maternal “mom” role, or are we able to move into business, entrepreneurship, can we have both? I’m not going to say that I’m here and I’ve figured it all out, but I’m just doing the best that I can. (see video for more)

KG - I didn’t have flexibility in my last corporate role. It was really all work or go home; it was an either-or. One of the advantages of working for yourself is that you can build your own path, your own flexibility, and your own schedule. So you’re able to do that?

HH - I can. However, some people think that I have all this flexibility and I can design my life however I want. And you can, but the reality of it is that I’m still up at five-thirty or six o’clock in the morning getting things done so that I can have this time at ten or eleven, or two or three or six. So my workday looks very different than your traditional nine to five.

KG – The output doesn’t go away. It gets shifted around.

HH - And you can decide that I’m only going to work from whatever time in the morning until four or five or six, but then here we are on a Sunday recording a video with my daughter out in the lobby with your daughter, right? You just work it in, it’s got to be a flexible moving component. When you ask about stigma, the stigma is that she’s not holding the traditional role. And my question to all those people who have thrown that stigma on me is what is a traditional role, and why do we even have to label that?

KG – Presidential is the highest rank at doTerra, is that correct?

HH - Yes, so at any network marketing companies, you’re going to have different ranks that you achieve based on how many customers and leaders you develop in your business, and your rank correlates to your salary and to your commission structure.

KG – You are a Double Presidential Diamond leader at doTerra; tell me what does that mean?

HH – So to achieve the rank of Presidential Diamond, you have to have six leaders that have achieved a really high rank in doTerra, and I’ve done that twice. I’ve built my original Presidential team, there’s maybe seventy accounts. Just to give you a perspective, there are six million people in the company that are customers and builders, seventy that have achieved at one point the rank of Presidential Diamond, and three of us who have two organizations.

KG – It’s incredible. What I think is really interesting, Hayley, is that you approach this so differently. You’ve built your own brand. You’ve built Whole You, and from that you grew your business. So can you explain what Whole You is?

HH – One of the reasons that I left the practice of law, I was an attorney for five years, before I then became a Pilates teacher, and a yoga teacher, and then started this business with essential oils, is because I had my own health issues that I was struggling with. And some of it was physical, like I literally had an inflammatory bowel disease so to speak, it was like an auto-immune, but some of it was emotional, and what I’ve learned throughout the last decade is that our emotions play a huge part in our physical health. If we are not feeling good, we are going to manifest that physically in our body. I hadn’t learned at that point in my twenties and thirties really how to manage my emotions. And our emotions actually stem from the way that we think. If we have a certain belief, or if we have a certain thought process going on, or if we have a certain brain download that could be inherited from generations, we’re going to, from our thoughts, feel a certain way in our body and if we don’t know how to deal with that, that’s where our actions or results or non-results come from. When I started, when I left the practice of law, I thought I was moving towards this more wholistic life style approach. Then when I got sick, I really did nurse myself back to health with food. Imagine that. It started with juice cleansing, it started with a raw food diet, it went into a vegan diet, then it went into essential oils and supplements. And I really embodied this, which I call, Whole You approach, which is learning how to not just exercise and eat better, but can you manage your emotions, can you manage your relationships, can you remove what’s toxic out of your life? Can you have an alignment with what your physical body looks like to you? Are you happy with your finances, are you feeling like your religious or spiritual beliefs are where you want them to be? It’s a whole process. There are like 18 different areas of my life, that I went and dove into and decided am I a ten on a scale of one to ten on all of those, or am I a three, and do I want to rise up? I did a lot of journaling during that time, and that is how Whole You brand evolved…And then I’ve taken a step further over the past couple of years and I’ve really gotten into this conscious creation…I do believe that we can really manifest conscious creation, we can get exactly where we want in our life. (see video for more)

KG – That’s an incredible accomplishment, the Whole You. Are you coaching people, how is that manifesting? What does that look like?

HH - So first I started coaching myself, believe it or not. Because I didn’t like the way that I was reacting to what was happening in my business. I didn’t like some of the conversations I was having with my own organization, my leaders. I didn’t like the conversation I was having with my husband, or my mother, or my sister. So, I started really working on myself, and what I noticed was that my circumstances could stay exactly the same, but what I felt about them could be completely different. I could choose love when I was choosing annoyance. I could choose patience when I was choosing bitterness. I had a choice based on how I was going to let my brain download. And once I realized how I could do it within my own self, then I started using it with my own team, and the people that are around me and even the people that I employ, and even my husband. And then, yes, I’ve taken it to another level, where I do have a program, a course that people can opt into and take with me called Consciously Creating Your Whole You.

