Listening to Stones: A Journey with Becca Kannapells | E072
In this episode of Wildly Optimized Wellness, Toréa Rodriguez is joined by Becca Kannapell, the co-founder of Pound Jewelry. Becca’s passion for stones, crystals, and the natural world sparks a fascinating discussion about the energetic properties of minerals and their role in healing. Together, they explore how Pound Jewelry sources its materials ethically and the significance of sacred geometry in their designs. This episode is perfect for listeners curious about the deeper connection between nature and wellness, as Becca and Toréa reveal the powerful bond between the natural world and personal transformation.
In This Episode
00:00 - Listening to Stones: A Journey with Becca Kannapell
04:24 - The Birth of Pound Jewelry
07:04 - Childhood Connection to Crystals
10:04 - Sacred Geometry in Nature
19:02 - Feeling the Energy of Different Places
26:53 - Healing with Crystals
34:48 - Reconnecting with Nature
42:30 - Upcoming Projects for Pound Jewelry
45:53 - Where to Find Pound Jewelry
Resources Mentioned
Intuitive Astrology Readings: Learn more about Becca’s astrology sessions and how they combine her love of crystals and symbols.
Connect with Toréa
Website: https://www.torearodriguez.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/torearodriguez/
Threads:https://www.threads.net/@torearodriguez
Transcript
Toréa Rodriguez 00:00
Welcome to the Wildly Optimized Wellness. I am your host Toréa Rodriguez, and I've had a lifelong fascination with the natural world, and its impact on our well being. For over a decade, my work as a functional practitioner has been exploring how our relationship to our environment, to our thoughts, beliefs and emotions can have a profound impact on our physical and mental wellness. And because of that neurology, and brain based rewiring is a core focus of my practice. I am passionate about helping people not only feel better, but actually achieve that vibrant, no holds barred version of themselves. They've been missing for a long time, and how we actually get there. Well, that is what this show is all about. Please keep in mind that this podcast is created for educational purposes only and should never be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis or treatment. And if you liked what you hear today, I would love it. If you would leave a review, hit that follow button or share it with a friend. Because we never know how much we can impact others when we do. Let's start today's adventure, shall we?
Toréa Rodriguez 01:10
So I was introduced to Becca through a friend of mine, and this friend in particular, she and I would spend time hiking together in the wilderness areas of Central Oregon, and she's got this deep connection to the land and the natural world. And then one day, I noticed this gorgeous stone adorning her neck, and I asked her where she got it. And that is how I was introduced to today's guest, Becca canipel, and also her work with stones at pound jewelry. Now I have to admit, I've long since loved rocks. I am that person that is almost always drawn to a particular stone on a hike or a trip. I'll pick it up, I'll feel it, I'll look at it, maybe even I'll wash it in the stream to see what it looks like with water on it. And some I leave behind where I found them, and some end up taking a rod in my pocket and join me for a little journey. So when I met Becca and saw how she works with stones, there was an immediate attraction. Now Becca Kannapell, she is an astrologer, a movement and occupational therapist, and she's the founder of pound jewelry, and her work is rooted in embodiment, studies, alchemical, linguistics, cardomancy and crystallography, and as co founder of pound jewelry, she, along with her mom and sister, make sacred pilgrimages to source stones that are transformed into wearable art and sacred adornments. She believes the stones carry meaning, reflected talismans of our own divinity, intuition and wisdom. What's interesting in how they source their stones is that they are oftentimes directly working with the people who find them in the ground, not from middle market providers. So they're able to assure that the stones are being sourced in a sustainable fashion. Her sought after astrology readings draw from the lost language of symbology embedded in the constellating stars and the Earth's crystalline floor to help her clients alchemize personal obstacles, transmute pain into power, and ultimately, remember why they came into this life. So join us as Becca and I dig into and geek out about stones and rocks. Here we go.
Toréa Rodriguez 01:10
So welcome back, everybody to the Wildly Optimized Wellness and today we get to talk with a wonderful woman who is part owner, co owner. It's a family business. Becca Kannapell from pound jewelry. Becca, welcome to the podcast.
