1_5 Aminah Vasco: Ayahuasca, Mixed Race Upbringing, and Building Community

RS: [00:00:00] Hello friends. Welcome to minority trip report. MTR is a podcast for underrepresented views and life journeys with mental health, psychedelics and consciousness. I'm your host Raad Seraj. 

RS: Today my guest is Aminah Vasco. Aminah is a plant medicine advocate, clinical herbalist, and founder of Amita Earth. Aminah's experience as a herbalist includes product curation and development, as well as hundreds of hours spent talking with clients, seeking natural alternatives through modern day problems and ailments. Aminah is always thinking about ways to build structures that prioritize access and safety for women, people of color and queer folks interested in plant medicine. Aminah, welcome. 

AV: Hi Raad. Thank you so much for having me. 

RS: When I was planning this episode, I was thinking, okay, how should this conversation go?

RS: And I was gonna save this for later. But I think given that I really like how you entered your bio, which is, you're always thinking about ways to create access and safety for women, people of color and queer folk. Let's just start there actually. 

RS: Why [00:01:00] is access and safety specifically for people of color women and queer folk important? And the answer is probably obvious to many, but I think it's really important to talk about your motivations and what brought you to this work. 

AV: That's a great question. And that's part of the reason that I, really wanted to connect with you.

AV: And I think it really resonates with your ethos for starting this podcast. But at the end of the day, community is just so important and an inclusive community is what really makes such a difference in perception experience and just like knowledge base and, for me, I'm thinking.

AV: For many women, it's learning new things and as a person of color, it's just sometimes the people that we know don't know about specific things and we're curious and we want more answers and it just, Being inclusive really just means thinking about other people and thinking about what did I need a few years ago?

AV: Like what, who what would've I benefited from [00:02:00] creating. So I think that's just how I think about that's how I think about these things. And I, I wanna make a difference because a few years, and we'll definitely talk about this, but a few years ago, like, I had no information and I plunged into this world. And I figured it out. So if I can help other people navigate, that's what I wanna do. 

RS: That's a great segue actually. In tech, you have this term dog fooding, which is you gotta try your own product first so I'm glad that was your reference point.

RS: What was that like? So you said you, you started this journey a couple of years ago. And we'll obviously talk about what was the impetus. But let's talk about the journey itself. What was it like?

AV: So my journey started about five years ago. About five years ago, I was in a space in my life where I just had a lot of questions surrounding, is the way I'm feeling the way I'm supposed to feel like, what, what am I doing? And to give some work context, I was working in New York city.

AV: I went to college in New York city. On a [00:03:00] very traditional business path. I worked in consulting and then I worked in finance and I worked for a startup right after college. And I was just going through the motions and it's, I just, I felt empty to be honest with you. And I think I was looking back on it. I was just extremely burnt out and I was going through the motions and I think that starts at a really young age. And for me, I was just like, I was in school, I was told to do this. Like I was looking at my peers. This is what they were doing. Finance and accounting were the most popular majors at the college I went to. People came to class in like suits and it was just very much like all business, like all like that's it. And that, that works really well. And I was incredibly ambitious, I hit a point really early on and I was just like, what else what else is going on?

AV: I wa I was struggling with a bunch of health problems. I was having a really hard time in the traditional like medical system and just like going to [00:04:00] doctors and wanting answers and just like leaving upset or with more questions. And we can definitely talk about that later, but I was just I didn't know what to do. So actually, a friend of mine, had told me they were going on a trip to Ecuador. And it was an Ayahuasca trip and they were very vague about what kind of trip they were going on. And I was like, what are you doing? What's going on? 

AV: They're like, no, I'm going this thing. I have some things I wanna deal with, like whatever I was like, can I come? They were like, absolutely not. Like, absolutely not. And then I started just like researching and I just felt called everywhere I would go I would just hear like little snippets. And then I was just like, you know what, I'm gonna go. At the time, this was about five years ago, I really cannot find any information on Google. And if you like search it I think there was like one Vice YouTube video that looked scary to be honest.

AV: And I like the website was like a very like eighties style WordPress for the retreat I was going to was [00:05:00] like a very very, just no information. And I was just like, you know what, I'm gonna go. And I went and it really that experience. Truly shaped me and changed me in a lot of ways.

AV: So I sat for three Ayahuasca sessions. I also sat for Wachuma session and I did a sweat lodge and, I would love to talk more about the specifics of those experiences, but it was not an easy thing. I mean like the sweat lodge was probably like the most difficult experience of my life.

