SSP 043: Calli O’Brien - Biohacking Your Life with Matcha Tea

So when I started out my journey, my journey of digging into myself and trying to find out what it was my purpose here in life, I started off at a corporate job. I was working as an accountant. And when I first started that job, that's really what made me ask the question, like, what is it that I'm here to do? Because I knew this work that I was doing was not in alignment with my sole purpose. And one of the first things that I turned to, to start to tap into was what my purpose was, was honing and optimizing my body, like starting to biohack and really become more aware of what I was putting in. Because a lot of the times what we put in our bodies is what we get out in terms of creativity, insight, inspiration, passion and energy, first and foremost. So today's guest, her name's Callie o'. Brien. She's one of the leading Matcha experts. So for those who don't know what Matcha is, Matcha is a green tea, refined and compressed green tea leaf that actually is sort of like this powerful stimulant that without having the crash or without having the jitters that coffee normally gives you. And the reason why this relates to my journey and how I started to biohack myself was because Matcha was something that allowed me to tune into more focused and elevated states on a more sustainable way. Drinking lots of coffee. Yeah, it's good. It gives you an energy buzz. But is it sustainable? Not really for a lot of people. And a lot of people choose not to drink coffee because of that reason, because of the effect it has. And I wanted to bring Cali on because Marcher is really, if you haven't heard of it, it's really starting to take off. This is a new wave. And as we tap into the powers of Marcher, you're really going to start to notice big shifts in the way you think and the way you feel. So enjoy this episode. A lot of good information around why Marcher can and will be a big replacement to coffee for a lot of people. And also some new insights on how you can work with plants and start to use them as in ways to support your own inward journey. So, without further ado, enjoy this episode, guys.

Welcome to the State Shifters podcast, a show dedicated to helping you discover your.

True potential through connecting the mind, body and soul. Okay, guys, welcome back to the Stage Shifters podcast. I've got Kelly o' Brien with me and I'm super excited about today's episode because Kelly is one of the world Marcher experts. And Kelly and her business partner created a company called My Marcher Life. And if anyone knows my journey, knows that I'm passionate about health and wellness and taking care of my body and mind. And Matcha is really one of the coolest little ways you can start to optimize the way you think and the way you feel. So, Kelly, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. I'm excited to dive into this one. How are you?

Hey, I'm good, I'm good. I'm in Canada and it's 6pm here and yeah, no, things are good. I'm excited to be here, Jordan. Thanks for asking me.

Yeah, likewise. And I'm back home in Australia now, so it's always great to be chatting to a Canadian because I just spent two years living in Toronto and you know, I am excited by what you guys are up to out there. And I'm going to give people just a brief overview of your bio because when it comes to Matcha, like there is no one else out there or not too many others out there who have done as much as you have in this space. So for people who don't know who Cali is, Cali belongs to really a group of early adopters who first explored Marcher in North America and its market potential. So today, with exceptional Marcher knowledge and a personal nature, you're highly regarded as one of the leading marcher producers, retailers and consumers. So since 2006, you've worked with people, world's top matcha Tea Masters, toured Japan and basically that's where the finest matcha powder is made and still ground to perfection. So you've really managed and worked with some of the experts in this space. So tell us how this came about. Like my Matcha life and a little bit what you're up to right now.

Well, that's a lot. It all started in 2005. Ish. When I first learned about Matcha, I had never heard of it before. Neither had most all other North Americans, let alone Australians. I ended up working with a brand, a Matcha brand, and I really developed their Matcha for the next eight years across Canada and the U.S. even in London, you know, we were in the Whole Foods at Piccadilly Circus. And so through that I got to learn from the world's top Matcha Tea Masters and I got a lot of great experiences. We were talking earlier and I was invited to speak at the Smithsonian Institute in the US very prestigious institute. And I worked with the T Masters and we did a 26 minute video documentary in Japan, we took a crew from LA and we went there and we had a director and a camera guy and a sound and lighting guy and a few other people. So we did this great documentary, and then I wrote the business to business report. And, you know, with all that knowledge, I couldn't. I couldn't not do something on my own. I was doing it for somebody else. And sometimes it doesn't really resonate with your, you know, with your being, you know, you. There's. You want to be more, you want to explore more and see what you can do, you know. So I think that's what partly led me to starting my Matcha life, you know, about four years ago, almost five years ago now. And, yeah, it's been a journey.

