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Ali Levine is a sought-out TV & media personality, celebrity stylist and influencer on Intellifluence. Additionally, Ali is a podcaster, blogger, Author, Certified Breathwork Coach and mother. From breakdowns to breakthroughs, Ali helps women around the world tap into a higher frequency of being. Between conscious styling, energy audits, and breathwork, she’s transforming individuals from the inside out on a whole new level! You can learn more at alilevine.com and follow Ali on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter, to name a few. Be sure to check out her podcast, Awakening with Ali, on all major podcast platforms.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background, including how you got into the entertainment business?
Thank you so much for having me and how I got into the entertainment industry. So I actually always knew I loved fashion. I worked in retail and corporate before I even entered into entertainment, I worked for Talbots and Coach. I’m originally from New York.
So I started out very much going to the city all the time and interning in the city, then working on movies in the city. Once I did my first movie, Wall Street Money Never Sleeps, before that, as I said, I was working in corporate and on all the fashion districts in New York City.
I always knew fashion was my calling, because I love seeing the transformation of people when they would put something on and I could see how they would light up and how they transformed, how they feel so good. And I noticed that at a really young age. And so it really intrigued me.
So as I got older, I really studied it and really got into it. And then I fell into entertainment because I was already doing the fashion side of things. And then I think it was 2007, was it the market crash? I’m like dating myself. But whenever that major market crash happened, especially in New York City, it kind of pushed me out of the corporate world because there were no jobs.
And it was like, okay, well what am I going to do now? And that was when I was able to then start being a production assistant on different movies and different projects.
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps was my first big movie with the famous Oliver Stone and some other big names. And that’s where I really started to get to work with Ellen Mirojnick, who was the top costume designer who took me under her wing, and let me start learning about costume.
And that’s how I fell into that world, just kind of being a donut girl and cutting scripts and doing whatever I needed to do and then working my way through and eventually then meeting a team in Atlanta that asked me to go to LA to then start working on movies out there and eventually transitioned into styling because I found more of my niche in my home and the styling world than the costume world.
We spoke a little bit before the interview about your transformation from the styling space as a celebrity stylist into focusing more on breathwork. Can you tell us a little bit about that transformation?
So I have always felt I’ve been in the transformative space with fashion, with styling, watching different celebrity/public figures, everyday people, moms, really transforming what they wear. And I always love getting to see how they feel in what they were wearing, the colors, the vibrations.
And as I went through my own transformations and I feel like just kind of soul awakening to my own journey in life and becoming a mom and a lot just changed and shifted for me and my perspective. I started realizing that I wasn’t embodying my full authenticity of myself and I was so hooked on the clothing and I was so focused on how I looked on the outside and I wasn’t loving how I looked on the outside as a new mom because your body doesn’t necessarily, quote unquote, go back.
For me, it was definitely a transition and learning how to love myself in a new space and going through all that really kind of brought me into a more holistic space of wellness, of studying meditation and then falling in love with breathwork and realizing that the breath really is such a true transformational space.
When we give ourselves the ability to breathe consciously and actually pay attention to the breath and what that can do, and it just transformed my whole inner world. And then that transformed my outer world and the way I felt and the way I went through everything in life. And so I just noticed, I show up better as a wife, I show up better as a mother, as Ali, as an entrepreneur and all the things I do and embody it really made me step into a whole new world of leadership and embodiment.
And so that’s why I’m so passionate about it. And I feel like fashion is one level of transformation. And then adding in the breath is the next level, on a really deep soul level.
I feel especially called nowadays that everything it’s kind of going on the world, it can be very, very healing. It can be very, very shifting. And in my opinion, I feel like one of the biggest lies I was ever told is it takes time to heal. I was told that through my postpartum depression with my first daughter, I was told that with a lot of the things I went through and I realized when I started really diving into breathwork and becoming a facilitator, that’s not true.
It’s actually devotion and intention and being authentic with yourself and being willing to sit and want to move through and heal. And so that’s what breathwork did for me. And that’s why now I feel so passionate about bringing it to the world and the eclectic for them to have this deeper transformational journey.
Tell us about some of your favorite brand collaborations to-date. Because, checking out your site, and your Linktree, you have a lot. I’m interested to hear if there’s one or two that really stood out – if you can even isolate two favorites.
Oh, definitely. I mean, so on the motherhood scope, one of my favorite brands is Once Upon A Farm, I have worked with them since Amelia was a baby and now she’s four and a half years old. I still use it for Arlie, my two year old, I plan on also giving to my new baby that’s coming any day now.
