In this episode, I have podcast guest Lin Chen, founder of Pink Moon. After experiencing a series of toxic relationships, Lin embarks on a journey of self-love, which eventually inspires her to launch Pink Moon – a clean beauty skincare line based on holistic practices like Chinese medicine and Astrology. We talk about building perseverance and persistence when going through touch challenges and why the journey of self-care is not only necessary, but vital.

00:00 Introduction, Pink Moon 10% off with code GRACED10, & Giveaway Details

02:09 Interview begins

02:57 How Lin started Pink Moon and her self-care journey

06:09 Rituals Lin tried during her self-care journey

07:49 How those rituals influenced Pink Moon and its products

10:27 Pink Moon’s Astrology skincare line

14:11 What’s Lin’s big three – sun, moon, rising?

15:10 The perks of traveling alone

17:21 AD – rsvp for your ticket to the How to Create Your Deck masterclass! createyourdeck.club

19:20 Going outside of your comfort zone

20:09 Healing from toxic relationships

22:58 Establishing healthy boundaries

24:58 Patterns in toxic relationships

29:57 What’s next for Pink Moon

31:08 Moving on from toxic relationships

33:58 End + giveaway details!

Get 10% off all Pink Moon products with code GRACED10

Full Transcript:

INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to the GRACED podcast, where we infuse everyday magic into your everyday life.

Today’s episode, we have Lin Chen from Pink Moon, a beauty and skincare brand inspired by this founder’s self-care journey. After a series of toxic relationships, Lin went into her own journey of healing, and that’s where Pink Moon was born.

Lin and I have collaborated over the past year and most recently I invited her to be on the Wellness panel I hosted at Shopify NY for the Astrology new year. You can listen episode 3 of this podcast or watch the full panel on the Mystic Mondays YouTube.

Also, I’ve tried the Pink Moon products and they are divine – especially the astrology skin care line that is matched with each zodiac sign. If you want to check out the YouTube video where I unbox and try the Pink Moon products, check it out on the @grace_duong YouTube channel – video coming soon!

You can get 10% off your purchase by using code GRACED10 at checkout. Also, to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander month, Pink Moon has partnered up with other AAPI brands to give away free gifts with any orders over $35! So use code GRACED10 to get an additional 10% off and snag some free gifts to support AAPI brands!

If you listen all the way to the end of this episode, I’m revealing a giveaway where you can win a Pink Moon product! You’ll get a chance to win your choice out of the Astrology skincare line which includes clean beauty cleaners, toners, and moisturizers.

Now let’s dive in to this episode!

__________

02:09 Interview begins, introducing Lin Chen

Grace Duong: Hi, Lin! How are you?

Lin Chen: Hi, Grace! Happy Monday.

Grace Duong: Happy Monday! We happened to be recording on a Monday.

Grace Duong: Which is obviously significant for Mystic Mondays.

Grace Duong: But how are you doing and thank you so much for being on the podcast.

Lin Chen: I’m good I had caught up on a lot of sleep over the weekend

Lin Chen: I was so refreshed for the new week.

Lin Chen: How about you?

Grace Duong: Yes.

Grace Duong: I’m doing good too, I have also been resting.

Grace Duong: The last time we saw each other was at the Shopify event that Mystic Mondays had thrown together.

Grace Duong: And Pink Moon, you, were on the panel as well as one of the vendors for the Wellness Market.

Grace Duong: So thank you so much for being a part of it.

Lin Chen: Yeah, thank you. That was such a fun event.

Grace Duong: It was so fun!

02:57 How Lin started Pink Moon and her self-care journey

Grace Duong: and I love seeing new diverse faces in the wellness space and

Grace Duong: I think it’s so important that you’re representing yourself, your story, and your brand.

Grace Duong: And I’d love to hear more about your brand and how it started.

Lin Chen: Yeah, so Pink Moon launched in the middle of pandemic June of 2020.

Lin Chen: And I have been working in the beauty space for pretty much my whole career.

Lin Chen: So now, it’s been about 10 years.

Lin Chen: And I’ve just always wanted to start my own brand.

Lin Chen: It was something I had on my list of things I wanted to accomplish before turning 30

Lin Chen: when I was getting out of a toxic relationship.

Lin Chen: And one of them was to launch a company.

Lin Chen: and so it was always in the back of my mind to start a company one day,

Lin Chen: and also because my dad was really entrepreneurial and he’s had several companies of his own as well.

Lin Chen: So I feel like I definitely got my entrepreneurial spirit partially the from him and just from

Lin Chen: being someone that just like wants to create.

Lin Chen: And build a company that’s meaningful and really impacts people’s lives.

Lin Chen: And so part of my inspiration of launching Pink Moon was—

Lin Chen: I was in a series of toxic relationships and during these times I never took time for myself,

Lin Chen: didn’t know how to love myself, didn’t know how to enjoy my own solitude.

Lin Chen: And thus you know all these relationships were pretty co-dependent and after the last breakup

Lin Chen: I made a promise to myself that I would just spend the next year or year and a half,

Lin Chen: however long it took, to learn how to love myself,

Lin Chen: learn how to take care of myself and and really take care of my mental, emotional, and physical health.

