Chai Tea with Nina D.

How Sweet Lorens Went From a Cute Business Idea to a $120M Brand

What if getting cancer at 22 ended up changing your entire life – and was the catalyst building a $120M company? Loren Castle was fresh out of college when she was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin's lymphoma. During treatment, she became obsessed with nutrition and realized something was missing from grocery shelves: cookie dough made with clean ingredients that still tasted amazing. With just $25,000, a toaster oven, and a suitcase full of samples, she started Sweet Loren's from her tiny New York City apartment. With passion, grit, intuition, and a mission to make clean, simple ingredients accessible to everyone, Loren persevered and built a brand that, in many ways, is just getting started Today, Sweet Loren's is the #1 natural refrigerated cookie dough brand in America, generating over $120 million annually and sold in more than 35,000 stores including Whole Foods Market, Target, Kroger, and Publix. In this episode, Nina sits down with Loren for an honest conversation about surviving cancer, handling grief, building without investors, staying profitable, balancing motherhood, and proving everyone wrong. Loren opens up about: * How cancer led to the idea for Sweet Loren's * Starting a food company from a studio apartment * Landing Whole Foods with no experience * Why she turned down Shark Tank * Losing her mom while launching the business * Building a profitable company without raising money * The rejection that fueled her success * Balancing entrepreneurship, motherhood, and pregnancy If you're interested in entrepreneurship, business stories, startups, food brands, women founders, mindset, or building a company from scratch, this episode is packed with insights and motivation. Follow Sweet Lorens: Instagram: @sweetlorens [https://www.instagram.com/sweetlorens/?hl=en] TikTok: @sweetlorens [https://www.tiktok.com/@sweetlorens] Follow Nina: Instagram: / Ninapaldixon [https://www.instagram.com/ninapaldixon/] TikTok: / ninapaldixon [https://www.tiktok.com/@ninapaldixon?lang=en] Threads: / ninapaldixon [https://www.threads.com/@ninapaldixon]

High-Performer Mindset: Fix Your Attention Span. Fix your Life.

What if the reason you can't finish a task, stay present in a conversation, or feel truly rested… isn't a diagnosis — it's a habit? In this episode, I'm getting real about something that's quietly affecting all of us: a fractured attention span. Not because we're lazy, unmotivated, or broken, but because modern life has literally rewired our brains to crave constant stimulation. And most of us don't even realize it's happening. From the neuroscience behind your prefrontal cortex, to why the guy who invented infinite scroll regrets it, to the 23-minute reset cost of a single distraction. This episode breaks down exactly what's stealing your focus, your creativity, your confidence, and your relationships. And more importantly? How to take it all back. 💡 What You'll Learn: ✅ Why your attention span isn't broken; it's just been trained wrong ✅ The science behind your brain's CEO (and why it needs boredom) ✅ Why it takes 23 minutes to refocus after one distraction ✅ How a fractured attention span is quietly destroying your relationships ✅ Why stillness is a superpower, especially for high-achieving women ✅ The connection between focus and confidence you've never heard before ✅ How to time block, protect your mornings, and design your environment ✅ The YouTube focus music trick that changed how I work ✅ How to rebuild your attention span starting today — no diagnosis needed Your attention was not always like this. It was trained. And it can be retrained. If this hit home, LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and COMMENT one thing you're doing today to reclaim your focus. 🎥 Watch on YouTube 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts 📱 Watch on Spotify Follow @NinaPalDixon & @ChaiTeaWithNinaD for daily mindset shifts.

Why You Feel Sick When Every Test Says You're Healthy | Dr. Chan on Traditional Chinese Medicine

