PODCAST. Entrepreneurship, Cannabis, and Psychedelics with April Pride

Oct 8

Written By Dave

Sponsored by Inflow. Try the free ADHD traits quiz and meet Quinn, your new AI ADHD companion. Get support when you’re stuck, overwhelmed, or just need to feel understood. Click here.

April Pride on Integrity, Psychedelics, and the ADHD Entrepreneur’s Path

Hello, Wise Squirrel, for ADHD Awareness Month, I sat down with April Pride, a Seattle-based creative entrepreneur and harm reduction advocate known for building category-defining brands at the edges of lifestyle, cannabis, psychedelics, and women’s well-being. Our conversation ranged from accessible education and safety to the messy realities of addiction, partnerships, and late ADHD diagnosis. It’s rich, personal, and full of practical wisdom without drifting into prescriptions or hype.

This article sketches the contours of that discussion. If it resonates, hit play and hear April in her own words.

Why Integrity Comes First

April is clear about her lane. She isn’t a clinician or a facilitator. Her work lives in education and product design, informed by harm reduction and legality. When the business environment around psilocybin turned murky, she pressed pause rather than compromise her ability to speak openly. One line stayed with me: leaders in emerging spaces have a responsibility “not to mislead others.” That stance anchors the entire episode. I wish others would get that message.

Rethinking Access and Cost

SetSet, April’s current platform, grew from a simple question: how do you help the many people experimenting with psychedelics outside clinics do it more thoughtfully and affordably? We talk about integration tools that help translate insights into daily life, a therapist-designed microdosing framework, and why low-cost, evergreen resources can meet people where they are. The theme isn’t evangelism; it’s literacy.

ADHD, Dopamine, and Doing the Work

Diagnosed with ADHD at 38, April describes how treatment and structure unlocked bigger bets. She also opens up about developing cannabis use disorder when access became effortless, and what it took to step back. If you’ve ever used speed of execution as a superpower only to overheat the engine, you’ll recognize the pattern. We discuss healthier ways to chase stimulation, including movement, mindfulness, public speaking, creative expression, and the small daily practices that keep attention focused in the right direction.

Set and Setting, With Nuance

Safety comes up often. We discuss trip sitters, emotional readiness, and why timing matters. April highlights emerging observations around women’s hormonal cycles and challenging experiences, not as hard rules but as factors to weigh when planning. The simple takeaway: mindset and environment shape outcomes more than most people realize.

Partnerships, Burnout, and Learning Out Loud

April’s career includes multiple exits and a few misfires. She’s candid about over-delegating early, choosing partners to “complete” her gaps, and how coaching and clearer agreements changed the way she builds. If you’re a solo operator who “does it all” until something breaks, you’ll find practical perspective in how she now approaches scope, cadence, and fit.

Late Diagnosis and Making Peace with the Past

We spend time on the grief many feel after a late ADHD diagnosis: the could-have-beens, the self-talk that lingers, the habit loops that are hard to unwind. April shares how mindfulness, microdosing frameworks, and integration practices helped her cultivate self-respect and forward motion. It’s honest, grounded, and never presented as a magic fix. Dave also shares his take on how he managed his late diagnosis.

What You’ll Hear In The Episode

How April defines her role in psychedelics and why integrity guides product and messaging
Where integration fits, and why accessible tools matter for non-clinical users
A candid account of substance overuse and the systems she built to recover focus
Practical safety notes on set, setting, sitters, and personal readiness
Lessons from partnerships and exits that will save founders time and heartache
A humane look at ADHD, dopamine, and building better feedback loops

Why Listen

This isn’t a “guru” playbook. It’s a thoughtful conversation with a builder who has been early, been right, and been humbled, and who continues to design for real people. If you work at the edge of new markets, live with ADHD, or just want a clearer way to think about psychedelics without the noise, you’ll find signal here. Of course, we always advise speaking with a medical professional first.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Wise Squirrels with April Pride to hear the stories, examples, and tactics we only hint at above.