Yeah, I mean, I guess I'll give people a bit of a background on my journey with Macho and how I discovered it, because I was in the process of, you know, I was working a corporate job, and I was trying to find ways of how to start to optimize, you know, how I was thinking at work, because my work was draining me, and I was tired of turning to caffeine, like coffee. And I know there's caffeine in Marcha, but coffee, you know, with something that it gives you these little spikes in energy sometimes and you crash. And I was like, this good. I can't be relying on and coffee all the time to give me these little pickups. It has to be something more efficient. And as I was doing research and listening to podcasts, I stumbled across Macha. And I heard that marcher was used by the Japanese samurai warriors before they go out to war. And the minute I read that, I was like, yeah, okay, I got to give this stuff a go. This must. This must be good. The reason being was it's because it's. It has this really beautiful synergy between, you know, there's a lot of caffeine in there for a tea, and there's this balance between some of the compounds, such as L theanine in there that create this really nice, relaxed focus. You don't get the jitters. You don't get the shakes that coffee can sometimes give you. It's really this really calming effect on the mind. And I started playing around with Marcha and finding out the different qualities and how to know what was a good quality, the ceremonial grade, and how you can whisk it and create it. So maybe you can help. Help people understand why they should be looking into Matcha, why they might want to consider it, because we all know about coffee, but what are some of the benefits of Matcha? And why should we consider it as maybe something we could replace with coffee or substitute?

Yeah, there's so many things when people say, well, what is matcha? So matcha comes from a Japanese word, matsu meaning powdered and cha meaning tea. So it's powdered tea. And because it's powdered, among other reasons, it's a concentrate. So you're getting, in terms of health benefits, you would get that, what you would get in 10 cups of green tea. So people have heard how great green tea is. And so, you know, so 10 cups, wow, that sounds great. And when you talk about all the health studies on green tea, whether it's Alzheimer's or Parkinson's or high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight management, the list is kind of endless. They're all talking about the EGCG, Catechin, but they're also saying, need 7 to 10 cups of green tea for that benefit. And so who drinks 7 to 10 cups of green tea a day? Nobody. You'd be in the bathroom all the time. So all you need is one cup of matcha for that. So matcha will give you a nice sustained lift of energy. It'll give you a calm mental focus. It's an adaptogen. So it really acts to just help us stay calm and our bodies stay calm, our minds stay calm. If you're anxiety or stressed in any way, match is the perfect thing. If you're, like you said, if you're three in the afternoon and you've got, oh, I don't know, your inbox is full and deadlines are coming up and maybe have kids and they're texting you, or maybe you have aging parents and they're like, phoning you for the fifth time that day. You just kind of like, oh, my God, I want to go home. And so you have a sip of your Matcha, right? You've experienced this by the sounds of it, and you just go, okay. And you leave focused and you're happier. It also increases dopamine, so we feel a little happier. And that's that L theme. You know, I could talk, I could go on for an hour, so you better interrupt me.

I love it because, you know, I geek out on this stuff as well. I'm still into, like, biohacking. How can I start to tweak the things that I'm putting in my body so that I can really start to hone the output, whether it be more creative, more focused, more energized? More like whatever it is I'm trying to get out, usually it's, it comes from what you put in. So a lot of people that I work with and speak to, you know that they want to start to cultivate more of a calm, more connected, more centered, grounded energy. And sometimes coffee can, can do the opposite, can really start to turn the dial up a bit too much. So, yeah, you know, have you experienced, like, do you still drink coffee? And if so, what would you say the main differences are between coffee and Matcha?

Well, I guess it's a wired feeling, really. The caffeine molecule is very small and so it gets into our blood system really quickly. So when in coffee, that's what happens. But in Matcha, because Matcha has L Theanine, which, you know, makes the body as an adaptogen, so it's calmer to begin with, but also the. Nobody knows this. The caffeine molecule is attracted to the antioxidant molecules that are in the Matcha tea. And the antioxidant molecules are thicker, denser. So it binds to that molecule and then it goes into your system. So that's why you don't get this spike. You get just a gentle, sustained release of energy. And it's largely because it's bound to the catechin molecule and it's denser. So, so there's that. But we've had people drinking coffee for a long, long time and want to get off of it or at least want to reduce the amount that they're drinking. And we've had people go from coffee one day to Matcha the next and never look back. No headaches, no withdrawal, no nausea, no fatigue, no fogginess, you know, and then you can stop drinking Matcha and it's not an issue. Right. But you don't really want to have coffee, have control over you. I don't know. Did you drink coffee, Jordan?