Follow Nina Dixon & CTND on Instagram for BTS + Daily Takeaways https://www.instagram.com/ninapaldixon/ https://www.instagram.com/chaiteawithninad/ She grew up in Hong Kong, studied neuroscience in the West, and had every door open in front of her. Then she walked away from all of it to practice medicine that's 3,000 years old. Dr. Felice Chan is a licensed Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncturist based in Los Angeles. She trained for five years post-grad, spent years inside Western hospital systems doing clinical research, and had her medical school applications ready to go. What she saw in those hospitals, and what happened to her own body, changed everything. In this episode, Dr. Chan breaks down what Western medicine is missing, why your labs can come back "normal" while your body is screaming otherwise, and what 3,000 years of healing wisdom understands about the female body that modern medicine is only beginning to prove. This is not a woo-woo wellness episode. This is a doctor who studied both worlds and chose the one that actually answers the question: why. Follow Dr. Felice Chan: https://www.instagram.com/drfelicechan/ https://www.instagram.com/feliceacupuncture/ https://www.instagram.com/moonbow_skin/ 💡 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ✅ Why your anger, grief, and anxiety aren't just emotions; they're physical events happening inside specific organs right now ✅ What a healthy cycle is actually supposed to feel like, and the signs yours is telling you something deeper is off ✅ Why so many women are bloated, exhausted, and hormonally wrecked, and the three things to change first ✅ How acupuncture actually affects your hormones (the mechanism, explained simply) ✅ What TCM understands about fertility and postpartum that Western medicine never tells you ✅ The one thing she'd tell every woman to do tomorrow to start regulating her nervous system This episode was filmed at a private residence in the hills in Los Angeles, hosted by The Maimon Group. Learn more at themaimongroup.com. 🔔 Subscribe for more elevated conversations: https://www.youtube.com/@ChaiTeawithNinaD 💻 Watch on YouTube 📱 Watch on Spotify 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts

Stop Postponing Happiness. Train Your Brain to Feel Joy Today.

Follow Nina Dixon & CTND on Instagram for BTS + Daily Takeaways https://www.instagram.com/ninapaldixon/ https://www.instagram.com/chaiteawithninad/ Feeling like "I'll be happy when…"? You're working hard, hitting goals, planning the next big thing, but happiness still feels just out of reach. In this episode, Nina peels back why we wait for joy, how overthinking hijacks our mood, what the latest science says about happiness and the brain, and the simple daily non-negotiables that transformed her life. She also shares a personal story about her late father, surprising results from a her Instagram happiness poll, lessons from people in their 60s–90s, and the science that proves practiced positivity protects your brain. What you'll learn: - Why happiness is a skill you must practice (not a lucky event!) - How to stop deferring joy to "someday" - Nina's non-negotiable morning + bedtime routine (what she actually does) - Time-blocking, recovery, and tiny rituals that anchor pleasure - Neuroplasticity + the 2022 Nature Aging study linking positivity to less cognitive decline - A vulnerable story about Nina's father and the lessons she learned from her grandparents If you've ever thought "I'll be happy when…," hit play – this one's for you!

How She Got Into Erewhon and Goop's Gift Guide With $0 in Marketing

Follow Nina Dixon & CTND on Instagram for BTS + Daily Takeaways https://www.instagram.com/ninapaldixon/ https://www.instagram.com/chaiteawithninad/ She started with 70 dates in her freezer and Amazon craft boxes with a sticker slapped on top. One year later, Gabriella Labi's company Gato Dates is on Goop's gift guide, stocked at Erewhon, and in hundreds of stores across the country. Kristin Cavallari is obsessed. Nina is obsessed. And Gabi is still answering every single DM herself. But this isn't just a brand story. It's the story of a woman who spent a decade bouncing through entertainment, real estate, Paris, and Pilates — not lost, but quietly building the foundation for something she couldn't name yet. Until her body broke down and a doctor asked the right questions. Until she started making dates in her kitchen just to have a dessert she could actually eat. Until her best friend said: this should be a business. One month later, they were at a farmer's market with no plan and no packaging. They sold out in three hours and made $1,500. They didn't know they were building a company. Now they can't keep Gato Dates on the shelves. This is the honest, unglamorous, deeply personal founder story you rarely get to hear — before the profile piece, before the acquisition, before the world catches up. 💡 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN ✅ Why launching before you're ready is the only way to actually get ready ✅ How a "scattered" career path can be the ultimate training ground ✅ The zero-dollar marketing strategy that got Gato Dates into Erewhon and onto Goop's gift guide ✅ What building a wellness brand actually does to your own wellness ✅ How to celebrate the wins so the lows don't swallow you whole Follow Gato Dates on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/gato_dates/ This episode was filmed at a private residence in the hills in Los Angeles, hosted by The Maimon Group. Learn more at themaimongroup.com. 🔔 Subscribe for more elevated conversations: https://www.youtube.com/@ChaiTeawithNinaD 💻 Watch on YouTube 📱 Watch on Spotify 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts