How Reconnecting with Nature Can Restore Balance, Improve Your Health, Boost Happiness, and Drive Success with Seth Spears from Wellnesse

Welcome to Biohacking with Brittany. I am your host, Brittany Ford, and I am a holistic nutritionist, content creator, podcaster, and am into all things health optimization and biohacking, especially for women, women's health, and for mamas and all the good things like that. Today's episode, I had the privilege of sitting down with Seth Spears, who is one of the founders for Wellnest. Which is the brand of toothpaste that me and my family uses along with some of their skincare and haircare. And I am obsessed honestly with their products. And we definitely touch upon them about, you know, talking about why it's important to create natural products, what ingredients to look for, the role of fluoride in toothpaste and oral care. We talk about the oral microbiome. And a bunch of different things like that, really about, you know, these natural health products and, and what they mean, why they're growing in popularity. And Wellness is now a B Corp certified business and brand. So we definitely talk about that and what that means and why that's important. And we also talk about the role of unplugging and bringing in nature more into your life and creating this sense of balance. As a business owner, as an entrepreneur, as a dad. You know, Seth is a father of 6 children, and we talk all about that and how difficult it can be depending on where you live and why it's important to make it a priority. And so, I share about, you know, different times in my life where I've struggled to disconnect and unplug off of social media and technology, especially when your whole business is You know, on your phone or on your computer and you can take it anywhere, but that doesn't mean you should. And it definitely impacts your physical health and your mental health, spiritual health, everything like that. So we kind of dive into this idea of how do we become more grounded as parents and as entrepreneurs, and how do we build a brand and a business that reflects our values? these values of nature, of natural holistic living. So it was a great episode. I learned a lot from Seth. He's very inspiring. He's built a couple of businesses in the health and wellness space that are huge. And so it was just a real treat to sit down and talk with him and hear what he has to say and, and feel inspired by him. So I think you're going to get a lot out of this episode. Before we dive in, a shout out to Lila Quantum Tech. They have finally released EMF blocking underwear for women. I am so excited to see this. I was going to develop this a few years ago, and they did a much better job than I would have done. This is the underwear. I'm actually wearing it right now as I, you know, sit with my laptop and my mic and my phone and my Wi-Fi and all of these different EMF sources around me. It's really reassuring to know that My reproductive parts, my ovaries are blocked from this radiation. If you're somebody who is pregnant, you're on your fertility journey, postpartum, even menopause, it's really important to think about how radiation around you is actually impacting your ovaries. Your ovaries create hormones, so they are really important organs in your body. They also hold the eggs. that are released during ovulation that can become children. So again, it's really, really important to think about this regardless of where you might be on your journey, especially if you're pregnant. This is something that I would definitely, definitely think about. And it's nice to just see the development for women's health in this biohacking space. It's very new, and I'm glad to see more and more products coming out for women. And so obviously I'm a champion for them and really suggest them. So You can use my discount code BIOHACKINGBRITTNEY and you will save on all of LEELA Quantum Tech's products, including their underwear. I have multiple products from them. Love them. If you have any questions as well, shoot me a message about sizing or the way it might fit or the fabric, what it's made out of, stuff like that. I'm here to help you. Let me know and enjoy this podcast episode. I think you're going to get a lot out of it. Whether you're an entrepreneur or you're not, if you are super into natural oral healthcare, which I am, there's just something in this episode for everybody. I will catch you next week for another one. I release episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Please subscribe, leave a, leave a review, and thank you for listening. Welcome back to Biohacking with Brittany. Thank you for tuning in today. I am joined by Seth Spears. Spears, who is an entrepreneur, angel investor, and founder of Wellness and Rewild Gear. Seth has built purpose-driven brands that prioritize sustainability, innovation, and mission over profit, which I love and cannot wait to dive into. Uh, in this episode, we're going to explore his journey as a business leader, the impact of B Corp certification, and honestly what that even means and why it's important. And why it's important to actually create these all-natural products, uh, especially for someone like him. He's a father of 6 and runs multiple businesses. So I have a lot to ask. Seth, uh, welcome to the show.

Hi, Brittany. Thanks for having me.

Yeah. So before we kind of get into like your different businesses specifically, what kind of inspired you to kind of take this approach of purpose over profit?

That's a really good question. I call myself an accidental entrepreneur in that it just kind of happened, but I've always just been focused on quality over quantity. I think it just goes back to how I was raised, just focusing on things that the quality— let me take a step back. It seems like in today, in this day and age, we live in a mass consumerist culture and society. And because of that, we just want everything now. We're so focused on instant gratification and just kind of a microwave society. And I was just raised that if you want something, you work for it. And it's all about getting something that it's going to last for the long term and not just buy it now and then it's going to break in 2 days. And so you're going to have to purchase it again, even though it's cheaper, because in the long run you're going to spend more money. So that just really affected my outlook and ethos on business and all areas of life and the consumer society in which we live in. And just focusing on how can I create the best quality products or services that work better than everything else out there. And it's going to last longer because in the long run, that's what we all want.

