Ep. 17 | Finding Flow Through Creative Expression | Sarah Rose Muzquiz

Join Jordan Ryan as he delves into the fascinating intersection of mushrooms, wellness, and coffee with guest Sarah Muzquiz. The episode explores Sarah's journey from a childhood influenced by alternative treatments to her career transition from engineering to creative wellness. Discover the therapeutic power of creativity and how Sarah combines art with healing through workshops. The conversation touches on mental health, psychedelics, and the importance of community, including insights from blue zones. Sarah shares her approach to overcoming social media challenges and scaling wellness events. The episode concludes with information on following Sarah's work and a word from WindanSea Coffee.

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Like, we're slowly evolving as we do each one.
And so I have wonderful partners, like, wherewe had it hosted this time.
I've been selling my art in that space for along time now.
So it's like really full circle for us becausewe're able to do these events and activate.
But yeah, it's cool.
It's a good problem to have when we're startingto overflow.

(00:24):
And so we make more like we have, like, 25people laying down on yoga mats and, like,
every part of the floor was taken up.
Wow.
What was the studio at?
Like, what type of studio thing?
Was it a yoga studio?
Is that the
Actually, no.
So I actually have been using coffee shops todo my activations.

(00:45):
So no way.
Yeah.
It's a really good size.
Like, it's a pretty large venue for being acoffee shop.
You can hold at least 35, 40 people sittingdown in there.
It's in Normal Heights.
It's called Good Omen.
So
it's so rare.
Yeah.
Have you done that?
Or how did you have to, like, did you alreadyknow the owner or manager of that shop?

(01:08):
Or were you just, like, I like this venue andI'm gonna, you know, try, hey, mistering my way
to a decision maker?
Well, in terms of how I work with venues ingeneral, each one has its own little story, but
this one's really, really nice because I knowthis owner from a different coffee shop that
he's had in Ocean Beach, and we met a littleover two years ago.

(01:32):
I walked in and asked if he'd be open todisplaying my art, and he was super into it.
So, I had my art in his original shop for along time, and then he added a location about
nine months ago.
He took over an existing coffee shop andretrofitted it, and then, once I saw the space,

(01:55):
I realized how great of an opportunity therewould be to actually use it for events and
everything.
So I'm the first one that he's ever done thiswith as far as activating the space and letting
other people come in to use it.
Right.
But, yeah, we've been doing monthly eventsthere, and next month or this month, we'll be
doing two workshops, which will be really cool.
So it's been a nice journey.

(02:16):
That's super cool.
I love that because, you know, obviously,that's like another intersection that I didn't
quite realize.
I knew you're in the mushroom space, thewellness space, and you're, you know, but the
coffee shop overlap is another fun little thingbecause I'm always trying to get into new

(02:37):
venues that will serve our product because Ithink it really highlights what makes our
product good.
You know, we do mushroom coffee and then thosepowders.
You know, and it's nice when you can have itwith, like, steamed milk and some latte art and
stuff like that.
You know what I mean?
But it's hard getting to those decision-makersand getting, you know, you spend a lot of time

(02:59):
running around trying to get a yes or a no.
Like, you're like, I'm fine with whatever, butjust let me know so I can move on.
Yeah.
That's super cool.
Let me introduce you so that everyone knows whoyou are.
So I'm Jordan Ryan, and welcome to the MindBody Mushroom, the podcast where we explore the
magic of mushrooms, adaptogens, and all waysthat you can naturally upgrade your health and

(03:22):
well-being.
Each week, we break down the science behindmedicinal mushrooms, ancient healing wisdom,
and share some truly mind-blowing stories oftransformation.
Whether you're looking for sharper mentalclarity, better health, or deeper connection
with yourself, you're exactly where you need tobe.
My guest today is Sarah Musquiz.
Sarah is a multifaceted leader, blending herexpertise as a tech leader, artist, and

(03:46):
philanthropic community builder.
With a successful career in strategicpartnerships, Sarah has seamlessly transitioned
her skills into building a thriving creativebrand.
Her brand, Funky Fungi, is a beloved staple inthe San Diego community, known for its unique
charm and artistic flair.
Sarah leads transformative workshops andcommunity events fostering connection and

(04:06):
creativity.
A passionate philanthropist, she works closelywith Rady Children's Hospital through her
Healing Through Art initiative, bringing joyand comfort to patients through creative
expression.
In addition to her artistic endeavors, Sarahruns a creative activation business, curating
immersive experiences for corporate functions,music events, and festivals.

(04:27):
With a deep commitment to community and apassion for blending creativity with impact,
Sarah is redefining what it means to lead withheart and innovation.
Thanks for coming on the show today, Sarah.
Yeah.
Thank you.
That was a great intro.
Yeah.
AI is incredible.
No.
I mean, really, you're incredible because, youknow, hitting all these different aspects of,

(04:51):
you know, art and community and philanthropyand entrepreneurship, I feel like those are
very oftentimes, like, disparate parts ofpeople's brains, or they're different types of
people.
You know what I mean?
There's the giver that isn't concerned aboutmoney in any case.
They're just constantly giving out, or thenthere's the starving artist, or then there's

(05:14):
the hustle bro entrepreneur.
It's not often that you find somebody that cankind of weave through all these different
facets of their, you know, personality and doit in an authentic way.
So it's super cool.
It's a really it's a pleasure to speak with youand have you on the show.
Thank you.
That's really nice of you.
Yeah.
I'm excited to dive in and share more about mystory.

(05:35):
So my time is yours.
Yeah.
Awesome.
So, why don't we start, you know, closer to thebeginning?
You know, if your childhood or growing up isrelevant in any of this, like, I'm super happy
we can go there, or we can start kinda whereveryou feel comfortable, where you feel it's,
like, a nice, you know, this is when it allbegan kinda place.
Yeah.
No.
I mean, I'll be honest.

(05:55):
Like, every day, I'm still, like, trying tofigure out my story just because there's so
many aspects of it.
But I would say that, like, what's mostrelevant to today and what I'm doing, you know,
you and I met through an event, like, you know,and I was just walking up to you and networking
with you and figuring out what you do.
I really liked your product and, that that is anice lay into, like, in, like, you know,

(06:18):
connection to, like, what I'm doing because,essentially, like, you know, we, over my
lifetime, like, I have been, you know, Iappreciate what you're doing with your product
because it's a, it's a natural brand, right?
And you're, you guys are using the earth tohelp heal people.
And I have a lot of, that, that relates a lotto, like, what I've experienced through my

(06:40):
life.
Because I was, at a young age, exposed tomental health very, very early on.
I was raised by my grandparents and my birthmother was bipolar and had challenges
throughout her life.
And I saw her go through her own journey with,like, prescription medications and just, like,
all the things that come with, you know, herchallenges.
And it was something, since a very young age,that I always told myself.

(07:04):
I said, you know, I'm not gonna, I don't wannalet, I don't wanna succumb to what society puts
on us.
Like, I don't want to let drugs, alcohol,pharmaceuticals, you know, all the things that
we sometimes just are told to use or taught touse.
As a young girl, I always knew that, like,there was more out there than just that.
And that's an important, I think, thing tostart with as far as, like, how I've gotten to

(07:28):
where I am today because I was one of thosekids at a young age that was diagnosed with
ADD, which really, at the time, my acting outwas a lot because of my environment, not
because I was, you know, genetically an ADDchild.
Also, like ADD, isn't really a genetic thing.
They're doing so many studies now where they'reseeing it's a lot of environment that can
induce those symptoms.

