Unconventional Life – Podcast, Blog, Live Events

Category: Business

  • Ep471: Purpose Is the Anchor Through Every Transition: How Reed Nyffeler Built Businesses—and a Life—That Actually Align

    Ep471: Purpose Is the Anchor Through Every Transition: How Reed Nyffeler Built Businesses—and a Life—That Actually Align

    There’s a moment many high performers quietly face—the one where everything looks successful on paper, but internally, something doesn’t quite land.

    For Reed Nyffeler, that moment didn’t come from failure. It came from progress.

    He had built, moved forward, and checked the boxes. But somewhere along the way, he realized something most people avoid confronting:

    “I had to ask myself—am I building a life that actually reflects who I am?”

    That question didn’t just shift his mindset. It rewired the trajectory of his life.

    The Question That Changed Everything

    At 30, Reed made a decision that most people delay indefinitely—he stopped focusing on what he was doing and got radically clear on why he existed in the first place.

    Instead of chasing the next opportunity, he defined a personal purpose:

    “Through intuitive interaction, propel leaders over their self-imposed barriers to live out their unique purpose.”

    It wasn’t just a sentence. It became a filter.

    Every decision—from business ventures to relationships—ran through that lens.

    And suddenly, clarity replaced noise.

     

    The Lie of Identity Through Achievement

    One of the most powerful threads in Reed’s story is his rejection of a belief most people operate under:

    That your identity is tied to what you do.

    He challenges that directly:

    “We attach our identity to things that are constantly changing—jobs, income, relationships. Then when those things shift, we feel lost.”

    It’s not the transition that breaks people. It’s the lack of a stable identity underneath it.

    Reed’s approach is simple, but uncomfortable:

    Strip everything away.

    No title. No income. No external validation.

    Then ask: Who are you, really?

    Because if that answer isn’t clear, nothing else will feel stable.

     

    From Reaction to Intention

    Before defining his purpose, Reed describes living in a way that will feel familiar to many:

    Reactive. Opportunistic. Driven—but not anchored.

    Afterward, everything shifted.

    Instead of asking:

    • What’s the next opportunity?

    • What should I say yes to?

    He started asking:

    • Does this align with my purpose?

    • Does this help me serve at a higher level?

    That shift turned his life from reactive to intentional.

    And that’s where momentum started to compound.

     

    The Discipline Most People Avoid

    Reed doesn’t sugarcoat what it takes to live this way.

    In fact, one of his most direct callouts challenges a widely accepted mindset:

    “We let our feelings dictate our future. But function should lead—and feelings follow.”

    It’s not a popular take. But it’s a necessary one.

    Because building anything meaningful—business, relationships, impact—requires consistency long before it feels good.

    • You won’t always feel motivated

    • You won’t always feel clear

    • You won’t always feel ready

    But showing up anyway is what creates results.

    “If you wait until you feel like it, you’ll never build anything significant.”

     

    The Shift That Creates Instant Clarity

    One of the simplest—and most profound—exercises Reed shares is this:

    “If you stopped thinking about yourself for a week… who would you think about first?”

    That question cuts through the noise immediately.

    Because purpose isn’t found in isolation. It’s found in service.

    Reed explains:

    “The fastest way to get out of your own confusion is to focus on someone else.”

    That shift:

    • Reduces overthinking

    • Creates direction

    • Builds fulfillment

    And most importantly—it gets you out of your own way.

     

    The Trade Most People Regret

    There’s a moment in the conversation where Reed calls out a pattern that hits hard:

    “A lot of people are selling their identity for income.”

    It’s subtle. And it’s everywhere.

    Saying yes to things that don’t align Sacrificing time that actually matters Building something that looks good—but feels off

    Reed chose a different route.

    He built his life around four priorities:

    1. Faith

    2. Family

    3. Work

    4. Fun

    And here’s the part most people don’t expect—he schedules them in that exact order.

    “I plan my family time first. Vacations, time with my wife, everything. Then I build my work around that.”

    This isn’t just philosophy. It’s structure.

    And it forces alignment.

