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A
Welcome, welcome, welcome back to the what do youo Made Up Show. It's your boy, C. Rock. I have Emily Strom with me. We were just chatting it up before we hit record here and she's relocated to Maui. Pretty nice place to be. Emily.
B
How lucky am I? This has been a long time coming. Though I will say, one, I know how blessed I am. Two, I'm sending everyone listening a bunch of sun. And three, just never give up you all, no matter what you are looking for or no matter what you wish to do, you just stay true to it. Stay the path, which I know you know Mike. It's just keep showing up and believe and so this has been a long time coming. I came here about four and a half years ago, had an idea come through of what would be really helpful and have worked four and a half years to make it happen. So I'm so stoked to be here.
A
How far are you from the beach?
B
So I'm about, I would say about, I'm about 20 minutes away. But the beach is really close in many different ways because you can get cliffside beaches, you can get river meets the ocean. So where the Kai meets the Vi, those are really sacred spots. But swimmable beach, 20 minutes. Yeah, safe swimmable beach, 20 minutes.
A
Yeah, that's not bad at all. It's not bad, no. 2 miles. But I can't go in the water right now because it's only 35 degrees outside. And so I can imagine what the water is probably in the 30s or 40s. So you know, I got a beach here, but it's only nice about maybe three, four months a year. So.
B
Yeah, yeah. But you know, are you into the cold plunges? You do the cold, cold plunge?
A
I haven't gotten there yet. No, I, I get like in a cold shower sometimes and I'm like, screw this. Whose idea is this? This is stupid.
B
Well, when I, when I traveled and lived in my van, basically my commitment was everyday jump in a body of. So I got really good because I would be up in Idaho or even Colorado and it would be November, December, and I'm like, oh my God. But I'm telling you, once you get past those first 30 seconds, it really is as euphoric as they say.
A
Yeah, yeah, maybe I'll get to it. I got, I got a tub over here that I haven't even opened the box yet. Sitting over there. I just look at it. So. But I, but I really don't even need a plunge, a cold plunge tub because I have the ocean. I Could just go out there and just dip in. And really, if I'm going to the ocean at this time of year, like, what do you need a couple minutes, if that.
B
They say three minutes is like the best. You know, three minutes a day or 11 minutes, but who knows? It's like your own body, you know, your body knows once you get through the struggle. But I will say I do. I'm a healing practitioner. So I do aqua cranial or cranial sacral in the water. And I've done it in the pool or I've done it in places that were contained, kind of just like a hot tub or in the ocean. And because salt is the main ingredient in our ocean, the ability to just let go of stuff and heal. And in injury, I had a really serious injury this year. I don't even think I've gotten to tell you about it. I broke my back nine months ago. So I. I was like, all in on this healing. And I will say the ocean is the most healing, no matter the temperature thing that we could ever experience. So I highly recommend maybe you'll be motivated to jump in today for the new Year. For the New year.
A
What do you do in the ocean? You just run out as fast as you can or do you.
B
Well, every. Yeah, that's such a good question. 1. One of my biggest things I'm doing here in Maui, besides a bunch of farming, is really helping with coral reefs. And I feel like when we really talk to the ocean, ocean talks back. I mean, we're going hippie sea rock. This is something that, to me is everything, because I've seen how much the coral reefs have changed and how fast they're dying and how fast they're just becoming quiet. And if we lose our coral reefs, we think of the ocean as the lungs of earth. And that means for us, coral reefs are the baseline, the foundation for our own oxygen. They produce so much of our oxygen that we breathe in. So it's just one of these things where I'm just going all in on how to help the ocean. And with whatever ocean it is, whether I just jumped into San Francisco Bay or Maui or even in Florida. And you're on the east coast, right? So what part of the east coast are you? Yeah, so there's so many whales there. I mean, there's even shark sightings that you can see there. So I always just give a huge little, like, thank you, ocean. I love you. Maybe I'll pick up trash before I jump in. And then I. Depending on how cold it is. It's in and out. Or it's like, oh, we're gonna do this. We need like, I call it a baptism. I'm not super religious, but I'm like, we need to baptize this energy. When. When I'm in the worst mood and nothing is working and I'm just short and irritable and uninspired, I go to the ocean. I just, everything gets shifted as soon as I jump in. It's like I have so many ideas. I'm such a new person. So it's like it is a baptism. It's fantastic.
