This interview is with Pam Rivet, Founder at MBS | The Woman Beyond The Cape.

Pam Rivet, Founder, MBS | The Woman Beyond The Cape

Pam, for those in our audience who may not be familiar with you and your work, can you share a bit about your background and what led you to become so passionate about fitness, health, wellness, and self-care, especially in the context of startup life?

In 2016, I found myself at a place in life where I was a wife, mom, and had a successful mortgage career, yet I was completely unhappy. I realized that I had no idea who “Pam” was outside of all my other roles. This led me down a six-year journey to finding my best self. With lots of lessons, bumps in the road, and trial and error, in 2022, I began to completely transform my life, mind, body, and soul.

I turned to God, fitness, functional medicine, and personal development books and podcasts. In 2023, I was blessed with a vision of a women’s lifestyle brand with a mission to help women find their best self just as I did. As women and moms, we tend to put everyone and everything before ourselves, which leads to losing or never finding who we are and what makes us happy. I wholeheartedly believe that every woman is the epitome of superwoman, but there’s a woman beyond the cape that deserves to be loved and nurtured too.

Through sharing my story and through my brand, it is my mission to inspire women to embrace who they are beyond all their roles and responsibilities, speak positively to themselves, exude confidence, and live a life of passion and purpose.

You’ve built a successful business, MBS | The Woman Beyond The Cape, which seems deeply intertwined with these values. Can you tell us about the journey of starting your company and how your passion has shaped its mission and growth?

If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t know I was going to start a business, nor did I have a desire to. Having experienced deep personal challenges, including struggles with depression, alcoholism, and self-worth, I spent years transforming myself physically and emotionally, getting sober, and rediscovering myself through God’s grace.

Through this, I developed a deep passion for helping other women reclaim their lives and find their best selves through health, wellness, fitness, and faith. It all started with a nudge, a feeling that something was missing, and spending a lot of time praying for God to guide me to what it was He was calling me to do. That is when God blessed me with an immensely vivid vision of the business and journey I would soon begin.

This is what led to the birth of MBS | The Woman Beyond The Cape as well as Finding My Best Self Podcast where we believe that every woman is the epitome of superwoman, but there’s a woman beyond the cape that deserves to be loved and nurtured too. Every piece of our versatile athleisure collection is named after affirmations to remind women every day as they dress that they are strong, capable, and worthy of feeling confident, prioritizing self-care, and pursuing their passions.

You’ve spoken before about overcoming personal challenges. How did that experience influence your approach to building a company culture that prioritizes employee well-being?

One thing I struggled with most during my years of finding my best self was learning to give myself grace when I felt overwhelmed, when days didn’t go as planned, or felt that I didn’t do as good of a job that I knew I was capable of. This is the main priority for our company culture. Not only for us to give grace but to also remind our employees to give themselves grace. In doing this, it allows people the space to learn and grow through their own personal struggles and re-evaluate how they can do or show up better next time while still celebrating the wins, even the smallest ones.

For many entrepreneurs, the lines between work and personal life can become blurred, leading to burnout. How do you personally maintain a healthy work-life balance, and what advice do you have for other founders struggling with this?

The saying goes, “fail to plan, plan to fail,” and although that is the cold, hard truth, your plan won’t prevail over a poor mindset or unintentional time spent on the plan. As a recovering workaholic, I spent years making schedules, setting reminders, and timers yet still found myself, at the end of most days, feeling overwhelmed and unaccomplished because there were several things left on my list of work to do. I had skipped my self-care practices and had little to no family time. This all shifted the day I had an epiphany: when it comes to work, it doesn’t matter how many hours you put in; it will still yield the same result. What matters is how intentional you are with your time.

This mindset shift is a total game-changer. Now, when I plan my day, I schedule my self-care and family time first, then work as well as scheduling my phone to go into “do not disturb” mode during my self-care and family time. Although I am still doing all of the planning and time-blocking techniques, I spend my time more focused because I know that is my only allotted time to complete that task, so it must be done with the intention of getting it complete. This shift in mindset has allowed me peace of mind, consistent self-care time, less rushing out the door, quality time being fully present with my family, and restful nights. It’s given me balance, boundaries, along with feelings of accomplishment and fulfillment.

You mentioned the importance of setting realistic expectations to avoid self-criticism. What are some practical tips you can share with our readers on how to implement this in their daily routines, both professionally and personally?

Setting realistic expectations for myself has been critical in avoiding self-criticism. As a mom of 3, a business owner, and a mortgage advisor, I’ve learned that perfection isn’t the goal—it’s progress. I focus on what I can control and give myself grace when things don’t go as planned. One strategy that helps is breaking down big tasks into smaller steps. I celebrate each small win along the way rather than fixating on what’s left undone.

This mindset shift allows me to stay positive and keep a healthy balance. I know that I’m doing my best, even if everything isn’t perfect. It’s all about finding balance and keeping the bigger picture in mind.

Your company’s athleisure wear features affirmations to empower women. How important do you think mindset and self-talk are in achieving success, and do you have any advice for our readers on cultivating a more positive inner dialogue?

Having a positive mindset and speaking positively to yourself are number one in my book when it comes to being successful. The way that you see, think, and speak about the world and yourself will 100% be portrayed in your marriage, as a parent, to your family and friends, and in your work. Cultivating a more positive inner dialogue is in the power of the pause. Having a consistent morning-gratitude practice is a crucial step in making sure that you start every day with a positive mindset by taking a pause in the morning before you start your day to write down three things that you are grateful for.

Even doing this, we are all human and negative thoughts, words, or actions are bound to creep in during the day. It is important to be self-aware so that when this happens you can take a pause and reflect. Ask yourself why that happened or where those thoughts came from, give yourself grace, and either flip your mindset or find a positive and ask yourself how you will do better the rest of the day. Don’t beat yourself up or let it ruin your day when negativity rears its ugly head, as that will only make your dialogue worse. Just remember to pause, reflect, forgive yourself, and move on.

Many startups are incorporating wellness initiatives into their workplaces. What are some of the most effective strategies you’ve seen or implemented to support employee well-being?

I personally feel the head-and-heart check-in should be top of mind in the workplace. Before starting any meeting, there should be a moment to see how the employee is doing/feeling that day. Asking the questions, ‘How is your head? How is your heart?’ helps you as an employer to know the mental and emotional state the employee is in at that moment. This lets them know that you care and can help you to know exactly how you should approach the topic of conversation you need to have.

In group settings, this may be a little too time-consuming, but you can still take this same approach by starting group meetings with asking each employee to say something they are grateful for, share something they recently accomplished, or something they are proud of. Again, this will let them know you care, empower the room, and have everyone in a state of gratitude and confidence before the meeting begins. Acknowledging employees’ life and feelings in the workplace should always be top of mind in supporting their well-being.

Looking ahead, what are your hopes for the future of wellness in the startup world? What trends do you find encouraging, and what changes would you like to see?

I love seeing that wellness and self-care are becoming a priority in people’s lives; however, there is a gap in brands that offer all aspects of wellness in one. In order for someone to have all things to support their health and well-being, they have to shop in multiple places. It would be nice to see more brands that offer a wider variety of products that support all categories of wellness: mind, body, and soul.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Finding your best self doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, consistency, and grit. Remember to celebrate the small wins, give yourself grace, and have gratitude even when things don’t seem to be going the way you planned or hoped they would.