Yeah, it's really hard to do that in today's day and age with Amazon being delivered so easily from the click of your phone and it's showing up You know, some places even same-day delivery, which we don't have here, but it makes like the consumerism so easy. And even with like social media, like TikTok Shop and stuff like that. So it seems like you're really going against the current in terms of creating quality products that last a long time that don't need to be replaced very quickly or easily or thrown out.

Yeah, agreed. Do you remember the commercials years ago about the Maytag Man?

No.

Where you had like a washer and dryer, like Maytag was known for just the quality of it. And so the commercials, it would show like the Maytag repairman, he was just sitting around waiting for a call to come in to come and repair it because it didn't happen because the quality of their products was so much better than everyone else. Uh, and I remember seeing those when I was a kid and I would ask my parents like, the Maytag man, what's, what's this? Or why, why is he not doing anything? It's like, because they're made better. They, they last and they don't need to be repaired. And so I've always just looked at that as an example of how can, how can I create things where it's kind of like that, the Maytag Man type of environment or type of product where it's not going to need to be fixed or repaired constantly.

I love that. And that's a smart commercial actually. I haven't seen it, but that sounds very intriguing. If I were to see that.

I'm sure you can find the old ones on YouTube or something. But I just don't know that that works anymore because everyone Just the business model which we live in. Everyone wants recurring revenue all the time, and they want, uh, just to continually bring in profits, which I get it. It's a business. You have to make money 100%. I mean, I'm in it to make money as well. However, if you're sacrificing the quality of something just in the case of profit, that's a problem to me.

Absolutely. So when you founded Wellness, uh, how did you kind of take that approach and apply it to These products that are oral care, skincare, haircare, like how did you kind of fuse those 2 together?

Well, we started off by creating products that are better for you. So using higher quality ingredients, using packaging that is more sustainable, compostable, and things like that. And just focusing on the very best, highest quality ingredients and products that we could create that are better than the conventional and often toxic alternatives. It's a lot easier to make a higher profit when you're willing to make sacrifices on certain things at the, at the effect of the end good. And we weren't willing to do that. And so the goal was to make the best, most efficacious products that work better than everything else out there at a, at a price point that is affordable, but also where we're going to make a profit too. So trying to meld those can be a challenge sometimes, but that's the goal.

Yeah. So why, why start with oral care? Like, I feel like you could have started with anything in the health space, but like, why focus on, you know, the oral microbiome, teeth, all of that?

So when we launched, the goal was to be a more well-rounded personal care brand. So oral, hair, and skin. And so we had, we had the formulations created already for For shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, all of these personal care products that everyone uses every day. And typically it's just a matter of habit what we use. It's because what our parents bought, what our spouse buys, just what we're used to using. But we realized that there was a big opportunity in the market for all of these. If we could create products that work better than what else is out there, but they're healthier for you. Because we're constantly exposed to so many toxins every day. And so if we can reduce that toxic load, then our health is going to improve. And so, but to answer your question, as far as why oral care, it just kind of happened because we launched with multiple different products and the oral care is what took off. And so it just seemed like it's also oral care is also where it doesn't matter so much who you are, what you use as a Opposed to like hair type, because for— there's different hair types. Is it curly? Is it straight? Is it thick? Is it thin? There's all these different factors that determine how well the hair care products you're using will work for you. What works for my hair may not work as well for yours. However, for oral care, toothpaste and such, it's really ubiquitous. It doesn't matter what is in your mouth. I mean, the goal is to get everyone's oral microbiome healthy to keep the pH at a 6.8 or higher because then you can't get cavities. There's so many variables there within what you're eating day in and day out that you can't really formulate something for each individual. And that would get so crazy expensive anyway that no one would do it. So that's kind of a very circuitous way of answering your question of why oral care, I think.

Absolutely. No, it makes sense. I mean, it's all something that we can relate to and it's all, it's much more similar than skin type and hair type, which varies so much by like age and person and ethnicity and all of these different things. But oral care is definitely something that we can all aim to like even have healthier products for. And I have multiple of your toothpastes, and I have one for my son as well. You know, he doesn't— his first 2 teeth just popped up. So we, we haven't used them yet. But I love the products already and I've been using them for a few months now. They're very clean and they don't have any fluoride in them. And so when you were developing this, was it the goal for your oral line to be completely fluoride-free, or did that just kind of happen because you saw what consumers wanted in like your brand and in your following?