     

    Building Businesses That Actually Make Sense

    Reed’s ventures—Signal, Filtergo, Framebrand—aren’t random ideas or trend-chasing plays.

    They’re extensions of his purpose.

    Instead of asking, Will this make money? He asks:

    • Does this help develop leaders?

    • Does this align with who I am?

    That clarity eliminates:

    • Decision fatigue

    • Misalignment

    • Short-term thinking

    And replaces it with focused, sustainable growth.

     

    Faith as a Foundation, Not a Label

    Reed also speaks openly about faith—but not in a performative or rigid way.

    For him, it’s foundational.

    “If life isn’t about you, then it has to be about something greater.”

    That belief creates:

    • Direction when things are unclear

    • Stability when things shift

    • A framework for decision-making

    He encourages people not to inherit beliefs—but to explore them:

    “Go figure it out for yourself. Ask—if I lived this out, would my life actually be better?”

     

    The Real Work: Removing Self-Imposed Barriers

    At the core of everything Reed does is one focus:

    Helping people get out of their own way.

    Because in his experience, the biggest obstacles aren’t external.

    They’re internal:

    • Fear

    • Doubt

    • Misalignment

    • Lack of clarity

    “Most people don’t need more opportunity. They need to remove the barriers they’ve put on themselves.”

    That’s the work.

    And it’s what unlocks everything else.

    Redefining Transitions

    Where most people see disruption, Reed sees opportunity.

    A new season isn’t a loss of identity—it’s a new application of it.

    “Your purpose doesn’t change. The environment does.”

    That one shift reframes everything:

    • Career changes become expansions

    • Life transitions become opportunities

    • Uncertainty becomes direction

     

    Giveaway: Step Into Your Purpose

    If there’s one thing Reed makes clear, it’s this:

    Clarity isn’t something you stumble into. It’s something you define.

    To help you do exactly that, we’re giving away a copy of his book: Lead Exponentially

    The Bottom Line

    Reed Nyffeler didn’t just build successful businesses.

    He built a life that makes sense.

    And in a world full of noise, distraction, and constant movement, that might be the most valuable thing of all.

    Because when your identity is clear, your direction follows.

    And when your direction is clear—everything changes.


    Connect with Reed:

  • Ep470: Burning It All Down to Build What’s Real: How Yoshua Greenfield Walked Away from Success to Reclaim a Life of Meaning

    Ep470: Burning It All Down to Build What’s Real: How Yoshua Greenfield Walked Away from Success to Reclaim a Life of Meaning

    From the outside, Yoshua Greenfield was living the dream.

    New York City. Creative momentum. A growing audience. A successful YouTube cooking show. Brand deals. Visibility. The kind of life many spend years chasing.

    But internally, something wasn’t adding up.

    Despite the traction, Yoshua found himself increasingly disconnected—from his work, from others, and from himself. The success he had worked toward began to feel more like performance than purpose.

    “At a certain point, I realized I was building something that didn’t actually feel like me anymore.”

    What followed wasn’t a pivot. It was a full reset.

     

     

    The Hidden Trade-Off of the Attention Economy

    As Yoshua’s platform grew, so did the pressure to maintain it.

    What once felt like creative expression slowly became shaped by algorithms, expectations, and external validation. The more attention he received, the more he felt pulled away from authenticity.

    This is the paradox of the modern creator economy: visibility often comes at the cost of truth.

    Instead of deepening connection, success can dilute it—turning creators into curated versions of themselves.

    For Yoshua, the realization was clear: he didn’t want to optimize for attention. He wanted to live in alignment.

    So he made a decision most wouldn’t.

    He walked away.

     

     

    Burning the House Down

    Yoshua describes this chapter of his life with a powerful metaphor: “burning the house down.”

    Not out of destruction—but out of honesty.

    He let go of the identity he had built. The business. The environment. The expectations. Even the version of himself that others recognized.

    He left New York City and moved west, eventually landing in Colorado with no clear roadmap—just a knowing that something needed to change.

    It was a move away from certainty, toward something far less defined—but far more real.

     

     

    Trading Speed for Rhythm

    The transition from city life to land-based living wasn’t seamless.

