For most of his life, Daniel Eisenman was doing everything right.

He graduated pre-med from Emory University with a biology degree, took the MCAT, and was standing at the edge of what many would consider a “successful” and socially approved path. Medical school was next. Stability was waiting.

And then he paused.

What was supposed to be a single year off turned into more than a decade of travel across all 50 states and 20+ countries, leading radical retreats, facilitating what he calls “playshops,” and eventually founding both the Breaking Normal movement and TribeVitamins.

In this episode of Unconventional Life, host Jules Schroeder sits down with Eisenman in person to explore how breaking normal isn’t about rebellion, but about freeing yourself from the quiet forces that shape most lives without ever being questioned.

The moment Breaking Normal was born

The concept of Breaking Normal didn’t start as a brand or philosophy. It began as a college assignment.

While studying pre-med, Eisenman took a sociology class that required students to write a 20-page paper by going out into the world and intentionally breaking a social norm. Unlike the rest of his coursework, which felt like memorization and endurance, this project captured his full attention.

The experience forced him to confront how deeply social conditioning, judgment, and taboo shape human behavior. It was the first time school felt alive. He earned his highest grade ever, but more importantly, he felt affirmed in a way that would later guide every major decision he made.

That assignment planted a seed: what if the norms we follow unquestioningly are the very things limiting our freedom?

Breaking the addiction to approval

As Eisenman began hosting retreats with his brothers, one insight surfaced again and again.

What truly transformed people wasn’t the location, the itinerary, or the wellness practices. It was the willingness to stop performing.

Over time, the retreats evolved around a central idea: breaking the addiction to approval. The need to fit in, be liked, and manage reputation often keeps people living smaller than they feel inside. Eisenman encourages participants to experiment with authenticity, even if it means briefly “ruining” their reputation.

The shift, he explains, is not about being provocative. It’s about telling the truth before it calcifies into regret.

Why most ideas die before they’re built

Jules asks Eisenman a question many multi-passionate listeners wrestle with: what do you do when you feel a powerful idea forming, but your external life hasn’t caught up yet?

His answer is direct. Don’t talk about it too soon.

Eisenman believes that prematurely sharing ideas drains the energy needed to build them. Feedback arrives before action. Doubt replaces curiosity. Other people’s fears get projected onto something that hasn’t even taken its first step.

Instead, he follows three internal signals:

• A physical response he describes as a “butterfly heartbeat,” a blend of nervousness and excitement

• Meaningful synchronicities, which he calls “breadcrumbs from God”

• The willingness to take the first step without needing to see the full map

That approach would later shape how TribeVitamins came to life.

Building TribeVitamins from a missing product

TribeVitamins wasn’t created because Eisenman saw a market trend. It was built because something he wanted simply didn’t exist.

While organ supplements were gaining popularity, Eisenman couldn’t find a product he trusted that used 100% grass-fed bison organs. Beef liver supplements were everywhere, but bison, an animal deeply tied to ancestral nutrition in North America, was missing from the marketplace.

So he built the simplest version possible.

He created the bottle, designed the label, made the product, and used it himself for a month. Only after it proved useful in his own life did it earn the right to scale.

Today, TribeVitamins offers raw freeze-dried bison, elk, and yak organ supplements, along with bison tallow balms and immersive TribeDesign experiences centered on indigenous harvesting practices.

Consciousness, food, and the unseen layer of nourishment

The conversation also moves into territory rarely discussed in business podcasts: consciousness.

Eisenman believes food carries more than nutrients. It carries energy. He shares experiences from bison harvests and ancestral practices where consuming food close to its source produced a palpable shift in awareness and vitality.

Jules reflects on her own experience hunting with the Hadzabe tribe in Tanzania, witnessing how providership, respect for life, and ritual are woven into survival itself.

The shared insight is simple but profound: how we consume reflects how we live.

A practical path for building product-based businesses

For listeners interested in creating physical products, Eisenman offers grounded advice:

• Build the product and use it yourself

• Share it with trusted friends

• Validate demand through real buyers, not compliments

• Use platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo to prove concept before scaling

As Jules notes, sustainability matters. Impact and meaning are essential, but a business becomes real when people are willing to pay for it.

The map Eisenman lives by

When asked how he navigates life without a traditional roadmap, Eisenman offers a metaphor.

He sees life as a treasure hunt.

Instead of following a fixed plan, he pays attention to moments where time disappears, curiosity deepens, and his body signals a quiet yes. Practices like breathwork, time in nature, cold plunges, and retreats help him stay attuned to that internal guidance system.

For Eisenman, the goal isn’t certainty. It’s responsiveness.

Giveaway

Daniel Eisenman is offering one Unconventional Life listener an expansive giveaway that includes:

• A signed copy of Breaking Normal

• Colorado raw honey

• TribeVitamins white chocolate bison tallow balm

• TribeVitamins flagship bison liver + heart supplements