A
Well, I. I gotta ask you this question because we start to show this way every time. And. And what would you say, Emily, to this question? What are you made of?
B
Okay. C. Rock. You may or may not like this, but I actually knew that you were gonna ask me this question and I wrote you a little poem.
A
All right. I love it.
B
Are you ready? I. I am made of stardust and dreams of rivers unseen mountains higher than high and yet still I ask why. Why am I all that I know? Show me how to be more Set the goal and let it flow.
A
That. That's the first poem answer that I've ever had after a thousand plus episodes.
B
What do you think? What do you think?
A
Yeah. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time and attention to put into that.
B
You're so welcome. And that's, honestly, that's what I am made of. I'm made of a bunch of creative energy that is meant to be put to work.
A
Yeah.
B
Yeah.
A
Well, I love it. Well, okay, so I need to know more about your life and how you got into what you're doing and being a hippie. Hippie. What was it? I saw something about something. A meathead hippie. That's what I meant to say.
B
Yeah, that's my podcast.
A
Yeah. Meathead hippie. Where did it all start for you? Where'd you grow up?
B
I grew up in Missouri, so very far from the ocean. I. I was 19 when I saw the ocean for the first time. So really religious. I grew up actually in a cult, which was a crazy experience that would take way too much time for this podcast, but definitely shapes you in many ways of how you are and this desire to see more. And when I went to college, I went to University of Missouri and through University of Missouri randomly got casted for Real World for a reality TV show. And that's when my whole life totally changed. So I went to real world DC and my mind, my little naive 20 year old self was like what did I sign up for? This is crazy. But I had committed to this three month experience of living in a house with eight strangers. And I learned more about myself in those three months than I had ever learned. Because you are just put into an environment. It's a pressure cooker. Nothing is. Nothing is fake. It's all a very real experience of how you are with other people and how you communicate. And I realized how much I am terrible at communicating my feelings and who I am. And then you have to watch yourself on TV and then you just talk so much about yourself because you don't expect yourself to look that way. And. And then other people are talk about. It's a crazy experience. C rock. So at 20 years old, my whole life just went from chill to totally different. And it was this moment where it was like, okay, I can shit talk myself. I can watch these episodes and feel bad. And I could feel myself getting smaller and smaller and embarrassed and shame and all the feelings that we like. Oh, even when you put yourself out on social media, you feel those same things, like, did I say it right? Did I do the right thing? And I just was like, you know what? I'm so sick of this. I have to do something. And the only thing I could do, feel that would make a difference was get into my body and get physical again. I used to be an athlete and I felt like I didn't like the way my body was, so why not change that? So I started going to the gym every day. No matter what happened. The snowstorms that happened and the rainstorms, I mean, I just would just so committed. I'm going to commit to just myself. I want to look in the mirror and love who that person is. And little did I know that even though my body was changing, that was not the work. The work is not the physical. Right. It is now. Okay. Mental. Okay, what are those blocks? What are those things now? It's actually nutrition. My nutrition isn't serving me in a way that's actually helping me. I'm eating things that are causing inflammation, causing big, huge emotional ups and downs. And so I went from the physical to the mental, the emotional to the spiritual. And every time just was so blown away by what I was learning that I taught it. So I really, really am grateful that I started with a personal training business that turned into an online support system which has just allowed me to be the entrepreneur that I and help share my journey along the way through Meathead Hippie and through various things that I've done and Just millions of lifetimes in the last 15 years of how I just keep showing up knowing, like, okay, if this is not what I want it to be, that's up to me to change, and it's a reflection of me. So what needs to change in me? And how am I going to approach this challenge? And the constant, do I approach it and attack it, or do I walk away? Because this is a boundary. So learning that delicate dance as an entrepreneur and just being so proud of the fire that I have to, like, if I see something and I see it as something I can do, I'm gonna do it, because that's why we're here. And I just. I know that's how you are. I connect with you so much because of that.
A
Yeah. Yeah. I love that attitude. For sure. For sure. And then obviously, when you learn something that works, you want to teach it, you want to evangelize about it. So when you got selected to go on Real World, what went through your head like, oh, man, I could be a star. Was it even, like, what. What? What? What. What year was that? Or, I mean, what. Real World was it? What number?
