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EP45: Longevity Won't Save You. The Soil Might | Amy McDonald
"We can't live longer and better without the planet being healthy."
The longevity industry has spent a decade and a fortune chasing biohacks, diagnostics and supplements. Amy McDonald has watched all of it from inside the wellness world — and her argument is not that longevity is wrong, but that it has been looking in the wrong direction. The real answer, she suggests, was always in the soil.
McDonald is the founder of Under a Tree, a regenerative wellness consultancy now in its twenty-first year, and her story is the throughline. A permaculture garden on the Baja coast in the early 1990s that moved guests to tears. A formative stretch at Miraval, where mindfulness — not architecture — built the brand. And a cautionary chapter at El Monte Sagrado in Taos: one of the most visionary sustainable properties ever built, lost not for lack of money or vision but for lack of market research and a working airport. From that heartbreak came the principle she now lives by — build the business model before you build the building.
It's a conversation about doing good and doing well at the same time. McDonald is refreshingly clear that regenerative places have to be profitable, that sustainability alone is no longer enough, and that the market is finally arcing back toward land connection and agritourism. She and Matthieu also find the place where their work overlaps: both begin not with a drawing but by observing the land itself and asking what it most wants to become.
Learn more & connect:
Amy McDonald — Under a Tree (regenerative wellness consulting): https://www.underatree.com
Email: [email protected]
Resources mentioned:
Under a Tree — Amy McDonald's regenerative wellness consultancy — https://www.underatree.com
Miraval (Life in Balance) — the mindfulness-led wellness resort that shaped her methodology
El Monte Sagrado, Taos — the visionary sustainable property whose collapse taught the business-model-first lesson
Regenesis — the regenerative development group (Pamela and Robert Mang) behind El Monte Sagrado
Rancho La Puerta, Tecate — the long-running wellness ranch she came to see as a kindred model
Discover more about regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects: https://www.paulownia-la.com
Dive into the 12 Universal Laws of Nature: https://www.12lawsofnature.com
Build the garden of your dreams: https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com
Book a free 30-minute session with Matthieu: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams
View all episodes
By Matthieu Mehuys"We can't live longer and better without the planet being healthy."
The longevity industry has spent a decade and a fortune chasing biohacks, diagnostics and supplements. Amy McDonald has watched all of it from inside the wellness world — and her argument is not that longevity is wrong, but that it has been looking in the wrong direction. The real answer, she suggests, was always in the soil.
McDonald is the founder of Under a Tree, a regenerative wellness consultancy now in its twenty-first year, and her story is the throughline. A permaculture garden on the Baja coast in the early 1990s that moved guests to tears. A formative stretch at Miraval, where mindfulness — not architecture — built the brand. And a cautionary chapter at El Monte Sagrado in Taos: one of the most visionary sustainable properties ever built, lost not for lack of money or vision but for lack of market research and a working airport. From that heartbreak came the principle she now lives by — build the business model before you build the building.
It's a conversation about doing good and doing well at the same time. McDonald is refreshingly clear that regenerative places have to be profitable, that sustainability alone is no longer enough, and that the market is finally arcing back toward land connection and agritourism. She and Matthieu also find the place where their work overlaps: both begin not with a drawing but by observing the land itself and asking what it most wants to become.
Learn more & connect:
Amy McDonald — Under a Tree (regenerative wellness consulting): https://www.underatree.com
Email: [email protected]
Resources mentioned:
Under a Tree — Amy McDonald's regenerative wellness consultancy — https://www.underatree.com
Miraval (Life in Balance) — the mindfulness-led wellness resort that shaped her methodology
El Monte Sagrado, Taos — the visionary sustainable property whose collapse taught the business-model-first lesson
Regenesis — the regenerative development group (Pamela and Robert Mang) behind El Monte Sagrado
Rancho La Puerta, Tecate — the long-running wellness ranch she came to see as a kindred model
Discover more about regenerative design at Paulownia Landscape Architects: https://www.paulownia-la.com
Dive into the 12 Universal Laws of Nature: https://www.12lawsofnature.com
Build the garden of your dreams: https://www.gardenofyourdreams.com
Book a free 30-minute session with Matthieu: https://calendly.com/garden-of-your-dreams