AV: But the beautiful thing about that experience was like being in community, being in nature really. I was just overwhelmed with love and gratitude. I never was like fully able to just be myself and explore and do it with people. And I think that community aspect really left a big impact on me.

AV: When I got back to New York. It was wintertime. And if anyone listening is knows New York in the wintertime, it's not a happy place. I was actually starting a new job and [00:06:00] I just had this like wild experience. And then I was sitting in orientation for my new job. It was at like another tech startup, but it was a bigger, more established one. It was such a contrast and I felt like something wasn't working for me anymore.

AV: And the scariest thing about having such a deep, profound experience and not really coming back to the same environment that something was wrong in, that's where a lot of the difficult work for me really took place.

AV: Prior to that point, to be honest with you, I had only smoked cannabis before. I really didn't know the depths of what I was getting into. I was meditating and I was interested in like alternative wellness things, but I really hadn't spent time in my brain. So that really just it was just such a, I went from like zero to 10,000 and then I went back to New York and was like, so confused. 

RS: Talk about taking a plunge in the deep end, yeah. It's interesting, right? What kind of prep did you do? So you had this interesting, strange friend who [00:07:00] was speaking very about what this experience was gonna be in Ecuador.

RS: Did you spend some time doing research? Going back to the point. There's no onboarding for a lot of, people of color and women and queer folk. Did you find any way to educate yourself beforehand or did that journey come after the fact? 

AV: There was one email sent out by the group facilitating. And they were like, follow this dieta and I wasn't really familiar with that information. It was like, no garlic, it was no onions. It was like no meat, no seafood.

AV: And it was like no processed foods. Like you wanna be as pure as possible, like you're coming to the medicine and you wanna like humble yourself and prepare. And so I definitely had that information and I like knew I was going into something that required a deep level of respect. And this was not a drug, this was not this was not like a fun thing that like I was doing for like recreational purposes. I definitely had that information that [00:08:00] like, this was this was something to really be respected and honored and to really go into it with an open mind, but like also intention and humility. And, but that's it like, that's the only information I really had. 

RS: Your prep reminded me of my first time that I experienced N,N DMT. So I did N,N DMT and 5-MeO DMT, maybe two years apart.

RS: Anyway, before that I've experienced some other substances but not entirely this regimented, cause when you experience Ayahuasca or 5-MeO, it's not something you fuck around with. You have to have reverence for the medicine for it to actually have it's intended effect.

RS: But for me it was really interesting cuz like the first time, I kind of had a sense. Okay. I don't know what this exactly is, but I have a feeling of what might come out should I go through this experience. The kind of shit I'm gonna have to confront.

RS: I don't know exactly what that was, but I knew there was something deep, deep inside me that was just like sitting like a rock. Just weighing me down.[00:09:00] So she stands to be this email similar to yours. Like you have to follow a strict diet. Here's some educational materials, videos, lectures, all this stuff.

RS: And and the diet was interesting because growing up Muslim, we have to, we fast 30 days a year during Ramadan. I'm not a practicing Muslim per se, but I did grow up fasting cuz my parents are pious and practicing. So the idea of fasting and what kind of physiological effect it has on the body wasn't alien to me.

RS: The first three, four days are very hard and then you get used to it and you appreciate the clarity and the lightness that your body starts to feel. Oh yeah. So I'm like, okay, this makes sense. Oh yeah. But of course little did I know, you smoke DMT.

RS: If you follow the diet 20 seconds in you're shot through the fucking moon. Right. So I, my reference for the medicine in that sense, I really understand. Yeah. So let's continue on this path a little bit more. Okay. So you went on this journey and you had, you were already like craving or [00:10:00] questing because you're on the hamster wheel. You're running and not really sure why. What sort of parts of you think you shed when you went through this experience? 

AV: Oh yeah. So this is the good stuff. So it was really interesting. When I was going in, one of the thoughts I had, I was just like, I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't feel good, but I don't know what that is. And and that's just like a, it, it's just a looming like you were saying, like every day, it's just I really didn't know where to start, but it was just like something.

AV: Like in my like, body that I felt I was like, something that I'm doing is not working. So the first night with the medicine was a really interesting experience for me. The team was really amazing. The shaman, the facilitators, they held a really amazing container, but I was purging uncontrollably for the first hour. As soon as I drank it was just purging and I started to see like a black film in my body [00:11:00] it was like, like it was everywhere. If you imagine like an outline, it was like a black smoke everywhere.

AV: And I reheard every negative thing that I've ever said about myself. And I felt the vibrational weight of how my body stored that information. And then as I purged, a little bit of the smoke would come out and I was like, oh my gosh. This is like what my brain is doing to my body.

AV: When you really feel the impact of your words you don't take it as lightly anymore. And then I, and I was like, oh, maybe I'm the problem here. It's natural to blame a lot of circumstances, situations, like people, just things in your life for the way things... I had an idea of how my life should have been going and, it wasn't going that way. And I was like, I thought that there was like a specific cause. But then, I realized like, it takes time to come to this conclusion, but it was my perspective, my perspective on everything and like the way I was talking to myself, the way I was treating myself, [00:12:00] the way I was thinking that, I had to navigate situations, like that was really a problem.

AV: And and at the end of the session, I saw my parents as like before they had me. I saw like my mom as a pregnant woman. And then I saw like my dad and I felt empathy for them, because I was like I wasn't thinking about myself. My parents were fairly young when they had me. They were like 20 years old. I felt so much empathy. I felt so much empathy and then I felt so much. I was like, I am my mom. I am my, my grandmother. Like I just saw all the women in my family. The women in my family are just so strong. I would never say these things that I'm saying to myself to them.

AV: And I realize like the connection I I really was embodying that lineage. I would never talk to my grandmother this way or my great grandmother. So like, why am I talking to myself this way? And then, more purging the rest of the night. And then by the end of that, I was just like, what was that? And then I it still took a while [00:13:00] to, to recover from that, but it was, it was just a really it was humbling. 

AV: I think you get what you need, but it's not always what you want per se with a, with an experience. But so yeah, that was my first experience. You need to really remind yourself often how much what you say to yourself actually matters. So I try to tell better stories to myself now. 

RS: I wanna touch on your upbringing. Now you said you saw your parents and they were really young when they had you. Yeah. And you are of mixed race descent, right? I'd love to know how your parents met, what was it like growing up? Did you feel like you had, not only two cultures, but a third culture growing up in the US. How did you wrestle with that?

AV: Great question. So my mom is Haitian and my dad is Colombian and they grew up in New York specifically but I was also an only child. And I was mixed race and, I had really young parents [00:14:00] and I would look at, my peers in school and like their parents were older and I just I just remember always feeling really different.

AV: I, I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood also. And, I always felt different and isolated. Not even like in a larger context, but like for my family too, it was a weird experience, cuz I, I'm sure a lot of, children like mixed race children feel this way, but you don't always have a group. And I also had a really small family. So I didn't have a lot of cousins. So I was just like the only like young person around. My parents were divorced also. 

AV: So my parents they were high school sweethearts, middle school sweethearts. My mom's brother had, like, when he was like five years old has had drank like fermented apple juice. And then my dad's friend had injured himself with like a machete or something crazy like that. So my mom's brother and my dad's friend were in the same like hospital unit together. And then my parents like met that way. [00:15:00] So they realized they went to like school together and then they just dated but then really short after they got divorced and like that wasn't really a problem for me. Like even today I look at them, I'm like, I don't even know how you two interacted. Like it's just they're different people. But that left me with like always just I, I felt alone and just, I felt like weird or othered.

AV: And It's not always, sometimes there's a difference between like real or perceived and it's hard to like really it's hard to really sometimes grasp what is actually real, but what is the story that you're telling yourself? But I was very much telling my myself a story of being an other.

AV: I think that's why that community aspect really impacted me in such a large way too, because yeah, like when you're growing up as an only child, like I, I spent most of my time, like talking to myself. 

AV: Also my, my mom's side of the family has a very traditional medical background. There's a lot of doctors in my family and and like [00:16:00] this sort of exploration was not appropriate in their eyes. So that was definitely something I felt very private about for a while.

AV: When I went to my first ceremony I didn't tell anyone. I really learned how to just put on like a happy face. Everything is great. I didn't wanna like disappoint anyone in my family because I realized like so many sacrifices people had to make so I had a good life and it was just something that I really internalized as not really being able to talk about like feelings or emotions or anything.

RS: I think with mental health, no matter where you come from as a civilization. We're not very good about talking about mental health. Because of the last 400 years, we embodied this like one form of consciousness, which is like productivity alert based consciousness, just go do stuff, that's it, work, do stuff, that's it.

RS: And if you have an internal voice, yeah. Either you're crazy or particularly if you're from, if you're a person of color or you come from [00:17:00] marginalized backgrounds, , I experienced this as a man, a South Asian man, Muslim, it's deal with it. Deal with it, shut up. And to some degree I get it, I used to get really pissed off about it, but I understand because mm-hmm , if you are busy surviving, there's no time to get depressed. Yeah. If you ask a person who's like living. Paycheck to paycheck.

RS: No. Or is a farmer, poor farmer trying to feed his family in Bangladesh or India or wherever else you ask them like, are you depressed? I don't know if they'll be able to give you a good answer because there's no time, you're busy surviving. I think to some degree the sort of contemplation is it's rare, but I do understand the sort of barriers, I think that people of color face. And there's the other part you were touching on, which is which I related to a lot. It just, I'm a, I didn't know what a third culture kid was until couple of years ago. That this term even existed. Third culture kid is, as I understand it is somebody was born [00:18:00] somewhere, grows up somewhere else lives, somewhere else.

RS: And so like for me, I was born in Bangladesh, grew up in Saudi Arabia and live in Canada now, but my family is in Bangladesh. I was the eldest but I've always been rebellious, had to find my own way. That caused my parents a lot of, a lot of stress just because how rebellious I've been, but, it helped me ultimately become myself.

RS: And I think the medicine really helped with that and we'll touch on this. I think that kind of journey ultimately also helps you become more entrepreneurial. I think every entrepreneur tries to feed that inner voice that is ultimately like, who am I? What am I? What am I meant for? What do I want to do? I wanna find that thing that makes me really feel myself. 

RS: So let's shift gears a little bit because you are an entrepreneur and doing very cool things. Tell me a little bit about, okay. So you come back to New York, you shifted gears, I'm sure.

RS: And your journey of mental health still continues. What is the work that you do now? I love that you're using experience as medicine, as a [00:19:00] tool. So tell me a little bit about what you're working on now.

AV: I would love to talk about that. So when I got back I actually ended up getting laid off fired essentially from my the job that I was telling you about that and it was such a blessing.

AV: Like I wanted to quit so bad. I, I really, I wanted to quit and I was gonna quit the day before. But then my manager like canceled the meeting on the calendar, like it it was like, I was like, this is my quitting meeting. And then like my manager like canceled it. And I was like, no, like I was so upset.

AV: But then the next day, so when you when you get let go, you get a really like great like severance package . And so I was like, this couldn't have happened at a more perfect time. It was like a few months later. It wasn't like directly when I got back, but it was, like some, it was some time.

AV: And then I was like, what's, what's next for me? The next thing I do, it needs to be something that I am passionate about. It needs to be something that I feel good being in my life with. And, and this was like the perfect time to [00:20:00] start the path of figuring out what that looked like. And I think you know what you were saying entrepreneurs, like you are your first project and then you're like, okay, how do I turn this?

AV: Okay. So I'm my project, I'm working on this, but like now I have to figure out what's next. While that process was starting, I was I got connected to some really amazing people in New York. My role specifically. I started to grow and seed a high end cannabis lifestyle brand in New York city.

AV: And this is in events. We were doing dinners, but we were also doing delivery and we were just setting up the scene. And like cannabis for me, cannabis was like my first love . That has been a constant relationship in my life and getting the opportunity to like really seed and grow a brand that is inclusive towards women.

AV: And so the brand, is founded with the principles of making cannabis culture, accessible to women, [00:21:00] queer folks, people of color, and prioritizing like safety. And I think all of us are very familiar. You're like, weed was a little bit scary like for a, like for me, like it was very hard to feel comfortable from just like what I was getting. The experience that I had, like growing up was like literally like I would have to go into some dude's car and get weed. And it was just like, it was just, that's not safe and women people of color, queer folks, we, we face so many barriers.

AV: You're letting someone into your home or you're going into a car. It didn't really feel aligned with what I wanted to do what I believed in. And I was like, this is a really great opportunity to not only shift perception with like plant medicine but also, prioritize and create sustainable systems for people like me. So that that was what I started working on like directly after and, the brand just blew up and took off. And I think, the listeners might be curious what you're talking about with the Met Gala, but we were the official cannabis sponsor [00:22:00] for the LaQuan Smith, Met Gala after party.