(07:49):
And so, you know, I was medicated very earlyon, and since a very young age, I had an issue
with it.
Like, it never felt right.
Even when I was in high school, I would pretendlike I was taking my medicine when I wasn't,
like, my parents didn't know.
And my whole life, I just knew, like, I am notgoing, like, deep down, I knew I didn't need

(08:10):
what I was being given, like, the prescriptionsand all that kind of stuff.
And I knew that there was so much more outthere that could help me that, you know, didn't
need to be that complicated.
So, that's why I really love what you're doingbecause adaptogens and functional mushrooms and
all the other types of things that we have thatour earth gives us, like, are truly
opportunities for us to, you know, like,utilize and heal in natural ways.

(08:34):
And that's a huge part of my own journey.
So as I've gotten older, you know, I've taken alot of, I've taken, like, the, you know, I've
taken it very seriously in terms of reallystaying away from, like, the pharmaceuticals
and, like, the prescription medications to,like, help myself.
And I've leaned on, like, alternative medicineand other things out there that, you know, I'm
sure we'll dive into.

(08:56):
But it all together, you know, fast forward tonow, as far as, like, my art, my artistic
journey, the creative journey I've been on, andthen my professional side of things where I
work in tech, it all comes together.
It all has a nice intertwining, because at theend of the day, like, I've come to learn how I

(09:17):
have the ability to teach others through my ownexperiences.
So whether it's me getting involved in thecorporate world, teaching and showing people
how, you know, art can be healing and how wecan have other ways to utilize our brain
besides just go, go, go mentality all the time,which I used to be like.
And then when you have, like, the artists,like, the creative entrepreneur, like, the old,

(09:39):
the other side of things where, you know,we're, like, you know, my goal is to inspire
others to show, like, you can make it, you cando it, like, you, you know, we're not limited.
Just because we're an artist doesn't mean wecan't do business, you know?
So everything that I've kind of done, whichwe'll dive more into, it all has an
intertwining, it all has to do with each other.

(09:59):
Today, I consider myself a creativeentrepreneur, just like with the different
businesses I've been starting and the thingsI've been getting into.
At the core, I'm an engineer.
I'm an engineer by trade.
It's just the way my brain works and how itworks.
But I take that and I apply it to my, you know,when I take the left side and right side of my
brain, I do everything I can to really bringthose together and bridge the gap to get, you

(10:23):
know, and it's been really it's been aninteresting experience because a lot of people
are siloed with the way that they approachlife.
But, yeah, that's, like, kind of just, like, ageneral overview.
I guess, like, specifically, I'm from SanDiego.
I've lived here for three years, and I, at themoment right now, have been solely focused on
building my business.
I left my full-time job about six months ago,and I've been kind of going back and forth on

(10:47):
if I'm gonna stay full-time entrepreneur or ifI'm gonna go back to work.
We'll see.
But, because I really have developed abeautiful network there as well.
But that's kinda where I'm at today.
So I've been building out my community eventsthat I've been doing, which I'll share more
about, my workshops.
I've been working with an art coach now, whereshe's coming in and helping me bring a lot of

(11:09):
structure to what I'm doing, even though, asmuch as I wanna say I have it figured out, I
don't.
So, yeah.
Just been really, like, taking this time off toheal and to evolve and to start going after the
things that have kind of just beenbrainchildren that I haven't done anything
with.
So it's been a really cool journey in the lastsix months and happy to double-click on

(11:30):
anything that you wanna do.
That's super cool.
There's a lot there I want to dive in on, butjust kind of off the bat, one thing that you
said that I've been thinking about lately is,you know, that kind of left and right brain
connection and how, like, from a societystandpoint, like, we are so left brain.

(11:53):
Is that the one?
That's like the logic.
Logic.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, it's like, it has diminished the roleand importance or, you know, society sort of
acts as though creativity and that right brainfunction is, like it's fine.

(12:15):
It's cute.
Like, you know, if you have, you know, sometime to kill, like, why not, you know, play
guitar or do something like that?
And it has, I think, completely overemphasizedthat, like, logic, ration, you know, ego, all
of the stuff that is, like, very left brain.
And, I think that that is, like, part of oursocietal sickness that, you know, has kind of

(12:44):
created so many mental health problems.
You know?
And then we have a health care system, youknow, that's you know, you show me the
incentives, and I'll show you the outcome.
You know?
And the incentives are to get people hooked onmedications early, and then just keep them on
there for life.
And, hey, if you get side effects from thosemedications, well, good news.

(13:06):
We got medications for those too.
You know.
And so, one question that I had actually thatyou, you know, when you said early in life, you
kind of knew that there was another way.
Was that from environment or exposure?
Like, did your parents kind of, or was it justsomething you kind of, like, intuited?

(13:26):
You know, it's such a good question.
Thank you for asking that.
I don't think about this often, but I knowinherently that, like, what it came down to was
I saw a lot of those adverse effects that wouldcome from taking, you know, being prescribed
medication.
So for example, my birth mom growing up, youknow, they had her in trials very early, like,

(13:50):
when she was younger.
At the time too, when she was, like, she gotdiagnosed later in her life, but up until they
were able to diagnose her, they didn't reallyknow what was going on.
And a lot of that too happened before I waseven born.
And so I was, like, raised in this environmentwhere, you know, my mom, like, we knew she had

(14:11):
a challenge.
Like, we knew she was being, you know, she waschallenged mentally.
But for a long time, they didn't know what wasgoing on.
So I saw what went down when the doctors wouldjust prescribe and prescribe and prescribe.
And I'm not gonna say that, like, I'm not gonnablame necessarily her state on all of that, but
that had so much to do with her continuousdownfall, unfortunately, because they weren't

(14:35):
able to, you know, it wasn't a matter of fixingit.
It was just a matter of medicating and justfinding a way to put a Band-Aid on it.
And so, that ties into my own personalexperience because when I was very young, they
had me evaluated in, like, second grade becauseI was kinda, I was, like, you know, not acting

(14:55):
out, but, like, I would not wait and raise myhand and blurt an answer out too quick, and my
brain was moving too fast, and, like, you know,I was really good at math and science, but I
couldn't figure out how to sit there and read.
And it was, like, this, like, just typicalstory of what you hear now of all these kids,
you know, who are just kind of, like, put intoa box at a young age.

(15:16):
And so, you know, the doctors, when I wasgetting evaluated early on said, just put her
on Ritalin.
Like, she just needs Ritalin, she'll be fine.
My parents were sick to their stomach over itbecause they had just gone through this with
their own daughter, and my parents, who are mygrandparents, like, they, you know, it pained
them to have to, like, put, you know, my mom onmedications like they did.

(15:36):
And, like, to this day, like, it's still a veryheavy topic for us.
And so, for them, like, I think seeing, youknow, having to do that with me, it was a
really painful thing for them as well.
It was just, like, this continuation that theyhad to endure.
And with that, they, they took it up, it was, Igot, honestly, I owe my grandparents so much

(15:57):
because it was, it was them who decided tostart putting me into therapy at a very young
age.
And they said, maybe this medic, you know,they, they listen to doctors, like, oh, we'll
put her on this medication if we have to.
But they, early, early on, they went so far outof their way to figure out all the different
other types of treatments that they canexplore, versus just the medication.

(16:17):
So I was doing therapy at a very young age.
They had, they, they put me with tutors, like,I was, I was working with, like, academic
tutors, like, starting in, like, fourth grade,very, very young.
And I'm grateful because, like, I had a familythat was willing to to spend the money to do
this and, like, look for the alternatives.