Yeah. I will admit I love coffee. Like us Australians, we're very much coffee snobs. And the last couple of days I've actually said to myself, I'm not going to have any coffee. And this morning I woke up, had a Matcha and I feel great. Like, it's just a lot of the times it's, you know, we, we get dependent on the, on the coffee because we think we can't get this to pick up any other way.

Right.

And you have a Matcha and you sometimes you realize, well, you know what, I probably feel a little bit better at the moment, like with that more relaxed focus. So, yeah. Do you still drink coffee or did you cut it out?

Well, I had one today, but I normally drink decaf. I really enjoy the taste of coffee. So I just have it black and I usually just have a decaf Americano just to change it up a little bit, you know, some days, some days are three match a day for me. It's like, you know, full on, you know, go, go, go kind of stuff and keep your brain in the game for 12 hours. But so, yeah, coffee is, is good. I think, you know, we should all drink a little bit less. It does make us more anxious, a little more wired, you know, one or two cups a day is great, but then, you know, look in the afternoon to have a matcha instead of a second cup of coffee, you know, sometimes people want more of a hit of energy, though. Like matcha is. It's a bit of a gentle sustained energy. Right. It's not this like, yeah, I'm going. And sometimes you need more of that, correct?

Yeah, yeah. I'm not going to, not going to be one to say we should cut out coffee because I don't think I could do that. I don't want to do that. But it's more just. Yeah, like you said, how can we start to have a day off coffee? And let's try some, like, mix it up. Because the body develops dependencies sometimes. And if you find people who are listening, if you find yourself having to have two, three, four cups of coffee a day, it's probably because the body's built up a tolerance. You need more of the caffeine, right?

That's right. You get that spike and then a crash and then you're looking for that energy again.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

You know, some people love their morning coffee ritual too, right? They, they like all of the things about it. They like the smell and like to do it. And then they come back and it's all ready and they take it to work or whatever the thing is. And you know, so you don't want, you don't want to get away with that. But, you know, so the next time you're looking for something, then I would look for a matcha. And if you can drink it purely, like, how do you drink your matcha? You drink it pure latte or.

Yeah, this morning was in a latte, but maybe that's something we can, we can, you can explain a little bit more about the differences between when you have it in a ceremonial grade, meaning you whisk it, compared to if you're having it, you know, in a latte. Or cooking it with something. What are the different ways of preparing and having matcha?

Yeah, well, the traditional way, which started with the Japanese Zen Buddhist monks, it didn't actually start with the Japanese, actually started with the Chinese a few hundred years earlier. And at one time they, they mixed it with garlic and salt back in around the seventh century anyhow. So the Japanese started it and it was the Zen Buddhist monks and they would use it for meditation and to enhance their meditation and just the overall well being. I don't know, how much time do we have?

We got all the time in the world.

There is a monk in 1211 and he wrote this book called essentially it said how to stay healthy by drinking tea. And in it he said that tea. And at this time this was matcha, they didn't have steep tea and you know, fermented teas or anything at this time it was just all ground up tea in a powder form. That's what he was. So he's saying tea is nature's ultimate medical and mental remedy. And that was the premise of his book. And it was all about tea and it was all about the matcha. And so they knew back then how great tea was for you or how great matcha was for you. But they didn't know things like terms like L theanine or antioxidants. But they knew it was great for overall well being and it really enhanced their, their meditations. So they would whisk it just with a whisk, much like we do now. It's a handmade whisk and you whisk back and forth and you get it frothy. There's a video on our website showing exactly how to make the perfect froth of matcha. And when you drink the ceremonial grade just in water, you're getting really all those benefits really purely. There's no milk in there, there's no sweeteners, there's no banana, there's no smoothie bowl going on. You really get the pure effects of a really nice quality matcha. And the ceremonial grades will have a higher amount of L theanine than the lower grades. So typically if you're putting your matcha into a latte or blender drink, you're having a lower grade of matcha because why pay the premium price and then throw all that stuff into it? But they're good too. Like we have one called Baristas and it's a blend of first harvest and second harvest leaves. And their nutritional components are very different. So it's sort of a Bold taste. And we say it's ideal for lattes and blender drinks. And then we, we also have another one and there's other ones on the market that are culinary grades. And these would be all second harvest or even a third harvest kind of leaf.

Which means when you say harvest, that means it's like, it's a different quality leaf. Like, it's the. Like how does it. Was. It was the main difference between those two.

