Interview with Former School Teacher DeAnn Starkey

Interview with Former School Teacher DeAnn Starkey - Trace Minerals

Dr. Starkey: Hi, this is Dr. Starkey.  Welcome back to Trace Your Day.

There’s one thing I have to say having worked my career in the nutritional industry that the hardest people to influence are your own personal family members and loved ones. They’re our harshest critics. You gather information, you gather knowledge, and you want to share it with your family and they often times look at you as though you’re on a different planet because you’re coming at them from a totally different aspect that we’ve been sometimes raised with.

Yet today I want to introduce to you probably one of the most important pieces of success in my career and probably one of my harshest critics in the beginning. And that would be my wife DeAnn. Welcome.

DeAnn: Thank You.

Dr. Starkey: You know, she’s smiling right now and she’s laughing because we can go back to the very beginning 30 years ago and when I first started I was extremely excited about the information that I was gathering and what I was learning about the herbs and of course I’d come home smelling like many of those herbs and I would have to explain that I was working with valerian root or dealing with a stress related product but when it came right down to it my wife, and in fact, I should probably let her introduce herself.

She was a school teacher and what I discovered right off the bat is that our school teachers when they first start teaching, or the first of the year, wow, you guys are exposed to a lot of different things but if you’re not careful you’ll find yourself sick a lot.

DeAnn: A lot. I had just started teaching full-time just around the time that we got married and I was catching everything. I had strep throat, well I don’t know how many times I had strep throat. All I know is I would get on an antibiotic, and I’d be off for about a week and I would be back on another antibiotic and it seemed like I did that the first 3 months of our marriage.

And I remember you kind of were trying to talk to me and It was hard for me to understand because I didn’t understand how trace minerals work. It was hard for me to understand how I could take these drops and then suddenly my health was going to improve.  

Dr. Starkey: So in other words, I didn’t do my job right.

DeAnn: It’s not that you didn’t do your job right. I think that it was at that point, you were still new to the industry, you were still learning things.

Dr. Starkey: Sure.

DeAnn: We were on this journey together. You definitely had more information than I did. The other thing was, I was programmed that when you got sick you went to the doctor. I wasn’t programmed to think about healing from within. I wasn’t programmed to think about the things that I could do to help my body heal itself. It was hard for me to understand how taking those little drops could make my life better. I mean, what’s a trace element? I remember talking about the periodic table when I was in high school but really as far as connecting it to my health, that was science, this was food.

Dr. Starkey: Right

DeAnn: It just didn’t connect.

Dr: Starkey: It was funny, we are of course known for the light bulb demonstration.

DeAnn: Yeah

Dr: Starkey: And it was quite fascinating for me to bring that excitement home and show my wife this light demonstration of how these minerals help conduct electrical impulse and how that was going to help her and so I had some great visuals along the way.

DeAnn: And that was very important, that did make sense to me. That and the pH testing and some of these different things that you guys have used over the years to help teach other people about it.  That was instrumental to me. And the other thing was that I think that I struggled with the taste of the ConcenTrace.

Dr. Starkey: Of course, if there is one thing that I have stressed a billion times, and it was no different with you, of course you were there everyday telling me “I can’t get these down. I can’t taste them.” Or “I can’t dilute it enough to be able to taste it”. We had to work through things like that.

DeAnn: Definitely, that was a challenge. I think the thing that was my moment where I kind of started to really believe in the product came after I had reached a point where I was just tired of going in, I was tired being on an antibiotic, I was tired of not feeling well. And I would say that I would have to let down the walls of pride a bit and accept that my husband who was coming home stinky working with all these herbs and stuff may have something that could help.

I don’t want to say that I was desperate, but I was definitely to that point where I was like there’s got to be a better solution than being on an antibiotic because the antibiotics were helpful, but they were also having side effects too that were not necessarily things that I wanted. I was looking for something that would flat improve my health

Dr. Starkey: Yep. I guess the aha moment for me was when I started saying, or when we first started identifying the fact that you know what, when’s the last time you were sick? Honestly, when was the last time you were sick?

DeAnn: It felt like it was pretty, I don’t want to use the word instantaneous, but it was pretty instant in the fact that within 2weeks I was back to normal.

Dr. Starkey: Well, I think that too, at that point in our diets, when we first got married, we ate a certain food group on Monday, a certain dish on Tuesday and of course it was a learning process and of course that’s absolutely changed but looking back as to how our diets changed and where you came from, especially from the experience you had in college.