Lin Chen: And so during this time, as I mentioned, made that list of things I wanted to accomplish before turning 30.

Lin Chen: Which included things like in addition to launching a company also included:

Lin Chen: traveling solo, and I wrote down a list of specific countries I wanted to go do by myself.

Lin Chen: There’s just like you know things as simple as dining alone at a restaurant.

Lin Chen: sitting on a bar by myself and feeling comfortable not having to like

Lin Chen: look at my phone and scroll through my phone throughout the timeline by myself.

Lin Chen: and so I started doing a lot of these things, when it came to starting a company,

Lin Chen: I was like: “Okay, this looks like a good time to launch a company.”

Lin Chen: And and also during this time of the healing.

Lin Chen: I was diving back into various holistic practices that I grew up with

Lin Chen: like Chinese medicines, was doing a lot of acupuncture,

Lin Chen: because I had like severe insomnia I was deep in depression, it was my lowest point.

Lin Chen: So I was doing a lot of acupuncture to help with sleep also dealing with like really bad period cramps,

Lin Chen: headaches, and then taking Chinese herbs and then I was also

Lin Chen: talking to various astrologers and diving deeper into astrology as well

Lin Chen: so I tried reiki for the first time so combining these various holistic modalities,

Lin Chen: I think were just so powerful to my healing and helped bring me back to a place of

Lin Chen: empowerment, joy, and really helped me learn to

Lin Chen: truly, deeply, unapologetically love myself so that’s when the first

Lin Chen: sort of first reiteration of Pink Moon was born in mid 2017,

Lin Chen: So it started out as a consultancy where I was working with

Lin Chen: various indie female lead beauty brands helping them with

Lin Chen: growth, expansion, social media, marketing, and so on.

Grace Duong: I love that! That’s amazing.

06:09 Rituals Lin tried during her self-care journey

Grace Duong: And I love that this all started from healing your own pain of being in these

Grace Duong: toxic relationships, so I’m wondering what that year looked like for you

Grace Duong: year and a half of certain rituals that you tried,

Grace Duong: or certain Chinese herbs that you were attracted to,

Grace Duong: like what were you finding for yourself during that time?

Lin Chen: I literally tried everything, like I was also going through intense talk therapy,

Lin Chen: spent a lot of time in my bathtub,

Lin Chen: I would just take a bath, turn off all the lights, light a few candles, turn off my phone,

Lin Chen: and just laying the bathtub and cry or dream or whatever I felt like I needed to do,

Lin Chen: sometimes have a glass of wine or some hot tea, and just meditate.

Lin Chen: And then I was spending a lot of time walking around the city by myself,

Lin Chen: I would walk one day all the way from East village like East 7th Street

Lin Chen: all the way back to my apartment which was on West 83rd Street

Lin Chen: and when I got to my home, I was like:

Lin Chen: “Oh my god! I can’t believe I walked literally the entire city.”

Lin Chen: Like from South to North so you know, doing things that just

Lin Chen: I would never have done if I were in these relationships.

Lin Chen: Yeah, and then what else I do…

Lin Chen: Some of the herbs I take, I can’t really remember the herbs I was taking but I remember

Lin Chen: my acupuncturist gave me this essential oil blend that helped me a lot with breathing,

Lin Chen: because I had a lot of congestion during this time as well.

Lin Chen: And this blend, I’m sure it had like peppermint or spearmint and some other herbs.

Lin Chen: I would just like dab it onto a tissue and whenever I felt like an anxiety attack coming on or like

Lin Chen: it was hard to breathe, I would just put the tissue to my nose and just like take

Lin Chen: really deep breaths, so I did a lot of breath work during this time as well.

07:49 How those rituals influenced Pink Moon and its products

Grace Duong: And from all of that, how did you decide to approach Pink Moon?

Lin Chen: Yeah, so from the consultancy, I had been doing the consultancy for a couple years.

Lin Chen: And then I just always wanted to start my own beauty brand.

Lin Chen: And this was actually a couple years before I launched Pink Moon.

Lin Chen: I had friends telling me: “Lin, you know so much about skincare ingredients,

Lin Chen: formulas, and product development. You should really start your own skincare brand.”

Lin Chen: And at that time, I had an idea. I had a potential business partner

Lin Chen: and we’re looking into how much it cost to launch a beauty brand, a skincare brand.

Lin Chen: And we’re like: “Okay, it’s going to cost like a million dollars if you want to launch it like with a lot of

Lin Chen: good press, branding, really strong brand identity, good quality formulas.”

Lin Chen: And I was in my early 20s at that time. So I was like: “Okay, it’s definitely not doable for me.”

Lin Chen: I don’t have like 500k laying around. And so it was always put in the back of my mind.

Lin Chen: And so from the consultancy to the brand, I was just working really closely

Lin Chen: with these founders much about product development and how to launch a brand.

Lin Chen: I even worked with a couple entrepreneurs that came to me with a concept

Lin Chen: and then I helped them bring their idea to the market.

Lin Chen: So just having all this knowledge and experience helping these brands launch and grow,

Lin Chen: I felt like: “Okay, I think this is time to launch my own thing.”