Yeah, yeah. So in the first harvest, like with matcha, they shade growing the tea leaves. So they, they put the tea leaves under shade cover for about two to four weeks. And what that does is that forces all the chlorophyll and the L Theanine up to the very top, outermost leaves. And then for the best matcha, like our ceremonial grade, they'll hand pick just those top, freshest, youngest, most vibrant tea leaves. And they're very smooth tasting. So L Theanine in the tea plant makes it taste smooth. Right. So the higher the L Theanine, the better the quality, the smoother taste in your matcha will be. And then as the tea leaves stay on the plants, and this happens in like May, early May, as the tea leaves stay on the plant till August. In the second harvest, the sun actually changes some of that L Theanine into catechins and into tannins, really first. And tannins make things taste bitter. So the second harvest is always a more bitter tasting tea leaf. But you know, what the tea masters do when they're blending our first and second harvest tea leaves is they're trying like a vintner with wine. Right. You kind of expect the same taste, you know, over and over again, year after year. Slightly different variations, but similar. Right. The tea masters do that with tea as well. So they blend, they taste, they cup, and they sort of know how much of this crop and how much of that harvest in this field over there. And the tea leaves that this farmer brought in to create that same taste over and over again. And that same sort of nutritional profile, you know, exists that way. And then, so, yeah, so second harvest or a third harvest would be used for a culinary grade, never for a ceremonial grade. And they're typically not hand picked. Sometimes they're not, you know, so it's shade grown, hand picked, de stemmed, de veined. And a hundred years ago, women used to do this by hand. They would de stem and devein every single tea leaf. And then it slowly stone ground in these, between these two big granite stones, one sits on top of the other, then it slowly turns and stone grinds the matcha tea leaf into powder. Essentially how it's done. And it takes an hour of grinding to produce a good quality matcha tea. Yeah. And it's so laborious. Right. So you can imagine this is why it's one reason why it's a dollar, you know, a dollar a serving for the good quality matcha.

Yeah, of course, of course. So do you suggest people start if someone wants to start trying matcha, how do we then know, you know, do we start with a ceremonial grade to do that we need the whisk, we need to have it. Do we need to have in a special cup or something? Like what, what's the best way to go about that?

It's a bit of a hassle, you know, it's been, it's been the struggle I think, for matcha, you know, being really adopted across a larger realm of people. And because people love the idea of those benefits. Right. Nice sustained energy. You know, your brain is on, you're nicely energized, but not wired. You're mentally and emotionally calm. Like, who doesn't want that? Right? We all kind of want that. But to get it you got to whisk it, fuss with it and it's clumpy or, or you buy a cheaper matcha because you didn't really want to buy the most expensive one. And then it doesn't taste good, it doesn't have those benefits. So you know, I think the easiest thing for people to do is to start with you know, like a mid, mid level matcha and, and make a latte out of it.

Right.

You know, somewhere around, you know, an 80 gram tin for about $34 would get, you should get you a decent quality matcha. So it ends up being about 45 cents a serving because you don't need very much, you just need a small amount and then you could kind of maybe, you know, once you, once you like it, some people like the taste right away, some people don't, but you like the benefits. So find a way to do it. And you can throw it into your smoothie too, is a way that a lot of people, you know, then you're not tasting it at all. Right.

And you said, you mentioned the taste, like when it's more bitter, does that mean it's a better quality or does the taste indicate anything around the quality of the matcha that you've bought?

For sure. Yeah. So remember the L theanine, the L theanine in the tea plant is higher at the first harvest which is in spring. And the altheni makes the tea leaf taste smooth. So those are all hand picked at the first flush of spring. Or ceremonial qualities are all hand picked. So that's the best one with most althening. And the smoother tasting, you know, like our mid grade is kind of a bold taste because it's a mixture of the leaves, but the more bitter, the lower the quality. And then you don't know. Matcha that's grown outside of Japan is often. Is always ball crushed or heat pulverized into a powder instead of gently, reverently stone brown. And we don't. It's never hand picked. And then. Yeah. Deveined and deep stemmed. We don't know. Because you get more volume. Right. If you leave the stems and everything in there.

Yeah.

But it tastes more bitter because then you don't just have the pure fresh leaf that's in there bursting with its nutrients. Right. So.

So you could say as a general rule of thumb, you get what you pay for when it comes to Marjorie.

Usually. Yeah. Usually, yeah. I've seen some, some people, you know, some brands say it's ceremonial grade and it's, it's lower quality than a culinary grade. I think they just don't know. And they've just sort of gone with whatever. Oh, let's just call it ceremonial. Who cares?