KG – I love that. I do a little of that with my daughter Grace. We talk about the choices we make in the morning, how are we going to feel today, how are we going to react to certain situations, but you’ve really amplified that, and that you’ve designed a course around that is incredible.

HH – Yeah, it’s so interesting that people can decide that they are shattered or overwhelmed or disappointed or bitter, like they’re just making a decision and think that there is no choice, and when you really dive in and analyze why they’re feeling like that, they’re telling you things that aren’t true. It’s just decision that they’ve decided to believe. It’s so fascinating to me. (see video for more)

KG – So I want to move a little into your lifestyle, because you’re a jetsetter, you’re traveling all the time, and yet you still look fabulous. What is your go-to work out right now, what are you loving?

HH – I love the combination of doing what is called these days High Intensity Interval Training with weight training. I used to be a triathlete and a long-distance runner, and I would run sixty, sixty-five miles a week, and I love running like twenty minutes now. But doing it in intervals where my body is getting that jolt of high intensity or rowing or some type of other energetic move, I usually go to boutique fitness gyms. I love it. As I’ve gotten older, we need to, as women, we need to be picking up some weight. I still love my traditional Pilates and yoga that I grew up doing and that I’ve been doing for twenty years, but I ‘ve just got to pick up heavier things. So, it’s just a combination of what I just call fitness now, I’m not training for a specific race, I’m not trying to put my legs around my head, I’m just trying to be fit.

KG – We met at a yoga retreat and then we’ve started going to yoga retreats together every year, which has been a beautiful and amazing thing in my life. Yoga, at least for me, is just part of what I’m interested in now. Five years ago, it was everything I was interested in. Now I need the weight training and I’m doing HIIT too, I love it; I found this little gym down the street. It sounds like you’re in a similar space, trying to keep fit wherever, however you can. How would you describe your fashion sense in fitness? What do you like to wear?

HH - For me, I like to be in fashion all of the time. So, I don’t want to go to the gym or the HIIT studio or the yoga studio and just have clothes that are comfortable on, which is why I’ve always loved your brand. I really feel like what we’re putting on our bodies is a mood, it is something we’re presenting about ourselves. I want to look fabulous all the time, whether it’s six o’clock in the morning or whether I’m getting in jammies to go to bed. When I have clothes on my body that make me feel alive, or sexy, or hip, or pretty, it just makes me feel good inside.

KG – I’ve always felt that about clothing, whether it’s activewear or fashion, it’s a costume. What you put on really makes the way you feel, it changes, it shifts.

HH – Yeah, even on a Saturday or Sunday when I’m not leaving the house, even if I haven’t washed my hair in four days, I’m doing a cute ‘do, I might put a little lip-gloss and blush on, I might put a cute pair of sweats with a T-shirt, like maybe a piece of jewelry. I just like to look cute, it makes me feel better about myself.

KG – I love that! That’s why we’re friends (laughing). Now I have some questions that the team put together, we just want to know more about Hayley. What is your go-to cheat meal? I know you’re very strict on your diet, but you have to cheat on that, in what way?

HH – So I’m a vegan, and I love eating in a way that I feel…food is medicine, right? It really is. So, when I go out in the morning, I want green juices that are filling me up, I want awesome milks, like almond milk, maca milks, cashew milks. I just love a really good, tasty, spicy meal, but I also love barbeque potato chips. I also love dark chocolate. (see more on video)

KG - What is an essential part of your day? I know in managing an executive load like you have, you have to have a fairly structured day. What’s the most important thing that you absolutely have to do?

HH – My calendar. Like a hundred percent, my calendar has to be accurate. Because I can have sometimes 28 appointments on my calendar in one day, in little fifteen-minute increments. I calendar everything. I time block everything. I really believe that the more you structure your calendar, the more productive you can be. So, if you have an hour of free time, but you know you should be doing this, this or this, put it into your free time, like “read this blog”, “listen to this podcast”. I’m not calendaring things like “drink my coffee”. Sometimes I do calendar my dates. I do calendar things like my workouts in the morning, they’re non-negotiable, I put them on my schedule when I’m not traveling, and I work my days around those. It’s really important to me to have self-care. (see more on video) I think that making sure that you feel good and taking time for yourself as women and as business owners and entrepreneurs, we can get so caught up in serving so many other people. We really got to make sure that we are rested, that we are nourished and that we are feeling pampered.

KG – That is hard to do. What do you wish you had more time to do?