Toréa Rodriguez 03:05
Yeah, so I discovered you through your jewelry business, through pound jewelry. That's how I got introduced to you. I was introduced to you and your presence through a mutual friend of ours. And I just fell in love with the type of jewels that you do and the type of stones that are there, and I just felt really attracted to that, and started ordering some pieces, and I just love them so much. So I'd love for you to share a little bit about the business itself, and then we're gonna get into the relationship of you in the outdoor world with this love of stones that you have. So tell me a little bit about your business,
Becca Kannapell 04:24
Beautiful. Well, I'm so glad to be here. Thank you so much for having me and I and I'm, yeah, I love the way that we came into contact, because it was through a mutual friend. And then you also did a reading with me. And then we found out that we're both Gemini sun, Virgo rising, and Scorpio moon, which is just kind of like it's that's very rare. So I feel like, through our love of stones, like and there's a lot encoded, I think, in the astrological blueprint that we both share, that that that sort of pulls us into the outdoors and and and that the outdoors and. Rocks and the stones and the the soil and the dirt, they call to us. So I love, I love the way in which we came connected. We became connected and and the piece is called to you. And that's kind of how the business started, to be honest, it's like I was working as a full time occupational therapist in New York City. I went home to visit my mom. She lived in St Louis at the time. She still does now. I do too. I saw a necklace she had made for us when we were really young, for my sister and I, and I fell in love with it, again, enchanted by it, sparked by it, something lit up inside of me that hadn't been lit up in a while. And I told her on the spot, it was about 12 years ago that we were going to start a jewelry business. And she thought I was nuts. And then I started bringing some of her pieces to New York and started selling them. And the way in which the business took off, it was very organic. We none of us had any any entrepreneurial skills. We had no business background. We had no formal training in in anything that is related to pound jewelry and and people who were purchasing the pieces started to say exactly what you said. They were magnetized by them. They were called to them when they they were attracted by them. They felt them. They felt their energy. They loved the symbolism behind the pieces and the stories they told. And then they started, customers started coming to us and saying, like, what, what is in these things that is having me have these incredibly synchronistic experiences, or I felt this healing power from this one, or I used it as a talisman during this episode of my life, and we started really, that's when I really started delving into the healing benefits of stones and crystals and minerals. Was through feedback of people who are wearing them.
Toréa Rodriguez 07:04
That's amazing. And as a child, were you ever drawn to rocks?
Becca Kannapell 07:10
Yes, I mean, that was my thing. I was a crystal girl. I named, I think I was six years old. We got a cat that was a calico. I named her crystal. She had a brother that was a black cat, and I named him Onyx. So the you know, the seed was there, and treasures and jewels and grindstones were part of my life, like I collected them. I treasured them. My mom is a very sparkly human. Most of her clothing growing up had some sort of bedazzlement to it, and, and so, yeah, it was very much a part of my essence.
Toréa Rodriguez 07:59
Yeah. Yeah. And I'm curious, when you were younger and you had this affinity for stones and this curiosity around different jewels and gems and crystals and all of those things, did you ever go through a phase where you kind of like, that's kind of who like, weird. I'm not gonna be into that. Did you go through that too?
Becca Kannapell 08:25
I did, yeah. I mean, it's, it's interesting, because it's so connected to the phases and cycles of life, I think that I went through, and I also really went through a rebellious phase where I rejected everything that I loved as a child, I rejected everything that my mom represented, and she's very, very, very colorful. She's been wearing turquoise blue nails since she was 17, and it's still that way. And so it simple up your mom, yeah. So, so it's like I went through a beige phase, you know? And I went through my tomboy phase, where I really, I went through so many phases, but it was like, if it wasn't cool or hip, I really had a strong desire to fit in and be liked by everybody, and again, at various phases, and rejected all of my uniqueness. And so anything that wasn't kind of in or if it was too weird or too out there, I would put it away, but it, it was like, I was always drawn to it. I just got very scientific. I got very practical for a period of time. And I was like, I don't, you know, I don't need frivolous things that don't really matter, and then that, you know, to the 360 I mean, even when we started the company, it was like very we were told by, we were mentored by people who are in the fashion world, don't get super woowoo like, I know these people are coming to you saying they have these magical experiences with your pieces, but don't, don't talk about that, because that's not get you're not going. To make it. And I was very much like,
Toréa Rodriguez 10:02
Oh. That's interesting advice.
Becca Kannapell 10:04
Yeah. I was like, Okay, we won't. But then that wasn't, you know, the direction of pound. Pound has her own heartbeat and her own essence and her own, you know, she leads us and, and she, yeah, she she has her own she's like her own entity. And so that was what direction she was leading us. And so we just followed. And in the end, it was like we just allowed it to be what it was. And come to find out, you know, these quote, unquote, inanimate objects are since time immemorial. You know, since the beginning of time, have served as talismans and representations of life force and animacy and things, you know, things that have powers and rocks and stones been here millions and millions of years longer than we have, and they kind of know what they're doing. Nature knows what it's doing, and so came to have a lot of reverence for them, instead of putting them away and pretending that I didn't hear their stories.
Toréa Rodriguez 11:17
Yeah, it's quite interesting. I mean, you had already mentioned, right? We shared these astrological signs in our charts, and I don't do a lot of astrology. I think you were the very first person to do an official reading. For me, I've done human design, so I understand my human design stuff, and I've become more and more fascinated by it, but to meet somebody who has those three things that are identical is, as you said, really, really rare, rare. And so what I think is really fascinating about your story is that it does parallel mine. So, you know, I grew up as a single child and grew up on a ranch in Colorado, and I had a lot of time to spend by myself outside and get curious about nature and the outdoors and rocks were always a part of that, but I never really understood my attraction to it, and so I just wanted to share with you this guy right Here, this Rose Quartz was found on our land, and this is something that I found when I was exploring, and it's one that I keep. It's one of my most cherished possessions, because it just reminds me of that time when I was a child. And so I've always had this stone with me. And, you know, I think early on as a child, there were a lot of times where I felt like nature was raising me, and I was having a conversation with the trees and the grass and the butterflies and the courts that I'm finding in the ground and the sand on the river edge, and all of these different relationships that I Used to have as a child, and then later on, of course, growing up, getting into high school, where all of a sudden it's like, well, it's just a rock Why do you have a rock collection? That's so weird, you know? So it was one of those things that I just like pushed off. But then I have a lot of friends who I enjoy time in the outdoors with where we're constantly joking that we will go camping and we come back with bones and feathers and rocks and all these things. And I try to be very selective and careful, like I'm not one of those collectors that is out there, like making the beach completely pristine by collecting all the shells for me, like I'm not that person, but you know, I will find something in the ground, like the place that I am at right now I'm in Santa Cruz, California. We found these guys. Wow, there's right behind our house is a limestone quarry. So this is crystalline limestone. Oh, my God, which is just so amazing. And I mean to most people, this is a rock, right? Yeah, this is just a rock, but I just love the shapes that are coming out of this rock. Yes, it's like cubic. It is very cubic, yeah, which was one of my questions that I had for you, with these different crystals and these different rocks and stones and everything else. Have you noticed that there is special geometry that comes with certain crystals or certain types of rocks that are also kind of a crossover. A lot of people talk about sacred geometry, right? But there is a crossover with this geometry. We see geometry in nature all the time. Just look at a beehive and the hexagon shapes in the comb. You know? We see this kind of geometry all the time in nature. And so are you do you see that? You work with more stones than I do. So I'm curious what you noticed about the geometry and the crystalline structures.
Becca Kannapell 15:08
Yeah, I mean, and it depends it is so, um, yeah, there are so many different formations. They they can be hexagonal, they can be, um, like, cubic, like the one that you have. And so much of it depends on, like, what the where they're growing, what the geology is, what the water, you know, what, what the water to soil ratio is. And then from an internal structure, you know, like from an atomic level, they all form these really incredible, intricate patterns, which is then obviously revealed on an external layer, like that you can see with your naked eye, but they do hold these per perfectly symmetrical, especially, like on atomic level, not especially, but quartz is a big one, where it's just so atomically structured into complete perfection that allows energy to flow directly in and out, which is why crystal quartz, for instance, is used in computers and watches and cell phones, because it allows energy to flow uninterrupted. And then there's also sacred geometry to the way some people cut and polish crystals as well, like the Vogel crystal, the way that they the way that he striated and faceted the crystal quartz allowed for amplified energy to flow in and out, which is scientifically measured a lot of times. Tourmalines also form in these kind of cubic arrays. They are an amazing recycler, recycler of energy. They take in negative energy and negative ions, and they they recycle them basically and trend re, recycle them into usable positive energy. But they also block EMFs, and that's why they are known to be incredible psychic protectors and protectors of our energy, because they literally, physically, scientifically, are proven to do so and so, yeah, there is a secret geometry. I mean, I notice it. I've studied it more on an internal lattice structure versus external. But you just know when you're when you see one a lot of Ruby Star Sapphires, for instance, have these intricate, almost like striations that feel like coded but they are in these, I mean, in a wide array of different patterns, but patterns that kind of call to you, some stones will have these things called record keepers, that are these little triangles, and they're known to be carry information from, you know, ancient civilizations even. And they like record things. They are like mini tuning for recording instruments. So I love that you brought forward that question, because sacred geometry is in everything. It's in the earth. It's in the magnetic fields. It's definitely in the crystals. And then it is amplified by where the minerals are sourced and found, and how long they've been growing. And so I love, I really love learning about, like, even how you said you have this limestone that's been crystallized. And here in St Louis is, like, one of the limestone mineral capitals of the country. There's a lot of limestone in the land here. And then I look to that, just as people look to lay lines and how they magnetically are connected to other areas of the planet. And I see that the stones and how they connect one piece of land to another piece of land, and that those areas are communicating with each other through the minerals.
Toréa Rodriguez 19:02
Yeah, and I think that that is one of the areas where I first started to recognize that different rocks have different energy, like I could get a different feel. So when I'd be out in the granite boulders of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, that's a different feel than when I am in Central Oregon and I'm next to volcanic rock right where there's a lot of onyx and obsidian that are sitting there. And it's a very different feeling that I get from a place, and for the longest time, I've never really been able to describe into words, or really understand how to communicate to people that a place gives me a feeling, and I think I now understand now as I'm older and as I'm studying more of frequencies and frequency medicine and quantum physics and stuff. Starting to understand the relationship between all of these different things, that we're getting that feeling of a place because we're feeling the frequency of the rocks and the earth that are underneath us, yes, at the time, absolutely, not to mention all the mycelium that's like layered on top of that too, but there is that piece of it. It is communicating that kind of energy and that feeling. And not a lot of people really notice something like that, but I've always been very sensitive to it, and now I kind of understand why I'm a rock collector, basically.
Becca Kannapell 20:38
And yeah, so lover of the outdoors and so and the mycelial webs and the plants and so. And they're also, it's, it's such a similar, you know, way of communicating with the natural world and developing relationships with the natural world, be it a crystal, a rock, a plant, you know, a crop, a flower. What an essence a tree. It's they're all communicating to us. And I definitely what, what came forward when you were just speaking about the obsidian, an example that feels really that just like rose up as you were speaking, was Mount Shasta, for example, is known as the Root Chakra of the planet. And the minerals that are really prevalent there are obsidian, root chakra, volcanic, very dark and and deep, but reflective mirror as well. And then the Serpentine, which is the serpent, sits at the base of the spine, if you think of it that way. And then pyrite, which is very dense and known as fool's gold, but is very connected to, I believe, connects root to the solar plexus. So there are these minerals that form the Root Chakra of the planet, the base of this mountain, or in areas surrounding that, all those minerals that are very prevalent there are in different energetic ways, connected to the root and feeling that stability and that support and That foundation in ourselves, so that the rest of the chakras can kind of open and align, but it starts at the root, right? So I love to use a mineral or to look and develop symbolic relationships with them. That makes sense to me, and that's part of my way finding I think is like you're saying, I'm called to them. I feel them, I learn about them. I'm more connected to myself. I understand myself better, and I can trust myself that, that I'm taking this particular one home for a reason. This one is calling to me, but I'm you're also calling to the stone. So it's like we are changed by the stones, and I believe that the stones are changed by us too, because maybe that stone needed to move, and you listened right? You're not hoarding them like you said. You're not extractively taking every single one and keeping them for yourself. You're and the one that you've had since your child, the rose quartz, you said, in a way, you were raised by the outdoors, and the rose is the mother and the heart and the love and that similar energy to the wand you just ordered on Lionsgate, but in a more, maybe a mature way with the wand, but same basic vibration and energy of this mother and love and sweetness and nurturing and nourishment, and that's the vibration of them, you know.