(16:37):
But I would consider, you know, like, you know,tutoring and having hands-on, support for your
child and all these other avenues.
You know, these are supplemental, these are,these are alternative ways to, like, help
someone, you know, but the, you know, I nevertechnically went off the medication.
They didn't know for a while that, like, I wasfaking taking it.

(17:00):
But it really, at the end of the day, that's,like, a long version of the story, but at the
end of the day, like, I knew inside of me thatI didn't need medication.
Like, it was just my intuition.
Like, I was being given a pill and it feltwrong.
Like, when I would take medicine, my bodydidn't feel right.
I was, my mind was racing the level, like, Ifelt like I was literally on a drug, like,

(17:22):
because it is, it's an amphetamine.
And someone who needs a medication like that,not saying, not discounting it, because, like,
I know that it helps certain people in thisworld that really do need something like that.
For someone like me, I knew deep down I didn'tneed it.
And a lot of what I had been showing as far assymptoms go, quote unquote, I now know as an

(17:44):
adult that a lot of it was trauma-based.
Mhmm.
And a
lot of it was coming from my environment veryyoung.
And if you were to interact with me today as anadult who doesn't take the medication anymore,
it's been about a year and a half to two yearsalmost that I've been fully off, which is,
like, a very hard thing to do when you're anadult and you've used it your whole life.

(18:06):
Totally.
Now I feel like I'm the, quote, unquote, normalhuman I was supposed to be that they wanted me
to be back then.
And a lot of that's because I've healed otherthings in my life, and it's allowed me to calm
down and relax and focus and, you know, figuremyself out more versus just medicating to

(18:27):
medicate.
Yeah.
Well oh, sorry.
Oh, no.
I was just gonna say one thing that makes methink of is that, like, you had to do the work.
You know what I mean?
Like, the nice thing about medications is,like, you can chalk it up as kind of a quick

(18:47):
fix.
This is like, hey.
I'm having these issues.
I don't know why, but life's really hard.
Let me talk to my doctor, the expert, you know,and see what they have.
And they're like, for sure.
As the expert, I'm gonna, you know, prescribeyou this and, you know, you're gonna get some
marginal benefit from it.
And like you say, there are absolutely peoplewho benefit from these things, you know, long

(19:08):
term.
I think that a lot of them could probablybenefit long term without it, but it's like you
said, you have to really dig deep and see,like, what is the root of this problem that I'm
having, and, you know, where is it stemmingfrom?
How do we treat these underlying concerns?

(19:29):
And therapy is gonna take a lot more time thanjust popping a pill.
You know what I mean?
But at the end of the day, doing that work hasled you to a place now where, like you just
said, I feel like this is the person that theyare trying to make me be and I was able to get
there by doing that internal work, not just bywhereas, maybe if you had just kept listening

(19:54):
to your doctor taking your medication, youknow, and then you're having trouble sleeping
because you're on 40 milligrams of Adderall aday.
And so then they're like, don't worry.
We got Ambien, you know, for you at night.
And now you're just, you know, this pill makesyou smaller, this pill makes you large, and
that becomes your reality.
You mean, you make a really good point.

(20:15):
It's like that concept of treating symptomsversus getting to the root of it.
That's how our country's run.
I have a very challenging relationship with thehealthcare system in the U.S., not only because
of what I saw my mom go through, but what I wasput through at a young age, but then also just,
I've had injuries throughout the years too,that, you know, I've just, like, for example,

(20:39):
they wanted to prescribe me pain medicationright away.
I had a neck injury from a car accident, andthey're like, yeah, just start taking these
pain meds.
You'll feel better.
Get the shot.
It'll numb the nerves, this and that.
And I was like, hell no.
I'm not doing that.
That's not gonna fix what the problem is.
Now, I'm not fixed now.
I'm not perfect.
Right.
But I made the conscious decision to go downthe alternative path and work with physical

(21:05):
therapists, massage, do all the other things,exercise.
I'm not perfect, and I still deal withchallenges.
But if I had started right after that, Iwouldn't have been able to get to where I am
today.
No.
Are you familiar with Channel 5?
They're like a YouTube channel, but they makedocumentaries.
It's just like these kind of guys that goaround different spots.

(21:26):
It's like a YouTube thing.
But, anyway, with all the Luigi Mangione stuff,there was a big free Luigi protest or something
outside in New York.
And so Channel 5 was there, and they'reinterviewing some people.
And there was one guy who had a very similarback injury situation where he had to get a

(21:47):
spinal fusion.
He had actually two.
He had to do a neck and a low back.
And, he was just talking through the process,and it's exactly kinda what you said.
He was like, you know, here's the pills.
You start taking the pills, and because of howthe health care industry works, like, you can't
just go to a spinal specialist and say, Imessed up my back.

(22:09):
You have to go to your primary care.
It might take you, you know, a couple weeks toget into that primary care.
You see your primary care.
They see you for six minutes, and go, oh, yeah.
You need a spinal specialist.
You're like, thanks doc.
And then they put in a referral.
Four months later, you get a surgery or, youknow, you get your consult with the spinal
specialist that then wants to try a moreconservative treatment for a little bit.
And so before you know it, on average, this isthe statistics, six to nine months between an

(22:32):
injury before you can even get to a surgeon,assuming that surgery is even what you would
wanna do, and I would advise against it.
But, you know, and in that interim period, it'sexactly what you said.
It's pain pills.
You know, here's the pain medication.
This will get you, you know, through it.
All of a sudden you're taking, you know, 40, 50milligrams of oxy a day, you know, just to get

(22:53):
through the night, and, you know, that is theway it goes.
You have to it's called the alternative becauseit's alternative to the mainstream way of
treating that.
Like, it's kind of insane, and, yeah.
So I don't blame you for having kind of alove-hate relationship.

(23:15):
I wanted to talk a little bit if if you're coolwith this, but you mentioned some trauma, and
that was kind of, like, what you were had tounpack.
Do you wanna go into that?
Yeah.
Sure.
I'm happy to help.
I'm I mean, I'm happy to, like, dive in tohelp, like, tell the story too or, like, help
shape up the the story more of myself.
But, yeah,
when Yeah.
When I was a really young baby, like I think,as I was an infant, I was going through some

(23:40):
medical issues.
I was having, like, seizures at a really youngage, really high fevers, and it was leading to
me being hospitalized.
And my grandfather put me up in a hospital inLos Angeles.
My I was born in Vegas.
My birth mom lived in Vegas with my dad at thetime.
And so, they brought me to LA to get me goodtreatment in, you know, near them, near near my

(24:03):
grandparents where they lived.
So, my grandfather was with me in the hospitalfor, like, 40 days straight, and I, I survived
and I was okay.
But then, at that point, they realized how hardit was gonna be for me to be raised in the
environment my mom was in because my birth momwas not able to support herself.
She, you know, she was, you know, withoutgetting too into the weeds and turning this

(24:27):
into a sob story, but she she was like atypical case of someone that had a mental
illness that was treatable.
And so it led to so many different things.
She was put on different medications thatdidn't help her, that caused other problems.
She had multiple personality disorder, athyroid disorder.
And so throughout her life, I mean, she was anextremely intelligent woman.

(24:50):
She was one of the smartest people I know,photographic memory, like, you know, she was
the kind of girl who went to class once a yearto take the test, got the A, but never showed
up, ditched school.
Like, she was this hyper genius too, which was,I think, almost to her, like, almost to, like,
not good for her in a way because sheweaponized a lot of it, unfortunately, growing

(25:13):
up.
Mhmm.
So I didn't I wasn't raised in the home withher,
but I was your grandparents' kid, like, child?
Like my
grandparents' daughter.
Your grandparents' daughter?
Okay.
Sorry.
I just wanted to—yeah.
No.
No.
That's good clarification.
Yeah.
So my mom's parents.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I was raised, starting at a very young ageafter I was sick.
My dad, my grandfather, I know it's confusing,but I call him my dad.