B
Yeah, so this is, like, 2009. My first thought was, oh, my mom is gonna kill me, because mtv, growing up, was blocked in my house. You know, I grew up in a cult, so I didn't. I didn't even know what Real World was. And I told my roommates when they. When I got casted, they said, are you kidding me? I'm like, why are you guys freaking out? I don't even know what the show is. So we sat down and watched it. I was like, oh, my God.
A
Wait a minute. But how did you get picked? How did you. Did you apply? Or how does that work?
B
No, I was always so crazy. C Rock. I was working at Starbucks, and I remember I was, like, a little hungover from the night before. It was an early shift, and this guy kept coming in and all these people dressed up with the portfolios. And I was like, what is happening here? And I kept talking to this one specific guy. His name is Dave. He kept getting a venti caramel macchiato. And at the end of his third Venti caramel macchiato, I was like, why do you keep coming in here? And that's how I. That was my first interview for Real World. And it was this. Oh, my God, it just happened. It was how the universe works when you just have the open heart. And I, at that point, was in a really hard place because I. Since the age of two, Wanted to be a veterinarian. You know, all I wanted to do was be a veterinarian. And I'm so stubborn when I commit to something. And I went to college and I was 20, I already two years in and I'm realizing I do not want to be a veterinarian. But I've said I wanted to be a veterinarian my whole life. Like I have no idea what I'm going to do. So I was in a dark place. I was like, like unmotivated, uninspired. And I remember driving in nature just being like, please, like there has to be some other solution. And sitting in a school that I don't like, I just felt the worst I could possibly have felt. And so through this was just like opening, okay, let me just say yes to things that come that are new. I'm gonna keep myself stuck if I just go into my hole. So I started saying yes to the most random stuff. Like brand new things came into my realm just by being like, ok, okay, start from new. And then that's what happened. That's what came in. So I don't even know really how else to say it happened, but. Except divine timing, you know, some of this stuff is just meant to be.
A
And then, and then when you get on there. Did you make friends right away?
B
I did. I mean I made a lot of, you know, every emotion you could because you're, you're getting personally paired with people who will be in conflict with you.
A
Yeah.
B
So it's a very strategic casting process.
A
And so they knew the personalities ahead of time.
B
Oh yeah. Yes. So there's just a mix and match of it. What I will say is the reason I said yes to this experience. One, I was really unhappy and I had no idea what else to do. I got permission from my mom. She's like, sure, I don't know what it is either, but I think you're supposed to say yes. So I had the support of just a mom figure being like, was she.
A
Was she still in the cold at that time?
B
No, we all left when I was about 13. Okay, so that was.
A
That makes sense.
B
We were all out of it, but we're still a little in culture shock. I basically, you could tell me anything from the 80s and early 90s and I'll. Pop culture references. I'm always like, I don't.
A
Was there. Was. Did there happen to be a Uncle Robert in that cult?
B
I don't remember an Uncle Robert. Do you know Missouri cult.
A
I just had Peter Young on and he's a Client of ours and. And friend. And he was talking about his life, how he married into a cult and there was an Uncle Robert. So I did. Yeah, it's inside you. So disregard.
B
Okay, so clearly my point being, I know no pop culture components. And in any way, I'll go, yeah, well. And I feel that. Yeah, the best part about this is that I knew there would be competition on the other side because I was such a competitor. And I'm very much, you know, give me a challenge and I'll take it. And they had these competitions. If you did Real World, you could do the MTV challenges. So I was like, yes, if I can get into the challenges through this. That's my yes. And little did I know. I mean, I'm signing up for something that I had no idea would transform me from the inside out and lead all the way back to what I'm doing now, which is these challenge retreats where I take people through this five day experience. Just like the challenges I experience where you go through daily challenges and you just start testing your mind, your body, your spirit, everything itself. A really important thing for us to go through as an adult, I think they have these for kids with sports. But as adults, we don't have things that unless we're signing up for marathons or unless we're signing up for Spartan races, we don't really have those kind of all inclusive experiences that allow us to be nervous and be like, can I do that? Can I not do that? And that's what shaped me. My 20s to 30s was shaped by those challenge experiences where I had to again and again show up to an event or an elimination round where it was like, it's you and me. Here's a stick. Three, two, one, wrestle.