AV: What's exciting about that is legitimizing plant medicine through luxury markets. Because what do you think about perception? New York is the hub of luxury and if the culture really so much culture has started out of New York and you look at cannabis culture in other states and you're like, Hmm. That's interesting. There's very much like California like stoner, like how high, like masculine, how high can you get? And that never resonated with me. If I get too high, I freak out and get paranoid. And that could be enough. It's just it's just I don't feel good like that.

AV: So I was thinking about what does luxury look like to me? So dinners were like a very big part of of the brand and really gathering community again to discuss what the future could look like and being inclusive to people who can shape the future.

AV: And all the dinners, they were microdosed dinners, so it's not how high can you get culture? It's how do we taste the terpenes and how do we like, eat really interesting, cool foods and [00:23:00] incorporate cannabis in a new way.

AV: So yeah, so we did that Met Gala party, but then before then we did a 200 person dinner at spring studios, which is another fashion hub. For if anyone's familiar, that's like where they shoot like New York Fashion Week like pretty a lot of campaigns and things of that nature.

AV: I think that was a, it was a really big moment for me because I realized like the scale of the work that was like really happening in terms of just perception. It was at the rooftop of Hudson yards and the edge rooftop. And it was just like, that's like a place that you just never imagine like that you would be able to set up a bong really. Or just people smoke. It was just, it was such a surreal moment to see that happening and to really just, it, it was so surreal. I really feel so passionate about like changing the narrative and changing, what's possible. And I think that's something that's directly experienced to my exploratory journeys with Plant medicine, like how do we change what's possible? If it's never been done before, like what how [00:24:00] do we do something that's new.

RS: The timing didn't work, but I would've loved to be at one of your dinners. It's so interesting. Smoking weed, cannabis, all this stuff is so prevalent in media, movies, music, videos, books, whatever, but it's so it's like interesting that you're saying it was, this is a different perception, regular people.

RS: Okay. Maybe not regular people, fancy people, but you know what I mean? People smoking nonchalantly. That's what I mean, like it's not a big deal. I think that's pretty, pretty cool. Right? And this is where culture is so important when you normalize. And Des sensationalized, just ticking substances, smoking substances.

RS: Like I just find it so ironic that like alcohol and cigarettes are like pushed into your face, drink more smoke, more blah, blah, blah, blah. But anything that opens up your consciousness. Like nobody ever gets violent when they're stoned, they order a fucking pizza and they hang out.

AV: I wanna say this too. I've been ostracized, like on the street for like smoking.

AV: Like people [00:25:00] have been like miss, don't smoke that like you're too pretty to smoke, stop that like literally you are just like gross or and it runs, deep. And I'm like, this is. I'm minding my own business. So it is just people feel the need to like comment and it's just it's really interesting.

AV: And it's better than a few years ago, but it's still... it you'd be surprised the visceral reaction. Yeah. Just like people seeing like women smoking... 

RS: I'm not speaking for women or as a woman, but you know, when women, like depending where you go, if a woman smokes a cigarette, it's still kind of like taboo.

RS: Oh, she's like rebellious, and now it's like weed, right? Who the fuck knows what's next. I'm sure the experience as a woman, smoking in public is very different from what a man would have to deal with. 

RS: Okay, I'm really curious about what you mean by microdose dinner. Describe to me what somebody may feel like, what they might feel like going to this space? Where are they sitting? What are they consuming? What, what ideas, what are they perceiving and sensing. 

AV: Yeah. So what people can [00:26:00] expect when they come to a dinner and, everyone's allowed in this space that you don't have to be like a woman specifically, but But yeah, we like to do a little mingling aspect and people can smoke, get a joint before the dinner talk to the most interesting people in your city, networking is really So like we, we try to emphasize that so much.

AV: Like we want to bring together the most interesting people in New York city, and we want other people to facilitate connections and communities. We leave quite a bit of space for that. And then we have a five course dinner. That's a menu. You can let us know if you have any dietary preferences, but each dish has about two to five milligrams THC per dish. And then it like stacks over the night. So you might consume like 10 milligrams over the over the course of the night. But you know, there's, there's no pressure and you don't have to like, you can really taste the food and worry too much about just being like two stoned or [00:27:00] something and that very well might happen, but it's in a very subtle not oh, you ate one slice of pizza and it was like a hundred milligrams. And now you have to go home immediately.