    Yoshua didn’t arrive in Colorado with experience in farming, homesteading, or self-sufficiency. In fact, he describes making “every mistake possible.”

    What he did bring with him—ambition, urgency, and a desire to “figure it out quickly”—quickly dissolved.

    “The land doesn’t respond to force,” he realized. “It teaches you patience.”

    Instead of operating on deadlines and deliverables, he began to live in cycles. Seasons. Natural rhythms.

    Growth became less about scaling—and more about attunement.

     

     

    Food as a Portal to Presence

    While Yoshua had built a career around food, his relationship with it transformed entirely.

    Food was no longer content. It became practice.

    A way to slow down. To create. To connect.

    He began fermenting, preserving, sourcing locally, and preparing meals with intention. What once might have been seen as “complex” was actually rooted in simplicity—repeated daily.

    In contrast to modern food culture—defined by excess, speed, and aesthetics—Yoshua embraced a more grounded philosophy:

    Food is not performance. It’s participation.

     

     

    The Myth of Self-Sufficiency

    Despite appearances, Yoshua is quick to challenge one of the biggest misconceptions about this lifestyle.

    This isn’t about doing everything alone.

    “Self-sufficiency is a myth,” he explains. “Community is the goal.”

    Rather than isolating himself, Yoshua found deeper connection—through local farmers, shared resources, and collaborative living.

    What emerges is a modern version of an ancient system: the village.

    Each person contributes something. No one does everything.

     

     

    The Second Mountain: A Different Kind of Success

    Yoshua’s journey reflects a broader shift many high performers eventually face.

    The first mountain is about achievement—money, status, recognition.

    The second is about meaning.

    What he discovered is something rarely spoken about: by the time you reach the goals you once wanted, you may no longer want them.

    Not because they’re wrong—but because you’ve changed.

    And in that space, a new question emerges:

    What actually matters?

     

     

    Why Tangible Skills Matter More Than Ever

    In an increasingly digital and AI-driven world, Yoshua points to a growing desire for something real.

    People want to feel capable again.

    To create with their hands. To understand where their food comes from. To engage with the physical world in a way that feels grounding and human.

    These aren’t just hobbies. They’re a form of resilience.

    Because while technology continues to evolve, the ability to create, grow, and sustain in the real world remains deeply valuable—and deeply fulfilling.

     

     

    Returning to What We Already Know

    One of the most powerful moments in Yoshua’s journey came through an unexpected experience: processing his first deer.

    With no prior training, he found himself moving through the process instinctively.

    “It felt ancient. Like something my body already knew.”

    This idea—that much of what we’re seeking isn’t new, but remembered—runs through his entire philosophy.

    Modern life hasn’t erased these instincts. It’s just buried them.

     

     

    How to Start Without Overhauling Your Life

    Yoshua doesn’t position this path as all-or-nothing.

    You don’t need land. Or a full lifestyle reset.

    You need curiosity.

    Start small:

    • Learn to ferment
    • Visit a local farm
    • Cook more meals at home
    • Build relationships with producers
    • Follow what genuinely interests you

    The goal isn’t perfection. It’s participation.

     

     

    The Real Work: Living Without the Mask

    At its core, Yoshua’s journey isn’t about leaving the city or growing food.

    It’s about truth.

    Letting go of identities that no longer fit. Choosing alignment over approval. Trusting that what feels right—internally—matters more than what looks right externally.

    It’s not always clean. Or comfortable.

    But it’s real.

    And in a world built on performance, that might be the most radical choice of all.

     

    Giveaway

    Yoshua is giving away a free copy of “Fermenting with Your Best Friend” — your beginner-friendly guide to fermentation and reconnecting with food.

    Connect with Yoshua:

  • Ep469: Dr. Scott Sherr on Why Your Health Strategy Isn’t Working

    Ep469: Dr. Scott Sherr on Why Your Health Strategy Isn’t Working

     

    In a world obsessed with biohacking, supplements, and the next optimization trend, Dr. Scott Sherr offers a surprisingly simple diagnosis: most people are solving the wrong problem.