HH – I honestly feel like I have time to do everything you want. I know you think I’m one of the busiest people in the world, but I don’t think there’s really anything that I don’t do. I’m eating the way that I want to eat, when I’m not traveling I am getting my fitness in, I am spending time with my daughter, I am relaxing at home, I am watching my favorite TV shows. I read two books last week. I’ve read like eight books in the last three months. I’m fitting it all in and I’m running a million-dollar business. I honestly don’t feel like I wish I could do anything else. I’m traveling the world. I’m hanging out with people I want to hang out with. The energy is good... (see more on video)

KG – Everyone wants to know what is your favorite doTerra Essential Oil?

HH – Oh my gosh, that’s impossible to answer. There are so many good oils. One of my favorite combinations, and it’s been like this for a very long time, is to take a little bit of frankincense, which is so anti-inflammatory, and I just love citrus oils. I love the smell of things like lemon and wild orange. So, I mix frankincense and wild orange together, and I often add a tiny bit of lavender and a tiny bit of copaiba and I honestly rub it in coconut oil and put it all over my body. (see more on video). I have oils that ground me, and I have oils that help with digestion, and I have oils that relax and balance and help me have a better night sleep. I’m a junkie, I am using like 20 oils a day. I don’t think I could ever go without the frankincense and wild orange combo.

KG – I’ll have to try that one. In closing, I have a couple questions for you that are more wanting to know how you feel about gratitude and gratefulness. You’ve accomplished so much, but what are you most grateful for?

HH – I’m just grateful for everything honestly, it’s like when you’re busy, when you’re running at such a high speed, you’re going to encounter conflict. What happen is, is you are sometimes doing in one-month, what people do in ten years. You’re running at a very high speed and you’re going to run up against a million conversations, or a million decisions that you have to make, and sometimes arguments you might have with your partner, with your spouse, because you’re moving so fast, and you’re just butting up against so many different things. I just have to remind myself and remind my husband sometimes, to look at everything that is happening, look at the life that we have, look at the mountains that we get to look at, look at our beautiful children, look at our bodies and our health, and the people that we surround ourselves with and our friends and our four parents that are still alive. We are living the life. So, take a breath and let go and just smile and be grateful for everything that’s going on right now.

KG – I think you answered my last question for you, which is, what is the closest thing to real magic?

HH – I don’t know, did I answer that?

KG – It’s everything, it’s all coming together in a beautiful way. I think you did!

HH – I want to bring this back to what we talked about earlier, which is the conscious creation. I think when we all pause for a second, and I don’t mean that we have to sit and meditate, although if that’s your thing, awesome, do it. We are all running so fast, and sometimes that doesn’t mean you’re an entrepreneur, it means you’ve got two kids that are making you crazy, or you’ve got two jobs that you’re holding, or you’re managing a household. But we’re moving fast, and we don’t actually stay present with what’s going on. We’re not giving ourselves the pleasure of making choices, and we’re just running on autopilot is what I’m saying, and when we run on autopilot, we don’t get to think. (see more on video). Can we all slow down for a second, and turn our phones on silent or flip them over, or put them in our handbag, and can we notice what’s going on, because when you can notice, you can create. To me, creation is everything. You know, as a designer, creation is everything. Can we consciously not just create patterns on our clothing, or interior design in our home, but can we create, can we design the life we want to have. And you can only do that when you’re present.

KG – Is there anything that you want to add that I didn’t ask, or anything you think people would want to know more about you?

HH – I think you covered it, but I what I want to remind everybody is that they have that power if they just make a decision. Instead of living in fear that they’re going to go up against speed bumps, or road bumps or failures, just noting that that is normal. How many times have you failed? You learn by making mistakes.

KG – That’s the way you learn, and you have to be okay with that. You know the whole iteration of “I made a mistake,” it’s not even a mistake. It’s like I tried something, I learned that that didn’t work; I’ll try something else. It’s more of a process.

HH – That’s exactly what I’m saying about your life. If you try something, like waking your child up thirty minutes before you leave the house, and it doesn’t work, then the next time you wake them up forty-five minutes before. If you give them cereal for breakfast and they don’t want it, then next time you give them a banana. It’s just trying different things, and I just want to remind everybody that failing is normal, you shouldn’t care what people think about you, because whatever they are thinking is just part of their own stuff, and you should just do what you want to do.

KG – I would love to change that word “failure”. It’s not failure, it’s just trying something. It’s just experimentation.

Thank you for taking time out of your Sunday, I appreciate it. I’m so proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished. I think our readership will really enjoy this!

HH – Thank you!

Watch the video:

If you enjoyed this blog, check out our others like: "Empowering Women Series: Sianna Sherman," "Empowering Women Series: Octavia Raheem," "Empowering Women Series: Christina Sell," and "The Art of Aging Gracefully: Issue 2."