Lin Chen: So my initial idea was to have this e-commerce platform where I would have the Pink Moon brand

Lin Chen: and these female led brands that I had been consulting for for a couple of years.

Lin Chen: So it would be like an ecosystem of female founded brands.

Lin Chen: That was the initial concept of Pink Moon.

Grace Duong: And from there, how did it grow into its own line?

Lin Chen: Yeah, I had…

Lin Chen: launched the platform with our Rose Quartz Gua Sha Facial Tools.

Lin Chen: So that was the very first product that we launched.

Lin Chen: I actually launched that a couple of months before the e-commerce.

Lin Chen: So I did a holiday pop-up in Union Square.

Lin Chen: And at that time, it was like the marketplace where I was having these various female led brands.

Lin Chen: And then I was like, it’d be fun to launch something under the Pink Moon brand.

Lin Chen: That’s like this fun thing to gift, and it’s also a skincare, self-care, self-love tool.

Lin Chen: So I launched the Rose Quartz Gua Sha Facial Tool, sold out of it at that event.

Lin Chen: And a lot of people are coming back and saying: “I don’t know how to use this tool.”

Lin Chen: or “I don’t know what kind of product to use with it.”

Lin Chen: And so I launched the Over the Moon Gua Sha facial oil.

Lin Chen: So the line really grew from there. So like people are buying the facial oil, they’re like:

Lin Chen: “Well, I really love this oil. It’s really high quality. I love the scent. Can you create something for body?”

Lin Chen: So I created the Midnight Melody Body and Hair Oil, and it just really grew from there.

Lin Chen: People are like: “I love this product. Can you create more products?

Lin Chen: Even like a perfume? Perfume oil would be nice.”

Lin Chen: So I launch the perfume oils and it just went from there.
 

10:27 Pink Moon’s Astrology skincare line

Grace Duong: Yeah, I remember trying some of your products and love the versatility

Grace Duong: of the oil that you have that you can use that as your oil or you can use it in your hair.

Grace Duong: And I feel like self-care can be in multitudes, right?

Grace Duong: Like it can look in any sort of different way that you choose to.

Grace Duong: But something I really love that you launched was the Astrology

Grace Duong: skincare line that you have with Once in a Pink Moon.

Lin Chen: Yeah, so the idea of Once in a Pink Moon actually came around, now it’s been 4 years.

Lin Chen: So this was when I was starting to plan, when I was doing my consultancy,

Lin Chen: starting to plan out the Pink Moon platform and brand.

Lin Chen: And I made a list of products I wanted to launch under the Pink Moon brand.

Lin Chen: So of course, that included the Gua Sha Tool, and then I wrote at the bottom:

Lin Chen: “Astrology skincare line for tweens and teens.”

Lin Chen: And so the initial concept started out for an idea, a skincare line for tweens and teens.

Lin Chen: Tweens and teens are obsessed with astrology and also the skincare market for tweens and teens,

Lin Chen: particularly natural clean products that are efficacious is also lacking.

Lin Chen: And so, this was the idea on the piece of paper for a little bit.

Lin Chen: And it wasn’t until late 2021 when I started to think about:

Lin Chen: Okay, how else do I want to grow Pink Moon and what other modalities are we not incorporating here?

Lin Chen: Cause we already had the Chinese medicine, we had the Reiki, had the crystal healing aromatherapy.

Lin Chen: I was like “Wait, there’s no astrology?”

Lin Chen: And so I went back to that astrology concept and thought:

Lin Chen: Okay, instead of making it for just tweens and teens, I’m going to open it up to

Lin Chen: like really be an age-inclusive line that’s fun to use. It’s colorful.

Lin Chen: And then I also partnered with an API astrologer to help me

Lin Chen: co-develop the line to ensure that it is authentic to spirituality and astrology.

Lin Chen: And just really making a skincare line that’s fun to use brings joy to your daily rituals

Lin Chen: because skincare is not fun for a lot of women,

Lin Chen: because a lot of the messaging is around anti-aging and just so much shaming.

Lin Chen: And I thought, okay, well, skincare brings me so much joy, so does astrology.

Lin Chen: And combined these two aspects of my life that just brings me so much comfort and joy.

Lin Chen: And so, here’s Once in a Pink Moon.

Grace Duong: Awesome! So how did you and the astrologer come up with the certain ingredients?

Grace Duong: Like how did you collaborate on this product together?

Lin Chen: Yeah, so…

Lin Chen: I told her that I wanted to revolve the line around the four ashram elements: Earth, Fire, Water, and Air.

Lin Chen: She would do some research on ingredients.

Lin Chen: Like which ingredients that are good for that specific purpose of the element.

Lin Chen: All 4 Element Collection are very different from each other.

Lin Chen: They have their own purpose and ritual.

Lin Chen: So the Earth element is strengthening and nurturing. It’s focused on just strengthening the skin,

Lin Chen: and it’s good for those with really sensitive skin, redness, inflammation.

Lin Chen: Then we have the Water element, which is hydrating, of course.

Lin Chen: Air is brightening, and then Fire is energizing.