No, I— we knew from the very beginning that fluoride-free was a non-negotiable. Because fluoride is a neurotoxin. It's so bad for you. And we've really been sold a bill of goods on having it in our toothpaste, having it in our water supply, all of these things that we're constantly subjected to every day. And so that goes back to reducing the toxic load, like I mentioned before. And so from the very beginning, we knew that we wanted to use ingredients that were totally clean, that the science shows that they're actually good for your mouth, for the oral microbiome, for your teeth that can help whiten, can help remineralize and all of those things. But that didn't have any of those ingredients that a lot of our competitors had. A lot of the other alternatives out there had like fluoride, like sodium lauryl sulfate, like glycerin. And, you know, there's a host of other ingredients that some companies use. And so we wanted to be as minimal as we could with our ingredient profile, but also that they were all very intentionally selected so they worked better than everything else.

The hard thing I find with toothpaste is Like, I've been using fluoride-free toothpaste for a long time, and when I try to get other people on it, a lot of the ones don't necessarily foam like the ones with fluoride in them. So I think people grow up with this like foaming big amount of like stuff they have to slurp out when they're done, and it's white and it's like very satisfying almost. But then when you switch to something more natural, there's way less of that typically. And so then— It can kind of feel like, hey, maybe my teeth aren't as clean. It's not as fresh. My breath doesn't smell as nice. But in reality, it's actually like a ton of toxic chemicals that are causing that reaction and that scent to occur.

Yeah. So what's really interesting about that and exactly what you're saying is that the foaming and then the mint flavoring, that was all just marketing. It has nothing to do with how well the product is working, how efficacious it is for your mouth or your teeth. Crest and Colgate and some of the big brands back in the day, they— Procter& Gamble, they actually created the soap opera to sell soap and their other products as well, because they knew that women who were just housewives are staying at home or taking care of their children and they were watching television. And so they put on basically these shows on TV so that they could advertise their products and it worked really well. And so, you know, one of the selling propositions that they had when it came to toothpaste was that it foams because then it's showing that it's getting cleaner. Not true at all. It was just they're putting ingredients just to differentiate. And the same with mint. Oh, it has to have that minty flavor so that it's, it's showing that your, your mouth is cleaner. It's actually working. That's not true either. It was just a marketing tactic that they use. So we've gotten so accustomed to it as customers. Or as consumers that we think that it needs the type of flavoring or the foaming, uh, that we don't think it works if it doesn't have that, which is not true. But so we went about trying to create a natural toothpaste that would work similar to those products that we're used to using but are not natural and not good for you. And realizing that that makes the transition easier when you're coming over from that conventional type of oral care product.

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Exactly. Yeah, our new cinnamon flavor, we created that just to have an option for another flavor because we got some requests for different ones. And so, like, hey, let's work on something that's as natural as possible that still works really well, cleans, is good for the oral microbiome, helps remineralize teeth, but it just has a different flavor profile. Same with our strawberry.

Yeah, exactly. When you talk about the oral microbiome, what, to your knowledge, what does conventional toothpaste do to it? Does it wipe out all the good and bad bacteria, or how does that necessarily work?

Well, the American Dental Association doesn't really talk about this much at all, and they're not really looking at it. You know, they recommend using mouthwash quite often. Most mouthwash is alcohol-based, and so that completely destroys it. Oral microbiome, both the good and the bad bacteria that are in there. So they're not looking at it from a more holistic standpoint. Health starts in the mouth. You know, everything— one of the biggest things that affects our health is everything that we put in, the food we're eating, what we're drinking, how sugary things are, all of those. And so everything starts there. So we need to take care of our mouths and keep it as clean and the pH as close to a 6.8 or higher as possible, which is challenging based on what we're doing, what we're eating, et cetera. But that's the goal because it does have an effect on everything within the body.

Is it possible to make a clean mouthwash that doesn't have alcohol in it?

We may or may not be working on something like that right now.

Yeah.

You know, the thing is with any mouthwash, and especially when you're a direct-to-consumer company like we are, anything that is liquid-based, it's heavy and it's expensive to ship. And it's also, it's worse for the environment just because you're, you're shipping things from multiple locations into multiple areas. And so it just costs more all around. Uh, so our, we have a, like a mouth blend oil that you can actually use as a mouthwash. So you just put some of that in some water and then swish it around. And then that's actually really good for your mouth.

Nice. Yeah. I was just going to ask if you could do like a concentrate Where we add the water type of idea.

That's what it is.

Yeah, yeah, that's a really good idea. When you are educating people about the benefits of all-natural and sustainable products, how difficult is it? Like, is it, you know, like you said, let's take your conventional toothpaste that's mint-flavored and let's bring you to a natural mint-flavored, and it's kind of like this slow progress but people kind of get there? Or do you find That it's actually easier maybe than you thought with specific products that you guys have?

