She’s been compared to Lady Gaga, earned accolades from Shape and Fitness magazines, and has been seen on media programs from The O’Reiley Factor and Babble to The Talk and NBC.
Leah Segedie isn’t your typical green living blogger. No, she’s on a mission to make some noise in mainstream media – and she’s being heard.
The mother of three changed her life when she switched from eating fast food and diet sodas every day to consuming healthier, more sustainable foods. With a 170 pound weight loss, she started teaching other women how to change their eating habits and lose weight through a digital community that started in 2006.
Today, Mamavation is a resource for moms to come together to learn about hidden toxins in foods, ways to stay in shape, and how to detox your home. Through healthy eating, the community has lost a collective total of more than 3,500 pounds.
Yet Mamavation isn’t a destination for weight loss. Far from it. A self-described “food activist,” Segedie is more concerned about removing chemicals from a diet than calories. The positive benefit is typically weight loss, along with reduced risk to toxins and chemicals that a majority of the public isn’t even aware of.
Segedie’s audience is mothers who want to create a healthier home for their children, as well as themselves.
“I think most moms want to eat healthy. Most moms want to feed their children healthier food,” Segedie said. “I’ve found that if they don’t, it’s because of the following perceptions: They think it will cost too much, they think it will take too much time or they don’t know the benefits yet. My job is to communicate clearly the benefits of healthy food and give them simple actionable options they can follow up on.”
Spreading the word along with Segedie is her extended digital media family of more than 10,000 wellness bloggers that are part of what she calls the “Bookieboo Network.” She routinely calls upon the like-minded bloggers to review eco-wellness products, campaign for legal reforms and signing petitions, and participate in Twitter parties.
Named the 4th Most Influential Mom Blogger by Cision Media, Segedie knows how to use social media to create change in the food supply system and for public health issues. She believes it’s the most effective way to create a change towards eco-wellness.
“They [big corporations] own TV, they own the newspapers, they own radio, they own the magazines, but they don’t own social media,” said Segedie.
Calling upon her vast network of support, Segedie recently started the SHIFTCON conference.
“As the wellness blogging movement and other sustainable blogging movements have grown, we’ve needed some organization. Getting us all together every year is imperative to create relationships, brainstorm together and strengthen the movement. Conventional blogging conferences were never relevant to our specific needs,” Segedie said.
“Because I already have so many relationships with non-profits, good brands & bloggers, I knew I had a responsibility to assist this movement.”
Feature image courtesy of Melanie Levi