Toréa Rodriguez 24:08
Yeah, yeah. And I think it's interesting, because a lot of people do feel like they have been able to use stones or whatever it is that they're using feathers stones in healing rituals, and this is where it gets a little bit Woo, right? Is starting to understand, well, what is that relationship? And I think for me, one of the ways that I can most easily describe what that means, at least this is my interpretation, is that when I sit with a stone, so if I pick up the Onyx right, and I sit with a stone and I hold it in my hand, I allow myself to become quiet, the subconscious is going to allow certain new thoughts to come through that wouldn't normally come through. I. Yeah, and so when I can listen to my subconscious in that way, whether it's new thoughts, and I'm an auditory person, so a lot of times I am literally listening to messages come into my head, as opposed to new ideas or, you know, whatever. That's how these stones have worked with me, as being able for me to start to have memories resurface, or new thoughts come forward, for me to understand, you know, what might be the subconscious belief that is holding me back, or what is the belief that I have about my body, or whatever that happens to be? That's how I end up working with these stones, and so, you know, to be able to get a necklace of yours and be able to wear it, there's a little bit of that ritualistic when I get dressed, of like, oh, what kind of energy Am I trying to cultivate today? What am I really trying to communicate today? Who am I working with on my client roster today? And what kind of messages do I want to allow to come through me? And sometimes I will pick a stone or a necklace or whatever, because of that feeling of it. And for a lot of people who have been listening to me on this podcast for a long time, I don't normally talk about this kind of stuff. So this is definitely in the coming out, I'm the weird person that listens to rocks and trees, then they knew I'd listen to trees, though, you know that kind of thing, but this is, this is definitely one of those things that I've started to recognize that this is an aspect of the natural world that can work in so Many wonderful ways to help us balance out our physical body and our mental body and really allow us to do that kind of healing and have that kind of wellness when we pay attention to and get quiet enough to listen.
Becca Kannapell 26:53
Yes, yes, absolutely. And it's so it's so ancient, you know, and this is the part where, for a long while I worked in a hospital full time, you know, when I was starting this company. And so the fact that I was, you know, I was, I was soaked deep into the medical, Western medical field. And I still, I still see patients, not full time and not in the hospital, but on a home basis. And all this to say, when I turned 30, I was working in the hospital, and I started developing medical physical symptoms of unwellness, and I was not well. And I was really lucky at the time, because I worked in hospital, and I had great health care, and I just went from doctor to doctor to doctor to doctor to try to figure out where are these symptoms coming from. And I was taking all sorts of different medicines and getting all these tests done, and I had all these undiagnosable symptoms on and on, it went for over a year. And that was around the time we started the jewelry company. And that was around the time I started seeking assistance from um, from Chinese medicine, from all sorts of non traditional homeopathic, naturopathic, any, any place that I could find relief. Started going to acupuncture, all kinds of different energy healing. My friend had just gotten done with shaman school out in Peru. I was trying all sorts of things that I did not believe in I did not believe in them to work. I was in the hospital like, this is what works, and that wasn't working for me, and the energy healing was starting to work for me, and wearing crystals and putting them on my body and believing and like feeling beauty and being surrounded by beauty and being having a creative spark reignited and being allowing myself, maybe this was it. I actually never thought of this before, but maybe allowing myself to go back to my childhood, deepest joy of being around beautiful, sparkly things was part of my healing. I don't know there were a lot of things that happened that I won't get into because it would take three days, but it's like I I realized throughout that journey that there were a lot of people saying that is so Woo, you know, and what is even going on with you that were from the more Western mindset, Western medical mindset, and yet, I came to remember that the practices that. Were working for me, were way came, way before Western medicine came so talking to rocks, talking to trees, listening to the earth, you know, using ritual, using energy, healing, using feathers, using sage, clearing your vibrations, clearing your space, getting the lymph flowing by different kinds of movement. I mean, that was way before. And so I feel as if it is just a remembering. And as we remember that this was always inside of us and our ancestors, ancestors, ancestors, all down the line, you know, were educated and very aligned with trusting that the Earth had wisdom and that our bodies had wisdom, and that those to allowing the communication between the two could really help us live, you know, in a more natural and well way, is something that I'm returning to time and time again, even when I really want, even though a lot of times I do want, and I have taken the pill, you know, the quick fix pill, because sometimes we need that. And I think everything is a balance. But I do believe that what you said, what you were saying, intention, setting for your day, ritualizing what you're putting on to your body and your skin. These are all things that we know make us feel better, like we just know that they do, and.