So Once Upon A Farm has always been just organic, clean, cold pressed, super transparent in how they do things, how they create their food, which is really important to me, because I’m all about authenticity in a brand, not only for myself, but for other brands that I align with and work with. So in the motherhood space really love Once Upon A Farm.
In the wellness space. I really love Soaak, it is a sound frequency app. I actually did a really cool breathwork collaboration with them as well. So when you go on the app, if you want to experience some breathwork from me, they have an offering on there where you can listen and breathe with me.
And it’s all sound frequencies all about how to also have your cells be always listening and help you with healing. And there’s all different ones for migraines, anxiety, wanting more energy. It’s really phenomenal.
So I’ve had a lot of fun with Soaak. What else did I say? In the past, I did a lot with FabFitFun, loved how they curated their boxes and had really amazing names and brands and just fun ways to get excited about wellness and beauty and everything. But yeah, I mean I’ve had a lot for sure, as you said, and it’s been cool to be able to dive into the different scopes of motherhood, wellness, more holistic lifestyle, of course, and stuff in fashion and beauty.
So it’s been really cool to get to work with those different types of brands and see how I really get to check them out and what I learn from them and what I want to share with other people. Because before I take on any brand, I always use it myself, I get into it, I see what I think.
Can I really speak to this? Is this really aligned with me? What I really want to share this. So it’s been really cool over the years to watch the evolvement also too in brands, and how they’re also shifting and the way they do things with influencers.
Considering all your ventures, everything that you have going on, how do you structure your average day so you can get everything done that you need to get done and still have time for family, and yourself?
So this goes back to kind of my wellness journey. After I kind of healed myself through postpartum depression with my first daughter, I started realizing, okay, I really have to be my own advocate. I have to really embody and be a leader for myself.
No one is coming to save you. You have to take care of yourself. And I think once that clicked, I started really becoming intentional about how I started my morning and how I ended my night.
And I completely shifted from being on my phone consistently and checking emails from brands and doing all these things that yes, of course are important, but I think it’s really important to be intentional of how you start your morning and how you end your night. ‘Cause that’s how you really go into your day and how you end that day to close out that chapter essentially to go into the next day.
Meditation and breath work is always where I start in the morning and it’s always where I end at night so that I have a clear mind. I have a clear breath, I’m in a good space and I can come into anything. Even if it is more intense or there is drama or whatever might be happening, it doesn’t rock me the way it used to.
And I’m able to stay centered and be able to say, okay, how am I going to move through this? And if I can’t, I’m at least able to be conscious of that and walk away from it and go for a walk or listen to some music or turn on Soaak and listen to a frequency and get myself in the right mindset to be able to react from a place that is much more calm than just react and be activated and triggered by what’s happening.
As far as I lay out my day, I start with that. Then of course my girls are first. So we do breakfast in the morning together, I get them going. Usually while they’re eating, I’ll check a couple emails quickly on my phone just to see what is of urgency today.
Because normally the things from yesterday move over to the next day. There’s always extra things from the to to-do list, there’s very rare days that I get the whole to-do list done.
I really kind of become intentional of what is needing my energy right this moment. Some days are podcast days, some days are interviews and collaborations.
Other days are creating content. I really try to structure overall so I know what I’m coming into and it’s not a mishmash of stuff and knowing, okay, these days are the days I’m serving my clients and doing breath work or helping them with styling projects, this day are the days I give more to myself and then I really try to be intentional about like Friday’s half day-ish, go for a walk with my kids, get more outside, be intentional about really just enjoying and grounding before I get back to the Monday grind.
I think just really unlearning for me so much and taking my power back in that sense. And also not feeling like I have to show up online 24/7. When I first came into the influencer space, I was really told, and honestly I felt very controlled that I had to be there all the time, posting on stories all day long, creating content all day long, and it exhausted me.
It burned me out. It became a place where I no longer enjoyed showing up and I felt like it was a chore.
And now I’ve become so intentional in the space that I actually enjoy showing up again. And I get excited about what content I’m creating and what I’m giving to my community. And I post when I want to post on my stories and I try to show up every day. But if I miss a day, I’ll beat myself up. I’m like, okay, tomorrow I’ll post more content, today just wasn’t one of those days.
And I catch up and I always get back to DMs of course, during the weeks, make sure I’m connecting with the community and doing my need to do if I’m doing a brand deal, but I’ve just given myself a lot more grace and it’s actually created a lot more alignment with the right brands and created more space in my schedule in general.
Note: Influencer Spotlight interviews are edited for time and clarity.
Andrew is the Head of Client Services for Intellifluence and has a background in communications. He is committed to helping brands get the most out of their campaigns and is the co-host of the Influencer Spotlight series.