Yeah.

And they just, they just didn't know. You know, I, you know, that's one of my big pet peeves is somebody that misleads people, you know, or misrepresents something. I'm not okay with that.

Yeah. So, Kelly, tell me more about what you guys have put together over at March of My March of Life. Because it's something that you guys are starting to lead the way now in terms of delivering quality, but also in terms of convenience in a way that you've created March of products around these choose that allow people to get access to Matcha sort of in a convenient manner that probably we're not used to seeing. So what exactly have you guys come together and created and where are you sourcing your matcha from? And can we trust your brand? And when we go on there and buy it, we know what we're gonna get.

Yeah. Well, let's see where to start with that? Because I've been doing this for so long and I've talked to tens of thousands of people over the years, know, literally, and listen to what they said. So as I was mentioning earlier, you know, people love the idea of the matcha and then they get a tin Home and they go, right, how am I supposed to make this? And they try and it never works out quite right. It doesn't taste good, it's lumpy. They end up eating it. It's not nice. So they have to fuss with it. It's not always convenient. You know, if you're a rock climbing on a mountain, you know, it's like, oh, let me get out my whisk. And you know, it's not going to happen. Or if you're in a triathlon or something, just so many people like the idea of Matcha and then stop using it. And so what we came out with was a matcha in a chew form, but we also enhanced it a little bit to just give you a little bit more of a kick. Because some days we know we need a bit more of a kick than what Matcha was giving us, but we don't want it into coffee either. Yeah. So we, you know, our matcha comes from Japan, you know, because I've worked with these producers for so long and the farmers then, you know, I knew where to go, I knew what qualities I was looking for. And so I put a very specific quality into the. Into the Matcha Chew. We call it Matcha Kick Performance Chews. And so with that quality of Matcha, it also, you know, the caffeine and the L theanine work synergistically together to enhance the effects of the L Theanine. And then the caffeine and the catechins are binding together to give you that slow, sustained release. And then we've added D Ribose in there. D ribose is a very cool byproduct of metabolism. So we added, you know, some that we had from non GMO corn and we put that in there. And athletes use this for endurance and for energy recovery. So it works at the ATP level, the cellular level, for production of ATP, so that all of it combined is really exciting. All you have to do is pop it in your mouth.

Yeah, I love this idea. That makes it so much more convenient to have access to that. Say. Yeah, like you said, if you're on the move. Yeah. It's so simple as that. Wow. So people are listening. Yeah. Kelly just got out with one of these. Shoot. It's just literally like a little green cube and you just do it and.

Yeah, so we put. It's wrapped up in a little, you know, wax paper wrapper, but that's the. I don't know if you can see that.

Very cool. Yeah, yeah. So for people say, who maybe are you know, about to go into a meditation or they're about to go into maybe a yoga class. Is this a. Is this something you'd recommend that they could use to start to really get themselves into, like a calm, peaceful, but alert state of mind?

For sure. And it all depends. Like, with the kicks, it all sort of depends on how large a body type they are or, you know, how sensitive they are to caffeine, you know, because you could use just half, but if you're. If you're really bagged, it's been a really hard day, or maybe it's first thing in the morning and you're just slow to get going. You know, you could have one, but really you can use half. You can use one. You know, if you're a large body type, I'd say maybe two, but, you know, there's 60 milligrams of green tea caffeine in each. In each tube, in each kick. And for most of us, that's. That's enough to get going and feel alert but not wired and you're focused and, yeah, it's not as a, you know, there's no, there's no ritual around it, so there's no matcha moment with the kicks. And so you don't want to not have your matcha tea as well, because it's a really lovely thing to whisk up your matcha if you're going to take the time and make the investment in yourself, right. If you're on a bit of a transition in your journey and wherever you are in your life, you know, it really helps with that if you're gonna sit and write in your journal first thing in the morning or something. You know, it's a beautiful thing. Just take a few minutes, make your matcha. It's lovely, it's frothy, you feel rewarded and like you've accomplished something already and. And then write in your journal and, you know, get your day going. It's awesome.

It really is, though. I identified that for myself. You know, I've really been on this personal growth journey for a few years now, and throughout that time, I've always been looking for different things that I could use that are going to allow me to feel my best. And when I feel my best, I'm able to give my best to wherever it is I'm working, whatever reason that I'm doing. And I found that after playing around with lots of different things in my morning routine. There's a few key components in a morning routine that result in you feeling like you've set yourself up to have a powerful day. And for me, those components were movement, meditation, getting some form of sunlight, doing some journaling, doing something creative. I found doing some creative in the morning created a shift. And one of the other pieces was having a stimulant or a heart opener, whether that be a cacao, whether they be coffee or whether it be a matcha, you know. And what do you think it is as, like, as a part of something that it does to our brains in the morning to just. We want that extra bit of stimulant just to start to awaken different areas in the brain that. Yeah, I mean, we could go without coffee or matcha or, you know, cacao, but these stimulants allow us to just kind of shift into another gear. Like, when did you discover that? When did you discover, like, yeah, this is something. I just really. I love the way this makes me feel.

You know, I guess way back when it's been so long now, I guess about 2006. And you know, when I look back now, what I, what I really remember was I lost weight during the first month, you know, which was kind of an added bonus. But, you know, I did have that calmness that, you know, when the day was getting kind of crazy, I would have it usually at around 3, sometimes early, sometimes around 10, but usually around 3 in the afternoon because we get that low, you know, blood sugar time and we're reaching for a muffin or, you know, something or maybe, you know.

Well, three o' clock's the time when the body's been awake, usually for around eight hours, and cortisol tends to spike around that time. So you get, you get a natural, like, lull and energy. So it's a part of the Sarcadian rhythm. So, yeah, you're right. Usually we turn to a coffee. Recently I've been turned into either a nap or meditation around that time, but so much is a good time.

At 3:00'. Clock.

Hey, that's exactly a good point. Good point. But if you turn to coffee at 3, 4pm in the afternoon, I know for me, personally, I. I do struggle to sleep if I have a coffee too late. So I kind of cut out coffee after 2pm which is why I think March would be an awesome little pickup in the afternoon.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And to get you going first thing in the morning, like, sometimes it's. I don't know, maybe you have to. Maybe you're somebody who goes out and exercises first thing in the morning, you wake up and going, I'm not feeling like even getting out of bed, let alone exercising, you know, so I've been using the Matcha kicks first thing in the morning to just to kind of put my head in a space of. Yeah. You know, it increases the dopamine levels, so I feel a little happier on it, you know. And we had one gal use them recently and she said, oh, I didn't know I was depressed just because she felt so much better on it, you know. And for me, I can't drink much on an empty stomach. It makes me nauseous. It's like. Like my multivitamin on an empty stomach, you know, I couldn't do that either. And so. But the kicks, because they've got just a little bit of sugar in them, 2 grams of sugar per chew and other things. It seems to be enough that I can eat a chew on an empty stomach. Go for a run or whatever. Yeah, yeah. Jordan, how did you. What made you shift. What made you shift from a lifestyle before? You said in the last three years you've done some changes. So what was the catalyst for you?

The catalyst for me was when I realized I was working in a corporate tax accountant. Corporate tax accountant for Deloitte, one of the bigger consulting firms in the world. And I got into this position coming out of university and I was working at a desk job, and I realized how much it was draining me. Like, I was not used to sitting down all day and I wasn't really enjoying the work. And I was like, I knew that I had more to give, yet I just did not have the energy to work on anything outside of my job. So I started to, like, hone in. Okay, how can I start to feel more energy at work so that I, first of all enjoy what I'm doing more, but secondly, have more energy to start to pursue the things I was passionate about. So that's where I discovered biohacking and just shifting. The way I went about diet, Bulletproof diet was one of the first major shifts I made. Shifting from more of a, you know, high carb diet that I was eating into a high fat, high protein diet. And I started intermittent fasting. And that combination resulted in me just experiencing what being in a ketogenic state was where I was burning fat for fuel. And then I started to play around with different nootropics, so different brain enhancers, like the medicinal mushrooms, such as lion's mane. And so marcher kind of came into the. Into the play, and I realized how much it was impacting me and the shift, you Create, I'm sure you've had it as well. When you start to dial in your own health and wellness and start to play around with what it feels like to eat certain foods or drink certain drinks. And experiencing elevated states of energy is really, that's where it's at. Like energy is really everything. Energy determines how much we're able to give to the people, to the work we do. So it really is a foundational component of living a better life, in my opinion. I think you guys are onto something here because I know a lot of people who are starting to steer away from coffee because it just doesn't resonate with them. You know, they don't like the caffeine affects them too much, that stimulates them too much. So Matcha for me seems like the perfect alternative for people who still want to experience that, you know, that lightness, the focus, the sharpness, the calmness without being too overwhelmed by the caffeine or for whatever health reason. You know what I mean?