I think it depends on the person and where they're at in their health journey. For those people who have already started doing the research and, you know, maybe they've had some health issues, whether that's an autoimmune condition or having trouble losing weight or whatever that is, and they've already started researching about different products and things that are healthier for you and just started questioning just the current system of the big brands and everything, then that's an easier sell because they understand how important the ingredients are. If you're talking about just the everyday consumer who is just, they're not questioning the status quo and they're just going through life and just using whatever's on the shelf at Kroger or any Publix or any other big brand, big box store, They're just picking up whatever they're used to seeing, whatever they're seeing advertised, whatever their family purchased, whatever's on sale. So that's a harder sell because they don't realize the detrimental effects that are happening. It's unfortunate that we assume just because there's the Food and Drug Administration that they, they think that they're looking out for us and they're in our best interests and that they would not recommend or allow anything to be produced that wasn't actually healthy. That's just not the case. I mean, that across the board with so many different products where fortunately now it seems like some ingredients are getting banned, like some of the like red dyes and those products which never should have been in food products or used in consumables. So it's just, you got to do your due diligence.

Yeah, I agree with that. I think it's easier for people who are on their health journey already, you know, to kind of start reading the labels and understanding ingredients and And know that if something says natural on it, it actually doesn't mean that it's natural. Like the word natural is not a regulated term anywhere, any country, right? So it could, it could say natural on the front and use natural flavoring that is not natural flavoring at all. So it depends where your customer is at on their journey. But I do find with people in my close circles who are maybe not as health conscious, the idea of buying a toothpaste that's more natural and is more expensive is just something that they would never do when they can get like Colgate for like $2 or $3 and, you know, just call it a day.

Yeah, exactly. And that is what we're up against in a lot of ways, is it's the same as like within the food industry. You know, you're gonna buy food that's grown organically, As opposed to the more, I hate to say conventional, but that's what it is, that's sprayed with pesticides and where it's monocropped and things like that, where the, it's just not as nutrient dense. So there's a big educational component to it. And so we're working with a lot of holistic and biological dentists right now because they're on the front lines of educating their patients on why there's certain things that you should and shouldn't do, why certain products are good for you and others aren't. And so the more education that we can get out there, just explaining about these different products and why certain ingredients are beneficial and why others aren't, then the easier it is to convert someone over to more natural products than the conventional ones.

Nice. Yeah, that's really smart. That's a really smart angle to go from. I'm curious, have you seen since kind of the start of your entrepreneurial journey, has it grown this sector of people being interested in natural health products? Like, From my perspective, it's grown a lot, but I'm so curious from your perspective as someone selling like physical products.

I've been in the natural health and wellness space since like 2009, 2010. So I've seen it grow exponentially since then. I mean, it's crazy how much the industry has grown. And then we launched Wellness in 2020. And yeah, just since then, I mean, there's so many competitors that have come out. Just in the past 5 years in the oral care space. The market's gotten very competitive and you see that in any growing industry, there's going to be more competitors popping up because they see an opportunity. But the thing is, most people, they're just in it because there's an opportunity for it and not, they're not doing it for the right reason. You know, they're just in it, oh, I see an opportunity so I can make money. So let's do it. This starting WildNass was It was kind of accidental in the way that I had another brand in the health and wellness space, and we had tutorials on how to make personal care products. So including like toothpaste and shampoo and conditioner and deodorant, and the audience, they really liked those products and those DIY tutorials on how to make them themselves. But they kept saying, will you just make these and sell them so I don't have to do it anymore? And so it was when you hear that enough times realizing, hey, there's demand in the market. So this is probably a good business idea. So it wasn't like we ever just started out to say, hey, there's an opportunity here, or this is where we can make the most money. Because realistically, there's a lot of other products or things we could get into that would be more profitable. But this seemed like where there was demand from what we were seeing, and there weren't many companies that were doing a great job of it. So, I mean, there was a few out there, but not many, and we felt like we could differentiate and go above and beyond what was there.

Yeah, absolutely. What does it mean for Wellness to be a B Corp certified company? Can you kind of break that down for us and why it's important?

Yeah. So B Corporation, that is a standard and a certification that is a very long and rigorous process to get that shows that you are focusing on things outside of just profit. That could be sustainability, that could be employee conditions. There's a lot of different variables there. And so it's a very hard standard to get, but it's a mark of quality and that you're doing things a little bit more altruistically and not just profit at all costs, which I mean, I can't imagine any of like the bigger companies ever going after the certification because they wouldn't, I don't think they'd be able to get it just because either the quality of their ingredients or their employee conditions or their factories or things like that. just wanted to side on doing what's right for people, planet, and then make a profit from there. And that just kind of is our, our guiding star in everything that we do.

Right, right. So it's a third party, I guess, that does these certifications. Yes. And you have to meet a certain criteria and, and I'm assuming you probably have to keep that criteria year after year.

Every couple years you have to go through the process again to get recertified. So just because you got it once doesn't mean that you can get it again. 'Cause they're gonna go through and look at everything from your supply chain to the end product, to your sustainability efforts, where you're putting your time and your dollars. And so, it's a very rigorous process and we just completed it last week. So—

Wow.

B Corp certified.

Amazing. Congrats.

Thank you.

That's great, actually. And I always wondered because I've definitely seen this symbol on certain companies, but I've never like taken the time to like research it or go into it. But now that I know what this means, It's definitely going to be something that influences my buying decisions because like you said, that shows that they actually care and you care about something other than your bottom line, whether it's the environment or your employees. And I, I think that's really remarkable.

