In Episode 4 of Roots to Fruits, Kelly Williams explains the heartbeat of his debut book, Tiny Hands: The Soft Power Model.

This isn’t a conversation about strategy. It’s about systems that feel.
It’s about fascia, trust, resonance, and why one coherent nervous system can rehydrate the room.

Together, we walk through the Hydration Ladder—a biological and organizational model that maps how flow is lost and restored in teams, companies, and bodies.

We unpack core dichotomies like:
Enzymatic leadership vs. control from fear
Co-regulation vs. co-isolation
Composting grief vs. accumulating residue
Reverberance vs. performance
Mass vs. energy

This episode is for regenerative designers, sustainability leaders, nervous system nerds, and anyone trying to build something alive in a brittle world.

In this episode of the Roots to Fruits Podcast by Kelly Williams, we explore a regenerative, cellular blueprint for building resilient systems rooted in connection, hydration, and trust. Soft power and local action create lasting change, and community-led solutions like the Dayton Food Bank offer inspiring examples of what’s possible.

If you want to understand how to build stronger teams, healthier communities, and a sustainable future, this conversation is for you.

In this episode of the Roots to Fruits podcast, Kelly Williams and Chris Schaefer explore the importance of hydration in individuals, teams, and organizations. They discuss how dehydration affects team dynamics and organizational culture, the role of leadership in fostering a hydrated environment, and the challenges faced by industries in transitioning to regenerative practices. The conversation highlights the need for material honesty in sustainable packaging and offers insights for companies looking to navigate this complex landscape.

What if the systems we rely on, in business, life, and even packaging, are failing because they’re brittle, not because they're broken?

In this foundational episode, I unpack the idea of soft power: a force that connects rather than controls. From hydrogen bonds in nature to the hidden dynamics inside teams, this conversation explores how regeneration starts not with data, but with hydration — personal, organizational, and ecological.