(25:35):
Mhmm.
He made the decision then that I needed to staywith them because they didn't want to put me
back into a chaotic household.
And at the time, my mother and my father, mybirth parents, were getting a divorce.
So my dad was also kind of a bad news bear.
He wasn't the best and got himself in trouble.
He was really young.

(25:55):
They were both very young, like, my birth mom,I think she was 23 when she had me.
So that was, like, that's the kind of traumathat I know I was experiencing as a young baby.
Like, that's and that and they're doing studiesnow where, like, you can even experience trauma
in the womb, and it affects you as you grow upand how you develop.

(26:19):
But that was, like, kind of what startedthings.
And then through my life, I was always, like,feeling okay because I had this mother and
father figure, my grandparents.
But there was always that it was neverconventional.
It was, like, confusing to people.
And, you know, I always had to explain topeople why I was being raised by my
grandparents, and my birth mom would show upevery couple of months.

(26:42):
We'd hear from her.
She'd show up at the door and, like, cause aproblem and asking my parents for money all the
time.
Or, you know, she had times in her life whereshe was on the streets because she couldn't get
housing.
She would cause problems where she would live.
I mean, she did, you know, she committed fraud,there were just a lot of things, like,
throughout her life that she was doing thatcreated problems for our family, and my

(27:06):
grandparents were so supportive no matter what.
Like, since day one, they always would helpher, and I think there's, like, there's a lot
of our family history that we don't need to getinto, but there's definitely ways, I think,
that, like, they could have helped her, wherethere could have been more structure in the
household, they could have gotten her the righttypes of therapies and stuff like that, but,
you know, this is 30, 40 years ago.

(27:27):
Like, this stuff didn't exist, you know?
So mental health was so new still then too, anda lot of it, like, if you showed mental health
signs, they'd either put you in, like, a mentalinstitution or you'd be on your own with, like,
brand new medications that no one had doneenough testing on.
Wow.
You
know, so the and this was during, like, the'80s, '90s.
So, like, you know, it was just, you know, itwas just a really, like, tumultuous, I guess,

(27:53):
like, upbringing in terms of all theperipherals for me, like, my mother and father
themselves, my grandma and grandpa who raisedme, like, provide me a beautiful life, they put
me in wonderful schools, like, you know, we wewere raised, I was raised in Los Angeles, like,
I was very, very, like, lucky in so many ways,because if I had been to if I had been raised
by my birth mom, my life would be verydifferent right now.

(28:15):
Right.
Right.
And so I really am very thankful, but, youknow, there were issues between my grandparents
and their relationship and not getting alongall the time.
And it was, like, a lot of, like, just, youknow, what it felt like at a young age was
like, I was kinda doing the parenting at times,because like, I would show up to a situation,
like, very logical, and like, see things rightfrom wrong, and know that, like, there was

(28:39):
always a better answer, or the way, like, youknow, one quick example, birth mom would come
to the house, ask my parents for money, Dadwould say no, my grandma would go slip her a
20.
So it was like that kinda stuff, like a dividedhousehold, and, you know, the mental health
thing, it just it it caused a lot of, like,like, stress and and, like, challenge in our in

(29:01):
my own family.
Like, part of my family didn't talk to eachother because of everything that was going
down.
And so, you know, I was just raised in this,like, household where, let's just say my life
wasn't like my friends'.
Like, you know, I had this, like, a veryunconventional situation at a young, young age
that I had to learn how to, like, process on myown, starting very young.

(29:25):
So it it really had this, like, heavy, I guess,like, weight over me for a long time growing
up.
I was embarrassed for a long time that mygrandparents were raising me, like, I didn't
like talking about it.
I found out I had, like, a birth sister thatwas adopted a year before me.
Wow.
And found her myself, and she happened to go tothe same high school as me, which is, like,

(29:47):
What?
Crazy.
So, like, I don't know, maybe from the outside,people are, like, oh, that just sounds like a
lot of, you know, that sounds like a miracle orwhatever it is, but, like, a lot of this stuff
was pretty traumatic.
Like, it was just stuff that, like, no one satme down and was, like, hey, Sarah, like, this
is why you're being raised the way you are.
Like, this is, you know, it wasn't like I had—Ithink my parents just did what they could.

(30:10):
And, like, they did their best because they hadso much they had to deal with.
But of course, you know, it leads to its ownthings on its own.
For sure.
And, you know, kids are so, like, resilient andadaptable that, like, you can raise a kid in a
truly messed up, like, environment, and that isjust normal for the child.

(30:34):
Do you know what I mean?
And so, like, it's only until by comparisonthat they're getting some perspective to be
like, oh, wait.
You're not your family is not like my family.
Like, what you know, what's going on?
And I think the other kind of point that, youknow, brings up, and this is not to minimize or
mitigate anything that you have gone through,but I think what you were able to identify

(30:54):
early that other people maybe aren't is thatthis is trauma.
Like, yes, this is my normal, but, like,there's something again, if you're intuiting it
or what, but you knew that, like, somethingabout this is not right or is not, like, the
healthiest that it could be.
And I think so many people, like, are dealingor have dealt with trauma on some level as a

(31:20):
kid.
You know?
It doesn't have to be, like, abuse or sexualabuse or something like that.
It can just be, you know, it can be a lotsubtler, and it has ripple effects that
reverberate throughout your life and kind ofbubble up in different ways.
And then until you kinda, like you said, dothat doing therapy, doing kind of the deep work

(31:41):
that allows you to say, hey.
Maybe I'm, you know, I'm connecting dots nowthat, you know, aren't obvious, but it's
relevant.
You're nailing it.
I think that's too what's really interestingbecause, like, to be honest with you, my whole
life, I grew up, and I just thought of it allas normal.
Like, it was just normal to me.
I would say my real healing journey startedprobably about three years ago.

(32:08):
And it was because of a seriously a very, like,traumatizing thing we went through.
My dad got really sick, which we haven'ttouched on yet.
My grandfather who raised me, he faced twolife-threatening health conditions within nine
months.
Heart failure and then an intestine, yeah, anintestine obstruction.

(32:29):
And so that's what I think, like, what's evenmore interesting to your point where, like, you
can have this subtle trauma through life too,where you're just where you're just, like,
we're just taught it's okay.
It's fine.
You know, like, for example, a baby or a kidcan fall and hurt themselves, and the parent
just goes, no.
You're fine.
Get up.
Versus holding the child and helping themprocess that emotion.

(32:52):
Like, we are learning now how serious that typeof stuff is if we're not addressing it really,
really, like, early on.
And so I think now it's interesting because asan adult, it took this really serious
life-altering moment or moments for me with mygrandfather, where we almost lost him twice,

(33:13):
for me to really shake out all those manymoments of trauma that led through my life,
that built up onto each other that I justalways told myself I'm fine.
And I'm like, oh, I'm fine.
Like, look how I turned out compared toeveryone else.
Right?
Right.
I could be so much more screwed up.
Like, I must be good.
That was what I would tell myself.

