RAWW Podcast

RAW Podcast: Mountain Mermaid with Kristy (Shammy) Arnholtz

• Sarah Freeman • Season 3 • Episode 2

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Hold onto your fins, as we embark on a captivating journey with Shammy, the ingenious creator of Mountain Mermaid. What happens when a woman's love for water and mountains converge? You get a brand that is unique and enchanting. Trace the origins of Mountain Mermaid and discover how Shammy's humble beginnings in New Hampshire ignited her passions and the birth of a brand deeply embraced by the community. Tune in as we explore the creation of the logo, the selection of the merchandise, and the process of launching a business.

But wait! Mountain Mermaid isn't just a brand; it's a powerful beacon of women's empowerment and connection. Listen in as Shammy reveals how lighting up her creation this summer led her to found a tribe of like-minded mermaids, fostering relationships and creating opportunities for collaboration. Find out how you too can harness the power of self-belief and owning your voice. Brace yourselves as we unveil plans for a Mountain Mermaid retreat in 2024, an opportunity for growth, solidarity, and a whole lot of mermaid magic. After all, isn't it time we create a tidal wave of positivity? Join us and feel the ripple effect of giving back.

You can find Shammy on IG @mountainmermaidz

With love,
Sarah Freeman

PS: Looking for more information on Mountain Mermaid Retreats?  click here for my website, then go to Retreats, information will be revealed in early 2024.

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to Raw Podcast If you've been here before and you've listened to this for a few seasons. Thank you so much for being here. I am really excited to have this incredible guest here and I'm going to tell you a little bit of a story before we dive in together. So the guest that's coming on here, her name is Shammy and that's what I choose to call her, and I first met Shammy when we were at the market. I was on the way to the pool and I saw Mountain Mermaid and I mean, like how could I not stop it there? And then I saw this beautiful soul and this style and she was so inviting and this like I just needed to know.

Speaker 2:

Shammy.

Speaker 1:

And so we got to know each other over the summer and I always loved stopping by and seeing what she had all her like her baked goods to her beautiful, like sweaters and tank tops and lavender that she has there and her candles. I have one in my room and I have used it too, and it's just beautiful. Everything that she has in there is made with such love. So I asked her to be on Raw Podcast. And Shammy isn't the only one that I met at the market, and, as you know my previous guests too. I've met two incredible souls from the market and I can't wait to see how this turns out, and I know Shammy and I may not talk about this today, but we had something really exciting to talk about, but it may not come out quite yet today. So I am done speaking. Shammy, thank you so much for being here.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my goodness, thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:

What a lovely introduction, my goodness oh it's a yeah, it's a pleasure to have you here, and I'm just looking at your card on my desk right now and I just remember the first time when I saw the mermaid and the and the logo, it was like, oh, wow, yes, please.

Speaker 2:

You were one of the first. Yes, please. You got me so excited to kind of keep going and, as I just kind of like, brought this mountain mermaid to life this year. So it's been fun and I'm so happy that you're a part of this, this story.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for bringing me in. I see your tank tops around town in like when I go to yoga. Yeah, I saw a beautiful soul there the other day. She was wearing your tank top.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God, I love hearing that. It makes me so happy.

Speaker 1:

So can you tell everybody who are you.

Speaker 2:

Well, I'm shami, shami sunshine, but you are, I am from near Edmonton and I decided to do the markets this year and kind of officially launch mountain mermaid and just kind of to see what direction it would head in. And I just am so blessed to see the people that have like really just like reached out and wanted to be a part of this and got so excited when they saw a mountain and a mermaid together. Obviously, I'm like so much more than mountain mermaid, but I feel like this is the direction that the podcast is going in today, and so I'd really love to like marinate this idea and see what other people think as well after we're done recording. But yeah, I just really wanted to share this love of the water and the mountains that I have, and why can't they both be integrated right?

Speaker 1:

I love it. It's beautiful and I really believe that's a big part of the reason why you and I connected because of the love of water right in the mountains and not even in the mountains. I'm sure. There's plenty of stories that you have massive stories. You said you sailed right. That was something you told me. That's where your Shammy came from. I remember you telling me the story, yeah, and I feel like there's a connection there that we haven't even talked about yet. So one thing at a time.

Speaker 1:

So I thanks for sharing that Shammy. So I have another question for you. Actually I have quite a few, so hold on. So where did it all start with your business? So where did it all start with Mountain Mermaid and like, how did that come to life?

Speaker 2:

Well, let's take this way back here for a second. I'm originally from New Hampshire and there's 17.3 miles of coastline and I lived on it. My dad was a fisherman a commercial fisherman so my love of the water grew as a child, right. And then I came to Alberta, which is landlocked, and I struggled a little bit. I was like man, like there was no like really good lakes around like the Edmonton area where I'm from.

