Today’s Mold Talks Heroes guest is Emma Chesmore, a self-love advocate, lifestyle and fitness coach, and mold survivor. Emma is a mother of four whose mission is to help women feel their best, from the inside out, through mindset coaching, accountability groups, spiritual growth, and health and fitness. She specializes in helping mamas create a morning routine that they run instead of their mornings running them.
She shares the techniques that have changed her life, including My Morning Routine and her daily journals, and helps women stay motivated and uplifted through the accountability of her team, The Dreamer’s Society.
Emma and her four children experienced mold exposure in a brand-new apartment, leading to a long list of adverse health reactions. Luckily, she was familiar with mold and realized that this was their underlying issue. Unfortunately, the rental property management did not handle the situation properly, allowing the contamination to persist.
It took months of her battling for proper action before she and her family left the property so that they could heal. Her story showcases the importance of advocating for your health and trusting your instincts. Now, she's using her experience to help others and create greater awareness of this important issue.
In this episode:
0:45: Emma explains how her journey began with mold exposure and figuring out that this fungus was the root cause of her chronic illness. She and her four children all had an array of seemingly random symptoms that never seemed to go away. “It took about three months for me to recognize that we were not crazy.”
2:00: Emma described how she would never have guessed that this brand-new apartment they moved into had a contamination problem. “We figured we would be safe in this new space.”
4:00: Emma goes through her process of dealing with the toxic environment while also struggling with brain fog and postpartum. At the same time that she found the issue, her fiance was getting hernia surgery, and luckily, she knew that he could not recover in a mold-infested environment. Unfortunately, her rental management did not handle the situation properly, extending the amount of time the water damage and contamination were present. This led to her continuing to experience chronic illness. “I was doing all the right things, but nothing was being taken seriously.”
8:45: Emma explains how she hired her own inspector who came in and found high levels of mold in their environment, showing that the apartment complex did not handle the issue properly. They immediately decided to move out of that space so that she and her family could begin to heal. “I was able to move in with my parents, but not everyone is as lucky.”
14:15: Emma describes her time of healing with her family while away from that toxic environment. “I truly feel like it happened for a reason and I'm so grateful we had a safe place to move to.”
15:30: Emma explains her interactions with family and friends and how a friend of hers actually suggested mold as the culprit. From there, she had several other friends help her with the legal aspects of dealing with the apartment complex.
19:30: Emma details her and her family’s healing journey and how a chiropractor helped them with getting those toxins out. They eventually relocated to Texas, and Emma is continuing to work on detoxing her body. "Words to the wise, go with the doctor you want to go with first, because not everyone knows what’s best."
25:00: Emma explains how her experience with mold has helped her assist others during her health coaching sessions. She also shares how many individuals she has helped who are struggling with mold exposure and the indicators she looks for. “Being aware of yourself is the biggest thing. When you’re actively taking care of your health and wellness, you’re more likely to say, ‘Hey, this doesn’t feel right.’ And if it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t right.”
30:30: Emma describes what she thinks the biggest barriers are to the acceptance of mold exposure and the drastic impact it can have on health. “Sometimes, people just don’t want to know.”
42:00: Emma explains that not just homes can have contamination problems. Any indoor environment, including places of work, can also lead to things like mold exposure. "If you feel better when you walk outside, you should be asking why."
46:00: Emma describes how mold exposure can cause massive weight fluctuations. While she lost significant weight, her fiance had the opposite effect and gained weight.
51:00: Emma explains the importance of testing. While it may be expensive, it shows what’s actually going on so that individuals can have a roadmap of what needs to be done to heal.
55:00: Emma highlights how anyone dealing with infertility should always double-check their environment to ensure the air they’re breathing is clean.
56:00: Emma shares the main things she learned during this journey that she hopes everyone can learn from if they’re going through a similar situation. “Trust your instincts.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT EMMA AT:
https://www.emmachesmore.com/my-story
Instagram: emma_chesmore