Lin Chen: So, she’s selecting ingredients based on those element collections,

Lin Chen: like what they do for this skin and what signs in that element tend to be drawn to.

Grace Duong: Nice, and do you find that other people who are not of the element,

Grace Duong: would it benefit them to try something that is different?

Grace Duong: So for example, I have a fire sign, would it benefit me to

Grace Duong: go to a water sign or something like that or use the water sign?

Lin Chen: Yeah.

Lin Chen: Yeah, we actually have quite a few fire signs using the Water Element Collection,

Lin Chen: because they feel like they need more water in their life because they have

Lin Chen: too much energy like they just want like a more not dreamy…

Lin Chen: I’m trying to think of the word like more…

Lin Chen: I guess like they want more hydration in their life, so they go for the water element.

Grace Duong: Yeah, it definitely depends on what else is in your chart because

Grace Duong: I’m an Aries Sun, but also Pisces Moon, so I feel like the water element also feeds my moon.

14:11 What’s Lin’s big three – sun, moon, rising?

Grace Duong: But let’s ask, what’s your big three?

Lin Chen: Yeah, so double Virgo,

Lin Chen: Virgo Sun, Virgo Rising, and Sagittarius Moon.

Grace Duong: How do you feel like that relates to you and how you’ve approached building your business?

Lin Chen: I’ve been told that I’m a Virgo to a T. So, and I feel like, and I’ve been told

Lin Chen: pretty often that Virgos tend to be really good entrepreneurs and like good creators because,

Lin Chen: you know, highly detailed, organized, and just like always thinking of the next thing.

Lin Chen: And then the Sag Moon helps me be like energized and always intellectually curious,

Lin Chen: wanting to do a lot of research and have a lot of fire and passion for what I’m doing.

Grace Duong: Yeah, absolutely.

Grace Duong: Yes, definitely double Virgo with the detail oriented and how you

Grace Duong: are approaching all this because there’s a lot of SKUs within Once in a Pink Moon

Grace Duong: and there’s a lot to look at and handle, so kudos to you double Virgo.14:11 What’s Lin’s big three – sun, moon, rising?

15:10 The perks of traveling alone

Grace Duong: So let’s talk about your Sagittarius Moon,

Grace Duong: because you mentioned traveling by yourself for the first time earlier in the interview

Grace Duong: and I find that traveling is such an eye-opening experience.

Grace Duong: Where did you go when you traveled alone and what did you learn from that experience?

Lin Chen: Yeah, so I went to Norway as the first country that I traveled solo.

Lin Chen: And I picked Norway because when I was doing a lot of research,

Lin Chen: because I was really actually deeply scared to travel alone,

Lin Chen: So I looked up a list of countries that are safe for women to travel solo.

Lin Chen: Norway was like number one. And I did so much research,

Lin Chen: like I’m part of several travel Facebook groups for women.

Lin Chen: And Norway came out to be like one of the most popular destinations for women traveling solo

Lin Chen: and I booked my trip like almost 7 to 8 months before I went

Lin Chen: and I didn’t tell my mom till like 2 months before, because I was like:

Lin Chen: “Oh my gosh! She’s gonna like make me cancel it!”

Lin Chen: because like my mom’s always been a warrior and even though she travels solo

Lin Chen: pretty often herself and has done so when she was younger, she’s just always been like

Lin Chen: really anxious about me doing things by myself, so—

Lin Chen: But yeah, I was like so scared! I almost canceled my trip, but I had like lined everything up.

Lin Chen: I wrote down my itinerary in my phone, in my email, and on a piece of paper.

Lin Chen: Just so I could have everything and I also told myself.

Lin Chen: Okay, I’m gonna have this trip just to myself.

Lin Chen: I’m not gonna make any friends.

Lin Chen: I’m not gonna talk to anyone.

Lin Chen: I just want like complete solitude.

Lin Chen: and I did spend the first night—I flew into Oslo, stayed a night with a friend of a friend

Lin Chen: and of course we hung out and then after that trip, I just went

Lin Chen: I did like some couch surfing. I did Airbnb—not Airbnb.

Lin Chen: I did couch surfing and I stayed at a hostel, which are two things I would never have done.

Lin Chen: Also, and so it was definitely like a really,

Lin Chen: I guess I would call it a very adventurous trip

Lin Chen: because I did so many things that I’ve never had done.

Lin Chen: Like the couch surfing was definitely something that I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about.

Lin Chen: I stayed with this guy that I read through literally hundreds of reviews on his profile.

Lin Chen: I read through every single one of them.

Lin Chen: And then the hostel, I did a lot of research too and actually ended up being in a pretty nice luxurious hostel.

Lin Chen: But yeah, I think I learned like:

Lin Chen: Wow! I can be independent.

Lin Chen: I can do things myself.

Lin Chen: I can navigate myself.

Lin Chen: Because whenever I traveled with like a boyfriend or a friend,

Lin Chen: I was relying on them for navigation and for the Google maps and things like that.

Lin Chen: So I had downloaded like all the maps beforehand.

Lin Chen: Even told my mom “don’t get the passport, the AT&T passport.”