Exactly. And, you know, I think you still need to do your due diligence no matter if somebody has a certification or not. Yeah, it's a third party that's looking at it, but still look at, look at who's behind the company. Look at what their mission is. Look at their product quality, their ingredients, you know, do your due diligence just to make sure that what you're seeing actually meets those. For wellness, I mean, we don't just rely on B Corp. We're also Leaping Bunny certified, which it's a certification that we don't test on animals. And, you know, we're cruelty-free. We're verified by the Environmental Working Group, EWG, as far as cleanliness of our ingredients and also Non-Toxic Project certified. Uh, showing that we are, all of our products are free from toxins and things that are not good for you.

I love that. Yeah, I definitely check EWG for a bunch of the products that I buy, but I've also heard that EWG might actually be not as, how do I say this? Uh, not as reliable as people might think. And there might be like people investing in it that are not the greatest. I don't know if you know anything about that, but I have definitely seen like criticism online that it's not what people actually think it might be.

So I can't speak to any type of corruption or things like that. But what I can, I can say is that it seems like their standards are often changing. So they, I mean, they're one of the most well-known as far as looking at the ingredients that you're using. And so we've gone through the process to get that, but we've also had some issues there where one time they'll say an ingredient is good and then the next, they'll, in the next year they'll say, no, it's not, or the score will go down or up. And so it seems there's a lack of consistency with it. And so that's a red flag for me. So it is what it is for now. And I think there's some other organizations that are popping up that will probably do a better job in the future of being a little bit more consistent on, on analyzing and labeling different ingredients and whether you should or should not be using them.

Right. Is one of those like, there's an app, is it called Yucca or something? That's very similar. Yeah.

Someone was mentioning that to me a couple weeks ago. But I haven't had a chance to really to dig into it yet. But if you do, let me know what you think of it.

And I think there's another one called Think Dirty as well, now that I used last year. Yeah. So, you know, there's multiple ways that you can check, but I also think the more you educate yourself, the better, so that when you flip over these products, when you're in the grocery store in person, like you can actually just identify, oh, this is what this means. And this is another word for food dye. So this is actually not the greatest ingredient, but that requires such a level of education and time to get there that I understand people just want to use an app and scan the barcode and kind of be done with it.

Yeah, for sure. And you know, when you're in the grocery store, anytime you can stay around the outer aisles, the outer edges of the store, that's typically where you're going to get the best, uh, the best food that are the healthiest for you because they're not the processed stuff that you're seeing on the inner aisles because often they need to be refrigerated or watered or things like that because they're not going to last as long because they're natural foods. They're real whole foods and not just something that has been made in a lab.

Exactly. Yeah, I learned that advice quite a while ago as a nutritionist and it still holds true today. It's like that is where the healthiest food is, is easily in the perimeter. And then I typically buy like my toothpaste or self-care products online because I have access to the actual healthiest products and not just what might be in my small town here in Canada. It's like not always the greatest.

Yeah, that's important.

You also started another company called Rewild Gear, and I was looking at this today and I was looking at the products on here. Let me just be completely honest with you, there's some things on here I have no idea what they are. My husband would 100% know everything on here. And I was like, for example, it's like Tinder Ridge Ferro Rod. Cool. Ferro Rod. Don't know what that does. Firelight Bellows. Don't know what that is. But I love the philosophy behind it because my sense is that it's, hey, let's get out into nature and let's be one with wilderness more. And that is something I can definitely stand behind. Yeah.

So I started this company with my 3 brothers, uh, 4 years ago, and we conceptualized it over a decade ago, sitting around a campfire, drinking bourbon and comparing knives. And we've always been very big into the outdoors, just camping, hunting, backpacking, and just spending time in nature. And so we're sitting there and just kind of tossing around the idea of what would it look like if we were to start a knife company? We're an outdoor equipment company. And so we kind of drew out some designs on a napkin and just kind of then put it in the back pocket and forgot about it. Then fast forward a few years and with COVID and the lockdowns and everything, I had the realization that with everything that was going on, the one thing that people could do to like connect with others and to be active was just to get outside into nature. And because you're separated from most other people and then like close family or friends that you might be camping with. And just to encourage people to get outside and to reconnect with our natural world. And the term rewild, that means to bring back to its natural state, to take an area or something that has been domesticated and return it to what it originally was, to its more wild or primitive state. And I think in this day and age where we become so domesticated and we're just looking for convenience and simplicity and ease, As opposed to we're afraid of things being hard. We're afraid of— we don't like anything that tests us, that makes us uncomfortable. But it's only in getting comfortable with being uncomfortable in uncomfortable situations that we learn and grow. We learn who we are, and it's those experiences that really form us and make us better humans all around. So the goal of the company is to make really high-quality and minimalistic products designed for camping, hunting, backpacking, bushcraft, survival, uh, and to encourage people to get outside and spend more time in nature and to reconnect with family and friends and, and our natural world and use those products to help do that.