Toréa Rodriguez 31:54
There's this innate knowing that children have. I'm very fascinated with the child mind right now, and I don't have children, but I watch my friends children, and there is this innate knowing, this innate connection that they have. They go outside to play, and they know they know what's going on. They know how to ground themselves by kicking their shoes off and running in the grass. They know how to, you know, spend time with bees and not get stung. You know, it's, it's, we end up conditioning ourselves to become what I believe is disconnected from nature. I think a lot of the chronic illness epidemic that we are seeing has a lot to do with the fact that we have so disconnected ourselves from nature. There are a lot of people who don't know where a carrot comes from. You know it there's so much disconnection. And I think part of that, and part of the reason why I work with people in nature and work with them in person and take them out into natural spaces, is because when they're there, they're just like, oh, oh, I get it now I get this connection that we have. Did you ever read when you were young the story about Heidi, the Swiss girl. There's this really cool I used to read this as a little girl. It's a children's tale, and her name is Heidi, and she grew up in the Swiss Alps, so you can just imagine, you know, The Sound of Music kind of thing she was skipping through the meadows, and something happens to her parents, and she has to go live with her grandparents in the city, and so she moves to the city, and she's like, seven years old or something, but she gets very, very sick, like very sick in the city, and then something later happens in the book, and she somehow ends up back in the mountains in Switzerland, and she heals again, and she's vibrant again. And I used to read this when I was little, and when I grew up and went to college and was living in an area in Silicon Valley that was more concrete than nature, I got autoimmune disease, and I got sick, and the first thing that came to me was, oh, Heidi. Is this a Heidi thing, you know? And so we ended up moving to a place that we could be in a more natural environment or have better access to nature and natural environments, and that's how I did a lot of my healing and a lot of remission. So it's just fascinating that you and I both are understanding that there is large disconnection in our modern society, and this remembering process is a lot of what is healing to people
Becca Kannapell 34:48
Yes and it's spreading. It's like, I mean, I just, you know, at least in the crowds I've been running in, it's just that. Is the jam, and that is the vibe. And I went through a period a few months ago, I started getting, like, really bad anxiety. I've always struggled with anxiety since I can remember, but really bad anxiety, like, almost immobilizing, and I just would have to get outside. Like, I just go outside, I'd go on a walk, and even if it was just sitting outside for a few minutes, and everyone, you know, my friends, how are you doing when I'm outside? I'm okay when I come back inside, the anxiety starts rising again. It's like, I was like, do I have to just like, get a tent and live outside? But it is. It's getting louder, like for me as I maybe am becoming more sensitive as I'm getting older, as I realize this connection, and I think all it takes is getting out there. It's, it's, it's similar to having a particular diet and growing up on processed foods, as I did, and fast food and and and all of that, and then shifting your diet into more nutritious, wholesome, whole, organic and natural foods, and noticing the difference. But you don't know until you do it. You know until you make that shift. And it's the same with the connection with nature. Now, when I go on to nature, I feel like I'm on drugs, kind of I'm just like, feel the vibration of nature so much more strongly and powerfully, because I put myself in that environment more often, and then can see and feel the contrast and and, yeah, it's just, it's people. People are really remembering, I think there was a large, long period of time when a lot of us just this was how life was. You just grow up this way, and, you know, concrete jungle, and that's the way it is, and now it's just a lot of awakening and arising of consciousness and getting back to the root of how our bodies are meant to live in harmony with nature, taking, taking the lead from nature, you know, listening, watching, learning, yeah.