    As a physician trained in both conventional and integrative medicine, Dr. Sherr has built his work around a bold premise: health isn’t something you fix when it breaks; it’s something you engineer daily at the cellular level.

    And according to him, the majority of high performers are unknowingly running on empty.

    The Real Problem: You’re Not Tired—You’re Underpowered

    Modern professionals don’t lack ambition. They lack energy.

    “You can’t outwork a system that’s biologically depleted,” Dr. Sherr explains.

    At the core of his work is one principle: optimize the cell, and everything else follows.

    Every organ, every function, every feeling of clarity or fatigue—it all traces back to cellular energy production. And when that system breaks down, the symptoms show up everywhere:

    • Brain fog

    • Chronic fatigue

    • Poor recovery

    • Mood instability

    The problem? Most people try to fix these symptoms individually instead of addressing the root.

    Why Hustle Culture Is Quietly Breaking Your Body

    Sherr introduces what he calls the “sympathetic spiral of doom.”

    It’s the state many ambitious individuals live in daily:

    • Always “on”

    • Constantly thinking

    • Unable to fully relax

    This is the fight-or-flight system stuck in overdrive.

    And here’s the dangerous part: it becomes your normal.

    “You don’t realize you’re anxious anymore,” he says. “It just feels like your baseline.”

    Over time, this chronic stress disrupts:

    • Sleep quality

    • Hormonal balance

    • Energy production

    • Emotional regulation

    Leaving you functional—but far from optimal.

    The Wellness Industry’s Biggest Lie

    If there’s one thing Sherr is blunt about, it’s this:

    “People are chasing hacks instead of mastering fundamentals.”

    Before supplements. Before biohacking. Before advanced protocols.

    There are six things that matter most:

    • Sleep

    • Hydration

    • Nutrition

    • Movement

    • Stress regulation

    • Relationships

    They’re not flashy. They don’t sell well. But they work.

    And skipping them? That’s where most people go wrong.

    The 3-Layer Framework for Real Optimization

    To cut through the noise, Sherr teaches a simple system:

    1. Foundation

    Build your baseline:

    • Sleep consistency

    • Whole-food nutrition

    • Movement

    • Stress awareness

    2. Personalization

    Understand your body:

    • Lab testing

    • Biomarkers

    • Metabolic health

    3. Support

    Then—and only then—add:

    • Supplements

    • Tools

    • Technologies

    This flips the typical approach.

    Tools don’t fix broken systems—they enhance working ones.

    From Symptom-Fixing to First Principles Thinking

    Instead of asking:

    • “How do I fix my anxiety?”

    • “How do I get more energy?”

    Sherr encourages a deeper question:

    “What’s the root system causing this?”

    That shift leads to better solutions:

    • Anxiety → nervous system dysregulation

    • Fatigue → mitochondrial dysfunction

    • Brain fog → energy production issues

    It’s not about stacking fixes. It’s about removing friction at the source.

    The Role of Biohacking (Without the Hype)

    Yes, Sherr uses advanced tools—but with restraint.

    One example is methylene blue, a compound that supports mitochondrial function and brain energy.

    But his stance is clear:

    “It’s a bridge—not the solution.”

    These tools can help people gain momentum—but they don’t replace the work.

    Other supports he values:

    • Ketones for brain fuel

    • Sauna for recovery and regulation

    • Breathwork for nervous system reset

    The Mental Loop Most People Don’t Question

    Beyond the body, Sherr highlights another hidden drain: your thoughts.

    The average person has ~70,000 thoughts per day—most repetitive, many negative.

    And the problem isn’t the thoughts themselves.

    It’s the belief in them.

    “Not every thought deserves your trust.”

    Creating space between you and your thoughts—through breathwork, meditation, or stillness—is what restores clarity.

    Redefining an Unconventional Life

    For Sherr, living unconventionally isn’t about rejecting structure.

    It’s about choosing your life consciously.

    Not:

    • societal expectations

    • inherited beliefs

    • default patterns

    But:

    • awareness

    • alignment

    • intentional living

    “It doesn’t mean life gets easier,” he says. “But it becomes yours.”

    The Bottom Line

    If there’s one takeaway from Dr. Scott Sherr’s work, it’s this:

    You don’t need more strategies. You need a better foundation.