0:00
I am working in psychedelics. I am not a facilitator. I am not a medical expert.
0:06
I'm, you know, I don't take a large dose of psychedelics every other month,
0:12
right? Um, I still take my pharmaceutical medication, which people in the psychedelic space, you know, have
0:18
opinions about. Um, but I do take I I watch therapists
0:25
and the best therapists always have a therapist, right? Yeah, people who are working in healing arts
0:32
are also making sure that they're going and they're getting a massage and Reiki and meditating and Right. So, I'm I'm
0:40
good on all of that. I feel like my integrity when it comes to those things is good. And
0:48
and if you're if you're if you're really gut-checking like where in my life am I
0:54
not operating with integrity then I feel like if you're trying if I am trying to
1:00
be a leader in this space because I do have a voice and I do think I know that people listen to me.
1:06
Um then the onus is on me to not [ __ ] others.
1:14
[Applause]
1:21
Welcome to Wise Squirrels, the podcast for late diagnosed adults with ADHD. I'm
1:28
your host, Dave Delaney. Today is a day in the month of October, and October is
1:35
ADHD awareness month. And if you're not already following Wise Squirrels on social media, well, you probably should
1:43
be because I'm sharing uh promoting a different person, a different thought leader, entrepreneur, famous person,
1:50
somebody who's done great things in the world uh who has ADHD, and I'm I'm promoting them uh on social uh every day
1:58
with a little little uh post about them. So, you can check us out wherever you
2:03
find wherever your favorite social media network is or social network. Uh, just look up ADHD Y squirrels and you'll see
2:10
those. Um, on that note, I had the great pleasure this week of attending a
2:16
networking event which uh was pretty small and intimate and they had a a speaker. She was great.
2:23
Shared a great story. Um, I'm not here to to bash her at all. I don't that's
2:30
not why I'm I'm bringing this up, but you know, I'm very open about my ADHD.
2:36
Um, and mentioned this during the more social kind of chitchat session before
2:43
her presentation and her presentation was excellent. It was about her own resilience and and
2:49
things that uh held her back, things that she had to overcome and it was a
2:54
great story. Um, and at one point she kind of pointed, not pointed to me
3:00
physically, but she actually referenced, she said, looked at me and just kind of said some things like, you know, you
3:05
have to overcome, I forget specifically what she she was saying, but basically overcoming things holding you back like
3:11
mental illness. And she continued,
3:17
now ADHD is not a mental illness. It is
3:22
a condition of our brains. Yes, it is the way we, you know, and obviously prefacing everything I say here, I'm not
3:28
a doctor and I don't pretend I'm one on the internet or anywhere else for that matter. Um, but we know it is more of a
3:38
a challenge with focus and executive functioning skills and you know, you're you're here watching or listening to
3:45
this now. Oh yeah, I'm doing a video if you're listening to this. Uh, so you can check that out on YouTube, uh, or
3:51
wherever you watch videos, I guess. I I don't even know where I'm going to post it yet. It will be on YouTube, but I
3:57
digress. So, I had a bite my tongue and as she
4:03
was continuing on with her presentation, I was thinking about how I can handle this. Um, I knew that I had to speak
4:11
with her about it, but I wasn't sure if I should do it oneon-one or whether I should tactfully mention it uh during
4:19
the Q&A session. And I decided since, you know, there was maybe 13 other people in the room,
4:27
they had heard her say that too. And if I didn't correct her tactfully with
4:33
kindness um in front of everybody, then somebody might come away
4:40
misunderstanding ADHD. Um or multiple people could. So I decided I would bring
4:47
it up. And so during the Q&A, I made some supportive comments, questions or comments kind of related to the content
4:53
of her presentation. Again, very happy, very supportive. And then I also added
4:58
lastly, and again I did this very tactfully and and didn't didn't do it with any intent to uh to make her feel,
5:06
you know, embarrassed or anything, but I did mention that I just added um and and just so you know, ADHD actually isn't a
5:13
mental illness. It's just a neurological type just like you. Um so I did I did
5:20
want to mention that and she was like, "Thanks." And I say that because I think it's really
5:26
important for us to stand up for ourselves and to correct people when they're wrong about ADHD. Um, not again,
5:34
not in any sort of mean way or argumentative way, but in a situation like that, it was small and intimate
5:41
enough. Um, you know, had there been hundreds of people, I don't know. I probably still would have because when
5:46
ADHD and misinformation or just incorrect data or whatever comes up. Um
5:52
I want to make sure to be there and to point it out whenever I can. Um and so I hope uh you might do the same. Hey, it's
5:59
ADHD awareness month, right? I'm excited to announce that our friends at Inflow
6:05
have returned. I know some of you thought, "Where's Inflow? They've been sponsoring the podcast on and off for
6:11
quite a number of months and they're not here. Where were they on the last episode? Well, I am happy to report that
6:17
Inflow are back as a sponsor. And of course, we uh I have availability for
6:23
sponsors to uh support the show and you can find that at wisquirrels.com or just
6:29
reach out to me and I can give you those details. Um, but Inflow is back. And if
6:34
you have not yet taken the ADHD traits quiz over at wisquirrels.cominflow,
6:42
I really encourage you to do this. And not just because they're a paid sponsor, okay? I've done it myself multiple
6:48
times. I just did it again recently when they uh re-engaged. And it's cool. like
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it really it takes you through understanding yourself and and your the
7:00
ADHD sort of presentation um that you may uh may closely align with, right?
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Not type but a presentation. Um and you you go through it and it kind of
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customizes itself as you're going through it to give you advice. Um you've
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got uh some great clips of advice, some some strategies all built into this
7:23
And of course, Inflow also has a wonderful app, and they've just introduced Quinn, which is their AI
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powered ADHD coach type uh of uh of uh
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uh service, I guess. Uh and uh and that's pretty neat, too. So, it's cool to see Inflow uh really wrapping
7:42
themselves around new innovations, new technologies in order to improve ultimately um the experience for their
7:50
uh for their customers, right? And so it's free to do the assessments thing. So you don't or the quiz. So you don't
7:57
have to like pay anything. Um but if you visit ysquirrels.cominflow,
8:03
uh check it out. Let me know what you think. You can always uh reach out, leave a comment, and I would love to
8:08
hear what your thoughts are on uh this awesome ADHD traits quiz. And Quinn,
8:15
check out Quinn. As you might know, I love helping
8:20
people. I love supporting people and I have coaching available and I'd love you to visit yscirls.com/coaching
8:28
and sign up now for a free session. No strings attached. Let's have a chat, see
8:33
if I can help you, give you some free advice, um but also get to know you a little bit and see if my coaching might
8:40
be the right thing for you. So, I would love to chat with you to see if I'm a fit. Uh head over to
8:46
yscirls.comcoaching. Sign up. It's free and let's have a
8:52
little chat. Today I'm speaking with April Pride. April is a Seattlebased
8:57
creative entrepreneur and harm reduction advocate with over two decades of
9:02
experience uh building brands at the intersection of lifestyle uh cannabis,
9:07
psychedelics, and women's well-being. Um recognized as a thought leader in emerging markets, uh April is behind