Toréa Rodriguez 37:14
One of my favorite things to follow on is biomimicry science. So there's all of these different types of people that are innovating using biomimicry, and I think that's an amazing thing to do, like, let's start really learning from nature. Let's start trying to figure out, how can we utilize these aspects of nature into our everyday environment? There's a company that's making furniture out of mycelium. And I'm just like, oh my gosh, that would be amazing. We can have furniture that's mushrooms. How cool is that? You know? So instead of plastic furniture, we can actually have mycelial furniture. I don't know how well it lasts. I'm sure they'll figure that out. But, you know, it's just so cool to start seeing these, these areas where we're starting to really lean towards nature as a teacher, as opposed to something that needs to be conquered, which has been the paradigm of humanity for a very long time.
Becca Kannapell 38:13
Yes, I totally agree. I totally agree. It's a beautiful thing too. Yeah, to want to be I want to be a part of it you know
Toréa Rodriguez 38:22
Exactly, exactly. Is there anything else that you would love for listeners to know about you, or pound? Is there anything coming up for pound, like, what's going on in the future for you?
Becca Kannapell 38:36
Oh Pound is a company that was formed with me and my mom and my sister. And just for those of you who are new to pound and we started it about 12 years ago, astrologically, we are in our Jupiter return, which is.
Toréa Rodriguez 38:51
Tell me what that is, in layman's terms, because every time somebody says stuff like that, I'm just kind of like, I don't know what you're talking about. Those are acronyms to me in my brain.
Becca Kannapell 39:02
So Jupiter, Jupiter moves through each sign for about a year, and there are 12 signs. So there are 12 signs of the zodiac, right, like Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc. And 12 years ago, we started the business in Jupiter, which is a planet of bigness and abundance and good luck and storytelling and truth and wisdom, and wants to learn more and justice all sorts of things, has returned to the place it was when we birthed pound so that basically means there are a lot of energies, big energies from the origin of our beginning as a company, the origin of pound, that are reignited right now. And so it feels like we're in a cycle, almost, of returning. To the beginning point, reevaluating what is working and what hasn't worked in what direction want to go and how much we've evolved, and then planting some new seeds for how to continue forward. But we source everything. We source almost every single stone by hand. We intuitively design everything. In my mother's home in St Louis, Missouri, we can make every piece I channel the story of the story that the stones are saying, what the energies of them are, where they come from. Most of them are, all of them are ethically sourced, and we know most of the family units where they come from, or like the mines where they come from. And so that's a little bit about our business and how we have worked. And as I said, it's this kind of time of returning back to how we started with we started off with this incredible excitement that anything was possible. And then, as anyone who's listening to this may know, running a business brings forth lots of things that you could not have foreseen. Parts of it are very unsavory. Parts of it are incredibly delicious and amazing. And so there is, but everything moves in cycles and and there was a period of time and I got really comfortable was like, well, it'll always be like this, and it's not proving to always be like it was. And so I'm sort of, we are recalibrating how we want to move forward what is sustainable for us and what is sustainable for the way in which we source and create and but the at the core our love for creating these pieces and the way in which people receive them and utilize them as these talismans and pieces to mark moments of transformation in their lives. Has been one of the greatest gifts to to witness. Yeah, want to continue doing that.
Toréa Rodriguez 42:17
That's super cool. That's super cool. Well, we're very excited. I also understand, because before we hit recording, you were telling me that there is a podcast in the works. Is that true?