Yeah, absolutely. I, I love the Gasper 4 knife. I might have to get that for my husband because it looks, like you said, like really high quality and really nice. But again, I think what's the most important thing that I'm getting from this is that you are really just advocating that spending time outdoors enhances your health and your mental and your physical wellbeing. How does that play a role into you being a father of 6 children? Like, that is— I have one baby. 6 seems outrageous. So how do you kind of bring nature into that?

Well, one is definitely the hardest number. It's the biggest shift because you go from just, you know, yourself, your spouse, to you. Now you're in charge of keeping a newborn, another person alive. And so that's a big shift. That's a big mental shift and the physical change as well. So when you add more to that number, then it gets easier because it can help care for each other and play together. And so it's actually easier than the first one. That's always the biggest change. But to answer your question, I've always encouraged my children to spend as much time outside as possible. My 2 sons, we do a hunting trip every fall. My brothers and my father and like their cousins and all the, all the men in the family get together and hunt deer. And it's my favorite week of the year because we're all out in nature. We stay in our off-grid cabin and we're just out in the woods, just reconnecting. with our natural world, with nature, with each other, and where stories are born. This is how, how things got passed down for generations and generations sitting around the campfire. I like to say that the, that fire was the original social media network because it's, that's where you got together and just connect. And as men, that's where, that's what we do. That's where we reconnect and tell stories and bust each other's balls and just do these things that we've lost in so many ways in this more digital world. So I'm constantly looking at how can we be less digital and be more analog throughout our day. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm no Luddite. I've been the CTO for a company for several years. And so I'm very invested in technology and making things easier and optimizing things. However, I also realize that you need a balance of both. And so connecting with the wilderness is so important. And so, you know, like with my daughters, I've gotten into surfing with them. Um, and we'll go on hikes and, uh, we'll go skiing and we'll do things that just gets us outside and spending times in nature.

I love that. Yeah, my— I, I work online. My business has been online for 5 years. My husband works online as well in, in, uh, in tech. And we both very much value nature and spending time outdoors, but it's honestly a lot of conscious effort to bring it into our lives, regardless of the season. And it's— I can see how people get so out of touch with nature, because you're just on your phone, you're on tech all the time. And even on vacation, you know, you're sitting at the pool on your phone, like same type of thing, right? So yeah, it's, it's hard, but the physical and mental benefits are so important there, and even spiritual benefits. And the less you do it, the more like ungrounded you kind of are in a sense.

Yeah. Did you know that if you go out into, into the wilderness, go say you go camping and you're away from screens and artificial light for 3 nights, it will completely reset your circadian rhythm. Like it does. It's so healthy for you. And what's interesting, like our brain was originally designed as As a sponge. So it's supposed to soak up information. But unfortunately, because we've gotten to be such a digital world where we're just flooded with information constantly, whether that's on our phone, our computer, on social media, TV, et cetera, our brain now has to be a filter. It, so it's constantly just filtering out information as opposed to soaking it up. So what's very fascinating is when you go on an extended, let's say hiking or camping trip, overnight for 3, 4 days, you come out of that and then you get in your car and you drive and you go into a restaurant or you pull up your phone and you're just inundated with so much. It is so overwhelming and it's like info overload and your, your body, your entire nervous system kind of freaks out. It's like, what's going on? I don't know what to do with all this. So it's just showing how unhealthy our day-to-day life really is. Just using all of these digital tools that we have, granted, that are good, in balance, but often just using them too much, it's, uh, just not as healthy for you as being connected to our natural world is.

Absolutely. Yeah, I've spent time off-grid in different places around the world. We did 3 weeks in Costa Rica a couple years ago for our honeymoon, and we, you know, didn't take laptops, none of that. And obviously it was a honeymoon, so it was a little different, but I just remember feeling so grounded and connected to nature and so happy. And I came back to North America and I kind of went through this wave of like depression of like, oh my goodness, here I am sitting on my laptop for 8 hours a day, on my phone, emails, Instagram, social, like just buzz, buzz, buzz all the time. And, and then, you know, you close your laptop at the end of the day and then you put Netflix on and you're just staring at another screen. And it's like, cool, like, what am I doing with my life? I'm just wasting away on technology. But it's hard because you've built a business on technology. So it's like, how do you balance that with like giving your body and your mind what it needs with a break and being outdoors, but also building this career and business that allows you to afford to be able to unplug like that? So it's, it's really tough to balance it sometimes.

I totally agree. And one of the things that I wrestle with often is in order to market to people, to get them to spend more time in nature, to get them to change their buying habits and use more natural products, we have to use these digital tools to do that. So we're trying to encourage them to get off, get offline, but in order to actually do that, we need them to be online more so that they see what we're offering. So it's this very weird dichotomy that I'm constantly wrestling with, and I don't have a good answer for it.