9:15
category defining brands like Vanderpop, How to Do the Pot, and Set Set. Uh she's
9:22
been celebrated by Forbes, New York Times, Vice, and The Guardian, plus earned accolades such as High Times
9:29
female 50, and most creative cannabis entrepreneur in the US. So pretty
9:35
impressive. Uh so I'm gonna go ahead now and share my interview with April. Um we
9:42
didn't just talk about things related to uh cannabis and psychedelics. Of course,
9:48
um we talked a lot about uh uh entrepreneurship and and owning a business and running businesses and
9:56
exiting from uh businesses. So I've learned a lot from this conversation. We also talked about imposttor syndrome uh
10:03
addiction and things like that. So, it's a great conversation. April's awesome
10:08
and uh I'm excited to share this with you. I am April Pride and I am a creative
10:15
entrepreneur that likes to launch businesses, usually multiple at one time. And
10:22
currently I am the founder of SetSet, which is a platform, an educational
10:27
platform that's women first for cannabis and psychedelics.
10:32
That's great. Yeah. And you congrats too by the way on your your exits, right?
10:38
You've had three exits from businesses. Um uh tell me a little bit about your entrepreneurial journey like well like I
10:44
know you're you're from or are you from Seattle? I know you're based in Seattle. Are you born and raised there?
10:50
No, I grew up in Virginia. Okay. And I went to architecture school at the University of Virginia.
10:57
And so and then I got my masters at Parson's. So, I was very committed to
11:02
being an interior designer. That's what I wanted to do. Um, I was actually just on a call with somebody who was
11:08
diagnosed in his 40s with ADHD. He's now in his 70s. And I was explaining to him
11:14
that the moms that I knew, I mean, I put myself through college and my mom worked
11:20
because she had to, she single mom, but the moms that were hanging out at the pool in the summer and also worked were
11:25
interior designers. Oh, no kidding. I wouldn't do that. Yeah. Yeah. And then I became one and it was
11:32
shopping all day and then project management which is a nightmare for me.
11:39
I didn't I had did not have an ADHD diagnosis yet. So um I had I had time between clients
11:46
and I launched a product. That's when my entrepreneurial path really started because I liked owning the creative
11:52
process, right? Finding overseas manufacturer, creating the website. This was uh 2008.
12:05
Yeah. 2008. Yeah. So, um yeah, I wanted to do that. I
12:10
didn't want clients to tell me what to create anymore. I wanted to do it myself. So, I sold that company. It was
12:16
a lighting accessories company. I sold it to the largest distributor of lighting accessories. And like, okay,
12:21
this is great because I'm not interested in that anymore and I want to move on.
12:26
And again, now understanding how, you know, my mind works, that all made a lot
12:32
of sense. So, yeah. Fast forward. Yeah. Fast forward. I
12:37
started a dress company. I don't really want to talk about that. I was never going to go into fashion really, but I
12:43
found myself in this place where I was an accidental fashion designer.
12:48
And a client in that business had started to she was the executive assistant for the CEO of a holding
12:57
company here in Seattle in cannabis and she didn't even drink. So I was really
13:02
like what is happening? And that that holding company owns Tillray which is
13:07
one of the larger LPS um licensed producers in Canada. I am in Seattle but
13:13
you know Canada is federally legal for cannabis so that's why they play up there. They have they have the licensing
13:20
30-year licensing agreement with the Marley family. So, you know, a very influential firm. And she said, I see
13:26
all the decks and the deals that are coming through. No one's doing anything that is with a designer's eye. And I was
13:34
shocked. I'm like, how is this possible? This is this is a new industry in our lifetime,
13:40
which doesn't happen. And it's super creative. I thought that, you know, creatives from New York to LA
13:46
would be all over this. So, I took her out to dinner. I wanted to know more. And the guy that owned the restaurant,
13:52
he knew both of us. He asked what we were talking about. She said, "I'm trying to convince her to launch a line
13:57
of luxury cannabis accessories." And he gave me my seed capital. He and his wife did. So, no way.
14:02
He offered it that night. I went the next day and we were off to the races. I
14:08
got amazing one more investor and then we put in some cash to my hus my ex-husband and I
14:13
and then yeah within three years I sold it to the largest cannabis company in the world to
14:19
a 20 you 28x ROI to my investors including myself and my family
14:24
and yeah I was like yes this is what I like to do. Yeah. Yeah.
14:29
That's that's amazing. So that's it's such a great great story and it's interesting because you yeah you were
14:35
diagnosed at 38. Is that correct? That's right. Yeah. Okay. And where was that? So, so you you
14:40
you started the first company, you said in 2008 where only an ADHD or
14:46
undiagnosed would start a company in 2008, right? It's like not a great time economically, but still, why not, right?
14:54
I mean, they always say like the best time to buy a house was yesterday or plant a tree was yesterday, you know, or
15:00
whatever that line is that I totally just butchered. Anyway, well, first of all, okay, the the launch
15:06
party was the night that WAMU Washington Mutual announced that it was going
15:11
under. So, I've already been starting the company. Yeah.
15:17
Yeah. Yeah. That had to add a little layer of stress, I'm sure. Um, so yeah.
15:23
And and and so where along this this journey did you
15:28
did you move to Seattle then? Like did you move to Seattle? You said you moved to Seattle to follow your architecture
15:35
journey first, right? Or I followed I followed a man that I loved who's from Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So 20 years
15:41
ago I moved here, but I did I sold books door to door to put myself through college and they would they'd ship kids
15:47
from one coast to the other because it's so hard. They don't want you just to go crying home if it's easy. So I would go
15:53
from Virginia to Washington state by ch that was totally coincidental every
15:59
summer and my husband was also at the University of Virginia and I met him my last our last semester of school and so
16:07
all of that just I knew I wanted to live here anyway. I loved it out here. So yeah, I've been here for for quite a
16:13
while. Yeah. And it's a it's a beautiful part of the country and I'm actually from Toronto originally. So I am Canadian
16:18
Canerican now I guess. Um but uh yeah and and certainly yeah the the west
16:24
coast BC is incredible and Alberta. Um so yeah so um you it it's interesting
16:32
because I think a lot in fact I know because I I have a presentation I do called the root down which is you know
16:39
about ADHD. It's partly about my own story, my own journey and entrepreneurship and things. And I've
16:44
delivered that for like chapters of like EO, for example, the entrepreneurs organization in in Silicon Valley and
16:50
San Francisco and Oakland, like this combined event, and at the entrepreneur center here in Nashville where where I
16:57
live now. Um, and it's it's astounding to me that connection. I mean, you think
17:04
like there's so many companies that were started with ADHDers whether they were diagnosed or undiagnosed.
17:11
Um, you know, and and the name you people like brands like Virgin of
17:16
course, JetBlue, uh, Spanx is another one,
17:21
FedEx. Yeah. Yep. Toys R Us. Uh, you know, God, you know, not the greatest story at the
17:28
end, but it's still, you know, Toys R Us. Who doesn't love Toys R Us? Um and so yeah, so there's a and then there's a
17:34
lot of um in the tech community as well. I've done, you know, a fair amount of work in the tech community and or in in
17:41
the tech industry and so certainly there's a lot a lot there as well. Um how has do you think ADHD played a role
17:50
in in your entrepreneurship? Like did it well without putting words in your