DeAnn: Yeah, so in college, you know, a poor college student kid just not being smart. You go there to be smart, to learn and be educated, but you don’t get educated on nutrition unless that’s the direction that you’re headed, and I certainly wasn’t headed in that direction. So, I wasn’t being good to my body, I was stressed, I was taking exams, late night studying.

Dr. Starkey: No sleep.

DeAnn: Yes, lots of that. So, I was not eating well and I came home at Christmas time and my mom took me to the doctor and the doctor diagnosed me as malnourished and who would have thought that in the United States that that was possible. That was kind of a shock to me. I really do think that that was part of what I was dealing with. Later on, I guess I started eating better, making healthier food choices when I was in college, but I don’t think that my minerals reserves ever came back. I think that that’s one of the reasons when I started teaching why I was getting sick so much.

Dr. Starkey: Right. And when you started taking it, I think that why you received a quick response because we supply that demand and we correct that deficiency and your body of course gives us indicators, right?

DeAnn: One of the things that I noticed, I noticed this more later but certainly at the time when I started taking it is that I felt like I had more energy. I felt like I could accomplish more tasks. It’s like I had more energy in a day than I had previously.

And certainly, then when we started to talk about having kids, I felt it was important to make sure I was balanced in all kinds of things. So then I started taking the electro-vita-min. It’s a beautiful thing, even though those pills were big they are not a problem for me. I don’t mind them. They were great because then I didn’t have to deal with the taste of the ConcenTrace. That was really helpful for me.

Dr. Starkey: Right. Now, here we sit now and we’re in a different stage now being empty nesters. Going through all those years with children and watching how they ate and how we supplied that demand of minerals for them.  Of course, sometimes it was like trying to be Houdini because they were always trying to keep an eye on you or I as to who was putting the minerals into their food.

DeAnn: But I also think we got smart. We learned how to mask them.

Dr. Starkey: Sure

DeAnn: At least I got smart. You’ve always been one of those just take it, push through the taste, you’ll be fine. Drink something and wash the taste away. I never was. 40 drops in a little glass felt like it was too much for me to gag down. But the thing was, a couple drops in a cup of water that I couldn’t taste, that was doable. And that was the thing we discovered with our kids.

Plus, then we found that we could add it to soup. Or we would add the to smoothies. Smoothies were ones that were popular. Juice, I would add it to juice. I feel like in the end, I remember one time, Hunter is our youngest and he was the pickiest when it came to the taste. But I remember one time that I mixed it up into a little bit of peanut butter and gave it to him in the peanut butter and he never even knew it was in there. That was kind of a great moment for me. I don’t want to say that I tricked him but that mom moment that aha, now I can feel good about giving him something good and he’s none the wiser for it.

Dr. Starkey: Well, I think our lives changed, now that we’re talking about the way we addressed our children when the Chocolate Greens came out and we could put the chocolate greens into almond milk and our kids thought it was chocolate milk we were giving them and what a treat that was, right?

DeAnn: And they would request it.

Dr. Starkey: Right. That’s when you know you hit a product out of the park per se is when your kids request or ask for it. That was one of those moments for me, even though it sounded absolutely disgusting putting coco with the green. Once I figured out how it would work especially for our finicky one, that’s when I know we had a really neat product here, whether it be the ConcenTrace or the Electro-Vita-Min from a multi standpoint or from greens or Power Pak.

I love what you’ve done during the summer times with our kids to where you would take a Power Pak and mixing it into water and putting that into a tray making ice cubes for their drink or for a snack. I think there are some amazingly creative ways that you discovered to give our children these nutritional products for their benefit without them really knowing.

DeAnn: Well, if I’m being honest, it wasn’t just for them it was also for me. I feel like adults like that too. I think that’s one of the reasons that the gummies are so popular because they are a fun product and an easy product to take. One of the things that the kids loved was, I would take the Greens Pak and it didn’t matter although the color of the Greens Pak, the berry color threw them off a bit

Dr. Starkey: That chlorophyll green.

DeAnn: Yes, they didn’t like that as much, they did much better with the chocolate. I’d mix that up in a bit of plain Greek yogurt and freeze it and it turned into kind of an ice cream for them. They liked that, they liked having that cold consistency. The Power Paks ice cubes, I’m even finding now I like to add Power Paks into a protein shake instead to give it a little bit different flavor.