Lin Chen: I just want to rely on Wi-Fi and downloaded maps.

Lin Chen: So that’s exactly what I did.

Lin Chen: And I was just, at the end of the trip, I was so proud of myself.

Lin Chen: I was like, I can’t believe I navigated Norway,

Lin Chen: going from city to city, like city hopping, only all on Wi-Fi.

Lin Chen: Yeah.

Grace Duong: That’s amazing.

Grace Duong: Yeah, I tend to travel that way too and rely on Wi-Fi.

Grace Duong: My first solo trip was to Barcelona.

Lin Chen: Yeah.

Get 10% off all Pink Moon products with code GRACED10

So a short interruption to this travel story to remind you that this upcoming Monday, I’ll be hosting a masterclass on How to Create Your Own Deck. The last time I taught this class was about a year ago and there’s no telling if I’ll teach it again!

I’ve made 4 decks now, self-published with a Kickstarter and have worked with traditional publishers – by now, I know a thing or two about making my own deck and I’d love to share my process to help inspire you and give you actionable advice on how to create yours. 

No matter where you are in the process, if you just have an idea, you’ve started making your deck, or you already have a deck, this masterclass will still have very valuable information for you to take with you on your journey as a deck creator.

There will be a live Q&A at the end of the masterclass, and the juicy questions have already started rolling in!

To RSVP for your ticket, go to createyourdeck.club Can’t wait to see you there!

19:20 Going outside of your comfort zone

Grace Duong: And I just feel like when you go out of your comfort zone,

Grace Duong: so much magic can happen.

Grace Duong: So what was some of the learnings for you for

Grace Duong: going out of your comfort zone?

Lin Chen: I think it just taught me of like,

Lin Chen: so I went on that trip like shortly

Lin Chen: before I launched the consultancy.

Lin Chen: So I felt like that was definitely a good foundation for building a company

Lin Chen: and like just shown me that I can do anything if I really set my eyes to it,

Lin Chen: even though it sounds so cliche, like everyone’s always saying.

Lin Chen: Like what’s that cliche phrase?

Lin Chen: Like “You can do it!” or you know what I mean?

Lin Chen: But yeah, it feels like a cliche,

Lin Chen: but I was like “Wow, like I can’t believe I did that!”

Lin Chen: and I feel like I can do anything now.

Lin Chen: So it definitely set the foundation for bravery and persistency.

Lin Chen: And just going for what I want in my life.
  

20:09 Healing from toxic relationships

Grace Duong: Right. And during that time, were you also healing from these

Grace Duong: toxic relationships that you had mentioned before?

Lin Chen: Yeah.

Lin Chen: So I went on that trip like 6 months after the last relationship.

Lin Chen: So I definitely did a lot of like I brought my journal,

Lin Chen: did a lot of journaling, did a lot of meditation,

Lin Chen: like just sitting on a rock, like looking out to the landscape

Lin Chen: and just did a lot of reflection.

Grace Duong: And now I know you’re in a healthy married relationship.

Grace Duong: So I was wondering what the transition is from

Grace Duong: this toxic relationship that you’ve had in the past

Grace Duong: and going into a relationship, a partnership essentially.

Lin Chen: Yeah.

Lin Chen: I think having that year and a half to myself was just like

Lin Chen: so needed because I never gave myself enough time in between relationships to myself.

Lin Chen: I always went from one relationship and literally five days later another relationship.

Lin Chen: And so I think having that year and a half just let me learn how to take care of myself

Lin Chen: and enjoy my own solitude and really do things for myself, and really only for myself.

Lin Chen: I was very selfish during that year and a half.

Lin Chen: That’s another thing I want to talk about too.

Lin Chen: Selfish is not a bad thing.

Lin Chen: People make the word selfish to be such a negative word,

Lin Chen: but it’s actually a positive word.

Lin Chen: You can spin it into a positive way, of course.

Lin Chen: So yeah, I was basically selfish for a year and a half.

Lin Chen: I think that helped me build a foundation for a healthy relationship

Lin Chen: because I also did a lot of journaling,

Lin Chen: a lot of therapy during this time and try to

Lin Chen: learn what makes a healthy relationship

Lin Chen: and how to watch out for red flags.

Lin Chen: And so actually this year and a half, I did do some dating.

Lin Chen: Like I didn’t get myself into any relationships,

Lin Chen: but I was like dating here and there, and every time I met someone

Lin Chen: and I picked up a red flag immediately, I was like, bye bye.

Grace Duong: What are some of the red flags?

Lin Chen: One of them, a big one for me is manipulation.

Lin Chen: So my last boyfriend, for example, was like super manipulative.

Lin Chen: Like he would say one thing and then the following week he’d be like:

Lin Chen: “Huh, I never said that.”

Lin Chen: And so manipulation is a big one.

Lin Chen: And like on top of that being hot and cold.

Lin Chen: So like one week, like super affectionate.

Lin Chen: The following week he’d be like, I want some time alone.

Lin Chen: And like without any explanation.

Lin Chen: I mean, yeah, it makes sense that you want some time alone,

Lin Chen: but he was just shut me off and not reply to calls messages.