17:56
mouth, but I almost imagine like sometimes it's the impulsivity of just doing it. you get the idea, which is
18:01
pretty much how this podcast started, by the way. Um, for sure. Right. So, yeah. How did that tie into
18:07
to your life early on in the career that you were you were you were doing in the ent?
18:13
Oh, man. Interesting. Okay. So, the
18:19
the conversation about starting a cannabis company happened
18:25
um nine months after my diagnosis. six six months maybe after my diagnosis.
18:32
So I was for the first time on aderall and
18:38
I felt like I could do anything, you know, like honestly it felt like I got the
18:47
information and the treatment that I needed in order to make this company
18:54
work. I don't know that it would have this was a huge opportunity that I don't know I would have been able to make
19:01
happen the way that I I mean not that it was easy for me right I still had somebody
19:06
that I super grateful I relied on her so much to get a lot done I still don't
19:12
know how she's alive based on how much I was telling her to do right but that was that timing was very
19:20
fortuitous and then I was not drinking. I had
19:25
stopped drinking after the birth of my second son. So, I would drink maybe like three, four times a year, right? It just
19:32
felt right to me. And I would smoke weed when it was around, but I didn't have my own stash even when I started the
19:38
company. Well, that all changed, right? So then I had access to cannabis all the time and
19:44
the narrative was, well, there was no science that was saying that it was bad, right? there
19:50
wasn't science that was saying it was good and I wasn't doing I was choosing not to do the math of smoking is clearly
19:57
not great for you so uh fast forward I definitely developed cannabis use disorder because
20:04
if you're a person as I was I chose to stop drinking for a reason you know um
20:10
and if you're a person that walks that line which a lot of us with ADHD are because of impulse control
20:17
and then there's not the information that We now have with cannabis being legal for so for for many many years.
20:24
There's just more data points of it's out in the population at large.
20:30
There are a lot more diagnoses of cannabis use disorder. And now I also
20:36
understand how our brain works and how THC was meant to interact with our CB-1
20:42
receptors and it's not at the doses of THC that's being sold in dispensaries. Period. That is.
20:49
So I feel like understanding how my brain works has allowed me to be a
20:56
better educator for people who are looking to cannabis to solve some of
21:01
their emotional, mental, physical problems. It's just so important to make sure that they don't end up in the place
21:07
where I did where they could lose their privilege and what it could be helpful for.
21:13
You know, they just can't I can't keep it in my house. I just can't. That's that's that's the fix, you know. So,
21:20
yeah. Well, it's true. I mean, yeah, even even my wife and I, we've just recently become empty nesters and
21:27
our kids are, you know, both at different colleges, not here. So, um yeah, we've we finally like purged a lot
21:35
of the like things with chocolate and you know, the terrible things that we
21:40
would, you know, snack on. You I think out of sight, out of mind, just getting it out of the house is a great thing. Um
21:47
to the point about addiction or uh speaking from my own experiences like
21:53
growing up um you know I used to drink a lot especially in my like 20s and even
21:59
before I had kids certainly and that was probably the the point where I was like okay you know gota got to smarten up
22:05
here. Um, but I would drink a lot and I would when I smoked cigarettes, you
22:10
know, 25 some odd years ago, I would chain smoke and I would smoke, you know, a pack easily or two even uh in in any
22:18
given sitting arrangement, you know, just hitting a bar or pub or something. Um, and so
22:25
I I I'm sober now uh five years, so I quit drinking. Um, mainly because I took
22:32
I I took 30 days off in 2020 when the world was imploding and uh and we had our own pressures and stress uh in on
22:40
top of all that. Um, but I I was drinking a little too much and I'm like, you know, I need to I need to cool it
22:45
off. When I I lived in Ireland for a while, a few years, that's where I met my wife. And when I lived in Ireland, uh
22:52
we used to call it like getting off the piss. So, I'd be like, "You coming out tonight?" "No, I'm off the piss tonight." "Oh, okay. I'll see you, you
22:57
know, whenever." or you know so I decided I told my wife I'm gonna take 30 days and just get off the piss as they
23:03
say and I did that and then during that time discovered that non-alcoholic beer
23:08
has gotten a lot better like a lot better like oh my god I can't believe it's not beer and uh suddenly I'm like
23:16
wait and and so you know I started drinking the the non-alcoholic beer now
23:22
you know it can be argued whether I was an alcoholic or not I'm not I'm not really sure friends would say I was u
23:30
that I grew up with. I don't know. Um but besid I only say that because if if
23:36
someone's an alcoholic, you know, drinking a a a can of something tasty that tastes like a beer and and
23:42
especially if it's 0.05% that may be not a good idea. So I don't
23:47
endorse it necessarily, but for me personally, like it it didn't trigger anything. It was just a replacement. And
23:54
so, um, and certainly as a kid, too, like I would I would smoke pot, smoke hash, um,
24:02
did LSD a couple times, did shrooms. Uh, so I've had some of those experiences.
24:09
Um, and it's funny, too, because going back to I was back in Toronto with a couple of my best friends that, you
24:15
know, I grew up with and and, uh, and we were joking, we were laughing because now we're old, so there's that. Um but
24:23
but he was complaining that like oh man now late at night you go out in Toronto and like all the streets just smell like
24:28
pot and we were talking about that and we're like yeah but what would you
24:34
prefer late at night like a bunch of people drunk rolling out of a bar or people like high on weed because I don't
24:40
know any high person on weed who's ever gotten into a fight. Maybe over a bag of Doritos but besides that I can't I can't
24:47
imagine it where like alcohol certainly you know bad things can happen. Yeah. Um so yeah so um you know you the other
24:55
part of the addiction or the excess that I've learned in my own diagnosis now I was diagnosed like three years ago now a
25:02
couple years ago um is that we kind of crave we're kind of excessive people to
25:09
begin with and generalizing of course and we lack dopamine and so you know uh
25:15
in order we crave ways to get dopamine and and unfortunately there are good ways and bad ways and unfortunately you
25:20
know, a lot of us find the bad ways. Um, what are your thoughts on on that on that that idea about the the cravings
25:28
because Yeah. Tell me a little bit about that. I mean, well, I what I told my son who
25:34
we just dropped off at college for the first time. As soon as you invite any of these
25:41
substances into your life, that's the day you start managing them. Like that's just I mean that's been my
25:46
experience. That's the experience of everybody in our family. And you can take days, weeks, months,
25:54
years off the piss, right? And some people stuck with it. And you
25:59
know, I kind of eb and flow, but I don't. Aside from cannabis, there's no excess that I have to be concerned
26:06
about. Alcohol was never my drug of choice. It was just what was around. Yeah. And and as soon as I well I'd
26:14
stopped drinking before I got a diagnosis but once and I did I have
26:19
chosen I started meditating before a diagnosis. That's super super helpful for me. Me too. Yeah.
26:25
I've always had an exercise practice. I've always been super physical because
26:31
turns out I'm like a dog. I'm hyperactive. You got to walk me all day, you know, so I can go to bed at night.
26:37
So, I feel lucky that that's been a part of my life. Um, there are really, really great ways
26:44
to manage getting dopamine or, you know, getting
26:50