Dr. Starkey: Yep, and they taste great.  Now here we sit as empty nesters and I never thought in my career that we would be talking about gummies as a delivery system for our children or our friends who are requesting them. I just read an article that age 35 and younger, that is their preferred delivery.

DeAnn: For vitamins and stuff?

Dr. Starkey: For vitamins, yeah. I think there is a good, better, and best approach. My own mom, your mother-in-law, I never thought that I could get her to take zinc consistently.

DeAnn: Oh, and to tell you that this is her favorite product, and it tastes better than anything that she’s ever tasted. Sometimes when I hear her say stuff like that, I think wow, because if I was finicky, she is much much more finicky than I am.

Dr. Starkey: And it’s changed because now she understands why zinc is important, and there again another change, her favorite gummy up until then was the ConcenTrace gummy.

DeAnn: Yeah, but those are so yummy

Dr. Starkey: Oh, they are yummy. I love to use them and again, if I get a little bit of a sweet tooth I reach for a trace mineral gummy and I feel perfectly fine in doing so. And yet I have these parents sometimes that say, “How much can you actually put in a gummy?” or “How healthy can they really be?” I guess my response to that parent is I would much rather have my child take a bite of an apple than not take a bite at all. And to me this is that approach with the minerals is at least we can at least get them to start taking their minerals.

DeAnn: Well, I think as you know that we have had kids that can be very compliant, sometimes I think they would drink motor oil if you gave it to them. Not that they really would, but you know. I think sometimes they would…

Dr. Starkey: They trust.

DeAnn: Yes, they trust. Now Hunter on the other hand, you couldn’t trick him it seemed like, so to be able to find ways take something that was healthy for him that he thought tasted okay and tasted good, that was really important.

Was that great? For me I wanted him to take the ConcenTrace not necessarily the gummies. I wanted him to get into the habit, it wasn’t just about the taste for me, I wanted him to understand the importance of it. I know that it took that for me. It took learning why should we take these. I had to understand that. I guess I wanted him to understand that. But, when he was being difficult and was going to fight, they hey the gummy was a much easier and better solution than not having anything.

Dr. Starkey: Right. And of course, the capsules made a huge difference for us as well.

DeAnn: My go to, when I first discovered the Trace Mineral Tablets, oh those were a game changer for me. I loved those things. Those were fabulous to not have to take the taste.

Dr. Starkey: Sure.

DeAnn: Then the capsules have been good too. Of course, now I have matured and now I can take it and not complain. And I have discovered how to dilute it, so it works best for me. I love the trace mineral tablets and I love the capsules because it gives me options.

Dr. Starkey: I know I’ve done my job right now, I can say that after 30 years is when my kids are calling you or I up and asking if we have samples of Power Paks or ConcenTrace or what do we have. I have a friend, that’s when it came full circle, we talked about them, we lived it, we educated on it, and now it’s living within the homes of our grown married children.

DeAnn: Well, I also think, because it’s familiar to them and they do believe in it, but if I’m being completely honest, I also think that part of the reason that they believe in them is because they understand them. That’s what it took for me. It really went down to the wire of why do you want to take these.

Dr. Starkey: And I guess again, they will be able to quote: “We’re only as healthy as our soil is fertile.”

DeAnn: If you cook it, nuke it, eat it out of a can, or box, or a pickup window…

Dr. Starkey: You need your minerals.

DeAnn: You need your minerals.

Dr. Starkey: I want to publicly thank my wife too for helping me be successful because honestly, she spent half of our life as a single parent because I was traveling and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be who or where I’m at today. Thanks for that.

DeAnn: You’re welcome. I think it’s been easy honestly and truly. One of the things that has made it ok for you to be gone on the road and traveling is that I believe in the products. I love that you can go out there and you can train moms or maybe single moms who are struggling even harder than I might be at home with the kids when you’re gone.

They’re doing all the time and you can go out and you can teach them about this one really important product that is not just so invaluable for them but it’s a product that’s also cost effective that they can use, and they can feel good about.  I feel like for moms, moms live with a lot of guilt, so we have a lot of mom guilt for things that we don’t do right and things that we should have done and so I feel like when push comes to shove, I love that you get to go out and you get to train on that.