(33:34):
And then when I had that adult trauma that wehad to go through as a family, it brought so
much up for me from my childhood that I wouldhave never probably otherwise felt.
And that was when the healing journey reallystarted for me.
Because I realized, like, whoa, like, not onlydo I need to figure out how to grow and evolve

(33:56):
and heal from what just happened with myfather, my grandfather, but I also now have to
kind of address all this other stuff in me thatI didn't know was really affecting who I am as
a person today.
Right.
So that's really where, like, the healingstarted.
But to your point, like, those subtle points oftrauma through our life, if we can't address
that and soothe and heal and find healthy waysto find peace with it, like, it's gonna

(34:21):
continue to just build onto itself.
And as we get older, it's gonna manifest inother ways.
100%.
You know, it's really interesting.
So I have a lot of friends, and I've talked tospecial operations veterans, who have sought
psychedelic therapy to, you know, kinda healPTSD and, you know, various forms of

(34:45):
depression, alcohol abuse, whatever.
You know, just stuff where you're like, I'm notlike, I don't know what happened.
I get out of the military.
You know, I was this super high achiever,elite, you know, crushing it.
And now I'm really struggling at putting mylife together.
And so, one thing that was really interestingto me, because some of these guys have, you
know, seen, like, very serious combat, youknow, have had very traumatic experiences from

(35:08):
that perspective.
But they'll go and do an ayahuasca ceremony.
And, like, to the man, come back and be like, Iwas unpacking childhood trauma.
You know?
It was like the childhood trauma is whatbrought them to the military in the first place
and put that chip on their shoulders so thatthey were gonna be the biggest, best, and

(35:32):
baddest and, you know, went over.
So it's like it wasn't it's not it's notoftentimes like the trauma from war.
It's how whatever you dealt with as a childbrought you to a place where you would
experience this trauma from war.
And then, you know, there's also a bunch of,like, physiological stuff from, like, traumatic

(35:55):
brain injury, blast exposure, you know, stuffthat we're kind of like now we know so much
more about it, but even like 10 years ago, itwas, you know, mental health was purely viewed
as a psychological, you know, condition, notsomething that could literally be wrong with
your brain.
You know, so yeah.

(36:16):
That's it's super true.
That's a really good segue too just because Iknow that, like, that was something we wanted
to talk about, but psychedelics, like, has beena part of my healing journey.
And I have to say, like, I don't know what, youknow, your colleagues have gone through.
Obviously, I only know my own story.
But to be honest, like, a lot of, like, whatI've, I guess, reached for, quote unquote, has

(36:41):
been self-taught or self, like, it came from,like, it came from this place of, like, I know
something's quote unquote, not right with me.
Like, I know that this has all existed.
And when I got shook up with my family, with mydad getting sick, it made me realize, like,
whoa, I need to really take this into like, Ineed to take this seriously.

(37:02):
Like, I can't keep just, like, shoving thisunder the rug and suppressing.
Yeah.
So, psychedelics were a really big part of myhealing journey, have been, to be honest.
But what's really cool about it is, like, it, Iwas always scared of doing, like, anything that
could potentially flip a switch because of themental health that runs in my family.

(37:25):
And so I've always been very, like, carefulwith that kind of stuff.
Mm-hmm.
So my only experience with it has only been,like, in a microdose format.
But you're saying, you know, your friend hasdone Ayahuasca and people, you know, going
through that facing that trauma from when youwere younger, even though maybe being in the
military is what, you know, the things thathappened then are what, like, maybe drove the

(37:49):
desire or the need or the realization to go anddo the work, and then now you're doing work
from when you were like 2 years old, 3 yearsold, 5 years old, whatever, like, it's all
intertwined, it's all it's all like, it's notjust, it's not siloed.
Heal it.
Like, healing is not a siloed process.
It we are as humans are complex beings, and ourbrains are a perfect example that everything's

(38:11):
intertwined.
And so, you know, just because, like, like, mydad gone and getting sick, when I say I'm on a
healing journey, my healing journey has been tocover my whole life.
But that one thing, that moment is what reallyshook me
Yeah.
To actually realize that I needed to do thework.

(38:31):
Right.
Sense?
Yeah.
No.
100%.
Yeah.
I I thought the parallel is, like, you know, itwas your grandpa's sickness that was sort of,
like, the traumatic war situation.
You know?
It's just the thing that you're like yeah.
No.
No.
No.
I can't.
I don't want to downplay anyone's experience.
No.
You're not.
Same.
No.
Not at all.

(38:51):
I just I think I think what's important, it'snot downplaying it at all.
I think it's it's showing that trauma istrauma, this trauma is trauma.
And, you know, there is ranking someone'strauma.
It's like, oh, that's not as bad as so and so.
It's like, that's not we all we all havedifferent compositions.

(39:14):
We all have different, you know, propensity to,oh, I can I can handle this, or I can't, or I'm
more emotional in this sense?
I'm more you know, we all deal with things indifferent ways.
So it's like you could have two completely thesame trauma to different people and it affect
them in different ways, and two differenttraumas that affect them in the same way.

(39:34):
So I think that, no.
You're not downplaying at all, but everythingyou said makes a ton of sense.
So now kind of segueing into your career alittle bit and how wellness and activism kind
of became part of what you were doing,especially as an engineer.
Do you wanna talk about that a little bit?

(39:54):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So it's an interesting like, to be honest, tothis day, I still haven't figured out, like,
the best way to explain it all because it'sjust there's a lot going on, but in a good way.
So my career specifically as an engineer, like,I went to school.
I studied, I studied industrial technology,which was an applied engineering type of role.

(40:15):
What's interesting about that, though, is thatI always loved working with my hands, and I
always loved, like, tinkering.
And since a young age, my dad and mygrandfather had me go into, like, the Home
Depot weekends and, like, you know, being in,like, I was doing the equivalent of, like, Girl
Scouts at the time when I was younger, like,building rocket ships.

(40:35):
Like, it was for science kids and, like, doingreally cool, fun, like, experiments, and just
stuff that required what I describe as, like,more tinkering, versus like, the 2D artist
who's painting, or, you know, whatever it is.
And so, in my career, I have found myself in,like, the partnerships world, which is where

(40:57):
you really bridge, like, tech, humans,connections.
Like, I didn't wanna be an engineer that satbehind the computer after I graduated.
I loved human interaction, and I lovedcommunity and building relationships.
My grandfather was a master networker growingup.
He has instilled a lot of, like, a lot of whatI do today, there's influence from him.

(41:20):
He was very involved in his community, anentrepreneur, networking, all the things.
So I kinda learned a lot of that from him, andcombined my technical skill set with that, and
realized, okay, partnerships make sense.
Because, like, I love people, I love solvingproblems, whether they're human problems or
technical problems.
Mhmm.
And so that's just, like, kind of where I'veevolved in my career.

(41:41):
So I've been able to kinda scratch a fewdifferent itches in terms of, like, using my
right brain and my left brain, like, in in myjob.
But to be honest, it's probably the leastinteresting thing that
I'm doing right
now, because, like, you know, it's black andwhite.
Like, I work for, I I I now am consulting parttime, and I work for a few different companies
doing go-to-market consulting work.