lifted, I guess you could say, outside of substances. I didn't consume at all when I was in high school, so I was kind
26:57
of a late bloomer in that way. But um I
27:02
think that the lack of dopamine is why I like and and fighting boredom is why
27:08
cannabis really is my drug of choice. And so the onus is on me to distract
27:15
myself in other ways. I went to the Hoffman Institute um um four years ago,
27:22
three years ago after I got divorced. And if you go to their website, it says
27:27
where you go to break up with your parents. So, you're like going to figure out what your patterns are that you
27:33
might have inherited, which ones are yours, which ones are theirs. And and so
27:39
getting over cannabis was something I really wanted to do. I gave myself a year after the divorce to just, you
27:44
know, do what I needed to do. Yeah. And then um one of the counselors there
27:51
suggested that when I get into this place of craving to say and he he did
27:57
not share this with us but it was something that I figured out. He was an alcoholic at one time. Just say I'm
28:03
satisfied. And it's a mindfulness practice that I was actually just
28:09
sharing it with a group of people yesterday. It's it's surprisingly effective because you know what you are satisfied.
28:16
Yeah, there isn't anything else I really need or want in that moment. It's habitual
28:23
or it's it's an a state change that I just am like I've been feeling this way
28:30
for 30 full minutes. I want to do something different now. So, yeah.
28:35
Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. Continue. That's the end of my thought. I Yeah. Yeah. No. And and I started a
28:41
meditation I've dabbled with meditation and mindfulness throughout my life. you know, here and there. Never really taken
28:47
it seriously until 2020. Um, and at that time, again, it was sort of the
28:53
pandemic, the stress of like our house had been damaged in a storm and so we
28:58
were knocked out of our house for 3 months and my kids school was destroyed in a tornado and it was just like one
29:03
thing after the other, you know, plus, you know, a pesky little pandemic and and, you know, police violence and all
29:09
the things that were going on at the time were just uh extremely stressful. Um, but yeah, I I I I hear where you're
29:18
coming from and I think yeah, it's not all negative, too. Like the the thing like one of the things that I do best
29:25
and I love most and what I'm hired to do often is deliver presentations. I do a
29:30
lot of public speaking. Um, I was a speaker that that's what I did with Google for about six years, too, is
29:35
speaking on their behalf. And and I'm also kind of a nerd or performance nerd, too. Like I love, you know, I studied
29:41
improv at Second City in Toronto and and love improv and comedy and performance
29:47
and storytelling and all that stuff. And I realized looking at my life through the lens through this ADHD lens and
29:54
learning more about myself is that, you know, yes, I talked about the lacking of dopamine and replacing that with
29:59
excessive, you know, bad things that can hurt you. Um but you turn it around and
30:04
I realize that when I stand on stages and I'm delivering a presentation or virtually whatever I get this rush of uh
30:11
dopamine from the audience who are laughing and smiling and shaking their heads and I'm like oh and like I wrote a
30:17
book a number of years ago called New Business Networking which is about networking because I've run events and
30:22
things over the years and again it's it's meeting people. I'm extroverted, so
30:28
like I love people anyway and I love the energy I get from people. So it that
30:34
also is like part of the plus of how my ADHD mind can can uh can crave dopamine
30:42
and get it in in better ways as well. And and certainly, you know, getting back to the entrepreneurial points, I
30:48
mean, getting hyperfocused on something entrepreneurial can be can be a wonderful thing because you can like,
30:55
you know, I turn this I turned Y squirrels the website and, you know, and
31:00
my podcast and everything else around in just days. Like I just got hyperfocused and boom, you know. Um,
31:07
totally. Yeah. Did did you find I've I so I've been a soloreneur for like really 12
31:16
almost 13 years now and making some career changes right now kind of re
31:22
reassessing things or assessing things and one thing that I've learned is that
31:27
we need others and and this isn't just a this isn't just about ADHD of course I mean we as humans we need we need other
31:34
people but certainly in entrepreneurship you you can't I mean you can but most of
31:40
the most of the time I don't think you can do it alone even you need people in the background you need or or even a
31:47
co-founder or what have you did you find that could you mention a woman or someone that that helped you early on
31:53
and you said like you couldn't believe like she was you know didn't whatever uh
31:59
what what sort of what sort of connections or or people
32:04
came into your life that helped you with your businesses I would imagine you didn't do it alone either.
32:10
Yeah. I mean, yes, there are angels everywhere truly and have been throughout my life. Um,
32:16
well, the woman that I mentioned was my intern. She started with me at the fashion business
32:23
uh when she was at Northwestern in college in the summers and she stayed with me during the school year doing
32:29
social media and then she graduated a year early and I told her, "I'm going to start this cannabis company. I'm sorry.
32:36
It's I don't even Are you 21? And it turns out she has her own bong
32:43
and yes all she was thrilled about it. Yeah. But you know I burned out that relationship. I didn't know
32:51
that I was giving her delegating too much and relying too much on her. I didn't wasn't doing the math at all
32:59
of the project management. And so when I sold the company, I was really clear. By
33:06
the way, she went from being an intern making 20 bucks an hour to, you know, selling a
33:14
company. So that was the best internship ever. Yeah. But she did pay for she also paid for it and I did too because that
33:20
relationship doesn't exist today, you know, like and I think if she were to meet the
33:27
people I'm working with today, they would be shocked at her stories and she would be shocked that this is how I work
33:34
today. So, you know, I am so appreciative because I learned a lot about what I can
33:40
do and can't do and how I should and shouldn't and all that with her. And then I did have um the third company I
33:48
sold I sold to my business partner. It was a podcast that I started because because I had sold to Canopy Growth. I
33:55
was back and forth between Seattle and Toronto for two years. Oh, really? Are you from Toronto or No, but I sold
34:00
You were just there because of the Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Got it. Yeah. So, great city. I love your hometown. I
34:07
love it. Best best happiest accident ever. Spending time there was great. I
34:13
don't know how I would have spent so much time there otherwise. So, I'm really grateful for it. Um, and so I
34:20
asked a woman who I went to college with to help me launch a podcast. I wanted to be able to stay home, be closer to my
34:26
kids, travel. And I found that
34:33
what I've come to learn about myself is I would choose romantic partners, professional partners, people who were
34:40
making up for where I felt I was lacking.
34:46
It wasn't about what what do you want from this? What do
34:51
I want from this? where we aligned. It was like, "What can you do well? What can I do well?" Great. 1 plus 1 equals
34:58
three, right? And I immediately said, "We need," having learned from um the partnership
35:05
that I just mentioned, um I said, "We need to get a coach. We have to work with someone. I have a now
35:11
I knew I have ADHD. That means I'm gonna deadlines are like midnight on that
35:17
day." Yeah. Yeah. you know, and I'm not going to have any progress to show you until
35:23
that time. So, and she was my straight man, you know, um, and ultimately she just she
35:32
couldn't do it. It was too much that she couldn't control or
35:37
predict. And I was so frustrated because I felt like I had built a brand. I was doing all the