AV: So, that's a big aspect. And then yeah, that's that, that's really it, like just talking and then, sometimes we'll have just fun things to do afterwards and just like art activations, we like to feature that the art we like to have artists in residence and have a gallery of some sort gallery of but yeah, and this is the same thing

AV: i, I also, have been seeding like a retail brand in the psychedelic space too. And we, we did a mushroom event where, everyone got a gram of mushroom tea and like we had a world renowned concert pianist and everyone, drink their tea and watch this Amazing amazing concert.

AV: And it was in new York's like only psychedelic gallery, like it they have some really interesting, like original, like Alice Wonderland art, like psychedelic art. And that was just so cool. And my favorite part about [00:28:00] that was really, I looked to my right. Someone was like crying and then I looked to my left.

AV: Someone's like laughing and like touching like their heart. And it's just everyone's, seeing and no, nothing crazy is happening. Like people are just feeling emotions and like being together in the same room, sharing space. And I'm like, this is what, that's that piece about like experiential learning, and then that's so important because you're. In a space that you feel safe and you're like, I can learn how, what I take influences me. So, yeah, that's a, that's, that's kind of the, the vibe, the vibe. 

RS: So much of, these experiences are really about taking your time, right? Obviously you set up the right container. Yeah. But someone is also taking your time, doing these things. Like I, I remember the first time I went to a fancy Italian restaurant, I usually go into like, you eat your bowl of pasta. It may be good. And you leave in like 45 minutes or whatever. Except my, [00:29:00] my friend who treated me this thing in Montreal... we were there for three and a half hours. We ate multiple pizzas. drank multiple balls of wine and I felt fucking great. Yeah. And every time that I've been in situations where you enjoy the food with conversation, whether it's microdose or not.

RS: It's just a different experience, like so much. I think so much of it is about taking your time. Letting the experience speak for itself is really, really, really cool. And our industrialized culture doesn't allow that, right. Like, oh, just do the thing, pay for it, get the hell outta here. Take what you need.

RS: It's very hedonistic. Very transactional. Yeah. So I think it's, I think that's really, your approach is interesting. Tell me about your psychedelic brand Aminah Earth. Now a lot of people, may not know about Amanita mushrooms, but they've seen it. It's everywhere in our culture, but they don't know. I, I recently saw the Northman with Alexander Skarsgård.

RS: Oh yeah. Dope [00:30:00] movie. Oh yeah. Yeah. And they had these rituals, they had these rituals where they're sort of, going through these like crazy sort of animalistic or channeling. And I'm like, I'm telling my partner and I'm. Yeah, they must be high. And of course, guess what?

RS: At one point Alexander Skarsgård, sorry, the, the, the witch woman that he was with opens the Palm of her hand and there's Amanita Muscaria and I'm like, see, it's fucking everywhere. It's in Mario cart, but we don't know. We don't know it's it's psychedelic. So tell me, tell me about Amita earth, the brand, the inspiration, the application and what you're trying to achieve with that. 

AV: Yeah. For me, I. I, I, I was working with an underground psychedelic retail brand and building out what that looked like. And I wanted to take a lot of the same lessons that I learned, from the psychedelics like space and just turn it into a bigger project.

AV: And, one that, can reach more people. [00:31:00] And you. And really operate on a larger scale. So I founded the company called Amita Earth. And what we're doing is we're building retail skews around the Amanita Muscaria mushroom. And like you were just saying, this is that mushroom that you know, is on your iPhone.

AV: Like your friend has a pillow. Like you definitely have a key chain with this mushroom. But what's surprising is a lot of people don't know that there's some like medicinal effects and it has a kind of interesting reputation where it's has been I think mislabeled as poisonous, really.

AV: I think there's the, this genus of mushroom contains some of the most poisonous and deadly mushrooms that there are, but the specific one, it has a more complex story. And I think it was really like wrongly labeled because there is a very long traditional use of consumption and under the right extraction extraction event and like scenarios, it is safe. I mean, there is some traditional antidotes of like people [00:32:00] consuming this as a food, but it's, it's actually. It's the only, like really unscheduled entheogen in, in the United States, at least. So it does fall in this category as a functional mushroom, but it's just a little bit more complex.

AV: So what we are trying to do my co-founders and I we want to make this mushroom accessible and tell a better story about... I, I love this mushroom so much because it was, it's like a, a demonized mushroom that has so much potential. And, if, if like, this is like my MO from what we were talking about with cannabis and plant medicine and like, how do we, really change the person, the narrative on this, we're finding some really amazing use for the mushroom topically which is really interesting.