Dr. Starkey: I love that fact that we together, are on the same page of knowing that these products make a difference in people’s lives. It’s a life changer for many.

DeAnn: Well, one of the reasons that I love the Electro-Vita-Min and Complete Foods, and Complete Foods is another one that I really love is because I can feel the energy. Especially when our kids were little, and I was battling with them.

There were times when they were taking a nap and I was thinking I would love to take a nap but I have a million things to do. The benefit I found from taking the Electro-Vita-Min or the Complete Foods was that I had the energy to push through those moments when I was feeling a little bit tired. I found the energy. As I’m getting older, I’m finding that I really require that part of the nutrition from those supplements to help me to have the energy to get through the day.

Dr. Starkey: For those that are listening to this podcast at this time please go to your website, look up the Electro-Vita-Min or the Complete Foods Multi or the Greens Paks, Power Paks, ConcenTrace. What you’ve heard multiple times on our podcast

DeAnn: One more. Magnesium Chewables

Dr. Starkey: This is another one of my wife’s favorites. If we start getting low, she starts to panic. She of course keeps our shelves full of what she believes in and what she loves and of course she shares it.  And that’s another thing that’s hard sometimes, that we bring it in, you have supplies, but you give away, which is great, I think it’s great.

DeAnn: Well, some of the products, you might bring home a sample and say try this and I’m taking all these other things so I might not pick it up because, that’s what happened with the Magnesium Chewables, it didn’t pick those up right away because, well, someone had told me about magnesium and metabolism.

Dr. Starkey: I want to say that that was me.

DeAnn: It probably was because you’re my greatest educator.

Dr. Starkey: That’s right.

DeAnn: But that was one of the reasons I started taking the magnesium. I will take the Magnesium Chewables before I go to bed and the other thing I’ve noticed is man I sleep great at night. I know that magnesium, I’ve heard you call it the calming element.

Dr. Starkey: It’s the tranquil element, right?

DeAnn: Oh, sorry. The tranquil element. If that’s what it’s doing to me, wow! I love it. It’s fabulous, I get great sleep.

Dr. Starkey: That is one of those key pillars that we’ve talked about what keeps our immune system healthy is that sleep. And whether it be hydration, nutrition, movement, or sleep and I appreciate you giving it from a female perspective because I don’t have mom guilt, I have dad guilt which is a little bit different but at same time knowing that for those mothers out there trying to do the best job they can or need that added support or need that added rest or being able to relax in the evening.

I think it’s invaluable to put this information out there and again, to be able to share it to be able to help. This is something that I love to promote, and you’ll continue to hear me say it is that you have no risk involved with this company. There’s a money back guarantee we offer if this is something that sounds like you’d be interested in, or you’ve heard something that might interest you in your health of what my wife just shared. Please reach out, try the product. What do you have to lose?

DeAnn: And I like that from a consumer standpoint. Tome that’s a great reason to try the product. If another company tried something like that, and I was thinking of trying the product, I think that would be a great reason to try it. I love that trace offers that option.

Dr. Starkey: Well, I think it’s funny because of course you as moms are nurturers. You’re the ones that are buying. We as fathers or husband are going typically for ourselves. We need protein but when it comes to the family what interests you…

DeAnn: Most dads go with a list, and it’s got to be specific telling the brand, the size, what does the bottle look like, the box or the packaging

Dr. Starkey: Or a picture now, right? So, whatever interests you and where you’re at in your health at any level with your health. Prepping to be a mother or in the throngs of motherhood or where we are today as empty nesters, I think that there’s value in any of these products. If you don’t know where to start, start with the trace minerals.

DeAnn: Yeah, I really love the trace minerals. That’s why its my favorite product when I look at overall the things women are interested in: their hair, their skin, their nails, all of those things. I can’t say it’s for sure, but I’m definitely going to give credit to the trace minerals to the ConcenTrace because now that I understand how they work within the body, why wouldn’t they be impacting my hair, my skin, my nails and so forth.

Dr. Starkey: Yep. Well, thank you again for being with me today on this podcast. And for those that have an interest, go to traceminerals.com, look up these products, and pick one that you think would be best suited to you and give it a try. Give that guarantee an opportunity to work for you.

Thanks for listening in. If you have you have any topics you want covered let us know on our Instagram page @tracemineralsresearch. We’ll see you back here next week on Trace Your Day.

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