In the latest installment of Five Rules For Life, we have power couple Rachel Katzman and Stephen Pasterino, A.K.A. P. Rachel is the founder of Cuvee Beauty, a champagne-infused line of hair products that smells divine and gives me the most voluminous, beachy waves. P. is the founder of P.volve, one of my favorite workouts in the city based on his philosophy to create the naturally proportioned, lean body women are looking for. I tried it last year and was blown away by the results — small movements that left me sore for DAYS, in a good way. Here, the duo’s Five Rules For Life, in their respective words.

Rachel

1. Make your passion your work. I was never one who loved school or even loved the idea of working. After my happy accident in Vegas and I had my ah-ha moment to create Cuvée, my passion for hair was born. On my journey of creating this line, I have become so passionate about hair health, and making products that have real benefits that are truly going to make a positive difference for your hair and help boost confidence. I have surprised myself in how much I love working, but it doesn’t feel like “work”, I look forward to waking up every day and going to my office to continue to grow my brand, learn, and innovate.

2. Never be afraid to ask questions. Starting my business, I was very young and didn’t know much about the business world. At first, I was too embarrassed to ask questions if I didn’t understand something, which ended up causing more harm than good. Never be afraid to ask a question, even if you think it’s not a “good one”. It doesn’t bother me to be the youngest person in the room, or to ask any silly questions like, what an ROI means. I have grown so much in past 2 years since starting Cuvee, and learn something new every day.

3. Find time to do something for you each week! Startup life can get pretty crazy, I work 25/8 as I like to call it, no days off. I make time to take an hour 4 days a week and workout. That’s my time to zone out, put my music on and do something that clears my head and makes me feel good, and it doesn’t hurt that my husband has his own gym and workout method that will give your body the most amazing results.

4. Be engaged with data. In today’s world, we are so fortunate to be able to get our hands on as much data as we can. There are so many tools available to us that give crazy-detailed information that can greatly impact our businesses. If you have an idea, test it, put it out there, and let the data come back and speak to you. Maybe you need to go in a slightly different direction or maybe you don’t. There are no guessing games anymore. You able to completely cater to your audience and give them exactly what they are looking for and the best experience.

5. Create a culture. Create an environment that you want to work in, and be the example. Whatevworkspaceace you want, make it happen and hire people that believe in what you believe in. Make sure everyone shares the passion of the company, and all want to achieve the same goals. Be excited to learn from your co-workers and collaborate together, that’s when the best ideas come!

P. 

1. You have to be the hero of your own Story (Joe Rogan). If your life were a movie and it started now what would you do?  Forget about all previous financial disasters, relationship failures, personal failures, what would the hero of your life movie do right now.  We too often define ourselves by our past failures and say well that’s me. That’s not you, you are the person now who has learned from those failures and experiences and you can choose to be the hero of your story who woke up today and decided to move forward and build momentum towards a more happy, successful, fulfilling life. Live your life like there is a documentary crew following you around and you are constantly analyzing your own behavior. Make that documentary so that you can look back on it one day with pride and act like someone who you would respect, the John Wayne character, the hero, pretend that is it you and don’t dwell on regrets of the past.

2. Choose to be inspired. We live in unique times where we can control almost all the input that comes our way. Whether it be the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the books we read, or the social media we choose to be engaged with. All of these things have a dramatic effect on our thinking and how we feel. By controlling all the input that comes our way you can dramatically change your life and begin to become more inspired, focused, and positive. You can choose to eliminate all the negativity in your life and consistently feed your subconscious with positive input. By doing this every day, the effects are dramatic. As humans, we tend to get motivated to do something and the motivation soon fizzles out. There is so much information out there available to us that can, from the moment we wake up in the morning start engaging in with information that awakens you, whether it be a Ted Talk, a motivational YouTube video, or a vlog from someone sharing their own personal journey towards success. Be careful what you program your mind with and choose to be inspired.

3. Travel as much as you can, as far as you can for as long as you can. When I was 18, I became obsessed with backpacking. I would work and save every last penny so I could go to as many places as possible, to talk to as many people as possible and to collect as many experiences as I could. As a young person, nothing has had as much of an impact on me as this. It completely changed my perspective of the world. Every time I went somewhere new, I came back a different person.Traveling, and getting lost in places on the other side of the world gave me a sense of confidence. Learning to stay mobile, survive weeks on end with just a duffle bag, and learning to communicate and connect with people who didn’t speak my language allowed me to never feel uncomfortable in unfamiliar situations or places, I knew I could always find my way.

Knowing there is a whole wide world out there always gave me the feeling I was never stuck in one place. Sometimes we live our lives in a way that feels like Groundhog Day, we are repeating the same routine over and over again and we get run down and lose our passion for life through this. Knowing I can pack a bag and fly to anywhere in the world always gave me the power that I can change my life at any moment and embark on new adventures, I never felt stuck in one place or situation. I found this to be one of the most empowering feelings. We have to remember that humans are inherently nomadic, we are not meant to spend our lives in one place. Traveling will give you an innate sense of gratification and keep your mind, body, and spirit invigorated.

The most important thing to do when traveling is to make sure you really absorb the culture. Shut the phone down and take in the art, the food, the way people think, and way of life. Make it a part of you and you will carry it with you for the rest of your life, and when you return home, you will be different then everyone else, so this way you will stand out and approach things through a different perspective. This is the best education, and for me it has been the way I have been able to excel in many aspects of my life.

4. Learn from other people’s mistakes. Time is the most expensive commodity we have, our lives are racing by us and you’ll never be as young as you are today. Making mistakes is possibly the best way to learn and grow, but it can take a lifetime of mistakes before after we really master our lives. I don’t want to wait until I’m 60 to learn how to live my best life, I want to know now. We offset our learning curves by learning from the mistakes the people around us have made. I have learned from my own screw ups I’ve learned just as much from the mistake other people around me have made. This is one way to buy time and excel in life. The next time you sit down for a holiday dinner with your aunts, uncles, and grandparents, skip the small talk and pick their brain about the lessons they have learned over the years. Ask them to tell you about the biggest mistake they made in life and hopefully you can take that lesson learned as if it were from your own experience. One of my favorite question I love to ask anyone (especially those who have excelled in life) is “ what would you tell your 30 year old self?” Almost every time they will refer back to a big mistake they made when they were younger, saying they wish they hadn’t done that and did this instead.

5. Life is too short to do all the suffering on your own, let others do it for you and move on. Don’t ever stop traveling, there will always be somewhere new for you to go, or someone new for you to meet who will teach you something new and give you perspective. Choose to wake up every day inspired, and take on the journey of life as the hero of your own story and live a life your proud of.

Thanks, Rachel and P! Stay tuned for more Five Rules installments.

Originally published on rouge18.com.