Yeah, but I do think you walk the talk, right? Like, because the fact that you're taking these times in your year that makes sense for you— again, you have a lot going on and you're a father of 6— like, you're prioritizing it in a different way. And I think that does matter, and it speaks to kind of like the values that you bring to both of your businesses.

Yeah, that's true. And I hold myself to a really high standard, and I realize that I am not doing it nearly as much as I wish that I was, and I feel like is the most healthy and beneficial for me and those that I love. So again, I think it's very easy to get down on ourselves when we don't feel like we're, we're meeting the standards that we're setting for ourselves, or maybe that we think that we should because of what's necessary or best for our health, or whether that's mental, physical, or emotional. So I think it is a balancing act and it's a constant challenge.

Yeah, it's constantly changing. Um, depends on the season, depends where you live. There's, it is really hard. It's really hard to put your health first. Uh, and the more responsibilities you add to your plate, the harder that becomes. But it's also on the flip side of every single time you take that break, at least for myself, I come back to my business, I'm refreshed, I have new ideas, my brain is like ready to go, and I'm like a new person and can almost devote so much more to it because of actually taking that step back.

Yeah, I definitely agree. I mean, it's, it's It's so important to take those times away from just the daily grind and just to take a mental break, whether that's just sitting outside on your back porch having a cup of coffee or just a conversation with a friend, having those more analog moments, really important to help balance us.

Yeah, that's a good point too, is like, how do you bring it in on a daily basis that it doesn't have to be this like week camping off-grid, but like, how can you get a little small dose of that? During the day.

The more you can do, the better. And I feel for people that live in a major city or metropolitan area where they're not even seeing grass or trees. You know, like if you live in New York City or somewhere like that, it's okay. You gotta go to Central Park or something just to even see anything green. Otherwise it's just concrete and metal and whatnot. So that's definitely a challenge and doesn't seem that balanced to me. But if that's all you grow up with, that's what you're used to. And I've had conversations with friends where they grew up in that environment And a couple years ago, I did a survival training in the mountains of Colorado, and there was a family there who was, who was from New York City. Like, they were from Harlem or somewhere. And so they were camping out, and the kids were kind of like freaking out. They're like, it's so dark, it's so quiet. I've never seen so many stars. And like, I'm hearing a coyote howl in the distance and an owl, and it's like, what is this? And so just, you know, hearing those stories, it just made me realize how important this is, uh, just to get people in touch with nature so that they can see the way the majority of the world is. It's just, we're inundated like in our little microcosm, our little bubble that we forget about the rest of the world.

Absolutely. Yeah. And that's the reality check that you actually have to remember or try to explain to people who haven't experienced it is the majority of the world doesn't live like the people in New York City. Like, the places I've traveled quite a bit already, and originally from South Africa, and even in South Africa, there's different places there that, like, you see the stars every single night because it's— there's no bright lights. Like, it's so different, right? The majority of the world is arguably maybe way more connected to nature than these big metropolitan cities. I mean, are they healthier? That's the question. I don't know, maybe in some ways. But again, pros and cons, uh, like, yeah, it's the balancing act and you really got to figure out what's best for you. But man, it can be definitely hard.

Yeah, it really is. And like you said, it is a balancing act, especially as a parent, and you have so many responsibilities and, you know, you think that you have to do all these things with your kids and put them in different sports and group activities and things like that. And there's so much pressure Pressure from others that this is the way you have to do it in order to get them prepared so they can get into the best schools and get the best jobs and all this, as opposed to like, let them learn on their own time. Let them just be curious and be kids and just experience the natural world and have that childlike wonder and awe, which as adults, we've lost that to such an extent. It just, it's almost like we're addicted to our devices and things that we have to do, or it's just constantly in the back of our mind. I've even noticed that myself where I was having a conversation with a friend last week and my phone's like sitting on the table and I felt it vibrate like I was getting a text. And I can't, I think I knew who it was from because I was expecting a text back and it wasn't a big deal. There was no emergency, nothing. But it was like this internal ding was going off like, oh, you need to respond back. Oh, you need to pick it up and see who it is and make sure. And it was like, wait a second, I'm in the middle of a conversation with a friend. I'm connecting and this is what I need to do. But there's something that feels so imperative that I have to stop doing that, the analog version, and get into the digital version to do that. And I just realized what an addiction that technology is for us today.

Yeah, the phone's really, really hard. Uh, and I've definitely experienced what you're talking about multiple, multiple times. I find I can't even have the phone flipped over. Like it needs to be out of the room, out of sight. Like out of sight, out of mind, because otherwise it just doesn't feel like I'm 100% present.

Yeah, I totally agree.

Yeah. And you actually don't realize how bad your phone addiction is until you go somewhere off-grid, like you were talking about, where there's absolutely no service at all. So there's no point of having a phone. And then you realize, whoa, like, I'm looking up so much more today. Like, I have so much more of my time back.