35:44
creatives. I was the host of the podcast. You know, it was my connections. I had worked in cannabis. There was all this stuff. I didn't
35:50
really know what else I could do differently because and there was a pandemic happening. So, and what do you
35:58
want to control here? Like just putting out a podcast and I really wanted the
36:04
podcast was to be a channel to put products that I created through. So, we
36:10
had our own marketing channel because of the restrictions around marketing on platforms like Meta, right? And Google.
36:17
So, I knew I needed to start the next thing and she really wanted to get this
36:22
thing dialed in. And that's where the ADHD came in where I was like, I just there's there's not a
36:28
path to profitability with just this. I know that. That's why I I built it
36:34
because I want to be able to put the products in that we know people want. And so anyway, so yeah, I'm like, okay,
36:41
why don't you buy this for me? I'm gonna go start something else. And that's when I started working in
36:47
psychedelics because I was really, you know, I'm curious about the thing that nobody's doing and there's no I
36:55
don't I want to be able to make the rules and break the rules at the same time, right? Yeah, that makes sense.
37:00
Yeah. Do you find do you I mean obviously you've been successful. Um,
37:06
you know, part of my own entrepreneurial journey often is I'm a pretty early adopter in a lot of things and and a lot
37:14
of the times too early um in things and because I have ADHD and especially
37:20
before I had been diagnosed, you know, I would just abandon them after getting
37:25
bored and so so you know, I mentioned like I I had a I had the second parenting podcast ever in 20 in 2005.
37:34
and we ran it for three years. Had we left had we just stuck with that podcast,
37:40
yeah, we'd be we'd be like, yeah, you know, laughing our way to the bank every day. And
37:45
and I often joke that like had I known 20 years ago that I had ADHD, I would have started a podcast about ADHD and
37:51
then, you know, I'd have like Joe Rogan money or somebody um without platforming crazy people. Um so I uh Yeah. So it's
38:00
interesting but it's also I mean you know you have to yeah give yourself credit there too that like it's very
38:05
clever idea and sort of workaround you know a lot of times when I advise people
38:11
about podcasting for example I I think I've talked more people out of podcasting than to do a podcast at least
38:17
from a business professional standpoint hobby is different but um only because I mean they're they're a
38:24
heck of a lot of work um and they you know they're very timeconuming And um
38:31
and oftent times like if you want to have a podcast, you really have to know why you want to have the podcast. And so
38:38
it's clever. I mean it was really smart of you to to to think of that as a as kind of a workaround in in being able to
38:45
promote your business um when the other channels wouldn't let you. Do you find that like are there other interests and
38:51
things that you've been like excited about that you were either not to say you were too early because clearly it
38:58
seemed like great timing um or are there things that you started and just didn't want to do anymore. I mean you mentioned
39:04
the the dress uh company and things. Yeah. Yeah. I mean in order to have any
39:10
product company what have you done for me lately? What's your next product? I don't want to write about what you
39:15
designed two years ago just because you inventory or you think it's still in, you know, in vogue. And so just the need
39:23
to continually produce I I'm just not
39:28
I mean I don't care about fashion enough to get curious, right? Yeah. So I you know style is a different
39:35
thing but to be a fashion designer I have a lot of respect for people that are doing that and choose to do it and
39:41
that's it's not easy on any level whether it's business the actual design
39:46
and the technical part of it and I just felt like I was a poser. It just was not
39:51
this is not this wasn't my plan as a child. So, um, that had my name on it,
39:58
right? So, I was walking away from that, but name is my name. So, I don't know.
40:05
I'm not I think the biggest compliment I would have interns sometimes I'd have six interns in a summer. And the biggest
40:10
compliment I ever got from one is they said, "We could be working on something for the whole week and the next week,
40:17
and at the end of the second week, you'd say, "This isn't working." And you'd throw it away, put in the trash, and
40:22
we'd start over. Yeah. like, yeah, I am definitely okay with trying something else if I don't
40:30
feel like it's going to work. Yeah. You know, and it's also interesting you mentioned
40:36
with the the fashion business not being really in your wheelhouse. You touched on something there
40:43
around well, without putting words in your mouth, but like self-doubt or even imposttor syndrome, which are common
40:49
things for folks with ADHD. Um, have you experienced that like elsewhere or or
40:55
are you you're familiar with that that feeling? Oh, I mean I am working in psychedelics.
41:01
I am not a facilitator. I am not a medical expert. I'm you know I don't take a large dose
41:08
of psychedelics every other month, right? Um I still take my pharmaceutical
41:14
medication which people in the psychedelic space, you know, have opinions about. Mhm. Um but I do take I I watch therapists
41:24
and the best therapists always have a therapist. Right. Yeah. People who are working in healing arts
41:31
are also making sure that they're going and they're getting a massage and Reiki and meditating and Right. So I'm I'm
41:39
good on all of that. I feel like my integrity when it comes to those things is good. The other part of this
41:46
and when I did have my last very large dose of psilocybin, the word integrity
41:51
was what I held on to and
41:57
and if you're if you're if you're really gut-checking like where in my life am I
42:03
not operating with integrity then I feel like if you're trying if I am trying to
42:09
be a leader in this space because I do have a voice and I do think I know that people listen to
42:15
um then the onus is on me to not [ __ ] others, right? Like there's just too
42:22
much at stake that's been there well before I came into the picture. Yeah. To turn this into a mockery. We have
42:30
enough people that are trying to do that. So Oh my god. I know. Yeah. So I don't have imposttor
42:35
syndrome. I'm real clear on you know what my contribution is in this space.
42:41
It is around education and quality product which you know is tricky and I have not been um I did
42:49
create a psilocybin product. I have not been distributing it for the last year and a half because there just was no way
42:54
for me to do it legally and that means I can't talk freely about
42:59
this if I'm also doing something that's not in integrity behind the scenes.
43:04
Right. Right. Yeah. So are your so are your customers typically like is it is it sort of B to
43:11
C as in business to consumers or is it more B to T like therapists or like
43:16
because I know and I I haven't participated in any sort of guided dose
43:23
dosing or anything. So I was more like in it was more in my teen years um the
43:29
last time I did any sort of hallucinogenic. So um yeah tell me a little bit about about that process for
43:36
for folks. Yeah so sets set is an ed it started as an educational platform and I the first
43:44
product we put out educational platform for psychedelics and integration. So integration is you have a psychedelic
43:50
experience or you're micro doing and you're trying to make sense of what came up during that experience or the things
43:57
that are happening throughout your day when you're micro doing that you just are starting to think about things that
44:03
you're confronted with and have been for days, weeks, months, years in a different way, right? Trying to make
44:08
sense of it. So the first thing we came out with was a deck of cards. Okay. Yeah. And it's $27 deck of cards
44:16
because I I was very invested. I was financially
44:23
invested in a social equity license holder in cannabis. The way that the industry,