    Because no amount of ambition can outperform a system that isn’t supported.

    And no shortcut will replace the basics that actually work.

  • Ep468: Dare to Prosper: How Jolie Dawn Turned Personal Tragedy Into a Global Movement for Prosperity

    Ep468: Dare to Prosper: How Jolie Dawn Turned Personal Tragedy Into a Global Movement for Prosperity

    Entrepreneurship rarely follows a straight line. For many founders, the path to success is shaped by adversity, resilience, and an unwavering belief that life can hold something more.

    For Jolie Dawn, that belief became the foundation for an entire movement.

    Today, the founder of Prosperity Queendom has helped more than 25,000 women build businesses, shift their money mindset, and reclaim their sense of possibility. But her journey toward prosperity began in circumstances far from glamorous.

     

    From Childhood Trauma to Self-Discovery

    Dawn grew up in a household affected by the lingering trauma of war and addiction. Her father, a Vietnam War veteran, struggled with the psychological effects of his experiences. Despite loving parents, the environment left Dawn battling deep insecurity and low self-worth.

    “I grew up very shy and afraid of life,” she recalls. “I didn’t think I was special or particularly talented.”

    That perception began to change in her early twenties during a meditation practice that she describes as life-altering. In that moment, Dawn says she glimpsed the deeper potential within herself.

    It felt like standing at a fork in the road: continue living a life shaped by fear, or step into the unknown and pursue something greater.

    She chose the latter.

     

    The Tragedies That Forged Her Character

    Life, however, would present even greater challenges.

    During the financial crisis of 2008, Dawn’s family faced devastating losses. Not long after, her father died by suicide. The years that followed were spent caring for her mother, who battled illness until her passing when Dawn was just 29.

    Those experiences reshaped her understanding of resilience.

    “The moments that feel like they’re going to break you,” she says, “are often the ones that build your character the most.”

     

    Discovering the Online Business Revolution

    Around that same time, Dawn began exploring the world of personal development and online entrepreneurship. Early events in the digital coaching space revealed something she had never imagined possible: people building careers around their passions and knowledge.

    It was a revelation.

    Instead of following traditional career paths, these entrepreneurs were creating businesses designed around impact, freedom, and transformation.

    Dawn realized she could do the same.

     

    Building Prosperity Queendom

    That realization eventually became Prosperity Queendom, a platform designed to help women break free from scarcity thinking and create wealth through purpose-driven businesses.

    Through online challenges, courses, and mentorship programs, Dawn built a thriving global community. The company has since served tens of thousands of women and generated multiple seven-figure launches.

    Yet the mission extends beyond revenue.

    “It’s about helping women believe in their gifts,” she explains. “When someone steps into their purpose, it changes their entire life—and often their family’s future as well.”

    Why Community Is the New Currency

    Dawn has also witnessed firsthand how dramatically the entrepreneurial landscape has changed.

    In the early days of online business, simple marketing tactics were enough to stand out. Today, the market is crowded, and audiences are more discerning.

    The solution, she believes, is community.

    “People don’t just want information anymore,” she says. “They want connection. They want to feel seen.”

    This philosophy led to the development of the Creatrix Launch Model, which centers on immersive experiences and live community engagement rather than purely transactional marketing funnels.

     

    The Future of Coaching in the AI Era

    With artificial intelligence reshaping how information is delivered, Dawn believes the coaching industry is entering another major transformation.

    Knowledge alone is no longer enough.

    “AI can give you answers instantly,” she says. “But it can’t replace lived experience or embodied wisdom.”

    For coaches and entrepreneurs, the future will belong to those who bring authentic leadership, personal transformation, and genuine connection to their communities.

     

    A New Definition of Prosperity

    While Dawn built her reputation helping women grow profitable businesses, her personal definition of prosperity has expanded in recent years.

    After years of caregiving and grief, she began focusing more intentionally on her health and emotional well-being. Lifestyle changes helped her reverse inflammation and reconnect with her body.

    At the same time, she began rediscovering joy in slower, creative rituals—from cooking homemade meals to preparing for motherhood.

    For Dawn, these shifts represent a deeper form of wealth.

    “Prosperity isn’t just financial,” she says. “It’s about living a life that feels aligned, nourished, and meaningful.”

     

    This Week’s Giveaway

    Jolie Dawn, has built a global movement helping women step into abundance, purpose, and aligned entrepreneurship.

    Now she’s giving one lucky listener an opportunity to experience that transformation firsthand.

    • 1-Year Tuition to Jolie Dawn’s Membership Community

    Inside this powerful membership, you’ll gain access to:

    • Ongoing prosperity and mindset trainings
    • Business and leadership teachings designed for conscious entrepreneurs
    • A supportive global community of purpose-driven women
    • Tools and practices to help you align your energy, mission, and money

    If you’re ready to deepen your relationship with prosperity, expand your impact, and surround yourself with a community of women walking a similar path—this is your chance.

     

    Connect with Jolie:

  • Ep467: Breaking the Rules, Healing the Self, and Reinventing Waste: How Miki Agrawal Turns Disruption Into Impact

    Ep467: Breaking the Rules, Healing the Self, and Reinventing Waste: How Miki Agrawal Turns Disruption Into Impact

    Miki Agrawal has never built businesses by playing it safe.

    She’s built them by questioning what the rest of the world accepts as normal.

    From period underwear with THINX to bidets with TUSHY to her newest venture, HIRO, a diaper company using fungi to help tackle plastic waste, Agrawal has made a career out of confronting the systems people rarely think to challenge. 

    Her companies have generated over half a billion dollars in revenue to date, but her real currency is deeper than scale. It is cultural disruption, environmental impact, and an unwavering commitment to truth.

    In this episode, Miki talks about what it really takes to challenge industries, survive public setbacks, trust uncertainty, and create from a place that is deeply aligned.

     

    Build From the Truth That Wants to Burst Out of You

    For Agrawal, one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is trying too hard to sound right instead of telling the truth.

    In a world obsessed with optimization, conversion, and polished messaging, she believes the most magnetic brands and leaders are the ones who speak from what is real. Not what is market-tested. Not what sounds strategic. What is true.

    Rather than asking, “What do people want me to say?” Agrawal believes the better question is, “What feels so true inside me that it needs to be shared?”

    That perspective has shaped everything she has built. Whether she is challenging the absurdity of toilet paper culture or questioning why billions of diapers are sent to landfills, her work begins by listening to the voice underneath the noise.

    And that, she says, is what people actually connect to.

     

    A Life Shaped by Contrasts, Cultures, and Challenges

    Agrawal’s unconventional mindset did not appear out of nowhere. It was formed early.

    Raised by a Japanese mother and Indian father in Montreal, she grew up with multiple perspectives constantly in conversation. She describes family dinner-table debates as a kind of early training ground for seeing that there is never just one way to do things.

    That openness became one of her greatest entrepreneurial strengths.

    So did sports. As a high-level soccer player, Agrawal learned discipline, resilience, and how to recover quickly when things did not go her way. Every play required a reset. Every loss demanded presence. And after enduring three ACL reconstructions, she also learned what it means to rebuild after your body forces you to change direction.

    But one of the most defining moments of her life came at age 22.

    She was supposed to be underneath the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11. Instead, she overslept. It was the only time she says that had ever happened.

    That near miss changed everything.

    It made her viscerally aware of life’s fragility and pushed her to stop waiting. It became a wake-up call to pursue what mattered, to make things that meant something, and to not waste time living a life that felt disconnected from her deeper calling.

     

    Success Does Not Protect You From Pain

    From the outside, Agrawal’s career might look like a masterclass in fearless entrepreneurship. But this conversation goes far beyond business wins.

    She opens up about one of the hardest chapters of her life: the media firestorm and public takedown she experienced during her time at THINX. At the time, she was pregnant with her son, Hero, while navigating deeply painful public scrutiny and what she describes as one of the most traumatic periods of her life.

    What followed was not a quick bounce-back story. It was years of healing.

    Agrawal shares that she went through four years of trauma therapy and has spent significant time confronting the emotional residue behind her patterns, triggers, and drive.

