Wyatt Taubman of Vive Organic: 5 Steps That Each Of Us Can Take To Proactively Help Heal Our Country

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Between push notifications, social media and broadcast news, it’s often nearly impossible to escape the news cycle. Today’s mainstream media has adopted fear-mongering tactics that can be anxiety and anger inducing and it’s often not productive. I think it’s important to be mindful about our consumption of news, seeking out different perspectives and news sources. When the news becomes overwhelming, I often find it cathartic to engage in a conversation with my neighbors and community, listening to different perspectives and taking in a diversity of thought.

As part of our series about 5 Steps That Each Of Us Can Take To Proactively Help Heal Our Country, I had the pleasure of interviewing Wyatt Taubman, CEO and Co-Founder of Vive Organic.

Wyatt Taubman is a serial entrepreneur with more than 10 years of experience, having co-founded two VC backed startups that have collectively raised over $50M in funding. Taubman is currently CEO and Co-Founder of Vive Organic, the leader in fresh-pressed immunity.

After an illness drove him to take a proactive and holistic approach to his own health, Taubman was inspired to start Vive Organic with co-founders Kyle Withycombe and JR Simich, a company now on a mission to spark the wellness journey for everyone.

Born and raised in Hawaii, Wyatt rediscovered the same plant-based remedies that had been part of his island childhood, and wanted to find a way to make earth’s most powerful ingredients more convenient and accessible. Today, Vive offers a line of ten cold-pressed, doctor-crafted wellness shots that support immune function and overall health.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?

I grew up on Kauai in Hawaii where I was able to spend much of my childhood outdoors in nature, surfing and hiking the pristine coastline. As a child, I saw the power of Mother Nature first hand and learned to grow super herbs like turmeric and ginger in my backyard. It was through these powerful interactions with nature that I developed such an appreciation for the world around me. That passion has been a huge part of my personal life, and through Vive, I’ve been lucky enough to merge it with my professional life, bringing the power of these ingredients to more people.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

American Icon, the story of Alan Mulally. I have always been a big plan person when it comes to business, but I was so inspired by the way that Alan went about implementing a business plan at Ford when he was turning the company around. He made sure that plan was being tracked in their weekly business plan review and that they were always improving that plan with a better plan. That is what ultimately led me to create our weekly business plan review at Vive. It is part of the reason I’m such a big believer in always having a solid plan. I actually got the chance to ask Alan Mulally a question at a conference — he came on at Ford just before the financial crisis, and I asked him how he was able to stay so positive during that time. He said that it was because they had a plan that they believed in and that they could rely on, and that has stuck with me.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life or your work?

Integrity has always been hugely important to me. One quote that I often come back to is, “if you operate within integrity you strengthen yourself. If you violate your integrity you weaken yourself.” — Mark Wright

One of our core values at Vive is to “build the highest level of integrity,” and that drives everything we do, from sourcing the highest quality ingredients from organic and non-GMO farms to cold-pressing those ingredients for the freshest and most effective immunity boost available. We pride ourselves on our transparency and our commitment to delivering the earth’s most powerful ingredients to our customers in an accessible way. Integrity builds trust, and that is key to our success. We aim to build strong relationships with our internal team, our farmers, our customers, or our Vive Organic family through being authentic to ourselves and our mission of sparking the holistic wellness journey for all.

How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?

Leadership to me means setting an example, while also letting your people shine. At Vive, we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about each individual’s strengths, weaknesses and blind spots, so that we can build teams in a way that really caters to each person’s individual strengths. We want people to be able to focus on their passion areas and the things they’re amazing at, because not only is that where we drive value for the business, but also it allows our team members to feel ownership over their work and how it’s contributing to our overall mission.

In life we come across many people, some who inspire us, some who change us and some who make us better people. Is there a person or people who have helped you get to where you are today? Can you share a story?

When I was struggling with my health, I reached out to a team of integrative medicine doctors, who ultimately helped me find what was causing my illness, but also helped me understand the power of holistic medicine. Since incorporating holistic remedies into my daily wellness routine and adopting an anti-inflammation lifestyle, I am the strongest and healthiest I’ve ever been. It’s been years since I’ve been sick, which is amazing, as I used to feel run down every month or so. Dr. Erica Elliott was a huge champion of mine and opened my eyes to a bigger way of thinking. She helped me understand the connection between mind, body, spirit, environment and community and how each play an important role in our health. She is a key part of what we do at Vive Organic and helps us formulate our shots so that we can make earth’s most powerful ingredients convenient and accessible.