44:30
you know, didn't take care of people really bothered me. And the taxes, how
44:35
expensive it is to buy cannabis. There's a reason why people don't go into dispensaries and they still buy from their quote guy, right? So, I looked at
44:44
psychedelics and I'm like, you know, people are charging hundreds of dollars an hour or you got to go to a retreat that's thousands of dollars. We can grow
44:51
mushrooms in a drawer for nothing. This is nuts. People need to be able to use this and use it in a way that they're
44:58
getting the most out of it and it shouldn't cost them a lot of money. So, created with actually partners in Toronto.
45:04
Yeah. Uh this deck of integration cards. So, this was the first integration tool. Then I partnered with a licensed
45:10
therapist and she created a micro doing protocol called microy that's based on
45:16
the neurobiology of change because we are experiencing
45:21
neuroplasticity when we choose to take psychedelics. That means that throughout our lives
45:27
we've had we've worn these well we have these wellworn grooves in our brain when this trigger happens
45:35
this is how I react right and sometimes those reactions they were maybe serving us when we were younger survival but as
45:42
we get older and we're still doing the same thing it's not working for us anymore so you take psychedelics you
45:48
spend more time in nature you you spend time with people who make you laugh there are lots of ways to increase your
45:54
neuroplasticity not just with psychedelics. And I encourage any of your listeners to consider what they can
45:59
do that will allow for that, right? Grooves. So when you're confronted with
46:06
the same trigger, you have more options. You don't just go where you've always gone. So these tools, this curriculum is
46:16
intended to help people really understand what's happening to their mind so that they can leverage these
46:21
changes to enforce change into their own or to, you know, support change in their own
46:27
life and and all of the downloads. I mean, if you look at a if you join a
46:33
micro doing group or you work with a coach, again, it's hundreds if not
46:39
thousands of dollars. And this is an evergreen product that you download for underundred bucks. That's it's the idea
46:44
has always been to make sure everything's extremely accessible. Yeah. And you have like Oh, sorry. Go on.
46:50
And when you were asking are we are we talking to consumers? Are we talking to therapists? It's for the three out of
46:56
four people that are using psychedelics outside of a clinical environment. People that are doing it with their friends and family. Yeah.
47:03
Yeah. Yeah. Because I mean I think often the advice I hear is to do it with a
47:09
guide or or with a physician or a doctor or therapist or somebody who can be there with you to, you know, to get you
47:19
in case you're you're struggling. I mean, there's no guarantees in the the
47:24
quote unquote trip or vision or what have you that you may may experience. And so, you know, hopefully hopefully
47:30
it's good and I think a lot of times it is, but then there are bad trips as well. So, having somebody with you um do
47:38
you do you have like obviously making it more accessible means and not everybody can afford to have a guide, a therapist
47:45
as you mentioned. So, do you have like some instruction or part of that into like
47:50
just it's almost like having the designated driver, you know, to to make sure that everybody gets home safely
47:56
kind of thing. Yeah. Um it's, you know, it's a it's a
48:01
you can call them a guide, you can call them a tripsitter, um but it's somebody who's not partaking. And you know, the
48:08
number of people the number of challenging experience is actually one in five. And women are much more likely
48:15
to have a challenging experience because although we don't have the medical evidence to explain this, we do know
48:21
that psychedelic compounds and hormones, there's a relationship there. And so
48:27
when women are in their ludial phase, when our hormones are at their most balanced, that's the optimal time for us
48:34
to say yes to a psychedelic experience. If you get outside of that window, the chances of you having a more challenging
48:40
experience go up. So it's that type of information that I'm trying to impart so that you can set yourself up for
48:46
success. And the name set comes from set as in mindset and setting your physical
48:52
surrounding. So, making sure that you're dialing those things in. If you have a
48:57
bad day, but you've got a if you've got a journey scheduled that night, I would highly advise you to consider
49:04
doing it at a different day because whatever your emotional state is is going to be exaggerated.
49:11
Yeah. When you add psychedelics and that's not always good. So well especially I would imagine especially for ADHDers because you know
49:20
anxiety and depression are like the most common co com co com co com co com co com co com co com co com co com co com coorbidities that come along with ADHD
49:26
among among other things like you know bipolar and and um OCD and things like
49:31
that but my and I I mean I know from my own experiences certainly anxiety and depression are things that yeah are
49:38
annoying bed fellows that come along with it so yeah I guess yeah you have to be be careful there
49:44
yeah and I take an SNRI. I take take buproprion. So, I mean, you really need to be off of
49:49
your medicine for six weeks before you take psilocybin. Same with an
49:55
SSRI. That's hard to titrate off for a lot of people. Um, when I went to the retreat,
50:01
I I was off for three weeks. You Well, I'm not a medical expert. You
50:07
you just need to check with your doctor, but always Yeah. If you take your SSRI in the morning and you try to have a
50:13
large dose experience that night, you will require a lot more of the
50:19
psychedelic medicine in order to get to the place that you know the people around you are in if they're not taking
50:26
a pharmaceutical. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, that makes that makes complete sense. Um tell tell me
50:31
about the retreat that you you mentioned because this is something I've always wanted to do and haven't done but really
50:38
I mean as I said since 2020 and taking meditation much more seriously and speaking to so many uh experts on this
50:47
podcast uh Lydia Zyowska who wrote you know the book about ADHD and mindfulness
50:53
um and of course you know uh Mark Burton uh who does a lot around parenting and
51:00
and meditation, but she's a doctor is also um uh Dana Cruz, who's incredible
51:06
ADHD coach, and she also is a uh you know, she's trained all over the the place. Um and then of course, Joseph
51:13
Goldstein, who um was like a complete honor to speak to because anybody who
51:19
knows insight meditation or mindfulness meditation, like I mean, he's one of three Americans that kind of brought it
51:25
to the the West. Um so that was that was incredible. But yeah, tell me a little bit about the retreats that you've done
51:32
and and and your experiences with meditation. Well, the retreat was a psychedelic
51:37
retreat. It wasn't. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So, and it was in Jamaica because Jamaica, actually, as you were talking,
51:44
I was trying to think. Jamaica, I believe, is decilin
51:49
decriminalized. I don't think it's I don't think it's legal. I think I might be wrong, though. Sorry.
51:55
I should know. Yeah. Um, but I I went with a woman who lives in Ontario who I had met and had worked
52:02
with for years and years in cannabis and she had been leading underground retreats for 20 years. So, she invited
52:09
me and and I paid for my retreat. Um,
52:14
and I said yes. Jamaica is a place that I've been fortunate enough to travel to a lot and I feel I love that island. I
52:22
love the people, all of it. So I felt like okay that's a good idea to do that. And I
52:29
am very uh intentional about when I do choose to take high doses. I you know
52:34
they say you need to be called to the medicine. I try to respect that.
52:40
I might need to do it more than I actually do based on some people's you know thinking. But for me this is what's
52:47