Lin Chen: Another one is jealousy.

Lin Chen: So I’ve dealt with quite a few jealous boyfriends.

Lin Chen: And that one specifically would like,

Lin Chen: he wouldn’t even let me spend the day alone.

Lin Chen: Like one time I was like “Hey, I just want to like go to the mat by myself for the day when I spend the time day alone.”

Lin Chen: And you know, I told him I was getting my hair done, like before going to the mat.

Lin Chen: And then I was exiting out the hair salon and there he was waiting outside the door.

Lin Chen: With a box of macaroons, cause macaroons are my favorite dessert ever.

Lin Chen: But he was like, let’s go to the mat together.

Lin Chen: I was like, I wanted to spend the day alone.

Lin Chen: Did you not get the memo?

22:58 Establishing healthy boundaries

Grace Duong: Yeah, yeah.

Grace Duong: And that speaks to boundaries in so many ways.

Grace Duong: And so I know that you’ve gone through a co-founder breakup of sorts.

Grace Duong: I’ve just wondered how that experience is going for you

Grace Duong: and what boundaries have you set in place moving forward?

Lin Chen: Yeah.

Lin Chen: That definitely was a big learning experience for me.

Lin Chen: And so the co-founder was at my company for a year

Lin Chen: and the breakup happened almost two months ago.

Lin Chen: And I think one thing that I realized is it brought not only did the partnership

Lin Chen: with her and like the breakup after made several things resurface,

Lin Chen: like some of my negative patterns of letting toxic relationships continue

Lin Chen: and thinking things will get better and ignoring red flags.

Lin Chen: So that was one thing that made me realize like:

Lin Chen: “Wow, I really need to like shield my energy better.”

Lin Chen: like set more well-defined boundaries and also

Lin Chen: like not let anyone like diminish my self-worth

Lin Chen: and make me feel less than I am.

Grace Duong: Yeah, those are really important lessons,

Grace Duong: especially within your circles, just to have

Grace Duong: people that are uplifting you and supporting you.

Grace Duong: So what does boundary setting look like for you?

Lin Chen: For me, it’s a lot of making lists.

Lin Chen: I love making lists.

Lin Chen: I think that’s a Virgo thing, right?

Lin Chen: So I’m always making pros and cons lists or like,

Lin Chen: if you were to go through my phone,

Lin Chen: there’s like over 200 notes in the notes app.

Lin Chen: And throughout this like co-founder breakup, for example, I made like several lists.

Lin Chen: like, I had a lot of talking points and like notes from

Lin Chen: talking to various company advisors and like other founders

Lin Chen: who had a co-founder and things like that, just taking notes down

Lin Chen: and just kind of journaling.

Lin Chen: Okay, what does a healthy co-founder relationship look like?

Lin Chen: Obviously, this isn’t it.

Lin Chen: And so it helped me, just looking at these lists as reminders

Lin Chen: helped me realize, okay, this is not healthy.

Lin Chen: This cannot keep going on.

Lin Chen: And so yeah, referring to these lists were super helpful.

24:58 Patterns in toxic relationships

Grace Duong: Do you find that when we talk about toxic relationships,

Grace Duong: I’m wondering if you find that they mirror each other in some ways,

Grace Duong: like do you find that there are patterns, whether it’s romantic or business or friends,

Grace Duong: like what do you find are commonalities within these toxic relationships?

Lin Chen: For sure. So I had a therapist tell me years ago,

Lin Chen: this was when  I was in like another toxic—

Lin Chen: before the most recent one.

Lin Chen: And she made a really strong point,,

Lin Chen: your toxic relationships mirrors the relationship that you had with your mom

Lin Chen: or have with your mom growing up, because I have

Lin Chen: not the healthiest relationship with my mom or not very close.

Lin Chen: Like it’s always been butting heads all the time.

Lin Chen: And that therapist said because you were treated a certain way by your mother,

Lin Chen: you allow yourself to be treated this way by partners.

Lin Chen: And so that made me realize.

Lin Chen: Okay, I can’t continue this.

Lin Chen: Obviously, I don’t want to be in a toxic relationship

Lin Chen: and I want to be able to get out.

Lin Chen: But then also getting out of a toxic relationship is harder than staying in it.

Lin Chen: And obviously, I can’t cut out my mom, but I do distance myself from her and try to…

Lin Chen: That’s why I’m all the way in New York and she’s in California.

Lin Chen: I mean, one of the reasons why we’re on opposite coasts.

Lin Chen: I’m trying to distance myself away from toxic people as much as possible.

Lin Chen: And so after this co-founder partnership broke up, it made me realize:

Lin Chen: “Wow, I did repeat kind of the same patterns as in my last relationship.”

Lin Chen: All the last partnerships where I think like: “Okay, things are gonna get better.”

Lin Chen: Maybe it’ll mature throughout this time or I have some hope that it’ll just like improve,

Lin Chen: the situation will improve and it just doesn’t.

Lin Chen: And obviously you set yourself up for disappointment and then

Lin Chen: you have all these expectations that don’t meet your needs.

Grace Duong: Yeah, absolutely.