(42:02):
But to be honest with you, this the creativeside of me is something that I actually, like,
suppressed for a long time when I was buildingmy career.
So, like, I didn't tap back into my creativityfor at least 10 years over, you know, since I
graduated college to now.
And in college, I was doing a lot of fun littleprojects.
I was upcycling clothing, and I was, you know,I I had all these different little brands that

(42:26):
I was building and, like, would sell locallyof, like, jewelry or whatever it was at the
time.
But the skill around, like, beading,specifically, I learned at a very young age.
And art for me was like, building things andcreating things was a very therapeutic thing at
a very young age.
Like, I learned what that, I learned thefeeling that it would give me, like, how it

(42:49):
would help me super young.
And I would kind of like, zone out with thosetypes of activities at a young age.
So fast forward to now, when my dad got sick, II tap back in to some of that stuff that I used
to do when I was younger.
That in and of itself was extremely healing forme.
And so that that that, like, get, you know,getting back into that artistic side of me and

(43:12):
the creative side, that's now what's reallyevolved to what I'm doing today, where I'm I
have, like, my my sun catcher and plant charmbusiness, which is just more of, like, a
trinket business that I've created handmade artand handmade, like, 3 d, pieces that I sell,
but then that's evolved now to workshops.
So what I'm doing in my workshops is I'mcombining wellness modalities with the art,

(43:38):
because, again, all inspired by my own journey,like, sound healing, breath work, meditation,
all those things have really helped me throughmy journey.
And I realized, like, well, if we just combineeverything like I've been doing through my
life, maybe we can inspire others to to to findother ways to heal as well.
And so, you know, we've been having thesecontainers now, these in-person workshops, and

(44:02):
furthermore, there's the philanthropic aspectof it.
So, like, the art we make for ourselves, wemake an additional piece, whatever it is we're
making in our workshop, and we donate it backto the children's hospital to give to the
patients as gifts or, you know, whatever it is.
So, eventually, I wanna start bringing theexperiences to those, yeah, as well.
But totally.

(44:22):
Yeah.
Like, it's all evolving.
Like, I'm still in that startup mode.
So there's a lot going on.
Let me ask you a question.
Out of your opinion, I guess, what do you thinkis therapeutic about tinkering and making stuff
with your hands?
Like, what do you think is happening that makesit heal on a psychological and, you know, and

(44:47):
or physical level?
No.
I think it's, like, I think for everyone, it'sdifferent.
Honestly, this is actually something I'veconsidered, like, going to school for and,
like, learning more about because I've beenable I feel like I'm the case study, but I'm
not the one that studied to, like, lead thecase study.
I just did it.
I learned by doing.
But what I could tell you from my ownexperience is that there's a lot of strength

(45:09):
and value in putting your phone away, focusingon one thing that you're enjoying, that you're
passionate about, and disconnecting from allthe different distractions that we have in our
life, and just focusing on one thing.
Like, there's I don't know, like, thescientific reasoning behind how that helps
someone, but what I do know for sure is thatsitting on my phone and scrolling for hours

(45:33):
doesn't help me.
Yeah.
Makes feel worse for sure.
Worse.
Yeah.
And I think just, like, there's they do saythat, especially with AI now being so prominent
and such a big such a big thing throughout our,like, common world, I guess, like, not just in
the tech space or, you know, wherever it usedto be housed.
AI is becoming so just integrated intoeveryone's daily life where even now I think

(45:59):
it's even more important that we use our handsand that we do something to disconnect because
our creativity and, like, our ability to createas humans is in it's like, we're born with
that.
And,
just going back to our roots is a very healingthing too.
Totally.
Yeah.
I mean, I think there is with specificallythat, there's kind of two things going on, and

(46:22):
one of them leads into some of the other thingsthat I have engaged in for my own healing and
also, you know, for the community.
But I think flow state is a huge part of it.
You know, like, our brain wants to be in thissort of, like, alpha brainwave.
Like, you know, you're focused on a thing andit's mindfulness, essentially.

(46:46):
It's like why everyone does all of this stuffis you kinda it silences the monkey mind and
the, you know, the chattering that left brainvoice that is, like, you have stuff to do.
What do you do?
You know, what are you you're letting yourparents down, or do you have enough money for
bills?
What are you gonna do with stuff?
And you know what I mean?
So getting into that flow state, I think, ispart of it.

(47:07):
And then you said it when you said, you know,it's very human.
I think that humans part of our nature is tocreate.
It's to, you know, and creation can beinterpreted in a wide variety of ways.
But, I mean, if you look at some of the oldestcivilizations that we know of, you know,

(47:30):
there's drawing and, you know, there's oraltraditions.
There's singing.
There's chanting, you know, percussion, gettinginto like that, you know, creating vibration
and frequency.
So I think there's something that is very humanabout the act of creating, and we're in a

(47:50):
society where now, like, literally computerscould basically just do your work for you.
So, yeah, like you said, it's even moreimportant that, you know, to not have that sort
of, like, psychological crisis that you aretouching back to your roots and getting in tune
with what it is to be human.
Yeah.
I know I know for a fact, like, there isscience behind it in terms of, like, dopamine

(48:13):
and, like, what it does for you when you'relike, the different hormones that are released
when you're in that flow state.
Sure.
You know?
And I know that, like, it's it's a proventhing.
Art therapy is a huge industry that's, like,continuing to grow.
And even when I was younger, like, some ofthis, like, that I learned was actually, like,
in my therapy.
So, like, a lot of it, like, even though Idon't know the science behind it, what I know

(48:37):
is I was they were doing this kind of stuffwith me very young.
Mhmm.
And I see the results that it's done for me.
And that to me is enough to know, like, okay.
Whatever this is, maybe I don't know it allyet, or I'm, like, gonna you know, maybe I'll
learn about it soon if I go to school for it,but, like, I know it helps, and I know it it it
can't harm people.
Right?

(48:57):
So, like, why not why not provide this topeople?
Totally.
That's the other huge part about it is that,like, I think people like to compare, you know,
like, well, okay.
Well, how well does breath work in sound bathsor, you know, supplements like mushrooms or
functional mushrooms, you know, how does thatcompare to SSRIs or, you know, some

(49:20):
pharmaceutical intervention.
And I think that that's a that's an okay thingto compare, but the other side of it that it's
sort of leaving out is what are what are theside effects of drawing?
Nothing.
What you know what I mean?
Like, you know, people were only kinda, like,well, is drawing as good as SSRIs or something
like, well, what about the side effects, youknow, and and thinking about the downside of

(49:44):
it?
And a lot of these holistic modalities havesuch little risk associated with it, that why
not try them, you know?
Right.
And and a big thing for me, you know, I mean, II sell, you know, CBD and mushroom-infused
products, but I don't believe that there aresilver bullets that you can, yeah, just do

(50:08):
this, and it's gonna fix your problems.
That's sort of the pharmaceutical approach tobegin with.
You know, the holistic approach is that youhave to stack a lot of things.
You know, it's about, you know, breath work andmindfulness and, you know, getting in touch
with your childhood trauma and art and, youknow, exercise, sunlight, getting outside, you

(50:32):
know, being a person that you see do you knowwhat blue zones are?
Have you heard of blue zones?
So blue zones are areas in the world that havesuper high concentrations of octogenarians and
centenarians, some people who live super long.
And they've sort of found, like, well, youknow, what are these people doing?

(50:54):
Is it diet and, like, other aspects of diet,you know, like in Okinawa, Japan, they eat a
lot of yams.
In Sardinia, they eat a lot of oil, like oliveoil, Mediterranean diet.
But, like, you know, there's aspects there, butthat's only a part of it.
Sometimes a bigger part of it is connection.

(51:15):
All of those people are somebody in theircommunity.
If they just died tomorrow, a bunch of peoplebeyond their children are going to be affected
by that because it's truly a community.
And I think that connection to other people andfinding your place in a community is also

(51:37):
extremely human, but it's what keeps you notjust alive, but thriving.
And I see that with what you're doing a lot inyour work.
I'm trying to.
Yeah.
I think the community aspect is a big piece ofit, like, where that comes to play.
Personally, I've just been in San Diego now fora little over two and a half years, and, you

(52:01):
know, what I have found is it's been, you know,San Diego's great because, like, there's so
much to do, and there's so much variety in whatwe can do here because of where we are.
But I would say that, you know, as far asfinding, like, your soul people, I wouldn't say
it's as easy as some other places I've lived.
But, you know, maybe that's just because it'smy own experience.

(52:24):
I've been, like, immersed in the music scene alot, so I've been, like, you know, I really
enjoy going out and, like, watching live musicor going to, like, EDM shows.
But that's where I've met some people.
But I've also, like, what I have found is I'vemet a lot of people in a lot of different, I
guess, places or environments.

(52:45):
And for me, like, I went sober, like, quote,unquote, sober.
I stopped drinking alcohol about, a little overofficially a year ago.
Wow.
And I think that was something that I startedrealizing, like, I'm having a hard time, like,
connecting.
Like, I've found some soul people for sure, butI've been finding that it was hard for me to

(53:07):
connect with certain people and feel, like,good about what we're doing and how we're
connecting, if that makes sense.
Mhmm.
And I'm an artist.
I'm a creative.
And I think what I just found was, like, at theend of the day, community is a very uplifting
thing.
It always has been for me.

(53:27):
I've always been a very social person thatlikes to have friends, and go out, and do
things, and be a part of something.
But what I found was, like, you know, wejust—how do I put this in a positive way?
Like, I just, I felt like there's been a lot ofsiloed areas of San Diego that you can get

(53:50):
involved in, but I wasn't finding thecommunities that have everything overlapping.
Like, the community where you can create and beartistic, but also want to take care of your
mental health and meditate and do a soundhealing.
And then, you know, you don't have to be thismillionaire to go cold plunge.
Right?
Like, you don't—so it was just this thing whereI felt like, and there's a little bit of an

(54:13):
influencer scene in San Diego, which I thinkhas also had a little bit of an influence on,
like, not putting that down, but it's had aninfluence on the type of events that I see that
are being put out there.
And so, for me, what it's come back down to is,like, I just want to make really cool stuff
with friends and connect with people and helppeople.
Like, that's really what it comes down to.

(54:34):
And if I could use my story to help inspire andhelp others, then, like, why not?
You know?
That's kinda what it comes down to for me.
Yeah.
No.
I think that's, there's one thing about kind ofbeing an entrepreneur and being a leader is
that sometimes you're gonna be you're gonnakinda walk to the beat of your own drum, and

(54:57):
that's okay because you can create thecommunity that you maybe aren't finding.
Mhmm.
Already exists out there, you know.
And, you how long have you been doing, like,wellness type stuff, like, with your businesses
in San Diego?
I've personally been involved in, like, thewellness modalities myself for a long time, but

(55:19):
I started creating my events about a littleunder six months ago, so we're still pretty
cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
That's pretty newer.
That's the other thing I would say too is that,like, it might just take a little time to kind
of, like, find, you know, for those people tokind of come out and connect because everything

(55:39):
you're saying about San Diego is pretty true.
There's so many different, like, little silosof, you know, if you're into this sort of
thing, if you're into this sort of thing, like,there are a lot of those.
But I have found, like, specifically in, like,the wellness, you know, health, but also, like,

(56:01):
we're not, like, checking out from society andtry to just move to a co-op and, you know,
like, they're, you know, kinda having a foot inboth worlds and, like, that wellness world, but
also, like, we live in the most expensive cityon planet Earth, you know.
And so trying to kinda square that circle.
I do think they exist, you know, not not todiminish your experience at all.

(56:24):
But I just I'm only saying that just to, like,don't don't lose hope.
You know?
I think I think there's there.
Like, that is the thing.
The more so that to your exact point, like,once I started doing my events and leading the
healing throughout events that I've been doingand stuff, doors have opened beyond.
Like, I met you, and I've met other people.

(56:45):
And to your point, the communities do exist.
Like there are these communities that I'mfinding now that want to combine all the
different modalities.
But what I'm seeing though, is that there isn'tone specific collective or group or whatever,
that's bringing all of it together, which,like, I'm not some rocket scientist that's

(57:07):
cracking a code that no one's been able tofigure out.
But it is this thing of, like, I'm seeing a lotof collectives that are bringing in artistic,
creative entrepreneurs, people like that, andhave an art aspect in their day retreats or
whatever they're doing.
And they have the meditation, the breath work,the yoga, the connecting, the community.
But in my mind, the art piece is, like, 10%.

(57:31):
Yeah.
So for me, what I'm bringing to this communityis more like, we're here to do 50-50.
Like, yeah.
The art and the creativity are just asimportant as the sound healing or the breath
work.
And when we bring that together, we enter intoa state ourselves that allows us to open up
even more as an individual.
We're in a heart space.

(57:53):
And that is kind of where I'm going with thisis, like, I wanna be able to, like, get people
into that really heart-opening space.
So whether or not they're meeting their bestfriend at this event, they're just feeling
better.
Yeah.
Than they did coming into it.
Which we do with, like, you know, you do withthe wellness modalities.
But what I will say is, like, I haveexperienced these wellness modalities in other

(58:14):
venues.
Yeah.
I I just I I'm not the I I get it.
Content is important, but, like, when I seepeople doing the cold plunge and then, like,
they're doing it just for the video, like, areyou really getting most obvious or what?
Like, what are we doing?
You know?
Like so true.
And yeah.
In my events, we leave our phones at the door.

(58:35):
We're not using our phones, and everyone'sdead.
People are down.
They're like, I don't need my phone.
We're good.
I have a photographer usually that just takessome content for us and that's it.
Right.
So yeah.
No, I think that's super true.
It's like, you know, the term greenwashing,like, you know, where greenwashing is where you
kind of, like, putting, like, the recyclingsymbol on your plastic item, but you can't

(59:02):
actually recycle it.
So it looks like you're doing something reallygood for the planet.
I feel like, I don't know what the term is, butit's like greenwashing for, like, health and
wellness is that there's sort of this, it'slike wellness as brand, you know, or wellness
as, like, a trend, not necessarily wellness aslike a thing to heal yourself.

(59:25):
And that's kind of the like, you know, take aselfie in the ice bath and go.
I was thinking in San Diego, like, you kind ofhit it.
There's a big influencer culture because Ithink it seems like no one has a job in San
Diego, like, somehow.
Like, you know what I mean?
Like, anywhere you go at any time, it's kind ofbusy.

(59:46):
And so I think people do these remote types ofwork, you know, building your own personal
brands, whatever that entails.
And in 2025, it's like, you know, if you wantthe algorithm to do anything, you have to
constantly spam it with various forms ofcontent.

(01:00:07):
It's probably the area that I'm, like, the mostbad at, because I just consume social media
and, like, I get it.
Like, I make social media, but, like, as soonas I'm doing some as soon as you're doing it
for work, it kind of just sucks the fun out ofit.
And you're, like, damn.
Yeah.
Like, it becomes this vapid thing that you haveto do that doesn't really capture the essence

(01:00:32):
of what you're trying to go for.
Well, that's been my challenge.
I will be honest with you as I've been buildingout my business, I guess, for lack of better
terms, which it's really not that, but it'sbeen this focus for me ever since I left my
full-time job.
Yeah.
It's like I'm supposed to be getting contentall the time, and I'm like, this is now

(01:00:56):
becoming constant.
Like, it's not new for me.
I'm like, I don't—I hate editing videos.
I just—I already have such a—like, I don't likemy relationship with social media.
Not that I overuse it or anything, but I don'tlike what it does for me, and I do not see
myself scrolling when I don't want to be.
So I'm like, damn.
Like, to make this thing a thing, I do need—I'msupposed to be on social media.

(01:01:18):
So it's just this conflicting relationship thatI have with it.
No.
Totally.
And, honestly, that was kind of what got meinto podcasting, because I have grown just so
much as a person since about, like, 2015 maybe.
Maybe, like, around then.
That's kinda when I, like, started listening topodcasts more.

(01:01:42):
And, you know, I have a huge variety, you know,all sorts of different, you know, subjects and
even, like, political leanings, like, you know,get information from all different, and it has
made me just a better person, like, a much moreeducated and just, like, worldly person.
So I'm like, podcasts are a good thing, and Ilike what they do in terms of helping you learn

(01:02:09):
about, you know, the world.
Like, your story is gonna help somebody, youknow, it's gonna help people.
And this conversation that we're having ishelping ourselves in, you know, our own sort
of, like, personal way.
And where for me, like, where I kind of wastrying to kill two birds with one stone was by
doing podcasting, maybe I can take onelong-form piece of content that I do enjoy

(01:02:33):
having, like, you know, this isn't miserablefor me.
I like that we're doing this, and then, youknow, there's a lot of software and stuff that
can kinda chop it into shorter bits, and thenyou can repost those.
And now start building a brand around amessage, and you building this subject matter
expertise.
People learn to trust you.

(01:02:53):
They learn to know who you are.
And, you know, that was sort of the angle thatI, because I'm the same way, man.
I hate doing it.
I don't want to make TikTok videos and then anInstagram this and then, you know, or you spend
a lot of money paying people to do it.
You know?
Yeah.
If you crack the code at any point, let me knowbecause I'm in that predicament as we speak.

(01:03:15):
Yeah.
Don't hold your breath.
Yeah.
So what's next for you?
What's, yeah.
I want to hear about other events or what doyou got going, and what direction are you kind
of trying to take Sarah Rose Creations in?
Yeah.
So that's actually a great segue.
So I'm currently rebranding.
Not rebranding, but I'd say, like, expansivelylaunching, like, this umbrella for lack of

(01:03:42):
better terms.
So it's called Sarah's Creations, and,essentially, like, it's gonna house Funky Fun
Guys.
So she's not necessarily going away, which is,like, the known plant charm business that I've
had.
But it's gonna really just be all-encompassingto all the things that I've been creating.
So whether it's creating communities, whetherit's creating experiences, like, the art

(01:04:03):
experiences, whether it's creating safe spacesfor people to connect.
I've been thinking about a podcast.
I have all these ideas.
I used to have a podcast, so I know how muchwork it takes, and I respect you for the hustle
there because it can be—it is a full-time jobfor many.
But that is something that's in my mind.

(01:04:25):
We'll see.
But right now, my focus is on really, like,getting the foundation, like, not finalized
because you're never officially done withanything, but just starting to, like, shift in
the standardizing realm.
So, like Yeah.
I've kind of I've I've proof of concept, like,I've proof of concepted concepted, like, lots

(01:04:48):
of different things in the last 6 months, andI've I've decided that I really wanna stick
with the events.
The events are something that have been reallyamazing.
These workshops we're hosting.
So I'm gonna start getting more, just notstandardized, but I'm gonna, like, create my
template so I can really start scaling that.
Yeah.
And, eventually, I want to take it to multiplecities.

(01:05:10):
We're gonna also tap into corporate.
So we're gonna be providing these experiencesfor corporate settings where teams can do it as
team-building exercises, so that's reallyexciting.
And then, you know, as an artist, like, I'mgonna be pushing some of the limits for myself,
so I want to start doing 2D art.

(01:05:30):
I want to do art on a larger scale.
So, like, imagine, like, large canvas art or,you know, bigger pieces like a lot of my stuff
is disco-tiled or, like, it's disco-themed.
I want to do some bigger sculptures or stufflike that.
So, yeah.
Those are kinds of the things that are coming,like this healing through art series that I've
been working on.
We're doing our fourth one in two weeks, soI've been preparing for that.

(01:05:52):
Good for you.
I did.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So that's gonna be kinda more of the baby thatI focus on is, like, getting that more
established.
And then, essentially, I'm gonna work ongetting some, just, kind of, like, leads that I
can bring on to the team in cities so that wecan start activating it in other places too.

(01:06:14):
Yeah.
That's super smart.
I think, I mean, you're an engineer.
You get it.
But the standardization of processes, creatingprocesses, like, that is so crucial to scaling,
and it's one of the areas that I think a lot ofcreators and entrepreneurs kind of struggle
with because the way their head works isdifferent than the way other people's, and

(01:06:39):
that's why they're in the place that they are.
But sometimes communicating their vision andhaving other people, like, row in the same
direction is a real challenge, and that isessentially what scaling is.
So being able to create the systematized thingsand do it such that, you know, you can hire

(01:07:01):
somebody on.
They know how it's gonna work.
They know how it's gonna go.
So I think that's super smart.
And the other thing that I think would be areally smart direction that it sounds like
you're already kind of moving in is, like, wewere saying corporate events, stuff with, like,
you know, Rady Children's Hospital, you know,for a couple reasons.
One, I think you'd have a very big impact, youknow.

(01:07:23):
It's just easier to access a larger group ofpeople.
And but I also think from a businessstandpoint, that's a really solid way of kind
of, you know, hey.
We have a contract with the hospital, and weevery three months, we put on one of these
things, and you know what I mean?

(01:07:43):
Like and then you can scale that to differenthospitals.
You can scale that to different types ofcompanies that, you know, is in a similar deal.
Because and I don't throw events, so this isnot speaking from my own experience, but what I
would imagine is very difficult about the eventthrowing thing is everyone is sort of like,
alright.
Here we go.

(01:08:04):
You know, we gotta market it.
We gotta get hope people will buy tickets.
We gotta, you know, the venue's gonna be okay,that we're gonna have all these things, you
know.
And not to say that that's wrong.
I mean, I do I also show up to these events allthe time.
So I love that they exist.
But I would I always think from the perspectiveof the entrepreneur.
I'm like, that's a tough way of, like, kind ofhaving to rethink it every single time and kind

(01:08:28):
of, like, be a wedding planner, you know, at,you know, would you say four times in two
weeks?
Is that what you said?
I have two events, two coming up in the nextthree weeks.
Right.
Right.
Right.
So, I mean, it's a lot, you know.
But I
might be that's why the standardizing is reallyimportant because it's just having the

(01:08:53):
framework and, like, the organization behind itis gonna help move quicker.
It helps me move faster versus having to, like,come go be ground up every single time.
Right.
Right.
That's awesome.
So do you want to tell people maybe where toreach you so they can find you, where they can
sign up for an event, check out your art?
Yeah, totally.

(01:09:13):
Thank you.
So, on Instagram, you could find me at my oldhandle, which is funky fungi, f u n k i i f u n
g i.
She's gonna be getting a revamp soon, but thenmy website is sarahrosecreations.com.
So we have I have some of my products on there,like the actual art that I make, some of the
pieces that I sell online, and then I have moreof my workshops there.

(01:09:36):
So you could find the workshops that we'reoffering on my website.
You could buy your ticket there directly.
And then, too, like, if anyone that's listeningto this wants to come, send me a DM, and I'll
bring you in.
We'll get you a discount code because if youare friends of Jordan, then you're friends of
mine.
Awesome.
Well, thank you so much, Sarah.

(01:09:56):
Sit tight for a little bit after when I'm donerecording because I I just wanna ask you a
couple questions.
But, last thing, thank you all for comingtoday.
This is, Mindbody Mushroom brought to you byWind and Sea Coffee, and you can check us out
at wind and sea coffee dot com.
Use code MINDBODY for 25% off.

(01:10:18):
Yeah.
And we'll be posting this probably next week,so stay tuned for that.
So thank you all.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you.