working. I mean, the idea, right, is that some you have a psychedelic experience and then you don't need medicine ever again.
52:54
Yeah. Right. Really, the it's not a pharmaceutical where you're just going to, hey, we're going to put you on this. We'll see.
53:00
just well I mean and and I've you know and again also not a doctor but I've heard
53:05
I've heard uh from reliable sources that you know without remembering where they
53:11
came from now uh about yeah psychedelics and and you know helping to
53:17
quote unquote cure like PTSD and and things like that. um you know obviously
53:23
nothing cures ADHD so it's kind of that it is what it is but um it's our
53:28
operating system as I like to say um but yeah so I find yeah I find it I find it
53:34
interesting and yeah I was speaking to somebody about maybe maybe trying something uh uh not that long ago actual
53:41
therapist so u so we'll have to I'll report back if that happens I would like to to make a comment so um
53:50
I've only had lowd dose ketamine that's been prescribed to me lozenes at my house. Ketamine is legal and it is it's
54:01
it's used in in emergency rooms. Kids use they use it for children for
54:06
animals. Um, and I could not believe the day after I had
54:15
my lowd dose lozenes how organized and calm I approached my
54:23
work. It's wild. So, I did some research and
54:29
we we have our brain cells have these finger-like extensions called dendrites
54:36
and they shrivel up and and they have neuro um they have receptors on the end
54:42
so they catch neurotransmitters and they're part of our prefrontal cortex.
54:48
So, uh, cortisol, which people with ADHD, I'm sure, produce more cortisol, um, can make
54:55
these dendrites atrophy. And so, ketamine is, um, uh, works on the GABA system
55:05
um, and increases BDNF. And so those dendrites come back alive and then you have more
55:14
opportunity for neurotransmitters to connect with the receptors they were
55:20
intended to. There is something to this for people with ADHD and and there are
55:26
um psychedelic pharmaceutical companies that are researching this. So yeah, ADHD is something that I think could b
55:33
that people with a diagnosis will benefit from research that's happening in psychedelics right now.
55:38
Yeah, I have found psychedelics to help me with is to come to peace with the 38
55:48
years that I didn't have a diagnosis. Mhm. And the behavior that came along with that,
55:54
the self-doubt that came along with that, the loss of potential.
55:59
Yeah. You know, um there's just a lot there's grief and mourning in a life
56:05
that you now understand played out in a super specific way and you had nothing
56:11
to do with it and you felt like you were at the center of all the things going right and wrong the whole time.
56:18
Yeah. Yeah. has been that has been when anyone with ADHD wants to talk to me
56:24
about psychedelics, it's really, you know, you just need to have a rel a better relationship with yourself
56:31
because of the years and years of not understanding who you were really, you
56:36
know, and I think has helped me with that. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Um, yeah. I feel like
56:43
something I often say and advice I often give as it pertains to being diagnosed later is like that it can be a dangerous
56:51
place to look back at your past too much especially in a negative light um all
56:56
the you know I could have and shoulds and you know what you might have missed and all these things obviously and it's hard because
57:04
as an entrepreneur uh you you have to look at the past as
57:09
as far as like fiscally and and planning and all these things. I mean you have to understand what worked and what didn't
57:15
work and then you do have to plan for the future. And the line is always that like if you think too much of the past
57:20
that can lead to depress depression and if you think too much of the future it can lead to anxiety. And this gets into
57:26
mindfulness and meditation and the idea of being present in the moment and just just trying to focus on the exact on
57:32
that on the moment and the breath. And by doing that that can help you kind of
57:39
slow down. I think in in my experiences of learning mindfulness through meditation,
57:44
it's taught me to kind of slow down my thoughts long enough to realize like, oh
57:49
wait, I'm, you know, beating myself up again, which happens. Um, or, you know,
57:55
worried too much about the future and things. So, I think I think that's been something that's been yes, really
58:01
beneficial and it just trying to approach life. I haven't figured it all out yet um by a long shot. Um but with
58:09
with the with the assistance of medication and and therapy um in in my
58:15
experiences certainly that's that's been a big player big part of that too. Yeah. Yeah. I think that um micro doing has been one
58:22
of the ways that I've been able to shift my self-t talk my negative self talk that's been helpful for me. Yeah. and
58:29
and you know but you had like early on as you said like you know your
58:35
entrepreneurial journey started before you were diagnosed right and and um so
58:40
you had gumption you had you know the wherewithal to to just to do stuff and
58:46
be successful with that. Do you know what might have driven you that way? Or is it hard? Were there people in your
58:53
life that that inspired you or other entrepreneurs that you knew or did you
58:58
join like a a women's business or a business incubator or accelerator or
59:04
something or no? No. I mean, you just like screw it, I just want to do it. I mean, if I launched my first
59:13
company in terms of a product company when I was 32, that's 17 years ago. I
59:18
don't know. I mean, how much were we talking about entrepreneurship 17 years ago, right?
59:24
Well, it may not have had the word, right? Because the word is like, yeah, it's it's it's all all over the place
59:30
now, but business people were starting businesses, right? And so, thus they universities did not have
59:35
entrepreneurship programs, right? No, that's true. Now it's not a dirty word. Guess what else isn't a dirty
59:41
word? Being creative. So here I am a creative entrepreneur before there was words for it and before there was
59:49
respect for either path. I just this is just it's just who I've always been. And
59:56
not thinking things through is why I start them. Right. Yeah.
1:00:01
Figure we'll figure it out, but this feels like what the path is. And you
1:00:07
know, I'm not going to start something that I don't think has the potential. Of course, could be great, but I mean,
1:00:13
I've started nine businesses and sold three. Now, they're not all winners, and they're not all something that I want to stick with, right?
1:00:20
So, yeah. I mean, I don't know. It's a good question. Maybe I didn't have anything to lose,
1:00:25
right? If you're trying to get to a certain place, if you're not willing to risk, take risks,
1:00:31
you're not going to get there. Yeah. And you know, I said I've had guardian I've had angels throughout my life,
1:00:36
right? So I, you know, that definitely helps. There's been some lucky breaks.
1:00:42
Yeah, for sure. It sounds amazing. I have awesome parents. I do. I was raised with a lot of love and support.
1:00:49
Well, that definitely helps, too. Uh, April, this has been awesome. How can people learn more about you and and and
1:00:55
uh yeah, reach out and and contact? I would love for people to subscribe to
1:01:01
my Substack. Yeah, there's a free subscription right now. For the last 10 weeks, I've been exploring micro doing
1:01:07
for midlife men and women. And um yeah, if you
1:01:12
subscribe to my Substack, it's April Pride. Then you'll learn about the psychedelic
1:01:17
salon I host in Seattle that's about to go on tour, the podcast that I host, products, all of it. Yeah, that's the
1:01:24
best place to really track my my my work. That's awesome. And I'll include that all in the show notes. April, this has
1:01:30
been awesome. Thank you for joining me. Thank you, Dave. I really appreciate what you're doing for our community of
1:01:36
people. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for watching the podcast. Please join us at wisquirrels.com.
1:01:43
I'll see you there.