Another excellent podcast episode from the Duchess of Sussex this week! I am LOVING Confessions of a Female Founder so much. In this week’s episode, Meghan interviews Hannah Mendoza, co-founder of Clevr Blends, the latte-powder company in which Meghan invested in 2020. Meghan got in on the ground floor – Clever Blends was in its infancy at that time, and Meghan’s investment in and association with the brand took Clevr to the next level. An endorsement from Oprah Winfrey didn’t hurt either, which happened quickly after Meghan’s investment. I’m including the podcast interview at the end of the post. In this COAFF episode, Meghan talked about how she was pregnant with Lili when she first met Hannah and she was seeing an Ayurvedic doctor:
According to the Cleveland Clinic, Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old medical system originating in India and employs a natural and holistic approach to physical, mental and emotional health.
“During my pregnancies, I had an Ayurvedic doctor, and so much of it was about seeing food as medicine,” the Duchess of Sussex said on the show, where she was joined by Hannah Mendoza, founder of the plant-based, superfood latte and tea brand Clevr Blends which Meghan is an investor in. The comment came up in a conversation about alternatives to caffeine, and Meghan spoke about taboos around mushrooms and other adaptogens.
“I think a lot of people, when they hear mushrooms, they go, “Okay, she’s talking about being hippie dippie and grounded in all these things.’ And if you aren’t familiar with adaptogens, you can go to this place of, ‘Oh, it’s feeling a little psychedelic and super woo woo,’ but what we’re talking about is, in some ways, is food trends, which you were ahead of the curve on,” she said.
“I was thinking about it and maybe 10, 15 years ago was when people didn’t know how to pronounce quinoa, and they were saying, ‘Canoa,’ ” she joked. “So there are these items and ingredients that have been part of our natural ecosystem and dietary system for a long time, whether acknowledged or not, that somehow you say ‘Mushrooms’ and now people have a connotation attached to it, but it’s really just a food trend that I believe you were far ahead of in terms of saying, ‘Hold on, these have properties that can in some way make you feel differently, in a really safe way.’ “
I do think Meghan is very “woo-woo” in general, and I’m not saying that as an insult at all – if King Charles wasn’t such a sh-tty person, he would have discovered that he and Meghan have a lot in common with their love of alternative medicines and Asian therapies. One of the cutest parts of this interview was Meghan talking about Hannah’s Birkenstocks and how Hannah didn’t even know how to pitch and Meghan wouldn’t know how to receive a pitch (even though Meghan was watching a lot of Shark Tank at the time).
Photos courtesy of Lemonada Media’s IG, Meghan’s IG and screencaps courtesy of the Jamie Kern Lima Show.
I would bet money Charles suggested an Ayurvedic doctor to her at the beginning of her pregnancy. He wasn’t 100% sour on her at that point yet.
Chuck was 100% sour from the moment Harry became serious about Meghan. Chuck didn’t want to pay Meghan to be a working royal and tried to deny her security after she married in. His people only walked the no security decision back when Harry asked who would be responsible. Hell he wanted to change a 500 year convention/law just to make sure Archie wouldn’t be a Prince after Chuck became King, didn’t want to give Archie security even though there were death threats against him and Chuck expressed “concerns” about his skin color and how that would look for the royal family. Lol that man was not discussing maternal care and Ayurvedic Doctors with Meghan. He was to busy plotting all the ways he could exclude and denigrate his first mixed race grand child.
I don’t think that’s true. The problem is that Charles somehow got in his head that “downsizing” the monarchy and being a cheapskate were positive moral goods. He couldn’t see that this was incompatible with maintaining family ties in a family where primogeniture meant that he needed to be financially supporting them all. His blindness to that is a major part of the problems the Windsors are having now. But I think he genuinely like Meghan. Until it became obvious she was another Diana, who would overshadow the “blood” royals. Harry’s loyalty to her over them was also inexplicable to them.
It’s easy to pretend that the current outcome was baked in from the start, but I don’t think it was.
I think he still got along with her then. They did the tea party after the wedding, and Harry and Meghan went to visit them in Scotland at the QM’s place.
Even in Spare, Harry talks about how Charles and Meghan could have great conversations.
Charles is very 2 sides of the mouth. I have no doubt he was all that behind the scenes but face to face was still pleasant. Probably also why Camilla was so sour too, if Charles and Meghan actually had stuff in common and could have good conversations.
100% agree @B.
I think he was impressed with Meghan and was pro Meghan at the start. They could have accomplished a lot together.
Re funding, Charles wasn’t going to cut any of his own funding. He set aside a certain amount to cover both william and Harry and wouldn’t increase that.
But pay attention – Kate doubled her wardrobe spending in 2016/7. She already had 1.5 million in clothing and she went on a spending spree. To prove to Charles they couldn’t decrease their percentage of the funding to free up more money for Harry and meghan. Oh no Kate couldn’t possibly have a smaller budget.
Charles made an abusive decision – with lots of input from William and kate.
@Alteya and to all the poster that have the opinion that Charles was pro Megan, I respectively disagree. Charles was following the directive of the Queen and acting in accordance with the Queen’s wishes, while cooking up crap (RAVEC) behind the scenes. That is why as soon as he was able, and when he became Monarch, he did all the things that he did.
I think he personally liked her and saw her as a positive asset for the monarchy. The unwillingness of Harry and Meghan to take their rearranged roles in the abuse circus is what changed things. That and the Australia tour, their charisma, the inability for anything but abuse to dim their shine. Those things changed it for charles. But he wasn’t anti Meghan from the start as he was anti Kate from the start.
She’s talking about when she was pregnant with Lili, isn’t she? That would have been after their security was pulled and Charles wouldn’t take calls.
Cue Keen talking about this saying she did this.
They are so tiresome! There’s nothing creative about the left-behinds. But they’ll steal a fresh idea in a heartbeat and try to pretend that it was originally theirs. Of course Keen will make up some lie about her pregnancies. She’s already “peaceful under a tree”, making jam, and trying to look loved up with Pegs.
Tessa: yes Can’t will probably come out and say she had this type of doctor to get her through her “pre cancer cells”. Copying is her claim to fame!!
Every episode of COAFF is good but I find they leave me with different emotions. Sometimes I’m emotional and weepy, sometime fired up, sometimes feeling zen and like I’ve received female wisdom thats been passed down through the ages. This episode left me feeling “awww how adorable”. It was so funny listening to how two newbies found each other and fumbled their way towards their first investment. Meghan is truly sentimental and you can tell Hannah and Clevver Blends have a special place in her heart because it was her first investment and Hannah cracked me up when she talked about showing up to their first meeting in a linen jumpsuit and birkenstocks. They were both so passionate about the product and its all evolved so organically.
Love the episode.
It’s cool when people find things that help them holistically. I believe holistic treatments are tied to science in a real way but anti-vaxxers have an either or mindset about it.
if King Charles wasn’t such a sh-tty person, he would have discovered that he and Meghan have a lot in common with their love of alternative medicines and Asian therapies.
Don’t forget that when Harry introduced Meghan to Charles and that woman he described them as talking so intently over tea that the mistress queen was craning her neck to listen in on their conversation.
What a douchebag Charles is.
I’ve always thought that Hannah was Australian, only to find out on the podcast that she’s actually British and left the UK when she was 18. As usual, I enjoyed this episode. It’s a business podcast but I think there’s a lot of lessons for life and how to move in the world.
Another great episode. And I love the clevr blends sleepytime latte.
Please tell more about sleepytime latte. Does it help chronic insomnia? I will try anything at this point. Who carries ( it although I’ll Google it) as well. Did it help you?
So I go back and forth bw drinking this and celestial sleepytime extra which has valerian and that does help me. The clevr latte tastes really yummy, so a different vibe than just doing tea, and it has both valerian and magnesium. So yeah it does help me sleep and pretty well. However my dad tried and it didn’t have the same affect? Although he said it was bc the tea made him wake up and have to pee. But I think it did initially knock him out? Randomly, if he eats eggs for dinner that helps his sleep. So I cook scrambled eggs when I visit him, lol. My issue is rarely in falling asleep but in staying asleep and it does help with that.
I’ve found a combination of L-Theanine and 5-HTP really helps. The teas don’t really work for me. I don’t have a problem falling asleep most nights, but almost always wake up anytime between 1:00 and 3:00 and stare at the ceiling. I’ll pop one of each and do some brain-calming routines and I can get back to sleep.
Eggs, oatmeal, bananas, sour cherries, almonds, Greek yogurt. You can find lists of foods that may help you fall asleep and stay asleep longer.
Hmm the clevrblend sleepytime does contain L-Theanine. But yeah a more concentrated version with the 5-HTP as @jaded suggests might work if trying the drink doesn’t.
Target has it. Giving it a try, thx to all.
Sleepytime latte helps me fall asleep but moonbrew hot cocoa with magnesium KNOCKS ME OUT. that stuff is amazing.
Enjoyed the 5th episode as well. I especially like how raw the podcasts are.
That was a very nice and funny episode. Hannah is a really interesting person. She changed her life completely at age 18. Apparently, her and her friend, the co-founder, first started with selling teas in a mobile coffee shop. She is really the embodiment of the american dream.
Charles’ racism (Archie too dark- known Black grandmum) and belief on “learning culture” that makes people think that they are better then the station they have been placed in meant Meghan was never going to be respect by him or people like him. “cough” William. There are True Royal warriors that led their countries to greatness not these whiny Men Child
If the rota mock this, they should consider their woo-woo king.
I’ve enjoyed all the episode. I think this one dealt particularly with the emotions and biology of being female and a founder.
I love the podcast. It’s inspiring to listen to.