Becca Kannapell 42:30
Yes, yes because my mom is very vocal, very fun, she is very jupiterian, that that planet of bigness and jovialness and fun and joy and abundance. She is that kind of energy, and people are very drawn to her, and I thought it would be really fun to start a podcast with her and my sister telling some of the inner workings of what it's like to be in a family of women who run a business together, very fun, many highs and many lows, and just being really Yeah, just being really candid and authentic with the process, and then talking about what it's like. My mom did not grow up in this field of consciousness and talking about Lion's Gate and astrology and crystal healing, and I'm obsessed with it, and so how I have affected her and my sister's energy, how she's affected my mother, and how my sister and I have affected each other, and how all of our paths have woven into new webs because of you know each other. So I would love to share that with people who are interested in hearing weaving in some astrology. And then my mom, just when she talks, just like some weird stuff comes out, some fun stuff comes out. She's very funny. She's very unabashedly herself. Yeah, and it's refreshing. So I thought
Toréa Rodriguez 44:17
Well we've seen snippets of this on social media for pound, and I've just fallen in love with it, so I'm excited for the podcast. I think it's going to be refreshing. So many people are looking for authenticity, transparency behind the scenes, like let me see the unpolished rawness, as opposed to the polished rawness, which is very fascinating, because I look at your pieces, and yes, some of them are shaped and polished, but not all of them are shaped and polished. And I think that's a beauty that you present forward, because that is something that really sets your company apart. You know, there's I have. A quartz crystal piece that is polished and very, you know, round on the edges, and it's okay, it's not near the character that this one is, right? And so this is what I'm drawn to. And so I love that you're you're presenting that, and you're also giving us this inside peek on to the podcast. So that's awesome.
Becca Kannapell 45:22
Yes, unpolished and raw, though, those are the words, thank you for saying.
Toréa Rodriguez 45:27
You're welcome. You're welcome. Do you have a name for the podcast yet?
Becca Kannapell 45:31
Um, it's in the works, but it's gonna have something to do with breaking the chain.
Toréa Rodriguez 45:37
Ah, okay, cool. Very cool. I was gonna say unpolished and raw would be a kind of cool podcast name.
Becca Kannapell 45:43
That is cool, that is a cool I love that.
Toréa Rodriguez 45:48
Actually put it in the hat, and we'll see how it shakes out. Where can people find you? Where can people find pound?
Becca Kannapell 45:53
So people can find us? On Instagram, pound jewelry, P, o, u, n, d, and then we have a website, pound jewelry.com and that's where we do most of our sharing and selling, P, o, u, n, d, J, E, W, E, L, R, Y, just like it sounds. And then on pound jewelry's website, um, on the menu bar, there's also a link to do intuitive astrology sessions with me, which I link in the I studied intuitive astrology with Virginia Rosenberg for many years. And then I really weave it in with my knowledge and wisdom of the crystals and what the crystals want to say. And then these, these funky abstract symbols called the Sabian symbols. So that's also another offering, and our podcast will be revealed soon. So stay tuned.
Toréa Rodriguez 46:48
Super exciting. So for anybody who is also checking out the website, I'm going to say, get on the newsletter, because when there are drops of pieces, that is how you stay in the know.
Becca Kannapell 47:02
So yes, we always try to do the newsletter first before we share now on social media, just because, you know, Instagram has changed so much. And then the other thing is, you get 15% off if you sign up for the on your first order sign up for the newsletter.
Toréa Rodriguez 47:16
That's exciting. Super cool, okay, it's been lovely. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast.
Becca Kannapell 47:22
Thank you so much. This was so fun.
Toréa Rodriguez 47:27
Hey, thanks for joining me for this episode of the Wildly Optimized Wellness podcast. If you're looking for new ways of thinking about your wellness, you can check out my website torerodriguez.com. Want to have a peek into what it's like to work with me? Check out the Wellness Curiosity Collective or any of my other programs or retreats. And if you found something helpful in today's episode, don't forget to leave a review hit that follow button or share it with a friend because they're gonna love that you thought of them. Until next time, See You Outside.
