The mindbodygreen Podcast

Many moons ago, Robin Berzin was wondering how she would ever manage to merge her love of technology, health care, yoga, public health, functional medicine, and entrepreneurship. Fast-forward a few years—after working for Oprah, earning a degree in international relations, and becoming an M.D.—she's now the founder and CEO of Parsley Health, a successful membership-based holistic health practice with offices in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In this episode of the mbg podcast, my good friend and mbg Collective member Dr. Berzin talked about the most common health complaints she sees in her clinic and why there are some supplements she recommends to (almost) everyone. She revealed the ins and outs of the diet—a "plant-based paleo" plan, full of fiber, healthy fatty acids, and protein—that is a fit for pretty much all her patients. And finally, we talked about how our perspectives on life have shifted since we both brought babies into the world last year around this time; our daughters even have the occasional "baby playdate," which is absolutely just as cute as it sounds. Trained in traditional medicine and then functional medicine, Dr. Berzin is passionate about the idea that we should each have a doctor that listens to us and looks at every aspect of our lives and factors that into our medical care every single day. You won't want to miss this one. Sonos is a wireless home sound system that blends impeccable sound quality with beautifully minimal design, allowing you to listen to your favorite music, radio stations, podcasts, books, movies, and more in any or every room of your home. Use promo code MINDBODY10 to receive 10% off one order up to $2,500USD on Sonos.com. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even though she's written a book, filmed a TED Talk, and built an audience of 371,000 people and counting on Instagram, she still gets nervous before public speaking — it's one tiny but endearing example of what makes artist and poet Cleo Wade so relatable. Wade's first book, Heart Talk, is meant to be what you need it to be—a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, or some simple spiritual inspiration to get through a creative block. In this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast, we start from the very beginning of Wade's career as a writer and touch on all-important and sometimes divisive topics like self-care, social media habits and overwhelm, and what it means to be an informed citizen in modern society. To the core, Wade marches to the beat of her own drum. She's constructed a life and vocation that not only supports her well-being but allows her to understand what she needs to live well. During our chat, she said that the promise she made to her audience was to make them feel less alone. "As soon as you set the intention, everything else becomes clear," she said. Whether you've connected with Wade's poetry and wanted to know more about her life, or you're craving some deep, soul-food conversation, this episode hits on both points and everything in between. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Sonos is a wireless home sound system that blends impeccable sound quality with beautifully minimal design, allowing you to listen to your favorite music, radio stations, podcasts, books, movies, and more in any or every room of your home. Use promo code MINDBODY10 to receive 10% off one order up to $2,500USD on Sonos.com. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the best-selling author of Happy Gut: The Cleansing Program to Help You Lose Weight, Gain Energy, and Eliminate Pain, mbg Collective member Vincent Pedre, MD, is one of the country's leading experts on gut health. In this episode of the mbg podcast, we dive deep into the roots that shaped his current philosophy and lifestyle, from his Cuban background to how his family's immigration impacted his childhood. "If you're Cuban, you become a doctor, a lawyer, or a CPA," Pedre laughs, noting that, with two siblings filling the lawyer and CPA spots, there was only one real profession left for him to entertain. For him, doctoring is the perfect marriage of art and science, and he's perfected his field. In this episode, he shares the future of the microbiome, the most important foods to eat for gut health, how to know if coffee is good in your body, how to consume alcohol in a healthy way (including the surprising reasons he loves tequila), why French and Italian wines are healthier, and ways to cheat fasting so you're not starving all the time. He also gets into the few easy healthy things that makes a big difference in his diet, his thoughts on butter and ghee, and the hidden problem with consuming fat if you have a leaky gut. If you're looking for a common sense, implementable approach to changing your gut and life, this episode is a must-listen. When you're done, be sure to check out Pedre's teachings in the mbg Functional Nutrition program! To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For entrepreneur Rachel Drori, access is at the core of her mission for her company, Daily Harvest. The food delivery service provides convenient fresh and frozen food without compromising on nutritional value—all delivered right to your door. Rachel essentially created Daily Harvest out of a personal need to prioritize wellness in her busy life as a working mom. She combined her background in marketing and hospitality and her passion for food politics to launch Daily Harvest on her own, starting in a commercial kitchen on Long Island City here in New York. Her passion for food politics started in college as a member of an organization that provided fresh produce to the underserved communities in West Philadelphia. Fast-forward to today: Her passion has only multiplied and now includes a mission to help broaden food access across the country, one nutritious frozen meal at a time. Even more so, Rachel is committed to changing the food system in a way that involves more transparency and outreach, particularly when it comes to the origins of our produce. Daily Harvest relies on farmers for the bulk of their inventory, and Rachel is a huge advocate for transitional farming—the process by which farmers transition from conventional farming to organic farming. Taking the small, incremental steps toward truly turning our food system inside out, Rachel believes, will not only empower us as individuals to feel good about making healthy decisions but will also aid in the overall picture of food pricing and accessibility for everyone. Of course, it wouldn't be a conversation about wellness, parenting, and entrepreneurship without some mention of balance. Rachel and I attempt to demystify the work-life juggling act and talk about the double duties that come along with being a mother and sole founder of a company (hint: she's not a fan of the 'mompreneur' label), all while navigating the tricky business-building process. Some buzzy wellness products that do keep her afloat? Homemade collagen gummies that are healthy and super easy to whip up. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As one of mbg’s first contributors, a class instructor, and now mbg collective member, Rich Roll is passionate about using his personal story as a blueprint for how to build a life full of purpose and intuition. An ultra-endurance athlete, enthusiastic vegan, author, and podcast host, Rich has channeled his love for the outdoors and a plant-based diet into an inspiring health and wellness journey for a little over a decade. For Rich, wellness is about alchemy; health is about what’s on your plate. And although Rich credits yoga as his saving grace during his time fresh out of rehab, he recognizes that real transformation is an inside job that is oftentimes messy but always rewarding in the end. His book Finding Ultra was recently rereleased and happens to be one of my favorite books. Did I mention he was recently named the world’s fittest vegan? In this episode, Rich talks about how his rock bottom moments and early struggles with alcoholism and his climb up the corporate ladder left him broken and empty. Rich also shares the pivotal turning point of his journey—from Stanford swimmer to an overworked lawyer to recovering alcoholic—the night before his 40th birthday. It revealed a major health scare and his ongoing existential crisis and eventually, triggered his desire to seek a healthier lifestyle. He also describes the series of events that led him to pursue some pretty wild endeavors like finishing 5 Iron Man competitions in less than one week and swimming across the Baltic Sea—all while over the age of 40. If you're someone who's keen on resetting their biological clocks with the right fuel from exercise and nutrition or just simply want to learn how to maximize your life's path no matter the direction, you might want to tune in to hear Rich's insights on learning to build a life, not a résumé, all while cultivating healthy mental, physical, and spiritual habits. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wondered what the connection between chi and the mitochondria might be? Want to know why relaxation is all about activating the parasympathetic nervous system? The human body is endlessly fascinating, which can also make getting and staying healthy feel terribly complicated. That is, until you have an expert explain it to you in a way that makes perfect sense. Dr. Frank Lipman is a leader in integrative and functional medicine, my personal doctor, a New York Times best-selling author of five books, an mbg practices instructor, and a member of the mbg Collective. His new book, launching today, How to Be Well: The 6 Keys to a Happy and Healthy Life, puts four decades of experience in one place. It's like having a health coach right in your living room. Join me as I sit down with one of my favorite people to chat about sleep, diet, movement, protecting ourselves from chemicals, and connecting with our loved ones. As it turns out, being well doesn't have to be complicated; the ordinary things we take for granted—like reggae music, gratitude, and sunshine—can have extraordinary effects on our health. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

mbg Collective member Paige Bourassa MSTOM, L.Ac., RHN, is a licensed acupuncturist, registered holistic nutritionist, Chinese herbologist, and has her master's of science in traditional Oriental medicine. She's one of the most qualified holistic and integrative practitioners bringing ancient wisdom and modern science to treat pain, psycho-emotional disorders, and chronic illness. In the episode, the Vancouver native generously shares her knowledge, giving us a full breakdown of her education and then each of the components of traditional Chinese medicine: acupuncture, acupressure, cupping, herbs, gua sha, and nutrition. She runs through some frequently asked questions and myths about acupuncture—like whether it hurts—as well as common nutrition, sleep, and movement mistakes people make every day that could be contributing to a larger imbalance resulting in pain, skin conditions, inflammation, and more. If you've ever considered going back to school to learn about acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, nutrition, or herbalism—this episode is a must-listen. Bourassa has her own practice, Shen Medicine, in the heart of Manhattan. If you can't see her there, check out her Essential Guide to Acupressure class on mbg. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Valter Longo, PhD, has been studying longevity for years. It wasn't long before he became fascinated by the world of fasting and calorie restriction and how they can help us maintain a healthy body and prolong our lifespan. He is now the director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, creator of the ProLon fasting-mimicking diet, and author of the best-selling book The Longevity Diet. In this episode of the mbg podcast, we talked about the five pillars of longevity and the best way to eat to stay healthy long-term, which includes plenty of vegetables, nuts, legumes, and some fish. Dr. Longo also shared the mistakes people make when they're trying to get healthier—like moving from an unhealthy diet to an overly restrictive diet—which oftentimes leaves them lacking essential vitamins and minerals. He explained why it's important to eat food that you actually like and warned us not to assume a food that's bad for some people and is bad for everyone (think: gluten). Dr. Longo made us think twice about what healthy food really means and called our beloved avocados into question. You don't want to miss this one. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Functional medicine trailblazer Dr. Mark Hyman knows a thing or two about optimal living. A man with many titles—practicing family physician, ten time #1 New York Times bestselling author, and director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine, just to name a few—Hyman has been force in the wellness world, revolutionizing our approach to eating, moving, thinking, and ultimately, thriving in transformative and healing ways. His upcoming book, Food: What The Heck Should I Eat? aims to wade through the chaos involving today’s food hysteria, including nutrition confusion, environmental factors, misinformation, and conflicting science. In this episode, Dr. Hyman gets real about the current state of confusion about food, policies and government practices. We also discuss a list of wellness topics and highly contested topics like, “is adding butter to your coffee a crime?" and whether all types of dairy should be permitted in the food pyramid. A practicing 'pegan', Dr. Hyman also shares the origins and makeup of this lifestyle and why everyone should consider adapting a paleo and vegan diet. Plus, we delve into the real time effects of climate change’s impact on food production and the consumption of meat in the context of healthy food—like how eating beef can help to save the environment. If you’re an avid follower of Dr. Hyman’s inspiring work in functional health or are looking for answers on what to eat and why, you'll want to grab a notebook and pen to record all of Dr. Hyman's invaluable tips about the who, what, where, when, and why of food. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Teacher and innovator Light Watkins has been revolutionizing the practice of meditation since 1998—and now, he's on a mission to make meditation an everyday practice, for everyone. As first a meditation practitioner and then apprentice to his Vedic Meditation teacher, Light has worked to deconstruct meditation and make the practice more accessible and sustainable. He’s the instructor of the mindbodygreen classes A Meditation Expert's 14-day Guide and Meditation For Anxiety and founder of The Shine Movement, a global pop-up inspirational variety that spotlights the stories of everyday people. Light also takes his expertise on the road, traveling around the globe hosting workshops, panels, meditation trainings and retreats. His TED Talk, “Debunking the 5 Most Common Meditation Myths” further echoes his uplifting efforts to bring meditation into the public sphere, along with a focus on cultivating inner strength, as demonstrated with first book titled, The Inner Gym. And if that doesn’t seal the deal, Light is dedicated to using his platform to spread positivity and inspiration in all ways, including his daily inspirational email called The Daily Dose and his new book, Bliss More: How to Succeed in Meditation Without Really Trying. In this episode, Light recounts his many career paths—from yoga instructor to model and board game entrepreneur—and life-changing realizations that ultimately led him to meditation. We discussed the transformative power of using mantras while meditating, the resurgence of meditation, and the importance of introducing the practice to pop culture. Plus, Light shares his insights on building a healthy inner life and owning the shift of dialogue around meditation from one of productivity to sustainability. Whether you’re a bonafide meditation follower or a skeptic looking for more information, you won’t want to miss Light Watkins’s simple and refreshing real-life perspective on meditation as an art form, daily practice, and way of life. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It all started with blueberry muffins. Elizabeth Stein made them to woo clients for her health and nutrition, not to start a business —- but everyone was obsessed with the combination of healthy ingredients and great flavor. Ever the brilliant entrepreneur, she recognized the demand and pivoted her business. Now, only a few short years later, Purely Elizabeth is a nationally renowned brand with granolas, instant oatmeals, and more—and plans to grow far beyond breakfast. I sat down with Elizabeth to find out the secret to her mega-success and learned a lot more along the way. In this podcast, she shares the surprising country she derives inspiration from, her thoughts on "unicorn food," and what's next in healthy breakfast trends. She also shares the full story of how everyone's favorite granola came to be. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seth Kaufman knows about healthy food. As the head of PepsiCo's North American Nutrition division (whom we partnered with for our Next Great Nutritionist competition!), he's responsible for helping the mega-corporation make healthy options accessible and affordable for people all over the world. It's a weight he feels profoundly. "Talking about this idea of affordable nutrition, if we're not going to do it—with the scale that we have—who can?" he says. In this podcast, we talk about PepsiCo North American Nutrition's "performance with purpose" agenda, their impact on the people they serve, the planet, and more. He also opens up about his personal wellness journey, including how he spent his childhood going in and out of the hospital and the sinus infections that carried into his 30s. When he was 36, he was finally diagnosed with "primary immune deficiency," which means his body doesn't make antibodies and can't fight infection. This kick-started a health journey that lasts to this day (you should hear how far he cycles daily!). You'll also hear Seth's take on which food trends are on their way out and which are up and coming (his thoughts on apple cider vinegar and probiotics are FASCINATING). For business and health enthusiasts alike, this one is unmissable. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Paul Hawken's expansive career as an environmentalist, best-selling author, and entrepreneur began with a case of greenwashing. Get the scoop on that story and so many more in this intimate podcast episode that spans from the civil rights movement into the present day and decades into the future. Hawken's expansive resume as founder of health food mecca Erewhon and lifestyle brand Smith & Hawken, author of a dozen books, and prolific public speaker and activist is only part of what makes him so fascinating. Hawken's outlook on the future of our planet is unlike any other, and the way he speaks about the people fighting climate change from the front lines can make even the most pessimistic of us more hopeful. His most recent project, Drawdown, spotlights 100 of the more substantive solutions to global warming to date and outlines ways for all of us to move them along. The mbg Lifetime Achievement Award winner and revitalize 2017 fan favorite sees climate change as the problem of our time—and says that you play a role in solving it. Find out how to get started with this inspiring conversation. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

JJ Virgin is, without a doubt, one of the biggest names in health and wellness. She's a certified nutrition specialist and health and fitness instructor, has had numerous books hit the best-seller list, and leads a new class at mindbodygreen called Boost Your Metabolism. Raised on Pop-Tarts and Cap'n Crunch, she went rogue and visited a health food store at the early age of 12, which sparked her interest in health and nutrition. Virgin never looked back and has since dedicated her life to helping people break through weight loss resistance and maintain their healthiest weight—all the way from Jazzercise and low-fat diets to HIIT workouts and eating to balance blood sugar and insulin levels. In this episode of the mbg podcast, JJ opened up about a tragic hit-and-run accident that left her 15-year-old son in critical condition. It was a long healing process, physically and emotionally, and she shared the things that kept her family moving forward, now stronger than ever. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of us know what it's like to reach a moment of reckoning—a low point in life when we know that something has to change, and there's nowhere to go but up. For Dan Harris, this moment occurred on live television in front of 5 million people. It took a panic attack reading the news on Good Morning America to make the journalist and anchor realize he needed to address his anxiety. After years of searching, Harris found his savior in meditation. But ever a skeptic at heart, Harris had to first cut through a lot of what he perceived to be flowery language and woo-woo jargon that diluted the practice's power in order to home in on his own brand of simple, straightforward mindfulness meditation. In the process, he wrote a book, 10% Happier, which went on to become a No. 1 New York Times best-seller, a practical meditation guide for the modern day. In this podcast episode, Harris—who first shared his story with mbg on the 2014 revitalize stage—dives into the genesis of his legendary first book, and his latest one, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. Along the way, he gets real about his rock-bottom moment, his first foray into mindfulness, and the tips that have helped him meditate every day for the past nine years. He also speaks candidly about the "gurus" of today and why you don't need to shell out for a silent meditation retreat or travel to an ashram to harness all of meditation's truly life-changing benefits. If you're a skeptic, or just someone who has trouble quieting the mind regularly, you're going to want to give it a listen. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Norma Kamali is 72 and has been an ageless wellness queen since she was born. Her mother juiced, educated herself on supplements, and introduced Kamali to healthful foods at a very young age. Although she rebelled at first, wellness became a part of her DNA, and her company's. Back in 2001, Kamali opened her wellness cafe uptown in New York City in response to the September 11 attacks—she was way ahead of the wellness curve. Since then, she's written a book called Facing East, started a campaign called Stop Objectification to empower women who have been subject to misconduct, and has continued to run her namesake fashion brand. Kamali is a true renaissance woman. Her endeavors are more relevant now than perhaps ever before, and she's a living, breathing example of our You. We. All. mission to empower the planet. Listen to her interview to learn about her No. 1 wellness priority (hint: it's not food), the routine that makes her skin look youthful and glowy, and the sage advice she'd give her younger self. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What makes for a healthy, happy human? Dan Buettner, author, athlete, and National Geographic explorer, has traversed the world searching far and wide for the answer—and he's found it. His book, The Blue Zones, identifies the five areas of the world where people live the longest and are healthiest, snagging the secrets to longevity along the way. (Hint: Nurturing your personal relationships, eating a plant-based diet, and sleeping eight—yes, eight—hours a night all play a role.) His latest project, The Blue Zones of Happiness, goes a step further to look into the pockets of the world that have the happiest people. In this extremely candid podcast episode, he spills the extent to which money buys fulfillment, the most joyous age, and what you can do to become the happiest version of yourself every day, no matter where you live. Along the way, he shares whether exercise, coffee, and social media are helping or harming our moods, and his insights will definitely surprise you. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This special edition episode is a reflection on mindbodygreen's 2018 wellness trends! Every year in December, we release a report of our biggest trends and predictions for next year, and this time we have a sneak peek into the thought process behind the trends with our founder and CEO, Jason Wachob, along with co-founder and chief brand officer, Colleen Wachob. "It is a really exciting time to be in wellness," Jason said, as he reflected on mbg's track record for setting and predicting trends. In 2015, we were one of the first to call out supplement startups and telomeres as a trend. Two years ago in 2016, we accurately predicted guac would become a healthy staple, wellness tourism would go mainstream, and foretold the wellness world's now long-standing obsession with succulents. Last year, we reported that women's spaces and circles would grow, and from a food standpoint, we pegged personalized nutrition, medicinal mushrooms, and ketosis as wellness trends too. In this special, abbreviated episode, Jason and Colleen discuss four of our biggest and buzziest trends this year, and they're asking the questions no one else wants to ask: Will technology be the next tobacco? And when will we as consumers start to move the needle for big tech, the same way we did this year with big food? Healthy food startups are being acquired left and right—they discuss why that's a really good thing. In that vein, accessibility in wellness is another trending theme that resonates strongly with mindbodygreen's new mission. Breathwork will join meditation as a practice people use anytime, anywhere to change their energy. Similar to big food, green beauty is experiencing a surge of financial interest, acquisitions, and support from big-box retailers, who are stocking naturals now more than ever. And a question: Where will athleisure and boutique fitness go? They both are becoming more diverse and less exclusive, with at-home workouts like FlyWheel's new stationary bike and Peloton's rumored treadmill. Tune in to hear their points of view and get a behind-the-scenes look at the thinking behind these trends. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

GT Dave is the founder of the world's most successful kombucha company, GT's Kombucha. A native Californian, he was born a vegetarian and raised by two very holistic parents who always looked at life—and more importantly, health—from a holistic perspective. His journey with kombucha began in 1994 as a teenager when his parents starting making and drinking it regularly. Not long after, his mother—who was healthy and active—was diagnosed with breast cancer. When weeks later her doctors downgraded her tumor diagnosis from cancerous to precancerous, they asked what she was doing differently in her diet. The answer was kombucha. Still, he had no idea that just a few years later he would be bottling 60 to 100 bottles in his house every morning before driving them to local stores in a van. Through the course of his career, which is far from over, GT has made kombucha a staple in every health food store and all great wellness regimes. He brought this now wildly popular probiotic drink into the mainstream. His journey was not without its challenges, from family tragedies to a learning how to run a business to the time when all his products were taken off the shelves over concerns about its potential trace alcohol content. GT opened up about his spirituality and why he feels like he and his brand grew up together. We discussed narcissism, why we need to be authentic in a social media world, and how he balances purpose and profit as an entrepreneur. His definition of success is making an effort to be the best he can be and to give love and spread love. You won't want to miss this one. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As founder and CEO of 22 Days Nutrition and author of the New York Times best-selling book The 22-Day Revolution, Marco Borges is one of the most sought-after experts in the field of plant-based nutrition and functional foods. Growing up in Miami in the late '70s—and attending public school during the heyday of cocaine in the city—he credits his strong sense of self and determined personality for his lack of interest in drugs and alcohol. He originally wanted to be a doctor, but the more he learned about health care, the more he realized that it's a much too reactive system. Eventually, Borges became interested in fitness and cycling and learned what to eat, what not to eat, and how foods made him feel. He says he owes his success to being eternally curious about everything and refusing to compromise. In this episode we discuss starting his own business and why it's not really work when you're doing something you love. He talks about creating 22 Days Nutrition abd how one Instagram post by Beyoncé caused everyone to go crazy overnight about the 22-Day Challenge. Borges has dedicated his life to teaching people how to transform their lives through movement and nutrition—including people like Jay-Z and Beyoncé. His incredible energy and wisdom make him one of my favorite people in the world, so don't miss this one! To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Six years ago, Ella Mills was so ill that she could barely get out of bed. She spent hours watching Keeping Up With the Kardashians and browsing her friends' Facebook feeds, growing increasingly depressed. Doctors had diagnosed her with postural tachychardia syndrome, a rare disease, and pumped her full of medicine, but she knew there had to be a better way. Eventually, while browsing the internet, she read about the power of diet and lifestyle to heal and began experimenting with a plant-based diet. She was able to come off her medication after two years, and now, after healing her gut from rounds of antibiotics, she's feeling vibrant and healthy again. In this podcast, she chats about her healing journey and how she went from being sick in bed to the mega-successful blogger behind Deliciously Ella—and now, a businesswoman with four cookbooks (including the No. 1 best-selling debut cookbook ever in the United Kingdom), three delis, and three product ranges in over 5,500 stores. She also opens up about her relationship with her husband, Matt, whom she married only 13 months after they met. She shares how they navigate being business partners and life partners and how he experienced his own health crisis, which prompted them to finally prioritize work/life balance. Whether you're a wellness business owner, someone looking to take control of your own health, or simply a fan of Ella, this is an episode you won't want to miss. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mark Sisson is the founder of Mark's Daily Apple and Primal Kitchen (the mega-popular brand of salad dressing, energy bar, protein powder and more), the author of the brand-new The Keto Reset Diet: Reboot Your Metabolism In 21 Days to Burn Fat Forever, and the man responsible for empowering millions of people to take back control of their health. While he's now renowned as the founder of the modern-day paleo or primal diets, he wasn't always this way. Once an Ironman athlete and competitive runner, Mark used to eat a primarily carbohydrate-rich diet to fuel his athletic endurance. Seventeen years ago, he gave up grains, and it was then that pieces of the puzzle finally began to shift into place and the diseases that had been weighing him down—from IBS to chronic upper respiratory tract infections—began to clear up. He started Mark's Daily Apple, the mega-popular wellness blog, and now—nine books, hundreds of talks, and a product line later—well, the rest is history. In today's episode, Mark shares how his rigid diet has evolved over time (you'll want to tune in just to hear his take on legumes and lectins), how he optimizes his mitochondria, his thoughts on Bulletproof coffee, and much, much more. He also shares how long you have to do keto for it to have a lasting effect (it's not as long you'd think!) and why he thinks "virtually every disease of civilization can be mitigated by lifestyle choices." Tune in to find out exactly how. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Byron Katie is a wellness icon. Unlike a lot of popular theories today, her system of self-inquiry, known as "The Work," helps people to separate their beliefs from what is true. In other words, she cuts through the bullsh*t pretty quickly. "The Work is not meant to support you to feel good. There’s no feel good in it. It’s about waking up to the reality," Katie said in our interview. That's the good stuff. She wasn't always the super-successful author, teacher, and beacon of light she has become. When I sat down with Katie, she shared intimate details about her awakening and what life was like beforehand. It wasn't easy. As a mother of three, she—understandably and relatably—was always worried about money, quite depressed, and stuck in a cycle of compulsive eating and smoking until one day in 1986 when everything changed. She started to see the world through different eyes and recalled with great detail exactly what that was like. That's how "The Work" was born. In this episode, Katie shares several examples that illustrate "The Work," dives into the six essential questions to ask yourself as a starting point, and helps us see ourselves as entirely separate from our belief systems. In her words, "suffering is the flip side of our true nature," and "The Work" is one way to guide yourself in the right direction. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you've seen more men with mustaches growing in lately, you can thank Justin Coghlan ("JC"), one of the founding members of The Movember Foundation. With 20 participating countries, more than 5 million individual participants, and $850 million raised to date, Movember has become the world's largest men's health movement. Like most brilliant ideas, it started at a bar and was kind of an accident. After having a drink together almost 15 years ago, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery decided to revive the mustache as a style statement. Then a funny thing happened: People started asking them why. Once they realized they'd stumbled upon conversation-starting gold, they decided to leverage it for a good cause. JC and Garone's brother Adam joined the following year to increase momentum. "There's a women's hospital, a children's hospital, but there's no men's hospital. What are men doing for their health?" said JC. In addition to raising funds for prostate and testicular cancer, Movember is shining a light on men's mental health. Seventy percent of suicides are middle-aged men, and JC says it's because they're not talking to one another about life's ups and downs—at least not the same way women do. Movember aims to save lives by starting the conversation. In this episode, JC reveals how Movember went viral, shares moving personal stories of Movember's impact, and deconstructs how the brand has evolved. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jimmy Chin is an adventurer, artist, and filmmaker whose awe-inspiring photos have graced the pages of National Geographic and Outside magazine, not to mention the feeds of his 1.7 million Instagram followers. He's directed and starred in Meru, a moving documentary following his attempt to conquer the most daunting mountains in the world, and has been named one of the most influential climbers in the world. Considering his career in the clouds, you'd never guess Jimmy grew up in the cornfields of Minnesota, where he dreamed of one day moving to the mountains he'd seen on family vacations. In the early stages of his career, he lived out of his car and chased the peaks and climbers that inspired him. It wasn't until one of his mentors passed him a camera on an expedition that he realized he had a knack for photography and framing. Over the decades to come, his camera earned a place in his pack as he took risks to get to the top, with a few stumbles along the way. A class-4 avalanche sent him 2,000 feet down a mountain at 80 mph and showed him the veil between life and death. Extreme weather events forced him to power through days of climbing on a third of an energy bar. All of these experiences helped him hone his definition of risk—something he credits as the foundation of any meaningful experience. In this episode, Jimmy opens up about it all and delivers one of our favorite definitions of wellness to date along the way. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tara Stiles is the co-founder of Strala Yoga and author of six books, including the new Guiding Strala: The Yoga Training Manual to Ignite Freedom, Get Connected, and Build Radiant Health and Happiness. She's also a new mom and a resident of DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York's latest booming wellness mecca. Tara started her yoga journey in the woods of the Midwest where she grew up. Tara remembers spending hours practicing meditation (although she had no idea that was what she was doing at the time). She moved out to New York to become a dancer, which transitioned to modeling and eventually yoga—and at the time, yoga wasn't nearly as popular as it is today. When she was just starting to dip her toes in the yoga world, Tara found herself at a retreat upstate where she met her now-husband, Michael Taylor. Her first impression of Mike was a good one (he was the only other person on the retreat who brought chocolate), and on their first date, he charmed her further by bringing his own sandwich, eating it on the floor of her studio apartment, and showing off his handstand skills. The two eventually got married, co-founded Strala together, and now have a beautiful 8-month-old daughter together, Daisy. Despite the ease of Tara's life now, it hasn't always been like this. In this episode, Tara opened up about her what her experience with Strala Yoga has really been like over the years and the unique challenges that come with going into business with your spouse (at one point, she and Mike almost got divorced), and how being sexually assaulted led to a severe eating disorder. You'll also learn about the parts of motherhood Tara didn't see coming and what she thinks the future of wellness looks like. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Barry Stuart Sternlicht is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, and chairman of Starwood Property Trust, the largest commercial mortgage REIT in the United States. He's the brains behind W Hotels, Bliss Spa, and environmental flagship brand 1 Hotels—oh, and he's also a billionaire. But he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father was a Holocaust survivor from Poland, his mother a biology teacher (later turned stockbroker) born and raised in New York. When you ask Sternlicht how he got from a public school education to Harvard Business School, from arbitrage trading on Wall Street to building a $50 billion real estate empire, he immediately references his biggest influences: his father and Neil Bluhm (co-founder of JMB Realty). Sternlicht makes no bones about having learned from both their great successes and their abject failures. If you'd asked a 20-something Sternlicht what drove him to succeed, he'd have said, "I wanted to be rich enough to have a tennis court and a pool." But something deeper than that has driven him to the success he's found today. What he found in the hotel industry when he first started running his own company was a deeply ingrained pursuit of mediocrity, which spurred him on to create something better. "The pervasive culture of striving to be average was not for me." But when you learn a little bit about the mission-driven nature of his latest enterprise, the 1 Hotels brand, it becomes clear that, beyond just creating something he's proud of, Sternlicht has become motivated to invest in something bigger than himself—bigger than any of us—the planet. If you're not familiar with the wellness-oriented, sustainable hotel chain, this statement from Sternlicht on the 1 Hotels homepage sums it up beautifully: "I wanted to capture the beauty of nature in a hotel and in doing so, commit to safeguarding it as best I can, a responsibility that I believe we all share." In this episode of the mbg podcast, Sternlicht digs deep, sharing the lessons that made him who he is, how he worked his way from low man on the totem pole to monolithic mogul, and how he aims to protect and conserve our world to the best of his ability (and how we can help). If there's ever been a can't-miss episode, this is it. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Mark Hyman is a pioneer in the field of functional medicine and a nine-time New York Times best-selling author. He's an internationally recognized leader, speaker, and director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine. We discussed his life and background in health—from working for a year in China to starting his yoga practice in 1979, when it was still a fringe activity. He also revealed the details of the two major health crises he's suffered in his life. The first occurred when he was living in Beijing, where he got mercury poisoning and developed a whole host of health issues from depression to muscle breakdown to chronic diarrhea. It was this struggle that propelled him into the field of functional medicine. Another occurred recently, and he'll share how he rebuilt his body's systems and health from the ground up using intravenous ozone—a very experimental and controversial therapy—IV infusions, and stem cells. Dr. Hyman and I will cover the debate over saturated fat—and why the AHA declared coconut oil unhealthy—and whether or not cholesterol has anything to do with heart disease. His book Eat Fat, Get Thin challenges the belief that we should be following a low-fat diet when the evidence is just not there. As a leading voice in wellness and functional medicine, Dr. Hyman is leading the charge for all of us to take back our health—one step at a time. As both a doctor and patient, he's experienced the powers of functional medicine and getting to the root cause of disease. You won't want to miss this one! To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kelly LeVeque is a certified holistic nutritionist, wellness expert, health coach, and author of the best-selling book Body Love, which has been taking the wellness community by storm. She serves as the guide for our new advanced functional nutrition program, where we'll teach you everything you need to know about functional food and the endless healing abilities of nutrition. "Live in balance, weigh what you want, and free yourself from food drama forever" is the mantra LeVeque lives by. She started her career in the medical industry, working with oncologists and cancer patients, and ended up in the world of holistic nutrition, working with celebrities like Jessica Alba. In this podcast, you'll learn why this background in science and medicine helps her understand nutrition and determine what's legitimate—and what's not. She'll spill on how to feed your cells with the fab four—protein, fat, fiber, and greens—and why a diet of steamed broccoli and chicken isn't going to help you live your best life. So many of us struggle with maintaining healthy lifestyle changes, and in this podcast LeVeque explains why most diets go wrong: They are too restrictive. Her best advice for anyone struggling with diet and sticking to healthy lifestyle changes? Focus on what you're adding to your life instead of how much you're depriving yourself: "If you understand blood sugar and if you're thinking about what you should put on your plate instead of all the things you shouldn't have, it gives you a little less anxiety about it." You'll leave this episode with a new understanding of the ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting, the bulletproof diet, and what happens in the body when you eat sugar. In other words: the knowledge you need to navigate the wellness world and live your best life through food as medicine. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Frank Lipman and mbg go way back—if you dive into the mindbodygreen archives, you'll see his contributions started in 2010, just a year after we launched the site. Aside from being my personal doctor, Dr. Lipman is internationally recognized as one of the leading experts on healthy detox and is a pioneer of the holistic, East-meets-West functional medicine movement. He noticed early on that Western medicine was ideal for helping acute medical events like heart attacks and broken bones, but it didn't solve chronic illnesses like insomnia, headaches, and indigestion. These tricky conditions called for alternative holistic and integrative techniques, which proved to be more effective. His philosophy is simple: In practice, he harnesses the healing powers of ancient traditions like Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, and more, in the context of his Western medicine training. His work has shaped the way the wellness community heals themselves, encouraging his patients and followers to support their detox pathways and mental health while eschewing unsustainable crash diets. To that end, Dr. Lipman has incited significant shifts in the wellness landscape. He is the founder and director of the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center, a functional medicine mecca in New York City where he practices. He's also the creator of Be Well, a lifestyle wellness brand that offers supplements, detoxes, and cleanses to help people look and feel their best. "Detox done properly is an entry point to healthy living. It's not everything, but it's an entry point," Dr. Lipman said on the show. Amen! In our 20th episode, Dr. Lipman shares his fascinating background and how he came to be one of the leading functional medicine doctors in America. Turns out it had a lot to do with early exposure to energetic healers in hospitals during Apartheid, getting a green card in New York City by working in the Bronx, pursuing apprenticeships at holistic wellness centers, and following his then-unpopular vision of a holistic medical practice. I asked him hard questions about the future of wellness and the root cause of most health issues today, which he maintains are stress, poor diet, and restless sleep. Dr. Lipman gives his best tips for better shut-eye, what is wrong with "wellness" today, and a look into the future of well-being. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sadie Lincoln is the founder of Barre3, a beloved workout designed to give you a deep muscle burn, a strong endorphin high, and a centered mind. These days, Sadie's life in Portland, Oregon is bursting with success and joy, but she had her fair share of struggles on her rise to the top. Sadie met her husband and business partner while working at 24-Hour Fitness, and the duo instantly connected. After getting married and buying a house in the Bay Area, the couple decided to uproot, moving to Portland to pursue their dreams of launching their own business. They were surprised by how easily it all came together. Here, Sadie opens up about falling in love with her body, starting her own business (and how Madonna helped!), what she looks for in a Barre3 employee, and where she hopes the wellness conversation will be in five years. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seamus Mullen is a world-class chef, a James Beard award semifinalist, the owner of two popular NYC restaurants, and a regular on the Food Network. Today, his life looks happy, healthy, and thriving. But it was just six years ago that he was suffering from a maelstrom of maladies, from rheumatoid arthritis to injuries from a motorcycle accident to a deep-vein thrombosis incident that nearly killed him. After his cocktail of prescription medicines caused him to have a grand mal seizure in Thailand, he knew something had to change. He began seeing Dr. Frank Lipman, a functional medicine expert (and a huge part of the mbg family!), who helped him realize how the food he was eating affected his body (laying the groundwork for Seamus' new cookbook, Real Food Heals). Seamus' recovery wasn't instant—he talks in the podcast about how it took a good six months for him to begin feeling different—but it was nearly complete, and, as he says in our chat, he hasn't taken a single step backward in his health since then. In this episode, we talk about the lifestyle habits that were hurting Seamus and the ones that were vital to his recovery. He shares why he believes health is more contagious than disease and what he thinks the future of food is. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the president of the National Resources Defense Council, Rhea Suh leads the 500 scientists, attorneys, and policy experts that make the NRDC one of the country's most effective environmental action organizations. As the world enters into an unprecedented age of climate instability, Rhea is at the forefront of the fight to protect our planet. From energy policy to wildlife conservation to transportation innovation, she's tackling the issues that move the needle on climate change in big ways. In this podcast episode, Rhea talks about the biggest threats to the environment now, and why the NRDC has never been more important. She shares how in the face of global obstacles she maintains her indomitable sense of optimism for the potential of this organization—and for our country. What motivates her most is something so many of us can relate to: keeping the planet safe for our children. You won't want to miss this inspiring conversation. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Samantha Boardman, psychiatrist and M.D., spent years treating clients with traditional psychiatric techniques—until a patient fired her. She told Dr. Boardman that every session made her feel worse. And it made sense. After all, therapy, the way most psychologists and psychiatrists are taught, focuses on the negative to the exclusion of the positive. And, Boardman realized, "she was right. I knew how to dial down her misery, but I knew nothing about how to build up her strengths and cultivate well-being." That's when she went in search of something different. She found it at the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a master's degree in applied positive psychology. Now, Boardman practices positive psychiatry—an approach to therapy that focuses on building resilience and enhancing life rather than eradicating perceived negativity. In this podcast episode, we'll take a deep dive into how Samantha got her start, what motivates her to always keep learning, and what makes for a truly fulfilling life. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sheryl O'Loughlin is the boss you always wish you had. The former CEO of Clif Bar and Plum Organics lives and breathes passion and purpose and creates dynamic environments in which her employees can do the same. And she's taking this mentality to the next level with her latest project, REBBL, a brand of coconut milk elixirs infused with super herbs. In this podcast episode, Sheryl gets candid about the trials of running a business and the toll they took on her mental and physical well-being. After nearly filing for bankruptcy and struggling with an eating disorder, Sheryl was left at rock bottom. Tune in to find out how she bounced back to sign on to the plant alchemy beverage that's causing serious buzz in the functional food sphere. Along the way, she shares the qualities that have helped her grow not one, not two, but three wellness empires. With insight into what makes her run away from investors to the unorthodox question she asks in every interview, this is one episode that any aspiring entrepreneur shouldn't miss. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Aviva Romm is a midwife, herbalist, ecologist, and writer who—after having four kids—went on to become a Yale-trained M.D. As one of mbg's most trusted voices in the areas of thyroid health, hormone balance, and women's health, she's a driving force in the holistic medicine community. Her new book, The Adrenal Thyroid Revolution: A Proven 4-Week Program to Rescue Your Metabolism, Hormones, Mind & Mood, is a goldmine for those suffering from a thyroid problem or for anyone feeling overwhelmed and physically spent by all of the demands of life in the 21st century. Dr. Romm journeyed from a bullied kid in Queens, to college at 15, and to center stage of the health and wellness world after that. She shares with us her perspective on the future of medicine, the connection between personal health and global health, and what prompted her to go 35 years without taking a pharmaceutical. Dr. Romm has us all wanting to learn more about the ways in which our bodies respond to the busy and stressful lives we lead. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Stehltenpohl is the man behind not one but two major brands in the health food space—Odwalla juices and Califia Farms non-dairy milk and milk products. As perhaps the first environmental sciences graduate from Stanford (he shares that story in future depth in the podcast), Greg started his career when a book literally fell off a shelf and into his lap at a bookstore—and forever changed his life. In this podcast episode, Greg opens up about building Odwalla into a multi-million dollar brand (it was eventually bought by Coke), and the hardships he faced along the way, including how he bounced back from the 1996 E. Coli outbreak that could've sunk the company. He also gets personal, diving into his personal health crisis, the time doctors told him he had 48 hours to live, and how the entire ordeal ultimately gave him a new perspective on business, and life. Now, Greg runs the non-dairy juggernaut Califia Farms, which has single-handedly shaped the alternative milk space. He shares his secrets to building not one but two multi-million dollar businesses, and what's next for the brand. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. To join our podcast email newsletter, please visit http://bit.ly/mbgpodemail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hillary Biscay has an impressive resume. In addition to being a graduate of USC (after turning down Harvard) and swimming competitively there, Hillary is an ironman champion, ultraman world champion, and the most prolific iron-distance competitor on the professional women's training circuit. What that means? She's competed in over 60 Ironman triathlons. Wrap your mind around that. In this podcast episode, Hillary opens about how she got to where she did in her athletic career. In her authentic, down-to-earth, and humorous way, she explains that her career took a lot of hard work, a laser-like focus, and an ability to never doubt herself—even when others doubted her. In fact, Hillary is so determined that she once competed with a broken hip (yes, really). While Hillary is no longer competing in ironman championships, she's moved to a new phase in her life: Motherhood. Here, she opens up how difficult the adoption process was, and explains the ins and outs of adopting a child in this country. Additionally, Hillary shares why she's been plant-based for years—and why it took her so long to get there, despite her love of animals. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lauren Bush Lauren always knew she wanted to give back. Raised in a family of people who believe in the power of the individual to make positive change (she's the granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush and niece of former President George W. Bush). Her mother started a nonprofit organization when Lauren was just a child, and Lauren said conversations about how to make a difference were things they "talked about at the dinner table." Unsure of how to direct her energy and desire to give back, Lauren traveled to Guatemala with the World Food Programme the summer after her freshman year at Princeton. After her trip, Lauren felt a sense of purpose, and devoted herself to her new role as honorary spokesperson for the World Food Programme. The FEED bag—the iconic burlap bag which opened the door for all of FEED Projects subsequent fundraising efforts—was intended as a one-off, Lauren said. She hoped to raise awareness and funds for malnourished children via the WFP. Ten years and 96 million meals later, FEED has become a household name in charitable commerce, and inspired countless socially responsible business concepts. Now, Lauren is taking FEED even further, and she's bringing the scoop to mindbodygreen's latest podcast episode. Along with the moving story of that first trip to Guatemala, Lauren opens up about how she balances her passion for social entrepreneurship with being a mom to her 15-month-old son and what's next for FEED (there's a retail store and fair-trade coffee from La Colombe on the way, but that barely scratches the surface). To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Siggi Hilmarsson is the founder and CEO of Siggi’s Dairy, dubbed the fastest-growing yogurt brand in America by Forbes. Siggi moved from Iceland to the United States to study at Columbia University, but after graduating and heading to Wall Street with so many of his peers, he soon realized that this straight path wasn’t a good fit. Loving his life in New York but missing the food from his home country, Siggi started playing around in his kitchen, whipping up Scandinavian staples like Skyr (Icelandic yogurt) after work. He was disturbed by the fact that the average American yogurt contained more sugar than a can of Coke and committed himself to perfecting his own low-sugar, grass-fed dairy alternative. Now, 15 years later, Siggi has gone from delivering his yogurt personally by hand to selling 35 unique products in more than 25,000 stores across the country. In this episode, we’ll find out more about how Siggi’s Dairy went from a one-man show to a company with more than 40 employees and the important lessons Siggi has learned about growth along the way. He opens up about the challenges he’s faced on his road to success, from going bankrupt in 2008 to figuring out how to transport cold yogurt via the NYC subway in the middle of summer. He’s also sharing the best and worst entrepreneurial advice out there, why he thinks you should always hire people who are smarter than you, and a foolproof way to plan for success. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Mackey is the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, a company that has shaped the American diet for the past three decades. After joining a vegetarian co-op as a teenager, Mackey discovered a philosophy that would drive him to create one of the nation’s biggest and most beloved supermarkets. Whole Foods has changed the way the world thinks about food and what we expect from a grocery store, thanks to their decision to exclusively sell foods without artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, or hydrogenated fats and their commitment to creating a truly unimagined shopping experience. John is not just your average, brilliantly successful entrepreneur. Embracing the vegan lifestyle for nearly 15 years, he is vocal in his belief that a plant-based diet can not only save the planet but also everyone living on it. John goes to great lengths to ensure that his company is run as consciously as possible—such as by sending his sickest employees (those struggling with obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and more) through the Whole Foods Total Health Immersion—a $4,000-per-week, medically supervised program designed to reset their diets and kick-start their health journey. In this episode, we’ll learn more about how the small, organic grocery store running out of a Victorian house (that John also happened to live in) morphed into the international success that is Whole Foods. Mackey will dive into his meditation practices, his go-to matras, his positive associations with stress, and what gets him excited to jump out of bed every morning. If you’re ready for a jolt of motivation, listen on. John’s new book The Whole Foods Diet: The Lifesaving Plan for Health and Longevity comes out this month. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Melissa Hartwig is the creator of one of the most successful diets of all time, Whole30. Chances are you or someone you know has tried Whole30, with the goals of increasing energy, losing weight, and improving health but also to cut the damaging emotional ties we all hold with food. What started as a husband-and-wife experiment quickly became an international movement that has spawned a mega-successful website, three best-selling books, numerous must-follow social media accounts, and more. Melissa is known as the super-fit poster child for the Whole30 lifestyle, displaying the kind of positive, entrepreneurial, and vibrant life that so many of us aspire to lead. However, many people are unaware of the fact that Melissa’s interest in health started after she hit rock bottom as a heroin and ecstasy addict who spent all day, every day, using. In this episode, Melissa shares her untold story for the first time, touching on everything from the trauma that started her drug problem to her divorce, the creation of Whole30, and her life as a thriving single mom who has positively affected millions. To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail [email protected]. For all sponsorship inquiries, please e-mail [email protected]. Want to join our podcast newsletter? Sign up here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices