Aware with Seb

Today I had a super energetic and inspiring human on the show. Monica Richards, aka the ecobabe!

Monica Richards is a former farm girl turned eco-friendly interior designer and Hollywood TV Host who launched her lifestyle brand, ecobabe, to empower people to live more sustainably and believe in the power of individual impact. 

In addition to the ecobabe blog, Instagram, YouTube channel and ecobabe Goods Shop, Monica owns a sustainable consultancy for homeowners and brands - She also leads The Collective, a global conscious community of committed ecobabes and Climate Optimists co-creating a better world, together.

I had a great time with Monica talking about her least eco-conscious practice, an overall look at what we’re doing to our planet, and great eco hacks for individuals and brands with a large impact.

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Monica’s last oh shit moment
• If you had to chose 1 thing. What is the absolute worst thing we are doing to our planet at the moment?
• Carbon Emissions 
• Have you ever broken up with a guy or stopped dating bc he was not eco-conscious?
• Monica shares what it was like growing up on a farm
• The least eco-friendly thing Monica has done in the past year
• Clothes & Fashion- The True Cost. How can we do our part if you are someone who likes being fashionable?
• It can feel very disempowering to be doing things on an individual basis. 
• It’s not about everybody doing everything perfectly, but about a lot of people trying.
• Large companies can have a massive effect and impact. How can someone who’s not a founder or entrepreneur and works for a large company do their part in getting their company in the right direction?
• Grace for small companies.
• The Consultancy works with individuals and brands. What is the process of assessing a brand’s sustainability?
• Eco-friendly hacks!
• Soil farming
• The Collective, a membership platform where we co-create a better world.
• What’s next for Monica Richards.
• Monica shares her top two traits for a conscious leader to embody

Connect with Monica Richards, AKA the Ecobabe on Instagram

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I had a great time today chatting with Joci & Ashley Besecker, the founders of Premier Catch. A sustainable, wild seafood company that delivers straight to your door.

Ashley Besecker is an expert in human biochemistry and specializes in nutritional genetics and sports medicine. She works with world-class athletes on a strategy that involves nutritional repletion and optimization.

Joci and Ashley married into the seafood industry. However, they saw an unfilled gap between wholesale distributors and consumers and they did just that with Premier Catch.

Their mission is to source the highest quality, wild-caught seafood from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest to fill kitchens across the country.

We talked about nutrition, sustainability and discussed some of the concepts that were brought up by the well-known documentary, Seaspiracy.

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Ashley’s last oh shit moment
• Joci’s last hell yeah moment
• Ashley on nutrigenetics
• Gut health and probiotics vs prebiotics
• Joci history with the ocean as a kid, how they met and at what point they decided to go into business together
• Owning a successful business with family
• Ashley shares one of her favorite professional athlete recovery stories
• Ashley talks about a WNBA player and gold medalist
• Emotional and psychological connection to physical endurance and recovery
• What is true sustainability when it comes to fishing?
• The real difference between farm fish and wild-caught
• What does their business, Premier Catch, stand for and guarantee?
• Alaska, the pinnacle of sustainable fishing.
• How they are able to eliminate bycatch
• According to Seaspiracy, 46% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is fishing gear. What is being done by sustainable businesses to combat this?
• Is eating wild-caught fish better than eating meat?
• Joci and Ashley share their top two traits for a conscious leader to embody

Connect with Joci & Ashley via PremierCatch.com 

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Today I had on Nikki Trott, the Founder & CEO of Conscious Accelerator, where they help entrepreneurs transform both internal mindset and external impact to unlock their full potential, fulfillment and success.

Nikki has consulted for over 100 top fashion/lifestyle brands globally (from Mulberry to Mango to La Praire) before aligning her work and values.

Her work is built upon the belief that business is driven by purpose and that together we can change our lives and the world through conscious entrepreneurship.

We hit some juicy topics including burnout, anxiety, dissonance, partying and how all of that ties into purpose.

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Nikki’s last oh shit moment
• Psychology, design and economics.
• Fashion industry and the environment
• Explain what you mean by Masculine energy running a female industry
• Fast fashion
• Did you feel a low or rock bottom when you left the job, boyfriend, and cut
• Nikki talks psychedelics
• Getting a facial with Caviar
• Separate worlds of psychedelics and consulting.
• Coaching entrepreneurs on finding purpose and alignment
• Nikki’s process:
  - Coaching base. Internal Work.
  - Purpose. Personal values and how it translates….defining Mission
  - Driving Impact through brand.
• Nikki’s book: Going Conscious
• Nikki shares her top two traits for a conscious leader to embody

Visit nikkitrott.com and find Nikki Trott on Instagram

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Ben Biles is the founder of American Veterans Group, an investment banking firm that donates 25% of its profits to career readiness programs for military veterans across the U.S. 

In the show, Ben reveals how this started as a profound personal mission that was tied to his best friend from the military who took his own life as he struggled with mental health issues after returning from the service.

We get to hear from Ben about what the Navy was actually like, some of his personal experiences, and why he’s decided to change the way things are done in Wall Street.

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Ben’s last oh shit moment
• Ben shares why he decided to join the navy
• Ben talks about being from a small town
• What was the first week at the Navy like?
• Ben’s gnarliest physical/mental stressor that he’s ever experienced And how he endured it.
• Keith Lisante, Ben’s roommate. The reason and inspiration Ben formed a purpose-driven finance company. 
• Bootcamp life
• What was life like after coming back into normal life?
• After coming back and seeing that Keith was struggling did you ever perceive that he would end his life?
• In his honor Ben started a profit & purpose model … the first of its kind on Wall Street. 
• Why do you think Wall Street is so cutthroat? Why aren’t there more companies like yours?
• Ben’s 2 cents on Bitcoin and the digital currency world.
• Ben’s shares his top two traits for a conscious leader to embody
• Readers and learners
• Ben shares how to get involved with American Veterans Group

Visit americanvetsgroup.com and find Ben Biles on LinkedIn

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Experience, purpose and connection. All things that make us feel alive. And also key factors for any brand or business to be able to bring to life and form a connection with the guest or customer. Carolene Meli is an expert in the field having traveled all over the world with a leadership role as an experience strategist for Cirque du Soleil. I invite you to join us on this interview as Carolene shares some of her spectacular experiences and educates on the importance of bringing the magic of experiences to life.

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Carolene’s last oh shit moment
• 10 Years doing Cirque du Soleil. Ran teams in 17 different countries and ran the VIP team. 
• What makes us a Cirque Du Soleil team?
• Carolene shares a powerful story of one of the most memorable experiences while on tour
• Living in France during the 2015 attacks
• Running a team in Russia without any way to communicate
• How purpose can change the motivation to deliver an experience
• The Cirque du Soleil is all about instilling a feeling. It goes beyond standard entertainment. 
• The magic of bringing experiences into life and how to cause a “feeling.”
• What happened to Cirque du Soleil with Covid?
• Carolene’s pivot due to Covid
• A program called Better Your Leadership. Leading yourself, your team and your guests/customers.
• Leading through ego and blame culture
• Emotionally intelligent leadership. What that means and why we need it.
• The power of curiosity and connection
• Carolene shares her top two traits for a conscious leader to embody
• The Experience Creators and Better Your Leadership

Visit CaroleneMeli.com  and find Carolene Meli on Instagram and YoutTube

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Today I had on a human who is just full of energy and positive vibes! Nastasha McKeon is the executive Chef slash CEO and Founder of Choice juiceries. With an extensive background in health and wellness, she has taught plant-based cooking classes in hospitals in addition to consulting with restaurant brands on how to incorporate healthy options into their menu along with product development, systems, education, and sales. She opened her first brick-and-mortar store in 2014 in Carlsbad, CA and she’s now expanded to 6 locations plus online. To be expanding a conscious brick-and-mortar business during a pandemic is pretty badass. So as you can imagine, she dropped some solid nuggets of knowledge and inspiration on the pod!

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Nastasha’s last oh shit moment
• Nastsha talks about surf ranch and kook of the day moments
• Seb shares his kook of the day moment.
• What was the first seed that was planted in you that led to your passion and success that you’re having today in regards to clean eating and conscious ingredients?
• Rough childhood. Nastash’s grandma who had an auto-immune disease.
• Hungry for information as to why grandma had died and how that got her into learning about food being medicine.
• How is food medicine?
• Our disconnect from food and nature and the Covid 19 virus
• Making money in banking and eating well
• Holistic nutrition and consulting at restaurants
• What does a restaurant consultant do? What exactly does that mean?
• How consulting transitioned into Choice Juicery
• Opened up the first location in 2014. Nastasha worked every role and speaks to the importance of that.
• How and why Nastasha can keep a smile on her face nonstop.
• You told me something that really resonated…“Although I’m not a non-profit I feel like we’re a non-profit.” Share what you mean by that.
• Maintaining the integrity of products is like giving back.
• Awareness and education. Community-based events.
• Turning down great business opportunities and business temptation.
• How does maintaining the integrity of products affect the whole supply chain?
• The importance of mindset...for the entire company not just the CEO.
• You published a book last month. What is it about?
• Nastahsa shares her top two traits for a conscious leader to embody
• Nastasha shares where we can buy her book and shop for her clean food products

Visit choicejuicery.com  and find  Nastasha McKeon on Instagram.

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Today’s episode is truly special as it was the very first episode recorded in human form, live with my guest Steffen Hoffman in his home in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. And let me just start by saying he had just done Ayahuasca the night before and he shares that journey with us!

He’s a multi-disciplinary artist and visual storyteller. His passion is in conscious creation.

He has led design, creative, tech, and product launches for both startups and large corporations, including Rythmia, RLOVE, The Honest Company working alongside Jessica Alba, Salesforce, and AOL. He has founded both tech and product companies, including Openly Human, Klova, Metastory, and Hipster which was acquired by AOL.

I have never met someone who is this talented in so many different creative skills. And if for some reason you needed an extra reason to stay with us through the end, Steffen performs for us with a epic little handpan session aka he plays the UFO drum for us.

Show notes in order of appearance:

• This is the very first episode being recorded in real-life form, not over a video call. And we are in Costa Rica with Steffen Hoffman.
• Ayahuasca Wednesdays. Steffen shares his experience with his ayahuasca journey the night prior to this episode recording.
• Growing up in a poor family and how that shaped him
• Steffen’s rock band
• Steffen’s first entrepreneurial gig, a brick and mortar design agency.
• Hipster, Steffen’s photo-sharing tech startup that was acquired by AOL.
• The experience of being acquired by AOL.
• Making it in life?
• The Honest Company and working alongside Jessica Alba
• Conscious brands: marketing vs actually having an impact? And does it matter as long as the impact is truly there?
• The story about Openly Human, a clean deodorant brand created by Steffen.
• Sourcing conscious ingredients
• Conscious business brands to the advancement of humanity and improvement of our ecosystems.
• Where humanity stands today.
• Rythmia: a high-end Ayahuasca retreat center.
• Rhytmia’s mission and how they’re doing it.
• Steffen shares his top two traits for a conscious leader to embody

Visit amormeafati.com  and find  Steffen Hoffman on Instagram.

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Today I invited Caitlyn Chase to join me to chat about her inspirational journey from blog to lifestyle brand. Caitlyn has amassed a serious online following of luxury lifestyle lovers since the launch of her blog, Caviar & Cashmere in 2011. The LA-based blogger-turned-entrepreneur began her career as a fashion and beauty writer for nationally acclaimed publications at the young age of 18. She has appeared on TV, podcasts, panels, magazines, and newspapers as a trusted expert in the industry.

Caitlyn launched her skincare line, setting out to solve the problem of confusion and complication in skincare. Her products have conscious ingredients and her operation supports local workers. In the show, we talked about her journey of how she turned her blog into a real-life physical product and conscious luxury brand.