A
Right, right.
B
You don't know what you're made of until those moments. And. And it was so amazing to just again and again be like, oh, I'm kind of good.
A
Yeah, yeah, I.
B
Proving to myself I can do this. And it was my mind, it was my body, and the more prepared I got, and then it's like, how you do this is how you do everything, you know? So it. This really helped me shape my mentality for now, translating that to things that for me are the most important, which is like, okay, we got Coral Reese dying. Let's go. Let's see what you're made of. Emily, you're gonna walk the talk, right? It's like, I've been saying this for my own business, my own body, for people. I've helped so many people with Their body. But now we gotta think bigger, you know, like, this is. This is time for us to really allow. Like, you do this a lot. Like, how can I be of something service? You prioritize that with everything you do. And that's just what I think we could all do a better job of. And so, for me, my work is like, all right, let me do that for nature. Let me be an advocate for Earth and see how we can actually see what I'm made of and why I'm here.
A
Yeah, I love that. Yeah. And. And so was there opportunities that came after the challenge in real world? Like, and then how did you sort through those opportunities?
B
So many. I mean, it was just an entire opening, and some of them were as bad as. I'm 21 years old, and I got invited to a bar crawl in Buffalo, New York, in the middle of winter, you know, where I'm just getting drunk and just getting paid a thousand dollars for a bar crawl where I'm like, is this what people do? Okay, I guess this is what people do. And then being like, okay, I don't want to do that again. Right. So then it's like, this is what I get to make it. And luckily, because I had not. Luckily, because I don't even know how we feel about luck or how you feel about luck, because we're just in it. We're in this experience. We signed up for this. I had been going through such a physical transformation that was visible where I went from, you know, having a lot of bad skin and kind of just not strong in my body or not feeling confident. You know, how someone feels confident or they don't. It's not even what they look like. It's the energy that they have, you know, And I could be. I transformed completely because of this physical component. I got really into competing. I did a variety. I did CrossFit, powerlifting, weightlifting, a bunch of different things that just made me show up in a way that was like, I could take you through that journey, was able to really allow myself to create a business. And businesses. I ended up having five different businesses throughout the years, including a gym, a brick and mortar, a backpack company, a tea company. Just being able to say, I believe in this. This is how you can heal your body. This is how you can show up and not just walk the. Or start to walk the talk, not just talk it. So it was so blessed. I was so blessed to have people who saw them and me who. People out of nowhere were like, wait, I'm motivated. Because I. I think that that's what we need is if we are inspired, we automatically are inspiring. And most people are busy trying to figure out how to be inspiring. It's like, well, if you live in inspired life, you're good. Don't be worried about what it's going to come off as. If you are lit up, you're good. And that's what I feel like. I've been very blessed is always following that. And the hard part, as you know, is when things that used to light you up no longer light you up anymore. And then you got to pivot. Because if you don't pivot, it's just felt in every cell of your body, you know. And that was my gym. I had an amazing gym. Covid happened, but I was like, I gotta pivot. And it didn't make sense to anybody else, but I knew I had to walk away. So it's these mom that really helped shape. Like, even if people don't get it, what are you made of right?
A
Right now? So, so, man, so many questions. Now that you're not living in the van, do you miss it? Did you have to have an adjustment?
B
Oh, I love my van. So the good thing about my van is it's always there. I have my friends and people I love and people who want to have that experience do it for two weeks or a month. So I have my really good friend Destiny in it right now and she's obsessed. So she's sending me pictures and her adventures and it makes me so happy because for me, I don't want to ever live in a full time again. But I do think having two weeks or four week adventures in them, it will change your entire life. It's like the most amazing way of seeing United States. I saw I. I've traveled 50,000 miles in my van. Not just us, but Mexico and Canada. You get really in tune with like your safety needs. I don't know if you've ever gotten into chakras, but like your root chakra, like deep is feel stable. Do you have, are you safe? Do you have water? Do you know where you're gonna go to the bathroom? Like all of these basic needs and the, the hierarchy, it'll. It'll change everything. So I really love giving it to people who will want to have that experience. And the adjustment is just for me. Now that I have an address for the first time in five years, it's kind of like, wait, I have an address. Like I used to ship everything to my mom's house in Missouri. I haven't had an address in five years, so I just get so excited. It' I have an address. I can't even believe it. It's only been one month, and I'm still a little like, this is amazing. So it's. It's a really special thing.
