Get instant access to: "What is My Biological Age And How Can I Test it?"
Hi, my name is Bettina,
I am a journalist, author, speaker, and freedom-loving adventurer.
Originally from Vienna, Austria, I left Europe to conquer America in 1996 and never looked back.
As at ease in a pair of hiking boots as in a pair of high heels, I used to live the life of a busy New York journalist while making time to shear sheep on a remote Australian farm or trek across the southwestern U.S. visiting sacred sites with an Apache Warrior Woman.
I've written for multiple leading European magazines and U.S. media primarily covering Wall Street, politics, and notable celebrities before shifting my focus toward health, wellness, and nature.
In my 40s my life took a fun turn: I had my first child at the age of 44 and subsequently wrote the bestselling book The Joy of Later Motherhood for all women, who come to motherhood a tad bit later in life.
When my boy Hunter was only four years old, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This came totally out of the blue as my lifestyle was already really healthy!... Yes, it really was....
It was then that I realized that my body needs to have an even higher standard and one thing became my Northstar:
My optimal health.
I chose the course of my treatment (surgery but no chemo or radiation) so I could be there for my son for many decades to come.
And I dove headfirst into research on health, longevity, and disease prevention. I put into action what I'd learned. I saw what worked, what did not work - and what's simply too complicated and time-consuming to do when you are a busy mom, entrepreneur, caretaker etc.
My next book My Year of Getting Younger is all about integrating health, science, and fun (!) into our daily lives without being overwhelmed.
Simplify to amplify, that's my motto!
My love for journalism and asking questions has shaped me into who I am today.
Throughout my career, I had the good fortune to talk to and learn from impressive individuals like Adventure Capitalist Jim Rogers, whose multiple journeys around the world landed him in the Guinness Book of World Records. John Mackey was a college dropout when he started Whole Foods and went organic decades before it became fashionable.
Dr. Christiane Northrup wrote what I call the bible for women's health, "Women's Bodies Women's Wisdom", against all pushback from her medical community and even her own editor. NY Times bestselling author Daniel Pink surprised the world with "A Whole New Mind."
Futurist Faith Popcorn coined terms like "Cocooning" or "Cashing Out" before they became household names. My fellow Austrian, the late Horst Rechelbacher, revolutionized the cosmetic industry when he founded AVEDA and became the BIO-neer of holistic beauty.
Ken Fisher has a passion for Redwood trees and showed up to our interview with a briefcase held together by duct tape, which I found charming given the fact that this man is a self-made billionaire. Michael Bloomberg was fired from Salomon Brothers before building his Bloomberg News empire from scratch and becoming one of New York City's most popular mayor in history.
Here's one of the most valuable lessons I've learned in decades of journalism:
Breakthroughs occur when we look at a situation differently than most other people do. A shifted perspective, ever so slightly, is key to success.
This holds true for all our creations, may it be businesses, families, or babies.
These are a few photos from the time I received my certification as a Mental Strength Trainer by the Mentalakademie Europe. We trained in Tuscany, Italy, as well as South Tyrol. During the last week of my training, I found out I was pregnant. I credit this education and its focus on what's possible to be pivotal for my mindset to conceive.
A big part of my Mentorship with women on their paths to - and through - mature motherhood is based on the training I received, the experience I gathered personally as well as through the extensive research for my book and my love for nature and places that enhance our well being!
If, for whatever funny reason you still don't have enough of me, here's the full monty of my bio:
At the beginning of my career I was the speechwriter to a famous Austrian Industrialist – Georg von Mautner Markhof – who was also a member of the Austrian parliament. He was an older wise gentleman, with bushy eyebrows and an impressive collection of pipes. He was constantly cloaked in a cloud of sweet and soft tobacco and I usually smelled him before I saw him turning a corner. Once Georg asked me to research what seemed an impossible amount of information given my deadline of fewer than 30 minutes. “This is impossible!” I blurted out. He looked at me as only a sage could look at the rooky. He warmly, but sternly answered: “Impossible is a word you need to scratch from your vocabulary, Bettina.”
I am forever grateful for this lesson. That mindset gave me a resolute outlook on life.
Journalism became my door to the world. It suited my genuine interest in people and their challenges and victories. I quickly was hired by the biggest media publications in Austria. This allowed me access to people I would otherwise not have met, let alone sit down with to interview. I became fascinated with human nature and studied hundreds of individuals I came in close contact with.
In 1996 I left my home town Vienna (and a bad relationship) to move to New York City to pursue my career as a foreign correspondent and columnist with a focus on finance and business (see the pictures above).
When I arrived in the Big Apple I had no friends; no contacts; no office. I accosted people in the elevator of my apartment building to get at least some social interaction going. My neighbors, Joe and Marilyn, eventually became my surrogate parents. Joe walked me down the aisle at my wedding. He was a dignified stand-in for my beloved father, who had passed five years earlier with me at his side.
For a little while, I was head of communication for a Managed Futures fund in New York City. Money, status, long hours – the works. I tremendously enjoyed the steady and hefty paycheck. In the end, my longing for an independent lifestyle that fits my personality won, and I left the office on Park Avenue.
I´ve raised money. I´ve lost money. I value it for the freedom it offers. And I remember well when I attached my own self-worth to the number of dollars I made each month.
I´ve dedicated more than two decades to the hands-on study of consciousness, self-actualization, and a variety of wisdom traditions. It all started in 2000 when I embarked on an amazing 10-day journey with a Native American warrior woman. This experience showed me how limited my science-oriented and intellectual mind had been until that point and marked the beginning of my personal spiritual quest and a huge growth spurt.
Then came the biggest self-discovery journey I would ever undertake: at age 36 I met my future husband, Joshua, at a marketing seminar in New York City. Eight years later I birthed our son. Now I've turned myself into an entrepreneur. Relationship - parenthood - entrepreneurship ... the holy trifecta of personal growth!
What do I do for fun? I like to hang out in remote places of the world like the peak of the highest mountain of South-East Asia (in Borneo); an island as big as a New York 3-bedroom apartment off the Australian Great Barrier reef; a sheep farm in New Zealand where I was enlisted as a sheep sheerer; an 1860 like Rendezvous (a meeting of settlers and trappers) in the high desert of Nevada; an all-male prison in Oklahoma where the inmates tamed wild mustangs; a hidden place in Bali where the infamous cockfights take place; and Ted Turner’s Flying D ranch in Montana, where buffalos roam free.
I deeply love animals and people.
If you wonder what makes me happy: hand me a camera and turn me loose in a part of the world I’ve not been to before. For where to send cameras and tickets, please email me and I’ll hook you up!
With a big smile,
Bettina