    What she has come to understand is that entrepreneurship can become its own kind of coping mechanism. Achievement can look admirable from the outside while still being fueled by unhealed pain underneath.

    That insight has changed the way she sees leadership, purpose, and what it really means to be well.

     

    The Spiritual Work Behind the Strategy

    One of the deepest themes in this episode is Agrawal’s growing relationship with surrender.

    She shares a powerful reflection from a recent ibogaine journey, an intense plant medicine experience that helped her confront trauma, reset old patterns, and reflect more honestly on the illusions that drive so much of human behavior.

    What she came away with was not a neat formula, but a truth she now returns to often: control is an illusion.

    Certainty is an illusion. Competition is an illusion. Winning and failure are illusions. The only true certainty, she says, is death.

    It is a bold perspective, but for Agrawal, it is not nihilistic. It is freeing.

    Instead of trying to force outcomes, she is learning how to sit inside uncertainty with more trust and less grasping. That lesson applies to business as much as it does to motherhood, identity, and the future.

    For high achievers, especially, this is where the real work begins.

    Not in doing more. In releasing more.

     

    The Next Disruption Starts in the Trash

    Agrawal’s latest venture, HIRO, may be her most ambitious yet.

    It began not with a pitch deck, but with a question.

    After having her son and going through up to 20 diapers a day because of his sensitive skin, she started wondering why diapers, one of the most common household waste items, had remained such an overlooked environmental disaster.

    The numbers are staggering.

    Babies use thousands of diapers each. Disposable diapers take hundreds of years to break down. Billions are sent to landfills every year.

    And yet most people never stop to question the system.

    Agrawal did.

    During one of her regular “thinking days,” where she intentionally clears space for creativity and reflection, she had an insight: if baby waste is organic, nutrient-rich matter, why are we wrapping it in plastic and throwing it away? What if there were a way for something living to break that waste down?

    That led her to fungi.

     

    Why Fungi Might Help Solve a Plastic Crisis

    HIRO is built on a fascinating idea: harnessing the power of fungi to help break down plastic-based diaper waste.

    Agrawal explains that fungi are among the oldest life forms on Earth and play a critical role in decomposition. Millions of years ago, fungi evolved the ability to break down the carbon structures of dead trees. Because fossil fuels come from ancient organic matter and plastics are derived from fossil fuels, she saw an extraordinary possibility.

    What if fungi could help decompose plastic, too?

    From there, she assembled a remarkable team of scientists, mycologists, engineers, and product experts, including one of the leading diaper engineers from Procter & Gamble and her co-founder from Four Sigmatic, to bring HIRO to life.

    The result is a diaper designed to be high-performing, safer, and less wasteful, paired with fungi pouches that can be placed into the used diaper to begin the decomposition process. It is one of the boldest examples of her entrepreneurial philosophy in action: question the default, listen to nature, and build what does not yet exist.

     

    Spaciousness Is Her Superpower

    One of the most practical insights Agrawal shares has nothing to do with fundraising or scaling. It is her commitment to what she calls “thinking days” or “thinking-feeling days.”

    These are days with no meetings, no calls, and no packed schedule. Just spaciousness.

    She credits these open days with generating some of her best ideas, campaigns, and inventions. In a culture obsessed with output, Agrawal makes a strong case for input from within.

    Not all breakthroughs come from doing more. Some come from creating enough silence to actually hear yourself think.

     

    Redefining the Unconventional Life

    For Agrawal, living unconventionally means refusing the beaten path in favor of the one that belongs to you.

    Not the path that looks smartest. Not the path that sounds safest. The one that feels true.

    That is exactly what she has done again and again, across industries, identities, and seasons of life. She has built. She has been broken open. She has healed. She has reinvented.

    And through it all, she has continued to ask the question at the heart of every meaningful disruption:

    What if there is a better way?

     

    Giveaway

    Miki is giving one lucky winner an incredible bundle of products and resources, including:

    • A copy of her book Disrupt-Her
    • A Hello TUSHY Classic 3.0 Bidet
    • A bag of HIRO diapers and fungi pods

     

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