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Caitlyn’s last oh shit moment
• Who is the real Caitlyn Chase, what is she like, what does her day look like outside of a perfectly curated moment of a snapshot captured on camera?
• How did this all start? Caitlyn’s first job working for a magazine.
• Started her blog in 2011 about luxury lifestyle. 
• Caitlyn’s first SEO trick. Backlinks from her magazine. 
• How did the name Caviar & Cashmere come about?
• Why Caitlyn always knew it would go beyond the blog into a physical product.
• Caitlyn ended up leaving her job and living off sponsored posts and guest blogging. How important is it to be authentic even when you’re getting paid on sponsored posts guest blogs?
• How her full-time position at Glam Squad helped her discover an opportunity.
• Used market research pre-launch through her own reach. 
• Caviar & Cashmere, the product. Conscious ingredients in beauty products.
• Conscious manufacturing practices and its importance.
• How worker’s output is affected by fair treatment
• The importance of a conscious brand to consumers
• What Caitlyn has to say to a girl listening who has a large following and is considering developing a product
• Caitlyn shares her top two traits for a conscious leader to embody

Visit caviarandcashmere.com  and find Caitlyn Chase on Instagram.

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It is true, brands with purpose make MORE MONEY anddd they cause impact. Doesn’t get better than that in my opinion. Luke Faccini is an expert in the field of branding with purpose and he shares some epic insights with us about brand story, brand purpose, and why brands with purpose are seeing greater success.

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Luke Faccini an Italian Aussie?
• How Luke and Seb meet on Instagram
• Luke’s last oh shit moment
• What is an unconscious business? Or a non-purpose-driven brand? We’re surrounded by them...What does that look like?
• Are most brands not driven by a bigger purpose? And why is that the case?
• Spiral dynamics
• How brands responded and are responding during Covid
• Luke had a “purpose moment” that caused a shift in his life. 
• The True Cost movie
• Agency life and partying
• Luke shares how the universe tested him with a big opp that he had to turn down.
• The importance of brand story and how this ties to brand purpose.
• B Corps 101. Luke gives the elevator pitch on Certified B Corps and why he decided to get involved.
• And 1 basketball brand
• Purpose-driven brands typically have more costs...Besides bringing good to the world and ourselves, how can leading with purpose make more money?
• Luke shares concrete examples of purpose-led brands making more money
• Purpose in employees leads to more creativity and less turnover.
• Stats on buying from purpose-led brands
• Luke’s 2 most important traits for a conscious leader to embody
• Appetite for being wrong and presence and how they tie into leadership
• The Sponge and Good North.
• And if you liked this episode please make sure to actually hit subscribe and share it with a homie! 

Visit The Sponge and find Luke Faccini on Instagram. 

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Whether you’re a Bitcoin expert or someone that’s just interested in understanding what all the hype is about, this episode is for you. Cory Klippsten is the founder and CEO of SwanBitcoin.com. He also serves as an advisor to Unchained Capital, Bitcoin Venture Fund, and Riot Blockchain, and is a partner in Bitcoiner Ventures.  As an advisor he has supported more than $250M of fundraising since 2016, and as an angel has funded 20+ early-stage startups. 

Show notes in order of appearance:

• Bitcoin hype.
• Cory’s last oh shit moment.
• How Cory and Sebastian met in LA
• Sebastian’s lessons he learned early on from Cory.
• Never invest in something that you don’t understand.
• What is Bitcoin? Cory goes overview and also deep on this question.
• Why Bitcoin? The smartest money ever created?
• Cory’s take on Bitcoin’s potential total market value.
• Blockchain. What it is and how it plays a role.
• Importance of blockchain in other areas (or lack thereof)
• Exchanges Vs Wallets. People freak out about this notion of “losing their password.” As they say “not your keys, not your bitcoin.”
• Coinbase, Robinhood, PayPal and SwanBitcoin. How they play a role.
• Why is Bitcoin conscious currency? 
• Can Bitcoin be used as a force for good? 
• How can Bitcoin help end wars?
• The controversy about Bitcoin’s energy consumption.
• How is Bitcoin helping in times of crisis in Venezuela?
• Cory talks about the name Swan Bitcoin.
• Cory’s 2 most important traits for a conscious leader to embody.
• How people can get started with Bitcoin.

Visit SwanBitcoin and find SwanBitcoin on Instagram. 

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