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. The United States is currently facing a series of unprecedented crises. So many of us see the news and ask how we can help. We’d love to talk about the steps that each of us can take to help heal our county, in our own way. Which particular crisis would you like to discuss with us today? Why does that resonate with you so much?

I’d like to talk about holistic wellness. In this country, our mindset is often backward when it comes to taking care of ourselves and our communities. When we don’t feel well or something is off, whether in our body or our neighborhood, we are so quick to treat the symptom, but not often the root cause of the problem.

In my own wellness journey, I was forced to step back and look at what might be causing me to feel unwell and to evaluate how to best fix that problem so that I could get back to feeling my best.

I’m now extremely passionate about proactive wellness and keeping myself well everyday through holistic remedies. Not all health problems can be solved through integrative medicine, but it’s important to recognize the interconnectedness of our mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. We need to shift our mindset to look at the whole picture to find the root of the problem. At Vive, we are on a mission to spark the holistic wellness journey for all, and hope to inspire more people to take a deeper look at their health and the many factors that contribute to their wellbeing.

This is likely a huge topic. But briefly, can you share your view on how this crisis evolved to the boiling point that it’s at now?

Overtime, our collective mindset has shifted. We think about ways to cure symptoms but not always how to solve the problem itself.

In society today, I believe there are about 12 different factors in our daily lives that contribute to our declining wellbeing — these factors lead people to feel unhealthy, run down and low energy. These factors include everything from constant bombardment of push notifications and overstimulation from screens, to high-stress jobs, fast-paced lifestyles and exposure to toxic chemicals in our food or environment. We often just go with what we are told by society and don’t allow ourselves the time to truly listen to our bodies and what they are telling us. It’s easier to run to the pharmacy and reach for an over the counter remedy, when in reality, there are so many ways that we can proactively keep ourselves feeling our best. Things like diet and exercise are truly crucial to our wellbeing. Getting outside, and away from our devices allows us time to recharge and connect to the present moment, but with the pressures of modern life, it’s not always a priority, and I feel strongly that it should be.

Can you tell our readers a bit about your experience either working on this cause or your experience being impacted by it? Can you share a story with us?

In college, I struggled with various health issues that at the time seemed unsolvable. With the help of holistic doctors, I ultimately discovered that my illness was caused by black mold exposure in my San Francisco apartment.

At that time in my life, I began to take a more proactive approach to my health, adding super food ingredients like ginger and turmeric to my daily routine, like spending time in the sauna to help keep me well all the time. A few years later, I was on a business trip and feeling run down and came across a local vendor that was selling cold-pressed turmeric and ginger over ice. I drank one of each shot and was blown away by the powerful boost I felt, and couldn’t believe a product like this wasn’t readily available. From there I was inspired to find a way to bring these types of superfood ingredients to more people, and to help encourage people to be proactive about their own health.

Through my health journey, and the relief I found with ingredients like turmeric and ginger, I was inspired to co-found Vive Organic with JR Simich and Kyle Withycombe. As a company, we’re now on a mission to spark the holistic wellness journey for all. Wellness is a journey. I started mine by learning about diet and environmental factors, but now I am discovering the importance of mental and spiritual factors as well. I now understand that allowing myself to rest, recharge and spend time in nature is just as critical to my physical health as my diet and exercise.

Ok. Here is the main question of our discussion. Can you please share your “5 Steps That Each Of Us Can Take To Proactively Help Heal Our Country”. Kindly share a story or example for each.

From a wellness standpoint, to help heal our society, it’s important to start with ourselves and to commit to a more mindful way of living. Through these five steps, we can not only heal ourselves, but also inspire others to do the same, shifting our collective perspective on what it means to be well.

1.) Practice Balance / Slowing Down

High stress and fast paced lifestyles have become the norm, particularly now that the lines between work and home have become even more blurred. It’s crucial to our emotional and spiritual selves that we practice balance and prioritize a healthy work life balance where we can create distance from our work and truly connect with ourselves and those around us. One of the ways I practice balance is I take an hour or so every morning to consider myself and my needs first. I keep my phone on airplane mode until I’m ready to start work for the day and spend some time enjoying my coffee in a community garden, journaling and checking in with myself. Through this intentional time offline, I’m able to prepare for the day and start my work with a clear mind that is ready to take on anything. This wasn’t always the case for me, and earlier in my career in the startup world, I burned myself out. I now prioritize slowing down more than ever.