Grace Duong: And that can be really tough when we’re going through these

Grace Duong: patterns that might appear from childhood and appear in our lives.

Grace Duong: I think one thing to give you credit for is just your self-awareness

Grace Duong: and your willingness to grow from these situations.

Grace Duong: So what lessons have you learned from this co-founder breakup?

Grace Duong: And how are you moving forward?

Lin Chen: Yeah, so it made me sign up for Reiki to get my certification.

Lin Chen: I mean, it’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a while,

Lin Chen: but after talking to several Reiki healers who,

Lin Chen: about the situation, they’re like:

Lin Chen: “You should really get your Reiki certifications

Lin Chen: It’ll help you with building a stronger shield,

Lin Chen: protecting your peace and joy,

Lin Chen: and having better boundaries.

Lin Chen: And so that’s one thing that I’ve been doing.

Lin Chen: Another one is I guess just talking it out with people

Lin Chen: and like talking about what happened,

Lin Chen: especially talking to various Reiki healers,

Lin Chen: like close friends who are Reiki and spiritual healers

Lin Chen: have helped me a lot because some of them have been through similar situations.

Lin Chen: I have a friend who had a co-founder situation as well.

Lin Chen: A couple of years ago, it was actually her ex-boyfriend

Lin Chen: and they had a company together and she like

Lin Chen: has helped me a lot just like talking through

Lin Chen: this various scenarios and situations and just

Lin Chen: talking out with people who’ve been through similar things have been really helpful

Lin Chen: because talk therapy for me is it’s been transformative.

Lin Chen: So talking it out with friends and people that I trust is something I’ve been doing.

Lin Chen: Another thing is also think about for future like:

Lin Chen: Okay if I were to bring on another co-founder in the future

Lin Chen: or like an employee who’s like a big part of my company

Lin Chen: what kind of interview process they’ll be going through.

Lin Chen: So I’ve been talking to various friends

Lin Chen: You need to do 10 rounds of interviews,

Lin Chen: and have them interview with people in your trusted circle and even family members.

Lin Chen: So I made a list of 10 people that they’re going to,

Lin Chen: the next person, whoever I bring on is going to interview with.

Lin Chen: And if they don’t pass, basically even one of my friends/colleagues was joking,

Lin Chen: like, okay, this person is interviewing for a social media role

Lin Chen: and they’re going to think to themselves,

Lin Chen: why am I going through such a deep psychological evaluation for this job?

Lin Chen: But I think that’s what I needed to do.

Lin Chen: I need to do better due diligence and really talk to

Lin Chen: various references because I only talked to two references

Lin Chen: and just relied on their feedback.

Lin Chen: Obviously, it was probably the most positive references given to me.

Lin Chen: And so next time I’m just going to do a deeper due diligence.

Grace Duong: Yeah, yeah, I mean, there’s value in protecting yourself,

Grace Duong: especially with everything that you’ve created and built to this point.

Grace Duong: I’m Level 3 Reiki trained, so Reiki Master.

Grace Duong: And something that I really love about being a Reiki facilitator

Grace Duong: is that I also can do Reiki on myself at any given moment.

Grace Duong: So sometimes I’ll do it right before I sleep,

Grace Duong: or sometimes I’ll do it while I’m on a flight,

Grace Duong: or sometimes I’ll do it in scenarios I really need it.

Grace Duong: Um, something that is really special to me is

Grace Duong: that I was able to give Reiki to my grandfather right before he passed away.

Grace Duong: So I feel like that’s a very special gift to have.

Lin Chen: Yeah!

Grace Duong: And I’m so excited for you on this Reiki journey.

Lin Chen: Yeah, I’m really excited.

Grace Duong: Amazing.

29:57 What’s next for Pink Moon

Lin Chen: So what’s next for you?

Lin Chen: What’s next for Pink Moon?

Lin Chen: Yeah, this year I’m really focused on retail growth

Lin Chen: and just really expansion for the company

Lin Chen: because now we’ve been around for almost 3 years

Lin Chen: and we have about…

Grace Duong: Bless you.

Lin Chen: I always sneeze in threes, but the fourth one was unexpected.

Lin Chen: Yeah, so this year, very focused on retail growth

Lin Chen: and being more on a channel and having products that are

Lin Chen: easily accessible and shoppable for people in the Midwest

Lin Chen: and throughout the country.

Lin Chen: So currently we have about 20 retail partners.

Lin Chen: Most of them are either on the West Coast or East Coast,

Lin Chen: and then we have three in Hong Kong.

Lin Chen: So I definitely want to have the products be more accessible

Lin Chen: and easy to find for people in between and other countries.

Lin Chen: So retail growth is something I’m definitely working on this year

Lin Chen: and also potentially launching a few new products more in like collaboration.

Lin Chen: So one of them is like planetary candles

Lin Chen: with this woman who’s a metaphysical geologist

Lin Chen: that I met from Instagram recently.

Lin Chen: And she used to have her own line of planetary candles

Lin Chen: that she stopped making them because she handmade them from scratch.

Lin Chen: And so it got to be a bit too much.