A
Yeah. And, and, and when you were traveling, how did you decide where to go?
B
Oh, that's such a good question. Okay, so, one, I. I use this app called Ioverlander, which would be the best way to figure out where to park safely, especially as a female. I mean, anybody just how to be safe. Safe. It was just me and my cat, and so we would always try to find spots through Ioverlander, which would have reviews basically saying, like, I parked here last night, it was safe, or don't park here. Got broken into so you could kind of gauge where you were sleeping. And that's priority, because if you can't sleep well, all of it goes to.
A
Yeah.
B
So you really need to kind of map out, like, okay, that place looks good. And then I would follow findaspring.org because. Because findaspring.org has this amazing map that shows all of the natural springs that you can get water from. So springs that you can jump into or collect water. And it was the best water you were going to find. So I would just find a. Find a spring or a spring, and then from there it would be building out my adventure. Do I want to hike? Do I want to swim? How much work do I need? Do I need to find a coffee shop? Sometimes I would be at a coffee shop for eight hours because we just had to get work in. But sometimes I could do the hot spot in my van and be a little bit more remote. So it was a. A really interesting balance of. You have so much freedom. It's overwhelming because it's up to you, but because if you're an entrepreneur, you could flow that way. Like, it is amazing. Yeah, it's the best thing because you're. You're like, oh, wait, I need food. Okay, stock the fridge. Where's the farmer's market? And just having these fun things. And for me, because my project peel, that is why I moved to Maui, is starting to take off. It's like, we need a map of farmers markets. We need a map of where food. Where can I get food that's maybe not organic, but not sprayed with a bunch of glyphosate? Like, th. Those resources weren't available for most of the country. A little bit in Florida, a little bit in California, a little bit in Colorado, but most of the country, it was really hard to find food that wasn't sprayed with a lot of harmful things. So that was a lot of the inspiration behind this Project Peel that I've been working on.
A
Gotcha. And so tell us about Project Peel.
B
Yeah, so it's join peel.com and peel is this beautiful place. Think of it like a Google, where if you went to Google and you're searching for something, but it's for food. And so if you're in Maui or if you're in Maryland or if you're in Colorado, and let's say you're a business and you serve a lot of ice cream and you want to get milk, that's as close to your business as possible. You could type in the type of milk that you want and try to find farmers and purveyors in your area that could supply it. And if they can't supply it, and this is anything from eggs to lemons to pineapples to oranges. I'm going to put my tangerines is my tangerine tree.
A
I see.
B
So I'm going to put those on those on Peel. It's a way for someone who buys a lot of produce, like any of our restaurants, food trucks, anything that is a part of our food system for them to localize their supply chain. So it's closer to home. Because in Maui, if we have no import, let's say that the boats stop in three days, we have no food. That's how bad it is. There's no. All of it's imported. Over 90% of our food that we eat, even though this island grew a lot, everything. I'm growing so much. And I've only been here for a month. So there's a big problem with our food system. Very obvious in an island. But everywhere, everywhere you are, food probably traveled 1500 miles or more to get on your plate. So if we think about things like Covid or big things that might happen in the future, tariffs from Mexico or Canada, most of our food supply stops. And so I just really feel strongly about having alternatives. And the cool thing is you can grow food because you're seeing these requests. So you could do joinpeel.com crock if you ever wanted to and you could create your own farmer page. So if you had a backyard and you had garden boxes, for me, I have these tangerines and orange trees. So I'm going to put those products up and it's just a way for us to change that conversation of it's Just Costco or Cisco. It's like, no, we have a lot of food, but we don't have bridges to connect people, so it feels really exciting.
A
So. And it's launched now?
B
Now? Yeah, I just launched it. I launched it the week I came to Maui.
A
Okay, okay. And then. And then it's a little.
B
Yeah, it's ready to go, but it's a little glitchy. I mean, you. Your entrepreneurs will know, of course, the work.
A
Did you have to, like, put a whole bunch of information at first as far as the locations and all that, or is that something that's happening now that it's launched?