Speaker 2:

And then I happened to be at a wedding in Victoria around the island, I should say, and I was hiking with some friends before the wedding and I was like God, this water is so beautiful. And it was like this beautiful like aquamarine color, and it was just like there was this kind of like a bit of like a canyon where, like the water kind of had carved out this like gully, and I was like, wow, there should be like a mermaid in there, and then I was like Mountain Mermaid and I thought of it right then and there with some friends and I kind of just sat on the idea for a while, not really knowing the direction it was going to go. So I've and I started kind of dreaming up like a logo and and then I kind of got some things printed after the logo came about and then I just like was like well, I think I need to do something with this. So as I slowly kind of started to collect Merchandise, I was like I'm going to, I'm going to just reach out to the Canmore market because I love Canmore and I love being around all the Glacier, flood lakes and sorry fed lakes and hiking out there and I was just kind of wanting to see like the direction that this Mountain Mermaid would swim in.

Speaker 2:

And it's just been like I've been really kind of picking up by like a lot of like you know, people that are mermaids, that, do you know, spend a lot of time in the water, especially in the mountain areas. A lot of the cold plunging community has really taken me in as well, being like God. This is like so indicative of how I feel and I just like it's so neat to see like how mermaids are still so real, no matter what age. We are Right. So that's kind of like, in a short form, like how Mountain Mermaids sort of came, came to be.

Speaker 1:

Well, it's beautiful and, yeah, it's interesting how you said that, how we carry that mermaid like into our life when we're adults too. Yeah, there's so much wisdom behind a mermaid. I really feel like, yeah, I feel like there's something to share there in the future. But yeah, I'm curious to know when people come by this is where my curiosity had, like at the market or anywhere, and they see that mountain, mermaid and what attracts people if they're not, is it more the mountain or the mermaid, or is it the combined thing, like, are these swimmers or is it like different things, different stories that you hear? What is it? I'm curious.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's different stories, like the, you know, like your story for one was like. You know, like I am a mountain mermaid, I swim in the waters, you know, I like I'm a swim coach, like I was like that is so wild. One girl like there's a huge, like I said, there's a huge cold plunge community that basically kind of took me under their wing as well and we're just like that's what we are, we cold plunge. We're mountain mermaids, like in the mountain waters and I'm like that's beautiful. And then I've had some that just like to hike and look at the views of the water and then they love that. Like it's just interesting. Like I'm just starting to kind of put the feelers out of what this is, but I think the more I'm excited about it actually, to be honest, like it, everyone that's come to me almost seems more excited than I am, but it just lights me up so much inside that I'm just like we just match energies.

Speaker 1:

And then you like well, you let me have, like you do that, like you have that sunshine, Like you gave me this beautiful, like wrap the other day, because but it's like you're the sunshine, like you are the mountain mermaid, right, that's yeah.

Speaker 2:

That's how I see it.

Speaker 1:

And yeah, and I feel like it's interesting, like there's so many ways to like look at the mountain, mermaid or water and people to be like attracted to that. You don't have to be a swimmer, like you said, it could be just looking at the water, or you could be a fisherman being on the water or a sailor or a surfer. Like there's so much cause. I think there's so much healing behind water too.

Speaker 2:

Yes, which is what I love, like that is honestly how I ground, like being in waters, releasing, like, just letting, like the kind of current take you, like it's my favorite, like I did so much with this summer. I was just so, so blessed, and I think it was also fueled by the name. Right, I was like I have to, I have to withhold this name now.

Speaker 1:

I gotta get in there I can't just think about it.

Speaker 2:

I gotta do it, you gotta embody it and you do so, yeah, okay, next question.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for going to left field with me there. So what is your story that you hold close to your heart, a story that connects you to who you are today Shammy, and what you do as a rad act of a woman.

Speaker 2:

Gosh, that's a really big question. I it's funny. Actually, it's a question too that I feel like I've been pondering for myself lately. I'm going to go up on a small tangent, but I've been feeling really lost lately and I feel that, like you know, I think there's this whole heavy meaning behind like our purpose, and I was really holding onto a lot of that and I I don't know why, but like I just was like I'm going to change this realization that, like I think just being happy is our purpose, and sometimes we put so much weight on on like needing to fuel this meaning behind who we are like or what we do, instead of just focusing on going about it in a way that just makes us happy.