And to start, you'll also have a little bit of a freakout. So I, that happened for me. Well, this happened a couple times, like when I've done extended like backcountry hunting or excursions where you realize, oh, I don't have service, so I can't access it. And then I went to Cuba a few years ago and, you know, there was no cell phone service there or Wi-Fi mostly. And so I was pretty much off-grid with that because just the different regime over there. And so it was kind of the same thing. It's like I just have to be more fully present and then I'm just using this device as a camera and that's it.

Yeah, exactly. We used to go boat camping before we had a baby and with like a dinghy. And yeah, and we would go to these off-grid places that like you could only access by boat. And many of them, absolutely no service. And I remember the one weekend I went, and we went for 2 nights. And I got there, no service. And it was very hard for me to like settle. I just felt almost like Like, I couldn't just like be in nature. Like, I just felt like I was frazzled. And I just, I don't know. And I remember thinking like the next morning, I was like, this is how like overstimulated I am, is even when I have no stimulation, I'm still recovering from the weeks and weeks and weeks of stimulation prior to this.

Yeah, that's a great point. And I wonder if it's harder for men or women to disconnect. do away with that attention and stimulation. What do you think?

I don't know. For me, I think it's hard because a lot of my business is on my phone. And so I think if I worked like, say, a nursing job at a hospital where, you know, you leave and you're done work and it's like very clear, you have those clear work-life boundaries, I think it'd be easier. But when your business is on your phone, on social media, It's kind of like there are no boundaries and everything blurs and it goes with you everywhere, which makes it harder.

Yeah, that's really true. It feels pretty accurate. I've definitely experienced that myself.

But I don't know gender-wise, like both me and my husband have struggled with it in different ways, so I have no idea.

Yeah, I'm always impressed by friends of mine who are able to just leave their phone, uh, behind and just not even look at it for hours at a time. And so when I'm with them, it's so refreshing because they're just so fully present. And then when I'm not, it's frustrating because like I don't hear from them in forever. I'll send a text and then, you know, it's hours or days before you hear back. And so like anything, there's pros and cons to both.

Yeah, I will say since having a baby, I am on my phone way less, um, because I want to be a present parent and I don't want him watching me watching my phone. And it's forced me to be like, okay, the phone is away, you're awake, let's hang out. And it's, it's definitely raised the bar of the expectations I have for myself and even for my husband, because we just don't want to raise a kid that is screen-free time, yet mom and dad are on screens all the time. Like, how does that make sense?

Yeah, that's a great point. I mean, that's— I think that's so important. I wish more parents would do that.

Yeah, it's very hard, but it's, it's worth it. So parting advice for our fellow listeners, if people are listening to this and maybe they're entrepreneurs, maybe they're not, but they're trying to bring this idea of balance and nature more into their life, maybe they are parents, what advice would you give and how would you inspire others?

I think balance is a moving target and it doesn't happen all at once, all in a day, all in a week, maybe even all in a year. Because there's a season for everything. And so it's just getting clear on your priorities and what you want your life to look like. And then when it comes to like the products that you're choosing and you're trying to switch out going from more toxic ones and more conventional products to healthier versions, start with the things that are going to be the easiest to change. I mean, I feel like that's toothpaste and shampoo and conditioner and deodorant. I mean, and not just because that's what my company makes and sells, but it's because that's a normal habit that everyone has every day. You brush your teeth a couple times a day, you wash your hair. Most people wash it every day, every other day. You put on deodorant every day. So that's a really easy change to make. You know, your food and things like that. You got to eat every day. So instead of like the processed stuff, whether that's cereal in the morning, swap it out for eggs. The things you eat in the afternoon or for dinner. I mean, just start slow and then maybe make it a habit of first thing in the morning when you get up, go outside and just be in the sun and without your phone, drink your coffee in silence and just listen to the world wake up. Or maybe it's the cars driving by or just look at the grass or the trees or the wind blowing through your hair. So I think it's just starting with little changes and doing those things that can help you just start off the day in a more positive, natural environment and just get a little bit more grounded so that as you get into the hustle and bustle and the more digital side of things, that you're starting it from a place of a more emotional and physical regulation.

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, very inspiring. How you start your day actually is super important and the calmer, more like connected to nature and more grounded you are, I would say the better. For your stress, for your nervous system, everything like that. Thank you so much, Seth, for coming on the show today. This was awesome to talk to you, and I will be sure to link all of the products that we talked about as well. Yeah, this was a great, great discussion.

Thanks for having me, Brittany. I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for listening to another episode of Biohacking with Brittany. If you're interested in finding the show notes or the sponsors for this episode, you can do so on my website, which is biohackingbrittany.com. Remember to follow me on Instagram where I'm most active. My handle is @biohackingbrittany. And if you're interested in working together and you want to email me directly, you can do that. My email is info@biohackingbrittany.com, and I look forward to hearing from you and having you tune in next week.