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, go. If you go to joinpeal.com you can put in your location and you can see farmers markets in the area. That's the main thing we're doing is building out the database of farmers markets, but also farmers. So looking for farmers in your area. For me in Maui right now, I do farm tours in the middle of the island. So if you. If anyone comes to Maui, make sure you come look for the farm tours. And I kind of teach people all about this process of how to grow food or how to get engaged in the food system. But what's really cool is that what I really want is that growers of all sizes, so backyard growers, to growers who have 2 acres or 20 acres if they have too much of something or if they just don't know where to put something, this is where that platform goes. So you can search for different products. All the marketplace is all grown where it's actually sold. So a lot of farmers market products, unfortunately, they're all imported from somewhere far away and then created. That's what I did with my tea company. I had a tea company, but all the herbs were coming from all around the world, and I couldn't get access to the farm it. And I was like, oh, my God, I'm a part of the problem. Yeah, I am the problem. So I stopped the tea company, and I'm gonna relaunch it through joinpeel.com because I can now type in lemon balm and find people with lemon balm nearby me. And just really. It's just such a. I love it. Everyone go look at it. Joinpeel.com give me input, feedback, comments. I am just doing the best I can, but I want as much feedback as possible because I just know that this is just the beginning of something really magical that we could do for Earth. So please send the feedback my way.
A
Awesome. And so when you were trying I love this. So, guys, go check that out. Join peel.com. yeah, I gotta get my wife looking at that. All right, so the other thing I had a question on was when you were traveling around for five years in a van, how was dating life? Or did you just, like, just swear it off or did you meet some good, good people?
B
No, I went. I so went all in. I was like, okay, here we are.
A
You want to come back in a different city?
B
Yes. I wouldn't tell people I was living in a van just to keep it, like, I don't know. There's. There is something about living in a van by a river, you know, But I also started to look like I lived in a van. So I was like, you know, I don't know, at what point do we hide this and do we just own this? But I wanted to find that balance. I did try hinge on the road, and I would say that it was about a 10% success rate overall, but that's probably van or not van life. And. And it was more about this amazing experience that I had that you'll love. Is that when you wake up in the morning, you know you have a new day. We've heard this in so many ways, right? Today's a new day. No matter what happened yesterday, reset. But because I lived in a van, it was so obvious that if I walked out of the van to start my day without getting my energy in check, and what I mean by that is, like, if I'm in a bad mood, if I had a bad dream, if I didn't sleep well, or if I just have, like, this energy that's like, shit, you know, like grumpy. And I started to go out of the van into the world through coffee shops or whatever I was doing, it would be immediately reflected to me. Like, immediately. I never had had an experience that was this obvious where if I was in a really good mood, maybe I meditated, I had a cup of tea, I journaled before I walked out of that van. I just felt really grounded and then went into the world. Everything was a miracle. It was just like this insane experience where I was like, it is up to me to have this ability to change it. I get to choose. I get to choose. And so I was just very grateful for that because that meant if I was. If I was in a good place, that meant that. That meant that I was gonna meet cute.
A
That's right. You had to have. Create an attraction model, you know, so. Hey, Emily, we're almost up against the clock here. I wanna make sure sure that everybody goes to check out emilyshram.com join peel.com and Emily Strom on Instagram. Emily, thank you so much for your time today. I had a good, good time talking to you.
B
You too, C Rock. I appreciate everything you do.
A
All right, hang tight while I wrap this up, folks. Make sure you hit that subscribe or follow button at the top of your favorite podcast platform. Keep coming back to the Woody made up show. It's your boy, C Rock signing off for now with Emily Shrom sharing what she's made of. Be that one.
Podcast: What Are You Made Of?
Host: Mike "C-Roc" Ciorrocco
Guest: Emily Schromm
Date: January 8, 2026
This episode dives deep into Emily Schromm's journey from a strict, cult-like upbringing in Missouri to her transformative years on reality TV, and her path through physical, mental, and spiritual healing. The conversation covers how creativity, nature, and entrepreneurship intersect, with Emily advocating for inspired living, conscious health, and contributing positively to both people and the planet. Tangible stories about van life, resilience in the face of injury, and her latest project to shift the local food economy bring a rich perspective to personal development and social impact.
This summary captures the essence and flow of the episode, highlights Emily’s authenticity and mission, and preserves the enthusiastic, wisdom-rich tone of both host and guest.