2.) Intentional Screen Time

We are constantly bombarded by push notifications, emails, social media messages and news alerts, which all have a negative impact on our mental and emotional selves. It’s important to be intentional about our screen time and app usage, and to allow for distance from our devices. Social media can be addictive, causing us to look to our phones for validation and as a way of connecting with others, rather than seeking out those around us and in our communities. In an effort to limit my screen time, I’ve removed email, slack and social media apps from my phone to allow me time to truly disconnect. When I check social media, it’s on the computer and it’s intentional rather than a habit and a mindless scroll through my feed. Our time is too precious to allow for technology to take over our mental and emotional space.

3.) Physical Wellbeing

Taking care of our physical selves is imperative to ensuring our overall wellbeing. If we’re not feeling well, we’re not able to help or care for anyone else, or contribute to society in a meaningful way. Diet and exercise are huge factors that contribute to our physical wellness. It’s important to eat well, ideally, an organic diet, avoiding sugar, highly processed foods and toxic chemicals like pesticides, to drink clean water and take supplements like turmeric and ginger that reduce inflammation and boost our immune systems. I take time outside every day to go for a walk or to go surfing, making sure I’m not only physically active but that I’m connecting with nature, getting fresh air and Vitamin D while having fun. Our physical wellbeing plays a huge role in our mental and emotional state — it’s an interconnected cycle. Without taking care of our bodies, we can’t take care of our minds.

4.) Mindful News

Between push notifications, social media and broadcast news, it’s often nearly impossible to escape the news cycle. Today’s mainstream media has adopted fear-mongering tactics that can be anxiety and anger inducing and it’s often not productive. I think it’s important to be mindful about our consumption of news, seeking out different perspectives and news sources. When the news becomes overwhelming, I often find it cathartic to engage in a conversation with my neighbors and community, listening to different perspectives and taking in a diversity of thought.

5.) Community And In-Person Engagement

With our phones practically glued to our hands, and now with people staying home more and more, it is imperative that we make time for our community, family and friends and to safely connect in-person. Human connection is not only important to our mental wellbeing, but our physical and emotional as well — it is all interconnected. By being intentional about fostering meaningful relationships with those around us, we’ll feel more grounded in our community and ourselves.

It’s very nice to suggest ideas, but what can we do to make these ideas a reality? What specific steps can you suggest to make these ideas actually happen? Are there things that the community can do to help you promote these ideas?

I think it is a mindset shift that happens on an individual level and eventually within different communities. I am a big believer in starting small. I hope that through Vive we’re inspiring people to take small, actionable steps to improve their health. For many, Vive is what is sparking that shift in thinking about health holistically, others may be putting time aside to meditate or turn off their electronics at a certain hour. It’s a journey, and as each individual takes small steps, it inspires others, creating a spark and inspiring more people to do the same.

We are going through a rough period now. Are you optimistic that this issue can eventually be resolved? Can you explain?

Absolutely, I think more and more people are thinking proactively about their health! The last year and a half or so has taught us the importance of taking care of ourselves at all times. It also taught us the importance of taking care of our mental and emotional selves as well, and how through slowing down, we’re able to really listen to ourselves and what our bodies and minds are telling us it needs. I’m hopeful that people will continue to think that way.

If you could tell other young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?

I would ask them: “What kind of world do you want to leave for your kids and for future generations? What about our world do you love?” Collectively, we need to take steps, and by thinking about the things that inspire us about our planet, it puts it into perspective. If we don’t make changes now, our children may not be able to go for hikes in the woods or swim in the ocean. We need to take note of our reality and the symptoms we’re seeing, both in society and the planet, so that we can solve the root issues. It truly all connects — our awareness for our world and our physical, emotional and spiritual selves. We need to check in with ourselves, our community and our planet so that collectively, we can work towards a brighter future for everyone.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

Dr. Erica Elliott — She is one of the integrative medicine doctors we work with at Vive and has been a crucial part of my own wellness journey. Every time I connect with her, I feel inspired to further Vive’s mission of sparking the holistic wellness journey for all.

How can our readers follow you online?

You can follow us on Instagram @Vive_Organic and visit us online at ViveOrganic.com. You can also use code AuthorityMag-15 for 15% off until November 30th.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!


Wyatt Taubman of Vive Organic: 5 Steps That Each Of Us Can Take To Proactively Help Heal Our… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Recommended Posts