Speaker 2:

And that's something that I've really been trying to work through and pursue so I can be the best version of myself, not only for myself but for everybody else, cause. But it all starts within, it all starts with us, right? And and I think I really found that this summer, particularly because I have been walking down like a really bleak hallway and just not knowing which way to turn, and I just kind of looked at myself and shine the light back on myself and was like why are you feeling this? Why are you looking at yourself like this? And you are the light. Be the light, be here for everybody, for you first, and then everybody that can you can shine your light on with. And I just think that that's something, that which is interesting, that you asked that question. So that's just kind of in a small little you know roundabout way, I think, something, yeah, to share, to hold on to and to strive for it, or just be happy.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I love that you're shining your light. Like I see it, I know I mean I'm very lucky to have you in my life, you know, and it happened for a reason.

Speaker 2:

You did it, really. Did you light me up too?

Speaker 1:

Aw, and it's. I love how you say that and it's interesting, right. It's like sometimes I know I struggle to see that light in myself to see what other people see and it's like, okay, like people tell you that and they tell you they see this. And it's like and I hear it from you too Shammy.

Speaker 2:

And it's like okay.

Speaker 1:

So I want to see that, Like I really want to see it. So it's like that's one of my things right now, so it's interesting. So I appreciate you talking about that and being wrong old role about that. So thank you.

Speaker 2:

Of course. Thank you for asking the question.

Speaker 1:

Love. No problem, okay, let's keep on going. So what is your one wish for women who are listening to us to carry into their future as a rad act of woman?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I mean, let's stick with the happiness train. Find your happiness, find your light, find what lights you up, like I think that is something that like it's just so simple. It's so simple and we tend to complicate it because of like the distractions that we have and just like the everyday busyness right Of life, and it really is so simple and just to and just to focus on like those simplicities, like truthfully, Now, what have you done and you kind of talked about it earlier, but what have you done for yourself, where you kind of pushed those things away and like to let allow your light to shine through?

Speaker 1:

Is there something that you can share that you top of mind?

Speaker 2:

Well, I mean, like at the moment, honestly, like that was me kind of like lighting up Mountain Mermaid this summer. I had had this idea for so long and then finally I was just like I'm gonna do it and out of that like, not only like does it light me up by doing it and because I believe in it, it's just the amount of people that I was able to touch along the way and meet and cultivate relationships and you're just like I don't know, like it just felt so beautiful and real and like you really just like find people. Like when you're lit up and when you're happy, you find your people. It's so true, it's 100% true, and you need people to be happy, but they're so happy that you're so happy because you love what you're doing. And that could be so simple. It doesn't have to be mountain mermaid. That could be being a teacher or being a janitor, whatever that is for you. That's so simple, but it makes your life happy.

Speaker 1:

Yeah it's doing what lights you up? I mean, you could be a parent, right, and that's what lights you up, like staying at home with your kids. You could be like, yeah, and I love the bravery behind that of like the mountain mermaid, like starting that, and I love that, cause it's like as soon as you're lit up and other people feel that Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And there is this, like you know, like when you start to do something you really believe in, like you can almost kind of fall into this imposter syndrome, like I don't know if I deserve to have this right, like there's so many emotions behind it, but I just I really tried to suppress that. Like I've been an entrepreneur my entire life and I think this time, like just being so sure-footed and the excitement and just like kind of just seeing where it kind of like has been unfurling and like the momentum behind it, and like what could come of it. Still, yeah, still, still there's still-.

Speaker 1:

You're just starting. It's just a baby. Exactly, it's a baby mermaid. Okay, what is one ripple effect that you would like to create or maybe it's something you're already creating for women?

Speaker 2:

For women. I think, just to believe in, like who you are, truthfully and just, and take that and be empowered and be confident and to just roll with it. Do you know what I mean? Like just take that role and roll with it, because it doesn't matter what people think, like it's all about how you feel.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, 100%. I agree with you. Thanks for sharing that. Yeah, thanks for asking. And what else do I got here. As a rad active woman how would you like to own your voice in your communities and beyond?

Speaker 2:

How would I like to own it Like. What's the message I would like to like prevail, sort of it could be.

Speaker 1:

We can go that. Yeah, it's like what is it that you want to? How do you want to own your voice out there, like right now you are through the podcast, right? So what else is there in the communities? Or maybe they're new communities.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think connection Like that's something I'm really craving right now and I feel that like, especially with women, there's so much to share. There's like those you know the old wives tales, like their old wives tales for a reason, cause what women used to do is sit in circle and be together, and whether that's be together pole plunging, mountain roommate style Do you know like that is for people, I just it's so important and I really hope that I can create that with mountain mermaid and beyond. To be honest, I just it's so like women are so important and the connection that we have and when we get together that what we can do it's bananas. It's bananas, it is bananas.