Lin Chen: And then when I brought up the idea to her, she was like:

Lin Chen: “Whoa, I already had my own line of candles,

Lin Chen: and I know how to make candles,

Lin Chen: I know how to make some blends.”

Lin Chen: So it just really felt like things aligned there.

Grace Duong: Nice. So I want to go back to when you spoke about

31:08 Moving on from toxic relationships

Grace Duong: moving forward from toxic relationships.

Grace Duong: Did you feel different?

Grace Duong: Like how are you feeling afterwards?

Grace Duong: And what are some positive things that are happening for you

Grace Duong: in this relationship or in this new era of self?

Lin Chen: Yeah, I just feel, I guess, more empowered and stronger.

Lin Chen: And I have a more clear direction of where I want to take my company.

Lin Chen: Because one negative side to having a co-founder

Lin Chen: is that you have to always agree on things,

Lin Chen: or else it’s gonna lead to resentment and things like that.

Lin Chen: And some of my colleagues were telling me that it seemed like

Lin Chen: that co-founder was kind of clipping my wings in a way,

Lin Chen: because there were a lot of things I wanted to do

Lin Chen: at the company that she didn’t agree on.

Lin Chen: And so now that she’s left,

Lin Chen: I can move forward with doing these things.

Lin Chen: So it’s really taking my company in a more elevated direction,

Lin Chen: which I’m really excited about.

Lin Chen: And of course, like excited about the retail growth

Lin Chen: and potential products in the pipeline.

Lin Chen: But yeah, I just feel excited to just have the company

Lin Chen: back under my full reign because it is my story.

Lin Chen: The company is built on my self-love, journey and story.

Lin Chen: And I feel like it’s best if the company is run by me.

Grace Duong: Yeah.

Grace Duong: So since this is a journey of your self-love,

Grace Duong: how are you continuing that journey of self-love with your own rituals?

Grace Duong: What are some of your favorite rituals right now?

Lin Chen: Skincare is always to this day like my favorite ritual

Lin Chen: because it’s not only is it you’re touching your skin,

Lin Chen: which is impactful for your mental/emotional health

Lin Chen: and obviously physical health but to me like

Lin Chen: skincare has just always been relaxing and it also

Lin Chen: forces you to look at yourself in the mirror

Lin Chen: So at the same time I give myself little affirmations

Lin Chen: like you’re enough, you’re worthy, you know?

Lin Chen: I don’t need this toxic partnership or person in my life, and so on.

Lin Chen: Another one, now that the weather’s getting better,

Lin Chen: just like walking outside more, getting more vitamin D,

Lin Chen: like going to the park with my dog,

Lin Chen: and just spending more time outdoors and traveling.

Lin Chen: So this year I’m hoping to,

Lin Chen: in June we’re looking at going to Iceland.

Lin Chen: And then later in the fall, we’re going to Asia.

Lin Chen: So I have these trips upcoming that I’m really excited about.

Lin Chen: I’m just excited to get out of the country because I haven’t traveled very much.

Lin Chen: I mean last year I traveled a lot, but that was more domestic traveling

Lin Chen: and I did go to Paris for a couple days but it was for a work trip

Lin Chen: so it wasn’t like you know I was having fun in Paris

Lin Chen: and so I’m just excited to get out more and satisfy the Sag Moon.

Grace Duong: Yes!

Grace Duong: I’m all for it. Amazing.

Grace Duong: So where can people find you?

Lin Chen: So our website is pinkmoon.co.

Lin Chen: That’s also the same handle that we have for Tiktok and for Instagram.

Grace Duong: Awesome.

Grace Duong: Well, thank you so much, Lin,

Grace Duong: for sharing your story, your light,

Grace Duong: and make sure to check out Pink Moon.

Grace Duong: We will link it all in the show notes.

Lin Chen: Thank you so much.

Lin Chen: Yeah, thank you so much, Grace.

ENDTRO + GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Thanks so much for tuning in to today’s podcast episode with Lin Chen!

So grateful for Lin’s honesty and vulnerability in healing her toxic relationships, but also how that sparked inspiration for her to launch her own company Pink Moon based on her healing journey.

And obviously, the healing is ongoing! But it takes perseverance and persistence to continue to learn, unveil layers, so that you can become the fullest and most authentic version of yourself.

And sometimes that can manifest into creating a vision of yours that can help others in their everyday lives too.

So now, here’s the giveaway details to win a Pink Moon product!

You have the chance to win one of the Once in a Pink Moon astrology skincare products where there is either a cleanser, toner, or moisturizer paired with each zodiac sign!

To enter this giveaway, you must leave a podcast review, screenshot your review, and email it to graced@mysticmondays.com. If you want additional entries, you can follow us on social media and get the complete rules on Instagram over @grace.duong.

Also, each follow, like, and comment on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok platform will be another entry for you to win a Pink Moon product! Winners will be announced next Wednesday, May 10th – so keep your eyes peeled on your email or socials should you be the lucky winner!

If you liked this episode, please share the GRACED podcast with your friends, like and follow along if you’re watching the videos, and subscribe to the podcast. Since this is a completely new podcast, all the support goes a long way!

Sending you so much GRACE today and everyday. Until next time!

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