Moms, Meet Danielle Colavito! Passionate mother of two boys, yogi, fitness enthusiast, urban farmer, inspirational speaker and wellness advocate! Her greatest joy is to inspire and support other moms in living their best life!
Tell us a little bit about yourself ?
I grew up in Larchmont and only left the Sound Shore during my college years, which I spent at the University of Rhode Island. My husband and I moved from Port Chester to Harrison about 10 years ago where we currently live with our two boys, Lucas (7) and Dean (5), and our dog Pico!
One thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I know the lyrics to an insane number of songs. I love music and enjoy a wide range of different genres! I usually only need to hear a song once before I remember the lyrics. It’s my quirky talent which makes for a fun game when we’re on the car traveling long distances. Although I’m very much an open book so not sure how much that would surprise people.
Anyone special you’d like to thank for helping you through parenthood?
Where do I begin ? Navigating parenthood is a challenge. I would be lost without my parents! My first son was born a month early and they have been helping us ever since that surprise delivery! Whether it’s babysitting, home cooked meals or just being an ear to listen, they play an instrumental role for our family. My husband, Keith, has been a huge support for me as we navigate this journey of parenthood together, including the transition from a full time corporate career to an independent business owner!
I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t give a huge shout out to all of my amazing mom-friends! I am blessed to have a great support of strong women who have been there to swap stories of sleepless nights or who lend a hand in carpooling the kids to activities! The phrase “It takes a village”, has great meaning in my life!
Favorite things to do with your kids?
My kids are always making me laugh, so no matter what it is that we’re doing – just about everything is fun with them! We do love to be active together though, and that could be anything from dancing (any time, any place) to playing sports, working out together or going for a hike and enjoying nature. When the weather keeps us inside, you can usually find us cooking together or playing board games.
Are you involved in a business venture, a local organization or a creative endeavor?
I am a Qualified National Marketing Director with The Juice Plus+ Company and Tower Garden by Juice Plus+ . With over 15 years of experience as an events & meeting planner, my career path changed nearly 4 years ago when I realized I had to get off the hamster wheel of life and start making changes. I was a self-proclaimed “hot-mess of a mom” yet fortunately realized I had to take better care of myself in order to take better care of my family. That’s when I was introduced to The Juice Plus+ Company and haven’t looked back since.
Not only have I been able to improve the picture of our family’s health through nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle, but I’ve been able to help countless other families do the same by making simple changes through nutrition and lifestyle.
I have an incredible team of around 150 individuals around the US that have partnered with me on the mission to inspire healthy living. We represent a handful of wonderful products or “nutritional tools”… Juice Plus+ is whole food based nutrition from 38 different fruits, vegetables, grains and oils, providing the natural nutrients our body needs. Juice Plus+ Complete is plant-based protein shake mix and protein bars. And Tower Garden is a vertical aeroponic growing system that allows you to grow your own produce all year long in 3ft of space.
Our mission is to inspire healthy living within our communities and abroad. I’ve been able to do that through a series of community events with Meal Prep Parties, Eat the Rainbow and Veggie Wars for kids to name a few. I’m especially excited for my summer series … which are designed to engage the whole family in outdoor activities and encourage healthy eating as part of our Healthy Start for Families initiative. I invite ALL families to participate by emailing me at [email protected].
How has this community been instrumental in getting you to where you are now?
Never underestimate the power of local commerce and community. Working within the Harrison community has been an incredible experience. I’ve found support through other moms looking to partner together with me on this mission of inspiring healthy living, as well as local business owners open to partnering and spreading this message of health. Our local library has been instrumental by inspiring the community to grow their own food as they are currently doing with their own Tower Garden. I learn so much by showing up, asking questions and making myself available. I am so grateful our family lives here.
Any time saving tips when it comes to parenthood?
One of my biggest time saving tips is meal prepping. Typically, I like to get a group of friends to come over to do it together, which makes it more fun, but when that’s not possible I walk people through the following steps.
- Grab your calendar, cookbooks or online recipes (and your spouse or family if possible)
- Look at your week ahead and see which nights are going to be your busiest (that may be a night for a Crockpot meal)
- Together, as a family (if possible), select a recipe for each night of the week. Write it out (we keep a whiteboard calendar in our kitchen for this) and create your shopping list.
- Head to the grocery store over the weekend (or shop online & have it delivered for a bigger time saver).
- Take an hour or two over the weekend to prep as much as possible in advance for the week (I typically allow time on Sunday for this). That may be cutting/chopping vegetables to be stored in the fridge or cooking a full entrée that only needs to be heated up the night of.
It may seem like you’re taking time out of your Sunday to prep, but its an absolute time saver during the week! It also helps to ensure you are providing your family a healthy, home cooked meal at least a few nights out of the week, which I believe to be important. Any mom with kids knows how stressful dinnertime can be. Getting organized has been a huge help for my sanity!
For more ides like this feel free to reach out to me individually by email: [email protected] or follow me on social media.