Yeah. You know, and you go up for a coffee these days and it's, you know, I don't know what it is in Australia, but it's probably similar, you know, Starbucks. It's, you know, over $3 at least for a coffee. And you know, for a Matcha, if you, if you buy a good quality Matcha, it's a dollar, you know, if you bring it home, it's a dollar. So you're saving at least two bucks a day.

Exactly. So tell me, tell me more about the vision for like where you see this going. Like you created a marcher company, like how big do you want to take this? Like it's picking up slowly in Australia. I must admit there's parts people don't know what it is. But I've just come back from Sydney and Melbourne and obviously it's more people are aware of it out there. Like, what have you noticed so far in terms of awareness and how far do you want to take this?

Yeah, it's interesting, you know, it seems to be in the pockets where it's more urban, where it's more educated, more health oriented population. You know, if you look at the States, it's New York, it's San Francisco, it's la, those are the big pockets, you know, for Matcha in Canada it's Vancouver and Toronto and Victoria. Victoria people are quite savvy in Victoria, Canada. Anyhow, so the awareness is there's still millions of people who don't know anything about Matcha. And so our job really is to, I've Been doing this for so long, and I'm still passionate about it. You know, I didn't know I was going to be a matcha expert, you know, when I was a kid, thinking what I was going to be when I grew up, you know, I. I thought he was going to be a professional football player.

As in Rambo?

No, as in, you know, American football.

American football. Okay.

Yeah, we used to play. My brother and I used to play with the local boys, you know, the neighborhood kids, and we used to all play football as a, you know, as a young girl growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan. And so as I got a little bit older, though, as I turned about 13 years old, you know, it became obvious as I was fully developed, you know, that, you know, I was too short. There's no way I was gonna be able to play, you know, American football. So, yeah, so now I find myself being a matcha expert and I gotta, you know, I'm still passionate. So we're. We feel the kicks has got a lot of room to grow because there are no barriers to it. Anybody can take it anywhere, anytime it delivers, what Matcha delivers and then some. So there's a lot more. There's a lot of channels it can go into and we can reach a lot more people. You know, it's just there is. You have. You have to fuss with the matcha a little bit, and that was always a barrier for people. They love the idea of it, but they just didn't want to take the time to make it or deal with it. So they buy it and sits in their shelf, and I hate that. Let's get that into you. If we have more dopamine, if we have more L theanine, where we're all calmer and happier, we have more energy. So like you said, we can bring ourselves to the game more often and at a better state, then our world's gonna be a happier and better place.

Yeah, totally agree with that. Totally resonate with that as well. So, yeah, I'm excited to see where. Where this goes because, yeah, like you said, the convenience part is a big factor in it. And, you know, as people start to learn more about Marcha and get to try it, it's. It's gonna be something that I'm gonna see more. It's gonna be more widely accessible, which is what we hope, right?

That's what we hope. Yeah. The other thing we haven't talked a lot about is the. The EGCG catechin in Matcha or the antioxidants that are in There and they really are. There's so much studies done over the years on, on green tea and the EGCG catechin that, you know, it really helps boost the immune system and, and fight disease. It fights, you know, it neutralizes free radicals, antioxidants neutralize free radicals and free radicals create disease. And we get free radicals just naturally in our body from metabolizing foods, but we also get it from the air quality, you know, which is some places in Australia. Oh my God, you know, it's pretty bad. And air quality, the food we eat, the water we drink, the stress we have all creates free radicals. And the antioxidants in Matcha and the green tea, you know, fight those off. And so that's another reason to great, you know, Matcha or the Kix or, or even green tea, you know, on a regular basis and change it up and you know, it's, it's important.

Yeah, big time. Yeah. I mean if people want to start to learn more about how they can get access to your product. Is it available right now in Australia or are you guys just shipping in North America at the moment?

Yeah, we, we sell at retailers in North America, Canada and the U.S. and some of the accounts we just launched the Kicks, you know, mid November. So then there was a US Thanksgiving and we all had Christmas and then we all had New Year's. So it's a little slower but there's about 40 accounts across the US and Hawaii that have our Matcha kicks. But you can get it online, you can get it on Amazon.com and you know, Amazon AU, you know, eventually.

Yep.

About, you know, doing a coupon code for some of your listeners and yeah.

I know a lot of my listeners are still based out in Toronto or North America. So if they are, if you guys are listening and you want to use my code, it's 15 shifter and you're going to get a little discount on your order. And I can't wait to try this product because it's going to. Yeah, it's really like I said, I'm a Matcha user and for people who are listening, who are regular coffee drinkers who don't think they can make shift away from coffee, I highly invite you and encourage you to try Matcha. Give it like the off day coffee one day, Matcha the other. And what it actually does, when you have a break from coffee, you come back and you enjoy it even more. And when you realize that there is something out there that can still give you that kick and still give you that focus that you feel like you need, then it kind of makes the off days from coffee so much more enjoyable. So that's how much has served me. And I'm. Yeah, I mean, I'm excited for more people to try this.

Yeah. Well, you know, there's. There's two unique components to Matcha and to green tea. One is that L Theanine, you can't really get it anywhere else. And the other is the catechins, and especially that EGCG catechin. Like, you just don't. They come from tea, you don't get them anywhere else. So, you know, Matcha is nature's highest source of both of those things. And then it's all working synergistically just as Mother Nature intended. Right. This is Mother Nature creating at her most highest best. Right. And all we have to do is drink it. And, you know, for your. For your Canadian listeners, we could do a 15 shifter on our website so that they can get it in Canada because we just ship. Amazon.com is just for the US right.

Amazing. Thank you. Kelly, I'm curious, like, have you noticed people who struggle with maybe anxiety or people who struggle with their mind just racing so much? Because sometimes living in big cities, like, it's so easy to get just swept up and being busy all the time that, you know, coffee sometimes just exacerbates the problem. Right. You have a cup of coffee to get you through the day, and the coffee just stimulates the mind even more and you get really swept into this. Yeah. How do you. Have you found people getting benefits from slowing down their mind a little bit just by having Matcha instead of coffee? Because they're L. Theanine.

I found that they're calmer, they're less anxious, you know, relieve some of the stress for sure, you know, But I think they've got to come at it from their own desire to do that, you know, and it's easy just to keep your mind going and not really realize that you are. Yeah, exactly like you've done. You have to, you know, consciously want to make a bit of a change, and you have to consciously want to slow down those thoughts. Little bit in terms of, you know, anxiety. My. My mom was dealing with my dad, who had dementia, and when I phoned her, I could tell whether she had her macho or not just by the tone of her voice. You know, if she had not had it, and she wouldn't be coping very well, and her voice would be all tight and short words, but when she had it, she'd be like, you know, a little calmer, a little happier, coping better. So it's that coping skill and elthening is just an amazing amino acid. And if you don't know much about it, you know, I suggest people go and find out more. You can find L Theanine at all the health food stores in tablet form for anxiety and depression. Right. And stress relief. So this is where it originates in its whole food form is Matcha.

There we go. Really? Well, I've been taking L Theanine in tablet form for a while now as well. I found it to be super effective.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's great. You don't want to drink Matcha at night. Right. But you might want to have an lthenian table.

Exactly, exactly.

Yeah. No, they're both, they're both great to have.

It's like nature's. Nature's anxiety cure. Just like, just settles you down, you know, it's. It's. It's really powerful.

Yeah, yeah. Match is pretty amazing. I mean, you know, I'm still passionate, whatever, 14 years later, and I guess I always will be because it's. It makes a difference in people's lives. And that's, that's very rewarding for us, you know, to know that we create a product that, you know, helps people deal with stress a little bit more and we're also stressed. Right.

That's it. That's it. Anything that can help. Yeah, exactly. Kelly, I just want to thank you so much for coming on the podcast. I've really, I've personally taken a lot of. I've learned a lot from this and I'm sure other people who are listening have. So again, if you want to connect more with you, it's MyMarchaLife.com is the website and you've got all your information on there as well.

Great. Thank you so much, Jordan. It was a lot of fun.

It's my pleasure. Thanks, Charlotte.

Take care.

Hey, there we have it, guys. Thanks so much for listening to this episode. And yeah, look, if you made it this far, cool. Here's my voice again in your ear. And I'm gonna. I make one more request for you is go ahead and subscribe and leave a comment on the podcast page because I'm really putting a lot of focus and attention on getting this podcast out to more people because I know what I'm putting in here can serve and value and bring value to people. And it would mean a lot if you got value from this to. To leave some feedback and subscribe. So you stay up to date with what's coming up and as always, follow my Instagram and love hearing from you. It's at State Shifters until the next episode. Guys, thank you so much and I appreciate you.