Speaker 1:

I love that the connection and I feel like like I know I can just tell you you already are doing that right and it's like, and I know like what I'm hearing you say is like it's going to be even more right and I love how. I love what you just said and I'm trying to keep my mouth closed about something, so we'll get that. So I, yeah, thank you for sharing that connection. I mean, that's been such a big part of my conversation lately too, like in my other job and in my business too. It's a big part of who I am right Connecting with people or connecting people.

Speaker 2:

I love connecting people Shammy, so you need to know someone you are so good at. Let me know.

Speaker 1:

But it's a beautiful thing, right and I. Something else that I've learned here, too is is like when you're connecting with someone, I don't know how you feel, but for me, I need to feel rested and I need to feel like I can have that solid, like one-to-one connection, because I, to me, is beautiful. So Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

I just think, yeah, I just think it's a universal craving right now, like you feel it, there's all these undercurrents of women and, for all reasons, you know that they just need that connection, like we all do. I need it. Like you just said, you need it. I just think it's yeah. If I could do that you know more as much as I can. That's my goal. Okay, can we?

Speaker 1:

open the can a little bit. Just a little bit about what we're planning. I can't do it Okay, what are?

Speaker 2:

we doing? We are thinking about doing a mountain mermaid retreat once a month. From what is it? June, july, august, september.

Speaker 1:

Keep going, you're doing great 2024.

Speaker 2:

Yes.

Speaker 1:

That's all we can say right now. That's all we can say. God that felt so good, Did I feel good Just to release that. I am so freaking excited to do this, so yeah. So stay tuned, yes, please. So I mean, that's a big part. That's creating community and connection.

Speaker 2:

That's what it is right, we're doing yeah Together because you are just as good at it and I'm so proud of you, thanks.

Speaker 1:

Thanks, thanks, all right, sometimes this is the hardest question, chami, so last question, last question. So please give a shout out to one Rad Active woman and why?

Speaker 2:

Oh, wow, this is a hard question. I know so many. I think right now I'm going to have to give a shout out to this lady who helped me, has helped me immensely, work through some things and, maybe unknowingly for her, I met her this summer alongside you, who is just as equally as wonderful. They call her the barefoot blonde and she's in Canmore, dash, Calgary, and I went to one of her like little mini retreats this summer and she said something to me that I won't repeat in this moment, but literally just like was exactly what I needed to hear. Her name is Angela, by the way, and she is, I think, an acupuncturist, but she's also William Hoff, trained for the breath work for before you cold plunge, and she's also a very much like an avid surfer in Canmore, for river surfing, that's amazing.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I met her through someone that bought Mountain Remake gear for her and then I just had this calling that I needed to meet her and I would have to say that she's the shout out today because she was a very pinnacle person that just said a few things to me that really made me rethink a lot of things in my life and I think, unknowingly, she doesn't really know this, but I think she deserves that shout out today.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for sharing that. That's amazing. I'm going to have to look this woman up, yeah she's pretty lovely.

Speaker 2:

She's like it was you and her. It was right there, neck for neck. I was like these two women how do I get so lucky?

Speaker 1:

It's incredible the women, like it's everywhere. But like I'm just running into the boat valley because I know you have a real connection here too and there's a lot of incredible women here. Yeah, there really is. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Very intuitive. I still just like I think about it and just like warms my whole being. I'm just like how did I? I mean, I did this myself, I immersed myself in this, I asked for it, I manifested it and I did the thing. Like when you want, when you crave that connection, you go out of your way to put yourself in those situations where you meet those people.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, Shanami. Thank you so much for today. Thanks for being on Raw Podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited. This is my first podcast and I'm so happy with you.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to Raw Podcast. I love doing these recordings and interviews and meeting so many incredible women all around the world. I love connecting with each of them and connecting with you as you listen to the stories, and my hope is that you find some inspiration, motivation, empowerment from these women that come on this podcast. So a big thank you to Shanami Shanami, thank you so much for coming on Raw Podcast, for being vulnerable, for showing up as you 100%, for sharing your stories and connecting with me. So thank you so much. And also thanks for going off in left field at times as well. Those are kind of the best conversations I find when they go a different direction.

Speaker 1:

So thanks, shanami, and I look forward to collaborating with you, coming up in the summer of 2024 with a mountain mermaid retreats and yes, I said retreats, and that will be about four of them. We'll be launching those in early 2024 and we cannot wait to share this with you. So thank you everybody for listening to Raw Podcast. Please leave a review rating. This helps us get out into the world even more. It's that ripple effect that we are creating. Let's create a tidal wave together. So thank you, keeping the amazing, beautiful soul that you are.