AV: I think it feels more comfortable applying this mushroom topically and it had some really amazing like topical effects for pain as specifically like nerve pain that we've been looking into and putting some significant amount of R&D into.

AV: [00:33:00] So I'm, I'm so excited about this brand. This is my, my new baby. And I, I've just learned so much and I wanna share that information and I wanna. Keep doing the work of, legitimizing, these alternative plant medicines, because that's what I'm so passionate. So passion about that's amazing.

RS: How do people learn about Amanita Earth or where do they, where can they find more information? 

AV: You could definitely sign up for our our email and email list. amanitaearth.com. We, we haven't officially launched right now where we're still We're we're gonna launch pretty soon... probably the fall. But if you get on our email list, you can stay in touch and learn and come build with us. And I really wanna take, I wanna take everyone along for the journey because it's, I think building a company is a very. Daunting thing. And I am so fortunate because I've been surrounded by some really incredible founders who have taken me under their wing and like just watching them has [00:34:00] like really just inspired me in so many ways.

AV: And that goes back to that thing. Having someone, that did this before you my I there's no other entrepreneurs in my family, so I'm very much operating in a unknown territory. But I think, that's what I'm here to do, so I'm doing it. 

RS: That's amazing.

RS: I feel the same way, which is, my father, my parents, given we, we were pretty poor growing up and so we didn't really have the opportunity to be entrepreneurial in the sense that like, it was just too risky. You had to support your family first. And so when somebody takes that first leap, it is, you are actually changing the course of your family's legacy forever.

RS: So that's pretty amazing. So, congratulations. I'm really glad you're on this journey. We have time for one question. One last question and I'm wondering... My hope with this podcast is that although it is for everybody and I really mean, I want everybody to feel welcome, to learn, but my hope is that to welcome anybody, that's underrepresented to feel more curious, to [00:35:00] feel more bold, to feel like there's a community to feel like there's a story that can resonate with their life.

RS: What would you want people to know... Whether they're a woman, whether they're queer, whether they're a person of color or whether they're just a human being, what would you want them to know about psychedelics, about mental health, about consciousness and the times we live in?

AV: Yeah. Yeah. It's really my belief that like the earth is alive and we're alive with it. And I just want I really encourage everyone to explore that. There, there can be more than you know what we're told we can do what we're I, it sounds a little funny saying programmed, if you, life is hard, like there's so many things that are really challenging and we see so much inequity and we see so much struggle and it can be really difficult to kind of staying there and just be like, that, that stuff is for other people.

AV: But, [00:36:00] I like I don't have. The luxury to explore, but I think it can start, at small scale and you don't have to plunge into, like going away. I think there's so many things. So many things, the small things about taking care of yourself have made the biggest difference for me, like eating, foods that feel right for like that, eating healthier, like napping resting, like all of these things, like I just, I think it's so important that we all take up some space to, to really collectively heal ourselves and heal with the earth and like be.

AV: Interested and curious about what that healing process can be and empowered in that same sense, that we, we don't have to particularly seek the answers outside of ourself. Like we, we internally we instinctively know what to do. And it just sometimes takes like a discovering process.

AV: So. That's what I really wanna say. And it, it's not, it's not an easy, it's not an easy bandaid. It's a very [00:37:00] complicated and risky answer. But I think we all know inherently, like when that healing process needs to start. And I think if you just follow that curiosity you'll start to uncover, and it just becomes a lifelong journey.

AV: And I think I'm still in it. I'm sure. Are you still in it? It is just, it it's like a lifelong thing, but it's just like that curiosity. And just following that just can lead you to so many different places that you really never thought were possible. 

RS: So well said the journey is the destination, so yeah, 

RS: Aminah thank you so much. This was a fantastic conversation. And again, congratulations on all the things. You've been doing all the things you're trying. I really admire the way you're mobilizing and empowering people, educating them. And I'm very excited to see where both medley and Amita Earth go. 

RS: Thank you so much again for your time. 

AV: Come hang out in New York and, and, see what we're up to in the little plant medicine community. 

RS: I can't wait. I will definitely. 

AV: [00:38:00] Cool. Awesome. You have to be at the next event. 

RS: You got it. 

RS: This podcast was brought to life with the help of Carolyn Tripp on art and design, Misha Ras on sound design and Wilson Lin on editing. Thanks so much for listening to minority trip report. I'm your host Raad Seraj.